Search
Scripture Reading: Matt. 12:26; Acts 26:18a; Phil. 2:13; Matt. 10:19-20; Eph. 2:2; 4:17-18; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 6:11-12; 2 Cor. 10:4-5; 11:2-3; Rom. 8:6
The Bible reveals that in the universe there are three parties: God, man, and Satan. According to Genesis 2, man was placed before two trees. The tree of life signified God, and the tree of knowledge denoted Satan, the evil one. The revelation of the Bible declares that God’s intention is to come into man and be one with man. Satan, however, got into man before God could do so. Satan took the first step, getting into man not according to God’s way but according to his own evil way. God’s sovereignty is displayed here, for God allowed Satan a certain degree of liberty to do what he wanted with man. However, God did not allow him to do everything he wanted. The book of Job demonstrates this principle. God permitted Satan to do certain things to Job, yet He limited him (1:12; 2:6).
Although God has permitted Satan to damage man, He has never allowed him to enter into the spirit of man, because the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord (Prov. 20:27). God created man in a very specific way. Some people consider man as a kind of animal, but God does not consider man as an animal. None of the birds, fish, or beasts has a spirit. They are animals because they do not have a spirit. We are human beings because we have a spirit. God is Spirit, and we have a spirit. Those who worship God must worship in spirit (John 4:24). Animals never worship God. Have you ever heard of monkeys erecting a temple and worshipping God? Have you ever seen a dog or a cat worshipping God? However, if you study world history from ancient times to the present, you will realize that man has always worshipped God. Perhaps man has not always worshipped properly, but he has always worshipped, because there is a worshipping organ inside of him, his human spirit. The animals have some things in common with man, but man has something that no animals have. He has a human spirit. Therefore, we are not animals; we are human beings. The difference between animals and human beings is this one thing — only man has a human spirit.
Throughout the centuries, Satan in his subtlety has covered this matter of the human spirit. Few Christians speak about the human spirit. Some even say that the human spirit is the same as the human soul. Although dogs and cats have a soul, they do not have a spirit. Our human spirit is the specific organ for worshipping God. So our spirit is both the lamp of the Lord and the sanctuary of God. According to Hebrews 4:12-16, our spirit is the Holy of Holies. Our spirit is the lamp of the Lord, and it is the Holy of Holies.
God allowed Satan to touch man. This is God’s wisdom. God even permitted Satan to enter into man but not to go so far as to enter man’s spirit. Satan was permitted to deaden and darken man’s spirit but never to enter into it. However, Satan came into man’s physical body. This is why such chapters as Romans 7 tell us that sin and all its lusts are in the members of our body. Sin and its lusts are in the members of our body because our body is the dwelling place of Satan. Satan dwells in our physical body as sin personified (vv. 17, 20). Only a living person can dwell somewhere. From his base in our physical body, Satan wants to take over our soul, to place our soul under his absolute control. But, Hallelujah! Not one verse in the whole Bible tells us that our spirit is under Satan’s control. When you preach the gospel to people, you should touch their spirit; you should touch their conscience, which is the main part of their spirit. In your preaching, never argue with people. The more you argue, the more they will have something to say in response and the more their minds will be stirred up. When you argue with people, you strengthen their soul. It is impossible to convince sinners by arguing with them. Rather, by the grace and power of God, touch their conscience. Their conscience is a part of their spirit, and when you touch their conscience, their spirit will be moved. I have seen many cases of people who continued to argue with God in their mind but condemned themselves in their conscience. In their mind they argued with God, but in their spirit they repented before God. Whenever you are trying to help other people, never touch their mentality, because the human mind is the stronghold of Satan. The generals in an army know not to strike the enemy’s strong point in a battle. They always attack the weak point. Do not touch a person’s mind. If you touch his mind, the whole kingdom of Satan will rise up against you.
Suppose a husband and wife begin to argue and to exchange bitter words. Then afterward, the wife comes to you for help in solving their problems. It is not easy to listen to a sister talk about her husband without being stirred up in your mind or trapped by Satan. However, if you know the subtlety of the enemy, you would not approach the brother by touching his mind. You would not fight against the stronghold. You would take another way. You would turn to another side and touch a weak point. Do not touch the problem with his wife. Do not talk about his wife at all, because the problem with his wife is fully occupying his mind and filling his thoughts. The way to deal with him is to touch his spirit, to touch his conscience. Do not talk about his wife; talk about loving the Lord. His mind is filled with thoughts of his wife, and this is a very touchy, explosive issue. Talk to him about the Lord. Touch his spirit and his conscience. After ten minutes he may be able to pray. The more you pray with him, the more his spirit will be touched. Eventually, the Lord will have a way to come out of his spirit and spread into his mind. Then he will repent and confess, even weeping before the Lord about the way he has dealt with his wife.
Satan has come into our body, and from our body he exercises his control over our soul. Thus, Satan works from the outside in. The Lord works in the opposite direction, from the inside out. One day He came into our spirit, the center, the hub, of our being, making it His dwelling place (Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22; 1 Cor. 6:17). From this dwelling place in our spirit, He works outward toward the soul. Satan works in our body toward our soul; the Lord works from our spirit toward our soul.
Now we can see that all three parties — God, man, and Satan — are in man. In the garden of Eden, Adam had two choices facing him: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the church today, the tree of knowledge is in our body, and the tree of life is in our spirit. The two sources are now within us. We must realize that we are complicated persons, having three parties within us. We know that we have three parts to our being — the spirit, the soul, and the body. Do you realize that in your body, that is, your flesh, Satan has made his abode? And do you realize that in your spirit the Lord has made His dwelling place? Between the body and the spirit is the soul, the self. You yourself dwell in your soul. Therefore, Satan dwells in your body, the Lord Jesus dwells in your spirit, and you dwell in your soul. This makes for a very complicated situation! Before you were saved, you were not that complicated; you were rather simple because you continually went along with Satan. However, a controversy began the day you believed in the Lord Jesus. Now there is a constant struggle because within you there are three dwellers: Satan in your body, Christ in your spirit, and you yourself in your soul. Perhaps even today you have had some difficulty because of this complicated situation within you.
Since Satan has come into us and since the Lord Jesus has also come into us, it is possible for us to be in three kingdoms. If we live in our soul, we are certainly in the human kingdom. If we live according to the flesh, we become a part of the satanic kingdom. If we walk in the spirit and live according to the spirit, we are in the kingdom of God. However, it is very difficult for anyone to be in the human kingdom. The human kingdom in our soul has become very weak and fragile. With even a little smiting, it is broken and subdued. Thus, whenever we try to be human, we merely succeed in being devilish. Whenever we attempt to be good, we discover that we are bad. Whenever we try to be patient or kind and not to lose our temper, we inevitably lose our temper. Why is this? The evil one will not allow us to be a proper human being. Satan will always try to subdue us and have us under his control. It is difficult for the human kingdom to be independent. At best the human kingdom is a small colony in the satanic kingdom. The human kingdom is always under the control of the satanic kingdom. Practically speaking, there are actually only two kingdoms on the earth today: the kingdom of Satan, including the subdued human kingdom, and the kingdom of God.
The battlefield of these two kingdoms is our mind. The kingdom of Satan fights against the kingdom of God in the battlefield of our mind. The spiritual warfare between God and Satan is altogether in our mind. Although the Lord Jesus is now in our spirit, He has a big problem. He cannot easily penetrate our mind. Our mind is a stronghold, and it is hard for the Lord Jesus to come into it. Second Corinthians 10:4-5 reveals that there are strongholds within us, which are our rebellious thoughts belonging to our reprobate mind. Paul says that the spiritual warfare is simply to overthrow the thoughts, the reasonings in our mind. To overthrow the reasonings means to subdue the mind, to take over the mind. Many Christians today are under the control of Satan in their mind. The strongholds consist of the concepts, ideas, opinions, judgments, even the very way of thinking — all of which are elements in the mind. Many times people say, “I don’t agree with that!” This simply means that they are clinging to something in their mind.
I like the word Paul used in 2 Corinthians 11:3. Paul said that he was very concerned for the Corinthians lest their thoughts be corrupted from the simplicity toward Christ. Although I have been in the Lord’s work for many years, I have yet to meet a person who is truly simple. Yet I would say that the most blessed persons are simple people — very simple and single. The word simplicity may also be translated into “singleness.” Most Christians today are not simple; they are very complicated because they have collected all kinds of doctrines. They think that the more doctrines they have, the better, but actually, the more doctrines they have, the more complicated they become.
The word corrupted here is very meaningful. Part of verse 3 can also be translated in this way: “that your minds would be corrupted by being seduced from the simplicity.” Whenever our thoughts are seduced from the simplicity and purity toward Christ, our mind will be corrupted. It is easy to fill people with teaching, but it is a difficult task to empty them of their teaching. It is easy to load people with teaching, but once the teaching has entered into them, it is exceedingly hard for anyone to unload it. However, as long as we keep the seducing teachings in our mind, our mind will be corrupted. For us to experience the riches of Christ and to enjoy Him, we all need to be simple. If we are not simple, we will be in our seduced and corrupted mentality. This is a dreadful condition. The spiritual warfare today is mainly to capture the mind, to cast down the strongholds in the mind. Spiritual warfare is primarily a matter of fighting the enemy in our mind.
In Matthew 12:29 the Lord Jesus said that unless the strong man is bound, no one can enter his house and plunder his goods. If we are going to plunder his goods, even all his house, we must first bind the strong man. The strong man is Satan, and Satan is in our physical body, endeavoring to control our mind. We need to bind Satan, the strong man, in the human mind. Then we can plunder his goods.
All the brothers who bear responsibility in the churches must realize that most of the problems in the churches come from the brothers’ and sisters’ minds. According to the Bible, the church that had the most problems was the church at Corinth, and the main reason for the problems was the dissenting opinions. Opinions, of course, are problems in the mind. Therefore, Paul wrote that they needed to be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion (1 Cor. 1:10). Although all the saints need to be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion, the leading brothers must also fight the battle in prayer. They must not argue with people but pray specifically, “Lord, bind the strong man. Bind the strong man in the dissenting thoughts of the dear saints! O Lord, we can do nothing! We ask You to bind the strong man!” The thoughts of the sisters are touchy, and the thoughts of the brothers are explosive. If you touch the thoughts, you will suffer. The best way is not to touch the thoughts but to touch the throne of authority and bind the strong man. Once the strong man has been bound, you can plunder his goods. Eventually, you will see that all the dear brothers and sisters will be helped one by one. They will not be helped by your arguing or convincing but by the binding of the strong man. When a problem arises in the church, never touch the thoughts. Always touch the throne, asking the Lord to bind the strong man. This is a matter of the kingdom — the kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of God. The mind is the battlefield, and we all must fight the battle to capture the mind.
Second Corinthians 4:4 says that the god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers. Satan’s tactic is to constantly blind people’s thoughts. We have to pray to bind the strong man, to bind the god of this age. Ephesians 4:17-18 speaks of the “vanity of their mind.” The worldly people walk in the vanity of their mind. Everything in their mind is vain. Verse 18 uses another term, darkened in their understanding. The understanding of the worldly people has been darkened. Also, there is a third term, the hardness of their heart. In these two verses we see the vanity of the mind, the darkened understanding, and the hardness of the heart. Suppose your mind was filled with vanity, your understanding was darkened, and your heart was hardened. What a pitiful person you would be! Not only are the worldly people like this today, but also many Christians are exactly the same way. Their mind has been filled with vanity, their understanding has been fully darkened, and their heart has been totally hardened. What shall we do about this? We must pray to bind the strong man, and then we can plunder all his goods. The goods are God’s goods, but they have been usurped by the enemy. Now we must rescue them for the kingdom by binding the strong man.
We are in the Lord’s recovery. The Lord’s recovery is radically different from today’s Christianity. Regardless of how careful we are and how properly we behave ourselves, we can never avoid controversy. What shall we do? Never argue, for argument never avails. In the Lord’s recovery, our best course of action is to bind the strong man by prayer. If we will spend more time before the throne touching the highest authority, appealing to the highest authority, and asking the Lord to bind the strong man, we will certainly see something happen.
Today the controversy between the Lord’s recovery and Christianity is absolutely related to the mind. Many people cling to their doctrines. It was the same during the time of the Lord Jesus. If you reflect upon the situation that the Lord Jesus faced while He was on the earth as recorded in the four Gospels, you will see that there was a continual controversy, a battling, between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers. All those people had acquired many doctrines and teachings, and they fought against the Lord Jesus with the Scriptures. There was a constant warfare between the Lord Jesus and all the religious people. In the four Gospels it is difficult to find a record of any Gentiles fighting against the Lord Jesus. Those who fought against Him were the people who held to their Bible knowledge. The battle was in their mind. Today the controversy between the Lord’s recovery and Christianity is the same. If we stay in the realm of knowledge, we can accomplish nothing. Not one of the scribes, lawyers, or Pharisees was convinced by the Lord’s arguments. The more we argue, the more we strengthen the stronghold of Satan and the satanic kingdom, which is in the human mind.
However, we do have a way: binding the strong man by exercising our spirit. We must have the constant realization and awareness that Satan is in the human body controlling the human mind, and the Lord Jesus is in the human spirit, waiting for an opportunity to spread Himself into all the inward parts of the human soul. We must always cooperate with the Lord Jesus by exercising our spirit. The best way to exercise our spirit is to forget our thoughts and simply call, “O Lord Jesus!” Calling, “O Lord Jesus” will simplify you. The more you call on the Lord in this way, the more simple you will become. You will be simple, but you will have a strong spirit. Then you will no longer like to argue. When you touch the human mind, you touch the stronghold of Satan. If you touch that stronghold, you will suffer. Instead, turn to the spirit. When you turn to the spirit, Satan will tremble.
In Matthew 10:19 (KJV), the Lord Jesus said, “Take no thought.” These words take no thought are very meaningful. In the early morning we are tempted to take thought. But at that time, take no thought. Take no thought about the leading brothers. Take no thought about the sisters or about your roommate or about your wife. The more you take thought about your wife, the more you may condemn her. Take no thought about your husband. On all occasions and in every circumstance, take no thought, but cooperate with the Spirit. If the worldly people were to take no thought, they would have nothing to speak because they do not have the Spirit of the Father, but we do have Him. Therefore, we should take no thought and simply follow the Spirit. If you continue to take thought about your wife, after three months you may have many problems. The same is true about the wives taking thought of their husbands. Take no thought about your husband, but go along with the Spirit. Then, day after day you will say, “Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!” We have something better than our own thoughts. We have something more prevailing, something that is high and rich and living — the Triune God. The Spirit of the Father is the application of the Triune God. We have the Triune God in our spirit. This is the kingdom. When you take no thought, Satan stops. When you cooperate with the Spirit, Satan trembles. Then you have victory. To take no thought and to go along with the Spirit is the kingdom of God. When the Lord cast out demons by the Spirit of God, it meant that the kingdom of God had come. As long as you cooperate with the Spirit, you are in the kingdom.
We are all familiar with Romans 8:6. To set the mind on the flesh is death. Death is a matter of the satanic kingdom. To set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. These are matters of the kingdom of God. If we set our mind on the spirit, we are in the kingdom of God. But when we set our mind on the flesh, we are in the kingdom of Satan. Whether we remain in the kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of God depends absolutely on where we set our mind. To set our mind on the flesh is to be in the kingdom of Satan; to set our mind on the spirit is to be in the kingdom of God. If we set our mind on the flesh, all the demons will rise up and swarm. However, if we set our mind on the spirit, the demons will be gone. To set the mind on the spirit really casts out the demons. “If I, by the Spirit of God, cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28). The practicality of the kingdom life is simply to set our mind on the spirit and to go along with the indwelling Spirit. We have a way to live the kingdom life. The practicality of the kingdom life is in the spirit. When we live the kingdom life, we take no thought, and we set our mind on the spirit.
