Having A ‘Right Mind’

Temple Baptist Church - 5-21-2017

Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39

Introduction: 

A.  Mark, chapter 4, is noted for the stilling of the storm by our Lord. 

1.  Thus showing both His power over the natural world and His care for His Children.  A world without God is a world without a right mind! 

2.  I have no doubt that Jesus’ fame preceded Him to the land of the Gadarenes because the maniac of Gadara ran to meet Him and worshipped as soon as He stepped on shore.  How did he know who Jesus was?

B.  In verse 1 of our text, we find the introduction of God to the land of the Gadarenes!  Jesus Christ stepped on shore and immediately made a wonderful difference.  He did something that the people of Gadara had tried to do and failed in every attempt. 

1.  Verse 1.  There can be no “right mind” without the knowledge of God and who He is!  Jesus Christ stepped off the boat!  A godless world is just that, Godless.  No wonder God called the man who says in his heart that there is no God a fool. 

a.  There is a knowledge of God found in nature.  I see God all around me.  The touch of an infinite, all wise God who designed perfect, beautiful, infinite universe that declares His glory.

Romans 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

b.  There is the knowledge of God in Witness.  The maniac of Gadara knew who Jesus was as soon as he saw Him!  He had not only seen but had also heard prior to meeting Christ.

Romans 10:14  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

2. Verses 2-5.  There was a personal confrontation with God!  The maniac met Him. There can be no right mind without recognition and confrontation! 

a.  Verses 2-3.  Without God, the maniac had no answers.  He lived among the dead.  His family, his friends were destroyed by him and could not live around him.  He continually destroyed both his life and everything around him.  His problem was “an unclean spirit.”  The “god of this world” permeated his mind.

b.  Verses 3-4.  A godless world had no solutions to its problems.  They tried to bind him but could not.  They tried to contain him but could not.  The world has tried everything from drugs to incarceration.  They have applied psychology, training, and medication to change the natural ungodliness of the flesh without success.  Our world gets worse as time goes on because the godless have no real and lasting answers. Eventually, then banned him to live among the tombs and in the mountains.

b.  Verse 5.  The maniac’s own mental and physical life were being destroyed.  No relief (day and night), not peace (crying), no true help (cutting himself).

3.  Verses 6-13. 

a.  Verse 6.  The maniac knew who Jesus was.  The maniac ran to Jesus.  The maniac fell at His feet and worshipped.

b. Verses 7-13.  The devils knew who Jesus was.  The Lord commanded the devils to leave the maniac.  The devils obeyed the Lord’s command.

c.  Jesus Christ is the only solution to the world’s sin problem!

4.  Verses 14-15.  Something wonderful happened!  The man who could not be neither tamed nor helped by self or the worldly wisdom of the man got immediate and complete help from the Lord.

a.  Verse 14.  The world fled instead of recognizing what God had done and worshipping.  The wickedness of unbelief causes a different reaction to Christ.  The maniac ran to His feet while the herdsmen fled the scene!  The world flees the Lord.  Not because they do not believe in Him but because they do not want Him to be Lord of their lives.

b.  Verse 15.  What happened to the maniac when he came to Christ that the world saw?

1)  A man clothed!  A man who was once naked and shameful was clothed.  Godliness causes a world to take off their clothes while godliness will cause the believer to put his clothes on.  The world noted a difference in the man once naked and cutting himself.

2)  A man sitting!  They found the once maniac now sitting at the feet of the Lord.  What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart.  They world cannot understand it and marvels at it.  We are here this morning because of the change that only God can make in our lives.

3)  A man in his “right mind.”  I believe the message here is that the world knows what a “right mind” is but does not want one.  A mind without Christ in a “wrong mind.”  A “right mind” makes us mindful of who and what we were before we met the Master and a knowledge of what is truly right or wrong.

5.  Verses 16-20.  The world’s reaction to a “right mind.” 

a.  Rejection!  They saw the miracle that Jesus performed on one who could not be tamed.  They should have been pleased.  They should have marveled.  They should have sought the One who performed such a miraculous feat.

b.  They “prayed” Him to depart.  They wanted nothing to do with Christ because He caused their pigs to drown!  They cared not that Christ spared both the life of the maniac and the people from having to deal with him anymore.  We who are saved are not breaking the laws, being put into the jails, filling up the mental institutions, or being generally disorderly. 

c.  We are clothed; we are in our “right mind” but the world is more interested in their pigs!

Think On These Things

Temple Baptist Church - 10-10-2012
Philippians 4:8

Introduction:

A. Our verse for tonight says to “think” on these things. I want to look at that word “think” for a few minutes. The mind is one of the marvels of creation and is to be differentiated from the brain. The mind is a function of the brain but the brain does so much more than just “think.” The brain:

1. The brain is the “computer” that operates the motor functions of the body.

2. The brain is the “computer” that processes the responses of nerve endings in the body.

3. The brain is the “computer” that controls the involuntary work of the heart, lungs, and other vital organs of the body.

4. The brain is a marvel of God’s creation that is so much more that “gray matter.”

5. The brain is also called the “mind” because it is there that the process of thinking occurs.

B. Mind – a thing framed or to mold into a form – thus the “MIND” is not just “gray matter” but is the capability to frame thoughts. The mind has the ability to reason with logic; to frame emotions and desires; to ponder upon something specific; to store in memory; to forget and recall; to imagine; to have curiosity; etc.

c. The “mind” has three basic functions:

1. Thinking – by which we make sense of the world or of the things that we perceive. It constitutes judging, perceiving, analyzing, clarifying, determining, comparing, and synthesizing.

2. Feeling – by which we understand “how we are doing.” It constitutes happiness, sadness, depression, anxiousness, stress, calmness, anger, worry, excitement, etc.

3. Wanting – by which it motivates us to action. These actions constitute our goals, desires, purposes, agendas, values, and motives.

D. In the mind, our thinking, feeling, and wanting are interwoven.

1. Where there is one, the other two are present as well. These three functions continually interact and influence one another in a dynamic process.

2. Thinking, feeling, and wanting produce “doing.” Our doing is the product of these three things and are controlled by our “heart.”

E. Each of us have an intimate relationship to our minds because the processes of our minds dictate what we desire and do. Because we are made after the image of God, we find biblically that our minds and our hearts are also related.

1. The “heart” of man is not our physical organ but, according to the Bible, it is “who we are.” I often call the heart the “seat of our affection.”

2. The “heart” of man is also made up of the “conscience.” The Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes right from wrong.

3. To the world, the conscience is made up of circumstances and perceived values of an individual and, therefore, varies from person to person according to race, sex, surroundings, religion, place of birth, upbringing, etc. alone. No doubt these things affect the conscience but the Christian perspective goes beyond these things.

4. To the Christian, the conscience also involves divine intervention as God places within man certain innate values.

Romans 2:14-15 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: (15) Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;

F. It should now be clear that everyone lives in a special and intimate relationship to his or her mind—both consciously and unconsciously.

1. The mind and the heart are connected in thought but, at the same time, the mind can work independently from the heart as it can be attacked from the outside or devise wicked thoughts from the inside that we hate.

a) The mind can be subject to satanic attack. Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

b) The mind can be subject to dreams and imaginations. Daniel 2:3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

2. The heart never works independently from the mind. Our affections show forth in our thinking and desires.

a) We think in our hearts - Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

Matthew 9:4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?

b) Our of our hearts, we set forth who and what we are. Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (What we are in our hearts is the real “me!”

G. Thoughts are bold and daring; they are both strong and persistent.

1. Like armed men they force themselves into the mind. They come enticingly; they come insinuatingly; they come threateningly; they come in a thousand ways; they come singly; they come in droves; and they come unceasingly!

2. Therefore, we now know the importance of controlling our minds. Our verse for tonight admonishes us to think “right” things and sets forth the possibility of thinking “wrong” things.

H. Now, the message for tonight is simple:

1. We Must Protect Our Minds - 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

2. We Must Program Our Minds - Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

3. We Must Prioritize Our Minds - Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.