How To Develop The Recreated Spirit

How To Develop The Recreated Spirit
E.W. Kenyon I think that I have found the answer to the problem of how the recreated human spirit cam he developed. The thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians has the answer to it. The last clause of the 12th chapter of 1 Cor. is also striking in this connection. He says, "But I show you a more excellent way," and then he proceeds to tell us the new kind of love way. This is the Iove that Jesus brought to the world. He compares it with linguistic ability, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal."
How greatly we have appreciated linguistic abilities, and vet, with one stroke he has shown us how empty it all is without love. Next, he tells us, "If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." Here he is showing us how empty sense knowledge achievements and gifts are without Agapa. The next verse takes us still further into the picture, "And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profited me nothing."
These pictures are of natural man in his highest development in comparison with Agape. How humble and lowly is this choicest of all gifts. "It suffers long and is kind." It wears the garments of apparent weakness. "It envieth not, it is never proud, it never behaves itself unseemly " (in quarreling and nagging and the divorce court) "love seeketh not its own." The biggest struggle of natural mean is to get something, and he is not so careful how he gets it, or from whom he gets it. "It is not provoked," it does not lose its temper easily.
"It does not take account of evil, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth." Notice the seventh verse, "Beareth all things, believeth all things." "Beareth all things," might be translated, "covereth all things." It does not repeat the unseemly things that are said in scandal, but covers them up. Love acts contrary to every law of the senses. "Believeth all things," that is, all things of the Father. The Word is acted upon with simplicity and unconscious faith. "Hopeth all things," you see, believing is now, and hope is future. If we believe all things of the Word, we face the future with quiet rest. "Endureth all things." What endurance was manifested in the Master! How He endured the scoffing and slandering of those who crucified Him!
But the last sentence thrills one, "Love never faileth." We cannot depend upon our senses for they may fail us. Our eyes may be injured, and our sense of sight is gone. Our sense of hearing or feeling may be destroyed. Agapa is not like that, for it springs from the recreated spirit, the "hidden man of the heart." It is that "hidden man," that unseen man, that has the Divine life. In Galatians we have the contrast of Agapa and the senses. The fruits of the senses are recorded in Gal. 5:16, and the fruits of the recreated spirit are recorded in the twenty-second and twenty-third verses.
The senses have always been a traitor to the spirit. They are ever seeking their own. They are hungry, and vet they are never satisfied. They are always seeking and never finding that for which they seek. Solomon said a wise thing in Ecclesiastes when he said, "The eyes are never satisfied nor the ears filled with hearing." Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." He was God's love way. He is the only way of life, and the only way to the Father. He is love's way. He lived it in His earth walk, and He imparted to us His nature so that we might live this love life.
In Eph. 5:1 we are told that as children of love we are to walk the love life way and bear the fruits of love. Now we can understand how we are to develop our spirits; it is done by walking in love, and meditating in love. We have come to know that the recreated human spirit is the fountain out of which love and faith, peace and joy, and all of the other beautiful products that belong to the love life, spring. Faith is not a product of the reasoning faculties, it is a product of the spirit. Now we can understand this fact, that to develop this recreated spirit, it is necessary that we practice love and walk by faith. We must feed on the "Bread of Heaven." "For man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
Jesus put it in a new way, "Except one eat my body and drink my blood." The body was the Word made flesh. We' must feed upon the living Word. Blood is life, so we are to drink deeply of the life that He wrought. He said, "I am come that ye might have life and have it abundantly." It is that abundance of life that makes us overflow with love.
I have never desired anything more than I have desired to know how to develop the recreated human spirit. I believe I have some suggestions that will teach us how to use wisdom, how to appropriate it in Christ, and how to make it our own, teach us how to walk in love so that our conduct will be Jesus-like.
THE HIDDEN MAN

Hebrews 4:14-7 NLT

Outline

I.                  Prologue: The Superiority of God's New Revelation (1:1-4)

                         II.         The Superiority of Christ to Leading Figures under the Old Covenant (1:5;7:28)

A.    Christ Is Superior to the Angels (1:5;2:18)

1.     Scriptural proof of his superiority (1:5-14)

2.     Exhortation not to ignore the revelation of God in his Son (2:1-4)

3.     Jesus was made a little lower than the angels (2:5-9)

4.     Having been made like us, Jesus was enabled to save us (2:10-18)

B.    Christ Is Superior to Moses (3:1;4:13)

1.     Demonstration of Christ's superiority (3:1-6)

2.     Exhortation to enter salvation-rest (3:7;4:13)

C.    Christ Is Superior to the Aaronic Priests (4:14;7:28)

1.     Jesus is the great high priest (4:14-16)

2.     Qualifications of a priest (5:1-10)

3.     Exhortation to press on toward maturity (5:11;6:12)

4.     The certainty of God's promise (6:13-20)

5.     Christ's superior priestly order (ch. 7)

                                                            III.         The Superior Sacrificial Work of Our High Priest (8:1;10:18)

A.    A New Sanctuary and a New Covenant (ch. 8)

B.    The Old Sanctuary (9:1-10)

C.    The Better Sacrifice (9:11;10:18)

                                         IV.         A Call to Follow Jesus Faithfully and with Perseverance (10:19;12:29)

 .      Having Confidence to Enter the Sanctuary (10:19-25)

A.    A Warning against Persistence in Sin (10:26-31)

B.    C. Persevering in Faith under Pressure (10:32;12:3)

1.     As in the past, so in the future (10:32-39)

2.     Faith and its many outstanding examples (ch. 11)

3.     Jesus, the supreme example (12:1-3)

C.    Encouragement to Persevere in the Face of Hardship (12:4-13)

D.    Exhortation to Holy Living (12:14-17)

E.    Crowning Motivation and Warning (12:18-29)

                        V.         Conclusion (ch. 13)

 .      Rules for Christian Living (13:1-17)

A.    Request for Prayer (13:18-19)

B.    Benediction (13:20-21)

C.    Personal Remarks (13:22-23)

D.    Greetings and Final Benediction (13:24-25)

Hebrews 4 NLT

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 

15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 

16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Hebrews 5 NLT

1 Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. 

2 And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. 

3 That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs. 

4And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. 

5 That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father. ” 

6 And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” 

7 While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. 

8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. 

9 In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. 

10 And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. 

11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 

12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 

13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 

14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

Hebrews 6 NLT

1 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. 

2 You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 

3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. 

4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 

5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— 

6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame. 

7When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing. 

8 But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it. 

9 Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. 

10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. 

11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. 

12 Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance. 

13For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying: 

14 “I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.” 

15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. 

16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 

17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 

18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 

19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 

20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7 NLT

1 This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. 

2 Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” 

3 There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God. 

4 Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. 

5Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel, who are also descendants of Abraham. 

6But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. 

7 And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed. 

8 The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. 

9 In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. 

10 For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him. 

11 So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? 

12 And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 

13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 

14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe. 

15 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. 

16 Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 

17 And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” 

18 Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. 

19 For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God. 

20 This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, 

21 but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, “The LORD has taken an oath and will not break his vow: ‘You are a priest forever.’” 

22 Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God. 

23 There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. 

24 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 

25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. 

26 He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. 

27 Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. 

28 The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.

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