DRIVING THE NAIL OF THE CROSS INTO THE CARNAL MIND
MF Blume
April 19, 2015
Judges 4:17-23 KJV Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the
tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between
Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
(18) And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn
in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto
her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. (19) And
he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I
am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and
covered him. (20) Again he said unto her, Stand in the door
of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of
thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No.
(21) Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an
hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into
his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep
and weary. So he died. (22) And, behold, as Barak pursued
Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will
shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent,
behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples.
(23) So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before
the children of Israel.
John 19:16-18 KJV Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be
crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. (17) And
he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a
skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: (18) Where
they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and
Jesus in the midst.
The story of Sisera’s death begins when Israel slipped into sin after Ehud, the slayer of Eglon, died.
Judges 4:1-9 MKJV And the sons of Israel again did evil in the
sight of Jehovah when Ehud was dead. (2) And Jehovah sold
them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. The
captain of his host was Sisera who lived in Harosheth of the
nations. (3) And the sons of Israel cried to Jehovah, for
he had nine hundred chariots of iron. And he mightily oppressed the
sons of Israel twenty years. (4) And Deborah, a prophetess,
the wife of Lapidoth, judged Israel at that time. (5) And
she lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in
mount Ephraim. And the sons of Israel came up to her for
judgment. (6) And she sent and called for Barak the son of
Abinoam out of Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, Has not Jehovah,
the God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor,
and take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the
sons of Zebulun? (7) And I will draw Sisera to you, the
captain of Jabin's army, at the river Kishon, together with his
chariots and his multitude. And I will deliver him into your
hands. (8) And Barak said to her, If you will go with me,
then I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go.
(9) And she said, I will surely go with you. But the journey that
you take shall not be for your honor, for Jehovah shall sell Sisera
into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to
Kedesh.
We preached about EHUD the left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin.
• Benjamin means SON OF THE RIGHT HAND.
• And we showed how the CROSS is foreshadowed in this story.
• The large fleshly king Eglon who ruled Israel
when Israel sinned, speaks of the CARNALITY in a believer that rules
one’s life when we are not serving God correctly.
Ehud stuck Eglon with a dagger into Eglon’s belly and slew this enemy.
• Carnality is destroyed with the word of God, a
twoedged sword, WHEN WE RECEIVE REVELATION and “get it”
when it comes to the truth of our deaths with Christ.
• This story falls in the very next chapter.
Israel fell into sin again.
• And another angle of the same problem of
CARNALITY RULING US and being DEFEATED so we can have victory again is
presented.
• Instead of EGLON a fat man representing the
enemy of our own carnality, this time the story mentions SISERA the
captain of JABIN’S army.
Deborah was a prophetess and used of God to also be a judge in Israel at this time.
• God spoke a word to her to inform Barak to
gather 10,000 men and go to Mount Tabor where he will defeat Sisera and
his fearsome army.
• Barak says he will only go if Deborah goes.
• She agrees but says that a woman shall get the credit for defeating Sisera instead of Barak.
• As the story continues, Barak is compelled by his feet to march on.
• God is empowering him.
Judges 4:15-16 KJV And the LORD discomfited Sisera, and all his
chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so
that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his
feet. (16) But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after
the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera
fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.
But though Barak pursued and slew the army, Sisera escaped.
A woman, just like Deborah prophesied, named Jael, was responsible for slaying the enemy’s captain.
• She used a nail and drove it into the temple of his head.
• And God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan.
• The captain’s death by the nail in his head was the key to the victory.
The idea of A NAIL in the HEAD speaks a powerful message of the cross.
John 19:16-18 KJV Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be
crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. (17) And
he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a
skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: (18) Where
they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and
Jesus in the midst.
The hill upon which Jesus was crucified, was called the PLACE OF THE SKULL.
• It is a HEBREW word.
• In Latin it was CALVARIA, from which we get CALVARY.
• The Greek word is CRANION from which we get CRANIUM.
And as they crucified Jesus with nails at the place of the skull, Jael killed the enemy Sisera with a nail in his skull.
Notice it was not the KING she killed.
• Jabin was the King of Canaan.
• But this King’s captain was Sisera and
by slaying the captain of the king, the king was subdued and defeated.
The king is useless without this captain.
Sisera speaks of the CARNAL MIND, just as Eglon speaks of great carnality being a fat man.
• Since Sisera was pierced in his head by the
nail, we see the idea of OUR OWN CARNAL MIND involved as THE POWER THE
ENEMY USES AGAINST US.
• Your own carnal mind is like the lead captain of his forces against you.
• Satan is useless without your carnal MIND.
• The devil has no power over you in reality, and he knows it.
• But if he can make you THINK you cannot defeat
him, then you are defeated DUE TO YOUR OWN FALSE THINKING he has urged
you to guide your life by.
The carnal mind is a mind that inflicts fear and defeatism into your life.
• When Paul was talking about grace and
salvation, he made a statement and then followed it by noting that the
CARNAL MIND cannot respond to it properly.
Jesus said we’d know the TRUTH and THE TRUTH would make us free.
So being freed has something to do with KNOWING TRUTH.
KNOWING is what our MINDS do.
And like a NAIL into the HEAD of the enemy, TRUTH of the CRUCIFIXION (JESUS NAILED TO CROSS) is what God uses to free us!
• You would not believe how many people are bound due to FALSE THINKING!
Look how Paul dealt with FALSE THINKING.
Romans 5:20-6:1 KJV Moreover the law entered, that the offence
might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
(21) That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our
Lord. (6:1) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in
sin, that grace may abound?
After saying grace abounded much more where sin abounded, so that grace
might rule our lives, Paul asked what response should be given to such
a thought.
• And as though he responded in a way only a
defeatist and carnal mind would respond with, he said, “Shall we
continue in sin that grace may abound?”
• In other words, “What do you think
should be our response to knowing grace abounds where sin does much
more abound? Should we respond saying that we should continue in
sin so that grace will therefore abound?”
• And he snaps back with a resounding NEVER!
• NO!
But Paul knew that a CARNAL MIND is such a defeated mind that it cannot
imagine ever getting that much victory from God’s grace so that
SIN IS DEFEATED IN OUR LIVES.
• He knew that a carnal mind is going to think
that the only way we can enjoy grace abounding so much more than sin
abounds, is for us to let ourselves commit sin, and then see God step
in and cause grace to abound more than sin.
No.
So he set out to LET THEM KNOW SOMETHING.
He attacked the CARNAL MIND.
• Paul gives the proper answer as follows:
Romans 6:2 KJV God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
It’s like he drops a bombshell on the readers and says YOU ARE DEAD TO SIN!
• Why would you ever stoop to thinking we can
have no more victory over sin than by letting our lives commit sin and
then seeing God step up and ensure grace abounds more than the sin
abounds?
• YOU ARE DEAD TO SIN.
• And then as though he were shocked, which was
a very effective writing style, Paul asks a question…
Romans 6:3 KJV Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Did you never learn the truth that you were immersed into the death of Jesus Christ, making HIS DEATH YOUR DEATHS?
• KNOW YE NOT?
• Do you not have the kind of MIND that has been TAUGHT CORRECTLY?
TRUTH is CORRECT KNOWLEDGE.
TRUTH is so important because IT WAS KNOWLEDGE of good and evil that threw us into sin.
TRUTH IS LIGHT.
2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out
of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The carnal mind that is defeated and expects to sin.
• EXPECTATION for something is so very important.
• You can actually have FAITH that YOU WILL SIN.
• And if you expect to sin, and have more faith that you will sin, then YOU WILL FIND A WAY TO DO IT.
• WE HAVE TO CHANGE OUR EXPECTATIONS.
• And a CARNAL MIND EXPECTS TO SIN.
This carnal mind needs to be slain.
• Paul said the key is to KNOW – get it
into your head – that you were crucified with Jesus Christ.
• Since the first thing in this series of truths
regards KNOWING WE ARE CRUCIFIED WITH JESUS, then you can see the
significance of PUTTING A NAIL INTO THE CARNAL MIND to KILL THAT CARNAL
MIND.
• God has to kill this expectation to sin.
• This expectation of too much to fight!
• Too much to overcome!
• TOO MUCH FOR US!
• You’re thinking of YOU too much!
• This carnal mind is used by the devil to DEFEAT YOU AND KEEP YOU IN BONDAGE.
Just like Israel’s failure to serve God caused EGLON, the FAT
KING who represents LOTS OF CARNALITY THAT RULES OUR LIVES, to torment
Israel, her failure the next time led to JABIN to use his CAPTAIN
SISERA, who stands for the CARNAL MIND to torment you.
• The carnal mind is your ENEMY!
• It is the CAPTAIN the devil uses against you.
• DEFEAT THE CARNAL MIND, and the devil cannot torment you any more.
• The devil leads his battles against you WITH YOUR OWN CARNAL MIND.
This goes to show that the devil truly has no real power over you.
• Your defeat is all because of YOUR OWN FALSE THINKING.
When you can UNDERSTAND the truth of the CO-DEATH you experienced with Jesus, YOU EXPECT POWER WITH GOD.
• It’s more KINGDOM REVELATION.
• The FIRST point where we come into UNION with
Jesus Christ who is now at the right hand throne, is HIS CRUCIFIXION.
• Therefore, THE NAILING OF JESUS’ death is where we begin to SEE THE CARNAL MIND DESTROYED.
• So Jael drove a NAIL into SISERA’S head to defeat him.
Jael was a woman.
• Recall that EHUD was the man who defeated EGLON, who represents the carnality of defeat Christians.
• Ehud was a left-handed man, which actually
meant in Hebrew that his right hand was damaged for some reason.
• Ehud would make a poor warrior.
• But just as a weak warrior KILLED A KING (!!)
showed how GOD WAS THE ONE WHO ACTUALLY BROUGHT VICTORY, a female who
slew the captain of the enemy shows how it is GOD’S POWER, not
our own, THAT DEFEATS THE ENEMY.
• I like this because it shows GOD USES PHYSICALLY WEAK VESSELS TO ACCOMPLISH SPIRITUAL GREAT VICTORIES.
1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to
knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and
as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not
hindered.
CHURCH IS BRIDE AS WELL
1 Corinthians 1:27-30 KJV (27) But God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty; (28) And base things of the world, and things which
are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring
to nought things that are: (29) That no flesh should glory
in his presence. (30) But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption:
It was by no great human effort that we are in Christ.
• It is solely of God.
2 Corinthians 4:7 KJV But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Weak earthly vessels contain POWER so that everyone will know IT HAD TO
BE GOD when something wonderful occurred, for they know there is no way
it could have been the flesh.
So the picture of driving a NAIL, as was used to crucify Jesus, in the
HEAD of the enemy, as Jesus was crucified AT THE PLACE OF THE SKULL,
shows the message that the truth of our crucifixion with Jesus
Christ DESTROYS THE CARNAL MIND.
• We died with Jesus Christ.
• That is fact whether we enjoy the benefits of it or not.
• But WHEN WE DIE IN THE PLACE OF THE SKULL, in
other words, FULLY UNDERSTAND THAT IN OUR MINDS, we can enjoy the
victory and benefits from it.
You must DIE in the place of your SKULL. CARNAL MIND. CARNAL THINKING.
You have to learn these things in your mind, or else you WILL EXPECT TO SIN.
A Christian’s mind that expects to sin IS A CAPTAIN FOR THE DEVIL’S ARMY!
Romans 6:6-7 KJV Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should
not serve sin. (7) For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Romans 6:11 KJV Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:13 KJV Neither yield ye your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that
are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God.
UNDERSTAND!
KNOW, RECKON and YIELD.
• First you have to KNOW ABOUT IT.
• Then You have to RECKON it, which means to APPLY IT AS REALLY TRUE TO YOURSELF.
• Realize this is true FOR YOU!
• Make it very personal.
• Get a revelation that YOU ACTUALLY DIED WITH JESUS.
• And then once you did that, YIELD TO GOD because of this truth.
• DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT NOW.
Notice the sequence of thoughts in verse 13.
Do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.
• This is exactly what people do with a CARNAL MIND.
• THEY EXPECT TO SIN.
• Yielding to sin is EXPECTING TO SIN.
Yield yourselves as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness.
• EXPECT TO NOT SIN.
• EXPECT TO OVERCOME.
• When we learn of the cross, we HAVE FAITH FOR GOD TO USE US AS VESSELS.
• We have faith HE WILL MANIFEST THROUGH US.
• So we give him the opportunity!
• We present ourselves for Him to use.
People who feel unworthy and feel defeated, will never present themselves to God.
• They EXPECT NOTHING by way of God using them.
• But when we KNOW we died with Jesus, and DYING
frees us from sin, and reckon that to be true for ourselves, then we
EXPECT God to jump at the chance to manifest through us, since he has
only been waiting for us to “GET IT”, and present ourselves
to Him to manifest through us!
You drive a NAIL right into the PLACE OF THE SKULL, so that the CARNAL MIND is destroyed in your life, and you can see victory.
Romans 8:5-8 Complete Apostles' Bible (5) For those who are
fleshly set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live
according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (6) For
the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and
peace. (7) Therefore the mind of the flesh is enmity
against God; for it does not submit to the law of God, nor indeed can
it. (8) And those that are in the flesh cannot please God.
The devil THRIVES IN VICTORY OVER YOU due to your ignorance and carnal mind.
• The carnal mind is the captain of the devil’s army.
• KILL THE CARNAL MIND, and you defeated the devil!
We read the song of Deborah in the next chapter in Judges.
Judges 5:24-26 Complete Apostles' Bible (24) Blessed among
women is Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; let her be blessed above women
in tents. (25) He asked for water, she gave him milk in a
dish; she brought butter of princes. (26) She stretched
forth her left hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workman's
hammer, and she smote Sisera with it, she nailed through his head and
killed him; she nailed through his temples.