Living By The Spirit – Part 1

Joke:  A mother was concerned about her kindergarten son, Timmy, walking to school. He didn’t want her to walk with him. She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence, but yet know that he was safe.

Her neighbor learned about the mother’s dilemma and offered to follow the young boy to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he hopefully wouldn’t notice her.

“I’m up early with my toddler anyway; it will be a good way for us to get some exercise as well,” said the neighbor. The relieved mother agreed.

The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor boy he knew. She did this for the whole week.

As the boys walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy’s little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week. Finally, he said to Timmy, “Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her”?

Timmy nonchalantly replied, “Yeah, I know who she is.”

The friend said, “Well, who is she”?

“That’s just Shirley Goodnest,” Timmy replied. “And her daughter Marcy.”

“Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is she following us”?

“Well,” Timmy explained. “Every night, my mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, because she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, ‘Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life,’ so I guess I’ll just have to get used to it!”

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I’m starting a new series today called Living by the Spirit.  We will spend several weeks looking at what it means to be living by the Spirit and how to walk that out.

Let’s begin this series with a verse we have probably heard a time or two.  It’s found in John chapter 10 verse 10.

John 10:10 – 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Do you realize who it was that made that statement?  It was Jesus.

And He said the thief comes ONLY!!!

Only when and for what purpose? The only time the thief comes is when he has destruction in mind.

He never comes to bless you, to help you, to give you a pat on the back, but only to steal, kill, and destroy

However, Jesus came that we might experience life.  That we might enjoy life.  That we might be full of life.

And I believe Jesus came to demonstrate how we can maintain a victorious life.  Jesus doesn’t want you to be full of life for a week or two, a month or two, or even a year or two.  But rather He wants us to walk in a victorious life every day that we are alive.

He wants us to live a spirit filled life.

Listen church think on this for a moment.   Did Jesus ever experience boredom?  Now if Jesus never experienced boredom and I don’t believe He did.   So if I am bored. . .oh should I say this?   If I’m bored if your bored then we are out of line with the will of God.

Here’s another question for you, did Jesus ever suffer from depression?

Think about this we have more entertainment today.  We have more medical help today and yet we still have more boredom and depression than at any other time in the history of mankind.

Did Jesus ever suffer sickness?

I bring these up because I think we have settled for something so subpar for so long that we can’t even imagine that God has something more for us.  But church you need to understand there is more.

I don’t see it in Scripture where Jesus suffered sickness.  Listen I’m not saying Christians never get sick, but it is God’s will to heal.  And even in the sickness we ought to be able to be full of life.

I think many in the Body of Christ have settled for life that is not life at all.

As we begin this series let me ask you a question and try to help you see where I’m going with this.

Ready?  What do most people do including Christians when they are bored?

• They eat
• They watch TV
• They sleep
• Search the Internet
• Spend hours on Facebook
• Listen to music
• Go to movies
• Rent a video
• Binge watch Netflix

These are some of things we do.  Even as Christians. Are they sin.  NO.  Ok could be if your searching the wrong stuff.  But you get the idea

The point is this is what we do even as Christians when we get bored.

I want to remind you today that we were created in the Image of God.  One of the things that means is that we are made up of three parts, what are those three parts?

• Body
• Soul
• Spirit

I find it interesting that we most often say it that way.  And the reason why we say it that way is that is the order in which we envision things.

It’s all about looking good, it’s all about image and appearance.  And 2^nd it’s all about how we feel.

See, the Body is the physical part.  The Soul is our mind, will, and emotions and the Spirit is the part of you that communicates with the spirit realm, communicates with God, and even with the demonic activity.  Let me explain that last one briefly because many don’t understand the battle we are in.   But Scripture tells us we don’t wrestle with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers of this world.  In other words we have an enemy and he is fighting to see that the abundant life that Jesus offered isn’t what you experience.

And so isn’t it interesting that we always say Body, Soul, and Spirit.

But look at what Scriptures like 1 Thessalonians 5:23 tells us-

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NIV) – ²³ May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I find that interesting.  May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless.   Scripture tells us, We are first Spirit.

Let me suggest to you that God designed the Spirit to be king.  He designed our Soul to be servant.  And he designed our body to be slave.

That’s the order in which God designed us.  But we have had it all messed up.

God designed us for our Spirit to reign, to tell us what to do.  The spirit is supposed to be king.  And our mind, will and emotions are supposed to come in line to serve what the spirit is telling us.

And then we are supposed to as Paul says in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 9:27 (NIV) – ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

We are to live by our spirit, not our body.

See we have bought into a lie and have allowed our body or our soul become our king.  Instead of our spirit being king.

This is why the psalmist in Psalm 103 would speak to his soul.  In the KJV verse 1 states.

Psalm 103:1 (KJV 1900): Bless the Lord, O my soul:  And all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord oh my Soul.  In other words I don’t feel like it right now my emotions are not there.  But you know what Bless the Lord Soul.  Soul you are not king anymore.  My spirit is king.  He is worthy therefore, soul, mind, I’m not going to worry about everything that can distract me in worship.  I bring my emotions into control and I say soul you worship get with it.

I wonder if that is why the writer of Hebrews says, bring the sacrifice of praise.

God tells us that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.  The word temple is the same word meaning tabernacle.  And we can learn some things through the picture of the tabernacle.

The tabernacle had an outer court, that outer court represents our physical body.  Then it had an inner court, and that inner court represents our soul.  The tabernacle also had a holy of holies, and that represents our spirit.

Let me help you understand that analogy.  Let me explain it this way.  The outer court was lit by natural sunlight.  So if you are breathing you can see in the natural.  We can see with our physical eyes it is lit up by the natural sunlight.

The inner court was lit by candlelight.  I will explain that in just a moment, but the holy of holies was lit by the Shekinah glory of God.

Let me say this and if you grab anything from this message grab this.  There is a natural or physical understanding you see it with your eyes.  The Bible you can see it, this church building you can see it, you don’t have to believe in God to see you just can see it.

Different lights represent. different enlightenments.

The candlestick represents the soul. Remember the soul is the mind, will, and emotions.  For example in elementary school the teacher put up on the board 2 plus 2 equals 4.  The first time you saw that you probably didn’t understand what she was saying.  But then she began to explain it.  See got two objects and said 1, 2 then grabbed 2 more and said 3, 4.  See somewhere along the line something went off in your mind.  There was an understanding.  There’s a natural understanding.  That’s the soul, you understand it with your mind.

Can I tell you these two areas right here the natural seeing, and the natural understanding even in the American church is where most people live.

As a matter of fact most people in the church are trying to be relevant, and we do need to be, but they are also trying to  intellectually lead people to Jesus and I want you to know that will never work.

If someone can intellectually convince you that Jesus is Lord, then someone else can come along and intellectually tell you and convince you that He’s not.

But someone that has had an encounter with Almighty God will never be at the mercy of an argument.  I know that I know that I know that Jesus Christ is Lord.

It wasn’t something that someone put up on a board and I said OH now I understand it with my head.

Let me tell you something, there’s a verse of Scripture that we quote that if you don’t really understand what he’s saying it’s not true.

It’s found. In the gospel of John chapter 8 verse 32

John 8:32 (NIV) – ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

That is not necessarily a true statement.  I’m I calling Jesus a liar.  No way would I do that.   I know His Words are always true but I also know there are a lot of people that know truth of His Word and they are still in bondage.

The Devil knows the truth and he will never be free.  See the Bible when it talks about knowing something, it’s not about knowing up here in your head.  It’s about knowing it in your spirit.  There’s something that came alive in your spirit.  And you said now I know!  And it’s not in your head.  In when you know truth in your spirit we will be free.

Church we have got to go beyond the body.  We have got to go beyond the soul, we must begin to live by the Spirit.

That’s the reason why Paul in Romans 8:16 said this:  ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

See this is the reason why Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9 says:  ⁹ However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—

No eye has seen – what is that body, soul, or spirit?  No ear has heard, and no mind has conceived – what is that?  Body, soul, or spirit?

But listen to verse 10 of 1 Corinthians 2.

1 Corinthians 2:10 (NIV) – ¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

If you are trying to figure out if Jesus is real through your intellect.  STOP IT!  It’s not going to happen.  It’s by His spirit.

Verse 13

1 Corinthians 2:13 (NIV) – ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

Human wisdom is soul.  It’s intellect.  That was intellectually stimulating preacher.  Listen church I don’t want to feed your soul.  I want to feed your spirit.

Paul said it this way just a verse verse before. . .

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 (NIV): And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

Then he continues in  verse 14.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) – ¹⁴ The person without the Spirit (I don’t care what title he has) does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

This is why we have a hard time witnessing at work.  It’s because your co-worker is spiritually dead.  And you cannot go to him with an intellectual message and them come to an enlightenment of who Jesus is.  It’s when you recognize you are spirit and that you carry the spirit with you.  And the spirit works through you, to convict, reveal, and enlighten their sprit.

That is why God needs to put His super in our natural.

This is why we need spirit filled churches with spirit filled believers.

The soul will never understand the spirit.

Do you realize church that when Adam yielded his soul and he allowed his soul to become king, the sinful nature of the soul killed his spirit.

Genesis 2:16–17 (The Message) – ^16–17God commanded the Man, “You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don’t eat from it. The moment (who’s speaking here)?  you eat from that tree, you’re dead.”

How many of you know that God is 100% accurate.  He says in  the moment you eat from that tree, you’re dead.”

Did he die physically? No he didn’t.  So is God a liar?  Absolutely not.

He was talking about his spirit.  In the moment that your spirit is no longer king and you submit to your will, your mind and your emotions and you allow the soul to become king, the soul will kill the spirit.  And you will die.  And you will find yourself just as Adam hiding from God.

Adam died.  This is a problem for us church.  And here is the reason why, we were all spiritually dead before we came to know Christ.  We learn to live in the natural, we learn to live in this soulish realm, and we learn to live by our mind, will, and emotions for years before we enter this new realm of the spirit.

We have learned how to trust in our emotions.  We have learned to lean to our own understanding, we learned this lifestyle for years.  I did for 16 years before coming to know Christ.

Colossians 2:13 (NIV) – ¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,

See when you know God then your spirit comes alive.  For the very first time your spirit comes alive.  But here’s the problem, you are used to living in the soul.  And you have to learn how to yield to the spirit.

We need to learn how to say soul you have been king for so many years, but today I have a new king and it’s King Jesus He lives in my spirit and I’m listening to that spirit that is in my spirit, and so soul shut up and obey.

See that soul your mind, will, and emotions is constantly wanting to overthrow the spirit man.  It wants to return to its place as king.  That’s why we need mercy every day.  Because that soulish man says I don’t like being servant.  I want to be king.

That is the reason Paul said in Galatians 2 I have been crucified with Christ.  When he said that was he talking about his body?  No. Was talking about his spirit?  No.  He was talking about his soul.  His mind, will, and emotions I am crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I the soulish man who lives, but it is Christ who lives in me.  And the life which I now live in the flesh in the body I live by faith in the spirit and the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

This is the reason why in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 Paul says again:  I die daily.  Is he talking about his body?  No.  Is he talking about his spirit?  No.  He’s talking about his soul.

Let me show you how easy it is for our soul to take over our life.

Go back to our original list.  What do you do when you’re bored?  What do you do when your depressed?  I’m bored I eat.  Ok think about this before you answer.  I’m bored I eat. Are you doing that for the body?  You’re really not.  How about the spirit.  Your feeding the soul.  Watch TV body, soul, or spirit?  Sleep, body, soul, or spirit?

Think about it, we’re not doing it for the body are we?  You search the Internet you are feeding your mind, will, and emotions and that’s our soul.

See are you catching this, what we do instead of feeding our spirit we feed our soul man.  And that is why I believe many of us struggle as Christians.

Whatever you feed that is what will reign.

I want to declare today that we will be set free by the power of God, and we will begin to feed our spirit so that the soul can die.

It is easy to slip out of the spirit into the soul.

Matthew 16 Jesus goes to disciples and asks who do men say that I am?  And they said to Him some people say your John the Baptist, others Elijah, others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.  Then Jesus said this, but who do you say that I am, because that’s what’s really important?

And Simon Peter answers this:  You are The Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Matthew 16:17 (NIV) – ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

Revealed not to your mind, or intellect.  But by the spirit realm.

Then in Just a couple verses later in verse 21.  Jesus begins to explain how He was to go to Jerusalem, and be killed.

And Peter just revealed who Jesus was.  Peter a good man, loved the Lord couldn’t handle the information, couldn’t handle the news emotionally, and Peter slips into the soulish realm, and The Bible says he took Him to the side and he rebukes the Lord.

Could you imagine rebuking God?   Peter rebukes God.

And he says no this will not happen to you, and then Jesus turns to Peter and he says get behind me Satan.

Think about that for a moment this is God calling you Satan.  I think that may have shaken Peter up a little bit.

Listen to what Jesus said verse 23:

Matthew 16:23 (NIV) – ²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Just a few minutes earlier Jesus said Simon I’m so proud of you, you are learning to hear from the Spirit.  And then in the same conversation he slips out of the spirit right back into the soul. You’re thinking again with your mind and emotions,

See how easy it is, it is so easy church to fall back.

When your soul is king, when you yield to your soul to your intellect, to your emotions, to your own will, when you live in the soulish realm and you let the soul be king you are opening up a way for the enemy to bring temptation.

I’m going to stop here there is so much more a I need to share and this is only the beginning of this series called Living by the Spirit.

Next week we will pick up with this same theme and then starting in week 3 we will look at keeping the Spirit King.

Prayer- prophecy the wind.  Wind always represents Spirit.