TEEN TREE OF LIFE
THE FOUR SPIRITUAL MECHANICS
August 20, 2017
Part 1
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of The Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).
In the design of a car, there are many parts involved that must be put together in order for the car to operate. There is a chassis (car frame), wheels, transmission, engine, fuel tank, etc. Each of these separate parts is made up of other parts. When each part is put together in the proper order and according to the proper design, the car becomes operational and functional. Likewise, to keep the car running, you need a good mechanic to ensure its proper maintenance.
Living the Spiritual life is very similar in that God has provided you with a chassis – your body – which is made up of many parts. And like a chassis, the body alone cannot operate and perform the functions that God has designed for you without the addition of other parts. These other parts are Spiritual parts that God has assembled and provided for you so that when combined, you operate and function as God intended. And in keeping with our comparison, each of these parts comes from a Mechanic – God Himself. All of this defines the Divine Grace System for the Spiritual life of the believer,
In this study, we are going to learn about the four main parts that God has provided for you. When these four main parts are combined, they establish the sum total of how the moving parts of the Spiritual life perform a complete and functional motion toward the four objectives of God’s Plan for the Church-Age.
The First Spiritual Mechanic is that God provides you with two kinds of Power. God’s power is optional for you to use – just as today you can buy a gas-powered car or a battery powered car. But also like today, you need to use the hybrid (mixture) of the two power systems, in order to have the most efficiency in The Plan of God.
The first power option available to all believers is the Filling of The Holy Spirit, in which God The Holy Spirit controls your soul. EPH 5:18 commands us to: … not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit… In order to be filled with The Spirit, you must confess your sins to God The Father in His Son’s Name. The Filling of The Spirit is the Divine Energy or Power that causes the Plan of God to function in your life. You could call God The Holy Spirit, the battery.
Now, until the Church-Age, there was no command to be filled with the Spirit, because there was no Indwelling of the Spirit. The only reason we have the option to be filled with the Spirit is that He indwells us as members of the Church-Age.
There was a Ministry of The Spirit to less than one percent of all Old Testament believers called enduement. Enduement is defined as the Divine Endowment of the Power of God The Holy Spirit to certain Old Testament believers. God The Holy Spirit was given to the human authors of the Old Testament, certain leaders and great men like Abraham, Moses, David, the Judges, and the men who built the Tabernacle and articles of furniture. But this was not a guaranteed permanent Indwelling as it is today in the Church-Age. Certain sins meant that they would lose the enduement of The Holy Spirit.
Today in the Church-Age, the Indwelling of The Holy Spirit occurs at the moment of your salvation. You can NEVER LOSE the Indwelling of the Spirit. This is taught in (EPH 1:13) In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with The Holy Spirit of promise… The Filling of the Spirit occurs at salvation, too, but at your first sin after salvation, you retain the Indwelling of the Spirit but lose the Filling of the Spirit. It’s like you have turned the ignition key off. To regain the Filling of The Holy Spirit, you just need to turn the ignition key on by utilizing 1JOH 1:9: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Just as our gasoline has additives that clean your injection system and engine from gunk and built up residues, 1JOH 1:9 cleanses your soul from the gunk and residue of sin in your life for the proper functioning of The Holy Spirit.
The second power option is the perception and metabolization of the Word of God. Let’s call this the gasoline. In order for your car to run, you must put gas in it or electricity to charge the batteries. Your soul is the same. You need to give it fuel to run. This begins with the Pastor-Teacher teaching you the Word of God. He is the fuel pump. And remember, you’re not a small car like a VW bug that only needs a fill-up once a week. God is a God of luxury. He doesn’t make economy cars! He has created you as a Cadillac SUV!! So, you need a fill-up every single day. This is taught in LUK 19:47: And He [Jesus Christ] taught daily in the temple. Now, ask yourself, “Why would Jesus Christ teach daily if we weren’t supposed to study His Word daily?”
Keeping with our analogy of the car, once the fuel is poured, it needs a holding place called the fuel tank. If you are positive to the Word taught to you, then The Holy Spirit teaches your human spirit that Word and holds it so that it can be used at the proper time. You have to not only fill up, but you must also use what you fill up with. In other words, your positive volition towards the fuel is vital. When you first hear the Word of God, you make a decision to believe it or to not believe it. If you believe what is taught, God The Holy Spirit sends that doctrine into the stream of consciousness of your soul. Your soul is the gas tank!
Once doctrine is taught and believed, it is then broken down or metabolized and you can use it in your everyday life: I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught [apply the doctrine you learned]. (1JOH 2:26-27) The Message Bible
So, now you have the two power options to convert Divine Power from God The Holy Spirit and the Word of God into your soul for the function of the Spiritual life to fulfill The Plan of God. When the fuel (the Filling of the Spirit and metabolized Bible doctrine) is properly used, then the moving parts of God’s Power System produce motion, energy, and action. And that is Spiritual advancement!!
Every Church-Age believer has a Spiritual life which can only operate under Divine Power. There is no Spiritual life until you utilize these two power options – just like a car cannot operate without gas. There is no place for human power, human talent, or human works in the execution of the Spiritual life for the Church-Age. Any attempt to compromise Divine power with human works shuts down the machinery, so that the moving parts of the Spiritual life do not function. It’s like adding water to the fuel; it doesn’t work.
So, in our hybrid car system, if we just have batteries (the Filling of the Spirit), we will have some movement, but it will be short lived without more fuel. And likewise, we can have all the fuel in the world, but without the battery to give it the initial charge and keep charging us as we go along, we won’t be the efficient car that God designed us to be!!
{to be continued}