Spiritual

Spiritual Activity Harry Bain



Activity Around Us “In this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” (2 Peter 1:11*) The Pastor listened quietly as the group finished their song. He turned to face them, and told them how important it was for the singers to be sure their lives reflected the message of their song. In love, he cautioned them that it was not good to stand in public and proclaim God’s message in song, unless they were willing to live the life each day. We all enjoy going to church, meeting our friends and sharing our experiences of the past week. There is nothing wrong with meeting others of like mind. However, are we willing to go beyond the natural realm and into a spiritual one? Can we begin to think about the spiritual activity that is going on around us at this very moment? We are reminded that God has much ahead for those who truly love Him. Our eyes have never seen the like, our ears have never heard anything comparable, and our minds are unable to understand it. We can be sure that no one will “crash the gate” ahead of us and take what God has for those willing to follow Jesus as He leads. 1

“Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you” (2 Peter 1:10- 12*) “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14*) “In that day you shall know that I am in My Father and you in Me, and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me, and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.” (John 14:20-21*) Is Jesus in the person of the Holy Spirit in us? How can that happen and we not know it? It would be as if were having pains in our tummy from eating and we are not aware of the pain. How then can we think of the Holy Spirit being in us, and we are not disturbed in the least? The idea of the Holy Spirit living within us must have a profound effect on our lives. “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (I Corinthians 3:16*) When we come to the house of God, we should bring the Spirit of God with us. Otherwise, He is not here and the service goes along without His presence. Our bodies are temples of the Spirit of God, and we are sealed by that Spirit. We are God’s possession because of His indwelling presence. Once we become aware of His presence, our behavior will change. People should no longer be offended by our selfish attitude. Our aggressive behavior and ignoring them should stop. We should be changing our old bad habits. 2

If we are not changing, others will know that we are not what we profess to be. We can fool others, ourselves, but not God. He looks into the very heart of a person and knows exactly the spiritual condition of the person. Are we aware of the spiritual activity within ourselves? “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? For He says, “The two will become one flesh.” But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, that you are not your own?” (I Corinthians 6:15-19) We need to separate ourselves from our ungodly friends and associates. Remember that others are watching us, and we need to seek His help to keep us from bringing dishonor to His temple. Has the still small voice of God told us there is something in our life that needs changing? “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God these are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8:14-18*) Realizing that God has sealed us with His Spirit and is leading us, we can know that we need no longer be a slave to the old habits. We rejoice that He has adopted us. It is well stated that every last one of His children has been adopted. Think of it! A child of God, and we can call Him our Father, our “Papa God.” We can become a child who knows that we can have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. 3

We will go through trials in this present life, as Jesus did in His humanity. We can know that in the midst of the trial, that someday, in God’s time, we will be glorified with Him. We know that we are heirs along with Jesus of whatever the Father has in store for us. Our finite mind cannot understand all that the inheritance will be like. “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27*) Our Father, our “Papa God” promises to be ready to help us pray, even when we do not know how to pray as we ought. Has our heart been so troubled that we do not have words to express our thoughts? Has our burden been so heavy that we are not able to call to our Father for help? He will understand the simple childlike, “God, help me!” We may not know what we need, what we want, or what is needed to take care of the situation we find ourselves in; but God knows. God knows we are weak, and cannot understand all His will. He will intercede for us “with groanings too deep for words.” The cry from the depths of our being will be heard, and answered. In the matter of revelation and spiritual understanding, it is impossible for us to overestimate the intrinsic value of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told us that He came into the world to take the things of God and show them to us as we are able to receive them. Nobody or nothing else can do it. Only the Holy Spirit can open our eyes to see, our ears to hear and our mind to understand the spiritual activity present all around us. . 4

The Natural vs. The Spiritual “In this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” (2 Peter 1:11*) We have seen that it is only the Holy Spirit who can open our eyes, ears and mind to the spiritual activity all around us. Only God can reveal to us the value of the Holy Spirit indwelling us bodily. Two worlds exist around us-the natural world and the spiritual world. Becoming more acquainted with the spiritual world will be a new experience. The natural world is where man operates. The spiritual world is where God operates, and the natural man cannot understand the things of God. The Bible tells us that they are foolishness to him, and he cannot know them. When the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide Men into all truth. It is the Spirit of righteousness and judgment who convicts the natural world of sin. The Spirit takes the things of God and shows them to us as we are able to understand. If we are able to grasp this truth, it is the Holy Spirit, who after revealing the truth to us, miraculously transforms the believer. 5

The Spirit reveals to the believer’s heart the truth of God. He reveals the mind and the will of God. After doing so, God makes the believer become a partaker of the truth. The believer, by beholding the truth, actually becomes the truth personified The Holy Spirit reveals God’s plan of salvation. Then He shows how He accomplished the plan for us. We become the saved. As He reveals God’s plan of redemption to us, we become the redeemed. The Holy Spirit unfolds the eternal purpose of son ship as we become the sons of God. As we behold the life and love of the Holy Spirit we see and believe His purposes. We embrace them and become a partaker of them. Because the things of God are spiritual in nature, they remain invisible to the eye of the natural man. They are hidden to all except to whom the Spirit chooses to reveal them. We are told that, without faith, it is impossible to please God for whoever comes to God must believe that He is. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and become aware of spiritual activity. We can, on the authority of God’s word, promise that those who come to God are rewarded by God for seeking Him. It is no gamble; it is a sure thing. At this point, can we be sure that we are spiritually minded, sealed with the Spirit of God, and see the spiritual activity around us? “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Sarah, herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised; therefore, also, there was born of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:8-12*) 6

Abraham believed God and followed as God directed him. He gave up all he had to obey God and by faith to trust that God would do what He promised. Oh that we might believe and embrace that testimony! Abraham believed all he heard then reached out, embraced it, and became a partaker of the heavenly calling. He was changed into the very likeness of the truth he embraced. A verse in the Bible regarding faith is found in Hebrews. “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13*) Using the faith that possessed Abraham, we must follow truth and revelation as we let the indwelling Holy Spirit have His way. We must seek the truth of God. As we do, we can expect obstacles as the path to awareness of the spiritual activity surrounding us is not an easy one to follow. The good news is that the natural man cannot get into the spiritual activity and take it away from God’s children! We must, however, fervently seek entry into this world of all truth; we need to fervently seek to stay there despite the trial of the moment. “These all died in faith.” Elegant words of trust and fidelity. Perhaps we can now see the promises of God from a great distance and be persuaded that what has been revealed to us by His Spirit is real. With God’s help, we need to embrace the promises; accept them. We need to hang onto the promises with such fervor that absolutely nothing can break our grip. With God’s help, we need to confess repeatedly the promises to ourselves, God, and others around us. Such was the faith of those who passed this way before us, those who were partakers of the heavenly calling. On the other hand, credibility is not added to our testimony by our loving the world system. Perhaps we are building up for ourselves great treasures here upon earth, as though we are going to remain here forever. We are strangers and pilgrims; we are not going to stay here! We are only passing through. 7

As Abraham, we seek a city (government) which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Let’s not get tied down by the world’s system, and try to tell others how much we love Jesus. Do we want to love the world system forget God? We can drive our stakes deep into the earth, kill ourselves, build up our treasures, and get the biggest, the best, and the most! But, we cannot have God and the world at the same time. When we tell others what God is doing in our lives, we want to be sure that it is the Spirit speaking through us and not us speaking to convince others that we are what we think we are. Our lives are our testimony. Does our life testify that we are a stranger and a pilgrim, just dwelling in our present bodies, passing through as a transient through the earth as Abraham did; or is the city built by God the thing we are seeking? Is the city our hope? Is it the subject of earnest prayer? Is the seeking of that city the primary objective of our lives? If so, we are on our way to becoming citizens of the city that Abraham sought. We will see the things that God promised, our ears will hear the truth, and our minds will understand the things that He has prepared for us! “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” (I Corinthians 2:10*) Our faith manifests belief and confidence. Those with faith in God believe Him. They believe His word. They believe God’s promises. They embrace the promises that God has recorded in His word and do their best to obey. In this way, they know God’s people who are aware of spiritual activity. 8

Learning more about spiritual activity “In this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” (2 Peter 1:11*) We have seen the importance of building our faith by believing God for His promises, now and in the future. While we seek to enter spiritual places today, we also look forward to finding that city (government) of eternal spiritual activity. “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it, we hung our harps. For there our captors demanded of us songs, and our tormentors mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy. “(Psalm 137:1-4*) While we dwell bodily in this natural world, our spiritual self is walking in a strange land. As the Psalmist noted, our hearts are longing for the return to our origin and eventual destination. As we walk in this foreign land, the “rivers of Babylon”, our hearts yearn for “Jerusalem”. When we said, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done”, did we really mean it? Are we preparing, with God’s help, to be among those who will welcome it? If we mean it, what happens here isn’t going to shake our confidence in God or change our desire to be a greater part of the kingdom. 9

Much depends on where our hearts are tied. We need to decide whether we keep on putting all our efforts to drive our stakes deep in the natural world, or, at God’s beckon and call we are ready to respond. If our spirit is ready, we will be ready to “load the van” and move on with God. His Word tells us that we are strangers in the natural world and this is not our final resting place. Prophets tell us that the present generation is faced with perhaps the most critical days that have ever faced mankind. We may be very close to the climax of the ages. The eve of our blessed Lord’s return is close. Spiritual activity abounds. Today we live upon the threshold of tremendous revelation of the Spirit of God. The promises kept hidden from the foundations of the world are to be revealed and entered into by saints of God. Man’s rule over his fellow man and over the earth is coming to an end. Seemingly, on every hand there is confusion, worry, anxiety, fear, darkness. The next major event in God’s order may very well be the reign of His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. There is coming an election according to the grace of God. His word tells us that many are called but few are chosen. The elected few will be made partakers of God’s calling. It is time to give diligence to make our calling and election sure. That is our job today. We are among millions in the present generation who are “saved” people. With our families, we faithfully worship the Lord, but, until now we have seen little in our salvation but personal justification. It is a wonderful thing and most comforting to know more about our justification. Some understand and believe strongly in man’s concept of an eternal “hell” and an equally religious “heaven”. However, as His Spirit causes us to reflect on spiritual activity, we may begin to ask ourselves if there isn’t more to following Christ than that, in our present earthly bodies. . 10

Perhaps to press on toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God is a thought that has not yet crossed our mind or motivated our earthly walk. We may understand little about a deeper consecration of our lives. Until now, we may not have laid aside the weight and the sin that so easily besets us. Maybe we have not thought about pressing on and winning the prize of the highest of all callings in God through Christ. Perhaps we have not been unaware of spiritual activity around us. We need God to help us come to the place where we are ready to be conformable to His death in order to experience the power of His resurrection. We want Him to cause us to be among the elected by grace to be a part of the little flock who sees the promises and are willing to start embracing them. Lord, help us to confess them and lay hold upon them! It is with little flocks like this that Jesus said not to be fearful. He has told us in His Word, that to such individuals it will be the Father’s good pleasure for them to work in His kingdom to help God fulfill even greater promises to the whole world. Think of it! God is perhaps at this moment, knocking on the door of our heart, to give us the opportunity to be a greater part of His plan. Today we find places of worship filled with lukewarm “Laodician” members. To their shame, false teachers, false prophets and other false ones are around us. Some capitalize and make themselves wealthy in this world’s goods, as they act out and croon the beautiful hymns of the church that were written by dedicated men and women in the shadow of the cross. Some have become wealthy by using charity and mercy to deceive widows. God help us! We need God’s help to flee such things and to have no part in them. The good news is that, among such confusion, there is a little flock standing as sheep among the wolves, and with God’s help, we can join them. As we see the spiritual activity around us, we will press through the surging waves of humanity toward the heavenly mark to achieve the reward of God in Christ. Let us not be satisfied with where we are now with God. 11

God always has something better for us. We can be among those who follow the Lamb, wherever He goes. We can lean hard upon Christ, upon His Holy Spirit that indwells us and be partakers of His mind. We can know His will and have Him help us lay aside every weight. God will help us forsake the sin that besets us. He will help us run the race with patience. Then we can rejoice in the hope that is out there before us and can be patient in times of trial and tribulation. We need to continue constantly in prayer to God, and He will comfort us. He is able and willing to quietly speak words of everlasting comfort to our spiritual ears. “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you”: (2 Peter 1:10-12*) With God’s help, we can find the “entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior” We can receive a foretaste of glory divine now as a down payment in the “natural world” as we seek to become better acquainted with the unseen world of spiritual activity. 12

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Open Door Ministry “An open door” On the Internet at “opendoorministry.net” Catonsville, Maryland [email protected] October 2016 2