We are different from people who do not know Jesus. He has shown us things that are wrapped in mystery. Spiritual things, deep things, eternal are revealed. The world sees these things as foolish. We know them to be true. 1 Corinthians 2:6-13

Speaker(s): Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12282
11:00 AM on 4/10/2022

P. Schaller –

He hit a high note didn’t he? “How sweet! How sweet!” Oh my, amazing. So good. Cheston is here from Sweden
and Caroline and Marie and Martin. Cheston and I have known each other more than 40 years
and they’re from Sweden. They’re visiting here. Great to have you. It’s amazing. We are blessed
people. Okay. Wow. That’s amazing. Nick is amazing, isn’t he? And his partner, Josh, is not bad!
Not bad! Okay.

We’re going to read a text today and teach on how people that are not believers think
differently from us. People that are not believers. There’s two chapters that are very similar in
what I want to say. I used 1 Corinthians 2 at the 9:00 service and it was awesome. I think we’ll do Rom.
8 with this sermon. And we will go verse by verse for a while and you will follow it with me. I
want to really make an emphasis on the Apostle Paul who is writing this. Chapter 8 is really
speaking about you. Romans 7, is also about you. What I do is what I shouldn’t do. Can you give
me an example of that? I do what I shouldn’t do. Alright. So, turn to your neighbor and give an
example. Guard yourself! Don’t make a confession necessarily! In principle, what I shouldn’t do.
What I shouldn’t do. What I shouldn’t do. What I shouldn’t do. What I shouldn’t do. What about
a believer – I shouldn’t do, but that’s what I do. But I do it. Okay. That’s a problem. What I
shouldn’t do, that’s what I do. Okay. This is Romans 7.

And then he moves on and tells us who we really are, who we really are, like who you really are,
your identity as a person. This is an incredible truth that you are not your sin. Who you are.
What it means to be saved. You have the Spirit of God and you think in a different way from the
unbeliever. We’re going to look at chapter 8:2 and start there. There’s a higher law. There’s a
law of life that set me free from another law. Good example. There’s a law of gravity but there’s
another law. And there’s a law of aerodynamics regarding the shape of an airplane wing. And if
the speed of the air under the wing is faster than the air over the top, there’s a lift. The airplane
lift defying the law of gravity. That’s an example of one law ruling over another one but they
are both real.

The law of sin and death is a real law. The law of Christ is a real law and the law of Christ has set
me free from the other law. This means you and I have a new life. We have a new life now. We
are born again, regenerated and children of God. We are adopted into his family. We have the
Spirit of God in us. Vs. 3. What the law could not do – always remember this. You may be
growing as Christians. Maybe this is not so clear to you, but you need to learn this that you are
by nature, you and I, are legalistic and demanding of ourselves certain things by law. The law
cannot do what the Spirit does. The law cannot do it. The law cannot do it.

Illustration: a mirror. You look in a piece of glass as a mirror and it shows you your face is dirty.
What is it the mirror can’t do? The mirror cannot wash your face. A mirror will show you your
face is dirty, but it cannot change your face. The law – it doesn’t have so much value. It only condemns us and finds our faults and says you are a sinner. I know I am a sinner. Can you help
me out? I cannot do a thing for you. You are a sinner. That’s the law.

But the gospel is Christ. Christ is beyond the law. Christ is higher. Christ can live in your heart.
Christ changes our lives. Christ is a higher law than the law of sin and death. Okay. Jesus. Jesus.
That’s what this church is about. It’s about Jesus. Do you know there are people here they
would love it if I would preach legalistically. They have told me. You got to be stronger. You got
to tell us the right and the wrong. I say to them, you have it written in your heart. You need
something more. You need the Holy Spirit and we have it. We’ll read it in a minute.

I don’t want to go to a church that is legalistic. What good is that? That makes me either proud
and I have a good impression on people but I’m not real. I mean I’m not real. I’m maybe
hypocritical. I do one thing on the outside but inside I’m miserable. I don’t have any joy. I don’t
have love. I cannot sacrifice. I cannot lay down my life for the brethren. I don’t have any vision. I
don’t have any imagination regarding what God does. I’m wrapped up with myself with the law.
Okay. Go to vs. 3-4. The righteousness of the law. The righteousness of the law. Let’s take the
law, “thou shalt not commit adultery.” Let’s take that law. Okay. What is the righteousness of
the law? It’s that even in my heart I don’t have any desire for that. It’s not only that I don’t do
it, but even in my heart. Why? Because of love. Love. If you love people, you won’t sin against
them. If you love a family, you wouldn’t divide the family. If you love the person, you wouldn’t
treat them like that. If you have love. The righteousness of the law is coming from the Holy
Spirit. Look at vs. 4.

By the way, there is religious flesh that will say, “you shall not commit adultery.” That’s religious
flesh. But there’s also the Holy Spirit that will say “You shall not commit adultery” and I’m going
to be living in you so you’re not going to. You’re not going to be configured that way. That will
not be your primary life. Your primary life will be God. The Holy Spirit will make God your
primary life. The focus that you have.

Vs. 5. Remember that phrase, “Mind your own business.” Mind your own business. What does
it mean? Don’t pay attention to my business; you mind your own. You have it in your mind.
What’s in your mind? Are you mindful of the things of the flesh? The flesh has two meanings in
our English Bible when we say the word “flesh” we usually – you can think of the word material
flesh like the body. The physical body is one word, “soma.” But it has another meaning and it
means the fallen nature of man. It’s the sin nature that is in my body but it’s also in my soul and
in my spirit. My spirit is dead so I live in my sin nature. I am not Spirit filled or I don’t have the
Holy Spirit in me.

Now listen. We live in a world where there are many unbelievers. Unbelievers do not have the
Holy Spirit. The unbeliever has another mind. They mind the things of the fallen nature of man.

If you say to them, do you believe in God? They say, no, I don’t believe in God or maybe there is
God. Do you ever think about God? No, I never think about it. Why? Cause the fallen nature of
man doesn’t think about God. Yes, he has God but he’s like a step away or a few steps away or
far away. It’s not his primary – but religious flesh can study theology, can talk philosophy, can
be religious. They don’t know God. They are of the flesh.

It happened during the time of Jesus. You had Pontius Pilate that didn’t know God and you had
the Jewish religious leaders who had religious flesh and were proud and they wanted,
demanded that Christ would be crucified. So, who is Paul writing about here? He’s saying that
unbelievers mind the things of the flesh. They are worried about life. They mind the things.
They think about it. They think about the future. They think about the world. They are troubled.
They think about their neighbors. They think about the university that they go to, their
teachers, their friends. They have anxiety. They have fears about getting on an airplane. They
travel and are worried about it.

They mind the things regarding disease and death like it
happens to all of us. They just think it’s not going to happen to me. I hope it doesn’t happen to
me. I hope this will never happen to me. They mind the things that come in our hearts from the
fallen nature of man. That’s what they think about all the time. All the time. They think about it
from the news. They talk about it with their friends. They have a very horizontal life without a
vertical. They don’t have the Spirit of God.

I don’t know how to explain this more simply. More simply, this is what it’s saying. Actually, you
could say they are in trouble. They are in trouble. They go to bed and there is something that
they can’t have. They can’t find. It’s like the woman at the well in Jn. 4 when she talked to
Jesus. She said to Jesus the well is very deep and you have nothing to draw with. I’ve always
thought about that meaning this. Regarding people, the well is very deep. You can’t even go
there. What’s going through the mind of a person? The woman has had five husbands. You
could say actually her life is filled with complications and deep thoughts and feelings and hurts
and troubles and broken relationships and broken heart. You could say the well is very deep
and Jesus answered her and said if you ask me, I would ask the Father and you would drink
water and you would never thirst again. I can fill that well. That’s the way of thinking about it. I
am enough because I am the Messiah. I am God.

I am the Messiah, and I know you have had five husbands and the man you are living with is not your husband. I agree. The well is very deep, but I also want to say to you I am the answer. That’s amazing, isn’t it?
Go back to the text. It’s chapter 8. We’ll go down a ways in this text. Vs. 5. Their reference, their
mental orientation has to do with the things of the fallen nature of man. And there’s no end to
that. It has to do with those things of fear, of guilt, of anxiety. How about it has to do with the
theory of evolution. Why would you talk about evolution if you love God? It’s a good question. I
talk about evolution because I don’t believe the world could have come into existence that way.
It had to come some other way. Well, why do you believe that? Because that’s my mind is
based on unbelief. I don’t believe. I don’t believe.

What is your mind like? I believe that “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the
earth” and I’m very happy with that idea. I’m very satisfied with that. It ministers to me. God
told me he created the heaven and the earth. That ministers to me. I enjoyed that. Why would
you enjoy that? Because the new birth has given us the Spirit and we have another mind. And in
that mind, we are mindful of the things that God has said to us. We are mindful of the truth.
We are mindful of the nature of God, the reality of God, the Holy Spirit is in us.

Go to vs. 5-6. That’s what an unbeliever is. I know that I’ve always read this text for carnally
minded – a Christian is carnally minded – but the context is actually and you can check this out
with Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones who teaches it this way and I do believe this and enjoy thinking
about it, that the unbelievers that we go to school with, that we work with, they are carnally
minded or naturally minded and that mind is really one of questions. It’s one of insecurity. It’s
one of fear. It’s one where I don’t have the real answers. I don’t have it. It’s the nature of the
fall. I don’t have it. It's like Adam hiding from God, covering himself, blaming his wife.
Have you ever thought about how God said, “who told you, you were naked?” and he said, he
goes like – I’m going to dramatize it a little bit. Who told me?

The woman, the woman over there that you gave me. She gave me the fruit and I ate it. Notice the sentence. The woman.
Okay guys. Mark it down in your notebook. My wife is the problem. My wife is the problem. My
wife is the problem. Huh? And the woman you – God is the problem. God is the problem. God
gave me the woman. You gave me. It started with you. You gave me that woman and I ate. I
come last. Okay.

But Jesus came. He was betrayed and Judas said I betrayed innocent blood. If you think about
that, Judas Iscariot lived with Christ for three years, walked with Christ. He saw Jesus every day.
Do you think there was any time when Judas is trying to find fault with Jesus? Was Judas ever
trying to catch him sinning? Did Judas say he told a lie? I caught him. He lied. He looked at a
woman in weird way or something. Where was he the other night? Judas definitely wanted to
find fault with him cause he was an unbeliever. But he couldn’t. He said I betrayed the innocent
blood. I could not find anything wrong with Jesus Christ. Wow.

Unbelievers. I think unbelievers struggle in many ways and their way of life is really one of
death. That’s the problem in this life. It’s not my wife. It’s not God. It’s me. I have sinned. I have
sinned. That’s the problem. Because you have the Spirit of God, then you have another mind.
I’ve seen that with you. I’ve seen it with my sisters and brothers through the years. I’ve seen it.
I’m amazed by the mind that we have. I have seen it. I’ve seen it in life.

Let’s read it. vs. 6. And that’s you and me. That’s the way it is by our new birth. We are
spiritually minded and it is life and peace. I don’t need a group to condone – I don’t need a
group to support me. I’m fine. I’ve got life and peace from God. I don’t need, we don’t need a support group like that. We don’t need to wonder is there likes and dislikes. The social media.
Am I accepted or not. That is just an indication that you are carnally minded and you don’t have
life and peace. When you have life and peace, Proverbs 14:10, you are satisfied in yourself. How do
you get satisfied in yourself? The new birth. How do we get born again? By believing in Christ
and you are justified. What happens when you are justified. Then you’re sanctified. What does
that mean? The Holy Spirit is in you and you have this capacity to think with God. You got a new
heart and a new mind. You have a new way of thinking. It’s different.

You see, it says in Proverbs, the fool makes a mock of sin. The fool mocks sin but to the saint,
sin is a big deal. Sin is a problem. I am not holy. I have sinned. Sin is devastating. Sin is
destructive. Sin blinds my eyes. Sin doesn’t know the way. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit. Sin – I
don’t see God anymore. I don’t see God. I have sin. To us, that’s a big deal. To the world, it’s a
joke. They don’t want to hear about it. Don’t ever blame me for it. And don’t hold me
responsible. That’s the way they think in the world and that’s the carnal mind and they get
away with it. But they don’t. They suffer. But you – and I got to make this clear for you and I in
the next verses.

Let’s read them. Vs. 7. It doesn’t just make a mistake. It’s an enemy. “Enmity” is really from that
word enemy. I’m an enemy of God. The unbeliever is an enemy. He’s in rebellion. He picked up
an AK-47 and he’s got it as a rebel pointed right at God and firing away at God. He’s not making
a mistake. He knows exactly. He is an enemy of God. He has another mind. He’s against God. He
doesn’t talk about God. He doesn’t think about God. If he does, it’s through his arrogance and
religious flesh. He has no idea but you do. I got to get to that part. Vs. 7. That’s the sin nature of
man. Vs. 8. Don’t even – I don’t try in my flesh. My flesh is not wired for pleasing God. I don’t
please God in our flesh.

But here is the good news, vs. 9. The believer, the believer is in the Spirit. It’s – careful on how
you hear this – it’s natural for the believer to be in the Spirit. It’s the design of God. It’s for us to
be in the Spirit. It’s normal for us. We are in the Spirit by virtue of our new birth. We are in the
Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. Do not grieve the Spirit or quench the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit.
This is what happened to us. We started by the grace of God to love God. We started to
worship. We started to listen. We started to actually listen.

We had a revival in Finland more than 40 years ago. I mentioned it this morning. It was so
amazing that we had a house with 10 people as missionaries and the Fins wanted to move in
because they were always asking questions and listening to preaching. We were teaching a lot
and so we moved to like a hotel out in the countryside. We started with 15 people and we
ended up with 70 people in a short time. People were moving from other cities in the country
to be with us cause they were spiritually hungry and learning things they had never thought
about before. Then we started a Bible school and those people became pastors and missionaries and this is 40 years ago. Where are they today? They are serving God. How did
that happen? It’s the Spirit of God.

What do you mean they are serving God? They went to China as missionaries. They went to
Thailand. They went to Honduras. They went to Eastern Europe. They went to Russia. They
went to Azerbaijan. They went as missionaries to different countries. Yeah, but they got burned
out. The revival ended. No, it continues because we are people of the Spirit. We are looking for
what is the Spirit saying. We have the mind of the Spirit. We are fed in the Spirit. We are
interested in what the Spirit is doing. We are orientated, and we are waiting for the Second
Coming of Christ. Why are we waiting for the Second Coming? Because we are of the Spirit. We
are of the Holy Spirit.

And another thing, we die really good. When it comes to dying, we are pretty good at it. We’re
ready to roll. Is it my time God? Aren’t you worried about it? Aren’t you afraid? Maybe you are
going to go to hell? Oh, no. The Spirit has been teaching me. The Spirit tells me that I’m not to
fear. That the Lord is my Shepherd. Though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil for thou art with me and thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. How did you get to
think like that? Cause the Holy Spirit thinks like that. Where do you get it? In the local church
where God has ordained for us to gather together in his name and he will be there in our
presence and he will tell us things we have not seen with our eyes, we have not heard with
these outer ears. It has never come from within our own heart, but it’s revealed to us by the
Spirit. He has shown to us what is freely given to us through Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, 12-13. Which
things we speak.

Let’s go to the next verse. Vs. 9. Now, if the Spirit of God dwells in you, you should know that.
There should be times when in your heart you should be drawn to worship. You’re walking
down the road and just feel in your heart you just worship God and love him. That’s the Spirit of
God in you. You should have that in your life. There should be times when you cry out Abba,
Father. When you are making up a song or when you just want to be quiet before God. There
would be times when you walk in the Spirit and you’re behind the wheel in your car or in a
parking lot or just saying a simple prayer. There should be times.

But if the Spirit is not in me, then I am none of his. Look at the verse. Vs. 9. What does that
mean? I’m not saved. If I don’t have the Spirit of God, I don’t belong to him. I am none of his. I
knew you not. I never knew you. I don’t know you. But we’ve done many wonderful works in
your name. We have called down – prophesied in your name. Jesus said, I never knew you. I
never knew you. You’re playing a game. You didn’t come to me. You didn’t trust in me. You
fooled yourself. You deceived yourself. You were not before me confessing that you have
sinned and that you need me. You’re trusting in me. I’m the only answer for you. You’ve
followed another god. You have another thing going on and the fruit of your life is you have
been carnally minded your whole life and you’ve not had this.

Vs. 10. Meaning we will die like everybody else cause our body has in it the sentence of death.
But we will not die, because our spirit and soul will leave our body and we will be with God. We
will fly away in Psalm 90:10. We will be in the presence of God. We will be absent from the body.
Later, the body is raised up by the power of Christ, Philippians 3:20-21. The body will be raised up and
be redeemed also.

So, I want to finish here and just say that you are a believer. Get used to it. You are a believer. It
fits. You are a believer. You are different. One teenage boy said to his dad, I don’t want to be
different. The father said you are different. You are. You are in this family. You are different. We
are Christians. You are Christian. You are different. “I don’t want to be different.” You ARE
different. Get used to it. We are different. “I don’t want to go to church.” We go to church. In
our family, we go to church. We go to church. “I don’t want to go.” Well, we go. And you’ll
benefit from it.

What about abortion? I don’t believe in that. I believe in saving the baby. Saving the baby.
Saving the baby. Saving the life. Saving the life. I believe in that. Well, don’t you know this and
that? I don’t care what you’re saying. I don’t care what you are talking about. I’m not mindful of
that. I’m not thinking like that. I’m thinking of a human life and their future. Can’t they go to
kindergarten or are you going to kill them? Can’t they go to Boy Scouts? Can’t they go to a
church meeting? Can’t they go to Camp Life? Can’t they ride a bicycle? Can’t they go to school?
Can’t they get married one day? Why do you have to kill them? Why do you have to kill them
before they are born? Why do you have to take away a life? Why do you do that? “I got my
reasons.”

A woman can sleep around and get pregnant and just kill the baby cause “it’s my body.” It’s
more than your body. It’s another person’s life. I’m not hard on – the men are as guilty as
women. We’re all guilty. I don’t care about that. I’m not wanting people to be condemned, and
I’m not making people victims. I’m just telling you the truth. We got to get adjusted to what it
means to be living in the Spirit of God, in the Spirit of God.

Hey, I got a good question for you. What do you think about homosexuality. Why don’t you go
to God with it? Why don’t you read – what does God say in the Bible? Why don’t you read
about it from God? Why doesn’t the Holy Spirit teach you something about it? it’s devastating.
The disease, the problems, the psychological problems, the difficulties and then we are
promoting it like fools. Like fools. I’m not a fool. I am. I am. I mean I can guarantee you that. We
are. We are fools but are you in the Spirit? Do you mind the things of the Spirit? Do you care?
Here’s another little one. Here’s a blind man. He’s walking towards the ledge.

A blind man is walking towards the ledge. He can see, but what does he say in his own heart. I’m going
towards the ledge but what does he say in his heart? What do you think? He says, I can’t get involved. That’s his problem if he goes over. I don’t have any responsibility in this. The blind
man, that’s his problem. A question: to be carnally minded, I am minding other things but to be
spiritually minded is different. It’s different. I’m spiritually minded. Do you know what it
means? I love that guy. He’s blind. But his life means something. I love the guy. Hold it. Hold it.
You can’t see but I’m here as a friend to tell you wait. It’s dangerous. You’re going to fall. Think
about it.

What I am saying is very simple and I want it to sink in your heart. If you are a Christian, you are
different. If you are a Christian, you have something in you from the Holy Spirit. What’s Pontius
Pilate going to do? Pontius Pilate feels the wind blowing. He’s going to smell it in the air. He's
going to make a decision. Crucify him! You crucify him. I find no fault with him. He washes his
hands. It doesn’t work. You are responsible, Pilate. You crucified him. You did it. No, I didn’t. I
washed my hands. Okay. We can play games all day long. You know. I know and that’s how.
I want you folks and me – pray for me, all of us, to be salt and light. And be different in this
world. Just let the evil people run all over us and just good people do nothing. Good people
smelling the wind or feeling what’s going on.

There’s a blind man going here. I didn’t see anything. I never saw it. I didn’t see it. Yeah, you saw it. God knows you saw it. You saw it, but you got a problem because you don’t have any love. You don’t have any love. You don’t have
any joy. You don’t have any joy. You don’t have freedom. You don’t have courage. You don’t
have any conviction. You don’t have any salt. You don’t have any light.

You’re some American Christian whatever that believes whatever and does whatever is
convenient for me. I’m not tough on American Christians. They are awesome people, but I did
say that. I want to say it also Christians are the most amazing people in the world. They are
because they have the Spirit of God in them. Walk in it. Walk in the Holy Spirit and we can
change our country. Make it a better place. Help our kids. Reach out. We can do some things;
whatever God has for us in the future. We can make an impact and we can share love with
people. People don’t need religion. They need Christ. They don’t need a form. They need the
life of Christ. Amen. Would you pray with me, please.