In this sermon, the preacher encourages his audience to step out in faith and walk in the river of God's presence. He describes how as they take each step, the water rises higher, symbolizing a deeper level of surrender and obedience to God. The preacher emphasizes the importance of being controlled by the mind of Christ and living according to His will. He also highlights the message of Romans 8, which discusses God's dealings with the old life and the justification and redemption found in Christ Jesus. The sermon concludes with a reminder that God cleanses and purifies His people through the spirit of burning and judgment, and that He responds to their love, obedience, and desire for Him.

Verse 10, And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin. Now, not that it's going to die, it's dead, it's mortal. Death functions in it because of sin. Because of the sin principle, even though we're not actively sinning, there's a sin principle in our body, in the body, that will bring it to death. It's a sin principle in the body, otherwise we couldn't die. And only if that sin principle is removed, will we be able to come to that place that Jesus walked in, where he said, No man taketh my life from me. But unless God, by his grace, by his mercy, unless there's a people, and I believe there will be a people who will apprehend this life to such an extent that there'll be no cause of death in them. I don't mean by that they'll become immortal. There'll be no cause of death in them, but they'll still be dwelling in a body that'll be capable of laying down their life. Not walking around in a glorified body, but having conquered death. And then because they've conquered death, they'll be able to lay down their life for their brethren. You can't lay down your life unless you've got a life to lay down, unless you have conquered death. You can't really lay down your life. But anyway, if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, the sin principle. But the spirit of life is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken or give life to your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. He's not talking about a future resurrection. He's saying if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you now, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken, give life to your mortal dying bodies. Not the body that's gone down into the grave. That would be a corrupt body. There's a distinction made in the Bible between mortality and corruptibility. Mortality is a body that is alive but is dying. Corruptibility is a body that is dead and buried, buried at least three days, four days. The Son of God never saw corruption because he was dead three days. Four days would have meant corruption. So Jesus was dead three days but never saw corruption. But his body became mortal as he took your sin and mine, a living body subject to death. So a mortal body is a body that's alive but has got the principle of death functioning within it. An immortal body is a body that can never die because the sin principle has been defeated. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, then he that raised up Christ from the dead shall give life to your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Now there's much there in Romans 8 that I believe remains for appropriation and apprehension. Many of the saints of God are suffering in their mortal bodies. They're suffering when there should be life flowing from the spirit. I'm not saying that you're capable here and now of partaking of immortality. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that there should be a quickening. There should be a constant quickening of our mortal bodies because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And I believe as the Spirit of God begins to take control of his temple, we're going to discover that diseases are going to be swept away from the house of God. God doesn't want it. He paid the price of our diseases as he did for our sins. God would have a healthy people. In spite of the fact that wherever we go, we witness much sickness and disease in the house of God. God promised the people of God when they came to the waters of Marah, when God healed the waters of Marah, signifying to them that he would heal the bitter streams of our life. God said, if you will keep my covenant and walk in my ways, I will not lay upon you the diseases which I've laid upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee. Early Pentecost appropriated, began to appropriate. Many of these promises. But because we did not remain in that state of total subjection to the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God went away. He had to fly away and desert his temple almost because he could not abide in that place which we desecrated. We could not abide there. And what could we expect but the sins and the diseases of the world to infiltrate the church? And the church has become a participant of all the diseases known to the human family. We think it to be normal. We think it's a wonderful Christian thing when, you know, some great church will get together and build a hospital to look after the sick. Well, that's an act of mercy, I know. But God says, if you'll walk with me and walk in my ways, I won't lay upon you these diseases. You won't need these hospitals. And so there's a law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus that makes us free from the law of sin and death. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof. But canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. Now, we've all known the Scripture. Probably most of us could quote it from memory. We've always applied it to new birth. When a man comes to know the Lord, he's born again. We quote the Scripture. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof. But canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. And rightly so, that's true. So when you come to the Lord to be taken out of the old kingdom of darkness and sin and death, the old Adam, and come into the new, there's a new birth. You're born into it. As truly as you were born into this world as a descendant of Adam, so when you come to the cross, when you repent, when you receive the Lord, you're taken into a new stream, you're taken into a new line, a new order, a new Adamic race. You're born from above. Born from above. And it's like an under the blowing of the wind. You don't know how that transpires. You can't figure it out. You can't sit down and rationalize it. But all you know, the wind is blowing. And you hear the sound. But you can't say where is it from, where is it going. You can't predetermine its course. It just comes according to the will of God, does that transforming work, brings forth a new life, and the Spirit of God blows on you know not where. But what I want to point out is not only something that pertains to a man who enters into a new life, but it's a principle that applies from that day on. It applies to the new order. So is every man that is born of the Spirit. Why do we say that applies to that moment when we receive Christ and then forget about it? That's the principle by which we are to function in this new order. The principle of the blowing wind. You don't know where it comes. You can't predetermine its coming, nor can you predetermine its future. Men are always trying to do that. We're always trying to so arrange and so organize and so manipulate that we can get the Spirit of God to move in that course that we have ordained for him. We've got all the programs, everything set up. All the Spirit of God has to do is come in and move in this channel that we've arranged for him. He doesn't do that. He brings a new life and you don't know whence it cometh and you don't know whether he goeth. You don't know the course that he will take. And so why do men plan and we're going to do this? I believe in the next ten years, you know, we better establish 30, 40 different churches here and so we set our sights, we set a goal for ourselves. But you're predetermining the course of the Spirit for him. God wants a people who will simply be led of the same Spirit by which they were born. He led of the same Spirit by which they were born. We're born of the Spirit, he comes as the wind. You don't know how he does that work in our hearts. Well, then you don't know where he's going then. You can't predetermine your course. You can't say it's going to be this way and try and predetermine your course. We must lay ourselves open. If we're truly born into this new life, into this new realm, God wants us to lay ourselves open to be subjected to the moving of the Spirit of God. It doesn't seem a safe way. It doesn't seem a secure way. We mentioned the river. When you lose your footing, it doesn't seem safe. You're carried along the river. Where is it going to? Well, we can't say explicitly. All our springs are in thee, and that they flow in the purpose of God and that they will flow back to the heart of God. But we cannot predetermine the course of the Spirit of God. So let's not attempt to do so. Let's be content to lose our life in this river of God and leave it all up to Him. It doesn't seem safe. You can't plan, but it's the safest way because we're under the control of God's Spirit. Don't you think it's safe? We can come under the control of the Spirit of God, the wind that blows. You don't know how, where. You don't understand it, but you hear the voice. You hear the sound thereof, and we know the sound is right. We know it's the sound of God. We know it's the voice of God, but we don't know His course. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit of God. May the Lord bless this word, dear hearts. Let us have a season now in which we'll earnestly seek the Lord and I know there are many needs here, and I know it's helpful to people. Someone comes along with true priestly concern, lays their hands on them, and prays for them. And there are those who especially are used in that kind of a ministry. We can all pray one for another, I know, but there are those who somehow have a special ministry and being able with priestly hands to lay them upon some individual who is in need and with a heart of priestly mercy, encourage them, help them, pray that God will fulfill the desire of their heart, whatever it is that's troubling them, whatever it is that's of a particular problem to them. And it's a time when God's people are in great distress. There's great questionings, there's uncertainties. It's a good sign because if you're going to truly flow in the river of God, if you're going to truly be caught away in the wind of God, you're not going to know where He's taking you. You just know that it's into His heart. But from here to there, you don't know the course of events in this earth. You can't predetermine His course once we could because we're living pretty well according to the law of the old life, the old Adam, where we'd plan and make provision and so forth. But it doesn't work in this order. And so if you find yourself in a realm now where you feel well once, I used to have it pretty well planned and everything seemed to work out, but somehow recently I'm so very uncertain. Well, rejoice in that because as you begin to move in the realm of the Spirit, you're going to find more and more uncertainty as far as the direction in which the Lord is leading you. And that's the way it's supposed to be, to be led of the Spirit, just to be borne along by the Spirit. Having confidence that the Spirit of God is God, the Spirit of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just some mystical thing, just some presence, some sort of an essence of some kind. The Holy Spirit who comes to take up His habitation in the church is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus dwelling in the midst of His people. Like we emphasized the other night, I go away but I come again. I go away for a little while but I come again. And He came to abide in this temple. And I know we don't see, we haven't seen the fullness of the abiding presence of Christ in this temple because we haven't prepared for Him a habitation. We haven't so ordered our lives before Him that He could come and take control. We wanted to exercise control. We wanted Him to come and help us to fulfill the desires of our heart. And so He goes back. He cannot find a place to rest His feet. But when we are prepared for God a habitation, when we're prepared to say, Lord, I don't want to run my own life anymore. I want You to be in control. I want You to cleanse me. I want You to purge me. I want You to root out of my life all things that offend, all things that are contrary to new creation order. I want to walk according to this rule. I want to hear the voice of the wind. I'm prepared to be carried along by the wind of the Spirit. He's ready then to come and to help us to take charge, to take control. And so may the Lord help us each one as we wait before Him at this time. Yeah. I know what the desire is tonight for the Lord to work among us. We have had camp meetings for the past 13 years and years meetings. And we've always had the same desire that this brother has expressed for God to move in and to take control. But out of those 13 years, the things that we have experienced and we've learned from most of those years, and I think maybe all of them God did move in somewhere, either at the end of the meeting or somewhere in between, somewhere in the start, that we knew that God had made a divine move upon us. But it never came until there was repentance first. Never did come, no matter how much we longed for it, no matter how much we desired for it, no matter how much some of our hearts were pure before God, it would not come until there was repentance made. The Lord said, I would have healed Israel, but the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered. I believe tonight, if you want to see a move of God, I believe there's sin in the camp tonight that's not been repented of. It seems like God's people kind of hold back. They don't keep their account up to date with the Lord, and they want to keep things secret, but nothing is hid from God tonight. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and he sent you and I into the earth to do the same thing. So we've experienced the word of God. It always had to be brought forth. We've had to preach repentance. We've had to name people's sins, and they came and were convicted, and they repented, and we had a revival. You read of the revivals of the past. It always came when people repented. Thank God we have the foundation tonight that we can repent. God hasn't moved in these meetings like we'd like to see him move, but there's sin in the camp. Not in everybody, but there's sin in some that needs to be repented of. And when that happens, you'll see God move. You'll see us being blessed. And if these meetings end and there's no repentance, God help the ones who never repented, because if you can see how deadly, how sinful sin really is, you wouldn't want to take it home with you, but you'd want to repent of it and get rid of it. I thank God that through the years he's given me lots of opportunities to repent and to turn from things. He that repenteth of his sin and turns from him, God will bless, but he that hath his sin shall not prosper. So I pray tonight that the ones who have those things in their heart tonight, that know that they've done something contrary to God's will. You know it. We don't have to really tell you, but you know it. If you will repent, there'll be rejoicing in the camp. There'll be a move of God. So may the Lord bless you. We know that is right, that there's no coming to God without repentance. And so we're just going to leave it. I don't know just how best to do this, but I was thinking maybe everyone gather around who want to seek the Lord. Those of you whom God is convicting of some particular thing in your life that you know is not pleasing to him, come and cry out unto God. Confess it to him. It might even help. If you found some brother or some sister that you felt you could bear your heart to them, it might help you to do so. We're not going to stipulate how this must be. You can do it before the Lord alone, and it must be before the Lord really alone. But in the presence of God's people, let's recognize that Christ inhabiteth his temple. Don't be afraid. So we need you to someone to open up your heart to them. If you sense in them a priestly heart, go to them, because God's priests are not in the business of exposing and airing one's sinfulness. They're not in that business. They're in the business of mediating to them by the Holy Spirit the forgiveness and the cleansing that is in Christ Jesus. And when Moses washed the priests who were sinful men like anybody else in Israel, and they had to be cleansed before they could go into holy things and minister in the holy place, he took them into the laver, and that was behind the gate of the court. And the court was five cubits high, which would be about seven foot six, higher than any man in Israel. And in there, open only to heaven above, Moses stripped Aaron and Aaron's sons of their filthy garments and washed them and clothed them with pure white priestly garments. So remember that. Any time you are called upon to minister in priestly service to God's airing ones, you do not have the right, nor does God supply the grace, for you to come and expose their sins. They may do it. God may lead them to do it. But it is your privilege, your service, your priestly ministry to take them in beyond the gate, beyond the linen curtains where no man can see, and between you and heaven alone to deliver that man from his uncleanness. And so may the Lord work and move in the hearts of lives. I'm not aware of anyone who is hiding any sins from God. I don't know. Brother says there is. Maybe there is. I'm not denying that. But come up to the front. We know we all need to be repenting. We know that we all need that spirit of repentance. And that doesn't mean by that that we must always linger in the area of condemnation. There's no condemnation. But nevertheless, we realize that there is defilement as we simply walk about in this world. And so, it's something like Jesus took the disciples who had been bathed. They'd been washed all over. But when they came to the Last Supper, just walking up to the steps, their feet would be defiled. And Jesus, during the course of the meal, He rises from supper, took a basin of water and a towel and girded Himself and began to wash the disciples' feet. And He came to Peter. And Peter said, Are you going to wash my feet, Jesus? And Peter said, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus said, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. He says, Not my feet only, Lord, but also my hands, my head. Jesus says, No, he that is washed all over needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean everywhere. So, we're clean through the blood of Christ. We're clean through the Word that has been spoken unto us. We've been redeemed by His blood. But all of us contact this defilement walking about in this world. You can scarcely walk down the streets without contacting defilement. And our feet need to be washed. I'm not denying, of course, that there is deliberate sin. There are sins which men seek to hide. And they need to be repented of. And so, we all need to repent in one kind of repentance or another as the Spirit of God enables us. And if God is speaking to your heart, grasp that opportunity that God has given you to repent because you just can't repent because we stand here and say repent. I wish God's people knew that. You can't repent unless God grants repentance. God has to grant repentance. You see how helpless I am? Yes, you're helpless. Totally helpless before God. So, as you humble yourself before the Lord and acknowledge the truth. Paul says, if a man who has erred and been taken captive by the devil, if he will acknowledge the truth, God peradventure will grant him repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. And so, you can't just say, well, I think I'll go up and repent. If the Spirit of God is convicting of some particular thing, then come and repent of it. But all of us need to have that Spirit of repentance upon us. Not where we're always saying, Lord, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I'm defiled. Lord, help me. You know, there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. But we just know that we contact defilement constantly and we want to come to Him for cleansing. Day by day, moment by moment, abiding in that attitude of, Lord, I want to be turned again. And that's what repentance is. I want to be changed. I want to go Your way. I don't want to go my own way. And should we all just gather, all of those who feel a need for a visitation from God, some of our young people I know want to be filled with the Spirit. I know there are folks here who have been especially used of the Lord to lay hands on people that they might be filled with the Spirit. And many of our young people and the younger young people need that baptism of the Spirit. And so let's pray one for another. Let's pray one for another. We're all priests unto God. Let's pray one for another. That one who has erred whom God is convicting at this time especially, if so be you here. Come to the light. Never fear to come to the light because the light of God is not to condemn you. It's to cleanse you. It's to illuminate you. It's to set you free. One thing that I always wanted to cherish as a young man and growing older was never to fear to come to the light. Never to fear there's a meeting where God is moving, where you sense that the people of God are seeking Him. There's a presence of His Spirit. Never to fear to come to that meeting. Don't think, well, I'd better run out because maybe God will expose something in my life. You come and expose it before the Lord between you and God. And perhaps with the help of one with a priestly heart by your side, expose it to heaven and to God. It's nobody else's business. And when perchance someone comes to you and lays bare their heart and tells you what they have done and how they're sorry and how they want God's presence to return to them, never tell anybody else what they said to you. Because as soon as they do that, that sin of theirs becomes Christ's sin. He became sin for us who knew no sin. And if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And when Jesus died on the cross, He became sin for us. And when that repentant soul comes and lays bare his heart to you or to God or you hear the words that he's uttering unto God in repentance, however it might happen, don't you dare go out and say, that one did this and this and that and the other. That now belongs to Jesus. And that one is set free. So let's come... Would you have something in particular, Walter? Or would you just like to minister amongst the people as they come? Or would you like to say something? I just felt last night the Lord told me that the little fox will spoil the vine. But I felt I hadn't submitted myself to the leadership here earlier in the day. So I didn't feel that I had a right to speak that word forth because I felt that it was going to be fairly heavy. And I didn't feel that I had that right. So as you know, today I came and I spoke to you about that and submitted myself to your authority and you said that I could minister if the Lord gave me the word. So I brought that word forth this evening. And I feel that the word that the brother brought here was exactly what the Lord would say. Because he had me repent this afternoon for some things in my own life. And there was a blockage there that there was no flow of life at all. And it was because of something that I had not taken care of at the time that the Lord mentioned it. So it's true that no revival will come unless we remove that blockage that the Lord is pointing to. He's not going to share His glory with something that's defiled. So the word of the Lord also says that every heart knows its own bitterness. You know what your own sin is if it's a hidden sin or it's something that's blocking. Just ask the Lord what it is. Give Him some time and He'll let you know what it is. Thank you. See, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. We get things so mixed up. There are legitimate things in the soul realm. We've got to eat. We've got to sleep. We've got to work. There's a legitimate occupation and a function of the soul. But we try to bring that into new creation life. And the word of God comes forth and says, No, this is something for the old creation order. This is spirit. It divides asunder. And so it's a time when that piercing sword is going forth. And if perchance the word of the Lord during these two or three days has spoken to your heart or convicted you, the Holy Spirit will convict. Satan will condemn. And he'll get you condemned and he'll get you all confused. Oh, I'm rotten. I'm no good. I'm a sinner. And you ask yourself the question, what is it I've done? Well, you can think of maybe you know that you're not perfect and all that, but there's nothing specific. But conviction is different. The Lord will remind you of something. It might be very little. The Father said little foxes. It might be some very little thing. But it can cut off that fellowship with the Lord. And so, you know, we want to be right with the Lord. We want to be right with the Lord. Come and gather around. Seek the Lord. Maybe even as you're here, God will remind you of something that you have to make right. But we're not... You know, the reason I speak this way, I've been in meetings so often where there's been these messages of repentance and you'd find the godly ones coming up, you know, the old grandmas that really love the Lord, but because they're so sensitive to the Spirit, you know, they feel every little error that they've committed. And the ones who are really sinners, the ones who have really wronged God and really done things that are not right, they sit back there and are not touched. I pray God that when the Spirit of God is in our midst and we make room for His Lordship, the Spirit of God will not condemn people, but He'll convict. This is wrong. And when there's something wrong and He shows you, what's the answer? If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. When you sin, you've got an advocate. You've got five bleeding wounds which pray, Father, forgive him. They know not what they do. But if we confess our sin, then He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And notice what He said. Oh, God will love you enough, He'll be merciful enough that He'll forgive you. No, He's faithful and just. Forgiveness after true repentance springs from the faithfulness and the justice of God because He's a just God. And because He's faithful, because Jesus is your advocate, when you confess your sin, He's faithful and just. Nothing to do with love there at all. He's faithful and just to forgive you your sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So, shall we gather around the front and feel free one to pray with another. Feel free to come to someone and say you need help, you need prayer. Be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit. Different ones should go around praying for one another and pray that God will move in our midst and meet the needs in many lives and in our young people. That they for themselves might sense the touch of God upon their soul. Many of them very precious and know the Lord, but somehow, not having that real touch of God that they can look back to. I touch God. And we want to continue to remember them, not only tonight, but in the days to come. For they grow into a world that's totally corrupt. And it's difficult for them, far more difficult for them than it was when we were young. And it was bad enough then. Shall we gather around, perhaps Marty here, maybe lead a song. Everyone gather around and let's pray one for another. There's really nobody who's living yet. Remember he kept saying, but how do we know when you've repented and what if I've repented 99? And then he went to an odd homonym argument, and this always will happen. He pointed to me, do you sin? He'll always do that, see. The idea is to get you down to where you say, well, really, nobody's living. Boy, God gave me wisdom on that. I played that back, and God gave me wisdom on that. Because you could get so tongue-tied, you don't know what you're doing. I said, when I do, the Lord shows me, and I go to Him and get the victory over it. I don't keep doing it. Now, that's not a proud remark. That's the truth. And no Christian will go and say that. That is obviously true. The man finally gave up. He says, well, that's a powerful message you're preaching. Praise the Lord. But you go to your friends, and notice that he brought in the old salt legalism. Aren't you preaching legalism? Preaching legalism! Preaching legalism! When you say that God is coming to reconcile His people, this is legal. But any time you say that God is serious about holiness, the next shot is legalism. It is intellectually impoverished. It's as soft as a rotten pumpkin. It's just a knee-jerk thing. Any time anybody says to you, you've got to live the life to be a Christian, it's legalism. Legalism. It's an intellectual impoverishment that is in our country. It's theological death. My, my, my. Listen, I thought, brother, oh, I so praise God that He kept me in. I was in a good mood that day. And I was. I was in a good mood, praising the Lord, because those things get me excited. Now, anyway, we've got enough boggling our mind down with that kind of stuff. All right, what's our last question? How? See, all these have to be answered from the Scripture. How is God going to do this? How is He going to weigh this? One, people of... This is a good question to ask evangelicals. This is a good question to ask them. Do you believe that we're someday going to be really holy instead of just a few? Oh, yes, yes, yes. Then ask them those three questions. And when you get the how, that's interesting. They have never thought of it. When they do it, they say, well, you know, the Lord is playing like that. Then they'll say in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and I will be suddenly righteous. I'll be just like Jesus. And this is the belief. But you see, the problem, there's just one small problem, Bill. It's not scriptural. Outside of that, it's great, but it's not scriptural. All right, so now let's look at Isaiah 4.4. Most of you have that memorized. But as I say, we've got to give an answer to people that ask us. So when they say, aren't you just preaching legalism? No. And then give them the scripture, which is what I did to that fellow. I just started with, he said, well, what about 1 John? I said, yeah, let's take 1 John. And boy, he was right on my turf then, 1 John. Because 1 John, if anybody in the whole scripture talks about sin, it's 1 John. If you say you know him and don't do his commandments, you're a liar. All right, Isaiah 4.4. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, imagine filthy daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, literally the blood guiltiness, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. All right, then how is the Lord going to affect this cleansing? According to the scripture, how's he going to affect it? By the spirit of burning and by the spirit of judgment. Let me ask you again, how is the Lord going to affect this cleansing? Right, by a baptism of fire, by a spirit that comes on you and begins to burn the areas of darkness. It's a baptism of fire. It isn't done with a fairy godmother waving her wand. It's done with a baptism of fire. That's one part of it. And then we read Malachi, didn't we? Who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth, for he is like a refiner's fire, someone purifying metal, and like fuller soap, that is a harsh laundry soap, and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. Now, who is doing this here? The Lord. Remember, the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple. Now, what is it that he's refining? What does silver represent? Redemption. And what does gold represent? Divinity. So the gold and the silver that are within us must be refined. Remember, the word of the Lord is pure, having been tried in the fire seven times. Stan sings that song. Well, how is your divinity tried? How is your redemption tried? Well, all right, let's say you believe in holiness and you come under a fierce lust and a deception. See, that thing is being tested in you. Suppose that someone comes and speaks evil of you and lies about you and gets you into trouble legally. And up to that time you've been singing, peace, peace, and then you get a phone call or somebody comes to the door or you get a letter from a law firm and you open it up and you find out that somebody is suing you. Then you're not singing, peace, peace. And so the peace that is in you is tried. And then you go through a fiery trial. You ever go through a lawsuit or through legal problems where you're threatened with some kind of legal action? It's rough. Oh, it's rough. And maybe fun for the lawyers, but it's no fun for the accused, I'll tell you. And that's when you quit talking about peace and you go to God. I mean, you're scared. You're too scared, you don't even want to pray. But you'll finally get a hold of yourself and get your courage in hand and you're going to say, God help me, God help me, until he comes on the scene. And then he gives you a peace that's deeper than the peace that you had before. That's how that divinity in this redemption is tried. Everything that we believe and say we believe has got to be shaken. It's got to be tried. Oh, yes, I love the Lord. Like Peter said, I'll lay down my life for you, Lord. But that was tried, and it wasn't pure. There's too much flesh in there. It wasn't pure. So the word of the Lord is a pure word, tried in the crucible. Now, we can say we love the Lord, and we should. We've got to vocalize it, but then the Lord comes and purifies it. And that's what he does. He says, and he purifies the sons of Levi. He purifies the priesthood to offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Now, many times in a charismatic move, we raise our hands and praise the Lord, and our hearts are not right. And when God looks down, he's looking down on corruption. See, to us, it looks beautiful. The whole church is praising God, and it sounds like the heavenly choir. And the Lord looks down, and he says, it stinks. I'll tell you what I know by revelation. The Lord says, it stinks. It's beautiful to the human eye. But when God looks down, he's looking for righteousness. He's looking for forgiveness. He's looking for compassion. He's looking for these things. Then he receives it, even if it isn't nearly as beautiful to the outward eye. When I worship you, I worship you. When I worship you, I worship you. I very much that the Spirit of the Lord will have recourse in our midst. We all desire that, and oftentimes we wonder why we find it so difficult to persuade the Holy Spirit to come and to take control in our midst. And I believe the Lord understands the dilemma we're often in. And I believe he's preparing our hearts so that he can come and exercise his lordship in our midst. The Holy Spirit is likened unto a dove. And a dove is a very gentle bird and easily frightened. And somehow the Holy Spirit has become a tool in the hands of the Church. Anything they want to do, well, go ahead and do it and then call on God's Holy Spirit to come and help them in their task. And so he's been frightened away. Oh, you say, the Holy Spirit, he's God, he's not frightened. Well, let me use a different word then. Grieve. Paul says, Grieve not the Holy Spirit of promise by whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption. Grieve. The Holy Spirit can be grieved, so grieved that he just cannot abide. So we must continue to seek the Lord for a total cleansing, a total heart cleansing that the Holy Spirit might come and abide in this new creation realm. For that's his habitat, the new creation realm, to abide in the redeemed sons of men, not to abide any longer in the old creation or those works of our hands which pertain to the old creation. He wants to abide in new creation realms. So Paul the Apostle said, But God forbid that I should glory so in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified, unto me and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision. Speaking of how God had brought them out of the old creation realm and out of the realm of the law, which functioned only in the old creation realm, which was energized by the flesh because man in himself is in no way capable of fulfilling the law. And so Paul says, In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature or a new creation. That's the only thing that avails now, this new creation life, like our brethren have been talking about. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God, so that the new creation has become a new way of life, a new rule, a new rule. Nothing avails but a new creation as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and on the Israel of God. It's a new rule. It's a new rule and it's a new law. It's a law, but it's a new law. It's a law which exercises control, but it's a different kind of a law. It's the law of the Spirit. Not only the law of the Spirit, but the law of the Spirit of life, the law of life. And God wants us to function according to the law of life. Here in the natural realm and in our natural bodies, there are laws of life. And we live because of the laws of natural life. It's a soulless life, a natural life. But that life is not capable of comprehending or apprehending this new creation life. And so God makes us to be new creatures, new creations in Christ Jesus, that the law of the new life might function in a new creation order. And so when God judged the old creation, the old order in the days of Noah, and when the waters were subsiding, you remember how Noah sent forth a dove and a raven from the ark, and they flew ever and ever. And the raven came back no more. But the dove could find no place for the sole of his foot. And he returned to Noah into the ark. He couldn't find a place in that old chaotic creation which was under judgment. Couldn't find it. So he returned to the ark. Do we wonder why the Holy Spirit does not come and abide and settle down in our midst and be Lord in our midst? He comes. He hovers, looking for a place of rest for the sole of his foot. And finding none, he returns to the ark of God. And, but the raven, he never returned, because the raven can always find somewhere to rest. Some floating carcass, some debris, something that remains from the old order. He'll find it, and he can survive on that. He can survive. But the raven couldn't survive on that. I mean, the dove couldn't survive on that. The dove must have new creation in order to survive, in order to abide. So Noah waited another seven days and sent him forth again. And this time he returned with an olive leaf plucked off. An olive leaf plucked off. So Noah knew. You know, that was the first time, wasn't it, that he came back with the olive leaf plucked off? And so Noah knew that at least the waters were subsiding. There was hope. There was an olive leaf, actually typical of the Holy Spirit also, just a leaf though. And so Noah had assurance that there was hope because here in the beak of this dove there was the olive leaf plucked off. And so when he was sent forth again, he never returned. He had found something in the new order, something in the new creation where he could rest. And the Holy Spirit is looking for a habitation in his people. He's looking for a habitation, and we're quick to make him a habitation. We'll build temples and churches and tabernacles for the glory of God. And if it is simply a place where God's people would gather unto his name, there'd probably be no complaint against that. But it literally becomes a temple. It becomes the house of God. It becomes the place where God's people have been under bondage to support and to build and to finance that house of God. Some people know nothing else but financing a building program. From the time they're converted, they live and die in a church which is always involved with building programs, always building something for God. And then they want the Holy Spirit to come and abide because we know we must have God's Holy Spirit in our midst to bless and to encourage God's people and comfort them. And so come Holy Spirit, and oh, he comes looking for a place of rest and findeth none. But he's hovering, and he knows because God is preparing a habitation for himself. And when we as individuals, as a group of people, as two or three or as an assembly, eventually as the body of Christ at large, have been so disciplined of the Lord and so chastened of him, so prepared of the Lord that there is nothing that we present to God but the new creation, nothing of the old, just the new creation. The Holy Spirit comes to take up his habitation. That's what he's looking for. Comes to take up his habitation. And so all I can say is that we must begin to prepare a suitable habitat for the dove of God. We've got to begin to prepare the right atmosphere for the dove of God. And he will be attracted by that. He will be attracted by that preparation that his people make when he sees the people who are truly desirous of God, desirous of truth, desirous of holiness, desirous of heart purity, desirous of going God's way and forsaking their own way. When he sees the people in whom the work of the cross has effectually wrought in the lives of these people a crucifixion to the old life and the coming forth of a new life and a people who are prepared to walk by the new rule, by the rule of the new creation rather than by the rule of the old, then he comes and he finds a place of rest. So I believe we can prepare now. We can begin to prepare the right atmosphere for the dove of God to come and abide. The right habitat, the thing that pleases him. And so Jesus said, If a man will keep my word, my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode in him. And so there's something about simply loving God that attracts God to his people. Of course, we always emphasize that God takes the initiative and he loves us first. He takes the initiative and then he stands back to see what our response is. And if the response is a return of that love to him, then he is quick to come and manifest his love further. He's quick to come. He wants to come in response to that love. He responds to the love of his people. He responds to obedience. He responds to seeking him. He responds to that heart that has a desire for him. We look at ourselves and we're inclined to say like Peter of old, especially when we perhaps gather together like this and we sense the awesomeness of the presence of God. At times we feel unclean. We feel unworthy. We're inclined to say with Peter, like he said to the Master when he caught a glimpse of his majesty, depart from me for I'm a sinful man, O Lord. But the Lord isn't quick to answer that kind of a prayer because he knows that it's a cry from the old creation. We just know that we're not fit for him. But he still draws nigh because he wants to change us. He wants us to begin to live in new creation realms, to walk in a new creation life, to begin to sow into the heavenlies with him in Christ Jesus. So he's not quick to leave us even though we know we are sinful by nature and filled with many of our own ways. He's patient and he lingers over us because he wants us for himself because we're to be the habitation that he's after. He's after habitation and we're that people. We're that part of his creation which alone can become that habitation of the Most High. We think surely God could find some suitable place of habitation up there in the heavens and in all those glorious beings that he created which never fell. Many of them did fall but many remain true to God, angel and archangel and cherubim and seraphim. Surely God could find true delight in that. But though they were beautiful creations and from the hand of God, they were not akin to him. They were not of his kinship. They weren't of his nature. He created them but they were not of his nature, of his kind, of his seed. He must have a people in his image. And so he made a man in his image, stamped upon him the image of God. Not in the fullest sense of the word, I know, because Paul tells us, writing to the Romans, that he was only a figure or a shadow of him that was to come. But he was nevertheless made in the image of God, another translation says, under the shadow of God, as if God had cast his shadow and then made a man similar to his shadow. He was the type of the last Adam. He wasn't a glorious being full of light. He wasn't Lucifer, as some are teaching today, full of light and glory. He was of the earth, earthy. He was not the Lord from heaven. He was of the earth, earthy. But nevertheless, in a limited sense, he was in the image of God. But there would come, in the fullness of time, that perfect image of God of which the first Adam was just a type, just a shadow. Paul tells us he was just the figure, the type, the shadow of him that was to come. And so we find the book of Genesis full of these types and shadows. And so Eve also was a type. She was a type of the bride of this new Adam that was to come. She was the type of the new bride, and Adam was the type of the last Adam. But the last Adam was the Lord from heaven. And so the Lord from heaven came down, but he did take upon himself the form of the first Adam. Because though man had sinned, God did not cast him aside and totally reject him and then go about the business of making another man in his image. But rather God chose to take that old Adam who had sinned and to redeem him. Not only to redeem him and buy him, purchase him back into himself, but to change him by new creation life so that out from the old Adam there would come forth a new Adam. And so that even our Lord Jesus was born of Adam's line and actually became the last of Adam's race. The Lord Jesus became the last of Adam's race. He's called the last Adam. Oh, you say, we've lived on 2,000 years since then. I know. But we think in terms of time. But in God's purpose and plan and in the plan of redemption, Jesus was the last Adam. That's why you don't find another genealogy after the genealogy of Jesus that goes right back, in one instance it goes back to, I think, Abraham, and another one goes back to Adam. And after that, the Bible is silent as far as genealogy goes because after him there's no more genealogy. There's no more. That's why Paul says, don't pay heed to these endless genealogies. And it's all over the land. It's all over the United States and Canada that we've got a lineage that we can trace back to Abraham, according to the flesh. Adam was the last of divine lineage. You don't find it. The Old Testament is full of lineages because the Old Testament writers by the Holy Spirit were very careful to maintain the connection between the first Adam and the last Adam. But when the last Adam came, he was the last Adam. He's the finished of the old Adamic race. He's the beginning of a new order. And genealogy stops. It stops with Jesus. So forget about it because he is the last Adam, the Lord from heaven, and has been exalted as a priest after the order of Melchizedek concerning whom there is no genealogy. There's no genealogy for Melchizedek. And Christ is after the order of Melchizedek. And of course, we're in him because as co-priests with him, as we're joined unto him, we partake of the Melchizedek order. But don't talk about partaking of Melchizedek priesthood if you're talking about you being a natural Israelite. You rule yourself out. There's no genealogy in Melchizedek. Forget it. But if you are born of the natural seed of Abraham, and if you can prove it, which you can't, if you could prove it, if you want to come into the Melchizedek order, you've got to cancel it out, like Paul did. And he could prove his genealogy. At least he was positively assured of it. A Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. But he said, I've got to count that as done if I'm going to win Christ. Why do they teach that all over the land, that you're the chosen nation of God because you're descendants of the natural Abraham? If you are, you've got to count it as done to win Christ. You create some life for his people. Besides all the promises that were made to Abraham, were made to Abraham and to his seed. Not to his seeds, as of many says Paul, but as to his seed. The promise was made to his seed, which is Christ. The promises to Abraham were made to Abraham and to Christ. It's a new creation order. It's a new creation life that God has for his people. And so we encourage God's people to make room for the Holy Spirit. Search the scriptures. Search your heart. Ask God to search your heart. To root out all elements of the old creation life because the Holy Spirit will only dwell in new creation life. He'll only function through new creation life. The life that is born in you of God. That's the element in which he lives. That's the life that he came to produce, which he came to procreate in the earth. New creation life. The only life that's compatible with his being. So God help us to prepare for him a habitation. I say help us to prepare. We know it's God's work, but he simply asked us to cooperate, to yield ourselves, present ourselves, that he might do it because he's preparing for himself a habitation for God by the Spirit because only in man can God find a place that's compatible with his own being because only man was made in his image. Only man was made in the image of God with the potential of partaking of the attributes and character and nature of God. Only man has that capability. Man lost it in Adam. He finds it again in Christ. But you see the work goes on and on. It's been going on these 2,000 years and continues to go on. But it's drawing to a conclusion. It's coming to the end. The Scripture we read this morning from the book of Revelation where John saw this one in the midst of the candlesticks because that's where he rises up in the midst of the church is where this one like unto the Son of man rises up right in the midst of the candlesticks, in the midst of God's people. This corporate people rising up unto this one man in Christ and he saw him rising up there. This one glorious to behold. And he said, I am Alpha and I am Omega. The beginning and the end, the first and the last. He's the Alpha and the Omega. He's the beginning and the end. So there is a beginning and there is an end. We have the beginnings of it all in Genesis. The consummation of it all is in the book of Revelation. And this is the generation that's living in the consummation of the ages. In the book of the Revelation. We can expect that God will give us understanding from time to time concerning the unfolding of the book of the Revelation because it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's the unveiling of Jesus Christ. It's the Christ rising up in the midst of the candlesticks to begin to exercise his lordship in the church. And he's able to do it because he's got seven stars in his right hand. The angels of the seven churches are the messengers of the seven churches. The ministry God has in his hand which is going to be in such, held in such control by the Spirit of God that when they speak, when the word goes forth, there'll be one voice going forth. It'll be the voice as the sound of many waters, but it'll be one voice, one clear voice, one pure voice from the mouth of God. I don't hesitate to declare that. And furthermore, I see no problem in it happening. I see no difficulty whatever when God's people have prepared for God a place of habitation when they come together in one accord. And we can come together in one accord if it's unto Christ. But if it's under some doctrine or some set of rules, some set of dogmas, some organization, or even under some apostle or some group of apostles, you'll have discord. But when it's unto Christ, when the people of God are prepared to gather together unto Christ, there'll be a people in one accord. And there'll be no problem with varieties of doctrines because as they're gathered in one accord unto the Son of God and the Spirit of God is Lord in their midst, the Spirit of God will speak. And He'll speak the same thing because they'll have the same mind, the same purpose, the same vision, the same hope. And every member of the body of Christ will speak according to their experience, according to their knowledge, according to the way God has quickened things to them. But it'll be totally harmonious with every other stream that issues forth from Mount Zion. All these many streams issuing forth from Mount Zion but all flowing together in the one river of God. And so God is preparing to release, I believe, the river of God over the land, the river that Ezekiel saw many centuries ago. And he was told to walk into the river. And we've mentioned this so often but it's such a beautiful picture of what God is doing and sending forth this river of life. He's asking His people to begin to walk in the river. And so He walks a step or two and finds the water up to His ankles. A few more steps and the waters are up to His knees. And He keeps hearing the voice, Go further, go further. And the water is up to His loins. And we're always prone to drop back. We're always prone to fall short. But as we hear the voice, we're constrained to move on until we find waters to swim in. We lose our footing. We lose our footing. We're no longer supported by the earth. It feels insecure. We don't quite feel safe. I feel I'm out of control. No, we're not out of control but we've lost control. When we come into that river of life, we lose control because there's another law functioning. It's the law of new creation life so we're carried along in new creation life. No longer can we exercise control with our natural faculties, with our natural mind. We've got to relinquish that in the river of God and be born along by the Spirit of God. Where's it leading us to? Well, we don't know explicitly, day by day. We don't know. But we do know it will, it comes from the heart of God and will return to the heart of God. And that's sufficient. We don't like to relinquish control. We feel it's our God-given heritage to always have control for ourselves. We don't want to relinquish our control to another. And I know even in the church this sounds like a dangerous doctrine. But the fact remains that as sinners, as members of the old creation life, we are under control. We think we're under control of our own mind and our own ways but Paul tells us that we're dominated, we're energized by the spirit of disobedience, the spirit of this world. That we're energized by the spirit of this world, the spirit of this age. Men are captivated by the spirit of this age. They're not free. They boast in freedom. They boast they're free but they're not free. They're not even free to follow the leadings of their own mind. They're energized by the spirit of the prince of the power of the air. That's where their energy comes from. They won't believe it but it's true. But you think then that it would be a dangerous thing for you and I in the new creation life to be energized by the Holy Spirit of God and to be under his control? Let us be quick to relinquish our control into the hands of the Spirit of God. But that's the rule of new creation life. We can no longer function according to the law of the old creation life. As many as will walk according to the new creation life, according to this rule, peace be upon them. Peace be upon them. Not disorder, not confusion. Peace. Peace for that people who find themselves born along in the river of God. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. This river is going to make glad the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High, the city of our God, because there's a river of peace, a river of righteousness, a river of joy, a river that's controlled by the mind of Christ. There's to be a people putting on the helmet of salvation, a people upon whom, as we mentioned last night, the Lord will place the holy miter, so that that old mind, that old carnal mind which has given us so much trouble, which always seeks to lead us away from God, will be replaced by the mind of Christ, so that we'll be functioning according to His mind, not out of control by any means, totally in control, but controlled by the mind of Christ. And so Paul tells us, writing to the Romans, in Romans 8, it's sort of a transition in the writing to the Romans, the first seven chapters, he deals with God's dealings with the old life as we partake of the new. He shows us in Romans 1 and 2, part of 3, how that the wrath of God abides on men because of men's sin, but how in the midst of it all, God comes in the scene with the gospel. Coming into Romans 4, shows us how we're justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Comes into Romans 5, and He shows us the two races that I mentioned a while ago. Shows us that there's two races, the old Adamic race and the new Adamic race. And not just as in the old Adam we inherit death and disobedience and sin, and all that, in the old Adam, so there's a new line, a new Adamic line, and in Him we inherit life and peace and righteousness. But He not only says that, but He says much more. If in the old Adam we find ourselves condemned because of the offense of one man, how much more shall the gift of righteousness, which is by Christ Jesus, abound unto many. If we acknowledge tonight, that we sit here tonight knowing that we were born in sin because of Adam's sin, knowing you might not understand the mystery of it, as Christians you acknowledge it's right, you don't condemn God for charging you with Adam's sin, but you just know that you're a sinner because of Adam's sin, and that happened at least 6,000 years ago. You know that's true. Why do we find it difficult to believe that if I can become like Adam, by virtue of the fact I was born in Adam, why do I find it difficult to believe that I can become like Jesus by virtue of the fact that I'm born in Him? And that's the teaching of Romans 5. There's two races. I was born in one because I was born in one. I inherited His sin, His death, His curse, everything that pertains to the old Adam. I became like Him because I was born in Him. But how much more, if that's true, how much more shall they that receive the gift of righteousness reign in life by Christ Jesus? If we're taken out of that old Adam, cut off from that old Adam, forget all the genealogies that pertain to the old Adamic race, for there's no difference. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Forget all that old line. Find yourself in a new order, in a new Adamic line, the line of the last Adam. Well, we're going to inherit then the same, the same law works. As by natural generation we got everything that Adam had, so by spiritual generation we receive and are born into a new order where God wants that law, that new order to prevail. But then there's the struggle to fully relinquish the old and to come into the new. So in Romans 6 we have baptism. Baptism. Paul shows us how that we were baptized into Christ, which simply meant that we were baptized into his death. Not only that we were baptized into his death, but then when we rose again, we rose in his life. And so baptism signifies a death to the old Adam and a rising again in the new Adam. Simple as that. That's what baptism is. Now I know we have water baptism and we have the baptism of the Spirit and we have the baptism into the body of Christ. And those are not three baptisms, but they're aspects of the one baptism. So we have no superstition involved as if to say that because I put a man under the water he's suddenly a new creation. But it's part of that one divine ordinance. And it should be considered part of the one divine ordinance. So that when we're baptized in water we should consider that means, literally, that when Jesus went into the tomb, I went into the tomb with him. And when I come up out of the water, it should mean to me, that means, that just as Jesus came forth from the tomb, a new life, walking in a new life, in resurrection life, so now I must walk in the resurrection life of Christ. So we have the truth of Romans 6. And the problems that we face as we relinquish the old and come into the new. And then in Romans 7 we have the struggle of the new man with the old. Somewhat of a continuation, maybe, of Romans 6. But where the new law is beginning to take effect and the old man still has a law that is demanding his rights. And the old man is saying, I want to go this way. The new man is saying, I want to go this way. And so Paul says, you know, I can't quote it all now. I used to know it all. That which I would, I do not. And that which I would not, that I do. And he ends up by saying, O wretched man that I am. And all through Romans 7 it's I and I and I and I. The two I's all confused. I want to do this, but I don't want to do it. The I of the old creation wants to do this. The I of the new creation says go this way. And so the struggle goes on. And we end up in frustration and disappointment so many times because we know we have a heart for God. We want to go God's way. We find the pull of the old Adam. And then in times of the presence of God we feel that recognition within us and that knowledge of the new creation life. And we want to submit to the new creation life, but there's a pull to cling to the old. And the struggle goes on. It's a struggle in the flesh. And that's where the Spirit of God comes in. That's where the Spirit of God comes in. And it's in this day, in this hour, when if ever we need it, the Lordship of the Spirit of God in our midst, it's today. We know as we've been born again we partake of His Spirit in measure. But we must come to that place where we're literally walking according to the law of this new realm. And surely it's going to be just as easy to walk in the Spirit as we come into the Spirit as it was for us to walk in the flesh because we were born of the flesh. I've got to go further than that. It's got to be much easier to walk in the Spirit than it was to walk in the flesh. Otherwise we're saying that the flesh of our old carnal Adam is more powerful than the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're going to insist it's always going to be easier to sin than it is to live righteously, you're saying my old Adam is more powerful than the Lord Jesus. You're saying that the old Adam is going to have control of my life and the new Adam can never have control of my new life. Romans 8, open so simply. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. The law of the Spirit of life is a greater law than the law of sin and death. But you know the law of sin and death is very powerful. You know it's more powerful than any rulership, any kingdom, any dictatorship in this world. And you know they're very powerful. But you know the kingdom of death is more powerful than any kingdom in the world. Great men, presidents, dictators, kings, they die and they honor them in their death. They bow before death. They say we can't do anything about it. They're gone. We'll give you the greatest honor we can. And if it's a potent hate, they'll come from all nations because every potent hate on earth knows death is ruler over all. But there's another king. He's alive. He's the king of life. He's alive tonight. He rules and reigns and we're members of him. And we refuse to bow to the king of death. And if he thinks he's conquered, he's mistaken because though this old mortal frame will lie down and die, if Jesus does not come in in the fullness of his life, that old mortal frame of ours will lay down and die but still we live. We still live because after all, this old frame is just a tent in which we live. We have a new life in this old tent. Peter talks about putting off that tent in which he lives. The time is at hand, he's going to put off this tent. It's just a tent. But he lived on. And so we have eternal life. We're members of that new Adamic life, that new Adamic order. And God wants us to begin to function in that new order, in the realm of that new life and to walk according to this rule, the rule of the new life, the rule by which we were born. We turn to a familiar passage in John chapter 3, verse 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Two different kinds of life. One a natural life, a soul life. The soul is the life of this body. But there's another birth which brings us into spirit life. And the spirit becomes the life of our spirit. And if the Spirit of God is the life of our spirit, as we continue to make room for the Spirit of God to inhabit this temple, it even affects the old temple in which we live. So that what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. And so there's a participation even for our bodies. In the Spirit of God there's a participation for us even for the body, even for this natural body. Though I know that death reigns and will continue to reign until the end, and will bring us down to the dust, unless the Lord of life should choose to intervene and spare us, and which he will do at least at the last trumpet. All those who are living at the time of the last trumpet will be caught up to be with the Lord in the air and be forever with the Lord. But even before that there can be a place where we can partake of the life of the new creation order because of the quickening of the Spirit of God who abides in this mortal flesh. And so it says...