The Letter and the Spirit

I thank you, folks, after having had me for almost six years now. I know that I'm pretty careful with my choice of words, with what I say. So I'm going to make a statement that might be surprising or unsettling or shocking to some, but listen carefully. I'll make it so that I'm going to clarify it. The Ten Commandments, as they are worded in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, are not sufficient for spiritual Israel.

I emphasize, as they are worded, as they are worded, they are sufficient only for physical Israel, for a physical nation with physical boundaries that has laws of force embodied in the concept of the administration of death. Because in the Old Covenant, it was the administration of death and it was a physical nation, and they had the power to physically correct, even to the point of executing people. As they are worded, they are not sufficient for spiritual Israel, the church.

I did not say they're not good or not proper. I said they are not sufficient for spiritual Israel. As far as they go in their wording, they are good. They are great. You will not find anything wrong with them, but they don't go far enough for a spiritual entity which the church is. Their wording is primarily for Old Covenant needs to meet the Old Covenant needs. As they are worded, they cover the basics necessary for a physical nation, for a physical nation to function safely and intact under God in a collective, unified way.

And frankly, our founding fathers of this nation, as certain other nations have done also, but we especially in the United States, based our form of government, our laws, on the Ten Commandments. Such allows for national, physical blessings that the individuals of the nations share in. You have peace. You have safety. You have national unity. You have long life upon the land that was all incorporated, and they are worded for such.

As they are worded, they don't require deep insight to keep them. They're very basic. They're very understandable. They're very capable. Anyone can read them, understand them, and do them. What is it about the Ten Commandments that is so complex that you can't just read them and see what it says that a person is supposed to be doing? It's there. It's easy to see that. Keeping them as they are written is keeping them in the letter. Very simple. It's keeping them in the letter, and there's a certain physical righteousness in doing so.

And that is sufficient for physical Israel, the nation, but it's not sufficient for spiritual Israel. The church, the first roots, the kingdom of God, and embryo, which was touched upon in the opening prayer, the kingdom of God in the making. This is pointed out by Christ's statement regarding the Pharisees. If you read with me Matthew 5 and verse 20, to His disciples, I am one of His disciples. You are too. For I say to you that accept your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. You shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. See, the Pharisees were very physically based in the law.

They were extremely strong for the letter. The problem is, that's where it stopped in the letter. They built such an extreme system of protective measures around the letter of the law, they never got to the spirit of it. They were not involved in the spirit of the law. The spirit was locked out. They developed it into an ultimate physical form without deep spiritual substance. That was the problem. This is why Christ dealt with them the way He did. And if you'll notice with me, Matthew 23, verses 13 and 23. In Matthew 23, verses 13 and 23, verse 13.

But woe you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in, your sales neither suffer you them that are entering to go in. And then He says to them in verse 23, woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites, for you pay tithe of anise and and have omitted the way to your matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone.

He didn't tell them not to tithe. Of course, the way they tithe was, I just picture them with tweezers and a magnifying glass and sitting there separating the seeds, you know. That exact, that specific.

And yet, at the same time, the heavy-duty stuff, more of the spirit, the judgment, mercy, and faith, and the blend of that, no. You just totally, totally miss that. See, set yourself back in that time.

They knew why Judah had gone into Babylonian captivity. They knew why they had lost their nation, their national entity, their physical blessings. They knew. They knew it was because they had broken the Ten Commandments and specifically the ones that relate to the Sabbath and idolatry. They knew that. They were determined that that would never happen again. But in their zeal, they made two mistakes. Number one, they looked only at the physical level of God's law. And number two, they went to absolute extremism with it.

Only looked at the physical level of God's law. And they went to absolute extremism with it.

The law wasn't the problem. Never has been. Never will be. They made a number of mistakes with God's law and all having to do with their perspective and their approach. They tended to see the Ten Commandments as worded as a complete expression and to stop there in their understanding.

They didn't pursue it deeper. And their efforts were to bolster what they did have, not to seek what they didn't have, what they lacked. If you'd like a title for this message, The Letter and the Spirit. The Letter and the Spirit.

This is why Paul said of them, he said, they have a zeal unto God. This is in Romans 10 verses 1 through 3. In fact, I'll turn over there and read that whole section. Romans 10 verses 1 through 3. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved, for I bear them record. And Paul was in the perfect place to bear them record because he had been one of them. He'd been one of their brightest stars. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.

And of course, we could add verse 4, where it says, Christ is the end or the end results or the effect or the outcome of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes.

See, as they are worded, they don't require God's Holy Spirit for comprehending them or keeping them.

In Paducah, I had a little patch of a garden in the backyard. And one of the things that I like to grow were tomatoes, especially little huskies or cherry tomatoes. And I was going, the grande's library was going on vacation, and the vines were really producing. And I told my neighbor across the street, I said, take anything there that you want, you know, help yourself. Well, one day he told me this later, while we were going, he walked over, and he was picking some of those tomatoes. And he had his little grandson with him, who probably was between two and three years of age, probably closer to two. And his little grandson watched him picking them and said something like this, Papa, you're stilled in Mr. Rick's tomatoes.

And the little fella thought that he was stealing my tomatoes, you know.

But it bears out the point that you think about it. There's nothing hard to understand about the way the commandments are worded as to what is right and wrong to do, you know. You think about that. It's very plain and it's very simple. And you don't have to have God's Holy Spirit in order to comprehend what the commandments say, really say, and keep them in that way, do you?

But as Paul so aptly pointed out, and it's here in Romans 7 in verse 14, Romans 7 and verse 14, he says, For we know that the law is spiritual.

True Christians know, but what does that mean? Well, I'm going to answer this question and these questions as we go through. Because we know that the law is spiritual. There is a certain depth to it.

We know that the law is spiritual. Therefore, to really comprehend them and to truly put them into practice as a living way of life that is deeply and fully and part of our fiber. It's really part of our mind. It's really part of our heart, our motivation.

You have to probe them deeply with God's Holy Spirit involved.

What the Pharisees didn't face and then operate by was simply this.

The Ten Commandments, as they are worded, are just the tip of the iceberg.

They're just the tip of the iceberg. What's beneath the surface is far more than what shows above.

What shows above is primarily the letter of the law application. What is hidden below is the real spirit of the law. What's above may be sufficient for just a physical functioning, you know, for physical functioning, like for a physical nation like Israel was with only physical blessings involved. That's what the Old Covenant is about. But what's below is absolutely necessary for a spiritual entity, which the Church is, and for every member of the body of the Church. Without such, there is no New Covenant. It takes that for the New Covenant to be involved.

See, with both the Old and New Covenants, the law of God is involved, isn't it? That's one of the great things about the law. Whether you're talking about the Old Covenant or the New Covenant, the law of God is involved. But the amount, or that is the measure of God's law with each, whether you're speaking of the Old Covenant or the New Covenant, is what varies. The amount or the measure of God's law with each, that is what varies. With the letter, think about this, with the letter, it's basically what's above the surface that you see. That is the way it's physically worded. With the Spirit, guess what? It's all of it. It's what you see above the surface, on the surface, and it's also what you see underneath. It's what's above, and most importantly, it's what is below the surface, unseen. See, the real power, if you want to talk about icebergs, and if you've ever seen any pictures of icebergs where the picture, the way they shoot it, shows you what you see above water on the surface, the amount of it, and what's below surface, it's staggering how much more there is below surface than above. That's why they speak of the tip of the iceberg, because it's only a tiny portion of the iceberg, because the massive hugeness of it, the main thing, is underneath. You don't see what's underneath. You see what's above, but what you do see is just a small, tiny part of what's underneath. And it wasn't the power of what was above that sunk the Titanic. It was the massiveness and the weight, and it was what was below the surface, and the absolute magnitude of that iceberg, and the power of impact when the ship scraped it, hit it, to cut those gashes and sunk the Titanic. And just as you can't separate the tip of the iceberg from the rest, the bigger part underneath, neither can you separate the letter from the Spirit. You cannot separate the letter from the Spirit. Now, I'll explain. It's not either or. I mean, some people have heard them say, well, you keep the letter of the law if you want to. I keep the Spirit. Oh, you do?

You mean, you keep the Spirit, but you don't keep the letter?

You must be a spiritual magician. How do you keep the Spirit and not involve the letter also?

Hmm, that's interesting. Sir, could you explain that to me? You say, you keep the Spirit. Now, the letter doesn't matter. You don't keep the letter. You keep the Spirit. I'm wondering, how actually do you actually keep the Spirit and not involve the letter?

Say, it's not either or. It's not one or the other. In other words, you can't push aside the letter of the law to get to the Spirit. Guess how you get to the Spirit? You have to go through the letter. You don't push the letter of the law aside in order to get to the Spirit, or because you're going for the Spirit of it. The law has no placement. The letter, that is, has no placement. You're pushing it aside. You can't get to the Spirit by bypassing the letter.

You get to the Spirit by going through the letter. The letter of the law is the beginning. The letter is the starting point. The letter is the lead-in.

Everybody knows, don't we, that in baseball, first base is not a run.

It's not a score. If you were at a baseball game and the batter hit the ball and got safely on first, and then started jumping up and down on first and yelling and saying, hey, we just scored. We just got another run. You might wonder, what are they doing with an idiot out there playing on the team that doesn't even know the basic rules of the game?

And guess what? How many times does an inning end? How many times in baseball does an inning end with someone still on first base? At the time, the inning ends, and there's no score from that person being on first base because that's as far as they got. That's as far as they got, so there's nothing scored. But you do have to get on first base for any chance to score, don't you? Isn't that the requirement? You don't see somebody take off for first and say, I think I'll just cut behind the pitcher here right over to second.

I may or may not tag second. I don't know if I'll tag third or not, but I'm just going to run all the way around and go right to home plate the shortest way I can, the quickest way I can, and score for the team. First of all, it'd be, you know, called out, but there'd be no score.

You have to get on first. And I guess by way of analogy of a ball game, baseball, you have to get on second and third. You'd have to go all the way around. You'd have to get on those bases and succession in order for it to count as a score when you go across home plate.

And it's that way with God's law. If you don't get to the letter, you have no chance to get to the spirit. If you don't get on first, you have no chance or opportunity, any chance for scoring.

If you don't get to the letter, you have no chance to get to the spirit. You can't, again, take off I mean, what if a guy said, okay, this is batter's box. I'm batting. This is batter's box.

And that's what it is for me. I'm standing right here where the home plate is, this is batter's box, and I'm batting. And I get ahead. And I'm going to run for first.

But halfway down to first, I decide I don't want to go on down to first. I just want to go charging back to where I was, which is where I'm going to have to wind up if I go around those bases, and just call it a home run. And I've got a home run because now it's home plate.

Again, that would be ludicrous, it'd be ridiculous. It's the same way with God's law.

You have to engage the letter. You have to go with and through the letter in order to get to the Spirit. Or you're invalidated. Just like a baseball player would be invalidated. See, the letter is the basic foundation for the Spirit. It's the beginning point.

Long before a person is old enough to have God's Spirit in them, and that is an adult decision, it can't be made for the baby, it can't be made for the child, it can't be an immature of age decision. Being baptized, receiving God's Spirit, that is an adult decision. Christ didn't have to be baptized in order to be cleansed because he had no sin. And in order to receive God's Spirit, he had God's Holy Spirit without measure from the womb. In the womb and from the womb.

But he was baptized, to set an example. Not that you have to be 30 years old when you're baptized, that's not the point. But he was mature. He was full grown. And I've only baptized a couple of people in my entire lifetime that were as young as 18. I was 18 when I was baptized. I baptized two people who were 18. I've never baptized anybody younger than 18. It has to be a mature decision. And those two, I really believed, felt they had the maturity to make that decision. But long before you have God's Spirit, and long before you really begin to understand and see and understand the Spirit of the law, what are you being taught as a child in the church? What do parents teach their children? They teach them the Ten Commandments. And the commandments are at a level they can understand. You don't lie. Johnny, did you do that? No, Daddy. She did it. Are you sure? It's got your fingerprints on it. Johnny, are you lying? Well, Daddy, I guess I did it. But you work with kids and you teach them. And God's Spirit will work with them and with you with them. But the depths of it and the deep understandings of the Spirit.

Not that you can't begin to teach some of that when they're young, and of course, age relevant and all of that. The letter is the basic foundation for the Spirit. It's the beginning point. We will teach the letter and the Spirit in the millennium. We will teach the letter and the Spirit in the last great day. We will teach people basic understanding and we will probe it into deeper and deeper awareness and understanding with them. The letter will always serve as the basic foundation of the Spirit, eternally. And with any new creations of mind and matter, that would always be. And just like first base in baseball has its validity and it's not a problem. So it is with God's law. The law is never the problem. The law is never the problem. Neither on the letter basis, if you're talking about the letter basis or you're talking about the deeper basis of the Spirit. It's what's done with it or not done with it that's the problem. It's what's done with it or not done with it that's the problem. Again, just like first base, it's valid. But if the runners stack up on first base and won't move on, guess what? You know in baseball what happens when two runners are on the same base? One of them has to be out. Maybe both, but one of them definitely has to be out. Can you imagine runners hitting the ball?

Imagine the Pharisees playing ball. And if the Pharisee hits the ball, he gets the hit and he gets the first and he stops there. And the next Pharisee comes up to hit the ball and he hits the ball. And he gets a hit and he runs the first. And let's just say they didn't call anybody out, but they just let him keep stacking up on first base. And after a while, you got half a dozen players, well, each one with a toe, tagging first base and they're stacked up on it. And that's as far as they go. But of course, if you play by the rules, they're out and eventually the ending is over and there are no runs. Let's see what the Pharisees did. They stacked up on first base over and over again. That's why they lost the game. They were never fully in it. They were never fully in it. And some of God's people through the years have never fully been in it. We've seen so many back in late 80s and early and mid 90s who were never fully in the game. That's why they left the game that they were never fully in. They didn't get it. The Pharisees stacked up. They lost the game. They were never fully in it. And that kept them from having any chance to win spiritually.

I want to use another analogy. I want to use the analogy of a long hallway.

And this long hallway has 10 doors. Let's say there's 5 doors on this side of the hallway and let's say there's 5 doors on that side of the hallway. And on each door.

And I suppose maybe for the sake of how we know the commandments do break down into two major parts, we've got 6 doors on one side. Let's do it that way. We've got 4 doors on the other side because there's two great commandments and of course the 4 have to do with the greatest side of toward God and the other 6 have to do with toward man. Relationships with God, relationships with man. But in this long hallway you've got 6 doors over here and you've got 4 doors over there, let's say.

And on each door, a commandment is written as you find it in Deuteronomy 5 and Exodus 20. You've got the first commandment spelled out right there on the door.

And the second door, the second commandment, actually if I did it according to the analogy, it doesn't matter which side the 4 is on or the 6, I'm just saying you've got a commandment written there, a commandment, a commandment, and you go down both sides of the hallway and you've got all 10 commandments written on the doors. Each door contains a commandment written there.

You know what you can do in that hallway? You can move up and down the hallway, can't you? And you could do it in succession or you could go over here, then turn around, look at the other wall, but you could read the commandment on each door as it is written, as it is worded in Exodus and Deuteronomy. And you would understand what it says. That shall not steal. That shall not commit adultery. You shall have no other gods before me. Don't take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Don't have any graven images. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Couldn't you? And there would be understanding. You would know, anybody would know, basically by reading it, it says, don't steal. Don't lie. Don't bear false witness. Don't do that. I mean, you read each door, you read the commandments. And guess what? You set your mind to apply what you read. That's great. If our nation would just keep the commandments as they are worded, think about how much difference it would make with the kind of nation we would have.

If the nation would just keep the commandments as they are worded, that alone would be great.

And so in this hallway, as you read what you read, which is very understandable and easy to grasp and comprehend, as far as that goes, that is great. But guess what you also can do?

You could stop at any one of those doors. You could say, okay, I read what this room is about. I read the basic intro. Here's what it says, but I want to open this door, and I want to go inside deeper, and I want to see what more there is to it. You could open the doors. You could probe deeper inside into the issue, and that is so much better because then you're going into the Spirit. But you have to go through the door to get into that room. You can't bypass that commandment as it's worded. You go through it into the door. You still incorporate that, but you go deeper. See, the Pharisees were content to roam the hallway. They went up and down that hallway all the time.

They went up and down that hallway all the time. Now, there is nothing in the commandment that says that it's a sin or that it's wrong to heal on the Sabbath.

There is nothing that says in the commandment that it's wrong to be anointed on the Sabbath, it's wrong for a person to be healed on the Sabbath, it's not anywhere in there as far as the Sabbath commands, is it? Yet, the Pharisees who kept the Sabbath so scrupulously to the point of absolute extremism, to the point that they totally were actually even violating very easily seen the spirit of the Sabbath, they condemned Christ for healing on the Sabbath. Think about that. They roamed that hallway up and down. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. And boy, were they dead set on their particular idea of what it meant to keep it holy, even to the point that they ruled that to be healed on the Sabbath was breaking it.

Who did they think was doing the healing? The healing was of God and from God.

I'm sorry, sir, I can't anoint you today as the Sabbath, and you might be healed on the Sabbath, so we'll have to do it another day of the week, one of the other six days. That's ludicrous.

But that's the mindset they were in because they never got past first base.

They were stuck on first base, and even their understanding of the letter obviously was not healthy and balanced. Think about the Pharisees. They weren't interested in opening doors and probing deeper, were they? This is one reason why Christ expressed righteous indignation of them there in Matthew 23 and verse 23 where he told them, you know, the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith, and how that blends together, you don't get it. You're guilty of not getting it. But see, them roaming the hallway, never opening doors and probing deeper, never really getting into the Spirit, that is what limited them and made them legalists. It limited them. It made them legalists. I've dealt with in my lifetime with members who were so limited, some members who were so limited and such legalists, and I cannot push Pharisees out of my mind when I see that.

Christ was a door opener. That's what got him into trouble with them. Think about it. He was a door opener. He didn't just walk the hallway. He took his disciples and said, follow me down this hallway. Let's go behind this door. This right here, do it. But what more is there to it? Let's go inside and see. And he was constantly taking his disciples, even today with the church. You know, part of our personal experience is to learn, obviously not just the letter of the law, which is the easiest part to learn, but the spirit of the law too.

Not just the letter, but the spirit. He was a door opener. That got him into trouble with them because they weren't. That got him crosswise with them. That's what turned them against him, one of the main things that turned them against him. Because again, they had locked into the letter, and they didn't want to budge any further. As it is written is enough for me. Leave me alone.

That was basically their stance. As it is worded, it's sufficient. I don't need to know more. Don't burden me with additional responsibility. I have it like I like it. Leave me be. That was their approach with him. In fact, quit misleading the people. Quit misleading anybody. Your disciples, your followers, you're taking them down a wrong path. See, Christ, the giver of the law, knew what was behind the doors. He knew the spirit of the law, and guess what? He knew the absolute need for it. Why? Why do you have to have it? Do you realize that most of the Pharisees died with no real substance in them? That most of the Pharisees, there were those like Nicodemus and some others who would have come on along. Some became part of the church later. We don't know if Nicodemus did or did not, but there were Pharisees that became part of the church later.

But so many of them died with no real spiritual substance in them.

And, of course, if you just want to take spiritual substance, and I said that Christ knew the spirit of the law. He knew the absolute need for it, because without that, there's no real lasting, true spiritual substance. And without real spiritual substance, there'd be no church. There'd be no kingdom of God in embryo.

Christ had given the hallway, the doors, what lay behind them. All of it together was a total package. All of it together is a complete package. The hallway, yes, and the doors, yes. But alone, they're only sufficient for a limited product. To walk the hallways and read what's on the doors, and to take that just as it is, and apply it, and live it, is good. But it's only sufficient for a limited product, a physical product such as physical Israel, but for a complete product, or even to have an opportunity for a complete product. A spiritual product such as the church. The church is the spiritual product. It's a spiritual entity, the first fruits. Then what is behind the doors is an absolute necessity. It has to be an active part of our lives. But first, you've got to be in the hallway.

First, you've got to be there at the doors. And first, you've got to be at all 10 doors.

You can't say, well, three is fine, and I'll let the other seven go. No, you've got to be in the hallway. You've got to face every door. But you've got to open the doors, and you've got to go through. And that is what Christ had to do and illustrate. And this is what He was doing in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. This is not another part, but it does dovetail into what I've been covering. And they're in Matthew 5, verses 1 through 9. And I'll just read it quickly for refreshment. But Matthew 5, verses 1 through 9, seeing the multitudes, He went up into the mountain, and when He was set, His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth, and He taught them, the ones who were His disciples, like we are His disciples today, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, the poor in spirit. Well, that's interesting. The spirit is mentioned right there. Poor in spirit, mindset, attitude, approach, seeing need. Blessed are they that mourn. You know, that starts getting deep. And again, we probed these before and analyzed them, so I won't go back through that. But that's getting deeper. Blessed are the meek. That's getting deeper. And you think about, okay, you think about the Pharisees. They weren't poor in spirit. They were strong in the latter, but they were not strong spiritually in spirit, which would have meant that they would have been poor in spirit, or that is, they would have seen their need, which they did not. And you want to talk about how poor they were in not seeing their need? They didn't know, didn't see, they needed a spiritual Savior. Do you realize that? The Messiah was not a spiritual Savior for them. They didn't see the Messiah that way. They didn't see the need for a Messiah who would save them from their sins. They had the law the way they thought, the whole thing, all of it, sacrifices and all. That's what they looked at in the law of God.

The Messiah to them would be a king that would rule and that would utilize them in that rulership. That's what they saw. Morning, that gets deep. Meek, that gets deep. Hungry and thirst after righteousness, that gets into the heart fiber. That gets into the depths of the mind, the one's being. That's deep. Merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers. Again, you're dealing with stuff where the Spirit has to be involved. And what He was doing right here in the intro to this three-chapter message we have, He was opening the doors. He was setting the stage. He was showing what was behind them. He set the stage with these verses right here. Again, this served as the preface or intro for all the rest. He showed that it had to be of the Spirit. That is, that it had to truly get into the heart. It has to get into the mind. It has to get into the heart fiber, the fiber of one's being. It has to get into the motivational makeup. Because if it doesn't get into the motivational makeup, it's not going to do a makeover in you and on you to be like God. It's just not going to happen. That had to become a part of them in the deepest way. And only in that way, to that degree, to that depth would it truly change them and truly convert them. Only to that degree could it take sons of thunder, temperamental hotheads, and turn them into the apostles of love and concern and service. Only in that way could it permanently change their operational manner for the good. And only by getting to the Spirit could one be spiritual.

Only that way could one operate spiritually. The Pharisees, again, they had locked themselves into the hallway. They didn't care about opening the doors and going through them to see what else is in there. They'd locked themselves out. And in so doing, they'd locked themselves out of the Spirit of the law. That's why they were so carnal. That's why they were so physically based.

That's why they were so tied up and lost in the letter. And that's why they were such limited legalists. And here was Christ. Christ. Not just rocking their boat, but ramming their boat, so to speak. He sunk their legalism. Oh, how too many of them hated Him. I mean, literally hated Him.

Tried to destroy Him. First, tried to destroy His reputation. At times, tried to destroy Him, and eventually really put their heads together. Instead, we have got to put our efforts together and get rid of Him. Please bear, keep in mind, the law wasn't the problem. Never has been never will be. It's what they did with it, or as we might say, what they failed to do with it. The fault had to do with their perspective and approach. As they are written, as they are worded, the Ten Commandments are good. Not a thing wrong with them. But as they are written is only the starting point, not the stopping point. And too many have stopped there throughout the years. Christ clearly began to show this. First, He made a basic comprehensive statement.

It's foundational in two points. And right here in Matthew 5 and verse 17, He made a basic comprehensive statement, again foundational in two points. Verse 17.

Think not, think not, that I am come to destroy the law. And yet, how many people in the Protestant world, in the Catholic world, believe and will say the law has been destroyed, done away with. They think the very opposite to what He said not to think. Or they think the very opposite of what He said to think. Don't think that I am come to destroy. So, too many people think He did come to destroy the law. The law is not destroyed, period, regardless as to which level you are talking about. Letter of our spirit, it doesn't matter. You talk about the letter of the law, or you talk about the spirit, neither one is destroyed. They're both in force. They're both valid.

That's that first point. The law is not destroyed, or the prophets.

I am not come, and this is, you know, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. To fulfill. To fill full. There's more to it. And this is the second point, foundational point. There's more to it than just what meets the eye. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill. What meets the eye, as it is written, is not the completeness. There is more to it than what meets the eye. That's the second foundational point, or again, as we might say, as it is written, because that is what initially meets the eye. And he emphasized this with verses 18, 19, and 20. Notice, For truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle, and no wise shall pass from the law, till I will be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men, you know, to do so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. If you don't get any further along than they did, if you don't get any deeper than they did, or that they do, guys, you're not going to enter the kingdom of heaven.

He emphasized that. The Pharisees stayed with or limited themselves to what meets the eye.

They limited themselves to the hallway. They roamed up and down it. Christ walked the hallway, opening the doors and going through. Okay? You shall not murder. That's the Hebrew. English says kill. Hebrew says murder. You shall not murder.

How many of those Pharisees never murdered? Never physically went out there and took a life that they had no right to take and murdered. I would dare say that there's a whole bunch of the Pharisees who never went out there and physically took a life they had no right to take. I would dare say there were quite a few Pharisees who did not murder. So, I'm good. I'm fine. I've not committed murder.

Christ opened that door. You shall not kill. You shall not murder. He opened that door and went inside it. Verses 21 through 24. You have heard.

That it was said of them of old time, you shall not kill or not murder.

And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment or murder. I'll use the word in the Greek as well as the Hebrew. But I say to you, notice, he goes into the Spirit.

They were saying if looks could kill, you'd be dead.

But I say to you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Whosoever shall say to his brother, rocket, shall be in danger of the council. But whosoever shall say, you fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and then remember that your brother has alt against you, leave your gift before the altar, go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. He begins to go into the heart of the matter. First John 3.

First John 3 verses 14 and 15.

First John 3 verses 14 and 15.

We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death. It's not just enough not to hate, but required also. It's not just enough to avoid murder. It's not just enough to avoid hating, which is the spirit of murder in your heart, but to go in the other direction to the point of loving your brother. Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer. I mean, that's behind the door. That's under the spirit. Well, they've never killed anybody. Okay, fine. That's good that you haven't killed them. I mean, that's good that you haven't killed anybody. But do you hate somebody? You wish they were dead. You're not going to take their life, but it wouldn't bother you at all. If they got killed, somebody killed them. I mean, they, oh yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing that happen. Well, that's the spirit of hate. That's the spirit of murder. More responsibility to put on you when you have to involve the spirit, but whosoever hates his brother is a murderer.

And you know that no murderer has the eternal life abiding in him, so the ante is being raised, because that's what happens when you get into the spirit. 1 John 4, verses 7 and 8.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone that loves is born of God and knows God. He that loves not knows not God, for God is love. I mean, you start getting into the spirit. It's not just good enough that, well, I don't go kill my neighbor. I hate his guts, but I'm not going to kill him. Well, as far as not going doing the physical act, your neighbor's better off. But you're still killing him in your heart. You're still a murderer in your heart. You're still violating the commandment, because the letter is only good enough for a physical entity. It does provide a certain amount of safety. But if you want to be a spiritual entity, a part of the spiritual entity of the church and the firstfruits, then you have got to start living that commandment also in the spirit. Okay, back in Matthew 5.

Matthew 5, 1st, 27 and 28. 1st, 27. You've heard that it was said by them of old time, you shall not commit adultery. I mean, that's what the commandment says. It's written that way in the letter, you shall not commit adultery. Short, straightforward, simple. You don't go physically commit adultery. That's clear. It is simply stated, and what is there not to understand that I don't go commit adultery? A husband doesn't go commit adultery on his wife. A wife doesn't go commit adultery on her husband. There's nothing complicated about that little short statement. It's very clear and simple, isn't it? So you stop at that door, you read that, you say, yeah, I practiced that. I have never gone out here and committed adultery. Okay, good, that's fine.

And it doesn't take God's Holy Spirit to understand that, or to actually put that into practice. But now, let's open that door and go in and look, let's go into the spirit of the matter as well. But I say to you that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her, although he might never touch her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart. That's going into the spirit that's raising the ante, isn't it? It's raising the ante. And what about 1 Peter 3.7? Not only does the true Christian not physically go and commit adultery, but he goes into the spirit of the matter, the heart, and he's going to have to have God's help of God's Holy Spirit to be able to also keep it. He might physically just hold himself in check enough that physically he does not go do it. He might have enough willpower and all this, or expensive dedication and loyalty to his wife. He would never, ever allow himself physically to go do it.

But it's a tougher call in the spirit of the matter, and that would require God's additional help in a much greater and deeper way. Yes. But then, even as 1 Peter 3 verse 7, but it's not just the issue of holding yourself away from doing that. It's all the issue of putting yourself forward for your wife in a very loving, caring, spiritual way. Likewise, you husbands dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor to the wife, as another weaker vessel, and being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. You can encapsulate that into the spirit of it where the person is reaching forward. Remember, the spirit doesn't destroy the letter.

It doesn't negate it. It doesn't nullify it. It never removes it. It doesn't weaken it. The spirit is the deeper progression. When it says here in verse 28 of Matthew 5, But I say to you that whosoever looks on a woman tillest after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart, the spirit doesn't destroy the letter. In order to get to the spirit, you have to exercise the letter. You have to go through the letter. For instance, how is it possible for a man to be in the physical act of adultery? How is it possible for a man to actually be in the physical act of adultery? Of breaking the letter, and at the same time simultaneously be keeping the spirit? It is not possible. Think about that. A man who says, I don't keep the letter or the law, I keep the spirit. And he's then the very act of adultery.

I'm keeping the spirit. Well, he's actually breaking the letter. How is it possible to be in the physical act of breaking the letter and yet at the same time simultaneously be keeping the spirit? It is not possible. It is not possible. You cannot ignore, you cannot neglect, you cannot bypass the physical, the letter, and get to the spirit. The letter is the surface.

It's the entry. It's the shallows. The spirit is the beneath, the depths. And that's what you are to be in full, you and I are to be in full pursuit of. Notice something that's interesting about the spirit. Ephesians 4.28. This kind of makes the point. Additionally, it makes the point. Okay. What if you have a kleptomaniac? What if you have somebody who thrives on stealing? That's just what they like to do. They steal. They thrive on it.

So the door says, you shall not steal. And you're one being called of God, and you've been a thief.

And you read that commandment, and it says, you shall not steal. Okay. That's a sin. I can't steal anymore. And so you say, I will hold myself, and I will not steal anymore. That's good. That's a level of repentance, and that's good. Well, to get into the spirit and the antidote for stealing, and to get into the spirit, what you could add under that is what Paul added under that right here in Ephesians 4.28. Let him that stole steal no more. That's good. Keep the letter. Don't steal.

Let him the soul still no more. But even at the same time that you're restraining yourself from stealing, rather let him labor, let him add something into it of the spirit and positive, go in the other direction to the point that he's working with his hands the thing which is good that he may be able to give to them to distribute to them that need.

Of course, we've got the commandment about thou shalt not covet.

But here's the point. The arena of the spirit is endless. You can go as deep into it as you want.

It is the type of infinity. It is filled with the fruits of love, joy, peace, all the fruits of the spirit that are listed in Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23, which it says against such there is no law. The spirit is limited. That is why it says God is love, which incorporates all of those things of the spirit. That's why it is a perspective and it's an approach and it's a direction and it's an accomplishing and an achieving. And it's so much more and so much deeper and far-ranging than the letter alone by itself. But you can't get to it without going through the letter and incorporating the letter because the letter is also part of God's law that he gave. It's the initial part and as it is worded, it is great for a physical entity. But you must take that and go on beyond it into the spirit for a spiritual entity, which we are.

The spirit doesn't and never does destroy the letter. It uses the letter as the door and goes beyond it. It's interesting when it says in the commandments, you shall have no other gods before me, for instance.

You shall have no other gods before me. Make no graven images. And you do your best not to have any other gods before the true God.

And you sure don't make any graven images. But do you first and foremost seek the Lord your God, Matthew 22.37, with your whole heart and mind and being. And is God magnified in your eyes?

Again, we can deal with tips of the iceberg. We can deal with first base. We can deal with doors in the hallway. We can deal with the Ten Commandments as they are worded and written. We can deal with the letter of the law. It all has validity. It all has validity.

That's always been realized by the first fruits down through the ages. But the first fruits have also always recognized that the magnitude of the iceberg is below the surface. Unseen. And that first base is for going on home. And that those doors are for opening, for walking through to something that goes deeper and deeper. The letter alone kills.

The letter alone, because there's no spiritual, eternal life in the hallway.

Only physical. But the Spirit, incorporated with it, makes the life, because Christ and God dwell in the fullness of what lies beyond those doors, and with them is life. Eternal life. Life everlasting.