Spiritual
Fornication
Mrs.
Ella E. Moon
“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication
sinneth against his own body. What? Know
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
– 1 Cor. 6:18-20.
“Now the body is not
for fornication but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.” – 1 Cor. 6:13.
“I beseech you, therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your whole bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service (or spiritual worship).” – Rom. 12:1.
“And I pray God your
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you who also will do it.” – 1 Thes. 5:24-24.
Many are standing back questioning
the manifestations of the Spirit upon the body. They have not learned that if
we would have our bodies preserved unto the coming of the Lord, we must yield our members as weapons of righteousness unto
holiness. We must yield our bodies to spiritual worship and, as the law of the
Spirit of life courses through our mortal bodies, we are made free from the law of sin and death, and mortality shall be swallowed
up of life. If we hold our bodies in reserve, we may be inwardly glorifying God
in our spirit, but we are not glorifying Him in our body. When we control our
bodies and only yield them to natural desires, this is spiritual fornication.
We need light and revelation
before truth becomes life. The mother of harlots referred to in Revelation 17:4,
5, has in her hand a cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
The meaning of the word “Babylon” is “gate of God.” Another
definition is “confusion.” “Babylon” refers to a company
of men and women who came up to the gate of God and fell down into a realm where there is strife, division, and every evil
work springing forth. Confusion is caused by those who have fallen from the gate
of God.
In Gal. 4:26, the new Jerusalem
is called the mother of us all. John, when on the island of Patmos, had a vision
of the mother of harlots which represents a company who have fallen down out of the power of God. “Wilderness” means muddy country. The children
of Israel travelled a long time in the wilderness and never entered into their possession; they were a people full of complaints
who missed God’s best.
One evening in our assembly,
it seemed impossible to bring our people out of a state of heaviness. No one
seemed to move in the Spirit. Suddenly, one of our number had a vision in which
she saw a red hairy man. Startled, she stepped backward and said by the Spirit,
“Esau is in your midst.” In the message given, the word for “fornication”
came forth. In Heb. 12:16, the phrase, “profane person,” describes
Esau. In this connection, “profane” has not reference to a swearer;
but it means “natural, or secular,” Esau was a person in the natural; for this reason, we reads that God hates
Esau. God hates everything that is fleshly.
Esau was a fornicator. Real sons are chastened of God of God to the end
that they may be partakers of His holiness. Moffatt’s translation of Heb.
12:12 is, “Up with your listless hands!” The Lord wants to see a
mighty operation of the organs of the body. A laziness comes over people whose
inertness can hinder a meeting. Indeed, it affects the whole body of Christ;
for we do not operate separate to the whole body of Christ. We must no be lazy. Begin to yield to the Spirit.
Esau means hairy. Esau was a thorough son of the desert, impatient of the restraints of home life. He is a type of lawless ones who do not want restraint. He
sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Jacob is the direct opposite of Esau. There are people like Jacob, who have a spiritual desire for spiritual things. Esau’s name was changed to Edom, which means red. Edomites were a lawless people. In the Bible, we read that
destruction was determined against the Edomites, including the fellows in red jackets, called Reds. They have a lawless spirit which will come to a climax under the antichrist.
There is a company who confess
no obligation to keep unity of the Spirit. They do not believe that the saints
are all baptized into one Body. I am so glad, in this Camp Meeting that we have
struck this note of unity in the Spirit. It is not enough to be in the Spirit,
but we must be in the unity of the Spirit. There is a teaching about unity which
is poisonous. There is a unity of Spirit which God is bringing His people. If there were no coordination of the members of my body, it would not function. My bodily members are all in unity. In
this same miraculous way a company will be brought, as believers, into oneness of Spirit.
This sister who had a vision,
said, “There are Esaus in your midst committing fornication.” Esau’s
fornication was that he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. He did not
value his birthright. Even in Pentecost, there are people who do not value spirituals. The blessing of the baptism can be illustrated by throwing back the gates and coming
into a vast estate. The majority never get beyond the threshold of the vast estate. They never possess their possession in Christ.
I helped, in association with
a band of intercessors, to pray down Pentecost. The revival came, sin was searched
out, and confessions which were made were so startling that the sexes had separate meetings.
In those early days, a quarter of a century ago, people were in no shape to come into the gift realm. Out of the state of confusion in Pentecost, resultant of the great declension, there is a remnant who are
coming up into the gift realm. Pentecostal people, in general, are “Babylon”
which has come down out of the realm of the power of God. Babylon is soulish
life which is pleased with what is natural, orderly, and nice. We are entering
into the gift realm. Lay aside your skepticism and seek His face.
“The body is not for
fornication, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body.” “Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ.” Many in Pentecost, in their practices, are so far from God that it can be said of
popular Pentecost, “Babylon has become the cage of every unclean thing.”
It would not be so, if Pentecost had kept in the power of the Spirit. Criticism
and a hard spirit have opened the door to demon power. Murmuring was one of the
chief causes of Israel’s backslidden state.
“Stay in the power of
God” is the message of this camp. He that is joined to an harlot is one
body. We must be joined to the Lord. Flee
spiritual fornication. The human body is God’s sanctuary. Give yourself over to the operations of the Spirit. God never
intended you to remain inert in a meeting. Rise up in the Spirit and remain in
the Spirit. Give your body over to the operations of the Spirit. As you yield, you come, in your tripartite being, into the glorious fellowship with the God.
Wonderful things come forth
as we yield our bodies and come up into the Spirit. Restoration is not only for
soul and spirit, but for the body. F. B. Meyer has been quoted as saying, “What
Christ does in renewing our souls, He will yet do in renewing our bodies. This
will be the top-stone in the edifice of redemption.”
Our bodies are quickened as
we yield to the Spirit. I had expected to get the baptism while sitting in a
rocking chair, but in the end was thankful to get it any way God pleased. Spiritual
gifts come forth as you yield to the Lord and come up into the Spirit.
Gifts are for the perfecting
of the saints, Eph. 4:8-13. Every time you yield your body, you are more perfected. Do not give your body to natural desires.
Babylon is full of filthiness
of fornication. Until recently, I never thought Babylon could refer to Christians
who had fallen down out of the power of God. A ministry on this lower plane is
self-righteousness thrown into God’s face. The majority of us are too nice. This conventional propriety of so-called worship is a stench in God’s nostrils. Some people are so proper and nice that they need a good shaking. I have observed people in meetings, in a nice respectable manner, conveying the impression, “There
is not a thing wrong about me!” Such an attitude is like filthy rags thrown
into God’s face.
Visions, dreams, songs, and
acting prophecy all belong to the gift realm, and so do wonderful healings. We
will yet see the restoration of miracles. These things do not come in the natural
realm, neither do they come forth without the body. God has need of your body. Yield your bodies to Him.
