27th of November, 2022.
| THEME: | HOW TO BE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD |
| LESSON: | TWELVE |
| TEXT: | Psalm 23; 1Cor. 10:1-13; Eph 5:22-28 |
MEMORY TRACK:
By God’s grace, in our last study, we looked at the relationship between doctrine and Subjective Leading of the Spirit. We also learnt that the essence of subjective leading of the spirit (which is to bring the soul out of uncleanness) cannot be achieved if the soul is not a subject of the Lord. We only become subjects of the Lord when such a soul is made to lie down to feed on pasture (doctrine) – Ps 23:1-2.
Why Training?
Athletes know well that they must exercise certain muscles of their body for them to have victory in sports. Generally, man must develop certain parts of the body to improve its effectiveness in carrying out specific tasks. In the same vein, the soul cannot effectively follow the leading of the spirit if it is not trained to do so. The faculties of man’s soul are senses (not physical senses) that relate with thoughts, words, and lifestyle. These faculties can be trained to handle spiritual things and otherwise. Training is necessary for the soul to be able to easily yield to the Lord.
Some important things to note:
1. Understanding your true identity (1Thess 5:23): We should know that man is (essentially) spirit. Man is not soul; he is not emotions, intellect, feelings etc – rather, man is spirit! Through Adam’s transgression all died, but at New Birth our spirit was quickened and became a brand-new spirit, a new creation after the order of Christ. He is a new man; our spirit is not a baby spirit but a full-grown man that is perfectly joined to the Lord. Our regenerated spirit is Christ, and he is in perfect union with the Holy Ghost. It bears the gene and identity of Christ. Our spirit was recreated in true holiness and righteousness.
2. Your spirit knows what your mind and intellect cannot conceive (1Cor 2:11): One of the most important things we must know with regards to the leading of the Spirit is that your spirit knows things concerning you that no one knows. The spirit of a man knows things pertaining to both his/her spiritual and natural endeavors. So, the best person within your members that accurately picks the mind of the Lord is your regenerated human spirit because it is in perfect union with the Holy spirit.
3. Your spirit is joined to the Lord (1Cor 6:17): The regenerated human spirit at new birth became one with the Lord and he is fully under the Lordship of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Our spirits were baptized at new birth into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit and is under His Lordship (1Cor 12:13).
Understanding the state of the Soul
At New Birth the soul was not saved but was bought by the blood of Jesus to be saved (Acts 20:28; Eph 1:14). It remained carnal, void of the life of God. It has in it the way and thought of sins and death that it had acquired (Eph 4:2224). So, what the Holy Spirit wants to lead is the soul not the regenerated spirit or the body. The soul was wrongly led by the dead spirit under the Lordship of Satan and had acquired ways and life patterns that are contrary to the Lord (1Cor 12:2; Eph 2:1-3). Hence the need to retrain the soul so that he can be led by the spirit of God (Eph 4:23; Rom 12:2). How to train the Soul to easily yield to the spirit
1. Meditating on the word (Joshua 1:8, Deut 11:18-20, Ps.1:1-2, 119:15,97,99, 1Tim 4:13-16): Meditation means to ponder on a thought, think over something, consider and speak to yourself regarding a thing (Ps 77:12). Learn to read, memorize and meditate on the Word of God. The mind is full of activities, noise, ideas and what to do at every situation but the best way to tame the unruly nature of the mind is by meditating on the word. Mediation is the process by which we chew words over and over until it becomes a life, action or conversation. The mind can be trained to stay on the word. No one will do this for you, you have to do it by yourself. You feed your mind with whatsoever you meditate upon (Prov 23:7).
2. The Word dwells in you richly (Col. 3:15-16, Psalm 119:105,133): Christ is the living word, and the scripture is the written word. Our regenerated human spirit is Christ and God speaks to us through our spirit, but the soul will not be able to pick such a leading if the soul is not cultured by the Word. This is beyond memorizing scripture; it is the word that you obey that dwells in your heart (Ps 119:11). It is in the heart that ways, lifestyles, manner of life, conversation, etc are created or formed. So, the word should not just be in our mind, but it should also move from our mind to our heart. The Word becomes our commandment once it enters the hearts.
Renewing the mind
You cannot know the will of God when your mind is not renewed (Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin). The word that dwells in the heart needs to move from the heart to the mind where it reflects in our actions and our inactions. The blessed mind is the renewed mind. The mind has direct connections to our body so the body will automatically (or naturally) submit to the will of God.