Sermon Tone Analysis

Spiritually Minded

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Last week we talked about identity.

Specifically, we saw that God alone has the right to determine our worth and define our identity.

He sets our value and has decided that we are worth the life of His own Son.

When Jesus traded places with us, He took our punishment and, in Him, He made us righteous.

Our true identity is found “in Christ.”

We also looked at some scripture that talks about our identity “in Christ.”

What we found is that all of Christ’s accomplishments and victories that were made for our benefit were also credited to us as though WE had accomplished them.

When Jesus suffered and died for us, He did so as our representative.

He won the victory in our place.

Everything the bible says is true of Christ followers is true because we are “in Him.” Scripture identifies believers with Christ.

That is an important stepping stone for our subject this week.

Today we are talking about being “spiritually minded.”

What does it mean to be spiritually minded?

You’ve probably heard of worshipping with your heart or your head.

That is Christian-ese for the idea that some people see musical worship or some other emotive method of worship as the primary means of drawing close to God, while others see it as being teaching and preaching.

Even the bible mentions different categories when it comes to worship.

A great example of this can be found in Jesus’ teachings.

Someone once tried to test Jesus and asked Him how to inherit eternal life...

Here they discussed the heart, soul, strength, and mind.

In other places, Jesus mentions the Spirit and the body.

Later we will see Paul make the same comparison in his letter to the Romans.

This series is based on the River Valley Church bible study called “Freedom: Moving Forward in Purpose”, and I really like the way they state this thought in a simple and easy to grasp way by referencing 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

They teach that you have 3 parts, and I will paraphrase this part...

You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body.

Your body is the part of you that you naturally know best because you are fully aware of it’s needs and desires.

Your 5 senses alert you to pain or pleasure, comfort or discomfort, sickness or health, and so-on.

The soul is made up of the mind, the will, and the emotions.

It is the part of you that reasons, thinks, and feels.

It determines which of the body’s needs get met and which of the desires of the spirit are carried out.

But even with all the decision-making power, soul is not the real you.

The real you is your spirit.

Your spirit is the most important part of you.

It is the part of you where God determines your acceptance and righteousness.

He doesn’t look to your soul or to your body, He looks to your spirit.

Thankfully then, this part of you isn’t even really you — it is Christ in you.

I really love the way they portray this idea.

When I think of my spirit like this, it really puts faith into perspective.

For example, I am familiar with my body.

I have 5 senses that I use for that awareness.

I am familiar with my command center, or the inner workings of my thoughts and emotions, what they call my soul.

But when it comes to my spirit, I must rely on Christ in me and not myself.

Faith.

Here is the most interesting part though.

Even though your spirit is the most important part of you, you cannot perceive it’s existence.

We can’t smell it, touch it, etc… Science cannot locate it.

Many people aren’t aware they have one.

The only way to know what is going on with your spirit is by faith in what God tells you.

If that sounds risky, think about your body for a second.

You can perceive your body.

Raise your hand if you know what you look like… How do you know?

You have never actually seen your face.

It is physically impossible to see yourself in the same way other’s can see you.

You’ve seen your reflection in a mirror, but you’ve never stared into your own eyes in the way others can.

You look in a mirror, see your reflection, believe that reflection, and act on what you see.

James paralleled looking at our reflection in a mirror with looking at God’s perfect law.

In other words, the Bible is a spiritual mirror.

When we hear or read the Word, it is like we are looking into this spiritual mirror.

We see what the spirit inside of us looks like and what it is like to live a life of true freedom.

The spiritual mirror says that…

“In Him, we became the righteousness of God.”

“Through Him, we are more than conquerors.”

“By His stripes, we were healed.”

Here is a local favorite… “We have the mind of Christ.”

The tough part is when we feel more like the man looking into the mirror that James described.

I see myself, walk away, and forget what I look like.

Forget what God’s Word says about me.

Forget who God says I am.

My soul and my body are not naturally in agreement with the spirit, so it is important to take deliberate steps to remember what I see in the mirror.

Looking in the spiritual mirror is the only way to get a clear picture of what my spirit looks like, and having that clear picture is the only way to see results in the rest of me.

Everyone faces the struggle between spirit and flesh.

Even the disciples faced the conflict of willingness of spirit and weakness of flesh.

Jesus warned them to pray so they wouldn’t fall into temptation.

Shortly before Jesus was arrested He was praying.

He told the disciples to sit and pray as well.

Every time He returned to them, they were sleeping.

That’s when He told them…

We all must face this struggle.

The important thing to remember is where we set our minds.

James said to focus your mind on God’s perfect law, not just being a listener, but also a doer of the word.

Focus on what God say’s about who you are and DO what He has called you to do.

Let God’s word define you.

In what has become a fairly well known passage of scripture, Paul compared people who set their minds on flesh with people who set their minds on the Spirit.

Things of the flesh would be the old way of thinking, the old self.

Thinking about things that aren’t in line with God’s law.

Alternatively, things of the Spirit are things that submit to God.

Things that produce fruit, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The Greek word Paul used in this chapter is “phrónēma” (fron'-ay-mah), and it means “what one has in the mind, the thoughts and purposes.”

So, according to Paul, the question for us becomes...

What thoughts and purposes are in your mind?

When life happens, how do you respond?

Do you have a spiritual response because you have set your mind on the Spirit?

Or do you have a carnal response because your mind is set on the flesh?

When something happens and you begin to evaluate that situation, do you hear “I can’t, I will never, I, I, I, I”, or do you hear “Jesus will, He heals, He provides.”

When you think about the crazy economy:

Carnal response would be, “What will I do?

Who will hire me in this economy?

How will I pay the bills?

I am so worried.”