The Four
I want to take a moment to remind us of the bigger picture. Our God is a God of relationship. He wants to share His kingdom with us and have us live for His divine purpose – to love Him and to love others.
The Gospel reminds us of four things that we need to know and do to enter a relationship with God:
- God loves me.
- I live apart from God.
- Jesus gave everything for me.
- Will I choose to follow Jesus?
Let’s take a look at The Four in greater detail.
Have you chosen to follow Jesus today?
Introduction
Last week we ended with this statement.
My mind is the battlefield where the war against Satan must be fought and won.
So let’s have a little review from last week.
Back to the Battle
While the focus of this lesson revolves around the spiritual battle and influences, I don’t want you to leave thinking that is the only thing your mind processes. In fact, it is a small percentage.
We get all kinds of information for our brains to process. All your senses: what you hear, what you see, smell, taste and touch. These are all inputs.
These inputs then stimulate thoughts, emotions, and feelings. These are just another layer for us to process. We have questions like: What is happening? What does it mean? What should I do?
Inputs and how we process them is the majority of what is going on under the hood. We are processing plenty of data, and that is how some thoughts from the enemy slip in. Remember, all the serpent had to do was pose a question and make a statement for Eve to run with it (Genesis 3:1-6).
As you can see above our enemy tries to inject thoughts into our minds to trip us up.
As we seek, ask, and knock, God gives us revelation through His still small voice.
Launch An Offensive Attack
The best defense is a good offense. Let me remind you that Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church.
Early Detection
The first step needed to get proactive is early detection.
(8) Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. (9) Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.
– 1 Peter 5:8-9 CSB
The number one reason that Satan has been able to affect our lives is that we fail to recognize his attacks. He is a deceiver and disguises himself to appear like something else. We need a spiritual immune system.
Here is how our physical immune system works. Something foreign comes in and affects your body (you get sick). When the body recognizes its presence and responds. The body then remembers this foreign entity so if you ever run into it again the body responds quickly.
Getting into the Word of God until it gets into us is one way to enhance our spiritual immune system. The other way is to spend time with God in prayer. This isn’t just for your requests, but to learn to hear His voice.
Knowing God’s voice and His Word allows you to identify the devil’s injections of thought. You can then change the channel or cast it out. Don’t allow foreign thinking to enter your heart and mind. Instead, follow God’s advice – Guard your hearts and minds (Proverbs 4:23).
To win the war against Satan, you must be on guard. You must look for the slightest sign of the enemy’s presence. You must pray with both your understanding and in the Spirit. This helps to build you up.
(41) “Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
– Matthew 26:41 CSB
(20) But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
– Jude 1:20 CSB
The time to pray is before you get baited by Satan. His plan is to trip you up and trap you. When you continually watch and pray, the Holy Spirit will reveal the trap so you can avoid it.
Early detection is really the immediate identification of something foreign in your thinking.
Protect Your Mind
(11) Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.
– Ephesians 6:11 CSB
Clothe Your Mind With Truth
Truth is power! Your mind must be so filled with the truth that the moment Satan attacks, you will recognize his lies and deceptions and take authority over him, in the name of Jesus.
Clothe Your Mind With Righteousness
When you’re under attack you need to know that you are clothed in Christ’s righteousness. It is the breastplate of righteousness. When Satan tries to accuse you or tempt you to sin, you will be able to stand firm.
Clothe Your Mind With The Gospel of Peace
Christ’s peace is the thing that will guard your heart and mind against Satan’s attacks.
(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.
– Philippians 4:6-7 CSB
Jesus has given you his peace. When you allow his peace to fill your heart and mind, it will protect you from Satan’s attempts to bring confusion to your mind.
Clothe Your Mind With Faith
It is Christ’s faith within your heart and mind that will quench all the fiery darts of the enemy. Satan will try to bombard your mind with thoughts of lust, greed, temptation, unbelief, fear, anxiety, panic, hatred, and every other imaginable kind of evil.
Fill your heart and mind with God’s faith, that faith becomes a powerful and protective shield. It will prevent those thoughts from entering our minds and completely disband them.
Clothe Your Mind With The Helmet of Salvation
Through the blood of Jesus, you have been redeemed, cleansed, and set free from the power of sin. You must fill your mind with this knowledge. This will enable you to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil.
Clothe Your Mind With The Word of God
When we continually fill our minds with the word of God, we will be prepared for battle. It is the word that reveals sin and exposes Satan’s strategies. It shows us our position of strength. It reminds us of God’s covenant promises and makes clear his will to us.
When our mind is filled with the word of God then we are able to speak the word and defeat every attack of the enemy.
Act – Tear Down Strongholds
The third step in your offensive plan against Satan is to take offensive action. The battle in your mind doesn’t begin until you resist Satan’s attacks.
To win the war against Satan in your mind you must take offensive action against him by constantly being renewed in your mind. Paul told the Ephesians:
(22) to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, (23) to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, (24) and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.
– Ephesians 4:22-24 CSB
To renew your mind you must be filling your mind with the word. It is by the washing of the water of the word that we are cleansed.
(26) to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word.
– Ephesians 5:26 CSB
You must exert spiritual energy to change. Take off your former nature and put on the new nature. Be continually renewed in your mind. To do this you must consistently wash it with the water of the word.
(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.
– Philippians 4:8 CSB
You must consistently resist Satan’s attacks on your mind and cast out the thoughts that he tries to plant there. You must constantly wage spiritual warfare against him. You must steadily put off the carnal nature. You must dependably strip yourself of foolishness, pride, jealousy, anger, haughtiness, and other carnal attitudes.
Do not say that it’s too hard to do these things. If you have that attitude then you will create a self-fulfilling situation. It will be too hard.
You can do it. God is providing you with powerful offensive spiritual weapons with which to fight against Satan’s attacks on your mind.
(4) since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments (5) and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.
– 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 CSB
The battle in your mind against Satan is not a mental battle. It is a spiritual battle. It will not be won by using the power of positive thinking or the power of positive confession.
The battle against Satan must be won through the powerful spiritual weapons that God has given to us.
These weapons are: prayer, fasting, binding and losing, pleading the blood of Jesus, speaking the word, using the name of Jesus, and taking our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.
We are to pull down Satan’s strongholds. We are able to cast down every vain and evil imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We are able to bring every thought into captivity.
We have exposed Satan for who he is. You know that the battle against him must be fought and won in your mind, and you must have an offensive plan to resist him.
Put what you have learned into practice. We are locked in an all-out offensive attack against Satan. Fight and win the war that is taking place in your mind.
Conclusion
Strategies to launch an all-out offensive attack against Satan. Use these to fight and win the war that is taking place in your mind.
1. Detect – watch for the slightest trace of the enemy. The moment that he bombards your mind with thoughts of unbelief, fear, lust, jealousy, hatred, depression, or discouragement, you must recognize that it is from him. Cast it out in the name of Jesus. Refuse to give Satan access to your mind.
2. Protect – you must daily remember to put on the armor of God. Guard your mind and heart. Remember and review the different pieces of your spiritual armor. This armor is not optional. You must have it always covering your heart and mind. This will prevent the enemy from penetrating your mind.
3. Act – Renew your mind daily by filling it with the word of God. Set aside a specific time each day to read the word. Resist Satan’s attacks by constantly putting off the carnal nature. Constantly Remove selfishness, pride, jealousy, and any other ungodly attitudes from your life.
