Whole Spirit
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July 01, 2018 |
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"Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22).
Dr. Jaerock Lee
Senior Pastor of Manmin Central Church
- Chairman, The United Holiness Church of Jesus Christ
- Permanent President, The World Christianity Revival Mission Association
- Founder & Board Chairman, Global Christian Network
- Founder & Board Chairman, World Christian Doctors Network
- Founder & Board Chairman, Manmin International Seminary
- Founder & Board Chairman, The Alliance Holiness Theological Seminary
- Doctorate of Ministry, and Honorary Doctorate of Divinity
- His sermons were broadcast by Christian Broadcasting System and the Far East Broadcasting Company.
- He conducted crusades in New York City, Washington D. C., Baltimore, Maryland, Los Angeles, and in Hawaii of the USA; Japan; India; Pakistan; the Philippines; Argentina; Honduras; Peru; Russia; Germany; Kenya; Tanzania; Uganda; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Jerusalem of Israel; and Estonia.
God has spared no effort to gain true children who are the fruit of whole spirit. When you achieve a sincere heart and have perfect faith, you can enter the level of whole spirit and New Jerusalem the best dwelling place in heaven. But even after you enter the level of whole spirit, you should grow up close to the 100th percentile of whole spirit to completely understand God's heart. _ Excerpted from the Leadership Conference message "Whole Spirit"
God the Creator began human cultivation to gain true children who achieve 'whole spirit.' True children refer to those who understand God's heart and will, love Him from the heart, and act according to His will. To gain such children, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus to the earth and has shown His unsparing love to us. When we resemble Him and achieve His heart, we can achieve whole spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
We can be the fruit of whole spirit and God's true children when we see everything in His sight, think in His standard, and talk and act in His way. Then, we can enter New Jerusalem, the best dwelling place in heaven and we can perfectly accomplish the providence of God.
Of course, complete understanding of God's heart requires us to reach almost the 100th percentile of the level of whole spirit. In this edition, we are going to delve into the three evidences of whole spirit.
The first evidence of whole spirit is to become united with God.
People with the heart of whole spirit are united with God in terms of their heart, will, and thoughts. They try to discern His will in every matter and achieve it with their best. They do everything with love for God in thanks and joy. They try to talk, think, and act with God's standard in heart. Their hearts are directed towards God in whatever they do, and the fragrance of their love for Him is felt around them. Since they are united with God in those ways, they can manifest the power that belongs to God, receive blessings, and bear much fruit.
Enoch was such a man of whole spirit. God was exceedingly pleased with his existence itself. He always kept his heart filled with God and never went outside of His will even for a single moment. He tried to please God all the time and piled up prayer to know and feel better about Him. He endeavored to speak, act, and think according to God's heart and will in every matter. Everything about him was only to become a source of joy to God.
Moreover, he was blessed to walk with God for 300 years, and it enabled him to know the deeper levels of His heart and will. It is shown in the Epistle of Jude that records Enoch's prophecy about the Lord's second coming that will happen at the end of the world. After the 300 years, God wanted to have him closer to Him, so He took him up alive (Genesis 5:21-24; Hebrews 11:5).
While the heart of spirit is the faith to love God to the utmost, that of whole spirit is faith that pleases God. In order to grow up beyond the level of loving God to the utmost and reach the level of pleasing God, you have to understand His heart. And to completely understand His heart, you should become united with Him. If you give someone something that seems good to you without knowing what he likes, it may just leave you with self-satisfaction. Only when you know and understand his heart and please him in the way he likes can it be said that you are united with him.
People of spirit have yet to become united with God though they know God's heart and will to a certain extent and obey Him. But people of whole spirit not just obey with knowledge of the truth, but they also try to understand why God wants them to do a certain thing and how He wants them to get it done. In other words, they obey by understanding the will and heart of God. Then, they can bear the fruit that God wants from them.
When Abraham turned 100, God gave him a son and promised that he would make his son a great nation. But one day, God told him to slay and give his son as a burnt offering. Even in this situation, Abraham still believed that God faithfully keeps His promise and gives only good things to him (Hebrews 11:17-19). Just as Abraham did, when we understand God's will and say, "Amen" can we show true obedience with our heart, truthfulness, and devotion.
When God told Abraham that He would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, he felt the depth of His heart that takes no delight in destroying and wants to save people whatever it takes. In fact, sin and evil were too rampant in the city for the people to avoid the judgment, but Abraham still felt the original heart of God: love and mercy. He didn't literally interpret the Word of God as it was. He didn't give up on the people. He didn't think, 'Sin is so prevalent in the city that the judgment is unavoidable. It is the will of God to destroy it. It can't be helped.' On the contrary, he felt the love of God who wanted to find reasons for which he could show His mercy for them.
Abraham didn't ask God to just unconditionally forgive them without grounds. He asked according to the justice of God. He asked Him to show His mercy on them if there were ten righteous people in the city. And he received the answer. Unfortunately, there were not ten righteous people and thus it eventually fell. But it shows that Abraham was well aware of the love and justice of God because he was united with God. That is why he humbly asked God to save them. If you enter the level of whole spirit like Abraham, you can do everything in accordance with the heart of God.
The second evidence is to have goodness of God.
People of spirit can come closer and closer to whole spirit to the extent that they fill their hearts with goodness, love, and truth. After they finally enter whole spirit, their words, actions, and facial expressions give out a thick aroma of goodness.
They do not seek their own benefits, and moreover they advance to the level of seeking others' benefits in every matter. They serve others even if it means personal sacrifice. They do not talk about others' transgressions but cover them with love. They do not feel uncomfortable when they experience someone acting in evil to them. They rather move the heart of the evil person with their goodness. Their goodness naturally comes out. However, we should note that goodness of men is different from goodness of God. For instance, you should not unconditionally help the poor. If you help those who squander their money in drinking alcohol or gambling, it is to put them deeper into the sin. It is the same with Jonah's case. When you help those who stand against the will of God, you will undergo their hardship together with them.
At the level of whole spirit, you can discern between spiritual goodness and fleshly goodness. You can also discern good from evil and destroy evil. True goodness gives life to people. So, if you have true goodness, you can reveal darkness of other souls with light.
God is goodness and love. He has limitless mercy. But when you read the Law in the Old Testament, you may feel He is mighty and strict. And when it comes to some kinds of sin, He told people to put to death those who committed the sin with no reconsideration. It is because in such cases, the problem caused by the sin would have threatened the salvation of countless others, not just the person who committed the sin.
In the Bible there are some cases recorded of people of whole spirit who had once acted so decisively that they looked cold-hearted. Elijah killed the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah, and it is such an example. He slew them because they had passed beyond the limit of salvation. They had already sold their souls to the devil. Moreover, they tempted people of God to commit the abominable sin of idolatry. So, Elijah had to remove them decisively to prevent such things from happening again, ever.
Contrary to the case of Elijah, the priest Eli did not properly discipline his sons though they had committed abominable sins. They were priests as well but were worthless men. They neglected sacrifice to God and even took of the sacrifice animals given to God as they pleased. They laid with the women who served at the doorway of the tabernacle. Eli should have punished them strictly and sternly. He should have stopped them from doing any more evil even if it meant kicking them out of his family. But he just tried to persuade them not to do evil with a word. Because of it, God said that Eli had honored his sons above God. As a result, Eli and his sons were faced with miserable deaths and a curse fell upon his whole household (1 Samuel 2:29-34).
Let's say a church member committed sin. You should pray for him to repent and cover his transgression. But if he keeps committing sin, you have to admonish him and help him repent and turn back. It is goodness. And once he turns back from his sin, you should forget about it and cover his past transgression.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:15-17, "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector."
But if the one who committed sin is a pastor or a church's full-time worker and it causes problems at the church level, it may be a different story. It is not goodness in the sight of God for the church to just cover his/her transgression. Of course, the church should admonish him and help him repent first. But in some cases, the church should flatly send him out though he repents. It is because it is true goodness in the sight of God and it does not let evil grow. It is goodness with authority that destroys evil.
The third evidence is to be faithful in the heart and will of God.
People of spirit try to do more than that which is within their capability and they work faithfully and unchangingly with fervor. Even if they do not gain others' recognition after a hard work is completed and they are assigned difficult tasks, they just give thanks, feel joyful, and work steadfastly. It is because they love God. People of whole spirit do more: they are faithful even with their life to accomplish the work of God according to His heart and will.
It was more than 10 years after he met the Lord on the way to Damascus that the Apostle Paul began his ministry in earnest. He was an elitist of his time who was educated under Gamaliel according to the law. And he was also more zealous for God than anyone else among the people. He might have wanted to spread the gospel with his knowledge and fervor right after he met the Lord. However, God wanted him to prepare his vessel proper for His work and be spiritually faithful.
God first worked on him in the way that he could arm himself with the Word, pray, and become a proper vessel for God through many trials. Afterwards, he could unchangingly obey the work of the Holy Spirit until the last moment of martyrdom. He spread the gospel going all the way from Asia Minor to Greece, Rome, and other areas, but he did not say he felt exhausted. Even when he was shipwreck and spent days and nights in the deep sea and when he was beaten and imprisoned covered with blood, he was only joyful and thankful. He was once stoned while preaching the gospel and looked dead, but when he woke up he did not take a rest and went to the next place for the gospel-spreading. His heart was full of goals for the kingdom of God.
What about you? Some people say they will work with their lives when they are first given titles or God-given duties. But when they meet with difficulties, they lose heart and feel frustrated though the difficulties are not even comparable to the afflictions Apostle Paul had undergone (Proverbs 24:10). Others feel disheartened and give up when they are rebuked or they do not gain the fruit after they try hard and make a passionate effort.
However, if they did their best for the glory of God with true love for Him, their fervor would never cool down. Even if they were not recognized or underwent unexpected sufferings, they would be okay. When they were rebuked by superiors or they did not yield outcomes that they had wanted, they would try harder with more fervor. They would also work faithfully not only in the field that they are good at or they like but also in that which they have never done or seems hard to do.
They would just do it with faith that they can do everything in Him who strengthens them because they believe and rely on God. It is true faithfulness. You should be faithful not only when your work is praised but also when nobody recognizes your work. You will just do your best as long as you can become a little bit of help for the kingdom of God.
Since Elijah loved God so much, he had desire to do anything as long as he could achieve His will and providence. That is why he obeyed Him even when he had to do something he could not have done with his personality and even when he had to put his life at risk. By doing so, he could make the Israelites return to God.
People of whole spirit do not work in their ways, taste, or personality but in accordance with God's way, heart, and will. True faithfulness is not achieved unless you work in the heart and will of God, no matter how hard and fervently you work and how talented and capable you are. Only when you enter whole spirit and act in the will of God can it be the source of joy to God and can you show true faithfulness that gives benefits to His kingdom.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope you will be united with God, achieve His goodness, and work according to His will. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will become fruit of whole spirit, achieve the providence of saving all people of all nations, and dwell in God's joy and glory.
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