Spiritual Surgery
1 Cor. 2:11-16
11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Illus.: “Doctor Who Operated on Himself”
Dr. Evan O’Neil Kane was the chief surgeon at Kane Summit Hospital in New York City. He was 60 years old and had been practicing surgery for 37 years. He was especially interested in anesthetic. You see, he practiced back in the early part of the 20th century, when the only kind of anesthetic used was general in nature—and it had its complications. Patients were sometimes left paralyzed and on occasion, they died. Dr. Kane wanted to somehow prove his point by finding a guinea pig and try using local anesthetic. Finally he did discover a person who was willing to help him experiment. The patient needed his appendix removed, so he was scheduled for surgery. It was February 15, 1921, a Tuesday morning. The patient was prepared and rolled into the operating room. Kane had performed over 4,000 appendectomies. He performed the initial cut. He clamped the blood vessels on the way in while he located the appendix. He then skillfully removed it as he had done many times before. Through it all the patient experienced minor pain, recuperated quickly and was released from the hospital two days later.
Dr, Kane had proved his point. It was a milestone in medical history that a person could be operated on under local anesthetic while still awake. Oh, by the way, did I tell you the surgeon and the patient were one and the same? Dr. Kane operated on himself!
And in the next few minutes I want you to do exactly what the doctor did, spiritually. I want you to be wide awake when you do it. This is major surgery.
I don’t have to tell you how dreaded cancer is. All of us are touched by it these days. Someone in our family has struggled with it. It begins when one cell no longer wants to go along with the body’s program and decides to go solo—to do it’s own thing.
Not only does this cell begin to act independently, it also begins to reproduce it’s own kind! It metastasizes, spreading it’s influence to other parts of the body. Silently, yet violently, they penetrate vital organs to establish their own cronies and sabotage each organ’s effectiveness. If left undiagnosed or left untreated, this army of rebels brings death and destruction to the whole body!
Carnality is also a dreaded disease—a disease of the soul—a spiritual cancer, if you will.
And just as cancer is abnormal for the body, so carnality is abnormal in the life of a Christian. It cannot go untreated without causing great destruction to the Body of Christ. Carnal Christians influence weaker members of the Body. Like cancer, they reproduce after their own kind.
I’m sure you are aware of the many different classifications of cancer, according to body location, type, and stages of development. Let me share with you four spiritual classifications.
1. The Natural Man
1 Cor. 2:14: The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Doesn’t accept the things of God—thinks they are foolish
Has a darkened mind
Unsaved, lost, blind, under a sentence of death
In short, like a dead man walking! As a dead man, he has no appetite for God, no activity, spiritually speaking, and awareness of his need.
Vance Havner: “You may as well try to explain nuclear physics to a wooden Indian as to describe salvation to a natural man.
Illus. “Cable Ready”
It’s as if your next-door neighbor bought an expensive big-screen colored TV and after it was delivered came over to your house to brag about his new acquisition. While he’s bragging he notices his favorite program coming in on your little black and white TV. He says, “Oh, no! They’ve got my favorite program on and all you’ve got is that crummy little black and white job. I’ve got to go see it on my new color set.” So he runs home and turns on his expensive set, only to find out that he can’t that channel. He didn’t give you time to tell him that you just subscribed to cable. He may have the better equipment but you’re “cable ready” for the best shows.
The natural man may be educated and intellectually sharp, but he cannot receive the wisdom of the Spirit as well as a less knowledgeable, but faith-oriented believer.
2. The Saved Man
Born again
Transformed
Forgiven, pardoned
Given a hew heart
Given a new destination
3. The Spiritual Man
1 Cor. 2:15-16
15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
The spiritual man is really the Spirit-filled man
Has the mind of Christ—thinks, reasons, judges, evaluates—even prays like Jesus
Loves people of all kind, especially the lost
Has a fervent prayer life
Has an intense desire to grow in his faith
Loves to worship
Generous
Obeys God without hesitation
Eager to serve
The spiritual man is fully yielded to God—separated and cleansed by the Holy Spirit—not perfect in performance, but perfect in his desire to please God in all things.
When God puts a period, the spiritual man does not change it to a question mark.
4. The Carnal Man
1 Cor. 3:1-3
1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-- mere infants in Christ.
2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
There is nothing sadder than a baby that cannot grow—unless it’s a Christian that won’t grow!
The description here is not meant for those who are new in the faith; it has to do with Christians who have been around for a while—who are acting immature, like babies. A carnal Christian is...
Shallow
Like a stalled car; the driver is God the Father, engine is Jesus and the gas is the Holy Spirit. The road map is the Bible. But the car is not going anywhere. Sometimes it is even going backward—stuck in the mud of diobedience.
Caught between two worlds—love for Christ and love for the world
Inconsistent
Often dependent on emotions
Worrier—frets about many things instead of trusting God
Not a tither
Has received Christ, but lives a defeated life
Often yields to temptation
Bound by a habit or secret sin, which is destructive
Lives on the edge, playing with sin
Can’t control his passions, temper or speech
No exciting testimony—lost his first love
His devotional life is a shambles
Why would a Christian want to live like that?
Illus.: “Man Who Chose to Stay in Prison”
Consequences of Spiritual Cancer
1. Divine discipline (Heb.12:5-7)
2. Lost assurance of salvation
3. Physical death 1 Cor. 10:1-5: For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
4. Loss of eternal reward (I Cor.3:12-15)
5. Guilt
6. Defeat, failure
The Cure
Cancer can be cured if you get at it earlier enough. Surgery is the surest way. But there are also drugs and radiation.
Suppose a person is not feeling well? After an examination the doctor says, “I’m sorry, but you have cancer. But don’t be distressed. There is hope for you. We can remove it surgically if you are willing. But if you do not act quickly, it may be too late.”
What would you do? Would you say, “Well, no thanks, Doc. I’ll just take my chances.”
Well, I’ll tell you what. No thinking person would.
There is a cure for carnality. And it is twofold:
1. Repentance
2. Asking Jesus to be your Sanctifier, as well as your Savior. A Savior saves from the “penalty” of acts of sin. A Sanctifier “cleanses the heart” from the nature which produces these sins. And that nature is disobedience which begins in the heart.
I Thess.4:3: “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.”
I Thess.4:7: “For God has not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness.”
I Thess. 5:23: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Where would you classify yourself?
1. Natural man?
2. Saved man?
3. Spiritual man?
4. Carnal man?
The operating room is ready. Dr. Jesus wants to cut out that which is keeping you from being your best for God.
