SCORPIO THE SCORPION

(continued)

In the great prophetic drama of GOD'S BIBLE IN THE SKY the third scene is called SCORPIO--THE SCORPION. A scorpion is a most malignant and deadly enemy. Its bite is not always fatal, though it can be; still it is always extraordinarily painful and dangerous. The star picture brings before us a gigantic Scorpion, larger than a man, with its tail uplifted in anger, endeavoring to sting in the heel a mighty man, but is crushed by the man, who has his foot placed right on the Scorpion's heart. The Hebrew name for the constellation of Scorpio is AKRAB, which means "the conflict" or "war."

The whole scene of this constellation is one of conflict. The first Decan, or minor constellation surrounding Scorpio, is that of SERPENS---the struggling Serpent. The Devil is portrayed in the Bible as the great antagonist in this battle. He is portrayed as a serpent; as a dragon; as a scorpion; as Cetus, the water snake; as Leviathan, the serpent in the sea; as Hydra, the many-headed monstrous snake. He is presented in many guises but always as a malignant, venomous and hostile creature. The second Decan is the picture of a great and powerful man whose name is ORPHIUCHUS, meaning "the serpent-holder." It portrays a mighty man who is struggling with a giant Serpent, trying to keep him from accomplishing what he is attempting to do. The Serpent is ~ putting forth a mighty effort to reach up and grasp THE CROWN which is situated immediately over the Serpent's head. The strong man, Orphiuchus, is restraining the Serpent while crushing the Scorpion! The man is grasping the Serpent with both hands, disabling the monster by his superior power and effectually holding him fast so that he cannot get the Crown. With one foot lifted from the Scorpion's tail as though stung and hurt, he is in the act of crushing the Scorpion's head with the other. He thus appears as the One who has power over the Serpent and over death, holding, conquering, and destroying them. Orphiuchus is, first and foremost, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who at the cross was wounded in the heel, but in His resurrection, ascension and glorification has crushed the head of the Serpent, conquering for Himself and for all creation sin, sickness, sorrow, limitation and death!

The third Decan in the house of Scorpio is HERCULES, and describes more fully the out-working of Christ's triumph. What it really depicts, in fact, is Christ in and through His many-membered body, the sons of God, accomplishing the totality of the victory which He came into this world to effect. The old Hebrew name for Hercules was GIBBOR, the word used for the "strong man" in Ps. 19:5, and translated as "mighty" and "mighty man" throughout the Old Testament. GIBBOR means "warrior, powerful, champion, valiant man." Hercules (Gibbor) is shown on the star charts down on one knee; in his right hand he wields a heavy club and in his left he grasps CERBERUS, the three-headed monster. Ills left foot is set directly on the head of the great Dragon. Ah, my beloved, beyond all the pagan distortions and confusions, there is a glorious revelation of the great work of our God and Saviour. How good it would be if God's elect people could comprehend the magnificent glory God has in store for us! It is a glorious thing to see that in the unchanging stars of the heavens and the shining Signs placed there by our omniscient and omnipotent God in the night sky, we have an immense gallery of Truth, a vast and awesome portrait of the conquering Christ whose members we are. May the Spirit of God make it wonderfully real to all who read these lines that the elect sons of God are members in particular of GOD'S CHRIST, GOD'S ANOINTED, GOD'S MESSIAH, GOD'S HERCULES, GOD'S GOD-MAN, by whom He shall wield His victorious club, subdue every enemy, and plant His foot on the Dragon's head--obliterating forever that ancient Serpent of error, sin, sickness, pain, sorrow, limitation and death. To these younger sons of God Jesus has proclaimed, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Lk. 10:19). "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly" (Rom. 16:20). Of these mighty sons of God the Psalmist David also prophesied, "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet" (Ps. 91: 13).

Oriental imagery is never more graphically displayed in all its eloquence than in the use of the biblical word SERPENT as a figure of Satan, the Devil. This symbol, along with a number of other word pictures, is very expressive of his nature and activity. I make no apology for declaring to you the truth that each and every creature of earth typifies a higher reality in the realm of SPIRIT--good or bad, positive or negative. This can be seen clearly in the words of Jesus when He says in Lk. 10:17-19, "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name. And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven (the realm of SPIRIT). Behold I give you power to TREAD ON SERPENTS AND SCORPIONS, and over all the power of the enemy." Spake He of the serpents and scorpions of the fields? Nay, my brother, He spake rather of SPIRITS possessing the nature typified by serpents and scorpions, hidden and cunning, slithering about in the lowest realms of man's earthiness, in the thoughts and desires and ambitions of the carnal mind, full of deadly venom. Even the fowls of heaven, as the law of Moses shows us, clean and unclean, each bespeak of a kind or quality of nature, expressing those characteristics that originate in the spirit realm. Hence, in scripture unclean birds are a type of evil natures, as John the Revelator shows in Rev. 18:2, "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen and is become the habitation of DEVILS, and the hold of every FOUL SPIRIT, and a cage of every UNCLEAN AND HATEFUL BIRD." We know the Lamb, the meek and sacrificial nature of the Christ within, the Son of God, gentle, kind, compassionate, redemptive, blessing all He touches; but have we not known also the nature of the beast, wild and ravenous, that spirit, so obvious in the world, which stomps and rends and breaks in pieces and devours, of whom Peter warns us, saying, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (I Pet. 5:8).

Some teach that in all the universe there is but ONE SPIRIT---the Holy Spirit of God. I solemnly tell every person who reads these lines that the scriptures are clear, and give us a wonderful understanding of the workings of SPIRIT. SPIRIT, like everything else in nature, has its opposites--positive and negative, good and evil, light and darkness. As was pointed out in our previous message on this subject, spirit is not good--neither is spirit evil. Spirit is just a type of thing, just as flesh is a type of thing. For that matter, flesh is neither good nor evil. It is just there. Flesh becomes evil when its use is perverted. Flesh is good when it is properly used as the temple of God or when it is used to give visible manifestation to the nature of God. As Paul said, "There is nothing impure of itself." Jesus displayed the wonder of glorified flesh when He appeared to His disciples following His resurrection and said, "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have" (Lk. 24:3%. Spirit, then, like anything else is neither good nor evil until it is expressed through usage. Only then does it take on a holy and righteous or an evil and unrighteous character.

Let us mediate deeply upon this word--SPIRIT. The English word "spirit" is from the Latin SPIRARE, meaning "to breathe," the words respiration, expiration, and inspiration all being derived from the same source. The word "spirit" in the Old Testament is the translation of the Hebrew word RUWACH, the primary significance or root-meaning of which is WIND. Similarly the New Testament Greek word for "spirit," PNEUMA, comes from PNEO, meaning "to breathe or blow," the primary significance or root-meaning being WIND. The English word "ghost" used in the King James Bible, though now somewhat obsolete and not in general use, is derived from the Greek PNEUMA--meaning a blowing or a wind. But let no one hastily conclude that we are about to attempt to prove that the Holy Spirit is a holy wind, for nothing could be farther from our thought. Since one cannot live ' without air and breathing in the realm of the physical, wind and breath are used symbolically of the Holy Spirit,

apart from whom there can be no life in the realm of the divine. The Holy Spirit is God's breath, God's out-breathing, God's ENERGY FORCE by which He accomplishes His purpose and executes His will. Many times we have thought of the Holy Spirit as power, and certainly He has power, but power is basically the ability or capacity to act or do things and it can be latent, dormant, inactively resident in someone or something. Force, on the other hand, more specifically describes energy projected and exerted on persons and things, and may be defined as "an influence which produces or tends to produce motion, or change of motion." Power might be likened to the stored energy in a battery, it is there, but inactive. Force, however, could be compared to the current flowing from the battery, starting the car. Force, then, more accurately represents the sense of the Hebrew and Greek terms relating to God's Spirit, and this is borne out in a consideration of the scriptures.

It will greatly aid our perception of the activity of the Holy Spirit once we understand the simple truth that all spirit is ENERGY. Energy has many forms, but it is not something that you can see or hold in your hand. You can think of energy as something that can make things change. For example, a moving object has energy because it can change things by crashing into them. Heat is another form of energy. Heat energy can change ice by melting it into water, and heat it more, changing it into vapor. It can run the engine of an automobile, jet plane or rocket. There is another kind of energy, called chemical energy. It is in the coal or oil that heats buildings. It is in the food that nourishes your body and keeps you active. There is atomic energy which can be set free from the atoms of some materials. And there is the energy carried by light waves, called electromagnetic energy. It is the electromagnetic energy in sunlight that warms the earth. Light waves, streaming out of the sun, carry energy to us across nearly a hundred million miles of space. When the energy of the light hits the earth, part of it changes to heat. Some of it is stored in plants as chemical energy.

Another kind of energy of which we, the people of God, are aware is SPIRIT ENERGY. In physics energy is known as the capacity for doing work. The Greek noun for energy is ENERGEO and its verb form is ENERGEIA. These words are used in the Greek New Testament several times. Because of the association between "doing work" and "energy," the words are generally translated into English as "work" or "working." Since so much has been learned about energy in recent years it would now be far better to translate the words for just what they mean--energy or energizing. Let us look at a few scriptures. "That ye may know...what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working (energeia) of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead" (Eph. 1:18-20). Yes, it was energy, God's energy, which RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD! And the record further states that He was raised up by the SPIRIT of God! And not only did Paul say that it was God's energy (His invisible power-force) which raised Christ up, but he went on to say in Eph. 3:7 that it was the same energy of God which transformed his own life and made him a minister of Jesus Christ. "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working (energeia) of HIS POWER.' Then on top of this Paul declares that it is this SPIRIT ENERGY of God which is WORKING WITHIN US to bring us unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Chris 'From whom (Chris0 the whole body fifty joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working (energeia) of every part, maketh increase of the body...' (Eph. 4:16). And furthermore he states that 'He that is joined unto the Lord IS ONE SPIRIT' (2 Cor. 6:17). ONE SPIRIT!. ONE ENERGY SOURCE! ONE ENERGY FORCE! YOU AND THE LORD! 'Them is one body, and ONE SPIRIT' (Eph 4:4). You win know a great truth when you understand the simple fact that in the Kingdom of God there is ONLY ONE SPIRIT. In union with the Lord you are that one spirit. All spirit is energy, exerting a force, or influence upon creation. GOD is the supreme source of energy, the highest and purest form of energy, and the wonder of it is beyond comprehension, but in union with God Y-O-U ARE THE ENERGY SOURCE FOR ALL THINGS! All creation stands on tip-toe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God pouring fourth the energy of divine spirit love, joy, peace, righteousness, provision and power! Through this ministration ALL THINGS SHALL BE C-H-A-N-G-E-D! 'Behold, I make all things new' (Rev. 21:5).

The Holy Spirit is God's ENERGY FORCE. It is God's energy force projected and exerted upon creation. It is God's motion, action and influence in one measure or another upon, in, and through man. Yahweh accomplished the creation of the universe by means of His Spirit or ENERGY FORCE. Regarding the planet earth in its early formative stages, the record states that "The Spirit (energy force) of God was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters" (Gen. 1:2). Psalm 33:6 says, 'By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath (spiri0 of His mouth.' Like a powerful breath or living wind, God's Spirit can be sent forth to exert power even though there is no bodily or visible contact with that which is acted upon. Where a human craftsman would use the force of his hands and fingers to produce things, God uses His Spirit. Hence that Spirit is also spoken of as God's 'hand' or 'fingers.' Jesus told the Pharisees, 'If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God-is come unto you' (Mat. 12:28). But Luke, in recording the same event, expresses it thus: "If I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the Kingdom of God is come upon you?(Lk. 11:20). The Spirit of God is the finger of God, the working, the activity of God usward. How great is His working!

There are two basic characteristics of the wind which qualify it to so fittingly serve as the supreme symbol of the Holy Spirit. The wind is first of all a powerful force, and secondly it is Invisible. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the spirit (Jn. 3:8). You cannot see the wind, and yet you are aware of its reality because of its power with the visible effects of that power manifested all around you. In earlier times the wind was used broadly as a source of energy. Man has always known how to use sails on a boat or ship. Later, he learned to use the same principle to construct a windmill, using the force of the wind to turn grindstones, pump water, and do many other kinds of work.

Because the wind is both invisible and powerful; the biblical words RUWACH (Heb.) and PNEUMA (Gr.), meaning wind, gradually took on much wider meanings, and came to represent any invisible power or influence, good or bad. And since God's power, within or without, is exercised through channels and by agencies beyond human sight or perception, therefore this word 'spirit' came more and more to be applied to all of the Lord's 'dealings and operations. The invisible and powerful INWARD ENERGY FORCE which motivates and transforms our lives into the image of God is the HOLY SPIRIT. Only by the Holy Spirit are we guided beyond the outer senses, and beyond the letter of the Word, into the glorious and eternal reality of 'the deep things of God,' even all those things which God has in reservation for them that truly love Him, which the human eye hath not seen, the human ear hath not heard, neither hath entered into the human heart to understand and appreciate.

That spirit is a proper term for nature, ideas, thoughts, attitudes, desires, mind, will, and all such characteristics is illustrated by a story I read one time. An eider was telling of a young lad in a certain congregation. This boy was a devotee of baseball. He was a little leaguer. When the world series ran he came to the meeting of the church dressed in a baseball outfit, a glove on one hand and a small transistor radio in the other. His pocket was stretched by a ball. He didn't hear the ministry that came forth in the meeting. His ear was glued to that radio. He refused 'to miss one word of the announcer's description of the game. Now, that boy was FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF BASEBALL. He thought baseball. He talked baseball. He even took his bat to bed. It was all he cared about. He was filled with it. It was his life!

As I am writing, equal rights is still an issue in our land. There are people filled with the spirit of equal rights. They don't have time for anything else. They are consumed with a desire to petition, lecture, organize, march. Nothing else matters. They eat, sleep and dream equal rights. Their money, time, talents and energies are exhausted as they pour themselves into the struggle for equality. They are FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT of equal slams for all people. These people are filled with an attitude, a mind, a disposition, a will, a passion, and all these characteristics produce a tremendous INFLUF2qCE upon the thinking, attitudes and actions of multitudes of citizens. Perhaps now we can understand what it really means to be FILLED WITH THE SP1RIT means to not only be filled with the consciousness of the Person and presence of the Holy Spirit of God, but with all the characteristics within that Spirit: His nature, will, mind, ways, virtues, disposition, purpose, etc. How many believers settle for something far less than this! We are living in an hour when it is popular, the 'in thing,' to be a "Spirit-filled" Christian. But truly I say to you that multitudes have settled for a superficial experience of 'tongues,' or some 'gift,' or 'feeling,' and have never even dreamed of what it means to become literally filled with each and every characteristic of the divine nature and power of God! Becoming filled with the Holy Spirit must do far more for us than cause us to repeat some foreign syllables suggestively whispered in our ear, or to become ecstatic in our emotions. To be Filled with the Spirit means to be filled with ALL THE SPIRIT IS. It means that the life and nature and power of the indwelling Spirit must control and swallow up completely soul and body until there is no manifestation but of the Spirit Jesus, that blessed firstborn Son, was so filled, for He possessed the Spirit 'without measure.' And Paul prayed for the saints that they might be FILLED WITH A-L-L THE FULLNESS OF GOD' (Eph. 3:19). This measure is reserved for all who will go all the way with God, to be sons even as Jesus was 'the Son of God.' Sonship is the hope of creation, and the SPIRIT WITHOUT MEASURE is the hope of the sons! It is there that sin, sickness, limitation and death are swallowed up, and the wisdom, nature, life, power and glory of the living God is revealed through His people.

Let us take a closer look at some of the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. He is variously defined as --'The Spirit of God,' 'The Spirit of Christ,' 'The Spirit of Holiness,' 'The Spirit of Truth, and Spirit of a Sound Mind,' 'The Spirit of Liberty,' "The Spirit of Burning," 'The Spirit of the Father,' 'The Spirit of the Son,' "The Spirit of Promise," 'The Spirit of Meekness," 'The Spirit of Understanding,' 'The Spirit of Wisdom,' The Spirit of Glory," 'The Spirit of Counsel," "The Spirit of Grace," 'The Spirit of Adoption," 'The Spirit of Prophecy,' 'The Spirit of the Lord,' etc., etc. These various titles, repeated many times, and used interchangeably, give us a full. proper assurance that they are relate to the same HOLY SPIRIT--indeed, frequently the word 'Holy is added in, combined, as for instance, 'The Holy Spirit of God.' 'The Holy Spirit of Promise," etc. These various expressions are descriptive of the spirit, nature, disposition, power and glory of one God, the Father; and also the spirit, nature, disposition, power and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, because He is the expression of the Father; and also it is the spirit, nature, disposition, power and glory of all who am truly the Lord's in proportion as they have been made ONE IN HIM. "He that is joined unto the Lord is ONE SPIRIT" 0 Cor. 6:17).

Each of these characteristics is a form of the energy of God. This energy is transmitted from the spirit into soul and body to produce its power within us, just as electricity is transmitted from a battery to an engine to make it function in a certain way. When the 'Spirit of Holiness" is transmitted into our lives and consciousness we begin to function in our personality in that characteristic of God's holiness, thus becoming holy. When the 'Spirit of Wisdom" is transmitted into our consciousness we cease from our own natural reasoning and commence to act in accordance with the higher wisdom of God. When the "Spirit of Life" permeates our being even our bodies shall be quickened by His life within until this corruptible shah have put on incorruption and this mortal shah have put on immortality. Then shall be fulfilled the word which was spoken, "We shah not all sleep, but we shall all be changed' 0 Cor. 15:51).

Our failure to see that the Holy Spirit of God is not the only form of spirit in the world leads us into all manner of error and misunderstanding. There is another spirit mentioned frequently throughout the Word of God, and in opposite terms, namely, 'The Spirit of Fear,' "The Spirit of Bondage," "The Spirit of the World," "The Spirit of Error,' "The Spirit of Antichrist," "The Spirit of Jealousy," "The Spirit of Slumber," etc., etc. These terms signify the WRONG SPIRIT--the spirit, nature, disposition, power and will which has its chief exemplification in Satan, the Devil, the Serpent, the Adversary; the same spirit manifesting itself in all who walk in and live out of the carnal mind. Sin, error, darkness and death are all characteristics of the SPIRIT OF THE NEGATIVE REALM, even as holiness, truth, love, life, etc. are all characteristics of the one Holy Spirit.

As mentioned previously, there are brethren who are convinced that all spirit is the same spirit and that there is only one spirit in the world, which is the spirit of God in every man. But we are constrained to take heed to the testimony of the Holy Spirit wherein He says, 'Beloved, believe not every spirit, but TRY THE SPIRITS WHETHER THEY ARE OF GOD: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" 0 Jn. 4:1). Both the HOLY an the UNHOLY spirit bear the characteristics of personality, both alike are invisible, both are powerful, both are spirit, both are energy!

It is true---for the child 'of God there is only ONE SPIRIT, and that is GOD in every man born of the Spirit, for 'he that is joined unto the Lord I-S ONE SPIRIT.' It should be equally obvious and self-evident that the man who is not joined unto the Lord is N-O-T OF THE ONE SPIRIT. Why else would the apostle differentiate between the spirit of man and the Spirit of God saying. 'For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God' (I Cor. 2:11). Even for the redeemed, before they are brought to that full union with God, them is the distinction between the spirit of man and the Spirit of God. 'For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, where by we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit; that we are the children of God' (Rom. 8:14-16). It is only when OUR SPIRIT is quickened by HIS SPIRIT and brought unto UNION WITH GOD that you have the ONE SPIRIT.

I would draw your reverent attention to some of the characteristics of the unregenerated spirit of man. Duet. 2:30 speaks of a certain Sihon, king of Heshbon, of whom it was said, *The Lord thy God hardened his spirit (RUWACh) and made his heart obstinate.' Dan. 2:1 shows Nebuchadnezzar dreaming dreams 'wherewith his spirit (RUWACH) was troubled and his sleep brake from him.' David had this to say: 'Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit is no guile." The latter statement would indicate that there are those in whose spirits there is guile That is why Paul had to say, 'Cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the spirit. (ll Cor 7:1) If the spirit were always a holy thing, it would not be at all in keeping with the truth for Paul to exhort us to be cleansed in our spirits. That there .is filthiness in the spirit of man is testified by Job who said, 'My breath is corrupt.' The word *breath* is misleading, for it is the Hebrew word RUWACH--spirit 'My spirit is corrupt would be a more literal translation. That is why David also said, 'Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Ps. 51:10). The very fact of the need for renewal speaks of a WRONG SPIRIT that needs to be set right Who can deny that the spirit of man has been contaminated?

'The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." (Ps. 34:18). On the other hand, pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall' ('Prov. 16:18). There is a generation with whom the Lord is not pleased, as this is His testimony against it. 'They set not their heart aright and whose spirit was not steadfast with God' 0as.78:8). Another contrast is drawn in Eccl. 7:8 where the Holy Spirit says, -The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit? It is all SPIRIT-but one is separated unto God, as seen in the fruit it bears, and the other is not How awesome this indictment by the Lord, *Thus saith the Lord God: Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing' (Eze. 13:13). Malachi warns, 'Take heed to your spirit that ye deal not treacherously' (Mal. 2:15). And to cap it all off (though scripture could be piled upon scripture), James says, -The spirit (pneuma) that dwelleth in us LUSTEI'H TO ENVY!!. (James 4:5). That cannot in any way be the spirit of the New Creation, nor can it be of the spirit of the image of Cod in every man. It is in this passage that James goes on to say, 'RESIST the devil,' and the method whereby we resist that 'spirit within that lusteth to envy' is shown in the following verse: 'Draw nigh unto (be separated unto, enter into union with) God... purify your hearts... ye DOUBLE MINDED!' (James 4:5-8).

Well did Jesus know the limitation of the spirit of man apart from the Holy Spirit Well did He know that our understanding could not possibly ascend beyond the things of man. He did not leave us thus comfortless and confined, but promised in words that cannot fail, *When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.' And yet again, 'When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me" (Jn. 15:26). And not only is there the Spirit of God and the spirit of man, there is also a spirit in the children of the Devil, "the prince of the power of the air, the SPIRIT that now worketh IN the children of disobedience' (Eph. 2:2). How significant and full of meaning are these words of the apostle John: 'Ye are of God, little children... because greater is HE that is IN YOU, than HE that is IN THE WORLD' 0 Jn. 4:4). Then two verses later John dearly identifies these two spirits which are in the people of God and the people of the world: 'We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby we know the S-P-I-R-I-T OF TRUTH and the S-P4-R-I-T OF ERROR? Paul adds to this his testimony: 'Now we have recieved, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of GOD' (Cor. 2:12).

In words fraught with eternal significance the inspired apostle exhorts, 'Be renewed in the S-PI-R-I-T OF YOUR MIND' (Eph. 4:23). One has so aptly written, commenting on this verse: 'Note that it reads: in the SPIRIT of our mind, for this is far more than just mental gymnastics of our own serf-efforts. It is the energizing of His Spirit upon our human spirit which in turn takes dominion over our mind and brings our mind into subjection to the Spirit of truth. There is beneficial results in the power of positive thinking, even on natural realms. But true transformation comes when it is in THE S-P-I-R-I-T OF YOUR MIND. Oh, it may become the norm of our life to just be thinking HIS thoughts, because of the enlargement of His Spirit force within us.* It is more than merely a renewing of the mind--it is the renewing of SPIRIT--the spirit of the mind It is an absolute must to receive from a realm higher than Adam can give in order to have our minds renewed. The change comes from the Lord from heaven, out of the spirit realm of God, uniting with our spirit. It is the heavenly Jesus dwelling in our hearts, making us ONE IN HIM.

Elwin Roach has shared this illuminating thought concerning the transformation of the mind: the word, renewing, is adequately rendered in Rom. 12:2; however, to he a little more accurate, the word could be translated RENOVATION (see Strong's Exhaustive Concordance). We are then transformed by the renewing of our minds. There is only a slight difference in the two words, but when renovation is used, we get the thought of a complete house rearing, house cleaning, and then a total refurbishing. Everything old is removed and replaced with all new furnishings. God, however, does something differently in His renovation. He does it just the opposite. He does not dear out the old things and leave our minds a total void and then start filling them with new thoughts. He starts bringing in the new thoughts first, and with this the old passes away and gives place to the new--and all this is of God. Think about it!"

The activity of the mind is primarily in the realm of THOUGHTS. Thoughts are very real and alive. Thoughts are SPIRITUAL REALITIES, transmitted energy, coming upon your person via the gate of your mind. This energy (thoughts) is transmitted into your conscious mind from the unconscious to cause you to act and react in a certain way. Thoughts do not originate in mortal brain. Thoughts are invisible and powerful entities which have their origin in the dimension of SPIRIT. Thoughts do have an objective! You should know and become aware of the objectives of the thoughts that enter your mind. Every decision you have ever made or ever will make has its origin, intent and power in the INVISIBLE REALM the realm of spirit. You will never understand the mystery of life until you thoroughly know that there is a negative and a positive spirit force. The negative leads to death; the positive to life. The mind is the gateway, the channel through which these energy forces affect our lives. The thoughts that come to us bear the characteristics of the spirit force operating in us. Let us list some of the characteristics of the negative realm: "...unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful" Rom. 1:29-31). What a list. Search your mind...stop and think! Are some of your thoughts carrying these characteristics? They carry within them the power of death!

Now let us list some of the characteristics of the spirits (thoughts) which come from God. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. 5:22-23). Thoughts carrying these characteristics come from God, the author of life. Each of these characteristics will cause you to take on and express the very NATURE OF GOD, for they are the energy producing the very power of God's nature in the life. What frame of mind do you find yourself living in much of the time? Think now! Is it creative, holy, virtuous, joyful, confident, loving, life-giving, humble, temperate, peaceful? Or is it depressed, discouraged, uncertain, frustrated, angry, fearful, hateful, proud, self-centered, intolerant> You are what you are because of what you have been THINKING! We are constantly entertaining and being influenced and shaped by thoughts which have an origin. They are spirit They are like the wind--they just "blow" into your mind. They are energy:

motivating, directing, compelling your actions. They are POWERFUL, INVISIBLE FORCES that shape your destiny!

Prov. 23:7 says, "For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Well did the prophet assert: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose MIND/s stayed on Thee" 0sa. 26:3). To which is added the inspired testimony of the apostle Paul: "If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections (thoughts) on things above (spiritual, heavenly), not on things on the earth (natural, carnal)" (Col. 3:1-2). And again, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, THINK on these things!" (Phil. 4:8). This we can do, praise His name, for "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty though God to the pulling down of strongholds; CASTING DOWN IMAGINATIONS (thoughts), and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity EVERY THOUGHT to the obedience of Christ" 0I Cor. 10:4-5).

Beyond the effect of spirit upon us and the energizing of spirit within us, there is that ability to MINISTER SPIRIT. Every child of God should seek that God would open his eyes to show him this wonderful ministry of the Spirit. Paul spoke of it in these inspired words, "Who also hath make us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the SPIRIT: for the letter killeth, but the SPIRIT giveth life.. . if the ministration of death.. . was glorious.. . how shall not the MINISTRATION OF THE S-P-I-R-I-T be rather glorious" (II Cor. 3:6-9).

This passage contains two significant phrases: "Who hath make us able ministers of the New Testament... OF THE SPIRIT' and 'the ministration of.. . SPIRIT." The New Testament is not the black, leather covered, book called the Bible. This book is what Paul calls "the letter." It is the law, the record, the history, the form which tells us many things about the historical man called Jesus. The twenty-seven books called the New Testament are merely the guide given to point us to the TRUE NEW TESTAMENT, Jesus, the Christ of God! "Search the scriptures," said Jesus, "for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which TESTIFY OF M-E' 0n. 5:39). Our scripture says that God has made us able ministers of the New Testament! To minister the New Testament does not mean to minister sermons, doctrines, laws, commandments, or facts about Jesus Christ. To minister the New Testament is to minister the very life of God which is CHRIST IN OUR SPIRIT. 'He hath made us able ministers of.. . the SPIRIT." The word minister implies the thought: to serve, impart, give out or wait on. As a member of the New Creation' you have been called to be an able minister of the New Testament--a minister of the SPIRIT!

You may say, "Who, me? Me a minister of the SPIRIT?. Why, I can't even testify without stuttering and my knees knocking!" How can we minister spirit We know how to minister tangible things: our hands minister food to our mouths, they wash our bodies, clothe our bodies, minister ointments and medicines to diseased or painful members, and serve others in a multitude of ways. This is not hard to understand but how can a person minister SPIRIT?. We minister spirit when we minister WHAT THE SPIRIT IS within us! As we walk in the attitude and will of God, speak the words of God, act in the wisdom of God, express the character of God, manifest the nature of God, there is transmission of spirit energy to the people, events, and circumstances about us.

How can we describe that Holy Spirit which is within us? We can describe the fruit of the apple tree in terms of the characteristics of the apple, i.e., peeling, meat, stem, core, seeds, texture, flavor, etc. The characteristics make up the description of what an apple is, what it is like. Similarly, we may describe the Holy Spirit in terms of the virtues or attributes of the Spirit called "the fruit of the Spirit." Now the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. 5:22-23). This is the image of God, what God the Spirit is like! And the new man of our spirit is created in the image and likeness of God (Eph. 4:23-24). Here are nine individual realities which are not visible to the natural eye, yet we know they exist, for like the wind we have observed their influence and effect. They are Spirit, YOUR SPIRIT, and you can minister out of that realm!

What kind of fruit does a natural tree bear? You will answer, "Natural fruit, of course.' That is right. In nature everything produces "after its kind." Apples produce apples, oranges produce oranges, vegetables produce vegetables, etc. If natural trees produce natural fruit, what kind of fruit should we expect from SPIRIT?. The answer is simple: SPIRIT FRUIT!. The fruit is of the same nature and substance as that which produced it. If God is Spirit, Holy Spirit, then it follows that the fruit of the Spirit is likewise Spirit. To minister Spirit, therefore, means nothing more nor less than to minister the virtues of the fruit of the Spirit to another person. It does not mean to minister the letter of the Word, or pronouncements of judgement, to preach sermons, or convince people through argument of a doctrine, or show people where they are wrong, ungodly, or under condemnation. NO! That is all the ministry of the letter which killeth! We are called to minister the SPIRIT WHICH PRODUCES LIFE!

God is not complicated. Spirit is not complicated. God is Spirit, and God is love. Love is not complicated. Love has no problems communicating, influencing, ministering. When those around us are discouraged or distraught, we can minister encouragement to them by our word, attitude and action. When people are sad and sorrowful, as ministers of Spirit, we will minister joy and faith unto them. In the presence of fear we will exude and speak peace. When our enemies hate us we will love them in return. When men curse us we will do good to them, when they revile us we will bless them. When our friends are depressed, uncertain, and frustrated, we will manifest such calmness and confidence that will lift them from the shrouding gloom of despair into faith and victory.

It is a significant fact that all the virtues and characteristics of the Holy Spirit are spirit, and therefore ARE ENERGY--POWER! In the area of will, attitude, nature, mind, disposition, etc., there is always a transmission of energy. Haven't you noticed how one person's attitude will "rub of P' on to another person? One can begin complaining and soon everyone is complaining. One begins to be argumentative and before you know it everyone in the room is in a heated argument. Or a whole group of people may feel frustrated and hopeless in a situation, and just one person can enter the room with a cheery smile, radiating the aura of confidence and assurance, speaking a positive word of encouragement and victory, and soon the whole atmosphere changes, becoming charged with this new expectation, the spirit of the whole group being raised up into hope and anticipation. What is this? It is the work of spirit invisible, intangible energy - POWER! Invisible, but very real. And very powerful! There is constantly, in this world, the definite transference of spirit energy from person to person, negative or positive. The rise and success of false religions, ideologies like nazism and communism, rock music, immorality, etc., are the direct result of negative spirit influence transmitted to the masses through faithful ministers of unrighteousness who have become FILLED WITH THE UN-HOLY SPIRIT, and consequently transmitters of the same.

Think not, dear friend, that in order to minister the Holy Spirit you must speak idle words, put on a front, or exert some self-effort to impress someone. We are not subscribing to Dale Carnegie's concepts of HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE. Such methods are soulish pretense and carnal hypocrisy. But you do have a right to know that since your spirit has been quickened by HIS Spirit all the virtues and abilities of the Holy Spirit actually are inherent within your nature. By recognizing the reservoir of life, ability, power and nature within (our true identity) we are enabled at any and all times to appropriate it for ourselves and minister its realities to all whom we contact. And this is P-O-W-E-R--the very POWER OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD!

One thing must be very clear. There are three dimensions of spirit energy which daily touch our lives: God, the satanic, and the human. Every thought, word and action of mankind emanates from one of these three invisible but powerful sources. 'As sons and daughters of the Most High we are called to the high calling of being transmitters of the life-giving energy of God here upon this earth! Yes, you can minister SPIRIT--HOLY SPIRIT! Hallelujah!

The ancient Serpent, having beguiled Eve, became the recipient of the first curse in history. Most students of the Word know 0sat man was cursed, the woman was cursed, the ground was cursed, the earth was cursed, but few remember that before all this the Serpent was cursed. The curse is first mentioned in Gen. 3:14. "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, THOU ART CURSED above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shall thou 8o, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life."

It will prove most instructive to note God's order of speaking, and then the judgement, or sentence passed. The Lord called unto the man, inquiring, "Where are thou?" And Adam answered that they had hidden themselves, because of their shame as they realized they were naked. Then God said to the woman, "What is this that thou hast done?" And Eve replied that the serpent had beguiled her, and she did eat of the forbidden fruit. Then God spoke to the serpent, and said at once, "Because thou hast done this, THOU ART CURSED. Most of us have thought that he was cursed long before this! In the passing of the judgement-sentence, God began with the serpent, then to the woman, and ended with the man, reversing the order from when He first spoke to them. In the curse to the serpent, He said, "Upon thy belly shall thou 8o, and dust shalt thou eat all the days Of thy life." The serpent, being called before the tribunal of the Almighty, recieved a two-fold curse, recorded here in strong figures of speech which sternly emphasize the power of the judgement: UPON YOUR BELLY SHALL YOU GO and DUST YOU SHALL EAT.

Science will tell you that snakes which crawl upon the ground do not eat dust. They eat frogs, insects, rats, birds, rabbits, fish and eggs. When God inspired Moses to write Genesis the latter certainly knew that snakes do not eat dust These terms are symbolic and spiritual. This is not speaking of a literal snake dangling from a tree limb in some ancient paradise. The serpent in Eden had not only the faculty of speech, but reasoned upon matters relating to God and man; he speaks of good and evil as though possessed of a thorough knowledge of the laws of the Kingdom of God; he argues against the divine prohibition; steals upon the woman with the most alluring subterfuge, and finally persuades her to disobey the commandment of the Lord. No mere animal, it is evident, could be capable of what is here attributed to the serpent! Furthermore, loss of speech was not part of the curse; if the serpent in Eden were a literal snake his descendants crawling around on this planet today should be able to talk!

This is a symbol and the Deceiver, Satan, that old Serpent, the Devil, has to eat dust! What is the dusty Not the dirt of the ground. Not even the dust of the frogs, rabbits, field mice, etc. In the passing of the judgement-sentence, God began with the Serpent and said, "DUST shalt thou eat." Then to the man, God said, "In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for DUST THOU ART, and UNTO DUST shalt thou return" (Gen. 3:19). So that first Adam, fleshly, sinning, and cursed is declared by the counsel of the Lord God to BE DUST Said the wise man, "For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust'(Ps. 103:14). That we are DUST!. Not very flattering, not very complimentary, is it? This great gob of mud called man, strutting his superior know-it-all attitude even in the face of the Almighty! Dug! Our FRAME! DUST!. What for value is a frame of dusty HE remembers that we are dust whether we do or not.

Words are helpless, hopeless, and inadequate when necessity demands that we explain the things pertaining to the spiritual realm. Only in spirit can we understand the incomprehensible. The spirit of wisdom and revelation from God must enlighten the eyes of our understanding. Here we have a word picture describing the relationship which exists between "that old Serpent the Devil" and the realm of death. Just as "dust" speaks of a waterless soil, so the realm of the Serpent is separated from the realm of the Holy Spirit. Adam was formed of the dust of the ground, of the physical, carnal, earthly sense-realm, and as such, became the rightful food for the Serpent. This means that the Serpent--4he negative spirit realm---now finds its base of operation and fulfillment of its nature, desires, and purposes in and through mankind. By the very nature of things, when the Serpent eats, he seeks to SATISFY HIS APPETITE and GRATIFY HIS DESIRES. Originally he found pleasure and purpose in higher things and had access to higher realms (of spiri0, but the curse of "eating dust" limits the object of his devouring. Today, the sphere of Satan's activity is earth, and the object of his devouring is the man of the earth. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour" 0 Pet. 5:8). As the creatures of the forest are constantly alert lest some other animal of prey catch them unawares and devour them, so are we admonished to be sober and vigilant--for as sure as the snake swallows the rabbit, so certain is it that Satan seeks to DEVOUR YOU! Your dust, your earthiness, your flesh, your carnal Adam-man-nature is the Serpent's meat! By feeding upon the dust-man who loves earthly things, Satan devours him - makes him part of himself It means your whole being swallowed up into the negative spirit-realm, captive to and expressing the negative energy of that realm. This gives fresh and dear meaning to the statement of the apostle, 'The whole world lieth in the Wicked One" 0Jn. 5:19). The whole world has been consumed--is captive to and living out of the NEGATIVE REALM! Who can deny it?

The message is clear Adam and those belonging to him are of the earth, earthy. The Holy Spirit bears witness: "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that they are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly' 0 Cor. 15:45-49). The Amplified Bible reads, 'The first man was from out of the earth, made of dust earth-minded; the second man is the Lord from out of heaven. Now those who are made of the dust are like him who was first made of the dust---earth-minded; and as is the Man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven--heaven-minded. And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so shall we and so let us bear also the image of the Man of heaven.'

Ray Prinzing has aptly written: "The curse was on the serpent, for deceiving, and the seed of the serpent still carries that curse, and the nature of the deception that caused it. There are two seeds which are spoken of, the woman's seed, and the serpent's seed. One bespeaks of the positive realm, the other bespeaks of the negative. However, it is to be pointed out that if the woman's seed has a literal fulfillment, personified in a man, and a people, so also the serpent's seed has to be literally fulfilled in a man, and a people. A seed line that is evidenced in those 'after his own kind.' That the serpents seed was also expressed through people is evident when we read that Cain 'was of that wicked one' 0 Jn. 3:12). This is more explicit in the Greek text, where the word 'of ' is 'ek', literally OUT OF the wicked one. Then Jesus spoke of some, saying, 'Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do' 0n. 8:44). If they are of the same spirit, then they will do the lusts of that spirit realm. Obviously Cain, who was OUT OF the wicked one, received the curse reaffirmed on him, for he slew the truth and propagated a false system. Righteous Abel fell victim to the cursed one, for a time, but there is One, whose blood now speaketh better things than the blood of Abel, and through Him victory comes.

"It is not the creature, but the negative spirit force motivating the creature, against whom we take dominion. When the 'spirit of the world' is now energizing to disobedience, there is an immediate conflict between that spirit, and the Spirit of God dwelling within us. In some this is but a small thing, and the 'contrary spirit' is held in control by their normal, congenial disposition. But in others, this serpent spirit is so aggressive, that when you walk into their presence, or they come into yours, there is an immediate clash without either one saying a word. Our warfare is not with the various races on earth today, nor yet with men of our own lineage, but we do contest the spirit of the deceiver that motivates them. It is not the man or woman--but there are natures, spirits, curses that remain in the earth today, that the CALLED - OUT-OF-THE-LORD are facing in this conflict of the ages. That is why we need to be filled with the Spirit of God, lest we become carnal and start fighting flesh on a carnal realm" end quote.

Whenever we live in the earthly life of Adam, we are earthly and also on earth and fall into the sphere of Satan's activity, becoming the object of his devouring, drawn deeper and deeper into that negative realm. Dear ,saints, you wonder why Satan tempts you, pressures you, torments you, and you have constant battles with that realm? It is because you are still bearing at least a portion of that image of the first Adam, the man of dust. And dust is the Serpent's meat. He has the power to eat on you as long as you have that nature of Adam in you. On the other hand, whenever we live in the heavenly life of Christ, the identity of the image of God, we are heavenly and in heaven. Thus, we TRANSCEND SATAN'S SPHERE of activity and are no longer subject to his devouring. This is the son realm where no dragon abides, for he is cast out of this heaven where the manchild reigns! Would you, dear reader, like to starve that old Serpent, the Devil? Then get rid of the dust! Stop bearing the image of Adam, renounce that mistaken identity, and as Paul exhorts, "Let us bear the image of the Man of heaven." When you have been completely transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, then you will have nothing in you for Satan to feed upon, nothing to satisfy his appetite or gratify his desires. And it is there that death will be conquered! As a brother once wrote: 'I can tell you, beloved, that already Satan is finding short rations and skimpy meals in some of God's sons that are pressing on to the High Calling. Victory after victory they are gaining, because they are crucifying that earthy nature. They are letting the Christ come forth in His fullness in their lives, and beginning to bear more and more of His blessed image. They have no fear of Satan or of his weapons. They could walk through the midst of hell itself, and no devil could touch them. Thieves, murderers, drunkards, gamblers, and harlot's cannot contaminate them. Filthy lucre cannot tempt them, apostate religion cannot attract them, nor fleshly methods or soulish ministry ensnare them. They are Overcomers, witnessing to the world of the image and power of the Living Christ! This is the purtx3se of God for His sons! It is for you, beloved...believe, and enter in!"--end quote.

Can we not see that the more we live and walk in the Spirit, the less we are disturbed by the agitation's of the soulish realm, or the shenanigans of the flesh? Caught in the lowlands of the flesh, one is an easy prey for the serpents and scorpions and creeping things which inhabit that low realm. Rising up to walk in the Holy Spirit a new perspective is found, flesh is both seen and recognized for what it is, and left behind, while the horizons of the Spirit beckon onward, and upward, in the realm of the heavenly where no dragon dwells. So many of God's precious people dwell in the dust realm, and, as someone has said, there is no need to describe at length the "dust storms", we have all faced them far too often -- the jealousies, the envyings, the back-bitings, gossipings, anger, agitation's, lusts, fears, bitterness, strivings, and all the other expressions of the carnal nature, the realm where the Serpent dwells and eats to the full!

It's not news to any of Us that we are in the midst of a war between two kingdoms: the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Neither is it news to us that WE are the battleground! More particularly, the major focal point of the battle is our mind. There the battle rages at its greatest intensity, because the war is a struggle for our hearts and loyalties--the very souls and lives and beings of men. This fact is highly relevant to the subject I am dealing with in this message--the Serpent that dwells within us. It is that force within us that opposes the ways of God in our lives and tries to keep us from seeking those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.

This brings us back to the curse laid upon the Serpent in the beginning: "Upon your belly shall you go." This judgment speaks of infinitely more than a literal snake slithering along upon his literal belly, just as the word "heel" speaks of infinitely more than a location on the foot, and the word "head" speaks of something greater far than a mere physical head in the words of the next verse: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; and it shall bruise thy HEAD, and thou shall bruise His HEEL" (Gen. 3:15). So, 'upon your belly you shall go," paints for the eyes of our understanding the picture of the Serpent crawling in humiliation, prostration, limitation, and subjection upon the ground. The Psalmist uses a similar expression in Ps. 44:25, "For our soul is bowed down to the dusk our belly cleaveth unto the earth." Such denotes a prolonged prostration and a depth of subjection as could never be conveyed or expressed in normal terms.

The very fact that God states that the Serpent was now to crawl upon his belly, which obviously he had not done before, reveals that there was a descending from one realm to another, from a greater to a lesser, from a higher to a lower. Moving on his belly limits the sphere of the Serpent's activity, now he can only creep along the ground. Previously he had access to loftier realms, his sphere of activity extended to higher domains--exalted realms of pure spirit expression--but he is now lowered into the dust-realm, into the world of man, and confined to the earthy, restricted to action upon and expression through THE MAN OF THE DUST How truly this accounts for the words of the apostle in Eph. 2:2, "And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, THE S-P-I-R-I-T THAT N-O-W WORKETH I-N THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE."

Ah, yes, this evil spirit is IN MAN! When the serpent was lowered into the dust realm, man became the base of operation for his activity. I do not hesitate to declare to you, my beloved, that you will find Satan operative in NO OTHER REALM in the whole universe! You do not meet the Devil in rocks, trees, fish, mountains, rivers, clouds, birds, nor on far-away planets, in distant galaxies, in flying saucers, nor in any other object or location outside of man. You don't have to worry about the Devil stealing the keys to your car and driving off with it! But you may have to worry about the devil in men doing so! You need not fear the Devil walking into your living room with a shot gun and blowing your brains out, but the deal m men has done so tens of thousands of times! The Devil as an invisible spirit, or a hideous creature in a funny red suit will never try to seduce your wife, but the devil in some man may surely attempt it. I must tell you frankly that 1 have not had any problem with that Devil out there someplace, but I have had a great deal of difficulty with that Devil whose countenance I behold when I look in the mirror!

Can we not see that under the curse God limited Satan to the dust of the earth, to the realm of the First Adam--the man of dust? Many have seen the connection between Satan and the carnal mind and , not understanding by revelation the origins of these things, have assumed that the carnal mind is Satan. The truth, however, runs deeper than that--it goes to the spirit of the mind. Through the curse Satan became one with man, the energy force of human nature, the spirit of the carnal mind, slithering about in the lowest realms of man's earthiness, in the crooked thoughts, selfish desires, distorted emotions, in the illusions and delusions of the sense-realm of the world of appearances, and in all the corrupt motions of the flesh. May God graciously give us enlightenment to see that included with Satan is the kingdom of Satan; therefore, since Satan is in man, the kingdom of Satan is also in man. Satan is the prince of this world, so the world too is included in the kingdom of Satan and is also in man. Man is the very center of the OLD CREATION in every aspect. If one would meet Satan, there is no need for him to go to any special place--by going to man he will meet Satan. If he desires to find the kingdom of Satan, there is no need to go to some distant planet, nor to some far-away hell by going to man he will encounter the kingdom of Satan. It is the same with the world. Within man there is world, sin, Satan, death, flesh, the carnal mind---all that pertains to the negative realm, the kingdom of darkness. The first Adam is not a small man! On the contrary, he is a big, all-inclusive man! The whole vast realm of reality, positive and negative, is CENTRALIZED AND PERSONIFIED IN MAN.

The reason why so many fail when it comes to the wiles of the Devil is that they don't really want to resist him. You see, Satan never appears as a monster with horns and a forked tail, carrying a pitchfork. HE COMES IN YOUR THOUGHTS! HE APPEARS IN YOUR DESIRES! HE COMES IN YOUR IMAGINATIONS AND REASONINGS! Some people are always saying, 'I hate the Devil.' Well, you may as well say, "I hate myself." One day I asked God, 'God, why don't you just kill the Devil and let it be over with?" You will never guess the answer I received. The Lord said, 'If I kill the Devil, YOU WILL DIE? And verily I say unto you, Except a man hate his own life, and will count all things but loss, and reckon himself indeed to be crucified with Christ, he will never know victory over the Wicked One.

You will find men and women who claim to hate the Devil and all he stands for, but no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it. In so doing he gives place to the Devil. It is the flesh that lusts against the Spirit! The flesh unceasingly wars against the King and His Kingdom that is within you. Just as the religious leaders of the Jews cried, 'We will not have this man to rule over us," so the flesh, your flesh, and my flesh, desperately striving to perpetuate the corrupt nature of Adam within, would push Christ from the throne of the heart and reign in his stead. The energy force and motivating power of the flesh is the ancient Serpent of Eden. Multitudes do not understand this mystery, and few will proclaim this truth. The sacred mysteries of God are revealed only by the Holy Spirit of Truth. This is one of those mysteries which I unfold before you today. It is

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never our striving against the evils of the world, the flesh and the Devil that gains any victory at all; the almighty Christ within us would destroy them all in one smashing defeat; but we have the wretched habit of refusing to yield our hearts to the King. Christ alone can put the adversary under foot and forever bruise his head! Our responsibility is to resist the Devil and YIELD OURSELVES UNTO GOD THAT HE MAY REIGN.

Praise God! The heavens declare that God has a man--ORPHIUCHUS the serpent crusher HERCULES the strong man, the mighty man, the valiant champion who slays the three-headed monster and crushes the head of the dragon. It is a glorious thing to see that in the unchanging stars of the heavens and the shining Signs placed by God in the night sky, we have a gallery of divine truth, a portrait of God's TRIUMPHANT CORPORATE MAN, THE CHRIST OF GOD. Ah, He's a wonder--this CHRIST WITHIN! Just as surely as Satan is incarnated in mankind, so is the living Christ of God enthroned within the saints! The greater, grander, transcendent truth is, beloved, that THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU! The Christ that we preach is nigh at hand. 'He is not far from every one of us,' the apostle Paul says. 'Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) But what saith it} The Word (Chris0 is NIGH THEE, EVEN IN THY MOUTH, AND IN THY HEART' (Rom. 10:6-8). 'Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today, and for ever.' Unless we are sure that He is unchanged and unchangeable, that He is right here WITHIN US in every rum of life as really as He was in the body of Jesus of Nazareth, unless we live daily in the power of this, our life will never be pure, we will never see His works, we will never know His quickening, we will never conquer sin and death, and he brought to the Father. Therefore, why strain your eyes to pierce the clouds? The cloud that hides Christ from us is in ourselves, in our love of serf, in our blind adherence to traditions, in our devotion to the outer world of appearances. Let us ask God to send the living wind of His Spirit from the innermost part of our being, that bloweth where it listeth, to sweep it aside, and then we will see Christ as our life at every step of the journey. You can never overcome your seducing enemy by your own wisdom or strength. Christ alone can put him under foot and forever braise his head. AND CHRIST IS YOUR LIFE! Arise, 0 ye mighty ones, and conquer--for the MIGHTY ONE I-S W-I-T-H-I-N Y-O-U!