Open—Bob Thonney
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Like to go back to Philippians where our brother Bill was in chapter 4.
It has been an exercise to my own soul. Brethren, what we.
Uh, allow our mines to be occupied with and I think it is.
What do you what rather, Bill said is, uh, has resonated in verse.
Six and seven, we're not gonna go over too much now, but notice being careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, letting our requests be made known unto God. The result is the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep. And like he said, it was the word is.
Mr. Eric Smith used to say shall Garrison it's.
Like the picture of a city in old times with a Roman army around it to keep it. It's not that we keep the peace of God that that the peace of God keeps our hearts and our minds through Christ Jesus. And once that is accomplished, then verse 8 tells us what we should occupy our minds with.
Whatsoever things are true.
Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just what server things are pure? Whatever things are lovely, what server things are good, Report if there be any praise, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise.
Think on these things. This is a filter and so Lord help us to filter our thought patterns. Sometimes we let our thoughts go and.
Directions that are not healthy. We let ourselves think about things that are not going to be positive and so the Lord help us to filter our thoughts going back to the first chapter because Paul speaks a lot in Philippians about the mind and in chapter one you'll notice in verse.
27 we have.
The mind spoken of only let your conversation, your manner of life, be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.
This is the gospel mind. The Lord help us, brethren, to be exercised in this way.
For the gospel, look for opportunities to share the gospel with those around us. There's a lot of open doors. I don't know if we really take advantage of them as we ought to. Sometimes there are opportunities in prisons, you know, in the schools. They've taken the Bible and they've taken prayer out.
But it's interesting.
You get into a prison, there's still opportunity to take the word of God out. It's tragic to me that they take it out of the schools and those poor kids that don't have any direction are going to end up in the prison. But how much better that they get something in the prison if that's the only opportunity there is to turn them in the right direction for eternity?
So it's the gospel mind. Are you and I gospel minded?
That's what he speaks about now chapter 2 and we have in verse five the Christ like mind. There was problems in Philippi, there were differences that were threatening the peace of the assembly. And so he says, 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 God?
But made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death.
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Even the death of the cross.
Oh my oh brethren, how we need to be Christ like minded in our thinking. Chapter 3.
And here we have the apostle Paul speaking about Christ as his object. But I want to point out in verse 13 he says, Brethren, I count not myself to evaprehended, but this one thing I do.
Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us therefore as many as be perfect. That word is really mature.
Be thus minded, and if in anything you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you nevertheless.
Whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind.
The same thing.
Like mindedness is what is to be desired amongst God's people. But you know that there's differences. What are we going to do when there are differences, Brother and I? We're going to force things.
Sometimes people talk about.
Agreeing to disagree, that's not really what we have here.
And some have suggested it's agreeing to agree even if you don't understand, you agree because you don't want to cause problems. That is not what we have here. What is it when there's differences?
God shall reveal even this unto you. In other words, it's waiting on the Lord.
And in time, sometimes I find that it's a lack of spiritual growth in my person. That's why I don't see things the way another brother may see him. So what I'm going to do? Force things. We can't force things, brethren, wait on the Lord. Even this He can reveal to us, so that these are things that have specifically to do.
With the mind, I'd like to go over to Colossians Chapter 3, which is again speaking about our mind, what we're occupied with. It's important, brother, because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. You are what you think about.
So what are you allowing yourself to be thinking about Colossians chapter 3 and verse one says, If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affections. If you notice the margin says your mind on things above, not on things.
On the earth, for ye are dead in your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. So the exhortation here is, set your mind on things above.
What are we talking about? Things above? And I find rather than that, our minds are generally occupied almost entirely with things down here in this world. Come to the end of the day sometimes and think back, how much have I been thinking of things above?
I'm afraid it's not even 10%.
But, brethren, at a moment's notice, we're going to vacate planet earth, and we're going to take our place in the Father's house with the Lord Jesus, isn't it? Wouldn't it be proper to be occupied with things above where Christ sits at the right hand of God?
Must say I've used this sometimes.
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Remember one time we had a kind of a picnic down in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and so we had a little talk and I suggested that we make a list of things above.
The first reaction from those around I could see just blank look on the face. What are you talking about?
Things above where Christ sits on the right hand of God.
Things. It talks about things. OK, let's see how many things we can come up with that are above, and they start out by love and joy. Peace. Umm, I guess are those things? I don't know. They're exactly things.
But little by little, as we trained our thoughts above, we started coming up and we had a whole long list of things above the tree of life.
The heavenly city, the river that flows from the throne of God and from the land. It's it's amazing how much you can.
Come up with those things, brethren. Those things are eternal. Those things are going to be lasting forever. So we need to set our mind on things above where Christ sits at the right hand of God, For ye are dead, brother. Bill was talking about that in Romans chapter 6. That's the position.
We're dead and we're buried with him.
By baptism and we are raised with him. That's Christian position to be occupied with what I am in the flesh. That's not my life. My life is there at God's right hand.
You know, it says in verse three that our life is hid with Christ in God. The Lord looks at us and they say, what in the world do these people get out of sitting hour after hour in meetings like this? I don't understand what it's all about. That's right, if they don't have the Lord Jesus in the picture.
Our life is hid. They don't understand it but notice verse.
Four says, When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall he also appear with him in glory. In other words, the time is going to come, and this is the appearing that it's speaking about.
Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him. O brethren, it's going to be the most glorious, uh, happening on planet Earth ever.
And you and I are going to be involved in that appearing, and then perhaps the neighbors that we knew will see us coming with him because we're going to be manifested with Him in glory.
There's that neighbor. I knew him. I could never figure him out. He was such a weirdo.
Now I understand why He lived that way. Our life is going to be manifested with Him in glory, isn't it, brethren, beautiful. And I say this to the young people, you and I can, because of our Christian position, say that Christ is our life.
I remember I struggled as a young person.
With what I found inside here and it got pretty depressing.
I struggled quite a while with it until I realized God is done with me as a man in the flesh. I'm dead and buried. And what do you do with somebody that's dead and buried? You go dig him up and see how they're doing. Once in a while they tell you if you do that, you're not going to be very impressed with what you find.
Dead and buried. Leave it.
Our life.
Is Christ in glory? And I look up there and I see complete perfection. And the more you and I are occupied with Him in the glory, more and more it will have a transforming effect on our lives.