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The Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is part two of a multipart series. And today we're going to talk about the flesh of the spirit and the light and the relationship between these concepts. So we'll start a deeper dive into the topics that we overviewed in part one. So I highly recommend you watch part one before watching this part and that you continue in succession through the series without jumping around. This talk is based on the book, Seek Ye This Jesus and The Glory of God is intelligence which each guide the reader through the scriptures uh related to these topics. The overarching theme we will be exploring in this presentation is the idea that every person is a composite of a physical body and a spirit. And each of these components has a variable portion of light. So in order to understand what this means, we'll have to go through each of these three concepts, body, spirit, and light and explain what they are. So here is a uh an illustration of you and what you're you are comprised of. So you have a spirit and you have a body and each of these components has a certain degree of light. So what is this like? Well, if you read in the Scriptures, you will find many concepts linked together under the term of light. These include truth, which is a big topic in and of itself. Life, knowledge, glory, power, and intelligence. And I just want to make the comment here that it's not always easy to parse through and disentangle concepts in the scriptures. We're dealing with language barriers, we're dealing with limits in language. We're dealing with many traditions that we have in our minds that block us from really getting to the the the core meanings of these words and these ideas. And it's always worth the time to really deeply consider what, what words mean and what the impact should be on what we believe and how we act and how we feel about things. Well, there's one word that you won't find there, which is information. And uh one of the reasons for that is because the word didn't exist when those books were written. It's a modern idea and really has come about in the last 100 years um predominantly with um information technology, not surprising, right? So light is, I think most easily defined as information. Now it's a li a little bit of word trickery because information itself is an incredibly complicated idea. But uh I think we can make the case that light is information. So uh let's just go with that for now. The question is what can you do with it? And this is where you start to get into the depths of this topic. And we could talk about this for hours. In fact, if you want to think about the topic of light, we could actually go through all of scripture and pull out some new idea, some new angle of something you maybe have never thought about on nearly every page with this topic. It's a really big deal. Uh The glory of God is intelligence. That book I I highly recommend you read it, especially if you're interested in this topic. But I think that it contains things that, that everyone should know anyway, back to what can you do with light? Well, you can conform your will to reality and that's very important. Reality exists independent of you. So your success in this life and after this life to a large degree depends on your ability to, to accurately estimate reality and navigate it. Uh If you desire things that do not conform to reality, uh you will be disappointed. Secondly, manifest your will on reality. Now, this might be, might seem contradictory to what I just said. But it's not. If you know the rules of the game, you can play the game to determine uh to, to obtain the, the outcomes that you desire, but you have to play according to the rules of the game. So if you are uh driving your car through a parking lot and you want to get to a certain spot in the lot. Maybe you're trying to get out of the parking lot there. And let's say there's one exit, you don't get to define another exit. You don't get to def, to ignore the cars and people that are in your way. You have to come up with a way to navigate around those obstacles to get to the exit of the parking lot. And you also have to limit what you desire to the space of things that are possible, right? So I, I hope none of this seems, oh, I don't know um wishy washy or, or, or I don't know, magical. This really is just the way it works. And, and that is what the gospel is about is uh obtaining a more accurate estimate of reality in preparing yourself to succeed with that increased awareness. If you learn the rules of the game, then you can do things that other people can't do. So, what's the difference between the light and your light? Well, the light is in all places and through all things. And this is uh equivalent to God's light. The light exists independent of God. But because God has subscribed to all the light, then you can use these interchangeably and say all light comes from God because God has acquired all light. And therefore, and he's also the means of us obtaining it through his sacrifice and condescension and through this creation which he generated. So in doctor in covenant 88 we read he though descended up on high and also he descended below all things in that he comprehended all things that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth. And this is talking about the Savior of Jesus Christ, which truth shines. This is the light of Christ. So the light of Christ is the light that emanates from him, that is in all and through all things, the light of truth, it's in all places and it's through all things. And it's also the fullness of the light that God has. It's everything all at once. This doesn't mean that just because it is available in its fullness that it is perceived or received at it in its fullness, light is perceived and received at differing resolutions. So there is light in all things but not all things respond to the light equally. And because of this, because light is not received and perceived in its fullness, it's perceived and received in differing quantities at differing resolutions is the phrase that I prefer. Uh there's a huge difference in the amount of light that different things have and there's a huge difference in how that light is manifested. So um in John 15, we read that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. So um for beings that are less aware of light, they don't, they don't realize that it's there, but it still is there. Um There's a concept of being quickened and for now, I'm just going to, to make a quick no pun intended uh definition of this, which is that the idea of being quickened is to , to perceive and receive light. So it's the degree to which you perceive and receive light. Um And then as, as an example of this, uh the scriptures teach that the light that makes your body alive is the same as the light that lights the sun and the light that quickens God, it's all the same light. OK. But these, these three instances are incredibly different. And the reason for this is because uh light is perceived and received at different levels. If you think about the narrow sub definition of light as intelligence, this shouldn't surprise you because if you look around you at your fellow human beings, you will see a very large difference in intelligence. There are people who are really intelligent, there are people who are really not intelligent and there's everyone in between and this is the way that light works as well. But the the range of perception and reception of light is far greater than what you perceive as the range of intelligence in humans. But that's a uh probably a good enough analogy, for example. Now that's we're talking about the light. So when we talk about your light, um your body has a certain level of light, a degree of light. And that is the amount of the light as in all the light that you perceive and submit to. Ok, those are two separate things, perception and submission to. So you can perceive more light than you reconcile yourself too. But even your perception is going to be very limited compared to the fullness of light. So your light is also you could refer to that as your awareness and that's your perception of how things really are. It's what you believe, it's why you believe it. It's your understanding of reality. And that's an estimate. It's always an estimate and estimates are uh differ from reality in that they are always at least inaccurate and sometimes incorrect. So if you want to expand your awareness, you have to get a more accurate estimation, you have to learn what you believe that is wrong and learn what you don't yet believe that is real. So the point here is that your light is less than the fullness that God has, which is also always available to everyone through what he does. So um the Lord Jesus Christ is an example of how to acquire this light. He is one with the father because he shares uh all the light that the Father possesses, they each possess um the light that the sun has and this drives what they do, it drives why they do it, it determines what their character is, et cetera. And the purpose of the Gospel is to convey this light to us. And as an individual, you can draw closer to the father and the son until you become one with them in the same way that they became one with each other. Rather that the son became one with the father, which is to acquire the light that the father has. Here's a scripture describing that this is from John 17 and this is life eternal that they, which is us might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent. So this was the Lord speaking and he was saying this to the Father . And now o father glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth that they all may be one as thou father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us, in the glory which thou GST me, I have given them that they may be one even as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one. So this very clearly lays out the ideas that I just said in plainer English, modern uh parlance, which are essentially that the son became like the father through acquiring his truth, which were using the term light, but they're synonyms. And that through the sun, we can acquire the same truth or light. And through this process, we can become one with a son and one with the father and share in their glory, which is also a synonym of light. This is the purpose of life to acquire more light specifically , to acquire all the light that God has. So in John chapter three, we have a passage that describes more about this idea and uh conveys the fact that very few people are interested in the acquisition of more light. Jesus said. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world. And men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for every one that doeth evil, hate the light, neither cometh to the light lest his deeds be reproved, but he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be manifest that they are wrought in God. So um this is interesting here, the use of the word reproved. So it says there is light in the world, but men would rather not perceive it because when they perceive it, it shows them that their deeds are evil and or limited reproved is, is to expose the limitations of something. Um So if it's a wrong idea, you'd be shown it, it's wrong . And if there's a better idea, you'd be shown a better idea. So sometimes things are helpful and useful to a point, but that doesn't indicate that there isn't something better out there that would help more and be more useful. So um this is human nature to turn away from the light or to, to refuse to perceive it in the first place. But Jesus says that he that doeth truth. So someone that hungers and thirsts after righteousness, someone that's interested in improvement, someone who desires something better, they all come to the light and they do it knowing that their deeds will be made manifest. And this is going to not only reveal the things that they believe that are right, it will also reveal the things they believe that are incorrect or incomplete. And they will be given beliefs to replace those previous beliefs that are stronger, that are more beneficial. In John chapter one, we're told that Jesus was the true light which lighte every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not. So this is talking about a limit of perception. He came unto his own and his own received him not, but as many as received him to them, gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Now this on his name. Thing is a big idea and I'll make a separate presentation about that. But essentially his name is who he is. It's how he is. It's why he is. It's his life. If you believe the light that you do perceive from God. So your sincere best understanding of his character of His will, if you obey that and you reconcile yourself to that, you will be given the power to become the Son of God or the daughter of God. And what that means is you will be given more light and truth to become more like Him. You will be given instructions and experiences that help you learn more of what He knows and how He is and that's what it means to receive him. OK. So that's our brief introduction of the concept of light. And now we'll move on to the spirit. Now, just like the light is different from your light, the spirit is different from your spirit. So the spirit is the spirit of God. Now, the spirit of God is not the light, but it's interchangeable with the light because God has reconciled himself to the light. And He is the channel through which we receive the light. Your spirit. On the other hand, is a physical entity. Uh It exists, you could perceive it if your eyes were more refined um in your spirit, it existed before this world was created. It has some degree of glory or some degree of light and that might not be obvious to you that matters uh for reasons we'll get into in just a moment. So job 38 gives us some evidence that your spirit existed before this earth was created. It says where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth, uh The Lord is speaking here. This is when he's reprimanding job. He said, declare if thou hast understanding, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy before this world was your spirit existed. And it also had light job. 32 8 says, there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. This understanding is a synonym for light and it comes from the spirit that's in you. Now, we'll talk about the flesh. Your physical body is uh an enemy to God. The natural man is an enemy to God and has been from the fall of Adam. Your physical body has desires and appetites that lead away from God's will. There's a really important concept here to understand regarding many people are puzzled by the weakness they perceive in their own body , the things that they desire to do that they misunderstand those things that they can't help that deviate from God's instructions as they understand them. And they use this foolishly as evidence that God doesn't exist or that the Gospel isn't real or something like that. What they don't understand is that God issues us the bodies that we have and the experiences that we have in our lives in love. God is love and everything He does comes from that center. So the reason He gives us the bodies that we have and the experiences that we have. Uh you have to understand in order to understand that you have to understand that this existence, your existence, it didn't start when you were born, started long before that. And it won't end when you die. And this part that you're aware of this current mortal life, um The purpose of this life is to teach you the things that will help you have greater joy and happiness here and hereafter and one tool in this is your experience in this mortal life, whether that's external, in terms of what family you're born into and situations that you face in life or what's internal to your body. And there are many things, you know, you could be born with a physical handicap or an emotional issue or any number of things, uh certain susceptibility for uh certain behavior or desire. And all of these things are done in love from an all knowing God who gives you specific engineered situations that are precisely designed to provide the opportunity to learn exactly what you need to be happier. Uh here and hereafter to learn things that you could learn in no other way. It's very important to understand that there are constraints on reality. And that because of these constraints, sometimes the way that we have to navigate it, the way that the Lord provides for us to navigate, it may not seem um necessary or logical or wise or loving in our limited understanding of things, but they are precisely all of those things in ether 1227. It says, if men come unto me, I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble. And my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me. For if they humble themselves before me and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them? See the purpose that God has is to make you stronger, to make you happier, to teach you more of what you need to know, to be in a better place . Everything He does is out of love. But if we get hung up on how we are today without realizing that he's giving us the tools to be something else tomorrow, then we won't see the point of all this. We won't see God's love in, in our lives and the lives that we've been given. And we certainly won't make the efforts to use the tools that He's provided to become something more. Every single person born into this world is given access to the light which lighte every man that cometh into the world, which is the light of Christ. Now, there's a difference in the light that your body has in the light that your spirit has. The light that your spirit has exceeds the light that your body has. The Lord said, the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak, the flesh is weak and that's all part of his purpose. He also tells us what the source of the light is in every man. He said, the spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world. He also said, he also described to us the relationship between the light in each of these entities, your body and your spirit. He said, he that find his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. He wasn't talking about the life of the physical body. Only what he was talking about was your identity. Who you really are is not defined by the body that you were issued at birth. It's not defined by the environment you are placed in at birth or since birth. Who you are is defined by the spirit within you and all of your experience with God before you were born up till now. And from when you were born up till now is a very small slice of your existence. And so to think of yourself as who you were born as and who you have been since then is like thinking of yourself as what you did this morning. It's to ignore the vast majority of your experience. And this is very important uh because it introduces a topic we'll spend some time on for the rest of this presentation and beyond which is the relationship between your spirit and your body, part of the purpose of this life is to become aware of the spirit within you. And how God uses that to convey light to your understanding. And you can use this to discover who you really are. And you might be surprised at how different who you really are is from who you have thought you were your whole life. And it's always a pleasant surprise. It, it's a one way transformation. The spirit is stronger than the flesh and it has more light. I quoted part of this scripture before but now I read the whole thing. This is from Mosiah 319 for the natural man is an enemy to God and has been from the fall of Adam and will be for ever and ever unless he yields to the enticing of the Holy Spirit and put off the natural man and become a saint through the atonement of Christ, the Lord and become as a child, submissive meek, humble patient, full of love, willing to submit all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him. Even as a child Doth submit to his father. There is so much in this passage and we just don't have time to dig into it, but we'll unpeel it line by line in the rest of this presentation and in some other ones. But the point here is this submit to all things which the Lord sees fit and then how you do that? It's through uh yielding to the Holy Spirit instead of the natural man. Now, we haven't really gotten into the difference between your spirit and the Holy Spirit and all these things. But we will, here's a passage from Romans eight for to be carnally minded or to operate from the position of the flesh is death. But to be spiritually minded or to operate from the position of the spirit is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God. And enmity is words not really used much anymore, but it means in opposition to for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot well, let me back up for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. This isn't talking about the commandments, Moses received or you know what your preacher says to do or whatever else. When it's talking about the law of God. In this case, it's talking about the influence of God or the things that God teaches you on an individual level. We'll get into that later. But that the flesh is not the conduit for the law of God. You don't receive revelation in your flesh, you receive it in your spirit. It can't be subject to the law of God. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God, but you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit and Paul is not saying you don't have physical bodies. He's saying you don't operate based on what your physical bodies tell you. You operate according to what your spirit is telling you, you subdue your flesh to the spirit. He says, but you are not in the flesh but in the spirit. If so be that the spirit of God dwell in you, that's the key. Now, if any man hath not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. Again, he's not saying your physical body is literally dead. He's saying that it is no longer actuated by the desires of the flesh, but through the desires of the spirit. But if the spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you shall die. But if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live for as many as are led by the spirit of God. They are the sons of God. The purpose of life then is to acquire more light and you do this by submitting your flesh to your spirit. And by acquiring more light in the spirit, repenting of your sins is the way that you submit your flesh to your spirit. Learning more about and from God is how you acquire more light in the spirit. We'll talk much more about that second topic and future presentations.