The Soul Of The Matter

This small, small world we live in is just a dot in God's ever expanding universe. Yet each of us in this small world is a three-part wonder - Spirit, Soul and Body - just as the Holy Bible teaches us.

Most of us understand about the body - that temporal part of us that houses and enables our invisible spirit and soul to function in a physical world. And we understand the spirit, that God part of us, that living, immortal, indestructible breath of God in us, without which we could not live at all, either in this world or the next.

And then we have the soul - that mysterious movement within that stirs our being to its core. It is the quick infallible voice of who and what we are that makes each of us utterly and individually unique.

As David cried out: "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:14)

The dictionary ties the soul and the spirit together as the pneuma - or that which allows breath of life to flow. The Preacher of the Book of Ecclesiastes (King Solomon) says of the end of life, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." (Eccles. 12:7)

Ecclesiastes 9:5 states that the dead know not anything. Of course, God does not mislead or contradict Himself in His Word so, setting these two references in the proper context in which they were written, this is not a contradiction. I also believe it is safe to say King Solomon was not a double-minded Preacher...

It is true the body in the grave is dead. Because it is dead it knows nothing. Without the spirit it can no longer function, it can no longer live. It has no awareness. It will return to dust and the dust will sleep. It will awaken only for the resurrection.

The spirit, on the other hand, is immortal and can never die. It is still very much alive, with total recall of all knowledge gained in this life. It is now loosed from the burdens of the flesh and it has gone home to the Father - or - to the pits of punishment. In the Old Testament Age the righteous spirits were gathered to Abraham's bosom (presence) to await the coming of Messiah.

You will find Jesus teaching these things in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31.

But after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who then led captivity captive, He escorted the now redeemed Old Testament spirits into heaven. Since that day, the redeemed spirits of the Church Age have ascended directly into heaven. They too await the resurrection of their new and glorified bodies.

The spirit and the soul are inseparable. The spirit is the seat of all wisdom, knowledge, understanding, discernment, thought and memory. The soul is the seat of emotions. It is the seat of joy, love, humility, thanksgiving, sorrow and praise.

At the sound of Mary's voice the babe in Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy as he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and Mary's whole body, soul and spirit declared the glorious Magnificat: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." (Luke 1:46-47)

Her praise erupted from the depths of her soul as she testified that God was her Savior, in that she had needed a Savior and that, at the time of her visitation, the Holy Ghost had overshadowed her, quickening the Seed within her and filling her with the Holy Ghost (Isaiah 7:14). Again, she declared: "He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name." (V. 49)

It is from the depths of our being (deep in the soul) that we cry out with joy or sorrow, pain or pleasure, praise or need. One or more of the five senses alert the soul which flags the spirit which distributes the message to the mind and heart, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." (Matthew 12:34)

Souls grow up with the spirit and the body and so they grow up differently in different people. There are beautiful souls that live in beautiful people. There are Godly souls that live in consecrated houses. There are corrupt souls and there are the souls of little children, innocent and sweet. And there are the souls of the unborn, unwanted victims of the knife, victims of inconvenience. These never have a chance to smile, to laugh, to cry or to be loved - until their little spirits are cradled by angels and taken to the Father's shoulders...

There is the soul of a family, a neighborhood, a community, a town, a city, a nation, and then there is the soul of the world. We won't look into the souls of wickedness for they have no interest or pleasure in the prophetic movement of God.

We will however consider the soul of a nation - America for example. Today we can see the stirrings of justice and goodness rising against the wickedness, and we can hear the sounds of freedom seeking to overtake the sounds of tyranny. From the beginning, her blessings included the hope of freedom for all men. But hell is a wind of fury and today the fight for the soul of America is rooted in the souls of her patriots and those that know her God. We may win the battles and still lose the war but we will march into Heaven rejoicing in that we stood tall for righteousness in the face of absolute evil.

The soul of this world is canopied by the unfailing prophetic Word of the Almighty God. There was a time when Elijah fled for his life. Elijah thought he was the only prophet left in Israel and if Jezabel caught up with him she would surely kill him as she had the others and there would be no voice of God left in Israel. But God assured Elijah, He had 7,000 souls in Israel that had not bowed the knee to Ba'al. And so it is today...

God holds the collective soul of this world in His protective grip. It is made up of all the souls of all the Christians that bless the Name of Jesus as their Lord and King. They are not all hidden from the world, but multiplied thousands of them are. The soul of the world holds back the evil that would tread down God's holiness, and it restrains the antichrist from bursting onto the scene before his time.

He may be chomping at the bit to take control, but he cannot arise until the restrainer is taken out of the way. The restrainer is the corporate Holy Ghost whose presence fills the international Body of Christ which is the true Church. If it were not for the restrainer holding back the evil in this world, no man would be left alive to see whatever tomorrows might come. (11Thessalonians 2:7)

There are men who have been given the breath of God that they might live, who have become so evil they have no conscience, no heart, no truth in their spirit, no light in their soul. They are vanity - all their work is vanity...

How sad for the Father. How sad for America. How sad for the world. How sad for them...

To all others, the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star sends this Word:

"And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17)

Joan Krempel
July 28, 2010
joan@joankrempelministries.com