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No matter how often we have read the Bible, certain things are not easy for us to understand, because they are incompatible with our concepts — our natural thoughts, cultural influence, and religious notions. The things in the Bible that seem to match our concepts are easy for us to receive, because our concepts are a part of us. In other words, instead of receiving the Bible into us, we often apply our concepts to the Bible. In order for us to understand the thought of the Bible, we need to pray-read.
We need to see a vision of the mystery of God and Christ in the Bible. The Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — is a great mystery. This mysterious God is the Father, the Son, the Spirit, Christ, the Holy Spirit, life, light, holiness, and righteousness. He is whatever we need. Isaiah 9:6 says, “A child is born to us, / A Son is given to us; / ...And His name will be called / Wonderful Counselor, / Mighty God, / Eternal Father, / Prince of Peace.” In this verse there are at least six titles: child, Son, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace.
What is revealed in the Bible concerning the riches of God’s being is unspeakable. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 14 says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us,...full of grace and reality.” Verse 18 says, “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” In verse 29 the Word who became flesh is also spoken of as the Lamb of God, and in verse 32 the Spirit, who descended upon Him, is signified by a dove. In John 1 God is the Word becoming flesh, He is grace and reality, He is the Father, He is the only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father, and He is the Lamb with the dove, that is, the Holy Spirit. Chapter 1 reveals the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Our God is too mysterious.
This mysterious God desires to work Himself into us. In the bread-breaking meeting most saints like to call hymn #136 in the Chinese hymnal. This is a good hymn, but it speaks of the grace of God in a superficial way. It can be compared to the rind of the watermelon. When we buy a watermelon, we eat the flesh, not the rind. Many Christians enjoy God in a superficial way; it is as if they are eating the rind of a watermelon, not the flesh. The hymns that we select show the extent to which we are in our natural concepts or in the vision of the mysterious God.
When we compiled the hymnal, we did consider this matter of the “rind” and the “flesh.” Since a watermelon must have both rind and flesh, we kept the “rind” hymns. However, we must learn to eat the “flesh,” because the essence and nutrients are in the flesh. We must not eat only the rind. The saints seldom call hymns on experiencing Christ as life, such as Hymns, #841 and #501, or hymns on Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit, such as #450 in the Chinese hymnal and Hymns, #612. Some may not even know the tune to these hymns. We do not call these hymns, because we lack a vision of the treasure within these hymns. These hymns are on the riches of Christ who, as the all-inclusive Spirit, is in us to be our supply. Regrettably, the brothers and sisters do not know how to appreciate these hymns. They prefer to sing “rind” hymns.
God created all things in the universe with two sides, an outside and an inside. The human body has skin on the outside and flesh and blood on the inside. Health problems that are related to the skin and flesh are not as serious as problems related to the blood. When we consider a person as a whole, his body is his outer person, and his spirit is his inner person. We often tell believers to turn to the spirit and to live God out from the spirit. These actions involve our inner person, not our outer person. This is revealed in the Word of God. The Chinese Confucian classics also have a concept related to the inner person. “The Great Learning” in The Book of Rites says, “The way of great learning is to develop the bright virtue.” The ancient Chinese sages discovered that there is a bright virtue within man, which is part of the innate human nature created by God. Metaphysicists hold different interpretations of this bright virtue, but it is generally considered to be man’s conscience. Consequently, the development of the bright virtue focuses on the inner development of the conscience, rather than on outward improvement.
Metaphysicist Wang Yang-ming of the Ming Dynasty said that self-cultivation must start from the root, which is man’s innate knowledge of good and innate ability to do good. A person who tries to improve himself outwardly is like a tree without roots or like water without a fountainhead; he will eventually dry up. The innate knowledge of good and the innate ability to do good refer to the bright virtue, which is man’s conscience. The ancient sages, however, knew only about man’s God-created conscience, but the Triune God has entered into our regenerated spirit. This surpasses the bright virtue, the innate knowledge of good, and the innate ability to do good. The latter are related to man’s God-created human nature, which is good, but God has not been added to these components of our human nature. The Chinese sages and metaphysicists discovered that man’s problem is inward, not outward. However, they did not see that God could enter into man’s spirit through regeneration.
Many teachings in Christianity are quite shallow and do not have much depth. For example, Christians usually emphasize only a few verses in the Gospel of John, such as, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” and “the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (1:29; 3:16; 10:11). These verses speak of God’s redemption and love, but they are still the “skin.” The Gospel of John speaks of deeper things. For example, the word in is often used in this Gospel (4:14; 6:56; 10:38; 14:17). This is very significant. This Gospel concerns God who was in the beginning but whom man could not know because God dwelt in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16; John 1:1, 4; 8:12). Nevertheless, He became flesh through incarnation and was manifested among men (1:14). He was seen, known, and touched by men. Then in resurrection He became the Spirit of reality in order to enter into and abide in man (14:17).
In his first Epistle, John says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life (and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and report to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us)” (1:1-2). These verses say that God is not only the Lamb of God; He is also the eternal life that has been reported to us. The Lamb is outward; the eternal life is inward. At the end of the book of Revelation the Lamb is on the throne, out from which proceeds a river of water of life (22:1). This verse speaks of two sides — the Lamb without and life within. However, many Christians see, contact, and touch only the Lamb, without knowing anything of life. Christian parents tell their children that the Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God, but rarely do they bring their children to see that the Lord Jesus is also God flowing out to be man’s life. Many believers see the side of the Lamb but not the side of life. Even if they hear a word concerning life, they are not touched.
We need to be burdened and even pray with fasting. We should say, “Lord, let me see this vision. Let me see that You, as the mysterious Triune God, have entered into my spirit to be my life. May this vision capture me and control my thoughts, affections, living, walk, and prayers. Lord, I do not want to eat the rind without eating the flesh of the watermelon. I want to eat the flesh and offer people the flesh.” Our common problem is that we see the rind but not the flesh; hence, we do not eat the flesh. Therefore, we need to ask the Lord to show us a vision.
Some dissenters called themselves visionaries and spoke of seeing a vision, but in fact they did not see the central vision that the Lord has given to us. They did not see His desire to enter into our spirit and be our life. They did not see this, nor were they willing to follow this. Instead, they said that they had received “firsthand goods,” not “secondhand goods.” Such a statement is deceitful. Those who receive light directly from the Bible are not receiving firsthand goods. They can receive only secondhand goods because only the apostles received firsthand goods. Whether we have firsthand goods or secondhand goods, as long as they are “gold” or “diamonds,” people will want them. If the firsthand goods are dung, people will not want them even if they are free. We should not be concerned about how many “hands” the goods have passed through; if the content is genuine “gold” or “diamonds,” everyone will treasure them. What the Lord has revealed to us is the best treasure in the universe, whether or not it is firsthand.
We will now spend some time on the “diamonds” in 1 John. Chapter 1 begins, saying, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life” (v. 1). The Lord is the Word of life that “was from the beginning” and was manifested to be seen and touched by men. According to verses 27 and 28 of chapter 2, the Lord is in us as the anointing: “The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you; but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things...and even as it has taught you, abide in Him...Abide in Him, so that if He is manifested, we may have boldness and not be put to shame from Him at His coming.” Verse 27 says that the Lord as the anointing abides in us and we in Him, but verse 28 speaks of His coming, implying that we must await His manifestation and coming. This seems to be a contradiction. If He abides in us, why do we have to await His coming? This shows that we cannot comprehend the Bible with our natural mind; we need experience in our spirit.
Although the Bible contains doctrines, it focuses on life and on the experience of this life. We cannot understand the Bible merely as a matter of doctrine. Even though 1 John 2:27-28 seems to be contradictory, it is a reality in our experience. The Lord is wonderful. On the one hand, He is coming; on the other hand, He has been here for a long time. In other words, He is coming again, yet He is in our spirit. He is truly mysterious. On the one hand, He is abiding in us to be our life and anointing, and we experience His indwelling, but on the other hand, we are abiding in Him until He comes.
In our study of the Bible and in the messages we give, we stress experience. As a result, some who stress doctrines oppose us. I read in a book that Martin Luther emphasized the truth concerning justification by faith to such an extent that he neglected the inner life. He even criticized his contemporaries who emphasized the inner life. Both John Calvin and Kaspar Schwenckfeld were theologians and contemporaries of one another. Schwenckfeld focused on life and wrote about the tree of life, the New Jerusalem, and the spirit, but Calvin considered Schwenckfeld to be demon-possessed. This comforted me and caused me to realize that when we focus on the experience of life, it is easy to be accused of having contradicting doctrines.
First John 3:6 says, “Everyone who abides in Him does not sin.” If we abide in the Lord, we do not sin. Sin is an indication that we are not abiding in the Lord. Hence, if we still need the dealing of the cross, we are not abiding in the Lord. If we are abiding in the Lord, we will not need the dealing of the cross. One morning while I was praying with several brothers, we realized that the dealing of the cross is related to the altar, which is in the outer court. If we continually focus on the dealing of the cross, we are going in circles around the altar in the outer court. While we need the experience of the altar in the outer court, we must advance and enter into the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies is our spirit. When we enter into our spirit, we no longer go in circles in the outer court. In other words, when we sin, we are not living in our spirit, because when we live in our spirit, we do not sin. Everyone who lives in the Holy of Holies does not sin and does not need the dealing of the cross, for he is in his mingled spirit, which transcends all things. First John 3:6 says that everyone who abides in the Lord does not sin. Sinning proves that a person is not abiding in the Lord. Verse 9 says, “Everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin, because His seed abides in him.” The words His seed refer to God and also to Christ. We do not sin because His seed has been sown into our spirit.
First John 4:13 says, “In this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit.” We know that we abide in the Lord because He has given us the Holy Spirit, who is in us to be one with us. In chapter 5, verse 4 says, “Everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world.” Everything that has been begotten of God refers to our regenerated spirit. Our spirit has been begotten of God and, therefore, overcomes the world. In the whole universe only our spirit can overcome the world and sin. Verse 18 says, “We know that everyone who is begotten of God does not sin.” For many years I could not understand this word. On the one hand, I confessed that I had been begotten of God, but on the other hand, my experience seemed to contradict this verse, because I still was sinful. Then I saw 1 John 5:4, which says that “everything that has been begotten of God overcomes the world.” John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The human spirit that has been begotten of the Spirit has been begotten of God. Our regenerated spirit can overcome the world and does not sin.
Our flesh likes to sin. First John 2:16 says that the components of the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life — are in us. However, we have a regenerated spirit that has been begotten of God. Our regenerated spirit cannot sin, and it overcomes the world. Verse 18 of chapter 5 also says, “He who has been begotten of God keeps himself.” This means that a believer who has a regenerated spirit, which has been begotten of God, can keep himself from living in sin. The part of our being that has been begotten of God is our spirit. This part is able to keep and protect us.
Verse 19 says, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one.” The whole world, which includes all people and all things, is in the evil one. Only that which has been begotten of God is not in the evil one. Department stores, movie theaters, and dance clubs are in the evil one. Furthermore, our flesh, natural thoughts, religious concepts, and service that comes out of our natural zeal are also in the evil one. There is only one thing in the whole universe that is not under the manipulation of the evil one — our regenerated spirit. Although we belong to God and we are saints, we are only partially holy, because only our regenerated spirit is holy. Everything else is under the manipulation of Satan. God is in our spirit to be our life so that we may overcome. Verse 20 says, “This is the true God and eternal life.” This is a matter in our spirit.
The true God is no longer only in the heavens. He has entered into our spirit. Anything apart from the true God is an idol. Hence, verse 21 says, “Guard yourselves from idols.” We should never think that idols are limited to objects in temples. Our natural zeal for the Lord is an idol that replaces the true God. Our natural selection of hymns, our natural service, and our lack of the exercise of our spirit are idols. Only that which is out of our regenerated spirit is the true God.
Many years ago I did not understand why 1 John 5:21 suddenly says, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.” These words seem to be a disconnected thought. I later understood that anything not done in our regenerated spirit is an idol. The apostle John admonished us to flee idols, that is, to flee everything that is not from our spirit. It is right to desire to be meek, broad, humble, and long-suffering, but do these virtues originate from our regenerated spirit? If they originate from our regenerated spirit, they are of the true God; if they do not, they are idols.
May we all see this vision. God wants to work Himself into us to be our life, and He wants to live in oneness with us in our spirit. He does not want us to do things for Him, nor does He care for other things. He is concerned only with whether we are living in oneness with Him in our spirit. We need to see this vision and let this vision control us. Our prayer, our speaking, our testimony, and our Bible reading must come out of this vision to speak forth this vision. If we truly see this vision, we will know what is of our natural zeal and whether our worship, singing, and prayers are routine.
The Jews built the temple in Jerusalem according to God’s instruction. In front of the temple there was an altar. The priests wore priestly robes and served according to the Scriptures. They offered up sacrifices at the altar and entered into the Holy Place to burn incense and light the lamps. Their worship of God was orthodox, but God came to be among men. He was born in a manger, traveled to Egypt, and returned to Nazareth (Luke 2:16; Matt. 2:13-15, 19-23). After being hidden for thirty years, He began to preach in Judea. He even reclined at a table in the house of Simon the leper in Bethany, along with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (John 12:1-3; Mark 14:3; Matt. 26:6-7). Although this house in Bethany was humble, God was there with the disciples. Although the Jewish priests were in the temple offering sacrifices, worshipping God, lighting the lamps, and burning the incense in their priestly robes according to the Scriptures, God was not there. If we have insight, we will see that the true God, the eternal life, was in that humble house, while there were “idols” in the temple (1 John 5:19-21). At that time, even the temple, the priests in their priestly robes, the sacrifices, the incense-burning, and the lighting of the lamps were in the evil one.
We should not be concerned that the Lord Jesus is in a “humble house,” but we need to consider whether we are serving religiously in “the temple.” We may think that we are worshipping God but have little realization that we are actually under the authority of darkness and worshipping idols. The true God, the eternal life, is in our spirit. We need to sit at His feet and have intimate fellowship with Him in our spirit. God was not in the routine worship in the temple. The items related to the temple, including the priests in their priestly robes and the routine burning of incense and lighting of lamps had fallen into the hands of Satan; they had become “idols.” Therefore, the apostle John said, “Guard yourselves from idols.” If we have a vision, we will understand that Judaism had become degraded. The Jewish synagogues were originally for worshipping God, but Revelation 2:9 says, “Those who call themselves Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Not only has Judaism become degraded, but even Catholicism and Protestantism have become degraded. Hence, we must be careful not to become a “synagogue of Satan.”
Anything that is not of the Spirit of God is under the authority of Satan. Religion teaches people to worship God without God; therefore, it belongs to the synagogue of Satan. If our breaking of bread is a ritual that does not have the Lord’s presence and is not in our spirit, we are worshipping idols, not the true God. The Lord Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit” (John 4:24). The Lord is not in rituals; He is in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). This is the vision that we need. We need to prostrate ourselves before the Lord and say, “Lord, have mercy on me. Without Your mercy, I am blind and cannot see.” Without the Lord’s mercy, we are like Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus. We may think that we are zealously serving God, but in fact, we may be under the authority of Satan and in the realm of idols. An idol is anything that is an outward form and is without the Lord. We have the Lord only when we are in spirit. Having an outward form without the spirit is to have an idol, a religion. If we do not have a vision, we are worshipping idols and are not serving God. We may teach others about holiness, victory, and bearing the cross, but if we are not in spirit, we will not lead others to be in spirit. We need to turn to our spirit and dive into our spirit so that the true God may operate in our spirit. Only then can we say that our worship and service are according to the true God and eternal life.
