The World Tomorrow

The Spirit of God and Man

by Herbert W Armstrong

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I want you to think about this and think deeply. Will any human being still be alive on this planet Earth in another five or ten years? Our greatest problem right now is the problem of human survival. Are you still going to be alive, your children – five or ten years from now?

I visit and talk with heads of governments, all heads of nations all over the world; presidents, prime ministers, kings. I talk to them about their problems; and their problems are greater than they can solve. I've talked with some of the great minds of this world; and they can't understand, they can't solve these problems. We've had our Einsteins, our Edisons, our great thinkers and they seem to be helpless before the problems that humanity is facing on this earth.

We are making great progress, in a way. We are having absolutely fantastic progress; at the same time we are having appalling evils that are threatening to destroy us all. Why is this kind of thing? If the human mind can produce the automobile, the airplane, spacecraft that can send men to the moon and back safely, and can produce the hydrogen bomb that can annihilate all human beings off the face of this planet and destroy us all - why can't the human mind solve its problems?

In all human learning and knowledge production that is disseminated in the colleges and the universities of the world they have never yet learned the secret of the human mind. They have never learned the secret of the human mind - what is it? Psychologists don't know of what the human mind is composed. They don't understand and the whole world is in trouble.

The greatest mind who ever lived was Jesus Christ. Let me give you one thing that He said; and it's in the book of Matthew in the twelfth chapter - or the eleventh chapter rather, and verse 25. He said in a prayer:

"...I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent [that is, the great minds], and hast revealed them unto babes." (Matthew 11:25)

Revealed knowledge might give us the answer, but all the wisdom of this world does not have the answer; and never is going to have the answer. A very learned doctor of philosophy with a few PhD's after his name once quoted a certain scripture to me in I Corinthians the second chapter and verse 11:

"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?..." (I Corinthians 2:11)

He quoted that to try to prove to me that a man has an immortal soul, or is immortal. That, that spirit is an immortal soul that gives him his life. And yet the Bible says twice:

"...the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4,20)

It is not immortal. And God Himself said of the first man, as you read back in the first chapter of the book of Genesis; that if he took the forbidden fruit, he would surely die. And he did die - he lived 930 years and then he died, because he did disobey and take the forbidden fruit.

But what was the apostle Paul talking about in the second chapter of I Corinthians? Let's go back a little further and pick that up. I Corinthians the second chapter and beginning with verse nine. He had been mentioning in his letter to the Church at Corinth that he had not come to them with great swelling words. He had not spoken, what we might call today 'the language of scholarship', but with plain and simple and humble words. And yet they didn't seem to understand. And in verse nine he said:

"But...it is written, Eye [has] not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart [or the mind] of man, the things which God [has] prepared for them that love him." (I Corinthians 2:9)

How We Gain Knowledge (PLAY FROM 05:02)

Now how do you gain knowledge? All the knowledge that you have ever received into your mind has come through the eye, through the ear, or through the senses of smell, taste, or feeling and touch. There is no other way you can receive knowledge normally and naturally in any way what so ever. But your eye cannot see and your ears cannot hear, nor can the five senses explain to you spiritual knowledge, or the things that God has prepared. And that means peace, and happiness, and glory, and eternal life, and an eternity in wonderful rewarding production, and happiness, and peace. Now the very next verse, verse 10 says:

"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit [that's the Spirit of God] searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." (I Corinthians 2:10)

Then he comes to this verse that I quoted a minute ago: "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man [that] is in him?..." (I Corinthian 2:11)

He wouldn't come to even know and have the knowledge that a human can have, except by the spirit of man that is in him. Now let me explain that. A human brain is precisely like an animal brain. I have a booklet just coming off the press now: 'What Science Can’t Discover About the Human Mind' On the front cover is a picture of a man and his brain just beside him, a picture of a chimpanzee brain, a picture of an elephant brain and also of a dolphin brain. This is a booklet about the human mind and explaining something that you have never known about the human mind and what scientists cannot discover and do not know about the human mind and why it can't solve our problems.

But now; a cow cannot know the things that a man can know. A cow has eyes to see with, it has ears with which he can hear. The sense of feel, and touch, and smell, and taste, and all of those things. But he can't know the things about chemistry and astronomy and a man can. He can't have the knowledge of a man. He can't have some of the other things of attitude and will that the human mind can have; and the reason is, he doesn't have a spirit within him. Now let me read this again:

"...what man can know [have the knowledge of] the things of a man? [That is, things that a man can know - an elephant can't know, a whale can't know, or any a horse or a cow can't know. Well...] what man could know, save the spirit of man which is in him?..." (I Corinthians 2:11 paraphrased)

The spirit in man gives man a knowledge. A power of knowing, and a power of intellect, and a power of decision making, a power of will, of attitude; that the dumb animals simply do not have. What is the difference? And yet the brain is precisely the same.

The Natural Mind Cannot Know Spiritual Things (PLAY FROM 08:49)

Now, notice the next half of this same verse:

"...even so [that is in the same manner – now here is a comparison, even so] the things of God [that is spiritual knowledge] knoweth no man, [save by] the Spirit of God." (I Corinthians 2:11)

Without the Spirit of God, you cannot know spiritual knowledge. The greatest minds in this world do not have the Spirit of God and they do not understand the problems in the world. They can't solve our problems, because they don't have spiritual knowledge. Notice verse fourteen:

"But the natural man [with just a normal mind, the mind that we are all born with; the natural man] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him [the things of God are foolishness to the normal natural mind as we are born in the first place; they are foolishness unto him]: neither can he know them, [for] they are spiritually discerned." (I Corinthians 2:14)

And they are revealed through the Spirit of God, and he cannot know those things. That's why the world is in such trouble today - that's why they are in trouble.

This book, the Bible, is the word of the Living God; it is the book of the Living God, in which God speaks to mankind. But it's God's secret code and you can't break that code and understand it without the Spirit of God. And most people – hardly any of the people you might say, on the earth today have that spirit; that will unlock their minds to comprehend and unlock this code so you can comprehend it and understand it. Because it just seems like so much foolishness.

Here is a book that is not taught in the colleges and universities. Go down to the Library of Congress and notice the hundreds of thousands and even millions of volumes of books written by men. And all of those books can't give you the knowledge, or the learning, to solve our problems on this earth. Here is a book that can! Look at the books they use in science and in teaching in the universities in this world. And a university has been called a knowledge factory, a factory of knowledge production. But they can't produce the knowledge to solve our problems and bring us out of our troubles. This book could, but this seems to be foolishness to them, because you can't decipher it without the Spirit of God.

Does Man Have an Immortal Soul? (PLAY FROM 11:34)

Now about this immortal soul I was talking about a minute ago. Just what is it? Let me give you a couple of scriptures. Back in Ezekiel 18 and verse four, it says here: "...the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4)

Soul is not immortal - a soul can die. Again the eighteenth chapter of Ezekiel and verse 20: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die..." (Ezekiel 18:20)

Same words all over again, identically the same thing again.

And then, man is made in the image of God. Let's understand man and man's mind and what it is and there's something about the structure of the human mind. You read in the Book of Genesis in the very beginning of the Bible:

"In the beginning God created the [heavens] and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

The word for God as Moses wrote it in the Hebrew language is 'Elohim' – it's uni-plural, it means more than one. And in verse 26:

"And God said, Let us [not 'me', but 'us' – more than one person forming one God;] let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." (Genesis 1:26)

Now the couple of verses just before that said that He'd made animals after – each one after its own animal kind, cattle after the cattle kind. Well then, He made dogs after the dog kind and elephants after the elephant kind, horses after the horse kind, but MAN AFTER THE GOD kind . Man was made after the God kind. And he was made for a certain purpose. Now I want you to notice the second chapter and verse seven, just across the page here in my Bible:

"And the [Eternal] God formed man [He formed man] of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7)

Not an immortal soul, but the dust of the ground - matter - became a soul. Now God had said again in the second chapter and verse 17 – there were two trees in the Garden of Eden where He put Adam after he was created, the first human being. And one is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And he said of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:

"...thou shalt not [touch] of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17)

Thou – the soul made out of matter; "...shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17). But Satan said, we read over here in the third chapter and the fourth verse, he said to the woman: "...[You] shall not surely die:" (Genesis 3:4)

In other words, you are an immortal soul. And people have been believing that lie ever since. Satan the devil was; "...a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44) as Jesus said later. And people have believed that lie and have not believed God.

Man Needs Another Spirit (PLAY FROM 14:44)

Now man is wholly mortal. Made of the dust of the ground, but he does have a mind. Now then I want you to notice something about man that is different from an animal. He breathes the same breath as an animal; but he was made in the form and shape of God. And God is reproducing Himself in man; and man was made to have a relationship with God and animals were not. So now I want you to notice over in the book of Job, in the thirty-second chapter and verse eight:

"But there is a spirit in man ..." (Job 32:8)

Now there is not a spirit in a cow, there is not a spirit in an elephant, or a chimpanzee; and they can't think as a man can think, and they can't know what a man can know, and they can't have the attitude and the will that a man can have; because they don't have the kind of mind that a man does at all. Because there is a spirit in man. Now verse eighteen:

"For I am full of matter [he is composed of matter], the spirit within me constraineth me." (Job 32:18)

Constrains me, that is, suggests things to me and sort of leads me in a way. The spirit – it has something to do with the brain. It is very closely associated with the brain.

Now Adam's creation was incomplete. I'd like to have you notice again back in Genesis the second chapter and verse 20. Second chapter of Genesis and verse 20:

"And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him." (Genesis 2:20)

Adam was incomplete. God had told Adam to be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth, but a man can't reproduce by himself. He was incomplete, he was not all there. So God formed a woman and presented the woman to him and now he became complete and they became one. One family, as God is one God, one family.

Now likewise, the human mind is incomplete as God created it, but God meant to have it created with our help. But that's where we have our own part in it. We have to submit to receive the completion of the mind. And what we need is another spirit, the Spirit of God. And man has one spirit that gives man the knowledge of dealing with matter, with things.

He can deal with people, but he doesn't know how to deal with them properly; and he gets in trouble. And he has no right relationship with God without the Spirit of God. And he cannot have peace without the Spirit of God. He can't have the knowledge of the way to peace without the Spirit of God. In other words his mind is only half there.

What is the human mind? The human mind then is brain plus human spirit. Now everyone has a human spirit that is born in him. That spirit is essence. It is not a being, it is not a person; it's just spirit essence like air or water. But there is a portion of that spirit in every being. And that spirit empowers the mind to think. To acquire knowledge of matter, and to deal with material objects and material things.

It also gives him a sense of either love or hate. And he doesn't know how to control that and direct it in the right channel. And he is directing it in the wrong channels. And man has chosen the way of self centeredness as he was influenced by Satan the devil. And that's not very popular to believe either, but it's true and that has happened. And this book which is foolishness to the highly educated explains all of it and you can't understand the problems in the world and what has happened if you don't understand the basic simple plain knowledge of this book, the Holy Bible.

Man Offered God's Spirit (PLAY FROM 19:34)

So the human mind was made incomplete with the one spirit that needs another spirit with us. Now the first man was offered that other spirit, the Spirit of God. That was in the tree of life, eternal life. Now the tree he did take of, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but it was going to result in death, it was the tree of death. The tree of life was just opposite. It also was a tree of knowledge; it was the tree of the Holy Spirit that would reveal the knowledge of God.

A man can't know those things, as I was just reading to you over in I Corinthians 2 a while ago. But God reveals them through the Spirit; the Spirit changes your mind to comprehend and to understand spiritual knowledge when it is revealed by God, or by Christ, or through the Bible, which is the word of God. And Christ is the living Word of God and the Bible is the same word of God in writing.

Now, this spirit of God was offered to Adam in the tree of life, which he could freely have taken, but he did not take it. And so God closed it up, until Christ should come. It is offered today to those whom God calls through Christ. Through Jesus Christ, who is the second Adam. Adam chose the self spirit, the human spirit, that was already created within him. It is born within every baby who is born, that human spirit. But with that human spirit alone, human beings have been utterly unable, utterly helpless to solve their problems. And this world is full of problems.

And this world – now man has been dealing with matter. He has the ability to acquire knowledge to deal with material things. And all of the progress, all of the accomplishments that we have in this world have been in the material area. We accomplish very great things with matter, but we can't get along with one another. And all of our troubles are in getting along with one another and the fact that man has no contact with his Maker – the Eternal God. That is, most men do not; and even those few who think they do, do not comprehend and do not understand. There is so much of it that they don't understand.

Now Jesus brought the solution. A lot of that is given on the day of Pentecost back here in the Book of Acts. When the Church first started - the very day that the Church first started, about a little over 1951 years ago. It's in the second chapter of the book of Acts, verse 38. Peter had preached quite a sermon and very many people were there. There were more than three thousand there and they asked Peter and the other apostles what they should do about things; they had crucified Christ, or they had been consenting to it, and things were not right in the world.

And then; "...Peter said unto them [verse 38], Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins..." (Acts 2:38)

Now baptism is merely the outward ceremony of the inward acceptance of what Jesus said, of Christ as Savior, and believing what He said. It's believing not only in Christ, but also believing what He said. And repentance is to turn around and go the other way. Repentance means admit you are wrong, you've been wrong, you've been doing wrong, you've been thinking wrong, you have been wrong. I have been, you have been, every human, except Jesus Christ, who ever lived has been. But if we admit it – if we turn around to go the other way, and then we believe Christ, who is the Word of God; and who will show us the way to go and we go that way. Then He said:

"...ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For [he said] the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:38-39)

And that, incidentally, I won't explain just now - it doesn't mean everybody; "...as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:38-39). So, we finally come to the place, then with the Holy Spirit of God where we have a spiritual mind – a sound mind. I want you to notice now in II Timothy the first chapter and verse seven. II Timothy the first chapter and verse seven:

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (II Timothy 1:7)

God has given us the spirit of a sound mind. And not a wacky mind, not a wrong kind of a mind. And we have too many of those in the world today. Not of a mind of foolishness, but a mind of sound thinking and understanding and comprehension. I've only had time to give you just a little bit of this, about the human mind and how different it is from animal brain. And yet animal brain is just like human brain and just as good.

(NB Headings are not part of original, but are added for clarity)