The Champion Spirit
I. The make-up of man---Man is
a tri-part being
A.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-The prayer is that God
set you apart wholly or completely; and to do that he has to address your
spirit, soul & body b/c that is the whole of who you are
B.
You are a spirit-being, you have soul, you
live in a physical body-Phil 1:21-14
1. AMP 24-MY BODY; his body is not him, it’s something he possesses
2. Carnal people gravitate to the natural; spiritual people gravitate
towards the spirit
C.
Everything that I do in the Kingdom of God I
do from my spirit as a spirit-being
1. When God speaks to me from His Word, He’s speaking to my spirit
II. When you get born again,
your spirit is made new, but your mind has to be renewed and your body has to
be retrained (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 9:27)
A.
Wrong words produce a wrong-way of thinking; that
way of thinking trains your body how to act until it becomes habit to you and
ultimately forms your character
1. When you weren’t saved it didn’t bother you b/c no part of you wanted to
do right
2. Saved people feel convicted, b/c there’s a part of you that doesn’t want
to do that
B.
It is the your job (the job of your spirit,
with the help of the Holy Spirit) to renew your mind and retrain your body
1. You (your spirit) gets it from the Holy Spirit and then tells your mind
to think in line with it and your body to act in line with it
C.
Your spirit is supposed 2 bring your mind &
body in subjection 2 the Word-2 Cor 10:5,1 Cor 9:27
1. It’s impossible to renew the mind with a spirit that is weak
III. A weak spirit will be
detriment to the child of God
A.
Your spirit can be strong & your spirit
can be weak (Eph 3:14, 2 Corinthians 4:16)
1. Even though your spirit is created in the likeness of God, uncared for
it can get weak
2. EX: Schwarzenegger’s son can have the same ability he has & not the
same strength
B.
People are trying to live victorious lives
with a weak spirit and it can’t be done
1. You’re success in life is dependent on the development of your spirit
2. People are losing in life because their spirits are weak; Every time a
person caved in, gave up and experienced defeat it can be traced back to a weak
spirit
3. Defeat shows up in person’s life because pressure came & they took
the wrong thought and before long they were acting like the Word wasn’t true
(Rom8:5,Js 2:17)
a. If your spirit isn’t strong enough to reign over your mind and body you
won’t win
4. Most Christians are not fit for battle-1 Chronicles 12:8
C.
People lose b/c they faint or quit and they
faint b/c their strength is small, therefore if we can develop strong spirits
we can stop being defeated (Gal 6:9, Heb 12: 3, Pr 24:10)
1. If you faint in your mind it’s b/c your spirit is weak-Proverbs 24:10
2. Your spirit is supposed to support the weakness of your mind &
body-Proverbs 18:14
a. A strong spirit will keep your mind from fainting-Psalm 103
b. MSG-A healthy spirit conquers adversity, but what can you do when the
spirit is crushed
D.
Col 1:11-There’s a strength available to stay
consistent with a smile on your face
IV. People think life is such a
struggle b/c they’re trying to live their lives according to the standard of
the KOG & their spirits are weak; trying to live spiritual lives with weak
spirits
A.
You’re not supposed to be weak, you’re
supposed to be strong
1.
You’ve been commanded to be strong, not weak
(1 Cor 16:13, Ephesians 6:10)
B.
Ezekiel 16:28-30-When you give into flesh
it’s evident your spirit is weak
1.
It’s time to stop being bullied around by
your flesh
C.
Jesus was strong (Luke 1:80,2:40)
1.
Luke 22:41-44-When Jesus was under severe
mental and emotion pressure he prayed more intently, more earnestly, more
fervently; he put pressure on pressure
2.
Hebrews 4:15-He told his flesh no every time
a.
He never feared, worried, got discouraged,
lost his patience, gave into anger
b.
He has the power to stop the whole thing, but
didn’t stop it; Father forgive them
3.
Matthew 4:1-10-He’s being pulled, he’s being
tempted, but he’s strong
4. James 4:8-Strong to resist; pressure is being put on you, but you put
pressure on pressure
5. Psalm 24:8-We’re to imitate him (He’s not supposed to be strong & us
weak)
D.
You need the champion spirit
1. Mighty men of David (Adino killed 800 at 1 time-Eleazar, with the men of
Israel gone, single-handedly won & the sword stuck to his hand-Shammah, the
people fled, but he stood his ground-broke through an army for a glass of
water)
2. 1Chron9:13,10:10-We need champions in the KOG;
Kings need champions
V. Be a spirit-builder; be
fanatical about the condition of your spirit
A.
How does this affect the condition of my spirit?
If it makes me weaker I don’t do it
1. People invest millions to develop their mind and body and neglect their
spirit
B.
The proper diet-People who lack commitment to
the proper diet won’t win
1.
Like food is strength and nourishment to your
body the word of God is strength and nourishment to your spirit (Milk and Meat 1
Peter 2:2, Hebrews 5:12-14, Job 34:3)
2.
Jeremiah ate the words of God and they were
joy and strength unto his heart/spirit (Jeremiah 15:16, Nehemiah 8:10)
3.
To have a strong spirit it must be nourished
up on the words of faith. (1 Tim 4:6)
a.
If words of faith nourish you up, then wrong
words will make your spirit weak
C.
The proper exercise-You exercise and train
your spirit (1 Timothy 4:7)
1.
Exercise-Train, practice, exercise vigorously
a.
You exercise by practicing, training in, and
doing what you heard
b.
People who just eat without exercise can
eventually become obese
2.
For exercise to be effective and strength to
be developed there has to be resistance/pressure to what you’re doing
a.
People who don’t do what they heard from the
heard will never encounter the resistance and pressure necessary to develop
b.
It’s when I begin to do that word that I
heard that I’ll encounter pressure
c.
If you are caving in under pressure you’ll
never develop
3.
Suffering the flesh not getting its way will
strengthen your spirit (1 Pet 5:10)
a.
Galatians 5:24-Crufify the flesh; every time
you give into the flesh it gets stronger
D.
The proper amount of rest (Hebrews 4:10-11)
1.
Your own works (doing things that neither God
nor the Holy Spirit told you do) will make you weak and drain you spiritually &
make you weak spiritually
a.
Sin & disobedience are your own works &
they’ll make you weak spiritually
2.
You enter into rest by love and faith and
miss out on rest by fear and unbelief (Hebrews 4:3)---Fear drains your spirit
(2 Corinthians 4:16 AMP)
E.
Your mouth can promote or destroy the
condition of your spirit (Proverbs 15:4, Joel 3:10)