The Mind of Christ

Where does Spiritual Authority come from? Is the Church run by the ability and minds of mortal men? This was the case for the Pharisee's and Sadducee's which earned them STIFF rebukes by our LORD. Who in this world is worthy to judge other men? The answer is no one without the power of Calvary. This is the very point why our LORD had to die at the cross.

Isaiah 59:15-16
(15) Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
(16) And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.


Revelation 5:4-5
(4) And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

(5) And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

However, our LORD also commissioned and empowered His disciples to take this authority so that Truth will prevail and there will be JUDGMENT. This was not intended for man to take upon himself, but this is in fact the repeated cycle in the history and present time of mankind. Many "churches" (as titled so) have folks that are educated, talented, charismatic, perhaps even very sincere, but that does not entitle these folks to take on the commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. The commission of the LORD was given in the gospels (Matthew 28:19, Luke 24:44-47, Mark 16:16) however this commission was not ENACTED completely, the authority of Jesus' ministry was not COMPLETELY transferred to the Apostles until the day of Pentecost.

For proof of this we can take the words of Jesus Christ to Simon Peter:

Luke 22:31-32
(31) And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
(32) But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.


Satan is on the prowl to make sure the men that God has chosen to invest His authority in are taken away. He desires to HAVE these men. But these men belong to God, notice that the only way they will not be taken by Satan is that their FAITH FAIL NOT, but also more importantly that they have a CONVERSION. Notice that the conversion is not simply a BELIEF in Jesus Christ. Peter at this point in his walk with God for over 3 years, has eaten with Him, was called the Petros (Rock) and given the keys to the Kingdom PRIOR to this conversation yet the LORD told Peter that His CONVERSION was in the future. This is referring to the day of Pentecost when Peter and the 120 believers in the upper room would be FILLED with the HOLY GHOST. That AND ONLY that is what gives the AUTHORITY of GOD to man, because GOD invested HIMSELF in man. The Holy Ghost is not a concoction of emotions nor some sort of mind control, it is a GIFT from God.

1 Corinthians 2:12-16
(12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
(13) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
(14) But 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.
(15) But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
(16) For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

We live in a very carnal world, much like the days of the Noah, and have many examples of even God's people being misled through the History of Israel after the reign of David and all the rebellion that came up in the people. This is the result of carnal minds, and the same has happened to our world today. God does not intend His Church to be run by "brute beasts".

2 Peter 2:1
(1) But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2 Peter 2:12
(12) But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

The truth that I have discovered and would like to potray, is that every one of us have this "brute beast" potential inside of us. Therefore, not a single one of us can stand on our own righteousness and declare that our interpretation of scripture is correct and everyone else must bow down to our authority. The LORD was VERY angry at the folks that have taken up this attitude. However, as an Apostolic Church we are scrutinized and accused of this very thought.

I had a discussion with my father about Scripture this week and mentioned to me that God is so infinitely more wise than man, that though man can create a "pun" that may have two or three applications, the LORD's Living Word has much more Wisdom as it has timeless and multiple applications for human beings. This though enlightened my mind and heart and I realized the walk that God has given to my life and how without a doubt the things that I am standing on are not from the heart of man, but indeed are the mind of Christ. I then recalled what Paul said in 2 Corinthians and realized that the Church is only standing if men will get Spiritually Minded, meaning we surrender our thoughts to the greater power. This is how one will received the Holy Ghost by SURRENDERING to the thoughts of God and ALLOWING HIS WORD and HIS SPIRIT to control us. This being the case, the LORD is USING men to give HIMSELF to man. This is what Jesus was the perfect example of, and what we as the children of God are striving to maintain. Therefore, the Apostolic Church is in fact God's authority THROUGH man.

This is why Satan desired to have Peter, to steal him and the souls that God would use Peter to disciple, But thank God we know that Jesus didn't give up on Peter, and I thank God that we can say the same thing today. Peter gave Himself to God, and just like Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, when the Holy Ghost came on the Apostles, the SPIRIT was now in multiple bodies. Submitting to this Spirit is how the Apostolic Church was built, and today is the exact same formula.

When you see this right, the Church is DIVINE, you thank God (and today how thankful I am) to have Spiritual leadership that is surrendered to God's Spirit. I also believe that when a seeker becomes sincere and seeks God for help, they will be led to this same path, a man of God will come into their life.