Who Controls Your Mind?
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Romans 12:1-2

Introduction: A war is when two forces come together for combat. A war is usually caused
when two forces are fighting to possess the same thing. You may not realize this, but when
we express faith in Jesus Christ, we automatically are enlisted in spiritual warfare. As a Christian soldier, we must not allow ordinary affairs of life to become our main object of existence. Our desires should be to please the one who enlisted us; God. The Bible says our war is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
The enemy, Satan, wants to come in and take control of our lives, control of our minds. The mind is the doorway to the heart. The mind gives commands that the body follows. This morning we are going to talk about how there is a war going on in the battlefield of the mind between good and evil. But we are also going to talk about how through the work that was done on the cross, God has given us what we need to win the war in the battle for our minds!

I. Renewing of our Mind- (Romans 12:1-2; Proverbs 2:6; 1 Corinthians 2:16)

a. Adjusting our thinking- Romans 12 talks about the “renewing of your mind.” Renewal happens when our spiritual vision and thinking adjusts to the mind of God, which is designed to have a transforming effect upon our lives. It is the need to transform our will to the will of God. As Jerry Bridges says in his book The Pursuit of Holiness: “…it is the will that ultimately makes each individual choice of whether we will sin or obey. It is the will that chooses to yield to temptation, or to say no. Our wills, then, ultimately determine…whether we will be holy or unholy in our character and conduct.” (The Pursuit of Holiness, by Jerry Bridges, p. 125)
Our mind is the place of reflective consciousness, making up the faculties of perception and understanding, and the place where a new nature can be born.
Illustration: “New Medical Student,” Amusing Grace, p. 16, #29- There is a story of a new medical student who was having trouble fitting in at the hospital where he was assigned to the maternity ward. But he actually enjoyed the maternity ward more than the other wards. One doctor asked him why. He responded: “When I worked in surgery, I was sure I was suffering from brain tumors and appendicitis. Then I switched to the cardiac unit and began to have chest pains. Finally, they assigned me to the psychiatric ward, where I was sure that I was losing my mind. Now that I work in maternity, I’m feeling just fine.”
Our mind is powerful, and can lead us in many directions, most not good. We must have a mindset that focuses on God and the things of God, not the things of this world or the things of Satan. So it is the word of God that can truly direct and guide us to the right places. Once our mindset gets focused on God’s word, a transformation takes place. The Greek word for transformation is metamorphoo and means to “change into another form, to undergo a complete change which, under the power of God, will find expression in character and conduct; an inward change.”

b. Gain wisdom, understanding and discretion- King Solomon told us that wisdom, understanding, and discretion will guard us from the evil way. These are qualities of the mind. Proverbs 2:6 tells us: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” It is from the Lord that we will gain wisdom, understanding, and discretion, but to get these from the Lord, we must seek the Lord with all of our minds. We must choose to immerse our minds into the things of God, into the Word of God.
So we renew our minds in God, and in doing so, we come to know what God’s will is for us; for this world we live in. We can transform our minds into what God would have for us by dwelling on the Lord.
For Example: (1)There are times in our lives when we dwell on our past failures, or when we feel discouraged or depressed, or when we feel doubt. How do you transform your mind in these times? You encourage yourself in the Lord. You remember how much God loves you, you remember how Peter was forgiven by Jesus even though he denied him three times, you remember how God has given you special gifts, and you focus on how you were carefully and wonderfully created in God’s image!
OR (2) Sometimes you might be in a confused state. What do you do then? You seek to be in tune with God. As 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”/ Because we have accepted Christ, we have full access to Christ, and we can know the mind of Christ. But to know Christ’s mind we must seek Him intently, because there are too many forces in the world that can draw us away from the mind of Christ.
When our minds are renewed in this way, transformation takes place!

II. Renewing of our Body- (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

a. The body as a temple- Along with the renewing of our minds, we need to seek to renew our body as well. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and the instrument through which the Holy Spirit works. So Paul urges us to offer our bodies to God; offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. The word sacrifice here comes from the Greek word thusia, which means “the continual act of offering.” We are called to continually offer our bodies to God so that we might honor God with our bodies; honor God in our behavior. This needs to be a daily event (sometimes even a minute-by-minute event).
We get our example of how to act in our bodies by looking at the life of Jesus Christ. One of the reasons God came to us in human form, in Jesus Christ, was to show us how we are to live; to give us the ultimate example. The body is a vehicle in operation, whose only purpose should be to do the will of God. But all too often we don’t seek to do God’s will in our bodies because we haven’t renewed our mind. As we make strides forward in renewing our minds, as we talked about in the first point, we then can begin to renew our bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us that because the Holy Spirit resides in our bodies, we are then to understand that… “you are not your own, for you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”

b. Holy and acceptable to God- Jesus died on the cross so that through Christ we could have power over temptation and sin. By dying for us, Jesus paid the price and purchased us. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are accepting the fact that we are not our own, but we belong to Christ. Since we belong to Christ, we then choose to humble ourselves to follow Christ. This is always the best way to live!
As we live this way we will indeed be holy and acceptable to God. We will be able to serve God, and worship God, and please God, and honor God and live for God.
Example- “He Who Loses His Life,” Illus. Unlimited, p. 445, #6. There is a story of a man named Sadhu Sundar Singh who was traveling with a companion one day through a high pass in the Himalayan Mountains. At one point they came across a body lying in the snow. Sundar Singh wanted to stop and help the man, but his companion did not, saying, “We shall lose our lives if we burden ourselves with him.” Sundar Singh was adamant about helping this man, and so his companion bade him farewell. Sundar Singh lifted the frozen man onto his back and with great exertion continued on his journey. Gradually the heat from Sundar Singh’s body began to warm up the frozen man, and in time the man was revived and walking side by side with Sundar Singh.
Many people believe that taking on Christ will actually be a burden to their life. But the truth is, Christ begins to warm us up to real life, and soon we have renewed our bodies and find that we are walking side by side with Christ, and we are living the way God created us to live!

III. Renewing of our Nature- (2 Corinthians 4:16, 5:17; Romans 7:14-15, 8:6)

a. Rejoice in life- So we renew our minds, and we renew our bodies, and in doing
this we come to have a new nature. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, behold the new has come.”
Example- Peanuts Comic Strip (The Gospel According to Peanuts, by Robert L. Short, p. 97-98)- In a peanuts comic strip we see Snoopy bouncing around. In the background Lucy is shouting at Snoopy: “Floods, fire, and famine. Doom, defeat, and despair.” She pauses for a moment…..sighs….and then says to Charlie Brown: “Nothing seems to disturb him!”
A new nature means to rejoice in life, and not let the frustrations of life get you down or let the evil of life get to you. Like Snoopy, you keep moving with joy in the midst of all that life will brings you.
To be a new creation in Christ, to have a new nature, we have to let the old-self die. There are some things in your life that God doesn’t want there. Right? You have to begin to let go of these things. You have to live in the Spirit, not in the flesh. How do you do this? You let the Holy Spirit live in you, guide you, teach you, and empower you to be new. And you have to remind yourself of this need each day.
POEM- TWO BOXES
I have in my hands two boxes which God gave me to hold
He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black, And all your joys in the gold."
I heeded His words, and in the two boxes. Both my joys and sorrows I stored.
But though the gold became heavier each day The black was as light as before.
With curiosity, I opened the black I wanted to find out why.
And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole by which my sorrows had fallen out.
I showed the hole to God, and mused aloud, "I wonder where my sorrows could be."
He smiled a gentle smile at me. "My child, they're all here with me."
I asked, "God, why give me the boxes, Why the gold, and the black with the hole?"
"My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings, The black is for you to let go."

b. New desires- It is also about letting the Holy Spirit give you new desires. As
Romans 8:6 says, “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” So, the old way of worldly thinking is to be put away, and a new spiritual mindset is to be received; which is of life and peace. And yet, there is still a dilemma. Example: In Romans chapter 7, we see the apostle Paul dealing with this dilemma. Verses 14-15- he says, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Can you relate to this? You find yourselves still desiring, still doing things that you know God would not approve of?
Paul goes on to tell us that victory is found in Christ. But even more than that, we can be renewed in Christ daily. As we are told in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” The key is to keep seeking God daily, and God will renew your spirit and your mind, which will keep you seeking to live in this new way of life each day. You will have the right perspective, and the right motivation, and the energy and strength to do it.
In time you will find that what you desire to do will change, and that you will indeed desire to separate from the ways of this world, and more and more you will be seeking to do the will of God.
1 John 2:15 challenges us: “Do not love the world or the things in the world…” and also
Ps. 37:4 encourages us: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Conclusion:
The key to all of this is that we were given life to glorify God; to honor God with our lives. But we cannot do that on our own. To do this we must start with renewing our minds; get the things of God into our mind! I cannot stress this enough. Second, we need to begin to make decisions that will bless God with our actions. Pray to God for strength, and seek God for wisdom. We need to draw on God’s power and unlimited resources. When we do this, we will walk in a way that is pleasing to God. And lastly, we need to seek to delight in the Lord so that our very nature itself will be new.
There are three keys for knowing God’s will: A transformed mind, a yielded body, and a separated life. When we try to depend upon God, we will experience spiritual growth and produce good fruit. We will be in control of our minds, because God is in control of our minds! Satan is deceptive. He will seek to pull you away from God in ways that you aren’t even aware of. Don’t leave this to chance. Let God be in control of your mind. Amen.