1
By the cross discern the spirit,
Put the soul to death alway;
Bear the cross, deny the self-life,
Walk in spirit day by day.
Put the soul to death alway;
Bear the cross, deny the self-life,
Walk in spirit day by day.
2
By the cross discern the spirit,
Through the living Word of God,
Separating soul from spirit,
That the right path may be trod.
Through the living Word of God,
Separating soul from spirit,
That the right path may be trod.
3
By the cross discern the spirit,
With the mind by light renewed,
All emotion consecrated,
And the will in love subdued.
With the mind by light renewed,
All emotion consecrated,
And the will in love subdued.
4
By the cross discern the spirit;
Passing thru the riven veil,
Flesh and soul are wholly broken,
And the spirit doth prevail.
Passing thru the riven veil,
Flesh and soul are wholly broken,
And the spirit doth prevail.
5
By the cross discern the spirit,
’Tis the holiest place divine;
There commune with God in spirit
And His presence will be thine.
’Tis the holiest place divine;
There commune with God in spirit
And His presence will be thine.
6
By the cross discern the spirit
And the Jordan River cross;
Enter then the Land of Canaan,
And enjoy Christ thru the cross.
And the Jordan River cross;
Enter then the Land of Canaan,
And enjoy Christ thru the cross.
7
By the cross discern the spirit
And within the spirit move;
As good land, on Christ e’er labor,
And His riches thou wilt prove.
And within the spirit move;
As good land, on Christ e’er labor,
And His riches thou wilt prove.
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Louisiana, United States
Wow! I really like the comment below. That is really our experience. He explains what it is & what it is not to discern the spirit from our fallen self in our daily experience.
The cross was over 2000 years ago but it must be our experience every day in all our living. Praise the Lord.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
By the cross discern the spirit.
Utrecht, Netherlands
Suppose we are fellowshipping with a brother. How can we discern whether our fellowship is of the spirit or of the soul? By putting the cross on our self, we will clearly know whether we are in the spirit or in the soul. We should not say, “I am not doing something evil. I am doing something good when I fellowship with a brother.” Fellowship is good, but our kind of fellowship may be entirely in the soul. When the cross is applied to our self, we will immediately be clear whether our fellowship is in the spirit or in the soul. We should never check the soul or the spirit by the discernment of good and evil. This kind of checking will only put us in darkness. There is no other way to check the soul and spirit but by the cross. The only way to determine whether we are in the soul or in the spirit is by checking whether we are now on the cross. Do we have any element of our own interest, or are we self-centered in our activities? Has the cross been put on our self-interest and self-centeredness? We need to check ourselves in this way. All decisions and all activities must be checked by the cross, not by the standard of good and evil. In every subject of conversation we need to ask ourselves whether the self has been crossed out. We should not analyze by considering, “Am I in the spirit or am I in the soul? Let me consider for a moment to see how deep my feeling is. If it is not very deep, I must be in the soul. But if it seems to be deep, I might be in the spirit.” If we analyze in this way, we will be troubled. Simply by one check, we can be made very clear: Have we been put on the cross? In other words, have we denied the self, taken up the cross, and followed the Lord in the spirit? When we deny the self by taking up the cross, the Lord Christ will have the full ground in us, and it will be easy for us go along with Him.- The Economy of God, Chapt. 13