WWUTT 071 The Mind of God (Colossians 3)

No matter how good, no matter how loving, no matter how genuine your intentions might be when you are encouraging a person to engage in behavior that makes them happy. If that behavior goes against what God says in his word, you are not loving.

You are in fact thinking with the mind of the devil. We have been told to have the mind of Christ and only then can we actually be loving when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text as an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty, visit our website at www .utt .com.

Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

The Mind of Christ Versus the Mind of the Devil

Thank you, Becky. I remember reading a story about a carpenter, a guy who built houses almost his entire life, but he lost his love for his work. He didn't have the heart for it anymore. He just got burned out.

And so since he couldn't put his heart into a good job, he decided that it was best to retire. So he resigned from his work, wanted to live a place where he truly wanted to live. And he knew a friend that lived up in the mountains around a lake, really thought that would be a great place to live.

So he contacted his friend, a guy that he did some charity work with in the past and told him about his plans to move up there. I don't believe that he ever really told him that he felt burned out from his work or anything like that.

He just said that he needed a change of scenery. And his friend said to him, I tell you what, if you come up here, I've got one more project that I would like for you to do, just one. And if you do it for me, I will provide for you a place to live.

I will give you all the materials. I will provide for you labor and pay you for your time. What do you say? And the carpenter was a little reluctant to accept because he knew that he just didn't have the heart to do this kind of work anymore.

But he decided, you know what? We go way back. I will be in a different place. Maybe being in a place where I really want to be with my house and materials and all those things provided for. Maybe that will be enough to give me the heart to do this job.

And so he agreed. He said to his friend, I'll do it. So he moved up there to the mountains, to the lake. There was a small little cabin that his friend had him living in while he was working on this final house project, even had some people to help him do the project.

But over the course of the work, he thought a change in scenery. He thought a change in environment would help to put the zeal back into him. But over the course of that work, he realized he still just didn't have the heart for it.

He didn't feel it. And he felt like he was cutting corners, even though he had other people that were working with him. He was cutting corners on the job and trying to do things easy and trying to speed up the process so he could just get it done and live the life that he wanted to live out the rest of his days.

And when he finished that project, he finished that house. He didn't really care if his friend liked it or not. He just went to his friend and said, there you go. The project is done. And the friend handed the carpenter the keys.

And he said, here you go. This house belongs to you. And the carpenter's heart sank when he realized how much different he would have done that job if he knew that that house was for him. I share that story simply to point out that the carpenter had the wrong mindset to do the job that he was called upon to do.

And there are many Christians going through the Christian life who are the same way. They've got the wrong mindset to do the job that God has called for them to do. We cannot do a good job by any work of our own.

It is the strength of Christ and the power of his spirit working through us for his good pleasure, as the apostle Paul talked about in the book of Philippians. And it's also there in Philippians 2, 5, where we are told to have the mind of Christ.

If we are thinking with the mind of men, no matter how good our intentions, we will be doing the devil's work instead of God's work. We must have the mind of God when it comes to doing what he has called upon his saints to do.

And that's what we will be looking at today as we are in Colossians chapter three. And starting off a study of Colossians three, we're gonna go all the way through the chapter, first verse to the end.

And then we'll just be looking primarily at the first four verses for our expositional study today. So join with me in your Bibles, Colossians chapter three, starting in verse one, before coming to this word, let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Our gracious heavenly father, we ask and we desire to have the mind of Christ. That's what it is that we have set out to achieve, to learn more about as we are doing this study of Colossians, knowing that Christ is preeminent, in him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

If we are in Christ, if we're rooted in him, we need nothing else, nothing else in this world will satisfy. Everything that we need is from our savior and we are completely satisfied in him. So continue to teach us that, grow us in the knowledge of this, grow us into the head who is Christ Jesus, head of all rule and authority, head of his body, the church of which we are a part.

If we are followers of Christ Jesus, show us these words according to your spirit today, as we come into this text in the name of Jesus, we pray, amen. Colossians chapter three, starting in verse one, if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry.

On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.

Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.

And above all these things put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, in which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives submit to your husbands as is fitting to the Lord. Husbands love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children obey your parents and everything for this pleases the Lord. Fathers do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged.

Bond servants obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the inheritance as your reward.

You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done. And there is no partiality.

There you go.

That's all of Colossians chapter three, verses one through 25. That is a section of scripture that I often recommend to those who may be struggling in their faith. And they are wondering where in the Bible can I start reading right now and receive instructions in the Lord Christ in the ways that I am supposed to live according to the direction of the great shepherd.

And I'll direct them to Colossians chapter three. That would be a good chapter for you to read. The way that we will be sectioning this chapter out, we'll be looking at verses one through four today. We will be looking at instructions on how we are supposed to conduct ourselves among members of the church, how we are to abstain from sin.

We're gonna be looking at marriage, parenting, being a good worker in this world, knowing that we are not working for men, but first for the Lord Christ. So these are some of the instructions that we're gonna be drawing out of a very rich chapter, Colossians chapter three.

But before Paul has gotten to these instructions here for the Colossians, he has set out first to establish the preeminence of Christ, which we read about in Colossians 1 .18. In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, he goes on, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

So Paul first sets out for the Colossians for them to know Christ. He is above all things, he is the creator of all things, through him all things hold together. And then in chapter two, he starts to address some of the false teachings, the false philosophies that are out there in Colossae attempting to woo the Colossians.

And those are some of the things that we looked at last week. Paul said, as you have received Christ the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

We read that in Colossians 2, 6 and 7. And then later on in that chapter, he says, be careful about those who go on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind and not holding fast to the head from whom the whole body nourished and knit together grows or through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth that is from God.

Now, here's something that I didn't point out about that. When we looked at that passage last week, which is Colossians 2, 18 and 19. When we are going on in detail about visions puffed up without reason by our sensuous minds.

Okay, basically, we're just thinking about stuff off the top of our head when we're claiming to have visions that come from God, but they didn't come from God. It's nothing that lines up from his word.

It's just something that popped into our mind. When we go about ourselves this way, it's selfish. It divides the body. It does not unify in any way. It is just vanity. It's just glorifying in ourselves is all it is.

If we do not have the mind of Christ, we're only glorifying in ourselves. But if we hold fast to the head, as Paul talks about in verse 19, from whom the whole body nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth that is from God.

So if we're holding fast to Christ, and if we have the mind of Christ, we are not only a benefit to ourselves, we are a benefit to the entire body of Christ. Look at the way that Paul connected all of that.

A person who just thinks off the top of their own head that doesn't have the mind of Christ, but instead has the mind of man. He's puffed up without reason by a sensuous mind, just a selfish, vain individual.

But then the person who holds fast to the head who has the mind of Christ nourishes the whole body. Christ does. He nourishes the whole body, including through the person who has the mind of Christ because that person is nourished, being knit together through its joints and ligaments, growing with a growth that is from God.

It is beneficial to the entire body of Christ when you have the mind of Christ. But it is beneficial to no one. And in fact, is even harmful to yourself when you are vain, when you are not connected to Christ and instead thinking with the mind of men.

We'll expound on this a little bit more as we continue on here. So Colossians chapter three, verses one through four,. If then, if in light of these things that Paul has mentioned in chapter two, holding fast to the head, being thankful to God for all things, knowing that through Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

If then you have been raised with Christ, you are dead to your transgressions and your sins. You have been raised with Christ Jesus. Seek the things that are above where Christ is. In fact, having just read that, I've got to come back to Romans six here.

Romans six, beginning in verse one. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound by no means? How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead for the glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life. So we must walk in this new life.

And as Paul talks about coming up a little bit later in the chapter, we need to take off the old self with all of its practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

So if we've been raised with Christ, we've died with Christ in our sins, in our transgressions, we've been raised anew with him, then we need to seek the things that are above where he is, where Christ is.

So if we're in Christ, let us have a mind that is focused on the eternal things, the things that are glorifying to God, the things that are directed to the very place where Christ is in heaven, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, you also will appear with him in glory.

You understand eternal life is not something that is gonna be given to you when you get to heaven. If you are in Christ Jesus, eternal life is something that you have right now. I wanna turn to Matthew chapter 16.

If you're following with me in your Bible, you can go there too, Matthew chapter 16. And this is where Jesus is interacting with his disciples and he asks them, who do people say that the son of man is?

In verse 14, they said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And he said to them, but who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter is the one who speaks up and says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

And Jesus answered him, blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah for flesh and blood is not revealed this to you. Flesh and blood, the mind of man has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven.

And I tell you, you are Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.

Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ because his time had not yet come. So it was not time for them yet to reveal to anyone that he was indeed the son of God.

Now, even though Jesus gives this guarantee to Peter on this rock, I will build my church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.

Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. This is not in stating Peter is the first Pope, okay? Because when we read two chapters later in Matthew 18, we find that those very keys that Jesus had addressed Peter with, Jesus in fact gives to all of his disciples in Matthew 18 verses 15 through 20.

And then we see later on in John chapter 20, this is after Jesus came back from the grave, but he says to his disciples, whoever you say is forgiven will be forgiven and whoever you say is not forgiven will not be forgiven.

So in other words, Christians, all disciples of Christ have keys that have been given to them to be able to discern whether or not a person is walking according to the forgiveness of Christ. But in order to understand this and use these keys in the right way, we have to have the mind of Christ.

And this is what is meant in Matthew 18, 20, where Jesus says, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them. It's when they are seeking after knowledge according to the mind of Christ and not according to whatever they say is the case just because they claim to be Christians.

This is still according to the will of God. It still comes with a discerning mind according to what the scriptures say, not by what we just think of off the top of our head. And therefore, whatever we've thought of must be right because we're a Christian.

We gotta be careful about that. We still inhabit fleshly bodies. We are still subjected to fleshly temptations and fleshly thoughts. We must take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ as it says in 2 Corinthians 10.

So anyway, not to get too far off the topic, but that's still along the lines of this calling that Jesus has given to all of his disciples to have a mind of Christ. He's given that to his apostle Peter here.

He's gonna give it to all of his disciples in Matthew chapter 18, but there's a reason why I read this story and we go on from there into verse 21. From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

All right?

So Jesus has just told his disciples, here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna go to Jerusalem. I'm gonna suffer many things at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and the scribes. They're even gonna kill me,.

But don't worry.

On the third day, I'm coming back. I am coming back to life. He lays the whole thing out for the disciples, tells them plainly everything that's about to happen. Peter verse 22. Okay, this is the guy that just a few verses earlier gave the answer that made Jesus go, blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah, for this was not revealed to you according to the flesh, but it has been revealed to you by my father who's in heaven.

You can see Peter kind of popping his collar and looking at the rest of the disciples.

And going, yeah, right.

Yeah, look at me, teacher's pet.

Okay.

So after Peter gave this answer that was so celebratory, look at what he says next. Verse 22. Peter took Jesus aside because Jesus said that he was gonna be killed. Peter apparently lost the part where Jesus said, I'm coming back to life three days later.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you, Lord. This shall never happen to you. I won't let you go and die and be killed at the hands of these Pharisees. And Jesus turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan.

You are a hindrance to me for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. Now we could easily look at Peter and think to ourselves, well, he just loves his Lord, right?

He just loves Jesus. He doesn't wanna see Jesus go and die. He doesn't wanna see that happen. So what's so wrong with him saying to Jesus, no, far be it from you, Lord. I will never let this happen to you.

Isn't it a terrible thing to let a friend die? You wouldn't wanna do that. And so Peter is just doing this out of love. No, he is not. He's doing it for selfish reasons. He is thinking only with his own mind instead of with the mind of God.

Otherwise he would have heard what Jesus was saying to him. Jesus needed to go to the cross and died so that the scriptures would be fulfilled. But also the scriptures would be fulfilled in understanding that Christ was gonna come back three days later.

He was gonna rise again from the grave. This wasn't gonna be a permanent death, but to show that he had the power over the grave. And this was the plan from the very beginning, from the foundations of the world, as is talked about in Peter's eventual testimony before all of Jerusalem in Acts chapter two.

This Jesus, which was delivered up according to the definite plan and for knowledge of God. So eventually Peter gets it right. But here he is thinking with the mind of man and it causes Jesus to say to him, get behind me, Satan.

You're a hindrance to me for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. Folks, it doesn't matter how good our intentions are. It doesn't matter how genuine in heart we might be.

There are things and decisions that we will make no matter how loving we intend to be with those decisions that are the wrong decision and they're godless decisions because they came from the mind of man instead of the mind of God.

Let me give you a couple of examples of these things. This comes from ethicist and political philosopher, Jay Budziszewski. He says that real compassion ought to make us visit the prisoner, dry out the alcoholic, help the pregnant girl prepare for the baby and encourage the young homosexual to live chastely.

But how much easier is it to forget the prisoner, give the drunk a drink, send the girl to an abortionist and tell the kid to just live in. False compassion is a great deal less work than true. We may have good intentions in our hearts when we say to somebody who is struggling with a homosexual temptation, we may think that we're loving by telling them, hey, it's who God made you to be.

Just do what you know is in your heart to do and God's going to love you for it anyway. We're thinking with the mind of Satan instead of with the mind of God because God has said that sin is not acceptable in his eyes and we are supposed to flee sin and pursue holiness and righteousness, that which is pleasing to God, not which is pleasing to ourselves and our bodies thinking that it is somehow inherently right because God designed me to desire this, so therefore it must be right for me to do this.

No, God did not design you to desire sin. He designed you, he created you, he called you to desire him and it's when we don't desire God that we chase after our sin instead. No matter how genuine, no matter how loving we might think that we are, encouraging a person to live in sin is not loving.

We must understand the scriptures so we know what it means to think with the mind of God, having the right mindset and not thinking with the mind of man. Again, Philippians 2, 5, where Paul says, let this mind be in you, which is in Christ Jesus.

God, as we finish up this portion of our study today, I pray that we are setting our minds on things that are above, not on things on earth, but being reminded that with Christ we have died and our lives are now hidden with him and when Christ, who is our life, appears, we'll appear with him in glory.

If we remain steadfast to the end, give us your spirit and your strength to do that very thing and the spirit to discern and understand the mind of God. And in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Who is Jesus?

Jesus is the promised seed who would crush the head of the snake. He is the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, the prince of peace. He is our salvation from sin, the son of God in whom the father is well pleased.

He is the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets, the son of David, a ransom for many, the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is the son of man who came to seek and save the lost.

He is God,.

The lamb of God, the light of the world, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the vine, apart from whom we can do nothing. He is the cornerstone by whose name we are saved.

He is our righteousness, the firstborn among many brothers, our victory, our reconciliation with God. He is the head of the church, his body and is himself its savior. He is our ultimate example. He is the image of the invisible God, the creator of all things by whom all things hold together.

He is preeminent, God's mystery in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is the one mediator between God and men, the heir of all things through whom all things were created. He is the founder and perfecter of our faith, the same yesterday, today and forever.

He is the holy Lord, our righteous advocate, the propitiation for our sins.

He is love.

He is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. He is faithful and true who judges and makes war in righteousness. He is the word of God, king of kings and Lord of lords.

Jesus is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end when we understand the text. I got the idea to do that. What video. When we were studying in Colossians chapter one, there was an episode back at the start of our study where I went through multiple scriptures explaining who Christ is.

And I took those scriptures and decided, you know, that would make a good what video. So there it is. It's entitled Who is Jesus? You can find it at our website, WWU t .com. Hey, I encourage you to continue to read through Colossians the entire book at least once a week while we are in this study.

It prepares your mind for the things that we are coming up to and also refreshes your mind as to the things that we have studied up to this point. So some point during your week, read all four chapters of Colossians.

Now, if you follow us on Facebook or on Twitter, which I encourage you to do, then you probably heard or saw information about a fire that we had at our church yesterday.

Sunday.

Yes, it was in the middle of church. We had to evacuate the building. It did not cause a lot of damage. Thankfully, it was a bad furnace, but it did burn up some ceiling tiles. We did have to rip out a few boards and some drywall.

So there are some repairs that are going to need to be made. But we are thankful that the damage is not as extensive as it could have been. And the Lord kept everybody safe. Praise God. The firemen even let us back into the chapel so that we could at least have our sermon and our time of singing.

So we are grateful to the Lord that all he has provided for us. And we thank you for your prayers for this ministry and your kind support. If you can give it, go to www .utt .com and there's a give button on the top right corner of the page that you can click on to send either a monetary donation through the internet or drop us a check in the mail.

We've got an address on there that you can send to us as well. Thank you again for your participation in this program and for listening in. God bless. We'll continue our study of Colossians 3 tomorrow.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. We hope you are a part of a church family committed to gospel teaching. And we thank you for including us in your Bible learning.

If you would consider a gift to this ministry, please visit www .utt .com and click on the give tab in the top right corner of the page. Give online or send a check in the mail. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in God's word when we understand the text.