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In the previous chapter we spoke of entering into the Holy of Holies. In this chapter we will continue to fellowship concerning some practical applications. Some of my words may not be pleasant, but they illustrate our actual situation. This can be likened to a doctor presenting an unpleasant but factual diagnosis to one of his patients.
When we come together for a meeting, I am afraid that many have not entered into their spirit in a real way; the majority remain in their mind, their soul. If there are one hundred saints in a meeting, ninety-five may apply the message to others, not to themselves. Anyone who listens to a message in this way is not in spirit. Our spirit is the Holy of Holies, and in the Holy of Holies there is only God. There were many people in the outer court, such as those who were slaughtering bulls and sheep. There were fewer people in the Holy Place, such as those who were burning incense, taking care of the lampstand, and setting out the bread of the Presence. However, in the Holy of Holies there was only God.
It is dangerous for our eyes to be focused on others. This gives Satan much ground in us. Although this problem varies in degrees, we all have this problem. It is easy to focus on the shortages of others as if they were the only ones in need of correction. When other saints look at us, however, they feel that we also are in need of adjustment. If we listen to messages and apply them only to others, we are actually in the soul, no matter how much we think that we are in the spirit. I am deeply concerned that many of us listen to messages in order to apply them to others. If we truly listen to the messages and receive them in the spirit, we will not criticize others. Our criticism of others shows that we have fallen into the realm of right and wrong. Even if our heart is good, and we have good motives related to others, to the Lord, and to His testimony, we can fall into the realm of right and wrong. The most dangerous thing in our spiritual pursuit is to focus on the shortages of others but be unwilling to look at ourselves.
A reluctance to look at ourselves is an issue of self-delusion and self-deception. If we think that we have seen something that others have not seen, we can be deeply concerned about them to the point of many prayers and tears. This, however, is a sign, a proof, that we are self-deluded and self-deceived. It also means that we have not truly seen the Lord.
A person who truly lives in the spirit sees only the Lord when he enters into the Holy of Holies. There are no windows in the Holy of Holies. In the Holy of Holies there is no communication with the outside world; there is only the Lord. The saints in a local church will not be supplied if our prayers are based on our perceptions of their shortages. This kind of prayer will not supply the saints or the local churches. If the elders in the church in Taipei ignore their own shortages and pray only for the shortages of others, there will be no benefit. The elders in the church in Taipei should pray for themselves first. If we pray only for others based on their shortages, we are not in the spirit. For example, if we “see” that another brother is in the flesh, our prayers will focus on him. However, this brother may be praying for us in the same way. If we look only at others, we are not in the spirit, and the Lord will not listen to our prayers.
Rather than looking at others, it is better to pray for ourselves first. The elders in the church in Taipei should pray for themselves first. The elders should pray until they are in the divine stream. Then others will jump into the stream spontaneously, and there will be no need to pray for others. If, however, the elders focus only on others, praying, “O Lord, this one is not in the stream, and that one is not in his spirit,” they will not be in the stream, no matter what they think. I hope that the elders and co-workers would enter into rest and cease from their labor, even their labor of praying for others. For forty years I have noticed this problem: As soon as a person receives a little grace, Satan immediately encourages him to use this experience of grace as a yardstick for measuring others.
Recently, the elders in the church in Taipei invited the leading brothers in Southeast Asia to participate in a training. I have no feeling either way about this, but I hope that the elders would forget about others and truly care for the church in Taipei. When the church in Taipei enters into the spirit, other localities will enter into the spirit as well. This principle can be applied to all the localities. We do not need to be “high priests,” who are focused on the “care” of others. As long as we take care of being in the spirit, this is good enough. If we are in the spirit, others will know, because our spirits are connected. During these years in America, we have not intentionally focused on caring for other churches. We have not had the thought of looking at or praying for the condition of the church in Taipei. If we are in the outer court, we will always regard the condition of others as pitiful. Only those who are in the outer court “see” the condition of others so clearly. If we are in the Holy of Holies, we see only the Lord Himself.
Philippians 2:12-13 says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” In this verse salvation does not refer to the salvation that delivers us from God’s condemnation and the lake of fire. It refers to being saved daily so that we can be delivered from various situations in our daily living. Verse 14 continues, “Do all things without murmurings and reasonings.” For many years I did not understand why verse 14 was written in this way. Verses 12 and 13 speak of something very big, but verse 14 speaks of something quite small. With experience I began to understand that salvation in verse 12 refers to being delivered from murmurings and reasonings. In the original language, murmurings means “mutterings” or “grumblings.”
Although we have heard many messages, we have not been delivered from our murmurings. To murmur is to complain about others. I believe that many of us murmur continuously. If we truly lived in the spirit, our ears would be deaf, our eyes would be blind, and our mouth would be silent. We would not be able to hear, see, or speak; we would only live before the Lord. This would eliminate unnecessary speaking, including criticism and even our prayers of concern, and our spirit would be like a river flowing out to supply others. Our so-called concerns and prayers prove that we are still in the soul, and our criticism of others is a proof that we are not in the spirit. We are not in the spirit even if there is some basis for our criticism. We are even less in the spirit when there is no basis for our criticism. When we are in the spirit, we know nothing and have nothing to say, even though we have a divine view and understanding of a particular matter. This is our condition when we are in the Holy of Holies.
Our problem is that we do not realize that genuine spirituality, genuine salvation, is God Himself. When we are murmuring and reasoning about different things in our mind, we are altogether captured by Satan. Whereas he causes us to sin and love the world before we are saved, he also causes us to murmur about others as soon as we touch the Lord.
We cannot cause a seed to grow by studying it; rather, we need to plant the seed in soil in order for it to grow. We have heard many messages about our spirit, but how many of us are living in our spirit? It seems as if we are only studying the spirit. If we were really in our spirit, we would not be going around in circles in our mind. Rather than being in the wilderness, we would be in Canaan and in the Holy of Holies, enjoying the Lord’s presence. Furthermore, rivers of living water would be flowing out from us, and we would be a supply to others. Thus, there would be no concerns related to others and no need for prayers. I hope that the responsible brothers in all the localities would not stay in their mind, because we cannot bring the saints into a deeper experience of salvation using only our mind. Instead, our spirit must be strong enough to touch the spirit of the saints; then they will experience salvation. We cannot touch others with gospel preaching that is merely eloquent and logical. Although this may touch their mind, salvation depends upon their human spirit being touched by the divine Spirit.
When saints ask me for advice, I usually respond, “Do not do anything. No method can help you. God is Spirit. You should simply contact Him. You do not need a method; rather, you need to touch Him.” Some people may respond, saying, “If this is the case, I do not need to go to a meeting or listen to a message.” Even if this were true, we would still need to turn to our spirit. We have all fallen into Satan’s snare; that is, we have fallen into our mind. For this reason Paul tells us to flee into the refuge of our spirit (Heb. 6:18). We all need to flee. Those who think that they have entered into the spirit are the ones who are most in need of fleeing into the spirit. Such ones are self-deluded and self-deceived.
The real indication of whether we are living in the spirit is not our proclamations, but whether we express our opinions. If we have no opinions when we visit a locality, it is possible that we may be in our spirit at least forty percent of the time. If, however, we have opinions, we are not in the spirit, and we can even quarrel with one another. There are different manifestations of quarreling. For example, two people can disagree to the point of physically fighting with each other, causing bodily injury and involving the police and courts of law. Quarreling, however, can be manifested without any outward manifestation of disagreement. Rather than fighting, two brothers can simply ignore one another. Regardless of how quarreling is manifested, those who quarrel with others are in the mind.
Because of different opinions, it is very difficult for brothers in various places to not quarrel with one another. Some may express their opinion in a refined manner, and others may express theirs in a rough manner. Some may be fleshly and emotional, and others are more peaceful and calm. In any case, everyone is in the mind. May the Lord have mercy on us. When we enter into the spirit, our words and opinions disappear. When young people are married, there is always some quarreling. Incessant quarreling, however, is always an issue of having many opinions.
When a person lives in the spirit, he will not have any opinion. Having no opinion, that is, having nothing to say, is a strong proof that a person is living in his spirit. It would be a miracle if a dumb person begins to speak, but it is an even greater miracle when a believer does not speak his opinion. A believer who can refrain from speaking his opinion is a person who is living in his spirit. In contrast, a believer who always expresses his opinion is living in his soul.
This is not an easy message to receive, because Christians are always encouraged to pray for others. When we pray for others, however, there often is a strong element of ourselves in our prayers. Furthermore, when we are zealous, there often is a strong element of ourselves in our zeal. Even when we love the Lord and care for the church, there often is a strong element of ourselves in our love and care. We may do many things, but we still do them in ourselves. Although we may awake from a state of spiritual stupor, there may be no difference in our condition; that is, when we are in a stupor, we are in ourselves, and when we are awake, we are still in ourselves. God’s salvation is not a matter of whether we are in a stupor or whether we are active. God’s salvation is a matter of living by Him in the spirit.
If we live by Him, we will discover that He does not talk much, nor does He have the same “concerns” that we have for others. He even does not see the defects of others or pray for them as much as we do. Often we are more zealous than the Lord. Once, when the elders in Manila wrote and told me of a great need, I did not feel that their cry for help was according to the Lord’s urging. This is not too much to say, because the only thing that matters is living by the Lord. When we write a letter, for example, we must check to see whether our urge to write the letter is from the Lord. We need to be delivered by the Lord; God’s salvation is for us to live by Him.
When we do not live by the tree of life, we are living by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Living by the tree of life does not mean that we should not pray for others or that we should pray for others. Nor does it mean that we should not care for others or that we should care for others. Living by the tree of life means to live by the Lord. According to our experience, when we live by the Lord, we do not have many opinions, our concern for others is not based on seeing their shortages, and we are not anxious. One of Satan’s tactics is to cause us to be anxious by stirring up our feelings.
A person who lives in the spirit is calm, poised, and not anxious; he is not anxious for himself or for others. He knows how to take the Lord as his life and how to live by the Lord. Since the Lord knows every situation, there is no reason to be anxious. A person who really lives in the spirit will often say, “O Lord, this is Your business. I do not need to be anxious about it. Everything is in Your hand.” This is the attitude of a believer who lives in his spirit. To live in the spirit is to live by the Lord.
Some people are very good at being a Christian; they are cautious and proper, but they do not know how to touch their spirit. Every spiritual matter that they encounter is a matter of calculation; that is, they do everything according to a formula. As a result, they are completely in their mind and do not touch their spirit.
We do not need to calculate and follow formulas; we need to practice touching our spirit in a simple way. By calling upon the Lord’s name, we can be delivered from our mind. If we called on the Lord’s name for three hours, we would be delivered from our mind and would enter into our spirit. If we called upon the Lord’s name, we would be saved from our mind because genuine prayer is in the spirit. Without turning from our mind to our spirit, it is not possible to pray for more than a short period of time. We may be able to use our mind to study the Bible, but we will not touch spiritual things.
Many of us have been elders and co-workers for many years, but we still do not know how to touch our spirit. Instead, our spirituality is quite rational and formulaic. This is our problem. We should count the things that were gains to us as loss, suffer the loss of all things, and count them as refuse (Phil. 3:7-8). We should flee from our past experiences into the spirit. Our past experiences can keep us from living in our spirit today. Even though we may have been in our spirit yesterday, we may not be in our spirit today. If we try to apply spiritual experiences from our past to our living today, it will not be profitable. We must let go of past experiences and care only for living in our spirit.
The Lord’s salvation is for us to live by Him. He lives, and we also live. The Lord lives in us, but ninety percent of the time we live out our own works. Our sanctification, pursuit, quietness, and calling are just our works. The Lord has imparted Himself into us; He does not want us to do anything other than live by Him. Hence, we should simply live by Him.
When we get up in the morning, we should live by Him. For example, we may be diligent to practice morning watch, but if we do not touch our spirit, our practice will be out of ourselves. Our morning watch should come out of the Lord, not out of ourselves. When we see the vision of the Lord living in us, we should say, “Lord, I give myself to You. I want to let You live, and I also want to live by You.” Nevertheless, it is easy to return to our old ways. When we arrive at a meeting, for example, our habit of giving a message may influence us to speak more than we should. Hence, we need to be reminded that the Lord is living in us, and we should yield to the Lord in order to live by Him. We should not remain in our old ways.
Our God is the living Spirit who lives in our spirit. Living by Him and walking according to the spirit are our only need. If we rely upon set ways and practices, we will think that our need is to find new methods, especially when we sense the oldness of our current habits. Rather than finding another way, we simply need to live by the Lord. We do not need to consider how to pray, because He will lead us to pray when we are in our spirit. The more we pray in spirit, the better it will be, and rivers of living water will flow spontaneously from us. The Lord is living in us. Hence, we do not need methods. The Christian life is not a work; it is a living. The Lord lives in us. When He prays, we pray, and when He lives, we live.
People in so-called religion do many things for the Lord, but they do not live by the Lord. The Lord does not want us to be religious or to work and do things for Him. He does not want even our good behavior. None of these things means anything to Him. The basic revelation in the Bible is that our Lord is the Spirit who lives in our spirit and He desires that we would live by Him. Hence, the only thing that counts is living by the Lord.
In every local church there must be some who live by the Lord. If an elder lives by the Lord, all the saints will be influenced, and their spirits will be open. Satan is very subtle. Although we can touch our spirit, it is easy for Satan to influence our thoughts so that we consider and criticize others. This is often the source of our “prayers” for others. Such “prayers” do not come from our spirit but from our mind. We should simply live in the spirit and let the Lord take care of other matters. While it is not easy to stop ourselves and not criticize others, the Lord wants us to stop ourselves, to not criticize others, and to not consider others’ situations. The Bible speaks of numerous things, but the central and consummate revelation is that the God of all creation is in our spirit, and we can live by Him. At the end of the Bible, there is a city, the New Jerusalem. In this city God is life, and this city lives by God and lives out God.
Satan uses religion to usurp us. The religious concepts of Catholicism, Protestantism, and the various denominations influence many. Those who pursue spirituality also have concepts, even concepts concerning the breaking of the cross. Satan’s way is to turn us from our spirit to methods based on our concepts. However, the Lord is in our spirit; therefore, we must live in our spirit. Living in our spirit is our way, our deliverance, and our true rest.
If we live in our spirit, we will not talk about many things. If we do not live in our spirit, however, we will be influenced by many things. When we are in our spirit, there is no need to consider or discuss other things. When we follow the spirit, the church life is good and pleasant. When the Lord is living in us and we are living in the Lord, there is no need for our plans and considerations. According to the Bible, our only focus should be on living by Him as the Spirit. When a couple lives in the spirit, there are no problems. Even if one spouse wants to quarrel with the other, there will be no problem as long as one spouse is living in the spirit. Living in the spirit solves every problem.
Our past experiences may be good; however, if we try to apply them in the same way today, they can cause us to not live in the spirit. As soon as we try to apply them in an old way, we will suffer loss. Satan is very subtle; he “planted” the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in man so that man would not live by the Spirit as the tree of life. In this way man’s living deviates from the focus of God’s revelation. God’s revelation is that He, as the Triune God, is our Creator, Redeemer, and Savior, and as the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — He is the all-inclusive Spirit to be life in our spirit so that we can live by Him.
The New Testament speaks of our being in our spirit and of our living by the spirit. Since we receive life in the spirit, we must walk in the spirit and do everything according to the spirit. The Lord must open our eyes to see the revelation in the Bible. We may have heard many traditional doctrines, but we need to see a revelation related to life in our spirit. We need to see the revelation in 1 Corinthians 15:45, which says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” Many people know about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but they neglect the matter of the last Adam becoming a life-giving Spirit.
When Christians greet one another, they often say, “The Lord be with you.” However, they do not know what the key is to the Lord’s being with them. Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” This refers to the Lord being in our spirit. The Bible has sixty-six books and contains many points, but what is the focus? For example, the Bible speaks of our experience of the cross, but this does not mean that we should be focused only on the cross or the altar for eternity. The only thing that God desires for us to do eternally is to live by Him. The altar is for us to live by the Lord, and the experience of the cross is for us to live by the Lord. The altar and the cross are for entering into the Holy of Holies; hence, it is not enough to focus on the altar but fail to see and to enter into the Holy of Holies.
Today we have a simple way; that is, we need only to receive the all-inclusive Spirit. The altar of burnt offering, the laver, the table of the bread of the Presence, the golden lampstand, and the golden incense altar are all in this Spirit. When we receive the all-inclusive Spirit in our spirit, we are in the Holy of Holies. Strictly speaking, we do not pass through the altar of burnt offering by ourselves; we pass through in the Lord. Furthermore, we are not crucified on the cross by ourselves; we are crucified in the Lord. All the Lord’s experiences of becoming flesh, of passing through the cross, of shedding His precious blood, and of accomplishing redemption are in this Spirit. Furthermore, He was buried, and He resurrected from the dead. He is the table of the bread of the Presence, the golden lampstand, and the golden incense altar. He is everything. Today He is the all-inclusive Spirit, and as the all-inclusive Spirit, everything is in Him in order to be received by us.
Some people received help and experienced the altar of burnt offering and the golden incense altar in the past. However, when we call them to come forward to the Holy of Holies, they pay attention only to the incense altar. Our experiences at the altar of burnt offering and at the table of the bread of the Presence are for us to enter into the Holy of Holies. Surprisingly, after experiencing these things, some people still have not entered into the Holy of Holies. In other words, they still have not entered into the spirit. All these items — the altar of burnt offering, the laver, the table of the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, and the incense altar — are included in the all-inclusive Spirit. Our need today is to enter into the Holy of Holies and to enjoy the all-inclusive Spirit.
We should simply return to the riches in our spirit. We should not wander in our mind. Even when we give a message, we should not be in our mind; we should simply be in the spirit and speak the word from our spirit. This is the need of the churches today. The co-workers should not speak the same old things in their service to the churches; the churches do not need the old practices. The churches need what can only come from the spirit, genuinely and directly. When we fully look to the Lord and simply live in our spirit by the Spirit, we will be fresh, living, and rich. We should stop the wandering in our mind and simply live in the spirit by the Spirit. This is what the Lord desires.
