"Which is in Control? Body Soul and Spirit Part 2" by Kathryn Kuhlman

We were discussing this thing of the carnal and the spiritual. And we've been asking the question, what is the difference between the spiritual man and the carnal man? One thing we were sure of, and that is the fact that both are in the body of Christ. Now, at first, I know that's very startling. extremely startling to those who have felt that anything that had to do with the carnals whatsoever could not be a part of the body of Christ. And yet, going back to the third chapter, 1 Corinthians, the first verse, Paul is saying, and I, brethren, and using that word brethren, we know that he's addressing those who are... in the body of Christ, or they never could have been his brethren. And it's just like that. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you in vain and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men? Read the entire third chapter of 1 Corinthians. Then you'll remember that during that heart -to -heart talk, I went back again to, in my way of thinking, is one of the most beautiful portions of God's Word, the most wonderful Word that ever came from the pen of Paul. It's just one verse of Scripture. The 23rd verse of the 5th chapter of 1 Thessalonians. And this is where I left you. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, completely, entirely. And I pray God that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is the difference between the spiritual and the carnal? Paul certainly knew human nature. Paul certainly understood men. And he prayed that their spirit and soul and body not just their body, not just the soul, not just the spirit, but spirit and soul and body be preserved entire without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Man is a trinity. You are a trinity. I am a trinity. I am not just body, neither are you just body. I am not just soul, neither are you just soul. You are not just spirit, neither am I just spirit. Man is the strange combination of body, soul, and spirit. If you are a part of humanity, you are a trinity. The combination of the spiritual and the temporal. But see something. The essential thing in human personality is not the body. And sometimes I think that we concentrate more on the body than any other part of our trinity. We live for the body. We work for the body. We concentrate on the body. We just cater to the body. Remember, God is a spirit and man is made in the divine likeness and man must worship in spirit of every person, every human being. Whether in the church or outside, the supreme fact is the spiritual fact. The spiritual factor is more important than any other part of man. There's nothing that's more important to you than the spiritual factor. What's wrong with the world today? There are millions who are asking that question. And we have just as many. As we have those who are asking that question, what is the matter with the world? Very simply, I give the answer that God's Word gives. It's because we have forgotten the spiritual side of man. Just pause for a moment. Consider. Millions today. are living who have completely forgotten the spiritual side of man. They have forgotten that they are a trinity, that they are more than body, that they are more than flesh, that they are more than the temporal. Every human being I don't care who that one is. If he is a part of humanity, if his heart beats, if there is a pulse, if there is life in that body, that man must face the fact that he is a trinity. He is more than the temple. He is more than flesh. He is the combination of temporal and eternal. He is body, soul, and spirit. And he has forgotten the spiritual part. What's the matter with the world? The world is made up of human beings. We talk about the world so loosely, and yet it is made up of human beings. We talk about our nation, about the United States of America. We think of it in terms of a nation, and yet a nation is made up of human beings. And no nation, no... nation in the world is stronger than its spiritual forces. And it's just like that. The United States of America. We may boast of our air power. We may boast of our navy. We may boast of the fact that so great has been our scientific ability that we've been the first to the moon. And yet, as a nation, We are no stronger than our spiritual forces. And no man is stronger than the emphasis that he has put on the spiritual part of his life and living. That's the most important thing in the world to you. I pause so that you might have time to consider. What emphasis have you put on? The spiritual part of you. There's the body. An equally definite factor. But the body is there as the instrument of the spirit. It's so simple. And through the body, the spirit receives and makes contact with others. Through the body, it expresses itself to others. In that wonderful spiritual experience, and when we talk about the new birth experience, remember, it's something that's spiritual. It's something that's individual. It's a transaction between the individual and God. Between the individual. and the Lord Jesus Christ. It's spiritual. No one can see that spiritual experience. But it's as real as God Himself. It's as real as Jesus Christ. And we stand justified before God by faith. Yet, that spiritual experience is evidenced through that individual and through that body by the Spirit. Therefore, we stand justified before man by the life that we live through the body. We talk about the Holy Spirit, but no man has seen the Holy Spirit. You know, and I say this reverently, I'm sold on the Holy Spirit. I cannot give a heart -to -heart talk. I can never stand behind the pulpit without speaking of the Holy Spirit. And yet, I have never seen the Holy Spirit. Neither have you seen the Holy Spirit. But you can see the Holy Spirit through my life as He gives... evidence of Himself through my body. And there is a place where literally we yield our body unto Him, and this body of ours becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit. Even though I cannot see the Holy Spirit, even though you cannot see the person, the visible person of the Holy Spirit, In this body of mine, yet he gives evidence of himself and his power through the body. As I yield the body unto him, and the same is true in that one who has surrendered his body to the Holy Spirit. Do you understand what I am saying? Pastor, it's nice to see you. The body is. important, vitally important, even though it is temporal. Yet the body is to be used as the instrument of the spirit, not only the Holy Spirit, but your spirit. For through the body, the spirit receives and makes contact with others. Through the body, it expresses itself to others. The body, An ideal personality in the divine economy is secondary. The body is so secondary and yet so important to the spirit. What's the soul? Oh, that's been discussed so much. And yet that too is so important. The soul, the consciousness. The mind, the intelligence is invested not in the body, but in the spirit. Now see something, and this is scriptural. God formed man of the dust of the ground. Now that is the body, but that is not the man. You look at me, you see my body, you pass me on the street, or you see me on the platform, or you greet me and say, as you look upon my body, that's Catherine Kuhlman. You know me by the color of my hair, the color of my eyes. Katharine Kuhlman. That's the body, but that's not really me. Follow me in the scripture. God formed man of the dust of the ground, and he breathed into his nostrils the breath, the breath of life. That is the spirit. And so man became a living, conscious soul. And here we have the combination of the temporal, that which goes back to the dust of the earth from whence it was formed, and we come back again to the spiritual, the eternal, that which continues forever and ever, the soul and the spirit. And so here we have three planes. The spirit. the mind, the body. And every man and every woman is living either being mastered by the body, which is the lower plane, or by the spirit, which is the higher plane. And the mind is affected by that part of personality to which the mastery of the person gives himself over to. If I... descend to the level of the material, if I consent to that, then all my thinking is fleshly. It's carnal. If I give my thinking, if I give my mind, if I give myself completely over to the body, to that which is temporal, then all my thinking is carnal. That's the Word of God. On the other hand, If I lift my whole personality to the spiritual, then my thinking is spiritual, and I'm mastered by the Spirit. Now, I'm not referring to the Spirit of God for the moment. Of course, He enters into the Christian experience, as I told you a moment ago. But remember, the Spirit of God comes when I am dead in trespasses and sins, and He gives me new life. And it is when the life of the indwelling spirit takes possession of my spirit that all comes under the domination of that spirit. It's so simple. It's just so simple that really a child can understand and yet I'm talking to thousands who have never caught that wonderful vision. of having yielded unto him all of you. You have permitted yourself to be mastered by the flesh. And you've used your body to satisfy the lusts of the flesh. This very moment, and that's exactly what's wrong with the world today. We have forgotten the spirit. And we're permitting the flesh to master our lives. The desires of the flesh to master our body. But we're more than flesh. We're more than body. What I'm talking about, what Paul is talking about, is not something that takes place after death. How often we like to think of consecration after death. No. He has not made us yet. He is making us now. Now, beloved, we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto him which is... Our reasonable service, the most reasonable thing in the world. What Paul is writing about here in 1 Thessalonians, the fifth chapter, is here and now, not after death. And I come back again to that 23rd verse. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, completely. And I pray, God, that your whole spirit and soul and body and he names the spirit first. We have put everything first in this day. Accept the spirit. The spiritual. Your whole spirit and soul and body. Your whole body. Be preserved blameless. Not after death. No. Be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That means now, today, this very moment. Preserved, kept. Oh, to me this is thrilling. This is marvelous. And he will preserve you if you are willing to be preserved. He will keep you if you're willing to be kept. Blameless. The greatest desire of my life is to see Jesus. I want to look upon the face of Jesus. And when I do, I want to be blameless. when I stand in his glorious presence.