Postscript

  Today I rejoice because I have finished the last section of this book. When I wrote the preface, I had only finished the first four sections. While I was writing the last four sections I felt that I still had much to say to my readers. Hence, this postscript.

  Sixteen months ago I began writing this book. During these sixteen months, I have been burdened with this book every moment. The enemy is not happy when he sees God's truth being preached in this way. Therefore, attacks came from all angles, and it seemed as if they had become too much for me to handle. But thank the Lord that His grace sustained me until today. Many times I thought that there was no way to go on; the pressure in the spirit was too great, and the body was too weak. It was as if I had lost hope of my very life. But the God whom I serve and to whom I belong has strengthened me according to His promise and in answer to the prayers of many. Today everything is over, and my burden is released. What a consolation for me today!

  Today I offer this book up with both hands to our God. My prayer before Him is that since He has finished what He has begun, He would bless this book for the accomplishment of His commission in His church. I pray that God would bless every one of the readers that they would find the proper path and would learn to follow the Lord unto perfection. My spirit and my prayer now go out with this book. May God use this book according to His excellent will.

  Brothers, humanly speaking, a writer ought not to be too enthusiastic about his own book. But I cannot care about this. I am not drawing attention to it just because it is my book. Today we are here for the truth. If this book were written by someone else, I would have more liberty to recommend it. Therefore, I would ask for your forgiveness in this matter; I am compelled to do this. I only know that the truth in this book is important, and for that reason I cannot shy away from recommending it just because it was written by me. According to my understanding of God's will, I realize that the truth contained in this book is very much needed in this age. I may be mistaken, but one thing is sure: I know that I did not initiate the writing of this book. I was clearly commissioned by the Lord to do it. Moreover, the truths in this book are not mine but are given to me by Him. Even while I was writing this book, He gave me many new blessings.

  I want my readers to fully understand that this book is not on theories of spiritual life and warfare. I myself can testify that the truths contained in this book were learned through many sufferings, trials, and failures. Almost all the teachings have the mark of fire on them. The words were not written lightly but were produced out of the deepest part of my being. God knows where these truths come from.

  Those who read this book will naturally feel that its style is different from ordinary writings. In addition, there are many special terms which are quite incomprehensible. Let me clarify a few points. If a man has never set out to write a book like this, he will not realize in reality how many difficulties there are. It is when he takes up his pen and starts writing that all these problems come before him. The Chinese language does not lend itself easily to spiritual writings. For this reason, I have to express the meaning of the truth in a style that is half Chinese and half foreign. Many terms in the book were created by me. Had I not done this, many truths could not even have been expressed. I hope that the readers will pay special attention to the proper spiritual terms. After they are more widely used, they will not sound that strange anymore. I thank the Lord that during the past few years, many spiritual terms have become common among Chinese believers and can be understood without much explanation. I hope that the readers will not find difficulty with this category of terms.

  When I wrote this book, I did not try to group the same kind of truths in the same place. The reason for this is that I could only mention the different truths as I went along. Although some truths fall under the same category as others, I could only postpone them for later discussions. Many times, because of the importance of some subjects, I have mentioned them repeatedly, hoping that God's children will have a deep impression of them. I deeply feel that believers today forget easily. For this reason, I cannot help but mention these matters again and again at the appropriate times so that they will not be lost. Many people receive a truth only after repeated reminders. "Therefore Jehovah's word to them will be:/Rule upon rule, rule upon rule;/Line upon line, line upon line;/Here a little, there a little" (Isa. 28:13).

  I also realize that many places in this book appear to contradict one another. When readers come to these places, they should realize that in actuality, there are no contradictions; they only appear to be so. Because this book concerns things in the spiritual realm, many theories appear to be contradictory. Actually, in experience, they complement one another. Many spiritual things appear to be contradictory (2 Cor. 4:8-9). I admit that in many places, they appear to be incomprehensible. But my request is that you try your best to understand, and not to misunderstand. If anyone tries purposely to misunderstand, he may find some things in this book which I never intended to say.

  I deeply feel that only one kind of person can understand this book. My original intention for writing this book was to meet the need of many believers. Therefore, only those believers who have a need will understand this book. Those with a need will find this book to be a guide. If a reader has no need, he will either consider its content to be theoretical or will criticize it. The amount of need determines the amount of understanding of this book. If a reader does not have any need in his experience, this book will not solve anything for him and will only serve as an object for idle criticism. Hence, the readers should take note of this point.

  The more profound a truth is, the easier it is to become a theory, because the more profound a truth is, the more difficult it is to attain to it without the operation of the Holy Spirit. Once a person fails to attain to it, he will consider it a theory. Therefore, when we read a book like this, we have to be careful lest we receive its teachings in the mind only, thinking that we have acquired everything. This is most dangerous. If we do this, we will be more deceived by the flesh and the evil spirit day after day.

  The reader of this book should also be careful that he does not take the knowledge he has acquired from this book as a tool for criticizing others. It is easy for us to say that this person is soulish and that person is fleshly. But it is difficult to know if we ourselves are the same. The truth is given to set men free; it is not given to criticize others. I am afraid that some who are naturally inclined to show themselves off will not change after receiving the truth in this book, but will use the truth in this book to criticize their brothers and sisters. This book is meant to lead men on the right path; it is not meant to judge men. If we do this, it means that we are no less soulish than the ones we criticize, only a bit more fleshly. This danger is the greatest, and we should guard against it carefully.

  I have mentioned one thing in my preface, which, due to its extreme importance, I would like to mention again here. This concerns the warning that we should never analyze ourselves. After reading a book of this nature, it would be very easy for us to unconsciously have excessive self-analysis. When we pay attention to the inner life, we tend to be lead into excessive analysis of our own thoughts and feelings and the activities of the inner man. In this way, we may advance much outwardly, but in reality, the self-life will become more difficult to reject. If we turn inward exclusively, we will lose all peace. When we expect to see holiness filling us, yet find that our condition is not as we have expected, we will naturally feel uneasy. God has no intention that we engage ourselves in such introspection. This is the cause of spiritual lethargy. Our rest comes from looking to the Lord alone and not to ourselves. The amount we look to the Lord is the amount of deliverance we will receive. We rest on the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus and not on our volatile experience. Real spiritual life depends not on continuous analysis of our own feelings and thoughts but on looking away to the Savior!

  The readers must not be misled to think that all supernatural things are to be rejected. My purpose is only to help you test if these things are from God. I firmly believe that many supernatural things are from God, and I have seen many of these things. However, I must also admit that there are many supernatural things that are falsely claimed to be from God. I do not have the slightest intention that men would reject everything supernatural. I am merely pointing out the basic difference in principle between these two things in their manifestations. If a believer encounters supernatural things, he should test them carefully according to the scripturally revealed principles before he makes the decision to accept or reject them.

  Concerning the problem with the soul, I feel that many believers often drift from one extreme to the other. We commonly consider it to be soulish when one is too emotional, and we think that to be soulish is to be emotional. For this reason, we label the emotional and easily-excited ones as soulish. But we have to realize that an intellectual person is not spiritual either. We are acutely aware of the fact that many people have taken the intellectual life to mean the spiritual life. This is another thing that we have to be aware of.

  We must never allow the activity of our soul to cease completely. It is very easy for us to fall into extremes. Either we fall into one extreme, or we fall into the other extreme. At one time we might have considered the emotion and the excitement in the soul to be good and might have walked according to them. Now that we know they are wrong, we begin to suppress them and to restrict their activities. This sounds good, but such actions do not make us spiritual. I deeply feel that if the readers of this book have but a very slight misunderstanding concerning this point, their life will become very dead, for their spirit will then be imprisoned by their dead emotion, and will not have the opportunity to express itself. If excitement is an expression of the spirit's feeling, it is most valuable. In short, if a believer over-suppresses his emotion, he will only become a person living in his mentality and will not be a spiritual person.

  I have a few words to say particularly about the last section. It seems that I am not worthy to write it because of the weakness of my body. But precisely because my weakness, sickness, and sufferings are more than others', I can write about them in more detail. Many times I did not have the boldness to write. But thank the Lord that eventually I wrote it. I hope that those whose experience with their earthly tabernacle is similar to mine will accept what I have written and take it as light from a brother who has seen light in his darkness. Of course, believers today have many contentions about the matter of divine healing. A book such as this one on the teaching of principles should indeed not engage in any debate with the brothers and sisters concerning the fine points. I have said what I wanted to say. My request now is that in our sickness we should differentiate between the things that come from ourselves and the things that come from God. As to the rest, I do not like to say too much.

  I confess that this book has many deficiencies. However, I have done my best. I have offered to you my best. I know how solemn the consequence of releasing this book is. For that reason, I have no other prayer except that, in fear and trembling, I would ask God to bring us through all the experience. Now that the book is completed, I would commend what I have written to the conscience of God's children and leave it up to them to discern and to judge.

  I know that such a book that exposes the enemy's tactics will surely stir up the hatred of the power of darkness and will subsequently raise up much opposition. But my purpose in writing this book is not to please men. Hence, none of these things will affect me. I also know that some of God's remnant will be helped by this book and will consider me more highly than I should be considered. May I say this to these ones: I am a man only and a very weak one indeed. The teachings in this book can testify to my experience of weakness.

  Now this book is in the hand of the readers. This is God's grace. If you have the courage and the patience to go on after reading Section One, God will perhaps bless you with the truth contained in it. If you read through the whole book, I would advise you to read it one more time after a while. Dear friends, at this point, while you are reading these lines, may we lift up our heads to our Father, and may we come to Him once again in faith, casting ourselves into His bosom and receiving from Him His life once more. May we confess anew that we are nothing and that with Him is the fullness. We have nothing, and He has all. Unless He gives, and unless He graces us and fills us, we remain helpless sinners. Let us praise Him with a heart of thanksgiving for the grace that the Lord Jesus has bestowed on us.

  O holy Father, what You have entrusted to me is now here. If You see fit, bless it! But may You preserve Your children in this end time and deliver them from the corrupted flesh and the wicked evil spirits. Father, build up the Body of Your Son, destroy the enemy of Your Son, and hasten the coming of His kingdom! Father God, I look to You! I trust in You! I long for You! I trust in You!