3 Spirit, Soul and Body(14)
Scripture Reading
1 John 2:24-25
“See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us–even eternal life.”
Dear brothers and sisters, worldly people consider both spirit and soul have the same meaning.
But you have learned each of them has different meaning through the messages about Spirit, Soul and Body.
Spirit refers to seeds of life given by God when He created Adam, and knowledge of truth covering the seeds.
Soul refers to memory system, contents stored in that system and the process reproducing or utilizing the stored knowledge.
When soul works in accordance with the will of spirit, soul gets along well.
We should understand that each word of spirit and soul is used with different meanings in the Bible according to its context.
When a daughter of Jairus, ruler of the synagogue died, Jesus saw Jarius’ faith and said that she had not been dead but asleep.
He meant she was saved and her spirit was alive. So, when Jesus made her alive again, the verse says that her spirit returned.
Acts 5:1-11 tells us about the story of Ananias and Sapphira. They were not able to be saved because they lied to the Holy Spirit, and their spirits were found dead.
When they fell down and died, it means that their souls, not their spirits, left them.
Let us look into other cases.
In the second half of Luke 23:46, when Jesus drew His last, He said, “Father, into Your hands, I commit My spirit.” And David confessed in Psalm 103:1, “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.”
In Acts 7:59, when Stephen was stoned to death, he cried, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
In these cases, spirit and soul indicate that their souls obey their spirits so well that the spirits can control their souls and bodies.
It means that they are men of spirit who have accomplished holy and perfect hearts.
The reason that God created Adam and started cultivating human beings is because He wants to reap true children whose souls get along well and who enter into spirit.
If your soul has got along well and you have controlled your soul and body by your spirit, you will receive the signs of being God’s beloved children on earth as well as in heaven.
On the earth you will enjoy blessings in body and sprit, and in heaven, you will enter better dwelling place.
This message is the last session of spirit soul and body, as the 13th session of the 3rd serial messages.
The messages on spirit soul and body preached on every Sunday Morning service is for you to come forth as God’s true children whose souls get along well.
May my beloved members make all the messages on spirit soul and body your spiritual food and finally come forth as His good children, in the name of the Lord I pray!
[Body]
Until the last session I have preached about flesh and soul.
I explained to you how you could change your soul and body into the ones belonging to spirit.
The first man Adam’s spirit, soul and body were spiritual, but after he sinned and his spirit died, he became a man of flesh.
Adam’s heart consisted of the seeds of life and the knowledge of spirit, but after he sinned, the knowledge of spirit came out of his heart but instead knowledge of flesh filled it.
His heart became filled with all kinds of untruths including sins, evils, unrighteousness, and lawlessness supplied by Satan.
If man begins to obey the word of God after accepting the Lord Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit, his heart also begins to be filled with the knowledge of truth.
In other words, untruths planted by Satan begin to leave out of his heart and it becomes filled with truths.
To the extent we have acted truths without doing acts of the sinful nature according to the commands of the Bible telling us to keep and not to do, we can accomplish spiritual body. Accordingly, our deeds become beautiful and our bodies strong.
In addition, to the extent that we have thrown away evil within our hearts that God tells us to throw away, we can cast off the desires of sinful nature and fleshly thoughts, and accomplish spiritual soul.
Then, we will be able to hear and be guided by the Holy Spirit thinking only truths.
Likewise, when we have accomplished the “Keep” and “Throw away” commands, all untruths will leave us and we can be recognized as men of spirit.
And when we have fully filled our hearts with the “Do” commands, the way the first man Adam did, we can recover the spiritual heart full of the knowledge of truth and the seeds of life.
However, the heart of well-cultivated men of spirit is not the same with that of the first man Adam.
Adam was a living spirit but had not experienced fleshly things, so he is not a perfect spirit.
He did not know sorrows and pains coming from flesh because he never experienced the fleshly things.
That’s why no matter how much God loved him, he did not realize how valuable the love was and not thanked Him.
Still less, Adam had the chance of receiving the flesh with his free will and corrupting.
This way Adam’s spirit was not a perfect spirit but a spirit ha might die sometime. That’s why the Bible calls him ‘a living being’ or ‘a living spirit.’
However, the children of God who have experienced the flesh and changed themselves into spirit following truth can understand the opposite characteristics of flesh and spirit.
They can understand how painful flesh is and how worthless and dirty it is because they have experienced sins, evils, pains and sorrows in this fleshly world.
Moreover, they can realize how valuable, beautiful and happy spirit is.
Those well-cultivated children of God will never receive flesh again but choose spirit so that they will enjoy heavenly happiness.
They love and thank God from the depths of their heart because they understand the will and heart of God who has given such happiness.
If a man has much knowledge in his brain but not cast off flesh from his heart, he cannot give true love and sincere thanks to God.
No matter how much he confesses he loves and thanks God, he will corrupt when something not beneficial happens.
On the other hand, those who have cast off all fleshly things and entered into spirit will love God with all their hearts, might and sincerity and never change in their thanks and love for God.
They will realize the providence of God who placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to gain true children to share love with and has cultivated human beings experiencing countless sufferings, and will give real and deep thanks to God.
Furthermore, they will truly love and give real thanks to the Lord who was crucified for themselves and the Holy Spirit who gives birth to truths within themselves, and their love and thanks are unchanging.
Dear brothers and sisters,
If we have accomplished the “Keep” and “Throw away” commands in their hearts and become a man of spirit, we will never corrupt nor think evil things.
Then, we memorize what the evil is because we have experienced it, but it will not come out as our own feeling or emotion.
That’s why fleshly people cannot judge spiritual people.
When one sees an evil and worldly thing, a fleshly person’s response is different from that of spiritual person.
When a fleshly man sees evil things, they will combine with untruths within him and come out as evil feeling and thought, and ultimately be followed by evil deeds.
On the contrary, a spiritual man is never followed by evil thoughts or deeds although he sees something evil, because there is no untruth in his heart.
He will never try to see anything evil, and although he saw such things, he will never let it associate with his thoughts or deeds.
But, a fleshly person does not understand this spiritual dimension, so he judges a spiritual person because he sees only the outward.
Because that fleshly person does something with evil and sinful mind, he judges others who do the same.
God does not see the outward deeds of each individual but the heart of each one, so He deems those fleshly people who judge others wicked.
In Numbers 12 is a scene in which Miriam and Aaron blamed Moses who married a Cushite woman.
From a fleshly viewpoint, Miriam and Aaron may seem right.
However, God knew there was no evil in the heart of Moses and His anger burned against Miriam and Aaron.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Only if we have fully accomplished “Do not” “Keep” and “Throw away” commands, there will be no evil within us at all and deemed as a spiritual person by God.
Moreover, if we have also accomplished “Do” commands, we will be able to reach the full measure of Christ.
In other words, we will reach the level of a whole spirit as God tells us, “keep your whole spirit, soul and body blameless.”
Throwing away untruths and filling us with truths take place simultaneously.
Among spiritual people who have thrown away all untruths, the measure of filling truths in them is different to each other.
If you have accomplished “Keep” and “Throw away” commands, when someone offends you with evil deeds, no hatred and no offending emotion will happen within you.
But, according to the measure of filling the “Do” commands, the level of spirit of each one will be different.
For example, to the extent to which we have filled our hearts with the command of love, there are a few levels of spirit. Some have no hatred within themselves, some others can move their party with willing and active service ion love and still others can show the higher level of love.
We must not reveal evils but please God with good deeds. And only when our good deeds never change to the point of our death, will we be able to be deemed to accomplish whole spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters,
As much as you have thrown away flesh and reached spirit, the more promises recorded in the Bible will come upon you.
God’s promises include all kinds of blessing in spirit and body.
As today’s text 1 John 2:25 says, “And this is what he promised us–even eternal life,” you, who had to fall into hell, have gained eternal life and the promise to enter heaven.
In the promises of God are riches, honor, power and health we can enjoy on earth.
And you can gain the solutions to problems in your family, and wisdom and knowledge from His promises.
Ability and strength for your God-given duties, and keys to church revival and blessing are given to you.
The promises in the Bible tell us the Almighty God answers whatever you desire.
However, among countless children of God, there are only a few who enjoy all the blessings promised from the Bible. What is the reason?
That’s because the promises of God require of us some conditions.
The promise of eternal life of today’s text 1 john 2:25 requires a condition as written in verse 24. It says, “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.”
In other words, if one has accomplished the word of God in his heart, he will remain in God and he who abides in God can receive eternal life.
We cannot gain eternal life because we confess our faith in the Lord. Only when we obey and keep the commands of God, will we be able to receive salvation ad gain eternal life.
It is the same case to the promises of blessing and answers.
When we keep God’s commands, His promises will come upon us.
How did a widow of Zarephath receive blessing?
A severe long drought left her only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug.
She was about to make a meal for her and her son of that little flour and oil, and then they had to starve to death.
At that time Prophet Elijah came to her and requested of her that she make a small cake of bread for him with that.
And he gave her the promise of God, saying, “For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.’
She could never obey this command with fleshly thought, but she obeyed as she was told because she believed in God.
When she obeyed, God gave her all blessings He had promised through Prophet Elijah, so, she and her son gained enough food and could survive that severe drought.
This story teaches us that when we believe God and obey His word, His blessing will come upon us.
Daniel’s three friends gained great honor and power because they believed God and obeyed His command.
Although a decree that whoever does not fall down and worship the image of gold will be thrown into a blazing furnace was proclaimed, they did not worship the image of gold to keep the commands of God.
For this, God did not let them die in a blazing furnace but blessed them to gain great honor and glory.
By God’s work, the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed. Their king, after he saw this amazing work, promoted the three persons in the province of Babylon and decreed that the people of any nation or language honor God. “
The way God urges us in the second half of 1 Samuel 2:30, “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained,” it was because they honored God and obeyed His commands that God honored and promoted them.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Deuteronomy 30:11 says, “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.”
If we love God and believe His promises of blessing, we can obey His commands as we are able.
Nonetheless, many people do not obey God’s commands because the commands are nor agreeable with their own benefits or their own thoughts, even though it did not cost them their lives.
On the one hand, when they disobey God this way, He cannot give them blessings He promises.
On the other hand, when they obey His commands one by one, His promises will come upon them.
Even though you have not cast off all the flesh, you can be prosperous in everything and enjoy good health as much as your soul is getting along well and you obey the word of God, just as 3 John 1:2 says, “2Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”
If flesh remains in you, you must toil and labor to receive blessing God promised.
If you would like to receive some blessing, you must prepare for a vessel proper for God’s answers such as praying with fasting or all-night prayers or doing what pleases God.
In that case, when you have sowed something, you cannot reap it 30 times, 60 times or 100 times but just the measure of pressed down, shaken together and rolling over.
If you have entered into spirit, it is likely that you have already prepared for a proper vessel to always receive blessing, so you will receive immediately whatever you ask.
That’s why 1 John 3:21-22 says, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.”
The way these verses teach, you can ask God for anything courageously.
For that spiritual person, God prepares what he needs and when he asks, God will answer immediately.
In addition, He will repay a person of spirit 30 times or 60 times and a person of whole spirit 60 times or 100 times for what either of them has sowed with faith.
All the blessings recorded in Deuteronomy 28 such as being blessed whether you come in or go out, lending money rather than borrowing, and becoming the head instead of the tail will come upon a person of spirit or whole spirit.
I hope you beloved brothers and sisters sincerely believe every promise of God and fully obey His commands, so you can make your spirit soul and body belong to spirit.
May all of you receive and enjoy all blessing God promises in such way, and glorify God all the time, in the name of the Lord I pray!
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today we have concluded all the sessions of the messages on spirit soul and body. If you fully understand and bear in mind these messages on spirit soul and body, you can ride on a flow of whole spirit as well as of spirit.
If you enter into whole spirit, it does not mean the end. You will experience new dimension of spirit.
The spiritual realm is boundless just the way the heart of the Father, who is Spirit, is limitless. So, to the extent you know about the spiritual realm and you enter into the higher level of spirit, you will understand the depths and widths of the spiritual realm.
If one is born, he is usually educated from an elementary school to a university.
To him, graduating university does not mean the end of his life. He will utilize as much knowledge learned from schools as possible in his society.
Even if two persons learned the same contents at the same university, the two do not reap the same results.
Each individual’s success in society is different according to how he utilizes his stored knowledge he has learned from university or how he cultivates his own life.
Similarly, the level of casting off every kind of flesh and entering into spirit and whole spirit is likened to graduating a university.
In a same way one makes the best use of the knowledge he has learned until graduating university in his society, a person of whole spirit can apply knowledge of spirit to accomplishing the spiritual realm more deeply.
That’s why according to the level of sprit each person has reached there will be different in his power, light of spirit and heavenly rank.
This year God told you to accomplish whole spirit.
I hope all of you accomplish spirit and whole spirit as soon as you can by obeying every word of God.
And I hope you advance and lay hold of the higher level of spiritual realm until the second coming of the Lord.
Therefore, may each of you participate in accomplishing a world mission with great power, and sit on a high rank in heaven among all human beings cultivated on earth, in the name of the Lord I pray!
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