Gloria Copeland — Living After the SpiritPosted on July 2nd, 2009

Gloria Copeland

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye
through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body,
ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of
God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:13-14).

We have studied about suffering. The same
suffering Jesus endured when He was crucified,
we are to bear in our own bodies. We are to crucify
our flesh, to mortify the deeds of the body,
to be in command of our flesh as we follow after the Lord.
We have the power to overcome sin in the flesh
because of what Jesus did on the cross.

For God has done what the Law could not do,
[its power] being weakened by the flesh [the
entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit].
Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful
flesh and as an offering for sin, [God]
condemned sin in the flesh [subdued,
overcame, deprived it of its power over all who
accept that sacrifice] (Romans 8:3, amp).

Verse 18 says, “For I reckon that the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed in us.” This
suffering—crucifying of the flesh and mortifying its
deeds—is connected in the Scriptures with the glory
of God. Why? Because God cannot manifest Himself
in His people if they follow after the flesh instead of
after the Spirit of God.

God works in the spirit realm. As we follow after
the Spirit, He works in us. We must lay aside natural
things in the natural life, and take up the things of the
spiritual life. As we walk in the spirit, the glory of God
that’s in the face of Jesus Christ will begin to be
reflected in us. Crucifying the flesh and the glory of
God being revealed in us are connected, scripture
after scripture!

God wants us to come to a place where we walk
and live in this earth in the glorious liberty that has
been prepared for us from the foundation of the
world. Romans 8:21 says, “Because the creature itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” God
made man to live in His glory. He crowned Adam
with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5). Adam had the
glory of God on him. He looked just like God. He
wore a garment of light and had the same power,
authority and appearance as God Himself. He was in
God’s image—His exact likeness.

That’s why he had no realization of being naked
until after he sinned. When he sinned against God,
spiritual life departed and spiritual death came. The
glory that was his covering disappeared. Notice, that
all God’s creatures, except man, have their own
covering. Birds are covered with feathers that are
produced from within. Animals are covered with fur,
produced from within.

Adam and Eve’s bodies were covered with an
enswathement of glory which was produced from
within their beings (Word Studies in the Greek New
Testament, Volume III). The life of God in Adam
radiated the glory of God through Adam’s flesh.

Sin brings man short of the glory of God. When
Adam disobeyed God, he lost the power from within
to produce and bring forth this glory. He had no life
within him to manifest this covering. Spiritual death
entered into him and only darkness could emanate.
There was no longer any glory in Adam to be revealed.

What a devastating blow to God’s man whom God
created in His own image. God told Moses, “As truly
as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of
the Lord” (Numbers 14:21). That is still God’s plan
today—for His glory to fill the earth. And His glory is
revealed in us, the Church of Jesus Christ.

God has glorious liberty for us. This liberty is in
walking after the spirit and not after the flesh. It’s in
the spirit realm. You and I are spirit beings, though we
live in flesh bodies. We are strange and peculiar
creatures—spirits in natural bodies. God is calling us
to be dominated by His Spirit and to bring our bodies
of flesh under His control.

The Church will come to a place where we’ll walk
with God. We’ll be like Enoch. The Bible says, “Enoch
walked with God and he was not….” And Hebrews
says Enoch was translated by faith because he had the
testimony that he pleased God. One day Enoch just
went so far in the spirit, he didn’t come back. The
Bible says he didn’t see death.

Isn’t that what is going to happen with the Church
that is looking for His appearance? We’re going to be
caught up with Him in the air. We’re not going to see
death. Paul said, “Behold, I show you a mystery; We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed”
(1 Corinthians 15:51).

I believe the day of His appearing is at hand. We
read in Ephesians what the Church will look like
when Jesus comes to receive us: “That he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by
the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any
such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish” (Ephesians 5:26-27).

A glorious Church! A Church full of the glory of
God! A Church with no spots or wrinkles, but a holy
Church without blemish. God wants us to learn how
to listen to His Spirit so He can lead us into all truth
and teach us how to remove the spots and wrinkles.
He wants to be able to reveal His glory in us.

The Russian believers (prior to more recent
changes in Eastern Europe) had to rely on the Spirit
more than we do now, because of adverse circumstances.
The underground church met in secret.

Church members met out in the woods and in
different places. (It had to be a secret or they would
be raided.) Someone who had been ministering in
the underground church told me about one instance
when it was realized that there was a spy in the camp
because everywhere they went the KGB (secret police)
would show up.

They decided, “Well, all right, if you’re going to
come to the meeting, you’ll have to get the information
from the Spirit of God.” They would have to pray and
listen to God to know where to meet. At the next
meeting, every person in that group showed up except
one. They knew who the guilty party was.

Walking in the spirit is real. Listening to the Holy
Spirit is a way of life we must develop in order to
fulfill what we are called to do in these last days.

We have the same ability to listen to our spirits,
but instead we rely on a newsletter we receive every
month that tells us where to meet. We have not had
to depend on the Holy Spirit’s direction the way our
Russian brothers and sisters had to. Nevertheless, it’s
just as available to us! Many of them didn’t have
Bibles. They had to be led by their spirits.

The people in the New Testament didn’t have
Bibles to read, either. They also had to be led by their
spirits. Paul told them to pray in the spirit so they
would get the mind of the Spirit. Those people in
Russia had to have the mind of the Spirit or they
couldn’t go to church!

Thank God, we live in a free land. But we must
learn to walk in obedience to the Spirit while we live
in liberty, not being forced into it, but rather, choosing
the things of the spirit over the things of the world.

God is raising up a people called the “Glorious
Church,” who can hear the voice of His Spirit and
obey Him in whatever we are told to do. How can you
know what the mind of the Spirit is? By renewing
your mind with the Word of God, praying in the
spirit, being sensitive to Him and by yielding your
life, thoughts and direction to Him.

If you don’t pull aside and take time to listen to
God, you’ll not know the direction of the Holy Spirit.
You’ll miss the great things God has for your life. The
time for being cold is over. The time for being
lukewarm is over. It’s time to rise up and become on
fire and stay that way!

Purpose in your heart that you will not be
lazy, that you will not draw back, hold back
or sit down. But purpose in your heart that
you will rise up and march forward and
become on fire.

Gloria Copeland

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