Carnal or Spiritual

[0:00] Romans 8 verse 5 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.

[0:20] For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

[0:35] So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. Help us, Lord, to tremble at it, to take it seriously.

[0:46] Help us, Lord, to understand it and to apply it. Lord, be heard today, we pray. Speak through me, Lord. Lord, let it be words that your people can be edified by and encouraged and lifted up by.

[1:00] Lord, we pray for your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. The flesh and the spirit. The flesh and the spirit.

[1:13] It says, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. So we see flesh and spirit. So we see flesh and spirit.

[1:26] Flesh and spirit. Which way will we choose? It's a matter of life and death. To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

[1:46] Two ways we can choose. As far as our mind goes. Our mindset. The flesh. Pride and self brings death.

[2:03] The spirit brings life and peace. Contrasting ways. Two ways. Which way will you take? The carnal way? The flesh way?

[2:16] Or the spirit's way? God's way. The way of God's spirit. The carnal mind chooses pride. It's the ego. The self. The flesh. Sin.

[2:27] The spirit. Is the opposite of that. The flesh. The carnal way. Means death. Spiritual death.

[2:38] Death forever. A carnal mind. Is engaged in our own thinking. In doing what is right in our own eyes. It's humanism. It's doing your own thing.

[2:49] That's what the world is all about. A life lived without a care. For pleasing God. It says. They that are in the flesh. Cannot please God.

[3:02] To be carnally minded. Means going by the senses. The emotions. Without a care. Without a thought. For God's will. It is sin. To be carnally minded. Means a life lived.

[3:13] In fact a life wasted. Thought processes ungoverned. A mind thinking. Yet. Without a thought. For God.

[3:23] As we read in Psalm 10. Verse 4. The wicked. Through the pride. Of his countenance. Will not seek. After God. God. Is not.

[3:34] In all his thoughts. A mind thinking. Yet. Without a thought. For God. What a waste. What a tragedy. It says. The carnal mind.

[3:44] Is enmity. Against God. It's hostile. It's contrary. It's committed. To defying God. It's against God. And being carnally minded. Means having a mindset.

[3:55] That's contrary. To God. To his word. And to his will. For our life. And sadly. It means missing out. On God's best. For our life. Yet.

[4:06] To be spiritually minded. Is life. And peace. So spiritually minded. Have. Life. And peace. And not just in the here and now. But in the eternal dimension.

[4:18] Of those things. It's truly living. It's living by God's spirit. It's being alive. To God's way. Of living. How can we be. More spiritual. How can we be.

[4:29] More spiritually attuned. More spiritually alive. More spiritually minded. To be spiritually minded. Is life. And peace. It's a whole new way.

[4:40] Of living. It says. When. When it says here. To be. To be spiritually minded. And to be carnally minded. It's got the sense of.

[4:51] The mindset. We can have a mindset. That is of the flesh. It's carnal. Or we can have a mindset. That is of the spirit. It talks of our attitude. Our disposition. Our.

[5:02] Frame of mind. To be spiritually minded. Means filling our minds. With spiritual truths. And setting that frame. If you like. That frame around. What we want to think about.

[5:14] Our attitude. Our will. The spiritual mindset. Lifts up Christ. It lifts up. The Lord. And the values that. Our Lord counts dear. Cherishing his word.

[5:25] It's having a God consciousness. To how we live. And being under the divine influence. Of the Holy Spirit. To be spiritually minded. Means to allow. The Holy Spirit.

[5:35] To be up the most. In our thought patterns. In our thinking. And we see that. In the word of God. It tells us. That we can have. The mind. Of Christ. We can have.

[5:46] His mind. In us. As we read. In Philippians 2. Verse 5. Let this mind. Be in you. Which was also. In Christ Jesus. This mind.

[5:58] That is in us. The mind. Of Christ. And. Paul says. That it's possible. To achieve this. It's not something. That's unrealistic. Or unattainable.

[6:08] He says. We have. The mind of Christ. It's something. We can know. Paul knew it. And we can know it today. It's within our reach. It's the nature of God. It's how our Lord would think.

[6:19] How our Lord would act. Thinking as our Lord Jesus would think. And doing as he would do. It's being spiritually minded. Living. From God's perspective.

[6:30] With God's values in view. And. So. It's God's. God's way of life. It's God's way of thinking. It's his way. In Psalm 42.

[6:42] It tells us. As the heart panteth after the water brook. So. Panteth my soul. After thee. O God. My soul thirsteth. There's a thirst there.

[6:53] There's a soul thirst. There's a thirst. For the things of God. My soul thirsteth. For God. For. The living God. It's annoying.

[7:06] We've got a mindset. It's annoying. About things that really count. It's a spiritual mindset. To learn more and more. About him. To know him more. To know him ever more deeply.

[7:20] In 2 Peter 1. It says. Grace and peace. Be multiplied unto you. Through the knowledge. Of God. And of Jesus our Lord. If we want to have grace and peace. Multiplied unto us.

[7:32] We want to have. The knowledge of God. And of Jesus our Lord. In 1 Corinthians 2. 2. For I determine not to know anything. Among you. Save Jesus Christ.

[7:42] And him crucified. Paul wanted to. Ensure that that. That knowing. Was what. Was uppermost in his mind. In contrast. We see. How the world lives. And we barrack by it.

[7:54] All the time. Aren't we? Let's face it. Brothers and sisters. The twisted values. Of this world. Of the media. There's a mind warping. Of the culture. That we're living in. That's hell bound.

[8:05] A society that's bent. On self will. Lovers of pleasure. More. Than lovers of God. That's the kind of culture that. We're living in the world. But thankfully.

[8:16] God helping us. We're not of. The world. A kind of culture. And thinking that. The world's. Obsessed with. And abounding in. In all of its popular systems.

[8:28] In the carnal school systems. Humanistic teaching. It's pagan. It's godless. It's all about the ego. It's all about the flesh. It's all about the self will.

[8:39] And we see sadly. This fleshly thinking. And mindset. Is even. Evident. In some. Fronts. In the church. And we need to be guarded. Against that. Are we of the flesh.

[8:51] Or of the spirit. They are contrary. To one another. In Colossians 3 verse 2. It says. Set your affection. On things above. Not. On things. On the earth.

[9:01] It's a setting. Of our affection. And so it's about. A conscious. Decision. A conscious. Choice. A conscious choice. There's choices.

[9:12] Every day. For you. For me. We need to set. Our affection. In terms of. Our choices. What is it that. We choose to do. Is it the flesh.

[9:22] Or is it the spirit. What is it that. Entertains. That occupies. That absorbs. Our energies. Our minds. We need to be aware. Of unfaithfulness. Of chasing after.

[9:33] Worldly things. Consider your choices. And choose wisely. Let's choose like the folk. In Hebrews 11 chose. They chose faith. They chose to live.

[9:44] For another world. For the world to come. They chose to be spiritually minded. Not fleshly minded. They chose a different outlook. We see that for example. In the contrast.

[9:55] Between Lot. And Abraham. Lot. Set his affection. On the things. Of the earth. He set his affection. On Sodom. On making. A living.

[10:06] His affections. Were earthbound. He walked by sight. Whereas Abraham. Was spiritually minded. He had heaven in view. He walked by faith. And he chose.

[10:16] To go without. Earthly advantage. Because he chose. To be spiritually minded. Set your affection. Set your affection. In your homes. In your homes. In terms of your home life.

[10:28] Will you choose. In your home life. To let the flesh. Domain. Rain. Or will you choose. In your homes. To let the spirit. Have his way. In your home life.

[10:38] Will it be a home life. That is wholesome. That is godly. Where you as a father. Set the authority. You set the. Future. Of your home. By choosing that which is godly.

[10:50] And pleasing to God. Fathers. Mothers. You'll set the. Pace for your children. You'll set the example. As godly role models. You'll set. Your affection.

[11:01] In your home life. An affection. That is wholesome. And godly. To protect your home. Your family. To teach by word. And example. To pray for God's protection.

[11:12] For your children. For your home. Every day. And to build into your children. Convictions. That will please God. Convictions. That will please God. In your home. In your service.

[11:25] In your service. Your service can be. Fleshly. Or it can be. Spiritual. Set your affection. In terms of your service. In terms of what you expand.

[11:36] Yourself in. What you invest yourself in. The spiritually minded. Will have the. Servant heart. Of servants of Christ. True. Bond servants.

[11:47] Willing. Free servants. As it says in Romans 1. Verse 1. Servants. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. The spiritually minded. Are a people led by the Lord.

[11:57] Rather than. Following. After the godless. Ways of earth. Set your affection. In terms of your joy. In terms of your joy. In Psalm 43.

[12:08] Verse 4. It describes our Lord. As God. My exceeding joy. God. My exceeding joy. Psalm 43.

[12:19] Verse 4. Set your affection. In terms of your joys. What is it for you. That draws you. That delights you. That appeals to you. That you find your satisfaction in.

[12:30] In all our joys. Let the Lord. Be the source. Of the gladness. Of your joy. In your direction. Of your life. Set your affection. In terms of.

[12:41] Your direction. Again. It's about ways. You can choose. You can choose the way. Of the flesh. You can choose the way. Of the spirit. Set your affection. In terms of the direction.

[12:52] That you set for your life. In terms of what guides you. What motivates you. What controls you. What is it that you set your moral compass by. Will you be directed.

[13:03] Led by the spirit. Or not. The spiritually minded. Are governed. By the spirit. As we read in Romans 8. Verse 14. It says. For as many. As are led by the spirit.

[13:15] Of God. They are. The sons. Of God. It's the direction. That you set. It's critical. For your life. God's word. And God's spirit.

[13:25] Are meant to lead us. To direct us. To govern us. To set. The way forward. For our lives. Are we willing. To allow. The spirit. To have.

[13:36] His control. To have the spirit. Govern. Our lives. Set your affection. In terms of. Your company. In terms of. Your company.

[13:46] The company. That you keep. The spiritually minded. Will walk. With spiritual people. The spiritually minded. Will walk. With spiritual people.

[13:58] You'll want to spend time. With people. Who love the Lord. You want to spend time. With people. Who are walking. God's way. In Proverbs 13. 20. It says.

[14:08] He that walketh. With wise men. Shall be wise. But a companion of fools. Shall be destroyed. It's about the company. That you keep. Seek out godly friends.

[14:19] Make godly friends. Find godly company. To spend time with. So you can bless one another. And encourage one another. As it says in 1 Thessalonians 5. Verse 11. It says.

[14:30] Wherefore comfort yourselves together. And edify one another. Comfort yourselves. Encourage. Or comfort. And edify. Build up.

[14:41] Strengthen one another. One characteristic. Of the spiritual. The spiritual. The spiritual. Is that they'll have. That company. That is godly. And they'll have that heart. That wants to generate. That kind of godly fellowship.

[14:53] As even when we read. Of those that are astray. In Galatians 6. Verse 1. It says. Brethren. If any be overtaken in a fault. Ye which are spiritual.

[15:03] Ye which are spiritual. Restore such a one. In the spirit of meekness. Considering thyself. Lest thou also be tempted. So even when we have brothers and sisters.

[15:14] That need correction. We'll do it lovingly. With that heart. With that motive of restoring. That motive of restoration. Set your affection. In terms of the purpose.

[15:26] That you set for your life. In terms of that spiritual direction. To be spiritually minded. Casting down imaginations. And every high thing. That exalted itself.

[15:37] Against the knowledge of God. And bringing into captivity. Every thought. To the obedience of Christ. Set your affection. In terms of your worship.

[15:48] In terms of that which you worship. In Psalm 122. It says. I was glad. When they said unto me. Let us go. Into the house. Of the Lord. In 1 Peter 2.5.

[16:00] It says. Ye also. As lively stones. Living stones. Are built up together. As a spiritual house. A holy priesthood. To offer up spiritual sacrifices.

[16:12] Acceptable to God. By Jesus Christ. Make it a priority. To be a worshipper. Make it a priority. To get where the company. Is godly fellowship.

[16:23] Godly fellowship. The spiritual minded. Will pray. The spiritual minded. Will worship. The spiritual minded. Will delight themselves. In the Lord. The spiritual minded. Will love God's word.

[16:36] As Job 23.12. He says. Neither have I gone back. From the commandments. Of thy lips. I have esteemed the words. Of his mouth. More. Than my necessary food.

[16:46] Esteem. The words of his mouth. Love fellowship. Love the word of God. Love gathering together. And talking to others. About his word. So how can we keep.

[16:57] Spiritually minded. How can we keep. In this spirit. How can we. Continue. And to thrive. It's about all of these things. All of these things.

[17:08] Can be directed. One way. Or the other. We can choose. The way. Of the world. The flesh. We can choose. With our will. To choose. That which is fleshly. Instead of that.

[17:19] Which is spiritual. We can choose. To have a thirsting. For the things of the world. Instead of the things of God. We can choose. To choose death. Instead of life. We can choose.

[17:29] To serve. The evil one. To have two masters. Which we know. Really means. We're serving. The wrong one. We can choose. To have a direction. That's set.

[17:40] By the mindset. Of the world. The flesh. And the devil. And we can choose. To keep the company. That's not going to help us grow. It's going to draw us away. From God. It's going to pull us down.

[17:51] It's going to deter. And damage your testimony. Friends. Choose the company. Choose all of these things. To choose. Not flesh. Pride. And death. But to choose. The spirit.

[18:02] God's peace. And life. Pray in the spirit. Keep yourselves. In the love of God. Jude 1. Read the word of God. As someone has said.

[18:13] If we don't get. Into the word of God. The word of God. Won't be. Getting. Into us. Read the word of God. Seek the spirit. The presence of God. Seek the unction.

[18:24] Seek the singing. In spiritual songs. As we read. In Colossians 3. Verse 16. Let the word of Christ. Dwell in you richly. In all wisdom. Teaching. And admonishing one another.

[18:35] In psalms. And hymns. And spiritual songs. Singing. With grace. In your hearts. To the Lord. Being spiritually minded. Means being in the word. It's meditating.

[18:45] On his word. It's letting the word of Christ. Dwell in you richly. It's meditating upon these things. Giving thyself wholly. To them. 1 Timothy 4. Verse 15.

[18:56] It's having that thirst. That Jeremiah talks about. In verse 16. Of chapter 15. Thy words were found. And I did eat them. And thy word was unto me.

[19:08] The joy. And rejoicing. Of mine heart. He had the thirst. He had that joy. He had that desire. That longing. That appetite. For spiritual things.

[19:19] Being spiritually minded. Means we'll want to be. In the fellowship. With other believers. We'll want to be there. To boost others faith. As well as our own. To be like iron.

[19:31] Sharpening iron. That's how we grow. It's how we get sharper. In our faith. Being spiritually minded. Means living. The life of Christ. With his power.

[19:42] With his grace. With his spirit. And it's a growing. An enriching. A maturing thing. It's a filling of our mind. A filling of our mind. With what is good.

[19:53] What is holy. What is the things of God. With spiritual things. So friends. Let's take stock. And renew. Our minds. Renew.

[20:04] Our minds. Think the thoughts of God. 1 Peter 1.13. It says. That we are to gird up. The lines. Of our mind. It means that. Making a deliberate.

[20:14] Effort. As it were. That you're going to. Deliberately choose. To. Have a mind. That is committed. To the things of God. Gird up. The lines of your mind.

[20:26] And the word mind. There. Refers to imagination. In Proverbs 23. It says. For as a man thinketh. In his heart. So is he. It's what we give our mind to.

[20:39] Is what we become. What we give our mind to. Is what we become. Colossians 1.9. It has a prayer of Paul. He prays that he might be filled up.

[20:52] With the knowledge of his will. In all wisdom. And spiritual understanding. If we've got a mind. Set after God. Our mind will be filled up.

[21:04] With the knowledge of his will. And with all spiritual. Understanding. Colossians 1.9. There's a promise there. A promise. Of understanding.

[21:17] Understanding. There's many scriptures. That talk about understanding. What the will of the Lord is. If our mind is set. In the wrong direction. We're going to miss it.

[21:27] And secondly. In Ephesians 1.3. It says that. If we've got a mind. After the things of God. Blessings will happen. Blessings will happen.

[21:39] The spiritual mind. Will lead to spiritual blessings. Says in Ephesians 1.3. Blessed be. The God and Father. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who hath blessed us.

[21:50] With all spiritual blessings. In heavenly places. In Christ. Friends. Think. On these things. Think.

[22:00] On that which is spiritual. To recap. For they that are after the flesh. Do mind. The things of the flesh. But they that are after the spirit.

[22:12] The things. Of the spirit. For to be carnally minded. Is death. But. To be spiritually minded. Is life. And peace. I know I've been talking on these themes.

[22:24] Of late. The last few messages I've done. Because it's meant. A lot to us personally. We've had. Some troubled times. Some. Some challenges to that peace. That we want to have.

[22:34] And I'm sure that's a common. Battle for many of us. Here today. If not all of us. We're searching for that peace. We're wanting that peace of God. It's about the way we choose.

[22:45] The thirsting. About the choices. The serving. About the direction. And the company. It's about. Letting go of ego. And pride. And self.

[22:55] And flesh. Which leads to death. And finding that peace. The peace of God. Which passeth. All understanding. And shall keep. Your hearts and minds. Through Christ Jesus.

[23:07] Let us pray. Heavenly Father. We thank you. That your Holy Spirit. Is real. And personal. And lives within. Each one.

[23:17] That trusts you. Lord. We pray for that refilling. That restrengthening. That regirding. Of our minds. Lord. Let it be. That we'll make. Choices wisely.

[23:28] Help us in our homes. Help us in our families. Help us in the day by day choices. To think. Carefully. And ponder. To consider our ways. To see.

[23:39] What it is. That will be pleasing unto you. And choose that. Rather than the other. Lord. Help us. To be led by the Spirit. As your children. To walk in your Spirit.

[23:50] And so we will not fulfil. The lusts of the flesh. We'll find. That true. Satisfaction. That true peace. That true joy. That comes. From thirsting after the things.

[24:02] Of God. Help us Lord. To renew that thirst. To renew that love. To renew that. Spiritual mind. Day by day. To make it a choice.

[24:13] That our minds will be renewed. Day by day. To hunger and thirst. After the things of God. Forgive us Lord. When the flesh. Gets in the way.

[24:23] When those obstacles. Of flesh. Come across our way. And we. Make some detours. Lord. Forgive us. Steer us back Lord. Help us to keep. On that track.

[24:34] To follow after you. Closely. To follow hard after you. To not let up. To not lose that affection. But to set our affection. On things above.

[24:45] To make that conscious choice. For our will to be yielded. To your way. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.ยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยย