PART #20 THE STAFF AND SWORD MINISTRY April 10, 2007

M"IFESTING CHRIST

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE

IN THE"FLESH77

by Nancy-TONI Youngbrandt

The time was December and about two weeks before Christmas. Chuck-JOHNEL wasworking on the newsletter and we had several Holiday commitments coming up quickly.Between ministry work, house work and getting ready for our Holiday engagements, I wasstressed out (to say the least.) I felt frustrated, tired, angry and overwhelmed with all that laybefore me. I remember walking the dog one day and trying to plan out all that I had to do.With each step I told myself I "needed" to do this or I "have" to do that and with each planor schedule made I was feeling more and more burdened down and ready to cry.

Then, finally, Jesus stepped in and His Spirit seemed to just draw me inwardly to Him andaway from the things of this world that had so consumed me. Inwardly, by the Spirit of God,I was able to pray and give it all up to Him. I had a such a sense of peace and calm that Iknew that this was where I wanted to stay. Up until now I had been directing my thoughtsand energy outwardly into how I was going to get all the things done and now was directingmy thoughts and energy to Jesus and resting there. I gave up thinking how I was going todo everything and just decided to let Jesus lead me by taking it one step at a time. And youknow what? All that needed to get done was done and the rest that wasn't — well, it eitherwasn't that important or got done later in due time.

Upon reflection, the Spirit of God later showed me that when I directed by thoughts andenergy outward into my own abilities and the things of this world, I was operating in myflesh. When I was worried and troubled about how `1' would do all that I needed to do andsought to make plans I was doing so through my self-life with its efforts, abilities and senseswhich is what it means to be "in the flesh". The fruits of this were obvious

. stress, anger,

frustration, accusation and feeling overwhelmed.

Instead, once I quieted my soul down and retreated from the world and the outward andturned inward to Jesus and directed my soul to Heaven, then the fruits of the Spirit of Godbecame manifest with peace, clam and rest unto my soul. (Thank you, Jesus!)

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So, in this article, I would like to explore this topic of what it means to be in the `flesh'versus the Spirit of God a bit more in the hope and prayer that you too may be quickenedby the Spirit of God to see this in your own life as well.

SCRIPTURALLY SPEAKING ...

Scripturally speaking, the `flesh' does not get a good report. From Jesus to the ApostlePaul, the `flesh' is equated with sin and death while the Spirit is equated with life. Forexample, Jesus said in John 6:63:

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the fresh profitheth nothing : the words that Ispeak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

So for this we can see, at the least, that being in the flesh profits us nothing in a spiritualsense. There is no question that sometimes we have to do things in this world as part of dailyliving which concern our bodies and their needs which could be said to be of the "flesh" butwhat we are and will be discussing here is being in the flesh as it relates to our walk inChrist and therefore what will benefit us spiritually in that closer walk with Jesus. In thecase of this Scripture, Jesus is telling us that the things of flesh profit us nothing: they don'tbring growth in Christ for true g

rowth and depth in Christ can only be brought about byGod and that which comes from Him. Instead we are to do as the Apostle Paul tells us inRomans 13:14--"... put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for theflesh, to fulf llthe lusts thereof"

Another good Scripture I like on this topic is Romans 7:5

"F'or when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins , which were by the law, didwork to bring forth fruit unto death. "

As we as Romans 7:25 — "... with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but withthe flesh the law of sin."

I chose these Scriptures to illustrate my point that to be "in the flesh" takes action, thoughtand energy on our part. We can choose to be "in the flesh" or we can choose to put on Christand operate from there. Here we see that we are not to "make provision for the flesh, tofulfill the lusts thereof" We do this when we want something so bad that we allow ourflesh to be in control and let it do for us what we desire. We see this action or outwardexpression also spoken of when Paul spoke of "the motions of sins" or that he could"serve" the law of God with his minds but with his flesh the law of sin. The action towardGod was an inward one — in his mind — while the action which serves the flesh is outward.

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A DEFINITION

As I have read and prayed about these Scriptures and from the teachings of others suchas Andrew Murray and Madam Guyon I would define being in the flesh this way:

To be in the `flesh' is to pursue God and Jesus Christ through outward means ofexpression; externals; the outward nature; and ultimately through self. Thisincludes a pursuit of God and Jesus Christ through our feelings and our senses;through our own strengths and abilities apart of God.

Keep in mind, Jesus Himself told us "... BEHOLD, THE KINGDOM OF GOD ISWITHIN YOU." (Luke 17:21) He also warned us against looking for Him here or thereexternally to find Him but rather, to turn within to find Him. We cannot find Jesus by usingour own outward expressions of our faith or self-effort -- those things only end up leadingus away from Him instead of closer to Him. Madam Guyon wrote a truth that I have livedmyself and that is,

"When you deal with the externals (things of the flesh), what you are really doingis driving your soul farther outward from your spirit. The more your soul is focusedon these outward things, the farther it is removed from its center and from its restingplace!"

She also pointed out that, "If you dwell on the desires of your outward nature (flesh)— paying attention to them — they, in turn, become more and more active. Insteadof being subdued, they gain more power."

That seems to be a main feature of being in the "flesh" — it actually moves us further awayfrom what we say we want ... to be closer to Jesus. So what is our hope for us to ever enjoy

a close walk with Jesus? Madam Guyon wrote it this way:

There is only one way to conquer your five senses, and that is my inwardrecollection. Or, to put it another way, the only way to conquer your fivesenses is by turning your soul completely inward to your spirit, there topossess a present God. Your soul must turn all of its attention and energieswithin, not without! Within to Christ, not without to the senses. When your soulis turned within, it actually becomes separated from your external senses; andonce your five senses are separated from your soul, they receive no moreattention. Their life supply is cut off!

They become powerless.Now let us follow the course of the soul. Your soul has learned at this point

to turn within and draw near to the presence of God. The soul becomes

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A DEFINITIONQuoting Madam Gu yon continued

farther and farther separated from the self. You may experience beingpowerfully drawn within — to seek God in your spirit — and discover that theouter man becomes very weak. (Some may even be prone to faintings.)

Your main concern, therefore, is with the presence of Jesus Christ. Yourmain concern lies in dwelling continually upon the God who is within you.Then, without particularly thinking of self-denial or "putting away the deeds ofthe flesh," God will cause you to experience a natural subduing of the flesh!You can be sure of this: The Christian who has faithfully abandoned himselfto the Lord will soon discover that he also has laid hold of a God who will notrest until He has subdued everything! Your Lord will put to death all thatremains to be put to death in your life.

What, then, is required of you? All you need to do is remain steadfast ingiving your utmost attention to God. He will do all things perfectly. The truthis, not everyone is capable of severe outward self-denial, but everyone iscapable of turning within and abandoning himself to God.

(This was taken from the book: 144 DAYS IN THE SECRET PLACE , Introduced and compiled byGene Edwards. Published by Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., P q Box 310,Shippensburg, PA. 17257-0310. 1 think you can acquire it on www.seedsowers.com .)

THE CHOICE

Prior to this recent understanding and clarification by the Spirit of God, I was never quitesure about just what the difference was between our soul and the flesh. I knew that when oursoul was in sin and self was leading the way, the fruit of it was the same as being in the fleshand yet I also knew the soul had the capacity in and through Christ to not sin and be avehicle for the Spirit of God as well. But now I see it more clearly: we have choice. We can

either yield our soul into our flesh or we can yield it to our spirit-man in Christ Jesus. Oursoul itself is not the problem so much as what we do with it.

The next question is then, just what is our soul? The common definition that we have usedin the past is: mind, will and emotion. However, since feelings are so tied in with the flesh,perhaps that is not an accurate definition after all. You see, the true walk of Faith which Godintends for us is one not based on emotions or feelings but by faith in Jesus Christ. It is awalk not based on sight, but on faith in Jesus Christ. It is a walk not based on hearing, buton faith in Jesus Christ. A true walk of Faith in Christ Jesus means believing and having

faith without any sensation whatsoever— no feelings, no visions, no words — just Faith, andFaith alone, in Christ Jesus.

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THE CHOICE continuedSo just what is our soul? For what purpose was it created? For this answer I would like

share what Andrew Murray wrote in a book entitled, A LIFE OF POWER (Whitaker House,30 Hunt Valley Circle, New Kensington, PA 15068). He wrote:

God created man's soul as the seat of his personalityandconsciousness . His soul was linked through his body with the outer visibleworld. It was also linked through the spirit with the unseen and thedivine. The soul had to decide whether it would yield itself to the spiritand be linked with God and His will, or be linked to the body and thedesires of the flesh.

At the fall of Adam, the soul refused the rule of the spirit and becamethe slave of the body with its appetites. Man became flesh. The spirit lostits destined place of rule and became little more than a dormant power.It was now a struggling captive instead of the ruling principle. The spiritnow stands in opposition to the flesh because of this.

When speaking of the unregenerate man in contrast with the spiritual(1 Corinthians 2:14), Paul called him physical, soulish, or animal, havingonly the natural life. The life of the soul understands all our moral andintellectual faculties. Because the soul is under the power of the flesh,man is to be flesh. The body consists of the flesh and bone, and the fleshis that part of it that is especially endowed with sensitivity. Through theflesh we receive our sensations from the outer world. It denotes humannature, as it has become subject to the world of sense.

Because the soul has come under the power of the flesh, Scripturespeaks of all the attributes of the soul as belonging to the flesh and beingunder its power. There is fleshly wisdom and a spiritual wisdom. (See 1Corinthians 2:12-13 and Colossians 1:9.) There is service for God thattrusts in the flesh and glories in the flesh, and service of God by thespirit. (See Philippians 3:3 and Galatians 6:13.) There is a fleshy mindand a spiritual mind. (See John 1:13 and Philippians 2:13.) There is aworship that satisfies the flesh, because it is in the power of what fleshcan do, There is also worship of God that is in the Spirit. (See Colossians2:18, 23; John 4:24.) Jesus came to make this worship possible and togive a new spirit in our innermost part. Then, within our new spirit, Hegives God's Holy Spirit.

So you see, we all have a choice to make: just what do I want to link my soul with? Do Iwant to direct my soul into my flesh with its desires and lusts that ultimately leads me awayfrom God ... OR ... do I want to direct my soul to Christ by yielding my soul to my spiritwhich in turn is yielded to Jesus Christ as its Lord and Savior? And this not just a one-timedecision but one made daily, in little ways and big ones as we all "work out our salvation."

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"AFTER THE FLESH"What Jesus offers freely is so beautiful — He offers us everything of true value: love,

salvation, grace, life and peace. And yet how often our self-love wishes to take some creditfor that gift or for something it could do to feel worthy of that gift — to feel as if it had insome way earned or contributed to it. This is how so many fall into the trap of salvationthrough works of the flesh rather than through Grace by the Spirit of God. It is self-love, thecarnal mind, the natural man, that likes and entertains the ideas that empower the flesh.From there come ideas that you can be righteous by doing or not doing certain things. Forexample, one is more righteous if you don't eat pork, don't drink alcohol, don't watchmovies, don't dance, do wear dresses only or don't cut your beard. All of these are formsof seeking righteousness through outward means, they all have an element of being morerighteous by observation rather than by Grace through Jesus Christ. When doing thesethings, many Christians today are trying to blend some of the Old Testament Law with theirChristian faith and yet the Apostle Paul tells us the reason salvation through the Law hasfailed was because it was "weak through the flesh" — it could not be done since the flesh wasweak and would always fail. Instead, God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,and sin, and condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilledin us through Jesus Christ as we walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit of God throughJesus Christ. (Romans 8:3-4)

The Apostle Paul goes on to say in verse 5: "For they that are after the flesh do mindthe things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit things of the Spirit. "

In other words, if your approach to God is through your flesh, then what you care aboutand how you see things will be through the flesh. But for those who walk after the Spirit,then the things of the Spirit will be the most important thing to you.

Paul also wrote in I Corinthians 2:14: "But the natural man receiveth not the thingso f the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,because they are spiritually discerned"

This in turn can account for much of the opposition that Jesus received during His walkhere on earth from the religious leaders at the time. For many of them their whole religiouswalk had become solely about what they did through the flesh and outward works and hereis Jesus directing God's people to look inward to their heart. Jesus came to reveal the heartof the Father and to show God's people how to find Him through their own heart and spirit.

Take for example the belief that certain foods would defile a person if eaten or if you eatwith unwashed hands. Jesus came along and told us it is —

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"AFTER THE FLESH" continued

"Not that which goeth into the mouth defilethi a man; but that which cotnethout of the mouth, this defleth a man." (Matthew 15:11)

Jesus goes on to explain in verses 17-20:

"... whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out intothe draught(.) But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forthfrom the heart; and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evilthoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, tliefts, false witness, blasphemies:These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen handsdefileth not a man."

This is interesting to me because Jesus' list here of things that defile is nearly identicalto the works ofthe flesh listed by Paul in Galatians 5:19-21, which are: adultery, fornication,uncleanness, lasciviousness (showing or exciting lust), idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance(being disagreeable), emulations (trying to surpass one another), wrath, strife, seditions(stirring up rebellion), heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, and revellings. Any oneof these is enough to defile any one of us so we need to be careful to take notice if any ofthese appeal-to repent and put it under the Blood of Jesus and abide in the Spirit of God and

not in this fleshy sin any longer. We must turn from whatever is outwardly bringing us tosin and inwardly bring ourselves before Jesus to get right with Him once again.

Another Scriptural example of Jesus confronting the religious leaders of the day anddirecting their attention from the outward flesh to the inward can be seen in Matthew 23 :25-

28:"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside

of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the

outside of their may be clean also.for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward,

but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of

hypocrisy and iniquity."

And before Jesus said that, in Matthew 23:4-5 He also spoke of what these leaders werereally doing "For they bind heavy burdens and grievious to be borne, and lay them on men'sshoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But alltheir works they do for to be seen of men:..."

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"AFTER THE FLESH" continued

I cite these Scriptures because there are those among the Body of Christ who are doingthese same things today and are just as `after the flesh' as they were back then. There arethose who seek to serve God through outward and fleshy ways which will draw people untothemselves rather than unto Jesus. These same people will in turn tend to encourage thesame fleshy approach to God as they have which will bear no real fruit of the Spirit of God.I like Andrew Murray's way of putting it:

"(They are using) flesh as the power in which the natural man or theunyielded believer seeks to serve God or to understand spiritual truths.Our Lord indicates the futile efforts of the flesh in the words, "profitethnothing." These efforts are not sufficient. They cannot reach spiritualreality, the divine things themselves."

The Apostle Paul takes it a step further and says in Romans 8:6-8 —

"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life andpeace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:.... So then they that arein the flesh cannot please God."

However, the good news is that for most of you reading this article, we fall into thecategory of verse 9 — But ye are not in the flesh, hut in the Spirit, if so he that theSpirit of God dwell in you. "

And, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

(Romans 8:14)

"AFTER THE SPIRIT"Now that we have looked at the works of the flesh and its fruit, let's compare that to the

fruits of the Spirit. So often that is the easiest way to tell if one is in their flesh or movingby the Spirit is by the fruit. With the flesh there is darkness, sin and a burden that becomesapparent. There is spiritual death associated with it in the long run. On the other hand, thethings of the Spirit are life and peace. The fruits of the Spirit listed in GaIatians 5:22-24 are:

"... Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,

temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have

crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."

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"AFTER THE SPIRIT" continuedTo this Iist I would like to also add —REST UNTO YOUR SOUL . After all, Jesus Himself

call us in Matthew 11:28-30 to ..."Come unto me, all ye who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you

rest Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly inheart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and myburden is light"

What struck me when I read this recently was that Jesus wasn't saying we wouldn't haveburdens and labors to do but that when we do have them, we are to come to Him with themand give them to Him. He in return will take our burden and give us His yoke and Hisburden. And in this exchange, we will also find rest unto our soul. Our soul will no longerstruggle and fuss in trying to figure out how it will do a thing in the power of its flesh.Instead, our flesh is relieved of that burden as Jesus takes it on when we surrender it to Him.When we do that, our soul takes on His yoke which is easy, and His burden which is light.

For those you who might be unsure what a "yoke 7 ' is, I looked it up and found threeinteresting definitions. The first one I knew, was:

1. A frame for harnessing together a pair of oxen.The other two are related but add to the definition:

2. Thing that binds or unites.3. Servitude.

So when you see yourself take on Jesus' yoke, remember that He is not giving you a laboror burden to carry alone, but rather He is binding Himself to you to go forth together. He isalso binding or uniting us in a Spirit of servitude — we serve God through Christ Jesus andwith Christ Jesus.

FULL OF THE SPIRIT — FULL OF THE WORD

Andrew Murray in his book, A LIFE OF POWER , (which I have been quoting from) saysthat if you want to be full of the Spirit, then you need to be full of the Word. Why does hesay this? Well, it was Jesus Himself who said, "The words that I speak unto you, they

are spirit, and they are life. " Mr. Murray then went to qualify just how to do this in amost excellent way that I will just quote what he wrote. Here is what he wrote...

Christ said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they arelife." He wanted to teach the disciples two things. First, that the words areindeed a living seed with a power to germinate, to assert their own vitality, toreveal their meaning, and to prove their divine power in those who receive

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FULL OF THE SPIRIT — FULL OF THE WORD - Quoting Andrew Murray continuedthem and keep them alive in the heart.

Jesus did not want His disciples to be discouraged if they could notunderstand His words at once. His words are Spirit and life. They are notmeant for the understanding, but for the life. Coming in the power of the Spirit,higher and deeper than all thought, His words enter into the very roots of thelife. They themselves have a divine life, working out with divine energy thetruth they reveal into the experience of those who receive them.

Christ also wanted the disciples to learn another lesson. As a result of theirspiritual character, Christ's words need a spiritual nature to receive them.Seed needs a suitable soil. There must be life in the soil as well as in theseed. The Word must be taken into the life....

It is the Spirit that comes from God that will make the words of Christbecome truth and power in us. This is done by receiving the Word and makingit part of our lives. This truth will keep us from expecting to enjoy the teachingof the Spirit without the Word or to master the teaching of the Word withoutthe Spirit.

... If you want to have the divine life of the Spirit grow strong within you andacquire power in every part of your nature, let the Word of Christ dwell richlyin you.

if you want the Spirit to call to your mind and apply at the right moment whatJesus has spoken to your need, have the words of Christ abiding in you.

If you want the Spirit to reveal to you the will of God in each circumstanceof life, have the Word living in you, ready for His use.

... one of the very solemn lessons that the history of the Jews in the time ofChrist teaches us. They thought they were extremely zealous for God's Wordand honor, and yet it turned out that all their zeal was for their humaninterpretation of God' s Word. Jesus said unto them, "Search the scriptures;for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." (John 5:39-40)

They did indeed trust the Scriptures to lead them to eternal life, yet theynever saw that the Scriptures testified of Christ, and so they would not cometo Him. The Jews studied and accepted Scripture in the light and in the powerof their human understanding, and not in the light and power of God's Spiritas their life.

This is also the reason the weakness in the life of many believers who readand know a great deal of Scripture. They do not know that it is the Spirit thatquickens. The human understanding, however intelligent, however earnest,profits nothing. They think that in the Scriptures they have eternal life, but theyknow little of the living Christ as their life in the Spirit..... The solution is verysimple: we must refuse to deal with the written Word without the quickeningSpirit. (un )