- 6/3/2025
The Battle of the mind 1 Billy Graham Sermon
#Jesus #Christ #BillyGraham #Gospel
Billy Graham's sermon titled "The Battle of the Mind" delves into the profound spiritual conflict that occurs within our thoughts. He emphasizes that our minds are battlegrounds where the forces of good and evil vie for control. Drawing from scriptures like Romans 12:2, Graham urges believers to renew their minds and resist conforming to worldly patterns, highlighting the importance of aligning our thoughts with God's will.
In this sermon, Graham discusses how the mind can be influenced by various factors, leading to spiritual struggles. He underscores the necessity of vigilance and the power of scripture in overcoming negative thought patterns. By focusing on Christ and embracing a renewed mindset, believers can navigate the challenges posed by this internal battle.
#Jesus #Christ #BillyGraham #Gospel
Billy Graham's sermon titled "The Battle of the Mind" delves into the profound spiritual conflict that occurs within our thoughts. He emphasizes that our minds are battlegrounds where the forces of good and evil vie for control. Drawing from scriptures like Romans 12:2, Graham urges believers to renew their minds and resist conforming to worldly patterns, highlighting the importance of aligning our thoughts with God's will.
In this sermon, Graham discusses how the mind can be influenced by various factors, leading to spiritual struggles. He underscores the necessity of vigilance and the power of scripture in overcoming negative thought patterns. By focusing on Christ and embracing a renewed mindset, believers can navigate the challenges posed by this internal battle.
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LearningTranscript
00:00Tonight, I want to talk about the battle for the mind.
00:12There's a great giant battle going on in the world today between the forces of God
00:17and the forces of Satan for the minds of young people as well as older people.
00:22And Jesus was summing up the Ten Commandments of Moses, and in the bottom line he said
00:31that we're to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and all our souls.
00:36Now, three nights ago, I spoke on the battle for your heart.
00:40Tonight, it's the battle for your mind.
00:44In Monday's Syracuse Post Standard, we read of the possibility of scientists
00:48transplanting a healthy brain into the head of someone with a malfunctioning mind.
00:57I'd like to be in on that.
00:59The older I get, I'm beginning to believe my mind isn't malfunctioning
01:03because I can't remember certain things that I ought to be remembering.
01:10Not too many.
01:13Yet.
01:13But I want you to turn with me to the 10th chapter of 2 Corinthians.
01:21The 10th chapter of 2 Corinthians and these words.
01:28Beginning with the third verse.
01:31For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.
01:35In other words, we are engaged in a warfare.
01:38If you're a Christian, you are engaged in a warfare.
01:42Not a playground, not a basketball court, not a football stadium.
01:49But you're engaged in a battlefield.
01:54For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, they're not carnal,
01:59but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
02:03The Apostle Paul said, I'm going to use some weapons that will be new to you,
02:09but they're going to pull down the devil's strongholds.
02:13And these are spiritual weapons.
02:16The Word of God and prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit.
02:20Then he said, we're casting down imaginations and every high thing
02:24that exalted itself against the knowledge of God
02:27and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
02:33A person who is living in the Spirit,
02:35every thought that he has should be in obedience
02:38to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
02:42I have seen in Paris
02:44that great stature that Rodine built.
02:49It's called the thinker.
02:52Now back of all inventions and all wars and all books
02:56is the power of thought.
02:59That's what this university is all about.
03:02It's not only a place where you produce great sporting teams,
03:05but it's a place where people are taught to think.
03:09And they're taught the academic side of the university
03:14is the primary part of the university.
03:16Now thoughts are powerful to harm us
03:20and powerful to help us.
03:22The Bible says, as a person thinketh, so is it.
03:26How do you think?
03:28What goes through your mind?
03:30What do you think about when you're alone?
03:33Someone has said plain living and high thinking are no more.
03:38One of the most important things in our lives
03:41is who's going to control our minds?
03:43Proverbs 16, 32 says,
03:47He that ruleth his mind is greater than he that taketh a city.
03:53Means to rule the thought of your mind.
03:57You spend a great deal of time alone.
04:00Many of you do.
04:02So your mind is your only companion.
04:06What do you think about?
04:07What do you talk to your mind about?
04:08Well, that's your only companion is your mind for many of you.
04:15Isaiah the prophet said,
04:16Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
04:18whose mind is stayed on thee.
04:22Do you keep your mind on Christ?
04:23And if you get your mind off Christ
04:26and you get it on some things you shouldn't be thinking about,
04:29do you pray, Lord, forgive me
04:30and help me to get my mind back on Christ?
04:32I do many times.
04:37Now the Bible says, first of all,
04:39that the mind, your mind,
04:41is at enmity against God.
04:44Your mind does not want to do anything about God to start with.
04:49In Romans 8, 7 it says,
04:51The carnal mind or the fleshly mind
04:53is enmity against God
04:55for it is not subject to the law of God.
04:58Neither indeed can be.
04:59The apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians
05:02in the first chapter and said
05:04that until they had come to the world,
05:06come to Christ,
05:08they were alienated and enemies in their mind.
05:13Enemies of God.
05:14Alienated from God.
05:15Separated from God.
05:16In your mind.
05:18And your mind was a part of that decision.
05:22Such a mind will not obey the law of God.
05:25It submits to sin.
05:27It minds the things of the flesh.
05:30The Bible warns against having that kind of carnal,
05:34fleshly mind.
05:35That mind that is dominated by the devil
05:38or by selfishness.
05:42And then,
05:44the mind is not only enmity against God,
05:47but it's also a blinded mind.
05:502 Corinthians 4, 3 says,
05:52In whom the God of this world,
05:53that's the devil,
05:54hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.
05:59He has power.
06:01He has supernatural power to blind your mind.
06:05And you let him.
06:06You have to let him.
06:08And if you let him,
06:09he can blind your minds.
06:11I cannot account for the apparent veil
06:13that hangs over the hearts of some people.
06:16Many people very close to the kingdom of God.
06:19Many people surrounded by a believing family.
06:22I know a young man right now
06:24surrounded by a believing family,
06:26reared in the church,
06:28reared for God.
06:30He heard the blessing said at the table at every meal.
06:35And today he's way out in left field
06:38on drugs,
06:40sex,
06:41all the rest of it.
06:44Blinded
06:45by the God of this world.
06:49They're led captive to the will of Satan.
06:52And many people tell me,
06:53I don't understand.
06:54I've heard this all my life.
06:55I've tried to believe,
06:56but I cannot.
06:58They're blinded.
07:00And the only person that can open your eyes
07:03to the truth
07:06is the Holy Spirit.
07:07And you must ask him to come
07:11and open your eyes supernaturally,
07:14which he will do tonight
07:15before you leave here,
07:17if you will allow him.
07:19Yes, your mind is at enmity with God.
07:21Your mind is blinded.
07:23But then there's the doubtful mind
07:25the Bible talks about.
07:26In Luke 12,
07:27Jesus said,
07:28neither be ye of doubtful mind.
07:31The Bible warns against the double-minded person.
07:35James says a double-minded man
07:37is unstable in all his ways.
07:40And this carries with it
07:41the idea of a person
07:42who wishes to secure both worlds.
07:45You want one foot in heaven
07:47and one foot in the pleasures of this life.
07:51And you cannot.
07:54You've got to go one way or the other.
07:57So there are many of you
07:58that are torn between
07:59your sinful pleasures and appetites
08:02and your desire for heaven.
08:05And you know that you can't have both.
08:08And you've got to make a choice.
08:09Jesus said there are two roads in life.
08:11There's the broad road
08:12that leads to destruction.
08:14There's the narrow road
08:15that leads to eternal life.
08:18And there's a narrow gate.
08:20And that gate is the cross.
08:23Yes, we have minds
08:25that are at enmity against God.
08:27We have minds that are blinded
08:29by the devil.
08:30We have doubtful minds.
08:33And then there's the defiled mind.
08:36Paul wrote to Titus of a certain people
08:38who are always liars,
08:40whose minds are defiled and unbelieving.
08:44We have mind-altering drugs today
08:47and medicines and alcohol,
08:49all sorts of things
08:50that change our minds.
08:52Our minds become defiled.
08:54We can live so long
08:58with our imaginations
09:00and our fantasies
09:01that are wrong
09:03and against the teachings of Scripture
09:05that our minds become defiled.
09:08And evil thoughts
09:10are the suicide of the soul.
09:13Now you cannot help
09:14bad thoughts coming from your mind.
09:16I don't want to
09:17give you the wrong impression.
09:19You cannot help bad thoughts
09:22coming from your,
09:23going into your mind.
09:24It's like birds.
09:27You can't keep them
09:28from flying over,
09:29but you don't have to let them
09:30nest in your hair.
09:34And some of us let evil thoughts
09:36nest in our minds.
09:39Thoughts of jealousy.
09:42Thoughts that lead to anger.
09:45Thoughts that lead to
09:46the wrong kind of passions.
09:50When Jesus cast the demons out,
09:53this man was in his right mind.
09:56So we have minds in the Bible
09:58that are at enmity with God.
10:00They're blinded by the devil.
10:03They're doubtful minds
10:04and they're defiled minds.
10:06But you can also have
10:07a renewed mind.
10:10The Bible says in Romans 12 too,
10:13and be not conformed to this world,
10:14but be ye transformed
10:16by the renewing of your mind.
10:20You can be transformed tonight.
10:21You can be changed tonight.
10:23You can have all of your sins
10:24forgiven tonight
10:25because Christ died on the cross
10:27and shed his blood for you.
10:29And it's wonderful to go home tonight
10:31and know that every sin is forgiven.
10:34Not only forgiven,
10:35but you're justified,
10:36just as though you'd never sinned.
10:38And God raised him from the dead
10:41and he's alive,
10:42ready to transform your mind tonight
10:44and transform your body
10:46and transform everything about you.
10:48Your whole lifestyle
10:50will have to change,
10:52but the Holy Spirit will be there
10:53to help you change it.
10:55It doesn't mean that you'll never sin again.
10:57It means that if you do sin,
11:02you'll immediately
11:03be convicted by the Holy Spirit
11:06and you'll confess your sin
11:08and ask God to forgive you
11:09and he will forgive you.
11:14Yes, there's the renewed mind.
11:16Ephesians 4.23 says,
11:18and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
11:20Have you had your mind renewed
11:23and transformed
11:24by repenting and receiving Christ?
11:27Well, you'll say,
11:28well, Billy, you know,
11:28I've been baptized.
11:31I've been confirmed.
11:32I belong to the church.
11:35That's wonderful.
11:37I'm asking you tonight
11:38to reconfirm your confirmation vows.
11:43I'm asking you to reconfirm
11:46those that baptized you
11:48in the words that were said
11:49when you were baptized.
11:50and say, oh God,
11:54I want to follow you
11:58the way it was promised
12:00that I would follow you.
12:04In Philippians 2.5, it says,
12:07let this mind be in you
12:08which was also in Christ Jesus.
12:11We are to have the mind of Christ
12:13by the transforming and renewing
12:17of your mind.
12:17You can change your mind
12:21and Christ will transform it.
12:23That's what repentance really means.
12:24The word repentance means change of mind.
12:27It means that you're going to change lifestyle,
12:31change the direction that you're going.
12:34You're going to say to God,
12:36I'm sorry I'm sorry I've sinned.
12:37I want to be made a new person.
12:41Paul asked the Corinthians,
12:43who hath known the mind of the Lord?
12:47And he answered it himself.
12:48He said, we have the mind of Christ.
12:50When you have the mind of Christ,
12:53you have the mind of the Lord.
12:56We who know Christ
12:58have the mind of Christ.
13:01We who have been saved by his grace
13:03have the mind of Christ.
13:05All of you that have said yes to his call
13:08have the mind of Christ.
13:09Not a perfect mind,
13:11but a mind that's now controlled by Christ
13:14rather than by Satan
13:15and your own sinful nature.
13:20Then the Bible talks about
13:21the spiritually minded people
13:23in Romans 8, 6.
13:25To be spiritually minded
13:26is life and peace.
13:29And 2 Peter 3, 1 says,
13:32he will stir up your pure mind.
13:35Wouldn't you like to have a pure mind?
13:37A spiritual mind,
13:39a transformed mind?
13:42Now when I say mind,
13:43that means your whole life.
13:45Because your mind, in a sense,
13:47controls your life
13:48along with your heart.
13:51You have a body.
13:52Living inside your body
13:54is your spirit, your soul.
13:55That's the part of you
13:56that will live forever.
13:58Your body
13:59will go to the grave.
14:03But you, the real you,
14:04is going to live forever.
14:07And it's all going to be decided
14:09on what you do about Christ.
14:11Have you repented of your sins?
14:14Are you sure of it?
14:14You can do it tonight
14:15by simply saying,
14:18Lord, I've sinned
14:19and I'm sorry
14:20and I'm willing to change
14:21my way of living.
14:23I want you to transform my mind.
14:26I want you to renew my mind
14:27and my whole life.
14:30I want to be spiritually minded.
14:32I want you to stir up some purity
14:36in my mind.
14:37I'm going to ask you
14:39to do that tonight.
14:40We've seen
14:41hundreds and even thousands
14:44of people this week
14:45do something I'm going
14:47to ask you to do.
14:49I think last night
14:50there was something like
14:511300
14:53and the night before
14:54it was 1400
14:54and that's the way it's been
14:56night after night.
14:56I'm going to ask you
14:58to get up out of your seat
14:59and come and stand
14:59in front of the platform
15:00and say,
15:01by coming,
15:03I open my heart to Christ.
15:05I open my mind to Christ.
15:07I want Him to have me.
15:09I'm willing to change
15:11my lifestyle.
15:13Whatever it costs,
15:15I'm willing to pay it
15:16in order to know
15:18that I belong to Christ.
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