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Dear Readers: Since the publication of the last volume of The Present Testimony, I have continued to revise the book The Spiritual Man. Praise God that it has been in print for more than a month now. We hope that we will have this book available to meet the needs after this autumn. The acceptance of The Spiritual Man by God's children makes me, of course, very thankful. But I need to say a few words. If a man does not love God's revelation and only understands the truth in this book in his mind, never has any dealing of the cross, and does not have a seeking heart, but merely likes the truth in this book superficially, his behavior will be completely opposite to the truth in this book when a time of trial or even a time of testing comes. I am saying this with special reference to the situation of all the present outward works.
For the last two years, the churches in every locality seem to have been having some revival. We praise God that most of those revivals were the pure work of God's Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, there were a few (or more accurately, many) that were mingled with natural and supernatural elements and were not totally spiritual. The purpose of The Spiritual Man is to point out the difference between the two, so that one may understand what is of the natural man, of the supernatural, of the soul, and of the evil spirits. If the reader of The Spiritual Man genuinely receives God's revelation and at the same time experiences the dealing of the cross, he will definitely know how to distinguish between the two.
I am referring to those preachings that are but soulish performances and those passive seekings after supernatural experiences. My heart aches over the fact that God's children are fooled. I truly feel that it is useless for one merely to read through a book. Revelation and submission are both indispensable. I am amazed that some dear brothers have written to me indicating how much help they have gained from this book, yet they have no way of resisting the current trend and have agreed with or even encouraged this kind of soulish work and passive attitude. The reason for this is either that they understand the book only in their mind without revelation or they have never paid a price to obtain the truth and only like it superficially.
Brothers, are my words too strong for you? I hope that I have not hurt you, but what I have said is the true situation. I admit that often our lives are in a state of paradox. When the Holy Spirit points out to us that our living does not match our belief, only then are we willing to correct it through His power. However, a dramatic, performance work and genuine, spiritual work cannot coexist. How can we, on the one hand, confess that soulish work should be refused and, on the other hand, welcome the same kind of soulish work? Of course, I know that there are not many people like this. But it is enough to make me realize that few are willing to pay a price to obtain the truth by receiving God's revelation.
Naturally, the flesh likes a noisy, dramatic, performance work because it stirs up a person's emotion. For this reason, even though a person may see a truth at first and may also joyfully embrace it, this does not mean that he has possessed this truth. It is necessary to pay a price to obtain the truth. Many times the price for obtaining the truth is a suffering in the emotions. Many have failed because even though they like the truth in the beginning, they cannot resist joining the emotional excitement.
Concerning supernatural things, I would like to explain them more specifically in order to avoid any misunderstanding. I want everyone to know that I am absolutely not against supernatural things. The miraculous gifts recorded in the Bible are very precious. I do not forbid people to seek after them; rather, I exhort people to seek after them. Nevertheless, I would like everyone to realize that if we compare the gifts of the Holy Spirit (miraculous, supernatural things) with the fruit of the Holy Spirit (spiritual life), the former is not as precious as the latter. This is what we see in the book of 1 Corinthians. Furthermore, whatever is supernatural can come not only from the Holy Spirit but also from the evil spirits. The latter are able to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit. For this reason I like to discover from the Bible the difference between the work of the Holy Spirit and the work of the evil spirits, so that everyone would be able to differentiate between the two. My purpose in doing this is not to forbid but to discern.
A passive will and empty mind are extremely dangerous. May the Holy Spirit enlighten the readers of The Spiritual Man to realize these items and avoid them.
Many people constantly inquire as to when the next edition of this book will be published. At present we are not sure about the date. I can only say that it will be sometime after this autumn. I hope that the brothers who are of one heart would pray often for the proofreaders so that they will not make any mistakes. May peace be with you!
A household slave of ChristWatchman Nee
