The Spirit in Man

On the last Two Sabbaths of June, I began a series on subject of trial-wearing. It was a request to start that subject. So I started with two. And the first key, I think we all know now, is those who hear the congregation, Unity at the Top. That's the first key to a successful trial-wearing. And Unity at the Top involves two distinct but closely intertwined aspects. One of the greatest things a husband can do to benefit his children is to love your wife. And that the two together are working cooperatively, and there's a stability, and when they love each other, respect each other, there's a special blessing that comes through that.

And that's the first aspect of Unity at the Top, and we considered a second one that's intertwined, like I said. If parents are unified in basic agreement, respect each other, and work together smoothly, their children tend to feel confident and relaxed. But if there's disagreement, and of course nobody totally void of disagreement, but if they're in major disagreement, always arguing with each other, the child is forced to decide which one to follow. It doesn't matter whether they're right or wrong, a child's going to look at parents that argue and say, I agree with this one on this one, and I agree with that one on the other, and they do that.

If they're openly in disagreement, they both can't be right, and put the child in that situation. And my experience is that eventually the children lose respect for both parents and just rely on themselves. As you know, it's hard to respect parents that fight. It's much easier to respect parents who are happy and work together successfully. The next week, I cover the next one, we start off, that parents must accept the responsibility, must understand and accept the responsibility of being a parent. And then we examine that responsibility. And first, God intended a marriage to last for life.

Jesus thought that what God had joined together as one, man shouldn't, we use the word, unjoin. Because marriage is so important, it's intended to last a lifetime, and marriage is not for children. Marriage is for mature people, adults, who are able to make mature decisions. And then we cover the next aspect of understanding the responsibility, that before, Mr.

Armstrong always taught, that before considering marriage, a young man should be able to support his wife, be able to provide for that, have his career established, and steady income provide for himself, his wife, and his family. And that view was very common in past generations, but today, its view is out of date.

And that's not good. But anyway, that's how it is. I just want to, we made a point of it last time, though. And third, God appointed the parents to teach and train their children. You remember this verse, And these words, which I command you today, shall be in your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

God assigned all Israelite parents to teach their children his ways. That's really a remarkable thing when you focus on it all by itself. Today, state controls and teachers' unions increasingly control education. And both those, the state and the teachers' unions, often think they know more than parents do about raising children. Now, maybe in some ways they do, but usually they're very convinced that they know better than the parents. And they know how children should be taught and what should be taught.

And both secular unions and secular governments tend to be hostile to God and his teaching. It's just the way it is. It is the secular socialists who run the schools, the universities, and the government. It's really an amazing situation we've got to go. So our entire nation is gradually growing more and more hostile to God and his ways. It's going in our own direction.

Nevertheless, God established the parents as responsible for their children's basic education in his way of life. That's important for us all to realize. And, of course, teaching our children is not simply correction, although sometimes that was the thought, but it's not right. It's not... Godly teaching is positive instruction. Reading the Bible is positive instruction. The lives of Abraham are instructive, and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and many others we can talk about. The problems are particularly valuable, and the Gospels are much more. They are positive instruction in God's way of life. And the examples of God's blessing are all around us, and we talk about them. And using encouragement to teach, sincere praise and appreciation are wonderful teachers. God, of course, himself uses them.

We know there is a time for correction. That does happen. That is necessary. But even so, in pointing out the positive outcomes of it, it can make it more meaningful and understandable and beneficial. So Christian parents must accept the responsibility to teach and train their children. It's a very basic key. I think we'd all agree on that. Now for key three that we're going to talk about today.

We need to understand the spirit in man.

When young people dream about having a child one day, they look forward to it, anticipate it.

They usually visualize having a very joyous relationship with the child, and anticipate that as something they're looking forward to.

Usually the picture when you're focusing ahead is a happy one, and the day is sunny and full of activity. But when the children finally arrive and the years go by, the dreams often shatter, and sometimes they disintegrate. The relationship between the children becomes strained and sometimes terribly strained. And most parents have no idea why.

It will happen one day between you and your child.

You'll begin to feel a resistance to no particular thing and yet to everything.

You'll find yourself explaining what you think should be obvious.

But you'll still find this resistance. And then you begin to realize you're not actually talking heart to heart. Something's happened. Instead, you'll find disagreement and discord. Suddenly, you may feel you need a lawyer to talk to your own kid.

You attempt to present your ideas, your case, with unassailable facts. But facts do not always stand up to a wrong spirit. Sometimes your points are hurled back at you as proof that you're evil and unreasonable. Your warfare is not with the flesh. You're up against a spiritual force. And if you don't understand that force, how can you possibly address it, and how can you possibly overcome it?

But if we don't address it, and we don't overcome it, both we and our children will suffer as a result, if we don't have that right. And we can't get that right.

In working with our children, we need to make use of the knowledge of the spirit of man, the spirit in man.

Spiritual forces have far more to do with human conduct or misconduct than do heredity or environment. Spiritual forces have more effect on human conduct or misconduct than either heredity or the physical environment.

You may find that a little hard to accept, that spiritual forces are harder, especially if you've had some of this world's psychology courses. But consider Adam. He couldn't have had a better heredity. No way to improve his heredity. Same for Eve. Nor a more perfect physical environment. They had the best one that's ever been on the earth, so far as we know.

Yet it wasn't long before he turned from God's way of life and began to tune into Satan's wavelength. He and his wife began to listen to Satan. That led to them becoming filled with vanity, wrong desires, and you can be sure, self-pity. He got to the point, it was so bad, that God expelled them from his garden and cut him off from access to his spirit through the tree of life.

Adam's acceptance of Satan's influence had far more to do with his life than his heredity or his environment. It was what was happening to his mind that was giving him the trouble.

The Church of God is blessed to have been given understanding of how the human mind works, and nobody else does. Now, that's going to sound a little proud, but it's not. It's a fact. The universities of this world can't teach it to you. The religions of this world can't explain it.

And it's clear from the recent troubles, even within our own fellowship, that not every elder understands the effect of the spirit of man and spiritual influence as working on a human being. We need to understand that.

When I counseled for baptism in 1961, I talked with the minister, and I don't know why this subject came up. I can't remember the details. But he happened to mention to me in early 1961 that Mr. Armstrong thought his understanding of the human mind was incomplete. He thought he had something to learn in that area as to how the human mind worked.

Four years later, 1964-65, Evelyn and I were attending Ambassador College in England, and Mr. Armstrong was just beginning to understand what the Bible calls the spirit in man. When he first began to understand it, he couldn't explain it with clarity. It took a little while because he was just getting it together, putting the scriptures together and trying to get it there. I think God was just showing it to him, but a little bit at a time. But as the weeks and months and even years passed, he could explain it then with greater clarity and with better understanding. And we understood it better. I was assigned to Pastor Melbourne in 1966. Joanna was born a month after we arrived in Australia. And we were invited to attend our first ministerial conference in Pasadena with our six-month-old daughter in January 1967. During the conference, Mr. Armstrong was explaining what he had been continually learning about the spirit in man. You may remember when Mr. Armstrong got onto a topic, he would stay on it for years. And the spirit of man was no exception. He kept going on it and understanding it and growing in it. And he was giving an explanation of it, and he made a statement. He said, understanding the spirit of man will have an effect on child-rearing. We had our six-month-old daughter, so we're thinking, ha! And we started focusing in on that. One sentence. But we started trying to apply it, and we started trying to learn about it. And we still are doing so, by the way. From that time, we've been learning how to use the spirit of man in all aspects, but especially in child-rearing. To apply the knowledge of the spirit of man, we need to understand it. So I'd like to, today, on this first part, and this spirit of man will cover at least two sermons, but we need to take the time to understand it clearly. If you look at Job 32. Job 32.

And let's begin in verse 4.

You may remember that chapter 31 ends with one sentence, The words of Job are ended. That was the first 31 chapters, the conversation between Job and his friends. It says in verse 4, well, maybe I should start in verse 1.

So these three ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Berakal, the buzzite of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job. His wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. We discussed that briefly last time.

Also, his three friends, against his three friends, his wrath was aroused because they had found no answer and yet had condemned Job. They just threw out things that most people throw out that God said later was not correct.

Verse 4, now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job. We have no idea of their relative ages, but they were clearly older. So Elihu waited. When Elihu saw there was no answer in the mouth of these three men after 31 chapters, his wrath was aroused. So Elihu, the son of Berakal, the buzzite, answered and said, I am young in years and you are very old. So there was a big difference. Therefore I was afraid and dare not declare my opinion to you. I said age should speak and multitudes of years should teach wisdom. Verse 8, and this is the one we're coming to. But there is a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. There is a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. The word for spirit is Ruach. The Soncino, which is a Jewish commentary, states, the divine spirit or breath, Ruach, gives life and intelligence to all. Life and intelligence to all.

That is the source of man's wisdom. Here Elihu expresses a characteristically Hebrew concept. As the effect of the in-breathing of man, by man, of the breath of life from God, man became a living soul. Genesis 2.7, which the Targum, the Targum is the Aramaic translation, renders a speaking that is rational spirit. The ability to speak and be rational and to think. The Hebrew word for breath is... ...Machahwa, or something like that. It means a puff, that is, a wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect, or conversely, an animal blast, that breath. Inspiration, soul, spirit, is the way they translate it. It is strong as defined it. You may remember the verse. And the Lord God formed man in the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. When he took in that breath, he began to be able not only to function and breathe, but to think as a human being. But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. It comes from that. Look at Job 33 and verse 4. Job 33 and verse 4. The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Elihu was saying, my understanding comes from God. All human understanding came from God. But his ability to be able to formulate ideas and to think and to reason came from God. Now, there's a more complete explanation in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2, where Paul talks about this.

1 Corinthians 2.

I'll start in verse 1. 1 Corinthians 2. And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. That was Paul's message. Jesus was crucified. We humans have to crucify ourselves and put down that self.

I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, as is translated in this translation, depending on human skills and human abilities. But in demonstration of the spirit and of power. When Paul spoke, you were impressed by the spirit, not the words of the man, or the skill of the speaker. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power.

That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. The Church of God does not depend on the wisdom of men. It depends on the power of God. And Paul knew that very well. Verse 6, However we speak wisdom among ourselves who are mature, that's that word that Jonathan pointed to, that has to do with spiritual maturity or any kind of maturity, nor of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing.

All the rulers of this age, whatever success they have, they are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. God had this planned out long before. He said in verse 8, Which none of the rulers of this age knew. The rulers of that age and this one do not know these things.

For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. If they really understood, they would have avoided the crucifixion. But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love them. Now please understand what that's saying.

No eye has seen. You don't learn these things through the eye. No eye has seen, nor ear heard. You don't learn these things through the ear. Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. It's very important for us to understand that. The understanding of the spirit of man is hidden from the world. Have you ever noticed how they seek to learn how the human mind works?

For decades, they've been tearing apart brains and looking in and trying to find how the human mind works. And then they'll take animal brains and they'll start comparing them. The human brain weighs this on average, the animal brain weighs that, and they go back and forth trying to figure the difference in output.

The human brain has such different output. But the size of the brain is not that different from others. What accounts for this different output? Part of the problem is they refuse to acknowledge anything they can't examine under a microscope. If they can't look at it, hold it, evaluate it, weigh it, it doesn't exist. So the whole spirit world is blind. They're blind to it. They don't see anything about it. So they don't know, as I said, they refuse to acknowledge anything other than physical matter. So they don't know what Elihu knew.

But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. And he says here in verse 9, the eye can't hear it, see it, the ear hear it, and it hasn't entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love it. Verse 10, But God has revealed them to us through his spirit.

God has made that available to us through his spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. Now he's talking here about the Holy Spirit, but God will reveal him with the Holy Spirit. Now understand this. God uses the spirit of man as a link to his Holy Spirit. If you keep your fingers there in 1 Corinthians 2, look back at Romans chapter 6. Sorry, Romans chapter 8, not chapter 6.

Romans chapter 8 verse 16. Romans 8 and verse 16. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit. Here is Paul referring to our spirit. The Spirit with a capital S, it says himself, should be translated itself, bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. It's that link between the Holy Spirit and our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may be glorified together.

It's that link that goes between the Holy Spirit and the human mind. And we see that with verse 10. For the God has revealed them to us through his spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. Now please notice verse 11 back in 1 Corinthians 2. For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man which is in him? The Spirit in man. The Spirit in man gives human understanding. Now let's note that Paul wrote that as if everybody understood it.

I mean, he's writing to Corinthians. This is Israelite people and non-Israelite people. The Corinthians as a whole were not Israelite, although there were many Jews in the congregation. But he states this as though everybody knows this. For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man which is in him? Everybody knows that. That was not new knowledge to them. But 2,000 years later, it is new knowledge to most everybody today. Including many in the church. The Spirit in man provides humans with the ability to think, and to reason, and to plan.

It enables us to relate to other humans physically, verbally, emotionally, and spiritually. Now we're not talking about an immortal soul here. And that's where we were first learning it. We had difficulty with it. What is this? We're not talking about an immortal soul. The Spirit in man cannot see. If it's not hooked up to human eyes, it can't see. And if those human eyes don't work, that individual's blind, even though he can think and reason, and all the other things.

The Spirit in man doesn't hear. It needs a human ear. And if the human ears don't work, nothing gets through. And it's the same for all the other senses. And get this. When a brain is seriously injured, some ability to think can be impaired. Even though the Spirit in man is in there, if the brain is impaired, the person is impaired. It doesn't operate in its own. The Spirit has no separate consciousness, the Spirit in man.

But it enables the human brain to have self-awareness. Do you remember, I decided not to turn to James, but I put it in my notes. James said, for as the body without the Spirit is dead. Now think about that. For as the body without the Spirit is dead. So faith without works is dead. Also, the Spirit in man provides the energizing force for human mental activity. And in the same way, faith is the energizing force behind godly works. Trusting God leads to godly works. We've explained that before. Hey, you.

Behind your eyes. You're looking out at me from behind your eyes. That's where your hair is up, your teeth are down. Right? Here on each side. And you're in there. And you can look out. And you have consciousness. That's where you are. Right there behind your eyes, isn't it? I'm talking to you. The consciousness you enjoy comes from adding the Spirit in man to your brain. Keep your finger there in 1 Corinthians, and let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter 12.

The last couple verses of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter 12. We'll look at verse 6. Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 6. Remember your creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain. These are all metaphors for the end of life. Or the wheel broken at the well. The dust will return to the earth as it was.

Remember God said, dust you are, and to dust you're going back. The dust will return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit will return to God who gave it. Life ends, and that consciousness that we now enjoy will end. And the body will return to the dust, and the Spirit that enables you to think there behind your eyes, and to reason inside your head, and to have consciousness and inner face and think and do all the things that you do, will return to God who gave it. It's God who gave it.

Enjoy it while you can! To enjoy that consciousness while we can. Mr. Armstrong likened the Spirit of Man to magnetic tape. You can store information on the tape. You can store everything that makes up a person. You can store all their physical characteristics, their DNA, individual details, height, weight, eyes, color, hair, scars, and also their thoughts and their memory. We understand that God will use the Spirit of Man to bring them back either to physical life, in the resurrection, you just take more clay, add the Spirit of Man, it all goes back to what it was, and you're ready to go.

Or, to grant eternal life. You add that Spirit courting into a spiritual body, and away you go. Some people say there's no spiritual body. Let me show you. I think it's Colossians 3. I don't have this in my notes, but it needs to be in here. Colossians 3, I think it is. Oh, I'm in Thessalonians. No, I got the wrong one.

Anyway, it says there is a spiritual body and there is a physical body. But I can't bring it back. Anyway, I'll get it another time. Stay tuned next week. So we understand that God will use the Spirit of Man to bring them back to physical life or grant them eternal life.

Look at Hebrews 12. I've still gone back to 1 Corinthians 2. We aren't done there yet, but look at Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12. Where Paul is describing to the Hebrew brethren, he said in verse 22, he compares the giving of the first covenant with the giving of a new covenant. He said in verse 22 of Hebrews 12, But you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, who are registered in heaven, to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.

To Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, to the blood of sprinkling that speaks of better things and available. You see, if a person rejects eternal life, God can take back the Spirit of Man. It'll return to God who gave it. He can erase the tape and use it for something else. That's how we understand it.

Now, back to 1 Corinthians 2, verse 11. For what man knows the things of a man except the Spirit of man which is in him? Now, again, I'm amazed that Paul just took this as given knowledge that everybody had, Jew and Gentile. Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

The only way to learn the things of God is through the Holy Spirit connecting with our spirit and man. You know, the Apostle Paul knew a lot about the Scripture before he took the road to Damascus.

Right? He had grown up studying the Bible all his life, and the oral law, too. But he knew a lot about the Scripture before he ever got on that road to Damascus. But as highly trained as he was, he didn't understand the things of God. His eye had not seen, nor his ear heard, nor had it in his heart the things which God prepared for those who loved him. He didn't get the kingdom. He didn't get the whole idea. He only began to learn those things after Christ introduced himself to him on the road to Damascus in a rather dramatic way. And it's the same for us. We don't learn the things of God except through the Spirit of God. Now, you can know the Sabbath without the Spirit of God. You can know the Holy Days. You can know tithing. You can know cleaning unclean meats. You can know the identity of Israel. You can know an awful lot of stuff. But the things of God you don't get unless the Holy Spirit is there. The things of God involve the things which he's prepared for those who love him. Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now, we have received not the Spirit of the world. Here Paul mentions the Spirit of the world. But the Spirit which is from God that we might know the things which have been freely given to us by God. These things we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Paul here refers to the Spirit of the world. The overall point of these two verses is that those led by the Holy Spirit can discern the spiritual things. And he mentions the Spirit of the world. That's the Spirit that's presently working throughout the earth. More on that in a minute. We'll have a little detail on that. But Paul spoke and wrote about the things of God which requires the Holy Spirit to do so. And then in verse 14 he said, but the natural man, that means the man who has the Spirit in man but he doesn't have the Holy Spirit, the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. It takes the God's Holy Spirit to work in understanding and be able to comprehend these things. The things of God. Okay. As Paul mentioned, there's another Spirit working in the world today. Paul referred to it as the Spirit of the world. Let's go to Ephesians. We're finished with 1 Corinthians 2. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. And verse 1. After he talks about what God's prepared for us, and by the way, Mr. Armstrong used to enjoy Ephesians 1. He loved to read it in the Moffat translation because he found that particularly helpful. He thought it was one of the most inspiring chapters in the Bible. But then in chapter 2, Paul goes, he says in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1. And you who made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. Before we were called, we were dead. We had sinned. Death penalty hangs over our head. We were dead. We were walking around, but we were dead. And you, he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.

In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. Notice that? The prince of the power of the air. The spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. This spirit produces disobedience. Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves, and Paul includes himself in that.

In the lust of the flesh, the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and where by nature children of wrath, even as others. Children upon whom God's wrath stood because they were guilty of sin, hadn't been forgiven yet. Although he looked forward to everyone being forgiven. The spirit of the world, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. In the mystery of ages, Mr. Armstrong wrote this. Satan, the master broadcaster. This is from the mystery of the ages, page 143 to 144 in the hardbound copy. In Ephesians 2.2, Satan is called the prince of the power of the air, working in inside the minds of people. I could never have understood this until one, I had understood how radio and television sounds and pictures transmitted through the air. Right now, if you had a right receiver, you could pick up how many radio stations, how many television stations, how many other things we could pick up. And they're in the air, but you can't see them. But science can still measure those. And two, I had learned the truth about the human spirit and the human brain. If your radio is set on the proper radio wavelength or television set is tuned to the proper channel, the broadcaster's message comes through clearly. Satan as the prince of the power of the air broadcasts, not in words, sounds, or pictures. Not in those things, but in attitudes, moods, impulses.

For example, we read in Ezra 1.1, when Cyrus, king of Persia, issued a proclamation to send a colony of Jews back to Jerusalem to build the Second Temple, he was moved to do so because God stirred up his human spirit. In other words, put the suggestion or impulse in his mind, and the king acted on it. In the same manner, Satan moves on the human spirit with people to move them into attitudes of envy, jealousy, resentment, impatience, anger, bitterness, and strife. He broadcasts that message and the human minds pick it up. People have no realization of the tremendous power of Satan. The human spirit within each human is automatically tuned to Satan's wavelength. It comes that way from the factory, it seems. Actually, it technically doesn't, but we quickly find that station. It seems as if Satan has surcharged the air over the entire earth with his attitude of self-centeredness and vanity.

This is the spirit that works in the world today, and all humans tune in to that spirit, including our children. It's just the way it is. When Adam was in the Garden of Eden, he was given a choice between two broad ways of life, symbolized by two trees that represent two opposing spirits. They go in different directions. The one was a tree of life, the way of God's spirit of giving, of sharing, of cooperation, of humility that leads to eternal life with God. Adam didn't seem to have much interest in that one. The other was Satan's way, deciding for oneself what is good and what is evil. It's the way of exalting the self, of competition, of division, of striving to get yours first. And Adam strove to get his first. If it was an apple, I don't know what it was. After he made that choice, God no longer wanted him to have access to the Holy Spirit. He didn't want him to have access to that. He knew it wouldn't be good for him.

So he drove him from the garden, at Adam and Eve, and then to emphasize this point, God sent two angels there to guard it so they couldn't get back to it again. They couldn't get back to that tree. They had no access to the tree of life or God's spirit. Now, brethren, those led by the Holy Spirit can discern spiritual things. First, we can see carnal attitudes in ourself and strive to turn from them. Paul saw it very clearly. That's why he said, oh, Richard Mann, that I am. Because he saw clearly the thinking in his own mind. Even though he had another place, he said that before he was converted, he watched God go into the law blamelessly. Now, I can't say that, but he could. So he had a very high standard. But we begin to see it. Then we can see them in others, including our children, and we can help them recognize them. Now, we can't expect our children to be converted. They won't be converted. But we can help them recognize the underlying spirit behind their actions. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians, but this time, chapter 7. 1 Corinthians, chapter 7. Paul's talking about divorce here, but he makes a statement. He said, 1 Corinthians 7, verse 14.

If the husband's a believer, the wife gets a benefit. Otherwise, your children will be unclean. But now they are holy. What do you mean, holy? They don't always act holy, do they? But it's instructive. It says the children are holy. Our kids, he said, are holy. What exactly does that mean? It means he would grant them access to God, to his word, and to his ways, even though they're not yet converted. Perhaps it's like the disciples who were told the Holy Spirit was with them and would later be in them.

They still had the benefit, but it wasn't actually a part of them yet because they had a spiritual step to go. But they could understand these things. They can learn more about God and his ways than others. It's a blessing. I remember one elder up in Vancouver was giving a sermon. He said, when God called our family, and I thought, well, actually, that's right, because when you call one, you have access to the wife or the husband and then to the children, and the whole family is welcome. Okay, with that bit of background, whether they know it or not, parents control what I call the spiritual environment in the house.

Is it calm and peaceful or tense and hostile and angry? Is it respectful overall or is it disrespectful overall? Is it open and honest or is it hidden and dishonest? Is it reasonable or argumentative?

What is the spiritual environment in your home? It's whatever you make it to be. Let's go to Galatians 5. Now, Paul here talks to converted people and encourages them to walk in the Spirit. But he describes the works of the flesh, which are all flesh. Although some flesh gives themselves more openly to it, the tendencies are all there. He said in Galatians 5 and verse 19, Now the works of the flesh are evident or obvious or easy to see, which are adultery, fornication, sexual sins, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, having something else in front of God, sorcery, hatred.

That's in this world today and it's spreading around. Our political system is becoming more and more contentious and more and more ugly. It's just very unpleasant. Hatred. Idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions. It seems like our people argue about everything. Just about everything. And jealousies, people envy what each other have. Outbursts of wrath. We had an unfortunate politician who got filmed striking a paper on a table and everybody's holding it against him. Wrath, fight, triumphs up. It happened in all of us, I'm sure. Selfish ambitions putting self forward.

Dissensions, disagreements, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness. Now these are all the mature things. Little kids, it's the same thing, but they're not as developed as we get older, so we express more of these things. And envy, murders, drunkenness, reviolings, and the like. He doesn't end the list there. Of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in times past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love. It's a different spirit. It's joy. It's peace. It's long suffering. It's kindness. Goodness, faithfulness. Now, children can understand those concepts. They're not converted, but you can understand those concepts and be able to apply it to some extent, and at least try. And he goes on down to the other things. Long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there's no law. No law against those things. Implying, all the rest have law against them. You know, we are constantly teaching our children whether we realize it or not. If a child screams and whines to get its way, what attitudes are at work?

What attitudes behind screaming, and what attitudes behind whining? Well, anger certainly with screaming, right? And rage, and wrath, and all that. And what about whining? There is a spirit of accusation behind whining. You're not being fair, or you're not being just, or you're not being reasonable. There is a spirit of accusation behind it. Now, your screaming and whining work, what are we teaching him? That it works! You want your way? You scream and whine? You get it.

We were visiting Cleveland one time, and Evelyn and I were invited to a family reunion, one of the members of the congregation in Cleveland. And there was a lady sitting at the table with a young son. There was no dad present. And the son began to whine about something a lot. A lot. And she was embarrassed, and she said, I suppose your children whine too.

And before I thought of it, I said, no, my children didn't whine. And first he was shocked. And then I saw it kind of turn, you brute, you must beat them. Well, that's not how we handle it. When children would whine about something, I'd say, now we've got two problems. The one you're talking about, and whining. Is there a way you can state your concern or your complaint without whining? And they could! Yeah, we could do that. All right. Then we'd promptly address the problem that was there. When they whine, we'd never address the problem.

We had to address the whining first, then the problem. And that got to be a habit, and that was the end of that. Whining never gained anything, and addressing the problem without whining always did, I hope. All humans are subject to fallibilities. Okay, we've covered a lot today. Now that we have some understanding of the spirit of man, let me ask this.

What should be our goal in child-wearing? What's the overall goal? And we'll get into that next time we go back to child-wearing.