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Reading:
1Cor.6:17
But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
1Th.5:23 And the God of peace Himself sanctify you
wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved
complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The work of the
Holy Spirit is twofold: the direct work and the indirect work.
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The direct
work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal God's desire in man's
spirit, then to enlighten man's soul so that his mind will
understand, and finally to direct the body to execute God's
will.
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The indirect
work of the Holy Spirit is God's speaking to man through all
kinds of circumstances.
At times He uses
the Bible, and at other times He uses angels, persons, things, or
events.
For example, He spoke to Brother Lawrence through the barren trees
in winter and convinced him of God's resurrection power.
Our wise God speaks to man in many ways. Yet one thing is certain:
The word spoken must be transmitted into man's spirit before it
will have any genuine effect on his spiritual life.
God's work always begins from the center and goes to the
circumference. God reveals Himself within man's center, his
spirit, then extends to his soul, enlightening his mind, and
finally directs his body to execute His will.
Take the matter of sanctification as an example. The God we know
in our spirit is absolutely holy. This holy God is joined to our
spirit through the Holy Spirit (we
become one spirit with the Lord).
From this spirit God enlightens our mind, so that our mind begins
to understand.
The power of holiness thus begins to operate in our mind.
All unholy thoughts are rejected, and anything that is
incompatible with God is immediately denied.
In this way, the soul becomes sanctified. At the same time, the
effect reaches the body, particularly the eyes. The inward
sanctifying power will direct the eyes, so that they can no longer
look at anything that is contrary to holiness.
The eyes will shun everything unholy. When the Holy Spirit speaks
through the ones who know holiness in such a genuine way, their
words will convey the sanctification that they have seen and
experienced, and they will produce an effect in others. |
