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abiding in Christ, carnal mind, discerning the spirits, eternal life, Islamic mysticism, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, other religions, peace, spiritual mind, Sufis
This is another article on discerning the spirits. I hope I can dig deeper now than I could do it before on this blog site. Actually, discerning the spirits is not about thinking, “The Bible is true and everything else that comes from this world or what was written in other religions is completely wrong.” Knowing the Living God, I realized that the eternal I AM always communicated His wisdom to human beings. The difference between all those other religions which had come before the book of Genesis was written and before the Hebrews were chosen to be God’s people that was allowed to get to know Him as the only God, is simply that there was a blend of God’s truth mixed with other religious stuff and God had not yet enabled man to discern the whole truth. Before Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection it was not yet time to do so (see Acts 17:30). Only God’s chosen prophets in the OT could utter pure divine wisdom through God’s Spirit dwelling on them. However, there were always wise men in the past who shared divine wisdom as well (though not perfectly, still truth mixed with lies at times) such as Seneca, Plato, Confucius etc. pp. However, since Christ has come into this world and is risen, we may know that we only find The Whole Truth by abiding in Him who “became to us wisdom from God” (1 Cor 1:30 ESV).
On my own way to find out the whole truth, there were some years when doubts had plagued me. It was not so that I doubted God’s existence, but I began to scour other religions for testimonies from other people about how they had experienced God. And I may tell you that I asked God beforehand to show me whether Jesus was truly the only way to Him – or not. Our loving God was never mad at me and I was so glad that He accompanied my many studies by giving me His wisdom which I really coveted and needed. I read the Koran and other (Holy) Scriptures like the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita to some extent. Today I believe discerning the spirits is a gift He had begun to give me during that time as I started reading everything by dividing it in TRUE, FALSE, and NEUTRAL statements. Brothers and sisters, there is “something” inside us that tells us, often even without words, through a kind of echo in our mind and heart about it. Or in order to put it more biblical,
“But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” (1 Jn 2:27 ESV)
Note: the Scripture above stresses that abiding in Him is crucial. Not walking in the Spirit but after the flesh can make us blind toward the truth again. However, abiding in Christ and His love – always – will bring forth the spiritual fruit of which John 15:5-9 spoke of. I now want to give you an example regarding Islamic mystical writings which appeared centuries after Jesus had come and revealed God to us. The mystics in Islam are called Sufis. They devote their whole life to God with who they want to become one in the end. They know that there is only one God who is love and they make Him their only goal on their spiritual search. Well, here’s the excerpt that defines what Sufism is about.
According to the Sufis, all existence comes from God and God alone is real. The created world is but a reflection of the Divine ; “the universe is the Shadow of the Absolute”. The ability to discern God behind the screen of things implies purity of soul. It is only through an effort to withdraw from the world that one can approach God:
“Man is a mirror which, when polished, reflects God.”
The God that the Sufis discover is a God of love and the way to him is through Love : “whoever knows God, loves him ; whoever knows the world turns away from him.” – ” If you wish to be free, become a prisoner of Love. “
(Source http://www.1000questions.net/en/religion/sufism-en.html)
There is a lot of truth in this. Comparing it with the Bible, we know that indeed only those who have a pure heart will be able to see God (cf. Mt. 5:8). As for the effort to withdraw from the world, that is something I often hear or read in Christian circles as well. Basically, it is true that someone who belongs to God has nothing in common with this world. Nonetheless, no human being, Christian or not, is able to separate himself from the world and become a purified spiritual being that is eventually able to see Him everywhere on his own. There is much more to it. The Bible tells us,
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 Jn 2:15-17 ESV)
What shall we do with this statement,“If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him”? We cannot do as if we didn’t love the world by separating ourselves from worldly people only, although, if indeed Christ’s Spirit indwells us, we will lose interest in all these things this world has to offer. Some people believe that being physically separated from this world might help them to get the world out of their hearts, too (thinking of particular monasteries and cults here). Alas, that is a fallacy. As we read in the Scripture above, it is necessary that God’s love has been poured into our hearts (Rom 5:5) so that we can STOP loving the world. We need to receive His Spirit first, His anointing. We need to be baptized with His Spirit. We must be born again, from above. Only through this divine birthing process that needs a long time to bring us to spiritual perfection we will be able to see God.
Some people might have been taught that we only need to believe in Jesus and to read the Bible in order to get to know The Word of God. But is that really enough for us? It is a starting point, for sure, but it is not yet the experience of having been born again. Without ever having received His Spirit in our hearts and minds, we are not yet born again. Also, we can neither see nor enter the kingdom of God without having been born again because our spiritual senses have not yet been awakened to new life. Instead, we are forced to seek God in everything that feeds our five natural senses: we look for him in everything man has to offer (religions, traditions, religious leaders etc.) Some of you might know that John Wesley was shocked after having worked for many years as a Christian theologian when he realized that he, in fact, had not yet been born again. He was deeply saddened, even in despair, as he realized that a Christian is someone who has Christ’s Spirit in his heart, as it is written,
“Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” (Rom 8:9 ESV)
Afterwards, John Wesley often pointed in his sermons to this fact which had come true in his own life. You can also read about it in his exposition on that very verse.
Verse 9. In the Spirit – Under his government. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ – Dwelling and governing in him. He is none of his – He is not a member of Christ; not a Christian; not in a state of salvation. A plain, express declaration, which admits of no exception. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!
(John Wesley’s Notes on the Bible, Epistle to the Romans, chapter 8)
I also want to show you the following explanations of two other verses that precede Romans 8:9. Here John Wesley strikingly points out the difference between a worldly/carnal/fleshly mind and a mind that has been spiritually awakened by Christ and already lives in the heavenlies with Him.
Verse 5. They that are after the flesh – Who remain under the guidance of corrupt nature. Mind the things of the flesh – Have their thoughts and affections fixed on such things as gratify corrupt nature; namely, on things visible and temporal; on things of the earth, on pleasure, (of sense or imagination,) praise, or riches. But they who are after the Spirit – Who are under his guidance. Mind the things of the Spirit – Think of, relish, love things invisible, eternal; the things which the Spirit hath revealed, which he works in us, moves us to, and promises to give us.
Verse 6. For to be carnally minded – That is, to mind the things of the flesh. Is death – The sure mark of spiritual death, and the way to death everlasting. But to be spiritually minded – That is, to mind the things of the Spirit. Is life – A sure mark of spiritual life, and the way to life everlasting. And attended with peace – The peace of God, which is the foretaste of life everlasting; and peace with God, opposite to the enmity mentioned in the next verse.
May we all experience His peace that gives us a foretaste of life everlasting…
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give
them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch
them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater
than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s
hand. I and the Father are one." (Jn 10:27-30 ESV)
Entering the Promised Land 
Susanne, When we read John’s words where he spoke about not loving the world or the things of the world it is good to look at the context of this verse…
“I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides forever. Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; by which we know that it is the last time.”
(1 John 2:14-18 KJ2000)
The word translated “world” is the Greek word “kosmos.” It can mean the earth and the universe itself, God’s creation, but more often it in the New Testament it means:
“1) an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government
6) the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ
7) world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly
7a) the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ” (Thayer’s Greek Definitions)
John went on to write in this same letter, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world [kosmos] is in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:19-20 RSVA)
Jesus had an interesting dialogue with Pilate at His trial:
Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingship is not of this world [kosmos]; if my kingship were of this world [kosmos], my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world [kosmos].” (John 18:35-36 RSVA)
Of Satan Jesus said, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world [kosmos] is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world [kosmos] may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go hence. (John 14:30-31 RSVA)
There is the world and there is the earth,
“For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth [Greek – ghay, soil, terrain, the earth]. (Ephesians 1:9-10 RSVA)
The earth as God’s creation is not evil for as we read in Genesis He made all things good. What IS evil is what Satan has done on this earth as he set up his kingdom here to rule over men. It is this kingdom, his kosmos, that is judged and condemned. We are not to be of his kingdom and worldly ruler-ship. The kosmos is not Jesus’ kingdom. This ungodly kingdom of Satan has armies that fight for their sovereigns and do their will. It is all under the wicked one. His princes rule over these principalities. Jesus’ kingdom is one of peace and righteousness, “For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17 RSVA).
So, you see that John in his letter is speaking of the kosmos which is under the authority of the Wicked One and we who are mature “fathers” have overcome the devil. As it is in Christ, the Prince of this kosmos comes and he finds nothing in us he can use to tempt us with. And as John wrote we who are mature and abide IN Christ and we “Love not the kosmos, neither the things that are in the kosmos [for] If any man loves the kosmos, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the kosmos, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the kosmos.”
The prince of this kosmos system speaks to us through the lust of the the eyes, the lust of our flesh and the pride of life. These were the three areas that he used to tempt Eve in the garden in the beginning that when she caved in to that temptation, she gave dominion over the earth to HIM. There was one other Great Temptation that happened later and it was when Satan temped the very Son of God to cave in to his will with these same three areas of temptation…
The lust of the eyes, “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8-9 RSVA)
The lust of the flesh, “And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” (Matthew 4:3 RSVA)
The pride of life, “Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'” (Matthew 4:5-6 RSVA). Yes, Jesus, below you are all the temple worshipers. All you have to do is jump off pinnacle into their midst and float down to earth in their sight and they will all know you are the Son of God!
These are the the three areas in which Satan has perfected his temptations and when we hear him speaking to us to do his will, it will always be in one of these three. But the Spirit of God is NOT about puffing up our pride and satisfying our fleshly nature, but He IS about lifting up Christ and crucifying our carnal natures. This is how we know which spirit is speaking to us.
As John went on to say, there are also many antichrists in the church and you will know them by what they teach. Do they speak of the kosmos of Satan, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life (preaching prosperity, being lifted up before men as “larger than life” leaders, always falling for “the seven deadly sins”)?
In this hour of great deception we who are Christ’s do not need men to be teaching us! We need ears that can hear the Holy Spirit, the unction within us and HE will lead us into all truth.
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Amen, Michael.
I was glad to see that your great comment eventually turned into this new blog post on AWV https://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/discerning-the-kingdom-of-god/.
It was so good to read your complementary confirmation of what I have said in my blog. As it is so often our blogs and comments truly complement one another which I believe is a gift from God.
Thank you so much for pointing to the enormous difference between the earth which was created good by God and the kosmos which is under Satan’s government. It is indeed ONLY in the invisible realm where we need to seek our enemies
“for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph 6:12 ESV)
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Dear Susanne, Thank you for the ping-back to my blog and for your reply. I am glad that you were blessed by what I shared and how we so often do not only hear the Holy Spirit together, but how what we hear Him giving us so fits together as if it was a continuation of the same article. That kind of a witness shows me that we are both in close approximation as members in Christ’s body and share a unity IN Him that is rare and is a true blessing from our Father.
I will be looking forward to all your writings and comments.
Your brother and friend,
Michael
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You’re very welcome, Michael! 🙂
Yes, indeed, this unity we may share in Him is truly a gift and blessing from God. I am so grateful that I may know you in His Spirit, Michael! ❤
Of course, I am also looking forward to all you share on here, on your blog, and elsewhere, that is, on all other blogs where we both comment.
Your sister and friend,
Susanne
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And you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he has sent, him you believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life.
(John 5:38-40 KJ2000)
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Like you said, Susanne, scripture alone is NOT enough! Neither are Hymns or liturgy. The question is, are we coming to Jesus with all our hearts or just playing religious games to salve our consciences as was the case with the Pharisees that Jesus was talking to in the above quote?
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Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” (Jn 6:44 ESV)
Michael, I pray that God may draw all of us closer and closer to Jesus. We cannot even approach Him without His help since apart from Him we can do NOTHING. That might appear to be frustrating at times, yet it is the way of the cross, dying to all our own self-efforts. Meanwhile, I find it is relieving to let go of everything I cannot do. God can be trusted in all things, of that I am sure today, having experienced His help in sooo many areas already.
God is good! ❤
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Just found this picture on the net and I believe it clarifies that nobody of us can grasp Scripture in its depth without Christ revealing it to us.
http://onenessofgodtruth.blogspot.de/2012/04/open-eyes-of-my-heart-lord.html
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Yes, Susanne, the intellects of men can not grasp the simplicity of the Christ in the Bible.
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in your sight. All things are delivered to me by my Father: and no man knows who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. And he turned to his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see: (Luke 10:21-23 KJ2000)
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Amen! Fits perfectly that Scripture, Michael! Thumbs up!! 🙂
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Susanne, this is a great comment by you on spiritual gifts and right according to Paul’s teaching on the subject. The gifts are given to the members of Christ’s body severally as HE wills, not as we will. So, not all of us have the same enablements with which we are to serve one another, but we DO have the ones that God designed us to have so that the body of Christ might be complete. Let us then bless one another in our own metron and not try to work outside of it for ego’s sake… this was the problem that the Corinthians were having and why Paul wrote so much to them on this subject. They were functioning as so many babies (see 1 Cor. chapter 3). Like Paul said here in this letter also, “When I became a man I put away childish things.”
God bless you, dear sister!
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Thank you very much for the compliment, my brother! 🙂
“So, not all of us have the same enablements with which we are to serve one another, but we DO have the ones that God designed us to have so that the body of Christ might be complete. Let us then bless one another in our own metron and not try to work outside of it for ego’s sake… this was the problem that the Corinthians were having and why Paul wrote so much to them on this subject.”
Amen, very well said, Michael!
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Yes, Susanne, Father has abundantly blessed us just as Jesus said and how humbling it is to be His children and to be growing up into full sons and daughters of His in Christ.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:1-2 KJ2000)
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (Romans 8:14-16 RSVA)
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Actually, it is a humbling experience to grow up spiritually, Michael, since growing up in Christ indeed means to be annihilated as for our old self. That is not really fun, however, it’s all worth it, isn’t it? 😉
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Yes, Susanne, it is worth it all for “We have a table from which to eat that those who serve the tabernacle have no right.” It is a table “set for us in the midst of our enemies,” but it is here that we hear His voice as He shares His spiritual riches with us, not only in words, but experiences as well.
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Yes and amen, Michael. Very, very well said! 🙂
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Yes it’s like what Thomas Torrance taught…your epistemology must result in your ontological intercourse with the living God!–the scriptures are good and just but in and of themselves they are not equal to the living God himself but are pointing us to the actual being of God in his very being then when he enters into you he seeks to take mastery over the running of your life for the purpose of expressing his own glory and then us humans get to participate in Gods own workings—how wonderful to be called into such glorious workings!
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Amen, Kenneth. So very well said! 🙂
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Yes, Susanne, we must totally cast ourselves upon God to show us what we need to be cleansed of and ask Him to not give up until it is done if we want to see Him as He is. This is a very painful process and not all will choose the way of Truth. Without His Truth abiding in us, all our religious thoughts are only a delusion…
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”
Thanks for bringing this article to my attention once again.
Michael
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You are very welcome, my dear brother. It is true, this process IS painful, but worth it, I believe.
Religious thoughts, even biblical ones, without knowing The Truth, i.e. Jesus Christ, does not touch the heart of the matter, I think. Btw, I have been writing an article about this, just now. Not yet done, though… 😉
May He keep you in His loving arms, Michael!
Susanne 🐱
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I am looking forward to reading it. May we both be kept in His loving embrace until He floods us with His Light.
Michael 🐻
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Amen to your prayer, Michael! I hope I can publish it, God willing…
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Feeew!! Finally published it! 🙂
Knowing God’s heart… intimately
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