Man is a triune being, a being consisting of the spirit, the soul and the body, created in the image of Jehovah God. This was known in ancient times by men who understood God and His word. A close study of God’s word will reveal to the diligent researcher just how true the above statement is.
As humans, we all must relate to our environment, and to each other, using the five physical senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching, and anything, any sickness or disease, that detracts from our ability to use those five senses in this life is inherently evil.
All data incoming through those senses go through our onboard computer, the human brain. That magnificent organ receives the data and, through collaboration with our NON-physical parts, our spirits (the true being consisting of the true life) and our souls (mind, will and emotion) make the decisions on how the data received is to be interpreted and used.
The Difference Between the Body and the Other Attributes of a Man
All of man’s physical bodily parts, from the outer layer, the skin,and inward to the hidden organs that work together to keep the body alive and functioning normally, are subject to attack by evil forces capable of causing physiological disease and death; these are all a result of Adam’s sin which activated the ‘law of sin and death’ (Romans 8:2 KJV) and brought death into the world. Since that time untold billions of people have fallen victim to those forces and have lost their physical lives as a result. All the world is well acquainted with sickness and death and have lived their lives somewhat in fear of those evils.
The Human Mind and Its Function
In this current age, we hear much about mental illness, especially when reports of mass shootings and other violent events occur. Indeed, reports of violent behavior due to “mental illness” issues are rampant in the news. Murders, even mass murders, are listed as a consequence of “mental illness”. Sometimes, the people who are charged with murders will claim to be innocent by reason of “insanity”, or what they term mental illness.
If the reports are true and factual, then this type of illness is even more prevalent than cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other maladies of the physical body and are even more horrifying because the symptoms, or outward signs of such ‘disease’ are difficult, if not impossible to see. Only the results of the ‘disease’ are visible due to the decisions and actions of people who reportedly are mentally ill and allow it to manifest in illegal, sometimes catastrophic, actions.
The physical infirmities that affect men and women are much easier to diagnose and treat than mental illness mainly because the physical body can be observed with the naked eye or with radiological instruments that allow a peek into the inner workings of the body.
Science has proven that many of the diseases we encounter in our lives are spread from human to human through some type ofphysical contact or through the bodily fluids that we all have and sometimes share. It would seem then that, if we could insulate ourselves from all bodily contact with other humans, we could eliminate all disease and sickness. But that would indeed be an impossibility; and even if it were possible, what would life be like if we could not touch a loved one, hug our child or kiss the love of our lives? Would life even be worth living under those conditions? Hardly. But the good news is that, when a person has a healthy immune system, the system that God designed for our use, most diseases can be fought off and defeated, with the added benefit that an immunity is then created in the body that helps to protect against any future attack of that disease.
In the physical realm, the human body which can be seen and touched, and the brain, like all the other physical organs of the body, though hidden from sight, are all ‘flesh and blood’ and are subject to the infirmities that can and do affect all humans at one time or another. When that occurs, there are definite ways to treat them in the physical realm. But the body/brain of a man, and the spirit/soul of a man are two distinctly different things. The first are ‘natural’ and function in the natural realm, while the spirit/soul are supernatural and cannot be seen with the eyes; they function in a much higher, spiritual realm and as such, they are subject to attacks in that higher, spiritual realm.
Since the term ‘mental illness’ refers to a sickness that seems tooriginate in the mind, NOT the brain, a closer look at mental illness in light of God’s word is needed.
So, What IS Mental Illness and Where Does It originate?
Satanic Attacks/Spiritual Warfare
Satan knows very well how the human being is constructed and how God designed it to work. He longs for a human body so that he can function as does the man that God created. But, Satan is a spirit, NOT a flesh and blood being so he is limited in how he can bring attacks on people.
The Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, has spoken much about our battles with evil, where they originate and how we are to deal with them. He said in Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestlenot against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Notice that all the entities with whom we do battle are NOT flesh and blood beings, but ARE ‘spirit beings’ and they attack us in the non-physical areas, the mind, the will and the emotions (the soulish realm), with their deception, lies and evil suggestions, in order to engage us in battle in hopes of stealing everything God has given to us.Even though we are in flesh and blood bodies, the REAL persons in those bodies are spirit beings, living in the physical bodies that God prepared for us when He created Adam and Eve; as spirit beings, we have the ability, AND the authority, to do battle in the spirit realm, but we can only be successful in battle by using the spiritual armor God provided. Only through the proper knowledge of, and use of, that armor will we be guaranteed success.
And in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”.
Notice in the above passage that we have been given a command from God to get violent in that spiritual realm in order to defeat Satan.
Protecting Our Minds
As important as it is to properly nourish and care for our bodies, the proper care of the mind is even more important.
The story of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who defeated the Jewish people and carried Judah into captivity isone of several accounts of ‘mental illness’ that offers great insight into the cause of mental illness (Daniel 4). Because of the wickedness and pride of Nebuchadnezzar, giving himself all the credit for his kingdom and his accomplishments, refusing to give that glory to God, He was afflicted with demonic possession as the ‘heart’ of Nebuchadnezzar was changed from that of a man to that of a beast, and his demonic possession lasted seven years. During that time, the Babylonian king acted as a beast and lived as a beast, doing beastly things.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22205-location-of-the-mind-remains-a-mystery/
Think of a human brain, which definitely IS a part of the physical human body, as a preprogrammed computer, or at least a computer that is being constantly programmed and reprogrammed. The data stored in the brain is a result of the input from the computer ‘operator’. The operator not only programs the computer, but constantly accesses the data stored there. So, in essence, the operator/programmer, though not an integral part of the computer, is absolutely necessary for any part of the computer to be utilized for any significant function of the human body.
So, who then is the operator of the computer? That would be the human mind which, though NOT a physical part of the physical human body is as necessary as the human brain for a human being to function rationally, logically and with any positive outcomes.
So, to sum up, if the human mind is NOT physical, just what is it? It has a direct connection to, and is a communication link between, the human spirit and the human body. The human spirit is the TRUE being without whose presence the human body would die, or cease to function on its own, and when the body dies, the mind, being a part of the spiritual man, lives on eternally; being a part of the human spirit (the mind, the will and the emotions), it is always alive, whereas the human brain dies shortly after the human spirit departs the body.
Proper Care of the Human Mind
The believer should have a different ‘mindset’ from that of the world. God did not leave us in the dark regarding the proper care of the mind. In fact, in Romans 12, the Apostle Paul od us what we must do to keep our minds in top condition, always ready for battle: “ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
Please note that your physical body will NOT present itself a ‘living sacrifice’; in fact, the body, even that of a true believer, will constantly resist sacrificing anything. The fallen human nature is always at war against the spirit and wants total dominance over all. The sacrifice Paul mentions is the function of the real person, the human spirit, using the mind as the communication interface with the body. In fact, the human physical body will mostly try to do whatever is against the spirit. Paul stated so when he said, “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” Romans 7:23-25
Paul’s point is that, in order to keep the body under the control of the spirit, one MUST constantly provide the nourishment it needs, which is God’s word.
What does it mean to ‘lose one’s mind?
The world assumes that the human mind can be ‘lost’, but what they likely mean is that it has become under the control of a spirit other than the human spirit. If so, then the mind, being controlled by another spirit, though still able to access the stored data in the brain, will attempt to use that data for evil purposes rather than good, logical rational and righteous purposes. In effect, the evil spirit that has gained control of the mind also now controls the brain and, through that control, the body is able to work evil and create havoc.
Rather than ‘losing one’s mind’, the truth is that one allows a foreign agent to assume partial, or even total, control of one’s mind, leading to what the scientific world calls mental illness, or insanity, but which is actually demonic influence or demonic possession.
Conclusion
The deceived and lost world offers what they believe to be a rational explanation for what they call ‘insanity/mental illness’, but is actually evil and demonic influence or outright demonic possession. They will likely NOT admit to the existence of evil demon spirits since to do so would be to admit the existence of the fallen angel Lucifer, Satan, the devil (use whichever you want, they are all interchangeable) as ‘the god of this world’.They refuse to recognize that what they call “mental illness” is actually the result of human beings being influenced by demonic spirits. Their refusal makes the current chaotic condition of the world seem easier for them to accept and explain. After all, illness can and does ‘happen’ to all humans, right? So why should we separate ‘mental illness’ from all other diseases.
Just as there are varying degrees of physical illness, some mild and merely inconvenient, others are almost immediately life-threatening, so there are degrees of mental illness/demonic influence. And as the degrees of physical illness are indicated by the severity of the symptoms, so are the degrees of demonic influence.
In the Gospel of St. Mark, chapter 5, we find the account of Jesus, who had just arrived in the country of the Gadarenes,encountering a man who was possessed of a multitude of evil spirits and who dwelt among the tombs (it seems that demons love the dark places where death reigns). This man would make crying noises and cut himself as he roamed the mountains and the tombs. He was obviously a danger to himself and eventually would have been to others, since in verse 4, we are told that the demon possession gave him exceptional physical strength so that he could break any chains or fetters that had been used to bind him. The poor possessed man ran to Jesus and knowing Who He was, worshipped Him and begged Him to not send them (the legion of demon spirits) away out of the country.
Jesus, having mercy on the man possessed, ordered the demon spirits to leave the man and the spirits begged Jesus not to send them out of the country, but to allow them to enter a herd of swine feeding nearby. Jesus did and the demons left the man and entered the swine, causing them to run into the water and drown.
The people of that region were well aware of the man who was saved by Jesus and they also knew he had been possessed by unclean spirits for a long time. They did NOT call a psychiatrist to heal him of his “mental illness”. But when Jesus arrived, the man himself, knowing he was possessed, approached Jesus and received his cleansing.
After witnessing the destruction of the herd of swine caused by the devil spirits that entered into them, and seeing that the possessed man was sitting calmly, clothed and “in his right mind”, they were afraid, (Mark 5:15 KJV) and they implored Jesus to leave their coasts. No once did they mention that the man had a serious mental illness, or was ‘insane”, but they all KNEW he had been possessed by evil spirits and had known it for a very long time.
The saddest part of the story is that, when the One who has power over ALL the evil spirits showed up in their neighborhood, and cast the demons out of the man, instead of embracing Him and begging Him to stay in their area, where He could have, and WOULD have delivered all who were oppressed by the devil and healed ALL the sick among them, they demanded that He leave. How ironic that they were afraid of the One who brought deliverance to the possessed man, but were willing to accept the demons as part of their community. Is this not the same situation we see today where “mental illness” or demonic possession is ‘accepted’ but the Deliverer is shunned?
When was the last time you heard of a Christian commanding a devil to leave a person who was influenced or possessed by evil? I thought Christians were supposed to be ‘Christlike’, but it now appears the Church has become afraid of acting like Christ and willing to accept as ‘normal’, a condition they prefer to call ‘mental illness’ instead of what it truly is: demonic influence or possession.
When will the Church begin to recognize what is happening and refuse to allow themselves to be deceived into accepting evil as a normal state? Instead of commanding the demons to flee from those people who have been plagued with the, the Church now seems more afraid of Jesus and ready to cozy up to those who are demon-possessed…uh, I mean “mentally ill”.
Selah……
Maranatha
Bud Hancock is a regular contributor at TruthNewsNetwork. If you have any questions or comments about this article or any of his others, I know he’d love to hear from you. Feel free to send your comments or questions to Bud at his personal email listed below. Thanks!
Dan
