"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God"

[i]A few verses of Scripture like "the kingdom of God is not in word but in power" (1 Cor. 4:20) and "the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true" (1 John 2:27) seem to mark this whole past year of my life. The Lord has held me near Himself by His grace and revealed Himself to me in marvellous ways. Only my spirit that is within me can testify how blessed I have been to have been taught by God. He has shown me that there is really nothing good in the flesh--no trace of self-sufficiency whatsoever--and that I must abide in Him alone; that my sufficiency is of God and all I count gain for me, I can count but loss for Christ. I can go on and on, but this is not the purpose of my post. Even before I started writing this, I was asking myself: if the Spirit's testimony with my spirit is true concerning the things I was wondering about, do I need any man to teach me? Do I have to ask for confirmation for something that I have to ultimately take the Spirit's testimony for? Nevertheless, I believe God led me to post this so it may become a source for the mutual encouragement in the faith of all the brethren (Rom. 1:12) and that, reading this, we may all be united by the same Spirit. And I trust the Holy Spirit for this--for no one, indeed, can control His coming and His going.[/i]

Brethren, I have been so grieved in these past several months. I have felt but a pilgrim in this world: misunderstood, questioned, scorned, caused to doubt my own experience by people that I call "brothers and sisters in Christ" (and I am still young and young in the faith). The Lord is my witness, I do not hold anything against them. God indeed uses all things for the good of those who love Him; I shall not reject the chastening of the Almighty. Still, my spirit is grieved by what I see: that "the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). [i]I have seen an intellectual, fleshly faith and a lack of the Spirit's presence in friends, teachers, preachers--all people who profess to know and serve the Lord.[/i] Indeed, I have felt a stranger, an outcast among those people, as if I were a heretic of some sort, bringing some subversive teachings into the assembly. Most of all, I have perceived that we do not walk in the same Spirit. And I have been asking the Lord: why, why? Shouldn't we all have the mind of Christ? Aren't we all baptized into the same Spirit? Isn't this selfsame Spirit really working all in all and joining the whole body together? Yet, some seem not to have Him.

The Scriptures say that "as many are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). And I can tell when someone is full of the Spirit (the Lord has blessed me a few such brethren as I have seen their walk transformed before my very eyes): the radiance, the faith, the power, the conviction, all the fruit Paul lists in Galatians 5. I myself become a totally different person when I do not walk in the Spirit. It is as if my spirit were dead, my mind dulled and darkened, my heart as hard as stone, my memory devoid of a single verse of Scripture. And, now, seeing those Christians around me, who seem to have no conviction of sin (at least not about things I am convicted myself of) whatsoever, who walk after the ways of this world, and appear oblivious to the things of the Spirit, I ask God: Are they really Yours, Lord? Is Your Holy Spirit really in their hearts, crying out: "Abba, Father!"? Is there such a thing as a "natural Christian?" Or am I just out of my mind?!

Now I pray. I pray the prayer Paul prayed in the third chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians. I pray that Christ may be formed in them. I pray and I will not cease. Yet, I am weak and trembling. I need the strength of the Lord to do all things. I cannot merely step into the assembly and say: "Preacher, what are you talking about? Do you not know the Holy Spirit?" Will they ever understand?

I know I can only trust the Spirit. I know that my testimony is not with persuasive words of men's wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Yet, I am so often tempted to ask: "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" Yet, like Jeremiah, I am so afraid of their faces when they say: "Of course, we did. Everyone who believes has the Holy Spirit." The flesh wars against the Spirit, and asks me to give up and lay down the armor of God.

But now I am ready, more than ever, to give it all over to God. It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. I can do nothing on my own. Please pray for me, brethren, "that I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" when I am in the assembly; that the Lord may do with me what He did with Jeremiah when He put forth His hand and touched his mouth, and said: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth" (Jer. 1:9). And I'd like to ask you, brethren: [i]What has the Lord taught you? Am I alone in this struggle?[/i]

May the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you always!

In Christ,
Slavyan

The Lord shows me how IMPOSSIBLE it is for a man to be saved by any natural means. Oh, it takes the supernatural power of God to take a carnal, selfish, destructive human being and turn it into the likeness of His Son! It takes such a mighty work of God from beginning to end, day after day, minute after minute, hour after hour. What has been begun in the Spirit cannot be completed in the flesh. And the greatest deception of the flesh is that one is not really in the flesh: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life... It takes only a revelation by the Spirit of God to catch a glimpse of the reality--the horror--of our sin. Only then can we start to fear and tremble before the Lord. Words by themselves mean nothing really. "The flesh profiteth nothing!" What does this mean?! Just words ... MERE WORDS ... unless spoken in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Have mercy on us, Father! Do we know You? Have we given our all so that we may obtain Christ? Touch us, Father, touch us! Put the coal on our mouths. Purify us. Break those hearts of stone!

Is there no spiritual pride in you, brethren? Are you without sin? ... I am not. I am broke without Christ. I cannot ever sanctify myself.

Brethren, I see our little arguments, our little controversies, our little agendas, but I do not our selves nailed to the cross. Do we think we are beyond reproach?

"Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies." May the Lord open our eyes to this Scripture! Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies... "And [i]if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know[/i]. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him" (1 Cor. 8:1-3).

Brethren, if those words don't touch you, please be still before the Lord. These words are Spirit, and they are life, the Lord said. Do they touch us? Do they break our hearts?

"Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:11-13

Or is Isaiah's prophecy fulfilled in our hearing?

"[i]Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.[/i]" Matthew 13:14-15

One brother recently reminded me that judgment shall begin at the house of God. And this means not him, or her, or them, but ME, Lord, ME, Lord, ME!

P.S. I encourage you to listen to this message by A.W. Tozer: [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?lid=2319]The Kingdom of God Lies not in Words, but in Power [/url]

In Christ,
Slavyan

Paul was always patient with those who were babes in Christ. Paul always prayed for those to grow in maturity. We can only sow and water, but it is God who gives the increase.

Thank you, brother Jeff! May the Lord grant me patience. He's been so patient with me all the while, and how much I've stumbled! Love so amazing, so Divine... Forgive me, brethren, that I love so little, although I've been forgiven much.

I've had a lot of worldly sorrow in me. Please pray for me as I seek comfort in the Lord.