Duality of Mind

 In this section we will consider the testing of Jesus Christ at the beginning of his ministry on the earth to see if we can learn something from him. John the Baptist have been Baptizing people in the Jordan River and this day Jesus appeared and asked him to Baptize him. After saying that Jesus should be Baptizing him he finally agreed, and as he came up out of the water John saw a Dove, the symbol of the holy Spirit coming down and alighting upon him and remaining on him. This was the sign that he had been given to Identify the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. But we are told that the SPIRIT LED JESUS INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TESTED OF THE DEVIL. This was not the Devil getting hold of Jesus in an attempt to destroy him. NO this whole episode is instigated by the Spirit of the LORD. We need to identify first of all who or what is this “Devil?” The Greek word for “Devil” is diabolos {dee-ab'-ol-os} and means, prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely. The word slander means, “False or malicious statements about someone or defamation of character.” You will notice that the word “Devil” does not appear in the Old Testament at all, but begins in the New Testament in Matthew 4:1, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”

Why is this occasion used to introduce this “Devil” into the scriptures? This is an important question and here is the answer. Jesus Christ was the first man to come down out of the Spirit world since Adam in the beginning. John 3:13, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” Then who is this man who is a visitor to this world from that “Other World,” the invisible realm of spirit. This man is GOD’S ORIGINAL MAN who was spoken into existence in Gen 1:26 who is Christ Jesus, and IN HIM was CREATED all of mankind, and from him we all have come. Eph 2:10. “For we are his workmanship, (speaking of our Body), but we were created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” The Truth is that we “ALL” had our origin in that OTHER WORLD, because GOD IS OUR FATHER as Jesus taught us in Matt 23:9. “Call no man your Father on this earth, because there is only ONE FATHER and he is in that other world we call heaven.” We were created in God’s Likeness and Image that is, with his NATURE and CHARACTER, allowing us to express God in our daily life. God is spirit therefore MAN also is spirit, living in a body, and that spirit belongs to the realm of spirit, which is right here now with us but in another dimension which to our natural eyes is invisible. Heaven, Gk (ouranos {oo-ran-os'} simply means “Above,” but not so much in vertical height, but SUPERIOR and of a higher quality.

Eve was deceived by the SERPENT in the Garden of Eden and was enticed to eat of the forbidden tree and so they lost their place in the Garden. They were sent out into the world with the knowledge of good and evil, and from that time EVIL has escalated in the world from Cain who was a murderer, until God said in Genesis 6:13, “The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and I will destroy them with the earth.” God’s original man was promised by the Prophet Isaiah in Isa 9:6. He was born in Bethlehem to a virgin having no earthly Father but declared to be the SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD EL-ELYON. After 4000 years of human history man had forgotten who he is, so God sent his ORIGINAL MAN born of a woman just to remind us who we are, and to demonstrate how we were intended to function. At the age of 12 he knew his true identity calling God his Father, but little is recorded of his developing years until he reached the age of 30, when he appears at the Jordan River where John the Baptist was baptizing people. He asks John to Baptize him but John knew who he was, and so remonstrated with him that he should be doing the baptizing instead of John. But he insisted and John baptized him, and as he came up out of the water John saw a DOVE, the symbol of the Holy Spirit alighting upon him and remaining there. John 1:33 And John said, “I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom you will see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, same is he which will baptize with the Holy Ghost.” John said he now was sure that this is the SON OF GOD.

Matthew declares that Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Matt 4:1. So we need to understand what this is all about especially as this is the first time in the scriptures that the word “devil” is used. I want you to see the connection here between Adam in the Garden of Eden where their every need was supplied, and Jesus here in the wilderness with nothing. Adam, through Eve was confronted with the serpent who seduced her, causing her to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge and then giving the fruit to Adam, which changed their whole life and destroyed their relationship with God who now became their enemy. Now we have God’s original man coming to the earth to redeem all mankind and repair the damage the serpent caused. So he must pass the test where Adam failed if he is to be the redeemer. The “Serpent” here is called the “Devil,” who is the slanderer and the false accuser. Remember that Satan is also said to be the “ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN.” To be the redeemer he must be able to with-stand this test as a MAN, and defeat this devil in his attempt to destroy his integrity in his relationship with God. The Serpent in the Garden of Eden represents the natural or Carnal MIND OF MAN that Paul tells us is set as enmity against God, and has no ability to know or understand spiritual things. The word CARNAL is from the Greek word, “Sarkikos” sar-kee-kos' and means having the nature of flesh, i.e. under the control of the animal appetites, and governed by mere human nature not by the Spirit of God. That is the “Mind” of EVE the LIVING SOUL that has been deceived by the serpent and represents the intellectual mind programmed by our parents and our educators. If this is the mind that Jesus is using in this contest then he will fail just like Adam did. So the contest begins, and the first 40 days and nights he is fasting so the tempter waits until the fasting is over and he knows that Jesus is very hungry. So the test begins, “If you are the Son of God then command these stones be made bread.” This was a legitimate request because Jesus was very hungry having no food, so who could judge him for doing what was in his power to do. But Jesus knew the word by which he was to live. Deuteronomy 8:3 “And he humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that IS PROCEEDING out of the mouth of the LORD, doth man live.”

So Jesus would not respond to the voice of the tempter even though he needed food, but he did not have to prove to himself or others that he is the Son of God. He understood that LIFE for us does not flow from eating physical food, (Bread), but from obedience to the voice of the Father. Jesus wins a decisive victory over this “Devil” which is nothing more that the natural or Carnal MIND that is in every man. Remember Jesus himself said, Matthew 15:18, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the HEART, and they (THESE THOUGHTS) defile the man.. For out of the heart proceed EVIL THOUGHTS, (that produce) murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies, and giving way to these thoughts is what defiles a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defiles not a man.” Jesus was not fighting some creature with supernatural powers outside himself, as religion teaches us. For God does not have any enemies, because if he did, HE WOULD NOT BE GOD. Can you see that there is no EXTERNAL ENTITY called the DEVIL, for what the “Devil” is accused of causing in man, actually originates not outside a man but comes FROM WITHIN. Adam, through Eve responded to the VOICE she heard as a thought in her “DECEIVED MIND,” disregarding what she knew God said, and obeyed the voice of the SERPENT that represented her carnal or soulish MIND. That MIND is ruling and reigning in mankind today because Christians have been taught that EVIL is a real entity moving around the world causing people to be wicked and do ungodly things. It is time to recognize evil is resident within the man the seat of which is in the Natural or Carnal MIND.

Jesus is facing the same situation that Adam faced in the Garden, but where Adam brought death on all men Paul declares, “IN CHRIST SHALL ALL BE MADE ALIVE. So in this testing time for Jesus Christ the future of mankind is in the balance, so this is most important for us to understand. Having failed on the first attempt to deceive him, the “Devil” takes him up into the Holy City and seats him on a pinnacle of the Temple, and says, “If you are the Son of God cast yourself down because it is written, He shall give the angels charge over you, and in their hands they will lift you up lest at any time you might dash your foot against a stone.” As we read these things we must allow the Spirit to show us the truth being revealed here. This “Devil” did not physically pick up Jesus and transport him to the roof of the Temple in Jerusalem. The whole point of this exercise is again to see if the MIND of Jesus could be deceived as was the mind of EVE, in the Garden. The scriptures declare, “We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities (want of strength, weakness of the body, with its natural weakness and frailty, feebleness of health or sickness and of the soul) but was in all points tempted LIKE AS WE ARE, yet without sin.” Heb 4:15. We need to understand that no man on this earth has been tested in any way beyond what Jesus Christ was tested.

What does this particular testing represent for us today, because every man will face the same issues but not perhaps in the same setting. The issue here in this test is to see if we believe in our heart that God is all that he says he is, and will do exactly what he has promised. If we have to actually put God to the test to PROVE that he is who he says he is, and will do what he says he will do, then that is the proof that we do not really trust him. The Pentecostals had a practice in years gone by whereby they would handle and walk among venomous snakes to prove they were filled with the spirit and so could do what the Bible says in Psalm 91:13 “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon (serpent) shalt thou trample under feet Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.” Of course some died but for the Pentecostal people, that was proof to the group that they were not true believers. If that is what God intended us to do then Jesus should have jumped off the Temple roof and let the Angels catch him and place him gently on the ground, and that would have proved to everyone that he really was the SON OF GOD. Jesus Christ knew he was the SON OF GOD and did not need to PROVE THAT TO BE SO. How many Pastors today refuse to work to earn a living letting their wife and children suffer, in some poor countries because they must prove they are trusting God for their support but silently BEGGING money from others. This is failing the Test. The answer Jesus gave to the “Devil” or his natural mind regarding this test was, Deuteronomy 6:16 “You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as you tempted him in Massah.” This test was legitimate even though he was the Christ he was MADE IN THE LIKENESS OF MAN so he had to deny everything that was not according to what the WORD SAID. We build our trust in God BY F-A-I-T-H, and not by SIGHT.

The next test finds him on the top of a very high mountain from which he could see all the Kingdoms of the world, and their glory. As he surveys the scene before him, he is challenged by this one called the Devil in this, the greatest test of the three he faced. This is the deal, “If you will BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP ME, I will give you everything you can see.” Of the three tests I believe there are more people that have failed in this test than any other. We will bow to our carnal mind easily to get more possessions and more wealth and more power. Every man has stood on that mountain and surveyed the potential before him, and has worshipped the “MIND” or Serpent that you believe can give it to you. Beloved I want you to know, “THE EARTH IS THE LORDS and everything that is in it.” Psalm 24:1. So since when did your carnal mind have the right to offer you anything. That mind has been deceived by the Serpent in the Garden of Eden and will lie to you every time. Yet thousands today are bowing down to that Carnal mind that will allow you to cheat and lie to become rich, or to more authority and power to achieve whatever you desire. But Jesus Christ only bowed to what God says and nothing more. His reply to this test was to speak directly to his adversary calling him “SATAN,” who accuses the brethren day and night saying, “Get ye hence Satan for it is written, you shall worship the LORD YOUR GOD, and him only shall you serve.” Satan is under the control of God and fulfills an important role in the purposes of God.

The only one that accuses anyone day and night is our carnal mind, who never stops, even infiltrating our dreams. Now it is so important to know what this SATAN is, and it’s function so we will turn to the book of JOB 1:6. Here we are introduced to Satan who in this allegory appears with the Sons of God as they appear before the Lord. This is interesting that Satan always appears with the sons of God, but the scriptures say that he “CAME AMONG THEM.” Satan is NOT ONE OF THEM. Here in this scripture Satan is given personality, so we can understand his role in the life of all mankind but particularly those who are the Sons of God. Here God speaks to him saying, “Where have you come from?” He answered, “From going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it,” (as if he owned it). The conversation continues, have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, and one that fears God and turns away from EVIL. So now God enlists “Satan” to reveal the TRUTH concerning Job not just to him, but to all the world. All this is without Job knowing anything about this deal that is about to be made. Satan says, “Does Job fear you for NOTHING? He is saying there has to be a trade off here somewhere because nobody does anything without a PAY BACK. “Have you not made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land, But if you will put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, he will curse you to your face.” This is not a conversation with a real living person, but Satan represents your natural or Carnal mind. It is the same one that caused Adam to be put out of the Garden of Eden, and the same one who is now tempted Jesus in the Wilderness. The Church teaches that this is a real being of some kind, or a FALLEN ANGEL. This false information causes Gods people to be confused and can find no answer to the problems they face. When we understand that our problem is that we have two minds, the CARNAL MIND, and the MIND OF CHRIST but in most cases only one is active and that is the Carnal Mind that Paul tells us cannot understand the things of the spirit. 1Cor 2:14. This is the mind that says, “You cannot be a Christian with such ungodly thoughts in your head. Or you are in a prayer meeting and the Video in your head suddenly turns on with some shocking show and you fight to get rid of it, but the more you try the louder it gets. That is your CARNAL MIND. It says to you, “If it feels good DO IT.”

Let us follow the story in Job 1 as the story unfolds. The Lord says to satan, “All that he has is in your power, only upon himself you cannot put your hand,” so satan goes out from the presence of the Lord. Then it says, There was a day, when a messenger came to Job to tell him. “The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away, and they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands and fell upon the camels and have carried them away, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshipped the LORD.

And said, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. Remember Job knew nothing of satan’s conversation with God, all he knew was what the messengers told him. But now God makes a declaration saying, “In all this Job DID NOT SIN NOR DID HE BLAME GOD FOOLISHLY.” So Job was not trying to prove anything to anyone but he never sinned with his lips. How different are many Christians today telling God, “I asked you to heal my mother or child, but you did not answer and now they are dead.” God it is your fault, you could have healed them but you did not do it. I have heard it many times. Where do such thoughts come from? They are the product of the Carnal mind, thoughts accusing God that are often expressed to the Lord, but many times remain as THOUGHTS but left unspoken. That was a rebuff to satan, who said that Job would curse God to his face if he took from him everything he had. But do not think that satan can be quitened that easy, because There was ANOTHER DAY when the sons of God came to present themselves to the Lord, and satan came AMONG THEM, represented by the Carnal mind. And God said, “Have you considered Job, that there is none like him in the Earth, a perfect and an upright man, who fears (Reverences) God and turns away from Evil.” Satan’s answer was, “Skin for Skin, for all that a man has will he give for his life, but put forth your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” God said, “He is in your hand but you cannot touch his life.” You will notice God set the limits so satan could not just do whatever he wanted.

So Job is covered in Boils from head to toe. Remember that Boils formed one of the plaques on Egypt that God used to release Israel from slavery. So now Job is in great distress and looks a pitiful sight sitting in a heap of ashes. Job is going through a testing to show us clearly what FAITH and TRUST is all about. If you want to make this a LITERAL HISTORIC EVENT in Job, then you will have a very different response to this whole episode. You will say this is the two sides of God, on the one hand God is love but on the other hand he puts us through trials and tribulation which are his judgments upon us. BUT I believe that this is not literal historical book, but an allegory, as this is not written as history, but it all has a spiritual import that we need to understand. Job is not mentioned as being a part of Israel or connected to Abraham. There are only three references to Job outside the Book of Job. Two are in Ezekiel 14:14 and verse 20 and in both places only mentioning him in reference to his righteousness/ The other mention is in James 5:11 where his patience is mentioned. When we put all that together it becomes plain that this book is allegorical to reveal the various forms the enemy uses to bring us down.

Job became an enigma because nobody understood his response to the circumstances of his life. But Job never cursed God regardless of what he was going through. This means that he was not listening to his Carnal mind or satan would have proved himself right. Job was plugged into the MIND OF CHRIST that functions according to the Word and Will of God. Remember that his Christian friends accused him of many things including his innocence before God. They believed that to have the problems that Job had he must have done some very bad things, just as many churches do today, and so he was being punished by God. But Job said Job 32:8 “But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding.” When our understanding comes by the spirit through the MIND OF CHRIST then we live by the inspiration of God. God finally rebuked all of Job’s friends for their false accusations and told Job to pray for them and then they were blessed and Job had seven times more than he had in the beginning. Lord help us today who are the sons of God to be PURE in our heart and deny the carnal mind any authority at all in our life as the CHRIST MIND illuminates the pathway before us and we walk in the blessing of the Lord.

My desire in writing this study, is to reveal what our enemy is that we find coming against us, because if we do not understand what that enemy is we can become involved in a battle against something that does not have any true existence at all. So many Christians speak about the Devil dogging their footsteps every day. When they close their eyes crazy thoughts fill the mind and other similar problems that persist in the life of many Christians. All that comes against us today can be explained as the CARNAL MIND from Eve in the Garden to Jesus Christ in the wilderness. Beyond that we are in the realm of darkness in which the biggest NATION on this earth is involved. IT IS CALLED THE IMAGI- NATION, where the carnal mind is free to create the ghosts and goblins, the demons and evil spirits and devils turning the darkness into a jungle of every foul kind. Paul tells us in Romans 1:21, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their IMAGINATIONS and their foolish heart was darkened (began to operate in the darkness).” Then Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “Casting down IMAGINATIONS and every high thing (Thought) that exalts itself against the TRUTH, or the KNOWLEDGE we received by the spirit from God, and bringing into captivity (Under control) every THOUGHT to the obedience of Christ.” If this writing robs the enemy of its covering, exposing it as the nothing that it is, then we will praise the Lord together.

Des Walter