But first, for the sake of introduction, let’s think about the world of medicine. There are a lot of things which we might say about the “Medical Industry.” The fact that it is “the Medical Industry” says something about it which is not all that good. Should the ability to make someone well, who is sick or injured, be part of an “industry?” In some ways it should be like the work of the Lord – salvation should not be a commodity to be bought and sold. Good health shouldn’t only be for those who can afford to buy it. I don’t know how to fix the problem, but there certainly are problems. Of course the developments of medicine and pharmacology are almost unbelievable. We have examples right here in our church of diseases which took men’s lives just a decade or two ago, but now, with the right kind of treatment, those diseases are stopped in their tracks. And even people who used to be pronounced dead, are made to live again. Not only can medicine restart hearts that have stopped beating, medical science even stops hearts on purpose – for repair and maintenance – and then starts them up again, restoring sick people to their former lives. Or when hearts don’t want to perform as needed, science can reprogram them, or mechanically force them to do what they were originally designed by the Lord to do.
It used to be that the heart was the physical monitor used to determine if a person was still alive. And I suppose that out in the field that is still the case. But in a controlled environment, a heart can stop working, lungs can stop working, and even some of the other organs can stop working, and still the body is said to “live.” Science now has a more sophisticated way of determining death – using the brain. “Brain-dead” is one of the new, hyphenated words which we hear today. In a properly equipped hospital, monitors can be hooked up to determine if the right kind of electrical impulses are being flashed around inside that brain. When there aren’t any brain-waves, that brain is considered dead – that person is said to have died. This kind of death is now considered to be the grizzly standard for physical death. And yet again, in another ten or twenty years, maybe medical science will be able to jump-start dead brains the way that she has learned to jump-start silent hearts – provided that the patient has enough insurance.
There is a sense in which the Lord has been doing this same sort of thing for centuries. When a person’s heart, or perhaps we should say “his spirit” shows no signs of activity, it is proof that he is spiritually dead. It’s not that God needs to read some kind of monitor or see that kind of activity, but often we need to see it. If in a person’s spiritual mind Alpha and Omega waves are detected then he is alive. But if that person has no spiritual heart-waves, then according to God’s definition, he is “dead.”
With that in mind, would you call yourself “spiritual-minded?” After what I have just said, I’m sure most people with us here would answer, “Yes, I am spiritual-minded.” But without that introduction, we might get a more varied group of answers. Some might quickly say, “Yes, I am,” and they might give that answer with a great deal of pride. Others might just as quickly say that they were spiritually-minded, but doing so in utter humility. Then some might honestly say, “No, I am not.” Others might speak of degrees of spiritual-mindedness.
Perhaps it would be best to look at our scripture again before trying to answer – “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” In effect the Bible says, If you a not spiritually-minded, then you are spiritually-dead. It doesn’t get into the question of depths or degrees of this spiritual-mind. But clearly, if there isn’t some spiritual-mindedness, then the Lord considers us spirit-dead. And that means that this is an important subject – well worthy of a second look.
Who are the spiritually-minded? They are those who walk after the Spirit – Romans. 8:1. They are those who have been born of the Spirit – John 3:5-7 – “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” To be born of blood is necessary, but it is the blood of Jesus Christ which makes us children of God. Born not of the will man but of God. The Spiritual-minded person is saved not by works righteousness, but by the mercy of God.
Spiritual-minded people those whose spiritual senses are well-exercised both discern good and evil. And what are the senses? Vision, hearing, and the sense of smell, touch, and taste. So too, in the spiritual senses, God, for example, gives us the ability to SEE spiritual things. I Corinthians 2:14 – “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” The spiritually-minded person can see, recognize and then to love the beauty of holiness. As Paul once said, “Whereas I was blind but now I see.” Those who are spiritual-minded like to hear the joyful sound of others in worship. They teach and admonish one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They sacrifice in order to make an odor of sweet smelling savour to the Saviour. And they are truly sensitive to sin.
Who are the spiritually-minded? The are not spiritual-quadriplegics. They are those who are capable of spiritual activity, having full use of their limbs and their minds. Prayer and worship are very real aspects of their lives.
Let’s use my arm as an illustration: It’s life consists in answering to the purposes for which made. If it can’t pick things up – if can’t flex – if can’t lift, then it has little purpose. It’s not important whether or not there is something puffing out my shirt sleeve. The spiritual-minded person has a body which is just as alive and God-directed as his spirit. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” One of the things that medics do when a person has been injured is to test the limbs. If a toe can’t feel the prick of a pin, or if a finger can’t be moved upon command, it either means that the communication between the brain and that limb is broken, or that the brain itself is no longer working. When the legs of a professed Christian don’t bring him to the house of the Lord… When his tongue doesn’t utter the praise of the Lord… When his heart ceases to pray… When his eyes no longer look upon the Word of God… When his mouth can’t widen into a smile at hearing of the blessings of God on others… When the body doesn’t respond to things spiritual, we might assume that body to be spiritually dead because the spirit of that body is spiritually dead. (The reasoning is almost circular, but the theology is accurate.)
The Spiritually-minded person will possess the fruit of the spirit in his life to some degree.
What should Christian mind spiritually? Obviously the spiritually-minded person listens to the Holy Spirit who dwells within him. In a few more verses, Paul will tell us that the Holy Spirit witnesses to our own spirits about things. And perhaps above all else, He testifies about the truths of God’s Word. He equips and empowers, guides and informs the saint in his prayer-life. I believe that the Holy Spirit warns the child of God when he is coming into spiritual danger. And the more spiritually-sensitive soul, loves and responds to this witness immediately and completely. The true Christian minds and obeys the Holy Spirit.
I think that we should mind our souls – that spiritual part of us – more than we mind our bodies – our flesh. Do you ever listen to your stomach? Does it ever say: “Feed me, feed me, feed me?” Does your body ever say: “Give me some more caffeine, nicotine, cocaine?” Does your physical mind ever say: “Feed me some more pornography, some more impure images?” Does it cry out for more horror shows, more terror, more blood? If we asked our redeemed spirit, “What do you think these?” it might simply shudder in response. Ah, but what does our flesh think? There are many people who are addicted to adrenalin, including a lot of Christians. We know that adrenaline or epinephrin is a most beneficial hormone in very special circumstances. But the way that some people feast upon it, is not unlike “the little boy who cried wolf.” When it is really needed, it may no longer be effective, because of its earlier abuse. The spiritually-minded person is going to say, “My regenerated spirit says, ‘no’ and I’m going to listen.” “I’m going to mind my spirit because it is governed now by the Spirit of God.”
What should we mind? I believe that we should still mind the Law of God. For “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” And remember that the “Law” is not confined to the Ten Commandments. How do we mind the Law? The same way as Joshua. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” “Choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” We mind the law in the same way as David did, which he describes in Psalm 119. “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.” “Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.” “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly. I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies.” How often do you do something because someone else does? Maybe it’s something like speaking in an evil way, or buying something, or reading something. Maybe its something good, like going to church. If you do it because someone else does, no matter how good it might be, you are not spiritually-minded.
What do spiritual people mind? They mind and love the Gospel. They earnestly covet God’s best gifts. They exercise their spiritual graces. And they set their affections on things above not on things on earth.
What sort of things have you been thinking about before coming to church today? Have you given your Bible lesson a second thought since 10:50 this morning? Can you repeat the theme and general development last week’s messages? Did you spend time in prayer and in the Word of God before you came to the House of God today? Is your’s a spiritual mind or a carnal mind? “They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
A more spiritual-mind comes through nearness to and filling with the Word of the Lord. Modern society thinks that people ought smell good, so what do we do? We put pretty smells on our bodies; we bathe and shower, and we change our clothes now and then. We hide the cats litter box, put out air fresheners, and chew mints and gum. We envelop ourselves in delightful odors in order to become sweet smelling. So too with the idea of being spiritually-minded – we need the internal and external perfume of the Lord.
Association with spiritual things makes us more spiritual. Regular, consistent, frequent and whole-hearted attendance at the house of God is important. Prayer is essential with its intimate fellowship with the Lord. Worship in praise, thanksgiving and spiritual songs is helpful. There is no one who cannot be more spiritually-minded.
Furthermore, it means LIFE. The employee who is working hard, striving for the prosperity of his employer and his company, will never be fired. It’s only the sluggard, the laggard, the loafer, and the shirker, who gets the ax. And I think that you’ll find that very rarely does the Lord send His most productive servants home early. Enoch perhaps was one of those exceptions. Stephen? It’s not for me to say, but it seems to me that the Lord needs an army of servants right here and now. And the only ones really worth keeping are those who are truly spiritually-minded.
All living things have whatever sense God gave to be alive. Living things communicate and interact with their environment. And the same is true when there is spiritual life. Behold he prays. Behold he laughs and cheers his fellow travelers on towards the Celestial City. Behold he shares his knowledge of the truth. Behold he obeys his God, not 50% of the time but 75% of the time, 85% and 95% of the time.
Let ask you again: Are you spiritually-minded?