Thus Minded

Philippians chapter three. Every notion and presupposed assumption of who God is by the natural man is wrong. Every single presupposed notion that we have about who God is, naturally speaking, is wrong. We will liken Him unto things that we can see. We will liken Him unto things that we know. When we talk about strength, we will liken Him unto our strength by nature. When we talk about wisdom, we will liken Him unto man's wisdom. This is naturally speaking, of course, that I'm talking about. When we talk about God, naturally speaking, we liken Him unto men.

The Greeks decided they're gods, were like gods, but they were also like men, as in they could die. And you go back to the Egyptians, they're gods. They could die as well. You have many different religions in society that's came up and that's went down and they all had something in common when they tried to come up with the Definition of God, they fall miserably short, miserably short.

Our God is seated in the heavens as the sovereign king of kings and lord of lords. He doeth all things according to his own determinate counsel, according to his will. None can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Any presupposed thought that I have of God, naturally speaking, in myself and of myself, A natural conclusion that I come to is wrong. We look at this, everything about the Lord from a natural viewpoint, a carnal viewpoint in the flesh, because we're spiritually dead.

A good example of that in the scripture would be in the book of Genesis, where Cain decided he was gonna bring the works of his hands unto God and that God would be pleased with him. He brought forth the fruit that he had grown, the vegetables that he had grown. He'd done a good job in what he grew, but the problem was is God's not going to accept the work of our hands, but he thought God would be likened to him. Cain was very proud of his garden. He was very proud of his fruits and vegetables. And as a self-proclaimed gardener, I kind of understand the pride in growing vegetables and things like that.

But I say self-proclaimed because I'm not very good at it. But he was. He was the best. He did a good job. God did not accept the works of his hands, though. Why? Because God was looking to Christ even then. And that's what Abel brought forth was the lamb, the blood of the lamb. and God had respect unto Abel and to Abel's sacrifice. Well, because God had no respect unto Cain and Cain's sacrifice, the Lord told him if you would do good, you'd know you'd be accepted.

What did he do? He talked with his brother Abel and he slew him. He slew him. And you can only imagine what that conversation was. I would imagine that it was Abel trying to intercede to Cain on God's behalf. He was trying to tell him the truth, I would imagine. Scripture's not very clear, it makes sense that that's why Cain would rise up to kill him.

Because when people hear what we believe at this church, they don't like it very much. It strips the flesh of all ability, strips the flesh of all pride, strips the flesh of all self-righteousness, and the flesh hates it. That's why our fabricated God that we come up with naturally is so convoluted, is because we can't possibly imagine a sovereign, holy, just, and righteous God How could he love some and elect some unto salvation yet pass by others and their eternal destiny be hell forever? Well, when we see ourselves as the chief sinners and we see ourselves as perfectly or as completely unrighteous and unworthy and him as perfectly righteous, we realize how could he even choose to save us except by grace alone?

Why would he choose to love? Because of his glorious person and character. For his own glory is the reason why. Another example of how our minds think God is, is the Tower of Babel. They begin to make a tower. They say, we're gonna build a tower to God. It's just a picture of man's works. We're going to ascend up to where God is by the works of our hands. Even Satan said, I will ascend above the heavens of the throne. I'll become as the most high. That's the original sin. And we see that every time man tries to do something to get to God, all it does is destroy that man, that man or woman.

Another good example is the children of Israel. Now think about this. In depth, if you can, the children of Israel just left Egypt. They just saw the 10 plagues of Egypt, 10 miraculous, glorious works of the Lord's hand on Egypt, things that could not be explained by man. Even though some men tried to explain it, they couldn't explain it. All the plagues that they saw. They left Egypt by the power of God's own hand, and they get to Mount Sinai.

They had saw an ocean, the Red Sea, part, and they walked across on dry land, water on both sides, and then the scripture says. They saw that. Have you ever seen water part before? No, of course not. God has to do that. We can't do that. They saw that.

Then they saw Pharaoh's army drowned in the deep. They saw God's deliverance. They're all singing. Moses' song in Exodus is about singing and praise and thanksgiving unto God, and they get all the way to Mount Sinai, and Moses goes up on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights to receive the law, the tablets of the Lord. And what do the children of Israel do? They worship God, right? They glorify him and praise him for 40 days and 40 nights. Nope, they say, well, Aaron, we need a God. We need to see our God.

And Aaron fastened a golden calf. And he told Moses when he came down, he said, well, I just threw the earrings in the fire and the necklaces and out popped the golden calf. I don't know what happened. Couldn't even own up to it. You know, that's the funny part. And what did they do? They danced around, they were clotheless. They're like heathens, dancing and singing boisterously. In so much that Joshua said, there's a sound of war in the camp. Sound of war in the camp. Moses, that's not a sound of war. It's not a sound of war.

He knew something was wrong. Man fashions God like unto things they can see, that they can touch, that they can relate to. Here's the most scariest part, brethren. The most scariest part is left to ourself. We will fashion God to be a direct reflection of me. You will fashion God in your imagination to be a direct reflection of you. Why? Because we're born our own gods. We're born our own gods. Now, if God has revealed these truths unto us, he has to give repentance and he has to change our mind about this exact problem, because this is a conundrum. We're not going to change that. We're not going to change our nature. Our nature is going to remain the same.

It's this nature of this flesh. It's going to go back to the dust from whence it came. It's going to die. So God's going to have to give us a new nature. He's going to have to change our nature completely. Now, it's not going to change this nature. He's going to have to give us a new heart that believes him by faith. He's gonna have to give us a new mentality when it comes to the things of God. He's gonna have to completely change our mind.

Let's read Philippians 3, 15 through 19. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded. If anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us mind the same thing. Brethren, be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example. For many walk of whom I have told you often, now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly. Whose God is their belly. Whatever tastes good. Whatever is palatable for that time, that's their God. Whatever feels good. And whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

I've titled this message Thus Minded. Thus Minded. What does it mean to be thus minded? Paul says to be thus minded. The good news is, well, let's read 15 again together. Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded. Thus minded. The good news is as he says next, and if anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

But notice he says as many as be perfect. We heard the first hour that in our flesh, we cannot produce perfection no matter what we do. I may be able to accomplish something, and you say, well, that's perfect, or that looks perfect. And I know I have confidence in the men that are here this morning that you've looked at your wife at some time or another and said, boy, that cake is perfect, even though it's not really perfect.

But to us, it might be. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm not. Maybe not. Maybe we didn't. Do that anyways if you had enough. It's good to compliment your wife's cooking. But nothing we do is perfect. Nothing we can do is perfect, truly. Why? Because we're sinners. We're sinners by nature. We're sinners by practice. And nothing we can do can change that because sin is what we are. A dog barks because it's a dog. It scratches fleas because it's a dog. They're not very clean creatures because they're dogs. They love to get dirty. They love to stay dirty.

I can relate to that in a lot of ways. I'm just going to be honest with you. That's what we are by nature as sinners. We're dirty by nature, we're defiant, we're rebellious, we're prideful, we're arrogant, we're selfish, we're self-righteous, self-centered. That defines every man and woman by nature.

But Paul says here, as many as be perfect. He's laid the clear example that prior to this statement that in the past, due to the law, he was not perfect, nor could he have attained or apprehended, he says, salvation by the works of the law. But now he says, but as many as are perfect. What is he talking about? Because he's clearly saying it can't be done by the law. Because Paul has set forth that he's pressing toward the high calling of Jesus Christ. Next Sunday, I hope to look at a message titled The Highest Calling. The Highest Calling. He's pressing towards Christ himself.

And it is a mystery how that we can be both sinners in this flesh right now as we sit and stand here. and yet be the very righteousness of God at the same time on the inward man. It's a mystery how that we can be full of iniquity in and of our heart in the flesh right now. And yet God declares us as perfect right now. That's a mystery, isn't it? It's a mystery how we can be breakers of the law.

And yet God says justified freely by my grace. And we know the mystery and the depths of it has to be revealed by the Lord alone. And it's revealed in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is clearly given the example of forsaking any and all hope of being perfect by what we do or do not do. He's told us that we're completely depraved, that we're dead dog sinners. And yet he calls us perfect. How can that be? Because God's people are found in Christ. God's people are found in Christ. And in Christ, they are perfect, because he's perfect.

I'm reminded of marriage, whenever we give our vows to one another, we're announced at the end of the wedding, at least traditionally. I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs., my wedding, it was Caleb Hickman. She's bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. Before the Lord, the vows were taken. And so it is with our Savior. We have been given to Christ. We are bone of his bone. We are flesh of his flesh. He has given us his righteousness.

He has taken our sin and put them away. He has justified us freely by his grace, by his own work, by the sacrifice of himself. and yet took all of our iniquity and the things that we would do to try to fix our sin. Nailed him to his cross, took him out of the way. He took the handwriting of ordinances that were contrary to us, that were written against us, nailed him to his cross and gave us his history. Now when the scroll is opened and it says at the top my name, it actually says Jehovah Sitkin you, the Lord our righteousness.

That's our hope. And underneath it reads perfectly righteous. Holy, truthful, having not sinned one time. That's the record of the Lord's people. This is how Paul says to them that are perfect, not going to be, not those who are progressively getting better. but those who have been sanctified freely by his grace.

Those who Christ has been made all our righteousness, all our wisdom, all our sanctification, and all our redemption. And who's the one that made him thus unto us? God. God did that freely by his grace. In verse 15, he calls God's people perfect. Do you know why? We have a perfect savior. That's why we have a perfect savior. He has given God's elect a new heart born of his spirit and to perfection. And the glorious part about it is, is old things are passed away and behold, all things are become new. Somebody said, I don't quite understand that. Well, a lot of the things we believe we don't understand, we just declare them.

But a good example I have of having two natures is first we start out as a caterpillar. What a caterpillar does, it climbs trees and it eats and it eats and it eats and it eats. Eventually, it gets into a cocoon or chrysalis based upon whether it's a butterfly or a moth. And during that time, a miraculous transformation happens. it comes out a completely different creature. It doesn't have the same habits, it doesn't eat the same foods, it doesn't even climb the trees anymore, it uses its wings and it flies. Now the most interesting mystery of the things of God is that we're still a caterpillar and yet, in the inward man, we're a completely different creature.

How can that be? It's what the Lord's declared. Made new creatures in Christ. We don't eat of the husks of false religion anymore. Why? Because God has not, it's not palatable to the Lord's people. That's why. We don't believe that the works of our flesh causes us to be saved. Why?

Because we believe salvations of the Lord. See, old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. The Lord's given us repentance and faith to believe Him. This is the inward man's natural response to the things of God. Now our flesh's natural response is totally opposite. It says, do this and do that. But if you find yourself resting in Christ, that's the result of God saying, live, making you a new creature in Christ, born again, born of his spirit, born from above. Question I have for us this morning is Paul said to them, which are perfect.

Do you feel perfect? I don't see anybody nodding their head. Do you feel perfect? Have you ever felt perfect? Have you ever looked to Christ as all your perfection? Have you ever looked to Christ as all your righteousness? Has God made you see that you are the chief sinner, that you have nothing good enough yourself, that in me, that is in my flesh, will let no good thing. Has God made you look to Jesus Christ as your righteousness?

That if you are to be perfect, he's the reason. Have you been given faith to believe him as your only hope of salvation? Then you're perfect. Think about that. According to what God says, if you're looking to Christ alone, I'm not talking about looking to Him partly, having one foot in the door, one foot out. That's not what I'm talking about. That's lukewarm, isn't it? That's what He talks about in Revelation. No, I'm talking about pressing towards the mark, looking to Christ alone as everything.

Him being our only, only, only hope in salvation. If you can say yes, truth Lord, I am the sinner, save me. If your hope is what we heard the first hour in Psalm 51, Lord, you're gonna have to save me, you're gonna have to make me, you're gonna have to keep me, you're gonna have to help me, you're gonna have to teach me. I'm blind, I'm lame, I'm dead, I'm hopeless, I'm sick, I'm a leper. The Lord says, I will be thou made whole. And he declares his people as perfectly clean, as perfectly righteous.

Don't examine yourself. That's not what the call is. Those of you be perfect. All right, well, let me examine this. Let me see. Yeah, I think I'm, well, I'm better than I used to be. You know, nobody's perfect. We're getting better though, right? No. Now we're getting worse. Paul said, who shall deliver me from this body of death? That's what we produce. We are born dying creatures. Every second that ticks on the clock is a second closer to our grave. That's the end result of man, no matter what we do.

I told you all this before, because it's comical, but it's sad. There's a book out there and you can look it up. It says, How Not to Die. It talks about eating good foods and doing good things, and this and that, and whatever else, and it's not religious necessarily. I'm all for health. Paul says bodily exercise profiteth little. He didn't say it didn't profit anything. But that's not going to keep us from dying. Otherwise, God's a liar.

He said it is appointed. We have an appointment with God, every one of us. It's appointed unto man to die, and after this, the judgment. Do you believe that? Then you're like-minded. You're like-minded. You believe Christ is your perfection, not you. Christ is your righteousness, not your law-keeping, then you're like-minded. That's what Paul is getting across to us here.

God's elector made to know that I am the sinner, and all I can do is sin all the time, and the worst part about it, I can't fix it. So my hope is found in Hebrews chapter one. We heard the first hour, when he had by himself purged our sin, he sat down. I love that the Lord put by himself there, don't you? when he had by himself purged our sin.

It doesn't say, and when he let me, it did nothing about me. He did it all. When he had by himself purged our sin, he sat down. The only part about that that's us is we're in the receiving end of it. When he had by himself purged our sin, they're gone, he sat down. Brethren, our Lord.

Is sovereign, is absolutely sovereign. If I'm going to be found perfect, he's going to be the one that has to do it. I can't perfect myself by what I do. Think about this every. Everything. Is ordered and shared because of him, because of his own will and because of his own grace.

And I about made a mistake whenever I was writing my notes to point to the windowsills in this church and say, even the windowsills that have dust on them right now, it's the Lord's purpose. But then I realized somebody cleaned last week, and if they missed that, they would really get angry at me. So I can't say that. And I'm not going to say at my house either. So I'm going to say in my workshop.

All the dust that's in my workshop, the Lord's purposed that. And yes, the Lord purposed all the other dust as well. But everything is purposed by Him. Every granule of sand that's in the sea and that's on the dry land, He didn't count to know how many's there. He purposed the number before the foundation of the world. Said he hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hands. Hand, singular.

What's the point of all that? To show us how small we are and how our brains cannot fathom how awesome, how full of all he is? Can't comprehend all that. And yet in His infinite wisdom and all for His glory, He chose to save sinners, chose to become a man, a creature of dust, and redeem them back to God.

Is that your hope? If it is, you're like-minded. You're like-minded. Even the numbers of our head, even the hairs of our head are numbered. And I love the word numbered there, because so many times in false religion, I thought, oh wow, the Lord loves me so much, he counted the numbers in my head, hairs. That's not what that means. Numbered means that he made them thus. So if I have 22,981, it's because God said so. You see that? He's not like we are.

I started this message by saying every preconceived notion that we have of God is totally wrong. Totally wrong. God is true. He said, let God be true and every man a liar. How do I let God be true? Well, you don't let God do anything. The best thing we can do is just shut up. That's, that's pretty much it. Which be quiet. Cause it's not, even when we talk, he's still going to be true. Do we see that? Somehow along the way, though, somebody believed the lie that says that we can constrain him or restrain him that made him dependent upon us in some way, shape or form. And I am here to declare unto you on the authority of God's word. God's not dependent upon me or you for anything. Does it offend you if I say God does not need you? Does it offend me if I say God does not need me?

Men believe, they say things like, God has a plan for your life. He really wants a relationship with you. He needs you to do your part. That's the lie. He's not depending upon me in any way, shape, or form, nor is he depending upon you in any way, shape, or form. I say this reverently and humbly as I can. He was only dependent upon one, and that was the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God. The only way you and I could be saved if he fulfilled his part in the covenant of grace. And he did perfectly.

See, he's self-sufficient. He needs nothing. Salvation wasn't an attempt. Christ didn't become a man on the face of this earth, a creature of dust. He didn't live a perfect life under the law, go to the cross of Calvary and die the death that we could never live. or that we could never die to satisfy God's demands. He didn't shed his blood and put away sin, the sin of his people, and then was buried and resurrected so that we might be able to do something to make all of that effectual. No, he did that because he's the only way that God can be just and justify a sinner such as you or me.

He's the only way. Do you believe that? If you do, you're like-minded. You're like minded what Paul's talking about. If everything about your salvation don't just hinge upon, but it hangs upon completely. Dependent upon the finished work of Christ alone, if your salvation is dependent upon God saving you. You're like minded. You're like minded. To be thus minded. To be thus minded is to be made to know he is the author and finisher of faith, and if I'm gonna be perfect, he's gonna be the one that has to do it.

It's to know that I can't produce anything but utter sin, and he's absolutely sovereign and holy. And what a glorious truth the gospel is. You know what the word gospel means? Good news. Did you know that? That's literally the definition of the gospel, good news. The only way that the gospel can be good news to you or I is if we see ourself as the sinner.

Because when we see ourself as the sinner, we see him as the savior. When we see that we're powerless, then we'll need his power. When we see ourself as dead, then we'll need his eternal life. When we see ourself as lepers, then we'll need the great physician.

The Lord said, I didn't come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners. They that are holding on a position, but they that are sick. Can you see that you're sick? Can I see that I'm sick? Sin sick. Do we cry out, Lord, if thou will, thou canst make me whole. You know what he always said to a mercy-begging sinner that came to him? I will be thou made whole. He put the cry there to begin with, didn't he? I have intentionally not went by my bullet points this time because last time I went too long. So look at verse 15 and 16 with me again. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect be thus minded.

And if anything, you'd be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. If you'd be otherwise minded, God shall reveal this unto you. Is your hope that if you get the wrong way of thinking, God will change your mind? Yes. If I start thinking wrongly about something, my hope is that God will change my mind. Because if it's up to me to change my mind, I'm not gonna do that.

Scripture says in Romans chapter one that they They worshiped and served the creature more than the creator. And it says their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. That would be us left to ourself. But he says here, if you be otherwise minded, God will reveal the truth to you. If you're his, God will give you repentance. God will give you faith to believe. Is that your hope? That's being thus minded. Our dependency is completely upon him from start to finish. Salvation is, he's the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end of salvation. That's our dependency. He's the first cause of it all.

If my mind wonders, or what if you, you ever studied something, maybe not even recently, but our, Many times in false religion, we would find something, we'd run with it. We thought, I see something nobody else has ever saw before. Anybody relate to that? It still can happen if the Lord leaves it to ourself for a moment. If that happens and we're His, you know what He's gonna do? He's gonna correct it. He's gonna bring us back. To what foundation?

Christ is all. Christ is all. If somebody ever wants to debate theology with you or doctrine or whatever it may be, run as fast as you can to Christ is all and camp right there. Yeah, yeah, I know Christ is all in salvation, but what about this and this and this, but Christ is all in salvation.

I mean, I know that, I know that, but what about this and that? Christ is all in salvation. It's all my hope. Yeah, but do you believe this? I believe that Christ is all in salvation. That salvation's of the Lord and it's free by His grace. That's my hope. Do you believe that? You're thus minded. You're thus minded. Notice he says here, Let's read 15 and 16 again. I don't think I got all the way through it. And that was the point I was just making about Christ is all.

What did we attain? Well, our hope is that in Christ we've attained eternal life. Our hope that Christ is the prize, our hope is that that is what we have received freely by His grace, is Christ in you, the hope of glory. And because of that, He's saying unto us, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. You know what the word attain means? The definition in this particular passage in the Greek. To arrive at, I love that. Have you arrived at the conclusion that Christ is all? If you have, the Lord's brought you there. If I have, the Lord's brought me there. We've already arrived in Christ. He says we're seated in the heavenlies with him now even. That's amazing, isn't it?

He says if you have arrived to that conclusion, the Lord's the doer of it, and if so, Let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. You know what that word rule means? Line, L-I-N-E. Isn't Christ the line that was drawn in the sand because he's God's standard? If there was ever a, if he is, he's the balance, if I can put it that way. He is the scale by which all things are measured. He's the line, you and I are not. He demands that we live up to that line and we cannot. So let us walk according to that line, how? Looking to Christ. Looking to Christ. Let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. What thing is he talking about?

That I wouldn't have my own righteousness which is of the law, but the righteousness which is by the faith of the Son of God that loved me and gave himself for me, that I might be found in him, that. That's the rule. And that's the same thing. If I am like minded, I have counted all my works. all of my works as part or evidence of my salvation as loss. As Paul says, they are but dung. They are no good to me and they're no good to anyone else.

I've been made to hope in the righteousness of God by Christ alone. I have been made to see that he is the successful redeemer of his people and I have no hope of eternal life outside of him. That if I am to be perfect, I've got to be found in him. that if I'm going to be what God demands, Christ had to satisfy those demands first and foremost. And second of all, he has to put me in Christ who satisfied those demands.

I have no hope in and of myself to accomplish any part of my salvation, nor can I look at myself and find comfort because of what I do or do not do. Because I've been taught and you've been taught of the Lord that everything that we do is tainted with sin, period. No matter what we do, no matter what we think, no matter what we say, it's sinful. Even the very best prayer that we have ever prayed, if God doesn't take that and wash it in his blood, it is a sinful prayer.

It's that simple. It's that simple. He must intercede for his people. He must be the mediator. Here's the good news, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Is that your hope? Is that your resting place? If so, you're thus minded. Have you been made, have I been made to beg for his perfection? Have I been made the chief sinner that sees God as the successful sovereign savior of his people? That's what Paul is getting across here as he's saying, you can't get salvation. It's not for the getting.

It's for the receiving of the Lord's people. And it can only be received by faith. And faith is bestowed by grace. And grace and faith come from God. And he gets all the glory. Brethren, this is the rule that we live by. Verse nine, this is it. Be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That's the rule that we live by, the righteousness which is of God by his faith bestowed. That's the rule that the believer lives by, God's elect.

We look to Christ alone as all of our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, having no confidence in this flesh. Can you say that? In the heart of faith bestowed, Christ is your only hope of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. If so, you're thus minded. You're thus minded. And it's all because of God's amazing grace. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would take these words, this truth, and bless it to our understanding for your glory. In Christ's name, amen.

Thus Minded

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Thus Minded

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