Romans 134
The
Attitude of Christ no. 1
What
is the Right Attitude?
Brian Kocourek
This morning we will continue with our study of the Book of Romans, and we are quickly now approaching the end of this study. This morning we will pick up at verse 17 and we see what appears to be a warning from the Apostle Paul, which we spoke on in Romans 132, but this morning, I would like to look at this verse in a little different light, and that has to do with why someone would commit offenses and cause divisions which are contrary to the Doctrine that we have been taught.
ROMANS
This week, I would like to approach
this Scripture from the aspects of attitude, and how we can take inventory of
our own attitudes to ensure that we will never be of those that would cause
such contrary offenses.
Now to begin, we must understand
that Christ is the Doctrine that Paul is speaking of. That is why I simply can
not understand how people can get so upset at those who are preaching the Message
Doctrine, as though the word Doctrine is some cuss word. The Doctrine is
Christ!
2 John 1:9 Whosoever
transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving
the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not
laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward
God,
We’re not talking about the doctrine
of Buddha, or Mohammed, nor are we talking about the Baptist doctrine, or
Methodist doctrine, nor are we speaking of Catholic Doctrine, nor Pentecostal
doctrine. But Paul and John called it the doctrine of Christ. They both said,
“The Doctrine of Christ”. Then Christ is the Doctrine.
Yes, He is the Doctrine. Then to
preach the Message-Doctrine you must preach Christ. And yet the brethren
everywhere have been cut off from the mainline churches for the simple reason
they are teaching the Message-Doctrine which is the revelation of Jesus Christ
the way brother Branham taught it. And He was vindicated by God to be teaching
it correctly.
GODHEAD EXPLAINED
61-0425B 34-3 Here not long ago a man got up here at the
Chatauqua and said, "Brother Branham is a prophet." I don't claim to
be no prophet. See? But he said, "Brother Branham is a prophet when he is
under the Spirit of discernment," but said, "Oh, his doctrine is
poison; be careful with it." I
thought of an educated man would say a thing like that. What does a
"prophet" mean? "A Divine interpreter of the Word." The
Word of the Lord came to the prophet. You see?
And in the message Five Identifications of the True Church of the Living God PP
45 brother Branham said the church that says that Christ is her Husband, and her doctrine
is contrary to His Teaching. She's a whore. And I would like to add,
that when this happens you must look at what the motive is and why they would
teach contrary to His Doctrine.
1 Timothy 6:3 If any man teach
otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; 4He is proud,
knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof
cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, 5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt
minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such
withdraw thyself.
Now, to be a Bible believer you must
believe that God is the Word, and therefore God is in His Word, and if He is
the Word and He is in His Word, then God must backup His Word. Therefore, what
attitude we take towards God’s Word and the promises of God we find in His
Word, The attitude we take towards those promises, we are taking towards God
Himself.
Therefore this morning I want to
speak on our attitude towards God and His Word, and to do so, I would like to
break down these thoughts into 5 major points.
I)
I want to show
what having the right mental attitude is.
II)
I want to show
what the right mental attitude will produce.
III)
I want to show
why we must have the right mental attitude.
IV)
I want to show
how our mental attitude affects those around us.
V)
I want to show
how a wrong attitude can cripple our walk, and the walk of those we have
influence over.
Now, to begin with, we must first
know what a right mental attitude is, and in order to know what the right
mental attitude is, we must first understand what an attitude is.
I) What having the right mental attitude
is.
Brother Branham made a statement in
quite a few places that the right mental attitude towards any divine promise of
God will bring it to pass.
First let me say that the right
attitude would have to be the attitude that Christ Jesus had, for the attitude
He had towards the Word of God paid the price for yours and my salvation. It
paved the way for the redemption of our bodies. It brought back the Holy Spirit
to indwell the believer. And if we could just have the attitude that Jesus
Himself expressed towards the promises of God, then our Oneness with God would
be complete.
Therefore what we are looking at here is our attitude, and
what attitude we are reflecting. Therefore the attitude we have towards God’s
Word is critical to what we receive from
God. Therefore, it is most important that we have the right attitude. And what
better attitude could we have than the attitude of Christ Himself.
Webster’s
New World Dictionary: defines attitude as aptness, or inclination, and further states, the position or posture assumed
by the body in connection with
an action, feeling, or mood, etc. The word attitude is also defined as a manner of acting, feeling or thinking that
shows one disposition or opinion. Now, if you caught the main points in
each of these definitions, The first stating that attitude is the posture or
position of the body in reference to or in connection with an action, feeling,
or mood, and the other is the action, feeling or thinking that shows your
opinion, disposition or mindset.
So we are looking at the position or posture of the body, and
those attributes that show when you are thinking, felling or that express your
mood.
Therefore, attitude is not just a mental cognizance, or a
mental understanding, or a mental leaning, but rather attitude is an outward expression of our disposition,
it is an outward expression of our feelings, it is an outward expression of our
thoughts, it is the connection of the body to those thoughts, and how the body
expresses those thoughts. That’s what attitude is.
And the key is that it SHOWS how we feel, it SHOWS just what
we think about something, etc.
The Bible tells us that God would send forth an angel, to mark
those that would sigh and cry because of the abominations done in the city. The
sighing and crying is the bodies response to what was being done in the city,
and that is an outward expression of what their attitude was inside their soul.
Your attitude then shows outwardly what you are thinking
inwardly. You can not hide an attitude, it shows, it manifests. You might be
able to hide your thoughts but an attitude goes beyond inner thoughts. Attitude
speaks of the expression of your disposition. The way you show it in your body
language; in your eyes, in your facial expression, in your tome of voice, and
in your posture.
Therefore attitude is the expression of your opinion, and your
disposition. Now the word disposition comes from two words, “dis”, and position. Together they speak
of the putting in order and refers to the normal aspects of ones nature.
Therefore what we see in attitude is the disposition or the setting in order or
the outward reflection of ones true nature.
Now, this leads us to point number I) What
is the right mental attitude is. Well,
to have the right attitude means you would first have to have the rights
thoughts about whatever the object of your thinking is. And that means you must
have the right opinion, and there is only one right opinion and that is God’s
opinion. What does God think about it, Because His thoughts are not our
thoughts, for His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and if we are to have
a right thinking about anything, it must be what God thinks about it. And in
order to know what God’s thoughts are about anything, it must come through the
instrument of His Word, for out of the abundance of the mouth the heart
speaketh.
I CORINTHIANS 2:6 ¶ Howbeit we speak wisdom
among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes
of this world, that come to nought: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a
mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto
our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known
[it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written,
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath
revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save
the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man,
but the Spirit of God. 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.
Therefore, we can see that first of all, we must think like
God thinks, and we also see that no natural man can think like God thinks. In
fact they can not even understand His thoughts to begin with. God’s thoughts
are not understandable to the natural man. Therefore, Paul tells us that in
order to even comprehend the things of God we must have His Spirit living in
us. So God Gives us of His Own Spirit to quicken our soul to the understanding
of His Word which are His thoughts.
Now, once we have His Spirit living in us, it gives us power
or ability to think the right thoughts. So what do we mean by point number One
that we must have the right attitude? It means we must receive the attitude of
God Himself. And where do we have an example of a man that held God’s attitude?
In Christ Jesus, the Son of God.
Contending for the faith
55-0220E P:24 Now, the first thing we find that when Jesus was born, and we know
the story until it comes to the place of His--His great miraculous works
setting in, or when He begin to teach after His baptism. And if we'll notice,
quickly closely that God was in Christ reconciling Himself or the world to
Himself. The Bible said that God Himself dwelt in Christ Jesus." Jesus
said, "The Father dwelleth in Me. So if you can find out what God thinks
about mankind, you'd find out what Jesus said about mankind, and you'll know
what the Father thinks about Me. "Even the Father Himself on Mount
Transfiguration said, "This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him." Don't
hear nothing else but Him. Now, that... Then we'll
have to find out what--what God's attitude towards... If we can find out
through the life of Jesus Christ, what God's attitude was to the sinner, to the
sick, to the prostitute, to the gambler, to the beggar, we can find out what
God's permanent attitude is towards the same matters today.
We would see Jesus 57-0226
P:21 But now, while He's here working with His Church in the form of the
Spirit... Then if His Spirit is with us, He will act just exactly like He act
when He was here on earth. It'll make you act the same way, because it's not
your spirit any more; it's His Spirit in you, Christ's Spirit in you. "The things that I do...
He that believeth on Me (
Doctor Moses 55-0114 P:1 God is in His Word. So if God is in His Word, then if you receive
the Word, you receive God. Now that is God's plan, God's motive, God's attitude, God's love, God's salvation.
Everything rests in His printed Word.
And if those Words are just like grains, or seed that you could pick out and
swallow, every one of them would produce just exactly what it says it'll do
here. But by faith we receive them.
Therefore if we are to have the right attitude then
we must have the attitude that was in Christ Jesus.
The Apostle Paul said, PHILIPPIANS 2:5 Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: And the word mind here has the same Greek word
Phroneo that is used for the word likeminded. Let this mind that was in Christ
be in you. That’s the key that Paul is bringing to us here, and it is a gift
from God that only those whom God chooses can receive that gift.
Notice Paul says, Now the God of patience and consolation grant
you to be likeminded one toward another according
to Christ Jesus: (And notice then that it is according to
Christ Jesus , the Anointed Jesus. So we see that God has given us a gift to be
likeminded, and not only to be likeminded, but likeminded towards one another
and notice he tells us, ACCORDING to Christ Jesus. Now, the only way we can be
likeminded is if we have the same mind. So he is telling us here the same thing
he is telling us in PHILIPPIANS 2:5 Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
And we know this can only come as God has
ordained it to come.
JOHN 1:12 But as many as received him, (Now the word received here is the Greek word Lambano which means to take to one's self, lay hold upon, take
possession of, i.e. to appropriate to one's self
3e) catch at, reach after, strive to obtain) to them gave he power (Now
this word power is not the Greek word Dunamis that we associate so often with
miraculous power, but it is the Greek word exousia which means 1)
power of choice, So we see God gives us a gift, and that gift is the
power to make a right decision. And that decision is to become a son, or act
like a son ought to act.) ) to them gave he power
to
become the sons of God,(now this word becomes comes from the
Greek word ginomai, and it does not
mean that you were a hog, and now you have power to become a lamb. It does not
mean that you were a seed of the devil and now you have been given power to
become a or a seed of God. No, it means to
become fulfilled. In other words, God gives you the power to make the
right decision to become what you already are.
The Apostle John said in I JOHN 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we
shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath
this hope in him purifieth himself,
even as he is pure. And how do you purify yourself? You get yourself
out of the way, and let the Word of God abide in your heart.
PSALMS 119:9 ¶ Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed [thereto]
according to thy word. 10 ¶ With my
whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11 ¶ Thy
word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. 12 ¶ Blessed [art] thou, O LORD: teach me thy
statutes. 13 ¶ With my lips have I
declared all the judgments of thy mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy
testimonies, as [much as] in all riches. 15 I will meditate in thy precepts,
and have respect unto thy ways. 16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I
will not forget thy word.
There are 150 verse in this Psalm that show us
how to cleanse our own selves, and get out of the way and every verse tells us
to let the Word of God abide richly in our hearts. That is how we become sons.
That is how we become fulfilled in our role as sons. By getting out of the way
as Jesus Himself got Himself out of the way,
to where he said, in John 5:19 Verily, verily, I
say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father
do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. And in John
And in JOHN
JOHN 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat (that which I live by and that which I live for) is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Phil2:1 ¶ If [there be] therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfil ye
my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of
one mind. 3Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of
mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not not every man on
his own things, but every man also on the things of others.: 5 Let this mind be in you, which was
also in Christ Jesus.
In other translations this word mind is translated attitude.
And before we read them, remember the word attitude and even this Greek word
phroneo speaks not of the cognitive only but also of the expression of those
thoughts. In other words the entire expression we have as a result of the
attitude we possess.
New International Version: Your attitude should be the same as it was in Christ Jesus. Then
not only should our thoughts but also our actions and our posture, and our body
language should be as His was. And that can only come if your thoughts are the
same. In other words, if you have the same thoughts about the Word of God as
Jesus had, then you will be repulsed by the things that repulsed Him, and you
will have mercy for the ones who need mercy even as He had mercy on them.
Now the Amplified Translation is a little more specific. : Let this same
attitude and purpose and humble mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, Let
Him be your example in humility.
New American Standard: Have the attitude in yourselves that was also in Christ Jesus. Now, the American Heritage dictionary tells
us that attitude is our disposition, and our disposition reflects our
temperament or inclination towards the word. That is why the Weymouth
Translation says: Let the same disposition be in you that was also in Christ
Jesus. Therefore what is the right mental attitude? Brother Branham said, God in His Word 57-0323 P:35 But you've got to have the
right attitude. The attitude is what brings the results. If
you say, "Yes, yes, I believe it but I don't know now." That's
not the right attitude. The right attitude
is to receive it, and say it's "THUS SAITH THE LORD." Then it's
right. The
right mental attitude is to say what God says about it. That is what “Thus
saith the Lord” means. The Lord says Thus and Thus about it. Brother Branham taught us that when Word is
added to Word to Word, it takes a hold of every fiber of our body. Then what we
see by the attitude is an expression in the body of the Word that is abiding in
the mind. That then is the Word becoming flesh in you.