SundaySermon - Prince - War in the mind

 War in the mind

Our focus on God is often compromised by distraction. Paul in this passage talks of the distraction that we don't even realize the danger.

Verse: 2 Corinthians 11:1‭-‬4

1 I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me. 

2 For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. 

3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. 

4 You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.

Peter was in precarious position but Jesus prayed for him.... that his mind would be strong. 

Eve was in the garden ... until the distraction came through the voice of the serpent. 

There are three different mindsets we must tackle.

  1. Natural mind
  2. Stronghold of the mind
  3. Unbelieving mind

Natural Mind

The natural mind is on things that are hostile to God. We are preoccupied with things that God has already taken care of. But worry, anxiety and sin fills our thoughts

Verse: Romans 8:7-8

7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.

8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

The people of Israel when they set out from Egypt complained even while God was feeding them with manna.

Verse:  Numbers 11:6

But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!”

God in his wisdom provides for our needs. And often we don't realize that we exist because of God's mercy. 

Peter didn't understand God's wisdom. Peter in his natural mind opposed God's plan 

Verse: Matthew 16:21

21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.

22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”

We must shed our natural thinking and accept God's plan. We are living our lives to please God first. We must be spiritually minded

Verse: 1 Corinthians 2:15

Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.

Stronghold of the mind

There are thoughts that we can't get out of our mind. Some of the thoughts that keep coming in again and again, is negative thinking

Verse: 2 Corinthians 10:3‭-‬5

3 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 

4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 

5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

Unbelieving mind

When God is speaking, we outright reject it because of our unbelief.

Verse: Hebrews 3:15

15 Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”

19 So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.

When Jesus was on earth, he did many miracles. However at times, he could not do miracles because of the unbelief of the people. We need to shed our unbelief.

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