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more and more spiritual- till we
grow to mature spiritual minds. Spir–
itual growth comes through prayer
- earnest•. heartrending prayer!
Most people don't grow spiritually
because they do not pray in earnest!
Just as a fetus in a mother's womb
must have physical substance added
to the original ovum (egg) ar¡d sperm
if that new physicallife is to develop,
so we must be filled with spiritual
nourishment- "filled with tbe Spir–
it"- so that our minds grow spiri–
tually.
The Holy Spirit from Christ and
the Father may be· compared to a
current of electricity flowing through
a light bulb. We are that bulb. But
there could be no light without a fila–
ment inside the bulb. That fi lament
is comparable to the spi ritual seed
from the Father. As we receive more
of God's Spirit, we emit more pow–
er- more light! Our light literally
fills the room!
The expression "filled with the
Spirit" (Eph. 5:18) does not mean to
be filled with emotional manifesta–
tions (which come from the ftesh and
not from Spi rit). 1t means that we
are imbued with Spirit from heaven
administered through Jesus Christ in
His office as High Priest.
Notice how Paul expla ins thi s in
Romans 8:9: " But ye are not in the
ftesh" - we are not motivated by
fteshly passions- "but in the Spirit"
- motivated and guided by Spirit
- "if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you." Tbat is the Holy Spirit
in the form of a seed from the Father
transmitting His characteristics. But
notice what Paul adds: "Now if any
man have not tbe Spirit of Christ, he
is none of his"-that
is,
the Holy
Spirit from the Father and Jesus
Christ, filling our minds so tha t we
can grow spiritually. This begettal
and growth through the Holy Spirit
most people nave never understood.
Hldden in Old Testament
Times
In the Old Testament, men did not
pray to the Father. But we pray to
the Father. No one addressed Godas
Father in Old Testament times.
Christ carne to declare who the Fa–
ther is-to declare that we may be
begotten of Him: "God no one hath
36
ever seen; an on ly begotten"–
Christ- " himself God, who is [as–
cended] unto the bosom of the Fa–
ther, be hath declared him" (John
1:18, Panin t ranslation).
Then what about the prophets and
patriarchs of old? Did they not have
the same power as we can have to–
day? Did they not have the same
power a s the apostles?
How did they have access to the
Spirit of God ? Through the One wbo
was to become Christ (1 Pet. 1:11 ).
Christ, one of the members of tbe
God Kingdom, was the One who ad–
ministered the Spirit to Moses, to
Abe! and to all the prophets of old.
He sent the Holy Spirit of the Father
to be in them, to give them fa ith and
power. "And these a ll , having ob–
tained a good report through faith ,
received not the promise: God having
provided sorne better thing for us,
that they without us should not be
made perfect" (Heb. 11 :39-40) .
It was not fully revealed to the pa–
t riarchs and prophets how one is be–
gotten and born into the Kingdom of
God. They knew only that through
the Eterna!, who would come to give
His life a ransom for many, they
would inherit eternallife. They knew
that the Spirit of God was not then
made available to the people in gen–
eral. They knew there would be a
" new and living way" (Heb. 10:-20)
whereby in the millennium all would
have direct access to the Father
thr ough Christ- that the called
might partake of the Spirit of God–
"the earnest .of our inheritance"
(Eph. 1:14).
Today we can have God's life and
power as a very part of our being,
enabl ing us to overcome and master
our human nature!
The Nature of Splrlt
Spiritual qualities a nd entities seem
so unreal to most people. And no
wonder. Spiritual things aré invisible,
not discerned by the senses until re–
vealed in writing in the Bible!
When we speak of the Holy Spirit,
many cannot grasp its nature. Yet
the Bible makes clear the nature of
spirit.
Notice, "God is a Spirit" (J ohn
4:24). The God fami ly is composed of
spirit. The Father a nd the Son, who
are composed of spirit , have definite
shape. From one end of tbe Bible to
the other we are told about the shape
and the parts of each member in the
God family. The Father and the Son
each have a head, hair, eyes, nose,
mouth, arms, fingers, a torso, legs,
feet, plus inward parts. Man is in the
image of God. Man is matter, but
God is spirit.
The Holy Spirit, like matter , exists
in various states. It not only com–
poses the members of the God fami–
ly, it also ftows through our minds
and empowers us to do good works.
Also a Creative Sp irlt
Even though the Father and the Son
are in definite locations with respect
to each other, spirit proceeds from·
them a nd fills the entire universe,
much like air fills everything on
~rth!
Note David's words that God's
Spirit permeates everything ( Ps .
139:7-11 ). Spirit is God's life. A ir
contains the physical life-giving oxy–
gen of man. Notice how simi lar the
comparison is.
The divine Spirit that fills the en–
tire universe is the channel by which
the Father and the Son create. The
Spirit of God transformed the crea–
tive energy of Father and Son into
the physical world we see around us.
Man has no sucb attribute or power
born into him. But man may form
tools whic h transform man 's ex–
pended physical energy into visible
objects, into light, heat, and numer–
ous other physical manifestations.
Man is put here on earth to learn
to develop tools for limited creative
work- to tra in himself for the eter–
na! goal- becoming part of the God
family , which means sbaring control
of the creative Spirit of God. (Write
for our free booklets
Why
Were You
Born?; What Wi/1 You Be Doing in
the Next Lije?;
and
What Do You
Mean- Kingdom of God?
God isa family . The Fatherin heav–
en wa nts you to become a member of
His divine family . You can be His son
if you surre nder your whole life to
Him; believe all that is in the Bible;
believe Christ is your Savior and obey ·
Him; a nd become filled with the power
of the Spirit of God. This knowledge
has now reached you. What are you
going todoabout it? o
The
PLAIN TRUTH April 1979