Sermon Part 1: "The Mind of Christ Is A Terrible Thing To Waste!"
July 9, 2023
It’s high-time for born-again Christians to flow in the reality that Christ’s Mind is established in our hearts to dominate our thought-life, and bring forth the divine Will, Purposes, and Plans of God in these last days.
Praise the Lord and Happy Sunday Saints of the Most- High God.
Introduction
Let me say from the start that it is not my intention to offend anyone with today’s Message. My goal is simply to speak the truth in love to every born-again Christian, and collectively to the body of Christ Jesus, the Church. I pray that the Lord would continually bless and strengthen all of us, as we press toward the mark for prize of the high-calling which is in Christ Jesus—to be more and more like Jesus Christ in our behavior and performance along this Christian journey. (Php.3:14) Amen.
The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Christians at Rome:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the [mind of the] Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (Rom. 5:8)
Born-again Christians who mind the Spirit of God, live in life and peace, and those who do not, miss out on what it truly means to be a faithful servant of Christ, holding in steward-ship things pertaining to the kingdom of heaven for the good of Mankind. Saints of God, what’s it going to be?
Are you going to elect to govern your life by the natural thoughts of the brain, or live life by the “Mind of Christ?”
Which mind-set do you think will be more successful in charting your life’s course? God’s desire is to continually bless us in divine prosperity and health—and the Mind of Christ is set on doing just that, if we yield to Him. (III John 2, Eph. 2:9, Jer. 29:11, & Rom.6:13)
We must also ask this same question corporately to the Body of Christ, the Church.
Are we going to choose to be led about by the carnal dictates of the traditions of men and walk contrary to the Word of God, or live by the “Mind of Christ?”
I don't know how many times God has to remind us that man does not know the way he should go. Left to his own thinking and vices, he will always choose the wrong path to travel, which leads to gross failure. (Jer.10:23 & Prov.14:12) Truly, “The Mind of Christ” is a terrible thing to waste!
The Spirit of the Life in Christ Jesus is to be Treasured Above All Things
God has chosen and called us from the foundation of the world, and given to us the "Spirit of the life of Jesus Christ," who abides forever in our sanctified hearts. And, this same Spirit of Life in Christ that dwells in us, God will also use upon the return of Jesus, to quicken our mortal bodies and give us glorified bodies like unto Jesus's glorious body. Glory Be to God! (Eph. 1:3-4, Col. 3.3 & Rom. 8:11)
Now, for our Christian consumption, I proffer the words of the Apostle Peter. I Peter 4:10 reads:
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.
God has given to every born-again Christian an incalculable and immeasurable number of gifts. He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and given to us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. (I Pet.1:3) In Christ, we have it “All,” and we need to shout about it!!!
The highest and greatest gift we have from God is not what some people may think. The greatest gift is not salvation, eternal life, the Holy Ghost, the fruit of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, nor the gift of a spouse or children. Indeed, all of these are good and precious gifts from God. But, the greatest gift by far we have received from God is the, "Life of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ."
I don't think many of us in the body of Christ have fully comprehended that the "Life of Jesus Christ" is living within our born-again hearts. (Gal. 2:20) Please understand, we have not inherited the Life of Jesus as He ministered as the Son of Man on earth for three and half years. Rather, we have received the Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ, as He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (I John 4:17)
Jesus Christ is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the Almighty God! (Rev.22:13) Oh, somebody ought to praise God right there! We have the Life of the Almighty God living on the inside of us! As born-again Christians, we must learn to covet and cherish above everything spiritual and natural the Life of Jesus Christ abiding within us. Jesus's "Life" in us must become our all consuming passion and zeal.
I quote the Apostle Paul, with free flowing text, as he tells of his unfeigned pursuit of Christ, recorded at Philippians 3:7-14:
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Saints, we need to become “faithful stewards” over the Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ within us, and use His Life to serve others! In fact, we need to make it our ardent quest in this Christian journey to share the very Life of Jesus with everyone we meet.
I’m not talking about your carnal life and way of thinking of doing “good” in serving others. I’m talking about sharing with others the Anointed Life of Jesus and His way of doing things as He is seated at the right-hand of the Father God! Jesus’s Life has been placed in us to bring glory to God throughout this fallen, sin sick, and untoward world! When we serve others Jesus’s way; folks get saved, healed, delivered, made to rest, financially well, they gain their mental and moral balance again, and so much more!
So, say this with me Saints:
"The eternal Life of Jesus Christ is in me. To God be the glory for the things He has done!”
Yes, just acknowledge the gift of Jesus Christ, the Lord in you. Such an affirmation makes the power of God available and effectual to do marvelous things before our eyes. (Col.3:3 & Rom. 8:11 Ph.1:6) This will be very important to know and hold on to when we get into Part 2 of this Message next week.
Born-Again Christians Have the Mind of Christ in Their Hearts
Follow me on this. Since we have the "Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ" in our born-again hearts, then we must also possess the "heart" of Christ in us. Am I right about it? If we have the heart of Christ, then we must also possess His Soul, Mind of the Soul, and Spirit of Christ; which comprise the heart! Am I right about it?
Somebody declare in this House:
"God has given to me the Mind of Christ to share with others. Therefore, I must be found a faithful steward over the Mind of Christ."
That’s right, when you get upset or angry, instead of going around giving folks a piece of your mind, (carnal mind) you need to give folks the Mind of Christ.
We hold in our hearts, the “Mind of the Messiah,” which contains all of the attributes of Christ; such as the Intellect, Thoughts, Feelings, Emotions, Affections, Understanding, Wisdom, Personality, and Self-Control in the heart of Jesus Christ. I'm not just reasoning with you about having the Mind of Jesus Christ; the Bible tells us so!
Examine the words of Paul at I Cor. 2:16, which reads:
“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Paul's writing at II Timothy 1:7 says,
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Paul’s instruction at Philippians 2:5-6 records,
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with Himself.
Saints of God, as Paul noted and please accept it, just as Jesus Christ knew He was equal with God; that God also has made you equal with Himself. As the sons of God, we could not bring glory to God, without God also making us equal with Himself. God does not give away a part of Himself. With God, you either get All of Him, or None of Him! God said “be ye holy, for I am holy.” (I Pet.1:16) This is equality with God. God expects for us to be as holy as He is because He called and made us that way from the foundation of the world. (Eph.1:4)
Furthermore, Jesus prayed to His Father God that we all would receive the glory of God in fullness. (John 17:9-10, 20-23) The Mind of Christ in you knows that God has made you equal with Himself. Oh, I will just give you a small sample (taste) of next week’s Message right now. Look in your heart and see for yourself that the Mind of Christ is in you—the Holy Ghost is a witness. This I say again is the equality of God at work within us!
Um, I wish that body of Christ, the Church, had full comprehension that the glorious Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ is seeking to flow through every born-again Christian, and corporately throughout Churches in the United States and globally. However, to its detriment, the Body of Christ has elected to follow its own ways of thinking and doing things that are contrary to the Word of God. As a result, the Church of Jesus Christ largely has lost the Mind of Christ—frankly speaking, the Church of Jesus Christ is out of its right Mind!
The Body of Christ Has Chosen to Follow Its Own Mind in Establishing Denominations, Rather Than Obeying the Mind of Christ—This Practice Must Change!
Let’s examine this awesome Passage of Scripture that Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth, at I Corinthians 12:12-27, concerning the body of Christ and how we are joined together as “One” in Christ. It reads:
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.
25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
While the body of Christ has the Mind of our Lord hidden in earthen vessels (our hearts), corporately speaking, the Church of Jesus Christ has chosen to follow after its own thoughts in carrying out the divine Will, Purposes, and Plans of God. As a result, the body of Christ has missed out on many great and mighty supernatural manifestations of the works of God that are intended to be shared with the people of this world. The Body of Christ has not held in highest esteem and coveted the Mind of Christ as it ought, as faithful stewards, sharing the Lord’s Mind with others.
Simple arrogance, ignorance, and a lack of adherence to the Mind of Christ in the elementary teachings of Christ; has kept the Church from knowing the reality of the Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ; and the things God has prepared for the body of Christ from the foundations of the world.
The Church of Christ should be experiencing the exceeding riches of God in Christ. That’s right, we should not have any poor Churches and Christians in the body of Christ—certainly the label poverty status on no Church or member of the body of Christ should remain—if we were all walking in the Mind of Christ. The Body of Christ is to be a blessing to all families of the earth. (Gen. 12:1-5 & Gal. 3:6-9) Tell me, how can we be blessed and remain poor, if Jesus Christ is leading our lives life? (Ps.23:1)
You see, when Jesus Christ ascended on high to take His seat at the right hand of the throne of God, God also quickened us together, took us up together, and made us all sit together in heavenly places in love and unity. God in Christ Jesus made us all “One” in Him. (Eph. 2:1-6) This was accomplished so that we all (the body of Christ) would experience the exceeding riches (wealth, money, and possessions) of His wonderful favor and kindness toward us in perpetuity through faith. (Eph. 2:7)
Also, remember that Christ Jesus died on the cross so that we all might be made rich. This is the Mind of the Lord regarding our prosperity, to make us all wax rich, according to Abrahamic Covenant. (II Cor. 8:9 & Gal. 3: 6-9, 13-14)
Further, the Mind of Jesus Christ instructs that we are “One” in God in Christ Jesus. All in Christ Jesus are joined together into One Spirit—and that is the Spirit of the Life of Jesus Christ. We are joined together in One Life, One Heart, and One Mind, and that is in Jesus Christ! (I Cor. 6:17) This is all God’s doing and not our own!
Saints, didn’t we just read I Corinthians 12:13:
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
However, the body of Christ, the Church, has worked counter to the work that Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross and His seating at the right hand of the throne of God. We have a great schism (division) in the body of Christ. In the United States alone, we have over 200 separate and independent Christian denominations and over 45,000 denominations worldwide. By definition, a denomination is a recognized “autonomous” branch of the Christian Church. But tell me, where in the Bible does God ever call His people to split-up into autonomous branches?
Many, if not all, Church denominations claim to hold and own the right doctrine of Jesus Christ, and at the same time they have no earnest fellowship and support of one another.
But, I Corinthians 12:25 says we should have not division.
That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
Many denominations have vastly differing doctrines on baptisms, salvation, works of faith, and much more. How can this be if we all are being led by the Mind of Jesus Christ? The Mind of Jesus Christ is not divided, so why is the Church of Jesus Christ divided?
For example, how is it that the Baptist denomination has no loving dealings with Methodists, likewise the Pentecostals with Lutherans, and the Seventh-Day Adventists with Episcopalians, and so forth? Surely, this is not the Mind-set of our loving Savior Jesus Christ in operation! Rather, this is the contrarian mind of the Anti-Christ!
It’s not the “Will” of Jesus Christ that we walk divided within the body of Christ. How can the Church of Jesus Christ effectively and efficiently march against the gates of hell, divided? How can we use the Church’s spirtual authority over the adversary Satan and the kingdom of darkness, to remove evil from nations, communities, and families when we are divided against ourselves? (Matt.16:17-19)
The Bible says we are to “let brotherly love continue.” (Heb.13:1) The love of Christ has the Mind-set of continually forging new relationships and fellowships and unity with all of the Saints of God. Jesus’s Mind and Ministry on earth was shared with everyone He encountered, from the sinner man to the Sadducee and Pharisee, rich to poor, sick to well, and young to old.
Moreover, Paul taught and admonished that the 5-fold Ministry gifts, (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors and Teachers) are given to the Church of Jesus Christ, “for the perfecting of the Saints, the work of the ministry, and building up of the body of Christ.”
Church Leadership should be about the furtherance of bringing all Christians together into the “unity of faith, and knowledge of the son of God and unto the full stature of Christ.” (Eph. 4:10-13) More specifically, Church leadership should be teaching their respective congregations how to become skillful, in living in and by, the Mind of Christ and sharing the Lord’s Mind with others.
Church Leadership is supposed to be working to unify all Church denominations and non-denominations in love and unity—and not to promote autonomy, which works to divide us asunder! What good does it do to have 5 independent mega-churches, or for that matter, 5 little independent churches clustered together in the same community, and none of them work together to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and win the lost to Christ?
Why is it we lack understanding that faith works by love, and if we fail to love the brethren, then the power of God will not work as it should when we call on the name of Jesus! (Gal. 5:6) Every Church ought to be reaching out to neighboring churches no matter the size, and saying to each other, as one song affirms: “I need you, and you need me, for we are all apart of God’s body. Stand with me, agree with me, we are all apart of God’s body!”
It is really difficult to teach born-again Christians to live and operate in the Mind of Christ, if we do not have this mentality within the corporate body of Jesus Christ, starting with its Leadership. “WE NEED EACH OTHER!”
We are commanded to love one another as the Lord has loved us. (John 13:34) How can we let our religious standing in a denomination determine whether we have unity one with another?
Sadly, many Christians today are more proud and boastful about their membership to a particular denomination or church, than they are about being a “son of God.” These Christians have a form of godliness, but deny the power of Christ at hand. (II Tim. 3:5)
Church denominationalism breeds division among us. So many times Christians say to each other they cannot have fellowship with members of another Church denomination or nondenominational Church. God forbid. If we cannot love one another within the body of Christ, as Jesus has commanded, then how can we say we love God, and the lost in this World?
The Apostle John wrote:
“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”(I John 4:20)
Can Christians who have sworn their loyalties to a denomination and neglect and refuse fellowship with other Christians, say they “Love God?” If we have disregard for those who are membered in the body of Christ, then we are not adhering to the Mind of the Lord.
What a terrible waste it is, and will be, to stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ and be asked of Jesus Christ, “What did you do with My Mind?” Or, should the Lord ask Christians, “How did you use My Mind in service to others?” Do we not think that high on Jesus’s agenda is how we have loved each other? What reward from Christ can a Christian receive for refusing to fellowship with other members of His body?
Paul wrote the following at II Corinthians 5:10:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Let us all be provoked to love one another and come into true and holy fellowship with all who name Jesus Christ as Lord. Religious divisions impede, and ultimate block, the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ from flowing throughout our Churches and Christians individually. Divisions sorely displease God because they only bring about confusion and strife and every evil work.
James the brother of Jesus wrote:
“For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” (James 3:16)
Notice the word “envy” in this Verse. It is taken from the Greek word, “zelos,” and it denotes a fierce desire to promote one's own ideas and convictions to the exclusion of everyone else.
MY, MY, MY we have so much of this in the Church-world today. This unfortunately has been the center-piece of many denominations, as they defend their way of thinking of the Bible as being the only and whole truth, to the exclusion of every other Christian denomination or nondenominational church. Thus, many Christians hold to a set of Christian beliefs handed down by their denomination, that if they differ from another Christians’ beliefs, they choose to have no part with them.
Wow, think about it: This is akin to a person’s left big toe saying to the right big toe that, “I am only a member of the left foot, and because you are membered to the right foot, I have no dealings with you.” “Hey right foot, if you take a step forward, I will take a step backward, the left foot says!” Likewise in Christ, how can Christians who decide not to have fellowship with one another operate in the Mind of Christ, follow the Great Shepherd, and minister His Anointing to others. (Amos 3:3)
I offer to the body of Christ, as well as born-again Christians individually, this simple model found in Four-Scriptures to reconcile all deviance from the Mind of Christ. If we live by these Scriptures the need for autonomy among denominations and churches will quickly die and pass away, and our love for all people in Christ will become alive and effectual.
The Scriptures are as follow:
Romans 15:7
Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
Romans 15:14
…Instruct one another
I Corinthians 1:10
Agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you.
Galatians 5:13
Serve one another in love
Come on Saints of God everywhere, let us all be Holy Ghost-filled Grown-Ups and put on the Mind of Christ using the aforementioned Scriptures:
- Romans 15:7, tells us that by God’s mercy and grace we all have been seated together in God in Christ Jesus. Thus, we are to receive each other, just like we received Christ!
- Romans 15:14, let us instruct each other in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and His teachings. In other words, sit down and listen and gain understanding from one another about “Jesus Christ,” and by the Holy Ghost, the Mind of Jesus Christ, will be revealed to us in all matters.
- I Corinthians 1:10, we are to agree with each other so that there are no divisions among us. We must work to eliminate all division, it’s the enemy of God! We find our commonality only in Jesus Christ and His teachings. Jesus’s Mind is full of grace and truth and easy to entreat.
- Finally, Galatians 5:13, when we have unity, which is found in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, serve each other in “Love.” When we serve each other with the Mind of Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself will be in our midst, and supernatural manifestations of the Spirit of the Life of Christ will unfold. Whatever we ask of God, we will receive it in abundance.
In conclusion, to born-again Christians and the corporate body of Christ, do not spend another moment walking contrary to the Mind of Jesus Christ—come into fellowship and unity with all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and work to bring down all divisiveness. The Mind of Jesus Christ is a terrible thing to waste and leaves us all in ruin when we deviate from it. Therefore, let brotherly love continue and quickly repair all breaches in the body of Christ. Thank God for giving us the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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