"The Spiritual Man and the Carnal Man Part 2" Kathryn Kuhlman 1 Corinthians Series Part 6

Most of all, the thing that will help is to just look up and remember to whom you belong. When you get discouraged, when you get despondent, when you feel defeated, and you feel like your nerves are shot and the bottom's dropped out, just stand. quietly. Stand still. Don't do anything. Be quiet. And for one full minute, just remember that God is still on his throne. Nothing has happened to him. He's intact. He still has all power. He still has all things under his control. He's still God Almighty. He knows no defeat. And no man, no woman, no person need ever be defeated on a single score as long as he keeps remembering to whom he belongs. Each morning when I wake, I say, I place my hand in God's today. I know he'll walk close by my side, my every wandering step to guide. He leads me with the tenderest care when paths are dark and I despair. No need for me to understand if I but hold fast to his hand. My hand in his. No sure way to walk in safety through each day. By his great bounty I am fed, warmed by his love, and comforted. And when a day's end, I seek my rest and realize how much I'm blessed. My thanks pour out to him. And then I place my hand in God's again. Would you like to know why? That which I have just given you means so much to me? I'll tell you the answer. After Mama died and we were home going through some of her most treasured possessions, I opened her Bible. It was worn. A Bible that I had given her years before. It was marked. I knew that there were tear stains on its pages. But inside that Bible, I found a little card. And on that card were the words that I have just... read to you. This was the kind of life that my mother lived. The last time I was in your home, we were discussing something that was most interesting. And I hope that you have your Bibles before you because I'm going to continue that heart -to -heart talk today. on the question as to what is the difference between the spiritual and the carnal. And we were discussing that portion of the Word of God as found in the third chapter of 1 Corinthians. And Paul very clearly states that there's a difference between the carnal and the spiritual. And the amazing thing is that he was speaking to those who'd been born again. There can be no doubt, there can be no controversy here whatsoever as to whom he was speaking or the fact that they were Christians. They were born again. They were in the church. He calls them brethren. Now remember, whenever the Bible speaks of the nappies, or the natural heart. It's always talking about the unregenerated. The one thing that we all have in common is the natural birth, if you are a part of humanity. You and I have that one thing in common. That's the one thing we all have in common. The first birth. The natural birth. The natural man. But there is a second birth. The new birth. The spiritual birth. And it is only after we've had that second birth that we are spiritual. And that God becomes our Heavenly Father as we accept Jesus as our Savior. Now, Paul here says nothing about the natural man. He calls them brethren. And yet, even though they are brethren, there's a difference. I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto... carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. Now, I left you yesterday having stated the fact, proof having been given from the word of God, that man is a trinity, body, soul, and spirit. Paul so states it in his letter to the Thessalonians. When he said in the 23rd verse of the 5th chapter of Thessalonians, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray, God, that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, man is... body, soul, and spirit. But you see, we get into trouble when we get the idea that the most important part of man is the body. But when you study the Word of God, you'll find out that the essential thing in human personality is not the body. Neither is the important thing, the essential thing, the mind. It's the spirit. And it's just like that. God is a spirit, and man is made in the divine likeness, and man must worship him in spirit. This is what the Bible says about man, that God formed him out of the dust of the earth. That's the body. But that's not really man. That which God formed out of the dust of the earth is not the important part of man. That's not the important part of me. That's not the important part of you. Even though we may have felt as though it was all important. But it isn't. Not really. The word of God says that God breathed into his nostrils the breath, the very breath of life, that which he formed out of the dust of the earth. He breathed into that the breath of life. Now that's the spirit. And so man became a living, conscious soul. Here we have three planes, the spirit, the mind, the body. And every person living is either mastered by the body, which is the lower plane, or by the spirit, which is the higher. And the mind is affected by that part of personality to which the mastery of the person gives himself over. That's where I left you yesterday. We see, therefore, the reaction of these. The spirit or the body dominant, and the mind or soul governed thereby, either to carnal things, which is the lower plane, or to the spiritual things, which is the higher plane. Now we come right down to the facts. Writing to these Corinthians, Paul says, I'll tell you exactly what's wrong with you Corinthian people. And he was not only writing to the Corinthians. He was writing to you and to me. He was looking down to the telescope of time and knowing human nature the way he knew human nature. He knew that there would be the same difficulties, we'd have the same trouble in our churches, in our homes, and among the brethren, even in this 20th century. And he says, I'll tell you exactly what's the matter with you. I cannot write unto you as unto spiritual, because you're not living in that realm. You're not living in the spiritual realm. You're carnal. You are living under the mastery of the flesh. Oh, you're children, all right. You've been born again. You're Christians. But you're babes. You've never matured. You're just little children. You have life. Paul did not say that they did not have eternal life. He did not say that they were not born again or that they were not Christians. But he did say to them, you're yielding yourself to the carnal side of your nature instead of to the spiritual. In another place, he wrote, for they that are after the... flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit for the mind of the flesh is death but the mind of the spirit is life and peace the whole trouble was just this these people had received the gift of life eternal life They were babes in Christ, but mastered by the lower side of life. And their thinking was under the mastery of that which was fleshly and material and carnal. And they were still just babes. Now a baby is wonderful. Any little... Baby is wonderful, whether it has hair or not, whether it's pretty or not. A little baby is just the dearest thing, the most precious thing in the whole world. And you know, it is cute seeing a little baby with a bottle in its mouth. But is there anything more revolting than to see a two -year -old going around with a bottle in its mouth? Is there anything more revolting, really more disgusting, than to see a three -year -old walking around with a bottle in its mouth? There are some Christians five years old, 10 years old, 12 years old, you're still walking around with a bobble in your mouth. You aren't in a position to be fed the deep spiritual truths. You're not full grown. You haven't grown since you were born. Born spiritually, I mean. Because you have never allowed the spiritual to master you. You have been living on the lower plane. You've allowed the flesh to master you. You're still undeveloped. You're still babes. You're still immature. You're not full grown. Neither were these people. And it's just like that. It's just that simple. That is the reason they showed what they had on the inside of them by that which came forth in their actions. It was jealousy. There was strife. There was bickering. Oh, there was quarreling. They were wrangling. More than once they had a knock -down drag -out among them. Sure, it wasn't because they weren't Christians. It wasn't because they'd never been born again. But Paul says you're carnal. You've never grown. You've never matured. And you have never matured because you have never come up. on the higher plane and permitted the spiritual to dominate you. And you as a Christian will be dominated either by the flesh, the carnal, or the spiritual, which is the spirit. There you are. Mm -hmm. Yeah. There were the signs. That was the fruit of their carnality. Jealousy. Oh, if you could have heard some of the language they used. What they called each other. Yeah. Sure, it's all there. Read it. And... Paul just came right down and faced facts. He said, Ye are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you ending and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men? You walk and you act like the man who has never been born again. For while one of you saith, I am of Paul, And another, I am of Apollos. Are ye not carnal? There were little cliques and little divisions. One didn't like one preacher and one didn't like the other preacher. And they were finding all kind of fault with the preacher and with each other. Probably one says, well, I'll tell you just like this. If I can't... usher in the front of the church, then I'm not going to usher at all. And somebody in the choir says, if I can't sit in the front row of the choir, then I won't sing at all. And another prominent man says, if I can't be one of the deacons, then I'm not going to pay a nickel into the church. And a woman says, if I can't be president of the missionary society, then forget it. I've got more ability than the woman who has it now, and I'm not going to take a back seat to her. I'm not going to be the assistant to the pastor. I'm going to be the pastor, or I'm not going to play at all. And so they are. Oh, dear me, what a mess. But he never did say they were not Christians. He said you're carnal, you're babes. You're going around with a bottle in your mouth. Immature. Then he comes forth and says, and this is thrilling, who then is Paul? And who is Apollos? but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. If you want to see an example again of Paul's wonderful humility, oh, I tell you, that Paul is a knockout. He stands their head and shoulders above the whole. Mentally, he knew more than all of them. Ability? His ability was far greater than any of theirs. And yet, look where he places himself. Look at this example of humility. Who then is Paul? This is what he said of himself. Sure, I have planned it. I have planted the seed. That's wonderful. But the planting is to no avail except there is life in that seed. Apollos came along. He watered. All plants need water to grow. The watering is as important as the planting. But the planting is to no avail. The watering is to no avail. Except there is life in the seed that we planted and life in the seed that is being watered. We can work our heads off planting. We can actually give our lives planting. We can spend our lives watery. 16, 18 hours a day, watery. But what good is our planting? What good is our watering? Unless there is life in the seed that we're planting and life in the seed that we're watering. Only God can give the life in the seed. We are absolutely dependent on Him. Only God can give the increase. God bless you.