The Spirit of Christ

Some really powerful words that Jesus spoke to the Apostle Peter on the night that he was betrayed and men came after him with lanterns and torches and knives to arrest him. When they tried to lay hold of him, Peter smote off the servant of the high priest's ear. His name was Malchus and Jesus healed him and put his ear back on him. And Jesus says something very powerful. He said Peter, put your sword back into its sheath for all that live by the sword shall die by the sword. But what followed after that perhaps is it definitely reveals more of the mind of Christ, the spirit of Christ. How he truly thinks like he says like Isaiah, like the Lord says through Isaiah the prophet, my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my ways your ways says the Lord. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my thoughts and ways higher than your thoughts and ways. And so this is what Jesus said to Peter. He said the cup that my father has given to me, shall I not drink it? Shall I not drink it? The cup that Jesus received was to be betrayed by his friend, somebody that he loved. And Jesus says that Judas was a cup to be received from his father. When Judas came to him with the men, he kissed him on the cheek and and Jesus said, Judas, do you betray the son of man with a kiss? And then they tried laying hands on him. Violence broke out. A man's ear was cut off and all Jesus thought was this is a cup to be received from my father. And you're taking it from me, Peter. Put your sword back into a sheath. All who live by the sword shall die by the sword. And he healed that man's ear and he said the cup that my father has given to me, shall I not drink it? That's the mind of Christ. Is to be able to look your betrayer in the face with a smile. And without telling him this, you know, you obviously don't want to tell your betrayer this. You're a cup to be received from my father. But we're to receive that cup with joy. Whatever heartache, whatever disappointment, whatever grief, you feel like you've been used and betrayed. You know, Jesus said pray for those that despitefully use you and persecute you. You may feel used. You may feel like you've gone through a long, abusive, emotionally, mentally abusive relationship. And you may feel like you've just given yourself and poured yourself out and got nothing in return. Blessed are you, says the Lord. Blessed are you. It's more blessed to give and to receive. That's the mind of Christ. It's the spirit of Christ is to give hoping for nothing. And like you give hoping for nothing in return. That's the mind of Christ. Like for any personal reward. There's a lot of churches today, they're all talking about giving to expect more back than even what you give. How antichrist is that? You give ten percent, you'll receive more. You give something, you'll receive a hundredfold, a thousandfold. But Jesus said give hoping for nothing again. Take no thought about what you give. Don't even let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. Like just give with simplicity of mind, simplicity of heart. And it's easy to do that with money. But what about relationships with people in our lives? You may feel like you've laid down your life and you've sacrificed and you've given yourself and you've turned the other cheek time and again to only receive disappointment and grief and trial. You may feel that way. And that may even be true. But the mind of Christ is to give yourself completely for them anyways. It's to pray for those that despitefully use you and persecute you. That's the mind of Christ. That's the spirit of Christ. You know, whenever there was some contention in the church of Corinth in 1st Corinthians chapter 6, verse 1 Paul says, dare any of you having a matter go to law before the unjust and not before the saints? Know ye not that the saint shall judge this world? And if the world should be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? And then he says that brother was going to law against brother, but before the unjust, not before the church. And he says, why do you not rather accept wrong? Why don't you rather suffer yourself to be defrauded? Somebody owed you something and they don't give it to you? Or they've taken advantage of you? Why don't you rather just take it? Paul says, where did he learn that? He said what he learned was that the revelation of Jesus Christ said, I was not taught it. I received it directly from Christ. That's where he learned it. He learned it from Jesus Christ. And if we find it difficult to love this way and to give this way, we need to go learn from Jesus Christ who was crucified and smitten in the face and spit upon the creator of all things, who upholds all things by the very word of his power, who spoke this world into existence and caused trees to grow out of the earth and light to shine from the sun and fish to just appear out of nothing all by his very wisdom. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. That's the king of glory. He said it's more blessed to give than to receive. He said give, hoping for nothing again. He said love those who love you for if you love those who do not love you for if you love those who love you, big deal, you're no different than a sinner. Somebody still dead in their trespasses and sins. Somebody still without God and without hope in the world. Somebody that is still the old man, the old creature, the first Adam under wrath, headed for hell. Never tasted the love of God, never tasted the mercy and the forgiveness of Christ. You're no different than a sinner if you only love those who love you. And he wasn't talking about just the outward performance of what we know. He defined his love but it's something that is in the heart that's born of the Spirit of God. Something within that directs us, not something without, not something written on paper, but written on fleshy tables of our heart, not by a finger, but by the Spirit of the living God. Is that written on your heart? Is it contrary to your desires to love those who don't love you? Is it contrary to your desire to give to those who give nothing to you, who take and take and take? Is it contrary to your desires to give without expecting something in return? Is it contrary to your desire, to your way of thinking, when defrauded, to not rather accept it and turn the other cheek? If so, you need to go learn from Jesus Christ. You need to go there to the cross, to that bloody, gory cross, and his battered, beaten body and learn what it means to be his disciple. Lord bless you and encourage you, and may we all have the mind and the Spirit of Christ. It says in 1 Corinthians, Romans 15, it says that Christ did nothing to please himself. He said he came not to be served, but to serve. He came not to live his life, but to give it. He came not to receive, but to give. He came not to be understood, but to understand, to sympathize with our weaknesses and our trials. And the reason why we expect so much from others is because we're weak. Like, it's really a weakness. But Jesus came to build us up and make us strong through faith in him and his blood and his cross. Because we can't give what we don't have. If we haven't received it, we can't give it. And if that love of Jesus has not been shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit, your heart will contradict everything you do. But he came to give his life as a sacrifice on that cross, so that our hearts will be in the turning of the other cheek, will be in the accepting of wrong, will be in the giving, expecting nothing in return. Because if it's not from the heart, all it's going to do is puff us up and all of our works will be of the flesh and tainted with pride and self-righteousness. And we won't know what compassion is. We won't know what the love of Jesus is until it's born of his very spirit within our hearts. May the Lord Jesus Christ fill you with his spirit as you surrender all, as you embrace his cross and yours. Lord bless you.