OK, we're going to. We're going
to be in 1st Corinthians chapter one this morning and the the
and chapter one and two and the verse or the title of the time
we're going to spend this morning is, but we have the mind of Christ. And that's from 1st Corinthians
chapter 2, verse 16. So in. The right page here. I'd like
to read a couple of verses to start with. In 1 Corinthians
1, a couple of verses to start with
here. chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, it
says, Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will
of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, unto the church of God, which
is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
to be saints with all that in every place call upon the name
of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace be unto
you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ."
The book here that Paul is writing to the church of Corinthians,
he said, all them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, that call upon Him, the name of Christ, Jesus
Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. And so the letters
written to those at Corinthians and all believers at all times
that look to the Lord for their standing, for their righteousness,
for their life that he has given to them. And that's who it's
written to. And as all of the scriptures
that we have, we've seen regardless of who it was penned down by
and who it was intended to at that particular time that it
was given, the letter to somebody or the prophet who they were
speaking to, they were for God's people at all time. It's not
just something relevant or that we teach out of or something
that is kind of nice to know, but it directly speaks to, as
it says here, those that are sanctified in Christ that call
Him Lord both theirs and ours, the same Lord. And that, that
are called to be saints. And then in, down a little farther,
I want to look at just a few more verses here. starting with verses 4 and 5,
say, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of
God which is given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye
are enriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as
the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come behind
in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. who
shall also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom
you were called unto the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our
Lord. He's further pointing out and
affirming that these are by those that are believers in Christ
Jesus that was appointed and that are confirmed in Him. It says, unto the end and to
the very end. And then verse 10, it says, Now I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the
same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that
ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment. Now, a couple of things. He's
going to go on and say, I, you know, there are some divisions
here and the issues that goes on. And he mentions the divisions
and that they that there's there. And then he goes on. and from
the rest of the book pretty much tells them whose their eyes should
be on and who we stand in. and who is the one that we look
to. And that here where he says that
you all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among
you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind
and in the same judgment. And we're gonna look as we get
to that down and look some other passages and in that verse 16
that says we have the mind of Christ, What he's speaking about
here in two different ways. They have some division physically
amongst them, some things that they differ on. And ones that
are critical to a local body, things should be the same, should
be believed in there. It's not saying that perfectly joined
in the same mind and judgment in all things. I don't always
put cream in coffee, and some people do, and some people don't
like coffee at all. We don't have to, I mean, we
might have a division physically from that, but that is not a
problem. That's not a problem that Paul
is speaking of, make sure you have the same mind. There are
those things in the body that's always going to be there, and
most of those differences of judgment aren't critical items. They're just not critical items.
That's not what he's speaking about. He's not saying, well,
everybody should always have the same mind on these things
on that we agree to disagree on things as far as what we do
together physically. That's one thing. And what we
prefer and preferences. But what we believe and what
we teach, preach, and what we stand for better be the same
things. And as he goes on, he says, I
want nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And that's the core of those things. And all those things
that have to be the same, that have to be perfectly joined together,
are those things that we believe in. The ruined by the fall. redeemed by the blood, regenerated
by the spirit. And all those, that's a pretty
short, concise, three-point outline, but it covers a lot of ground
in that those things have to be there. Those things have to
be part and parcel of what the gospel is taught and is preached. Many more things we know because
how we know what we know about God is through the scriptures
and through him revealing those things. To us what he is like
and what we are like, but those things there are there are core
things and things of of the gospel that cannot be Can there's no
hedging on them. There's no adjusting them. There's
no I think this way about this and you think another there are
there are things in the scriptures that we have revealed differently
to us, but not those things, and not the righteousness wherein
we stand and what we look to. Those things are not, there's
not various opinions on those. Those things are what the scripture
has to say. And Paul starts out in chapter two,
down to chapter 2 here, and above that he says that He came preaching not in man's
wisdom, but in what God had delivered to him to deliver to the people,
and not the wisdom of the world. And I was reading in a couple
of different places, Brother Hawker had on the same passage
in some thoughts. And he says, the wisdom of the
world, he says, believers, When it talks about having the mind
of Christ, we have revealed what He says things are and how things
are, and the Spirit causes His people to believe those things.
And He says we can approach studies or things intellectually, where
we have, we know what we believe, and then you're looking for things
to along that line. And he says, man's wisdom sometimes
can, isn't quite square with what the scripture have to say.
And we can be in a theologian frame of mind or something, and
we know what we believe. And so that's what we're looking
for. And sometimes it's not what it should be. And he says we
need to be careful and we need to always stand in those things
which God has shown and by His Spirit shows us, not by our wisdom.
And it says in verse 30 of chapter 1, where it says, Of
him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that according
as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord, and
not in man's wisdom or our thoughts of things. And he speaks there
of speaking wisdom, not worldly wisdom, but that wisdom that
God reveals. I looked at the word in a couple
of different places about what, where it says the mind of Christ.
And we're going to look at some passages speak about to those,
to that thought. And if you merely look at a definition
of it, even one in most Bible dictionaries, it'll say the center
of the person's thoughts or intents or purpose and stuff. And its
deals, I never did see where it directly connected to the
mind of Christ. But we know that we have the
mind of Christ. An easy version of that is we
have the mind of Christ. We hold it in our hands. We have
the words of it. We don't have the mind of it
unless the spirit reveals it to us. There's a lot of people
that hold the word in their hands and have no idea what it's speaking
of. It's not, as Paul says, it's
not by worldly wisdom. It's not by, and Paul should
know, he had probably a pretty good store of worldly wisdom
to start with. And he says, if you want to compare that stuff,
I can compare my education to yours. You're probably not going
to outshine me. I've got all the letters behind
my name. And it counted for nothing because I didn't know what it
was talking about. I didn't understand it. It was
just man's wisdom. And it's not that we don't study
God's word to know what the word says. But just because we approach
it and just approach God's word and we pray that he opens our
eyes, that spirit opens our eyes and ears and heart to his word.
But just because we read it and understand the physical words
of it, that's not the same thing necessarily. There's so much
of this word that is a mystery to us still in a lot of ways.
But it has to be that in the mind it's speaking of here, and
I believe that we'll see, is indeed God's purpose, His intent,
and the means of what the scripture is. And His mind is always Eternal,
there's a there's a bulletin that I I saw sometime back on
the old ones and it talks about Christ, the eternal God, and
there's about 8 or 10. Ways in which he's the eternal
God and it has scripture for that. All those things speak
to the to the mind of Christ and. The meaning, the purpose of all
those things and the intent of those things. we don't always
come up with just because we read the words of it. And we
pray that God reveals those things to us, and that's the only way
it can be done. Turn to the book of Philippians
for just a second. Turn with me to the book of Philippians.
We'll be back there in a bit to Corinthians. But in Philippians chapter 2, Now here, he talks about abounding more
in the knowledge and judgment that God gives us, that we approve
things that are excellent, and that's not approving because
we read them and say, yeah, that's pretty good stuff. It's approved
and being excellent because of what it means and how it shows
us the Lord himself and what he has done and does do for his
people. It's not just excellent things that are nice things. I mean, they're things that are
needful to God's people. But in chapter two of Philippians,
it says, verse 1, it says, If there be
therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort or love,
if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any boughs and mercies, fulfill
my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one accord in one mind. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. Let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not on every man on his
own things, but look every man also on the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men. and being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath also highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as you
have also obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more
in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things
without murmurings and disputations." for it is God which worketh in
you to both will and to do of his good pleasure." If we, and
it says, have this mind that was in Christ. We don't have
the mind of Christ that we say, well, I'm standing in his shoes,
and I know I'm thinking like he can think. We have no faculties
for that. That is not going to happen. But he reveals to us those things
and the things that we can understand that he gives us that ability,
we understand and thank you for it. The ones we can't, we say,
I believe that regardless if I understand it or not. And that's
a difference between religion and a religious thought and God's
people is God's people believe God, whether they ever fully
understand anything or not. What little light he gives us,
God's people are thankful for and that's where we stand in. We know whom we believed and
persuaded he's able to keep those things we committed unto him
against that day. And we don't know all the details
and understand all the details of those things, but we know
that he has revealed himself to his people. And we have those
things. And they said, in one accord,
in one mind, and that's where God's people have to stand united
is in who he is and who the Lord is into his people. Isaiah 26, it said, blessed is
they whose mind is stayed upon thee. And, and, you know, it
sounds like, well, we'll keep our minds stay on God. Well,
try that for about 15 minutes, you know, that speaking about
it stayed on the by by the Lord himself, he has to put that mind
in us and cause our mind to be on those things, that it's just
of Him or it isn't going to happen. Let's read down in chapter 2
here a ways, starting at verse 1 of, let me
get back in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. And it says in verse one of chapter
two, and brethren, when I came unto you, came not in the excellency
of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness,
and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my teaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the spirit of power, that your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak
wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world
nor the princes of this world that come to naught. But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory. which none of
the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord in glory. But it is written, I have
not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God have prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by a Spirit. For the Spirit
searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what
man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man which
is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man but by
the Spirit." We're going to stop there for just a second. And
it says here, The things of God knoweth no
man but by the Spirit. Pretty simple. We know no spiritual
things. We have no spiritual ability,
but by the new birth that we're going to look at in just a minute
also, but all things that we have are of the Spirit of God,
because the Spirit of man is not capable. It's not capable
of knowing these things. Even as believers, we are, there's
a new mind put in us, a new heart that's put in us, a new desires
that are put in us. But in that standing, there is
still no, there is nothing that we possess that God did not give
us. We try to distill down the scriptures
and we'll determine what they have to say. And if God doesn't
reveal it to us, we're going to have a faulty view of it if
we try to interpret it. And I know that I've gone to
the scripture before with a point I'm going to make. And so you're
looking for the scriptures to make that point. Well, that's
probably in study. I mean, supporting what the scripture
says by other scripture is a good thing to do. But we should see
what the scripture has to say about it and not This is where
I'm headed with this. And not to have lessons or sermons
that don't have points laid out, but if we have a predetermined
course we're going to lay out, better probably be willing to
have some changes made along the way that the Lord reveals
to us. It just says, the things of God,
we cannot know them. We can't know them but by the
spirit of God. And it says here, verse 12, now
we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit
which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God. Which things also we speak not
in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but what the Holy Ghost
teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the,
verse 14, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned. That ought to be put on the front
of a lot of pulpits like that song we have on the front of
ours. And for people to see and for constantly in our minds somewhat
that natural man cannot receive the things of God. And before
we move on to that, turn with me to chapter three of John.
In chapter three of John, you probably know exactly what we're
going to look at here. We're going to start with verse
1 of chapter 3 of John, and it's Jesus speaking to Nicodemus.
And this is one of those truly red-letter passages, not just
because of the Lord's words there, but bold and underlined. And it says, verse 1, there was
a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we
know that thou art a teacher come from God. For no man can
do these miracles except thou doest, except God be with him.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, how
can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verse 5,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you,
You must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth.
Thou hearest the sound thereof, but cannotst tell whence it cometh.
Whither it goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus answered and said, How can these things be? Jesus
answered and said unto him, Art thou master of Israel, and knowest
not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and
ye receive not our witness. I have told you earthly things,
and ye believe not. How shall ye believe if I tell
you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to
heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of
Man, which is in heaven." And it goes on to Moses and the fiery
serpent and the Lord. But here, as it says, Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And he
says again, except a man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. And we have a we have that related
to us by Paul when he when he says, tells us some pretty wonderful
things about the Lord and things that He has done for His people,
and He says, end of a passage here, and He says, those things
that I want to do, I don't seem to do them. Those things I want
to do, I don't seem to do them, I do the opposite. Who can save
me from the body of this death? And He says, I thank Jesus Christ,
our Lord. This was not something when he
just was a new guy, new believer, and seeing these things. He was
way down the road, I believe, on this passage here. And he
said, I see a principle here, that the flesh is flesh and the
spirit is spirit. And the Lord redeems us and has
redeemed us, has changed our heart, the Lord's, the Spirit, the Holy
Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are sons of God,
but the flesh is still, we're still in the flesh. That's this
side of meeting the Lord, we're in this flesh. It's not only
dying physically and we'll die physically, but there's no redeeming
qualities about the natural mind, and those, like I said, we can
study all we desire to study. We pray that the Lord reveal
Himself to us through that, and that's the only way it'll be
done. Just as the new birth here, and as bewildering as it appeared
to Nicodemus, That is so, and he said, are you a master of
Israel? No, it's not these things. That's because the natural mind
and the wisdom of the world is all he understood, religion of
the world, and the spirit has to be that that causes it and
causes the life in his people. We cannot receive, natural men
can't receive the things of the Lord, that are of the Spirit. It says again, verse 14, but
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them
because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual
judges all things, yet he himself judges of no man. For who hath
known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have
the mind of Christ. and we're going to look at a
couple other things there, but indeed that having that mind
of Christ is what the gospel says to his people by the Spirit.
The standing we have, the position we have, and a commentary I was
reading that Brother Henry Mahan wrote, a sermon note that he
had that said that We, without the Spirit, we're
nothing, and yet we think that we are something, and unless
the Lord reveal those things to us, it is just emptiness,
empty words, empty things. Let's go to a couple of places
before we quit, before we wrap this up, but Jesus with Nicodemus
and then in John chapter 15. John chapter 15. several places here in this vicinity
here. Starting with, my goodness, the
true vine and the two branches, but we're going to start in verse
15. It says, henceforth I call you
not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth,
but I have called you friends. For all things that I have heard
of my Father, I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that you should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, ye
shall have it. He shall give it to you. And
it is up here. I have called you friends for
all things that I have heard of my father I have made known
unto you. You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring
forth fruit and that your fruit should remain. Speaking those
that that he did call out, but he all his all his people fit
into this category. And as we saw in John 17, in
the messages that Brother Wayne brought to us about the Lord's
high priestly prayer, those parts of that were spoken directly
to some of those at that time. And some of that later on, it
speaks about those that would believe by their witness. But all that pertains to all
of God's people, all of God's people, those things that he
cares for his people and how he is joined to them. Wonderful
passage. I enjoyed those messages so much
on there that spoke about what the Lord in his thinking. And indeed in that passage, in
that chapter, there indeed some of the mind of the Lord is revealed
to us in the thought or the consideration and the purpose and direction
of those things you're speaking about to God's people. A great
comfort to us that the Lord indeed has those thoughts and has that
mind towards his people and that mind in a way that We use it
in our terms or in our thinking on that. And then down farther
in chapter 15, It says, verse 26 of chapter
15 of John, it says, but when the Comforter has come, whom
I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth
which proceeded from the Father, he shall testify of me. And ye
shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
And then skip over to chapter 16, just for a few verses that
tie with this directly, and not to leave out those words of the
Lord in between, but verse 13 of chapter 16. It says, Howbeit,
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth. For he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. and he will
show you things to come. He shall glorify me for he shall
receive of mine and show it unto you. All things that the father
hath are mine, therefore said I that he shall take of mine
and show it unto you. this here, any of those things,
any things that we have revealed to us by the Spirit can only
be revealed by the Spirit. We can understand the audible
word of that and the construction of the word, the language, but
the mind of Christ or the meaning and the impact in the purpose
of that, in the intent of those things, only the Spirit can reveal
to us. We can't come up with those things
on our own. And then one more spot. In chapter 17 of John, while
we're here, I can't leave without at least looking here for a minute.
Chapter 17, John. It says, These words spake Jesus,
and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is
come. Glorify thy son, that thy son may also glorify thee. As
thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life
eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which thou have given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was." And here, speaking that God would reveal
by His Spirit that we might know the true God and Jesus Christ
whom he has sent. And that can only be done by
the Spirit. And we can know, like I said,
we can know the words of it. We can understand the makeup
of it. We can understand the characters
as it were involved. But other than that, we're helpless
and we're just unable and less that. But it says here in his
prayer that that be done for his people. That is, what do
you say to these things? If God before us, who can be
against us? And in the scriptures, we have the mind of Christ. as
he reveals it to us. And that's God's people's prayer. Always as we as we as we are
in the scriptures and as our life that he he shows us those
things that we know that what the mind of Christ is and and
that we say amen and we believe what the scripture had to say.
And in that we can say we have the mind of Christ and in that
we can say we can be free indeed. Thank you.