Sermon on 31 March 2024 by Reverend Lynette Teo

Romans 8:11 - “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are able to live. His power in us is so strong to face the future. We don’t dread the next day. The same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead lives in you and me.
Because the Holy Spirit lives in us, we have the same resurrection power that caused Jesus from the dead. He gives life to our physical bodies. When we know the truth, the truth shall set us free.
Threefold nature of man:
1 Thessalonians 5:23 - “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.”
1.Spirit
Greek: pneuma, where God deposited His life in us to give us all that we need for life and godliness.
2. Soul
Greek: psuche, where we surrender our will, thoughts, and emotions, choosing to trust and obey His purpose. There is a difference between 灵 and 魂.
3. Body
Greek: soma, where we exercise self-discipline over our bodily appetites. We are blessed to be a blessing. We need to know one another in the Spirit. Some of us may encounter challenges in life but in the Spirit, God has given us joy and strength. through Jesus.
There are reactions that happen physically in our body to powers. There will be an outcome and reaction. God’s power and life are already given to us. Are our lives being impacted and transformed? We allow His power to flow. Many believers are waiting to see God’s power, but 2 Peter 1:3 already tells us that it is given to us. How can we allow His power and life to manifest within us?
2 Peter 1:3 - ”By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.“
Pointers:
In our Spirit
The resurrection power is a great power. The same resurrection power is in our spirit. It is invalid to say that we are weak. We cannot look at our physical bodies or our own soul. We have to look at our spirit, full of His power.
Ephesians 1:19-20 - ”I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.“
Dynamis: strength, power, ability. It means inherent power and power for miracles. We are full of this dynamis power to do whatever God calls us to do. This is the surpassing greatness of His power.
Jude 1:20 - ”But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,“
We have to pray in the Holy Spirit, which helps to build ourselves up. Finishing the structure of the foundation which has already been laid. When we pray in the Spirit, we are praying in tongues and are led by Spirit in communion with the Holy Spirit. It is not our logical mind that leads the prayer. We become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading and to the things of God. We can sense what He’s speaking to us. This is how we testify to be children of God.
2. In our soul
The power of God is in our spirit. Because we are born again, we are given everything we need. We use it to come against fleshly thinking, which is under the control of human nature. God’s power is dynatos, translated as ‘possible’ in Matthew 19:26. These mighty weapons are dynatos. With God, all things are mighty weapons. Because of mighty weapons, all things are possible. We have to cooperate in our soul to demolish the strategies of the evil one. The devil uses these strategies to come against God’s words. The battlefield is in the mind, not the spirit. When God’s power is already in us, we can take captive of every thought. We bring under control worldly thoughts that are against God and His word.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 - “We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
Matthew 19:26 - “Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
The power to transform comes from God. The choice to obey and surrender comes from us. We renew our minds and put on the armour of God. Each of the pieces of armour is what Jesus has given us on the Cross. We use this protection in our daily lives. The choice to renew our minds comes from us. The power to transform comes from God.
Romans 12:1-2 - “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
We need to be healthy in our soul so that our bodies will be in good health. Everything in our life will follow accordingly. Prosperity of the soul for the believer means being aware that all blessings are deposited in our spirit and walking in truth.
3. In our body
He gives life to our mortal bodies by spiritual power to arise and invigorate, to restore to life, to give increase of physical life, and endued in the spirit with new and greater powers of life. We need to discipline ourselves. We can reign in life no matter what happens to us. In your spirit, you are still strong no matter what you are going through.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
Romans 5:17 - “For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:19 - “For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.”
Amen.
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