Which Way Should I Go

Sermon Summary (Speaker: Pastor Paul Bailey)

Pastor Paul Bailey opened candidly, saying he might not get past a single verse—and he meant it. With pages of color-marked notes, he settled into a teaching flow centered on Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” From there he drew a clear line between body, soul, and spirit. The “soul,” he said, contains five powerful components—mind, emotions, will, attitude, and desires—that God gave us for good, but which were never designed to lead. Too often, believers avoid the obvious works of the flesh yet live from that “middle ground” of the soul—separated from the world, but not fully surrendered to the Spirit.

Bailey illustrated with Peter walking on water. The problem, he noted, wasn’t the wind and waves; it was the moment Peter stopped looking at Jesus. In the same way, even respectable soul-drivers—sharp intellect, strong willpower, or compassionate emotion—can pull our focus off Christ and lead us into choices that only seem right. He likened Saul (flesh), David (spirit), and Jonathan (the likeable “in-between”) to our internal governance: as long as “Jonathan” lives on the throne—our preferred soul element—David will never fully reign.

Moving from headlines to heart-lines, Bailey contrasted “nation against nation” (borders) with “kingdom against kingdom” (who has the right to rule). That contest, he argued, is raging within each believer: Who rules my daily decisions—my soul’s impulses or the Spirit of God? He warned that fear-based choices can masquerade as wisdom, distinguishing Noah’s reverent fear from the destabilizing emotion of fear. A practical story about withholding a $20 “God pocket” gift at the Spirit’s check—only later realizing it spared a recovering addict—underscored the point: emotion can be kind, but the Spirit is truly wise.

Bailey urged a simple practice for discernment: ask God direct yes/no questions and listen for the Spirit’s steady answer—always aligned with Scripture. He recounted a personal, uncomfortable moment of public obedience that opened the door to prophetic confirmation, reminding the church that submission “flows through authority” and starts with surrender to the King of Kings.

The “straight and narrow,” he concluded, isn’t narrow merely because it’s exclusive; it’s narrow because there’s only one way to walk it—by the Spirit. Each time we switch from attitude to intellect to willpower, we’re widening lanes on the broad road. This message invites listeners out of the soul-led middle and into Spirit-led living marked by clear focus on Jesus, quiet obedience, and daily surrender. If you’ve ever felt stuck between separation and surrender, don’t miss this teaching—lean in and let the Word and the Spirit do what only God can do.