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.