Happy Sunday and Praise the Lord Saints!
Introduction/Review
I believe in this moment, the Spirit of God desires to speak and remind us of I Peter 4:10, which serves as the foundational Scripture for this Message entitled, "The Mind of Christ is a Terrible Thing to Waste!" The Apostle Peter wrote:
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.
I stated last Sunday, by the grace and mercy of God, we have been given an enumerable and immeasurable number of gifts from God in Christ Jesus. By far, the highest and greatest gift we have from God is the “Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ,” who dwells within our born-again hearts.
As faithful stewards we are to value, apprise, and esteem the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ in us; above every spiritual gift and natural gift in this world. No material thing, nor any person, can even come to close to the Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the head of the Church, the first resurrected from the dead, and has preeminence in all things. (Col.1:18) Glory be to God!
At the center of the Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ, is the “Mind of Christ.” At I Corinthians 2:16, the Apostle Paul tells us that we, “Have the Mind of Jesus Christ.” Not a portion of Jesus’s Mind—but all of the fullness of the Mind of Christ—Wow! (Col. 2:9-14)
In no way can I give a complete description of the Mind of Jesus Christ, as He is the eternal and unsearchable God. But, I can offer a general description of the attributes of the Lord’s Mind, which consists of His Intellect, Thoughts, Feelings, Emotions, Affections, Understanding, Knowledge, Wisdom, Personality, and Self-Control—all of which are deposited in our sanctified hearts—and the Holy Ghost is the faithful witness to all God has done within us.
The Mind of Christ Authors and Inspires All Manifestations of the Spirit of God
I don’t think many of us within the body of Christ fully comprehend that all of the work of the Spirit of God that flows through born-again Christians, is authored and inspired by the Mind of Christ Jesus. Expressed through the Mind of Jesus Christ are the attributes of the “Fruit of the Spirit.” Mentioned specifically by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2:23, are at least nine fruit that flow from the Mind of Christ, and we are to serve others with them.
The nine fruit mentioned by Paul are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It would greatly help us if when we think about operating in the fruit of the Spirit that each attribute is a manifestation of the Life of Christ—motivated and empowered by the Mind of Christ—the thoughts, feelings, intellect, wisdom, etc. of Jesus as He is seated at the right hand of God, the Father.
Also expressed through the Mind of Christ, are the “Gifts of the Spirit, which are identified in Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and I Peter 4. Recently, Dr. King spent extensive time talking about spiritual gifts in her last Series entitled, “The Work of the Holy Spirit.” I will only add to that teaching that the spiritual gifts can be broken into two broad categories; “speaking gifts,” and “serving gifts.”
As faithful stewards of the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Christ Jesus, we also are to use these gifts in service to others. As with the Fruit of the Spirit, the Gifts of the Spirit are motivated and empowered by the Mind of Christ—His thoughts, feelings, intellect, wisdom, etc., as He is seated at the right hand of God, the Father.
I say to you again, the Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ, including the Mind of Christ, are to be coveted and cherished above all other things, spiritual and natural, seen and unseen in this world.
We do not esteem nor covet the aforementioned Fruit of the Spirit and Gifts of the Spirit higher than Jesus Christ. We do not go around self-boasting about possessing special abilities in any fruit or gifts of the Spirit, as they are all gifts given to us by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. These fruit and gifts only operate efficiently and effectively through love and faith (love for God and the brethren, and by faith in the Word of God) and are spiritual tools we use with Jesus Christ to reign and rule in life. (Rom. 3:27, 5:17, I Cor. 13:1, & Gal. 5:6)
This is why, as I noted last week, we can never endorse nor promote “Church Denominationalism” in Christianity. But must work to remove and heal all divisions within the body of Christ. Fellowship with all persons and Church organizations in love and faith in the Word of God is the order of the day for the family of God in Christ Jesus, and causes heaven to respond favorably to our every demand on earth when we do.
Now, let’s go higher in our understanding of the Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ and the Mind of Christ, which God has placed in you to serve others. Jesus Christ is the express creator of all things visible and invisible. Paul wrote the following about Jesus Christ at Colossians 1:15-19:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all [fullness] dwell;
From the Mind of Jesus Christ all things were made that exist in the cosmos—they were made by Jesus and for Jesus. God wants every born-again Christian to believe and receive with all assurance; that the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ is in them. Furthermore, God has made us stewards of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ to serve others, as He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God the Father, and we must be found faithful stewards of this most precious gift.
Dear Saints of God, perhaps now you can more fully grasp why God has blessed you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and why you have been given all things that pertain unto life in godliness. (Eph. 1:3 & II Pet.1:3) These precious promises are given to you and manifest in the physical world through the knowledge (Mind) of Jesus Christ.
The Mind of Christ is given to you to reveal, direct, influence, and empower your decision-making in every arena of life, as well as in all areas pertaining to holiness—thinking, reasoning and performing like God. Manifestations of the Fruit of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit in speaking and serving, are simply the harvests of the Saints who abide in the Mind of Jesus Christ.
For consider this. There would be no logical reason for God to place all of these wonderful graces (all spiritual blessings and all things that pertain unto life and godliness) within our hearts, without also giving to us the Mind of Christ to provide instructions on how to bring them all from the spirit realm into physical existence in the earth. The Mind of Christ is given to you, so you can speak forth and do great exploits; according to the divine Will, Purposes, and Plans of God in the earth to bring profitability (the goodness of God) to every person. (I Cor.12:7)
God wishes above all things that people everywhere would prosper and be in health. (John 3:16 & III John 2) As our souls (minds) prosper in the knowledge of the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Christ Jesus, we exponentially increase our ability to provide heavenly assistance to others. God wants the people of the world to behold—look on you, and see the Life of Jesus Christ in character and action, so they may come and glorify God together with you. (Matt. 5:16) Repeat this after me with the voice of gladness:
“I have the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ in me. I am a faithful steward and must go about serving all people—speaking to, and serving others with the Life of Christ as He is seated at the right hand of God the Father!”
“There is no crises in this world confronted by Mankind that the Mind of Jesus Christ, in me, cannot resolve and bring to a peaceful resolution. (I John 2:20) To God be the glory for the things He has done! He has done great things whereof I am glad!”
Searching and Dwelling in the Mind of Christ is a “Grace” Given by God, But Carnal Christians Can Not Gain Access
Searching and dwelling in the Mind of the Messiah, Jesus Christ is a wonderful grace (unmerited favor of God) established in the born-again heart of every Christian. However, the majority of Christians either are unaware that they possess the Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ and His Mind, or have little or no clue how to gain access to the Mind of Christ. This is because the majority of Christians choose to live the Christian life, through the carnal dictates of the human brain fashioned after the appetites of the world, rather than to allow the Word of God to transform them into the spiritual kings and priests of Christ they really are. (Rom. 12:1-2 & Rev.1:5-6)
Frankly speaking, the only remaining question for every born-again Christian, and you gathered in this Meeting, is whether you will choose to follow after the Lord's Mind, or waste it living after the dictates of the natural mind (thoughts of the human brain, which are carnal and the enemy of God). (Rom. 8:7-9) The choice is yours. See Rom. 8:13.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Daily, the Holy Ghost, seeks to instruct us in the Mind of the Lord on all matters. But for so many Christians, it's like, for example, they are on the opposite side of a sound proof chamber apart from Jesus—in the person of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost who knows the Mind of Christ is talking to the Christian to receive instructions on what to say and to do in all matters of life and ministry.
But, because the Christian has chosen to govern their lives by their 5-physical senses (as the natural man does) they cannot receive the things of the Spirit. Thus, many Christians remain spiritually dull, deaf, and dumb to the Agenda of Jesus. They waste the Mind of Jesus Christ—the Omniscient Mind of the Lord—in personal matters, relationships, business, education, ministry and so much more.
Consider God’s mental ambition toward us, as recorded at the oft quoted Scripture at Jeremiah 29:11. It reads:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
God is constantly attempting to communicate His thoughts to you. What is vitally important for you to get cleared up in your head is that God seeks to communicate with you only thoughts of PEACE AND NOT EVIL. Excuse me, but I have to write the following statement in large lettering to emphasize to born-again Christians this thought:
GOD NEVER COMMUNICATES THOUGHTS TO YOU OF SHAME, BLAME, OR GUILT LEADING TO, CONDEMNATION ABOUT SIN AND DEATH! (Rom. 8:1-3)
Any thoughts from the Mind of the Lord, transmitted to you through the Holy Ghost regarding the performance of sin in your life, or death, are to instruct/correct you in righteousness, and for you to turn around and go the other way, as the Bible instructs. This is so the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ can freely flow through you for fitness and readiness to be a blessing to all people. God wants you to be an imparter of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ in every situation we encounter in life. (John 16:7-10 & II Tim. 2:19)
Jesus Christ Has Given to the Body of Christ an Easy Method for Hearing and Receiving the Mind of Christ
From an early age, the majority of Christians will testify that they heard the Lord Jesus call them to Himself. This is so true too! It all started on the day when you first heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached—this could have been in Sunday School, Worship Service, by parents at home, or in another setting—but always because God sent a preacher directed by the Mind of Christ to preach Christ to you. (Rom.10:14) In fact, listen to the Mind and Voice of Jesus Christ speak to you through Revelation 3:20. Jesus says:
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
First, notice who is initiating all of the action toward you: the communication, the knock at the door, and invitation to dine with you. Jesus right? From the Mind of the Messiah, Jesus is transmitting thoughts to you desiring to dwell within your heart, and even more so, expressing the Will of God that a covenant promise be established of continual dining with you—Jesus with you, and you with Jesus. Glory be to God!
Many of us in the body of Christ during altar calls received Jesus Christ’s invitation from Bible Verses ministered to us like that of Revelation 3:20—in which we willing answered the knock at the door of our hearts and received salvation through Jesus Christ.
At these times, we all heard Jesus’s call to make His holy habitation in us. This was our first if you will “meeting” of the Minds with Jesus Christ. And, guess what? That same process of hearing, receiving, and communicating with the Mind of Jesus has always been available to us. Yet, most Christians have forgotten this simple method of talking with Jesus to see, hear, and know the Mind of the Lord and His way of doings.
Jesus covenanted that if we would hear the knock and open the door of our hearts, He would come in and sup with us. Since the day you gave your life to Christ, Jesus has been trying to have supper with you. To dine with you. To talk with you and share His Mind...His intelligence, thoughts, feelings, wisdom, Will, etc.
Jesus Christ said that He is the “Bread of Life,” and He desires to serve you from the Father’s banquet table scrumptious meals from the Spirit of His Life (Luke 4:4 & John 6:48-51) To give you His thoughts and instructions for manifesting every good thing that relates to life and godliness within you; and to show you how to serve God-good things to others.
Jesus wants to give you exceedingly higher thoughts and higher ways of living than what your natural brain can think and comprehend. (Eph. 3:20) Isaiah 55:8-11 tells of the wide-golf between God’s thoughts and those of the human carnal mind—check it out. The Lord says:
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Born-again Christians must learn and abide in the key to receiving the thoughts of the Mind of Christ—the key to the promise of Jesus Christ supping with us is found in the first word recorded in Revelation 3:20. That is, “Behold.” The word behold conveys the meaning; to look, see, or perceive.
When we believed the report of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus rewarded us with His faith, and the Holy Ghost opened our spiritual eyes to receive the Spirit of Life and the Mind of Jesus Christ in our hearts and sealed His life within us until the day of redemption. (Rom. 8:10-11)
Through the eyes of the faith of Jesus Christ, you heard the Voice of Jesus Christ call you and knock at the door of your heart. You loving and trustingly opened your heart, and the Lord came in. Now, Jesus in the person of the Holy Ghost communicates with you, and you with Him, from within the secret place of the heart.
As you behold Jesus Christ in your heart, you can hear and see Him doing things—just as Jesus only said and did what He saw His Father God doing. (John 12:49) The things we see and experience in our heart (spirit, soul, and mind of the soul) are the eternal things of God that we are perceiving as we obey Jesus to come and look and see. (II Cor. 4:18)
These powerful and miraculous things in our hearts are not just there for our benefit, but more so, to serve others with. This is how we walk in the Fruit of the Spirit, and the Gifts of the Spirit in speaking and service; we forever behold the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ working on the inside of us. As I said earlier, all of these wonderful manifestations of the Spirit are authored and inspired by the Mind of Christ.
We simply yield our members (hearts and bodies) to Christ in righteousness, and open up our mouths and the Lord speaks for us. (Rom. 6:13) We are the servants of righteousness—having been made equal with God—to give every person what heaven has instore for them. Praise God, and our hearts have been cleansed from the reproach of sin, iniquity, and transgression—such that we have complete liberty from sin consciousness! (Rom. 6:18 & Heb.10:17-18)
We all have heard and quoted Psalm 34:8. But, I don’t think many in the body of Christ have understood its meaning well. Check it out, it reads:
O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
This Scripture teaches us how a blessed man lives. That is, he lives by trusting completely in God (His Word) and what he hears and sees God doing.
Well, have you ever asked yourself though, “How am I to taste and see that the Lord is good?” How do I taste God? The word “taste” in the Hebrew is “taam,” which means to “perceive”—Oh perceive that the Lord is good. When we perceive something, it means: to become aware, to become conscious of something, to come to realize or understand. When you perceive God—immediately we see and taste of God’s goodness towards us in Word and deed.
The “O” that begins the Verse expresses the sentiment of surprise and delight when we perceive (behold) in our hearts what is that good thing that God is doing or has done. MY, My, my God shows us blessings—say it with me, “God only reveals to me blessings—things that bless me and others and never curses!”
It makes sense right, since God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Eph.1:3) The man who places all his trust in the blessing he perceives is in his heart, is directed by the Mind of Christ to bring it into physical manifestation.
Just a quick example of this I will share with you. From time-to-time, people will call me on the phone and tell me of medical reports they received from doctors of cancer and request prayer. Of course, I’m forever learning and being disciplined by the Holy Ghost in living in the Mind of Jesus Christ. But most often, the Mind of the Lord will immediately summon me to listen to the report and seek the feelings of Jesus Christ, for the Lord is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. The Lord knows all that we go through in times of affliction. Jesus was Himself acquainted with all afflictions, griefs, and sorrows. See Hebrews 4:15 recorded as follows:
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
As we have the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ, we too can experience the feelings of the infirmities of others, just as Jesus does! Praise God we also have within us the Lord’s compassion, virtue, and anointing to heal the sick! As I sup with the Mind of Christ, most often in these moments, I am not led to pray—rather I’m led to say what I see, and what I see is the blessing of God!
I see the cancer growth dissolved and removed from the body never to return, and so I say it and call it done in Jesus name! (Mark 11:22-26) Um, O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord! Then the person often times will return to the doctor for follow-up, and the cancer is gone!
Every born-again Christian has this ability to see in the Spirit and receive the Mind of the Christ, they only need to taste (perceive, behold). God is a good God and He is doing something good to us, through us, and for us all the time. God is constantly yearning to show us the supernatural and that all things have become new fresh and alive—if we would only BEHOLD! See II Corinthians 5:17.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The carnal man cannot believe in, nor receive, these things because they are spiritually discerned. If we elect to be carnally minded, neither can we receive such things from God. However, As God’s own elect and handiwork, we have been ordained from the foundations of the world to walk in the miraculous works of God. (Eph. 2:10) We have been given the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ, to see and receive the things God has prepared and freely given to us—so we might serve others with them.
Finally, as we close, examine with me on a higher plane of spirituality, how we abide in the Mind of Christ, as articulated by the Apostle Paul at I Corinthians 2:9-16.
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.
Notice that the pathway to receiving the deep things of God that are freely prepared for us, is through the Spirit (the Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ) in the person of the Holy Ghost. When we pray in the Holy Ghost (speaking earnestly in tongues) the Holy Ghost searches the “Mind of Christ,” to enable us to hear and see the good things God has reserved in store for us.
The born-again Christian must grow in Christ to place all confidence and trust in praying in the Holy Ghost—this is supping and fellowshipping with Jesus Christ in the fullness of our relationship with Him. (Jude 20-21) When we earnestly pray in the Holy Ghost and yield our members (hearts and bodies), He searches the Mind of Christ and causes us to flow in much greater capacity and manifestations of the Fruit of the Spirit and Gifts of the Spirit to speak and serve others.
This is because the Holy Ghost searches deeper into the Mind of Christ to reveal the things of God, than prayers and petitions made to God in our own reasoning and learned speech. (Rom. 8:26) For sure, you will perceive more, taste more, and dine more, when you pray in the Spirit than in your own prayer ability, because when praying in the Holy Ghost we are only comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
If we yield to the Holy Ghost and just let Him have His way—we will behold the Mind of Christ bring forth as needed gifts of the Spirit such as prophesy, words of wisdom, and knowledge, the performance of faith, and miracles. In like manner, we will also exhibit before the world, fruit of the Spirit in character and conduct as a life-style, such that people will look on us and confess they can see the Life of Jesus Christ living through us.
Tell me now, are you determined to live by the Mind of Christ, or to be led about by your own human thought-life and existence? The Mind of the Lord is a terrible thing to waste, when Jesus Christ offers heaven’s best to give to every person.
Thanks be unto God for the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ dwelling richly in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Lord, I pray that your people have heard you clearly and will hearken unto your Voice to make the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ preeminent and treasured above all things spiritual and natural so they may be faithful stewards in service to others through the grace of the Anointed Jesus. To bring glory and honor to your name in only our holy ambition. Amen.
Saints, please take with you this simple 4-step model for searching the Mind of Christ. Let it be an ornament of grace on your life; always knowing that you are the faithful steward of the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ. (I Cor. 2:16)
- Acknowledge that you have the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ within your heart. (Ph.1:6)
- Whatever the subject matter or problem is: look in your heart and behold what Jesus is saying and has already done about it. The Holy Ghost will share with you the Mind of Christ regarding the matter. He will show you things and tell you things to do. Go and do what the Spirit of the Lord says do. (John 16:13)
- Love and forgive all people. Hold fast to the mind-set of bringing all Christians and Non-Christians into the unity of the faith in Jesus Christ.
- Watch the Lord work mightily on your behalf and the Fruit of the Spirit and Gifts of the Spirit in speaking and service for others will flow abundantly and continually through your life and others. (John 14:15 & Eph. 4:1-7)
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