The Lord Speaks to the Spiritual man
By Rev. Paul Booth
Luke 12; 4,5 Arcana C&œ;lestia 51
By Rev. Paul Booth
Luke 12; 4,5 Arcana C&œ;lestia 51
'And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will tell (forewarn) you whom you shall fear; Fear him, which after he has killed has power to cast into hell; yea, I say fear him." (Luke 12: 4, 5)
The Lord is, here, in our text, speaking before a crowd, but he is speaking in particular to His disciples, for we see He calls them his friends and we know that only those who listen to Him are only those who believe and follow His teachings and who hear Him are meant by being called His friends. A man listens to the thoughts that he loves that enter his mind. Now, thoughts are spiritual things, either truths or falsities - and are not natural things, for they are from within. So, it is that the Lord is not just speaking to the natural state of man, but to the spiritual of man, that is, to the spirit of man that is within. Of course, there is a reason for this. It is because it is the spirit through which the Lord leads man while he is in his natural life and state; for the Lord, who has created him, has made him, first a spiritual being and, even a celestial being and the natural is only the ultimates or the end of creation. It is one thing to have lived when the Lord God Himself was with them in paradise. For, when He spoke to those whom He met they understood Him spiritually and felt it personally. Yet, it is another thing, today, to read the words that the Lord has said and accept them naturally as speaking personally to us.
And, thus, it is in this that we can understand that the Lord speaks to our spirit through our natural understanding even as He had spoken to man when He came and lived on earth as a man. Now, if the words He speaks to us are truths and give us life, that they guide us in our natural state so that we may be redeemed from our life of sin and come into a new spiritual life in Heaven, then we can understand that the Lord came to save the spiritual man and in saving the spiritual man, the natural man can come into a new natural state free of evil and therefore, of falsities of the love of self. For, then man will not need to wonder what truths are hidden or covered; He will know them, for they will be revealed to him as the Lord had told His disciples.
The Lord was speaking of a time coming when all things, that is, all falsities or lies and all truths will be revealed. ("For there is nothing (or no thing) hidden or covered, that shall not be known or revealed" Luke 12: 2.). Then it is when man sees or understands the mysteries that have been hidden within the written Word because he does not know the things that correspond in Heaven to the natural things on earth. It is in this Heavenly or spiritual understanding of the Word that the Lord calls us 'friends'; for in our obedience to His commandments, we are conjoined with Him, and not conjoined in His coming in the body as He did in the first Advent, but we are conjoined to Him spiritually in His Second Advent. His natural body had covered His Spirit within, both the Divine Itself that He called His Father and the Divine proceeding which he promised would come again. So, we can also understand why He says He sends from the Father, the Holy Spirit, which He says is the also the 'spirit of Truth' and the 'Comforter'.
Let us recall from Genesis that man was created in God's image and after His likeness. So, he was created first a spiritual man, that is in God's image and after he became a celestial man or made or formed into a likeness or a similitude of Jehovah God, thus, having a soul, body, and a proceeding or influence. Now, when the Lord came on earth to redeem man because man had fallen from his celestial state and even from his spiritual state or life, He called man to walk in the light or His truth and, we know that He meant Heavenly 'truth'; and, also, by 'light' He meant Himself, who is the Truth, so that we would become the 'sons of light' and, also, a 'friend' in that man does what He has commanded. So, it is in this respect that by the Lord calling someone a 'friend', He is speaking to the man's spirit or the spiritual man that is within. In other words, to those whose spirit listens and is obedient.
Jesus continues and says to His friends 'do not be afraid''. Now, why would He say this? We know the New Testament came and revealed many things about what would come upon those who follow - the Church - the teachings of the Lord, not to mention that He had just told them that a time would come that what was hidden to them would be revealed. They certainly had many questions concerning what the Lord was teaching. A certain degree of anxiety and fear would naturally overcome them. The Lord knew this and, so, He comforted them by saying, "Be not afraid of them, (or him as is said in some versions) etc."
By the fact that the Lord mentions the fear of dying, we know it was on the disciples minds, for the Lord says 'do not be afraid of those who kill the body' and, in their minds were natural thoughts as all men have now living in their natural state concerning death. And, because of sin they knew that men were evil and would kill one another even as we do today. Of course, in a state of fear one's faith is lost. By the 'body', here, signifies the natural man. So the death of the natural body of man cab be seen spiritually as an entrance into another world according to whether there is conjunction and presence with the Lord God or not. In fact, though, the creation of man was so that man would be with God and enjoy His delights, and thus, have His blessings. So, one could say that man was created for Heaven, and not for a life of eternity on earth or for eternal damnation.
We understand, here, that it is the spirit of man or the spiritual man that lives on not the natural body man lives in and it is not meant the soul that is killed, but that what is killed is a man's self-derived life, that life which mankind has fallen into because of his love of self and sin. Thus, the Lord adds these words, "and after that have no more that they can do" (Luke 12: 4). Then, the Lord goes on to say "I will show you whom you should fear" (verse 5).
We need to see and learn here a lesson. The fear, here, is concerning the disciples' life or a life not of this world, and so the question is: is it a love for one's self-derived life, or is it a love for the Lord and, therefore, a love for spiritual knowledge that the Lord had mentioned just minutes before that would one day become revealed? There is often said to fear God and by this is meant that a person's faith should be grounded in the good of love or in the good of faith, so that the person becomes regenerated and so, saved. So, what is signified are the truths and goods that are the qualities that flow from God 'as it were' into a man's mind into his spirit. In this, we can see that the Lord has the authority and the power to redeem and save, for the man's will, will have been subject to the Lord, the man loving to follow His Word.
"Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him" (Luke 12: 5). This refers to destroying the soul of man, not the body of man. When a person has lived life according to the truths of the Word, has acknowledged the Lord's Divine Human, evil spirits want nothing more than to destroy him and this can be done by leading the person astray in this world and if not for the Lord, would continue in the next. Let us read this truth. "They shall deliver you into the affliction, and shall slay you, and you shall be hated for My Name's sake" (Matt. 24: 9). Of course, it is the disciples whom the Lord is speaking to, and we have already shown that it also signifies all those who worship the Lord and live in accordance with the truths of His Word.
The point is that the follower of the Lord and His Word is attacked by evil spirits in this world and they continue wanting to attack him when he comes into the spiritual world. Since, that is so, as we have just read, then if a person has not followed the Lord and His Word while in this world, then when he comes into the spiritual world the evil spirits will want to continue to kill or destroy his soul not having been satisfied with just killing the truths and goods that come from the Lord into his natural life while he lived in the body. We can see that the truths and goods with man have been killed in this life only in man when falsities and evils rule him. So, when such a person who has followed the Lord's truths and goods in this world has been physically killed and his testimony has been silenced in this world, then, when he is in the next world, he is protected by the Lord having been obedient to the Lord's Word, for it is, then, by the Lord's power and authority, that the evils in this world - the prince of this world - no longer has power over him in the next. That is why the Lord says, "Fear him, which after he has killed (the truths and goods) has power to cast into hell." We give power to whom we hear in this world, either to the Lord or to our 'self'.
In our text, the word used in the Greek is 'Him' and in some versions 'them' and means 'One' and, so, has the idea of referring to a person either the Lord or the Evil one. So it is in that respect that it refers to the contrary of the Good and Truth of God, which is evil and falsity and often call the 'devil'. And, since evil and falsity have replaced God's good and truth in the fallen man, then these have power and authority to cast into hell if the man has not accepted the Lord's redemption. Note: even the Lord calls the evil 'one' the 'prince of this world'. We can see, here, that such authority and power has been given to evils and falsities by man himself, by having faith in himself, and not in the Lord. In truth, such a man has made the falsities and evils that he accepts as truths and goods - his God.
Thus, it is that the Lord does not cast anyone into hell, but man chooses a life of hell himself. And, thus, hell is a life opposite to a life in Heaven. For, if one can know Heaven through knowing the Lord, then one knows hell by knowing the nature of evil. Here, we recall that man desired to and did eat of the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' and, so, a man's life has been distorted and becomes destroyed if not for the Lord's redemption and salvation. One last thing, since man in his natural state hears only himself, then it is only to the spiritual that the Lord speaks and where He has power to redeem man. Thus it is that the covered or hidden truths need to be revealed, for without them a man is unable to become enlightened and to see these truths or spiritual truths hidden within the Word in his natural understanding, his spiritual understanding being covered or hidden to him.
Amen.
The Lord is, here, in our text, speaking before a crowd, but he is speaking in particular to His disciples, for we see He calls them his friends and we know that only those who listen to Him are only those who believe and follow His teachings and who hear Him are meant by being called His friends. A man listens to the thoughts that he loves that enter his mind. Now, thoughts are spiritual things, either truths or falsities - and are not natural things, for they are from within. So, it is that the Lord is not just speaking to the natural state of man, but to the spiritual of man, that is, to the spirit of man that is within. Of course, there is a reason for this. It is because it is the spirit through which the Lord leads man while he is in his natural life and state; for the Lord, who has created him, has made him, first a spiritual being and, even a celestial being and the natural is only the ultimates or the end of creation. It is one thing to have lived when the Lord God Himself was with them in paradise. For, when He spoke to those whom He met they understood Him spiritually and felt it personally. Yet, it is another thing, today, to read the words that the Lord has said and accept them naturally as speaking personally to us.
And, thus, it is in this that we can understand that the Lord speaks to our spirit through our natural understanding even as He had spoken to man when He came and lived on earth as a man. Now, if the words He speaks to us are truths and give us life, that they guide us in our natural state so that we may be redeemed from our life of sin and come into a new spiritual life in Heaven, then we can understand that the Lord came to save the spiritual man and in saving the spiritual man, the natural man can come into a new natural state free of evil and therefore, of falsities of the love of self. For, then man will not need to wonder what truths are hidden or covered; He will know them, for they will be revealed to him as the Lord had told His disciples.
The Lord was speaking of a time coming when all things, that is, all falsities or lies and all truths will be revealed. ("For there is nothing (or no thing) hidden or covered, that shall not be known or revealed" Luke 12: 2.). Then it is when man sees or understands the mysteries that have been hidden within the written Word because he does not know the things that correspond in Heaven to the natural things on earth. It is in this Heavenly or spiritual understanding of the Word that the Lord calls us 'friends'; for in our obedience to His commandments, we are conjoined with Him, and not conjoined in His coming in the body as He did in the first Advent, but we are conjoined to Him spiritually in His Second Advent. His natural body had covered His Spirit within, both the Divine Itself that He called His Father and the Divine proceeding which he promised would come again. So, we can also understand why He says He sends from the Father, the Holy Spirit, which He says is the also the 'spirit of Truth' and the 'Comforter'.
Let us recall from Genesis that man was created in God's image and after His likeness. So, he was created first a spiritual man, that is in God's image and after he became a celestial man or made or formed into a likeness or a similitude of Jehovah God, thus, having a soul, body, and a proceeding or influence. Now, when the Lord came on earth to redeem man because man had fallen from his celestial state and even from his spiritual state or life, He called man to walk in the light or His truth and, we know that He meant Heavenly 'truth'; and, also, by 'light' He meant Himself, who is the Truth, so that we would become the 'sons of light' and, also, a 'friend' in that man does what He has commanded. So, it is in this respect that by the Lord calling someone a 'friend', He is speaking to the man's spirit or the spiritual man that is within. In other words, to those whose spirit listens and is obedient.
Jesus continues and says to His friends 'do not be afraid''. Now, why would He say this? We know the New Testament came and revealed many things about what would come upon those who follow - the Church - the teachings of the Lord, not to mention that He had just told them that a time would come that what was hidden to them would be revealed. They certainly had many questions concerning what the Lord was teaching. A certain degree of anxiety and fear would naturally overcome them. The Lord knew this and, so, He comforted them by saying, "Be not afraid of them, (or him as is said in some versions) etc."
By the fact that the Lord mentions the fear of dying, we know it was on the disciples minds, for the Lord says 'do not be afraid of those who kill the body' and, in their minds were natural thoughts as all men have now living in their natural state concerning death. And, because of sin they knew that men were evil and would kill one another even as we do today. Of course, in a state of fear one's faith is lost. By the 'body', here, signifies the natural man. So the death of the natural body of man cab be seen spiritually as an entrance into another world according to whether there is conjunction and presence with the Lord God or not. In fact, though, the creation of man was so that man would be with God and enjoy His delights, and thus, have His blessings. So, one could say that man was created for Heaven, and not for a life of eternity on earth or for eternal damnation.
We understand, here, that it is the spirit of man or the spiritual man that lives on not the natural body man lives in and it is not meant the soul that is killed, but that what is killed is a man's self-derived life, that life which mankind has fallen into because of his love of self and sin. Thus, the Lord adds these words, "and after that have no more that they can do" (Luke 12: 4). Then, the Lord goes on to say "I will show you whom you should fear" (verse 5).
We need to see and learn here a lesson. The fear, here, is concerning the disciples' life or a life not of this world, and so the question is: is it a love for one's self-derived life, or is it a love for the Lord and, therefore, a love for spiritual knowledge that the Lord had mentioned just minutes before that would one day become revealed? There is often said to fear God and by this is meant that a person's faith should be grounded in the good of love or in the good of faith, so that the person becomes regenerated and so, saved. So, what is signified are the truths and goods that are the qualities that flow from God 'as it were' into a man's mind into his spirit. In this, we can see that the Lord has the authority and the power to redeem and save, for the man's will, will have been subject to the Lord, the man loving to follow His Word.
"Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him" (Luke 12: 5). This refers to destroying the soul of man, not the body of man. When a person has lived life according to the truths of the Word, has acknowledged the Lord's Divine Human, evil spirits want nothing more than to destroy him and this can be done by leading the person astray in this world and if not for the Lord, would continue in the next. Let us read this truth. "They shall deliver you into the affliction, and shall slay you, and you shall be hated for My Name's sake" (Matt. 24: 9). Of course, it is the disciples whom the Lord is speaking to, and we have already shown that it also signifies all those who worship the Lord and live in accordance with the truths of His Word.
The point is that the follower of the Lord and His Word is attacked by evil spirits in this world and they continue wanting to attack him when he comes into the spiritual world. Since, that is so, as we have just read, then if a person has not followed the Lord and His Word while in this world, then when he comes into the spiritual world the evil spirits will want to continue to kill or destroy his soul not having been satisfied with just killing the truths and goods that come from the Lord into his natural life while he lived in the body. We can see that the truths and goods with man have been killed in this life only in man when falsities and evils rule him. So, when such a person who has followed the Lord's truths and goods in this world has been physically killed and his testimony has been silenced in this world, then, when he is in the next world, he is protected by the Lord having been obedient to the Lord's Word, for it is, then, by the Lord's power and authority, that the evils in this world - the prince of this world - no longer has power over him in the next. That is why the Lord says, "Fear him, which after he has killed (the truths and goods) has power to cast into hell." We give power to whom we hear in this world, either to the Lord or to our 'self'.
In our text, the word used in the Greek is 'Him' and in some versions 'them' and means 'One' and, so, has the idea of referring to a person either the Lord or the Evil one. So it is in that respect that it refers to the contrary of the Good and Truth of God, which is evil and falsity and often call the 'devil'. And, since evil and falsity have replaced God's good and truth in the fallen man, then these have power and authority to cast into hell if the man has not accepted the Lord's redemption. Note: even the Lord calls the evil 'one' the 'prince of this world'. We can see, here, that such authority and power has been given to evils and falsities by man himself, by having faith in himself, and not in the Lord. In truth, such a man has made the falsities and evils that he accepts as truths and goods - his God.
Thus, it is that the Lord does not cast anyone into hell, but man chooses a life of hell himself. And, thus, hell is a life opposite to a life in Heaven. For, if one can know Heaven through knowing the Lord, then one knows hell by knowing the nature of evil. Here, we recall that man desired to and did eat of the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' and, so, a man's life has been distorted and becomes destroyed if not for the Lord's redemption and salvation. One last thing, since man in his natural state hears only himself, then it is only to the spiritual that the Lord speaks and where He has power to redeem man. Thus it is that the covered or hidden truths need to be revealed, for without them a man is unable to become enlightened and to see these truths or spiritual truths hidden within the Word in his natural understanding, his spiritual understanding being covered or hidden to him.
Amen.
| About |
| Doctrine
Site Content Copyright 2001 by The Lord's New Chapel All Rights Reserved
Site Concept and Creation Copyright 2001 by Stealth Media Solutions All Rights Reserved