May 2023

From Our Superintendent

Greetings New Light Members and Friends!

In May and again in June we continue our study, The Spiritual Senses authored by John Edmiston, found at https://www.globalchristians.org/pdf/20_the_spiritual_senses. pdf. This study will strengthen our knowledge and understanding of the will of GOD and the role our spiritual senses operate in that process. Let us see, hear, smell, taste and touch the Word of God.

All glory, honor and praise belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Let us keep our hearts and souls stayed on Him and He will direct our paths, Amen!!

Your Brother in Christ,

Superintendent Tony Hall

Table of Contents

* All Scripture is from The King James Version of the Bible unless indicted differently*

THE SPIRITUAL SENSES

The Spiritual Sense of Hearing (Faith) - Part 2

Romans 10:17 - So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Galatians even refers to a miracle working ‘hearing of faith’:

Galatians 3:2-5 - 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

So we see that salvation, receiving the Spirit, the supply of the Spirit and “working miracles among you” all result from this hearing of faith. This is a key to Christian living if ever there was one! Everything we receive in the New Covenant lifestyle comes through the hearing of faith. We live ‘from faith to faith’:

Romans 1:17 - For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

It is not just knowledge of God’s Word that saves us, it must be combined with faith:

Hebrews 4:2... but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

• How is hearing the spiritual sense of faith? _______________________________________________________________________

The hearing of faith is a simple heart response to God and is not a new legalism:

Romans 10:4-9 - 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 8 But what saith it? The

word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

And is available to all: Romans 10:12-13 - 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Hearing with faith is believing what God says so that you respond in some way such as calling on God or acting in obedience to a command. Jesus does a miracle and you give glory to God and ponder on what the miracle means. Jesus speaks a parable and you ask for the interpretation and ‘get it’. The hearing of faith is having the inner conscience tuned to God’s wavelength and ready to believe what God says. When the word of the Lord comes to us (via preaching, the Scriptures, our conscience etc) we can respond in a number of ways including the following:

Faith = fully believing what God says will come to pass, and being obedient to it

Doubt = being unsure about the factuality, safety or wisdom of what God has just said

Unbelief = a flat out refusal to believe what God says, foolish mocking, scoffing etc.

Rebellion = deliberately doing the opposite of what God has said

Torpor = being totally asleep spiritually so that God is never heard or perceived at all

Abraham is the preeminent example of the hearing of faith:

Romans 4:18-22 - 18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. 19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Abraham believed God despite all the circumstances around him. He did not waver at the promise of God. God was everything and the difficulties and ‘impossibilities’ were as nothing. When God spoke Abraham heard deep within his being, so deep that

nothing else mattered at all!

Now most of us do not hear God so deeply and absolutely. Like Peter we see the wind and the waves, or like Phillip at the feeding of the five thousand we ask ‘what are these few among so many’. Abraham must have been totally unguarded with God. Abraham pinned all his dreams, all his hopes, and even the life of his precious son Isaac on the faithfulness of God.

• In Matthew 14:29-31 (29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?) How was Peter’s faith challenged in this passage of Scripture?

• Have you heard of such miracles and yet doubt? Why? Why not? _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

The hearing of faith is not just intellectual assent to theological propositions. The patriarchs, prophets and apostles were not formally trained theologians. The hearing of faith is believing what God says even when the world, common sense and reason says precisely the opposite. It is deeply agreeing with God in your inner being, in your conscience, in the most fundamental part of who you really are.

The hearing of faith is the sure knowledge that God is true, no matter what appearances might be. It is hearing with your heart. It is staking yourself on the nature and character of God because something tells you, in an undeniable way, that this is where the true Truth is.

Satan tries all that he can to destroy this – through doubt, fear, apathy, hardness of heart, distraction, anxiety and making us forget God’s goodness to us in the past.

• Can you think of a time you heard from God but you doubted? What caused the doubt?

The parable of the sower - and the seeds that fell on the stony ground, the shallow soil, among the weeds and on good soil give us a clue to the difficulties here. The seed is the word and the soils represent our ability to receive it by faith (the hearing of faith) and hardening, persecution and worldly distraction seem to take out ¾ of the seeds. Only the seeds sown among the good soil bear much fruit.

We need to be determined to listen to God with faithful hearts, putting aside all worldly distractions and not being discouraged by life’s circumstances. We need to remember God’s goodness to us in the past so that we put today’s troubles in the perspective of God’s forever faithfulness. We need to meditate on His Word and His promises and we need to follow the example of those who have gone before us in the faith.

We need to abandon legalistic striving ‘do this, do that’ and simply open up to trusting God in all things. Instead of trying to do a bunch of things to please God or to be spiritual we need to just trust God’s character moment by moment each day, believing that all things are possible with God. O Lord, help us to hear You and to truly believe!

The SPIRITUAL SENSES

The Spiritual Sense of Taste (Worship)

Hearing and sight are remote senses but tasting is an immediate experience. You actually put the food or drink in your mouth. You may only put a little in at first to test it out, but if it is good you then consume it all. Thus taste has two aspects: (a) discernment of what is good to ‘consume’ spiritually and (b) full participation in a spiritual reality:

Discernment of That Which is Good

1 Peter 2:2-3 - 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Psalm 34:8 - O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

• What does it mean to taste and see that the Lord is good? _______________________________________________________________________

The new believer ‘tastes’ God in order to ascertain if the Lord is good. When this is of course found to be true then he or she will lap up the milk of the Word. This then results in the new believer increasing in their trust of God and being blessed by Him.

Full Participation in Spiritual Reality

Hebrews 6:4-6 - 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

• What are the dangers of stagnant or immature faith? Can we lose our salvation? Why or why not? _______________________________________________________________________

Hebrews 2:9 – But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

• For what purpose was Jesus made lower than other spiritual beings?

Training Our Taste Buds

The ‘spiritual palate’ has to be trained to feed on the right food such as the pure milk of the Word. Our spiritual sense of taste needs to desire that which is truly desirable.

Psalm 119:103 - How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psalm 19:9-11 - 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

John 4:34 - Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

• Explain how food can physically recharge or weaken the body. Explain this concept from a spiritual perspective.

What the soul enjoys and desires, it seeks to acquire. If we enjoy spiritual things we will go after them. On the other hand if they bore us and are ‘tasteless’ to us then we will run after the things of the world and this always results in spiritual catastrophe:

Psalm 78:26-31 – 26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. 27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: 28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. 29 So

they bid eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; 30 They were not estranged from their lust: but while their meat was yet in their mouths, 31 The wrath of God came upon them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.

• Psalm 78:26-31 describes the miracles while the Israelites were in the wilderness. What specifically happened during this time that suggests that the Israelites continued to languish in unbelief?

Taste is important, even in the things of culture. If we enjoy the base and vulgar we will go in that direction. On the other hand we enjoy the good, the noble and the pure, our soul will be lifted up:

Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

• How do we keep God’s peace?

Colossians 3:1-3 – 1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

• In what ways do we seek things which are above?

It takes time to acquire the taste for spiritual things. Television can seem much more interesting than prayer and intercession and a day at the beach much more appealing than going to church. This is why we need to gather together so that we encourage one another to love good works:

Hebrew 10:24-25 – 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

THE SPRITUAL SENSES

The Spiritual Sense of Smell (Prayer)

The sense of smell is related to the sense of taste in that the nose is placed directly over the mouth to control what goes into it. If the milk is off, your nose should detect it first and save your mouth from a terrible experience. Just as taste and smell are related in the human body so they are related in the spiritual body. In fact, there seems to be a “ministry of sniffing things out...”

1 Corinthians 12:17-18 -17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

• What implication is there for us in the knowledge that God has placed each member of the body just where He desires?

Hounds (such as bloodhounds, basset hounds etc.) have exceptional senses of smell and can track people and animals for miles. And few machines can beat a dog at detecting bombs or drugs. Wine connoisseurs can sniff and taste a wine and know which vineyard it came from and which year it was grown. Thus, the people with the gift of spiritual discernment could be equated with the ‘gift of smell’ in the body of Christ.

• What is spiritual discernment? _______________________________________________________________________

• How does our spiritual sense of smell develop a “ministry of sniffing things out”?

When the gift of smell is damaged in some way, people lead impeded lives and can even poison themselves or make themselves sick on food that should not have ever been consumed in the first place. Thus, the spiritual gift of discernment / smell is a protective function that keeps the Church from being sickened by false teaching. People with the gift of discernment help us to spot the ‘rotten egg’ or the ‘rotten apple’ before we ‘eat’ it!

To those with a properly functioning sense of smell, Christ is the wonderful aroma of God.

Spiritually, the sense of smell is also emphasized before God. To God the Father, we, His children, produce an aroma that is pleasing to Him. Our prayers have an aroma like incense before God. Incense was used in the Old Testament as part of sacrifices in the Temple. Once the incense was lit, the fragrance and smoke filled the room. The incense represented the prayers of the people going up to God the Father. This can be found in both the Old and New Testaments. The spiritual sense of smell should be readily apparent in our lives.1

Ephesians 5:2 - And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

• How do we as Christians sacrifice to become a sweet smelling savour for God?

2 Corinthians 2:14-17- 14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

• Using the above Scripture, how would you compare the aroma of the believer to that of the unbeliever? _______________________________________________________________________

In 2 Corinthians, we, as believers, are called out as being the fragrance of Christ to others. Others should recognize the scent of Christ on us, and be drawn to Christ through us.2

The Aroma of Our Prayers

In the Old Testament, God commanded the priests of Israel to continually burn aromatic incense — made from a blend of five exotic spices — on the golden altar inside the Holy of Holies. It wasn’t simply the fragrance itself that pleased God, but what it represented: the constant prayers of his people.

In fact, the incense, associated with the people’s prayers, was so pure and sacredly sweet to God that any deviation from what God had explicitly commanded was met with swift death (Leviticus 10:1-2). Just as God prescribed a specific recipe for the incense, He also prescribes specific prayers for believers today — prayers of:

• Thanksgiving (1 Timothy 2:1)

• Forgiveness (1 John 1:9)

• Intercession (1 Timothy 2:1)

• Praise and adoration (Psalm 148:1-14)

• Utter dependence (Matthew 7:7)

• Seeking wisdom (James 1:5)

• Petitions and supplications (Philippians 4:6)

• Seeking peace (Philippians 4:6-7)

• Salvation (Romans 10:9-10)

These particular prayers, in fact, are so pleasant and precious to God that he lovingly collects them in “golden bowls” in heaven.

Revelation 5:8 - And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

By keeping them close, He can continually enjoy their blessed bouquet. 3

• How can our prayers be a pleasant aroma to God? _______________________________________________________________________

Are the fragrance of your prayers pleasing to God?

To sum up – the spiritual senses of taste and smell are used to discern good from evil so that our Christian lives become focused on the truly worthy things such as the pure milk of the Word. Through reading, studying scripture and prayer our spiritual senses help us to ‘pick and choose between alternatives in life, just as the corresponding physical senses help us to choose in matters of food and drink. The spiritual senses of taste and smell can assist us in avoiding spiritual catastrophe and help us to refine our souls so that we truly desire the things of God.

The SPIRITUAL SENSES

The Spiritual Sense of Touch (Reverence) Part 1

The spiritual sense of touch is quite different from the other spiritual senses in that it is not so much used to receive heavenly information or as an aid to discernment but rather as a means of transferring spiritual power. If the eye is like a camera, and the ear like a microphone then the spiritual sense of touch is more like a cable or a USB port that transfers spiritual energy!

Matthew 14:35-36 - 35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; 36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

Luke 6:19 - And the whole multitude sought to touch him; for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

• What does Luke mean when he says “there went virtue out of him”?

The sense of touch operates by faith (just as all the other spiritual senses do). One day many people were pressing around Jesus but only one was ‘touched’:

Mark 5:25-34 - 25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years. 26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, 27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. 28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. 29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. 30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? 31 And his disciples said unto him. Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

• Why did the woman with the blood issue fear that she would be rebuked if it was found out that she touched Jesus?

This incident shows us that there was a substantial change in the nature of the spiritual sense of touch between the Old Testament and the New Testament. To touch a woman with an issue of blood in Old Testament times would have made Jesus unclean until evening (Leviticus 15:19) but instead Jesus was not made unclean – rather the woman was healed! Jesus was also able to touch lepers (Matthew 8:3), and even dead bodies (Matthew 9:25) without being defiled. The sense of touch in the Old Testament was not able to transmit holiness but rather transmitted uncleanliness (Haggai 2:11-3). However in the New Testament the spiritual sense of touch transmits God’s power.

Because ritual uncleanliness no longer has any power to affect us the whole category of physically unclean objects, things that we are not to eat, drink, taste or touch - is revoked:

Mark 7:18-19 - 18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats. Thus he declared all food clean.

• In Mark 7, Jesus quarreled with the Pharisees not about God’s word but about the human use of it. What was the Pharisees’ view on defilement and what was the truth in the Word?

Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the word, are ye subject to ordinances, 21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not, 22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.

Colossians 2:20-23 – 20

• Paul in Colossians 2 suggests that when we die, we are free from something. Describe that which we are freed from?

• Since the gospel has freed the believer from attempting to gain heaven by self-efforts, he should never subject himself against legal ordinances. Explain.

Jesus’ power over ritual (external) impurity healed the sick, cleansed the lepers and raised the dead and was passed on to the disciples:

Matthew 10:7-8 – 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

The spiritual sense of touch seems to lie behind the doctrine of the laying on of hands which Hebrews consider one of the Christian basics:

Hebrews 6:1-2 – 1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

• What is the author of Hebrews suggesting that believers do when he indicates that we should go on into perfection?

The laying on of hands imparts the baptism of the Holy Spirit:

Acts 8:17 – Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

Acts 9:17 – An Ananias went his way and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightiest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

NOTES

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NOTES

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New Light Sunday School Staff

Editorial Board: Reverend Shirlene Bennett, Sister Dr. Georgia Bowser, Sister Patricia Cooper, Brother Tony Hall, Sister Millicent Lee, Sister Violet “Dee Dee” Mitchell, Deacon Romeo Morrisey, Sister Tammi Taylor

Class Discussion Leaders

Genesis Sister Katie Davis

Sister Tammi Taylor

Exodus Sister Elizabeth Liggins-Faucette, Brother Joseph “JT” Hall, Brother Tony Hall, Deacon Romeo Morrisey

Leviticus Dr. Georgia Bowser

Deaconess Paulette Hudson

Reverend Tracey Moore

Numbers Reverend Bessie Allen

Reverend Shirlene Bennett

Deuteronomy Reverend Ray Hudson, Deacon James Lee, Brother Willie Maddox

Judges

Reverend Evelyn Hughes

Sister Barbara Maddox

Matthew Deacon Leon Moses

Reverend Carolyn Chaffin

Ephesians Sister Patricia Cooper

Sister Violet “Dee Dee” Mitchell

Foundation Reverend Shirlene Bennett

Sister Doris Mosley

Sister Lettie Taylor

Location/Population

Upper Level Computer Room

Daycare Room/ Adult/Co-ed

Room 102-103/Senior Women

Adm. Assist. Room/Adult Co-ed

LL Conference Room/Senior Men

Old Choir Room/ Adult Co-ed

Room 104 -105

Room 201

Sanctuary

Mass Sunday School Pastor Cardes H. Brown Jr. Sanctuary

Orientation Sister Millicent Lee

*All classes start promptly at 9:30 am*

Room 100/New Members