Intro
     1.   You are primarily a spiritual being with a psyche, temporarily living in a physical
     body.
     2.   Your spirit was born again, redeemed at moment of your salvation. Your body will be
     redeemed at Lord’s return; actually, replaced with new body compatible with spiritual
     realm. Current phase of redemption: repentance, changing way you think, renewing
     your mind.
     3.   Current condition: redeemed spirit, psyche in process of being redeemed (not yet fully
     redeemed), body completely unredeemed.
     4.   Your body is not real you; least significant part of you. Temporal, disposable.

1 Co 9:27
     1.   Different versions:
               a.   KJV: “But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection.”
               b.   Ampl: “But [like a boxer] I buffet my body — handle it roughly, discipline it by
          hardships — and subdue it.”
               c.   NIV: “No, I beat my body and make it my slave.”
     2.   Paul refers to “I” and “my body”
               a.   does “I” refer to his body? no, distinguishes between them
               b.   What does “I” refer to? “I” refers to Paul’s spirit & psyche; separate & distinct
          from his body
     3.   How does Paul treat his body?
               a.   keeps it “under” (KJV)
               b.   buffets it like a boxer by handling it roughly, disciplining it by hardships
               c.   NIV: beats it
     4.   What is his purpose in treating his body this way?
               a.   bring it under subjection, subdue it, make it his slave.
               b.   Based on your knowledge of Paul, would you say he was a masochist? If not,
          then why would he treat his body this way? Keeping his body under control.
               c.   When you were sinner, no problem with catering to body’s desires because
          natural thing to do.
                         i.   You lived for your flesh (physical body, unredeemed psyche oriented
               toward physical existence)
                         ii.  You thought almost exclusively about what you wanted, how you felt;
               feelings based on yourself.
               d.   Now your spirit is awake and vibrant, you’re changing your psyche to conform
          to God’s kingdom.
                         i.   So your body is at odds with your spirit
                         ii.  Body is incompatible with redeemed spirit and psyche

Consider Your Structure: Spirit, psyche, body
     1.   Psyche has function of decisiveness
               a.   Receives inputs from your spirit and body
               b.   Compares inputs with intellect, feelings, memories
               c.   Then decides how to respond to input.
     2.   Your body is accustomed to being indulged
               a.   Wants its desires for comfort and pleasure to be gratified
               b.   If you don’t indulge your body, it complains and demands indulgence; you
          suffer.

Rom 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — which is your spiritual worship.”
     1.   Wording “I urge you” is strong
               a.   Amplified Bible uses “appeal” and “beg”
               b.   shows the great importance of Paul’s advice
               c.   His advice: offer your bodies as living sacrifices
               d.   “living” sacrifice, not referring to physically killing your body
               e.   Notice: writing this to believers, not sinners
     2.   Point: you need to do something about your body
               a.   what does “living sacrifice” suggest to you?
               b.   sacrificed body has no influence; you ignore its demands, consider it dead
               c.   If you don’t control your body by presenting as living sacrifice, your body will
          retain control of you

Gal 6:8 “The one who sows to please his sinful nature (flesh), from that nature will reap
destruction.”
     1.   What does it mean to “sow to please your sinful nature”?
               a.   indulge its desires, do what it says
     2.   What is result of doing so?
               a.   experience destruction; harm, havoc
     3.   What is alternative?
               a.   Gal 6:8 “the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal
          life.”
               b.   “spirit” capitalized? interpretation
               c.   if you are believer, your spirit wants same thing HS does; and your spirit is
          opposed to what your body wants.
               d.   Gal 5:16 “So I say, live by the Spirit [your spirit], and you will not gratify the
          desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the
          Spirit [your spirit], and the Spirit [your spirit] what is contrary to the sinful
          nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you
          want.” — you do not do what you want; referring to your spirit.
               e.   Your redeemed spirit does not have a sin problem; wants to obey Bible and
          following leading of HS.
               f.   Your problem is with physical body and psyche oriented toward physical
          existence, because body always wants to be appeased.
               g.   your inner man must control your outer man.
     4.   Choose to be ruled by your spirit rather than your body; deliberate, cognitive decision.
     5.   Psyche is “in the middle,” between your body and spirit
               a.   you must decide how to respond, cannot appease both
               b.   “natural” response is to appease sinful desires, rely on sinful attitudes feelings
          and desires

Mt 18:8-9
          “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you
     to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into
     eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is
     better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the
     fire of hell.”
     1.   Not necessary to literally amputate body parts; but shows severity of problem
     2.   Paul: “living sacrifice”
     3.   Your body should not dictate to you what you do.
     4.   You must dictate to your body what it is going to do.
     5.   Certain person tells me, “You need to listen to your body.”
               a.   I do; I consider what it says. But I refuse to be under its control.
               b.   I take appropriate care of my body: food, rest, exercise; protect its health.
               c.   It serves me, does what I need it to do; it must be my servant, not my master.
               d.   when my body demands gratification, I must decide whether is appropriate

Relevance
     1.   What is topic of this study? Knowing God’s Voice
     2.   How is treatment of our body relevant to knowing God’s voice?
               a.   you’re learning to listen to your spirit
               b.   I can almost guarantee your body and unredeemed psyche (sinful attitudes and
          feelings) will oppose what you sense in your spirit
               c.   Must train yourself, discipline self to follow God by accepting what comes from
          your spirit; this is “sowing to please the spirit” (Gal 6:8).
     3.   The more you cater to your flesh, the greater difficulty you will have hearing from
     your spirit
               a.   issue: clarity in hearing/recognizing spiritual input
               b.   I know a lot of Christians who cater to their flesh, who hear God speak
               c.   But I seriously question their ability to hear God clearly
               d.   Are they more likely to recognize God’s voice when what he says is compatible
          with or agreeable to their sinful nature?
               e.   Is mixture acceptable? No! Can be no compromise
               f.   Those who live according to sinful nature while serving God are in dangerous
          posture
     4.   Mind has function/power of decisiveness.
               a.   Receives inputs from your spirit & body, chooses how to respond
               b.   Mind naturally biased in favor of flesh; body & world existence
               c.   If you continue to think this way, will have great difficulty sensing your spirit
          & hearing God’s voice.
               d.   Change your mind to conform to spirit; requires you to reject body’s demands.
               e.   Not advocating masochism or asceticism, abusing your body.
               f.   I’m saying there are times when you simply need to ignore body’s demands,
          and those times may occur more frequently than you realize.
     5.   Don’t live to gratify your flesh.
     6.   Bible says: crucify old man (flesh, sinful nature); put it to death! No compromise!

Exercise
     1.   “In what ways do I cater to my sinful nature? What changes must I make?”
     2.   Focus attention on Jesus, begin to worship him (preparing psyche to hear from your
     spirit, from God)
     3.   Read questions on paper, write down everything that comes to mind, regardless of
     where it comes from.
     4.   Evaluating what you wrote
               a.   Is it biblical?
               b.   Do you have spirit peace (is there rightness about it)?