The Business of Jesus, Part 1

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for who you are. You're a great identity, your character, your nature. Lord, we know that your word speaks to us about your identity, and we know that we'll never comprehend it this side of eternity. But we ask, Lord, that through the text that we read today and the time we spend studying your word, that you will begin to reveal to us more of who you are. That, Lord, we might see Jesus Christ in all of his glory, and thus worship you in spirit and in truth.

We pray in your name. Amen. Turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Luke chapter 2, the business of Jesus.

Luke chapter 2. I don't know much about your childhood. You don't know much about my childhood, but I can guarantee you this. None of us were truly amazing children. We might have been good children. We might have even been obedient children. We might have been done some pretty wonderful things, but none of us were truly amazing children. I know some of you think that your children are amazing, and some of you, you know, you put those bumper stickers on the back of your van and said, you know, my child's an honor student at such and such a school, that kind of thing.

I think if those were around during my time of growing up, my father would have had a bumper sticker, too, but it would have said, my child beats up your honor student, you know. That's the kind of child I was, but I think that sometimes we think our children are amazing. We think they're wonderful. We think they're great, but in reality, they're not as great as we think they are. But Jesus, as a child, was greater than we could ever imagine. He was an amazing child, because He was God in the flesh.

And if we were to go back and look at your life and my life, I'm sure there are many things that we would, we would regret growing up doing.

We would wish we had never said some things that we had said, or done some things that we had done. But with Jesus, there were no regrets. Because He always said the right thing. He always did the right thing, and He was perfectly obedient. And yet, if we go back into His childhood, there was only one incident that we have recorded for us in the Word of God that tells us anything at all of what He said. Only one. Think about living 30 years, but only having one incident recorded about your life. In fact, if you were to go back in into the logs of your life and look back, what would the incident be that you would want to be most remembered for?

What event would it be? The only thing recorded about the life of our Lord, outside the days of His purification in Luke chapter 2, and His mother and father bringing Him there to the temple to be dedicated, we have one incident, one, one situation that we know about for sure. That He spoke some words that are the most monumental words He ever spoke. And it's the event that marks Him out for who He is. Of all the events recorded, or all the events that could be recorded about His life, there's only one in the first 30 years.

And the one that is recorded is the one we're going to study this week and and next week. It's in Luke chapter 2. It's when He's 12 years of age. And at the age of 12, He says something that tells us He knows, we know, or He knows who He is and what He is about. At the age of 12, He recognizes His mission in life. He recognizes what He is about. Let me read to you the event, and then we'll spend some time this week and next week talking about it.

It says in verse number 39 of Luke chapter 2, And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. The child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him. And His parents used to go to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He became 12, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast. And as they were returning and spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.

His parents were unaware of it, and supposed Him to be in the caravan and went a day's journey. And they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. And when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him. It came about that after three days they found Him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. And when they saw Him, they were astonished.

And His mother said to Him, Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You. And He said to them, Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house? And they did not understand the statement which He had made to them. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them. Excuse me. In subjection to them. And His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

The only words recorded of our Lord in the first 30 years of His life are right here in Luke chapter 2.

So they become monumental. They become crucial to us understanding who He is and what He's about. We have spent the first couple of chapters looking at how there was a testimony from Zacharias and a testimony from Elizabeth about the identity of the Christ child.

And a testimony from Joseph and a testimony from Mary, from Simeon and from Anna, about who this child truly is. Excuse me. And so Luke wants us to understand that not only was there testimony about Him, but there was the testimony of the child Himself as to who He was. And so he takes some time to record just one event of the first 30 years of His life to explain to us that at a very early age, at the age of 12, our Lord knew exactly who He was and what He was about.

Evidenced by the fact that He told His mother that He had to be about His Father's business. Some translations say, I had to be about in my father's house. But the important matter is, is that He knew who He was. And so we're gonna unfold for you this, this text. So you'll come to grips with the fact that Jesus knew who He was, what He was about, because He came to earth for this purpose. We title the message, The Business of Jesus. Because Jesus had a business. Jesus had a mission. Jesus had a purpose in life.

And He wanted to make sure that that business was fulfilled exactly as it was ordained for Him. And the purpose of this is to help you understand that if we are going to be like Jesus, we must be about the business of Jesus. There's a lot of people who talk about, yeah, I want to be like Jesus, but they are not about the business of Jesus. To understand who Jesus is and what He was about, you must understand Luke chapter 2, verses 36 and following. And then we need to go back and ask ourselves, are we about the same kind of business that Jesus is?

In fact, turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to John chapter 4. John chapter 4. Let me help you understand some things about our Lord.

Excuse me. You know that the Gospel of Matthew is about the royalty of our Lord. And you know that the Gospel of Mark is about the humility of our Lord. And you know that the Gospel of Luke is about the humanity of our Lord. And the Gospel of John is about the deity of our Lord. Each writer emphasizes something unique about the character of our Lord. And in John chapter 4, it says this in verse number 34, Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.

My food, my sustenance, that which gets me going from day to day is to do the will of my Father and to accomplish His work. You see, if we're going to be like Jesus, it must be our food to do the will of our Father who is in heaven. To be able to accomplish the work that He has ordained for us, just like His Son was consumed with accomplishing the work that His Father gave Him to do, that work of redemption, that work of reconciliation. Turn over to John chapter 5, verse number 30. It says, I can do nothing on my own initiative as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I do not seek my own will but the will of Him who sent me.

So the Lord is saying, I am not here about doing my own thing. I'm here to do my Father's thing. It's about Him. It's about His will. That's why down in verse number 36 it says, But the witness which I have is greater than that of John for the works which the Father has given me to accomplish the very works that I do bear witness of me that the Father has sent me. Everything is about doing the will of the Father. So all will know that the Father truly has sent Him. Turn over, if you would, to John chapter 6.

Verse number 38. It says, for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me. Again, Jesus reiterates, it's not about doing my thing. It's about doing the will of my Father, the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, verse 39, that of all that He has given me, I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life and I myself will raise Him up on the last day.

John chapter 8. Verse number 29. Says, and He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. Folks, if you want to be like Jesus, you've got to do the will of the Father. You have to always do the will of the Father. You must make it your ambition. You must make it your business in life. You must make it your mission in life to please the Father. Our Lord, as Son, came to do the will of His Father who is in heaven. I came to do the will of Him who sent me.

John chapter 12. Verse number 49. Says this, For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent me has given me commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life. Therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me. Again, it reiterates the fact that Jesus was obedient to His Father and would not only would only speak the things that His Father wanted Him to speak. Can you say that? Can you say that I only say the things that my Father wants me to say?

I only do the will of my Father who is in heaven. It is my food to do the will of my Father who is in heaven. And Jesus kept emphasizing I'm here to do the will of the Father who is in heaven, the will of the one who sent me. John chapter 17. You say, you know, Pastor, I think we got it. No, you don't got it yet. Let me tell you.

John 17, verse number 1. These things Jesus spoke and lifting up His eyes to heaven He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son that the Son may glorify Thee even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind that to all whom Thou has given Him He may give eternal life. And this is eternal life that they may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent. I glorify Thee on the earth having accomplished the work which Thou has given me to do. The Lord says I have glorified Your name.

I have magnified Your existence. I have put my Father on display by doing what You have given me, which You have assigned me to accomplish. His whole purpose was to magnify His Father in heaven. Can you say that? Can you say that your purpose in life is to put your Father in heaven on display in all that you say, in all that you do, wherever you go, whoever you are. See that was Jesus. That's what He was about. Because His Father had sent Him. Now look down at verse number 18. Chapter 17. Our Lord says, as Thou did send me or send me into the world, I also have, what's the next phrase?

Oh, okay. Now do you get it? As the Father has sent me. Now, what did the Father send the Son to do? He sent the Son to speak the words of the Father. He sent the Son to accomplish the work of the Father. He sent the Son to do the will of the Father. And so now Jesus says, as Thou has sent me to do those things, now I am sending them to do those things.

You see now we begin to understand that the business of Jesus must be my business as well. If I want to be like the Lord Jesus Christ, I must know Him intimately and I must understand His mission in life so that I can accomplish my mission in life. Because that's what your identity is wrapped up in. It's wrapped up in who Jesus Christ is. Not who you are, but who Jesus Christ is. And once you understand who He is and what He has called you to do and what He has sent you forth to do, you no longer look for significance and security in any other person or in any other place other than Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now look at John chapter 20. After the resurrection, it says in verse number 19, When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, which was Sunday, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst.

He didn't open the door. He walked through the door. And said to them, Peace be with you. And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me. What's the next phrase? I also send you. There you have it again. Before He died, in His prayer, He says, Father, just as you sent me into the world, now I send them into the world. And after the resurrection, He says, As the Father has sent me, so send I you.

I don't think we understand the mission of our Lord clearly enough to follow through on the mission He's called us to do. Are you doing the will of your Father who is in heaven? Are you accomplishing His work? Or are you accomplishing your work? Are you doing His will or you're doing your will? Are you speaking His words or are you speaking your words? Because you have been sent as the Father sent the Son. The Father sent the Son, listen, with a purpose. He sent Him with a purpose. We're going to talk about that purpose in Luke chapter 2.

By the way, this is all introductory material. I'll get to the outline in a minute, but I got to lay the groundwork here. You see, He was sent with a purpose. The purpose was to do the will of His Father who is in heaven. The purpose was the work of redemption and the work of reconciliation. God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law. Why? In order that He might redeem us. He was sent with a purpose. Now God says, as you have sent me, so send I them.

I'm sending them with a purpose, and that purpose is to be able to proclaim that gospel of redemption, that gospel of reconciliation, so that others will know that I am the Savior of the world. He was sent with a purpose to redeem man from his sin. He was the only one who could do that. And now He says, I am now sending them just like you sent me. As the Father has sent me, so send I you. You have a purpose in life, and that purpose centers around the redemption and reconciliation that only comes through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And somehow, you need to make sure that wherever you live, and whatever you do, the people around you understand that purpose. He was sent with purpose. He was sent in person. He was sent in person. The Word became flesh, John 1 says, right? And dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He was sent in person. See, the great thing about our Lord is that He didn't send us a letter. I hate writing letters. I don't know about you guys.

I just cannot stand to write letters. First of all, I can't write very well. And number two, just I'd rather pick up the phone and call somebody than write him a letter.

But our Lord didn't call us on the phone. He didn't have phones back in those days. He didn't send us a letter. He didn't use a megaphone and yell out of heaven how much He loved us and cared for us. He actually came to dwell among us, and there's a reason why He did that. We'll see that in Luke chapter 2. He came to dwell among us and to be among us. And to live among us and to become that sympathetic high priest who can understand your weaknesses and mine so that when we go to the throne of grace, He understands from experience, not from omniscience, but from experience the situation you face.

Our Lord was sent with a purpose. He was sent in person and He was sent in purity. Absolute, sinless, spotless perfection. Unblemished, undefiled, in every way. He was perfect. He is the light of the world. Okay? And when we are sent into the world, we are sent personally into the world to accomplish the purpose of our God, but it cannot be accomplished with an impure life. It cannot be. How can we represent a holy God and live in unholiness? That's why God wants us to get our lives right with Him.

That's why He wants us to confess our sins, because He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's what He wants to do. He wants to make us pure and spotless and holy. We are positionally before Him that way, but He wants us to practically live out our lives in a clean way. That's why Peter says we are to be as holy as our Father in heaven is holy. Listen, if you want to accomplish the business of Jesus and you want to be about the purpose that Jesus was about, then you got to not only go personally, but you got to go in all purity as well.

Living a life that abstains from sinful behavior and sinful attitudes. And that was our Lord. So He was sent with purpose, He was sent in person, He was sent in purity, and He was sent in power. Power. What do the angels say to Mary? And the Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. And when Christ came in Luke chapter 4, He said those infamous words out of Isaiah 61, when He said the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. He has called me to do these things in great power. And His whole ministry was about the power of God revealed in His life. Well, you see, if the Lord is going to send us as the Father sent Him, then we must be equipped with that same kind of energy. And so He says that you shall receive power. And upon receiving that power in Acts chapter 1.8, you will become my witnesses.

You will become a testimony for me. And the only way that's going to happen is because the Spirit of God indwells us and empowers us to live the Christ-like life. And so the Lord says He was sent with purpose, He was sent in person, He was sent in purity, and He was sent in power. The Father sent me, so send I you, the Lord says. The Bible also tells us that He was sent by promise. Wasn't the Messiah promised? All throughout the Old Testament. It was a great promise that the hope of Israel would come, the Messiah.

He was sent by promise all the way back from Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15, all the way through the Old Testament. It was about the promise of the coming Messiah. He was sent by promise, and God sends us with His promises as well, doesn't He? Without those promises, that, Lord, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Without the promise of His sustaining power in our lives, we can't go with the same purpose and mission that Jesus Himself went. He was also sent, sent to people. He was sent to people.

He came to us. The Bible says in Luke chapter 2, verses 29 to 32, in Simeon's words how He was the light of revelation to the Gentile world.

We begin to realize that as He came, He came to sinners. He came to tax gatherers. He came to show them the light of the way. He was sent to people who were in their sinful condition, that they might see the light of the truth. He was sent for peace. He was sent for peace. The whole aspect of the Messiah coming was peace on earth, goodwill toward those in whom He is pleased. They might experience the peace of Almighty God. They might have peace with God, you see. We need to understand the fact that Jesus was sent by His Father in heaven.

And because He was sent a particular way, He now says that we are now sent like He was sent. We must be sent with a purpose. We must be sent in person. We must be sent in purity. We must be sent in power. We must be sent to people for peace, that they might understand the forgiveness of God, the business of Jesus. That's what Luke chapter 2 is all about. Let's look at it together.

Luke chapter 2, verse 39. And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. And the child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom. And the grace of God was upon him. Now this is an amazing section of scripture. Because what you have is verses 39 down through verse 40, covering the first 12 years of his life.

Then you have, at age 12, him going to Jerusalem at the Passover, taking you down all the way through verse 51. And then verse 52 describing ages 12 up through ages age 30. So all you have is one incident recorded in the life of our Lord. Luke leads out the whole aspect about the the Magi coming to the house and giving gifts to the Messiah. He leaves out the whole aspect of Herod and him wanting to kill the babies two years and under. Matthew records those events, but Luke records this crucial event in the life of our Lord when he was 12 years old, so that we would understand that at a very early age he understood what he was about.

So point number one is this. The business of Jesus is rooted in a spiritual and physical development. It is rooted in the spiritual and physical development of our Lord. The Bible tells us when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, that's Mary and Joseph. Again, it emphasizes the devotion and dedication of his parents. They were truly committed to doing everything that God said to the fullest extent. They were godly parents and they loved their son and they would love their other sons and other daughters that they would have.

But they were committed to following the law of the Lord. And then it says in a very simple statement, verse number 40, and the child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. It speaks about the development of the Christ child. It speaks about his spiritual, intellectual, physical growth. Remember, Luke is about the humanity of our Lord. That deity was wrapped in humanity. And it speaks to us about the growth of our Lord from the early years of his birth until he was 12 years of age.

He continued to grow strong. He became strong. Now, let me tell you something about the strength of our Lord.

You need to understand this. In our bodies, as we get older, we too become stronger. But that strength, as we get older, whether it's 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, begins to diminish. With our Lord, it never diminished. Because you see, the effects of sin wear on your body. Jesus had no sin. So as he became strong, he became strong without any sin affecting his life because he was sinless. He was spotless. There was no sin in his life because he's God in the flesh. So as his body physically grew stronger, it was much stronger than your body or my body would ever be.

And that's why he could walk the hills. If you've been to Israel, you know that Israel's a hilly place. It's up and down and up and down and up and down. And he could walk those hills and he could spend 40 days in the wilderness with no food. It would affect him, but it wouldn't affect him like it affected you and me. Because his body was unaffected by the effects of sin. Sin affects us physically. Yes, it affects us emotionally. Yes, it affects us spiritually, but it also affects us physically. Jesus as he grew became strong.

He became stronger and stronger in his physical body without the effects of sin at all. So his strength would be beyond your strength or my strength as he walked through life. It wasn't like he was on steroids or something and he was just stronger than everybody else and looked bigger and stronger than everybody else. He didn't look bigger and stronger than everybody else. He just physically was unaffected by sin. Therefore, he was able to endure more than you and I could ever endure. Physically speaking.

That's why he could hang on the cross for six hours and only die when he wanted to die. Because he was God, of course. So he gave up the spirit when it was time to give up the spirit. Everything was under his direct control. But physically he was stronger than you and I could ever imagine him being. We must understand that because his life was unaffected by sin. And we think that we're getting stronger, you know, when you get older things don't work like they used to. I'm finding that out really fast.

And I'm not even very old yet, but I just realized that things just don't work as quickly as they used to and my body aches a lot more than it used to ache. But that's the effects of sin. It deteriorates. But with our Lord, no effects of sin. So his physical body became stronger and stronger and stronger. But the text also says, listen, that he grew increasingly in wisdom. Now this boggles my mind. Because somehow I have to be able to explain to you that Jesus is a hundred percent God and Jesus is a hundred percent man.

Well, that's 200 percent. We don't, we can't grasp that. You know, people say, well, you know, I went to the game and they gave 110 percent. No, they didn't. You can't give 110 percent. That is impossible. We gave 150. No, you didn't. You gave 100 percent maybe, but you didn't give 101 percent because you can't do that. You can only give 100 percent. But Jesus is a hundred percent man and he's a hundred percent God. He is 200 percent of something and a finite mind will never comprehend that. So if you're going to try and comprehend that this morning, forget it.

It ain't going to happen. This is the infinite mind of God. This is the infinite working of God. And so what you have here is our Lord in his humanity increasing wisdom so that when he becomes 12 years of age, you have the mind of God in the mind of a man. Saying, well, I don't understand that. I don't understand that either. But he has increased in wisdom to such a point that he knows at this time in his life what his business is, who he is, and what he's about. He's God in the flesh. A hundred percent God.

He's a hundred percent man. And yet in his humanity, there was that increasing wisdom so that he comes to the point now where the mind of God is developed in the mind of a man to such an extent that he knows exactly who he is and what he's about. That's why he can say, don't you know? And his parents did not understand the statement the text says. I have to be about my father's business. I have to be in my father's house. I have to be doing what I have been designed to do because this is why I came.

So at age 12, he knows exactly who he is and what he's about. Now that's mammoth because he's in Jerusalem at Passover. And they're slaughtering a quarter of a million lambs. And blood is everywhere. And he is in Jerusalem. He's walking around knowing, and nobody else knows this but him, that he is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He knows that. He knows that all the lambs that are being slaughtered are going to cover man's sin for a while. But he is the only one who can remove man's sin forever.

Now, can you imagine the emotion of a 12-year-old boy comprehending the fact that I am here and this is what I've come to do and I am the sacrificial lamb. And he begins to sit down and talk about all these Passover elements to all these teachers of law in Jerusalem there in the temple. He's asking them questions and they're just amazed at what he knows because he's probably amazed at what they don't even know about the Old Testament. He began to grow in wisdom. He began to become strong. And the Bible says, and the grace of God was upon him, the favor of God was upon him.

God was so pleased with his son. Why? Because he always did the will of the Father. Always did the will of the Father. He was completely obedient. You know how you are with your children when they're obedient, right? You love it when your children are obedient and you're not very happy when they're disobedient. Could you imagine having a child that was always obedient and never disobedient? Our Lord never sinned. He never did anything contrary to the will of the Lord. He always honored his mother and father.

Always. Here he was growing, stronger, growing, increasing in wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. Folks, listen.

If we want to be about the business of Jesus, we must increase in wisdom. We must increase as he increased. We must come to a proper understanding of what God has called us to do as the Son, increase in wisdom to the point where the mind of God was in the mind of a man. You say, well, how can we do that? Well, remember what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 5, verse number 9?

He learned obedience through the things that he suffered. And the things that he suffered, he suffered his entire life. Do you not think that he suffered the temptation to do evil throughout his childhood? Of course he did. He was tempted at all points like we are yet without sin. So he was tempted throughout his entire life, just like you and I are tempted, but he never sinned not once. It's not that he could have sinned. He couldn't sin because he's God and God is perfect and God can't sin. He's a pure horizon to behold evil.

And so he would always make the right choice. Listen, he always made the right choice. He learned obedience. You see, what he knew because he was omniscient, he knew now by experience. He learned to obey his father who is in heaven by making the right choice with temptation into his life. And having learned obedience, the writer of Hebrew tells us, having learned obedience, Hebrews 5, verse number 9, and having been made, I'm sorry, verse number 8, although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered and having been made perfect or been made complete, he became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation.

Listen, the only way that Jesus Christ could be the source of eternal salvation was to completely and fully obey the will of his father throughout his entire life. Because you see, that made him, listen, that made him the perfect substitute for you. So that when he died on Calvary's cross, his life would be credited to your account. His perfect, righteous, holy life would now be credited to your account. That's why he who knew no sin became sin for us that we now might be made the righteousness of God in him.

That's why he learned obedience to the things that he suffered. That's why he came to earth and had to live a perfect life. So that you could now obtain his life. And that's how he became the the author of your salvation. Because he had lived a life of complete obedience to his father who was in heaven. Now, listen to this. Turn with me in your Bible to 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

Verse number 9, and we'll start with verse number 9 because it's a very familiar verse, but for the most part, it's pretty much misapplied to our lives. 1 Corinthians 2, 9. Maybe you've heard this before. Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered into the heart of man all that God has prepared for those who love him. How many times have you heard people say, well, you know, I have not seen nor ear heard all the wonderful things that God has prepared for those who love him.

When you get to heaven, you're going to see, oh man, it's going to be amazing. That's not what the text says. Now, we think that's what the text says. It's not about the wonders of heaven. It's about the wisdom of God. It's about divine illumination. It's about the unbeliever, the natural man not receiving divine illumination and the spiritual man receiving it. A spiritual man understanding the mind of God and the natural man not understanding the mind of God. That's the context of 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

Verse 10, for to us God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the Spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Wow. Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, that is the Spirit of reason and the Spirit of observation, but the Spirit who is from God that we might know the things freely given to us by God. Which things we also speak not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritually, spiritual appraises all things. Yet he himself is appraised by no man. For who has known the mind of the Lord that we or that he should instruct him? But we have, what's the next phrase? The mind of Christ. Whoa. Can you imagine that? We have the mind of Christ. The Spirit of God resides in us and no one knows the thoughts of God, but the Spirit of God who resides in us.

Therefore, we have the mind of Christ who knows the mind of God residing in us. Therefore, when God says it is my business to do the will of my Father who is in heaven and to accomplish his work, those who are spiritual, those who have the mind of God in them, the mind of Christ in them, are able to discern and understand what God has for them through his word.

Well, the natural man does not. See? And so we begin to realize that this is about divine illumination. Remember over in Luke chapter 24, it talks about how the Lord opened the hearts and minds of the disciples. It's Luke 24, verse 44. And he said to them, These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. Listen, nobody understands the scriptures unless God opens the mind.

Now that's a miracle of God. You want to know why? Because you see in your unconverted state, number one, your mind is dark.

Number two, your mind is defiled. Number three, your mind is depraved. And number four, your mind is dead. How do we know that? Well, if we had the time, we'd read Ephesians 4, 17 and 18, which tells us how dark our minds are. Titus 1, 15 and 16, which tell us how defiled our minds are, both morally and spiritually. First Timothy 6, 5 tells us how depraved our minds are.

That is, they are corrupt, they are ruined, and they are spoiled. And Romans 8, 6 and 7 tells us how dead our mind is. So therefore, when it comes to spiritual things, you have a dead mind, a defiled mind, a depraved mind, and a dark mind. Therefore, the only way you will understand the things of God is that the Spirit of God convicts you of your sin and converts your soul. That's it. That's why in John 16, Christ says, I have sent the Spirit that he might convict you of sin, convict the world of sin, and lead you into truth.

It's the Spirit of God that does that. And over in Acts chapter 3, it says this, For you first God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.

The Spirit of God is the one who turns you from your wicked ways. You can't turn yourself from your wicked ways. Why? Because your mind is dark, your mind is depraved, your mind is defiled, your mind is dead. A dead man can't do anything spiritually. So the Spirit of God has to quicken you, the Spirit of God has to renew you, and the Spirit of God has to turn you from your wicked ways. That's why it's so amazing to realize that we have the mind of Christ in spite of the fact that we were once dark, dead, defiled, and depraved.

And now we have an enlightened mind to understand the things of the Spirit of God. And that's why we need to be developing spiritually in wisdom and in the knowledge of God. Because if we're going to be about the business of Jesus, our lives must seek to emulate his life. And as he increased in wisdom, so too we must increase in wisdom every single day. And the reason we can do that is because we have the mind of Christ. And that's why Paul said in 1 Peter 1 13, gird up the loins of your mind. Don't let your mind just hang loose out there.

Gird them up. That's a phrase used. It's a term of Oriental descent, which speaks of the fact that whenever you had your robe, you used to gather it around you and wrap it through your legs and tie it together so you can be active and you can run without your robe flailing all over the place. Well, the same thing you do with your mind. We have lots of thoughts in our mind that just kind of hang loose out there. Some of you have some thoughts hanging out there right now thinking, okay, I hope he's going to hurry up and get done with this thing so I can go to breakfast or go to brunch or go to lunch.

Got all these dangling thoughts out there. And Peter says you got to gird them all up. You got to wrap them all up together. How do you do that with the truth? That's why Paul said in Philippians 4 8, we got to think of the things that are true, pure, holy, lovely, respectable, praiseworthy, those kinds of things. And we got to gird up our minds. And that's why Paul said in Philippians 2, have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Now, how can you do that? You can because you have the mind of Christ.

That's already in you, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2. So when you come to Philippians chapter 2, he says now I want you to have this mind that was in Christ Jesus who didn't think equality with God anything to be grasped, but instead he would empty himself, take on the form of a servant, and become obedient even to the point where he would obey enough to die. That's the mind of Christ. And if we're going to be like Jesus, our minds must be like his mind. We must be in the word of the Lord. We must ask God to do a great and mighty work to transform our thinking, to renew us in the spirit of our minds, Ephesians 4 23, that we might think the things of God.

Because if we're going to be like Jesus, it is rooted in the spiritual development of our lives. And you got to ask yourself, are you growing spiritually? Are you growing in the wisdom and knowledge of God? Are you hungering for more and more the word of God? Are you walking more and more in the light of the word of God? Is it your food to do the will of your father who is in heaven? Is it your desire to accomplish his work and not your work? Is it your desire to speak the words of God as a son's desire was to speak the words of his father who is in heaven?

If it is, then you know you are in the same kind of business as Jesus. If it is, you are progressing in your discernment, you are growing in your knowledge of God. And then you'll be able to hear the words as it says in Luke 2, And the favor of God was upon him. God the father was so pleased with his son. Remember when Solomon, God said, Solomon, you can ask for anything you want. I'll give to you. Solomon asked for wisdom. They might govern the people of God in the ways of God. And the Bible says in the Old Testament that God was well-pleased with Solomon.

Well-placed. Is God the father well-pleased with you? Because you are increasing in the wisdom of God. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you so much for the word of the Lord. What a joy it is to know that we have a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. We have a God who became flesh and dwelt among us. And experience the things that we experience every day when it comes to the onslaught of temptation. Thank you Lord that he always made the right choice. It was well pleasing to his father in heaven.

I ask the Lord for every one of us today. That Lord, we would be grounded in the word of the Lord. And that we would be increasing in wisdom. So that your favor would be upon us. The Lord, because of the mind of Christ within us, it compels us to learn and want to know more about who you are. That to be one among us today who doesn't know you. May today be the day of their salvation. May they come to realize, Lord, their need for a savior. Because your spirit opens the door of their mind to receive the truth.

In Jesus' name, amen.