Having the mind of Christ?

Q: What does the Bible say about having the mind of Christ?

The Bible teaches that believers are to have the mind of Christ, focusing on humility, obedience, and love as exemplified by Him. The concept of having the mind of Christ is expressed in Philippians 2:5, where Paul exhorts believers to let this mind be in them, which was also in Christ Jesus. This means adopting the disposition and mindset that Christ exemplified—humility, obedience, and love. The mind of Christ leads us to esteem others above ourselves and to serve one another in love, as demonstrated in John 13 when Jesus washed His disciples' feet. It highlights the importance of both recognizing our need for Christ’s grace and embodying His attributes in our lives.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of the mind of Christ is true?

The doctrine is grounded in Scripture and affirmed by the teachings of Paul and the life of Jesus. The truth of the doctrine of having the mind of Christ is supported by Scripture, particularly in Philippians 2:5 and 1 Corinthians 2:16. Paul states that we have the mind of Christ, which means that through the Holy Spirit, believers are granted insight into the truths of God. The life of Jesus serves as the ultimate example of what it means to have this mind; His actions and teachings demonstrate perfect humility and obedience to the Father. Furthermore, this doctrine aligns with the understanding of salvation and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit within believers.

Q: Why is humility important for Christians?

Humility is crucial for Christians as it reflects Christ's own character and leads to true servanthood. Humility is fundamental for Christians because it aligns with the character of Christ, who humbled Himself even unto death (Philippians 2:8). By embracing humility, believers imitate Jesus’ servanthood, as seen when He washed the disciples' feet in John 13. Humility fosters an environment of love and community among believers, allowing them to put others’ needs above their own. Moreover, as Romans 12:3 instructs, Christians are to think soberly about themselves, recognizing that all they have is a gift from God and that they are called to serve rather than be served.

Q: How can we develop the mind of Christ in our lives?

We can develop the mind of Christ by consistently practicing humility, obedience, and love. Developing the mind of Christ involves conscious effort to embody His attributes. This can be achieved through daily prayer, seeking the Holy Spirit's guidance, and reflecting on Jesus' example. Philippians 2:3 encourages believers to do nothing from selfish ambition but to consider others as more significant than themselves. Practicing obedience to God’s Word and loving one another as Christ loves us (John 13:34) are also essential ways to cultivate the mind of Christ. Furthermore, engaging in fellowship with other believers allows for accountability and mutual growth in grace, helping us to keep our focus on Christ and His desires for us.

At the moment, you keep Philippians
2, and look over 1 Corinthians chapter 2. I want you to look
at something, and you'll get my subject. 1 Corinthians chapter
2, and we're using Philippians 2, where I'm going to go. I want to talk about having the
mind of Christ. Having the mind of Christ. It says here in 1 Corinthians
2.16, For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, that he may instruct him? Who in the world could ever,
ever tell God what to do? Who knows his mind? Who knows
his will? Who knows his purpose? Who knows
his will? Who knows the mind of the Lord,
that he may turn around and tell him that, you know, that's not
the right way to do it. You need to do it this way. But
he says here, and goes on to say, but we have the mind of
Christ. We may not know the mind of the Lord, but we know him
who does know the mind of the Lord. We can't instruct God, but we
know him who does know the mind of the Lord. We know the Lord
Jesus Christ, and that's what he says, that we have the mind
of Christ. And we have that mind here, but it's disposition, or
the minding of one thing, knowing the mind of the Lord. And our
Lord Jesus Christ had a disposition, a nature, a disposition to do
what God purposed for him to do. So turn back with me then
to Philippians. And look what the apostle said
here in verse five. There he says, we have the mind
of Christ. That's a stated fact. That's a stated fact. We have
the mind of Christ. Not you ought to have the mind
of Christ. I hope you have the mind of Christ. He says there a stated fact,
we have the mind of Christ. And then he says here in verse
five, Philippians two, let this mind be in you. which was also
in Christ Jesus. Let this mind be in you. Let
this disposition, this will, this desire, this demanding of
the one thing by Jesus Christ in, let this mind be in you.
He said, we have it, and then he said, let it be. Now, let
me tell you something. That's a big order, let us have
the mind of Christ He's going to show us what mind he's talking
about. Now, let me tell you something. The lost man, a natural man,
cannot have the mind of Christ. He has a carnal mind. He has
a natural mind. He minds the things that are
of the flesh. His carnal mind, his carnal mind
is enmity against God. And they that are in the flesh
cannot please God. It's impossible for them to do.
Paul, and I could have read it to you there a moment ago, he
says, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God, neither can he know them. Why can't he? Because they're
spiritually discerned. And since he don't have a spiritual
mind, he don't have the mind of Christ, then he can never
ever understand the things of God unless God gives him a spiritual
disposition. He must be given a new mind.
Paul says, be renewed in the Spirit of your mind. His understanding,
but not for man's understanding, must be enlightened. God's got
to take the darkness away from him. And he must be made a new
creature. And all of these things, none
of these things he can do. But still, here Paul says, let
this mind be in you. Let this mind be in you. And
when we look at it, when you think about it, You're thinking
this morning about yourself. Do you feel like you have the
mind of Christ? Do you, anybody here feel like,
I've got the mind of Christ, I've got the disposition of Christ?
It's a big order then to turn around
here and say, let this mind be in you. Let it be in you. Huh? That's a tall, a tremendous
task. A tremendous task. Let this mind
be in you. Now let me tell you some things
about this having the mind of Christ. The first thing, here
in Philippians 2, there is a sense in which we could never, ever
have the mind of Christ. There's a sense in which we could
never have it. And let me show you what I mean. Look there,
it says, let this mind, verse 5, 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. We can never
ever have the mind of Christ as God, as He had as God Almighty. Who, being in the form of God,
and what that means is that God who dwells in a life that no
man can approach unto, who is pure spirit, God took upon Himself
flesh and took a form that could be seen, that could be touched,
that could be handled. that could be listened to. And
so he took on himself the form of God. And as a man, in all
that he did, he never ever once robbed God of any of his glory,
any of his power, any of his wisdom. I mean, he was God manifested
in the flesh. And as God, he comprehended all
things. And all things that are comprehended
are comprehended in him. You see, beloved, as God, He
is His, was an omniscient mind. He knew all things. There was
not anything that He did not know. There was not any person
that He did not know. You remember when He called Philip,
and Philip went and found Nathanael, said, Nathanael, we found Him.
And the prophets say, Moses said, she comes, the Messiah. said,
Jesus of Nazareth. And old Nathanael said to him,
can any good thing come out of Nazareth? And Philip said to
him, well, come and see. And he came walking up there,
and the Lord Jesus Christ looked at Nathanael and said, there's
a light indeed in whom is no God. He said, how knowest thou
me? He said, before Philip called
you, when you were sitting under that fig tree, I knew you. He said, oh, that's great. Truly,
you are the Messiah. You are the Messiah. And you
remember the time when they, our Lord Jesus Christ, the man
was lying in his sickbed, lying there, hadn't walked. And our
Lord Jesus came to him, and they brought him in and laid him down
before him. And he said to that man, he said, Son, be of good
cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. They brought Him from the heaven
for Him to get up and walk. And our Lord Jesus Christ said
to Him, Son, your sins be forgiven you. That tells us that whether
you can walk, whether you can crawl, or whether you're in a
wheelchair, whether you're in your bed for life, or whatever
disease you have, the most important thing is your sins be forgiven. Because you're going to die anyway.
Something's going to get you. So it's most important that your
sins be forgiven you. And this fellow said, all the
Pharisees began to say, this man blasphemes. He's robbing
God of His glory. He's not equal to God. He's a
man. And our Lord Jesus Christ, they
said, who can forgive sins but God only? And our Lord Jesus,
perceiving the thoughts of the heart, He says, that you may
know that I not only have power to forgive sins, but I have power
over all things. Take up your bed and walk. Take
up your bed and walk. So you see, beloved, he knew
our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what I'll tell you
now. All things are open and naked before him with whom we
have to do. I started once to say this morning,
you know, my heart desires to be just like my master. And I,
you know, I don't want to tell a lie because there are so many
ways in which I'm not like him. And oh, if I was, if I was, I
believe I'd be more dedicated, more committed, more devoted.
But I do know this, that He does know, and we're open and naked
before Him. Right this moment. Right this
moment. And you know, our Lord Jesus
not only knew all things, He knew who would betray Him. And
He also knew who would deny Him. That's why we don't have the
mind of Christ this way. Our Lord Jesus Christ, they come
to tell Him something about men. He said, you don't need to tell
me anything about men. I know what's in men. You don't
need to come in to anybody to me or tell me how bad somebody
is. I know what man is. He told Judas, he says, Judas,
he said, what you do? Do quickly. And he told Simon
Peter, he said, before the rooster crows in the morning, he said,
you're going to deny me three times. Oh, no, no, no. That four days like that, the
rooster crowed three times. The third time. And our Lord
turned around and looked at him. He said, Oh my, I've told the
truth about him. He knew me. He knew me. And oh beloved, if
we can't have the mind of Christ as God, if we can't have the
mind of Christ in His perfect humanity, look what it says here
again in verse 8. Not only did He be God, He was
God, but He was found in fashion as a man. Found in fashion as
a man. He was God. He's had the form
of God. When you looked at Him, you was
looking at God. And yet, when you looked at Him, you also saw
a man. A man. A sinless man. A perfect man. But He was a man. And the Scriptures
tells us that he likewise took part of the same, that he might
destroy sin and that he might destroy the power of the devil,
but our Lord Jesus Christ was sinless and perfect. We had to
have a sinless, perfect sacrifice. And he was sinless in his mind,
He was sinless in his deeds, he was sinless in his actions,
he was sinless in his motives, he was sinless in his everything
our Lord Jesus Christ did. That's why he says, you know,
when they came to him, he asked them, he says, which of you,
who in the world of you can convince me of sin? Come on, mark it. Tell me where you see that I
have sinned. Where did I break the law? Where
have you ever heard me say a harsh word? Where have you ever heard
me mistreat anybody? Where did you ever hear me or
see me take an idle step, waste an idle moment? When did you ever say that I
was not always about my father's business? When did you ever say
that I did not obey my father and do always those things that
pleased him? Which of you can convince me?
Find me one law I've broken. Find me one time that I dishonored
God. Find one word that I said that
I was too harsh, or too impatient, or not loving enough. Find one.
And oh, beloved, I tell you, God testified to his sinlessness. He said, this is my beloved son.
and I whom I'm well pleased." And he never said that about
nobody else on the topside of God's earth. And that's why he
says we're only accepted in the beloved. Man even testified to
his sinlessness. A man that was in the position
of power to crucify the Lord Jesus Christ. And he stood out
before that crowd and says, listen, why don't you let this man go?
I find no fault in him. Three times he told that crowd,
I find no fault in this man. Why do you want him to crucify
you? He had to say, I find no fault
in it. Satan has nothing in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus says, the prince
of this world is coming and he has no part in me. He's got plenty
of part in us. He's got plenty of tenet to start
a fire in us. But he was nothing in Jesus Christ
that he could tempt. Nothing he could do. And when
they came to the devils to cast him out, you know what they said
about him? They said, you're the holy one. If you come to
torment us before our time, they call him the holy one. We
know who thou art. We know exactly who you are.
He was the same one that Isaiah saw on his throne, high and lifted
up and in his glory. And the scriptures, the word
of God, declares his sinlessness. For such a high priest became
us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." But,
beloved, that's something. You know, he was the lamb without
spot and without blemish. But that's something of us that
none of us know anything about. We can never have a mind like
that. One day, one of these days, we'll be that way, but not now.
You know why? Because in this flesh dwells
no good thing. When we wouldn't do good, what
do we do? And when we wouldn't do evil,
what do we do? Paul said, you know, I see a
war in my flesh. I know how to do it. It's in
me to do it, but how to perform, I don't know how. I'm a carnal soul to understand.
And that's why we cry, O wretched man that I am, who's going to
deliver me from this body of death? And if we did not know,
if we had this flesh as to contend with, and did not know the Lord
Jesus Christ, as that lamb without spotting out me, we would despair.
And that's all we knew was about our sins. But thank God the next
verse says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. And oh, we cry out, and then
we have to come back and say, Lord Jesus, you, you, you! And we have, if he is sinless,
in him we're without sin. In him, he's holy, we're holy. In him, he's accepted of God,
we accept it. And that's why the Father said,
with his Father's garments on, we as harmless, we as holy as
God's own Son. And oh, beloved, our Lord never
had a vain thought, Paul had to tell us, What was that glory? He never had a moment of pride.
And man, I could strike a match in here and pride would set this
place on fire. It would be like pouring gasoline
on it. There's not a soul in this building
this morning, including me, that I bet we've got enough pride
in us that a fire, a match would just burn us up. We've got so
much pride, it just leaks from us. That's why we're so easily offended.
That's why we argue. That's why we debate. That's
why we defend ourselves. That's the reason why if anybody
says something to us, we don't say, you're right. No, no. No,
no. If a wife says something to us,
we want to fight. If they say something to us,
we want to fight. So I said, pride, pride. But
our Lord Jesus Christ never had a moment of pride. Never wasted
a word, never out of huddled hand. He was a man. He was a
perfect man. He was the God-man. We can't
have a mind of Christ like that. But now let's see how we can
have the mind of Christ. If this is, if we, how then can
we have the mind of Christ, this God and this man in His humanity? I say how. We can have the disposition of
Christ in humility. Look what it says there in verse
eight. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself. He humbled himself. We can have
humility. And all the old writers, everybody
you can find, says humility is the cheapest of all graces. Humility is the cheapest of all
graces. And let that humility that was
in Christ Jesus, let it be seen in us. Keep Philippians 2, and
turn with me to John 13. John 13. Humility. Let that humility that was in
Christ, let this be in you. Let this be in you. See, he humbled
himself. And that means he emptied himself.
He emptied himself. And you know, I'll tell you something,
we can empty ourselves. of vainglory. And I tell you,
what is vainglory? Whenever you glory in anything
besides Christ, it's vainglory. It's vainglory. Let me tell you
something. We teach our children that. We
teach our children vainglory. It's in my brain. Raleigh, Mary dressed her up
this morning. I said, boy, you're so pretty.
Oh, you're the prettiest thing that ever was. Look at that hair.
Look at them clothes. making her the glory in herself.
And she said, oh yes, I know. We teach you that. And then the
Scriptures turn around and tell us, don't teach them. Oh, man. Oh, but we're grown-ups. We're
adults. Let us empty ourselves of vain
glory. Let us. not be self-seekers. Let us empty ourselves of pride. Let us exalt others. Let us abase
ourselves. And look what our Master said
here in John 13, 13. You know, he just got through
washing the disciples' feet. And he says this, he says, you
call him Master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master,
have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
Now watch this. I have given you an example that
you should do as I have done to you, as I have done to you. You know what that means? Humble
yourselves to one another. If our Lord emptied Himself and
got down and treated a bunch of sinners, high-minded sinners,
and washed their feet, He prided them with his power and treated
them as a servant. And that's what they've done.
The reason they wore feet back in is because they walked in
sandals and they walked in dirt, and they'd wore through feet
when they'd come in and out. But this shows us, beloved, that
we ought to be willing, if we see dirt on one another's feet,
not to point it out, but to humble ourselves and love one another
in spite of anything that's wrong with us. And that's what our
Lord Jesus Christ, and back over in our text here, look what he
said in verse three. Philippians 2, 3. Let nothing,
nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness
of mind. Lowliness is the mind of Christ,
lowliness of mind. Let each esteem others better
than themselves. And we can do that by God's grace. We can do that. We can have that
mind of Christ. We can have that mind of Christ.
And what else is said about him? He says there in verse. Seven, but made himself of no
reputation. He didn't go around every time
he'd do something, says, don't tell me about that. Don't tell
me he go off by himself. He went after that woman at the
well by himself. And nowadays, every preacher
wants to make himself of a reputation. Everybody wants a reputation
of being this great, that great, but he emptied himself. Let me
give you an illustration. They came to John the Baptist.
They said, John the Baptist, are you that prophet? No. Are
you even as you come? No. Well, who in the world are
you? I'm nobody, absolutely nobody,
but there's one coming after me." He did not take any glory
to himself. He didn't say, I'm anybody. All
he said, I'm just a voice. And he said, there's one coming
after me who's shrewd. I said, I'm not worthy to unloose.
And he said, that's the person you ought to glorify. That's
the person you're going to listen to. That's the person that's
going to take away the sin of the world. That's the person
I sent to bear witness to. Not to myself. Not to my will. Not to my glory. Not to my power. Not to my preaching. Not to my
looks. Not to my thunder and voice.
Or how many people I've baptized. But Him. I sent to bear witness
of Him. I'm not the light, but He's that
light. And, oh, beloved, that's what we're talking about. Not
only can we have this humility. God help us. Oh, help me. And
then look what he said here in verse 8, Philippians 2. We can
have an obedient mind. Look what he says here in verse
8. And he became obedient unto death. He became obedient. Now, what
in the world does that mean? You know, if you start studying
about Christ as being a man, and being God's servant. In John
14, 31, it says this about our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, He
said, Let us get up and go, because this commandment have I received
of my Father. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
be a servant to His Father, to His will. And as a son and as
a servant, the scripture said in Hebrews 5, 8, that though
He were a son, yet He learned obedience. That's one of the greatest mysteries
you'll ever find in Scripture. He was God's Son, and He was
a man, a sinner's man, and though He was a man, and though He was
the Son, yet He learned obedience. And what disobedience means here
is being subject to the will of another, owning the authority of another. Now, He was equal with God. And
yet he took himself and made himself subject to the will of
his father. He owned the authority of the
father above himself. And it tells us here that he
took upon himself in the last part of verse seven, the servant,
became a servant. He took the place of a servant. We can be obedient like that.
We can be subject to the will of another, subject to the will
of the God. We can be subject to one another's
will. Certainly, we can own his authority. We can own somebody
else's authority. Oh, to have an obedient mind,
a mind that just bows to the will of God, bows to the authority
of God, a mind subject to be a servant, willing to be under
authority to other people. Willing to obey other people?
Willing to make ourselves nothing that somebody else might have
authority over us? And then I say something else
we can do. How we can have the mind of Christ, the disposition
of Christ. Not only in humility and obedience, but what about
love? What about love? Well, look what
our Lord said. Keep flipping this to and again
look with me in John 13. That's what our Master told us
over here in John 13. Verse 34. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ said, If I
have loved you, so love you one another. As I have loved you.
As I have loved you, love you one another. I had an opportunity
this week, a young man came up to deal with some insurance for
the church, a very young man, and he asked me, he said, are
you all in the Sovereign Grace Association? I said, no, we're Sovereign Grace
workers, we're independent. Then he began to ask me, he had
this part of the policy where if you had a board or a board
of directors and you had people who run the church, you know,
they had a million dollar thing on there, you know, if any of
them got in any trouble or mistreated somebody or something, you had
a million dollars, a rider on that thing to take care of anybody
if any of the directors got out of pocket somewhere or something. And I said, you know, I said,
we don't have a ward. I said, you know, we don't have
it. We just we just meet and worship
and love one another and listen to the gospel. And I said, we
built this church and we didn't even know With a business meeting,
we had to write up minutes to go borrow money because we never
had a business meeting. So we decided to go to the church
to come to the offering and win money. He just sat there and
he just said, so y'all don't need that then. Because honestly,
I know we don't love one another like we should. And I know folks
that get upset because they say, well, they don't show enough
love to me. I'm sorry that if we don't feel like we don't love
you enough. But look what our Lord Jesus
Christ said. We can love. We can love. That's what he said
in verse 34, John 13. A new commandment I give unto
you. A new commandment that I give
unto you. Why in the world is this a new
commandment? that you love one another. Under
the law, God said, love me. And if you don't do that, you're
under the curse. Love your neighbor as yourself,
but if you don't do that, you're going to under the curse. And
you remember our Lord Jesus said, don't be like the Pharisees,
don't be like unto them who love them that love you and hate them
that despise you. He says, a new commandment I
give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another." Now watch this, "...and by this
shall all know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one
to another." Now what did he mean, a new commandment? What makes it new? Pharisees didn't love anybody.
It was obvious they didn't love anybody but their own. And when
you're a legalist and you're self-righteous, You're only going
to be around people like yourself. And everybody else has got to
meet your standard, your goal, your opinion of what somebody's
supposed to be like and live like and conduct themselves.
And if they don't, then you're down on them and you say they're
sinners. But our Lord Jesus Christ says,
a new commandment I give. What does he mean by that? Well,
newly explained. Newly explained. The Gentiles
didn't love the Jews. The Jews surely didn't love the
Gentiles. Newly explained. Purge. What I mean by that is
purge from all the false teachings of the scribes and the Pharisees. They taught, you know, oh my,
you can't love... This man receives the sinners.
He eats the sinners. Those folks went in there and
ate with unwashed hands. That's what I'm talking about.
There was no love in that. And our Lord Jesus Christ says,
Oh, you didn't wash your hands? I love you. Except I wash it. You may be clean every other
way, but you're still unclean until I wash it. Have you been
cleansed by Christ? That's all that matters. You've
been washed in the blood. That's all that matters. And
newly exemplified. When it says new commandment,
newly exemplified by our Lord Jesus Christ. How did He love
us? How does He love us right now?
I preached that last Sunday night. Christ loves at all times. Is
there not a time that Christ didn't love us? When you, when your mind has
got the filthiest thing it could possibly cross it, does God look
at that and say, oh, I don't love Him. No, no. He loves us. has loved
us, and nothing we can ever do will ever stop Him from loving
us. If Simon Peter, you're going to deny him. If you ever seen
Peter's woman, his hands at that fire, that night, this trying
Christ, and he denied Him, and he denied Him, you'll say, there's
no way in the world that man's a believer. But our Lord Jesus Christ loved
him. And guess why? He loved the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you'd have walked up there and seen Noah after he'd raced,
he'd been off that boat for a long time, been off that ark for long
enough to raise him a vineyard. And boy, the first copper gates
he got off of him gave him some wine. He must have been pretty
good because he got drunk and got naked. His son saw his nakedness,
but God didn't see his nakedness. That's what I'm telling you,
beloved. That's what our Lord Jesus Christ, He newly exemplified
that. He said, I'm not going to love
you. You're going to have to meet my standards for I love
you. You're going to have to change the way you think, the
way you act, the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you
dress. You're going to have to learn how to pray. You're going
to have to learn how to understand the scriptures. You're going
to have to really straighten up your life or I ain't going to love
you. But God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And the very thing that his enemies
held against him, that's the thing that he gloried in and
came to do. This man received the sinners.
That's the message that the enemies of Christ sent. And that's our
hope. Yeah, this man received the sinners.
Well, Lord, here I'm coming. I'm coming as a sinner. Oh, yes. and not only newly exemplified
by him, but newly enforced by the argument by this. How can
we who know God, if a man God is love, and he that loveth not
his brother knoweth not God? Ain't that what is said over
in 1 John? Newly enforced by this argument, how can we love
God and not love our brethren? How can we be new creatures in
Christ and not be like Christ? Let me give you another one. Let this mind be in you, the
mind of humility, the mind of an obedient mind, a loving disposition,
a meek disposition. God give us meekness. We can
be like Christ in meekness, have the mind of Christ in meekness.
Our Lord Jesus, come unto me, take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for I am meek, and lowly in heart." And ain't that what
Paul says, let everything be done in lowliness of mind? And
that's why Paul, he used that argument, he says, I beseech
you by the gentleness and meekness of Christ. And oh, beloved, what
is meekness? What is meekness? Arthur Peake
says it's like being malleable in God's hands. It's like being,
you know, you don't resist. It's that temper of spirit in
which we accept God's dealings with us, and everything that
He deals with us as good, and not disputing it, not arguing
with it, and not resisting it. God comes and does something
you know and puts His heavy hand on you. And you don't resist
it. You yield to it. It hurts. You yield to it. And that's
something the Scriptures tells us we must learn. He says, take
my yoke upon you and learn. None of these things are natural
to us. Take my yoke upon you and learn of what? Of me. Learn of me. Learn of me. More about Jesus? Would I know? More of His grace to others show? More of His love and fullness
see? Of Him who died for me? And the
only way we can learn is to look to our Master. And as we learn,
we'll find rest from ourselves and our pride and our resistance
and our self-glory. And I'll tell you another reason
how we can have the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you. It's
sympathy and compassion. Look with me again here in verse
4, Philippians chapter 2. We can have this mind of Christ
convince us with sympathy and compassion. Look what he said
in verse 4. Look not ever, man, on these old things, but ever,
man, also on the things of others. We won't tell everybody about
what our troubles are, but we don't want to find out what theirs
are. Somebody start telling you what's going on in their life,
you interrupt them, start telling them, oh man, that ain't nothing
compared to what I'm going through. Instead of showing sympathy and
compassion and letting hope unburden on us. The scripture says, weep
with them that weep. Somebody got some reason to weep,
if you love them, you'll weep with them. You know, our Lord
Jesus Christ, when he was coming to Lazarus' tomb, he called for
Mary, and Mary went out there to see him. And she got down
before him, and she just began to weep profusely. She said,
Oh, Master, if you'd been here, my brother had to have died.
And oh, he went to the tomb with her, and she was crying. You
know what our Lord Jesus Christ did? He wept with her. He wept with her. He wept with
her. And he walked out, and one day
when he was on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified, he stood there
over Jerusalem up on the hills, and he looked over Jerusalem,
and the Scripture said, and he went. And he went. And he said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
how oft, how oft would I have gathered you, but you would not. Oh, the peace that you could
have had and you ain't gonna have. And it says, you know, he saw a multitude
who were as sheep without the shepherd, and he was moved with
compassion and told them all to sit down. You're tired, you're
weary, and you're hungry. Sit down here. What have you
got to eat? Oh, we've got five fish and two
loaves of bread. Lord, I bless you, and I thank
you for these five fishes and these two loaves of bread. Start
passing it out. There's over 4,000 men and
women. That don't count the kids. They started passing that basket
around. All those people ate. Are you hungry? Are you hungry
for Christ? And when you see people in need,
sympathy and compassion. And I'll tell you something else
we can have. We can not only have a humility and obedience
and love and humility and sympathy and compassion, but we can have
a mind of devotion. We can have the disposition of
devotion. And what do I mean by that? When
our Lord went to that woman at the well, He was there talking
to her, and the disciples went away to get something to eat.
And they came back and they caught her, saw Him talking to that
Samaritan. And he just, they couldn't get
over it. Why? I mean, what else? He talked to the Samaritans.
And he said, we brought you something to eat. And he says, I have meat
to eat that you know not of. My meat, my food, my living,
my life is to do the will of Abba Sidney. That's what he said. And when his mother and father,
when he was twelve years old, they went three days I remember one time we left our,
one of our, we left Doogie asleep on the front pew one time, and
they locked up the building, we left him. Got down the road
a little ways, turned around, come back, had to get him. You
know, you get to talking and visiting and everything, you
jump in the car, you go, and there you left your son. I don't
know how many, if any of the rest of them ever left their
kids in church to sleep on the pew. We did that. But anyway, They went three days' journey,
and they thought, well, he's with some of the other parts
of the family. He's with brothers or sisters, aunt or an uncle.
And they looked around, and he ain't there. They turned around
and went all the way back. And you know what they found?
And he was in the temple. Twelve years old. And there was the
doctors, the lawyers, the scribes. The wise men, all the number
one rabbis in Israel. And he sat there 12 years earlier,
making those folks stand in astonishment. And they came back, why in the
world have you troubled us like this? He said, wished you not,
wished you not, don't you know that I must be about my father's
business? 12 years old. Could we have that
kind of devotion to the will of God? To the work of God? to the word of God? Could we
have that kind of devotion to God's word that we would not
go without reading it, without finding it, without understanding
it, without desiring it? Could we be that devoted to God's
gospel? To, oh, it's my will to love
this gospel, preach this gospel, support this gospel, get this
gospel out. Could we be this devoted to God's church? Not
only on Sunday morning, but on Sunday night and Wednesday night?
This is God's church. It's Christ's church. And He
bought you and purchased you and He put you in it. Could you
not be devoted to His body? And it's God's people. Can we
not be devoted? Can we not say, Lord, not my
will? Not my will? I don't want to do that. It's
not my will. I don't feel like it. Not my
will. I'm too tired. Not my will. But thine be thine. Oh, let this mind be in you.
And then let me tell you, look back with me in I Corinthians
2, and I'll wind it up with this right here. I say, you know, we can't have
the mind of Christ as God and as sinless humanity, but all
We can have the mind of Christ in humility and have an obedient mind, a
disposition. This is what we're talking about,
a disposition of obedience, disposition of love, disposition of meekness,
sympathy and compassion and devotion. But now, in what sense now? Those
are the things God helped us to do. But in what sense do we
now have the mind of Christ? Take that what it says here in
verse 16, do we have the mind of Christ? What sense do we now
have the mind of Christ? Well, first of all, we've been
taught the truth as it is in Christ. Look up there in verse
10. But God, no man hath seen or
I have heard what is entered into the heart of man, the things
that God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. for the spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God." We've been taught the
truth. God has taken the truth, the
things of God, the things concerning Christ, and revealed them unto
us. Now, I tell you what, we do know
the mind. We know the mind of the Lord concerning the gospel.
We know what the gospel is. We know the gospel of how God
can be just and justify the ungodly. We know the gospel. And I tell
you, beloved, if a man don't know Christ, and he can't know
Christ until somebody preaches to him and tells him about Christ,
tells him who Christ is and what Christ is, and until he comes
to know Christ, he don't believe the gospel. And, beloved, we
know the mind of Christ and His will of salvation. Do you know
how many people in this world that God never ever visits and
never intends to ever do anything for in this world? If you see a multitude, say,
of a million people, there may be out of that million
people a handful that God's going to do anything for. that God has destroyed and not
hardly saved anybody out of it. The Roman Empire, with all of
its glory and all of its seizures, they persecuted God's people
with a passion. They're gone. All the seizures
are in hell. My mother and dad, uncles and
aunts and brothers and sisters, out of all my uncles and aunts,
as far back as I can remember, almost past. Don't know God,
don't know Christ, and Christ never ever visited them. So this idea that God wills the
salvation of all is false. Maybe God wills your salvation,
I don't know, but I do know this, if you don't believe on God's
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and embrace Him, and come to Him,
and bow to Him, and acknowledge Him as Lord, I know one thing,
you've got no reason in the world to think God has any will for
you, other than judgment. Now that's hard, but that's true.
That's true. I've tried to witness to my brother.
I'm alright, I'm good. That's the whole problem, you're
good. Christ didn't come to save good
people, He come to save sinners. We, helpless, immigrant, dead,
depraved, decaying. We know the will of God in salvation. We know His purpose of glory
in the salvation of His elect by His Son. Yes, somebody told me the other
day they heard the Brother Henry's message on the trail of God's
sheep. That's the only people Christ
went after. The Lord came to him and said, I'm
not sick done turning to the lost sheep. Oh, you're right. And he's not eating at all. I
lay down my life for sheep. Goats don't become sheep. And oh, and then he said to him,
verse seven, I took too long, I know I have. Verse seven, but
we speak the wisdom of God in the mystery. We have the mind
of Christ concerning the mystery of the gospel, the hidden purpose
of God, the hidden wisdom. Where was it hid at? In God,
in the scriptures, that was ordained before the world to our glory. This gospel, this gospel, the
will and purpose of the mystery of the gospel, Jew and Gentile,
bond and free, male and female, God has now revealed to in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Do you have the mind of Christ
in this business of salvation, in this business of the gospel? He says the natural man doesn't.
He says we do. And all those things are in 1
Corinthians 2. We have the mind of Christ. I
declare nothing unto you but the testimony of Jesus Christ.
One know nothing else. That's the mind of Christ. I
want your faith to stand in the power of God, not in the wisdom
of man. That's the mind of Christ. And we preach the wisdom of God
among them that are mature. That's the mind of Christ. The
mind of Christ understands that the natural man, oh, I love Jesus.
But does he love you? Huh? Do you have the mind of Christ
in these things of salvation? Our Father, O gracious, eternal
God in heaven, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Bless your name.
Oh, how we bless you and praise you. And Father, the mind of
Christ, we have it in this business of the gospel and the will of
salvation and the purpose of God. But Lord, we want to have
the mind of Christ in humility and obedience and love and devotion
and sympathy, compassion. Oh, we want to have it. So Lord, please work in us, work
in us both to will and to do of your good pleasure. We ask
these in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Having the mind of Christ?

What does the Bible say about having the mind of Christ?

How do we know the doctrine of the mind of Christ is true?

Why is humility important for Christians?

How can we develop the mind of Christ in our lives?

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Having the mind of Christ?

What does the Bible say about having the mind of Christ?

How do we know the doctrine of the mind of Christ is true?

Why is humility important for Christians?

How can we develop the mind of Christ in our lives?

Sermon Transcript

About Donnie Bell

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