Mental or Spiritual

[Coconut]

Mental or Spiritual
by T. Austin-Sparks

There is a vast amount of intellectual comprehension of truth and doctrine which is not touching the situation, not meeting the need... A person may know Scripture most thoroughly and yet be the most awkward, cantankerous and peevish person in daily life; or go into business relationships, drive a hard bargain and send another man to the wall for his own ends. You may have all knowledge and yet profit nothing. It is the natural man receiving on the plane of the natural man. It is mental apprehension of Divine truth, and it is not alive, it is not the 'water of Life, clear as crystal.'

Services may be very beautiful but dead... You may have very high ideals, sublime thoughts, and yet there may be just something that renders it all ineffective and you get nowhere. The modern pulpit goes as far as it can, with its own human mental outfit. If a man happens to be more scholarly and better educated than another, his interpretation is thought to be nearer the truth than that of anyone else. If he can put a construction upon the Word of God which is fresh, interesting, and fascinating and just satisfies the inquiring minds of his hearers, they go away with the idea that that is truth. That is no argument at all - no criterion whatever. To make the whole thing a matter of scholarship is to get off the road.

Moses was learned in all the knowledge of the Egyptians, and yet he had to have forty years of isolation and discipline. At the end, Moses had to say, 'I cannot,' and then God was able to say 'Now I have got you down to a level where I can say, 'I can.' Before Saul of Tarsus could go anywhere for God, he had to talk like this: 'Sinners, of whom I am chief'; 'I am the least of all the apostles and not meet to be called an apostle'; 'the things that I counted gain, I now count but loss'; 'I received it not from men, it was made known to me by revelation'; 'it pleased God to reveal His Son in me.' That is not objective achievement; that is subjective experience, and between the two there is all the difference that there is between life and death...

The man who brags of scholarships and argues that because he has a higher brow than anybody else and is therefore nearer the truth is probably the most blind of all men... The moment you introduce the element of the natural man into the ministry you kill it. The river of the water of Life clear as crystal will not flow through the channel of the flesh.

What you minister must be born of the Spirit of God in your spirit, and it must not be interfered with by the flesh. God will not let the stream of living ministry flow until the flesh is laid forever in death and it is no longer I but Christ.

 

[T Man]

In as much as i feel dead and washed up on some lonley beach, that i would let men take from me what the Lord gave as though I throw it to swine to trample under foot. For many months now I have not spoken to Jesus via the Holy Spirit, as i was instructed by men, it was of the devil. When my life is at its lowest as it it now, when all hope is all but gone, as much as I shut down the hearing within my heart, the Lord comes to me again trying hard to reach me, but I shut him down and want no part of the voice I hear. Yet it calls to me saying "I do not call the quallified, I quillife the called". What do I do now that all my faith and all my belief is taken from me? What do I call home? Who do I call my brothers and sisters?

All I ever wanted was Jesus in the Spirit, all I ever wanted was the Holy Spirit to be my best friend, all I wanted was to serve my Father in Spirit and Truth according to Him and not men, yet I failed the Lord when i gave ear to men and allowed them to cut me down. No I don't blame those men, I blame me for attemping to reach out, for me now 27 years of searching for the Spirit of God is shown me it is a waste of time, a fools haven a pit for the lost, a place for those seeking hope when no hope is there.

What is left for me? A Christian Religion, a church? Which one? What do I give ear to now, this version of truth according to men, or that version? What bible do I use, after all the Holy Spirit is the author of the bible, so which one do I give ear to? over 50+ version in engilsh which one do I read, which one has the truth in it? It seems the Holy Spirit could not get it right, due to 50+ versions, after all its not a wisdom of man, but its written by man. With so many Christian Religions to choose from, so many versions of the bible. who do i give my ear to?

But in all my confusion and hopelessness, The Lord tells me to come on this website a place I have not been to for some time and directs me here. All i can say is wow. All of what Jesus was saying to me is posted here, I am left in a state off wow.

Is it a glimmer of hope? I am not rushing in this time, but I will keep my eyes and ears open, not the flesh version but the Spiritual version.

 

[DutchChristian]

Hello T Man,

i REJOICE amen it is very good and i am very happy for you that you did not listen to "the voice" any longer, i urge you to continue to reject all upcoming voices that pushes itself and presses itself or forces itself upon you.

Keep on going Hallelujah! Stay strong in His Word and keep rejecting the voices! Amen!

Please know that you can always trust the Bible the Word of GOD!

i highly recommend using the KJV, KJB Cambridge edition, King James version it is very nice and the most powerful to read, and that without any error or corruption. It is infallible and faultless because it IS The Holy Bible AMEN (100 years ago there weren't many Bible translations as nowadays and the KJV was the original Holy Bible for many years it wasn't until later that many other versions came out on the market after the 1950's, and yes some other versions are ok to read too but please beware as sometimes there are words replaced as like the Romans 8:1 the part of: "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." is left out or better said cut out, and that is a evil thing to do.) You can always trust and pick up a good King James Bible and you will do just fine.

And God Can Speak to you while you read the Scriptures,

Please stay diligent and follow through with this, stay in the Word of God the Bible itself alone and you will be more and more grounded and you can also go to a church the unity of the brethren can help and correct if necessary, but ask The Lord Jesus to lead you according to His Will it shall be done.

2 Peter 3:
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Romans 10:
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

Many people think it is the actual hearing (physical hearing) that gives faith and yes it does but hearing can also mean the spiritual understanding of something:

Faith comes by hearing / understanding, and hearing / understanding comes by the word of God.

2 Timothy 2:
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.

So by studying and actually applying the Scriptures on your own life (that: being a doer of the Word of God and not a hearer and bystander only) you will automatically:

Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3:
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

The more time you spend prayerfully reading the word of GOD continuously the more milk you get (as food) and after a while you will eat the meat so that you can grow stronger.

So in a few years time or even shorter (without listening to the voice) you will understand (hear) more and more about who GOD is and so you will recognize His real Voice when He Speaks (if He Speaks to you by His Voice, as He is not limited and God Can use Scriptures or events and Speak by and through them to you too) you will eventually better discern what is of the Lord and what is not.

Hosea 4:
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

We need the Word of GOD, our bodies cannot go for long without food and eventually our bodies will grow weak and weaker still and eventually will die and so also is it with our spirit cannot life without the Word of GOD, it is the Food from Heaven, The written Word of GOD The Holy Bible.

Luke 4:
4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Can we drink milk through our ears?; no, it must be taken in and so the Word of GOD also must be taken in by reading (and not through a audible or inner voice)

The more you prayerfully continue to read the Word the stronger you will get (continuing proces)

Amen GOD is Good Hallelujah Glory be to GOD!

Please do take your time and be diligent about it,
dutch

May GOD Help and Strengthen you in His Glorious Name it shall be done Jesus of Nazareth!