Dale Rumble
1921-2010
Introduction
We are living in the closing years of the church age, a period of time when the Lord is restoring the church to her final, glorious state. The primary objective of restoration is to bring believers into harmony with the will of God. This objective is my primary burden in writing this tract.
However, in order to do so it is necessary for readers to understand the nature and function of the human will and how it determines one’s behavior. I have employed a graphic model of the body, soul and spirit to reveal the personal factors and dynamics of the inner man to provide this understanding. A picture is worth a thousand words.
The Model
The model displayed in the text is an extended version of one that I have employed in other literature.1
The most important truth in the creation of man is that he was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). The process of his creation is recorded in Genesis 2:7.
First, God formed the body of man from dust of the earth. Second, God breathed the spirit of Himself into the body. The result was that man became a living soul. We are a soul, and we have a body and a spirit.
I infer from this sequence that if man was to rule the earth, he had to be made of earth; and if he was to rule the earth for God, he must also be made from the substance of God.
Job expresses this creation as follows:
The Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life (Job 33:4)
Man lives because of the presence of the God-given human spirit within him.
The purpose of the model is to both illustrate the creation of man, and to reveal the constituent properties of body, soul and spirit. One essential distinction that must be clear in Figure 1 is being able to separate what is soul from what is spirit.
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
Soul and spirit are clearly distinguished in scripture, but they can never be separated. They exist eternally together. In a number of scriptures, the word “heart” is used as a reference to spirit (Psalm 51:17; 1 Peter 3:4; Psalm 34:18 and Isaiah 57:15). We are wonderfully and fearfully made! Let us now examine and define the various components that, by the creative genius of God, were woven together to constitute our being as a child of God.
The body-soul interface is a window of information from our five physical senses into our soul, i.e. taste, smell, hearing, sight and touch. The sensory input from these senses are processed in the soul beginning with the conscience. Without the revelatory nature of the Holy Spirit, the word of God that we hear or read would have no more life than uninspired literature.
These five senses provide our contact with the world around us. Through vision and conversation, they also enable our fellowship with other believers.
In a similar fashion, the soul-spirit interface is also a window of information, one of divine anointing from the Holy Spirit. This spiritual link to God was broken by Adam’s sin, but is reestablished at one’s new birth.
The anointed input to this window is varied in content, including spiritual senses, our calling, grace, revelation, spiritual gifts and ministries, prayer, and finally, guidance. All spiritual input to our soul is processed through the conscience providing righteous guidance for decisions by our will.
Our conscience can be thought of as a bridle of the Holy Spirit. A tender, sensitive conscience is a vital requirement for spiritual maturity. All input from both windows of the soul are evaluated for righteousness by the conscience.
How much more will the blood of Christ . . . cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
If one consistently ignores leadings of the Holy Spirit, in time, his conscience can become seared and insensitive to leadings of the Spirit (1 Timothy 4:1-3). This is a very dangerous state to be in.
How well we obey Christ is a matter of how well we handle the information and anointing that we receive from the two windows of our soul. The five functions of our soul are: the will, intelligence, conscience, emotions and memory.
Each function plays a vital role in processing information, but the primary function is our will. It is the throne of our being,since it is here that we make all decisions that identify our calling and behavior.
The Holy Spirit’s promptings lead us to obey the will of God. However, He will never coerce our will; submission to His will must come out of our own volition. This is a primary truth in salvation.
Our intellect is a God given ability of power to know and understand; here is the capacity for rational thought.
Our emotions will reflect the decisions that we make; for example we will experience, joy, peace and love when we act in harmony with the will of God. Our memory provides continuity of our present life with the history of our past. Scriptures that one memorizes reside here. These five functions all play a role in the decisions that we willfully make.
Behavior
The development of righteousness can only come from the Holy Spirit. Character is formed in the human spirit, where Christ dwells. The more we manifest the will of Christ in our speech and deeds, the more will righteousness be apparent in our behavior. The day by day decisions of our will define our character (See Figure 1). Words or deeds that convey pride, unforgiveness, deception, etc., will minister death. Similarly, when humility, faith, self-control, forgiveness and such like, are carried by our actions, they will minister life to others.
. . . but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:12)
The objective of our call in Christ is that our behavior conveys the will of God to others. The Lordship of Christ is fulfilled when this is the case.
We can learn much about Christian behavior by studying past revivals and visitations of God.
The First Great Awakening is one such example (1734-1780). Key ministers in this visitation were Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield and the Wesley brothers. The Second Great Awakening (1742-1842), is another example. The primary minister in this visitation was Charles Finney. The grace of God was wonderfully evident as multitudes were saved in these revivals. In subsequent visitations, such as the Charismatic Renewal, not only were many people converted to Christ, but there were also spontaneous appearances of spiritual gifts.
It is true that all visitations are initiated by a season of prevailing prayer; a time when believers become deeply aware in heart attitude of their barrenness of church life, and in particular for their low level of concern for the lost.
However, as these visitations grew, there were increasing reports of strange behavior taking place in the meetings. Manifestations were occurring that, to many, were out of place. These reports included exuberant laughter, great weeping, visions, physical shakings and falling down. Numerous believers were “slain in the Spirit.” What was taking place? The first thought in explaining such phenomena is to blame the devil for seeking to draw people away from God by deceiving them with false manifestations and signs. This could be true if the people of concern were demonized unbelievers, but they were true hearted believers seeking the Lord with all of their hearts.
The Hebrew word for glory is “KABOD,” which is derived from the word “KABED” meaning “to be heavy or weighty.” Many believers with manifestations, who found it difficult to stand up, spoke of the heaviness that they had felt. This suggests that the glory of God had touched them; His presence had a weighty impact upon them.
Of course, elders must deal with any demonic manifestations, and with any believer who is obviously initiating manifestations to draw attention to himself.
I believe that it is not difficult to explain what is taking place in these Godly manifestations. The central purpose of God is to impact believers with the reality of His power toward them. He simply increases His anointing in the spirit-soul window. This input partially “overrides” the soul and body functions, which then results in the manifestation. It is not intended to embarrass believers, but to impress them with the reality of His power and presence in their lives. The input of the Holy Spirit is necessary for believers to do the will of God. We simply cannot rely on our soulish insight to do so. It is no wonder that some believers react, with what appears to others to be foolishness, when the Spirit of God touches them in this way.
In my personal life, I experienced an overwhelming presence of God when I was baptized in the Spirit; I began to weep uncontrollably. I was “drunk in the Spirit,” and could not stand up. Ever since that day, any time that I come into a significant experience of God’s presence, I begin to weep. I am unable to explain why I don’t laugh, which is the more normal response.
A number of years ago, I experienced a minor stroke, from which I became quite ill. When a brother came and prayed for me, I began to weep and the room was filled with the presence of God that was felt by everyone present. Then God moved in a new way in my life. I was suddenly filled with an unspeakable love in my heart, love for my wife and children, for the church and, most of all, for the Lord. I had received an inner manifestation from God to help me understand in my heart the truth of His love for me, which I only knew from scripture.
In summary, God visits His people to touch and change their inner man. For some believers this may not be a single experience, for manifestations can remain for a season on certain believers. There are instances when a manifestation marks the beginning of a new spiritual gift or ministry. Manifestations are not psychological in origin; they come from the Holy Spirit. Satan will seek to introduce false spirits of deception whenever God moves in a visitation like this. We are not to fear his schemes; we are to try all spirits and stand firm on the promises in God’s word. A godly eldership is necessary to oversee meetings.
It is useful to examine some of the visitations that are recorded in the Bible, to better understand the manifestations that took place at those times.
The following are four examples from scripture:
1. When the angel of the Lord revealed events of the future to Daniel, the revelations resulted in significant manifestations on his physical being (Daniel 8:17-18, 27).
2. In the early days of his apostolic ministry, the Lord caught Paul up to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). Apparently the reason for this visitation was to reveal to Paul the mystery of his teaching as an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul did not receive his gospel from man, nor did he receive it through the window of his physical senses; he received it through his spirit-soul window from the Holy Spirit. His only recorded manifestation was to receive a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him. (Most Bible scholars believe that Paul’s thorn was poor eyesight.) It was a manifestation to keep him humble.
3. The angel of the Lord was sent to John, the apostle, to give him revelation of Jesus Christ. John explains how he was affected (Revelation 1-22). “. . . I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” The visions and words that came to John did not come through his physical senses, but through his spirit-soul window. They resulted in the following manifestations by John:
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. (Revelation 1: 17)
Then I began to weep greatly. (Revelation 5:4)
4. When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost, this visitation by God caused significant manifestations to the recipients, as described by onlookers that were present:
But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of new wine.” (Acts 2:13)
The physical behavior of the Spirit filled disciples, in the sense of their body-language, was that of drunk men. The Holy Spirit certainly made this impact on their souls and bodies.
What Lies Ahead?
We are living in a time of church restoration that began with the reformation in the 16th century. Jesus will not return for His Church until this restoration is complete (Acts 3:20-21). The goal in restoration is to attain the pattern of the church that is described in the New Testament. In addition, the glory of the end-time church will be greater than that of the early church. There are yet many visitations to come before the will of Christ is established in the church.
Each visitation of God restored some truth that had been lost but which was not necessarily received by all Christian groups. The result has been a growing number of competing denominations, where each defined their theology around the truth that they had accepted. An example of this is the Pentecostal visitation, which opened the door to spiritual gifts by restoring the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gift of speaking in tongues. This truth was vehemently opposed by most other denominations.
Restoration must ultimately lead to unity in the whole body of Christ. For this reason, in these last days, Jesus is going to shake everything that can be shaken (Hebrews 12:25-27). He is the foundation of all truth and He must become central to all things in the church. The centrality of Christ is necessary if all believers are to be united and committed to the will of Christ.
“Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord of hosts. . . . “The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former” . . . . (Haggai 2:6-9)
The church in America should be aware that events such as hurricanes like Katrina, the 9/11 terrorist acts and the present recession are all shakings by God to turn our hearts to Him. He will restore the church, and He will also gather in a great end-time harvest of souls. Restoration of the church and the final, glorious harvest are not possible without a mighty baptism of the love of God! The fruit of the Spirit must accompany spiritual gifts.
A new generation of youth will emerge to take the gospel of the kingdom, ministered in compassionate love and with signs following, out to the streets, byways and market places to bring the hurting and deprived people to Christ. Churches will become centers for discipling more than just houses of evangelism. I believe today’s ministry of evangelism will be shaken so as to bring in the final harvest.
As we go forward into the future, we obviously do so without an accurate understanding of where we are in time. There is much tribulation ahead, great darkness with persecution, but the glory of God will arise on the church2 (Isaiah 60:1-7).
Godly character will become more important than spiritual giftings in equipping the saints.
For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory. (2 Corinthians 4:17)
This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)
One nation that will be saved, as part of the great harvest, is the nation of Israel (Romans 11:12, 15, 25).
There will be much persecution from the religion of Islam, which ministers a theology of death because they have no knowledge of a loving God. Nevertheless there will be a significant harvest of souls from Islamic nations (Isaiah 60:6-7)
As believers, our emphasis is not to be on the growing spiritual darkness and persecution, it is to be on the restoration of the church. All that will take place is already in the Lord’s plans. Some truths that have yet to be restored are the following:
Conclusion
When Jesus came to earth as Messiah, He came as a complete man. He possessed a personal will. However, He came to earth not only to die a sacrificial death, but also to reveal the Father to men. He accomplished this by teaching and only doing the will of His Father. He would not speak or act otherwise. The one will of God is a basis for understanding the oneness of God.
Jesus is the pattern for all of God’s sons. Restoration of the church will bring all diverse believers into harmony with the will of Christ. This is the essence of the Lordship of Christ. The multiplicity of wills that we see in churches today are destined to fade into the will of Christ as church restoration is complete.
Our Father God is waiting for the time when all enemies are functionally under the feet of Jesus, and the great multitude of His diverse family of sons and daughters will be subject to His will. This is the kingdom that He has been preparing to manifest to all creation. The Lord’s prayer will certainly be answered.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, . . . . (Matthew 6:10)
Amen.
References
1. Dale Rumble, BODY, SOUL & SPIRIT, GOD’S BUILDING BLOCKS, 800-917-2665; Selah Publishing Group, LLC, 2003.
2. Dale Rumble, THE DARK & GLORIOUS FUTURE, Fountain of Life tract, 2009.
3. Dale Rumble, THE CENTRALITY OF CHRIST, Fountain of Life tract, 2009.
