CHAPTER ONE

THE SPIRIT, THE WORD, AND THE GIFTS

TO CONVEY CHRIST TO THE CHURCH

Scripture Reading: Gal. 1:15a, 16a; 1 Cor. 1:24, 30; 2:2; 10:3-4; Matt. 25:14-15; Rom. 12:4-8; Eph. 4:11,
16

According to the revelation of the Word, the Lord’s central thought and intention is to have the church
as His Body to express Himself. Therefore, the church is for nothing other than Christ, and Christ is the
very life, the very content, of the church. This must be very clear to us. The church is the Body of Christ.
A body is something which contains the life of the head and expresses what the head is. The body is the
expression of the life of the head, so the head is the life and the very content of the body. In the same
way, the first and most important matter in the church life is that Christ is the Head, and this Head is the
life, content, and everything in the church. The church is not merely a meeting; the church is not for a
kind of activity; the church is not for a kind of service or for anything else. The church is absolutely to
express Christ.

Galatians 1:15a and 16a say, “When it pleased God...to reveal His Son in me.” We need to see how
Christ can be realized by, revealed to, and worked into the church. According to the Bible and all the
experiences of the saints, Christ is wrought into us by three things. The first is the Holy Spirit. Christ is
wrought into us through the Holy Spirit because Christ is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the very reality of
Christ (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). If we have the Holy Spirit, we have Christ. If we do not have the Holy
Spirit, we do not have Christ. The second way is by the Word, which contains many teachings, and the
third way is by the gifts. It is through the Holy Spirit that Christ is revealed, wrought, and woven into us.
But how does the Holy Spirit work this out? It is either by the Word or through the gifts.

TEACHINGS AND GIFTS BEING FOR CHRIST

The Holy Spirit, the Word, and the gifts are the three means by which Christ is wrought into us.
However, the church is for Christ, not even, strictly speaking, for the Holy Spirit, the teachings of the
Word, or any gift. What then is the position of the teachings and the gifts? They are simply a means. All
the teachings are a means, and all the gifts are also a means. The problem throughout all the centuries
and even today is that people pay their attention to certain teachings more than to Christ. This creates
trouble. Similarly, some people pay their attention more to the gifts than to Christ. This also creates a
problem.

Consider how all the denominations and divisions came into existence. The Presbyterian denomination,
for example, came into being because some people stressed the government of the church by the
presbytery. In the same way, we have the Baptist Church today because some people stressed baptism
by immersion rather than Christ, creating a division. These are divisions according to either teachings or
practices. Today we also have the Pentecostal Church, because those people stress the Pentecostal
things instead of Christ. Of course, they would say that they believe in Christ and exalt Christ. Yes, they
do, but more or less they stress something in addition to Christ. Perhaps that one thing is right, but no
one should stress it.

All the teachings are for Christ, and all the gifts are for Christ. The gifts should not be for the gifts, nor
should the teachings be for the teachings. Regardless of how many teachings we have and how good
those teachings are, we have to consider them simply as a means, not as the central item. The central
item must be Christ. We need teachings, but our stress and emphasis must not be on the teachings
instead of on Christ. If we stress the teachings instead of Christ, the teachings become a substitute for
Christ. We have to make this very clear. We need the teachings because we need Christ; the teachings
convey Christ to us. But we should not pay attention to the teachings instead of to Christ. We have to
pay attention to Christ, whom we receive through the teachings.

THE MEANING OF THE GIFTS

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

The teachings are more or less ordinary, and certain kinds of gifts are very ordinary, but there are also
certain extraordinary gifts. Today too many Christians take things lightly. They talk about gifts, but they
may not know what the word gift really means or where in the Bible the gifts are dealt with. We have to
study these things. There are several books in the Bible that deal with gifts. Matthew 25 speaks of the
parable of the talents and the parable of the virgins. These two parables go together. The parable of the
virgins deals with life, and the parable of the talents deals with service. As to life we all are virgins, and
as to service we all are servants, bondslaves. These bondslaves were given five talents, two talents, or
one talent (vv. 14-15).

After Matthew, there is Romans. Romans 12 speaks of the gifts. In this chapter, the gifts are very
ordinary (vv. 4-8). Here, even teaching, extending hospitality to the saints, showing mercy, and giving
material things are gifts. In Romans 12 there is nothing extraordinary; there are no miraculous gifts, only
the ordinary gifts.

Then in 1 Corinthians we have the miraculous gifts with the governmental gifts. Chapters 12 and 14
speak of miraculous and extraordinary gifts, such as healing, speaking in tongues, and works of power,
and also of the governmental gifts, such as the gift to take care of the government of the church.

Ephesians is the fourth book dealing with the gifts. The gifts dealt with in this book are the persons, the
members of the Body, such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers (4:11). These
are members of the Body, and we all are members of the Body. In Ephesians there are not only these
four kinds of members; there are all the members with their functions (v. 16). In this book, the persons
are the gifts.

THE ORDINARY GIFTS BEING MORE IMPORTANT

THAN THE EXTRAORDINARY ONES

In Matthew 25, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4 there is nothing miraculous. Only in 1 Corinthians are some
of the gifts miraculous. Which of all these kinds of gifts are important? We may say that all are
important, but there is no doubt that the talents, the ordinary gifts, and the persons as gifts are more
important. Of course, under certain conditions and in certain places we need the miraculous gifts, but
the miraculous gifts are not as important as the talents, the ordinary gifts, and the persons as gifts. At
home we have certain kinds of medicine, but are the medicines more important than the ordinary food?
Only for sick people are medicines more important than food. However, we do not expect to have a
home with only sick people. In a normal family life, we do not serve three meals of medicine. Rather, we
always serve meals of food with the proper vitamins.

We should not say that we have only teachings and not the gifts. Praise the Lord, we have many gifts.
The question is what we mean by gifts. In the matter of gifts, Matthew, Romans, and Ephesians are
more important than 1 Corinthians. In the more important books we do not find the miraculous gifts.
Romans is a book on the general sketch of the Christian life. In such a book there are no miraculous gifts.
Ephesians is the main book that speaks of the church. In this book on the church we again do not have
anything miraculous. In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, chapters 2 and 3 contain seven epistles. In
those seven epistles there is nothing miraculous. Rather, there is the tree of life, the hidden manna, and
the feast with the Lord (2:7, 17; 3:20).

The reason that the more important books do not have the miraculous gifts is that the miraculous gifts
are not the main item, just as medicine and drugs are not the main items of our diet. The main items in
our diet are milk, bread, eggs, and fruit. When we have trouble, lose our appetite, or catch a cold or
something worse, we need a special cure. Consider the book of 1 Corinthians. Was the church in Corinth
a healthy church? We have to say that this church was sick. The church in Ephesus, however, was a
strong, healthy church. Even the church in Rome at that time was also sound and healthy. The
regrettable thing is that the sick church in Corinth took too much “medicine.” They trusted in the
medicine more than in the normal food. Therefore, the apostle wrote 1 Corinthians to adjust them,
telling them not to take so much “medicine.” Rather, they should take more of Christ as wisdom, power,
and their spiritual food and drink (1:24, 30; 10:3-4). Paul told them, “I did not determine to know
anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified” (2:2).

THE MIRACULOUS GIFTS

BEING ONLY FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES

If we read the book of Acts, we will realize that the miraculous things are for three purposes. First, they
are for the beginning of a work in a new place, a new territory, where the name of Christ has never been
preached. In such a case, God may do something miraculous to start the work. Second, the miraculous
acts are for special occasions. The apostle Paul, for example, had such special occasions. Once in the
night the Lord stood by the apostle, not inwardly but outwardly (23:11). That was something special. It
was not ordinary but miraculous. Paul told us that the Lord is within us all the time, but in Acts on that
one occasion the Lord stood beside the apostle. That was something special for the purpose of
strengthening him.

More than thirty years ago I heard many people talk about miraculous dreams. Whenever they had a
meeting, it seemed to be a “dream meeting.” Someone would stand up and say something like, “Last
night I had a dream. I was in the third heaven, and I saw Paul eating the tree of life.” Then on the next
day someone else would stand up and say, “I had a dream last night. We were all eating manna. I saw
how big the manna is, and I could even smell it.” I heard many such dreams. This caused me not to
believe much in miraculous dreams. Those people based their dreams on Acts 2:17, which says, “Your
old men shall dream things in dreams,” but it was not mainly the old ones among them but the young
ones who had such dreams.

However, during the time I was persecuted by the Japanese army for the sake of the gospel, I had some
miraculous dreams. Before the enemy came, I had a dream in which I saw clearly how they would come.
In this way I knew that the Japanese military police would come to arrest me, so I was able to clear up
my affairs beforehand. As a result, they could not find anything as evidence against me. Then they
brought me to their office and eventually put me into prison. At that time, another dream came in the
night, showing me how they would put me on trial and torture me. In that dream, however, the Lord
showed me that He would preserve my life safely. Because of this, I had very much confidence. I knew
that regardless of how much they would torture me, I would still live. After more than three weeks, they
had done much damage to my body. In the last week before I was released, a third dream came in the
night. In it I saw clearly how I would be released and how the enemy would leave.

After I was released, the Japanese did not give me full liberty. They still exercised a certain control over
me, and I was still under their threatening. At this point I had not only a dream but a vision. In the
afternoon of the first Lord’s Day after I was released from prison, we were at the Lord’s table. As I was
sitting there, while the bread and cup were being passed, I was suddenly in something like a dream, but
I was not sleeping. I saw a vision and heard a voice, saying, “Be at peace. The enemy will be defeated.”

Such things as miraculous dreams and visions are for special occasions. Other than these special
occasions, however, we have the Lord indwelling us and anointing us all the time. We mainly know the
Lord’s will by His inner anointing (1 John 2:20, 27). As we have said, according to the book of Acts, the
miraculous things are either for the beginning of a work or for a special occasion. The third purpose for
the miraculous things is to care for an unhealthy condition. When people are spiritually unhealthy, they
need a certain kind of gift to heal them. If we are unhealthy, we may need some miraculous gifts to
come in to heal us.

THE MORE NECESSARY GIFTS CONVEYING CHRIST TO US

We have to see that the more necessary gifts are not the miraculous ones, but the talents in Matthew
25, the ordinary gifts in Romans 12, and the persons in Ephesians 4. The talents, the ordinary gifts, and
the persons as gifts are the means to convey Christ to us. Therefore, the church is not for any of the
gifts. The church is for Christ. We need the teachings, but we are not for the teachings. If we are for any
of the teachings, eventually we will be a sect of that teaching. Likewise, we need the gifts, but we are
not for the gifts. If we are for any gift, we will become a division of that gift. This is why in the past we
have always proclaimed that we have to be general. We take all the proper teachings as the
conveyances of Christ. In like manner, we take the proper gifts as a means to convey Christ, but our
attention is never on the teachings or on the gifts. Our attention is on Christ.
We have a very good example of this in Acts 8. When Peter exercised his gift to do something, a man
named Simon came to try to receive that gift (vv. 18-24). That man had no intention for Christ; his
intention was only for the gift. We are not here for anything but Christ. We have to be very clear to help
people to know Christ through the teachings and to help people to realize and experience Christ by the
gifts, but we have to be careful not to bring people to pay their main attention to the teachings or gifts.

CHAPTER TWO

THE ECONOMY OF GOD

AND THE MARK OF GOD’S ECONOMY

Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 4:3-7; Gen. 1:26-27; Isa. 9:6; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 3:17; John 1:1, 14; 20:22

Second Corinthians 4:3 and 4 say, “Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in those who are perishing, in
whom the god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers that the illumination of the gospel
of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine on them.” According to verse 4, the
gospel of the glory of Christ shines. The enemy is afraid of this shining, so he has blinded the minds of
the unbelievers in order that the shining of the gospel of the glory of Christ will not get through. Verses
5 and 6 continue, “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves
for Jesus’ sake. Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our
hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” The gospel of the
glory of Christ in verse 4 corresponds with the knowledge of the glory of God in verse 6. Verse 7 says,
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not
out of us.” The treasure in the weak earthen vessels is the very God in Christ shined into us.

THE ECONOMY OF GOD

BEING TO WORK HIMSELF INTO US

If we read the entire Scriptures carefully, we will realize that they reveal only one main item: the
economy of God and the mark of God’s economy. The main item of the economy of God is that God’s
intention is to work Himself in His triune person into all the parts of our being. I have the burden to tell
the Lord’s children a thousand times, if need be, that in the whole universe God’s intention is nothing
else but to work Himself into human beings. For what purpose did God create man? It was for the
unique purpose of making man His container. A container is a vessel, like a bottle or a cup. Romans 9:21-
23 and 2 Corinthians 4:7 tell us clearly that God created us with the intention that we may be vessels,
containers, to contain God Himself. We are nothing but empty containers, and God is the unique
content.

A drink such as Coca-Cola needs a bottle as a container. Soda bottles are very definite and specific
containers, because they are made with a definite and specific purpose. We human beings are also
made in a very definite and specific way. If a bottle made purposely for Coca-Cola does not contain
Coca-Cola, it is meaningless, good for nothing. We human beings were made purposely to contain God.
If we do not contain God, if we do not have God as our content, we are meaningless persons. Regardless
of how much education we have, what kind of position we have obtained, or how much wealth we have
in our hands, without God we are still meaningless, because we were made purposely as containers to
contain God. God is the very content, so we have to receive God into us.

This word may seem very simple, but it is the precise way to speak the central point, the main item, of
the entire Scriptures. The whole Scriptures simply tell us one thing: God is the very content, and we are
the container to contain this content; therefore, we must receive God to be filled with God. This is the
basic teaching of the Scriptures. There are many things mentioned in the Scriptures, but all those items
are not the basic item of the Scriptures. The basic item of the Scriptures is that God’s intention is to put
Himself into us as our content.

GOD BEING TRIUNE FOR HIS ECONOMY

TO WORK HIMSELF INTO US

In order to do this, God is triune. This is mysterious to us. We can never understand the mystery of
God’s person. We can never give an adequate explanation of the verses that speak concerning the
Triune God. It is very clear that there is only one God. Portions in Exodus and Isaiah tell us clearly and
definitely that God is one, and in the New Testament 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God.” However,
in the first chapter of Genesis God spoke of Himself using not the singular pronoun I but the plural
pronouns Us and Our.

In the grammatical composition of Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew word for God, Elohim, is plural in number,
while the predicate created is singular. Therefore, is God one or three? Genesis 1:26 and 27 say, “God
said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the
fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every
creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. And God created man in His own image; in the image of God
He created him; male and female He created them.” Verse 26 speaks of “Our image,” and verse 27
speaks of “His own image.” Is God singular or plural? Who can explain this? God Himself used a plural
pronoun to refer to Himself: “Let Us make man in Our image.” Is God one or more than one? To say that
God is more than one is heresy, because the Bible tells us that God is only one. In the whole universe we
have only one God; we do not have more than one God, yet the one God needs a plural pronoun to
refer to Himself.

Isaiah 9:6 says, “A child is born to us, / A Son is given to us; / And the government / Is upon His shoulder;
/ And His name will be called / Wonderful Counselor, / Mighty God, / Eternal Father, / Prince of Peace.”
The little child born to us is called Mighty God. The child mentioned in this prophecy is the very child
born in the manger at Bethlehem, but this little child is called Mighty God. Not only so, but the Son given
to us is called Eternal Father. This is very strange. How can a Son be called the Father? A child is called
Mighty God. Is He a child or God? A Son is called Eternal Father. Is He a Son or the Father? We cannot
figure this out, but if we believe the authority of the Scriptures, we have to take the fact that a Son is
called the Father. This means that the Son is the Father. If the Son were not the Father, how then could
He be called the Father? We have only one God. Who then is this little child whose name is called
Mighty God? The little child is Jesus. This means that Jesus is God. If He were not God, how could He be
called Mighty God, and how could the Son be called Eternal Father?
Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” The Lord here is Jesus Christ, and the Spirit is the
Holy Spirit, yet this verse says that the Lord is the Spirit. The Son is called the Father, the Son is the very
Lord, and the Lord is the Spirit. This means that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one. We do not
have the time to go into detail concerning the Triune God. Rather, we will simply stress that in carrying
out His economy to work Himself into us, God is in three persons. Without being three—the person of
the Father, the person of the Son, and the person of the Spirit—God could never work Himself into us. In
order to work Himself into us, God must be in three persons.

Matthew 28:19 says, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This verse does not speak of being baptized “into Christ,”
as in Romans 6:3, or of being baptized into the name of Christ. Rather, it says, “baptizing them into the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Moreover, the Lord did not say “into the
names” but “into the name” in the singular number.

We cannot fully illustrate the Father, Son, and Spirit in our human language because this is something
divine and mysterious, but we may use the illustration of a large watermelon. We may have the
intention of eating a watermelon, or we may say, of working a watermelon into ourselves and into our
family. Yet how can we work this melon into our stomach? We must first cut the melon into slices. Then
after the slices of melon get into our stomach, they become juice. First we have the whole watermelon,
then the slices, and then the juice. Otherwise, how can we get the melon into us? It is bigger than our
mouth, throat, and stomach. The melon has to become slices. Then it can contact our mouth, and it is so
easy to take in. However, as soon as we take in the slices, they are no more slices but juice. Are the
melon, slices, and juice three things or one? Is the juice not the melon? It is foolish to say that the juice
is not the melon. After being cut, the watermelon is not only a melon; now it is the slices, and within us
it is juice. Originally, the melon was on the table, but after we eat it, the melon seems to be gone.
Where is the melon? It is now in us and in the members of our family. In this sense, to speak of the
melon, slices, and juice is the best “teaching” of the theology of the Trinity. God is now not only the
Father; He is also the Son and even the more, He is the Spirit.

I would ask you to read and study the Gospel of John again and again. In the Gospel of John there is the
Father, and there is the Son. Eventually, when we come to chapter 20, there is the Spirit as the breath
(v. 22). In this one Gospel we have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as the breath breathed into us.
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Then verse 14 says, “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” The Word who was with
God and who was God Himself became flesh, that is, became a man to dwell not within us but only
among us. He lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years and eventually went into death and
was resurrected. After His resurrection He came in a mysterious, miraculous, and wonderful way. On the
evening of His resurrection, the door to the upper room was shut, yet He came to the disciples with a
physical body, showing them His hands and His side (20:19-20). We cannot understand this with our
natural understanding. Then He breathed into the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 22).

At the beginning of this Gospel there is the Word, who is God Himself incarnated as a man. Then the
Gospel shows this man living on the earth for three and a half years. At the end of this Gospel, this
wonderful One died and resurrected, and then He came to the disciples and breathed into them. That
breath breathed into the disciples was the very Holy Spirit. That was the “juice of the watermelon.”
From that time on, where was the Jesus spoken of in the Gospel of John? John does not tell us that Jesus
ascended to heaven. There is such a record in the other Gospels, but the Gospel of John has no such
record. Rather, just as the watermelon gets into our stomach, this Jesus was now within the disciples.

God has wrought Himself into us in His three persons. I am here not teaching mere theology. Rather, I
am pointing out that this is God’s economy. God’s economy is to work Himself into us in His three
persons. Without being in three persons, God could never be wrought into us, just as the watermelon
could never be wrought into us without being cut into slices and taken as juice.

THE MARK OF GOD’S ECONOMY

CONCERNING THE PARTS OF MAN

On His part, God has wrought Himself into us in His three persons. On our part, we are containers for
God. However, we are not simple. Medical doctors tell us that a human body is very complicated and
delicate. Do not think that we are simple vessels, like a Coca-Cola bottle. Rather, we were made with
many different parts. Just as we must know the three persons of God by whom He works Himself into
us, we also have to know the different parts of our being. Then we will be able to know how to hit the
mark of God’s economy. God’s economy is in His three persons, and the mark of God’s economy is in the
different parts of our being. In order to be a good driver, we must learn the parts of a car and how to
deal with them. We may say that to know the parts of a car is the mark of handling a car. In the same
way, we all have to know the different parts of the human being, because our human being is the vessel,
the container, to contain God.

In order for us to realize how to contain God, we have to know the different parts of our being. Second
Corinthians 4:4 speaks of the thoughts of the unbelievers, referring to the mind. Then verse 6 says that
God has shined in our heart. This short passage speaks of at least two parts, the mind and the heart. I
am concerned, however, that even someone who has been a Christian for many years may not know the
difference between the mind and the heart. We may never have considered that two parts of the
human being are mentioned here.

We may illustrate 2 Corinthians 4 with a camera. The purpose of a camera is to take in the scenery.
Originally, a person or object is outside the camera, but after a picture is taken, that person or object is
inside the camera. In order to do this, a camera needs three main things: a lens on the outside, film on
the inside, and the shining of the light. Once while I was traveling, I took a good camera with me.
However, when I returned home and sent the pictures to be developed, I found that the film was blank.
I realized that while I was on the train hurrying to take the pictures, I forgot to take off the lens cover.
The camera was “blinded” by the cover. In the same way, someone may hear a wonderful message of
the gospel, and everyone may expect him to be saved. However, Satan, the enemy of God, may blind his
mind, his understanding organ. Regardless of how good the message is and how much he has heard, his
understanding is blinded and covered. If his understanding is blinded, he can take in nothing.
One day over thirty years ago, Brother Watchman Nee was preaching the gospel. He told the people
that God’s intention is not for us to do good; we cannot do good, and even if we did do something good,
it would not mean anything to God. He stressed this very much and made it so clear. At that time, a
brother had brought a friend to the meeting. During the message, the brother looked at his friend and
watched him nod his head over and over. The brother was very happy, thinking that his friend was
listening and taking in everything. After the meeting the brother asked him concerning the message. The
friend replied, “Yes, all religions tell people to do good.” His understanding was blinded by the enemy.
Many times, even in the gospel message meetings, we need to pray that God would bind the god of this
age and his blinding work. This is to take off the “lens cover.”

After the lens cover is removed, the film must still be adjusted rightly. The film is something within the
camera. If the film is not right, then even if the lens is right, the camera will not work correctly. Our
understanding, our mind, is the lens, and our heart is the film within. Our heart has to be rightly
adjusted; it must be put aright. We need a proper “lens,” and we also need the right “film.” We need the
understanding of the mind, and we need a receiving heart. Our heart must be pure, clean, right,
adjusted, and corrected.

Suppose that we have an uncovered lens and the proper film, that is, the understanding of the mind and
a pure heart. Then we still need the divine light to shine. This is what is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 4.
The mind is right, the heart is right, and the divine light shines God’s glory into us. Then within us is the
image, the picture, of Christ. This very image of Christ is the treasure in the earthen vessel.

By all of the above, we can realize that we must know how to deal with our mind and our heart. If we do
not know how to handle the “lens” and the “film,” we can never receive a proper picture. The genuine
spiritual experiences are simply the taking of pictures. We are like a camera, so we must learn how to
handle this camera correctly to take in God and Christ as the picture. Regrettably, many Christians do
not know that they are “cameras”; they do not know how to handle their mind and their heart. The
Christian life is not a religion to teach people to do this and that. The Christian life is Christ, the living
One Himself, wrought into us. He is the very object, the figure, and we are the camera. This figure has to
be wrought into us through the lens and onto the film by the shining, the flashing, of the light. Day by
day and moment by moment we need the flashing of the light to take in more of the image of the Savior
through the understanding of the mind and the receiving of the heart. Therefore, we all have to know
how to handle our mind and how to adjust our heart.

All of our spiritual experiences are the different pictures taken into our heart as the spiritual film. With
some Christians, however, the lens is almost always covered, and the film is almost never properly fixed.
If we could look onto their film, we would see no pictures. Their film is blank; that is, they have very few
experiences of Christ. However, if we could look into the apostle Paul, we would see a picture of Christ
on every piece of film. He had much film, full of beautiful pictures of Christ. How many pictures of Christ
we have depends on how much we know how to adjust the “film” and take care of the “lens,” that is,
how much we deal with our mind and adjust our heart. Then whenever the divine light shines on us, the
image of Christ comes into us, and we have a picture of Christ within us. This is God’s economy and the
mark of God’s economy. By this we can see the importance of knowing our different parts. We were
made as vessels to contain God in our many parts, so we have to know all these parts, not just the mind
and the heart. We must see in more detail these different parts, their functions, and how to deal with
them.

CHAPTER THREE

THE PARTS OF MAN AS THE VESSEL OF THE LORD

Scripture Reading: Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; Psa. 51:6; 1 Thes. 5:23; Heb. 4:12; Luke 1:46-47; Phil. 1:27;
Mark 12:30

In this chapter we will continue to see the details of the parts of man as the vessel of the Lord. We have
seen clearly that God’s intention is to work Himself into us to be our life and our everything. In other
words, He has to be our content. For this purpose, God created us as His vessels with many parts. The
word parts is not a term used only by us; rather, it is in the Word of God. Jeremiah 31:33 says, “This is
the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares Jehovah: I will put My
law in their inward parts and write it upon their hearts.” The outward parts are the members of our
body, but within our body there are the inward parts. We need to know what these inward parts are.
Hebrews 8:10, a quotation of Jeremiah 31:33, says, “I will impart My laws into their mind.” The inward
parts in Jeremiah 31 becomes “their mind” in Hebrews 8. This indicates that the mind is one of the many
inward parts.

Psalm 51:6 says, “Behold, You delight in truth in the inward parts; / And in the hidden part You would
make known wisdom to me.” Here again we see the inward parts. Besides these, there is also the hidden
part. Truth is in the inward parts, but wisdom is in the hidden part. We must find out what the inward
parts and the hidden part are.

MAN BEING OF DIFFERENT PARTS

First Thessalonians 5:23 tells us that we are tripartite, of three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body.
This verse gives us the right order of these three parts. It says “spirit and soul and body,” not “body and
soul and spirit.” The following diagram illustrates the parts of man.
Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword,
and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the
thoughts and intentions of the heart.” This shows us that the spirit and the soul can and must be
divided. In order to know Christ and enter into Him as our rest and good land, we have to discern our
spirit from the soul. The spirit is the very place where Christ dwells in us (2 Tim. 4:22). If we are going to
know Christ in an experiential way, we must learn to divide our human spirit from our soul.

Luke 1:46 and 47 say, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has exulted in God my Savior.” Here
again there is a difference between the soul and the spirit. Philippians 1:27 speaks of standing firm in
one spirit and striving with one soul. This one spirit is not the Holy Spirit but our human spirit. In this
verse also we see a difference between the spirit and the soul.

Hebrews 4:12 not only speaks of the dividing of soul and spirit; it also mentions the joints and the
marrow. Joints and marrow are something of the body. This verse also speaks of the thoughts and
intentions of the heart. Even in the heart there is also the difference between the thoughts and the
intentions. Mark 12:30 says, “You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your
whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.” This verse speaks of four parts:
the heart, the soul, the mind, and the strength. All these parts have to be discerned by the living word of
God. This proves that in order to know the Lord in a practical and real way, we have to discern all these
items. We must know the thoughts of the heart, the intentions of the heart, and all the many parts of
the heart.

The soul is of three parts, and the spirit also has three parts, or functions. We need to know the three
parts of the soul and the three parts of the spirit. Moreover, we also should know what the heart is. First
Thessalonians 5:23 speaks of our whole being, telling us that we are tripartite—spirit, soul, and body—
but it says nothing about the heart. Therefore, we must see what the heart is, what it is composed of,
and how we can locate it with respect to the inward parts and the hidden part.

If we put all these verses together, we can realize that there are many different inward parts within the
many outward parts of the body. What are these parts? According to 1 Thessalonians 5:23, within the
body we have a soul and a spirit. Psalm 51 tells us that we have the inward parts with the hidden part.
According to Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8, the mind is one of the inward parts, and as we shall see, the
mind is a part of the soul. Therefore, the inward parts must be all the parts of the soul. The hidden part
must be the spirit, because our spirit is hidden within all our other parts; it is the inmost part hidden, not
within the body, but within even the soul. In summary, we have the outward part of the body, the
inward parts of the soul, and the spirit as the hidden part.

THE SOUL HAVING THREE PARTS

The Mind Being a Part of the Soul

The soul is of three parts—the mind, the will, and the emotion. This is clearly and definitely proved by
the Word of God. Proverbs 2:10 gives us the spiritual ground to prove that the mind is a part of the soul.
This verse says, “Wisdom will enter your heart, / And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” Because
knowledge is a matter of the mind, this proves that the mind is a part of the soul. Proverbs 19:21 and
24:14 also indicate that knowledge and wisdom are related to the soul. In addition, Psalm 139:14 says,
“My soul knows it well.” Since to know is a matter of the mind, this also proves that the mind must be a
part of the soul. Psalm 13:2 speaks of bearing concern in the soul. This concern must be something
considered in the mind. Lamentations 3:20 says, “My soul remembers them well,” indicating that the
soul can remember things. By these verses we can be clear that the mind as the organ to know, to
consider, and to remember is a part of the soul.

The Will Being a Part of the Soul

The second part of the soul is the will. Job 7:15 says, “My soul would choose,” and 6:7 says, “My soul
refuses.” To choose and to refuse are both decisions and functions of the will. These passages prove that
the will must be a part of the soul. First Chronicles 22:19 says, “Now set your heart and your soul to seek
after Jehovah your God.” Just as we set our mind to think, this verse says that we set our soul to seek.
This is, of course, to make a decision. That the soul makes a decision also proves that the will is a part of
the soul. Numbers 30:2 says, “When a man vows a vow to Jehovah or swears an oath to bind himself by
pledge...” The term to bind oneself, which occurs eleven times in this chapter, literally means “to bind
one’s soul.” To bind the soul is to make a decision. This chapter in Numbers deals with vows made to the
Lord. Since we must make a decision to bind our soul to vow to the Lord, this also proves that the will
must be a part of the soul. It would be good for the brothers and sisters, especially the young ones, to
remember all these verses. They should pick up the burden to learn this.

The Emotion Being a Part of the Soul

The emotion comprises many things, including love, hatred, joy, and grief. Song of Songs 1:7 and Psalm
42:1 show us that to love is a function of the soul. This proves that within the soul there is the organ, the
function, of the emotion. Second Samuel 5:8, Psalm 107:18, and Ezekiel 36:5 show us that hating,
loathing, and despising are also in the soul. Despising in the soul is the hatred of the soul. Since these
are emotions, this also proves that the emotion must be a part of the soul.

Joy is a great part of the emotion. Isaiah 61:10 and Psalm 86:4 tell us that joy is in the soul. This again
proves that the emotion is a part of the soul. Deuteronomy 14:26 and Jeremiah 22:27 tell us that the
soul desires. According to the better translations and Strong’s or Young’s concordances, desire in
Jeremiah 44:14 and set their heart in Ezekiel 24:25 are literally lift up the soul. These verses tell us that
the desire of the emotion is something in our soul. In addition, 1 Samuel 30:6, Judges 10:16, and Job
30:25 speak of bitterness, misery, and grief in the soul.

The verses of the Scriptures above are the ground to say that within the soul there are three parts—the
mind as the leading part with the will and the emotion. These are the best verses to prove this, but they
are not the only ones. If we study the entire Scriptures, it is hard to find anything other than these three
parts in the soul. These three parts comprise all the functions of the soul.

THE HUMAN SPIRIT HAVING THREE PARTS, OR FUNCTIONS

Now we come to our human spirit. With God there are three persons, with man there are three parts,
and with the soul there are also three inward parts. In addition, the spirit is of three parts, or functions.
According to the Scriptures, the tabernacle and the temple were of three parts. In the building of God,
three is a basic figure. The ark of Noah had three stories, and in the tabernacle there are many threes.
The width of a standing board, for example, was one and a half cubits; two boards in a pair were a whole
measurement of three cubits. This proves that we can never be independent. We always need another
half, just as the Lord Jesus sent His disciples two by two. By ourselves we are one and a half, but two
together make three cubits, a whole unit. By this we can see that the number three is a whole unit in
God’s building.

The three functions of the spirit are the conscience, the fellowship, and the intuition. It is easy to
understand what the function of the conscience is, which is to know right and wrong and to condemn or
justify before God. It is also easy to know what the fellowship is, which is for us to commune with God,
to contact God. Within our spirit there is a function, or a part as an organ, which we have so that we can
fellowship with God, commune with God, and contact God, or simply put, touch God. It is not as easy,
however, to know what the intuition is. It is a direct sense or a direct knowing. In our spirit there is such
a part that many times has a direct sense, regardless of the reason, circumstance, background, or
environment. We call this organ, or this function, the intuition of the spirit, with a direct sense and
direct knowledge from God.

The Conscience Being a Function of the Spirit

Romans 9:1 says, “My conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit.” We should compare this
verse with Romans 8:16, which says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of
God.” On the one hand, the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit, and on the other hand, our
conscience bears witness with the Holy Spirit. By this we can locate the conscience in the human spirit.
In 1 Corinthians 5:3 the apostle Paul says, “I, on my part, though being absent in the body but present in
the spirit, have already judged, as if being present, him who has thus done this.” This means that in his
spirit Paul judged the sinful one. To judge is either to condemn or to justify. This is a matter of the
conscience, but the apostle said that he judged in his spirit. This also proves that the condemning or
justifying function, that is, the conscience, is in the spirit.

Psalm 51:10 speaks of a steadfast spirit, and 34:18 speaks of being contrite in spirit. To be contrite is to
realize that we are wrong, to accuse and condemn ourselves. Right or wrong is something related to the
conscience. This verse says, “Contrite in spirit,” which again proves that the conscience is related to the
spirit.

Deuteronomy 2:30 says of Sihon the king of Heshbon that God “hardened his spirit.” To be hardened in
the spirit is to be hardened in the conscience, to be careless about the conscience, not caring about
what the conscience says. All the above verses are strong ground to show that the function of the
conscience is in the human spirit.
Fellowship Being a Function of the Spirit

It is easy to find the ground to say that the function of fellowship is in the spirit. John 4:24 says that
because God is Spirit—the divine, Holy Spirit—we have to worship Him in our human spirit. To worship
God in our spirit is to fellowship with God, contact God, and commune with God. Therefore, this verse
proves that the worshipping and fellowshipping function is in our spirit. In Romans 1:9 the apostle Paul
says, “God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit.” To serve God is also a kind of fellowship with God.
Concerning service in the spirit we need to add Romans 7:6, which says that we “serve in newness of
spirit.” The service to the Lord, which is fellowship with the Lord, is in our spirit.

Ephesians 6:18 says, “Praying at every time in spirit.” According to the Greek text, this verse does not
refer to the Holy Spirit but to our human spirit. To pray is to fellowship with God, so to pray in the spirit
means that fellowship with the Lord is a matter in our spirit. Luke 1:47 says, “My spirit has exulted in
God my Savior.” This implies that the spirit has contacted God, again proving that fellowship with God is
a function of our spirit. As we have seen, Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our
spirit.” This makes it very clear that fellowship with God is both in our spirit and in the Spirit of God,
again showing that fellowship is a function of our spirit. Finally, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is
joined to the Lord is one spirit.” That we can be one spirit with the Lord is the real fellowship, and this
fellowship is in the spirit. All these give us strong proofs that the fellowshipping function is in our human
spirit.

The Intuition Being a Function of the Spirit

To speak of the intuition is a little more difficult, but we still have the scriptural ground. First Corinthians
2:11 says, “Who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him?” Our
spirit can know and discern something that the soul cannot. This proves that there is an additional and
special ability to know in our spirit. To know something in the soul is to know by reason and
circumstances, but our human spirit can discern and know things apart from any reason. It knows
directly, with a direct sense. This verse proves that the direct sense, that is, the intuition, is in our spirit.

Mark 2:8 says that Jesus knew fully in His spirit what the scribes were reasoning, and 8:12 says that He
groaned deeply in His spirit. This is to realize something in the spirit which makes one sorrowful. John
11:33 says that Jesus was “moved with indignation in His spirit.” To be sorrowful, to groan for certain
things, in the spirit is to realize, perceive, and discern those things. These verses are adequate to prove
that within our spirit there is a function to realize, discern, and perceive things, to have a direct sense.
We call this the intuition, the third function, or part, of our spirit.

THE HEART BEING A COMPOSITION

OF THE SOUL AND THE CONSCIENCE

What then is the heart? The heart is not a separate part besides the soul and the spirit. As human
beings, we have only the spirit, the soul, and the body; we do not have the heart as a fourth, separate
part. Rather, the heart is a composition of all the parts of the soul and the first part of the spirit, the
conscience. As we have seen, the parts of the soul are the mind, the will, and the emotion. The heart
includes all these parts plus one part of the spirit, the conscience.

The Mind Being a Part of the Heart

The mind, the first part of the soul, is a part of the heart. Matthew 9:4 says, “Jesus, knowing their
thoughts, said, Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?” We think in our heart. Since to think is
something of the mind, this proves that the mind is a part of the heart. Genesis 6:5 says, “Every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The thoughts are something of the
mind, but this verse speaks of the thoughts of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 also mentions the thoughts of
the heart. These three passages are adequate and very strong to prove that the mind, which is the organ
of thought, is a part of the heart.

The Will Being a Part of the Heart

Concerning the will, Acts 11:23 speaks of “purpose of heart.” To purpose is a matter of the will. It is the
function of the will, but this verse says that it is something in the heart. Hebrews 4:12 also speaks of the
intentions of the heart. The intentions, like the purposes, are something of the will, but here it says that
they are something of the heart. This proves that the will is a part of the heart. These two verses are
adequate to prove this. To prove something from the Scriptures requires two verses, because two is the
number of testimony.

The Emotion Being a Part of the Heart

Concerning the emotion, the Lord said in John 16:22, “Your heart will rejoice.” To rejoice is a matter of
the emotion, but here the Lord said that the heart rejoices. This proves that the emotion is also a part of
the heart. In the same chapter the Lord said, “Sorrow has filled your heart” (v. 6). Sorrow also is
something of emotion, so these two verses prove that the emotion is in the heart.

The Conscience Being a Part of the Heart

Hebrews 10:22 says, “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.” The conscience has much to
do with the heart. In order to have a pure heart, we must have a conscience without offense. If our
conscience is sprinkled, we can have a pure heart. This proves, no doubt, that the conscience is a part of
the heart. First John 3:20 says that “our heart blames us.” To blame is the function of the conscience,
but here it says that it is a matter of the heart, proving that the conscience is a part of the heart.

By all of the above, we have the ground to prove that these four parts—the mind, the will, the emotion,
and the conscience—all the parts of the soul and the first part of the spirit, are composed together to
equal the heart.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE HEART, THE SPIRIT, AND THE SOUL

Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 3:16, 18; Rom. 10:9-10; Heb. 10:22; Ezek. 36:26-27; Mark 12:30; Col. 2:13;
Eph. 2:1, 5; John 3:6; 14:17; Rom. 8:11, 16; 1 Cor. 6:17; John 4:24; Matt. 16:24-26; Luke 9:23-25; 1 Pet.
1:22; Rom. 12:2

We have seen that the inward parts of our being are the parts of our soul, and the hidden part is our
spirit (Psa. 51:6). We have also seen that both our soul and our spirit are of three parts. We have a body
with many parts, a soul with three parts, and a spirit also with three parts. Moreover, we also have a
heart, composed of the three parts of the soul and the first part of the spirit. In this chapter we will see
further details concerning the inward parts and the hidden part. I look to the Lord that we may have the
grace to see all these things clearly, knowing all the parts of our being so that we may be able to
exercise our spirit, heart, mind, and will to contact the Lord, to fellowship with the Lord, and to know
the Lord.

DEALING FIRST WITH OUR HEART

According to the Scriptures, we must deal first with our heart, not our spirit or soul. The heart comes
first, because it is composed of all the parts of the soul and the first part of the spirit, the conscience. All
relationships with the Lord must start with the conscience. Even relationships with other people must
begin with the conscience. To be sure, if our conscience is dark and wrong, we will be wrong not only
with God but also with others. Since the conscience is the main part of the heart, the heart has to come
first in our relationship with God.

Turning Our Heart to the Lord

Second Corinthians 3:16 says, “Whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” The
heart must first be turned to the Lord. To turn our heart to the Lord is the real repentance. While we
were fallen, our heart was turned away from the Lord, but at the time we repented, our heart turned
back to the Lord. We must have a turning back of the heart to the Lord. This turning is not once for all;
we have to turn our heart back to the Lord all the time, day by day. Every morning we must turn our
heart again to the Lord. I would suggest, especially to the young brothers and sisters, that every morning
after you rise, when you go the Lord, tell Him, “Lord, here I am by Your mercy and grace. I wish to
exercise myself to turn my heart to You again, to turn to You anew for this day.”

When our heart is turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away. This is an important secret for us. Many
people ask why they do not have light and guidance and why they do not know the Lord’s will. I would
ask them, “Where is your heart? Toward what is your heart turned?” This is their problem. We have to
turn our heart to the Lord. Over thirty years ago when I was a young brother, almost every day I prayed
with 2 Corinthians 3:16: “Lord, cause me to turn my heart to You.” This works; just try it. Before we go
to read the Word in the morning, we first have to turn our heart to the Lord. Then the life will be there,
and the veil will be taken away. I like this verse: “Whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is
taken away.” The veil between us and the Lord is taken away by our turning our heart to the Lord.

Exercising to Believe in Our Heart

Romans 10:9 and 10 say, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart there is believing unto
righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation.” After turning to the Lord, the
second thing the heart must do is believe. To believe is not a matter of the spirit, the mind, or the will.
To believe is a matter of the heart; the heart has to believe. First we have to turn our heart to the Lord,
and second we must exercise our heart to believe in the Lord. To believe in the Lord is something in the
heart.

Verse 10 says that with the heart there is believing. We must learn to exercise our heart to cooperate
with the indwelling Spirit in faith. After we turn our heart to the Lord, we must always exercise our heart
to believe. We have to exercise to believe in our heart whatever the Lord says in His Word, and we have
to exercise to believe in our heart whatever we sense deep within us. We must also exercise our heart
to believe in the Lord for all our environment and circumstances, for all the things happening to us. We
must pray that the Lord would protect our heart from any kind of doubt.

Having Our Heart Sprinkled from an Evil Conscience

Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us come forward to the Holy of Holies with a true heart in full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and having our bodies washed with pure
water.” The third dealing with our heart is that it must be sprinkled from an evil conscience. With our
heart, there is always the need of the sprinkling of the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus. The more we
turn our heart to the Lord and believe in the Lord by exercising our heart, the more we will have many
feelings in our conscience that we are wrong in certain matters. When our heart is not turned to the
Lord, we do not have the sense that we are wrong. We have only one sense, that is, that we are right in
everything; everyone but us is wrong. However, when we turn our heart to the Lord, immediately we do
not see others as wrong; we only see ourselves as wrong.

It is even more so with believing in the Lord. The more we believe in Him, the more we have the sense
of how wrong we are in many things. We are wrong with our spouse, wrong with our children, wrong
with our schoolmates, and wrong with our parents. We are wrong with everything and have many
accusations in our heart. These are the accusations in the conscience. At this time spontaneously we
should confess our sins according to the inner accusations, one by one. The more we confess, the more
the blood of the Lord Jesus is applied to our conscience. Then our conscience will be purged, cleansed,
and we will have a conscience with no offense, a pure conscience. This means that our heart is sprinkled
from an evil conscience. Because our conscience has been purged, there is no more condemnation in
our heart. Our heart is at peace and full of joy. We sense joy in our heart with the Lord.

Being Renewed in the Heart

Ezekiel 36:26 speaks of the renewing of the heart. Verse 25 says, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you,
and you will be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols I will cleanse you.” However, this is
not all. This is still something on the negative side. We need something on the positive side. Verse 26
says, “I will also give you a new heart.” A new heart is the old heart renewed.
Here we have four steps to deal with our heart. Not only at the time we first believe in the Lord Jesus to
receive Him as our Savior, but as Christians seeking the Lord, from the time we are saved and all the
days afterward, we must deal with our heart in these four steps. We must turn our heart to the Lord,
exercise to believe the Lord in our heart, have our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, and be
renewed in our heart again and again. Even the renewing of the heart is not just once for all. If the
apostle Paul were on the earth today, he would still need the renewing of the heart. We all must put
these matters into practice right away. At the latest, tomorrow morning when we rise up, we have to go
to the Lord and say, “Lord, cause me to turn my heart to You.” Then we must exercise our heart to
believe the Lord, telling Him, “Lord, I believe You! In Your Word I believe You. In Your dealings within me
I believe You. In all my environment and in all the things happening to me I believe You.” By this point
we will realize how wrong we are, how many mistakes we have made, and how much filthiness we have
to deal with. We will need to confess to have the cleansing, the sprinkling of the blood, that we may be
sprinkled from an evil conscience. Then once again our heart will be renewed.

The Issue of Dealing with Our Heart

Being That We Love the Lord More

The issue of our dealing with our heart is that we love the Lord more. Our heart is keen and adequate to
function. What is the function of the heart? The function of the heart is to love the Lord. The heart is the
loving organ, the organ for us to love the Lord. Mark 12:30 says, “You shall love the Lord your God from
your whole heart.” The heart that was created in us by the Lord is for us to love Him. Thank the Lord
that we have a heart. Just as we could not see without eyes, hear without ears, or think without our
mind, we could not love without our heart. I am sorry to say that even many Christians do not know
what the function of the heart is. They know the function of the eyes, the ears, the nose, and the mouth,
but they simply do not know the function of the heart. Now we all have to be clear that the function of
the heart is to love.

In Chinese, the written character for heart is embedded in the middle of the character for love. Love is a
matter of the heart. We cannot love people with our nose or our hands. Whatever we love, it is with our
heart, the loving organ. Before we turn our heart to the Lord, our heart loves something other than Him.
No one can say that he does not love anything. Everyone loves something or someone, either the Lord
Himself or something else. No one can say how many things we love, but what is certain is that the more
we turn our heart to the Lord, exercise our heart to believe the Lord, and have our heart sprinkled from
an evil conscience, the more our heart will love the Lord. This is the function of the renewed heart.
Every morning our heart must be renewed so that we may love the Lord more and more.

All spiritual experiences begin with the loving of the heart. If we do not love the Lord, it is impossible to
have any kind of spiritual experiences. Even the first experience of our Christian life, our salvation, is a
matter of the heart loving the Lord Jesus. Not one person who truly repents has no love in his heart
toward the Lord. Perhaps he does not have the words for it, but he has the sense within him, “Oh, Jesus
is so lovable!” I can recall the time I first received the Lord Jesus. I cannot tell you how sweet He was to
me. I did not have the words, and no one taught me to say that the Lord Jesus is lovable or that we have
to love Him, but I had the true sense that the Lord Jesus was so sweet and good. At that time I could not
even say the word sweet; I could only say, “Too good! Oh, Jesus is too good!” This kind of love is the
reflection of the Lord’s love in our heart. We all must learn to exercise our heart to turn it again, to
believe anew, to be cleansed again from an evil conscience, and to be renewed again that we may love
the Lord more and more.

The degradation of the church is firstly due to the loss of our first love for the Lord (Rev. 2:4). To lose our
fresh heart of love for the Lord is to be fallen, to be in degradation. We all must learn how to turn our
heart again and again and be renewed again and again so that we may have a new love, a fresh love,
toward the Lord.

RECEIVING AND CONTACTING THE LORD

WITH OUR SPIRIT

Our Spirit Being Made Alive

The Bible tells us that originally we were dead, and at the time we received the Lord Jesus, we were
made alive. Colossians 2:13 says, “You, though dead in your offenses and in the uncircumcision of your
flesh, He made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our offenses.” Ephesians 2:1 and 5 are
similar to this. These two passages prove that we were originally dead in our spirit, but at the time we
received Jesus as our Savior, this dead, dormant spirit of ours was made alive.

When I was young, I could not understand how we were dead. It seemed that I was still living and not
yet buried. Later, I came to know that this means that we were dead in our spirit. As we have seen, the
function of our spirit is to contact God, commune with God, receive God, and worship God. Due to the
fall, however, our spirit was dead and out of function. At the time we received the Lord Jesus as our
Savior, the all-inclusive, wonderful Holy Spirit came into our spirit. By the Spirit’s touching our spirit, our
spirit was made alive. It is hard to adequately translate the Greek word for made alive. It means that by
touching life, life is ministered to us. We can illustrate this by electricity. If we are touched by electricity,
something of the electricity is transmitted by that touching. The Holy Spirit came into our spirit to touch
our spirit. By that touch, that striking, the very life which is the Holy Spirit Himself was imparted into us.
Then our dead, dormant spirit immediately became alive.

To be made alive in this way is more than a miracle. We may think that for a person who is dead
physically to be resurrected is miraculous, but for the Holy Spirit to make our dead spirit alive is more
miraculous than that. Thousands and even millions of people throughout history who were dead were
immediately made alive in their spirit. A person who is dead in his spirit can be made alive because the
Holy Spirit is more powerful and is transmitted and imparted more quickly even than electricity.

Having a New Element Added to Our Spirit

When we received the Lord, our spirit was not only made alive but also was made new. Another life,
another element, was added into our spirit. This other life and element is the divine, uncreated, eternal
life of God, which is Christ Himself. When the Holy Spirit comes into us, based upon the redeeming work
of Christ, He not only makes our dead spirit alive but also brings Christ into our spirit as the new
element, as another life added into our spirit. This is something more than what God accomplished in
His creation. Now not only has our dead spirit been recovered and made alive, but also we have
something new—another element, essence, and substance—added to our spirit.

Having Received Christ Himself in Regeneration

To be made alive is to be reborn, to be regenerated, as spoken of in John 3:6. This verse says, “That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” By our regeneration
something other than what we had was added into us. This new element, essence, and substance is
Christ Himself as the divine life added into us. Not only was the old part renewed, and not only was the
old part made alive, but something new, divine, and eternal—Christ Himself—was added into us as the
very essence of life.

What could be better than Christ Himself? Since we have received Christ, why do we still seem so poor?
Today many Christians need to know this reality. Atomic power is something inward, not outward. Even
a small piece of paper has this atomic power within it. At the time we received Christ, something more
powerful than atomic power was added into our spirit. That was Christ Himself. If we truly believed this,
we would declare, “Hallelujah, this is wonderful!” Whether or not we realize this adequately, we still
have to thank Him that such a wonderful, all-inclusive, exhaustless, immeasurable Christ has been added
into us. We do not have the adequate words to qualify what kind of Christ we have received and has
been added into us. Only eternity can tell the story. However, even if we do not see this truth
adequately, we still have received Him.

Being Renewed and Indwelt by the All-inclusive Spirit

From the time of our regeneration, our spirit has been indwelt by the all-inclusive Holy Spirit. According
to Ezekiel 36:26, at the time we were saved, God not only renewed our heart but also renewed our
spirit. Then verse 27 tells us that He put His own Spirit into us. John 14:17 also tells us that this
wonderful Spirit is in us. Romans 8:11 says that His Spirit dwells in us, and verse 16 proves that this Spirit
dwells in our human spirit. Our spirit is the very residence of the Holy Spirit. From the time of our
salvation, our spirit has become such a wonderful spirit—made alive, renewed with Christ as the divine
life added to it, and having the all-inclusive Holy Spirit dwelling in it.

Being Joined to the Lord as One Spirit

Moreover, 1 Corinthians 6:17 clearly tells us that from this time onward this wonderful spirit is joined to
the Lord as one spirit. Our spirit and the Lord Himself as the Spirit—these two spirits—are joined
together as one spirit. No human words can exhaust the meaning of this.

The Function of the Spirit Being

to Receive the Lord and Contact Him
What is the purpose for such a spirit? This brings us again to the function of the spirit. The purpose of
our spirit is to contact the Lord, to receive the Lord, to worship God, and to fellowship with the divine
Person. This is clearly implied by John 4:24. Just as the heart is the loving organ, the spirit is the
contacting and receiving organ. We cannot love with our spirit; we have to love with our heart.
However, we have to receive and contact with our spirit the very Lord whom our heart loves.

Once, a certain sister thought that as long as our heart loves the Lord, that is good enough. There was
no need to talk about the spirit, since, she thought, spirit and heart are synonymous terms. She asked,
“Is it not good enough that our heart loves the Lord? Why is there the need for us to talk about the
spirit?” I said, “Sister, here I have a nice Bible. Do you love it?” She said, “Of course I love it.” Then I said,
“Take it.” When she stretched out her hand to take it, I said “No, do not exercise your hand. As long as
your heart loves the Bible, that is all right. There is no need to use your hand to take it.” She said,
“Brother Lee, if I do not exercise my hand, how can I take the Bible?” I told her that, in the same way, we
cannot say that for our heart to love the Lord is good enough.

Suppose that I love breakfast. As long as my heart loves bacon, toast, milk, and juice, is that adequate?
That is absolutely not adequate. If I only love food but do not take it, after a few days I may die. To love
is a matter of the heart, but to receive we must exercise another organ. Which organ we exercise
depends on what we are to receive. If we want to receive food, we have to exercise our mouth. If we
want to receive voices, we have to exercise our ears, and if we are going to receive scenery and colors,
we have to exercise our eyes. We love the Lord, but by which organ can we receive Him? Shall we look
at Him with our eyes? The more we look at the Lord in this way, the more He will not be there. No
doubt, only one organ was created by God for the purpose of receiving and contacting Him; that is our
spirit.

The spirit within us is like the stomach within our body. It is special, specific, and definite for the purpose
of receiving something. We have to exercise our spirit to receive the Lord. Our spirit was created for this
definite purpose. However, before we receive, we have to love. No one would receive something if he
did not love it. If we do not love breakfast, it is hard to receive it. This is why we must have an appetite.
We have to love the Lord; then we will take Him, touch Him, contact Him, commune with Him,
fellowship with Him, and receive Him in our spirit.

The heart is for us to love, and the spirit is for us to receive and contact. By the renewing of the heart we
have a new interest, new desire, and new capability for us to love the Lord. By the renewing of the spirit
we have a new ability and capacity to receive the Lord. After our spirit has been renewed, has had Christ
as life added to it, has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and has been joined to the Lord as one spirit, it is
a very keen organ to receive and contact the Lord.

DEALING WITH THE SOUL

Denying the Soul-life

Concerning the soul, the first thing we must learn is to deny the soul-life, the self. Two passages,
Matthew 16:24 through 26 and Luke 9:23 through 25, tell us this clearly. The soul is the very self
composed of the mind, the will, and the emotion. This means that we must learn to deny our natural
mind, natural will, and natural emotion.

Purifying Our Soul

Second, we must purify our souls. First Peter 1:22 says, “Since you have purified your souls by your
obedience to the truth.” Our souls are purified mostly by receiving the word. The word of God is able to
purify the soul. To purify the soul is to purify it from fleshly, carnal, worldly, and natural things. Our soul,
our very self, our very being, has been damaged, saturated, and occupied by those negative things. Now
this soul has to be purified from all these things. However, we must first deny the soul-life. The more we
deny our soul-life, the more our soul will be purified by receiving the word of God.

Being Transformed in Our Soul

Third, our soul must be transformed. Second Corinthians 3:18 tells us that we are being transformed,
but by that verse alone we are not clear what part is being transformed. In Romans 12:2 we are told that
we are transformed by the renewing of the mind. By this we know that transformation is accomplished
in our soul. After our spirit has been regenerated, we need to be transformed in our soul. First we must
deny the soul-life; then our soul must be purified and transformed into the image of Christ.

The Function of the Soul

Being to Reflect and Express the Lord

As we have seen, the purpose of the heart is to love the Lord, and the purpose of the spirit is to receive
and to contact the Lord. What then is the purpose of the soul? The soul is to reflect the Lord. Second
Corinthians 3:18 says that with an unveiled face we behold and reflect like a mirror the glory of the Lord.
The soul, after being purified and transformed, is the very organ to express Christ, to reflect the Lord.
We love Him with our heart, we receive and contact Him with our spirit, and we reflect and express Him
with our transformed soul. The soul-life must first be denied; then the soul must be purified and
transformed. Then it will be adequate to express and reflect the Lord Jesus.

I hope that you will put all these matters into practice in your daily life. If you do, you will see that what
we have spoken of here is altogether practical. It truly works.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND BEHAVIOR

Scripture Reading: John 15:5

In this chapter we will consider the difference between the growth of life and the improvement of
behavior. Then in the following chapter we will consider the difference between the growth of life and
the form of godliness, zeal in service, the increase of knowledge, the manifestations of gifts, and the
increase of power. According to human understanding, these six things—behavior, the form of
godliness, service, knowledge, gifts, and power—are very close to life. Today in Christianity too many
people consider all these matters as life. Strictly speaking, however, these things are not life.

We should be able to present and define the truths we are fellowshipping about here. To do this
requires a certain amount of knowledge and understanding. However, too much knowledge is not
helpful. If we have no knowledge or understanding, we have nothing to speak, but if we use too much
knowledge in our speaking, it is hard to make things clear to others. Eventually, this kind of speaking
merely complicates people’s understanding.

LIFE BEING CHRIST HIMSELF

First, we need to see the difference between life and behavior and between the growth of life and the
improvement of behavior. Life is simply Christ, whereas behavior is what we do, how we act, how we
behave ourselves, and what kind of conduct we have. As we know, Adam was created by God as a
person of three parts. After being created, he acted and behaved in a certain way. At that time,
however, Adam did not have the divine life, because life is Christ, and Adam did not have Christ. What
he had was the created, human, temporal life, not the uncreated, divine, eternal life. Therefore, Adam
did not have life, but he did have behavior.

In the garden of Eden, there were two trees in front of Adam, the tree of life, signifying Christ as our life,
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. With the second tree, there is not only evil but also
good. Behavior may be evil, and it may be good. Not only is evil not life, but good is also not life. Both
good and evil behavior are in the same category. When Adam partook of the tree of knowledge, he
received evil, and he also received good. After the fall, therefore, just as the human race could do evil, it
could also do good, because both good and evil are of the same category. We Christians must realize
that life is absolutely different from behavior.

THE GROWTH OF LIFE BEING

THE INCREASE OF CHRIST WITHIN US

What then is the difference between the growth of life and the improvement of behavior? Because life
is Christ, the growth of life is the increase of Christ within us. We may illustrate the improvement of
behavior in many ways. Although a person originally can be full of hatred, he may be taught to love
people. From then on, he will try to love others instead of hating them. Originally, he had a behavior of
hatred, but now he will try to have a behavior of love. To some extent he may be successful. Formerly,
this person always was full of hate, but now he has changed a little. This is the improvement of
behavior. We have to ask, however, is this improvement of behavior the growth of life? No it is not, but
today many Christians consider this kind of improvement of behavior as the growth of life.

As fallen beings, we have a certain amount of bad behavior as well as a certain amount of good
behavior. Sometimes good behavior comes out of ourselves, and sometimes bad behavior comes out.
Sometimes hatred comes out, and sometimes love comes out. Both hatred and love, however, are out
of ourselves; they are merely behavior. Formerly, we may have had hatred as a bad behavior, but now
we may consider that as Christians we should not act in that way, that we have to change and improve
our behavior and behave in a better way. Although eventually we may be successful, this is not the
growth of life. It is merely an improvement of behavior.

What then is the growth of life? Since Christ is life, the growth of life is the increase of Christ. Christ
came into our spirit as our life. Now we have to open ourselves and let Christ come in to fill us from
within, spread out from within, and saturate us, permeate us, and swallow us up. Then Christ will live
Himself out through us. This life, which is Christ Himself, will swallow us up, and He will live Himself out.
In certain circumstances, there is the need of love. This Christ who lives Himself out of us will be the very
love we need. This love is the spreading, permeating, and saturating of Christ. It is the expression of
Christ from within. Therefore, this love is not a mere improvement of behavior. This love is an increase
of Christ, a growth of Christ as life.

BEING ABLE TO DO NOTHING APART FROM CHRIST

If two brothers hate one another, someone may pray for them and advise them to love each other. It
seems that it is right to do this. However, the brothers cannot love out of themselves. John 15:12 says,
“This is My commandment, that you love one another even as I have loved you,” and verse 17 says,
“These things I command you that you may love one another.” However, verse 5 says, “I am the vine;
you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can
do nothing.” On the one hand, the Lord Jesus tells us that we have to love one another. On the other
hand, in the same chapter He says that apart from Him we can do nothing.

The love mentioned here by the Lord is the spreading and increase of Himself. Within a tree there are
the riches of the life-juice of the tree. The bearing of fruit is simply the spreading of the riches of the life-
juice of the tree. By this we can see that in John 15 the love which we should have toward one another
is not a kind of behavior. It is the growth of life, the increase, expansion, and spreading of Christ. Even if
we could love one another, that is not the real love mentioned here. The real love spoken of here may
look like a behavior, but it is not. It is the increase and spreading of the indwelling Christ, the expression
of the inner life. Therefore, this is the growth of life, not the mere improvement of behavior.

A brother may have a disposition full of pride, but he realizes that to be a Christian brother in the church
among the other brothers, it is not right to be proud; pride is ugly. He may then pray and try his best to
improve his behavior in order to be humble. We all may be surprised at this brother’s humility. We may
say, “Look, just last week this brother was very proud. Now see what kind of change he has had. He is so
humble.” However, we need to ask what kind of change this is. Is this a mere improvement of behavior,
or is this an expansion of Christ within? The way to have the expansion of Christ from within is not to
adjust ourselves or to improve our behavior, but to open ourselves to the Lord, to let Him come in to fill
us, swallow us up, permeate us, saturate us, and spread Himself throughout us. Then in the
circumstances in which we need humility, this spreading Christ will be humility to meet the need. This
humility is not a kind of behavior but a kind of spreading of Christ and an expression of Christ.
This may be hard to understand, because our understanding, concept, and mentality are focused too
much on behavior, morality, and the improvement of conduct. However, now we have seen that the
growth of life is the increase of Christ, the spreading of Christ, the permeating of Christ, and the
expansion of Christ.

REAL LOVE AND HUMILITY BEING CHRIST

SPREADING AND LIVING OUT THROUGH US

There are two kinds of humility and two kinds of love. One kind is merely something out of ourselves,
whereas the other kind is the expanding of Christ. I may love the brothers fervently, but it may be a love
out of myself. There is another love, that is, the spreading and expression of Christ. I may have no
intention to love someone, but day by day I open myself to the Lord, and He comes in to fill me, swallow
me up, and saturate me with Himself. Then when I come to you and there is the need for love,
spontaneously something of Christ will come out to meet the need. That is the real love. This kind of
love is not something out of me but something of Christ spreading and living out through me.

Again, formerly I may have been a proud person, but now that I am saved, I have learned to love the
Lord, and I realize that if I am going to be a proper brother, I should not be so proud. Rather, among the
brothers I need to be humble. Therefore, I may all the time try my best to be humble. To some extent I
can be successful and have a certain kind of humility. This is one kind of humility, but there is another
kind. I may not regard that I have to be humble among the brothers, but I contact the Lord, open myself
to Him, and let Him come in again and again so that He fills me and saturates me. Then when the
situation among the brothers demands humility, the Lord meets the need by spreading Himself through
me. In this way, the humility I manifest is not merely my behavior. This humility is Christ spreading
Himself through me and living Himself out of me.

THE NEED FOR A HEALTHY SPIRITUAL SENSE

AND THE DEALING OF THE CROSS

How can we differentiate the love, humility, and patience that are out of ourselves from that which is
the spreading of Christ? How can we differentiate the “brass” from the “gold”? The best way to
differentiate these two categories of things is by our inner sense. However, in order to sense these
things, we must have a proper spiritual “nose.” If we are spiritually healthy, we will have a healthy
spiritual nose. Many times we will sense that someone has love, but this love is not so sweet. This love
has no sense of Christ. There is not the sweet odor of Christ in that love. Rather, this love is full of the
self. Again someone may have humility toward a brother, but this humility has no sense, no sweetness,
no sweet odor, of Christ. We can sense the odor of Christ or the odor of pride in humility. We cannot
define it, but we can sense it. We all have to learn to do this. Then Christ will grow within us.

Here we can see how much we need to deny the self, how much we need the work of the cross. The
work of the cross is not only to deal with the evil things but also to deal with the good things. It is to deal
with our behavior. Strictly speaking, we should not have mere behavior. What we should have is simply
life, Christ spreading Himself from within us.
OUR NEED TO CONTACT THE LORD TO LET HIM
SATURATE US, PERMEATE US, AND SWALLOW US UP

Sometimes people advise us to behave in a certain way in order to show people that we are humble;
otherwise, they say, people may think that we are proud. This is merely an improvement of behavior.
This is wrong. As real, normal Christians, we should not do this. If someone advises us to have a change
and be more humble, it seems that this is good advice given by love and in love. We may take this advice
and go to pray, “Lord, help me,” and soon afterward our attitude may change. However, this is only the
improvement of behavior. This is not the teaching of Christ; it is the teaching of ethical philosophy, like
the teaching of Confucius.

Someone may ask, “Doesn’t the Bible tell us that we have to be humble?” Yes it does, not in the way of
behavior but in the way of Christ. What we need is for someone to help us to contact the Lord. If a
brother knows the proper way to contact the Lord, he should help us to contact the Lord by opening
ourselves to Him to let Him come in more and more to fill us, saturate us, permeate us, and swallow us
up in Himself. Then spontaneously we will have a change by the spreading of Christ as life to meet the
need of humility among the brothers. This humility is Christ spreading Himself and expressing Himself
from within us. Then we will have the growth of life instead of the mere improvement of behavior.

We talk about the inner life and the church life, but the more I travel and contact the Lord’s children, the
more I am concerned and burdened that people simply do not know what the real inner life and church
life are. The real inner life is nothing of behavior. The real inner life is altogether something of Christ.

After I was saved, I sat at the feet of certain teachers. From John 13 and 15, sometimes they stressed
that we must love one another. They taught that we should wash one another’s feet to show that we
love each other, and sometimes they practiced this. At that time I was convinced by their teaching,
because apparently this was the word of the Lord Jesus. One day, however, I found out that in the same
chapter, John 15, the Lord Jesus says that apart from Him we can do nothing (v. 5). Therefore, the love
for the brothers must not be something out of me; it must be something out of Christ. This caused me to
be puzzled. It seemed that I could do something without Christ. Apart from Christ I could still come to a
brother and wash his feet. Yes, we can do many things without Christ, but those things are not of life.
Anything of life must be of Christ.

Consider the branches of a tree. The branches can bear many things apart from the tree. We may, for
example, hang a handkerchief or a hat on a branch. However, these things are not real fruit. Apart from
the tree, the branches cannot bear fruit. In order for branches to bear fruit, they must abide in the tree.
Without the tree, the branch can do nothing as far as fruit-bearing is concerned. Apart from Christ as
life, we can have only the improvement of behavior, but we cannot have the growth of life. The growth
of life is the spreading of Christ within us.

CHAPTER SIX

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

LIFE AND THE FORM OF GODLINESS,
ZEAL IN SERVICE, KNOWLEDGE,
GIFTS, AND POWER

Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 3:5; 1 Tim. 3:16a; Acts 22:3; Rom. 12:11; 1 Cor. 8:1; 6:17; Num. 22:28; 1 Cor.
1:22-24; 3:1

THE OUTWARD FORM OF GODLINESS

True Godliness Being the Likeness of God

Second Timothy 3:5 says, “Having an outward form of godliness, though denying its power; from these
also turn away.” We need to see the difference between the growth of life and the form of godliness
spoken of in this verse. Again I say, we need to learn two lessons. One lesson is to know the reality of
these truths, and the other is to learn how to present what we know in a clear way that is easy for
people to apprehend and understand. Briefly speaking, godliness means God-likeness. To be godly
means to be like God. First Timothy 3:16a says, “Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: / He who
was manifested in the flesh.” The mystery of godliness is God manifested in the flesh, in a human being.
Therefore, godliness is the likeness of God, to be like God. This is a great subject. Man was created in the
image of God, according to God’s likeness, with the intention that he may be like God. It is God’s
intention that we be like Him, that we have His image and His likeness. Second Timothy 3:5, however,
speaks of the outward form of godliness without its power. To deny the power of godliness is to not
have its living reality, to have the form without the life.

The Form of Godliness Being

Only the Outward Appearance of Godliness

The form of godliness is only the outward appearance, the outward likeness, of godliness. God is holy, so
we may try to be holy as God is. God is separated from the common things, so we too may try to
separate ourselves from the common things. God is love, so we may try to be like God and show love to
others. In addition, God is light, so we too may try to be in light, avoiding everything of darkness. This is
only the form, the outward appearance, of godliness, of God-likeness. In today’s Christianity we can
easily see many forms of godliness, especially when we come into a church “service.” Many think that in
order to show that they are godly, they must pick up their Bible on the Lord’s Day morning and walk in a
certain way. Then when they come into the church building, they take a seat quietly. When I was young,
I was influenced to learn these things. This is the form of godliness, as is practiced by many in
Christianity today. That is not the growth of life.

In the four Gospels the Lord Jesus was a living person. He was truly holy. He was the real love and light.
This was the living reality, not the form. What the Pharisees had was only a form, but what the Lord
Jesus was, was the living reality of godliness.

Several centuries ago there was a certain man of God, a truly holy man. Once he was invited to another
city in order to minister. Since he was famous, on the day of his arrival the people in that city were
excited to welcome him. He anticipated that, so before he arrived, he disappeared from the public view
and went to a little park to play on a seesaw with the children. At the scheduled time for his arrival, the
people could not find him. They looked throughout the town and eventually saw him playing with the
children. In that age especially, people thought that a man of God must appear holy, like a priest with a
long robe. That brother knew that if he would come into the city in this way, they would all admire him.
Instead, the people asked, “What kind of person is this? Is this a servant of God? Is this a man of God
that first goes to the park to play with the children?” In doing this he was trying to break their natural
concept of godliness and to help them to realize what real godliness is.

The Reality of Godliness

Coming from the Increase of Christ within Us

The reality of godliness is the growth of life, and the growth of life is the increase of Christ within us. It is
not to have an outward show. Rather, it is to open ourselves again to the Lord, to contact Him daily and
all the time, to be one spirit with the Lord, and to be filled, saturated, and permeated with Him and
swallowed up by Him. Then He will live Himself out of us, and spontaneously and unconsciously we will
be godly persons. We may have no intention of being like God, of having godliness, but we are one with
the Lord and always filled with Him. Our inner man is strengthened by Him, He makes His home in all the
parts of our being, and we are even filled unto all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:16-19). Then spontaneously
whatever we are will be the likeness of God. This is the living reality of godliness. There is no need to
make a show that we are holy as God is or to show that we have love as God has.

Godliness Being Manifested

in Different Persons in Different Ways

Suppose that we all live by Christ in such a way that we are filled with the riches of Christ unto the
fullness of God. We have the growth of life with the living reality of godliness. In this case, will we all be
the same? Since we all have God-likeness, the living reality of godliness, it seems that we would be the
same. However, godliness is God manifested in man. God Himself is the same, but with the
manifestation of God in man there is a difference. The manifestation of God in man differs with different
people. We can see God manifested in Peter in one way and in Paul in another way. In all the apostles
we can see the manifestation of God, but the manifestation differs with different persons.

We all appreciate the way the apostle Paul was. A small brother may think that he should imitate Paul in
order to have the likeness of God, but this is to have merely the form of godliness. When I was seriously
ill in 1943, there was an elderly co-worker, Sister Wong. She was very much with the Lord and came
from Shanghai purposely to see me. She gave a great deal of help to the brothers and especially to the
sisters. As such a sister in the Lord, she no doubt had a certain kind of appearance. After she stayed
among us for about two weeks, all the young sisters began to imitate her. She spoke in a certain way, so
all the young sisters learned to speak in the same way. After I recovered, I gave a message to these
sisters to tell them that this is not godliness. It is merely a kind of imitation, a form. I told them that they
should simply be genuine. They should learn to open themselves to the Lord so that He can fill them.
Then with each of them He would come out in His own way. All the manifestations would be of the Lord,
but the manifestations would be different. Again I say, the growth of life is simply the increase,
expanding, and spreading of Christ. It is not anything with only a form.

ZEAL IN SERVICE

There is also a difference between the growth of life and zeal in service. Acts 22:3 proves that zeal is
something different from Christ as life. Paul said of himself that before he received Christ, he was
“trained at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the strictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for
God, even as you all are today.” Paul was without Christ, yet he was zealous. Nearly all the Jews at that
time were zealous without Christ. What then is the real zeal? It is the burning of Christ. When we open
to Christ and let Him come in to fill us, He is the burning One. Not only will He flow out of us, but He will
burn us and cause us to be burning to burn others. The more we contact Him and are filled with Him,
the more we are burned, and the more we will be burning.

The real zeal comes not from the soul but from the spirit, as Romans 12:11 says, “Do not be slothful in
zeal, but be burning in spirit, serving the Lord.” How can we be burning in spirit? This requires that we
open to the Lord from the depths of our being, from our spirit, and let the Lord fill us from within. Then
we will be burned in the spirit, and we will be zealous, fervent, in the spirit.

We must learn how to differentiate between a person who is merely fervent and zealous in the service
to God from a person who is filled with Christ, burned by Christ, and burning in spirit. This zeal, this
burning, must be Christ Himself. Again, this is the real growth of life. We may have Christ as life within
but not have the growth of life. If we have the growth of life, we will be burned by Him, and we will
become burning. This is the real zeal for service.

THE INCREASE OF KNOWLEDGE

We must also see the difference between the growth of life and the increase of knowledge. Knowledge
is not life. Today in Christianity there is too much knowledge. Comparatively speaking, many people
have too much knowledge, although they know too little of what they need to know. There is too little
genuine life. Mere knowledge is teaching and doctrines, whereas life is Christ Himself. As we have
clearly seen, the growth of life is the increase and expanding of Christ, not the increase of knowledge.
Knowledge is something in the soul, but life is something in the spirit. If we subtract the knowledge that
is merely in the soul, then whatever is left must be in the spirit.

The first Epistle to the Corinthians deals with this matter. What the Corinthians had was merely
knowledge in the soul. Therefore, this book tells us that knowledge puffs up (8:1). All those Corinthian
believers were soulish, having much knowledge in their soul. Therefore, the apostle Paul exhorted them
to exercise not their soul but their spirit, not to learn more knowledge but to contact the Lord more and
more. It is in this book that he says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit” (6:17). The soul is
something full of knowledge, but the spirit is full of Christ. In this book we have the contrast between
Christ and knowledge. Christ is the very life in the spirit, and all else is merely knowledge in the soul.
Whatever we know, regardless of what it is, even the knowledge about God, may be mere knowledge in
the soul. The Corinthians considered that they knew many things, so the apostle Paul dealt with them to
tell them that whatever they knew was only in the way of knowledge in the soul. Rather, what they
needed was the real experience of Christ as life in the spirit.

Knowledge is something in the soul, whereas life is something in the spirit. Whatever we have in the
soul is only knowledge. We may even have much knowledge in the soul about Christ, but what we need
is not to open our mentality to knowledge but to open our spirit to the Lord. Today we need one thing:
to open ourselves to the Lord, to contact Him, and to let Him come in to fill us, saturate us, and make
His home in us that we may be filled not with the knowledge of God but unto all the fullness of God. This
is the one thing we stress in these days.

THE MANIFESTATION OF GIFTS

The growth of life is different from the manifestation of the miraculous, supernatural gifts mentioned in
1 Corinthians 12 and 14. It is a real tragedy in today’s Christianity that many Christians consider the
miraculous gifts the same as life. The donkey of the prophet Balaam that spoke in human language is a
very good illustration to show that miraculous gifts are not something of life (Num. 22:28). What the
donkey spoke was a genuine, real tongue. Many people today proclaim that they have spoken in
tongues, but I doubt whether they have spoken in a genuine tongue. However, even if someone speaks
in a genuine tongue, that still is not life.

First Corinthians deals not only with knowledge but also with gifts. Not only knowledge but gifts also are
in contrast to Christ. Verses 22 and 23 of chapter 1 say, “Indeed Jews require signs and Greeks seek
wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness.” Signs
and wonders are something miraculous and supernatural. We have to be careful in speaking about gifts,
because this matter is very complicated. I must speak the truth to say that in all my Christian life I never
saw a person who stressed speaking in tongues who was a genuinely spiritual person. It is hard for
almost any brother or sister who insists on speaking in tongues to know life.

Here we have a difference. Life is one thing, and the manifestation of gifts is another. We do realize that
the proper manifestation of the gifts is for life. However, the manifestation of gifts is not life itself. Life is
Christ, and the growth of life is the increase and expanding of Christ. The Corinthian believers at that
time cared the most for speaking in tongues, but in chapter 3 Paul told them that they were not only
childish but were even infants (v. 1). They spoke in tongues the most, yet they were infants because
they were distracted by speaking in tongues. The proper use of speaking in tongues is to be a help for
life, but the Corinthians were distracted by this matter, so they were frustrated from knowing Christ as
their life.

Knowledge is not life and neither are gifts. Any kind of gift is not life, because life is simply Christ
Himself. Therefore, the growth of life is the increase of Christ. It is not the manifestation of any kind of
gift. To speak in tongues and to heal people miraculously are the manifestations of gifts. These are for
life, but they are not life itself.

THE INCREASE OF POWER

There is also a difference between the growth of life and the increase of power. Samson was very
powerful, but what did he have—life or mere power? Sometimes people say that Peter was also
powerful. Often, though, I consider that Peter was not as powerful as Samson. Peter was powerful in a
different realm, in a different way. Samson had genuine power from God, but that power was not life.
We cannot see much life in the record of Samson.

Today most Christians do not differentiate power from life. In a sense, someone may even have a kind of
spiritual power but still be very short of life. Power must be for life, but people today mistake power for
life. A powerful person may not be full of life. We have to differentiate these two. Power is for life, but
power is not life. Regardless of how much increase of power we have, we may still be poor in the growth
of life. For the growth of life there is the need of the work of the cross, but for power in itself there is
not such a need.

What then is life? Again I say, life is Christ Himself, and the real growth of life is the increase and
expanding of Christ. How can we have the expanding of Christ? There is no other way but to always
open ourselves to the Lord and contact Him, not only once a day but all the time, daily, every day. We
have to open ourselves to Him and let Him come in. Therefore, we should forget about behavior, the
form of godliness, zeal in service, knowledge, gifts, and power. Simply pay attention to one thing, that is,
to Christ, to open ourselves to Him, contact Him, breathe Him in, feed on Him, and drink of Him. Then
we will have not merely the improvement of behavior but transformation. We will have not merely the
form of godliness but the reality of godliness. God has the appearance of a precious stone, like jasper, so
we too will have the appearance of jasper (Rev. 4:3; 21:11). We will be transformed into the very image
of God, not in form only but in reality.

Then to be sure, the more we feed on Christ and breathe Him in, the more we will be burned and will be
burning; we will have the real zeal within. We will also have the real knowledge, not the knowledge in
the soul but the real knowledge of Christ in the spirit. We will have the experience rather than mere
knowledge. We will know Christ not merely by reading and listening but by experiencing Him. We also
will have not the mere manifestation of the gifts but the function of life. The function of life comes out
of the growth of life. The more we feed on the Lord, the more we take Him in, and the more we grow in
Him, the more our function in life will come into being. Then we will have the power in life, the
indwelling Christ as the real power, just as 1 Corinthians 1:24 says that Christ is the power of God and
the wisdom of God.

In order to know and experience the inner life more and more, we need to learn to differentiate all
these things. We should forget about everything but life and learn to do only one thing: open ourselves
to Christ, take Him as the tree of life, feed on Him, drink of Him, and breathe Him in more and more.
This produces the genuine growth of life.

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE INTRINSIC SIGNIFICANCE

OF REGENERATION
Scripture Reading: John 1:12-13; 3:6; Eph. 2:5; John 3:14-16, 36; 5:24; 6:47; 1 John 5:11-12; 1 Pet. 1:3;
2 Pet. 1:3-4; Ezek. 36:25-27a; 1 Cor. 2:12; Rom. 8:9-10, 2; John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; Phil. 1:19; Eph.
1:13; 1 John 2:27; 2 Cor. 13:5; Eph. 4:6; 1 John 3:24; 4:12-13, 15; 2 Cor. 5:17

There are many matters related to the inner life. Of these, the first main point is regeneration. We must
go back to the beginning to consider regeneration because many of us are still too short in the
understanding of life, and we are not able to present these truths to others. First we need to experience
the things of life, and then we need to learn how to present them to others in a brief, clear, and
impressive way.

REGENERATION BEING A NEW BIRTH

TO RECEIVE A NEW LIFE

What is regeneration, and what do we obtain by regeneration? Regeneration means to be generated

again, that is, to be born again. Regeneration is a rebirth. We all have had a birth by our parents. By that
birth we received the human life, which is the life for us to exist on this earth. However, that is not the
uncreated, divine, eternal life. God’s intention is to put Himself into us as the eternal life, the uncreated
life, to fulfill His eternal purpose. Therefore, we need another birth; this means that we need another
life. By the birth we have had already, we received a life. Now we need another birth in order to receive
another life, which is nothing less than God Himself.

John 1 tells us that Christ as the expression of God was incarnated in order that we may receive God as
our life. Verses 12 and 13 say, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become
children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” When we receive Christ, we are born of God. This is the
second birth, that is, regeneration. To be regenerated is to be reborn, to be born of God. In our birth
from our parents we received the human life, but now we are born of God to receive the divine life,
which is God Himself.

In regeneration we are born not of the flesh but of the Spirit, of God Himself. John 3:6 says, “That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” To be born of the flesh is the
first birth, but to be born of the Spirit is the second birth. Moreover, this regeneration is something that
happens in our spirit. Therefore, regeneration is to be born again of God, to receive God in Christ
through the Spirit as a life other than the life we received from our parents. This is the way we should
present the truth of regeneration to others. This word is brief, clear, and impressive.

THROUGH REGENERATION,
LIFE BEING IMPARTED TO OUR SPIRIT

Strictly speaking, whether or not we were fallen, we would still need regeneration. This presents a
problem in the theology of today’s Christianity. Today’s theology tells people that because we are fallen,
our life has became rotten; therefore, we need a better life. In a sense this is right, but we should realize
that even if man had never become fallen, he would still need to be born again. The spirit of man was
deadened by the fall through sin. Now through the redemption of the Lord’s blood, the Holy Spirit has
gained the ground to come to give life to this deadened spirit, to impart Christ as life into this spirit.

If our spirit had only been made alive, that would simply have been a kind of recovery. What happens,
though, is not only a recovering but a regenerating, a life-imparting, because the Holy Spirit brings Christ
Himself into us. The Greek word in Ephesians 2:5 translated as quicken in the King James Version means
“to give life.” In every language there is a shortage, and in English this word is a problem for translators.
In English we can use the noun eye as a verb, as in Hymns, #206, which says, “The Bride eyes not her
garment.” In Chinese the word life is both a noun and a verb. If it were possible, in English also we
should use the word life as a verb. The Holy Spirit comes to “life” us. Thus, “to put life into us” is the
correct meaning of the Greek word in verse 5, which has zoe—the divine, eternal life—as its root, as
does the phrase life-giving Spirit in 1 Corinthians 15:45. When the Holy Spirit comes, He comes in as the
Spirit of life to life us. When we are “lifed,” we are not only “quickened,” but we also have the Triune
God within us as our life. In this way we are regenerated. We are born once more not of flesh but of the
divine Spirit, that is, of God Himself. Hence, we are born of God. What is regeneration? Regeneration is
to be born again of God, to have God Himself in Christ through the Spirit as the divine life, which has
come into us in addition to the life which we received through our parents.

REGENERATION BEING DISTINCT

FROM THE BREATH OF LIFE IN GENESIS 2:7

The breath of life that God breathed into man in Genesis 2:7 was only a part of God’s creation, for the
purpose that man could live. At that time, however, God did not commit Himself to be within man. The
dust with which God created man became his body, whereas the breath of life became his human spirit.
That breath was not God Himself. Some Christian teachers have made a serious mistake, teaching that
at the time of creation God put Himself into man. At that time God only gave the breath of life to man to
cause man to live. That produced merely a created human life.

The proper definition of regeneration is to have a second birth, to be born again. We all have been born
once of our parents; by that birth we received the human life from our parents. Now we have a human
life within us. However, this life is good only for us to exist on this earth. It is not good enough for us to
fulfill God’s purpose. God’s intention is to put Himself into us as the eternal life, the divine life, to fulfill
His purpose. Therefore, we need to be born again, to have a second birth to receive the divine life into
us. That is why John 1:12-13 tells us that as many as received Him were born of God, and John 3:6 says
that these were born in their spirit of the divine Spirit. Regeneration is to be born of God, to receive God
into us in Christ through the Spirit as the divine life, which is a life other than our natural life. It is by this
life that we can fulfill the eternal purpose of God.

WHAT WE OBTAIN THROUGH REGENERATION

The Divine Life

The first thing we obtain by regeneration is life, and because we obtain life, our human spirit is made
alive. What is this life that we have obtained? Before we were regenerated, we already had the human
life, the created life that we received from our parents. This life is not the real life. It is only temporary, a
shadow of the real life, just as the food we take in day by day is not the real food but a shadow of Christ
as our real food. Now through regeneration we have received the uncreated life, which is the divine,
spiritual, heavenly, real, eternal life, without beginning and without end. This life is nothing less than
God Himself in Christ through the Spirit. All other lives are merely shadows of this one.

John 3 proves to us that when we were regenerated, we received the divine life. Verses 14 through 16
say, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that
everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” John
3:36; 5:24; 6:47; and 1 John 5:11 and 12 also show us that by regeneration we receive the eternal life,
which is God Himself. The law of life, the fellowship of life, the sense of life, and the light of life all come
from life. We may say that these are “by-products” of the life we received in regeneration.

The Divine Nature

With life there is also a nature. By regeneration we have received the essence of the divine life, and we
have also received the divine nature. Second Peter 1:3 says, “Seeing that His divine power has granted
to us all things which relate to life and godliness, through the full knowledge of Him who has called us by
His own glory and virtue.” Life is the inward content, while godliness is the outward expression. The
divine power of God has given us all things relating, pertaining, to life within and godliness without.
Then verse 4 says, “Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that
through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is
in the world by lust.” By the precious and exceedingly great promises we are partakers of the divine
nature, the nature of God. Have you ever realized that we have the nature of God within us? In the first
Epistle of Peter, verse 3 of chapter 1 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead.” The first chapter of the first book of Peter speaks of regeneration through the
resurrection of Christ, and the first chapter of the second book speaks of partaking of the divine nature.
This shows us that we receive the divine nature by regeneration.

The Spirit

By regeneration we have also received the Spirit into us. Ezekiel 36:25 through 27 is a passage dealing
with regeneration. Verse 25 speaks of cleansing on the negative side, and verse 26 tells us that our old
heart and deadened spirit have been renewed. After this, verse 27a says, “And I will put My Spirit within
you.” After cleansing us and renewing us, God put His own Spirit into us. This is the best verse to show
that in regeneration we received the Spirit into us.

The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ,

and the Spirit of Life
First Corinthians 2:12 also tells us that we have received the Spirit which is of God. Romans 8:9 says,
“You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.” We should know all these different terms. The Spirit of
God today is the Spirit of Christ, and this Spirit of Christ today is the Spirit of life within us (v. 2). The
main purpose of the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of Christ, is to be life to us. The phrase Spirit of power
cannot be found in the New Testament (the spirit of power in 2 Timothy 1:7 is the regenerated human
spirit, not the Holy Spirit). However, in Romans 8:2 there is clearly the term Spirit of life. This is because
the main purpose of the Spirit who dwells in us is not power but life. If the Spirit within us is for some
kind of power, He is for resurrection power, which is the power of life. The Spirit of God in us today is
the Spirit of Christ for the purpose of life.

The Spirit of Reality

This Spirit of life dwells in us as the Spirit of truth, that is, the Spirit of reality (John 14:17).

The Comforter

The Spirit of reality, as the reality of Christ, is the Comforter (vv. 16, 26; 15:26). There is no adequate
equivalent in English for the Greek word for Comforter, so we have borrowed the Greek word as
Paraclete. This word has two meanings, a legal one and a civil one. In legal terms, a paraclete is an
attorney who takes care of your whole case in the law court. In civil terms, a paraclete is a patron who
serves you and takes care of you. If you need food, he gives you food. If you need water, he gives you
water, and if you need medicine, he gives you medicine, somewhat like a nurse does. Today the Spirit of
life is in us as the Paraclete. Therefore, with this Paraclete there is the bountiful supply. Philippians 1:19
says, “I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of
the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” Again, here we do not have an adequate translation. The word supply
indicates a bountiful, all-sufficient, all-inclusive supply. This is the supply of the Paraclete, the Spirit of
Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of life, who is the Spirit of the reality of Christ, and He is within us as the
Paraclete to take care of us in every way. If we need to learn teachings from the Bible, it is this kind of
teaching that we need to learn. Do not pay too much attention to the teachings of dispensations,
sovereign grace, and sovereign will. Rather, learn to know the practical things of life. In Christianity
today too many people pay attention to learning all kinds of doctrines but not the teachings concerning
life. Anything related to life is generally neglected.

The Seal and the Pledge

The Holy Spirit within us is the seal (Eph. 1:13). A seal is a stamp of ownership. When the Chinese buy a
book, for example, they put their seal on it. When I buy a Bible, I always put my seal on it; then everyone
knows this Bible belongs to me. The Holy Spirit dwells in us as a seal, testifying that we belong to God.
The Holy Spirit as the seal declares that we are the inheritance, the property, of God.
Verse 14 and 2 Corinthians 1:22 tell us that the sealing Spirit is also the pledge. The pledge is the
earnest, the down payment, or guarantee of the full payment of God Himself. As the seal the Spirit
marks us as God’s inheritance, God’s property, and as the pledge He is the guarantee that God is our
inheritance.

The Anointing

The Spirit whom we have received is also the anointing Spirit (1 John 2:27).

There are many other aspects of the Spirit, such as the Spirit of sonship, the Spirit of holiness, and the
Spirit of wisdom (Isa. 11:2). The above aspects, however, are the main ones. The Spirit of God today,
who is the Spirit of Christ, is within us as the Spirit of life, who is also the Spirit of reality, the Paraclete,
the seal, the earnest, and the anointing. We need to know all these items of the Spirit not only in
knowledge but also by experience.

The Son

Fourth, in regeneration we also receive the Son. Second Corinthians 13:5 and Romans 8:10 prove to us
that the Son, Christ, is within us.

The Father

Ephesians 4:6 indicates that through regeneration we have also received the Father. This verse says,
“One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” We have the divine life, the divine
nature, the Spirit, the Son, and God the Father in us. First John 3:24 says, “He who keeps His
commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And in this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit
whom He gave to us.” Verses 12 and 13 of chapter 4 say, “No one has beheld God at any time; if we love
one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. In this we know that we abide in Him and
He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit.” Verse 15 says, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of
God, God abides in him and he in God.” These verses prove adequately that God is in us.

What have we obtained by regeneration? We have the divine life, the divine nature, the Holy Spirit, the
Son, and the Father God within us. Have you ever fully realized that by your regeneration you have
received all these items? These are simply the spiritual ABCs. Many Christians today think that they
know many things, and they do, but the one thing they do not know is life. The matter of life is not
something in our natural human concept, as many other teachings are. If you put a Christian to the test
and ask him or her to speak something about life, you will see where Christians today are. The matter of
life is veiled by the enemy.

The above five items that we receive in regeneration are actually just one item with five aspects. The
Father is in the Son, the Son is the Spirit, the Spirit is the Spirit of life, and within the divine life is the
divine nature. The Son is the embodiment of the Father, so the Father is in the Son. The Spirit is the
reality of the Son, so the Son is the Spirit. This Spirit comes into us as the Spirit of life, and within this life
is the divine nature. The divine life we have received is nothing less than God Himself, but not merely
God in a simple way. Rather, God the Father is the fullness in God the Son, God the Son is the very
embodiment of God the Father, God the Son is realized as God the Spirit, and God the Spirit is the very
transmission of the Triune God who comes into us as the divine life with the divine nature.

All the divine attributes such as wisdom, holiness, power, and love are in this Spirit. If we have this Spirit
as the all-inclusive dose, we have all these divine attributes. In this all-inclusive Spirit we even have the
human nature of Christ and the effectiveness and killing power of Christ’s death. All this we have
obtained by regeneration.

WHAT HAPPENS TO US IN REGENERATION

We have seen what regeneration is and what we obtain by regeneration. Now we may see what
happens to us in regeneration.

Being Renewed in Our Heart

According to Ezekiel 36:26, in regeneration our heart and our spirit are renewed. Before regeneration,
our heart was a stony heart. It was not dead; the Bible never tells us that our heart is dead. Rather, it
tells us that our heart is hardened, so it becomes rotten and stony.

Within the tripartite man are two kind of hearts, the physical heart and the psychological heart. Medical
doctors deal with the physical heart, whereas a little “doctor” like me deals with the psychological heart.
The physical heart is in the body, but according to the Scriptures where is the psychological heart? The
first word of the New Testament gospel is repent. This is because the mind of man was turned away
from God. To repent is to turn our mind back, to have a change of mind. Then after we repent, we have
to confess. This is to exercise the conscience. Before this time the conscience was seared, without
feeling; it was evil and careless. Now through our repenting the conscience starts to work, giving us the
sense that we are sinful, so spontaneously we confess all our sinfulness. In addition, in our emotion we
loved the world and hated God, but by repentance and confession spontaneously our emotion starts to
delight in God and love Him. Before this time also, our will was hardened and stiff-necked, like the will of
Pharaoh at the time of Moses.

If we add all these four items together—a mind turned away from God; a conscience seared, insensitive,
without any feeling, and careless; an emotion hating God; and a hardened will—what we have is a stony
heart. Our heart was hardened, like a piece of stone, but at the time of our regeneration, God the Spirit
did something miraculous and divine to soften and renew our heart. He did this by causing us to turn
our mind to God, causing us to have an exercised conscience sprinkled with the cleansing blood, causing
our emotion to delight in God and love God, and causing our will to be not only softened but also pliable
and very submissive. By all this, our stony heart became a renewed heart. This is the first thing that
happened to us at the time of regeneration.

Being Renewed in Our Spirit

Ezekiel 36:26b says, “A new spirit I will put within you.” Before regeneration our heart was hardened,
like a piece of stone, and our human spirit was deadened. This means that all the functions of the spirit
were lost; the spirit was without function. At the time of regeneration, however, our heart was
softened, and our spirit was made alive. Our spirit was “lifed,” made alive, by the Holy Spirit coming into
our spirit to be life to us. Since life came into our spirit, it was lifed. All of the above are the meaning of
regeneration. In order to define what regeneration is, we have to tell people the definition and meaning
of regeneration, what we obtain by regeneration, and what happened to us at the time of regeneration.

WHAT WE BECOME BY REGENERATION

Children of God

We must also consider what we become by regeneration. First, we become children of God, because by
regeneration we are born of God (John 1:12-13.)

A New Creation

By regeneration we also become a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). As children of God, we have God within us
as life, but as the new creation, we have God within us as our essence, element, and substance. What is
the difference between the old creation and the new creation? The old creation does not have God as
the essence, element, and substance, but in the new creation the essence, element, and substance of
God are mingled with the creatures. Praise the Lord, today we are regenerated! We have God within us
as our life, so we are God’s children, and we have God within us as our very substance and element, so
we are the new creation.

If we can adequately tell people what the meaning of regeneration is, what we obtain by regeneration,
what happened to us at the time of regeneration, and what we become through regeneration, then we
are clear about regeneration, and this will help us very much to go on in life. These are the ABCs of the
inner life.

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE CONDITION OF OUR SPIRIT

WITH RESPECT TO REGENERATION

Scripture Reading: Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 2:13; John 3:6; Ezek. 36:26; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22; John 4:24; Rom.
1:9a; Eph. 6:18; Rom. 8:4-5; 1 Cor. 2:11; Gal. 6:1; 1 Pet. 3:3-4

In this chapter we will see the condition of our spirit in three stages: before regeneration, at the time of
regeneration, and after regeneration.

THE CONDITION OF OUR SPIRIT BEFORE REGENERATION

According to Ephesians 2:1 and 5 and Colossians 2:13, our spirit was deadened before we were
regenerated. Apparently, these verses do not mention the word spirit. However, consider our past
before we were regenerated. Before regeneration our body was not dead. If our body was dead, we
should have been buried. Before we were regenerated, our soul was not dead either. In fact, it was very
active and alive. Our body was not dead, our soul was not dead, and neither was our heart dead, but
these two portions of the Word say clearly that we were dead. In what part then were we dead? Since
we have a spirit, a soul, and a body, it must be that before the time of our regeneration we were dead in
our spirit.

For the spirit to be dead mainly means that it lost its function. If my eyes lose their function, then they
are dead eyes. The function of the spirit is to contact God, receive God, and sense God. Before we were
regenerated, our body was very alive, and our soul was very active with many functions, but our spirit
was dormant, without function and without the sense of God. Since the function to contact God was
lost, our spirit was deadened and dormant.

THE CONDITION OF OUR SPIRIT

AT THE TIME OF REGENERATION

According to the same verses mentioned above in Ephesians and Colossians, at the time of regeneration
our spirit was made alive. In addition, John 3:6 tells us that our deadened spirit was not only made alive
but also was regenerated. This verse says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit.” According to Ezekiel 36:26, our regenerated spirit was also renewed. Our dead
spirit had become old. Everything dead becomes old; dead things are old things, like an old, dead tree.
Now at the time of regeneration the deadened spirit was made alive, regenerated, and renewed. It
became a living spirit and a new spirit.

THE CONDITION AND FUNCTION OF OUR SPIRIT

AFTER REGENERATION

The Condition of Our Spirit—Being Indwelt

by the Holy Spirit and by Christ Himself

After we were regenerated, our conscience was purged and cleansed by the blood of Jesus, the
fellowship of the spirit was revived, and the intuition of the spirit was made sensitive. However, there is
something more important than this related to the condition of our spirit. After regeneration the Spirit
of God is now in our spirit. Not only is the spirit itself with its three parts revived, but it now has the
Spirit of God, even Christ Himself, in it. Romans 8:16 tells us that the Spirit today is in our spirit. This
verse says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.” Then 2 Timothy
4:22 confirms that Christ is in our spirit: “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.” This verse is
as important as John 3:16, but almost no one pays attention to it. John 3:16 says that God so loved the
world, that is, the people of this world, that He gave His Son to them. Now we have His Son. Where is
He? He is in our spirit.

Some dear Christians, even certain Christian teachers, say that the spirit is the same as the soul.
However, we cannot find a verse that tells us that the Holy Spirit is in our soul, nor can we find a verse
saying that the Lord Jesus Christ is with our soul. Romans 8:16 says that the Holy Spirit bears witness
with our spirit, and 2 Timothy 4:22 says that the Lord is with our spirit. Now we are clear about the
condition of our spirit. Our spirit is made alive, regenerated, and renewed, the Holy Spirit is in it, and the
Lord is with it. Our spirit is in a very healthy and strong condition.
The Function of Our Spirit

To Worship and Contact God

Now we may see what the function of our regenerated spirit is. To worship and contact God is a matter
of the spirit. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and
truthfulness.” In the entire Bible is there a verse telling us to worship God in the soul? By this we can see
that there is a difference between the spirit and the soul. This is not a small matter. We cannot see with
our ears, and we cannot speak by using our eyes. This is to use the wrong organs. To contact God and to
worship God is something in the spirit.

To Serve God

Romans 1:9a says, “God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit.” To love God is a matter of the heart,
but to serve God is a matter in the spirit. Verse 6 of chapter 7 says, “Now we have been discharged from
the law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in
oldness of letter.” This verse does not tell us that we serve in newness of the heart, mind, soul, or body.
We can serve God only in the spirit, in newness of spirit. To worship God is something in the spirit, and
to serve God is also in the spirit.

To Pray

We also pray in the spirit. Ephesians 6:18 says, “Praying at every time in spirit.” There is no article here
in the Greek text, so spirit should be rendered in lowercase.

To Live and to Walk

We also live and walk according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4-5).

To Know the Spiritual Things

In addition, 1 Corinthians 2:11 says that the spirit of man knows. To know the things of God is a matter
in the spirit. The function of our spirit is to worship, to serve, to pray, to live, and to know the things of
God.

To Work for the Lord

Galatians 6:1 says, “Brothers, even if a man is overtaken in some offense, you who are spiritual restore
such a one in a spirit of meekness, looking to yourself lest you also be tempted.” To restore a brother is
to help a brother. In principle, this is an example of our work for the Lord. We need to work for the Lord
in the spirit.

To Be Adorned

First Peter 3:3 and 4 say, “Let your adorning not be the outward plaiting of hair and putting on of gold or
clothing with garments, but the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptible adornment of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is very costly in the sight of God.” Our adornment must be in the spirit.
The above seven items concerning the condition of the spirit are adequate to represent all the matters
of the spirit: to worship God in the spirit, to serve God in the spirit, to pray in the spirit, to live and walk
in the spirit, to know the things of God in the spirit, to work for God in the spirit, and to adorn ourselves
in the spirit. Are there any passages in the Word telling us to worship in the soul, to serve in the soul, to
pray in the soul, or to live and walk according to the soul? Rather, there are verses in the four Gospels in
which the Lord Himself tells us to deny the soul, to put the soul on the cross. Likewise, are there any
verses telling us that we can know God in the soul? On the contrary, 1 Corinthians 2:14 tells us that the
soulish man, the man of the soul and living in the soul, cannot understand the things of God and that the
things of God are foolishness to him. Moreover, there are no verses telling us to help the brothers in the
soul.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SPIRIT AND THE SOUL

By all this we can see the great difference between the spirit and the soul. The teaching of dichotomy
says that the soul and spirit are the same. However, they are not the same, just as we cannot say that
the ears are the eyes. The ears and the eyes are very close to each other, but they are not the same.

Luke 1:46 and 47 say, “Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has exulted in God my
Savior.” This portion of the Word proves that the spirit is not the soul. Here the soul does one thing,
whereas the spirit does another thing. In addition, to magnify is one thing, but to rejoice is another. To
magnify the Lord is something in the soul, and to exult in the Lord is something in the spirit. We cannot
say that we magnify the Lord in our spirit. According to the proper meaning of magnify, this is
something that is done in our soul. The best way to take the Word is to take the clear words in it. These
verses are very clear. We worship God in spirit, serve the Lord in spirit, pray in spirit, live and walk in
spirit, know the things of God by the spirit, work for the Lord in the spirit, and even adorn ourselves in
the spirit. To be sure, there is a soul and there is a function for the soul, but we have to realize that the
spirit comes first.

Therefore, we cannot say that spirit and soul are synonymous terms, that we can use either one in
either way. No, the spirit is the spirit, and the soul is the soul. In the Bible these two words are never
used interchangeably, just as the eyes and the ears are very close to each other but are different.

CHAPTER NINE

DIFFERENTIATING THE SPIRIT FROM THE SOUL

Scripture Reading: Heb. 4:12; 1 Thes. 5:23; Matt. 16:24-26; Luke 9:23-25; Rom. 8:6; 2 Cor. 3:17

We have seen clearly what the condition and the function of the spirit are. Now we must learn how to
differentiate the spirit from the soul. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and operative and
sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and
marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Joints are the bones, and marrow
is within the bone. Just as we differentiate these two things, we have to differentiate the spirit from the
soul.
It is difficult to differentiate the spirit from the soul. This is because we are fallen people. As we have
seen, the spirit of fallen man was deadened, and it lost its function. This means that the human spirit
within fallen man did not function. From our youth, even from the day of our birth, we did not exercise
our spirit. If we do not exercise any organ of our being for a certain time, it becomes useless. An expert
once told me that if we do not use our eyes for three months, they will lose the function of sight, and it
will take a long time to recover our vision. As fallen people, our spirit was deadened, and for a long time
we did not use it. However, we were very accustomed to using our body and our soul. Therefore, after
the fall of man, the human mind became overdeveloped. Now the mind is always too active. Even after
we are saved and our spirit is made alive and renewed, we still are not used to exercising the spirit.

Today’s psychology does not even recognize that there is a spirit in man. The science of psychology only
recognizes the body and the psyche, that is, the soul. The Bible, however, reveals to us that we have a
third part, not only a body and a soul but also a spirit. First Thessalonians 5:23 says, “The God of peace
Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without
blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our soul comprises the mind as the leading part and the
emotion and the will. Our spirit, which was deadened, is made alive, regenerated, and renewed.
However, we are still not used to the exercise of the spirit.

More than twenty years ago we lived in a small town in northern China. Like other homes in that town,
ours had no electricity, so we used an oil lamp for a long time. One day electricity was installed in our
home. At that time I visited people almost every day beginning early in the morning, and I came back in
the evening. Whenever I came back home, the first thing I did was to put away my bicycle and pick up a
match to light the lamp, even after electric lights had been installed. When I did this, our children would
laugh at me. When I saw them laughing, I said to myself, “Foolish man, throw the match away.” Then I
went to the switch to turn on the lights. For many years I was used to picking up a match to light the
lamp. Now electricity had been installed, but I was not used to it. Today the heavenly “electricity” has
been installed in our spirit, but we are not used to exercising this part. We are still used to “picking up
the match” in our soul.

DENYING THE SELF BY DENYING

THE NATURAL MIND, EMOTION, AND WILL

How can we differentiate the spirit from the soul? As Christians, the regenerated ones, whenever we are
going to do something, we have to learn the lesson to deny the soul and the self. If we read Matthew
16:24 through 26 and Luke 9:23 through 25, we can see that the soul is the very self. These two
passages clearly tell us that to deny the self is to deny the soul. When I was young, I asked people what
it meant to deny the self. I simply did not know what to deny. Eventually, by reading the Word and
through experience, we came to know that the self is the soul. Matthew 16:26 says, “For what shall a
man be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul-life?” whereas Luke 9:25 says, “For
what is a man profited if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself?” These passages prove
that the soul is the self.
As we have pointed out, the soul is composed of the mind, emotion, and will. Therefore, we now have
the answer to the question, “What do I deny?” To deny the self is to deny our own mind, emotion, and
will. The mind, emotion, and will added together equal the soul. If we subtract the mind, subtract the
emotion, and subtract the will, there is nothing left. We should not speak merely doctrinally but
practically. To deny the self is to deny the mind, the emotion, and the will. When we go to do something
for God, for a brother, or even for ourselves, as children of God, reborn persons, those who are learning
to walk in the presence of the Lord and please the Lord, we have to learn the lesson to deny our self in
whatever we do.

Someone may say that after we deny our natural mind, natural emotion, and natural will, nothing will be
left. It seems that this is true, but it is not altogether true. There is truly something left, that is, the spirit.
We may not be able to place it, but we still have to exercise it. We must deny the mind, emotion, and
will and try to exercise something else (not, of course, the body). Put this into practice and try it for two
or three days. Eventually, something will come up from the spirit. Even in the ministry of the Word,
many times I have denied what I know, what I like, and what I have decided to speak. Sometimes after I
did this, I became blank, having nothing within, but I still stood on the ground of denying all these things.
Then after a few hours something sprang up from deep within and became clear to me, sometimes right
away but sometimes gradually, bit by bit. Then I knew what I had to minister.

When I come to visit a brother, for example, I have to learn the lesson to deny my mind, my emotions,
and my will. When I get into his home and begin to speak, there is nothing of the mind, emotions, or
will. I have denied them and given them up. At that time I will exercise not my body but the hidden part,
the inmost part, silently praying, “Lord, what should I say?” In my mind I may have many things to say,
from Genesis through the Psalms to Malachi and then from Matthew through Acts and Romans and on
to the book of Revelation. In addition, I may be desirous to talk, especially about international affairs.
This is my emotion, so I must take the cross. My mind full of the Bible knowledge must be crossed out,
and my emotion which is so willing to talk about Europe, Asia, and Africa must be put on the cross. Then
after five minutes I may still have nothing, so I still look to the Lord. Gradually, something comes up from
within, that is, from my spirit.

I can tell you a number of real experiences like this. Many times, as I was about to give a message, I
denied my mind, my emotion, and my will. Then as I was going to the platform, there was nothing
within. A responsible brother announced a hymn, and everyone sang it, but I simply looked to the Lord:
“Lord, what is Your mind? What must I speak here?” While someone prayed, I was still looking to the
Lord, and during more singing and praying I continued to look to Him. Then after the prayer I had to
stand up. I simply went to the platform and said, “Let us read,” but I did not know what to read. While I
was speaking, “Let us read,” I was still looking to the Lord. Then I said, “the book of John.” Still I did not
know what chapter to read. Even as I said, “John,” I was not clear. Then I said, “chapter 14.” This
illustrates the way to differentiate the spirit from the soul. The way is to deny the natural mind, the
natural emotion, and the natural will.

A brother and his wife may quarrel in the morning. Then in the evening the brother may ask someone
what he should do about it. What he must do is cross out his mind, his emotion, and his will. Then he
will know what to say to his wife, and whatever he says will be from the spirit. Before this time the
brother may have had many reasons ready in his mind and emotion with which to reason with his wife.
The more he considers his reasons, the stronger he becomes, and he finally makes the decision to go to
his wife in that way. This is the self, and this is the soul. The brother should not do this. He should go to
the Lord and contact Him. If he goes to the Lord in this way, he will learn the lesson. Something within
will cross out his mind with its many reasons, his emotion, and his natural will. He may say, “Lord, if I
cross out all these things, I will have nothing left. What shall I do?” The Lord will say, “You will be gone.
You will be crossed out, and I will come out.” Then gradually something will come up from his spirit, and
he will know what to say to his wife. Whatever he says will be from the spirit.

We should not try to figure out if something is of the spirit or the soul, saying, “This is too shallow, so it
must not be of the spirit, but this other is deeper, so it may be of the spirit.” We can never figure out
what the spirit is in this way. The way to differentiate the spirit from the soul is to deny the self, to
always deny our natural mind, our natural emotion, and our natural will. Then we will see what is left
and what will come out.

MEETING BY DENYING OUR SELF

AND EXERCISING OUR SPIRIT

When we come to the Lord’s table meeting, we should cross out what we know. We should not pray
according to what we know or what we like to pray. We must cross out our decision. Since we have
encouraged the brothers and sisters to participate in the meetings, many have truly been convinced.
Therefore, before the Lord’s table a brother may prepare to offer a prayer about the Lord’s love. Then
he considers John 3:16 and the constraining love of Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:14 until he is burdened in
his emotions and makes the decision to offer a prayer about this. If we pray in this way, our prayer will
be deadened. This is the wrong way. We have to learn to cross out what we know, cross out what we
like, and cross out what we decide to do. Now when we come to the meeting, we will say, “Lord, I am
open. My mind, emotion, and will have all been crossed out, and there is nothing of me left.” Then we
will exercise to speak something from within, and whatever we say will be of the spirit.

The way to differentiate the spirit from the soul is to take the cross. We should learn to apply this to
ourselves. When we first practice this, many times after denying our self we will seem blank. However,
after a certain time of practice, it will be very easy to have something after we deny our self, because
our spirit will be exercised to be very sensitive. After a certain period of practice and exercise, our spirit
will be sensitive, and we will be used to the sensitivity of the spirit. We all need to learn this lesson. By
way of testimony, I can tell you that even today I was not clear what I should minister. In the morning I
thought that I should come to a different point, but by the afternoon I had a real burden to speak
something else. I denied my thought and said, “Lord, what is Your mind about the next point I should
speak on?”

Most Christians today do not know the proper way to have a church meeting. They have their meeting
merely according to traditions, forms, and regulations, either written or understood. If we all will learn
the lesson how to deny the soul and let something spring up from within the spirit, our meetings will be
revolutionized. What passage in the New Testament tells us to meet in the way we do today? We
learned the way we are taking today from our background in Christianity. We start the meeting with a
hymn, but where is the scriptural ground for this? We have to break our traditional, formal, natural, old
ways from our background. If you ask me what the right way to meet is, I would say that I do not know.
One thing I do know, however, is that when we all come together, we have to come in the way of
denying the mind, denying the emotion, and denying the will. Then we will see what comes up from the
spirit.

In a recent prayer meeting I was very happy that we did not start with a hymn. We simply started to
pray. Sometimes to not use any hymns will take us to the highest heavens. Eventually, some hymns
were called, but they were an interruption to the meeting. At that time I myself chose a hymn only to
help bring us back. Sometimes we have to follow in the wrong direction to bring people back to the right
way. This is what the Lord did with those two disciples on the way to Emmaus. However, we simply
should have prayed, perhaps even until midnight. What a bondage traditional knowledge is! Where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, release, and freedom (2 Cor. 3:17).

I cannot tell you what the right way for Christians to meet is, but I do believe the proper way is that we
have to come together by denying the mind, the emotion, and the will, along with all our forms. We
must simply do one thing—exercise our spirit. Then let us see what comes out. I have a heavy burden
about this. To discard all the traditional ways is a revelation, even a revolution. We do not have any
scriptural ground to prove that the present way for our meetings is right. I do not know what the proper
way is, but I do know that what we must do is deny the soul and meet not according to knowledge but
according to the spirit. Then the Holy Spirit will have the free way. The way to differentiate the spirit
from the soul is to deny the negative thing; then the positive thing will spring up. Learn to do this, and
try to do this. Then you will see the result.

KNOWING THE SPIRIT BY LIFE, PEACE, AND FREEDOM

There are two main verses in the Bible that give us the way to know the spirit. Romans 8:6 says, “The
mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” Similarly, 2 Corinthians
3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” In Romans 8
there are two key words: life and peace. Then 2 Corinthians 3 speaks of freedom. Life, peace, and
freedom, or release, are the way to know the spirit. Whenever we have life, peace, and release within,
we are in the way of the spirit. For the way to know that we are in the flesh, there is just one word:
death. Death is versus life, peace, and freedom. When we have death within, we do not have life, and
neither do we have peace or freedom. If someone is full of death, there is no need for him to argue that
he is not in the flesh. It is by death that we know the flesh, and in the same principle it is by life, peace,
and release that we know the spirit.

In our physical body there is a life, yet it is hard for anyone to show us the life. If a medical doctor
examines a dead body, he cannot find death itself, but the life is gone. We know that there is life or
death in a body by the expressions of the body. If we come to someone and see the expression of death,
this shows that his life is gone; then we know that this is a dead person. It is also by certain expressions
that we know there is life in a person. In the same way, the way to know the spirit is by its expressions,
which are revealed in the above two verses: life, peace, and freedom.