The Eternal Spirit, Part 5

2009-6-22 04:06:00

Perceiving The Light

The Apostle Paul gives the answer:

"In their spiritual apathy they have become callous and past feeling and reckless, and have abandoned themselves to unbridled sensuality, eager and greedy to indulge in every form of impurity." (Eph 4:19; The Amplified Bible)

The key word here is "callous" which Paul applies to the spirit, not the body. When our body becomes callous the sense of feeling is numbed. Some of the people in India have calluses so deep on their feet that they can walk on hot coals without pain. A callus on the spirit does the same thing. Once the spirit is callused it cannot feel or perceive the light from God nor the feelings of his fellowmen. This explains why a wicked man is so inconsiderate. He has no idea what anguish he may cause his brethren for he is numb to their pain or what they may think of him.

What causes the spirit to be callused? Paul says it is spiritual apathy. In other words, the attitude, "I'll wait until I die to find out what life is all about. If there is a God, all right, if not-all right. Besides, if I gained a testimony of Him I would have a responsibility to follow His will and I do not want to be responsible." This attitude is what Paul meant by spiritual apathy and it causes one to be reckless and unbridled. When a horse is unbridled it never stays on the path you desire, nor does it reach the destination, which is planned. Spiritual apathy will land a man in a lower state than he ever planned himself to be in, because it puts self control in the hands of unguided winds, to be tossed to and fro according to the will of the adversary. Therefore, if one wants to shake off his calluses he must make up his mind that he will accept any responsibility the Master may have for him.

Now we can understand somewhat as to how prayers are answered. As previously stated, when the physical body touches physical things a feeling is produced and a certain knowledge is acquired.

Thus when our spirit touches or is touched by something made of spirit a feeling is also acquired as well as knowledge. Since this is a feeling which is not felt by those who are callused because of their apathy it is impossible to answer their much repeated question: "How do you feel when God answers your prayers?" Can you tell a man blind from birth the difference between blue and red? One must experience and find out for himself.

The experience may be gained by the Holy Ghost. As implied by his title he is a spirit and it is his duty to comfort, teach, and bring all things to our remembrance. (John 14:26) This is done by spiritual contact. Since the Holy Ghost is a perfect personage, a feeling of comfort is produced when his spirit touches ours, a feeling which is as real as any physical feeling. Just as one soaking his body in a hot bath after a hard days day's work receives a feeling of comfort that cannot be described to a person who has never taken a bath, so does the Holy Ghost produce comforting feelings by bracing our spirits. Such an experience cannot be conveyed to those who are callused in apathy. So will he teach us if we learn to open our spiritual ears as well as bring all things to our remembrance, if we will receive as well as try to perceive the light from him that falls upon our minds and spirits.

The majority of people today are walking around with callused spirits. The light from God falls on them all but they see it not. They are unaware and thus doubt and deny the existence of God and of spiritual things. Many try and imagine God as some great universal being made from nothing, but one can expect such a concept to be in the minds of so many people since they receive nothing from Him. Then they deny the fact that God is willing to give humanity revelations today, but they do not sense it for nothing comes from nothing.

As I said a major cause of the callused spirit is lack of self-control. Paul pointed out that our spiritual senses do not function properly if we do not control the natural desires the physical senses bring. If one lets the physical man have absolute freedom, the spiritual person becomes a slave. From the statement "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak," (Matt 26:41) we know that the spirit within us desires to keep God's commandments. Therefore, if our conscious mind, which rules us, orders our body to do otherwise the freedom of the spirit is restricted and it becomes a slave, or prisoner, and, if allowed to become stale, the workings of the spirit will cease in that man.

Now the meaning of another statement of Jesus becomes clear:

"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:21-32)

If we continue in Christ's word the spirit will eventually control physical desires and become free. But do not get the idea that once the spirit becomes free that the physical self becomes the prisoner. Physical desires were not created to be denied, but to be mastered. On the other hand, when the physical self rules, the spirit is not only suppressed, but denied its desires; thus the only freedom that can come to man is that of the spirit ruling over the physical. Those who have never allowed such do not understand what freedom is nor can they see how they would obtain any benefit by conquering their physical selves. Such persons can only find out by experimenting, or subjecting themselves to the spirit which is in them which is their medium for communication with God.

Once the spiritual senses obtain their freedom they can get a bit of fresh air and breath and begin to function properly so they can sense the light that falls on them from God and hence know the truth.

John tells us:

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not." (John 1:4-5)

What is the darkness here? What does not comprehend light from God? Nothing more than the minds of men, men who keep their spirit in bondage; therefore, their spirits are callused, the spiritual senses numbed and their minds in darkness. That is the darkness spoken of by John.

"And here is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light..." (John 3:19-21)

Once a person's mind is in darkness he begins to hate the light. Once a man's physical self has been in darkness for a period of time and then moves into a bright light he is so stricken he cannot see the source. He hates to be in the light and doesn't want to perceive it.

But suppose one is in darkness and wants to perceive the light. How does he go about it? Christ said:

"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." (Matt 6:22)

In other words if we keep our eyes singly towards the source (God) we will receive light. Our eyes are single towards God when we see eye to eye with Him and work for the single purpose of His glory and not our own. If our eyes be single towards ourselves the light we have will gradually fail because it has no source, as the next verse points out: "But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Verse 23)

Then, of course, when the light shines on the darkened and callused soul the darkness comprehendeth it not. But if we obey His commandments and "walk in the light as he is in the light," (1 John 1:7) the callous and darkness will be replaced with sensitivity and light. This is the reason Jesus was able to speak with confidence the statement:

"If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:17)

We will know of the doctrine because we will be walking in the light with our spiritual senses in working order, and how long can a man walk at noonday and not perceive the sun? It's sorrowful that so many people must have a witness born to their physical senses before they will believe, when in reality a testimony to the spiritual senses may be much stronger.

Paul was speaking to some new converts who had accepted the witness of their spiritual senses: "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord: walk as children of light." (Eph 5:8) The title is only fitting since "God is light." (1 John 1:5). This makes the saints "the light of the world." (Matt 5:14)

As stated earlier this light falls upon every person who comes into the world. Also we can perceive and increase this light by doing God's will. Since this is true we may assume that nearly all, if not all, people do receive and perceive a portion of the light for all follow a portion, however slight, of God's will. Many hardened atheists treat their fellow men well and since the amount of light one receives is predicated upon one's following God's will these atheists do have a certain amount of light -- but not enough to receive a spiritual witness that God lives. Their spirit may be living at dusk or by moonlight, while the saint lives in the light of noonday.

Thus all of humanity receives a certain amount of light from God and going against that light produces an effect called conscience. Every man with a conscience receives light from God. The greater the light, the greater is the conscience. Violation of conscience may thus be seen as a blister to the soul. If a blister is left alone it will heal, but if rubbing continues, the pain will grow and the soreness will spread and eventually change to callus, and numbness. Likewise the breaking of God's commandments at first pricks the conscience. It will be healed if the person ceases doing the evil deeds and repents but will become hardened if he persists.

Many who are walking in the noonday sun think they are safe because they see clearly, but Paul said:

"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (1 Cor 10:12)

Yes, one may be walking in the paths of righteousness and be in the light as at midday. But when he commits a sin a portion of that light is taken away. When this happens to the physical eyes, that is when one is taken from a great light to a lesser one, there is temporary blindness, but when the eyes get readjusted one begins to think he can see as well as ever. The light seems as bright as ever after a while, but is it? So it is when we trespass against God and some light is taken away. When one gets adjusted to it he believes he is getting on as well as before. But if he continues to error more and more light is taken away and more adjustments have to be made until at last there is darkness, and the realization comes too late. The scripture says "How great is that darkness!" We can only receive more light by following the light we have, and if we have no light to follow, and no hope, the darkness will indeed be great: "And here is the condemnation...." (John 3:19)

In summation of what has been said thus far we may briefly state: There is a spirit in man which is real with enduring emotions, which, when made sensitive by obeying the commandments and exercising faith can bring us to a sure conviction of things unseen.