Sermon Vault

Christian Growth

The Spirit

Spirit

By Pastor Craig Ledbetter

The order of the Life of a Spirit-Filled Christian 1Thes 5:23 DATE: 16 Dec, 2001 PM PLACE: BBC Blarney

I. Introduction (Heb 4:12)

A. I’m taking a break from our study in Revelation of the seven churches,

and turning our attention to the time of year we are in

B. Going to look at the make-up of the trinity of man

II. Message

A. Every Person is made up of three Parts - Body, Soul, and Spirit (1Thes

5:23)

  1. Body - the flesh
  2. Soul - the mind
  3. Spirit - the part of us that was designed to enable us to walk with God

B. We were in this way made in the “image” of God

  1. Father Soul (place of final authority)
  2. Word/Son Body (Word became flesh)
  3. Holy Ghost/Spirit Spirit (empowerment)

C. All three are either dead, or dying

  1. Spirit is dead (Eph 2:1) - not that it is not there, but dead towards God
    • It is empty
    • It can be filled with any “spirit”
  2. The body is dying
  3. The soul, if not saved, will die for all eternity in hell

D. If you ARE saved, all three belong to God - and therefore ought to be

submitted to God (1Cor 6:19,20; Eccl 12:7)

  1. With the heart being dominated by the Lord Jesus Christ
  2. With the SPIRIT being filled by the Holy Spirit
  3. With the SOUL constantly choosing to yield to the spirit, and yielding with its passion - not a passive choice!
  4. With the BODY being yielded to whatever the spirit is directing I to do

E. All three parts overlap

  1. Some parts of the soul are spiritual
  2. Some parts of the body are connected with the soul and emotions
  3. Some parts of your spirit are directly affected by the body
  4. The centre-piece is the HEART of the person - this is where Christ must reside, and reign!

F. The Soul, and the Mind

  1. The key place that decisions are made - it is between the spirit and the flesh (Rom 8:6)
  2. This is the place of free-will

G. Every day, these three parts are jumbled into some ordering. They order

themselves according to the choices we make, and the pressures we accept

  1. Natural ordering
  2. World pressure ordering - based upon the age you live in - styles, and fads
  3. Moral pressure ordering - parents, church, reasoning, college
  4. Holy Spirit ordering - rarest, and hardest to maintain (1Kgs 19:11,12)

H. It is important to start your day in prayer, and Bible reading in order

to start to re-align them into a right order, and them throughout the day, maintain that order.

  1. EX: mis-aligned wheels - wobble all over the road, hard to drive
  2. EX: wheel axle that was bent due to a rough hit - same with life

I. The Categories in Various Orders

Holy Spirit Body Soul Body Soul Spirit Spirit Soul Body Spirit Body Soul Spirit Spirit Soul Body Soul Body Holy Spirit World

  1. The Body-Controlled, Soul-Controlled, Spirit
    • Spirit is last
    • Body is the dominating force - fleshly lusts
    • Holy Spirit is rebelled against, quenched, grieved
    • Totally driven by, and influenced by the world

World pulls on the flesh 2) Which pulls on the mind and the soul 3) Affects the spirit - the spirit is under the direction of the world like a puppet

  • If saved, this person is absolutely no different than an unsaved person
  1. The Soul-Controlled, Body-Controlled, Spirit
    • Emotions and feelings rule your life
    • Your emotions affect your body - lots of emotional problems, that affect the body and make for lots of illnesses
    • A thinker
    • Absolom - full of anger - enough to dethrone his own father
    • How it should be

Thoughts and imaginations must be conquered, and subjected to Christ and his word (2Cor 10:4,5) 2) Emotions are good, but only when within bounds (Jer 17:9) 3) Dwell on right things (Philp 4:8) 3. The Body-Controlled, Spirit-Controlled, Soul

  • The flesh is the deciding factor still
  • But the desires are more spiritual - wants to serve God, but only by using the efforts of the flesh
  • An example would be: Joab

Great general, and warrior - never seemed to lose 2) Obstinate towards spiritual things - thought of them as weak 3) Uncontrollable by David 4) Had to be slain by Solomon 4. The Soul-Controlled, Spirit-Controlled, Body

  • The heart is in charge here

A very caring person - loves people 2) But not under authority (Pr 4:23) 3) A Christian like this loves “Jesus” but not the Bible, and not preaching, and not sacrifice 4) Their life is only one big blessing towards them - see only the Scriptures that talk about the good things God wants to do for us 5) Very lopsided - out of balance

  • Charismatic person

Looking for things that would make them FEEL important, and worthy, and spiritual 2) Only think they are spiritual when they FEEL spiritual 3) Constantly have to have pumped-up music, and emotional music to keep them from getting depressed

  • The true way

You ARE spiritual when you are living in love of, and obedience to the word of God 2) You are spiritual when you choose to follow Jesus 3) You have joy when you discover that God has joy in you 5. The Spirit-Controlled, Body-Controlled, Soul

  • A harsh, uncaring Christian
  • Soul, emotions are last
  • Maybe because their emotions have gotten them in trouble before
  1. The Spirit-Controlled, Soul-Controlled, Body
    • Everything is in its proper order (1Cor 14:40)
    • Easily influenced by the Holy Spirit
    • Influences the world
    • Emotions are a vital part of their life

Passions - not just participation - truly loving God with ALL the heart, etc. 2) Righteous indignation - hating sin 3) Yet those emotions are under control - under not the control of their own will, but under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, within the boundaries of His word

III. Conclusion

A. Every day, these three parts are jumbled into some ordering

B. It is important to start your day in prayer, and Bible reading in order

to start to re-align them into a right order, and them throughout the day, maintain that order

C. Some keys to obtaining, and maintaining this order:

  1. Walk in the spirit - hunger and thirst for righteousness
  2. Feed the spirit
  3. Protect your heart - don’t hide it, but don’t let the WORLD activate it - only allow the Lord Jesus to switch it on and off towards others
  4. Take care of your body
    • Don’t give it what it lusts after
    • Give it what is needs

Diet 2) Rest 3) Hard-work 5. Use your emotions to influence the world 6. Use your body to influence the world 7. Make your spirit only available to the working of the Holy Spirit - the place where He fills and runs things 8. The very centre of your life needs to be always the throne of Jesus Christ the LORD

Back to Sermon Vault