The Holy Spirit #3 – By Pastor George Lehman
Destitute of the fire of the Holy Spirit of God – nothing else counts. Possessing the fire of the Holy Spirit, nothing else matters.
Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work, but when you are filled with the Holy Spirit then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you. -Corrie Ten Boom
This is a clear sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (Amp) – And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane* things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
*profane = worldly, things that disrespect God
The human personality: Spirit, Soul, and Body.
I’m sure we would all agree that spirit, soul, and body make up the complete human personality.
Genesis 1:26 (Amp) – God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.
Notice: In IMAGE and after LIKENESS.
Image refers to outward appearance thus something in man’s outward appearance mirrors the outward appearance of God.
After Likeness refers to the internal structure of the Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Man’s spirit, soul and body correspond to the three components of the Trinity.
The internal structure of the human personality is traceable to God’s creation of man.
The human spirit proceeds from God’s breath.
Genesis 2:7 (Amp) – Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being.
Hebrew & Greek word for Spirit & breath are the same.
The body was clay infused with divine life to become Adam. Fully Spirit, Soul and Body
The soul is perhaps the most difficult component to understand.
The part in us that determines… “I will” or “I won’t”
The soul comprises of Will, Emotions and Intellect and produces 3 corresponding types
“I want” “I feel” “I think”
These statements rule the life of the natural, sinful man. It’s all about Me, Myself and I.
Surrendering to these demands of the soul instead of being guided by God’s Spirit – you separate yourself from God.
Sin brings death to Adam – not physical but spiritual death.
When we repent, God forgives our sins and renews our spirits. The Spirit takes up residence in us!
Ephesians 2:1-3 (Amp) – And you [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins in which at one time you walked [habitually]. You were following the course and fashion of this world [were under the sway of the tendency of this present age], following the prince of the power of the air. [You were obedient to and under the control of] the [demon] spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience [the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving, who go against the purposes of God]. Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind [our cravings dictated by our senses and our dark imaginings]. We were then by nature children of [God’s] wrath and heirs of [His] indignation, like the rest of mankind.
From rebellion to salvation
Ephesians 2:4-6 (Amp) – But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation). And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Salvation won’t preserve our physical bodies – but it does make them temples for the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 4:16(NIV) – Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
How we treat our bodies then, is very important, it has an important function.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (Amp) – Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.
When we receive salvation, our spirits are made alive, our souls are reconciled to God and our bodies are made temples for the Holy Spirit.
Functions of Spirit, Soul and Body.
Spirit:
Our spirit is capable of communicating directly with God and worshipping Him, as confirmed in…
1 Corinthians 6:17 (Amp) – But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.
2 Timothy 1:7(NKJV) – For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Neither soul nor body can unite with God. The spirit alone is capable of uniting with God.
John 4:23-24 (Amp) – A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers. God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality).
Soul:
The soul’s function is to make decisions and, regeneration[vernuwing] enables the soul to make right decisions.
Psalm 103:1 (NIV) – Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
David’s spirit is telling his soul what to do.
His spirit senses the need to ‘bless the Lord’ but it requires activation by his soul to execute this need.
Eg. Like a gear lever on a car. Turn the key, start the engine, but to make it move you must shift it into drive.
It’s often difficult to distinguish soul from spirit.
The ONLY effective and sharp tool is – THE WORD.
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) – For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The difference between mature and immature Christians…
Hebrews 5:11-14 (Msg) – I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one-—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.
Body
There’s a marked difference between “Spiritual” and “Soulish” in relation to the body as described in the New Testament.
Paul says…
1 Corinthians 15:44-50a (NIV) – 44It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So, it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. 50I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,
What does it mean to be an “earthly soulish man”?
From a Christian’s standpoint, earthly individuals focus on our earthly life and nothing more, nothing beyond.
Soulish people are egocentric, concerned exclusively with themselves; it’s about my comforts, my likes my dislikes, my feelings my convenience. “I do it my way.”
It’s about what God can do for me and not what I can do for God.
1 Corinthians 2:14-15 (NIV) – The person without the Spirit 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. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,
Spirit-filled believers produce fruit.
Luke 3:8a (Amp) – Bear fruits that are deserving and consistent with [your] repentance [that is, conduct worthy of a heart changed, a heart abhorring sin].
They ask, “How can I glorify God? How can I best serve God?” Pleasing God is their 1st priority. They have a confidence and a boldness that they are children of God.
Romans 8:14-16 (Amp) – For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.
We can have absolute assurance in this scripture.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIV) – 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. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
Being ready when Jesus comes in Spirit Soul and Body one day is not optional
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