GOD'S MI

D
PALM SU DAY.
BY REV. S. P. LO G, A. M

Phil. 2 :5-ll.
LET this mind be in you, which was also in 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 fashion as a man. He humbled Himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also
hath highly exalted Him. and given Him a name which is above every
name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in.
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.
Sanctify us, O Lord, through Thy truth :
Thy Word is truth. Amen.

Beloved in Christ :
Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost. All Scriptures given by inspiration of God
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. These
two passages, and others which I might quote, sho^
us clearly that the whole Bible is the Word of the Holy
Spirit. The first thing when you read a book is to find
out the mind of the author; it isn't so much what is in
this chapter or that chapter, on this page or that page,
but when you have finished the book, what has the author
intended to convey to the reader? In other words, you

want the mind of the book, and when we study God's

Word we do not study it with the view of finding out what
Calvin's opinion was, or Zwingley's, or even Doctor Luther's; we want to know exactly what the Holy
351

352 THE ETER AL EPISTLE.

Spirit said ; we want the mind of God. In our text tonight
the Holy Spirit directs us to the mind of God. Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. May the
Holy Spirit then help us this evening to behold
THE MI D OF GOD.
Let us get:
I. The mind of God the Son;
11. The mind of God the Father.
III. The mind of God the Holy Spirit.
I. In order that w^e may follow the words of our
text, let us look first at the mind of Jesus. Let this mind
be in you which was also in 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 fashion as a man. He humbled
Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death
^f the cross.
1. What is the mind of Jesus Christ? We discover,
first of all, that Jesus Christ knew He was the Son of God.
Being in the form of God He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. There wasn't a time that Jesus Christ
ever felt that He was robbing God if He said, I and the
Father are One. Even as a little child in the crib of

Bethleh'em, He knew that it was not robbery to say, Here

lies the Son of God. What a glorious thought it is that
Jesus Christ did not forget His Sonship, and what a
glorious thing it is that you and I have the conviction
from God's own Word that Jesus is the Son of God ! We
know it from His names. one but God could be called
Jesus, the Savior, Christ the Anointed, Lord of lords and
King of kings. one but Jesus the Son of God could be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace! When Thomas stood
before Him one week after that first Easter evening and
said. My Lord and my God! he recognized it was not robbery for Jesus to be equal with the Father.

PALM SU DAY. 353

ot only do we know this from His names, but we
tnow it from His attributes. Lo, I am with you always
even unto the end of the world! one but God could
say that. The Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins I one but God could say that. The Father
and I are One! one but God could say that.
ot only do we know it from His attributes; we
know it from His works. This Son of God who knew
that it was not robbery to be equal with God, was the
One that said to Lazarus, Come forth, and he came forth.
He was the One that said to the man born blind. Be
opened, and he saw. He was the One that said to the
deaf. Hear, and he heard. His works demonstrate to the
world that this is actually the Son of God, and that He
did not assume any power He did not have, when He told
us He and the Father are One.
We know it from His honor. Twenty times in the
ew Testament honor is given to Him as the great Son
of God. The grace that is to sustain us is to come from
the Lord of glory. The mind, therefore, of Jesus, is that

He is actually the Lord of lords and King of kings.

2. ot only is it true that we have from His own
mind that He is the Son of God, but that 'He became man.
But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of
men. Born of the virgin Mary, of course He was man,
called Immanuel, God is with us. Though He was born
man, we find that Jesus Christ grew like a man. He was
a child and afterwards grew in stature as well as wisdom.
We find He had the infirmities of men; He looked like a
man; was tired, hungry, thirsty, and slept, and when
crucified He was numbered among the transgressors as a
man. There is no question, therefore, at all about the
fact that He did become man, and made Himself of no
reputation. It is said of Peter of Eussia, when his country
was in total ignorance of even many things she knows
today, he went over to England, and Holland, and Germany, as a poor traveler, not letting the people know that
he was Emperor. In Holland he put on a common laborer's
23

354 THE ETER AL EPISTLE.

garments, took and axe, went to the woods and began
to chop with the other laborers; but when his day's work
was done and he would come in, then as Emperor he
would write letters back to his own country. The fact
that lie did not walk around in those foreign countries
as emperor, did not rob. him of the truth that he was an
emperor. An emperor is not made by clothing, nor does
he lose his emperorship because he puts on an older garment. Because Jesus Christ in all His glory came down
on earth and made Himself of no reputation and took
upon Himself the form of a servant, did not rob Him of
divinity, but at the same time it does prove that He did
become a man, and dwelt among men as a servant.

3. He became an obedient servant obedient unto

death, and in the state of His humiliation He goes on
down from His conception, even to the grave. Was it not
a humiliation on the part of Jesus Christ to be conceived
of the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary? Was it
not a letting down of the Son of glory to lie in a little
crib on the straw^, when He Himself held the stars in all
their glory in His hand? Was it not a state of humiliation on the part of this great Son of God to become so
little that He lies on His mother's bosom? Was it not
a state of humiliation for Him to stand before Pontius
Pilate, and before Herod, to be mocked and scourged?
There are two ways of opposing Jesus. The one is to oppose Him like the Jews did, and spit in His face, and
buffet Him; but there is another way of mistreating the
Savior, and that is to do as Pontius Pilate did, and look
upon Him cowardly, or, like Herod tried to do, use Him
for entertainment. I do not know which hurt the Savior
more, to walk up and slap Him in the face, to spit in His
face, to buffet Him, or to treat Him as Herod did. When
He stood before the Sanhedrin, He answered their questions; when He stood before Pontius Pilate, He gave an
answer to the only question put to Him, as to whether
He was the King of the Jews ; but when mocked and used
simply to entertain before Herod, He stood perfectly
silent. What pain must have passed through the very
heart of Jesus when He saw how men were trying to play

PALM SU DAY. 355

fool with Him! He became a servant, humiliated more
and more, until at last He hangs on the cross, and there,
bleeding and dying, for six long hours, the Savior became
the obedient servant that went down to death.
4. ot only do we find that this was the mind of
Jesus, to become humiliated and to go down to the grave,
but we find that He was willing to accept the cross as

His monument. And being found in fashion as a man.

He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. We generally say, in explaining the Apostles' Creed, that the humiliation of
Christ ended with His burial. The apostle here says
nothing about the burial, nor is it necessary. When He
said on the cross, It is finished! when Joseph of Arimathaea, and Mcodemus came and took His body off of the
cross and laid it down in a borrowed grave, the apostle
looked upon that cross as the tombstone, as the monument,
for the grave in which Jesus lay. True it was that in
the grave ended His humiliation. It was a humiliating
thing upon the part of Jesus Christ to allow Himself
to be laid in a borrowed grave. I look into the faces of
so many sitting before me tonight who, during the past
years, have laid some oi their own dead away to sleep.
How would you feel tonight if you knew that your husband, or your little daughter, ar your little son, were
sleeping in a borroAved grave? You stand by the grave
and weep, but you have the comfort of knowing that it
is father's grave; it is mother's grave, it is my little
daughter's grave, it is my little son's grave; but the world
had to stand before the grave of Jesus and say, it is not
His; it belongs to Joseph of Arimathaea. Oh, how poor
our Savior became, that He might make us rich! And
this, my friends, is the mind of Jesus. It was His good
mind not only to remember that He was the Son of God,
not only to become a man, but to become obedient unto
death, and accept the cross as His monument, and where
is there a more beautiful monument today in the world
than the cross of Calvary, standing at the head of that
I)orrowed grave?
II. ow that we have the mind of the Lord Jesus,

356 THE ETER AL EPISTLE.

let US ulso try to get the mind of His Father, namely,

of God, our heavenly E'ather. Wherefore God also hath

highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth; and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.
1. Here we get the mind of our heavenly Father, and
His mind is to exalt the Son who was humbled ; His mind
is to lift up the Son Himself, and to exalt His name, that
every tongue should confess Him, and every knee should
bow before Him. It was the mind of the heavenly Father
to take that Son that went on down to the bottom of the
grave, and lift Him up. While Jesus said, I will go down
to the world, and I will go down to death, and I will go
down to the bottom of the borrowed grave to save humanity, to show My love and pay the awful debt, the Father
said, Son, let this be Thy mind, but My mind shall be to
put My hand under Thy body and lift Thee out of the
grave; My mind will be to take Thee after forty days
on earth and lift Thee up, past the stars, and zones of
stars and whirling world systems, past the very gates of
heaven, up to the throne, and put Thee above every other
being in all the universe. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted Him.
ot only was it the mind of the Father that Jesus
Christ in person as the God-man should ascend to the
throne on high, but it was His mind that this exaltation
should begin with His descent into hell, as we confess in
the creed, and then ascend to heaven, and sit on the right
hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence He shall
come to judge the quick and the dead. It was the mind
of our Heavenly Father that His Son, though dying on
Calvary, should stand at the gates of hell as a mighty
King, conquer death and the devil and all hell. It was
the mind of our heavenly Father that this Son of His
should stand in the presence of His disciples, and, starting heavenward, should be seen as He passed out of sight.

It was the Father's will that He should be the miglity

PALM SU DAY.

357

King, expressed by the Avords 'right-liand of God' and rule

the whole world, and especially be King of grace and
King of glory. It was His will that He should come
with all His holy angels on the last great day to show
that those that are still living, as well as those that are
dead and in their graves should come before His last
assize to be held on high. This is the mind of the Father.
2. But the mind of the Father was not only going
to lift up the Son, but lift His name up. And give Him
a name which is above every name. There was a time
when the name of Jesus seemed to be ridiculed; there
was a time when the people pointed at the cross and said,
Here is Jesus of azareth, the King of the Jews! There
was a time Avhen Pontius Pilate unconsciously wrote a
prophecy that this King should be known and read in
three languages, to show that the Gospel should be
preached to all the world. There Avas a time when men
like the Ai)ostle Peter did not have the courage to say
that they were followers of this humble Christ; but God
the Father said, I Avill take that name that some of you
seem to be ashamed of, and I aaHI lift that name above
every name. Oh, my dear friends, compare the name of
Jesus tonifirht with anv other name in the world, and
see hoAv it ascended away up on high. Who, for a moment would think of comparing Alexander the Great
with Jesus, or Caesar with Jesus, or any of the apostles
with Jesus, or a Luther or any reformer, with Jesus ;
who Avould think of comparing the name of any angel

with the name of Jesus? That beautiful name stands

high aboA^e every name in all the universe; and who put
it there? God the Father. That was His mind.
3. ot only was it God's mind to lift that name
above every other name and make it the sweetest name
to be uttered by tongue or angel, but it Avas His mind
that CA^ery knee should exalt His name and His person.
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under
the earth. The word "things" is here in italics, and you
know it is not in the original language. The strict reading- of this Averse would be, That at the name of Jesus

358 THE ETER AL EPISTLE.

every knee in heaven and in earth and under the earth
should bow. God the Father intended to bend as it were
His own knees before His own Son, and say, I exalt
Thee; He intended that Gabriel should come before Him,
and all the hosts of angels, and they should bow their
knees before Him, the mighty King that went down to
death; it was His intention that every prophet, and every
apostle, and every saint on high shall come before the
King of kings and Lord of lords and boAv their knees before Him; it is His intention that every living creature
on earth, no difference how much they scoff now, no difference how much they ridicule the Church or the people,
or anything that is good and holy, it is the very mind
of the heavenly Father that ever}^ knee, no difference
how stubborn it may be today, shall bend before the
mighty Christ, who humbled Himself and became obedient unto death. It is the mind of our heavenly Father
that men must bow before Him, and not only those that
are on the earth, not only the living, but it is the mind
of God that every knee that sleeps at the bottom of the
sea, that every knee that sleeps down under the earth,
in the grave, that every knee that has been reduced to

ashes by fire, that every knee shall be raised up from

the dead, and when it is raised up, shall bend before the
mighty King of kings and Lord of lords.
4. We have in our text tonight this beautiful demonstration of the mind of God, our heavenly Father,
that not only every knee shall exalt Him, but that every
tongue shall do so, and that every tongue shall confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
otice well, it is not said that every knee shall acknowledge Him as Savior, or that every one shall bow before
Him and say. Thou art my Redeemer and Savior and I
am Thine; not that, but it is the mind of our heavenly
Father that every knee shall bow before Him and confess that He is Lord, to the glory of the Father. It is
the mind of our heavenly Father that the devil hiDiself
must confess that Jesus Christ is Master. It is the mind
of our heavenly Father that every fallen angel must not
onlv bend the knee, but must sav in the hearino- of the

PALM SU DAY. 359

Avliole world, He is the only Lord of lords and King of
kings. It is the mind of our heavenly Father that every
Voltaire, every Ingersoll, every Hume, and every man
that has ever said a word against Jesus Christ, shall
stand before Him, and the Father will say, Bend your
knees I and down they go. ow speak! and they must
speak and say what they never said before, This is, after
all, the Lord of lords and King of kings. Every tongue
must exalt Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
HI. We have also the mind of the Holy Spirit.
Just previous to our text it is said: If there be, therefore, any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love,
if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
fulfil ye uiy joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same
love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be

done through strife or vain-glory ; but in lowliness of

mind let each esteem others better than themselves.
Look not every man on his own things, but every man
also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus. Here you discover that
the mind of the Holy Spirit is that we as Christian people should have one heart, one mind, one love, and learn
all this from the mind of Jesus Christ. As I said in the
beginning of my sermon, I say again: Holy men of God
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. The hand
that wrote these words, Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, was moved by the Holy Spirit,
and the mind of the Holy Spirit is that you and I shall
have the mind of Jesus Christ.
1. Xow, if we have the mind of Jesus Christ, we
must not forget our value. In all His humiliation Jesus
Christ never forgot that He was the Son of God. He
did not rob God of His glory when He said, I and the
Father are one. In the same sense you and I must not
forget Avhat we are must not forget our value. Jesus
said of you and of me. What shall it profit a man if he
shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or
what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Do you
wonder why Jesus Christ poured out His blood on Calvary? Pray tell me, how else could we be redeemed?

360 THE ETER AL EPISTLE.

You lost, as a single soul, means more than a world lost.
If it were possible that tomorrow morning the papers
would print that all Europe sank below the sea, the
world would fall down on its knees and ask God for
mercy, and yet if all Europe should sink, it would be
nothing compared Avith your value as an individual soul ;
and if Jesus Christ had to die to save you and to save
me, and to save the fourteen hundred millions of people
living tonight, to say nothing of the billions that have

passed into eternity long ago, and the millions that shall
yet be born, pray tell me, Avhere in all the universe is
there a price able to pay this debt, outside of the only
Son of God? Therefore, my friends, have the mind of
Christ Jesus, and know your value, and never forget it.
It is a terrible thing for a man to let himself go on without being saved ; it is a terrible thing for a man to forget
what he is' worth ; it is a terrible thing for a man just
because he has not got quite so much money as some one
else, or because he has not got so much fame as another
man, to think he amounts to nothing and let himself sink
into hell. Have the mind of Christ Jesus, and in all
humility do not forget what you are worth.
2. Also like the Savior, Jesus Christ, do not forget
to be a servant. Hoav many people there are that want
to be lords. So manj?^ young men in the present day
seem to think if they can just sit in an office, touch a
button and give some one a command, that it is great.
How many young men in the present day seem to think
it is so little to be a servant. The truth of it is that
there isn't a real genuine man on earth that doesn't recognize the grandeur of being a servant. The president
of the United States is a servant of the people. There
is not a man on earth that is not a servant, if he is a
true man. I would, therefore, wish you to have the mind
of Christ Jesus, and instead of asking yourself the question all the time, how can I lord it over this one or over
that one, let the question be this, how can I serve this
little child, or how can I serve this poor fallen being;
how can I, like my Savior, lift up the world by going

PALM SU DAY. 361

down myself? The Holy Spirit's mind is that you and I
shall have the mind of Jesus Christ.
3. ot only should we be servants, but should not

forget to have our hearts filled with love. Fulfil ye my

joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being
of one accord, of one mind. Oh, that we had a little
more of the love of Jesus in our hearts! that we would
all go down and served humanity with that love that
drove Jesus from His rich throne on high to become an
humble servant, ready to lie in a borrowed grave. Let
us have the mind of Jesus Christ, and let us have some
of the love of Christ in our hearts, and reach out, and
down, and try to lift humanity.
4. Finally, Is it iDossible for a Christian church to
have the mind of Jesus Christ and then try to be aristocratic? Isn't an aristocrat a nobleman? And where
was there ever such a nohle nobleman as Jesus? Is it
possible for a man to be a true Christian and then look
around for a place where he can meet among people
that are away up and are not willing to come down? For
my part, I say the Christian church should have but one
mind, and that one mind must be the mind of the Master, and the Master's mind was, I will go down, down,
down, to the very gates of hell, that I may lift people
up to heaven; and that same mind must be in the Christian minister; that same mind must be in the Christian
church, and just as soon as a Christian church overlooks
this great truth that we must be the church that is willing to go down and lift up the people, that we are willing
to make the poor feel at home in our midst, just so soon
we get away from the mind of Jesus and cannot prosper.
If, therefore, our own individual congregation is to prosper, let us keep up the good spirit planted by those who
have stood where I now stand and whose bodies sleep in
the dust of the earth. Let us be the people's church.
Let every man and every woman feel at home here, no
difference how poor they may be, no difference what has
been their past, let us not go down to them; they have
immortal souls, valuable in the sight of God; and thus

362 THE ETER AL EPISTLE.

we will get the mind of Christ as individuals, we will
have it as a church, and, having it as a church, it will
be like Christ Himself living in our midst. If Jesus
Christ is the Light of the world, as He says He is, and
if His children are the lights of the world, as He says
they are, then they must be the reflection of the Master ;
they must do what Jesus would do. What would Jesus
do if He lived in Mansfield? What would Jesus do if
He were a member of this church, or if pastor of this
church? Oh, my dear friends, if we would all do as
Jesus did, we would go on down, down, until God would
lift us up and those that are with us. May God help
us tonight to have the mind of Jesus Christ. May the
Father in heaven show us the exaltation that will come
to us hereafter by the exaltation that He gave to Jesus;
and may the Holy Spirit pour down deep into our hearts
the love of Jesus for humanity, and make us willing to
suffer that all might live eternally. This is my prayer,
and may God bless these words to our eternal good.
Amen.
PRAYER.
Our Father in heaven, we thank Thee for the mind of Jesus Christ,
who, though He was Son of God, was willing to become man, made
Himself of no reputation, but became a servant and was obedient unto
death, and accepted the cross as the monument at the head of a borrowed grave that we might escape death, and have everlasting life. O
Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy mind that has seen fit to lift
up Jesus Christ and exalt Him in person, to exalt His name, and make
every knee exalt Him and every tongue confess His exaltation. O
Thou Holy Spirit, we thank Thee that Thou hast come into our midst
and hast given us the command that we have the mind of Christ Jesus,
and if each of us has this mind, we will all have the same mind, and we
pray to Thee Father that this' mind may be one in heart and one in love,
that the good of humanity may be in this mind, and that by Thy
grace we may lead them all to Him who conquered death that we

might have everlasting life. Heavenly Father, do Thou bless the service
tonight; bless Thy servant in the message He has delivered, and may
it find good ground in the hearts of all those who have come to this
temple this evening. Lord our God, help us to sum up all in this, Thy
prayer, when we pray:
Our Father who art in heaven ; Hallowed be Thy name ; Thy
kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven; Give

PALM SU DAY. 368

us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation;
But deliver us from evil; For Thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

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