The Lord wants to purify our spirits. We realize it is necessary for we still have things in our spirits which we know should not be there. Because we want a right spirit we pray, “Lord, renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). How will we have that right spirit?
The Holy Spirit brings to pass the purification of our spirits. After we turn aside from sin, we must go through a period in which the subconscious mind is reconditioned. New responses come. Ways that we once responded to circumstances and situations change; we no longer respond so. Nevertheless, we still see something that God must do within our spirits.
In the Scriptures we see that God used certain men in a mighty way, but things in their spirits kept coming out and they would fail. There was somewhat of a cockiness in Peter’s spirit in that he denied his Lord. Although you see Peter moving in the Lord beautifully, you also say, “Peter is still Peter,” an impulsive spirit. You see James and John, the sons of thunder: James was the first of the disciples to lay his life down for the Lord as a martyr; John, who lived such a long time that they wondered if he would ever die, was called the apostle of love. These two, James and John, were willing to bring fire down out of heaven to consume a city of the Samaritans. Jesus said, “You know not what spirit you are of” (Luke 9:55). Because the human spirit still came out, James was still James, John was still John, and Peter was still Peter.
God looking down upon us must see that also, and He wants perfection in our spirits. We cry out to be pure in our spirits before the Lord. The imperfections in our spirits crop out and become the occasion of many defeats, yet we want to walk perfectly before the Lord. We yearn for that which shall come upon us and make our spirits like unto His Spirit. We yearn for that which God says will come forth in the end time, when God shall sit, as Malachi prophesied, and purify all the sons of Levi as silver is refined in the fire. Then, in that day shall the people of God offer a pure offering unto the Lord, a pure worship (Malachi 3:3). We seek that pure worship, and pure worship cannot come out of an impure spirit. When we come into a walk with God, He immediately starts dealing with our spirits. More than anything else He deals with the spirit we have, and if we fail on that point we fail completely because our walk with Him in this end time is a matter of spirit.
In this end time we will be a people of action, but we do not want to go into fields of endeavor and lose out, to look back and say, “Should we have gone out so boldly? Look how many casualties we had along the way.” If our spirit is dealt with and teachable, right toward God and toward those with whom we work, we can come through without any casualties. An old general knows before he is through the battle that some will be lost along the way unless precautions are taken.
Before Israel went into battle to take the land of Canaan, while they were still on the east side of the Jordan, Joshua said, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Joshua 3:5. He was going to open up the Jordan for them to pass through, and deep preparation was necessary. Later they circumcised the young males in Israel for there was not to be one of them who had not met God’s requirements. The Lord today is also starting a circumcision in our hearts and in our spirits.
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. II Corinthians 7:1. We do not want to go into the enterprises before us and find anyone losing out with God. We can grow under the greatest of activity if we have a right spirit. If you do not serve God with a right spirit, everything you do is a labor to you and becomes an unbearable sacrifice, an imposition taking away your life and making demands under which you grow weary. But with a right spirit you will find that your meat will be to do the will of Him that sent you, to finish His work (John 4:34). It is only when we retain so much of ourselves that we suffer so much in doing the will of the Lord.
We turn to the Sermon on the Mount because we are concerned about the Lord dealing with our spirits. We cry, “O Lord, how we want to be purified!” What was Jesus showing us in the Sermon on the Mount? Some say, “It was all grace which is different from the law,” but He said, Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. Matthew 5:17. This is not to regulate men’s actions, but to show that right actions come out of a right spirit and to show what pleases the Lord. It is not enough for God to bend your conduct and behavior to conformity until you do what He says, yet with your spirit far from it. He wants to start with the core of your being, so when you are worshiping Him it is not an external or superficial obedience but it is that which comes out of the heart.
All through the Scriptures the great commandment indicates that God wanted people who would love the Lord with all their hearts, with all their souls, with all their minds, and with all their strength. He was not looking for a multitude of works and sacrifices that left the individual untouched. He does not want what you have; He wants you. He does not want what you can do; He wants you. After He really has you, then He will have all that you have and all that you can do, but He will be moving through it.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches about the Kingdom. And Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness among the people. And the report of him went forth into all Syria: and they brought unto him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments, possessed with demons, and epileptic, and palsied; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes from Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the sons of God.
Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 4:23–5:16.
Much of the Sermon on the Mount is talking about the human spirit and its relationship to God: so much, that if you keep that in mind you can meditate on the Sermon on the Mount for a while and find outlined there what you want in your spirit. Jesus was opening up the great secrets of the Kingdom, and this teaching was very necessary and basic to it.
In verses 13 through 16 Jesus used both the illustration of the salt and the light as referring to the human spirit. If the salt loses its savor it is not good for anything. It is cast out and trodden underfoot of men. In other words, if there is not a right spirit in what you do, you can be as religious as possible, but you are cast out to be trodden underfoot of men. If there is nothing real in your spirit, your whole endeavor is empty. The secret is how much of God is in your spirit when it comes forth.
Some people today wonder why the agnostics in the world are trampling the churches underfoot, making fun of them and laughing. They should. There should be a little more downright ridicule, because God said that if the salt has lost its savor, if there is no right spirit in it, let it be stomped underfoot of men. Let men reject it, because phony religion is not an answer for the world. The answer is a light on a lampstand where everyone can see it. When Jesus said, “You are the light of the world,” he was talking about a person’s spirit.
Are you to let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and say, “My, what a great humanitarian! Let’s make a statue to him”? No, glorify the Father. All your works will glorify yourself unless they are done with a right spirit. If they are done with a right spirit, they glorify the Father. Those who are doing things for credit to themselves are doing them with a wrong spirit. Surprisingly, the Lord does not give them much credit, does He?
You glorify the Lord when you see some soul who is not looking for any recognition or praise, who works, labors, and praises the Lord. You do not even see the lamp, only the light that comes forth. You do not stop to think of all the people who work on God’s Word: you read it and start glorifying the Lord for it: “Oh, what a beautiful Word!” Hidden away are those who are letting their light so shine before men that when you see their good works you glorify the Father. Because of the Spirit of God that is working within us, He is being glorified in what we do. The things of a right spirit we call “blessed.” Beatitude means blessed—“Blessed are…” You notice the Beatitudes are not giving you the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt, and thou shalt not,” but they are something different. They bless a man not so much for what he does, but for what is in his spirit.
What bothers people in the world today about churches is when there is none of the Spirit, none of the anointing of God. Then there is nothing real; it is just a form. The salt has lost its savor and is trampled underfoot of men. You might think that the world is persecuting churches in the way that they despise and ignore them, but persecution in another thing entirely. We are to live godly in Christ Jesus and suffer persecution, and that is inevitable. People are spurning and scorning churches and trampling them underfoot because they have lost their savor, the saltiness of the Spirit of the Lord which makes them real and alive. Churches can have the most beautiful buildings and interesting programs with everything going fine, yet people despise them because there is nothing there—no savor, no redeeming quality. This is what Jesus was talking about.
Jesus also talked about letting your light shine, so everyone can see your good works. Try doing good works without a right spirit, and what happens? A rich man may give a million dollars to charity, but for all his good works you don’t see God in it. You see a big impressive man who is buying himself a little merit and publicity. Men have spent millions of dollars to change an image created in the minds of people because of crimes for which they should be tried and sent to the penitentiary. You cannot buy your way into heaven, but you can spend a lot of money to change an image people have of you for a while.
The truth that God is showing is that you can so live that in everything you do your spirit coming through will glorify the Father. Everything that people see in you will give glory to God. What is the use of working for the Lord unless you are going to give Him the glory? What is the use of going through the motions just to take credit to ourselves and have people see us? God forbid! But there is a way that we can let our light so shine that when people see our good works they will glorify the Father. We can have something so pure in our spirits that in every labor, everything we do, God will get the glory. Because of the purity of our spirits, something beautiful can come through, and the Lord will be glorified.