A few more excerpts and an email response from Ray to help further your understanding.
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http://www.bible-truths.com/email6.htmDear Ray,
All I have read of your writings seem consistent with what the Holy Spirit has been showing me about the mind sets of the pastors and teachers you expose.
Often I struggle with how to express (choose the appropriate words) to others what the Lord is showing me without having Satan confuse and misrepresent the words I am saying.
Please tell me if you feel your understanding has been a result of God renewing your mind and how and when this came about.
Dave
[Ray Replies]
Dear Dave:
Jesus said that His Words were spirit and life. By the very nature of God's revelation, it cannot be understood with a carnal mind. All of the things of God are "spiritually discerned." So certainly the carnal mind must be changed. To be carnally minded is DEATH, but to be spiritually minded is LIFE.
All of God's gifts of spiritual discernment, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, etc., start small and grow. Being "born again" does not make us spiritually mature adults in an instant of time. We grow in grace and knowledge and we mature in the spiritual things of God. I know and understand more today than I did even yesterday. Faith itself increases by the reading of God's Word--a process that takes time.
Sincerely,
Ray
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http://www.bible-truths.com/lake5.htmlNow back to our fourth key verse: "…comparing spiritual things with spiritual." Several translations make this "…matching spiritual things with spiritual." And that word "matching" clarifies this verse even more. Notice the next verse which we have already quoted above, "But the natural [carnal, Greek: animal man] receives NOT the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither CAN he know them, because they are SPIRITUALLY discerned." Now I have heard that verse quoted as many times as any of you, but how many quoting it had even a clue as to what they were quoting?
It is often used by charismatic preachers to insinuate that they have special powers of spiritual discernment, and can therefore read your mind and heart and know whether you are in a bad attitude or maybe have a demon, etc., etc. But notice that God tells us exactly how to have "spiritual discernment." We are to follow the instruction in the preceding verse: "comparing [and/or matching] SPIRITUAL things with SPIRITUAL!"
So we have SEVEN proofs that this "lake of fire-second death" is FIGURATIVE language SIGNIFIED IN SYMBOLS, taking the form of a METAPHOR witnessed by John in a VISION and written in a BOOK OF SYMBOLS that is prophetic and therefore cannot be its OWN INTERPRETATION, being a revelation of Christ Who’s words are SPIRIT! And therefore we know two things to be absolute Scriptural truth: (1) This phrase is SPIRITUAL in meaning and not literal. (2) This prophecy cannot be its OWN INTERPRETATION as God commands in II Pet. 1:20. But if one doesn’t believe these seven spiritual proofs (or even ONE of them), how is he to have a spiritual understanding of spiritual things? To find the true interpretation of this spiritual metaphor we must compare it with other spiritual teachings of the same nature until we find a MATCH!
Before we look for something spiritual to match this metaphor, it will be helpful to know just what it means to be "spiritual." There is a giant different between something sounding spiritual and something that actually is spiritual.
WHAT DOES "SPIRITUAL" MEAN?
The American Heritage Dictionary, p. 1335, spiritual adj. 1. Of, relating in, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit; NOT TANGIBLE OR MATERIAL.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, "spiritual" #4152, pneumatkos, "Pneumatkos ALWAYS connotes the ideas of INVISIBILITY and of POWER" p. 205. (All CAPS are mine).
THE "LAKE OF FIRE-SECOND DEATH" IS NOT TANGIBLE OR MATERIAL OR LITERAL, BUT RATHER IS AN INVISIBLE POWER! THE LAKE OF FIRE IS SPIRITUAL!
That’s right: the lake of fire is spiritual and therefore invisible. No one will ever SEE the lake of fire; just as no one will ever SEE God’s Spirit; and just as no one will ever SEE God’s "consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). But make no mistake about it; the lake of fire is REAL, and it is very HOT, and it BURNS things, and its effects are ETERNAL—all, of course, SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING.
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http://www.bible-truths.com/lake8.htmlThe words that Jesus spoke were "spirit"—
"…the words that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT…" (John 6:63).
Jesus taught the multitudes in parables only—
"All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spoke He not unto them" (Matt. 13:34).
All parables have a SPIRITUAL lesson. Not one of Jesus’ parables was to be taken literally.
But to understand spiritual parables, and words of spirit, one must HAVE THE SPIRIT—
"…for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God … the things of God knows no man but the Spirit of God … the Holy Spirit teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual … But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned … But we [believers in Christ] have the [spiritual] mind of Christ" (I Cor. 2:10,11,13,14,16).
Notice what Jesus said when His disciples asked Him concerning the parables:
"And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given … Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they UNDERSTAND" (Matt. 13:10,11, & 13).
Having "ears to hear" means having spiritual discernment in UNDERSTANDING what one hears. Notice that we must "…see with our eyes, and hear with our ears, and should understand with our HEART…" [then God would] convert us and HEAL [save] us (Matt. 13:15).
I have no doubt that some reading these messages from the Scriptures, are beginning to understand. I mean REALLY UNDERSTAND and thank God for this spiritual understanding. If you are such an one, then GOD IS CALLING YOU! You are beginning to "taste" of the good and spiritual things of God.
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Good refreshers Arc, Kat, Dave and good question dre91.
The part in lake5 that I underlined is something I used to believe and continued to believe a little while after reading lake5. It took a little while before that belief was burned out of me.
G.Driggs