Series: Sonship

Sun am 29 August 2010 – Kobus Swart

Rom. 16:20; John 12:25-26; 1 John 4:18; John 13:35; Matt. 22:37-40;

1 Cor. 15:31; 1 Kings 17:1-9; 1 Kings 18, 19; Matt. 5:6; Psa. 42:1-5 (Message);

(Heb. 4:12); Matt. 6:33; Psa. 37:4; Rom. 8

“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat”. Jesus was actually saying to them, “As long as I am in this body, Jesus of Nazareth, the world is going to battle to see Me. But you are going to see the Christ in His many membered Body. “But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over”. Then follows a very important key for us all: “In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.” (John 12:24-25 – Msg). Without this we will take hold of Romans 8 on the wrong level. There is a certain level of existence that people are clinging to; we can call it mindsets (which govern what we do). Apostolic teaching is aimed at destroying those mindsets (2 Cor 10:4,5) so that we can say “We now have the mind of Christ.”

We are dealing here with self-preservation. If we preserve who we are, we are losing out on something much greater and much higher. We are identifying the power of the soul life. The soul is always driven by fear and insecurity; that is why self-preservation kicks in. What drives the spirit man? Divine (agape) love. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).

Under the Lordship of Christ the ‘self’ in me is dethroned. When we are born again Jesus takes the throne in our lives, He is the Lord.  Jesus said, “Take up your cross daily” (Luke 9:23). Each one of us has a different cross that we need to take up daily. Ultimately it means that which crosses out the self which is sitting on the throne. God is slowly but surely busy circumcising our hearts. He is taking away the pride of the flesh. When God brings deliverance to His people it does not exclude the leaders. The leaders are under the same circumcision process.

The level of our lives must change, our awareness of things must change, our motivation must change, and our sense of values must change. Old levels have dried up; the old motivation cannot go on; it is not enough; it has run out of steam. That is not a bad thing if we know how to interpret that problem. We have to shift to a new motivation of spirit.

“It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.” (1 Kings 17:7-9). Up to this point Elijah was comfortable, he was taken care of; no new challenges. He was running on the previous instructions; he was faithful in the Word God had given him. When the brook Cherith dried up, he did the right thing. When something that used to work stops working smoothly, instead of hyping it up – stop! Ask, “Lord, is there a new instruction?” Lift your ears into a new realm because there is a new instruction coming. “Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘Arise, go to Zarephath,’” A new motivation of spirit comes when you have run dry on the previous level. This has specific relevance for all of us who have operated from the soul realm instead of from the spirit.

The biggest test for Elijah, however, was what happened after Mt.Carmel. “Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.’ And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life.” (1 Kings 19:2-3). This can happen to all of us; we come through certain phases of life, certain assignments of God, and we come through them maybe even with a sense of accomplishment. Then for some reason depression sets in, a deadness, a lack of motivation. Then it is time to lift your ears and change your motivation and die on the old level. “He requested for himself that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers’” (1 Kings 19:4). This was more than a suicidal wish; there was a death on the previous level and his own achievements; a new motivation had to come.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6). We are blessed even when we do not have it, because of our heart’s desire. Many of the moods we go through including our frustrations, depression, and rebellion are from the soul. The spirit man in us is to lead, not the soul man. There is only one way to differentiate between soul and spirit: Sit under a living Word and it will differentiate between soul and spirit.(Heb 4:12). A living Word activates the new man. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matt. 6:33). Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psa. 37:4).

If you do not make the shift from a soul motivation to a spirit motivation, the frustration levels in your life will only increase. Maybe a better word for this frustration would be travail; the Son is coming to fullness in us, and He wants to deal with futility in us. There will be a voice declaring it from the heavens saying, “this is my beloved (corporate) Son, listen to Him!” Sons will walk the earth bringing down principalities and powers. God wants to demonstrate His manifold wisdom through the Church to principalities and powers in heavenly places. The world is waiting to see sons and daughters, fully mature, bringing down elemental spirits that hold cities in bondage.

Futility is attached to the soul which has to come to full salvation. Deliver us from our carnal soulish appetites Lord! We need more of the Holy Spirit.