Being Kingdom Minded - Out of The Ordinary

I have a wonderful message that the Lord has given us this morning.

And last week we talked about our responsibility as the children of God, our responsibility as the church of Jesus Christ.

We notice in Matthew that Jesus reveals to Peter that the church was to be established, the church that would continue through generations, through generations and generations, leading to us gathering here under the big blue dome this morning.

Those of you watching at home, you are the church of Jesus Christ.

Can I get an amen this morning?

Matthew 16, 18, we see it says, And I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Praise the Lord.

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loose in heaven.

And that's why we share testimonies like Gail Susi this morning, because you are the church and you've been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Praise the Lord.

We realize that the church is so much more than what we make of it sometimes.

Although we limit the church of Jesus Christ to a building, to ministries, to a calendar of events, we can limit the church to pastors or even to people, but we find that the church was called to be so much more than this.

The church as commissioned by Jesus Christ was us as believers, you and I coming together as members of one body with Jesus Christ as the head.

Praise the Lord that He's the one that's making the decisions.

Praise the Lord that we don't have to figure this out all on our own.

We are the body of Christ.

Not only are we of one body, but we have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

So guess what, men and women of God?

We gain access to the supernatural.

We gain access to the supernatural, that what we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatsoever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Now, with Christ as the head of the body, it's up to you and I to start receiving the signals from the head.

Remember, we talked about that.

Signals from the head, which is Christ, and thus fulfilling our responsibility of members as members of his church.

As members of his church, in order to fulfill our responsibility, we need to receive our signals from the head.

Paul says we are created to have what?

The mind of Christ.

Philippians 2, 5 through 6, it says this let this mind be in you, which is also in who?

Christ Jesus.

Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in the fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Thank you, Lord.

See you and I as the church, we are members of one body.

We realize that guess what?

It's not about us.

It's not about us, our needs, our desires.

Guess what?

It's not about your feelings.

Making sure that your spiritual appetite is satisfied.

It's not about that.

But it's all about us coming together, just like Christ, humbling ourselves to see how we can serve in the kingdom of God.

No longer being what we termed as church-minded, as we discussed last week, but we have become kingdom-minded.

We need to become kingdom-minded.

Pastor Mike sent me a wonderful quote last week, and I wanted to share it with you this morning.

He sent me this quote.

I asked him where he got it from.

He said it's anonymous.

And he said that you'll thank me later.

He said, church people and God's people are not the same thing.

Church people go to church, God's people are the church.

I like that.

I'm gonna say it again.

Church people and God's people are not the same thing.

Church people go to church, God's people are the church.

It's different.

And I thought it was a wonderful testimony, realizing that the church was so much more than just what she needed out of it.

We come to know Christ and we get to a certain place and we say, I'm all set, I'm all set, but yet there's other people just like you and I that need people sitting in these seats, that need people praying for them and encouraging them and welcoming them to the kingdom of God.

You realize as as the church, you've been called to so much more, called to so much more.

It's us coming together so that others can be encouraged, so that others can be transformed through your testimony.

Sammy started to become kingdom-minded instead of church-minded, realizing there is more work to be done.

I love what it says, and we read this in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verses 14 through 16.

1 Corinthians 2:14–16

It says, But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand it because they are not spiritually discerned.

But the one who is spiritually dis, the one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet ye himself is discerned by no one.

For who has known the mind of the Lord that he will instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ.

See, there's a difference between the natural mind and being kingdom-minded, having the mind of Christ.

I thought it interesting if we go back to Matthew chapter 16, which we read this morning, where we see Jesus tells Peter his plan for the church upon this rock I will build my church.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

I want you to read what happens a little bit before.

In verse 13 of Matthew chapter 16, it says, When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the son of man, am?

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Try saying that ten times fast.

Whom do men say that I, the son of man, am?

And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah, and one of the or one of the prophets.

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

And Simon Peter, Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and I will give unto thee the king the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Do you notice something different?

Something different about Peter's response there.

All the other ones, they were comparing Jesus to those who have who they have seen before, those who ministry that they have experienced, but Peter says this thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Jesus refers to Peter as blessed, because Peter was not operating with his natural mind.

No, Peter had a mind that was tapped into the knowledge of the Father, and he was receiving signals from the Father.

This acknowledgement, Jesus acknowledging Peter in this way, becomes the foundation of why Peter becomes the rock of the in which the church begins.

And thus defines the future of the church and what it is supposed to operate like.

Peter is being kingdom-minded, and his kingdom-mindedness becomes a useful tool in how the church is supposed to operate.

It becomes a useful tool in the future of Christ Church.

Was Peter perfect?

No.

We see, especially as we walk towards the cross and we see Jesus' journey towards the cross, we see Peter start to fall short in some areas.

We also see some others who struggled with being kingdom-minded.

Not only Peter, but we find several individuals struggling to understand the mind of Christ.

God was still working on them because they were not being kingdom-minded.

This morning, as we march towards Easter Sunday, I said next week is Palm Sunday.

The following is Easter Sunday, a resurrection Sunday, where we celebrate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ being resurrected from the grave.

I want to highlight a few moments leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And in doing so, I want to show you the difference between kingdom mind and the natural mind.

We see people who are operating in the kingdom mind versus the natural mind.

Are you ready this morning?

I said, are you ready this morning?

You're gonna notice that being kingdom-minded requires you to think out of the ordinary.

We have that slide up there.

Being kingdom-minded, being kingdom-minded requires you to think out of the ordinary.

See, before the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, Palm Sunday, which we'll celebrate next week, which leads into Passion Week, we see a wonderful story of a woman named Mary with a very expensive perfume.

Now, this account appears throughout the Gospels in some variation if you do a study on it.

But this morning I want to look at John's account.

We'll turn to the book of John, chapter 12, starting at verse 1.

John 12 · chapter mention

It says this therefore, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

So they made him a dinner there, and Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him.

Mary then took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

A beautiful story, beautiful imagery that comes forward when you read this.

Obviously, an awkward situation.

An awkward situation where Mary takes this very expensive perfume to anoint the feet of Jesus.

When was the last time you anointed somebody's feet with lotion?

Forget about an expensive perfume.

Not very often.

She does something out of the ordinary, something out of the norm for Christ, giving even the most expensive of possessions over to him.

See, when I read this account, it rings a few bells as it pertains to what we do for the kingdom of God.

Things that seem out of the ordinary.

I remember when I started making money, I grew up in the church, and I started to work, and all of a sudden you start to get these paychecks, and you get happy.

Oh, now I can actually start to buy my own things.

But then I remember that I had to start tithing.

Oh, now that I make money, now it's time to tithe.

Why would I give so much to the church?

I need that money for my needs.

Why would I give my hard work away?

Because the way that I operate comes from above, written in God's word, not from the natural mind.

My mind also goes to when people would say, You could be doing so many careers.

Why do you choose to do that career?

Why do you choose to spend so much time at the church?

Why are you there all the time?

We could be doing other things.

Why do you choose to spend so much time and energy?

Why do you give so much of your valuable possessions away?

It seems so strange to the normal mind, but the way that I operate comes from above, written down in God's word.

There are many who cannot understand why we do the things that we do.

But in Mary's account, we see even amongst the followers of Christ, people were confused.

If we read on in chapter 12 of John, verse 8, it says, But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, the one who intended to portray him, said, Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and the proceeds given to the poor people?

Now he said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he kept the he kept the money box he used to steal from what was put into it.

Therefore Jesus said, Leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.

For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.

In Matthew 26, Jesus continues about the woman who gave in a different account, and he says, Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.

You see, this woman, Mary, this one who poured the perfume on Christ's feet, was not receiving her signals from the natural mind.

For most of us, we would have been embarrassed to do such a thing, or we would have justified why a sacrifice of such goods did not need to be made.

Yet this woman was willing to give up such a valuable, a valuable possession on what?

The feet of Jesus.

In essence, Jesus says to Judas and all of those who were there, this woman and what she is doing, this woman is being kingdom-minded.

She is not acting out of the natural mind.

She is being kingdom-minded.

Yes, she could have kept it for herself or gave it to somebody else, but instead, she was concerned about the furtherance of the kingdom of God.

She was concerned about giving the best for God's use.

Did the woman know what was going to unfold over the next couple days?

Maybe she would have heard whispers with what Jesus had said, but without even knowing the full plan of what was to come, the woman gave everything she could when everybody else could not understand.

If we look a chapter over in the book of John, we see another dinner taking place.

And this dinner would be an important encounter where what takes place here would be practiced for generations, and many of you know the story.

At the Last Supper, Jesus would break bread and pass the cup, representing the body that would be broken and the blood that would be spilled for us.

But in this same encounter, we see Jesus setting another example for us in John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

It says in verse 11, Jesus, knowing that the Father had ended all things over to him, and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, he got up from supper and laid out his garments aside, and he took a towel and tied it around himself, and he poured water into a basin and began washing the disciples' feet and wiping them with the towel which he had tied around himself.

We know the story.

We think, oh, that's just Jesus.

But if you were in that room, if you were sitting around that table, and Jesus, the one who you had been following, who you knew that was sent from God, stands up to his feet and now begins to wash your feet.

We see Jesus is doing something out of the ordinary, something not known to the natural mind.

Jesus is lowering himself to wash the feet of the disciples.

We read on in verse six, it says, So he came to Simon Peter and he said to him, Lord, you are washing my feet.

But Peter says, Lord, you are washing my feet.

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I am doing you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.

Peter said to him, Never shall you wash my feet.

Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no place with me.

Simon Peter said to him, Lord, then not then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.

Jesus said to him, He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, otherwise he is completely clean.

And you are clean, but not all of you.

For he knew that one who was betraying him, it was for this reason he said, Not all of you are clean.

At the time, Peter would not understand why Jesus was washing his feet.

Peter would not understand this kingdom-minded lesson that Jesus was trying to teach them.

In verse 12, it says, Then when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again, he said to them, Do you not know what I have done for you?

You call me teacher and Lord, and you are correct, for so I am.

So if I, the Lord and the teacher, wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you.

Truly, truly, I say unto you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who sent greater than the one who sent him.

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Jesus doing something out of the ordinary for his disciples.

See, be being kingdom-minded is thinking out of the ordinary.

Why was this waste of ointment made?

Jesus, Lord, why do you wash my feet?

It's not normal, it's not natural.

This can't be right.

Why would you give so much?

Why would you lower yourself so much?

Because being kingdom-minded is thinking out of the ordinary in order to get extraordinary results.

I'm gonna say that again.

Being kingdom-minded is thinking out of the ordinary in order to get extraordinary results.

If you want extraordinary results, you need to start thinking out of the ordinary.

We see both in Mary's giving of her possessions and Christ's lowering of himself, boy, both point to what would occur in just a short time later.

If we turn a few chapters over, Mary's perfume that was fit for a king, yet was humbled to the feet of Jesus.

Jesus, the King of kings, humbled to the feet of the disciples.

Jesus would offer himself as the blood sacrifice for the Sins of all of humanity.

See, these out-of-the-ordinary acts would prepare for something extraordinary that Jesus Christ would accomplish.

These out of the ordinary acts would prepare for something extraordinary where Jesus Christ would lower himself as the suffering servant as described in Isaiah.

To do what?

To conquer sin and death.

To offer forgiveness and everlasting life to those who believe in him.

Imagine forgiveness and everlasting life.

How extraordinary.

How beautiful?

How wonderful.

Because of something out of the ordinary.

People may ask you, why do you continue to love the way that you do?

How can you love like that?

Why do you choose to love even the unlovable?

How can you keep forgiving again and again and again and again when that person keeps wronging you time and time and time again?

Why in the world do you keep on forgiving them?

Why do you serve the way that you do?

Why do you spend your Saturdays washing toilets?

Why do you spend your Saturdays going and ministering to this person or that person?

Why aren't you wrapped up in this lifestyle or that lifestyle?

Why do you deny bigger things for so little?

Because that's what Christ instructs me to do.

And in doing so, in listening to the signals, we as the members of his body, in being kingdom-minded, and in doing things out of the ordinary, guess what?

We reap kingdom benefits, we reap extraordinary benefits, give out of the ordinary.

Listen, people of God, serve out of the ordinary, love out of the ordinary, forgive out of the ordinary, do as Christ instructs you to do.

And even though the other world might, the other ones around might say, wait a second, this is too strange.

This is not normal.

This could have been used for something else.

No, no, no, no, no.

I choose to give it over to the kingdom of God.

I choose to live by the kingdom instructions and reap the benefits.

Why?

Because in Matthew 6, 33, Jesus says this, and I love this verse.

It says, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided unto you.

All these things will be added unto you.

God, I pray.

Lord, as we open up your word and you reveal to us, God, that it's okay to do things out of the ordinary.

God, and although it might not be the world's way, we see that you have a plan, you have a purpose.

God, I don't know if Mary even knew what she was doing at that point.

The disciples obviously had no idea what was going on, but yet she was preparing the body of Christ, perfume fit for a king, lowered to the feet of Jesus, preparing that offering that will become a fragrant perfume and a sacrifice, as it says in Ephesians, for the sins of mankind.

God, it might have been strange when Jesus knelt to the feet of the disciples to wash their feet, but God He set an example for each and every one of us as the church, that we need to serve one another.

And if it means lowering ourselves, doing something out of the ordinary, so that others can be lifted up, we'll praise the Lord.

Use us for the furtherance of your kingdom, God, we don't always understand.

But I pray that each and every one of us will become open vessels to be used by you.

Not receiving our signals from anywhere else, God, but receiving our signals from you, from your word, having the courage and the confidence to be able to do things out of the ordinary.

Why?

Because you have something extraordinary in store for us.

Everlasting life, God, who would have thought?

Who would have imagined?

God, and yet eye has not seen nor ear has heard the things that you have in store for us.

So, God, continue to give us opportunities to act out of.

I'm not saying go crazy and mental, that's not what I'm talking about.

But do things as they're written down in your word, God, even though the other people don't understand, I'm gonna do it because you told me to do it.

Looking forward to all that you have in store.

We thank you and we praise you.

For you are an extraordinary God who does an extraordinary thing for your people.

We thank you and we praise you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.