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Today we will continue with the subject we have been speaking on the last two Lord's Days, which is the work of the power of the soul and its functions. Of the many things happening in this last age, how can we know which are done by God and which are not? How can we differentiate between spiritual things and soulish things? For example, many signs, miracles, and supernatural things take place. Are they done by God, or are they initiated by another power? Today I will talk about the power of the soul, what it is doing, and how it operates. Through this we may know what is from God and what is not.
Before we go on, let us see in the Bible what will be the situation of the last age and what will be the signs of the Lord's second coming.
Matthew 24:24 says, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen."
Revelation 13:2-5 and 12-13 say, "And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. And one of his heads was as it were slain to death, and his death stroke was healed. And the whole earth marveled after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast? And who can make war with him? And there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and authority was given to him to act for forty-two months....And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his sight, and he causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose death stroke was healed. And he does great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth before men."
Second Thessalonians 2:8-10 says, "And then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of His coming), the coming of whom is according to Satan's operation in all power and signs and wonders of a lie and in all deceit of unrighteousness among those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved."
Before explaining these verses, please notice that the word lie in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 can be translated as "deceit." A lie is a fabrication of something nonexistent, but deceit means something is there to deceive people. It does not refer to a nonentity, but to something that is actually there. However, this something is not from God; its purpose is to deceive people. Please do not misunderstand. This verse does not say that something does not exist. Saying that something is a lie may mean that it does not exist and is merely fabricated. But this verse refers to something that does exist, something that can be proven to exist. The purpose of its existence is to deceive people.
These three passages refer to what will happen during the great tribulation. Some of the things will happen before the great tribulation. Although these prophecies speak directly of the period of the great tribulation, a biblical principle tells us that before the fulfillment of a prophecy, many similar things will happen before the actual events. Many students of prophecy agree that the things that are happening in this age are a manifestation of the things that will come to pass in the great tribulation. However, the present events are not as severe as they will be during the great tribulation. The verses we have read today show us the main features of the great tribulation. At that time there will be signs and miracles. Before the Lord comes, Antichrist will especially want to perform signs and miracles. Just as the shadow always comes before a person's body, and his voice is heard before he appears, the "shadows" and "voices" of the signs and miracles of the great tribulation are already here. Since signs and miracles will be quite common during the great tribulation, the same must be true today, and we will surely see more signs and miracles around us.
Before I come to the subject, I need to make a clarification. Personally, I do not object to miracles. There are many miracles in the Bible, and they are most precious and important. Those who have been meeting here with us know that I have mentioned before that the proper growth of a believer requires several aspects. I have mentioned four aspects. Let me go over these four aspects again. First, after a person is saved, he should pursue the proper knowledge of the Bible. Second, he has to pursue the growth in spiritual life and pursue such things as victory, holiness, perfect love, etc. These are all very important matters. Third, he should be zealous in the work of saving people. Fourth, he should believe in God and have a specific faith. He should believe in God and trust in Him to the extent that he can experience God's work — miracles. Today in the church, that is, among the believers, there are many shortcomings. Many Christians only pay attention to the interpretation of the Bible. They may have very good knowledge, but they do not care about other things and do not have a heart to pursue after them. Some people are more advanced. They seek for a higher life and deeper things. Yet they do not care for the other three things. Some are zealous, but they do not have the proper knowledge. This kind of unbalanced seeking is not good. Strangely enough, in the church today, there are many who pursue after the interpretation of the Bible, both spiritually and literally. There are also quite a few who pursue deeper and more abundant life. More than a few are also zealous to save people. Unfortunately, it is hard to find some who have a living faith to trust in God and who desire to gain something from God. I have spent a great deal of effort previously to share with you the way to become a perfect Christian. First, you must have the knowledge of the Bible. Second, you must pursue after a more abundant, spiritual, profound, holy, and perfect life or living. Third, you must work zealously. Fourth, you must learn how to pray to God with faith, receive answers from God, and witness miracles from God. Every believer must have all four things and must grow in these four aspects equally, in a balanced way. There must not be any imbalance. So, please note that I am not against miracles. On the contrary, I pay much attention to miracles. However, due to the presence of false miracles and deceitful miracles, I would like to explain the difference between real ones and false ones. Today I want to tell you what a false miracle is. I am not against miracles themselves.
Please remember that all of God's works are done through both the Holy Spirit and our spirit; they are never done through our souls. The only way Satan works is through the power of the soul, through the power in man's flesh that became hidden through the fall. This is the reason Satan has to raise up an Antichrist in this last age and give his power and authority to this Antichrist; Satan has to use the latent power of the human soul. I have spent enough time in the last two messages on this matter. Now I would like to give some miscellaneous examples to show you what are not manifestations of spiritual power and show you that they are merely the manifestations of the latent power of the soul.
We have talked enough about the miraculous manifestation of the soul's power. Today let us consider some examples which are not miraculous.
The first thing we will see is the work of personal preaching. The power of the soul varies according to the individual's psychological condition. Some people's minds are stronger than others; sometimes they can read other people's minds. They know that in order to deal with other people it is better to know what they are thinking. In this way they will be able to speak the right word to the right person. This natural ability to know about others is something that should be rejected. Forgive me for using myself as an example. When I contact someone, it is very easy for me to know what they are thinking about after two or three sentences. I just know, and there is no special reason why I do. When I first began to work for the Lord, I thought that a natural knowledge of what others are thinking could be helpful to my work. But later I became clearer and dared not use this natural ability. Whenever something like this occurs, I immediately pray to resist it. Every time I talk to a person, I try not to find out what he is thinking. One thing is certain — everything that comes out of the soul or is done by the soul will not have any result. If you do something according to your soulish power, even though the other person may say he has received the help, he will not be perfected in life; in the deepest part of his being, he has not received any profit. When a person comes to you, the most important thing to do is to pray to God to show you how to help this person. You should say to God, "I do not know what this person is thinking about nor what his psychological condition is; neither do I know what his spiritual condition is; I just come to You without relying on anything else. Please give me the words." You have to lay yourself totally aside and receive your help only from God.
Here is another example which is most interesting: many brothers involved in the work of preaching have often told me that if they go into a chapel with dim lighting, small attendance, and many empty seats, their strength seems to disappear when they stand up to speak. If the lights are bright, however, and there are many people sitting and waiting expectantly for them to speak, they have strength; the more they speak, the more powerful they become. But I would like to ask what kind of power this is. Frankly speaking, this is nothing other than the power of their soul. The power from the Holy Spirit will never be affected by any outside influences. If you want to know what preaching by the power of the soul means, just go to a big chapel, where there is a large audience with good equipment. Simply listen to the singing and watch the actions, and you will realize that there is always a special power behind a large gathering. But what kind of power is it? While you are in such a place, do you not feel a power pressing on you? What kind of power is this? Is this the power of the Holy Spirit? Most likely it is not. This is nothing but the power of the soul.
How do we know that is the power of the soul? Just look at what the crowd is doing. For example, they may be singing. The singing is directed toward a certain direction. Consequently, the power of all the souls is directed to one place. How great that power is! Honestly speaking, under such circumstances, you may not be able to help them as you originally intended. Instead, you may be affected by them. This is very dangerous. Many people have come to me and talked about the same thing. They told me how the number in the meeting and the atmosphere would help or hinder their speaking. I have always told them that the reason was that they were doing the speaking; they were speaking by their own power. This is why they were affected by the environment.
Many times, singing is helpful to God's work. But sometimes it becomes a soulish activity. Many people like to go to the Catholic cathedrals to worship God. They have good music. Some Catholic cathedrals have even spent more than a million dollars for an organ. Some people say that whenever they go to a Catholic cathedral to attend a mass, in their hearts they feel that they are liberated to God's presence when they walk in and hear the sound of the organ and the choir. These sensations are true indeed. If you go there once, you will know what I mean. But the question is: Is this real? Does this really lead you to God's presence? Will just a little stirring up and attraction really release your heart and draw you to God? Is this God's way? I must tell you that many arrangements in the Catholic Church are from the flesh; they have no truth to them at all. They simply stir up man's mood and religious sentiment through the music and choir. This feeling of closeness to God does not come from the power of God. Rather, it comes from the power of the songs and music. We sing hymns also, but our faith is not in the hymns. Only the work of the Holy Spirit brings us profit; otherwise, nothing will reach our spirit.
Have you ever been to a backward countryside? Thank the Lord, He has given me the chance to be in such places. Once I went to a village by the seashore. Most of the people there were fishermen. Several places nearby had believers, and they had meetings. In some places there were twenty to thirty people; in other places there were fifty to sixty people. Whenever they came together, their singing was out of tune and disorderly. Their singing could be off from one another by a few minutes. Some would sing fast, while others would sing slowly. After some finished their lines, they would wait a while to allow the rest to catch up. How could one meet in such a situation? He would probably run out of patience, and his power would probably also run out. A brother told me that just listening to their singing was enough to drain his message away. I told him that he felt this way because he had never checked if his power was from God or from himself. Please remember a principle: we always have to look at our environment and are always influenced by our environment. But if something is of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to take control over our environment. This is a very deep principle. Let us lay hold of this principle, and let us never exercise our soulish power, lest we be controlled by the environment.
Sometimes when the atmosphere is suppressing, God can release men through singing hymns or through praying. But if we make singing hymns our center, we run the danger of manifesting the power of the soul. Many people live foolishly for six days of the week. When Sunday comes, they go to church and listen to the singing; they are warmed up and become burning and happy. However, where does this kind of burning and happiness come from? I must say that there is a problem in it. After living foolishly and loosely for six days, they should feel their sin and should be convicted when they come to the Lord on the Lord's Day. How can they become burning and happy when they begin to sing? This power is most likely not spiritual power. I do not like to be too harsh of a critic about this kind of thing, but a great deal of singing is simply a stirring up of the power of the soul.
In reading the Bible, sometimes there is also the danger of developing the latent power of the soul. For example, a person may not understand a certain portion of the Scripture; he may continue to think about it while he is walking, lying on his bed, in his study, or on the tram. Suddenly, he may feel a light shining on him like a flashlight, and he may feel that he understands this section of Scripture in a very reasonable way. All the reasons and explanations are laid in front of him. If he has a good memory, he may memorize them, and if he does not have a good memory, he may write them down in his notebook. He may think that he has received much. But is this reliable? It is possible that the soulish power was involved. To find out, look at the fruit. Novel, special, and meaningful thoughts may seem to be very deep, but they do not bear fruit. Not only can he not gain any life from them, but when he shares them with others, others cannot gain any life from them either. All they do is render something to others' thoughts. I am not saying that God cannot convey His thought to us while we are thinking, nor am I saying that God cannot give us His word suddenly on the road or in a room. God can give us something suddenly. But please remember that God never gives His word to a person when he has no need for it. Every time a thought or knowledge comes from God, it is for the purpose of meeting our need. When God gives us money, He will not give us a dollar just for us to hide it in a hole to use five years later. The same is also true when He gives us the truth. When we have no need, God will not give us any truth. Furthermore, He will not listen to any prayer or petition that does not speak of a need. Someone has said very well that the first condition for God to work is need. Need is the first step to miracles. This is the principle of getting an answer from prayer. God will never work against this principle, but Satan will always work against this principle.
Many people want to have the feeling of joy. There is one thing which is very popular in Western countries now. It is called the "holy laugh." Some say that once a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, he will have this kind of so-called holy laugh. Those who laugh this way do not know why they laugh; they seem to have caught some kind of disease which keeps them laughing uncontrollably, as if they have gone insane. One time after a meeting, it was proposed that everyone seek this kind of holy laugh. Soon after, all the people began kicking tables and chairs and dancing wildly like mad people. After a while, the so-called holy laugh started. Everyone began to laugh at each other. The more it went on, the harder they laughed. Eventually, everyone laughed so hard that they could not stop. What is this? Is this the infilling of the Holy Spirit? Is this the work of the Holy Spirit? This is only one of the many works of the soul!
I mention this extreme case as an example. If we know how far off an extreme case is, we more likely will know what is two or three degrees off. The most help I received from Mr. Barlow, while he was here meeting with us, was his statement that if you want to see whether or not something is wrong, all you have to do is exaggerate it one hundred degrees and push it to the extreme. If it is wrong at one hundred degrees, you can be sure that it is wrong at one or two degrees. It is difficult to find out whether or not it is wrong at one or two degrees because though it may be off, it is off by only a little; it is not easy to discern the difference. However, if you enlarge and stretch it a little, you will be clearer. A Chinese proverb says, "Off by an inch, and one will miss by a thousand miles." In the beginning you may be off by only an inch. But in the end you will miss the mark by a thousand miles. Putting it another way, if you want to know if you are off by an inch, all you have to do is consider if the outcome will miss by a thousand miles. This in fact is even easier. If two lines are out of parallel alignment by only one or two degrees, our eyes may not be able to detect it. But if we extend the two lines for an inch, the distance between them will become greater, and if we extend them two inches more, the distance between them will become still greater. If we extend the two lines to the other end of the earth, the distance will be many thousands of miles. Therefore, if we can see that the difference of many thousands of miles is wrong, the little difference at the beginning must also be wrong.
Today we are only using the holy laugh as an example. By what method, or by meeting what kind of conditions, do these people obtain this kind of holy laugh? They obtain it because they have a desire to laugh in their heart, and they have the thought to laugh in their mind. It is true that they are seeking the filling of the Holy Spirit, and it is true that they are saying with their mouth, "Lord, fill me with Your Spirit." However, these words are only a procedure that they go through; this is not really their goal. Although they say this with their mouth, where is their heart? What is their goal? They want to laugh and be happy. They are not saying, "God, fill me with Your Spirit. I do not care about any outside feeling. As long as You will fill me up, I will not care for anything else." Whoever wants to be filled with God's Spirit must have this attitude. However, if all we pray for is the holy laugh, we will surely end up with nothing other than laughter. But can we say that this is from God?
Let me tell you a true story. There was a student who had repented and believed in the Lord. He had a classmate who had received the so-called filling of the Holy Spirit and was very happy. The classmate was so happy he could not contain his happiness. The classmate told his friend, "You should ask for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. I have already received it; this is why I am happy all day long. I have no worries at all. Being happy all day long can help your spiritual growth." This person thought that since his classmate was a believer and had received the infilling, he should have it too. From that time on he began to pray to God desperately, to a point that he could not eat or study. He prayed incessantly for God to give it to him. Later he went to a teacher and asked the teacher to pray for him, while he himself also prayed desperately, saying, "God, tonight You have to give me the infilling. If You do not give it to me, I will not get up from my knees." He prayed repeatedly this way. Not too long after he began praying, he jumped up and said, "I am really happy now." He began to laugh and laugh. He began to wave his hand and dance around the place. He laughed so hard that he was even shouting. The teacher later related the incident: "At that time I forgot I was a Christian; I only knew that I was a doctor, and I thought that he was out of his mind. I dragged him down and said, `Brother, be quiet. Brother, be quiet. Do not be so silly.' The more I persuaded him this way, the worse he became." The teacher dared not say much more, because he felt that if this was indeed something from God, he would be offending the Holy Spirit. The student then went back home. Fortunately nothing more happened to him the next day. This was nothing other than a strong release of soul-power. If you were to ask me what this was and what caused this to happen, I would say I do not know. Perhaps even the best psychologist would not know. I dare say that no one knows how to receive this power and be connected to it. But I can say that this was a work of the soul, because this person met the conditions for the release of soulish power. These are facts that can be proven. The soul has the power to do the most extraordinary things.
Among all the churches today, many are seeking visions and dreams. Some have asked me if I believe in these things. My answer is that I am not opposed to the visions and dreams themselves; I myself also have experienced these before. Sometimes visions and dreams can be very helpful. However, my question is where do the visions and dreams come from? Are they from God or not? Many times when someone testifies in a meeting concerning a vision he has seen, many others begin to talk about their visions as well. In the end the whole meeting becomes occupied with visions and dreams. This is a fact, and I have seen many cases. This happens because, after hearing about the visions of others, some begin to pray and ask God for the same experience. If they do not have the same experience, they fast and pray for several nights continuously. Their bodies become weak and their minds become blank. They have no will to resist anything, and under these conditions they receive the so-called visions or dreams. It is true that they have received visions, but the question is how they received these visions and whether or not they have received something from God. This kind of pursuit with blank minds and passive wills is not according to the teaching of the Bible. It is simply a kind of self-hypnosis.
Some people are good at dreams and the interpretation of dreams. However, their interpretations are too ridiculous. I have a friend who is a doctor. After he believed in the Lord, he had a great many dreams. Every time I met him, he told me his dreams and his interpretations of them. He dreamt almost every night, sometimes even three or four dreams a night. What was the reason for such dreams? Do you think that God intended to give him all those dreams? I know that he daydreamed very much; perhaps this was the reason he dreamed so much at night. It was surprising that even though he was an intelligent doctor, his thoughts were so confused. In his mind he was drawing pictures day and night; he could not control his thoughts. What he daydreamed during the day, he dreamed during the night. I frankly advised him that if he did not reject his dreams, he would be deceived and not grow spiritually. Later he improved a little. This shows us that many dreams are not from God but are from men's malfunctioning minds and wandering thoughts.
Another condition, which I call "electric shocks," claims to convey power to some people. It causes them to shake just as if they have been shocked by electricity. They feel a kind of burning within and make strange noises with their mouth. Their hands and feet make all kinds of strange gestures. This is what some call "the baptism of the Holy Spirit." I am not against all these. Yet remember that what can be done in the spirit can be done in the soul; but what comes from the soul has the goal to deceive. The soul deceives men by telling them that these things are from the spirit and from God. Therefore, we have to differentiate what is from the soul and what is from the spirit, so that we will not be deceived. These soulish practices are similar to the way men seek after visions. In order to have these experiences, people fast and pray all night. As a result, their bodies become weak, they lose all resistance in their will, and they receive the so-called baptism of the Holy Spirit which makes them shake and tremble.
Many people like to have happy or strangely exciting feelings. They pray earnestly by fasting or for the whole night, in hope of receiving the so-called baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is in reality a kind of self-hypnosis. They continue to practice these things until they sense some feelings within them. What is this? Is God really filling up their hearts? I cannot believe that they have received something that is true because they are not practicing according to the teaching of the Bible. We should, on the one hand, know God and how He thinks about these things, and we should, on the other hand, consider if these things are from God. Many believers think that everything is from God, and they accept it all. As a result, they are deceived. Other believers think that it is very difficult to distinguish what is from God and what is not. As a result, they reject everything. This is also wrong. We should differentiate what is from God and what is not. Anything that is from God, we will accept, and anything that is not from God, no matter how good, we should reject. We should remember that all of Satan's works are done through the power of man's soul, and we must avoid them.
Some seek visions. Some say they have seen lights or a flame, while others say they have had dreams or have felt an electric shock. After they testify this way, others begin to have similar experiences. I am not against these things in themselves. I merely ask, Where do these things come from? Are they from the soul, or are they from the spirit? We ought to remember that everything that can be done in the spirit can also be done in the soul; the only difference between them is that the soulish things are a counterfeit of the spirit. If we do not trace the source of these things, we will be deceived. The most important thing is to not deny the existence of these things, but to ask if these things are from the soul or the spirit.
What is the difference in the results of the soul's function and the spirit's function? This is a great principle; this principle allows us to differentiate between the things of the spirit and the things of the soul. Let us look at 1 Corinthians 15:45: "`The first man, Adam, became a living soul'; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." This verse says that the first man, Adam, became a living soul. This means that the soul is living; it has life and can do whatever it is supposed to do. This refers to the position of Adam. Following this it says, "The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." This word deserves our attention and is most precious and important. The difference in the results of the soul's function and the spirit's function is right here. The soul itself is living and has life, but the Spirit can enliven people and can give life to people. The soul is living in itself, but it cannot give life to people. The Spirit is living and can give life to people. Only the Spirit can give life to people. We may have the strongest and the most living soul, but we cannot give life to others. The Lord says, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing'" (John 6:63a).
Please distinguish these two functions clearly. This is most important. No one can carry out the Lord's work well if they cannot distinguish the work of the spirit from that of the soul. Let me repeat this: even though the soul is living, it cannot give life to others. The Spirit, however, is not only living, but it can also give life to people. This is why I repeatedly say that we have to put the power of the soul under us. Whatever is from the soul is not worth anything. This is not an argument of words; it involves a great principle. Although the soul is living, it cannot give life to others. Therefore, when we help someone, our purpose should not be to help his mind, but to work in the deepest part of his being; only this can benefit others. We cannot work with the power of the soul. The soul can only live by itself; it cannot save or profit others. We should be very careful and reject everything that comes from the soul! Not only are the things from the soul unable to help people, they actually interfere with God in His work, frustrate Him from getting the glory, and are an offense to Him.
Let me give some common examples to illustrate the vast difference between the works of the soul and the works of the spirit. I will not mention the miraculous examples, because I have mentioned them during the past two Lord's Days. I can say this much: many people use psychological methods in their works in the church today. They use psychology to attract people to their preaching meetings. In meetings of the believers, it is also common to find psychology being employed to stir up people. When you go to a place you can know the kind of work they are doing just by observing the methods they use. Frankly speaking, many teachings only benefit people's souls; they do not benefit people's spirits. This kind of preaching can only reach the soul and merely adds more knowledge to the person because it is preached from the soul. We cannot do this, because this kind of work does not reach man's spirit.
How do many revival meetings work? I want to make it very clear that I am not against believers being revived. But are many of the methods used in revival meetings from the Spirit? Is it not true that in many revival meetings, a revival atmosphere is created to give people a warm feeling and atmosphere? They repeatedly sing some chorus lines to stir people up. They relate moving stories to cause people to testify. These are just methods and means; they are not the power of the Holy Spirit. After the atmosphere is warmed up, the speaker stands up and preaches. In his heart he knows what will happen. The ways are already worked out: some will come and be shaking, and others will come with tears to confess their sins and make resolutions. This kind of revival goes on year after year, and everything remains the same. When the effect of the medicine runs out, the old conditions come back. Some revival meetings last only a few weeks, while others may last three or five months. In the beginning people become very burning and willing to do anything. However, after a while, everything is over. This is only because they have not received any life. For many believers, their history is a history of revivals — one revival followed by a lapse, followed by another revival. The dosage of stimulant used the first time must increase the second time; otherwise, they will not be revived again. The method used next must be more emotional and more exciting before it will take effect. I call this a spiritual "morphine" addiction. After you give an injection to someone the first time, you have to give more injections the second time. Oh, the soul can only give life to itself; it can never give life to others. If you work by the power of the soul, even if you can make men cry, make them resolve to do things, or cause them to become zealous, nothing worthwhile will be produced.
What is regeneration? Regeneration is to receive the Lord's resurrection life. Why does the Bible not say that we are regenerated through the Lord's birth, but through the Lord's resurrection? It is because we are not regenerated with the life of Bethlehem. The begotten life may still die, but the resurrection life will never die. The Lord says, "I am...the living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever" (Rev. 1:17b-18a). The resurrection life never dies; it lives forever. The begotten life is the flesh and may die. The life we received through regeneration will live forever; it will never die.
What is resurrection? We cannot use any human method to enliven a corpse. No matter how much effort we exert or how much warmth we give to it, it will not come alive. The only way for it to be enlivened is to put God's life into it. The life which enables it to be enlivened is the resurrection life. This is the meaning of resurrection. What is worse than a dead situation? What is colder than a dead situation? A dead corpse will only spoil and stink more and more. However, once we put resurrection life into it, death will be swallowed. Therefore, a regenerated person can reject anything of death and drop anything that is dead.
Someone once spoke of the resurrection life with the following illustration. There was a person who did not believe in resurrection. He was a very renowned person among the atheists. Later he died, and his tombstone was engraved with the words: "A tomb that will never open." The tomb was ornately made with marble. Amazingly, one day the marble cracked. A spruce seed had fallen into a fracture of the stone; it gradually grew into a tree and burst the tomb wide open. A tree has life. That is why it can break the tomb. Only life can overcome death. This is regeneration, and this is resurrection.
The Spirit gives life, and only the Spirit can impart life to people. We should pay attention to this. Today there are many counterfeits of the Spirit.
When God works, He works with His own power. This is why we have to ask God to bind our soul. Every time we work, we must first deal with the self. We must deal with our self, and we must put our self aside. We must first lay aside our own wisdom, thoughts, talents, and virtues. We need to ask God to bind these things and say to Him, "Lord, whatever talents and abilities I have, I will not use them; I only want You to do the work. I can do nothing according to myself. I ask You to do it."
Today many co-workers think that God's power is not sufficient, so they add some of their own power. This kind of work is not only unprofitable, but it is also damaging. Bear in mind that the work of the Holy Spirit never leaves any room for the human hand. I have always said that in God's work we should be like a paper puppet, which has no life and which can do nothing by itself. An organic life would have to be put into it before it could work. Let us all reject the self to the extent that we are like a paper puppet, having no strength of our own. All the power must be from above, and all the methods must also be from above. Only the Spirit gives life. God works through the Spirit. If we want God to work, we must ask Him to bind our soul before He can freely work.
John 12:24-25 says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his soul-life loses it; and he who hates his soul-life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life." These two verses speak of "soul-life" two times. In Greek this refers to the soul. Whoever loves his soul-life shall lose his soul-life, and whoever loses his soul-life shall keep his soul-life unto eternal life. This is the Lord's specific command. The Lord says this as an explanation for His words in verse 24: "Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Something must die before certain things will take place. If a believer will not lay down his soul-life, the Spirit will never work, and men will never receive a profit. If we want to do a deeper work, we must specifically deal with our soul. The soul should be lost. A grain of wheat is good; its golden color is attractive. But if we put it on the table, it will still be one grain even after one hundred years. It will never yield more grains. The soulish power is like a grain of wheat that has never fallen into the ground. It will never bear fruit.
Let us consider this question most soberly: Has the holy, blameless, resurrection life which we have received ever produced any fruit? Some may ask, "Why can I not save people or help people?" Others may ask, "Why do I not have any power for the work?" Many have said, "I do not have the power to work." I would answer that we have no power because our power is too great. Since we have so much power already, is there any room for God to work? If we want to use our own wisdom, methods, strength, and natural ability, we are frustrating God's power from being manifested. Many miraculous things are but an expression of the soulish power; they are not from God. Yet we use all these things as substitutes for God. How can there be desirable results? Many revival meetings might look good at the time, but the result is generally zero. There are some revival meetings that actually help people. But I am talking about those that employ human methods in their works. I want to say this very seriously to everyone who wants to do a better and deeper work: do not talk very much about power. Our responsibility is to fall into the ground and die. Once we die, we will spontaneously bear fruit.
The Lord said, "He who hates his soul-life in this world" — what will happen? — "shall keep it unto eternal life." What does this mean? Suppose that I have eloquence but do not use it. My heart is not in my eloquence, and I do not use my eloquence as a tool for my work. If I give up my eloquence and do not depend on my eloquence, what will be the result? I will gain life, and I will render help to others in life. Suppose that I have a great deal of administrative skill. If I do not exercise my natural ability, but rather wait before the Lord, others will receive practical help. Let us learn not to use our own ability. If we do this, we will bear much fruit.
Power comes from the realm of resurrection. Resurrection is a living that has passed through death. What we need is not greater power but deeper death. We need to reject every natural ability. If we never lose our own soul-life, we will never understand what power is. If we pass through death, we will gain life. If we lose our soul, we will die like a grain falling into the ground; but God's life will grow up in us and bear much fruit.
I feel that many people are too rich and too strong; there is no room for God to work in them. I often consider two words to be most precious: "utter helplessness." We can say to God, "All that I have is Yours; I have nothing besides You. Apart from You, I am utterly helpless." We will then have an attitude of total trust in God; we will feel as if we cannot breathe without Him. We will see that our holiness is from Him and our power is from Him. Whatever we need is from Him. It is God's desire that we come to Him in utter helplessness. A brother once asked me what the conditions are for the Holy Spirit to work. I said that the Holy Spirit never needs any help from the power of the soul. The Holy Spirit must first bring us to a place where we can do nothing by ourselves. Let us learn to reject everything natural. We should reject anything that is not from God, whether it is miraculous or ordinary. If we do this, God will use His power to do the work He wants to do.
In John 5:19 the Lord says, "Then Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing from Himself except what He sees the Father doing, for whatever that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner." From here means "out of'"; it is better to translate it "out of." For the Son to do nothing from Himself meant that the Son did nothing out of Himself. In other words, whatever the Lord was doing was not out of Himself. This was the Lord's attitude. He did not depend on His own ability; He did not depend on His own will. Whatever was out of Himself, He rejected. Was there anything bad with His soul? Was not His soulish power very useful? He did not have a trace of sin. Was it a sin for Him to exercise His soulish power? However, the Lord said, "The Son can do nothing from Himself." If one as holy and perfect as He did not exercise His own power, how about us? If He, in a living as perfect as His, still looked to God helplessly and did not act according to His own will on earth, but did everything according to the Father's will, how could humble mortals like ourselves consider doing anything by ourselves? We must drop our soulish power and must reject everything out of the soul before we will have the spiritual power to work and bear much fruit. May God bless us.
