We go ahead and turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans 8 this morning is where we'll be. We're going to continue our study in spiritual mindedness. And I have to give you the bad news before we get to the good news. So we are continuing examining the carnal mind, right, is death, carnal mindedness, fleshly mindedness, worldliness, however you want to phrase that. We're going to cover that today a bit more in depth. And then over the next weeks after that, we'll get into spiritual mindedness, how we cultivate that, things to look for, ways that we can grow. And so, again, I pray that you're Patience would be with me today as we go through this, as it is a heavy topic, but nonetheless one that we have to wrestle with as believers. And so today we're going to cover the carnal mind is death. And a lot of this is taken from Martin Lloyd Jones. I think it was in his sermon series. There was an article that Chapel Library put out. Very helpful. Maybe we can order a few of those if you would like to read through those. But I found them very helpful. But I want to start this morning with a quote from Abraham Booth. He says, the longer I live, the more certain I am that all pretenses to piety without spiritual mindedness are of no worth. So what does he mean here? What is he saying? Anybody want to take a guess at this? Well, there are forms of piety that are just part of a religious practice that could be meaningless. External shows, right? Coming to church but yet your heart remains unaffected. These are the things that he is speaking of. Spiritual mindedness he speaks of is of so much of important value to us that we cannot dare to come to the things of God without having that about us. It's not just about the externalness of us. We can externally look great, but the question is how is your heart? How is your heart? Let's look at Romans chapter 8. I want to read verses 5-8 again. Romans 8. We'll read verses 5-8. It says, For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death. but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Now, I want to start by trying to understand the definition of the carnal mind, the fleshly mind. When we say fleshly, or after the flesh, or according to the flesh, what does this mean? What does this mean? Somebody help me. Y'all have to interact a lot today. Anything that would be against scripture that would be displeasing to the Lord, that would be sinful. Yes, anything. Yes, any other definitions? Great definition. Yes, Lynn? Your mind, affections, set on the things of this world. Somebody else said, I think it was probably Martyn Lloyd-Jones, after the flesh refers to living under the authority and control of the fallen human nature. Those things which are against God, following those desires, those affections, anything that is natural, that is not of God, we could say is after the flesh. Now, contrast that with the spiritual condition. Those who are after the flesh versus those who are led by the Spirit. Two polar opposites. And every single person in this world fits in one of these two categories. Either led by the Spirit or led by the flesh. There's no third option. Now what does it mean to be dominated or live under the dominion of the flesh? Being under the flesh and under its dominion means a habitual domination by that innate sinful nature, by those things that are not of God, those things that come from the evil one, Satan himself. It is being conquered, we could say, by worldliness, sinfulness, things not of God. This is what it means to live under the dominion of fleshly matters. And we must understand that living according to the flesh can come in an instant, or it can last for a lifetime. Look in Romans 8.5 again. It mentions how living according to the flesh and according to the Spirit. Those two contrasting themes. How would you describe, okay, here's where you guys can help me this morning. How would you describe the practical differences between these two ways of living in daily life? Somebody give me some examples. What does it mean to live according to flesh and then according to the Spirit? Practical examples. If we live according to the flesh, we live according to what we think is moral or right. Right. And what we want. Yes. Good. What else? You can pick either one of them. Yes. The way we speak is a practical representation if we are led by the spirit, led by the flesh. What else? As an application for myself, I can think of a lot of case of why men should be able to allow to do this but then the spiritual mind is what stops that and says no there is the standard of truth there's a biblical authority of what God says is right you believe that and so thus curtailing your thoughts and saying submission to that and say, this is the right, regardless of what I think. Yeah, and we'll get to it in a few weeks, but renewing, renewing of your mind by the power of the Holy Spirit in those moments of difficulties and temptation. All right, true or false? Sorry, sorry, go ahead. Just one more. I think sometimes being spiritually minded means you're driven to do things that you're uncomfortable doing. So in other words, you know, if you have an opportunity to share with someone and you really don't want to, When you feel compelled to because of the Spirit. It's not natural to us. Right. Right. It's those things that come from the Lord. Alright, true or false here? Every time we sin, we are not being spiritually minded. True or false? True. True. And we need to think about that and really wrestle with that. Every time that we sin, we are not being spiritually minded. We are being carnally minded. And this is the weakness of the flesh. We'll get into it in just a minute of how that is. And also some helps and hopes for us as believers. But let's continue. We need to unpack a bit more of the characteristics of the carnal mind. The mind that is according to the things of the flesh. I think we said it last week. If not, I'll say it again. The mind involves not just the thoughts. It's not just what goes through your mind, what you're thinking. But it's your affections. It's your emotions. It's your desires. It's your goals in this life. It's your pursuits. Right? And it integrates the entirety of your being. Okay? It's not just what you think. But it's really what you do. What you believe. What you feel. The whole man we need to think of. That's the mind, often, in Scripture. The seed of affections is the heart as described. Okay, let's look at Philippians 3, verse 15. Philippians 3, verse 15 through 19. It says there in verse 15, Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind. Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things. So here you see a direct connection between the mind versus also how you walk. The things that are displayed, the fruits in your life. Because whatever is in here, within us, in our minds, in our heart, will come out. The abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Oftentimes when we speak, say things, we know this. But when we think of Philippians 3, 15 through 19, another question for us all. So help me here. How can we identify if our minds are set more on earthly things than on spiritual matters? How can we practically do this? This is where the rubber hits the road. How can we identify if our minds... Yes, brother? look to others as examples. And I don't think there Paul means stay far away from that person and just watch them. He's talking about an intimate relationship there. So surrounding yourself with people that can look at you and go, you're not living according, or yes you are. So having the body of Christ around you. Yeah, a mark of, sorry. Just as one way. Yeah, and I think it's a mark of spiritual mindless is if you walk with other believers and step with them, not alone. Right? That's great. Anything else from this passage? Yes? For myself, I know that it is utter honesty with myself. How am I doing anything trying to justify anything that would be not in step with the Spirit. And so that is, I think it's necessary. that utter honesty with ourselves, like have that conversation with yourself. Does this, what I think, is my mind truly on the things of Christ, or am I making excuses for myself, to myself, to justify the leniency of my walk? Anyone else? Yes? about some of the people that were preaching Christ that they preached from selfish ambition. So I think it's really good to ask heart-proofing questions regarding what you're doing and why you're doing it. Motivations. And I think naturally, right, is fallen sinful creatures, we don't like those heart-probing questions, right? We don't like to be confronted directly with the truth of the Word of God. That's not in our nature, right? And so the Spirit does work and take those things directly, and we have to ask, yeah, everything, like our sister said, what is our motivation for such a thing? Because even outwardly, Right? We could be doing the right things, but if our heart's not correct and right, then we're not really being spiritually minded. Right? We're just going through the motions. Just doing our checklist off. Yeah. I see one more. Yeah? Just to piggyback off of that, one way to test that as well is to watch how you respond to something. So, there's a story saying, you know, if you were suddenly looking for the praise of man and you did something and you didn't receive that praise, Alright, let's continue. Two more texts of Scripture. Galatians 5. Let's go there first. And then we'll look at 1 John 2, 15 and 17. And you can see already in my question, I think we've already answered. How do we define the flesh? What does that mean? Those things opposed to God. But here's some more supporting text for us, Galatians 5.19 to begin with. And we'll read through verse 21, so I'll give you just a second to get there. And then we'll also look at 1 John 2, verses 15-17. Alright, Galatians 5.19. It says, well actually let me back up. I think verse 16 will help us, this theme of walking and mindedness. It says, I say then, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now that being under the curse of law, we need to remember, right? 19. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in past time, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. So here we see the broad scope of carnal interest. These are fruits. And notice Paul doesn't say it's just these and the like. Anything like this. But really this hits at the heart of sinful and fleshly and worldly behavior. So we understand, we must understand that the flesh includes not only overt sins, like adultery and drunkenness, but it also speaks to those more subtle forms like idolatry, envy, strife, outburst of wrath, all of these things that we've been speaking of. So it's not just these great and big sins, right, that everybody in our world and our culture recognizes, but it's even those motivations of the heart. What are our true heart thoughts about God and His Word? These things that it speaks of. Most people think it's just those heinous sins, those sinners on the streets, right? But in all actuality, it includes the most intellectual, the most moral, and all those whom the world would describe as noble. People often mistake cultural and moral achievements, says Martyn Lloyd-Jones, as signs of spiritual health. If you're doing good in this world, that must mean you're a good man, good person. But even the most intellectually or culturally elevated individuals can be deeply carnal if they live their lives self-sufficiently without God present therein. And I think that's the heart of a carnal mind. It is living self-sufficiently. Living as if there is no God. Living as if I don't believe God and His Word. Living how I want to. and how I desire." There's a great deception, though, in our day of respectability. I think I can say it that way. I'm a good person. How many of you ever heard that phrase? According to the world standards, I'm a good person. Well, he was good. But there's a deception there that while you may be noble minded or seen as noble minded in this world, that doesn't mean that you're spiritual. That doesn't mean that you're spiritually minded. So the things of the flesh represent this life, this pattern of your life that is devoid of spiritual elements, focused solely on earthly concerns. Now let's move to 1 John 2 and I'll ask as you're turning there, what's worldliness? Is there a difference between worldliness and fleshliness? Or are they the same thing? What do y'all think? What's worldliness? If you defined worldliness... in the world that is brought on by the curse, that is the sinfulness that is tempting us to sin, and then the flesh is that which was in us carnally. Is that from the two different angles? That was from within and then from without? I think that's a fair assessment, yeah. I think that's helpful to put it that way. They're very closely related. Okay, so let's read 1 John 2, verse 15, and I'll read through verse 17. It says, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away in the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever. So here we see that that worldliness that's present is loving the things of the world. Okay, loving the world or the things in the world. This present evil age, this doesn't mean that we can't enjoy this life or give glory to God for the good things that we have in this life, but worldliness here is those things that are opposed to God. I don't know if everybody was here, maybe half, when I was preaching through 1 John. We went through and looked at this world, this word world, right, and John uses the word world some 14 different times throughout his writings, so it's not always clear exactly what he means. But here, world is those sinful things that are opposed to God. That's simply what we can say. Anybody who is worldly is not spiritually minded, is not thinking their thoughts after God and following His word, but instead follows the pattern of this world. Here's a long quote. I hope you can see it. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, I think it's an excellent quote. It says, What then does the flesh mean? In a word, it means worldly mindedness. It included everything that is opposed to the mind and the life of the Holy Spirit. Another way of putting it is to say that the things of the flesh means every aspect of life without God, everything in life from which God is excluded. It refers, in other words, to the life of this world only. It denotes the complete severance from all that is spiritual, It concentrates on the visible, the seen, and has nothing at all to do with the unseen. It references, it is to life in this world only, to life bounded by the body and the various qualities and attributes of the fleshly mind, but to the exclusion of the spiritual element. Living for the here and the now is the way we can say it. 1 John 2, 15-17 warns us against loving against the world. Now, help me here, what are some modern examples of worldliness that can subtly influence us as Christians today. Were we tempted to be worldly in our thoughts, in our thinking, in our living? Somebody chime in here. I think the whole area of woke is self-satisfaction with what we think would be right or wrong, irregardless of God. God is out of the picture. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's a good example. When you are defining what is true justice, or you're trying to define What is good, apart from the word of God? Yes, great. What else? I think there are some churches that fall into justifying their political views with the Bible and, you know, they end up kind of going off on politics. I think the same thing happens sometimes in abortion. It's a terrible sin, but it shouldn't be the driver. When the gospel becomes secondary to political things or even good things like fighting against abortion, we've lost the gospel. So maybe we can say it this way, when other things become more prominent than the gospel for us, and even as churches, we need to be careful that this doesn't happen. We're doing things or focusing on things more than the gospel itself. I think in the area of politics, that's a very fine line because you want to have godly representation in political areas, but you don't want to make those politicians the saviors of the world. Yeah, treating them as Messiah. I mean, pretty soon, we must realize this, and I'll leave this for my political comments, but pretty soon in the United States of America, it's gonna be sinful to vote for either party, the way that they're going, the way that this world is going. So we need to understand that. We need to always think according to the Scriptures, and allow those to penetrate our minds, and help us to think spiritually-minded, right, even about politics, and about all of these things. Yeah, great point. Anything else? What about busyness? Sorry I'll get to you in just a second, but busyness. Can busyness be a temptation for us to be worldly minded? We're so distracted. We're always working. We're always thinking about something else. And we disguise that as, well, I need to provide for my family or do this and that. We need to be careful that the majority of our thoughts, our efforts, right, are the things of God. Okay? Yes? I feel like Jesus came and he preached more against or about pride and that was in the Sadducees and the Pharisees more so than, you know, all the adultery, you know, the big ten commandments, you know, so pride is a big one. Yeah, pride is a great one. I mean, even with the Pharisees, right, we see they weren't spiritually minded. They were externally looking great, but their hearts were far from God, right? And pride, yes, I think that's a great temptation for us as Christians to be proud. Yes, our culture tends to like anxiety and worry and pride. Those are all very, oh, I'm so anxious today. Almost, you're proud to be anxious. Yes. That's a big thing. And then you incur not only being anxious, but also pride. Yeah. Yeah, so I know we can come up with many more. And our goal is not just to highlight every single one, but to get us to think in maybe areas that we're not used to thinking about and ask the Lord, where am I being worldly minded? Am I responding in a worldly-minded way, or am I taking every thought captive to Christ? Now, last section in our study on the carnal mind is the consequences, okay? The consequences, Romans 8, 6, is spiritual death. We covered this last week. Spiritual death is a life that is cut off from God. It manifests in itself as living as if there is no God, as we talked about. But we must understand that if the entirety of your life is marked by carnal mindedness, then you do not belong to Christ. You do not belong to Him. What happens to us? Well, we repent, right? If we are carnally minded. Lord, help me to be more spiritually minded. But someone who lives the entirety of their life thinking only of the things of this world, does not have the Spirit of God abiding in him. They are in spiritual death. We must understand that. And there is a comprehensive nature to spiritual death. It affects all areas of life. It makes one insensitive to spiritual truths and realities, unaffected by the things. I mean, think about, for example, someone who comes to hear the Word of God week in and week out, and yet remains unaffected completely by everything that they've heard. Right? They are a carnally minded person. Okay? Now, I know you thought that I forgot, but I gave you a question last week. Is it possible for a true believer to not be spiritually minded. Okay? And I want to spend the last bit of our time going here because I think if you're a believer and you struggle at times with carnal mindedness, I know where your mind might go. You might say, well, I'm not even a Christian then. But there's great hope for those who wrestle, right? That we can have assurances if we truly belong to Christ, but we have to look to his word and not what we feel. Okay? Because oftentimes, right, we feel, well, I don't feel like I'm a Christian. But what does God's Word say about these things? So, who did their homework last week? Is it possible, just give me yes or no, you don't have to explain it all. Is it possible for a true believer to not be spiritually minded? I'm going to say yes because of an example that I saw in Scripture when I was racking my mind over it. And at first I wanted to say no, but then there's this individual realizing that you can be quite carnally minded and still get your name into Hebrews 11. this person is not a good example, and that's Samson. That individual, we would not stand up and say, this guy is an illustration of how we should be spiritually minded. But his name is in Hebrews 11. And so, yeah. Yeah. Solomon's another example that we can think of. So is David. David, yes. Yeah, so there are times, right? Seasons. I mean, to say that it's not possible for a true believer to not be spiritually minded, that's a double negative, sorry. But to say that, right, means that we don't sin. Right? So we have to say, yes, it is possible, but for a season. Luke? I was going to say, you said earlier today, you know, whenever we sin, we are not being spiritually minded. And so, we worked here at the Sunday School last week, but based off of that statement and then looking at the question, that would mean that everyone in this room I showed my cards too early, sorry. I couldn't wait. But yes, you're right. Let's turn to Matthew 16. I have another example. A man named Peter. I don't know if you've heard of him. Matthew 16. We've got a few more minutes, so let's spend a little time in this. And my goal here is to not encourage you as a believer to be carnally minded, but if you find yourself to be tempted that way, to find refuge and repentance in Christ. And knowing that yes, the flesh is very weak, but Lord help me to be more spiritually minded. Matthew 16, I'll start in verse 13. It says, When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So they said, Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.' Then he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ." So, Peter got it right here. 100 points on the test. He confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Was Peter being spiritually minded here? Sure. Because what does it say? It's the spirit of the living God who has revealed these things to you, not the flesh. See that contrast? But let's wait just a moment because not even in the next couple of verses what happens? Verse 21, from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised on the third day. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan, you are an offense to me. For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." Immediately, right? We see to the point where the Lord Jesus Christ rebukes him, calling him Satan. saying you're not spiritually minded, you're only thinking the things of men. Carnal mindedness here. So what are we to make of this? Right, well the question, yes it is possible that true believers can be four times in short seasons not spiritually minded. And here is an example of Peter doing this. What eventually happens with Peter? Does he stay in this situation, this position of being carnally minded? He goes back and forth. What else happens? What other grave sin does Peter think, trying to save his own skin, thinking of the thoughts of men? Denying Christ three times. But what happens in Peter's life? Does he ever repent? He does repent. He repents. Sorrowfully. He repents. And so there's great hope for us who struggle to not always have our minds set on the things of God, that there is forgiveness. There is grace for us when we run to the throne of grace, finding that pardon there. We're not lost forever when we commit heinous sins. Peter being that example. And I'm certain that's why the Lord left these examples for us. To take heart and remember that Christ forgives even the greatest of sins. Let's go to Romans 7. What do we see in answering this question? We must understand that As believers, we have a dual nature. What does that mean? That we're both carnal and spiritually minded. Yeah, there still is the remnants of sin. We have not been glorified. We still sin, right? Until we get to heaven, we still wrestle with flesh. And this will be the reality for us the entirety of our lives. Just for the sake of reading the whole section, you can read it later on, but just for time, Romans 7, 15-25 is a great, helpful analogy for us where Paul is describing his own struggle with sin as a believer, expressing a conflict even within his own heart with his desire to obey God and the reality of sin in his life. Just look at one verse, verse 15. For I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate. And so this tells us, right, that even those who are justified by faith alone and Christ alone can experience periods of the spiritual conflict and carnality within us. We can be for a season carnal-minded. But notice I said a season. It cannot be permanent, it cannot be the mark of your life. Paul struggles with sin, the apostle himself. And so, how does this provide us comfort as believers when we look to a passage like this? It describes our life. It describes our life, it tells us who we really are. It helps us to understand our true nature. But it also gives us comfort for this. Christians should never fear repentance. Christians, we should love the word repentance. Because that is where we find true hope and pardon from all of our sins. And it's only pride that causes us to hate repentance. Let's go to another section. Philippians 2. Here, what I want us to see is there is an ongoing process of sanctification. Are we fully sanctified the moment we believe? There is a definitive sanctification, right? Everybody heard that phrase? What does that mean? Definitive sanctification, right? That we are declared just in the sight of God. It's as if we had never sinned because we were covered by the blood of Christ. But there's also the process of ongoing sanctification, progressive sanctification in the life of the believer. Philippians 2, 12-13, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Now, what is our responsibility in our progressive sanctification? Do we just, hands off? God's going to do everything for us? What does it say? Right. Working out your salvation. I know people are afraid of this word work. We're not working for our salvation, but we're working out our salvation. The fruit of this salvation is that we will be people who work. Work to have spiritual minds. Work to see that Christ has the preeminence in our lives. This process of ongoing sanctification is where we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, do what God says. We obey His Word. And if we have the Spirit of the Living Christ in us, then we can obey the Word of God. But we don't always do that, do we? So then we obey other parts of Scripture where He tells us to repent and to flee to the throne of grace. Right, you see? Now, I want to make sure there's no misunderstandings here. We don't do anything to contribute to our own salvation, except the sin that makes it necessary, said Jonathan Edwards. But once we are converted, we do much. We're not just put in a new showroom and just coasted downhill. But we have to strive, we have to work out. And the work here is something we give intense effort to. So, as we think about Philippians 2, and the implications for our role in sanctification, what are some practical steps that we can take in our own lives to work out our salvation while relying on the power of the Holy Spirit? Just give me some practical steps, yes. Yeah, that's great. And maybe to distill it just a moment, So to understand what God has called us to do, right, if we don't understand what He's commanded us to do, we cannot obey Him. So how do we work out our salvation? Well, we do things like read the Word of God. That's where we practically do those things. We sit under the preaching of the Word, and that's how we work out our salvation, so that we will become more informed of the things of God, and that the Spirit will work with His Word in our hearts to make us more spiritually minded. It's a great example. Any others? very obvious, as long as we need to marinate in the obvious. But it's to remember that we are at the warfare. I don't think I'm the only one in this room that wakes up in the morning and doesn't think about, I'm in the trenches in a spiritual battle. I get up and think, oh, I've got to go to work. I've got to do this. I've got to do that. It's very, again, focused on this world. And so to think about and put that in the forefront of our minds, it's a habit that needs to be formed. I am at war. And so to have that mindset, you know, the guys in World War II in the trenches never woke up and went, oh, it's a wonderful morning. I'm just going to relax. I'm not going to take it easy. Or I'm going to take it easy and not. No, they were always minded, that bullet. They were always minded. And so we are in that state of prominence. We're living in a society that is trying to null us to sleep. And so, yeah, I think that's something we have to just always have in front of our minds and tell ourselves we are at war. Same with wine. Feed convinces us there is no more. We can just relax. There's an urgency behind this. Yes? I think when we put this in, like, to add one more element to it is we are working, but we need to remember we are going to fail at this. Okay? And we are completely dependent on Christ about doing it, so we need to continue. Because sometimes when we fail with our working, We just want to give up and we don't look to Christ. But we do still have our sin and we're going to fail at our working. Yes. So the hope is press on. Right. And in those moments when we feel like utter failures, remember that it was Christ who purchased our salvation and he has secured this. And remember the lengths that he went to for his people on the cross. And then to help Lord even give me the ability to not believe like I've been defeated, right? And fight and labor that. Okay, last one here is the role of will and effort in spiritual mind. It's Galatians 5.16, I say, then walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. I just want to highlight again. We have a responsibility unto the Lord to pursue holiness and spiritual mindedness. To not be pursuing these things is sinful. We have to realize that. Notice how often the command is put upon us, right, to walk, to renew our minds, to do all these things that God calls us to do, but never devoid of the help of the Holy Spirit. But we have that responsibility to press onward. And then finally, I think this will bring us much comfort. There is assurance of God's work in believers. Philippians 1.6, being confident in this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Notice who is completing the work. Who is it? God. Yes, not us. We did not begin that work in ourselves. And so I think this will be the great help, right? When we fall, when we're discouraged, I don't know which way is up, to remember that it's God who is working. and in me, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. So this gives us comfort, that even when we're not perfectly spiritually minded, we are still under God's transformative work. Right? And even knowing that He is continuing to work in me, and He's not left me, is a great assurance of my salvation in Christ. And so I press onward, asking for the Lord's help. So just a couple points, I know we're running out of time. We'll pick up next week, we're gonna start examining spiritual mightiness, the fruits of it, how do we cultivate that. But just a few things, points of application before we conclude. We need to always examine ourselves regularly and carefully. Never be afraid to get alone with the Lord in quietness and ask Him, what is in my heart? And He knows what's already there. So why are we afraid to discover what's in our heart as well? So reflect on the things that you pursue during the week. Your personal interests. Where are the majority of your thoughts? Are there areas in your own life where you see a godless focus? By the power of the Holy Spirit, ask Him to help you realign these areas to be more spiritually minded. So examine ourselves, our motivations. We need to repent of worldly mindedness. We need to strive for spiritually mindedness. So every time we sin we are guilty of worldly mindedness. The only difference though between a believer and unbeliever is this, that he or she, the believer, is by faith united to Christ and repentance that comes with that when we are worldly minded. If there are long seasons in your life of perpetual and unrepentant worldly mindedness, then you need to examine if indeed you believe the gospel. It's very likely that you do not belong to Christ if the entirety of your life, right, is marked by worldly mindedness. Therefore you must believe in Him for salvation. But notice as a Christian we will sin, yes, but we will repent by the help and the grace of God. We will repent of these things. Just conclude with this, Hebrews 3. I don't think I put it up here. I'll just read it for us. Hebrews 3, 8-15, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me, tried me, and saw my works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways. So I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Verse 12, while it is said, today if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion. So as we reflect on even this verse, notice that the call is to live in community and with one another. We cannot strive to be spiritually minded alone. We have to need the help of God's people. So even that, so take those and I'll stop there. And if you've got any questions, send them to me this week and I'll answer them, but we're out of time, so let me pray. Our Father in heaven, again, we confess our worldly mindedness and ask for you to forgive us of it. Help us to repent. Lord, help us to be more spiritually minded. Give us much assurance this morning. of your work in us, and I do pray for those souls, my brothers and sisters who are wrestling perhaps with their assurance even now, that you would give them great comfort and help them to see that you are the one who is working in them. Help them not to live and believe the things that they feel, but the things they know to be true according to your word. Oh God, give us grace and help us now as we go into our corporate worship. We do pray these things in Christ's name, amen.