1 Corinthians 2:16

1 Corinthians 2:16

I. What is the mind of Christ? Is it some high intellectual attainment? Or is it some great moral victory over the affections? The expression is evidently a very full one; for you may take the words of a man and you may take the actions of a man, and still fall short of the mind of that man. For the mind of a man is the spirit of a man. It is the motive which actuates him; it is the feeling which is unconsciously moulding his conduct every moment; it is the inner life which is continually giving the tone and the character to his outer being.

II. The believer is always striving after the mind of Christ. Nothing less will satisfy him, because nothing less will satisfy God. The soul of Jesus, infinitely stored with the Holy Spirit, becomes a fountain from whence again that Spirit is always pouring out into His own people; so that if ever we receive any grace of the Spirit, we are actually receiving a portion, however small, of the mind of Jesus Christ.

III. See, then, the way by which you are to obtain the mind of Christ. Every way you can, live close to Him, think of Him, meditate upon Him, hold communion with Him, lie at His feet, do constantly acts for His sake, suffer for Him, laud Him; talk of Him, lean upon Him, realise communion with Him, and invariably as you do this you are catching His mind.

IV. Note some of the advantages which belong to those who really have the mind of Christ. (1) No man can really understand the Bible who does not bring to the study of it the mind of Christ. (2) The possession of the mind of Christ is a wonderful clue to bear with us in the intricate windings of the daily labyrinth of life. (3) They have the benefit of the mind of Christ who wish to pray rightly. Those who bring Christ in them to their knees, having the mind of Christian asking, know what is the mind of Christ in giving.

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons,1874, p. 144.

References: 1 Corinthians 2:16. Homilist,vol. ii., p. 274. 1 Corinthians 2 W. Simpson, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxix., p. 28. 1 Corinthians 2 F. D. Maurice, Sermons,vol. ii., p. 197. 1 Corinthians 3:1. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning,p. 293. 1 Corinthians 3:1. F. W. Robertson, Lectures on Corinthians,p. 39. 1 Corinthians 3:3. T. Binney, Sermons,2nd series, p. 341. 1 Corinthians 3:6. J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit,vol. ix., p. 383; Homiletic Quarterly,vol. i., p. 409. 1 Corinthians 3:6. Homilist,new series, vol. iii., p. 208. 1 Corinthians 3:6. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xxvii., No. 1662. 1 Corinthians 3:8. G. D. MacGregor, Christian World Pulpit,vol. iv., p. 269. 1 Corinthians 3:9. E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons to a Country Congregation,p. 339; F. H. Marling, Christian World Pulpit,vol. vi., p. 255; H. W. Beecher, Ibid.,vol. viii., p. 329; Ibid.,vol. xxix., p. 132; T. M. Herbert, Sketches of Sermons,p. 71; J. Stalker, The New Song,p. 38. 1 Corinthians 3:9. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. iii., p. 80. 1 Corinthians 3:9. R. S. Candlish, The Gospel of Forgivenessp. 322. 1 Corinthians 3:10. W. Morley Punshon, Good Words,vol. ii., p. 355.