DRIVING THE NAIL OF THE CROSS INTO THE CARNAL MIND

May 23, 2010 am
MF Blume



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.

A couple of weeks ago we preached about EHUD the left handed man of the tribe of Benjamin.
Ehud stuck Eglon with a dagger into Eglon’s belly and slew this enemy.
Israel fell into sin again.
Deborah was a prophetess and used of God to also be a judge in Israel at this time.
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 escape.

A woman, just like Deborah prophesied, named Jael, was responsible for slaying the enemy’s captain.

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.

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.

Sisera speaks of the CARNAL MIND, just as Eglon speaks of great carnality being a fat man.

The carnal mind is a mind that inflicts fear and defeatism into your life.

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.

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.

No.

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!

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?

This is the carnal mind that is defeated and expects to sin.

This carnal mind needs to be slain.

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.

This goes to show that the devil truly has no real power over you.

Remember we taught that the carnal mind is the mind that DWELLS UPON what the flesh can relate to.

When you can UNDERSTAND the truth of the CO-DEATH you experienced with Jesus, YOU EXPECT POWER WITH GOD.

Jael was a woman.

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.

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.

You have to learn these things in your mind, or else you WILL EXPECT TO SIN.

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.


KNOW, RECKON and YIELD.

Notice the sequence of thoughts in verse 13.

Do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.

Yield yourselves as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness.

People who feel unworthy and feel defeated, will never present themselves to God.

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.

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.

Jesus is on the right hand throne.