Soul Power: The Counterfeit of the Holy Spirit's Power

Let's turn to Acts chapter 1. Acts 1 verse 8, Jesus made it very clear that the mark of the baptism in the Holy Spirit would be power. It couldn't be more clear than what he says in Acts 1 verse 8. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Power to be my witnesses in your immediate circle and then in expanding circles from there.

My dear brothers and sisters and children, this is the one mark of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's not speaking in tongues, it's not more charisma, more gift to preach or anything like that. It is power.

Power to be a witness of the resurrection life of Jesus Christ in you and through you. And when you think about power in the kingdom of God, I compare that with the kingdom of this world. Power in the kingdom of this world comes through money.

If you have money, you have power. The powerful countries in the world are the rich countries, the countries that have a lot of money. And so power, money in the world is power.

And when you think about not having or being poor in the world, let's say, there's two ways to be poor. One is to just simply not have money at all. If you don't have money, then you're poor.

Another way to be poor in the world is if all the money that you have is counterfeit money. Think about what I just said. If you had a bank account with a lot of money in it, but all of it was counterfeit money, then when you actually try to use that money, people will look at and say, no, hold on, this is from your Monopoly game.

It's not from the bank. It's counterfeit. You can't use it.

And there's a lot of people who are spiritually poor, either because they have never been filled with the Holy Spirit, they're living a defeated, powerless life, or what they think they have of power is not really power. It's a counterfeit. Does that make sense, children, to what I just said? Do you understand the analogy? If you look at your bank account and the bank account says you've got 1 million dollars, but when you actually try to use it, they say, no, this is counterfeit.

What you have 1 million of is Monopoly money. It's not real. And it's sadly the case for many Christians.

We've been hearing in the church for the last few months now, probably the last few years, I would say, on the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. And this morning the Lord's laid a burden on my heart to speak on why some people who think they are filled with the Holy Spirit still live defeated lives. And I was one of those for many years.

And I'm watchful of that tendency creeping in where I can think I'm filled with the Holy Spirit because of certain things I think I see in my life. But the reality is that I'm not really filled with the Holy Spirit. What I have is a counterfeit.

And the counterfeit of Holy Spirit power is soul power. The counterfeit of Holy Spirit power is soul power. And if you're living in your soul, if you're living by your soul, because the soul has power as well, and if you allow your soul to wield its power, to exert its power, to have influence, if you're living driven by your soul, if the decisions you make and your opinion of yourself as a Christian is based on your soul, then what you have is a counterfeit.

It looks like the Holy Spirit's power. There are some things of soul power that look like you could be filled with the Holy Spirit, but the reality is not there. In the same way that counterfeit money looks like real money.

Now I use monopoly as an example, but monopoly money is intentionally look different so that nobody would mistakenly think this is a real $10 bill or a real hundred dollar bill. But counterfeiters who plan to deceive store owners or deceive others make money to look exactly like the original. And the US Department of Treasury has to make the currency, make the currency bills so unique, something unique about it, that it can't easily be counterfeited.

And meanwhile the counterfeiters are trying to figure all of that out and make the counterfeit as close to the original as possible. So that some innocent foolish person looks at it and doesn't look at it carefully and accepts a hundred dollar bill which is completely counterfeit. When you actually take it to the bank they'll say sorry, somebody slipped you a fake bill.

And the devil is the master counterfeiter of all. He's a deceiver. He's the master counterfeiter and so that thing which is most precious, that life in the Spirit, that experience of genuinely being filled with the Holy Spirit, he has successfully counterfeited with soulish experiences.

Soulish experiences in church meetings, soulish experiences during times of singing. To the point where today most Christians when you say worship, they think singing. When you talk about time of worship immediately people think, oh yeah we're going to sing some songs.

There's going to be a guitar and a keyboard and a drums and good singers and we had great worship. Look at how he's counterfeited it. And music I believe has become one of the most effective tools of soul power by the devil.

Music in Christendom is one of the most effective tools he has which is why we must be careful. It's good to sing songs that encourage you and build you up and even maybe stir you emotionally. Nothing wrong with that.

We clap. That's I think an emotional response manifest in the body. Our bodies are excited when we sing upbeat songs and I'm not saying that we should be fake or religious and somber and just very heavy and dull.

There's nothing wrong with using that but make sure that soul doesn't exert its power and that you're not somehow deceived by the power that your soul has into thinking that that is the power of the Holy Spirit. It's very important and the characteristic of soul power. Soul power comes from the fact that self is still at the center of my life.

When self is still on the throne, when self is still at the center of my spiritual universe then soul power will dominate your life and think about it. I think a lot of Christians are busy fighting against sin and trying to overcome specific sins. Oh I don't want to lust with my eyes.

I don't want to lose my temper. They're fighting against specific sins but self has continually remained on the throne and as long as self is on the throne you may even get to the point where you're not falling into the same sins and the devil will have deceived you into thinking that you're actually grown spiritually. We're not, our ultimate goal is not that we overcome sin.

God's ultimate goal is yes to free us from sin but it's to take away the root of sin which is self being on the throne and so maybe you get to the point where you used to be defeated with always losing your temper. You've gotten better at that. If self is still on the throne, sin will manifest itself somewhere else or it will get really good at hiding itself and you learn how to control it so that it doesn't blurt itself out but it's still there on the inside and dear brothers and sisters you've heard this from the very beginning if you've been at RLCF that God's goal in your life is to remove self from the throne and you must be watchful over that to make sure that in the little things self is not still on the throne but I've just learned to be a good RLCF member with self still on the throne because God doesn't remove our soul when we're born again.

You know our old man is crucified with Christ and baptism is a testimony to that that our old man is not just crucified but buried. Once he's dead you actually put him into the grave that's what we're going to witness in a few minutes in baptism that that old man who was crucified with Christ I'm testifying this old man that was put to death is now buried and what who comes up is Jesus Christ living in me it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and when we're baptized that's what we're testifying to it is no longer I who live self that I is no longer living he's crucified with Christ but we still have a soul our soul is still there and it's hard to explain some people have even my kids sometimes ask me what's the difference between soul and spirit how do you explain it I can understand the body versus some other persona inside this being inside of me I think all of us can understand that there's the body and then there's some other being inside that's connected to this body and when the body dies and we bury that body physically in grave that doesn't mean that I'm dead the soul still lives and the soul is eternal and whether you go to hell or heaven you will live forever in one place or the other even though your body is dead those souls who don't end up in the presence of God forever will still have an existence in hell in eternal torment so God doesn't destroy that soul but the question is who is going to rule your life now that you're born again and that's what Jesus meant when he said in Luke chapter 9 if you turn there with me Luke 9 verse 23 Jesus was offering an invitation to those who wanted to follow him and he said if anyone wishes to come after me or follow me he must deny himself what is that himself it is this soul this self in me that makes the decisions self I he must deny himself and take up his cross daily that means that what Jesus was talking about was not the old man who was crucified once and for all and buried this is this I that still manifests himself that God hasn't destroyed who every day or you would say every moment that's what Jesus meant when he said daily is constantly you and I face the choice of who's going to be the decision maker is it going to be you through your soul or is it going to be the Holy Spirit and the interesting thing is that you can you and I can get to the point where we're making soulish decisions that look like Christianity they look like spirit-filled Christians because it has this appearance of it the soul can learn very quickly how to be a Christian in the same way that the soul learned shortly after I was born how to be an evil person nobody had to teach me my parents certainly didn't teach me to tell lies in fact they taught me the opposite they didn't teach me to lust with my eyes or to fight or to use my tongue unwisely or to be jealous or to grab I didn't have to be taught that I learned very quickly you see how the soul can learn very quickly what it needs to do and now that you've become a Christian the soul can also learn very quickly oh the soul inside who really wants to be on the throne says oh okay you're at RLCF you know what it will take to fit in here this and this and this and this and that other thing and you talk like this and you act like that and you quote these verses and the soul has become a very good outwardly looking RLCF member but soul is still on the throne and dear friends I dear family I think that's our greatest danger is that deep down and that's a question only you and I can answer before God if soul has not been dethroned you could get to the point where you're sitting at RLCF and you've convinced everybody including perhaps yourself that you're a good Christian a wholehearted disciple of Jesus Christ a new covenant member of the body of Christ but soul has just very deceptively and intelligently learned how to fit in here your soul dear brother and sister will learn how to fit in wherever it needs to to survive and your soul will do yourself yes that self life will do everything it can to preserve itself and goes on to say for whoever wishes to preserve his life or my margin says soul I think some translations actually use that whoever wishes to preserve it if you're looking to preserve that if your soul is looking to preserve itself one day you will lose it doesn't matter if you sat at RLCF doesn't matter where you sat you will be no different than the ungodly heathen person sitting in front of his television today drinking his beer watching the football game we might as well have done that if deep down you were looking to preserve your soul sitting at RLCF didn't change that that's what Jesus was saying whoever whoever wishes to save or preserve his soul will lose it one day but whoever loses his soul says oh so you can be dethroned and replaced with the Holy Spirit whoever loses his soul for my sake he is the one who will ultimately keep it or save it and another place as to life eternal this is eternal life but each day Jesus made it very clear it's a daily choice this is make sure you understand this is different from the old man your old man has been buried with Christ the crucified and buried with Christ but now your soul is making the is facing a choice do I relinquish myself and let Jesus let the Holy Spirit reign or do I continue to preserve myself how do we discern between the soul and the spirit the Bible is very clear in Hebrews chapter 4 Hebrews chapter 4 for Christians I would say this is the greatest battle you know different times maybe you think my greatest battle is gossip or lusting with your eyes or whatever it might be ultimately dear brothers and sisters for Christians this is the greatest battle it's the battle between your soul and your spirit because the soul is very cunning is very smart is going to find a way to hide itself and make it seem like you're a spiritual Christian and that's why Hebrews 4 verse 12 makes it very clear the Word of God is living and active and sharp how sharp when you think about the Word of God living and active and sharp like a two-edged sword what do you think of like a sword that just cuts you up no it's such a fine sword that it's able to cut between the bone and the marrow you think about that it says here further down joints and the marrow a knife that is so precise that it can separate the joint and the marrow now I'm not an expert in anatomy and so I'm not gonna try to explain that but maybe you can do this as your homework but at least this I know it is not this big huge sword because a big huge sword is not sharp enough to separate between the joints and the marrow it's just gonna cut the whole thing but the Word of God yes there are times when it cuts me up and it exposes exposes fleshliness and carnality and lust and all those big things that are obvious night and day but I would word it like this the Word of God is also sharp enough to separate white from gray light from mostly like but a little bit of darkness that's the sharpness of the Word of God that we need the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing as far as the division of joints and marrow so fine think about a surgeon's scalpel which is a really small knife but it's so sharp and very thin that it can go into the narrowest of places and just cut joint versus marrow separating the joint from marrow and he says that is the division of the soul and the spirit and that's why ultimately I think that the devil doesn't mind unbelievers reading the Bible because he knows that it's really not going to do anything to them but he's going to come at you when you really take up the Word of God when you make it a decision to meditate on God's Word not just read it and get on with your day but to meditate on it where the Word of God becomes like a thin knife that is able to separate between soul and spirit where you realize you've been a soulish Christian for a long time you didn't you didn't know it and everybody else around you didn't know it your wife didn't know it your husband didn't know it your children didn't know it every other brother and sister at RLCF didn't know it but the Word of God because you're meditating on it and it's cutting now and it's showing you through little things that manifest themselves I'm just a soulish Christian not truly spiritual and my dear brothers and sisters I'm not here to judge anybody though the Holy Spirit's been cutting me up I'll tell you that with the Word I've been identified I've been in the last few weeks been meditating and the Lord's been showing me I to the point where I says Lord have I really just been completely soulish and I have to judge myself and each of you must do that and I've been judging myself to say Lord these little things that crop up every now and then not big sins little ways I react to certain circumstances are they an indication that I've been soulish this whole time and I want to be filled with your Holy Spirit and have I been convincing myself yeah I must be spirit-filled look at this look at that but these little things these little manifestations here and there that crop up in in circumstances where I'm caught unaware Lord have I been fooling myself with counterfeit money help me thank you that you shine your light into my heart so that I can know now before it's too late whether the money in my bank account is completely counterfeit see this was true about the Corinthians Paul wrote to them in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14 1st Corinthians 2 verse 14 the the characteristic of a soulish person or what in this verse is called an unspiritual person somebody who is thinks he's spiritual but he's not really spiritual unspiritual is the word used here a spirit an unspiritual man some translations say a natural man so that the the difference is essentially between the spiritual person and the spiritual tendencies if you will the spiritual behavior spiritual attitude spiritual motives and your natural motives see all of us are born with natural motives natural tendencies ways of doing things that are in my nature and it's part of human nature yes but it's also each of us has a unique flavor of that nature of you will that's how you were born and a person who's continues to live by his natural tendencies oh I was just that way my father was like that my grandfather was like that that's how we are or my truck my culture is like that my tribe is like that we from such and such a part of the world we do these things and that's how we are and it's true about every person no matter what part of the world you come from and if your behavior today looks just like that and you're excusing it well that's how we are I guess that's how I am and you're excusing it that's that that's my nature then it says here you don't accept the things of the Spirit of God you can cry out day and night say Lord fill me with your Holy Spirit but God says you're still driven by your natural tendencies you're content to be who you were born in that little quirk or that little temperament or that little attitude or that little motive the unspiritual man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God so God is waiting to pour out the Holy Spirit upon you and you'll you're saying Lord I open my mouth wide and fill it but God sees self is still on the throne and you still are okay with responding that way to your wife and she's just gotten good at accepting it because you like him I guess that's the man I married dear brothers are you the man that your wife married then you're probably just a natural man has the Holy Spirit really not been able to change you in those little areas that she's just putting up with and long-suffering impatient with and you'll never accept the things of the Spirit of God because they're foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised but the spiritual man appraises he was spiritual appraises all things yet he's appraised by none and he goes on to say verse 3 look at this sorry sorry chapter 3 verse 1 I brethren could not speak to you as spiritual man now here was a church that Paul had planted with elders that Paul would have appointed and he had a relationship with he stayed with them for a long period of time and then he says listen church at Corinth I couldn't speak to you as spiritual as to spiritual man because you were just soulish you you didn't want so yourself to be dethroned I couldn't speak to you as to spiritual end bus to as to men of flesh as to infants in Christ I could only give you milk here's the one of the characteristics of soulish Christians they like milk they like the good teaching encouraged oh I felt good after that message oh wow that was good but the hard teaching the teaching that penetrates when the sharpness of the Word of God starts to separate joints and marrow when the secrets of their hearts are exposed and they realize I just been a soulish Christian this whole time they're offended by it that's a mark of a soulish Christian to get offended with the strength of the teaching I could only give but Oh milk yeah see what's the difference between milk and solid food milk is you just you don't have to chew it just drink it just goes down easily that's a milk message just goes down easily yeah felt good and most Christians I believe are finding churches by what kind of milk message they get solid food on the other hand you have to break it down you have to chew it you're gonna take some time and even after that it's gonna take some time to be processed and digested inside your body and broken down so that it can be absorbed into the body milk I don't know what the scientific data is on how quickly milk is absorbed into your body but it's certainly much less than a piece of meat and that's the difference it'll take some chewing it won't be see one of the reasons I'll tell you honestly why we don't have altar calls is because we don't know if I give you a milk message sure we can all have an altar call right now but if I give you a meat message you probably will only be ready to accept it a day or so from now when you've really chewed on it and you accept it and you're confronted by what it's going to cost you and again I'm not here to make a point about altar calls if we do we do that's fine we have times of reflection but the point is brothers and sisters when we hear a message here if you hear a lot of solid food here I'll tell you that and there must be that chewing and that chewing if you're not chewing it then it's like trying to swallow a piece of steak you have to teach our children hey don't swallow your food you know you look at them with their cheeks all puffed up because it's probably spinach or broccoli or something like that and they've got you know like no chew it some more and they're like no you drink more water it's just gonna make it worse and right you know that that's not what you must chew it you must break it down and at some point you must swallow it and say I'm gonna take up my cross I'm gonna be a doer of the word not just a hearer and so he says I I gave you milk to drink not solid food because you weren't able to receive it indeed even now you're not yet able is that would Paul have to say that to any of us here at RLCM this is I've been trying to speak you speak to you about the baptism the Holy Spirit I've been trying to but I see I feel like I just got to go back to giving you milk and he says you're still fleshly because there is here's the proof of that there is jealousy what are the marks of soulish Christians is there's jealousy examine your hearts let's examine our hearts brother sister is there any jealousy towards anybody whether it is I wish I could have had what they have I wish you could have had his gift or this or that is there any jealousy in your heart and have you has it been there for some time if God's just showing it to you now that's fine but has it been there have you been aware of it for six months and it's still there a year you've been here for three years maybe but there's jealousy in your heart then they've probably you are a soulish Christian and God can never fill you with his Holy Spirit that's what I mean by what I was saying with the Holy Spirit's been cutting me off where I've been realizing joint and marrow differences that the knife has gone in and separated he says this is soul this is spirit I'm like this has been this is all of me what am I gonna do he says come I will I use the Word of God to separate it for a reason when the surgeon scalpel comes in to separate the bone and the joint and the marrow it's not to leave you hanging exposed no to heal it and to bring healing and to remove that cancer and to put you back and bind you up and to pour ointment over it so that you can be healthy so that you can realize that this these little manifestations instead of just cutting off the little tumor that that shows up on the skin you can go into where the cancer is and cut it out this is what God wants to do in our midst there's jealousy that results in strife division fighting I see I look at churches where there's division and there's fighting and I being a part of churches where there's been that and I see that starts with jealousy I'm jealous over somebody having that somebody else having this be watchful brothers and sisters over jealousy I don't think the Christians hear enough about jealousy but jealousy is one of the surest proofs that I'm a soulish Christian so we'll dig into just a few characteristics that I see of soulish Christians and one of the first ones I believe in one of the characteristics of soulish Christians is that there's no endurance turn to Hebrews 10 soulish Christians will obey for a period of time but they you know they don't they don't endure these are Christians who will suddenly go through periods of revival like oh man oh I'm gonna be following you Lord wholeheartedly and they're excited they show up for the meetings and you can tell by the look on their face well something happened in this sister or this brother they're excited but then it fades out what happened wasn't necessarily a move of the Holy Spirit yes the Holy Spirit spoke and they were confronted with the maybe a message or a conference or a time of prayer or maybe a time of defeat and there was the light shining in but ultimately when it came down to it they didn't let self be dethroned self remained on the throne and so it's like you remember the parable where of the sower where the seeds fell on the rocky ground and in instantly they received it with joy the message was a great yes it was a hard message it was a cutting message it was solid food and they're like oh finally some solid food I love that message brother it cut me up and I'm gonna be a wholehearted disciple but then on Monday afternoon there was a situation where you were tested with are you going to let self be dethroned and they said no I like pleasure too much I like my reputation too much I love money too much and self found a way to appreciate the message but not really be dethroned and if you remember that see that that soil was rocky the message was like thank you brother what a great message but when the hardship came when the Sun shone down on it on Monday afternoon there was no depth in themselves underneath was rock underneath was self that refused to be dethroned and so it withered away and it experienced the same outcome as the other person for whom the bird came immediately took it away you see how the outcome the end result is the same for the area where the seeds were taken away by the birds and this area where they said what a great message but there was no endurance Hebrews 10 verse 36 you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised guess what Sunday morning is not when you do the will of God right you know that it's when you hear the Word of God but it's when you have done the will of God on Monday and on Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday with your husband with your wife with your children in your workplace on the road in the grocery store in your heart where nobody can see when you have done the will of God you will receive what was promised you have need of endurance and that memory verse was so appropriate that we have for this week he would turn over a page to chapter 12 verse 4 you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin verse 3 says you consider him who endured and that's the characteristic of soul as Christians is that when they experience a discipline from the Lord maybe God allows them to have how is the Lord discipline have you thought about it because our memory where so my son do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord nor faint when you are reproved by him how does the Lord discipline us I'll tell you a few ways he allows a sickness to come in now it's not always a form of discipline but I tell you whenever I get sick one of the first questions I said Lord are you disciplining am I sick because you're trying to discipline me in my body you're allowing the sickness you know doesn't feel good to be sick but the Lord saying I'm trying to discipline you Santosh I'm trying to show you there's soulishness that you think is spirituality but it's your soulishness and I'm I can't I've been trying to speak to you through the Word of God but you're just tuning it out now I'm going to allow you to get sick and that sickness be a means of me showing you something that I need to show you that's discipline it could be through circumstances in life very trying circumstances in life where my world is shaken as it were and something some earthly circumstance maybe job situations or financial loss or something else relationships those are God allows to be a form of discipline it could be reproof of godly men elders having to speak a word of correction or something like that into your life do you take it lightly do you get offended do you defend yourself that's a mark that you might have all the knowledge and you may even think that you're spirit filled you may have a lot of gifts but your soul is deep down you don't have that endurance to endure under the discipline of the Lord and a part of that endurance is also is that impulsive you know I talked about how these seeds that the soil instantly it says it receives it with joy instantly I'm a little cautious nowadays over the instantaneous response Paul is a sorry Peter is a good example of this look at Matthew 26 I was reminded about Peter even as I was meditating on these thoughts that impulsive response to a word may be an indication that I'm actually soulish not spiritual where in that moment I was like oh yes yeah that's right I got it I understood it it clicks it makes sense I see he showed me this verse and that verse yeah it makes sense if it clicks instantaneously I'm not saying that we should rule it out because hopefully what I'm saying makes sense but don't be so quick to write it off as I am a spiritual person because I understood the message the test is going to come in a few hours or a few days or a few weeks or whether you have received the message because Peter Matthew 26 said in verse 31 Jesus said you will all fall away no by the way in verse 30 they sang a hymn it's the only time you read Jesus singing that I know of now it quotes about him that he's leads the praises and all that but in the Gospels I think this is the only place where you see Jesus also singing but this effect of the hymn the result of the hymn has two effects effects or two different effects on two different people in Jesus after he is sung the hymn he says listen we sang this hymn now you will all fall away because of me this night I will strike down the shepherd and so for Jesus he sees this hymn is challenging him because he's spiritual to go to the cross to be struck down as it were I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered but after I have been raised I will go ahead of you to Galilee so I'm not trying to make too much of a point over the hymn but I see because music and going back to this that music has a way of swaying you and I have a feeling it's just my opinion that Peter got swayed by this hymn perhaps they sang a hymn about I love you Lord and I lift my voice to worship you and Peter is swayed by this and then Jesus says okay this hymn has led me to go to the cross and then Peter says oh even though verse 33 all may fall away because of you I will never fall away I just saying that I'm gonna oh I surrender all I've laid my all on the altar and then Jesus said to him Peter you're soulish you haven't been filled with the Holy Spirit you're a soulish person you received this message and you received this hymn it did something in you that's not spiritual Peter in fact in another place in a similar conversation Jesus had to say Satan get behind me that soulishness is off the devil and then Peter Jesus lovingly says truly I say to you that you that this very night before a rooster crows you will deny me three times he's speaking directly to Peter Peter who responded with this I'm gonna I'm gonna everybody else will Lord you look at Matthew look at Thomas they're all gonna look at those half-hearted I'm backslidden Christians but I'm one of those really wholehearted disciples and Jesus says you think you're wholehearted it's just soulishness it's not spirituality Peter you're just like all the other eleven you're just like Judas in fact you who think that you will not deny that thing that makes you think you won't deny it's just soulishness now Peter was sincere he wasn't faking it he had an emotion inside of him that I believe was genuine but it was genuine soulishness and he had fooled even himself that he you know do you think Peter was lying was Peter put no Judas was pretending Peter was absolutely serious when he said Lord I'm gonna go to the cross but it was his emotions it was his soul that was telling him I'm gonna forsake everything for you Lord and Jesus exposed it the Word of God came and cut between the joint and the marrow and Jesus said you're gonna deny me three times before the rooster crows and Peter says no Lord even if I have to die with you I will not deny you you see how Peter just sort of glossed over the rebuke that Jesus gave Jesus specifically told him you are going to deny me three times before the rooster crows and Peter's just like nope forget that I'm gonna even if everybody denies you I even I've had to die will not deny you and then all the other disciples said the same thing Peter's emotion stirred them also to say the same thing so there's this emotional response be watchful over it don't assess your fullness of the Holy Spirit by how you respond to a message after you hear it another characteristic of this of these of this lack of endurance is that we're zealous for works one of the sure marks of soulish Christians as they do a lot of activity a lot of it they're willing to help with this and help with that now it's good to help we must help we must all contribute in helping but if you're eager to help be watch say Lord what is my eagerness to help coming from is it to have a reputation as a helpful person is to is to get that satisfaction that comes from serving in this area in that area oh there's a need yep I can do it think about it for a moment if you are aware that there's a need and you immediately volunteer your hand to help with that need it might it's a good thing here's the thing it's a good thing but it may be soulishness you brother sister child must examine your own heart by the Word of God allow the Word of God to divide between joints and Marissa's why did you volunteer to do that why are you the one that always wants to do this and do that and do that other thing is it because you're really led by the Holy Spirit or is it because your soul likes to manifest itself guess what the soul loves to be hospitable the soul loves to be a helper the soul loves to do this and to do that other thing even clean the toilets the soul loves to do those things because soul wants to be on the throne and if the soul if your soul realizes that the way for me to stay on the throne is to be very helpful in the church and then all the elders will think what a helpful brother and do this and do that other thing we have had a lot of soulish Christians in this church over the years I've been one of them I'll be honest with you but God's shining his light and saying why why did you volunteer to do that why did you open your home to be hospitable it's a wonderful thing please be hospitable but why is it because you're soulish then you're as good as the person who is selfish and never opens their home it's the same they end up in the same if you love your soul you will lose it just like that unbeliever who loves his soul that's why I said God's goal in working with us is not to help us learn how to not sin not lust not get angry yes that's the byproduct but the root of it is this self and be watchful over those areas where self remains on the throne and you've learned how to cut off these other little fruits of sin another characteristic of soulishness is that you're easily affected by your surroundings when people around you are happy you're happy when people around you are down you're down when circumstances around you are going well there's a nice smile on your face when circumstances around you are not going well there's a heaviness there's a cloud on your face you're easily affected by outside circumstances because you're emotional the mark of soulishness is that it's it dwells in the emotion in the feelings another mark of of soulishness is that you're very oversensitive very touchy there's a I will show you a verse in Philippines chapter 4 where Paul talks about two people I think they're two sisters he says in verse 2 I urge Yodia and Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord you know it's Paul having to write to a church saying hey these two sisters they seem to always be fighting what's going on and I heard somebody put it this way odia there's a word in English called odious that means I'm just very very unpleasant to be around always just like picking on this speaking in that somebody that's unpleasant to be around odious and Syntyche being like soon touchy you know it sounds like soon touchy odious there's somebody who's unpleasant to be around and this other person was always just touchy about this and touchy about that sensitive about us sensitive about that and these two sisters God says I want both of you to be in the same church and I'm going to ask you to work together on some something in the church somebody was always just unpleasant to be around because of their nature that's you know it's their nature they're not trying to be it that's who they are they have these rough edges and somebody else who's easily offended by rough edges and God says I want you to both to work together work in harmony now it could be a husband and wife it could be that you've you've got rough edges and your partner your spouse has is just easily affected by that neither are right both are natural both are soulish and the secret is to a united unity in the marriage is not that you just learn to avoid him when he's you know in his bad mood or avoid her when she's going through that no seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit say Lord forgive me for being so irritable easily irritable he's so sensitive about this and sensitive about that no oh you said that the wrong way so now I'm offended now I'm in a bad mood or that that's one and then the other side is that you you're not bothered about how you treat your spouse and those little rough edges are you concerned about the rough edges in your life odious you or are you like well that's just me she married me she knew what I was she was getting into no it shouldn't be like that brothers and sisters self must be dethroned now we can't change who we are in our personal I'm not talking about personality that's on that's that that's just a different flavor I'm talking about on Christ like that we stop giving excuses for the way we react in certain circumstances whether it's the way the things we do or the way we react in an oversensitive way let's learn to live in harmony whether it's in the home think about your children children maybe your parents have some quirks and and and don't be oversensitive to that in the marriage and in the church also there though we're all different personalities and I mean I have plenty of rough edges and I probably been oversensitive at times too and I'm asking the Lord for grace I'm saying Lord instead of just sort of you know I think this is the essence of what I'm saying brothers and sisters that instead of just like well okay you know just kind of sweep it under the carpet let it be it's not a big thing I get over it after a few hours or a day or something like that that's not the solution the solution is not that you just get over it you know time heals all wounds that's that's not the message we're preaching I'm saying Lord that wound why did I cause it and why is it after 10 years of marriage I'm still causing those wounds I'm not just gonna wait for time to heal all wounds I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit I want to see that soul is still on the throne that's why those wounds are there and I want to be done with that Lord and I want you to take to take out this soulishness that is that has been characteristic of my life all these years and I want to truly be a spirit-filled person those old naturally tendencies are still there let's let me close with this in Ephesians chapter 4 a wonderful passage that speaks about about this and then we can close Ephesians 4 verse 17 so this I say and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk and you can say well the Gentiles are out there you know committing adultery fornicating loving money killing stealing cheating doing all these things yes that's true but it all stems from self being on the throne and that's what Paul is saying is don't walk that way in fact he's gonna finish this whole sentence by saying walk as Christ walked chapter 5 verses 1 & 2 so the solution is not is so we were first exhorted in verse 17 don't walk as the Gentiles walk but walk as Christ walked that means I have the Spirit of Christ walking the manner of walking it's the way of walking it's not you know I don't think it's I don't believe he's talking about what things you do it's the way of walking walk in a manner in the manner of walking must look like Christ even if you do the same thing so to summarize before we read this passage if you go to school just like the Gentiles go to school you're sitting there studying the same subjects that the Gentiles are the heathen are learning the way you act the way you walk sitting there in the same class doing the same things that they're doing must be different that manner of walking must be different if you go to the workplace your manner of walking your inner tendency must be spiritual not natural just like everybody else in that sense you must look different you could have a television you could go to a watch a football game you could play sports just like all the others do and you may choose to watch a game just and you think well here I am sitting at a stadium watching a game or sitting in front of a TV watching it nothing wrong in that in itself but how are you doing it the manner in which you do the same things that the Gentiles do tells you whether you're truly spiritual not otherwise they are worldly you're soulish and you're both the same the manner in which you walk so let's read this passage now please and again I don't have time to dig into it please go home and meditate on Ephesians 4 verse 17 through chapter 5 verse 2 or onwards let's read it together this I say and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their mind the way of thinking being darkened in their understanding excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their heart and they having become callous have given themselves over to sensuality living by the senses living by their feelings for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness for you did not learn Christ in this way and Paul is saying there that from the very beginning I was teaching you that it's not about changing the outward things you do it's an inner work where your the way you do things your nature that inner characteristic that inner tendency is spiritual because self has been removed if indeed you have heard in verse 21 and have been taught in him just as truth is in Jesus that in reference to your former manner of life you lay aside the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self put on the new self the new man which is being corrupt the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in the righteousness and holiness of the truth so what does that look like here are again some more characteristics that I could be sitting in a church thinking I'm spirit-filled but I'm really just soulish Christians who have falsehood verse 25 therefore laying aside falsehood speak truth each of one of each one of you with his neighbor for we are members of one another speak the truth that means how you really think about somebody is how you speak to them that's what truth is what is falsehood he's not talking about telling lies he's talking about falsehood which means I think about you a particular way but I speak to you differently that means I'm nice to you when I see you on Sunday I'm pleasant to you and but secretly I've got some evil thought towards you could be towards your spouse you're nice to her says honey I love you bought you flowers and like I love you so much but there's a bitterness you become embittered towards your wife in some way there's a little in how you think about somebody is different from how you speak about them so what should you do should you is the solution as two options right one is you continue to think those wicked thoughts and speak those wicked thoughts to the person you're just like I think about you this way and I'm just gonna tell you that's how I think about you that's not the solution the solution is self is off the throne that means you you're renewed in your mind like we just read that means the way you think about that person changes because you become like Christ your manner of walking is Christlike and then there's no falsehood that means you can speak Christlike yes you might have to speak correction yes you might have to speak firmness but it's truth that comes from a pure heart you see how God changes the inside and then I'm not telling a lie I think we you know the mark of clubs we speak often about congregation club in the church the mark of a club which is a danger that we constantly face at RLCF is at a club everybody speaks falsehood what do I mean that they think negatively about others but they speak positively to everybody because they want to have a good club experience I'm nice to you I'm friendly and all that and I have but deep down not real self is still on the throne that's a club in the church we don't speak falsehood but we speak truth each one of us to each other let's continue reading verse 28 he who steals must steal no longer but rather he must labor performing with his own hands what is good so that he will have something to share with one who has need another characteristic of soulishness is that I'm always thinking of myself I will do this if it's not inconvenient for me I'm thinking about what will feel good for me I think a lot of conversations that happen in church settings are often that I'm gonna sit and talk to that person because it's gonna feel nice but that other person ah too many rough edges sharing speaking about sharing don't steal anymore and I hope none of us is falling into that labor with your own hands let's continue reading verse 29 let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment so that it will give grace to those who hear it let no unwholesome word think about this the mark of another mark of soulish people is they are they dominate the conversation they're they're constantly saying something there's always something to say and they say this and say that and they've got lots and lots and lots and lots to say and I tell you honestly the Holy Spirit's convicting me about that say less in conversations let no unwholesome word but only such a word as is good according to the need of the moment and if the moment needs five words and you said seven that's an unwholesome word it's more than you needed to say as is needed for the moment that means you leave it and you gave it you didn't add more because you wanted to impress the hearer with all these other things I have to say the Holy Spirit a spiritual man is a spiritual person is in tune with the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit says say this and leave it and don't worry about oh I don't need to clarify or will they get offended I need to explain myself no you said it it was the need of the moment you said it and you moved on you don't get any glory out of it because a soulish person is looking to get glory let's continue reading verse 30 do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption no bitterness it's an inner thing wrath and anger and clamor and slander you know what clamor is constant complaining oh I have a problem with this I problem with that and probably the other thing why this are you a clamorer in your marriage husband or wife we've had clamorers in the church every decision you make oh I don't like do you did this or you did that other thing why why are you doing this why you do that it's okay to ask questions but don't be a clamorer and slander be put away from you along with all malice be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving each other just as God and Christ has also forgiven you it's the last thing I'll say mark of soulish Christians is they can't forgive others quickly they take their time to forgive they have to get over their own feelings of hurt before they forgive now maybe you say yes I forgive you but inwardly you're still holding that unforgiveness because you're a soulish person you're living in your feelings the hurt is still there if you want to forgive while the hurt is still there you must be a spiritual person not a soulish person the soulish person can only forgive once they've gotten over the hurt don't be a soulish person therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us and offering in a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma there's so much more there read it sometime and ask the Holy Spirit to open your our eyes to see what it means to be spiritual let's pray father I ask I acknowledge my need Lord and forgive me for so many ways that you show me where there's been soulishness in my life that I thought was spirituality that I thought I was spirit filled in I forsake it all Lord and I pray you show me where self is still trying to be on the throne and I will take up my cross every day and deny myself and follow you I want to hate this self Lord really hate it and seek to lose it in every situation so that I might keep the eternal life you want to give me thank you in Jesus name amen amen