Robert Morris - Stay In The Word
So, today's message is called, "Stay in the Word". We're talking about "Three Steps to Victory", and last week, "Stop Believing Lies". This one is "Stay in the Word". And I want you to think about why would a person, a believer, ever walk away from the Father, because we've all done it. Maybe it was a few years for some of you, maybe it was a few months, maybe a few weeks, maybe a few days, maybe a few minutes. So, don't be judgmental of someone who's walked away for a few years and you say, "Well, I've never done that". Well, you've done it for a few minutes, I guarantee you.
So, the reason we do is because we're three parts. I know that doesn't sound like that's an amazing revelation, but we're three parts - spirit, soul, and body. We are a trichotomy, not a dichotomy. There are just a few that say we're a dichotomy and we only have two parts, but it's not true. Biblically it's very easy to show we're three parts. As a matter of fact, Jesus, when He was on this earth, His body went in the tomb. Scripture says, "You will not leave His soul in Hades", or "Sheol", says the Old Testament; the New Testament, "Hades", which is the place of the waiting of the dead. So, His soul during those three days went to Hades, and then on the cross He said, "Into Thy hands, I commit My Spirit". See the three? Body, soul, and spirit.
Genesis 2, when God created man, you'll see all three in one verse. Verse 7, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground". He didn't form his soul or spirit of the dust of the ground, He formed his body. "From dust your body came and to dust your body will return". So, that's his body. "And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life", this is the word for spirit. Spirit, so there he became a spirit. "And the man became a living soul". See what I'm saying? So, spirit, soul, and body. Everyone get that? God created our spirits to relate to Him. He created our souls to relate to Him and His creation; His creation, including other human beings as well, plants, animals, trees, all the things, you know, that we relate to, His creation. We can climb a mountain, we can swim in the ocean, and He created our bodies to relate to His creation. And that's where I was going with we can swim in the ocean, climb a mountain, and something like that.
So, our bodies He created to relate to His creation. Our spirits He created to relate to Him. Our souls He created to relate to Him and His creation. Here's the problem. When Adam and Eve sinned, their spirits died. If you remember, God said if you eat that, you will die. Their bodies didn't die. Now, death set in and eventually they died. But, their bodies didn't die immediately. Their souls didn't die, because Adam said, "I heard You walking in the garden and I was afraid". That's an emotion. And so, I made a choice in my will to hide, because I thought that would be the best thing to do. See what I'm saying? His mind, will, and emotions were still working, but his spirit died. Because God said, you eat that, you'll die. What died? Their spirits died.
Ephesians 2 says, "We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and He made us alive when we came to Christ". Jesus said... we quote this verse, but we kind of miss the first part: Jesus said, "I've come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly". It's great to talk about abundant life, but listen to what He actually said. "I've come that you might have life". You're not even alive without Me. You're existing, but you're not alive. "I came that you might have life". Are you all following me? So, our spirits died.
So, the problem is that Adam and Eve learned to relate to God only, without their spirits, only by what they could reason in their own minds, what they wanted, and what they felt was best; mind, will, and emotions. Mind is what we think. Will, what we desire. Emotions, what we feel. Mind, what we think. Will, what we desire or want. And emotions, what we feel. Now, listen to me. This is why Christians have problems, because we get into a situation and we make a decision based on what we think, what we want, and what we feel. And I'm gonna say something very strongly to you. I don't care what you think, what you want, or what you feel! I care what God wants, what God says, what God thinks, and what God feels, and what God wants! And that's the only way to make the right decision, is to find out what the Word says about what you want to decide. So, when you make a soulish decision, it's selfish until your soul matures. You need to make a spiritual decision.
So, here's the problem. Here's point number one - the soul is selfish. The soul is selfish. Matter of fact, the soul means self. Soulish, selfish. The soul is selfish. And, we came into this world with a dead spirit. So for years, we related to God, and think about this, with our minds, only our minds. Now, we still could use our minds, but remember, we need to renew our minds. We need to have the mind of Christ. We need to convert our souls, the Bible says, which again, your mind, will, and emotions. But we come in thinking... think about how many people, when they're trying to figure out God and they're not saved yet, they have a dead spirit, how off they can get. All of these different religious sects, how screwed up they can get, because they're only relating to God by what their own intellect can figure out, their own minds.
So, I'm gonna just... Now we're talking about the soul is selfish, but we've got mind, will, and emotions. I don't have time to cover the other two, but I'm just gonna do a little study on mind. Let me tell you a little bit about your mind, and then I'm going to tell you a spiritual truth that's gonna help you a lot. So, your mind is the best computer possible on this earth today, and they will never, never, ever invent a computer better than the human mind. When you talk to scientists who actually understand the mind, they'll clarify it. They will back up what I'm saying. Your mind's unbelievable. Your mind knows everything that you've ever seen, heard, or experienced, and it's categorized it; everything. You following me? This is how you can meet someone and not like them immediately.
You'll be in a restaurant with your wife, and you're walking out, and she says, "Oh, Honey, wait, wait. This is Susie. You remember Susie. I work out with Susie. I told you about Susie". And of course, the answer then is, "Oh, yes, I remember". You don't have a clue, but you just say, "Oh, yeah, I remember Susie". And Susie says, "This is my husband, Bill". And you say, "Hi, Bill, how are you"? You walk out of the restaurant, and you get in the car and you say to your wife, "I don't like that guy". And she said, "Well, you just met him. You don't even know him". "Oh, yeah, I know him. I know his type". Because your mind said, "Have I ever met anyone like this? Yes, you've met 364 people who are like this guy, who are similar. You've met 47 people who are very similar, and you met 3 who are almost identical, and one of them pulled your shorts down in gym class in the seventh grade". And your wife again said, "You don't know him". "Oh, I've got a whole file on him. I know exactly what he's like". Are you all following me? That's how brilliant it is.
Okay, so you say, "Why are you telling me this"? Here's why. Because when you come up against a problem that causes you stress or tension, your mind says, "Have I ever experienced this before"? And your mind tells you how to respond. This is called, in the Bible, a stronghold. This is how a stronghold works. If you have a stronghold, you might not want to admit it, but just, you don't have to do it out loud, but just to yourself - a stronghold of lust, or a stronghold of anger, or a stronghold of pride, or insecurity, or inferiority, or if you have some addiction. This is exactly how addiction works, exactly. Scientists will agree with this. Unless they're Christian, they don't understand the spiritual part.
This is what happens: You come in, you see an experience that is similar to something you had before, and your mind says, "I need a drink. I need a drink to handle this, 'cause every time I've come to this situation before, I've had to have a drink". Are you following me? So that's why we read... Listen, remember the title of the message, "Stay in the Word". Because what happens is, after a while your mind says, "Have I ever experienced anything like this before"? And your mind says, "Yes, I have". And then your mind will say to you, because you're renewing what your mind says, "I need to get in the Word. I need to call someone for prayer".
See, you totally begin to change the way you deal with these strong, are you all following me? This is really good. If you don't know good preaching, I'm just helping you. This is the way a stronghold works. Three easy steps to victory - number one, stop believing lies. Here's what else I can say on "Stay in the Word", start believing the truth. Start believing what God says about you, not what someone else says about you, not what Satan says. So, number one, the soul is selfish. Here's number two, the soul must submit to the spirit. The soul must submit to the spirit. Now, Romans 9, remember, everything in the Old Testament happened in the natural, but it's a spiritual truth to us in the New. And many times in the New Testament, they'll quote an Old Testament Scripture and they'll tell us the spiritual truth, and Romans 9 is telling us one of the spiritual truths from this Old Testament Scripture.
Here it is. Romans 9:12 says, "It was said to her", this is speaking to Rebekah about Jacob and Esau, that were in her womb, "The older shall serve the younger". I could have given you several examples of this. This is actually a scriptural principle, "The older shall serve the younger". Now, for those of you who are the older sibling, this is not a natural principle, all right? And for those of you who are younger, don't say, "Yep, I knew he should be serving me". Okay, this has nothing to do with the natural, okay, brothers and sisters, siblings. This is a spiritual principle, and what does it mean? Let me tell you. There are about four applications of it spiritually, but let me tell you one of them - the soul and the spirit.
Okay, when you were conceived in your mother's womb, your soul came alive. And then you're born, you go through life, and then for me, I got saved at 19. Now, when you're born, remember, you're born with a dead spirit. "Your spirit is dead in trespasses and sins". That's the Bible. Your spirit's dead. But you come to Christ, your spirit is made alive. So, I got saved at 19. I was almost 20. So, for 20 years, I lived with my soul in charge. I did what I thought was best. I did what I wanted to do, and I did what I felt was best for me. But when I was almost 20, my spirit came alive, and my spirit said to my soul, "I'm in charge now". And my soul, being the kind, and gracious, and humble person that he is, said, "Sure". Or do you think that's what happened? No, my soul said, "Not without a fight, " and my soul's been fighting ever since. But, the more I get in this Word, "Receive the engrafted Word of God", James says, "which is able to save", and that word, "save", is to make whole your souls.
There's all of these Scriptures about converting your souls. It's not talking about your eternal salvation, it's talking about converting, changing, changing your soul, letting your soul grow up. So important for us to understand this. David talked to his soul. Remember, the word "soul" means self, so he talked to himself. He wasn't crazy. He talked to himself. He told his soul to not be discouraged. He told his soul to bless God. He told his soul to be quiet. Let me read you one of them, Psalm 131:2. "Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me".
Okay, so he said I've told my soul to calm down and be quiet. but my soul is like a weaned child. A weaned child, but how do you wean a child? Well, you take him off of milk and you put him on solid food, right? Watch again. The Bible is so perfect. 1 Corinthians 3:1, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual", spiritual, "people, but as to carnal, as to babes", or babies, "in Christ. I have had to feed you with milk, and not solid food". Hebrews 5:12, "For though by now, by this time you ought to be teachers, but you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food". He goes on to talk about those who need milk instead of solid food. They're not mature. You've got to grow up. You've got to take your soul off of milk, get your soul on solid food.
Can I just say something right now? It is important where you go to church. It's important that whoever is preaching to you is preaching the Bible, and not good opinions. Good opinions don't help; good news helps. What the Bible says is what helps you. You want to be fed the Word of God. That's what helps you. Okay? So, now why does a child... have you ever thought about this? He says it's like a weaned child. What does a child do, let's say that. What does a child do when you try to wean the child? Cries and throws a fit, right? What do you think your soul does? Cries and throws a fit. But, why? Have you ever thought about that? Why does a child cry and throw a fit when you're trying to wean a child?
Now, I'm gonna tell you why. Actually, maybe you've never thought of it. Because he thinks you're trying to kill him. You're taking away the only food source he's ever known, right? He doesn't know there's another food source, so he thinks you're trying to kill him. Okay, listen to me, though. In the case of the soul, he's right. You are trying to kill him. Let me read it to you. Here's point three, and then I'll read you the Scripture. Point three, the soul must die. And I'll show you in the Scriptures in a minute, but here's what I mean by this. Your selfish thoughts, your selfish desires, and your selfish emotions, feelings, need to die. They need to die. You need to die to self. That's the only way you're gonna have victory. You have to die to self. What you think, and what you feel, and what you want doesn't matter.
But, here's what I want to show you about how the Bible plays the part in this. I'm gonna read you a very famous Scripture that everybody knows, but hardly anybody knows the next verse. Hebrews 4:12, "For the Word of God is living and powerful". Have you ever seen this verse? "Sharper than any two-edged sword", watch this, "piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner", and would you like to see the soul: the mind, will, and emotions? Watch. "Of the thoughts", that's the mind, "the intents", that's the will, "of the heart", that's the emotions. The heart is the seat of the emotions we're told. You know, I love you with all of my heart. I feel this way in my heart. How do you feel in your heart about this? That's where your feelings are. That's where your emotions originate. Mind, will, and emotions are all through the Bible.
Now, Verse 13, most people have never even read it, or if they've read it, they read right over it, but it's the key. Verse 13, "And", so the thought is continuing, "there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open", remember the word "open"; "To the eyes of Him to whom we must give account". Now, I know that that didn't, I don't think that probably meant anything to you as to how that fits in with Verse 12, the Word of God is like a sword that divides between the soul and spirit. I'm gonna tell you how it fits in. Okay, this word, "open", it's a great word. In English, again, we have a very limited language compared to Greek and Hebrew, and we don't have words to translate the way they really should be translated many times. So, the word "open" is a Greek word, "trachelizo".
Okay, are you ready for this? I'm gonna show you the exact "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance" definition of the trachelizo, the word, "trachelizo". Are you ready? "Trachelizo" is to bend back the neck of a victim to be slain, to expose the gullet of a victim for killing. Can I tell you something? God has big plans for your soul. That's what He would love to do with your unredeemed thoughts, you unredeemed desires, and your unredeemed feelings. He'd love to kill them and replace them with what He thinks about you, what He wants for your life, and how He feels about you. He would love to do that. He doesn't want to kill you, He wants to kill what's killing you. He doesn't want to kill you, He wants to kill what's killing you. Your soulish, selfish thoughts, your soulish, selfish desires, and your soulish, selfish feelings, He wants to kill them.
And, think about this. He would love for you to think about yourself the way He thinks about you. He would love for you to know what He wants and desires for your life, and He would love for you to know how He feels about you, rather than what the devil tells you that He feels about you! He would love for you to know that! So, you came to church to hear some good news. God's trying to kill you. He's trying to kill your old self. Hey, it's all through Scripture. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ". I've been crucified. I heard a pastor say one time, "Christ went to the cross so you wouldn't have to". Well, that's not bad. It's not bad when you're talking about eternal salvation. But there's a Scripture we need to reconcile with that. Here's Jesus talking, Matthew 16:24. "Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'".
Guess what? You have a cross, too. You have a cross, too. And then, Jesus goes further with this truth in Luke. Luke 9:23, "Then He said to them all, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily'". Why'd You have to say the word, "daily"? Can't I just do it once? Can't I just walk down the aisle once and accept Jesus? Yes, and go to heaven, but if you want to live an overcoming life, you're gonna have to crucify the flesh every day! You're gonna have to come to the cross every day! So, it's the Word. Stay in the Word. Okay, but, so one morning I was reading the Word, a normal practice for me, and I was a little short on time, but I try to read at least one chapter a day. I like to read through the Bible in a year, so it's so many chapters in the New, so many in the Old, and then sometimes you do Psalms and Proverbs more. But, I have a thing that I'm going to read at least one chapter a day.
So, but I was in a hurry, so I kind of read it quickly, okay? So, I read the chapter, closed my laptop, started to leave, and the Lord said to me, "Hey, what did you just read"? "'Cause you don't have a clue what you just read, do you"? I said, "No". And the Lord said to me, "Son..." now, listen to the whole statement, okay? He said, "I'm not asking you to just read the Word every day, I'm asking you to let the Word read you. I actually want to speak to you". Now, you know at the end of every message I say, "What's the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message", right? Okay, when you read the Bible, I'm giving you another question. You should say, "What's the Holy Spirit saying to me through this passage"? And if you want to walk in victory, you're gonna have to stop believing lies, and you're gonna have to stay in the word. You're gonna have to.
Isn't amazing how much the Word of God can change us, how much power there is in God's Word? I know and that's why you watch me on television and listen to me on the radio Because you know God's Word is transforming your life. And why want to encourage you not just to listen to God's Word but to also read God's Word on a daily basis because God's Word is the only thing that has the power to change our lives. Even the Holy Spirit, working through our lives, works through God's Word in us: speaking God's Word over us, in us, and through us. I am so grateful that you join us. I'm so grateful that you have a hunger for God's Word.