The Mind of Christ and the Last Days — Keith Malcomson

Praise God. I want to bring you to the very last message of this second volume of this series, The Battle for the Mind. In our first series, we've done seven messages. If you've missed any of those, and especially those online, I would say go back to those seven.

They're absolutely vital. We're going to finish this second series on a high note. This is part 10, and I want to leave you hungry tonight. I'm going to leave you with a message. It's going to feel like a meal set out, and then pull back after you've started tasting it.

But I don't mind that, because our entire Christian life is like that, where there is a beginning, but there is no end in this. It gets bigger. You move on. You grow in the things of Christ. You learn more.

Then when you think you've learned this, you find out there's a lot more. Like a man walking up the mountain saying, I'm just about to reach the peak. Then he reaches that, and he sees there's another peak higher.

Then he gets to the top of that, and he goes, this is bigger than I ever thought. But you don't know until you start climbing. If you never embark upon it, you never realize the greatness of it. You have a vague view of all that Scripture teaches.

But yet when you embark on this, it gets bigger, it gets bigger, it gets higher, it gets deeper. It becomes more glorious and more wonderful. And that's what this really is like. You know, it says in Isaiah chapter 35 and verse 8 concerning, and do turn there for a second, but it says about the highway of God, or it's also called the way of holiness.

And how I picture this, a highway, if you've ever seen those motorways, they're not running along, but they're literally going up in the air and carrying you through to another region. That is the way of holiness, or the highway.

If you get on that highway, you're driving in a whole other different atmosphere. But the Bible calls this highway, the way of holiness. And it says, the unclean do not pass over it, but it shall be for those, the wayfaring man, though fools shall not err therein.

Even if you were a fool, naive, simple, uneducated, not understanding everything, very basic in your thinking, you know what, if you get your feet on this highway of holiness, you will never be deceived.

You're going to go straight through until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. My last message here tonight, as we finish this second volume, is the mind of Christ and the last days. The mind of Christ as it relates to the last days.

The Mind of Christ as the Answer in the Last Days

Because having said all that we've said, especially in recent weeks, about the mark of the beast, about all that's happening, about brainwashing, as we look at all that, so where do we go from here? Is this all we have to look to?

No. I believe the answer in this hour for you and I and the church is the mind of Christ. I believe this is the hour for the mind of Christ to be revealed in the church of Jesus Christ. I'm going to take you to three chapters here tonight as we come to this message.

You can listen, you don't need to turn there. But we are going to turn to each of these chapters. It says in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 16, but we have the mind of Christ. It says in Philippians 2 and verse 5, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

And then third and lastly, 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 1, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Would you pray with me here tonight? Father, we do thank you for the word of God as we finish this second volume, this series.

Oh God, I pray tonight, thank you for what you've said to us and warned us of, even in recent weeks. Thank you, oh God, for exposing the works of darkness, for warning us about being careful of brainwashing of all that's happening in our world.

But my God, what a glorious message tonight to know that the answer is the mind of Christ, that we would allow this mind to be in us, that we are allowed to function in us, that we are allowed the mind of Christ, the thinking of Christ, the thoughts of Christ.

Lord God, that working of the mind of Christ to operate in us, that we might bring forth the works of God, that we might bring forth decisions, that we might bring forth speech that comes out of that thinking.

Father, I pray tonight, Lord God, raise up a church, raise up these new converts that you're bringing in all over the world. These new ones that have been saved in recent months and over the past year and a half.

Father, I pray that this mind may operate in them, grip them with the word of God. Lord God, let them come to the kingdom for such an hour as this, that they might come to holiness and righteousness and purity as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you that it's not finished. My God, we're at an hour where you're going to raise up a church with the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ask tonight, will you speak to us? Will you help us? Will you encourage us?

Will you guard us in the name of Jesus? Amen. Amen. Here tonight, we're dealing with the mind of Christ in the last days. We are in the last days. We heard last week about transhumanism in the 2020s. This is a sign to us of the hour that we are living in.

When we see world government beginning to make a grab for the mind of this generation, we are living in an hour that they are trying by drugs, by education, by technology, by brainwashing to take the mind.

I mean the mind, the imagination, the thinking of this entire generation. But I want to tell you of what God is doing here tonight. I actually believe that God is preparing. The only way to avoid that is to have the mind of Christ.

Do you want to walk free of all of these things that we've said about? It's not hiding in a bunker. It's not going out into the desert and hiding. It's not burying baked beans in your back garden. None of those things are the answer for this hour.

How are you going to operate? Are you going to hide under your bed? Are you going to try and store up money for a day of crisis? Are you going to go and grow a vegetable garden? What is your answer for this hour?

I want to tell you it is the mind of Christ. We have come to an hour where the mind is very vital. The devil goes, I want the mind of this generation. But do you know what God is saying? I want the mind of my church again.

I want the mind of my son to operate in the church of this generation. And that's going to be the only way that we function. In this hour of darkness, we've got to think the thoughts of God. You see, God is going to renew the mind of Christians.

He is going to put the mind of Christ in the real church and the mind of Christ, the thinking, the thoughts, the imagination, that intellectual process is going to be Christ's way of thinking within the body of Christ.

We have already seen how it is God's will to renew the mind of the individual believer. Here tonight, I am going to deal with three aspects very briefly concerning Christ's mind in the church. But before I look at those three points, and I can mention many, many others, but I'm only going to deal with three.

But before I deal with that, let me begin to explain what does the mind of Christ mean? How does it operate? When it says, let this mind be in you, which was in Christ, what do you mean? Is that waiting for a feeling?

Is that waiting for a voice? Is that looking for something supernatural? What does it mean to have the mind of Christ operating in you? Or to let, to allow this mind to be in you, which was in Jesus Christ?

Or to arm yourself with the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ? What does that really mean? How do you allow that to happen? How does this work in the church of this generation? Listen to a few scriptures here, and I'm going to cover this quite quickly, but it's very, very important.

I'm giving you a lot of stuff here, and then maybe we'll come back and do an entire series on all of this. It says in Romans chapter 13 and verse 12, the night is far spent, the day is at hand. The day, when it talks about the day, it's talking about the coming of Jesus.

It is talking about God's kingdom coming on the earth. And so the apostle Paul says the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Day is coming, night is going to come to an end. In other words, the church has to operate in night time.

It is night time. I hope you realize how dark it is. But do you know when it gets darkest, day is coming. The daybreak is coming. Jesus is coming. The day is at hand. Never have I felt more that the day is at hand.

Oh yes, it's got very dark. It seems like we're being engulfed in darkness. But do you know what day is coming? Will you be encouraged tonight? Day is coming. It is literally at hand. I can almost stretch out and feel the day is coming.

But we are operating in night time. It says, let us therefore, and notice this, cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. It's night time. So what are we to do? We're to cast off the works of darkness.

In other words, as a Christian or as a church, we are to take the works of darkness and to cast them off. This is something the Christian does. It doesn't all happen at the new birth. It isn't all finished when you get born again.

As a Christian, you've got to be aggressive to cast off. We go, oh, I don't want to do that. I'm tired. I'm weary. You know what, saints? Day is coming. It is night time. We do get tired. We get weary in the battle.

But here it is actually saying, we're to cast off and we're to put on the armor of light. We're to put on the armor of light while casting off the works of darkness. It says over in Ephesians 6 and verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

And so we say we're to put on the armor of God. As Christians, there's something we're to put on here. Just hold that for a second. Then it also says in verse 12, that's where we were, cast off and put on.

Two verses later in verse 14, it says, put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. What is the armor that you're to put on? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm building something here for you to see. We are in darkness, surrounded by darkness.

We're to cast off the works of darkness, but we're to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. The armor of God explained in Ephesians chapter 6 is the person of Christ. He is this armor. To put on the armor of light, an armor that shines in the darkness.

It is the person of Christ. And listen, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. If you are making provision for the flesh, fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, you're not putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, but I'm a Christian. But hold on. If you are just living for the flesh, if you're making preparation for the flesh to function in your life, you're not putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is something a believer is commanded to do.

Put on the armor, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not talking about being born again or justified, but it's connected to it. It's vital to it. If you're a Christian, you put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then again in Galatians chapter 327, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, what we dealt with on Sunday, baptized into Christ. Remember I explained what it means to be baptized, immersed into Christ.

It means to be baptized into his death, into his burial, into his resurrection. And so Galatians 327 says, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Do you know what this putting on Christ is talking about?

The work of Christ, the provision of Christ. If you live in the flesh and fulfill the lusts of the flesh, you're not putting on Christ. You're not immersing yourself. You're not casting off the works of darkness.

So notice that real Christians in this last hour, darkness is engulfing the world. A way of thinking is engulfing this world. You see the mind is the avenue to the whole life and your mind affects how you speak, how you make decisions, how you act, how you live, all of your attitudes.

That mind, what a mind, what a man is in his mind, he is. That's what you are. What you are is the product of your mind. If your mind isn't renewed, you're living in the flesh. If it does get renewed, you're living sanctified in the Lord Jesus Christ.

To renew your mind means you put on the Lord Jesus Christ. You put on the armor of light. If you allow this work of the renewing of the mind, of the Word of God washing your mind, if you allow that, you're going to find that you're putting on the armor of light.

There is a victory. There is a power. There is a full provision. It's remarkable. And so we see putting on the armor of light, putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, all of these go together in a remarkable way.

You've been baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, hold that for a second. Then in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 20, it says, Now notice what he's teaching in Ephesians chapter 4, to learn Christ, not about Christ.

You're learning Christ. You're a disciple of Christ. You're being taught Christ, not about Christ. You're being taught Christ in a very real way. And as so be that we have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus.

Do you know what it means to learn Jesus? Undiluted Jesus. In other words, not only learning facts about him, you begin to live this out. In other words, when you're taught of Christ, you're discipled by him, you learn of him, you learn Christ.

You know what? You begin to live this out. You begin to think like Christ thinks. You begin to speak like Christ speaks. You begin to live out your life like Christ lived out his life. You begin to walk all of this out.

Paul says this, and then listen to what he says next in verse 22, that you put off concerning the former conversation of the old man. So we begin to see that you have to, again, put off the old man. You have to cast off the works of darkness.

You must not make provision for the flesh. This is all the same. The old man is making provision for the flesh. How do you identify the old man? How do I know you need to put off the old man? Because you're making provision for him.

You know, you line it up. He comes down first thing in the morning, and you go, good morning, old man. I've got your breakfast laid out. I made provision. I've got all the plans. I know what you're going to do, and I know how I'm going to help you along the way.

That's making provision for the old man. Now, I want you to talk to someone and tell them just what you think. That's making provision for the flesh. You see, so many, they make provision for the flesh, and yet we're told put off the old man, the conversation or the lifestyle of the old man.

There's something you're to put off. But notice, I'm going to jump over in Ephesians 4, 23. I'm going to miss out the middle verse. Verse 24, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

So you're to put off the old man and put on the new man. What is the new man? It is the armor of light. It is the person of Christ. It is walking in the spirit. Do you see that there's things you're to put off and things you're to put on as a Christian or as the church of God?

You're to do this, put off and put on. You see, if you're in Christ, this is something that you are going to be walking into in the days ahead. My message is the mind of Christ in the last days. Having heard all that you've heard in recent weeks of the mark of the beast, transhumanism, of this grab to brainwash this generation, and it's happening all around us, and it's going to intensify.

Where are you going to run to? Where are you going to hide? Can I give you the answer? You're going to put on the mind of Christ. You're actually going to allow the mind of Christ to operate because if his mind is in you, Brother Clendenin often preached over the years, he would see someone playing that beautiful piano like Candace, and what he would say, if I could take, he said, my hands are good, no arthritis.

He said, I can play, go up and down, but I can't make tune, I can't make melody out of that. But if I could take Candace's mind, her brain, and put the mind of Candace in me, I can make that piano sound like she makes that piano.

It's got nothing to do with the body or the hands or arthritis. I tell you, it's got to do with that mind. Put the mind of Candace in me and I'll lead you in worship on Sunday morning. I tell you, I'll keep the harmony there.

I'll keep the tune right with that, but I need the mind of Candace in me. You know the same as with the church. If I can only get the mind of Christ, I'll speak like him, walk like him, act like him, decide like him, function like him.

It's all in the mind. Whose mind is operating in you? Is it the mind of the flesh, the mind of this world? Is it operating in you or is it the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ? So what do we do then? How do we put on and put off?

What is the secret to this putting off the flesh, putting on the new man, putting off the old man, putting on the Lord Jesus Christ? What is the key? We're actually given it in Ephesians chapter 4. Listen to what it says between putting off the old man and putting on the new man.

Listen to what he says. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Do you realize the renewing of your mind is the mind of Christ operating in you? Let this mind be within you. You see, you're struggling with the old man.

How do you stop operating in the old man and move to operating in the new man? How do you stop walking in the works of darkness and begin to move in the armor of light? What is the secret of this? You see, holiness, sanctification, and righteousness is a hidden secret to so much of the church, but I'm giving you the secret here.

It's all to do with the mind. The mind is essential to moving from the works of darkness to the works of righteousness, from your own self to the person of Christ. It's essential. And so he says, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

There's got to come a renewal. There's got to come a return and a restoration to the mind that Christ wants within you. And you know what the context in the Greek is? It's the present continuous tense.

In other words, it's a power from outside you and it's happening daily. Your mind's being renewed. The whole spirit of your mind, in other words, the whole attitude behind your mind, the whole progression of your mind, there is a renewal going by the power of God.

And as your mind is renewed, you put off the old man and you put on the new man. You put off darkness and you put on light. Do you realize the renewal of your mind, having your mind washed by the word of God, is the secret to operating in this?

Again, listen here for a second. It says in Colossians chapter 3 and verse 8, but now ye also put off all of these. He's going into detail here. All of these scriptures run together. What are you going to put off?

Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds. Do you see how he's identifying the old man? What are you to put off?

These things. They're unacceptable for the Christian. They are darkness. They are manifestations of the flesh. They are the work of the old man. You're to put them off. A deliberate act to say, it's not acceptable in my life.

But how do you get there? You need your mind renewed. In other words, someone who begins to renew their mind, to have their mind begin to think like Christ, to have their mind changed by the word of God.

They start saying, this is not acceptable in my life. He then moves further in verse 10 and he says, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

And so we see that again, this renewing in knowledge in your mind is the secret to putting off and putting on. What is the secret to renew your mind? With all of these scriptures to put on Christ, put on the armor of life, to put on the new man is all accomplished by the renewing of your mind.

You can try to do everything yourself to get rid of the old man and to live in the new. You know what the secret is? Your mind. If you do not renew your mind, this doesn't operate. You can scream at the old nature.

You could demand that you can bind demons. But until you actually begin to renew your mind, both in Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3, the secret is the renewing of the mind to put off and to put on. Those who renew your mind are going to say, I'm putting off lying, I'm putting off the flesh, I'm putting off the works of darkness, and I want to put on the person of Christ.

In other words, I want to live him. I want him to be lived out of my entire life. How do you begin to live the life of Christ? How do you begin to function like Christ? Christ in me, the hope of glory.

Christ in you, living his life. Christ in you, walking out his life. How do you make that happen? It's the renewal of your mind. And with this, we begin to see that the mind of Christ is the key. The renewing of the mind is the same as the mind of Christ.

To renew your mind with the Word of God is to take on the mind of Christ. For the Word of God to begin to renew your mind, say, this is how you act, this is how you speak, this is how you function, this is your attitude, this is what you do in the church.

As you begin to do this in the Word of God, you're putting on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is how it operates. The mind of Christ is the key to putting on the new man, the armor of light, and the full person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Discerning Mind and the Authority of Scripture

Here tonight, I'm going to give you three aspects of the mind of Christ that I believe that we have to learn. You see, the mind of Christ, we have the mind of Christ, we're to let the mind of Christ operate within you.

This is why a new Christian, when they get born again, very often they just function in this. I mean, they seem more mature than the old Christians. They immediately speak and act and do naturally. I've seen it so many times, it's amazing.

And do you know what it is? It is the mind of Christ. They have the mind of Christ. But do you know what they're going to face into the battle of this, the warfare over this? Are you going to allow the mind of Christ to operate in you?

If you allow his mind to function, we know it says in Isaiah 55 verse 8, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. In other words, God's thoughts are higher, they are spiritual, they're heavenly, and they're different from our natural way of thinking.

So we know that man thinks in a certain way. He's got a certain intellectual process that's radically different from God. That's why when I look back over the years, the decisions I've made look very unwise to people in this world.

When I told my brothers I was stepping out at 21, leaving the army to step out to serve God, they sat down, my father was dead. So my two older brothers had a fatherly talk that said, what are you going to do about a house?

What are you going to do about a wife? What are you going to do about a car? What are you going to do about your future? And do you know what? Everything they said was wise, but it was of this world. But do you know what?

I knew I had the mind of Christ. I knew I knew the will of God. I didn't need to labor on it. I went, this is the will of God. Well, I just said, ha ha, ha ha, ha ha. I knew there's no explaining to them.

It would take decades before they could even understand what I'm saying. But I know the mind of Christ, but their thinking is not the thinking of God. Do you know how often man's thinking affects you?

You're motivated, you're driven, you make decisions. Is it the mind of Christ or is it natural thinking? My thoughts are not your thoughts. What thoughts operate in your mind that are behind everything that you do?

What thoughts prompt it? You see, if the mind of Christ is operating in you, it's going to affect everything of your life. My three points. First of all, a discerning mind. The mind of Christ is a discerning mind.

Go into 1 Corinthians chapter 2 here tonight. A discerning mind. It says in 1 Corinthians 2 and 16, for who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? Question mark. This is a quote from the Old Testament, from Isaiah 40 verse 13.

It says, who hath directed the spirit of the Lord or being his counselor hath taught him? Then in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul the apostle answers. He says, but we have the mind of Christ. In Isaiah 40, it was an entire argument to show that God's way of operating is beyond man.

Man has nothing to do with the operation of God. God operates according to the spirit of God. In fact, we find out in Isaiah 40 that the mind of God is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit moves according to the mind of God.

It's synonymous, the mind of God is synonymous with the spirit of God. In 1 Corinthians 2 and 16, it says we have the mind of Christ. Real Christians have the mind of Christ. The real church has the mind of Christ.

In other words, listen to this, the intellectual thinking of Christ, how Christ thinks about your marriage, your lifestyle, your speech, your evangelism, the preaching from this pulpit, every area of life, your money, all of it, all of your future plans.

Do you realize we have the mind of Christ? In other words, if you're thinking natural thoughts, your own thoughts that have nothing to do with scripture and nothing to do with Christ, that is in his mind.

You know, we the church need the mind of Christ again. And so in 1 Corinthians 2, he begins to explain what is this mind of Christ? It says in verse 10, for the spirit of God searches all things, the deep things of God.

The deep things are talking about the mind of the spirit of God. This is the mind of God. What does the Holy Spirit do? He searches the deep things of God. I mean the deep intentions of the heart of God, the deep things hidden deep within God, the spirit of God searches those things.

It says verse 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. It's the spirit of God that knows the deep things or knows everything about God.

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. Do you know in these verses he's beginning to teach you how to have the mind of Christ?

He says, but we have the mind of Christ. And leading into this, he's shown how do you have the mind of Christ? How does it operate literally within you? If you have the spirit of God, you have the mind of Christ.

If the Holy Spirit lives within you, and he does within every real Christian, then this spirit has the entire deep thinking of God. If you know the Holy Spirit lives within you, do you realize the whole thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ is within him?

And he wants to reveal it. He wants to show you. He wants to bring that out in your life. The real Holy Spirit knows you don't need to know. Do you realize how many things I do in my Christian life automatically?

I don't think deeply about. I just walk in the light of God's word. It's not hard to do. I just know the person in me knows all things. He knows all truth. He will lead me into all truth. Isn't that the Holy Spirit?

Do you want to be taught the mind of God? Do you want to think as Christ thinks? Do you want the mind of Christ to operate within you? Then it's going to be the work of the Holy Spirit. My first point is a discerning mind, and it's all within the Holy Spirit.

He has come to show you the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in verse 13, which things also we speak, not in the words that which man's wisdom teaches. Don't get this mixed up. You could look for advice in your life, and it's man's wisdom.

Oh, it looks wise. It sounds wise. You go, that's a good idea. That sounds the right thing. I've had people come to me for advice. What do you think I should do here? My answer wasn't good enough, so they went to someone else.

That answer wasn't good enough. In fact, it just happened to be biblical. So they went to a third person. Again, they get a biblical answer. They don't like that. You know what? They're not looking for an answer.

They want someone to tell them man's wisdom, what they want to hear. They don't want a simple Bible answer, and it's always amazing when I face someone. You give them what the Bible says, they don't like it.

Or maybe others go, wow, that's good. Yes, it's in the Bible. It's actually there. So he says, no, don't get this mixed up. The teaching of the Holy Spirit isn't man's wisdom. There is a teaching of man's wisdom, and sadly, much of it in the church, and it is not of the Spirit of God.

So much teaching. Just this weekend, I had a deal with one issue of a Bible teacher, an eloquent, gifted, fluent, knowledgeable man. He was as smooth as honey, I want to tell you. He was a remarkably gifted man.

And you know what? I listened several messages. I don't normally do this, but I had to do it. I had to do it. It was pressed upon me by God. And I listened several messages, and I went, this man is a heretic.

He started to demolish the teaching of repentance. Repentance doesn't mean repentance like you think it means. It just means a change of mind. And then it's not important. And as he moved step by step, he said, you know what?

You can lose your faith in God and become an atheist, but you're still born again, and you'll still go to heaven. You can lose your testimony. You can lose your way. You can lose everything. But if you're once saved, you're always saved, and you'll still go to heaven.

You know what that is? That is pure poison. There's people in the church, they are teaching, teaching, teaching, but it's not by the Holy Spirit. That is not the mind of Christ. How do I know? It's not according to the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit leads into truth. That is error. That is deception. That will destroy your life. Do you think someone's I don't care about God. Do you think that's the mind of Christ? Then it wasn't taught of the Holy Spirit of God.

We are living in a very dangerous hour, an hour of deception. He says, it's not the man's wisdom, but which the Holy Ghost teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Notice here, he said, it's not man's wisdom, but it is the teaching of the Holy Ghost.

In verse 12, he says, it's not the spirit of this world. The spirit of this world will teach you man's wisdom, and it'll seem logical, it'll seem right, but it doesn't lead you to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Most of what I say to people down over the years is, where did you get that in the Bible? When things arise in the church, where did you get that? Nine times out of 10, there's no connection with the Bible.

They have not been taught what they are doing, how they're operating has no context in scripture. They don't even try to do it. They just say, well, I believe God has told me. What about scripture? Do you realize how the Holy Spirit teaches a man the mind of Christ?