by Rick Joyner

The Christians who believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit are no longer operational in the church often site how the Corinthian church, which had all the gifts operating, were called “still carnal” (see Corinthians 2:3 NKJV) by Paul, as if the gifts of the Spirit were the cause of this carnality.  If the gifts of the Holy Spirit were the cause of their carnality, why would the apostle actually encourage them to seek the gifts even more, which he did in his letter to them?

When Paul chastised the Corinthians for being “carnal,” this word could have been translated “natural.” He was  chastising them for not being spiritual enough.  Paul was actually being a little more radical in encouraging  the Corinthians to pursue the spiritual than some modern English translations imply. Let’s look at a couple of verses to see how:

In the verses above, the word “gifts” is italicized because it is not found in the original manuscripts.  It was added because the translators assumed that the gifts is what Paul was implying.  This may be the case, but not necessarily.  Since word “gifts” is not there, let us consider how these verses literally read, adding only the word “the” before “spiritual” as good English grammar would require:

My point here is that adding the word “gifts” to these verses actually reduces and limits the scope of what was said.  Spiritual gifts are included in the awareness of the spiritual, which we should have and should be  pursuing, but the spiritual gifts are not all which we should be aware of and pursue.  We should in fact pursue the spiritual realm. What exactly does this mean?

 

It will take more than one article to answer this question, but to answer it is essential for Christianity in the twenty-first century.  The emerging generation will not settle for a faith based solely on the works of God in history, but they will have to see and experience them in there own lives.  True, biblical Christianity is the most exiting  adventure that one can experience in this life. Nothing is more boring than mere religion, and that which is not based on a living faith will not survive long in these times.

The spiritual realm is more real, or has more substance, than the natural realm. God is Spirit.  That which takes place in the spiritual realm can impact the natural realm far more than what takes place in the natural realm. The beings who dwell in the spiritual realm, such as angels and demons, have the authority to extraordinarily impact the physical.  Physically we can do nothing in the spiritual realm, but by faith, which is spiritual, we can do much. The spiritual trumps the natural in every way. For this reason, one basic aspect of true Christian maturity is to be more at home in the spiritual realm than in the natural, just as the Apostle Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8

As a great saint of old once said, the new creation man is not called to be a human being who has occasional spiritual experiences, but we are called to be spiritual beings who have occasional human experiences.  We should be more at home in the spiritual realm than we are in the natural.  We should actually, as Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 5, literally be groaning for our spiritual bodies wanting to be free of the natural.

Those who are lead by fear instead of faith will often quickly and automatically reject what they cannot understand or cannot control.  Such will point to the cults and the New Age movements as evidence that the supernatural belongs to the devil.  These have more faith in the devil to deceive them than they do in the Holy Spirit to lead them into the truth.   The devil would very much like to totally possess and control the high ground of the spiritual realm.  However, as the scripture makes clear in 11Corinthians 10:4: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (or natural), but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (NKJV) we cannot fight the battle between light and darkness without understanding the spiritual realm to at least some degree, along with the spiritual nature of the weapons we have been given to fight within this realm.

Even so, the Holy Spirit will not impose Himself or experiences on those who do not want them.  That is why Paul encouraged the Corinthians to seek the spiritual, because if we do not seek it we will not receive it.  Those who say they are “open” for the Lord to do anything He wants with them do not understand a basic principle of the kingdom – we have to seek in order to find.  We have to care about something enough to seek it before He will entrust it to us.  That’s why those who are “open” to be used in spiritual gifts are never used.  We have to honor them more than this to receive them.

One of the most notable and worn-out sayings is, “You can become so spiritually-minded that you are no longer any earthly good.”  The truth is that most Christians have been so earthly-minded  that they have not done any good in heaven or the earth.  By having spiritual authority, we can do far more even in the natural realm than we could do otherwise.  The church which becomes what it is called to be will be so heavenly minded she will not care very much for the carnal, temporary things of this world.  

   

It is time to earnestly desire the spiritual.  The great battle between light and darkness at the end of this age will become increasingly supernaturally.  Through movies, books and other forms of entertainment, the emerging generation is becoming increasingly drawn into the spiritual and supernatural.  This is why cults and covens are growing so fast – the kids are looking to the supernatural for power and they cannot find it in the church.  This will and is even now changing, but we must go beyond just having doctrines in which we believe the supernatural power of God is available to actually having it.  Normal Christianity is supernatural.

Seeing angels is normal Christianity.  In the first century, this was obviously a very common experience, as angels released Peter from prison.  When he came to the door to come into the house where they were praying for him, it was easier for them to believe it was his angel at the door than Peter (see Acts 12:7-11).  The book of Acts contains a number of other encounters between angels and believers.  We should not think this is strange since they are “ministering angels” (see Hebrews 1:14) called to serve those who are the heirs of salvation.

When we start to see angels, it is not because they are entering our realm as much as we are beginning to enter their realm.  We begin to see into the spiritual realm when the “eyes of our heart” start to open.  When Elisha sat on the side of the hill unconcerned about the entire army which was coming after him, it was because he could see that those who were with him, the angels, far out numbered those who were coming after him.  His servant could not see this, so Elisha prayed for his eyes to be opened. (see 11Kings 6).

Then  Elisha called on their power to strike the enemy with blindness, which did happen, and he was able to capture an entire army.  I think that was greater than what even the greatest commando could have done!  We, too, must begin to see into the spiritual realm—make it our home more than this earthly realm and learn to use the “divinely powerful weapons” we have been given to fight with.

The Corinthians were chastised for being carnal because of the divisions among them. The reason for many of our divisions is that we are too occupied with the natural, earthly things which are really not that significant.  If we start to see them from God’s perspective, the heavenly one, we will not nearly be as prone to divide over things that now upset us and cause conflicts between us.  If we could see from the heavenly perspective, we would not waste nearly as much energy fighting with our fellow believers and focus on fighting our true enemy.  Even then, we would not be overly concerned about the enemy either, knowing that He that is with us is greater than he who is against us.

Our main purpose for entering the spiritual realm and making it our home is more than just fighting.  God is Spirit and for us to know Him as He is we must perceive Him as He is and worship Him in Spirit and truth (see John 4:23).  Our goal is not just to be spiritual, but to be one with the Lord, to abide in Him and be filled with His Spirit.  There is nothing higher than abiding in Christ.  He is seated on the right hand of the Father, above all rule and authority and dominion.  To be seated with Him in heavenly places is not only our calling; it is the ultimate position that can be attained in all creation.

It is the Lord’s desire to use us, as members of His body, as extensions of His authority and power, to do as He did—to go about doing good and destroying the works of the devil.  The way that Jesus preached the kingdom was to demonstrate its authority over any conditions that were on the earth including disease, affliction or any need.  In heaven, there are no cripples, so He demonstrated how touching a cripple with the authority  of heaven would heal them.  In heaven, there is no need, so He demonstrated how touching even just one little boy’s lunch with the authority of heaven would multiply it until it fed thousands.  In heaven there is no death, so when the authority of heaven was used to touch the dead they would come back to life.

 When Jesus told Nathanael that He saw him under the fig tree and Nathanael responded with, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God,” the Lord answered him with, “Because I said to you I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these…  Truly, truly I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man (John 1 49 –51) Angels are His messengers, and it is the purpose of His messengers to ascend into heaven and bring back to earth evidence of heaven’s reality and it’s authority over any condition on the earth.

As the scripture makes clear, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but power (1Corinthians 4:20).  The kingdom of God is coming to the earth, and before it does, the good news that it is coming will be preached throughout the whole world, but not just with words.  The Lord Himself preached the gospel of the kingdom by demon- strating its authority over the earth and that is how the gospel of the kingdom will be preached.

It is time to seek the power of the Lord in our own lives.  We need to seek it for the right reasons, and we need to be careful to use it in obedience to the Lord, but we must have power to be witnesses of the Almighty.  This is not just power over conditions, but the power to transform those who are in even worst bondage, to a life that is more free and more glorious that can ever be attained apart from the New Covenant that we have with God Almighty.  In the time to come, the difference between being citizens of this world and being citizens of the kingdom, will be revealed to the whole world.