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still be, at first , about 99.44 per–
cent carnal! Apparently tbose in
the C hurch of God at Corin th
were ( 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 ). The
apostle Paul said he still had to
feed them on the s piritua l
milk- not
yet adult spiritual
"food." They certainly were not
yet "BORN AGAIN."
Now, as the physical male
sperm finds its way to, and unites
with the
nucleus
in the ovum, so
God's Spirit enters and combines
wi th the human MINo! There is,
as explained before, a
spirit
IN
man.
This human spirit has com–
bined with the brain to form
human MINO. God's Spirit unites
with, and witnesses with
our
spir–
it that we are, now, the children
of Goo (Romans
8:
16) . . And
God's Holy Spirit, now combined
with our human spirit in our
MINO, imparts to our mind power
tO COmprehe nd SP IRIT UA L
KNOWLEOG E
( 1
Cor inth ians
2: 11 )- which the carnal mind
cannot grasp.
Now we have the presence of
ETE RNA L LIFE-God life–
through God's Spirit, but we are
not yet immortal spirit beings–
not yet BORN of God- not yet
inheritors, and possessors, but
physical HEIRS (Romans 8:17).
But
IF
God's Holy Spirit dwells
in us, God will , at t he resur–
rect ion, "quicken" to immortal ity
our mortal bodies
BY
His Spirit
that "dwelleth in" us (Romans
8: 11; 1 Corinthians 15:49-53).
Now we see how the astonish–
ing analogy continues!
As yet we are not
born
divine
beings. We are not yet
composed
of spi rit , but of physical matter.
The d ivine life has merely been
begotten. This divine CHARACTER
starts so very small it is doubtful
if much of it is in evidence–
except for the glow of that ecstasy
of spiritual " romance" that we
may radiate in that "first love" of
conversion- spiritually speaking.
But so far as spiritual KNOWL–
EOGE and developed spiritual
CHARACTER goes, there is not
mucb, as yet.
The Splrltual Embryo
So now, once spi ritually begot–
ten, we are merely a spi ritual
February 1981
embryo. Now we must be fed
a nd nourished o n SPIRITUAL
food! J esus said man shall not
live by bread (physical food)
a/one,
but by EVERY WORO OF
Goo (spiritual food)! This we
drink in from the Bible! But we
drink in this spiritual knowledge
and character, also, through per–
sonal, intimate, continuous con–
tact with God through PRAYER,
and through Christian fellowship
with God' s chi ldren in Hi s
Church. And also by the contin–
ua! teaching imparted by the
Church.
Now the
physical
embryo and
fetus is fed physically through the
mother. God's CHURCH is called
~~
God has set His cal/ed
and chosen ministers in
His Church to feed the
flock
-
}or the perfec–
ting of the saints
.
' '
Jerusalem
above
" which is the
MOTHER OF US ALL" (Galatians
4:26).
Notice the exact paral lel! The
CHURCH is the spiritual MOTH–
ER OF ITS MEMBERS. God has set
His called and chosen ministers
in His Church tQ
FEEi:>
THE
FLOCK- "for
the perfecting
of
the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the
body [CHURCH) of Christ: TILL
WE all come in the unity of the
faith, and of
the knowledge
of
the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fulness of Christ"
(Ephesians 4:11 -13).
lt
is the duty of Christ's TRUE
ministers (and
how scarce today)
to PROTECT the begotten but yet
unborn saints from false doc–
trines, from fal se ministers.
The HUMAN mother carries her
unborn baby in that part of her
body wbere she can best PROTECT
it from
physical
harm; and that
protection is part of her functi on,
as well as to nourish the unborn
c bild! Even so, the CHURCH,
tbrough Chris t 's ministers, in–
structs, teaches, counsels with ,
advises, and PROTECTS from
spiri–
tual
harm the unborn members!
What a WONDERFUL picture is
human reproduction of spiri tual
SALVATION!
Continuefurther!
As tbe phys–
ical fetus must g row
physically
large enough to be born, so the
begotten C hr istian must
grow
in
grace, and in the knowledge of
Christ ( 11 Peter 3: 18)- mus t
overcome, mus t develop in spiri–
tual CHARACTER during this life,
in order to be BORN into the
Kingdom of Goo!
And as the phys ical fetus
gradually, one by one, deve lops
the physical organs, features and
characte ri st ics, eve n so t he
begotten Chr ist ian mus t gradual–
ly, continually, develop the SPtR–
ITUAL character- love, faith, pa–
tience, gentleness, temperance.
He (or she) must live by, and be
a DOER of the Word of God. He
must develop the divine CHAR–
ACTER!
Flnally-lmmortallty!
Then in God's due time- though
the person may die meanwhile–
by a resurrection, or by instanta–
neous CHANGE to immortality at
Cbrist's coming, he shall be BORN
of God-into the KlNGDOM OF
Goo-because Goo
is
that King–
dom! He is no longer material
fiesh from the ground, but com–
posed of spi r it, even as God is a
spirit .(John 4:24).
How WONDERFU L i s the
TRUTH OF Goo!
Yet, by his dastardJy decep–
tions Satan has OECEIVED THE
WORLD-has blinded humanity
to the fact that God
IS
this
I<.INGDOM Jesus proclaimed-and
that WE may be
born
as spiritual
individua ls- as part of tha t
Divine FAMILY- as part of the
Goo I<.INGDOM!
How precious is Goo's TRUTH!
God designed reproduction to
picture His truth in a physical
manner and to KEEP us CON–
STANTLY IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF
HIS WONDERFUL PLAN OF SALVA–
TION! O
33