Change My Mind
1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 29:11
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· 52 views"Change My Mind." Based on 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Once we accept Jesus, we begin a lifelong journey of changing our mind to become the mind of Christ. Each day we are less us and more Him.
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Opening prayer, dedication
Music ministry
31 Great is the Lord
529 O How I Love Jesus
10,000 Reasons
Word of God - [Mary Brooks]
6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Message: “Change My Mind”
I believe that many feel today like they are being pulled in every direction imaginable
We are bombarded with information and with demands on our time, our talents and our treasure
We are given every opportunity to feel guilty and even responsible for things that are way out of our control
Guilt for the way our ancestors treated the ancestors of someone else
Guilt over the families we were born into
Guilt over things others in our faith family or history have done in the past
Guilt over the fact that we eat certain foods
Guilt over our choice to drive to church and not ride a horse
If you or your ancestors did it, then SOMEONE thinks you are a sorry excuse for person
In all those examples, it is the culture that judges us to be wrong
In fact, it is the wisdom of the some culture somewhere that almost everything is bad or wrong
Thankfully, our first Takeaway today, gives us hope
Takeaways
There is more than one type of wisdom
Let’s start wit a working definition of “wisdom”
Lexham Theological Wordbook (σοφία)
σοφία (sophia). n. fem. wisdom. Refers to the quality of having knowledge, skill, and experience in the sense of mastery over a particular subject or trade through practice and learning.
Having knowledge, skill and experience (mastering a topic or activity) is clear
At least until you ask, “mastery based on whose standard?”
Look back at the text we started with at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 2:6 (a) [thru “,”]
6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
Paul is talking about “mature”
-excellent until you learn what the Greek word actually meant
The Greek word was “teleios” which means complete or perfect
In the full context Paul is talking about those who conform to the message of God
For the purpose of this text and message today, Paul is saying that God’s wisdom comes from God and those who understand God’s Word and are perfecting their living according to God’s Word
The key point here is that the Corinthian people though of themselves as being highly “spiritual”
They were, however, very immature in their faith
That accurately describes people today when they call themselves Christians or Spiritual, yet they fail to study and understand God’s ways
Instead they life in the culture and try to make God fit into the culture instead of carrying God’s light into the darkness that is the culture
The bottom line is that even in Paul’s time, there was earthly wisdom on one side and God’s wisdom on the other
and whatever is earthly, even earthly wisdom, will eventually pass away
While the things of God are eternal
This brings us to our second Takeaway
Takeaways
There is more than one type of wisdom
Godly wisdom comes with spiritual maturity
There is a strong connection between Godly wisdom and what we call spiritual maturity
As we grow in spiritual maturity our godly wisdom increases
And as we increase our godly wisdom, our spiritual maturity increases
While someone can be known for their human wisdom, that does not mean they are godly or that they have spiritual wisdom
In fact, it is likely that someone full of earthly wisdom is likely to think too much of themselves to possess godly wisdom
God calls us to honest humility, so thinking too highly of ourselves is at odds with spiritual maturity and godly wisdom
Thinking of this connection between godly wisdom and spiritual maturity
Consider how we pray
When we honestly pray for a particular need and acknowledge that whatever God wants is best
“Thy will be done” is a sign of spiritual maturity just as knowing that submitting to God’s plan is always best is a sign of godly wisdom
I titled this message “Change my Mind” and now I will tell you why
I think of my life in two major parts
The part before I knew and obeyed Jesus
And the part AFTER I started to obey
I did things differently before I BOTH knew Jesus and started to obey Him
There was a time I knew who Jesus was, yet I did not fully submit to Him
Those were actually darker times for me than before I knew Jesus
That was the time I was trying to understand Jesus while looking through the secular lens
When I was trying to make sense of everything by wheat the world was teaching
Now, recall what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth
Paul references this in 1 Corinthians 2:7-8
7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
If the rulers of that time had truly known and understood Jesus, they probably would not have crucified Jesus
Recall Jesus’ words right before He died on the cross from Luke 23:34
34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
We too much forgive ourselves for the things we did BEFORE we knew and committed ourselves to Jesus
Especially once you understand that we were living in the temporal or cultural world where the culture influenced us greatly
Once we submit to God, though
That’s when we start the journey of becoming more spiritually mature and start demonstrating godly wisdom
That’s when we are working in the eternal world
[1-What is wisdom?]
This is the part of our lives when we learn another fact which is our third takeaway
Takeaways
There is more than one type of wisdom
Godly wisdom comes with spiritual maturity
Man’s wisdom is in conflict with God’s wisdom
Basically, everything we know before we know and submit to Jesus is in conflict with our new reality as Believers
If that is not true for you, then I challenge that God is still working on your awareness of what is going on in the cultural world around you OR your awareness of God’s ways needs to be sharpened
We should all ask if we see ourselves in Psalm 24:7-10
7 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah
Can we shout this psalm from the depth of our heart to the highest mountaintop?
It takes a change in our minds to see Yaweh this way
Jesus is the King of Glory
Jesus is OUR King
Jesus is OUR Lord
His ways are greater than the ways of the world
Hear the word of God in Isaiah 55:6-8
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
Note that we again hear that there is the way of the world and the way of God
The two are at odds with each other
We must choose which we will follow
And God has called us to follow Him and His ways
This absolutely requires that we NOT follow the ways of the world because we cannot serve two masters
We have much to learn from Matthew 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
While this verse specifically is talking the the love of money
That is a merely a symptom of someone who is loving the world instead of loving God
Unfortunately, that is the natural order of things for mankind
We tend to gravitate to the world and the culture,
Which means it takes real work for us to remain focused on Godliness
So far, I have been covering things we have at least touched on before
Now it’s time to dig into the more confusing part of this text
Because it is all about “the spirit”
1 Corinthians 2:9 is a citation of several other passages
It talks about the mystery of the things that we have NOT seen and the mystery of what God has prepared for us who “LOVE” Him
The end of that verse is best summed up in James 1:12
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
These mysteries are going to be revealed and are being revealed to us as we journey through life
Let’s look again at 1 Corinthians 2:10
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
As we walk closer to God we see more of what He is doing and we get closer to understanding God
God reveals Himself through His spirit by giving us spiritual gifts of wisdom and knowledge
This is a process, not a specific destination
It is discernment that allows us to discriminate or separate the spirit of man from the spirit of God
Discernment allows us to process 1 Corinthians 2:11
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
So, we get better at detecting the distractions of secular life and how they separate us from God and godliness
We can do this only when we have the spirit of God IN us
That is why non-believers can’t understand our God
They lack the ability to understand because they cannot see fully
Which brings us our final takeaway
Takeaways
There is more than one type of wisdom
Godly wisdom comes with spiritual maturity
Man’s wisdom is in conflict with God’s wisdom
A mind change is required
We often say that God turns things upside down
The first becomes last
The last becomes first
There are many biblical examples
From a human perspective, we usually want information in order to change our mind about something
Let me see enough science behind your beliefs and I am willing to embrace your beliefs, right?
Believers are instead called to trust 1 Corinthians 2:16
16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
As we walk closer to Christ, then we start to think as Jesus thinks
Our mind becomes more like the mind of Jesus
It is THEN that we can understand the information, even earthly information that used to confuse us
If we want peace and understanding, then we MUST change our mind first to that of Christ
and see the world through His perspective
Instead of trying to understand the mind of Christ from the perspective of the world
It’s as simple as it is difficult
God first, then let the chips fall where they may
AMEN
Closing Hymn/Invitation:
247 Spirit of the Living God
Benediction
Announce Sabbatical