The Daily Spurgeon: May we know such faith

The Daily Spurgeon: May we know such faith

What Type Of Person Are You 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:4

Intro:

God Created Us

• In His Image (Spirit, Soul, & Body)

1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Body– includes our 5 senses,

Soul—Includes our mind will and emotions Gen 2:7 “God Breathed into his nostrils… and man became a living soul.”

Spirit— The part of our being that connects us with God (Romans 8:16, Hebrews 10:15)

• For Relationship With Him

We were made to abide in our creator, to have a lasting relationship with Him. (John 15:5, Genesis 3:8)

Sin Corrupts

• Lucifer’s Fall (Isaiah 14:12, Luke 10:18; Rev. 12:7–10)
  Satan (once called Lucifer, an angel) was cast out of heaven because of his pride to become “like God.” His eternal fate is sealed to the lake of fire. His work is the polar opposite of God he attacks humanity through our flesh.
• Humanity’s Fall (Gen 3, Rom 3:23)
  Adam’s sin brought about a spiritual death. We died in our spirit and the door  of the spirit was closed off and we were opened to the influence of the enemy. (Romans 7:9-11)

This Is The Essence Of The Lost

I. The Natural Man 2:14 

• Cut Off & Isolated
• Spiritually Dead (Spirit’s door closed)
• Does not accept spiritual things
• Morally corrupt (Sin’s Door Open)

 They are closed off from God.  Satan, as god of this world, has taken the opportunity to blind their minds to Him, and they do not understand Him or His Word, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

II. The Spiritual Man 2:15-16           

The spiritual man is one who live supernaturally. That is, he lives a "spiritual" life. He lives his life not in the old dead nature, but he lives his life in the power of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual man, and every saved person for that matter, has two natures. The old fleshly adamic nature and a new spiritual nature. The spiritual man is one who allows Christ to rule his life. Jesus is not just present, He is preeminent. Jesus does not just reside in the spiritual man's life, He presides over that life. These verses reveal certain characteristics of the spiritual man's life.    

A. He Is Capable Of Discernment - The word "judgeth" means "to examine, to discern." The spiritual man is alive in the Spirit, equipped by the Spirit and is open to the truth of God. It is not foolishness to him, but it is a fountain of life. It is like food to his hungry soul. He delights in the things of God! (Note: This ability to receive and understand the deep things of God does not depend upon I.Q. or upon academic ability. This is accomplished through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the yielded believer, John 16:13. There are simple country folks who know more about God than some preachers with multiple doctorates.) The spiritual man is drawn to the things of God and to the truth of God like a moth is drawn to a flame.

Spiritually Alive (Spirit’s Door Open)

B. He Is The Cause Of Amazement - The phrase, "yet he himself is judged of not man", means that the lost and worldly folks around him can't figure him out. He , and his life, are a mystery to the natural men around him. He baffles and bothers the man of the world! He has peace, joy and faith in the midst of trial. He has standards and convictions, yet he just lives them out and isn't obnoxious and overbearing about them. The spiritual man is a constant source of amazement to the natural man and to the carnal man. 

C. He Has Crucified The Flesh  - Galatians 2:20

Daily the spiritual man must keep the door of the flesh sealed. Every day we must crucify the flesh. This kind of living is possible. Not only is the achievable but it is essential for ever follower of Christ. Many people live with one foot in the world and one foot in the Word. We must flee the temptation of sin and allow the Spirit of Christ to reign within every area of our lives

Could you be a Spiritual Man tonight?

III. The Carnal Man (Baby Christian)  

The third category offered in this text is that of the carnal man. This kind of person lives his life unnaturally. He lives a "sensual" life. Everything his life is decided by how it affects him and how it makes him feel. He lives according to his flesh.

The carnal man is a believer, Ill. 1 Cor. 1:7. The Corinthians were gifted but carnal. He has two natures just like the spiritual man, but he is dominated by the old nature. He quenches the influence of the Spirit of God in his life. Often, the carnal believer cannot be discerned from the lost sinner! A good example of this was a man my the name of Lot. If you had seen him in Genesis 13 and 19, you would have concluded that he was a lost man. But, when you read 2 Pet. 2:7, you discover that he was a righteous, but carnal man. This section of our text tells us all about the carnal man.) (Note: Carnality in the life of God's children is the reason the church lacks power and influence in the community!)

A. The Maturity Of The Carnal Believer - Paul says that the carnal man is a baby. He has started out the right way; he has been born again, but he has progressed no farther. (Ill. Babies are cute and precious, but they are designed to grow up and become adults. The same is true in the spiritual realm.) It is fitting and normal to start out as a baby, but is tragic to remain one! The carnal believer suffers from "arrested development". They haven't grown as they should. By the way, how long you have been saved has nothing to do with your level of maturity. I have seen believers who have been saved a short time who have grown substantially in the Lord. By the same token I have seen others who have been saved for lengthy periods of time, yet who have not gotten out of the nursery spiritually. They are still crying, griping, whining and calling attention to themselves. The tragedy of this is that God did not save us to stay babies. He saved us to grow into the image of Jesus, Rom. 8:29; Eph. 4:13.)

B. The Menu Of The Carnal Believer - The carnal believer is still on milk spiritually.

Milk is fine for babies, 2 Pet. 2:2, but as we mature, we are supposed to move beyond the milk of the Word into the meatier places of the Word, Heb. 5:12-14. Here is the very reason some people are not growing in the Lord. They do not want to go any deeper in the things of the Lord than they already are! You try to lead them deeper in the book and they get spiritual indigestion. They do not want to go. They want to come to church, put their mind in neutral and never have to think! In other words, as long as you stay simple and feed the "gospel lite" they are happy. You know, tell a few stories. Tell about the time you visited so and so and what happened in this place or the other. Talk about your life, talk about the Lord, talk about the church, but keep it lite! But, when you begin to preach the deeper truths of the Word that call for commitment and a change of life, they get and upset stomach and they will spit up all over you! Friend, you will never get out of the nursery until you begin to dig your spiritual teeth into the deeper truths of the Word of God.

C. The Marks Of The Carnal Believer - There are three tale-tell characteristics of the carnal believer. If these are evident in your life, then you are carnal and need to change. You are a baby spiritually and need to grow up.

1. Selfishness - Babies are by nature selfish creatures. They care about no one but themselves. They don't care how tired mom and dad are! They don't care about anything else in the world but themselves! As long as they are the center of attention and their needs are being met they are fine. But, when something is wrong in their world, they cry, whine and complain until someone does it their way. The same is true in the life of the carnal believer. The focus is always on themselves. It doesn't matter what's best for the church, all that matters is how it affects them personally. And, when a carnal believer is unhappy everyone knows it! How? They act like a big baby, calling attention to themselves!

2. Strife - Babies want their way and they are prepared to fight for it! They don't care to take by force what they think is theirs. You get a couple of babies together and there will be strife, discord and dissension. Friend, you mark it down, anytime there is trouble in the church, you have a baby on your hands! Someone didn't get their way and they want everyone to know it. Someone got their little feelings hurt and they want someone to pay for it. I don't care where they are found in the church, you can count on spiritual babies to be at the center of every disturbance!

With a baby believer, it's always about them. They are always complaining about someone else or something. They are always tattling. They are always pointing their pudgy little fingers at everyone else. They never can see that it might just be them! They might be the problem. They might be easily offended. They might be the ones in the wrong.

If you find that you are always offended at someone for what they have said or done; if you think you are always getting the short end of the stick; if you always think you are right and everyone else is wrong, mark it down, you are a baby and you need to grow up.

3. Splits - Another trait of the carnal believer is that he brings division everywhere he goes. The carnal believer always carries a divisive spirit within him. He is easily offended and always responds by being offensive. As a result, the carnal believer kills everything he touches, Rom. 8:6. A carnal believer will kill a Sunday School class, a committee, a choir, a testimony service, etc. Everything the flesh touches dies

The will is at the center of the battle

The Music Maker (an exerpt from this weeks sermon "Resonating His Voice" Isaiah 6:8-13, Jeremiah 1:5-10)

Our lives have much in common with a quality guitar. 

The Guitar makes no sound of its on, only that which is produced by the stroke of the musician's hand. As sound waves travel across the sound hole, the hollow interior resotates the still soft wisper of the strings and creates a melodious noise.

In much the same way, God speaks softly to us impanting His word into our hollow being.(Jeremiah 1:9, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.) For there is nothing in our lives that is of substance without the voice of our maker. (Jn. 1:3;15:5b, Rom 3:10-23, Ps. 127:1,)   As His voice resonates throughout the vacum of our life it escalates from a gentle wisper to a beckoning call, generating a new found life. In like manner His voice must spring forth from the depths of my soul and be amplified for all to hear so they too can experince the resounding message of God's grace.

Full sermon audio