Be Gifted in the Mind of Christ

Just so you know why I said it that way. But who's the most gifted being that has ever been created at this point in time? By this point in time? Lucifer. Lucifer. Notice with me Ezekiel 28 and verse 12. Satan, Lucifer. The only difference is God did not create a devil.

But He made himself a devil. We talk about self-made men. The devil is a self-made individual as far as being a devil. But notice what it says in Ezekiel 28 and verse 12. Son of man, take up the lamentation upon the king of Tyros. Now, I want to call attention to something. It says king, doesn't it? Right here it says king. If you look at verse 2, Son of man, say to the prince of Tyros. And here it says in verse 12, the king of Tyros. In verse 2, it's talking to and addressing the flesh and blood of a human being.

In verse 12, it's talking about the spirit that either influenced extremely heavily or possessed that flesh and blood. Because it starts off speaking like a human, but then it talks about the real power behind the throne in verse 12. It's addressing the spirit that we know, the angel, fallen angel, that we know as his Lucifer. But look how this is worded. Now, now just think about this. Because, you know, a king is greater than a prince. And so that's why he's drawing the... If you use prince singularly without the king, then there's no relative comparison. But here, he wants a comparison to be made.

So when you look at what he says to the king of Tyros and say to him, thus says the Lord God, you seal up the psalm. We would say the psalm total, kind of like the epitome in a sense, you seal up the psalm. You're like a psalm total, full of wisdom and perfect or complete in beauty. God would never say that to a human being. God would never say that. That would not fit any human being, would it? You have been in the Eden, the Garden of God, and as we're getting hotter, every precious psalm is recovering, the sardust, the topaz, the diamond, the burl, etc.

And you take all these gems and jewels that are mentioned and flash light on them, or flash light through them, you're talking about brilliance of color. The workmanship of your tibrais and of your pipes, extremely musical, perfect musical ability.

And your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created. You are the anointed carob that covers. And I have set you so. So again, you read this, I've set you so, you were upon the holy mountain of God, you walked up and down the midst of the stones of fire.

It's obvious he's talking about this high archangel, Lucifer. There's no doubt about it. And he talks about you seal up the psalm. As far as just straight, creative powers, he was very much magnified in that, as far as his abilities and his powers and all. Notice verse 15, You were perfect or complete in your ways from the day that you were created.

No gap, nothing missing as far as what can be created. His skills, his abilities, his gifts, still iniquity was found in you. And of course, you read on and you read other scriptures and you see how the iniquity took self hold. Anyhow, you read that. Now, he did not keep love, humility, and gratitude. He did not keep love, humility, and gratitude. Notice what it says in verse 17.

Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness. He was beautiful. He was bright. And he looked at his beauty and his brightness, and he began to puff himself up over what he had. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness.

Obviously, pride and vanity, and pride and vanity was his downfall. And those are the opposites of gratitude and humility. If I flip over quickly to 1 Timothy 3.6, 1 Timothy 3 and chapter 3 and verse 6, here's instruction to Timothy who as an elder, as a pastor, as an evangelist, in 1 Timothy 3.6, an instruction to him from Paul, some guidelines in terms of considering men for responsibilities, offices, and all. But he says this, and it brings out that pride is the condemnation of the devil.

He says, not a novice, not one newly come to the faith. Lest being, notice the term, lifted up. Lift it up. There's that phrase again. Lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. The ghost pride is the condemnation of the devil. So I would ask this question, what are all of Lucifer's gifts now good for? You seal up the psalm. He was extremely gifted.

But what are all of those gifts good for now? What good do they actually accomplish? What true service and you know what we think of it, what true service and peace and happiness do they bring? Here's something that some people, if they're not careful, can lose sight of. Gifts never trump, and I'm not being political. I'm using a card term. Gifts never trump character. If they did, it wouldn't matter that he lifted himself up in pride. It wouldn't matter because he's gifted.

But gifts never trump character. Gifts that are held in love and humility and gratitude, guess what? They serve and they help others. Gifts held in pride, held in vanity, well, guess what they do? They only magnify carnality. Whatever the level of carnality, it just magnifies it. And what does that do? Well, that hurts others. And it harms others, starting with the person who's guilty of it. The harm starts with them internally, whether they realize it or not. But then it feeds out and expands out to the hurts and harms of others.

This is why Paul said what he did. And let's go into 1 Corinthians 12. This is what the Apostle Paul, why he said what he did in 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12, we'll pick it up in verse 27. In verse 27, now you are the body of Christ and members in particular. And all members are important. They really are. They all have their place. If you don't believe me, go home, take a hammer, pick either, if you're right-handed, pick your little finger on your left hand, or pick the little pinky on your left foot.

Just hit it with the hammer real good. See how well the rest of your body gets around for the rest of the week, or however long it takes to heal.

You can really illustrate this. We can illustrate this point to ourselves very well. We depend on all members of our body. These big old offensive linemen, they get a toe sprain. They get a big toe sprain or a big toe injury.

They usually can't perform well enough to stay on the line. They have to go on injured reserve or stay out anyhow and let their backup come in for x number of games so they heal well enough. It really makes a difference. Members in particular, and of course, within the body of Christ, God has set some of the church apostles and first apostles and second early prophets and thirdly teachers. And then He says after that, miracles, gifts of healings, those help governments, administrations, and diversities of tongue. And He says, are all apostles? Well, obviously not. Are all the prophets? No. Are all teachers? No.

Are all workers of miracles? No. Are there some? Yes, but are all? No. Do all have the gifts of healing? No. Do all speak with tongues? No. Do all interpret? No. Now, notice what He goes on to say, but covet or desire earnestly, there's nothing wrong with coveting or desiring earnestly the best gifts.

Yet, He says, I showed you a more excellent way. Now, think about that. That little phrase in verse 31, a more excellent way.

I will show you now, He says, all those things are good, and all those gifts are good. And if you desire to have those gifts, that's fine. But I want to show you something that is more excellent.

And so we go right into chapter 13 in verse 1. He says, though I speak with the tongues of man, and He evidently had the gift to be able to speak in different languages as necessary, and of angels. And then He does that to make the point that even if He could speak with the language of angels, I don't know what languages I speak in. I know when Gabriel spoke to Daniel, he spoke in Daniel's language. So Daniel would understand it. But it's like Paul saying, though I speak with the tongues of angels, it's like, Gabriel, if you've got a message to me from God, I've got the gift of speaking in your language, whatever that language is, that angelic language. Just speak to me in your language and I'll understand you. If He had the gift to understand the language the angels use, then He could just say, Gabriel, don't speak to me in Aramaic or Hebrew or whatever. He's really making a point here and emphasizing, okay, but have not a gopi. Well, I'm just like a bunch of metal banging together. I become a sounding brass or tinkling cymbal, and though I have the gift of prophecy, and I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I remove mountains, but I don't really have a gopi, I'm nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, though I give my body to be burned, and how not the King James that says charity means love or a gopi, it doesn't conflict me.

That more excellent way, what is it, and we're not going to stay here and define everything here. We are going to put scriptures together and define, but look at when he says, I show you a more excellent way, that more excellent way in verses 4 through 8.

It's verses 4 through 8. That is the more excellent way.

A gopi. God's love, the kind of love we seek, the kind we seek to be a part of us, to make it a part of us. It suffers long. It's enduring. It suffers long. It puts up with. It's kind. It doesn't envy. Why did He get that blessing? I deserve that blessing more than He did. Why did He get that? I should have had that. It just burns me. Did you ever run into that? Sure, you have. You see that in the corporate world all the time. Why did He get that promotion? That should have been mine. Envy's not. Oh boy, I sure wish I could have had that. I wish I had that. I wish that was me, not him. I wish that was me, not her. Charity vaunts not itself. It's not puffed up. It's not puffed up. It doesn't behave itself unseemly. It seeks not her own, not just concern for one's own welfare, but also concern for other's welfare. Not easily provoked. I want to tell you what, you better move real easy around so-and-so because you never know what's going to tick them off and they'll bite your head off. I mean, again, we've had experiences, you know, this kind of thing. We know this is part of the reality around us we have to deal with, but love is not easily provoked. You know, I tell you what, it's really hard to tick him off. Have you ever seen him kicked off? No, not really. You think he can get upset? Yeah, but it's going to be at the right thing at the right time and the right amount, but he's not the kind of person you have to worry about. Just everything you say and every word and every look because he just doesn't get ticked off easy. In fact, it's hard to get him ticked off. He's not easily provoked. Thinks no evil. Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. See, that kind of love it says never fails. That more excellent way doesn't fail. Now, think about this. Gifts that are encased in character will do great good. Gifts that are encased in love and humility and gratitude will render safe, solid service. Gifts are forgiving. God, I need gifts so I can look great. I need gifts so I can be promoted. I need gifts so that, well, boy, it would make me feel good and it would validate me and I would now have an identity. Gifts are forgiving. They're not for self-promotion. And see, love and humility and gratitude. And I put those three things together because they do go together. It's what safeguards the use and the effects of those gifts.

And I come back to the statement that I made. Gifts never trump character.

This is a healthy spiritual perspective. And as Paul said, earnestly desire the best gifts, but make sure they are set within the more excellent way. See, that's the safeguard.

If they're set in that more excellent way, they're safeguarded.

I'm 66.

I hope to be 67. And 68. And 78.

Maybe 88. If this age goes on long enough. And I hope that I don't have to reach on up there into my 80s because I hope that Christ comes back before that time. But when Christ comes back, it's God the Father's business. But it sure looks like it won't be too awfully many more years. But be it what it is, if we live faithfully before God, it doesn't matter if we are dead and sealed in the grave or we're alive on our feet. The outcome is the same. We're resurrected. We're changed into the family of God and to eternity with Him.

For being 66 and having sat in my first service in Memphis, Tennessee when I was 10 and a half, and been exposed to some degree to the truth even before we could attend a service that was the closest one to us, which in the summer of 61 when they established the congregation in Memphis, we were there at the inaugural service. And that was 150 miles away on two-lane highways, shared with tractors and log trucks and dogs and everything, but of course, as pulling wagons back in those years. And it was all day up there just to go to services.

But before we had a congregation we could attend, my grandfather of course was listening to Mr. Armstrong and we were getting the plain truth and all. And before I was even born, when Dad was dating Mom, God called him through my mother. But anyhow, one thing about when we've lived long enough, just in life itself, once we've lived long enough, we've lived long enough to see the beginning of cycles, them to run their course, finish out, and other cycles just like them start over. And so you learn a lot, even if you're not called into the church, you still learn a lot about life. Well, over my years in the church, over what's now becoming a lifetime for me, spending a lifetime, because at 66, I don't have but maybe 10, 15, 20 years or so in front of me, and I've got 66 behind me. So the vast majority of my life has been lived. So I can say it's spending a lifetime. I have seen, and I continue to see, a great challenge and a great frustration. And I'll put it like this. Why is it so hard for some of the membership? And I say this not pointed in any particular person, not pointed at the congregation here, just as a general statement of fact spanning across the Church of God, the people of God, not only over these previous decades of my involvement, but even over the church as I read about it, the early New Testament church in the first century, as I read about it in God's Word. That is, why is it so hard for some of the membership and for some of the ministry to walk in humility? Why? Why is it so hard? What is so unclear and cloudy about Philippians 2-5?

Philippians 2 and verse 5. What is so unclear for some?

In the membership where it does apply, and it does apply to Psalm, and in the ministry, it does apply. You know, I've been on a spiritual battlefield for a long time, and I've seen the battles and the spiritual wars that have raged.

You have too. And I ask myself, what is so unclear and cloudy about Philippians 2-5?

Let. The verse starts off saying, let. It means you're in charge. When God says, let, you have to allow. You have to yield. It's not, this mind will be crammed into you. You have to yield to it. You have to be receptive to it. You have to make a choice and a decision to yield to God, to yield to His ways. It says, let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. Now, as far as I know, certainly in the King James and any number of translations, I don't think this is obscure in any translation that I'm aware of. But what is so hard to grasp? Why does it just not seem to sink in with some? With some.

Why does it not truly show up in operational behavior with others?

I don't know how much my work and service as a minister over the decades has involved in dealing with operational behavior that doesn't fit this mode.

You know, the mind of Christ, if it is truly there, it does show up in operational behavior, doesn't it? I mean, that's just, it follows suit, doesn't it? It wouldn't show up. It shows up in how we treat others at the personal level. Now, look at this here in Philippians 2.

It will show up in how we treat others at the personal level. See, not the group level. I mean, I'm drawing it down to the personal level. How do I deal with each person I deal with?

If I deal with 10 different people, I can say, well, it's a group of 10. Well, yeah. But also, there's the opportunity and the need to deal with each one of those person on a personal level. I mean, you know, person-to-person, one-on-one is what we say. One-on-one is what we say. Philippians 2 verses 3 and 4. This precedes that verse 5 we just read and kind of sets the stage for making that statement in verse 5. It says, Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. Because we all know that with strife, it's obviously an indication that somebody's not getting their way. Or vain glory.

Empty glory. Glory that doesn't last. Glory that's based in vanity. But notice what it says, But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things. I'm reading the King James, but every man also on the things of others, just simply saying, it's not wrong to be concerned about your own welfare. That's okay. But that's natural just to look on your own welfare and well-nosed skin off my nose. What happens to him? It's not the skin on my nose. The skin on my nose is here as long as I don't get my nose skin. That's on him.

You know, doesn't hurt me. Look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others, though, that is upon their welfare. You might keep your finger in this area. I'm going to come back to the small letters of Paul here. But in Romans 15 in verse 2, I want to read Romans 15 verse 2. That's an interesting little statement right here in Romans 15 verse 2. We're going to tie all this together, and I'm going to do something that I normally don't do in sermons. I generally give titles right up front or not too far into the sermon, sometimes halfway. This one, I'll give you a title when the sermon's over when I finish it. To tie it all together. But you'll see before I get there, I think, obviously, you can pretty well guess what the title will be. But in chapter 15 in verse 2, let every one of us please his neighbor for his good, the edification.

Are we really concerned about doing that which helps the other person?

And we really have what we call the zone at camp. And it really is seven elements that define God's way of life. And we really emphasize with the kids to get in the zone and live in the zone.

And it's a great approach. And one of the things we teach them is, you know, it's okay to be concerned for your welfare, but include others' welfare in your own because your welfare is important to you. Well, isn't their welfare important to you? Like that at Rifori. That is one place where if they're not concerned for their brother, then put a bullet through his head.

Now, I don't want you to think that it's just a gun-waving situation down there.

I'm standing right there, and I have emphasized before they ever get a gun in their hand, they've had a safety class, they've had safety instruction, and I have made it with no doubt involved. There will be no guns pointed at anybody down here. They will be pointed safely in the right direction. And then I'm positioned along with my assistant to make sure that we have an impulsive young boy. The girls aren't as bad about this, but if we have an impulsive boy that just doesn't think and comes and they have to lie down to shoot, that's the safest positioning. But, you know, I teach them. You're showing automatically concern for those lying beside you and mass beside you by being aware of where your gun is pointed. And if somebody wonders why we teach Rockwell Reaskin later afterwards, and I will tell you, maybe I should just tell you right now, America's full of guns. An England person doesn't ever intend to have a gun. They need to know how to safely handle one. We had a 15-year-old boy in Missouri two years ago. Now, he wasn't in the church, but some of our church members knew him. He killed himself, shot himself accidentally because he was moving somebody's gun and he didn't understand the safety rules involved. If he would apply one simple golden rule of safety with gun handling, he'd be alive to this day. There might be a bullet hole in the vehicle, but he would be safe and alive. And so, if nothing comes out of it more than them having a proper confidence and safely handling so that if they're someplace and they need to safely handle a gun, you know, what do you do when a toddler comes out of another room dragging a rifle or a shotgun? Those things do happen. So, yeah, there's more than one reason to teach it.

But anyhow, it's emphasized you're showing concern by you keeping presence of mind, knowing what you're doing, you're showing concern for your brother or your sister who's beside you, who is dependent to a certain degree, not only on their safe handling, but on your safe handling, thinking of them. Ephesians 4.

Ephesians 4 and verse 32. Verse 32, and again, the main addressing of any Scripture, obviously, is to the people of God. That's the main audience that's being addressed, you know, through Scripture. And Paul is telling him, be you kind one to another, tender-hearted, having feelings for others, forgiving one another, even as God the Father, because of Christ, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. And notice Colossians 3. Colossians 3, verses 12 and 13.

Colossians 3, verses 12 and 13.

Put on therefore, as you, he says, as the elect of God, you and me, we, as the elect of God, holy to God, beloved of God, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave us, so also do you. The more excellent way those verses of 1 Corinthians 13, verses 4-8, the more excellent, excellent way that expresses, that defines our operational behavior with each other, that defines how we are to treat each other. And, you know, if there's a person somewhere who does not treat others that way, that person's kidding himself or herself.

That person does not have the mind of Christ. You know, I've hunted, and I've hunted quite a bit in the past. I don't really do it any more per se, but when I was down, you know, at a sandbar at a creek or someplace where there was dirt, where tracks could be made, I didn't have to see a deer standing in the deer tracks to note that the deer had passed that way and made those tracks, because I don't know what deer tracks looked like, I know what doe tracks looked like, and I know what buck tracks looked like.

If a bear makes tracks, I don't have to be standing there with the bear standing in the tracks to know it's a bear. In fact, I'm not going to be standing there with the bear standing in the tracks. I'm going to be out of there. I'm going to even be near. I mean, when we went to Alaska, that one trip we were blessed to make up there a few years ago, and we were going up this river, small river, doing some fishing, and the ferns were real high. There was a trail along the river, but the ferns right up to the trail, and all were just real high, and when you see the back of a grizzly moving through the ferns, I mean, they're real tall grass and ferns and all, and you see that very back about from here to the wall back there, the bear can have any trail he wants. He can have any fishing spot he wants. We're going the other way, but when you see bear tracks, you know that a bear made them, and there's a way that you can track that God can track the spirits. I mean, He can read our hearts and minds. What I'm saying is these things will show up in operational behavior, and somebody who doesn't treat others at the personal level this way is kidding themselves. They don't really have the mind of Christ like they think. It might be seated there, but it's not really sprouting and growing. The person is self-deceiving, and again, it doesn't matter what a person might claim, it's what is shown. Let's go back to Philippians 2.

Philippians 2. Look at verses 1 and 2 now. Philippians 2 verses 1 and 2. If there be, therefore, any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows and mercies, Paul says, fulfill you my joy, cause me to have full joy, give me full joy, fill out my joy by being, you know, that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one cord of one mind.

Passover night. We will go through Scriptures and John. Now, I'll eventually come back to Philippians, but I'm going to go to John 13 and very quickly in John 13 and John 15.

We will either read these Scriptures that I'm going to each year, or at least from some Passovers to other Passovers, but we go into these sections, and we read Scriptures from these sections. Some of the final thoughts that Jesus Christ had as a human being on this earth before He was taken and brutalized and crucified, killed, and then, of course, later resurrected.

In John 13, verses 34 and 35, John 13 verses 34 and 35, He says, A new commandment I give to you, let you love one another. Now, that's not the newness part, because when He says that you love one another, that's in the Old Testament. That's not the new part. The clarifier, the qualifier is what's new. That's what makes it the new commandment, to just make it as a statement, that part's not new. Here's what's new, as I have loved you.

None of us are going to ever measure up, in any sense, to the fullness of the amount of love that Jesus Christ has shown us through His sacrifice. I think we're all realistic enough to know that, aren't we? But that's the goal to shoot for. That's the goal you put out there, and you look at, and that's the direction you move in. As I have loved you, that's the clarifier. That's the newness part. Strive in that direction, for that goal to do that, that you also love one another. He says, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples, if you have loved one to another. That kind of love, moving in that kind of direction. Then, if you look at John 15, verses 12 and 13, he repeats it, basically. John 15, verses 12 and 13. He says, verse 12, This is my commandment, that you love one another. John is saying, he's coming back to it and giving it again to emphasize it, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that man lay down his life for his friends.

What is your life made of? Okay, what it's made of, it's made of time and energy.

You run out of time, it's called dead. You run out of total energy, it's called dead.

It used to be, I'd run out of time and maybe still have some energy.

I ran out of energy before I ran out of time sometimes.

It shifts, you know. But the bottom line is, your life is made up of your time and energy.

And so, when you give with your time, and you give with your energy, I mean, I might just flip over to 1 John 3.16 and read this. 1 John 3.16, where the Apostle John, who's writing these little books, evidently about the same time, roughly the same time period as he did the Gospel of John. He's an old man. All the other Apostles, original Apostles, are dead. They've all been martyred. He's probably 90-something years old and it's around the 90s AD. He's seen a lot, hasn't he? He's seen the cycles. He's seen them start, run their course, finish, cycles start over. But he says, hereby perceive we the love of God. This is 1 John 3 and verse 16.

Hereby, we perceive we the love of God because He laid down His life for us.

And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Well, He literally got killed for us. He doesn't mean we go out and get ourselves killed for Him. Most of God's people have not been or will not be martyred. You know, it's a minority of God's people, at least up to this point, that have been martyred. And there's a great martyrdom that's coming during the Great Tribulation. When He says, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, what's He talking about?

We give of our time and energy or of those goods and things and health that have been produced by our time and energy.

I said before coming here, in a situation where some people are really, really, really hurting because of a great loss in their lives.

And I was just thankful to God to be able to be used of Him as an instrument, to give of time and energy, to help in whatever small measure or whatever could be and do. When you give of your time and energy, you are laying your life down to that degree for someone, be it a brother in the church, a sister in the church, or a family member or friend who is not in the church. We don't draw lines on where you serve and help people. Let's go back to Philippians 2 now.

In Philippians 2, let's read verses 5-8.

Okay, with the preceding that went before, and He sets that up to make this statement, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, okay, what's that mind like? Well, He defines what that mind's like to the Philippians here. He says, Who being in the form of God, because He was God, He was the Logos, the Word, He didn't think it robbery to be full with God, because He was God. John 1-1. He was with God and He was God. Pre-existent. Not a created being. God, the second being of that God is who came to this earth as flesh and blood so He could die as a sacrifice. Oh, He didn't think it robbery to be full with God. No, because He was God. See, Jesus, the Logos, the Word, was just as much God as God the Father is God. But He made Himself. He voluntarily was willing.

That's why it says, made Himself because He made the decision and the Father okayed it. Made Himself of no reputation, took upon Him the form of His servant, and was made in the likeness of men. He became a human being. He became a male human being. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself. You realize how much humility it took to go from there to here?

He had to eat food like us. He had to drink water like us. He had to have clothing. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Where the mind of Christ is present and active, a person, and let me put it this way, where the mind of Christ is present and active, a person, quote, puts out for their brethren.

They put out for their mate. They put out for their children. They put out for their siblings. They put out for their friends. They put out for their... they put out for the mind of Christ is present and active. They put out. Well, let me break that on down. In putting out, putting out for their brethren comes in two ways. We can number these. Number one, number one, doing for them in a positive, proactive way. Number one, doing... these two ways that we put ourselves out for them. Number one, doing for them in a positive, proactive way.

This is what verse four is about in chapter two of Philippians.

Look not every... and I'll just add a word or two to really make it clear. Look not every man on his own things only. Remember the great commandment?

To love your neighbor as yourself. There's nothing in that about hating yourself.

To get the proper sleep that you need for your health. To be careful what you eat and certain things. To get exercise. To do things that can help take care of yourself properly.

To show proper concern for you and your life and your being and your existence that God has given you.

And also so that you can be around for a longer stretch of time to be there for your family, for your mate, for your kids, your grandkids, your great grandkids, your friends, and others, and to serve God off. Nothing wrong with that. That's all proper. And you use that to understand that you should be concerned for others in the same way. Love your neighbor as yourself. Doesn't say hate yourself and love your neighbor. It says love your neighbor as you hate yourself.

Now it says love your neighbor as you love yourself. So I guess if you hate yourself, it's okay to hate others. But if you have a proper love for yourself, that's how you're supposed to think about others, too. So look not every man on his own things only, but every man also on the things or the welfare of others. And remember we read that in Romans 15 in verse 2 about gratification. Now, here's something that number one, I number that as number one, here's something that number one includes. And this is very important.

It's very important. It's extremely important. Not looking down on others.

Not looking down on others. See, think about this. Verse 3. Philippians 2 verse 3.

It says, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.

And look at this part here. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves.

Now, let me ask us this question. If we really exercise esteeming others better than ourselves, or let's say we make the effort to do that, how do we at the same time look down on them?

It's an oxymoron. It's a contradiction. You can't do it. If you're looking down on others, if you're looking down on somebody, they're beneath you. You're above them. You're looking down on them. You can't apply that. You've automatically contradicted that.

See, I passed quite a few people on the road. I don't mean I got out and went around and passed them. But I went, I met a lot of people on the highway. Most of those folks, obviously, maybe every single one, less than somebody I've run into when I lived in Huntsville, I don't know. I don't think, I'm better than you are. I'm better than you. And I'm going to church, by the way. And you're not. And you're going on the wrong day. I'm better than you. See, that violates what I do say to myself. I'm more blessed because I'm one of the first freaks.

I'm called ahead of time. They'll be called also. And in the ultimate, they're going to be standing beside me as a brother or sister, as brothers and sisters in the kingdom of God for eternity.

I'm not better than. In fact, I was talking about this for somebody this morning.

Sometimes, God doesn't call the best people in the family to have the truth right now. Sometimes, He calls some of the worst of us. But there's a reason for that when He does it. But the point is, yes, I am more blessed. Obviously more blessed, but not better. And there is a major difference. And to know you're more blessed but not better allows you to apply this verse, chapter 3.

There's one I want to look at here and just see if I want to give it or move on. I'll just check it real quick. Okay, it's Romans 12 and verse 10, and I think I need to mention it. Because it has good application. In Romans 12 and verse 10 under this line of thought, it says, Be kindly affection one to another. Now, in the King James, it puts it this way, Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love in honor of preferring one another. Obviously, it fits in with this other.

But it also could have been rendered, as my margin will show it, Be kindly affectioned one to another in the love of the brethren. How many times over the years, and I just, you know me, and Gary and I both are, well, all my brothers and I are liking this way. We're we can be pretty plain spoken at times, and especially if there's a need to.

If you take that, Be kindly affectioned one to another in the love of the brethren, or out of love for the brethren, or because you love the brethren. There would be many things that leadership has done that has hurt the brethren over the years that they would not have done because they would have realized this will hurt the brethren, and we will not do this. This is selfish of us to do what we want to do, because it's at the expense of the brethren, and it would have held them in check. That's why, again, that love, that more excellent way, is so important. Okay, the second way that one puts out for others is this. The second way that one puts out for others is this, number two. And I'll give the point in three statements. One restrains oneself.

One restrains oneself.

To order slightly differently, one controls one's carnality.

One controls one's carnality.

Third way you could kind of word it is, one reigns in one's own human nature.

Because we've all got... we're all still carnal, obviously to a degree, obviously. We all still have human nature. It's not going to fall away until we're resurrected. And then that's going to be a good fall away. That's a fall away you want. One restrains oneself. One controls one's own carnality. One reigns in, they're all human nature. I live on the highways a lot, and I've driven about two million miles in my lifetime. And I see a lot of things on the highway, and I've been run off the road and this and that. You know, somebody runs me off the road. Does it upset me? Yes.

The fact that they don't have enough regard for the other lives that are out there on my way, yeah, that bothers me. It upsets me. And I have to watch my thoughts. There's no doubt about it.

But if I tear out after them and try to run them off, catch up with them and run them off, you know, turn around, follow them, then I'm being just as carnal as they are. And they may have more of an excuse than I do, because I don't have any excuse. God says, you know better. Anyway, let us see Ephesians 4 and verse 31. See, we read verse 32.

Now we'll read verse 31, just preceding it. It says, that all bitterness and wrath and anger, it's so important not to let anger rule one. Verse 26 says that the angry and sin not, which shows that there is such a thing as having proper anger, it's processed properly, and there's no sin involved. And you can have proper anger for the right reason, but not process it properly, and sin becomes involved. But there have been too many people who are ruled by maybe bitterness or anger. But he says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger, these are things that, you know, are germane to the human field, you might say. And clamor and able speaking be put away from you with all malice. And then he goes on to say, be kind, tender hearted. Because if you're tender hearted, there's no room for that other kind of stuff in there. And again, it is so crucial. See, you, me, we, individually, will treat others according to how we see them, how we view them. That's why it talks about viewing them properly. We will treat them how we view them in our mind. If we don't esteem them, or if we feel lifted up above them, if we feel above others, we'll look down on them. And guess what? When you're with somebody that just looks down on you, don't you know it? Don't you feel it? Don't you see it? And sometimes, those who look down on others want you to know they're looking down on you.

He will show to others. And there's no room for that in the mind of Christ. If God had looked down on us, I mean, truly looked down on us, did you think He would have come and been one of us and died for us? No way. I do want to go back to the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 17, verses 18-20. Now, I want to bring something out here, which again, you're familiar with.

It's nothing new to us. Deuteronomy 17, verses 18-20. And it has to do with when Israel would have a king someday.

And what that king was supposed to do, verse 18, And it shall be when he, that king, sits upon the throne of his kingdom. He shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests, the Levites. They have the scroll. But he is to take his hand, he is to put the quill, it would be, in his hand, he is to dip it in the ink, he is to take the parchment, he is to look at the scroll, and he is to write word for word for word those first five books of the Bible.

Why? He can't plead ignorance to not knowing what's there. He has written it. He has seen it. He has seen everything there. He is not ignorant of what is there, but it goes beyond that too.

And if that copy he makes for himself shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life to be a proper king.

Why? That he may learn to fear the Lord his guide, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them, and what other reasons? Look at verse 20.

That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren.

Because when one's heart is lifted up above his brethren, trouble always happens.

Bad things happen.

And if you say, this doesn't apply to me. If you say it doesn't apply to you, go over and read Revelation 5-10.

And read Revelation 1, and I think it's verse 3 or 4, not be verse 5, but read Revelation 5-10.

We are kings and priests unto our God.

We are kings in training, queens in training.

And we're going to be over people under Christ, serving, that is heart be not lifted up above his brethren.

You know again, why over the years has it been so hard for some, be they member or minister, to capture the mind of Christ and have they view and treat others?

Why has it been so hard to grasp scriptures like Micah 6-8? I'm not going to turn there, but Micah 6-8, where it says, What does the Lord require of you, O man, to do justly, to do equally, to do fairly, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humble with your God, or to humble yourself to walk with God?

You know, the only real answer is, and the obvious answer is, a lack of love and humility and gratitude.

The only real answer is, the obvious answer is, there's too much pride, too much ego, too much vanity.

You know the surest way to prevent and block and lose the mind of Christ? I can give you the recipe that's the surest recipe to prevent the mind of Christ from being a part of a person, or to block it, or to lose it. And that is pride and ego and vanity. Because these are the killers of the proper and full use of the gifts that God gives us.

Only with and through the mind of Christ can God's gifts be truly and properly utilized.

We know the Scriptures. There's a lot of them, and we can lay out a whole lot of them.

God's gifts are for serving and sharing, and we can make that obvious. Now, I just want to wrap this up. I want to focus in on just a couple more things. Peter. Let's take Peter. Peter had certain gifts. Peter was a dominant individual. He was a natural leader. And Peter was the kind of guy. He's running across the field. He's the kind of guy. There's a gully ahead, and he's jumped before he looks to see how wide the gully is. And then it's anybody's guess, including Peter's, as to whether he's going to land on the other bank, or he's going to fall on the gully. But he had a lot of initiative, and he was very bold. And of course, that can have its downside, too. But he did have certain gifts, and I just use that to illustrate that point. I mean, he had more gifts than that. But he had certain gifts. Once he had the mind of Christ, when he took on the mind of Christ from the day of Pentecost on, those gifts would be utilized for serving and sharing. Notice what Christ told him in Luke 22, verses 31 and 32. Luke 22, verses 31 and 32.

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, listen, pay attention.

Satan has desired to have you, that he may sit you as wheat.

But I have prayed for you that your faith not fail.

And notice this. And when you are converted, huh? Not converted? No, Peter, you're not converted.

You're on your way, and you will be. And he was on the day of Pentecost.

But notice what he said. When you are converted, strengthen your brethren. In other words, when you are converted, that which you have been given, the gifts you have, they are to be utilized for serving and sharing and strengthening your brethren.

Wow. A more excellent way.

Lucifer was gifted.

More than any being that's been created to this point.

We will supersede what he was given when we're resurrected into the very family of God. Yes. But to this day, he's the most gifted being that's ever been created. He was gifted.

Now, right up to this very day, and yet for whatever number of days yet to follow, because of his pride and arrogance, he is simply, what? A gifted devil.

He is a gifted adversary.

I hope, and I've always desired, starting with myself, and trying to reach into each other's, may we each and all truly learn from his example and not repeat it. Walk in love, walk in humility, and walk in gratitude before your God, and with each of us, with our brothers and sisters, because that is the mind of Christ, and to sum it all up, and to tie it all together, and to serve as the title, be gifted in the mind of Christ. Be gifted in the mind of Christ.