Book Three Chapter Six: Spirit and Truth: a two-sided coin

SIX

Spirit and truth: a two-sided coin

There is a special relationship between the spiritual and the corporeal that most people simply don’t understand. The spirit exists in relation to the corporeal. The mind of God exists in relation to man’s physical state. We must (though most do not) keep in mind that the relationship between spirit and truth is mutually inclusive and non-static. Even in matters of salvation, it must be noted, not all Christians are ‘current’. We should, perhaps, take the next step and admit that we all stand somewhere in the middle: having something yet to be communicated. It’s not ignorance, so much, nor is ‘need’ the best name for it. It is simply the looming of our next great leap. We stand upon a peak, but the zenith rises up and up.

Witness the uncommunicated Christian in Acts 19:2, “He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.”

We exist in a two-sided reality: spiritual reality, and corporeality. To most, these seem to be at odds. Yet, both are traveling in a direction that will bring them into perfect amalgamation. The future union of the seeming opposites is a thing predicted, and an issue that we must come to terms with. What hinders an individual’s ability to assimilate the new mind is our old language: a thing that places spirituality and corporeality at a distance. Even when we think of them as the two sides of a single coin, our language calls those sides opposite.

But we seekers fight language with language. We like to say that those two opposite sides are joined in the middle. Language is the seeker’s ally, and here is some of the science of it. One name for Christ is ‘the Truth’; you can look that up for yourselves, but then, that is no news to the seasoned seeker. To continue, all of creation was made by the Truth. It was created by and for Truth. Truth is before all things, and by Truth, all things consist. We may say, then, that Christ made all things, and that all things consist of Christ, and that one of Christ’s names is Truth.

Conclusion: truth is everything that is.

To the natural man (which includes some people who call themselves Christian) this is foolishness, but to the seeker, this is a way of spiritually understanding the spiritual. When Christ used the expression “spirit and truth,” He was, I believe, indicating the two complementary sides of existence. Let me ask this, if God calls man, who is corporeal, to worship only spiritually, what hope does he have? God is a spirit, but man is not. However, everything that is, consists of Truth - is truth.

Read John 4:23-24, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

This meant, of course, an upgrade from the purely ceremonial. We will call that ceremony ‘truth’, for it was the corporeal half of the issue. When a man lifts his hands to God; or when a man makes a sacrifice; lights a candle; marches in procession; fasts; counts beads, or any other such thing - it’s all cool with God, but it is only half of the matter. These are only corporeal movements; God wants the spiritual added to all such worship. That, we have found, is mentality. That is when the human organ of thought is in concert with the angelic other’s organ of thought. In other words, God desires that we put ‘heart’ and ‘soul’ into worship.

We already acknowledge that each side is affected by the other side, but for our part, we ask, which side shoulders the lion’s share of the burden?

Proverbs 18:14, gives us an indication. “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?”

This work does not propose to convince; we already believe. In fact, we merely build upon the works of our predecessors. Seekers who have gone before us have discovered that our very nature as man has a spiritual component that is exposed to the spiritual eye.

Just look at 1 Samuel 16:7, “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart (mind).”

The ‘heart’ references human mentality, and thoughts are spiritual. God is a mind reader. It cannot be helped; the very act of having a thought is to parade that thought before God.

Think about Ezekiel 11:5, “The Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus

saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your

mind, every one of them.”

Therefore God has called for the addition of the spiritual mind to His worship, for as Nahum 1:7 says, “He knoweth them that trust in Him.”

One cannot climb a mountain by taking the downward path. One cannot climb to greater heights by crossing the valley floor. A man may walk the length and breadth of the valley, but in doing so, he remains on the same level. The valley dweller can tell you anything you want to know about the valley: he is a valley expert, but none of his expertise can explain the loftier climes. We seekers come with spiked boots and roped shoulders. It has been pointed out to man that only a new mind can grasp new thoughts.

See 1 Corinthians 2:11 & 14, “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save (but by) the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but (by) the Spirit of God. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Certain thoughts may only be thought by the mind of God, but the mind of God is only obtained by the thinking of such thoughts. Sounds like a conundrum, but valley preconception and dogma have limitations beyond which one must simply start climbing. Some Christians will ever preach salvation to the saved, and never rise up to meet the mind of God.

Preconception and dogma. Misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

If truth is placed just out of man’s reach, it was intended all along that he climb up and grab it. The mountain climber finds a suitable peek from which to proclaim: “This rare and lofty zenith is one with the valley floor.” The valley dweller finds a suitable spot from which to preach: “This is the mountaintop; it is flat and green.” Following is an example of a concept that must be held in the present tense to be of any application, yet contemporary Christian thinking has not climbed above the physical past. Read this until it sinks in, then you will know that the communication imparts the nature of the communicator.

Read and know 1 John 4:2, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” This next submission is my own paraphrase: this is me climbing and reaching. “This is how we obtain the mind of God: every mind that confesses that Jesus Christ is now in the flesh is of God.”

Toward a more fluid approach, I submit that the word ‘spirit’ may be of more personal edification when read as the word ‘mind’. Men have sought the fountain of youth, but I present a fountain of a different magnitude. To drink from this fountain will turn your brain into a fountain. Imagine that you suddenly had greater mental powers. Not only could you see the invisible; know the unknowable, but you could simply ‘breathe’ on your friends and they could have the same powers. Let us call this fountain the ‘mind of God’. To have that mind would mean that you could know what is in the minds of other people as per Ezekiel 11:5. You could instantly recognize your peers as per Nahum 1:7. Your existence would be a balance between spirit and truth. We would no longer be alone in our heads for we would be of one and the same mind.

Check out 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

I, having written so much in these studies, might give the impression that I am the type to just say anything; that I sit and spew out whatever comes to mind, like a fool, or, like a child with an active imagination. I am not that type. I have communicated recently that God intends to work in each of us one and the same mind: the mind of God. I have indicated that this new spirit is a present tense combination of Jesus Christ and us: “is come.” But, what does God communicate of His intention? I turn to His own word.

Ezekiel 11:19, “I will give them one heart (one mind), and I will put a new spirit (new mind) within you; and I will take the stony heart (tablets of formula and preconception) out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh (spirit and truth).”

In our coin of existence, there are two sides. There is the physical, and there is the spiritual. The spiritual involves mental capabilities; written and verbal communication. The heart is the mind of man. The law is a communicated quality. The law of the Hebrews was communicated in stone. I believe that I speak from a heart of flesh.

In contemporary thought, the spirit thwarts the flesh. Contemporary belief holds spirit and flesh at a distance and sets spiritual growth at the expense of corporeality. But, the preceding verse plainly states that God’s intention is to combine flesh with the new mind. It is necessary that God remove legalistic thinking, “the stony heart,” in order to transplant into man the “heart of flesh,” which is the “new spirit.” Just as with the old mind, the new mind is communicated through the spoken and written word, for the spirit is communication imparting communication.

Even the belief systems of other cultures recognized that spiritual attributes were manifested in man in the qualities of mental attributes.

See Daniel 4:9, “O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.”

Admittedly, the statement of faith in that verse is a generalization. Be that as it may, the ambiguity of 'the spirit of the holy gods' is given the crisp outline of mentality in Daniel 5:12, “Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.”

We speak of the mind, of mental qualities. We call this list of mental attributes ‘spirit’. It might be argued still that we speak of spirit vaguely, as of some incidental property. But, we think not, we seekers of truth and spirit. We have replaced our stone, bronze, and iron implements with the very best of cutting tools. Our new implements cut with surgical precision. When we speak of mentality, we speak of the spirit of God. Of course, we are not yet brain surgeons. Our claim is the claim of God.

For the list in God’s own words, read Exodus 31:2-3, “See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.”

And for those who will argue against anything that is Old Testament, let’s just add the communicated mind of the New Testament authors. See Ephesians 1:17-18, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”

It bears repeating that the spirit of God; the mind of God, is a communicated quality that is passed from the one to the other to the next. Our cognitive abilities are spiritual. Scripture abounds with reference after reference to that effect.

Read these: Deuteronomy 34:9, “Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him.”

Exodus 31:3, “I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.”

Hebrews 10:15-16, “Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us . . . This is the covenant that I will make with them . . . I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.”

Exodus 28:3, “Thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom.”

When God pours out His spirit, He communicates His mind.

See Proverbs 1:23, “Turn you at My reproof: behold, I will pour out My spirit unto you, I will make known My words unto you.”

Then, like a tiered fountain, we communicate the same to others. Remembering 1 Corinthians 2:11, we know that man has a mind that knows the things of man. It is the corporeal mind. God is combining His spirit with ours in harmonious agreement. Only by the mind of God may we know that we are of God.

See Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”

See also 1 Corinthians 2:12, “Now we have received, not the spirit (mind) of the world, but the spirit (mind) which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”

God freely and liberally communicates His mind into ours: the communicator communicating His own nature of communication. We in turn, through and like Christ, also communicate.

See John 3:34, “For (H)he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto (H)him.”

When a man, near death, finds and drinks from a well, much goes on. He takes in water, yes, but also refreshment. More than refreshment is communicated; life is communicated. When a man takes refreshment into himself, he speaks praise rather than curse, for he speaks from that refreshing.

Read 1 Corinthians 12:3, “No man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and . . . no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”

I will say it again, our cognitive abilities are spiritual. What does the spirit communicate but the spirit? The spirit is communication; the communication is life.

John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

When I say that the truth is everything that is, am I asking you to only see the birds and the bees; the trees and cornfields; the physical world? Absolutely not. I am asking you to step out and be big, bold, and brave. I am asking you to see everything physical in its proper relationship to everything spiritual. Look not at the truth without the spirit; see not the spirit without truth. See neither as static. In a circuit, when a communication reaches its conclusion, it recommences its journey in a bigger way. Whatever goes around, comes back around. The mind that has seen the end can, on its trip back around, seem to impart the future. Yet, the mind communicates only the mind.

See John 16:13, “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself (on His own); but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak (communicate): and He will shew you things to come.”

It could be that Christ’s statement on the cross was based on the template of David’s statement in Psalms 31:5, “Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed (transformed) me, O Lord God of truth.”

On the other hand, Christ’s passage through, and triumph over, His crucifixion could have been the true

template upon which the un-salvaged David was recovered upon the next circuit. The new mind

imparted might well have expressed redemption through the spirit of Him that is all in all; His mind

being the communication of everything that is.

Accordingly, this fledgling theory of the ‘circuit’ is under pressure to shed new light on some old, dark abstractions. Our old saying is this: ‘what goes around comes around’. The mind of God has gone from the beginning to the end and has come back around again. How many times? Who knows? But, it should come as no surprise that the mind that knows all languages will communicate those same mental abilities.

See Acts 2:4, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Along with language of any kind is the mind that language issues from. The things we think are the things we communicate. We daily demonstrate our thinking in our talk, and in our walk. What we say and do are communications of what we believe. The old mind can be seen in how we walk and talk: our conversation: our face. The new mind can be seen not only in the new things we say, but also in the new things we do.

See the fruit we bear in Ezekiel 36:27, “I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.”

According to another of our rather proliferous sayings, the individual with the new mind will ‘walk the talk’. The following verse not only shows us that the mind that has seen the end can communicate the same through our mentality; it also shows by exact wording that the new mind (the spirit) has a real relationship with our physical being.

That verse is Joel 2:28, “I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”

The book of Proverbs is excellent reading. It deals with the new mind; it also deals with the old mind. In it, we see contrasts between ‘men’ and the ‘sons of men’. In it, we see the differences between the wise man and the fool. One may note, in reading the book of Proverbs, the abundance of expressions dealing with mentality and communication. One should see that such terms as ‘understanding’, ‘knowledge’, ‘wisdom’, as well the ability to communicate such, as found in such terms as ‘law’, ‘instruction’, and ‘words’ are always presented in their relationship to the ‘spirit’.

See Proverbs 17:27, “He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.” Recall, if you will, the excellent spirit found in the prophet Daniel.

Job 32:8, tells us that “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them

understanding.”

This verse suggests that, along with the communication, there is a medium that may be communicated to. It suggests that the union of the spirit in man and the spirit of God produces the offspring of ‘knowledge’.

No such union would be possible if the spirit of man was totally alien to God. The insemination of inspiration would not occur unless some part of our nature opened to receive it. Let us remember that we were created in God’s image. The mind of man was made to receive the mind of God.

See the romance in Proverbs 20:27, “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.”

That the union of the two natures cannot be a union of mutual exclusion - we look at concepts that have been around the block. The things communicated by men of old came from the mind of God. Of old, the Holy Ghost has been recognized as above and beyond Testament divisions.

See 2 Peter 1:21, “The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

These communications will not seem antiquated to the seeker. The seeker knows that the mind of God has been to the future; that it was that mind from which the men of old communicated. Those qualities that are imparted to us come from the mind that has seen the future; a mind that has gone to the very limit, having been magnified by all. When that mind shall return again to rest upon us, we shall be known by the attributes of that mind.

See Isaiah 11:2, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”

Communication imparts communication; receptivity enables receptivity. The two are joined at the hip. The relationship is dynamic; living; growing.

See the ongoing process in Colossians 1:9, “Filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

If water is communicated to us, shall we, in turn, communicate sand? I think not. Our old minds are consumed, as a candle is consumed by the flame. But the old is replaced by the new - such as will bear up under a brighter, hotter fire. We are receptive to the hot intrusions of the spirit; those communications impart the nature of the communicator.

We speak not of ourselves anymore, as Exodus 4:12 informs us, “Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.”

If we, in turn, communicate what we have taken in of the mind of God (a communication that has reworked our old mind after the pattern of the new), what are we passing on but the inspiration (the inspirited mind) of the Almighty; the pattern of our recreated mentality?

See 1 Chronicles 28:11-12, “Then David gave to Solomon his son . . . the pattern of all that he had by the spirit.”

Furthermore, if God is a consuming fire, and His communication imparts to us His nature, is it any wonder that we may use incendiary words? Our minds are set on fire; nay, our minds are fire. Let our speech, then, be fiery; let our words burn and brand; let us never return to a cooler flame.

See the new, hot mind in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Quench not the Spirit.”

Book Three Chapter Five: Holy Communication

FIVE

Holy Communication

Man believes that God can be inside. Now, while primitive man was, shall we say: primitive, we may not think him so ignorant as to consider that a universal entity could fit inside himself. That would be the bulb claiming a bigger bulb was within. Like as with that bulb, we would be forced to consider the primitive to be ‘cracked’. But, primitive man knew that something of the nature of God had been placed inside of him. Let us assume, then, that primitive man knew that ‘spirit’ had been communicated. That is, of course, without regard to whether or not he actually understood the nature

of the communicated spirit.

We, ourselves, are pretty much in that same boat. I wonder sometimes if the ‘spirit communicated’ might not be the ‘spirit of communication’. We are, after all, called upon to freely give what we have freely gotten. Man knows that the nature of God is inside, and the very language that couches that understanding is the language of ‘impartation’.

See Job 27:3, “All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils.”

God created a living soul by impartation; that is, the breathing of life into clay. Similarly, Jesus imparted the Holy Ghost by breathing onto His disciples. Breathing is a matter of communication. It would appear that communication, like spirit, requires a vessel to contain it.

See vessels of communication in 2 Samuel 23:2, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue.”

Let us consider, for a moment, the spirit as communication. See man possessed of communication in Job 32:8, “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.”

See man’s understanding of the difference between the communicated, and uncommunicated mind in Proverbs 14:29, “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.”

It appears very plainly in the writing of the Bible, that primitive man had a clear conceptualization of spirituality, mentality, and the communication between them.

Read Proverbs 17:27, “He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.”

Spirit is pointedly identified with mentality in Isaiah 11:2, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him (be plainly understood by the beholder), the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”

In the verse just cited, three sets of mental attributes are offered. They are ‘wisdom and understanding’, ‘counsel and might’, and ‘knowledge and fear’. These sets are paired correctly, so I wish only to elaborate on the third set: knowledge and fear. The concept of fear, shown here, is not the one-dimensional concept of the world. That concept provides only terror. The concept of fear as provided in Isaiah is a three-dimensional concept.

To be afraid of a thing is but one dimension of the whole. Also, inherent in this word are the connotations of ‘respect’ and ‘appreciation’. When one builds one’s first fire, in all likelihood, the hand has come close to the flame. Fear to be burned is the corporeal dimension. But, the mind goes a step further in realizing that one is only just in control. Should the fire jump its boundaries, much loss would be incurred: respect of the fire’s wrath is an intermediary dimension of moral decision making. When one makes a fire, it is in the course of self-maintenance. One wants to be warm; one wants to cook food. Dependence on the fire is realized with gratitude, for one is smart enough to know these advantages are not within one’s natural abilities. These advantages are given. Appreciation is the communicated mental dimension. We take it to mean therefore that the ‘knowing and appreciating’, mentioned in the verse of Isaiah, are of the things of God.

What are those things of God, that through the communication of the spirit, we come to know and appreciate?

Jeremiah 9:24 states it plainly, “Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.”

Mankind has grappled with the issue of how to deal with his brothers and sisters. Many times we have failed utterly, but the very traits we reach for, in our ‘quest to be’, are the very things that our spiritual God exercises in this corporeal world. When He imparts these things into our minds, that we may use them, that is His exercise, and by that, He is magnified; that is, made greater thereby.

When these spiritual, or mental, qualities are communicated to us, we can say, as does Colossians 1:9, that we are “filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

The authors of the Bible wrestled with these real issues. They put them forth as an argument against the false beliefs of all misguided people. The ceremonial washing of the early Jew, spiritual-upgrade-wise, is as much an absolute zero as the bead counting of the modern Catholic. The exercise of the physical never elevates the spiritual. If one’s religion is no more than ceremonial physical motion, there can be no spiritual momentum.

The New Testament authors argued against the laws of the Old Testament Jews thusly: Galatians 3:5, “He therefore that ministereth (communicates) to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works (ceremonial hand waving) of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (communication of the new mind).”

When man first began to clearly see that the nature of God could exist within man, that spirit of God, that Holy Spirit, was ever couched in terms of mentality. Communication is key. It was by the communicated word of God that the worlds were framed. It is seen in black and white, from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation, that the communication of the Holy Spirit of God is a dispatch to the mind of man. In the following verse, words denoting mentality are liberally in use. Rightfully, a colon belongs where the coma is placed behind the expression “spirit of God.”

It’s a little thing I do; you might try it yourself: when I read “wisdom,” I replace it with “spirit of God”; when I read “understanding”, I replace it with “spirit of God”; when I read “knowledge”, I replace it with “spirit of God.” Go ahead, try it on for size.

Exodus 31:3, “And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.”

Contemporary Christians are such a dyspeptic lot. I offer no seltzer, only more meat. God is in my head, as Job put it, my 'spirit of God' causes me to answer.

Job 20:3, “The spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.”

But, I am somewhat of a literalist: if I speak by the spirit of God, the spirit of God is communication.

See 1 Corinthians 12:3, “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”

No bitter indictment here, but I think that the contemporary Christian believes more in ‘being the Christian’ than he believes in Christ, Himself: It’s fine that the Holy Ghost lives within, as long as the voice can remain their own.

In reality, however, if we speak by the Holy Ghost, it is His work and not our own. If we are speaking

by the spirit of God, we are the vessels of that communication. Does that mean we are nothing? Not

at all. By extension, we are “filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual

understanding.” We are not the electricity, but we are no longer merely the bulb. We are not the

light, but we are the light bulb.

When to our minds is communicated the Holy Spirit of God, should the Holiness be dropped to maintain the distance from God that contemporary Christians insist upon? New Testament authors would answer a resounding ‘No!’

See Ephesians 3:5, “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His Holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit.”

Again, see men made Holy by the communication of the new mind in 2 Peter 1:21, “The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

It is an open eye, indeed, that sees the spirit as communication. When we, ourselves, communicate - in speaking and in writing - we write or we say the things we know and believe. The things we know and believe were, themselves, communicated. In this, I hold in common with the seeker on the other side of the world, who is wholly unknown to me, the very same communicated spiritual quality.

See that shared quality in 2 Corinthians 4:13, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.”

Not all of our actions spring from the continuous input of physical information; some, necessarily, must come from the communicated mind. As we walk, we note the road ahead of us is smooth. We adjust our actions according to the input. If we trip on that smooth road, as many of us do daily, we are surprised. If physical input indicates that the road rises, we lift our feet a little higher. If upon our next step, our senses show us that there is nothing under our feet, we jerk to a halt, seeking things previously sensed. Then comes the embarrassed laugh of realization that we stand on a glass bridge. We mentally give ourselves a kick for not comporting ourselves with a bit more faith. In other words, we failed ourselves because we could have done better. There is a real difference between the old uncommunicated mind and the new communicated mind.

See 2 Corinthians 5:7, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:).”

The spirit is communication. Communication is spirit. It is communication that imbues with life, as John 6:63 says, “It is the spirit that quickeneth (enlivens); the flesh profiteth nothing (does not have such power): the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

The spirit gives life; the spirit is life. But, there is a type of communication that is of corporeality. It is a formula; it is of the brain, but not of the mind. The formula allows for one thing: sameness. It allows that the acceptable is that which has been previously sensed, known, and performed. It is the law of rote: The law of the rut. And, it has been said that the difference between a rut and a grave is merely the depth. It is the unchanging letter of the law that allows not for movement; for growth; for life. If we recall that the communication imparts the nature of the communicator, then it becomes all too easy to see where the law fails.

See 2 Corinthians 3:6, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”

Man struggles to understand the nature of the new mind. The new mind contains the communicated nature of the communicator. Our new mind is so much more than the functional brain: an organ whose purpose is to process input and respond with decisions. Formerly, all input was of the senses. Over time, man derived emotional states, which were gestalts of the myriad sensory I/O functions. But now, the brain receives input from the mind, the spiritual counterpart, and this input is changing the brain with every communication: making the brain more mind-like. Formerly, man traveled the smooth highway of rote. Everyone that washed his hands was good; everyone that did not wash his hands was bad. That was the outer man, and his momentum was smooth and comforting - that is until he hit the speed bump of progress.

Feel the jolt of Romans 2:28-29, “He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart (mind), in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”

If the heart is the new mind, then circumcision is the removal of all old and static hindrances. The struggle of man with the spirit is a struggle to overcome preconceptions. The former man walked in darkness; therefore, he had a formula rather than a flashlight. Counting two steps forward, then three steps to the right, then another five steps forward was how he navigated the dark back alleys of existence. If he encountered a man walking at cross currents to him, that man was considered to be going in the wrong direction. The new sons of men are very much different. It’s not that they have replaced the formula with a flashlight: that is just seeing the steps you are still counting off, but, the sun has risen on the sons of men. Everything is bathed in new light.

Now they see that the formula only got the blind from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. The sons of men need not count steps; the light exposes not just the point, but the surrounding landscape. The new sons of men may now be guided by something so much bigger than a formula: the new nature is their guide. Yet, even in such a verse as the next, we see man holding the flashlight just in case.

See Galatians 5:16-17, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

Man sees spirituality and corporeality as ‘contrary’, but are they really? Let me ask a simple, but brow-raising question: If the power struggle was gone, would there be contrariness? Put another way, if man’s will submitted to God’s will, would the spirit and the flesh be complimentary instead of contrary?

If the flesh profiteth nothing, then what does this next verse really say about a fleshy communication of the nature of the living God?

See 2 Corinthians 3:3, “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart (mind).”

Book Three Chapter Four: The Holy Ghost

FOUR

The Holy Ghost

‘Spirit’ and ‘ghost’ – and, what a large witness the Bible offers for something that can’t even

be seen. The recorded witnesses could not see ‘spirit’, yet we are instructed that truth may be verified

in the mouth of two or three witnesses.

Here’s a list:

‘Gave up’ (three times) and, ‘yielded up the Ghost’ (once) can be found in Genesis.

‘Given up the ghost’ is found in Jeremiah.

‘Gave up the ghost’ is found in Lamentations.

‘Give’, ‘given’, ‘giveth’, & ‘giving up the Ghost’ all occur (collectively, five times) in the book of Job.

‘Gave up the ghost’ is mentioned about two times in the book of Mark, one time in the book of Luke, and one time in the book of John. ‘Yielded up the ghost’ is mentioned one time in the book of Matthew.

These statistics are not intended as a complete and thorough count but are presented only to point out that two or three has been greatly surpassed. The Holy Ghost is mentioned four times in the book of Mark, four times in the book of John, seven times in the book of Matthew, and 11 times in the book of Luke. The Holy Ghost is written of in Jude, Romans, Hebrews, 1 Thessalonians, and 1 and 2 Corinthians.

The Holy Ghost is mentioned in the book of Acts more than thirty-eight times. Yet, of witnesses, it is not this great cloud that teaches us any one thing spiritual, but what the witnesses, themselves, knew of the invisible. In Acts, the writer speaks of being “baptized with the Holy Ghost” (as, perhaps, in

immersion - the Spirit being compared to water, or something fluid in nature); he also speaks of one

being “full of the Holy Ghost” (as in a cup immersed and coming up filled: again the comparison to

water: to a fluid nature).

This study asks, what exactly is ‘spiritual?’ How do beings steeped in the corporeal ever hope to understand - to grasp, if you will, things which are not solid? How may one prove an invisibility?

Some will say, no doubt, that we can’t see the air we breathe, yet it exists. I say, in some cities, you

can see the air you breathe. We cannot compare apples to oranges and get a true picture?

1 Corinthians 2:13 clearly states, “the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” Furthermore, we are shown the difficulty of coming to an understanding of spiritual matters in 1 Corinthians 2:14: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Anyone that has a burning desire to know what ‘spiritual’ is all about, really has his work cut out for him. He must look into the ‘mirror’. He must seek an understanding of the water by the cup that holds it. No person will undertake a study of the spirit unless he is compelled. That person must first be convinced that the spirit has a bearing on the corporeal.

That person must be convinced, as Romans 15:13 puts it, of the “power of the Holy Ghost.” These latter sections are a preparation for the final book of this study, which appropriately will be named: “What exactly is Spiritual?” God is a spirit, Jesus claimed, whose name is Holy. The Holy Ghost is a spirit named Holy. Make the connection. Many things are written of the Holy Ghost; let us review just a few of them.

1 Peter 1:12 tells us that the Holy Ghost was “sent down from heaven”: a higher realm; a spiritual

realm.

1 Corinthians 6:19 explains that our body is the “temple of the Holy Ghost,” a communicated spiritual quality, and 2 Timothy 1:14 corroborates that the Holy Ghost “dwelleth in us.”

1 Corinthians 3:16 explains just how Holy the Holy Ghost is when it asks, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

Ingestion is indicated when Hebrews 6:4 uses the expression: “partakers of the Holy Ghost” - also when 2 Corinthians 13:14 uses the expression: “communion of the Holy Ghost.”

Furthermore, we are instructed that this ingestion, this possession of a communicated spiritual quality, imparts the divine nature.

Romans 15:16 puts it this way: “sanctified by the Holy Ghost.”

Ephesians 1:13 tells us that we are “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.”

Titus 3:5 lays these surprising words before us: “the washing of regeneration (re-creation), and renewing (recommencement) of the Holy Ghost.”

And while we are given to the opinion that the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God inside of common man, is a New Testament thing, by such passages as John 7:39, “(But this spake He of the Spirit, which

they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”, the Holy Ghost was actually a concept understood by men of old: Psalms 51:11, “take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.”

In the beginning, concepts of spirituality were concepts of separate entities. These entities were considered autonomous and distant. God was not originally considered to be a part of the human condition. That consideration would come much later. It was enough that man could acknowledge a spiritual presence.

See Genesis 31:3, “the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.” That spiritual presence was often interpreted as fortuitous. See Genesis 39:2, “the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man . . . in the house of his master the Egyptian.”

In the evolution of concepts, the ‘presence’ of God soon was understood to impart general aspects to life in general, generally speaking, and these aspects became predictable enough that men could take them up as a practice that affected the quality of their behavior.

See Psalms 143:10, “Teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God: Thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.”

Generalization set in. A connection appeared between corporeal man and spiritual God. The inner man was acknowledged. See Proverbs 15:4, “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.” It was seen that an improvement in the nature of corporeal man had its roots in the spirit. Recall my illustration of the tree, its branches and its roots being on opposite sides of the interface.

But, spirit was still a catch-all phrase that had many and varied subtleties of interpretation.

For spirit as strength and vigor see Judges 15:19, “But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.”

A more homogeneous view of spirit had developed by New Testament times, but it still placed spirit apart from man as an affecting agent only.

See Acts 23:9, “And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.”

Even before New Testament times, homogenous spirituality began to take on the form of detectable purpose and recognizable character. See the free spirit of salvation in Psalms 51:12, “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit.”

But man was and still is, easily spooked. Along with mankind’s most profound advances in the understanding of the spirit, there gamboled myth, superstition, and ignorant fear.

See Luke 24:37 & 39, “But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.” See also Matthew 14:26, “And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.”

What one should note in these verses is that spirit took on many manifestations in the mind of man. That is to say: what man did not understand received a stock interpretation. Spirits, angels, or ghosts were all pretty much the same to them. Man feared them because he had no control over them. Man’s very nature had subdued the world, but over things spiritual, man could not exert his will. It may be assumed, therefore, that what really frightened man was the call for submission.

Man’s constant complaint has been, “why must I suffer evil?” Yet, Christ, our example, submitted to the suffering of evil - was, in fact, turned over to the devil by the Spirit of God. Rather than exert His will, rather than bemoan His fate, He submitted to the Spirit. Why do bad things happen to good people?

See for yourself in Matthew 4:1, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”

Submission is a hard topic for mankind, but it is, I think, part of the process of reverse engineering. The Holy Ghost will lead a man; the Holy Ghost will make a man ‘lead-able’.

See Luke 4:1, “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”

There are, however, many more spirits abounding than just those of man’s imagination. It behooves the seeker to be aware of all of them.

See other spirits in Luke 4:33, “And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice.”

We see man, then, in various states of possession. That is to say: we see man in states of mentality which are not wholly his own. The unclean spirit may impart unclean thinking and behavior, just as the Holy Ghost may impart Holy thinking and behavior. And it is never solely about the imposition of the host. There is to be remembered that the spirit obtains some advantage through the intrusion. What does the spirit get from its connection to the flesh?

Jesus explained part of it in Luke 11:24, “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.”

Temples within temples. Or, even a house may be a temple. We get the sense that it is the spirit’s business to indwell something and that it is our place in the order of things to be possessed by some kind of spirit, or mentality. The verse above, in showing that an unclean spirit derives a benefit from indwelling corporeality, by extension of the argument, indicates that the Spirit of God also derives benefit from indwelling.

That we are a battleground: it may be said that a war of numbers is waged for corporeal real estate. Two superpowers vie for our pound of flesh, and yet, that is, as they say, just the tip of the iceberg. Another way to look at it may be the ‘Ponderosa approach’. There is one owner, and he will leave his spread to his sons only. He rides the range, therefore, deposing arrogant squatters. 

See Mark 7:25, “For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him, and came and fell at His feet.”

Uncleanness had been imparted to the woman’s daughter. It was a matter of communication of the nature of the unclean devil that imparted the same to the host. Our cognitive abilities are spiritual, spiritual and communication go hand in hand, there is no action without communication. 

The nature of the possessed is the communicated nature of the possessor.

The writer of the next verse called the possessor a “foul spirit.” The afflicted person was in such a visible state as to offend the beholder, which contention is borne out in the fact that the “running together” of the people was a most definite indication that the affliction was considered so severe that the people wondered if this might be the one that the miracle worker could not handle. 

What can you deduce of the spirit in Mark 9:25? “When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.”

Book Three Chapter Three: Ingestion

THREE

Ingestion

When speaking of intrusions, one may think of Yin and Yang, or Ouroboros, the snake that consumes itself beginning at the tail. I put forth the concept of ‘ingestion’. Unlike the snake and his tail, this may prove a bit much for the contemporary Christian to swallow. I recall the old adage: 'you are what you eat.' A bulb receives or ingests electricity in order that it might produce light. The electricity, in effect, becomes part of the bulb’s overall makeup, that is why men call a lamp an electrical appliance. It is no less true that the bulb becomes part of the electricity by way of extension.

We can say that a merger has occurred, that two separate entities have joined for the purpose that the union suggests. It is no longer a bulb and electricity: it is a light bulb. The electricity does not make light without the bulb, and the bulb cannot make light without the electricity.

You are what you ingest. If you are a cup, and you ingest water, you are no longer just a cup. You are a cup of water. If a man ingests knowledge, he is a man of learning. A man of learning will display his nature in his choice of wording. Now imagine: if you had ingested the elements of both past and future into your present being, would you not sometimes sound like an anomaly of time?

Examine the choice of words in John 3:13, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven (future), but He that came down from heaven (past), even the Son of man which is in heaven (present).”

Like the illustrations of the light bulb and the cup of water, John 3:13 is a model of the concept of

ingestion. In any model of ingestion, there is both a host to take elements into itself and elements that enter into the host.

Notice both a host and intrusive elements in John 14:20, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.”

If a light bulb said that a bigger light bulb was inside of him, we might pause to scratch our heads and raise our eyebrows. On the other hand, if a light bulb told us he had electricity inside of him, we might respond, 'Yeah, that I can understand.' When Christ states that the Father is inside of Him, He is speaking of an ingested element of the Father, or in other words: something spiritual. To ingest a thing is roughly equal to having a thing communicated. A ballot box may either ingest a ballot or, it may be otherwise stated that a ballot was placed inside of it.

I speak of spiritual communications. And here, I will repeat the assertion: our cognitive abilities are spiritual, spiritual and communication go hand in hand, there is no action without communication.

This must be kept in mind when one reads John 14:10, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.”

I used to wonder at the underlying purpose of eating the flesh of Jesus, and of drinking His blood. The concept of ingestion offers a higher level of insight into this mystery. Do we, or can we, actually eat flesh and blood? No. Do crackers and grape juice, as a ceremonial reminder, fit the bill? No.

If you have ever met an older married couple and noted how alike they are, you have seen the

outcome of ingestion. What is it that they have ingested? It is the communicated nature of the partner

that has been ingested. That is why they seem to be on the same page. Sometimes, and this seems

spooky, one will finish a sentence the other began. Now, they may have kissed daily throughout the

length of their union, but they have not ingested corporeality: they do not look alike. But they act

alike.

Spiritual elements are communicated; spiritual elements are ingested. Remembering that our language has evolved into a ‘symbol generating machine’, let us read of the bread of life as a communicated spiritual quality that upon ingestion imparts that spiritual quality to the host.

See John 6:48-51, “I am that bread of life (a spiritual quality). Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness (a corporeal quality), and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven (a spiritual realm), that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread (you are what you eat), he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Yes! Eat life and live.

The mind does not always absorb what the eye reads. Sometimes we must go back and read a thing often - until it makes sense. When we read a thing that is not easily or readily understandable, the eyes glaze momentarily, and we move on. Read this next verse; let your eyes glaze over; then go back and read it again.

Colossians 1:27, “which is Christ in you.”

No, not the physical person. A spiritual quality has been communicated. You have ingested the spirit of Christ: a thing that is imparted mentally through thought and reason. What is inside you? The nature of Christ, the character of Christ, Christ-likeness as an adopted quality. You are a bulb ingesting the power to make light.

Ingestion is a bona fide theme within scripture. It is a concept that New Testament authors often took up.

See 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you?”

The theme of ingestion is brought up time after time and is presented as central to the goal of spiritual attainment. It is put forth in no uncertain terms in John 6:53, “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.”

‘Sons of man’ may here be referenced inclusively. That is, to take upon oneself the very corporeal entity of a son of man: to be a Jesus, to have the very blood of a Christ flowing through your veins. In earlier paragraphs, I spoke of returning to face the mirror. Is that not a condition of open receptiveness? It never hurts to repeat scripture, and although this has been given to other applications, read it now, not with the interface in mind, but rather with ingestion in mind.

Read 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

The water of baptism and the wine of redemption. The miracle of turning water into the blood of the vine that we are grafted into. Read 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

Having the spirit in our middle puts us in the middle of the spirit. One must imbibe the spiritual liquor. To drink the physical blood puts us in the physical. Likewise, to partake of a physical Eucharist places us, again, in the corporeal. In other words, it takes spirit to make spirit.

Take Romans 8:9-10, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you (the spirit), the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit (inside of you) is life because of righteousness.”

A spiritual indwelling - and, by spiritual I mean a ‘new mind’. We ingest spiritual communications. If godliness is communicated, we ingest and incorporate godliness. If Christ-likeness is communicated, we incorporate Christ into our nature. It is an upgrade. Spiritual communications pass from the mind to the brain; therefore, they are embodied in thoughts and words. Words are leaves that rustle from an invisible wind. Yet, for all intents and purposes, they are a means of incorporating the wind.

Incorporate John 14:23, “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep (incorporate) My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with (inside of) him.”

A spiritual indwelling: a new mind; a new nature. See 1 John 4:13, “Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit.”

To have a thought or to make a choice is equal to having the spirit of it communicated into our nature. No man can think the thought or make the choice to turn to Jesus unless we have turned, open and receptive, to the interface. There, the communication is sent.

Receive John 6:44, 45, & 65, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw (a communication to) him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught (communication; learning; mentality) of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned (ingested) of the Father, cometh unto Me. And He said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto (into) him of my Father.”

The spirit is communicated via the mind. Thoughts and words are internalized. John 8:51, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death.”

The bar of mentality is raised through spiritual communication. The mind of Christ is communicated. It is a Holy mind. The will of God is communicated. It is a Holy will. The spirit itself is Holy for it is the spirit of God.