SF740 - HOW TO MASTER YOUR MIND (Ephesians 4 17-24)
Ephesians 4:17-24
Introduction
You can change your life by changing your thoughts
When God wants to change us, He will begin with our thoughts.
When Satan wants to corrupt us, he will begin with our thoughts.
Background
The mind is the battleground!
Paul was afraid that they would be distracted from their focus on Christ.
Paul warns the Ephesians against slipping back into worldly thought patterns.
Paul instructs us on how we can Master our Minds…
1A. We Must Understand the Significance of Our Thoughts (17)
1B. Our thoughts will determine our behavior
You are what you eat; you are what you think
Ø If you would not eat garbage, you should not think garbage.
(Proverbs 23:7 KJV) "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: …."
The thought is the father of the deed
Ø You sow a thought, you reap a deed
Ø You sow a deed, you reap a habit
Ø You sow a habit, you reap a character
Ø You sow a character, you reap a destiny
(James 1:14-15 NIV) "but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. {15} Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
Social scientist found that…
Ø What the mind attends to it considers.
Ø What the mind does not attend to it dismisses.
Ø What the mind attends to continually, it believes.
Ø What the mind believes it eventually does.
2B. When God wants to communicate with us, He does so through our minds
When God wants to change us, He renews our minds (22-24)
When God wants to calm us, He reassures our minds
(Isaiah 26:3 NIV) "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."
Ø Nervous Christians: Man who swallowed an egg, afraid to sit still, afraid it would hatch; afraid to move afraid it would break.
2A. We Must Understand the Strategy of Our Enemy
1B. Satan will cast doubt on God’s Word
(Genesis 3:1 NIV) "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?""
Ø Any one who puts a question mark after the Word of God is doing the work of the Devil.
2B. Satan will deny God’s Word
(Genesis 3:4 NIV) ""You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman."
3B. Satan will distort God’s Word
(Genesis 3:5 NIV) ""For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.""
Satan is a liar
(John 8:44 NIV) "… When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
The temptation was not to be ungodly, but to be like God the Devil’s way.
Ø The Devil is not against religion, he is against Christianity
4B. Satan will destroy us! (18-19)
(Genesis 3:23-24 NIV) "So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. {24} After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
3A. We Must Understand the Secret of Survival (20-21)
1B. We must identify Satan’s lies
(1 John 4:1 NIV) "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…"
You can identify a counterfeit by knowing what the real thing is!
2B. We must employ the Sword of the Spirit
(Ephesians 6:17 NIV) "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
Master the Word of God.
Ø You cannot know everything
Ø You can know more.
Memorize the Word of God
Ø If you got $1000 per verse could you memorize the Bible
Meditate on the Word of God
(Joshua 1:8 NIV) "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
Ø Bible meditation looks upward and is controlled by the Word of God.
Ø TM - is like leaving the doors and windows open and going to bed.
Mobilize the Word of God
Ø We are at war
Ø Use the Word to defeat the enemy.
Minister the Word of God
Ø Share the Word
Ø Show the Word
Application
Jesus came to change you.
From darkness to light
From death to life
It begins with your thoughts
Let Him change the way you think
Ø About yourself
Ø About eternity
Ø About God!
HOW TO MASTER YOUR MIND
Sunday, December 28, 1997 - Ephesians 4:17-24
1A. We Must Understand the _______________ of Our Thoughts
1B. Our thoughts will determine our _____________
(Proverbs 23:7 KJV) "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: …."
The thought is the father of the deed
(James 1:14-15 NIV) "but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. {15} Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
2B. When God wants to ______________ with us, He does so through our minds
When God wants to change us, He renews our minds
When God wants to calm us, He reassures our minds
(Isaiah 26:3 NIV) "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."
2A. We Must Understand the ______________ of Our Enemy
1B. Satan will cast __________ on God’s Word
(Genesis 3:1 NIV) "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2B. Satan will ________________ God’s Word
(Genesis 3:4 NIV) “You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman.”
3B. Satan will _______________ God’s Word
(Genesis 3:5 NIV) "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Satan is a ___________
(John 8:44 NIV) "… When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
4B. Satan will _______________ us!
(Genesis 3:23-24 NIV) "So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. {24} After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
3A. We Must Understand the ________ of Survival
1B. We must _______________ Satan’s lies
(1 John 4:1 NIV) "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."
2B. We must ______________ the Sword of the Spirit
(Ephesians 6:17 NIV) "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
_____________ the Word of God.
Memorize the Word of God
______________ on the Word of God
(Joshua 1:8 NIV) "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
_______________ the Word of God
Minister the Word of God