NINE
The Purpose of the New Mind
How many times must a child be spanked before he learns not to run out in the street but take the adult’s hand of guidance? So it is with the developing spiritual mind in man. We suffer in small ways and we suffer greatly as well but we also learn. The young adult no longer takes the parental hand but will stop and look both ways all on his own. He does that because through training, through spankings and scoldings and gentle reminders, he has come to understand at last; he has reached the desired point where he is able to choose what is right and good. I paint a picture of spanked bottoms because that is how life, in general, proceeds. That is how the immature spiritual individual reaches the desired point of understanding whereby he is at last able to choose good without being guided or forced.
For being able to choose good rather than bad, see Matthew 12:35, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart (the mind) bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth (chooses) evil things.”
The desired goal is a spiritual state. The God-mind makes godly choices. Communication of the nature of the communicator levels a man up to a point where, through understanding (that is: practiced knowledge), he is both able and willing to make the same choices God would make. That God is more the mind, and making the choices, does not diminish the man, but exalts him to heights of wisdom.
See the spiritual man (the God-minded man) in Luke 6:43-45, “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit (choices/actions). For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart (mind) bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart (mind) bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart (mind) his mouth speaketh (communicates).”
I have already said it: God communicates the God-mind to man. Man, in turn, communicates the God-mind to man. Mentality is spirituality when it comes from God. However, to reject spiritual instruction, to turn away, by no means negates communication. Man still communicates, but he has chosen to communicate things devoid of spirituality, things bereft of higher thought, understanding, wisdom.
Worldly, fleshly man is a preacher who preaches physical contact and force against obstacles; he preaches gratification and exalts the image of a man with an amputated future. He is a preacher who magnifies diminishment, a preacher who lifts up pulling down. Just as a street runs in two directions, so does mentality run. There are minds that choose good; there are minds that choose bad and call it good. Both minds communicate.
See Matthew 15:18, “Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart (the mind).”
I ask ‘what exactly is spiritual?’ and then I go on and on about mentality. Am I just another man with an off-center take on old writings? No. If you get anything out of this writing, does that make you a seeker? Yes. Every time I note a scripture that deals with spirituality, it is padded with words such as ‘knowledge’, ‘known’, and ‘know’. Spirituality, and the attainment of spirituality, is always couched in terms of impartation, communication, receptivity, and close familiarity.
What exactly is spiritual? See Luke 2:15, “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see (confirm) this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.”
What is the purpose of the new mind? See Luke 1:77, “To give knowledge of salvation unto His
people by the remission of their sins.”
Are there methods of giving knowledge? Yes. By the remission of their sins is one method.
See John 10:38 for another, “Believe the works: that ye may know.”
Ever heard the expression ‘rubbing off on’? Ever read the verse that states “Iron sharpeneth iron?” Remember the theme of ‘familiarity through close contact’?
See John 10:14, “I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine.”
Reciprocity. Is it, as the expression goes, ‘all in our heads? Yes. See Acts 1:24, “Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts (the minds) of all men.”
Knowledge is the key building block in spiritual development. I wish to stress that point. Men of knowledge practice what they know; they teach what they know. The practice of knowledge brings
them to a state called understanding; the practice of understanding brings them to a state called
wisdom. The trend, the direction, the overall development is spiritual. However, that avenue is not
open to those who are not open to that particular avenue.
See John 7:24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
Those who judge only by the appearance, are unreceptive to the invisible matters of spirituality.
See John 3:11-12, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?”
It is always a shame that those who judge by appearance find their way into positions of authority where they may adversely affect the impartation of knowledge.
See Luke 11:52, “Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.”
I ask, then, what is the ‘key’ of knowledge? Actually, this expression may be taken two ways. One: ‘key of knowledge’ may simply indicate that knowledge is the key to spiritual advancement, and two: ‘key of knowledge’ may point more precisely to knowledge as a door or lock that is accessed by something other than the knowledge indicated. An example of the former might be the practice of the old Catholic church. They made demands on the people without sharing the source material of the scriptures. I have no example for the latter, but I have some notions; two allusions to scripture that I hope will prove somewhat enlightening. In the previous verse, please note the Lord’s reference to entering in.
I say reference because I was immediately reminded of Christ’s self-description as the ‘way’, also as the ‘door’. It might well be supposed that something as basic as a decision could be the ‘key’ to knowledge. Then again, Christ once asked His disciples ‘don’t you know what this parable means? If you don’t know this one, how will you know the others?’ In saying this, I point to a ‘key’ embedded in all the words imparted by God, including those of His only begotten Son. When Christ said that to His disciples, I was impressed with the possibility that one parable could unlock all the others.
I do not propose that there is a ‘code’ of any sort in the scriptures; while there might be a system of clues in the written word, I do not here insist upon it, but there seems to be a ‘way’ of hearing something that everyone else is equally exposed to, yet coming away with something more. Two roads may lead to the same physical location, but the path chosen makes a big difference in what one may get out of the trip. A lower road may lead through mires that muddy the feet, may lead through brambles that tear our best apparel, but the high road can offer a thrilling overview of the entire trip whereby we are afforded somewhat of an advance warning of the terrain ahead, even a broad and pleasing view of the destination.
We move from knowledge to understanding to wisdom. Is knowledge the key? Worldly, fleshly man is a preacher who preaches physical contact and force against obstacles; he preaches gratification and exalts the image of a man with an amputated future. He is a preacher who magnifies diminishment, a preacher who lifts up pulling down. Yet, he will claim equality with the spiritually inclined. He will say: ‘I’m educated; I know this and that’. But, he does not share the same familiar practice of knowledge as the seeker, he turned away from that, or as scripture says, he preferred the darkness rather than light. He has chosen a kind of knowledge that is devoid of light and life, a knowledge that pulls down rather than builds up.
See where a choice may lead in John 17:3, “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.”
Read it often and ask yourself, ‘how could knowing be eternal life?’. The purpose of the new mind becomes a bit clearer. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish authorities took the law that was given to all and used it exclusively to maintain the advantage of power over the general populace. Matters of law such as the Sabbath (which was meant to be a celebration of God’s satisfaction) were turned into legalisms that bound the people under grievous weights of restrictions meant to appease the taskmasters - a knowledgeable group, by the way; well versed in magnifying diminishment.
Kinda reminds me of those deconstructionists in our own time who pulled down prayer from schools and the ten commandments from courts. I do not doubt that many have rued their laws and lawmakers. But the seeker walks the high road, his attitude is unaffected by muddy feet.
See 1 Timothy 1:8, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.”
As a standard, could the law be the key of knowledge - that is, if used lawfully? Could the law fit our second assumption of a key? In the historical overview, the value of faith was preceded by the practice of the law. Many, of course, see the law as ineffectual against the advent of faith. Paul associated the law with death and faith with life. Yet, in a particular light, the law is seen as a level of development leading into faith. Did faith open to the world through the agency of the law as a ‘key’?
See Romans 7:14, “For we know that the law is spiritual.”
Now that seems strange; dogmatically, the law and spirituality are presented on opposite ends of the spectrum. But think: the law is a communication; by it, knowledge is imparted for man to practice. To what extent might we see the practice of the law leading to the attained state of faith? The allusion is to the practice of knowledge leading to the attained state of understanding. If we ask ‘what is the purpose of the new mind?’ we must also ask ‘what is the purpose of faith?’, ‘what is the purpose of knowledge?’, ‘what is the purpose of the law?’, for, like pearls on a necklace, they are all connected.
Developmentally speaking, if all the right choices are made, there is a single linear progression from the valley floor to the lofty peak.
See Ephesians 3:10, “To the intent that now unto (developmental progression) the principalities and powers in heavenly places (where the God of knowledge resides) might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.”
Recall, please, that every tree is known by his own fruit; recall that those words of Christ set at odds the right mind from the wrong mind; recall that all action flows from the headwaters of mentality.
See the good tree and the corrupt tree in Titus 1:15-16, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience (the headwaters) is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”
They would have us believe that they have gathered figs with the best of them, but our eyes are open to the thorns they lift up.
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