The Candle Of The Lord

The Spirit of Man

The word of God is a spiritual mirror that has the ability to distinguish between the spirit, soul, and body! (Hebrews 4:12, James 1:23-25). So we can tell what the spirit of man looks like by looking into the mirror of the word of God.

Let's start by reading Proverbs 20:27: "The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly." This gives us insight into the spirit of man. You know if it were to be in our days, it would have been translated as the light bulb of the Lord. Another translation defines this very well though: "The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one's inmost being." (NIV). So, the spirit man is defined as a lamp/bulb or a container that sheds light, something that has the ability to shine.

You see, man is a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body. 1 Corinthians 9:27 explains this well: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." Notice he said 'I' keep my body under subjection. The 'I' Paul referred to here is his spirit man. The spirit is the real man; the body is just a house where the spirit lives. See what Jesus said: "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, 'I will return into my house from whence I came out'; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished." (Luke 11:24-25). So even demons know that the body of man is a house. Most people don't. This scripture usually comes to my mind whenever I want to distinguish the spirit and the body.

The madman in Gadarenes, Jesus asked the man: "What is thy name?" and he answered, saying, "My name is Legion: for we are many." You see, a human being, but another being is expressing its personality through his body. The demon answered through the body of the man. Demons are fallen angels, and angels are spirits: "Who maketh his angels spirits" (Hebrews 1:7). Therefore, man is a spirit, he has a soul, and he lives in a house called the body. But the spirit of man is the lamp or light bulb of the Lord that sheds light.

The spirit of man is made in the image of God, so let us see whether the Spirit of God sheds light like that of man.

The Appearance of the Spirit of God

"...and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like 'glowing metal', as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire, and 'brilliant light' surrounded him. Like the appearance of a 'rainbow' in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the 'radiance' around him..."                                                                            (Ezekiel 1:26-28, NIV; see also Revelation 4:2-3)

You see, glowing metal, brilliant light, rainbow, and radiance in that picture show that the Spirit of God also emits light. The rainbow there represents not just one color but different colors shining together. A minister, Apostle Joshua Selman, told a story of how he was caught up in the Spirit while ministering in Church and he could see people in the Church emitting light of different colors.

Notice, that Jesus was made in the likeness of men (spirit, soul, and body) (Philippians 2:6-8). In Luke 9:29, we see Jesus in the mount of transfiguration. He transfigured, and we had insight into what the human spirit (because He was made in the likeness of men) that is alive to God looks like: "As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning." (Luke 9:29). That was as a result of His spirit man. Let me use the story of Kenneth E. Hagin to illustrate. He told about how he was ministering, and suddenly it looked as though he could not see anybody in the Church; the pews were empty. He was in the Spirit realm. He heard himself talking, but he could not detect what he was saying. After the whole service, he asked an elderly man in the Church whether there was anything different about the service that day, and he said everybody was talking about it, that it seemed as if his face was shining.

Therefore, the light that the human spirit emits is not theoretical; it is actual light! The disciples saw it, and the Church members of Kenneth Hagin saw it too.

The Light of Men

But what is this light that emits from the human spirit? Let me point to your notice that man was created by the word of God (Col 1:16); man is a spirit, therefore the spirit of man was created by the word of God. John 1:3-4, talking about the word of God, says, "All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made," and continues by saying, "In him was LIFE, and the LIFE was the LIGHT of men." Inside the word of God, which made the spirit of man, is that very Life of God, and that Life is the Light that shines in the human spirit. "The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one's inmost being." (Proverbs 20:27, NIV)

Therefore, the Light that emanates from the human spirit is the very Life force of God, that is, eternal Life. But Jesus in John 3:16 said that "whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (LIGHT)." You and I know that the Lord Jesus is no ignoramus; He would not want to give us something we already have. Therefore, until you are born again, this eternal Light of God is not in your spirit man. You see, Adam lost this Light when he sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. Romans 5:12 says, "As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned;" death represents darkness, and light represents life in scriptures. When Adam sinned in the beginning, he was disconnected from the life of God, that is, the light of God in him went out. Just like the story of the foolish virgins whose lamps went out, they could not relate with the bridegroom; he said, "I know you not" (Matt 25:7-13).

Notice that after man sinned, he could see that his physical body was naked. You see, just like the Spirit of God in Ezekiel 1:26-28 is covered by the Light that shines from Him. The radiance of the Light of God in Adam's spirit had so much intensity that it shined out and made it so that you could not see his physical body. But when man sinned, he died, that is, the light went out and darkness came, so they could tell that they were naked. This is why when we are born again, we are said to have been delivered "from the power of darkness (death)" and "translated into the kingdom of his dear Son," in whom is LIGHT, therefore, "we have passed from death (darkness) unto life (light)..." (Col 1:13, 1 John 3:14). Friend, the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, and the light that shines in the born-again human spirit is the LIFE of God.

The Benefits of Light

Previously, we have learned that the human spirit emits light and the light he emits is the Life of God—Zoe, eternal life—we also saw that it is the born-again human spirit that carries this light. Now we will be looking at the benefits of this light—life—and how it affects us.

First of all, the light in the human spirit is a product of the Word of God. John 1:1-5 says that inside the Word of God is Life, and that life is the Light we are talking about. The born-again human spirit was made by the Word of God, so we carry this very Life—light—inside us by reason of new birth. Therefore, the entrance of the word of God into your spirit gives LIGHT (Psm 119:130). Your word level equals your light level.

1 Corinthians 15:41: “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.” All are light, but each shines at different intensities! So your light level can grow.

Now, the benefits of light:

1. Divine Nature 2 Peter 1:4 says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature...” The promise is the Word of God. The more we absorb and live by the word, the more we exhibit the very nature of God.

Scripture says, “ye are gods, and all of you are children of the most High” but many of us do not exhibit our godlike nature because the promises have not entered into us—ignorance—(Psm 82:5-7).

2. Authority Over Darkness The dominion of light over darkness is instant; when light comes, darkness disappears immediately. When Jesus was teaching the word of God, a man with an unclean spirit screamed and said, “let us alone...art thou come to destroy us,” the light of God's word would destroy the issues of darkness in your life (Mark 1:21-27). Jesus, the living word of God, went about doing good and healing ALL those that were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38). You see, the Light of the word would drive away sickness from your midst.

Exodus 23:25, the Lord speaking said, “ye shall serve the Lord your God...and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee”; "I" there refers to God, and in John 1, God is the word, and the word is Life, and the life is light! Therefore, the light of the word would drive away sickness from you. In fact, it would drive anything darkness away from you.

Friend, go for LIGHT. Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr. said, "The pursuit of light is the greatest investment any man can make." Make that choice today. The born-again human spirit is designed to emit light; the life of the spirit is from the word, and the life is what emits the light. Jesus said the words He speaks are spirit and life! The entrance of the word gives light, the human spirit does not feed on bread, he feeds on the word. The word of God to the spirit is what electricity is to a bulb. It gives energy for the spirit to shine. Friend, for your light not to go out, you must fuel your spirit with the word of God. I see you moving from one level of light to another! Remain blessed.

Jesus Is Lord!

Min. Roi