Redeeming the Soul
Winter 1999
By Martha Lucia
From
our last issue you will remember that through God’s redemptive plan,
Jesus bought back all things that were sold out to the devil: the earth, the soul of
man, and time (Gen. 3). In this issue, we want to continue our focus on God’s redemptive plan, turning our attention to the
redemption of the soul.
The redemption of the soul
is so significant at this time. In Jeremiah 47 the word of the Prophet is called a
sword and is told to be quiet. Yet how can it be quiet when the Lord has given it a
charge (to send a messenger to set in order)? God is sharpening His sword and is
about to bring divine order into our midst, and is preparing a people that KNOW HIM
and are full of HIS GLORY. We all agree we want to see the return of Jesus Christ,
our Lord. Ephesians 5:27 says Jesus will present Himself with a Church having no spot
or wrinkle, holy and blameless, a perfect Bride. What is God’s plan to prepare the Church for His return?
One way is in Ephesians 4:11. There Paul describes the structure of the ministry team
that God has prepared for the training and perfecting of the Saints. This team has
been incomplete for sometime. But now, the Apostolic ministry has been restored,
making this team complete. It is time to build the Church by preparing, positioning,
and training the Saints for the work of the ministry. In order for us to be part of
the finishing generation that will see the return of Jesus, we must all come to the
unity of faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, a perfect man, to the
measure of the stature belonging to the fullness of Christ. We are no longer to walk
in the vanity of our minds, but be renewed in the spirit of our mind, letting no
corrupt communication come from our mouths. We must know what we know, being ready to
give an answer for the hope that lies within us. The knowledge of our Lord,
Jesus Christ must be alive in us. Through the restoration of the Apostolic ministry,
Jesus is moving His Church, positioning Her for His return. The redeeming of the soul
is a key aspect for attaining the perfection needed.
The soul is the living,
breathing part of man. It is where self-consciousness, personality, emotions, will,
and intellect reside. The Hebrew word nephesh and the Greek word psuche
mean soul. God is the source of our souls: "And the Lord God formed man of the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became
a living soul (nephesh)." (Gen. 2:7) At man’s creation, his soul and spirit were filled
with God’s divine inspiration (the breath of God), he
was overflowing with the life of God, and God’s glory was his
covering. As God had forewarned, man’s soul and body fell
into a state of death when he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. Man was then covered with shame rather than the glory of God. God placed a
flaming sword at the entrance of the garden to keep watch over the way of the tree of
life so that no man in that fallen condition could eat of that tree again. (Gen
4:24) The way to the tree of life was blocked to all mankind, and death began to rule.
The
knowledge gained at this time carried with it a curiosity that led to evil overtaking
good. The depravity of man continued its downhill spiral until the day of Noah.
"God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Gen. 6:5)
Paul wrote in Romans 5:12, "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death
by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Man needed
a way out from the sting of death. Jesus came to pay the price of atonement and
remove the curse of death, restoring both the way to the tree of life (zoe)
and our spiritual likeness to God. The first man, Adam, became a living soul (psuche);
the last Adam (Christ) became a life giving, quickening Spirit, restoring the dead to
life (1 Cor. 15:45). The first Adam was created from the earth, while the last Adam
was born from above where everlasting life resides. Through the blood of Jesus we,
too, have been born from above and are to be walking in a life that reflects the
glory of God. In contrast to the word psuche is the Greek word zoe, from
zao. Zoe means life and is the aspect of life that comes through the knowledge
of Jesus and acceptance of the atoning sacrifice. Jesus said, "I am the way, the
truth, and the life (zoe)" (John 14:6). To the church of Ephesus it was
written, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life (zoe),
which is in the midst of the paradise of God."
What we allow to be stored
in our minds and the knowledge we attain, will largely effect to whom and what
our "wills" bow, and who has control of our emotions, etc. Some things
stored in the soul (mind, will, emotions) in direct opposition to the Spirit could
be: envy, slander, greed, fleshly lusts, fear, hate, terror, sadness, deception,
anxiousness, confusion, bitterness, vexations, strife, and the wisdom of the world.
We must realize from which tree we are eating. The meaning of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil is independence from God and the meaning of the tree of life is
dependence on God. The soul has the power of choice as to which world will control
the entire man. Are we choosing to go to the tree of knowledge of good and
evil (remaining independent of God) or to the tree of life (dependence on God)? The
tree of life will give the spirit man "revelation knowledge".
Hebrews 4:12 tells us there
is one way to sever the soul from the spirit: "For the word of God is quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul (psuche) and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart." The Word is the only thing that can
make a distinction between the soul and spirit. James 1:21, (Amplified) says,
"So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a
humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and
rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls (psuche)."
The word implanted or engrafted becomes the "intermediate between" body and
spirit. During Jesus’
temptation in the wilderness, as told in Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus used the Word to
divide between soul and spirit and won over the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life. He came out of the wilderness in the power of the
spirit, not the soul! We do not suffer with any temptation that Jesus did not face.
Jesus, our Redeemer, is able to set us free from the bondage of our souls. We must be
transformed with renewed minds as Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2, "I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not
conformed to this world: but be ye transformed (metamorphoo, the miracle of
transformation from the earthly to the supernatural) by the renewing (qualitatively
new, a renovation that makes a person different than the past) of your mind, that ye
may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." As the
priest’s
knife had to go between the parts of the animal and divide out the portion that was
required as a sacrifice to God, so must we allow this. When we offer our bodies as a
living sacrifice, He will be faithful to help us crucify the flesh and divide asunder
the soul and the spirit. As Paul exhorts in 2 Timothy 2:1-26, we need to study to
show ourselves approved, able to rightly divide the word of truth so we will be a
vessel of honor, sanctified, and useful to the Master. We must be pleasers of God,
not man.
How do we subdue the soul
man in us that still wants to be in control? Jesus said in Luke 14:26, if we don’t hate our own life (psuche), we cannot
be His disciples. Jesus tells us how we can be His disciples in Luke 9:23. We must
deny ourselves (the soul-man) and take up our cross and follow Him. Yielding to the
Spirit’s control and denying "self" the
right to be in control is a key to the transforming that must take place in us.
Paul
simply stated "I die daily"; it is a daily process. "He that loveth
his life (psuche) shall lose it; and he that hateth his life (psuche)
in this world shall keep it unto life (zoe) eternal." (John 12:25) It is zoe
that we want alive in and through us! Although all have sinned and fallen short of
the glory of God, by God’s
grace the whole man, spirit, soul, and body is redeemed. Through belief in Jesus our
spirit is redeemed; through obedience to the Word our soul is being redeemed; and the
final phase of redemption of the body will come when Jesus returns and sweeps the
second heaven clean of Satan’s
influence. We will then see a new heaven and new earth. It will be finished and time
will be no more. Our goal must be to join Him in ruling and reigning from the
heavenly realm NOW! (Eph.2:6).
In Romans 7 and 8, Paul
wrote about the things he wanted to do, but didn’t
and the things he didn’t want to do, but did. He delighted in the law
of God in his Spirit, but he saw another law at work in his body, warring against the
law of his mind (intellect, understanding, seat of the soul). He was displeased with
himself and called out for deliverance from death caused by the lower nature. We,
too, have this struggle of doing what we don’t
want to do and must cry out to God for His redemption of our souls. Thank God,
through Jesus Christ, we are rescued from the bondage of this death! Jesus came to
set the captives free as Paul wrote in Romans 8:1-2: "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life (zoe) in Christ Jesus hath
made me free from the law of sin and death." It is interesting to note verse one
separates the pull from the soul-man and the direction of the Spirit. When we are
able to make a distinction between the pull of the soul-man and the leading of the
Spirit and choose to follow the Spirit, then we experience freedom. Hallelujah, there
is hope, hope is the anchor of our souls (Heb. 6:19, 20). In Him we live (zao) and
move and have our being (our hope). Let us join in saying, "The Lord is my
portion, saith my soul (nephesh), therefore will I hope in Him." (Lam.
3:24)
According to 2 Corinthians
3, we have been called to be ministers of the Spirit which contains life and glory.
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father) full of grace and truth." (John 1:12-14) In order to do this, we must
crucify the soul-man, allowing Jesus to live in and through us. Philippians 3:18 and
19 speak of those who walk as enemies of the cross, whose god is their belly, whose
glory is in their shame, siding with earthly things. Living water should flow from
the belly, but if it is corrupted by ungodly appetites, things the soul-man wants, it
will not bring life, but destruction. We must feed our spirits, not our souls.
"For God Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ." (2 Cor. 4:6) Knowing and experiencing Jesus will give us
the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as we are being conformed into
His image. Redemption of the soul will restore God’s glory to its original state. Jesus
said in John 17 that He desired to be glorified with the Father as He had been before
the world began, and that He gave the glory which had been given to Him to the
disciples so they could be one, even as He and the Father were one. This oneness
equates the glory of Jesus to God’s
glory, being the revelation of God in the economy of redemption. Hab. 2:14
tells of a coming time when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of
the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Glory in this verse
means: weight, honor, majesty, abundance, and wealth, and it poetically refers to the
soul of man. As He increases and we decrease, the soul is redeemed and the knowledge
of Jesus increases in the soul of man. These steps of redemption continue: we move
from glory to glory, we are transformed into His image, and the earth is filled with
an understanding of the wealth of the Lord, even as Ezekiel saw the glory covering
all creation in the faces of the creature - man, animals, heavens, and earth. This
will only happen when our redeemed soul is seated together with Him above all
principalities, powers, and spiritual wickedness. From this vantage point, we must
begin to call those things that be not as though they were, (they won’t
be that way any longer) aligning ourselves with the will of the Father. As we begin
to execute righteousness and judgment with Him as His judiciary on the earth, we will
then see the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and Christ.
We
must get positioned to rule and reign with Christ over the affairs of man! With the
joy set before us we must press on to know and experience God with our whole being -
heart, mind, soul, and strength, for this will bring life in the Spirit. "For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Rom. 8:14)
Even as Paul wrote in
Philippians 3:8-10, we must determine to know Christ more deeply and intimately,
counting all things loss as compared to the privilege of knowing Him. The longing
from our soul should be to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection (the Holy
Spirit), and the fellowship of His sufferings (Father God). When we gain knowledge
of who Jesus is, we are changed into His image. As the power of His resurrection, the
Holy Spirit, resides in us, we can know, experience, and handle that power. As we
seek to know the Father as the One who joined in fellowship of the suffering with
Jesus during His hour of temptation, we become conformed to His death, the death of
the soul. These three things: knowledge of Jesus, understanding and experiencing the
power of God, and fellowship with the Father are keys to the spirit gaining
ascendancy over the soul. Temptation is always before the soul. How we handle it
reflects the strength of our dependency upon Christ. As Jesus faced His final hour,
He said to His disciples, "My soul (psuche) is exceeding sorrowful unto
death: tarry ye here, and watch with me." (Matthew 26:38) Jesus knew he would be
pressed between His soul and spirit. He cried out to the Father from the garden of
Gethsemane, a place known as the "oil press." Under great pressure, Jesus
struggled and prayed "Father save me from this hour." Jesus, trusting His
Father, did not allow His soul to rule over His spirit. He shed the first drops of
blood for our redemption there in Gethsemane as He won the battle over the soul,
saying, "not my will but thine." Jesus endured grievous opposition and
bitter hostility against Himself so that we would not grow faint in our minds (psuche)
(Heb. 12:3). One of the most opportune times for the enemy to bring accusation is
when we are under pressure. The soul-man seems to come alive, looking for comfort.
Without watching and praying, the ability to overcome is hindered. Faith must be
drawn on; trust of God must be encouraged. We have not resisted to the point of
shedding blood in our striving against sin (Heb. 12:4). We can be thankful since the
Lord Jesus has already done that for us. "For because He Himself [in His
humanity] has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able (immediately)
to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted and tested and
tried [and who therefore are being exposed to suffering]." (Heb 2:18, Amplified)
Rev. 3:10 also carries the promise to keep us from the hour of temptation, which will
come upon the whole world.
When God looked ahead to ensure His seed would be prolonged, He looked to Jesus to give His soul and blood as the redemptive atonement. In Isaiah 53:10-12 we read,
"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul (nephesh) an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul (nephesh), and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul (nephesh) unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
Because Jesus was willing to give His soul and pour out His
blood, the word from Leviticus 17:11 was clearly fulfilled, "For the life (nephesh)
of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an
atonement for your souls (nephesh): for it is the blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul (nephesh)." As God loosed the pangs of death from
Jesus (Acts 2:24), so are the pains (the grief, sorrow, and woe) of death loosed from
those who receive this great redemption. If, while we were enemies of God, we were
reconciled to Him through the death of Jesus, much more will we be saved by His life
(zoe) (Rom. 5:10). How can we not rejoice and glorify the Lord knowing that
Jesus exchanged His blood and soul so that we might have zoe, the life of the
Spirit? As heirs with Christ, we must share in His sufferings if we are to share in
His glory. To move from glory to glory we must be willing to share in the sufferings
that come when we sacrifice our soul-man to the control of the Spirit. Resisting
temptation is suffering. Praise God for the redeeming power of the BLOOD of Jesus and
His WORD!!
Remember from our first
issue, the Hebrew word shamar means to hedge around something, to keep,
to guard, to watch as a Watchman, or as a Prophet, to protect, to keep safe, to
retain. David cried out in Psalm 86:2, "Preserve (shamar) my soul (nephesh);
for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee." God will
keep our soul safe, placing a hedge around us only if we will cry out to Him for that
purpose. The watch and prayer for the soul are extremely important. "Watch and
pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh
is weak." (Matt. 26:41) The Greek word for "watch" in this passage is gregoreuo.
It comes from a root word egeiro, which means to waken one’s
faculties, to rouse from death. Through the watch and prayer over our souls we are
joining with the Lord in breaking off the death, which has been purposed, and turning
to life (zoe). Not only do we, as individuals, need to cry out to God to
watch over our souls, we also need to submit ourselves to oversight. 1 Peter 2:25
"For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd
(spiritual Pastor of the flock) and Bishop (watcher, overseer) of your souls (psuche)."
Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit
yourselves: for they watch (keep awake) for your souls (psuche), as they that
must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is
unprofitable for you." One of the characteristics of the soul is to be
independent, feeling as though we do not need God or others. Therefore, to submit to
God and to those He has placed in leadership over us requires death to the soul-man.
Those who have been given this oversight must oversee from the spirit and not the
soul. If these men and women are operating out of their soul, death will be
ministered to God’s divine plan and purpose for our lives. Each
of us needs to pray for God to place us under those who have been given a spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. (Eph.1:17)
One area of watch that needs
special attention is the tongue. A tongue that is not controlled by the Spirit will
speak forth things that open the door for Satan to use the words and bring death in
some form. God says that His Word will not return void; unfortunately neither will
Satan’s word return without
some affect. Proverbs 21:23 says, "Who so keepeth (shamar) his mouth and
his tongue keepeth his soul (nephesh) from troubles." The only effective
weapons we have to pull down the strongholds are spiritual. With the Spirit in
control we are able to take every thought captive, making it obedient to Christ, and
to disarm the lofty thoughts, which rise up against the knowledge of God.
Revelations 12:11 says "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by
the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives (psuche) unto the
death."
Resisting the devil, is one
of the biggest challenges we face. Our souls enjoy the pleasures of this world. Our
ears are teased with sounds and words that flatter us but do not necessarily glorify
God. Our eyes are enticed by the sight of things that give pleasure to our sensual
and emotional needs. The devil has the hook that is treaded with the bait of the
taste that the old man enjoyed. He will persistently dangle it in front of our eyes
and through our thoughts, but we must resist these temptations.
Deception runs rampant with
the unredeemed soul through false prophets, false apostles, false teachers, false
christs, false witnesses, false brethren, false accusers (Matt. 24:24, Mark 13:22,
Rev. 13:13). Ezekiel 13 speaks of false prophets hunting for souls to make them
flourish for their use, as if they were merchandise for sale. We must separate
ourselves from Babylon and the unrighteous as Revelation 18 warns, so that we will
not share in her sins or receive any of her plagues. Through this separation man’s soul is no longer available to the Babylonian
merchants. (Rev. 18:11-13) Our soul can be controlled by our Godly redeemed spirit
and be a supernatural force for good, or if not redeemed, it can be influenced by
Satan to be a supernatural force for evil. Fueled by Satan and his demons, the
unredeemed soul power will be used by Satan to bring deception upon the whole earth.
The only way we can distinguish between good and evil is by receiving the strong meat
of the Word. "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those
who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil".
(Heb. 5:14) Satan always uses a counterfeit, even though the truth may be spoken.
We
cannot discern the counterfeit with our own ability and insight (Acts 16:16-18). T he
difference can only be discerned by the Spirit of the Lord working with our spirit to
discern whether something is good or evil. Paul writes in 2 Thes. that we are not to
be concerned about these things; they must come. But we must try every spirit to know
its source. There is no substitute for knowing the Word. "Thy Word is
truth." The more truth we know, the less margin for error.
Throughout this newsletter
we have tried to show a progression of redemption. From the garden where man fell
into the state of death and evil entered his soul, to our source of life, which only
comes only from the tree of life, which is Jesus Himself. We need the peace of God to
sanctify us and our whole spirit, soul, and body to be preserved (watched, guarded,
and kept) blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus (1 Thes. 5:23). Satan is no
match for Jesus - never has been - never will be. Even when it looks like we lose, we
win! Luke 21 tells of all the things that must come to pass, but vs. 28 says,
"Then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."
Suggested reading:
"Releasing the Spirit"
by Randy
Shankle; "The Latent Power of the Soul"
by Watchman Nee;
"The Salvation of the Soul"
by
Watchman Nee; "Life in the Spirit"
by Jessie Penn-Lewis; "War on the
Saints"
by Jessie Penn-Lewis;
"Soul and Spirit"
by Jessie
Penn-Lewis; and "The Fine Line"
by Gwen Shaw.
The Church Aligned in 1999
to Arise and Shine in God's Appointed Time
The Word of the Lord for
1999 by Bishop Bill Hamon, December 31, 1998:
1. 1999 is God’s
appointed time for the Church to be more perfectly Defined, Refined and Aligned with
God’s Divine Design!
A.
Build according to original pattern and fashion shown on the mountain. Ex.
25:40; 26:30
B.
Apostles/Prophets now
building according to original foundation and pattern. Eph 2:20; 1 Cor. 3:10; Ps.
11:3; Heb. 8:5
2. Apostles and Prophets
bringing divine alignment making preparation for the 21st Century Church
to fully manifest its ministry and fulfill its end-time destiny.
A.
Ps. 102:13-22 Last generation of mortal Church overcomes last enemy.
B.
Eph. 3:5-11 Demonstrate
manifold wisdom and eternal purpose of God.
3. More Prophetic and
Apostolic revelation bringing enabling application for the Church to become a kingdom
of God demonstration to every nation.
A.
Mt. 24:14; Rom. 10:17; Luke
10:11; Mt. 12:28
B.
Luke 9:3,11; 10:9; Acts
8:12; Mt. 10:7,8; 1 Cor. 4:20
4. In 1999 Prophets and Apostles will begin to reveal and demonstrate to the
Saints how to tap into God’s
supernatural supply line.
5.
The church will be OK in Y2K. (For
those who hear God’s
voice and do it God’s way)
6. Arise and Shine. Like Queen Vashti in the Book
of Esther, those who will not respond to God’s call to arise and
shine and show forth God’s glory will be replaced with those who will.
They will become God’s queenly Esther Generation.
Pastor-Prophetess Jane Hamon
says 1999-Redeem the Time!
(This is what we will be writing on next time.) C.I. will be coming out with a
booklet with the Word of the Lord from several sources. If you would like to receive
one of these you can write your request to - P.O. Box 9000, Santa Rosa Beach, FL.
32459. The price of the booklet is $5.00 plus $1.50 for shipping