The Battle of the Mind
Notes
Transcript
Welcome- Prepare hearts and Worship
Call to Worship see Phil 4:6-9
Prayer
Worship through Song
Sermon
Introduction
Introduction
Let us pray this morning.
I hope each of your families had a wonderful time reflecting on the resurrection of Jesus this last week. Before we turned to reflection on Jesus’ journey to the cross and what was accomplished on the cross, we were finishing up Ephesians Chapter 5. Paul was teaching on the marriage and what the marriage should look like between two believing people. We had finished the teaching on how husbands are to love their wives
During the last two weeks we were able to see just what that Love looks like. That God motivated by Love sent his son Jesus to be the atoning and reconciling sacrifice. The sacrifice that cleansed his bride the church and reconciled and adopted believers back to himself. His love will never be demonstrated more profoundly that on the cross. What a blessing it is to be adopted into the family of God. God accomplished what we could not. He accomplished what only he could do.
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, 4 in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Remember Paul is speaking of being filled with the Spirit in Ephesians and here in Romans we see the great role that Spirit plays in our lives. The Spirit brings life and freedom from the law of sin. But only for those that walk according to the Spirit. You see in marriages and in life the only way that we will receive the blessing of the promises of God is if we walk in the Spirit of God. This must be core to who we are as Christians.
But the reality is, is that neither marriage or life is easy. Do you agree with that statement? Wives submit to your husbands as husbands love their wives as Christ loved the Church. Easier said than done sometimes right?
What is going on? Why is it so difficult? Well can I be open with you?
As I have looked at what the church is, what it was, and what I think it will be I am seeing that the enemy is at work inside the church. Pastors care more about the entity of the church looking successful than the sheep being protected. One of our greatest needs after salvation is to live a life that grows into the image of the on who saved us. The one who set us free.
Hold up the bible. Is this holy? Is it set apart? Is it sufficient? Is any of it unimportant? Can any of it be removed? Can any of it be neglected?
See this is where we typically stop. We stop at the good stuff God will give us? But we are not really taught how to really live a life that these blessings are given by God. Do we come to a church to have a participation trophy or we we come to be broken and rebuilt. In a new way.
Two Mindsets
Two Mindsets
After Paul speaks of the life giving work of the Spirit he continues with:
5 For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. 6 Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so.
Paul brings forward the focus on the mind. Is there a difference between the mind of an unbeliever and a believer. Should there be? Even though the percent of Americans that claim to be christian has fallen from 77% to 65% from 2009 to 2019 and the trajectory still falling, 65% of Americans claim to be Christian. But do we see 65% of people having a different mindset than those that are unbelievers?
I would have to say no. But you see Paul says there are two and only two mindsets. There is the mindset of the flesh and the mindset of the Spirit. The mindset of the flesh is death and the mindset of the Spirit brings life and peace.
I would assume that if I took a poll of everyone here that most likely nearly 100% of you would pick life and peace over death. I would imagine that if I went out into the street that the mass majority of people would say the same thing. However do we take what the scriptures say about our minds seriously. When asked what the greatest commandments were Jesus replied:
37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
We are to love our Lord and God with what our heart, soul and mind. We are in a battle right now. We are in the battle for our minds. See the enemy and the flesh have always been after the minds and affections of man. Anything that turns the worship and devotion of people away from the Holy God has been the Devil’s goal from the beginning. The temptation that he gave Adam and Eve was the temptation to be like God. He enticed them to focus their minds on themselves before God and sin entered the world.
We are to love God with our minds. Without the mindset of the Spirit the teachings of God through Paul and others is not just improbable but an act of futility and impossible. So I ask again who wants to have life and peace.
Now I must say that to someone who has not recieved the Good news of Jesus and been saved by him that the only mindset that they have is one of the flesh. No matter the things they do whether good or bad in the worlds eye will be motivated by their own selfish desires. The one who has been saved by the sacrifice of Jesus now has the Holy Spirit in them and are saved by grace through faith. Not by works or any other merit of there own but by the free gift of God. They have desires of flesh and and of Spirit.
16 I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
We still have desires but through the work of the Holy Spirit we are no longer bound to do them. We have been given freedom to not live that way anymore. But we must have our minds changed by the work of the Holy Spirit
1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
We must be transformed. The Greek word is metamorphoo. Sound familiar. This word is only used in the bible four times. Two of the gospels use this word to describe the transfiguration of Jesus and Paul uses it in 2 Corinthians
18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
We are transformed into his image. Not just polished up but we become something new. We are to be living in a way that is not conforming to the world around us but to be transformed, by what?
By hard work? Perfect church attendance? No by the renewing of our minds. To re establish our minds in a new way. Then we can can discern the good and pleasing, perfect will of God.
What does conforming to the world look like in contrast to a renewed mind. Lets go back to Galatians
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Take a look at the world around us.
Sexual immorality? Does the world act in anyway that is against God’s standard for intimacy between a husband and a wife?
Moral Impurity: This comes from a word that means filth or questionable activities.
Promiscuity: Indulgence in sensual pleasure with sinful abandon
Idolatry: The worship of any created thing in the place of the creator
Sorcery: This was focused on potion making especially with poisons.
Jealousy: Greed of prideful longing for something that someone else has.
Outbursts of Anger: Fury intense anger
Selfish ambition: The strong desire for personal success without moral inhibitions
Dissensions: discord that splits a group
Factions: We would call these clics today
Envy: Spite and resentment for another’s success
Drunkenness:
Carousing: An event of excessive eating or drinking that leads to other immoral behavior.
Each and everyone of these are desires of the flesh and the mindset of the flesh. Go through the list and emphasize the correlation to the mind
Now what about the mind of the Spirit
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Love: A strong positive emotion of regard and affection
Joy: The emotion of Great happiness and pleasure
Peace: Harmonious relations that are free from disputes
Patience: The patient endurance of pain or unhappiness
Kindness: the quality of being warmhearted, considerate, humane, gentile, and sympathetic
Goodness: the quality of moral excellence, especially as that is not stagnant, but actively working itself out.
Faithfulness: The quality of being faithful
Gentleness: acting in a manner that is gentle mild and even tempered.
Self-Control: The trait of resolutely controlling one’s own desires (which would produce actions), Especially sensual desires.
As we walk in the spirit we are transformed with new qualities and traits. These happen by the Holy Spirit renewing our minds.
The Call To Action
The Call To Action
This is nothing new but we are failing to head the words of the Lord in scripture about the influences of our minds.
The flesh is influenced naturally by himself.
26 The one who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.
19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things,
15 To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience are defiled.
5 and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain.
I think the harshest rebuke in the bible is one that pertains to the mind.
33 But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”
We are called out of this way of thinking
3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
Our minds are not our own. We have a God who test the minds of men.
Tests
9 Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous. The one who examines the thoughts and emotions is a righteous God.
20 But, Lord of Armies, who judges righteously, who tests heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to you.
10 I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.
12 Lord of Armies, testing the righteous and seeing the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to you.
He also opens our minds
14 but their minds were hardened. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ.
44 He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead the third day,
Our God knows our minds
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
The Battle Continues
The Battle Continues
Go back to the beginning of the bible and you will see that this has not changed since the fall. The majority of men will live in the flesh and will not live in the Spirit.
In the old testament the tabernacle and the temple were to be Holy. They were places of worship to God. If you look into the time period of the kings and in books like Ezekiel you will find that as the minds of men focused on the flesh that the temple would be violated. That the physical temple would be turned into dens of debauchery. That idolatry would not only be brought into the temple but it would be the focus of worship. That adoration and praise to false God’s and created things. Usually when the people of God would start to conform to the beliefs of the other nations as they married outside of the nation of Isreal.
4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, where the Lord had said, “Jerusalem is where I will put my name.” 5 He built altars to all the stars in the sky in both courtyards of the Lord’s temple. 6 He sacrificed his son in the fire, practiced witchcraft and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did a huge amount of evil in the Lord’s sight, angering him. 7 Manasseh set up the carved image of Asherah, which he made, in the temple that the Lord had spoken about to David and his son Solomon: “I will establish my name forever in this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
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God would call this adultery and idolatry. As Isreal would progressively fall away the hearts and minds of men would turn away from God and the temple would turn into a den of evil and sensual behavior. We can read about that a we say how is it possible that they did these things. We would never do that look around. Do we have alter set up to idols? Do we come here are perform all sorts of detestable actions?
Here is the question where is God’s Holy Temple today? Here is a hint it is not this building?
16 Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and that is what you are.
19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
16 And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.
The Reality of the Situation
The Reality of the Situation
I have prayed much and I believe that it would not be appropriate from me to preach on marriage if I did not address the elephant in the room. So many leaders in churches will not speak on topics that are uncomfortable. Well today we are going to get a little uncomfortable. Why do we gather as the church? Do we come together to make each other feel good or do we come together to be transformed. It is my responsibility to guide, teach, and love you while doing my very best to glorify God in the process.
We are in a different world that we have seen before. Sin is the same but there is something new going on.
40 years ago we started to see the emergence of new technology. In the 80’s computers are starting to be able to network or communicate with each other. a decade later in 1993 we see the first web browser become available to the public. By 2000 approximately 300 million people are online world wide. By 2010 2 billion are online. By 2022 5 billion people are online out of 7 plus billion people. With more that 1/3 of the population under 20 years old that means that a large portion of that number includes children as part of the people on line.
The emergence of digital technology in the palm of our hands has produced what I believe is the greatest threat to the minds of people today. I love technology but it comes with a price. As the temple is now in the believers of God. IN his adopted children we now have devices that bring forth digital idolatry, digital adultery, false teachers. The world has figured out how to marked these to us.
See our minds were created to experience pleasure and when that happens they produce chemicals that cause us to crave what gives us pleasure. This is supposed to be part of the bonding and cleaving to our spouses. But we live in a world that has studied and scientifically figured our how to stimulate the pleasure of the world and market it to the detriment of our minds. We don’t even know it is happening anymore.
The universal trait of men is sin and it makes money. IN the church and in the world.
Am I being dramatic. Yes I am. The Greek word that is used Galatians for sexual immorality is porenia. For the audience we have hear I am going to call this Digital Immorality. If there are young ones here who understand the point that I am making than they are old enough to be in danger of this threat.
Statistics
Conclusion
Conclusion
I brought this up today because as you can tell. The battle for our minds races on. One final stat was that over 60% of men and close 50% of women do not believe that Digital Immorality is an issue.
This is one of the sins that had a hold of the minds of our friends and family members. Many feel shame and alone. We have a God that redeems his children. Who creates new life. Who transforms. He has given us the way to recovery. Confession: to speak truth. Repentance: to turn our mind away. Forgiveness: To put the sins committed behind the offended party. This should be where we go. To sit with each other. I brought this up here because it is a church and family issue but working through these issues should be done with care and love in the appropriate context and environment.
As fast as this is growing I believe there will be a time soon that tv and the internet will be filled with more and more stuff and if we do not prepare to walk in the Spirit we will be swept away with the world.
Mens Group, Elementary school kids, Video on Phone
Covenant Eyes, Gabb Wireless. Cell Phone in the hands of children. Vidangel, redeemed, pureflix...
What do you spend your money on. How much do you spend to open your home to the world. Risk the minds of your children. Verses protecting them.
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Idolatry, Adultery, Worship
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, 13 because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” 16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Does this apply to you . Yes. Grandparents. Parents Children.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
5 But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
13 Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
How has this challenged the way you think?
How has this challenged your affections?
How is this challenging you to live differently?
Prayer
Prayer
Worship through Song
Benediction
Romans 15:13 (CSB)
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.