We need to be saved from wandering in our soul and be brought into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ in our spirit by the living and operative word of God which is able to divide our soul from our spirit; the means by which we enjoy Christ as the good land is this living and operative word of God. Amen!
Where is Christ as our rest? He is in our spirit.
How can we enter into the reality of the Sabbath rest today? It is by turning to our spirit.
It is by being in our spirit and by living in our spirit that we enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as the good land.
It is in our spirit that we enjoy the Sabbath rest, for Christ as our rest is in our spirit.
When we contact the Lord in our spirit and remain in our spirit, we enjoy Christ as our perfect peace and full satisfaction.
We need to be saved from wandering in our soul and enter into our spirit where Christ is, even remain in our spirit and abide in the Lord by means of our mingled spirit.
So many times we’re wandering in the wilderness of our soul.
We are soulish men (1 Cor. 2:14), even fleshly and fleshy (1 Cor. 3:1); however, we need to aspire to grow in life to become spiritual men.
May there be an aspiration in us that we would be delivered from wandering in our soul and be saved from being in our flesh; may we aspire to be spiritual men (Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:25; 1 Cor. 2:15; 3:1; 14:37), those who are dominated by their spirit.
We want to be governed by our spirit, dominated by our spirit, and directed by our spirit. Our spirit is the organ by which we contact God, receive God, enjoy God, and partake of what God is.
Our spirit is one with the Lord, for He is joined to our spirit as one (1 Cor. 6:17).
When we set our mind on our spirit, we take heed to our spirit, and we partake of what the Lord is in our spirit.
May we as believers in Christ be motivated and inspired by the word of God to no longer remain in our soul but exercise our spirit and be in our spirit day by day.
May we aspire to the growth in life so that we might become spiritual men, men who are led, governed, dominated, and directed by our spirit.
When we’re in our spirit, the Lord as the Spirit leads us, and we are in reality sons of God.
When we’re in our spirit, we enjoy what Christ is to us, and the riches of the all-inclusive Christ are our portion.
When we’re in our spirit, we enter into the Sabbath rest, and we enjoy perfect peace and full satisfaction.
Everything we need is in our spirit. Everything that God is to us and everything He is doing and has done for us is in our spirit.
Being Saved from Wandering in our Soul by the Living and Operative Word of God
1 Thes. 5:23 says that we human beings are of three parts: spirit, soul, and body.
Furthermore, the history of the children of Israel in their journey from Egypt to Canaan is a type of our participation in God’s full salvation.
They were in Egypt, under the tyranny and usurpation of Pharaoh; then, they were saved from Egypt and wandered in the wilderness for forty years.
Finally, they reached the good land and entered into Canaan to build God’s temple and establish God’s kingdom.
This is how they participated in God’s salvation, and their journey is a type of our participation in God’s full salvation.
We were in Egypt, that is, in the world; in this stage, we were under the usurpation and tyranny of Satan, the ruler of this world.
But praise the Lord, we were regenerated by God with His life, and we were saved from the world by means of our repentance and baptism!
In the second stage, after being delivered from the world, we enter into the wilderness of our soul.
We become wanderers in following the Lord, and our wandering happens in our soul.
In the third stage, we enter into our mingled spirit, to partake of and enjoy Christ as the all-inclusive land in a full way; this is experienced in our spirit.
Throughout the day we may be in one of these three places or stages.
We may be in the world, enjoying and pursuing the pleasures of material and sinful things, and Satan usurps us and rules over us.
We may wander in our soul, wandering in our mind with its thoughts and concepts, our emotion with its feelings and desires, and our will with its decisions and choices.
We see this in the book of Hebrews; the Hebrew believers were wondering in their mind, having one foot in God’s New Testament economy and another foot in their old Hebrew religion.
They wandered in their mind, in their soul, being held back by so many things of their old religion.
So the writer of the book of Hebrews said that they need to be brought into their spirit by the living and operative word of God (Heb. 4:12).
![And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ. 1 Cor. 3:1 But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know [them] because they are discerned spiritually. But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one. 1 Cor. 2:14-15 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Gal. 5:25](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/And-I-brothers-was-not-able-to-speak-to-you-as-to-spiritual-men-but-as-to-fleshy-as-to-infants-in-Christ-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ. 1 Cor. 3:1 But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know [them] because they are discerned spiritually. But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one. 1 Cor. 2:14-15 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Gal. 5:25")
The soul of the Hebrew believers, with its wondering mind, its doubting concerning God’s way of salvation, and its considering their own interest, had to be broken by the living, operative, and piercing word of God.
They had to break through from their soul into their spirit, and the living and operative word of God was the means for this to happen.
So many times we are wandering in our soul, just like the children of Israel in the Old Testament and the Hebrew believers in the New Testament.
We are soulish believers, those who wander in the wilderness of our soul, where there is no rest.
So we need to enter into the rest of the good land, Christ as our Sabbath rest, by means of the living and operative word of God which is able to divide the soul from our spirit.
When we enjoy Christ as our rest in our spirit, we are no longer wandering in our soul but are enjoying the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land.
But when we wander in our soul, we may be up today but down tomorrow; we may enjoy the Lord today but later we may have a long face, having no rest in our soul.
May we keep coming to the Lord to enjoy Him in His word, and may we allow the living and operative word of God to pierce and divide our soul from our spirit.
Whenever we feel that we’re wandering in our mind, when we’re in the wilderness of our soul, we need to come to God’s word and pray over it so that the word would pierce and divide our soul from our spirit. We can tell the Lord,
Lord Jesus, deliver us from wandering in our soul. Bring us on into our spirit to enjoy Christ as our rest. Amen, Lord, we come to You in Your word. Operate in us. Divide our soul from our spirit. Expose the wandering in our mind, the doubts concerning God’s way of salvation, and our considering of our own interests. Save us from wandering in our mind. Bring us on with You to enjoy and experience the all-inclusive Christ in our mingled spirit. Amen, Lord, we choose to turn to You right now. We choose not to wander in the wilderness of our mind but to set our mind on our spirit! Amen, Lord, we set our mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth. We come to Your word; make Your word so living and operative in us that it would divide the soul from the spirit! Keep us in our spirit today to enjoy You and partake of Your riches, even to enter into Your rest!
Allow the Word of God to Operate and Divide our Soul from our Spirit so that we Enjoy Christ in our Spirit
The means of enjoying Christ as the good land is the living and operative word of God, which is sharper than any two-edged sword.
The word of God is piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and it is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Our soul is like the joints, and the spirit is like the marrow within the joints; to reach the marrow, the joints need to be broken, pierced through.
For us to enter into our spirit and enjoy Christ in our spirit, we need the living and operative word of God to pierce and divide our soup from our spirit.
Our soul is our very self (Matt. 16:25; Luke 9:25). The Lord said that, if we want to follow Him, we need to deny our soul, our self (Matt. 16:24; Luke 9:23).
The deepest part of our being is our spirit, our spiritual organ with which we can contact God (John 4:24; Rom. 1:9).
When we were regenerated, the life of God came into our spirit (John 3:6), and from then on, the Holy Spirit dwells and works in our spirit (Rom. 8:16).
When we are in our spirit, we enjoy Christ and His grace, for the grace of the Lord Jesus is with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22; Gal. 6:18).
However, so many times we’re by default in our soul, wandering in our soul.
We need to press on in our spirit to enjoy and partake of the heavenly Christ so that we may participate in His riches and enter into His rest.
How can we do this? It is not by praying more nor is it by fasting or doing anything outwardly for God.
We need to come to the Lord’s living and operative word and allow the word of God to operate and divide our soul from our spirit so that we may enjoy Christ in our spirit.
In order for us to enter into the Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:11), we need to allow the living and operative word of God to work in us to divide our spirit from our soul.
The living and operative word of God ushers us into Christ as the rest in our spirit; also, it shows us our real condition.
Psa. 36:9 says, with You is the fountain of life; in Your light, we see light.
When we contact the Lord in our spirit, we see our real situation and condition. Our God is living, and His word is living and operative.
The word of God shows us what is of the soul and what is of the spirit.
When we read and pray the word of God, we are exposed of our wandering in our soul and we see what is our spirit and what Christ is to us in our spirit.
We need to be in the Word of God every day.
God’s word is operative, referring to the works it accomplishes in man according to God’s will.
In Isa. 55:10-11 we see that God’s word is like the rain coming down and the snow falling from heaven; it waters us and kills the germs in us, and it accomplishes God’s will in us.
The word of God will not return to Him in vain; rather; it will accomplish in us what God wants to accomplish.
When we read the Bible and contact the Lord in our spirit, we are saved from our wandering in our mind.
Our doubts are exposed and removed, and our concepts are enlightened and purged, for the word of God exposes what is of the soul and what is of the spirit.
Our mind is full of concepts and doubts, but our spirit is full of life and peace (Rom. 8:6).
May we exercise our spirit to contact God as we come to His word, and may we exercise our heart to love God (Mark 12:30).
When we turn our heart to the Lord and exercise our spirit as we come to God’s word, our spirit and our soul are divided, and we choose the Lord in our spirit.
The more we think about the Lord and about His word, the more concepts we have; but the more we exercise our spirit to pray-read the Word of God and say Amen to God’s word, the more our concepts are exposed and removed, and the more we’re brought into the enjoyment of Christ in our spirit.
In our heart we have our mind with its thoughts, our will with its intentions, and our emotion with its feelings; furthermore, we have our conscience, which is a part of our spirit.
Our thoughts affect our intentions, and our intentions carry out our thoughts.
When we come to the Lord’s living and operative word, we will be able to discern the thoughts in our mind and the intentions in our will.
We all can testify that we had such an experience many a time; we came to the Lord in His word, and His shining exposed our concepts, our doubts, and our wandering in our soul.
Then, we simply turned to the Lord, and He became life and peace to us.
May we be saved from staggering in the process of our salvation and be brought into our spirit by the living and operative word of God!
Lord Jesus, save us from staggering in the process of our salvation. Save us from wandering in our mind. We come to You in Your word, Lord, and we allow Your word to operate in us. May Your word be living and operative in our being to divide our soul from our spirit. Oh Lord Jesus, have a way to shine on us through Your word so that our soul with its wandering may be exposed. We want to press on in our spirit to partake of and enjoy Christ with all His riches! We exercise our spirit and we turn our heart to You as we come to Your word. May the living word of God be able to discern the thoughts in our mind and the intentions in our will. Amen, Lord, operate in us. Pierce through in our being. We give You the permission to divide our soul from our spirit. Bring us on from our wandering mind to the rest in our spirit. We want to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ in our spirit and be saved from any wandering in our soul!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, Heb. 4:12, footnotes 2 and 3, Recovery Version Bible, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good land for the Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ, for the Reality and the Manifestation of the Kingdom, and for the Bride to make Herself Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 Winter Training), week 6, entitled, Christ as Our Sabbath Rest, Typified by the Good Land of Canaan.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– Receive the Word with Faith to Get Ready, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Discerning the spirit from the soul and entering into the Holy of Holies, a portion from, The Spirit in the Epistles, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
– Let Your Speech Be Always with Grace, Seasoned with Salt, via, Shepherding Words.
– The dividing of the spirit from the soul, a portion from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 1) Vol. 01: The Christian Life and Warfare, Chapter 7, by Watchman Nee.
– The Way to Become Vital – A Summary, via, Living to Him.
– What Is the Difference between the Soul and the Spirit? More via, Bibles for Europe blog.
– What’s the Difference between Sanctification and Transformation? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– The dividing of spirit and soul, a portion from, Spiritual Man, The (3 volume set), Chapter 16, by Watchman Nee.
– 6 Functions of the Living Word of God, via, Bibles for America blog.
– Dividing the soul from the spirit, a portion from, Basic Principles of the Experience of Life, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee - Hymns on this topic:
– By the cross discern the spirit, / Put the soul to death alway; / Bear the cross, deny the self-life, / Walk in spirit day by day. / By the cross discern the spirit, / Through the living Word of God, / Separating soul from spirit, / That the right path may be trod. (Hymns #748 stanzas 1-2)
– Oh, how the Word doth penetrate, / Spirit and soul divide, / Revealing every hidden weight / For us to lay aside. / Lord, how we thank Thee for Thy Word, / Living and operative. / Oh, for Thy coming, we are stirred / Ever by it to live! (Hymns #1310 stanzas 4-5)
– Lord, teach us to discern the spirit / From soul that we Thyself may know; / Thou art the Spirit in our spirit, / In oneness mingled with us so. / Lord, teach us to discern the spirit, / The soul-life ever to deny, / And ever follow Thee in spirit, / Thyself, the Spirit, to apply. (Hymns #746 stanzas 1-2)
About aGodMan
Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 1) Vol. 01: The Christian Life and Warfare, Chapter 7, by Watchman Nee
Basic Principles of the Experience of Life, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee
Dear brother, we need to be saved from our wandering in the wilderness of our soul and go on to enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ in our spirit.
We do this by means of the living and operative word of God, which is able to pierce even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Heb. 4:12, footnote 2 on “soul”, Recovery Version Bible
Amen Lord! May Your living word operate in use today!
Praise the Lord! 🙋🏼🙌😃
I enjoyed this short video this morning, hope you enjoy it as well.
https://youtu.be/Vh-BVGhDKh8?si=_BE4VOZMaTPTAYaz
i enjoyed that we should not stagger in the wandering of our souls but instead press on into our spirit to partake of and enjoy the heavenly Christ
Amen! Lord save us from wandering in our soul.
Our soul is our very self which we must deny.
Deny our mind, will and emotion, all which make up the soul and follow our spirit.
Contact God with our spirit and lead with our spirit
Amen Lord bring us and keep us in that realm today
Listen to the audio version of this article via,
Youtube:
https://youtu.be/_ZOci0uew7w
Rumble:
https://rumble.com/v4t13cf-saved-from-wandering-in-our-soul-by-the-living-word-of-god.html
Amen kapag Ako ay papasok sa kaharian ng Ama,Ako ay Ang nagiging Ang Panginoong Hesus,pagkat Ang isasalita ko sa mga kapatid at pawang nagmumula sa Puno ng Buhay na kanilang pinagmumulan, Amen Ikaw at Ako at Angga kapatid ay naging Ang iusa
Amen.
O Lord thank You we have the means to enjoy You as the All-inclusive good land through the living and operative word of God!
May Your word cause us to see where we are so that we live in our spirit!
05/03/24 Christ as Our Sabbath Rest Typified by the Good Land of Canaan (Week 6, Day 5)
The book of Hebrews shows that the Hebrew believers in the early days of the New Testament were like the children of Israel in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament God delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian tyranny and then brought them into the wilderness. He did this with the intention of bringing them into Canaan, the good land.
Once Israel had been delivered, Egypt was behind them, and the good land was before them. However, although the children of Israel had eaten the passover lamb, had passed through the Red Sea, and had escaped from Egypt, they remained in the wilderness, where they wandered for forty years. They would not fulfill God’s intention and cross the river Jordan into the good land.
Hebrews also speaks a great deal concerning the Old Testament tabernacle and the temple. Both the tabernacle and the temple were composed of three parts: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The outer court was where all the people of Israel came to present their offerings to God. The Holy Place was more restricted, for only a few from among the children of Israel could enter into it.
The Holy of Holies was the most restricted part of the tabernacle and the temple. It was there that the Ark rested and where Israel had God’s very presence. Based on the Old Testament picture, God’s intention in His New Testament economy is that all His people would enter into the outer court to experience Christ as the offerings, progress into the Holy Place to enjoy Christ as the bread, the lampstand, and the sweet incense, and ultimately enter into the Holy of Holies to dwell in God’s presence.
The context of the Spirit’s speaking in Hebrews 4:12 concerning the dividing of the soul and the spirit is therefore in two sets of Old Testament types: the type of Egypt, the wilderness, and the good land, and the type of the tabernacle and the temple with their three parts—the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. Therefore, our tripartite being (body, soul, and spirit) is typified by:
1.) body ~ typified by Egypt and the outer court, signifies our being called out of the world (Egypt) and being delivered from the tyranny of Satan (pharaoh in Egypt).
2.) soul (consisting of our mind, emotion, and will) ~ typified by wilderness and the Holy Place of the tabernacle and the temple, signifies our being reconstituted to be sanctified in our soul (from wandering in the wilderness) by eating daily the Word (the heavenly Manna).
3.) spirit (consisting of our conscience, fellowship, and intuition) ~ typified by the good land of Canaan and the Holies Place of the tabernacle and the temple, signified by our enjoyment of the unsearchable riches of Christ (rich produce of the Good Land).
According to the Bible, God created man of three parts (Gen 2:7; 1Thes 5:23):
a.) body ~ the outward organ to contact the physical world
b.) soul ~ the inner organ, the person, to express the mind, emotion, and will
c.) spirit ~ the innermost organ to contact God and the spiritual realm
After God created man, He intended that man would enter into His rest, enjoy Him, and absorb Him by receiving Him into his tripartite being. But, sadly, however, Satan tempted man and man fell into sin, causing his body to be corrupted, his soul to be defiled, and his spirit to be deadened. This means that Satan, as sin, had entered into man’s body, took control of man’s soul, and constantly causing man to commit sin.
By God’s mercy and grace, God accomplished redemption for man, that by His death on the cross, He could wash away the sins of man (Heb 8:22). Then, by His resurrection, the Lord became the Life-giving Spirit, Who then could enter into those who believe into Him (1Cor 5:45). Our regenerated spirit is now the place, where we could contact God and could find rest and satisfaction in Him.
Amen, yes Lord do pierce even to divide our soul from our spirit, that was my prayer this morning while I was listening to this week’s message.
Thanks the Lord that we can come to Him just as we are and He is living and active to change us.
Thank you, Lord
Amen, Lord save us from wandering in our soul. Let us enjoy you in our spirit.
Ameen!!!
The rest of the good land was the goal of all the children of Israel, who had been redeemed and delivered from Egypt; likewise, the rest of the coming kingdom is the goal of the New Testament believers, who have been redeemed and saved from the world. We are now all on the way toward this goal.
God’s full salvation, which He intended for the children of Israel, included redemption through the passover lamb, the exodus from *Egypt*, feeding on the heavenly manna, having their thirst quenched by the living water from the cleft rock in the *wilderness*, and partaking of the good land of *Canaan*. These 3 places signify our participation in God’s full salvation in our tripartite being. How we need to turn yo our spirit, exercise our spirit to contact, receive, contain, and experience God.
Thank You Lord for creating us with a spirit to touch and contact You. Thank You for regenerating us and indwelling us with Your Spirit. Thank You Lord that we can enjoy You and Your grace in our spirit. Also praise You Lord for Your word. Not only that it supplies and nourishes us but It exposes what and where our thoughts are for us to realise our need to turn to You and turn tonour spirit. Thank You Lord for full salvation- the Spirit with our spirit!
[HWMR-Week 6 Day 5]