Mind Games: Part 2 - Turning The Battle At The Gates
Speaker: Pastor Pierre du Plessis
Read: Genesis 3:3-6; Proverbs 4: 20-23, 23:7; Matthew 13:15; Mark 8:15; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:22-24; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3-4, 2:9-10
From the beginning of time the enemy has attempted to occupy our hearts because he knows that our behavior flows from it. As he did with Eve in Genesis, he seeks to enter our hearts through our ear gates or eye gates. Since he cannot overpower our free will, his ploy is to tempt us by invading our thoughts with deceptive ideas or disordered desires in the hope that we succumb to his temptations. When our ear or eye gates are not guarded, we are subject to entertain his planted thoughts and as they linger, we may be drawn in a direction that could determine the course of our lives.
We must be careful not to open our gates to false doctrine, deceptive lies, unrestrained desires, or to align ourselves with worldly thinking. We must keep the enemy at the gate and keep our hearts protected by taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and evict evasive lies. We cannot allow the enemy to conform us to the patterns of this world, but instead we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds through the Word of God. For it is God’s breath and the only thing that can resist the enemy. As God’s Word is declared, truth displaces the lies of the enemy and recreates hope.
Discussion Questions:
What resonated with you as you listened to this sermon and reviewed it?
It was said that it is easier to turn the battle at the gate than to clear the city of an occupying army. What does this mean to you?
How can we protect our eye gate? What specific things do we need to beware of or guard against?
How can we protect our ear gate? What specific things do we need to beware of or guard against?
Read Genesis 3:3-6. How did Satan enter Eve’s eye and ear gates? What seeds have been sown through your ear or eye gates that have ruined your harvest or brought forth unfavorable results?
It was said that 78% of professing Christians have not touched their Bibles in months, and if you can keep the sword out of their hands, the enemy can invade the city. What does this mean to you?
Why do you think so many Christians, despite understanding its importance, fail to read the Bible in a consistent way?