Introduction:
After prayer for direction for what is mostly needed for the Church in the year 2020A.D. Pastor Landis Fisher has chosen the subject of “Living Life In The Spirit”. This topic is needed for many reasons and is an often misunderstood and improperly presented subject that is foundational to attaining victory for believers who grasp the real Biblical teaching on the topic.
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Isaiah 64:4 – 8 (KJV)
Isa 64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
Isa 64:5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isa 64:7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
New Testament Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:7 – 16 (KJV)
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Transforming Power Statements:
1) From the very beginning of time with the exception of a brief season when Adam was holy in paradise, no man has ever been able alone without the assistance of the Holy Spirit of God to understand spiritual things unless they were aided by the intervention of the Holy Spirit of God, which is clearly taught in both the Old and New Testaments, which makes it imperative that we appreciate and understand the reason why we must live in the Spirit, as we see here in Isaiah.
2) The Apostle Paul quotes from Isaiah to the Church at Corinth as he explains in the Holy Spirit, that New Testament believers, who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, are the fulfillment of a spiritual mystery which was concealed from the foundation of the world, but is now revealed as the great dynamic of the first advent of Jesus the Messiah, so as to teach them (and us) the necessity and value of learning to live life in the Spirit rather than in the flesh.
3) Since we know that our sanctification is produced by our understanding of the Word of God, which is understood by us through the Holy Spirit of God by whom we have been sealed unto the day of redemption, let us strive to practice the admonitions of the Word of God and the Spirit of God and press on to become the best people of God possible!