Know you what manner of spirit you are of...?

(NKJV) Luke 946 Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.47 And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him,48 and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great."49 Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."50 But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid [him,] for he who is not against us is on our side." 51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was [set] for the journey to Jerusalem.54 And when His disciples James and John saw [this,] they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.56 "For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save [them."] I have a two simple questions:What did Jesus mean by the 'spirit you are of'? John 8:44?&Did the 'spirit of' which the disciples were, remain, even after they were born again/baptised in the Spirit?If yes, please explain from scripture.If no, please explain from scripture.(I've been taught it did not remain .... right 8-) or wrong? :-?)

James and John were angry because the Samaritans "rejected their Lord Jesus".They were reacting as foolishly as Peter, when he chopped off that guys ear.A man where my husband used to work was 'witnessing' to an unsaved guy and the unsaved guy insulted the 'Witnesser' so the 'Witnesser' punched the unsaved guy and the fight had to be broken up by some of the bosses.That's all this story or question represents.I've found more Mercy on unsaved Disabled people's Forums than on any Christian Forum.The suffering people showing mercy to each other and comforting another when they themselves are so very afflicted is a sight that must be seen to be believed. It is unbelievable. Some are actually dying on those forums.There are a few of us Christians there, that witness Christ, but they don't reject or disallow that there, because heavy suffering brings something out of people, that now-presently healthy folks cannot fathom.When you try to tell Christian folks on Christian Forums, that you are really and truly disabled, suffering and all that your disease entails, you're still ignored or challenged, even though you leave for a while to find help for your soul and body, you come back to no "how are you sister ?Mercy is easy to talk about. And I've found, "any Christian virtue" is easy to talk about ... but I'd rather be talking to unsaved people and the afflicted and infirmed on their forums, so as to 'occupy until He comes', not just sit around and talk about what we "should be doing" or "be like" etc..I've found more mercy on that Forum for the disabled, infirmed and dying then I've ever found from Christians who just sit and type about what they think about What Is Written or this & that.If you ever want to do what the Lord has commanded we do, join an unsaved forum of some type and type to them about Jesus, because the night cometh when no man can work. Comfort the sick by visiting them with your computers. 'Whatever' you can do to fulfill Matt 25's latter verses.thanks for letting me vent.And all His Best Gifts of Evangelism and showing mercy to you all.Edited to invite whosoever will to fulfill Matt 25 on just one site(there's lots more like it out there) where people are dying or suffering without the Lord. http://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx

MeAgain saidComfort the sick by visiting them with your computers. 'Whatever' you can do to fulfill Matt 25's latter verses.thanks for letting me vent.And all His Best Gifts of Evangelism and showing mercy to you all.Edited to invite whosoever will to fulfill Matt 25 on just one site(there's lots more like it out there) where people are dying or suffering without the Lord.Thank you for venting.I've got to say I am surprised my question provided the opportunity - but, I did feel I should post it - and the Lord is speaking to me from both responses.... THANK YOU.Diane said I can't think of a case where one of the apostles promoted vengeance over mercy. However, that doesn't mean that the spirit isn't prevelant today. One has to merely look at the way people react to wrongs to see that "spirit" of revenge is still on their hearts. We are called to be instruments of God's mercy, not his revenge. Many scriptures exhort us to remember thatAre you saying, in a round-a-bout way, that Pentecost did make a difference to the 'spirit' of those men? Do you think, then, (Diane) that a desire for vengeance is the predominant feature of the unregenerate spirit?

Dorcas, you're post is FINE.So are the replies from Diane and Graftedbranch.I haven't met a "perfect person" yet... have you Dorcas ? ;-) Love to you all and thanks again for your tolerance with me brethren.M.E. 'again'Graftedbranc wrote:When we are regenerated our spirit is resurrected and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But our soul is unrenewed in many aspects and needs the dealings of God, the breaking of the outer man and the dividing of our soul from our spirit to have a clear and pure and renewed channel for the expression of the Divine Life in our spirit.GraftedbranchJust one small thing, the soul doesn't need to be "divided" from our spirit, but by the same process you described, needs to learn to "yield" to the spirit.That's probably what you meant. Maybe I just word it differently.God Bless

ON the one hand, our spirit is regenerated and "does not sin" because it is in resurrection and is fully redeemed and pure. But in it's expressing through our unrenewed soul it becomes contaminated and impure.GB, I can't agree that the spirit becomes 'contaminated' by passing through 'our unrenewed soul'.If it can become contaminated at all, it is through active sin (disobedience). Thinking through your statement, you seem to be saying that if a regenerate person died suddenly, their soul might not be saved after all, if it was not clean at that moment.... This may be exactly what I was asking with the question at the top of the thread..... If a person is regenerate, then are they not of a clean and holy spirit, because of the indwelling Holy Spirit? So then, if a person tells a lie, or uses bad language, or is violent - it is not a function of their spirit any more, as it was befor new birth, it is a function of the carnal mind or the life of the flesh, which has not been forced to comply with walking in the Spirit (so that the lust of the mind and of the flesh were not fulfilled).Isn't this what Romans 7:22, 23 is about?For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.Can we say that 'my members' refers to the outer man?

This is interesting - a devotional touching on the point of the thread, by Oswald Chambers.How Could Someone Be So Ignorant?Who are You, Lord? —Acts 26:15"The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand . . ." ( Isaiah 8:11 ). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances.God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. We say, "I know that this is what I should do"-and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. "He . . . rebuked them, and said, ’You do not know what manner of spirit you are of’ " ( Luke 9:55 ). The spirit of our Lord in His followers is described in 1 Corinthians 13 .Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the spirit of self-satisfaction. We presume that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord— "I delight to do Your will, O my God . . ." ( Psalm 40:8 ).more info: http://www.rbc.org/utmost/