RULING OUR SPIRIT

RULE YOUR OWN SPIRIT

When everyone else is angry,

That’s the time for you to keep sweet;

When everyone else is running,

That’s the time for you to watch your feet; 

When everyone else is excited,

That’s the time for you to keep calm;

Don’t follow the mob, be a leader,

For the mob is most always wrong.

When everyone else shows their hatred,

That’s the time for you to show love;

When everyone else looks at earthly things,

That’s the time for you to look above;

When everyone else shows their selfishness,

That’s the time for you to give;

When everyone else is perishing,

You will be just beginning to live.

(Proverbs 16:32; 25:28; 19:11; 1 Corinthians 14:32).

 By E. H. Britain

“HE THAT IS slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” (Proverbs 16:32).

It is essential for the child of God to learn how to rule his or her own spirit.  There are too many who profess to serve the Lord, but cannot control their temper, emotions, and selfish desires.  The result is that the world looks upon them and wonders how they can lead them to salvation when they can’t seem to save themselves.

Proverbs 25:28 says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”  Imagine the tragedy of a man not having the rule over his own spirit!  He is like a city without any defenses: open, and vulnerable to attack by the enemy at all times.  This is not a state that any Christian would want to find himself in ever.

Between 1958 and 1959, Bro. E. H. Britain published a message which he wrote entitled He That Ruleth His Own Spirit.  With that message he included the poem that is printed above.  I’d like to share with you some excerpts from that message that I feel are very important for the Body of Christ to hear in this present time.

Bro. Britain writes:

“One thing that comes to someone who has been regenerated, washed by the Blood of the Lamb: he is a partaker of the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He does not come into the fullness of it all at once, but he receives a measure of it.  As he grows up into Christ Who is the Head, he puts on more and more of His Divine Nature, putting off the Old Man with his deeds, and putting on Christ.

“We cannot think of Jesus as ever once losing His temper, and as we say, “Flying off the handle!”  He never wasted His words, but everything He said and did was a fulfillment of the Father’s will.” 

Even the few times that Jesus was angry, His words and actions were measured and purposeful.  It was a righteous indignation that reflected the anger of His Heavenly Father and not His own frustration or impatience with the unbelief that He witnessed among God’s chosen people. 

“Can we say then, that as we grow up into Christ, we will be able to fully rule our own spirit at all times, regardless of the provocation or circumstances?”  

I believe this to be possible, and it is certainly part of the promise of salvation that we have received in Christ.  As we grow up into Jesus, we discover two things to be true: first, that without God I can’t do anything, and, second, that I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.  These two things are simultaneously true in my life, and I am continually finding life lessons that reinforce both truths to me. 

“The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.” (Proverbs 19:11).

“Have you seen parents fly mad at their children, and beat them in a fit of madness?  Such a one does not have the rule over his own spirit.  Instead of correcting his child, he imparts to him his own unruly temper, and lack of discretion.” 

It is extremely important for Christians to learn to lead a balanced life where their emotions are concerned.  Drastic mood swings, excessive emotional demonstrations or outbursts, and being quick to anger can leave us open to the oppression of evil spirits. 

“As long as we retain control over our own spirit, we can ward off the powers of darkness.  Some folks seem to think they cannot be in the Spirit, or have the anointing, unless they become insensible, and lose control of themselves.  That is error.  It is just as dangerous for one to lose control of himself in the spiritual realm, as it is to lose control of himself in the natural realm. 

There are those who teach that, in order to be fully surrendered to the Lord, we must empty ourselves of any conscious thought so that the Lord can then fill us up.  This is a dangerous teaching.  The Holy Spirit works through the Word of God to renew our mind and bring it into harmony with the mind of Christ. 

“We can surrender all to Jesus without becoming a void, and a blank, AND WE MUST DO SO!  God has given us a sound mind, and Jesus has commanded us to WATCH AND PRAY!  We can pray without ceasing, and yet be WATCHFUL.

 

“Can’t we have spirituality without a bedlam of confusion!?  Sure we can!  Jesus received the Spirit without measure: that is, He received all of it.  He always spoke under the anointing.  His words were powerful and full of authority.  Yet He did nothing unseemly.  He prayed all night many a time, yet it is not recorded that He ever lost His senses, but He always seemed to have full control over His own spirit.  He is our example, and the Captain of our salvation.  Can we not follow Him and pattern ourselves after His example?

 

“The Holy Spirit does not vaunt itself: that is, it does not do things to show off, or to be noticed, or to monopolize the attention of the whole congregation; such as screaming and yelling out in services, stopping the ministry of the word and causing confusion.

 “Many people cannot discern between their own spirit and the Holy Spirit, and if they feel an urge to get up and demonstrate, they just do it, regardless of whether it fits in with the trend of the service or not.

It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the moment when we feel the Holy Spirit begin to wash over a group of believers who have entered into true worship.  God, however, pours out His Spirit on us to embolden us, encourage us, bless us, and empower us to be His witnesses.  At such times it is natural to raise our voices in praise and gratefulness to the Lord.  The Spirit of revelation may move on someone to speak a word of prophecy or exercise the gift of tongues and interpretation.  Others may use their gift of knowledge or of healing to edify the Body.  At times, some may even sing or dance in the Spirit.  The rule of thumb is that all things be done for the edification of the Body of Christ.  Anything done that is unseemly, calls attention to oneself, interrupts the ministry or the flow of the Spirit, creates a distraction from the word or the worship, or quenches the Spirit in any way is out of order.  As a Body, we must learn to discern what the Lord is doing in our midst when we come together to seek Him.  He knows the needs of every heart, and we do not.  Therefore, it is vital that we learn to become sensitive to His leading when we come together.  Many simply want to dance and shout and go home.  When we do that, the will of God is not accomplished and the Body becomes ineffectual. 

The gifts of the Spirit must be operated in the Spirit to be effective.  It is clear when someone is operating in the Spirit and when they are not.  What they say and what they do has an authority and a correctness to it that can only come from the Lord’s anointing on them.  Proverbs 25:11 tells us, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures [frames, or settings] of silver.”  Such ministry has the ring of truth to it and speaks, not just to the ears, but to the spiritual man within us. 

God will never violate our autonomy or our power of independent action.  He will never cause us to become like marionettes controlled by a set of strings and having no power over our own will.  What He does do is to transform our nature bit by bit by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 

Bro. Britain continues: 

“If you want to try the spirits, when someone is interrupting the service, just kindly ask them to sit down, or tell them they are out of divine order.  If they fly mad, or get offended, you can be very sure it was not the Holy Spirit.  If it was the Holy Spirit, they will humbly yield themselves to the elders who are in charge.

 

“Thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, that He has given us a sound mind.  We [can] put off the old man of anger, malice, hatred and madness, and put on the New Man of love, peace, joy and a sound mind.

“Let us not then surrender our mind to demon influence, nor think we must become a vacuum in order to be spiritual; for Jesus will take us right into the highest realms of the spirit, while we are in our right mind, and in perfect control of our spirit!  The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets

“Watch and pray, both in the carnal realm, and in the spiritual realm.  There are times when the Lord [may] put us in a trance [or a vision], as He did Peter when he was in prison; but when Peter came to himself he understood perfectly what he had been doing.  And while he was in the trance, he was not insensible, but knew exactly what he was doing.

“When Peter was on the housetop, and saw the vision of the beasts and heard a voice saying, “Kill and eat,” he was in a trance, but he was not unconscious, for when the messengers called to him, he heard them.

 

“Let’s try to build the kind of Christianity that will win the respect and confidence of the hungry-hearted unsaved ones who are seeking for the right way, and cannot find it.

 

“Jesus sent us out to be His Witnesses: to testify of Him; to win the lost by manifesting to them His divine nature.  We cannot win them by doing all manner of unseemly things.

 

“Hear this: God gave you a sound mind.  He expects you to use it, and not throw it out the window.  He expects you to use a little discernment of spirits, and not allow lying spirits to take over.

 

“We are not just robots after we are saved.  We are free moral agents.  It is up to us then to make use of a sound mind, and to do things that are reasonable and right: things that will glorify God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

“When you pray; pray with reason.  Do not use vain repetitions, going over the same meaningless sentences time after time.  Notice the Lord’s prayer: the power of it, the things prayed for, the purpose of it.  Notice also that it was not excessively long. 

 

“Will we ever learn that true Christianity is Wisdom, and Understanding, and Reasonableness, and Sanity?  There is a difference between spirituality and hysteria.  Some people are spiritual, and some are just hysterical.  Some are slow of speech, but have something to say when they do speak, and some are always talking, and never saying anything!  Some are calm and steady, and some are high strung, nervous and excitable.  Some people, under pressure, wring their hands and cry, “What will we do?  What will we do?” and some people DO SOMETHING! 

 

When anything happens, the first thing to do is to get your own spirit under control.  If you don’t know what to do, then don’t do anything till you do know what to do!  Otherwise, you’ll do the wrong thing.  If the house is burning down, and is too far gone to get anything out, go sit down and thank God you’re not in it!  If you clean your youngster up for Sunday School, and he goes out and sits in a puddle of mud, just relax, and try to figure out just how to teach him a life lesson so that he doesn’t do it next time.  Get your own spirit under control first.

 

“If people brag on you, don’t permit your spirit to become exalted: it may be just flattery.  If they criticize and condemn you, don’t permit your spirit to become cast down; it may be a false accusation.

 

“Don’t yield yourself to undue excitement in emergencies.  Keep calm and meet the situation with courage and wisdom.  “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15).

 

“Never get in a hurry until you know where you’re going and what you’re going to do when you get there.

 

“Thank God for people who are sane, sensible, and dependable; people you can depend on in the pinches.  In other words, THANK GOD FOR REAL CHRISTIANS!”