Theological term
Heavenly-Mindedness
3 sermons · All terms
The Resurrection-Hope of the Righteous One
Psalm 16:7–11 presents the steadfast confidence of the righteous sufferer, who is ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ himself — the Holy One whose soul the Father would not abandon to Sheol nor allow to see corruption. Working through the psalm's declaration of praise in verse 7, the stability and hope of the psalmist in verses 8–11, and the apostolic interpretation of these verses in Acts 2 and Acts 13, the sermon argues that Christ's bodily resurrection is the very foundation of the resurrection-hope his people now possess. The practical force is twofold: unbelievers are called to repent and believe on Christ, through whom alone sins are forgiven and justification is received; believers are called to heavenly-minded confidence grounded in the word, power, and promises of God.
The Past as a Present Reminder
Hebrews 10:32–39 calls suffering believers to recall God's proven faithfulness in former days as the present ground for ongoing endurance. The apostle first rehearses the Hebrew Christians' early trials — public reproach, solidarity with persecuted brothers, and joyful acceptance of plundered possessions — showing that heavenly-mindedness, not stoic willpower, sustained them then and must sustain them now. He then exhorts them not to cast away their confidence, grounding Christian perseverance not in moral grit but in faith in the Son of God who loved and gave himself for his people. The sermon applies this to every believer: remember what God has done, set your hope on the enduring possession in heaven, and press forward by faith rather than drawing back to perdition.
Slaves and Masters
Colossians 3:22–4:1 addresses the final relationship in the household code — slaves and masters — and Paul's instructions cut against both first-century Aristotelian contempt for slaves and twenty-first-century assumptions about social action. The passage unfolds in three movements: the duty of slaves (obedience in action and sincerity of heart, not eye-service), the incentives for slaves (the promise of an eternal inheritance from the Lord Christ), and the duty of masters (to give what is just and fair, governed by the knowledge that they too answer to a Master in heaven). The governing theological claim is that heavenly-mindedness produces, rather than withdraws from, faithful earthly labor — so every Christian employee and employer is called to work as unto the Lord, fearing God rather than men, whether recognized by their master or not.