Life Transformed by the Spirit
We are called to cultivate our faculties and live a life transformed by the Spirit, allowing us to become instruments of usefulness for God.
Mary Wilder Tileston preaches about the distinction between a carnal life, where our spirit is controlled by our lower desires, and a spiritual life, where our spirit is guided by the Spirit of God. She emphasizes that all aspects of life can be spiritual if they are governed by the divine Spirit according to righteousness, including secular activities like business, politics, art, and science. Tileston encourages cultivating every faculty given by God to become instruments for His use, leading to a deeper experience of His joy and fulfillment.
Text
Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
ROMANS 8:9
THAT life is carnal in which our spirit, meant for God, is dragged at the chariot-wheels of our lower life; and that is spiritual which is ruled and mastered by the Spirit. Secular business is spiritual if it is ruled by the divine Spirit according to the law of righteousness. Politics are spiritual, commercial and municipal life are spiritual, art and science are spiritual, and everything that develops our faculties is spiritual, if we will allow the divine Spirit to rule in all according to the law of righteousness, truth, and beauty. For the whole of our being, with all its sum of faculties, is made by God and meant for God.
CHARLES GORE
It is the very business of your life to cultivate every faculty you have (the highest most, and most in the highest directions), in the belief that He has given them to you that you may become His instruments for usefulness; and that He asks this of you, because, if you grant it, you enable Him to give you more of His own happiness than you can otherwise receive, and far more than you can imagine.
THEOPHILUS PARSONS
Sermon Outline
- Life Transformed by the Spirit
- Spiritual Application in Daily Life
- Secular Business
- Politics and Civic Life
- Art, Science, and Personal Growth
Key Quotes
“That life is carnal in which our spirit, meant for God, is dragged at the chariot-wheels of our lower life;” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“It is the very business of your life to cultivate every faculty you have (the highest most, and most in the highest directions),” — Mary Wilder Tileston
Application Points
- We should strive to cultivate our faculties in the highest and most noble directions, believing that God has given them to us for His purposes.
- By living a life transformed by the Spirit, we can become instruments of usefulness for God and receive His happiness and joy.
- We should allow the divine Spirit to guide and master our lives according to the law of righteousness, truth, and beauty.