But We Have The Mind Of Christ (part 2)

Following, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all of his house. For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but he who built all things is God. And Moses, indeed, was faithful in all his house, as a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward. But Christ is a son over his own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Therefore, verse 7, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you will hear his voice, don't harden your heart as in the rebellion.

Today, if you will hear his voice, can we hear his voice today? Can we know what his will is? When we find ourselves in times of dilemma and thinking, is this way right or is that way right? I can see the benefits of both. Can we discern which way is right? Can we hear his voice?

You know, Jesus Christ, back in John 10, 27, he said, my sheep know my voice.

He said that the very physical people at that time, they knew exactly what he was saying, yes, we know your voice, Christ, we know. But he says it today to us as well. We know his voice. We know when we hear something that's right, if we know his voice and if we've taken the time to learn his voice to do the things that he wants us to do, if we know his way, if we know his manner, if we know how he walked on earth, if we know his example, if we follow the principles that he lived in his life and the principles of the people in the Old Testament who lived his way of life and take his warning and admonition to ones who didn't, who ignored, and what happened to them as a result. And God still speaks to us today. He speaks to us today through his Son Jesus Christ.

Not as he did in times past, but through Jesus Christ, who is our high priest, who is our Savior, in whom all things consist and whom is the only way, the only way to salvation. You know, Jesus Christ says here in verse 7, to what the Holy Spirit says, one thing we know about Jesus Christ is that he was filled with the Holy Spirit from the time that he was born. Back in Isaiah 11, he prophesied about Christ and who he would be and the time that he would be here. Back in Isaiah 11 and verse 1.

Isaiah 11 verse 1, There shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Verse 2, The Spirit of the Eternal shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

That Spirit, and you look at those words, what is the Spirit that he had? The Spirit of wisdom. Where does wisdom come from, we might ask. Well, Proverbs 1 tells us the answer, right? Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. The Spirit of understanding. Where does understanding come from? Psalm 111 verse 10. A good understanding has he who keeps the commandments.

Where does the Spirit of might and power come from? We learned that in 2 Timothy 1 verse 7, right? God has not given us the Spirit of fear but of power and of love, agape, and of a sound mind, one that is fixed and one that is established by God. The Spirit of counsel and might and the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. When we have God's Holy Spirit, then we'll fear God. We know. We know who God is. We know what his purpose is. We know what he offers us, and we know what happens if we stray from the way that he has called us to be. Because he has made his intentions and his voice loud and clear. If today we hear his voice, and if we choose not to follow his voice, then something very unpleasant is in the Scriptures for those who would hear it and begin to follow and then go back and pay attention and heed another voice, the voice of the world instead of the voice of God. Jesus Christ had some, you know, he had the Spirit of God and you could see that evidence in him. There's no way he could have done. Oh, he said, of my own self I can do nothing. There's no way he could have done what he did without the Spirit of God that gave him the power, the might, the love for mankind, the ability to resist temptation in the way he did. And you would say, and we might say, oh yeah, but he was that way from birth. He had the Holy Spirit right from birth. That puts him apart from us because none of us had the Holy Spirit at birth. It was later in life that God called us and we responded and yielded to him and received the Holy Spirit. But he had it from birth. Doesn't that make his life easier? Didn't he just have it all from day one that he knew all that? Well, we might think that. But when we're baptized, you know, we don't have all knowledge the day we're baptized. When God puts his Holy Spirit in us at that time of baptism, it's not like, you know, all our sins have been washed away, certainly, but our minds haven't been totally transformed. We can still sin. We can still have the same attitudes. We have to work on those and grow and develop. We have to learn the Scriptures. It's not like he pours through a funnel all the knowledge of the Bible and all the knowledge of his way of life into our minds. At baptism, we have to work at it. We have to continue in that way. As Peter says in 2 Peter 3, 18, we have to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. And we should, of course, all be doing that. But Jesus Christ grew and developed too. Let's go back and look at Luke 2. Luke 2. Luke 2 and verse 46. This is the occasion when Mary and Joseph were there at Jerusalem for the Holy Days. They went on the way home. After three days, they realized, ah, Jesus isn't with us. They went back and found him. We pick it up in verse 46 of Luke 2. So it was that after three days, they, his parents, found Christ in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

So what was his heart? He was there sitting with people, having a biblical discussion with them. He was listening to them, and he was asking questions. He was very interested, just as you and I have been, hopefully still are. Though we would be very interested in biblical discussions, because that's the most important thing in our lives, is the way we live and the way we grow and who we are and where God is leading us. And he was there. He was listening to them. He didn't just walk in at 12 years old and say, hey, listen, I know it all, great rabbis and priests and whoever you are. He listened and he asked questions.

And he spoke, and he learned a lot through that. And they were amazed at what he had learned, but he hadn't just spent his life in 12 years playing video games, watching TV, doing whatever we might do. He had been learning and he had been growing and continued to do that. Look at verse 52. And Jesus increased. He increased in wisdom and stature through his life by what he did, how he lived it, what he studied, what he did, the questions he asked, the way he listened. It became more and more of him as he developed his mind. He increased. He wasn't given it all at birth, just like we are, just like you and me. God extends for us to increase in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. God said to Jesus Christ, this son pleases me. I'm most pleased with him. But he increased during his life, just like you and I, should be increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and in favor with men, as we follow his way of life. It's the example he set. He was the forerunner. He's our elder brother, if you will. He's the one who has lived life, who now sits at the right hand of God, and he says, if you follow me, if you do the things I say, if you follow me with all your heart and put me first, not family first, emotions first, other things first, put me first, then you, too, will inherit the prophecies and what I have promised for you. He did it. He went before us. He set the example for us and has us to do the same thing. He grew and developed just like you and I need to develop. You know, Jesus Christ, one of the things I didn't mention, he began his church when he was on earth. He began a church. It wasn't going to be just him preaching, and then he would die. He knew he was going to the away, but he began a church. And he gave that church a commission. He said, you preach the gospel as a witness to all nations. You teach all nations to observe all things I have commanded you. And there's your mark of the true church. Are they preaching the same gospel as Jesus Christ? Are they teaching the same things that Jesus not only taught, but he lived? That's where the church of God is today, the church that he started. Not a church that would tell you times have changed, too hard to do. Jesus Christ did away with all that when he clearly said, I did not do away with all that. That's where his church is. And he commissioned it, and he sent out apostles, two by two. Remember that, the disciples? And he said, you go out and you preach the gospel of repentance. You go out and you preach the gospel of the kingdom of God. You go out and heal the sick. You go out and cleanse the lepers. And don't worry about provisions. I'll make sure you have everything you need. And he started that church, and that church continues today as a teaching mechanism and as a family mechanism that God would want us to be part of. Let's go back and look at Romans. I guess go forward and look at Romans. Romans 10.

You know, Jesus Christ, even though he healed all people, even though he spoke great words, and he had thousands follow him or listened to him, that they of Pentecost in Acts 2 only 120 were gathered in one accord and with one mind. He knew it was God's will not to call everyone at that time, that not every mind was going to be open to his truth. They might hear it, but they weren't going to do anything with it. It's the same thing that happens with us today. Many hear, many are called, many might even understand, but few are chosen. But it wasn't God's will then, it's not God's will now. But he does have a mechanism through which people will be witnessed of the truth. I'm sorry, not Matthew, Romans 10 and verse 13.

They are sent. And so God sent a mechanism up, a church that would teach the people in it. Whereby we would have fellowship, and if we went back to Hebrews 3 and verse 12, you'll see, it says, it repeats again, today if you will hear his voice, exhort one another daily, be together in fellowship. You know, he says in Hebrews 10, don't forsake, be together, be of one mind, learn from one another, have those discussions, grow and develop as Jesus Christ did. And don't forget about that and think it's unnecessary. It is necessary. So Jesus Christ follows, he's the one who set all this in motion. We've talked about Ephesians 4 before, how he set up his church, what he wants in his church. He talked about in Ephesians 4 how it's one spirit, one body, people in unity. He gives us his Holy Spirit of wisdom, of might, of counsel, of knowledge, of love, of fear of the Lord, a spirit that binds us together as family. You know, Jesus Christ calls you and me brothers and sisters because he sees in us the same spirit that God gave him. We should be all like-minded. We'll read that in a little bit, getting a little bit of my head and myself here. Let's start over to 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians. Can we hear God's voice today? When God says, when God says, today, in this age, I have spoken to you through my Son. 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. Let's pick it up in verse 4. I'm going to read through the rest of the chapter here in chapter 2. I'll make a comment here and there, but just get the flow of what Paul is saying because it should speak to you of what we've been talking about. Verse 4. Paul says, in my speech and my preaching, we're not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, mature Christians who are following God, who are committed to Him, who are growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, I hadn't seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. In times past, He spoke and revealed it to Him by voice. He revealed it to Him by vision. He revealed it to Him in a dream. He revealed it to Him by lots. Today He reveals to us by His Spirit, the same Spirit that Jesus Christ had that is in you and me today. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the Spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness to Him. They think it's silly that we would keep a Sabbath holy for a whole twenty-four hours. They think it's silly that we would keep holy days. They think it's silly that we don't understand that God, in their minds, is just displeased by keeping a pagan day as the days in the Bible. They think it's silly, and they're going to think it's more and more silly as time goes on. The natural mind doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to Him. Nor can He know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But He who is spiritual judges all things, yet He Himself is rightly judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that He may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Now, there's a powerful sentence, but we have the mind of Christ.

So, if you've ever wondered, what would Jesus Christ do in this situation? What would He say when I'm faced with this dilemma of what's right and what's wrong? Which is the way to go?

He's given us the very same tools that God gave Him. But we have the mind of Christ.

Just take a few minutes to contemplate that. We have the mind of Christ. He gave us that. When we repented, when we turned to God, when we were baptized, we received His Holy Spirit, and it lives in us. So much so that Jesus Christ calls us brothers and sisters, and God calls us His children. We have the mind of Christ. So, we can know. We can hear His voice. We can know what the answer is if we go back and we listen to the voice. If we go back and we search the words that He left for us. If we go back and we pay attention to what He says.

If we use the examples that He said and search the Scriptures and look at the words and look at the examples and discern the things that only the Spirit can discern about ourselves, if we want a course direction, about some other things, if we're wondering which is right and which is wrong, we can look at those things because we have the mind of Christ.

But just like Christ, who increased in wisdom and stature, we must increase in wisdom and knowledge. We didn't get it all in the day we were baptized. We have to increase and we have to be instructed by God, and we get that instruction through the words of Jesus Christ and the things that He put on earth and the things that are in this word that you have before you on your laps or in your computers or whatever you're looking at. Those are the things. There's where the voice is.

There's where the words speak to us through His Son, who validated all the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, a complete Bible, a complete record of what we need in order to do what God's will is. But we may have to search. We may have to seek. We may have to pray because even this Holy Spirit gives us, tells us what we need to pray about, right? Or what we ought to pray about, as in Romans 8.26. Even that we need to do as we let the Holy Spirit guide us and develop the mind of Christ that God has put in us.

If we use it, we have to use it, right? I don't know if it's a movie. I don't know if it was a commercial, but remember this thing.

It says, a mind is a beautiful thing to waste. Remember that? I think it was a public service announcement or something. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, like this. It's not a beautiful thing to waste. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Well, if we could say that about physical minds, because it is sad, right? When we see someone with such potential and they just waste their life away, they don't use the potential they have because it would take too much time and they'd rather do whatever they're doing rather than apply themselves to something.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. We can say that about the mind of man, the natural mind. How much more can we say about that? About the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ that Paul says, we... He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. He humbled Himself. He was the Son of God. He lived a perfect life. He knew what His purpose on life was.

Do we know what our purpose in life is? Is that the forefront of what we do each day? Do we know what our purpose is? Do we know what God has called us to? Does that motivate us? Does that drive us? Doesn't mean we can ignore the other activities of daily living, but we need to know and remember what purpose God has called us to and what He wants us to be growing in our lives and doing in our lives.

But He humbled Himself. Without humility, without humility, we don't have the mind of Christ. The opposite of humility, pride, clouds, clouds the mind of Christ. There was no pride in Jesus Christ. Whatever God told Him, He listened to. He heard His voice and He knew it was correct and He followed it. We have to make sure we are humble before God and not allow pride to alter that mind from one of Christ to one of the world, which is marked by pride. Let's go back, though.

We know it goes on. It says that Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Jesus Christ says He would never leave us or forsake us. He's there. His Holy Spirit is with us. We have a record of His words, a record of His revelations to mankind out through the ages in our lap. We can know what is going on. But as we develop the mind of Christ, let's go back to verse 1 here. Verse 1, verse 1 through 4, which precedes where Paul says, you know, Hey, in light of all this, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus.

Chapter 2, verse 1, Philippians, Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Well, there you have it. If we all have the mind of Christ, He's not divided. People shouldn't be divided. We're all in a fellowship here. We're all in brotherhood here in Orlando. God is working with each of us. We're all at a different level of following Him. We should all be like-minded. If the Holy Spirit is working in us and if we have the mind of Christ truly, then there would be no difference. We would all have the same love toward one another. We would all be like-minded. When we have spiritual discussions, we wouldn't get into arguments about things. We would be of the same accord, just as they were in Acts 2 when they gathered together for the day of Pentecost, all in one accord and one place. And He says in verse 3, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Be humble. Jesus Christ didn't look down on anyone. He wasn't a respecter of persons. He followed. He showed that He was of all men. He says thus. Follow that example. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Don't just be worried about yourself. We all have a responsibility to look at each other. Jesus Christ certainly looked out for our needs, didn't He? He didn't scout anything or eliminate anything from His life or skirt around a situation. He was willing to do whatever it took that we would have salvation and that we could earn eternal life. I want to turn to Romans 12, verse 2. He says, He renewed, Let your mind be transformed to what is the perfect will of God.

You know the way we have our minds transformed to the will of God? We listen to His voice. We do the things that He said to do. We look into His Scriptures. We look into the words that He said.

And He used all the Bible that He had at that time. In Matthew 4, verse 4, when He was faced with temptation, He answered the deal that He was involved in, the challenge that He faced at that time. He used the words of God, sharper than any two-edged sword, right? Just like you heard on the beyond today that you listen to. He used those and He said, Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God. And we have every word that comes from the mouth of God, every word that God said you and I need in order to hear His voice, to be part of His kingdom if we truly believe and if we truly are following Him.

And if we eliminate some of those words, or if we add to them, or if we reason and let the human wisdom or the worldly wisdom come in and say, It just doesn't matter to God, we've gone off track. We've plowed the mind of Christ. We no longer have that mind in us if we are allowing the worldly wisdom and the logic and our own logic and our own wishes to cloud out and to blur what the mind of Christ that God gave you and me is. We have to be very cautious because Satan would do anything, absolutely anything to crowd that life out or to crowd that mind out and to make it no longer what it can be, what it should be, a terrible thing, a terrible thing to waste.

And so we see from the records of the Old Testament, we see the prophets who recorded God's Word. The revelations that He gave them, they recorded. Moses recorded the words that God had Him give, the whole law of the Testament and more besides. David recorded praises to God. The prophets recorded the things they had. The apostles, the disciples recorded their record of Jesus Christ, which again, as you heard there, so well documented, so well documented that we don't have to doubt at all that the Word, that the Scriptures that we have today are the absolute Word of God because you've seen and you saw through centuries how they were miraculously preserved and how they are supported by thousands of documents that all say the same thing.

The Word of God. He may not be here physically standing in front of us saying the words to you and me. He may not come to us in our house and say, you're doing this wrong. He may not do what we will be doing in the millennium when we tap someone on the shoulder and say, this is the way we walk you in it. But he does, if we're spending the time in his Word, if we're listening to him, if we're listening to him by reading what he has to say, it's called a Hebrews 4. No, no, no, let's not go to Hebrews 4. Let's go to 2 Timothy instead. 2 Timothy 3. Speaking of his Word, that God designed a record of those things. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 16. A memory verse. As I say that, the Scripture has popped into most of your mind. 2 Timothy 3.16. All Scripture. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. You know when you look up Strong's, what inspiration from God means? It means that all Scripture, that God breathed in to Scripture, his truth. God breathed it in is what the Strong's 20, what is it? 2315 in the Greek means. God breathed it in. He breathed in the Scripture. Should remind us of what he did when he breathed in life to man, right? He breathed in to the Scripture. It's a living Word. It's something for us. It's what we listen to. It's what guides us. It's what directs us. It's what we assemble together to hear and to be taught from. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, because that's what God's will for you and me is, that we may be complete. And he has given us a complete record of what we need. That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. For every good work. If we hear his voice. Today, if we will hear his voice, will we do what he says? Or will we apply other reasoning? Human wisdom, worldly wisdom, the spirit of compromise, the spirit of, it doesn't really matter to God. Will we hear his voice directly? Because the Bible doesn't mince any words. There's nothing in there where you can say, oh, it doesn't tell us that. And it says, we can do this and we can do that. I don't read that in the Bible. It's very crystal clear what God expects of you and me. And if we love him, and if we have the mind of Christ, we will be following the example of him and doing things just the way that God said to do. And if we want the reward that God promised him, and that he promises us, there's only one way he speaks to us through his son of what that way is.

I won't turn to Hebrews 4, verse 12. It was in the Beyond Today message there that the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, the Word of God.

The Word of God. In John 1, verse 1, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We want the words of God today. We want him to speak to us. It's right here. It's right here. Will we ignore it? Will we shove it aside? Are other things more important to it? Do we go and look for other wisdom rather than the wisdom of God? We follow, if we want, what God wants, then we would follow what he has to say. Revelation 19. Revelation 19, the very end of the Bible, the vision that he gave John of the end times and what would occur before the return of Jesus Christ, and a glimpse of the time after the return of Jesus Christ and the millennium and the time beyond. Chapter 19, we find Jesus Christ returning to earth at the end of this age, as he will surely do. Verse 13, it says this, he, speaking of Christ, he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The Word of God. We have his Word. Does God speak to us today? Not the way he did in times past, but he does speak to us today through the Word of God. Validated, lived, perfect example given by Jesus Christ, inspired by God, breathed into the pages that you have in your lap. That he says, follow me, do what I say, follow the example that he's given. Follow the words of the Bible. Don't compromise. Don't try to infuse the wisdom of the world. Follow the wisdom that comes. As we go through life, we're going to face trials, we're going to face temptations, we're going to find ourselves questioning, what is the way? What should I do in this case? Am I doing this wrong? Am I doing that wrong?

Go back and listen. Go back and listen to the Word of God. Go back and counsel with each other or someone. Don't forsake talking with one another. Listen to the Word of God. The world will try to take you in every which direction. Our own minds will take us in every which direction. We may seek for things in other places than the Bible. Follow the Word of God. If it wasn't for the Spirit of God, we would all be led astray. We wouldn't be able to stand. But we have the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ. Use it and develop it.