"He that is spiritual," says our apostle, "judgeth or discerneth all
things, yet he himself is judged or discerned of no man." The spiritual
man is the man who has been baptized with the Spirit and filled with
the Spirit, and in whom the Spirit abides as an ever-present Guide,
Comforter and Friend. In short, he is the man who is wholly sanctified
and saved to the uttermost. I should not, of course, affirm that such a
one is always remarkable for depth or soundness of judgment, for, as
his religion is in his heart rather than in his head, the heart may be
perfect while the head may be weak. And yet holiness, or rather the
Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart, does have a wonderfully illuminating
influence upon the understanding. And the spiritual man, however many
things he may be ignorant of, does understand the condition of the
natural man, because he has been there, while he is not understood by
the natural man because the latter has not been where he is. And the
same is true of the relation of the spiritual man to the carnal
Christian or babe in Christ. He, also, is understood by one who has the
Spirit, while he is himself incapable of judging or discerning the
position of the latter.
Paul assures the Corinthians that they are "yet carnal," and still he
asserts that they are "babes in Christ." Such persons, and their name
is legion in all denominations of Christians, are not wholly natural,
neither are they wholly spiritual. They are babes in Christ, and,
therefore, they may thank God that they are in Christ. They are
converted, they are believers, they are disciples, they are justified;
but they are not wholly sanctified, and not wholly delivered from the
carnal mind. Their state is a mixed one, partly spiritual, partly
carnal.
Oh, let such as these make an immediate and complete and irrevocable
consecration to God, and let them ask for the baptism with the Holy
Ghost and receive Him by faith in His sanctifying and empowering
offices, that so they may become, not partly, but wholly spiritual. Oh,
that spiritual men and women may increase and abound in all our
churches. Amen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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