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This morning we have read the Scriptures about an event which took place several days before the Lord Jesus was crucified. The Sadducees came to Jesus asking Him concerning the matter of resurrection. They said there were seven brothers with them. The first one married a wife and died and left no children. His widow became the wife of the second brother. Likewise, the second brother also died, and the third became the husband. This continued until the seventh brother, who also eventually died. Last of all, the woman died. Whose wife would she be at the time of resurrection? The Lord gave them a very clear answer: "You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God" (Matt. 22:29). I am not going to expound on the marriage of the seven brothers, but point out from this verse two very deep principles which relate to our spiritual living. The first principle is to know the Bible, and the second is to know the power of God. Christians should have two kinds of knowledge: the first is the knowledge of the Bible, and the second is the knowledge of God.
Among God's seeking children, there are two kinds of people: the first kind know the Bible but lack the knowledge of God's power; the other kind know God's power but not the Bible. Very few Christians have both kinds of knowledge in a balanced way. Some believers have considerable Bible knowledge but know nothing about God's will, nature, and ways of working. My intention is not to talk about the equal importance of these two things, but to tell you that it is not enough to just know the Bible; we have to know God's power as well. I will assume that all of you know the Bible. What we want to see now is how to know God. It is not enough just to have the knowledge of the Bible; we must also know God. However, if we want to know God, we need to deal with God and be dealt with by God. Without dealing with God and being dealt with by God, we cannot know God. The knowledge of God comes from dealing with God and being dealt with by God. Apart from this there is no other way. This is what all of us should pay attention to.
One day several magi came to Jerusalem asking, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?" (Matt. 2:2). They asked this question everywhere along their way. When Herod the king heard this, his heart was troubled, and assembling in haste all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked where Christ was to be born (v. 4). At that time did anyone among them say, "I do not know; let me go back to check the Scripture"? Did anyone say, "I have forgotten what the Scripture says; let me go back and look it up"? No, they could recite immediately, "In Bethlehem of Judea" (v. 5). This proves that the priests and the scribes knew the Scriptures very well. When they were asked, they answered immediately. Was their answer wrong? No, it was right. But strangely, not one scribe or priest went to Bethlehem. They knew the exact answer, but they only told the magi from the east to go to Bethlehem. They were like traffic policemen who only direct people from one place to another with a police stick in their hand, while remaining unmoved. The priests and scribes knew the Scriptures well, but they never took any action to look for the Messiah. The magi probably found out from the book left behind by Daniel about the One who was born to be the King of the Jews. Therefore, they came to seek the Lord despite the long journey. It is interesting to see that some people without Bible knowledge had the zeal to seek for Christ, while those with Bible knowledge did not seek for the Lord. It was the men from the east who came to seek the Lord from a long distance. Eventually, they found the Lord. Therefore, those who only have Bible knowledge do not necessarily know God.
This was true not only concerning Christ's birth; it was also true concerning Christ's death. It was Caiaphas who prophesied, "Nor do you take account of the fact that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people and that not the whole nation perish" (John 11:50). It was also Caiaphas and his father-in-law who sentenced Jesus to death. Therefore, we can see that it is useless to have only Bible knowledge without the knowledge of God. This is why God prophesied again and again through the prophet Jeremiah, "I will put My law within them and write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And they will no longer teach, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for all of them will know Me, from the little one among them even to the great one among them" (Jer. 31:33-34). The outward knowledge of the Bible is not sufficient; this knowledge also needs to be written within man. The result of this inward writing is knowing God. We hope all the brothers and sisters will realize that mere biblical knowledge is not enough; we need to pursue the knowledge of God as well.
Today an unfortunate phenomenon exists in many places: too few people know God. Brothers and sisters, it is possible for us to acquire much Bible knowledge without knowing God. If all that a man has is only some Bible knowledge, he is merely making weapons of reeds, which will collapse when the wind blows and which are completely powerless when it comes to fighting the warfare. Who can say today that he knows God's purpose, God's desire, God's will, and the way of God's work? I have often said that the knowledge of God is more precious than anything else. Nothing is more precious than this. A man can open up the Bible and can expound a passage very well. Yet at the same time, he can know nothing at all about God. Although he can say a great deal, he knows nothing concerning the knowledge of God. Originally, the knowledge of the Bible was to lead people to the knowledge of God. But this is not true today.
The prayer of our Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane was for the purpose of knowing God's will. Gethsemane means the place where oil is pressed. Our Lord knew that He ought to press out the oil there, so He knelt down and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 26:39). The Bible tells us that He prayed the same way for a second time and that the words He used in His third prayer were the same. He did not just pray once and then foolishly let it go; He prayed three times. When He finished the third prayer the Bible says, "He rose up from prayer" (Luke 22:45). He left when the prayer was done, and "He came to the disciples and said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour has drawn near, and the Son of Man is being delivered up into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going" (Matt. 26:45-46). When He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, He said, "All things are possible to You; remove this cup from Me" (Mark 14:36). But when Peter cut off the ear of the slave of the high priest with a sword, Jesus said, "The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11). When He was praying at Gethsemane, He was unsure of the cup; but when He was walking on His way, He had no doubt about this cup. He was willing to drink it. Through the three prayers, He came to know God. He never assumed anything; He wanted to deal with God and know God through His prayers. He dealt with God and was also dealt with by God.
There was a thorn in the flesh of the apostle Paul. We will not consider what this thorn was, but since it was a thorn, it must have been something that made him uncomfortable, something that stung him all the time. He also said that a messenger of Satan often buffeted him. Therefore, this thorn must have caused him constant discomfort. He could not overcome this thorn without the power of Christ tabernacling over him. He prayed three times to ask the Lord that it might depart from him. But the Lord said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Paul was clear. Did he pray the fourth time? No. While he was praying the third time, God spoke to him, and he was clear. Paul was another person who did not want to make decisions according to his own knowledge. He desired to deal with God through prayer so that he could know God and know His will concerning certain matters.
From the experiences of the Lord and the apostle Paul we can see one principle: if a man desires to know God, he must learn how to deal with God. In other words, we have to deal with God and be dealt with by God. When many Christians encounter difficulties or problems, they let them slip by and are never dealt with by God. They do not know why God gives them such difficulties. When someone else encounters the same problem, they also do not know the reason. This kind of person may read the Bible every day, they may have knowledge and light, but they do not know God's will. This is grossly inadequate. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, we must deal with God and be dealt with by God. Only then will we truly know Him.
For example, every one of us has his own particular sins which he cannot overcome. With some, one sin stumbles them, while with others, another sin stumbles them. Some people cannot overcome pride, and others cannot overcome jealousy. Some cannot overcome their temper or the world or lust. Everyone knows that they have a special sin, but they cannot overcome it. By reading the Bible, some have come to know Romans 6:14, which says, "For sin will not lord it over you," and Romans 8:1-2, which says, "There is now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death." They may have scriptural knowledge concerning these matters, but they still cannot overcome their sins. The truth they obtain cannot be carried out in practice. I am afraid that among us today there are some brothers and sisters who are like this! If a believer who has failed to overcome sin comes to them, they can tell him the high teaching of victory over sin, when in fact they may still be in the bondage of sins that they are unable to overcome. Consequently, the brother who came to consult with them will only gain some knowledge of sin, but still will be unable to experientially overcome his own sins. This indicates that they only have the knowledge of the Bible. They have never been dealt with by God and have no knowledge of God's power.
How do we know God through His dealings? Suppose you lose your temper quite often, and you come to God's presence and ask God to eradicate the root of your sin. Soon there may be a brother who comes to you asking for help on overcoming this sin. You may tell him to ask God to eradicate the root of his sin of temper, like removing a tooth. (I wish that such a thing could happen. But we have said many times that this is impossible. We cannot eradicate the root of sin; rather, the more we try to eradicate the root, the stronger it becomes.) After the second one learns the teaching, he will also begin to teach others in the same way. However, they will find that not only is the root of sin not removed, but it has actually taken deeper root. If you fear God, you will not easily let the sins that you cannot overcome go by; you will certainly want to deal with God. You must come before God and pray once, twice, three times, asking God to tell you what this is all about. God will then show you the truth in Romans 6:6. God has dealt with the body of sin by crucifying the old man; He has not eradicated the root of sin from the flesh. Instead, He has crucified the old man through the cross.
After a while you find yourself losing your temper again. You may want to ask a brother what has happened. He may tell you that when the Lord Jesus was crucified, your old man was crucified with Him and that you will overcome if you count yourself as dead. In this way you will acquire more new knowledge. However, when temptation comes, no matter how much you reckon yourself dead, it will be useless. Your temper will still be there. You may think that this method does not work. Although the Bible says clearly that this kind of reckoning will make you overcome, you find yourself still being defeated. If you are one who fears God, you will ask God again. By then you will realize that you do not reckon yourself dead with Christ when temptation comes. Rather, you died with Christ more than nineteen hundred years ago. Your heart will rest upon what Christ has accomplished. When temptation comes you will know that your old man died more than nineteen hundred years ago. You will not need to take hold of any particular word; you will only need to rest on the work that God has accomplished.
However, a short time later the temptation will come back, and you will find yourself losing your temper again. If you do not fear God, you will probably stop here. But if you fear God, you will not be satisfied with Bible knowledge. You will ask God again, saying, "God, Your Word tells me that my old man has been crucified with You; why can I not overcome my sin?" You will deal with God again. Perhaps God will tell you that you are wrong in certain things, or perhaps He will tell you that you do not realize the corruption of your flesh and that you are dependent on yourself. This is why He allows you to err or stumble, so that you will realize the corruption of the flesh. You will then learn another lesson; you will know your self and the corruption of your flesh. In this way you will not dare to do anything but humbly ask God to protect you, and you will no longer trust in your flesh.
But before long you will fail again. If you fear God, you will come before God to deal with God, saying, "Why is it that I still cannot overcome my sin? I have reckoned my old man dead and have known the corruption of my flesh. Why do I still fail?" You may pray once, twice, three times, even four or five times. You may ask God to speak to you. In the end God may grant you the revelation to see that sin is like the fruit of a tree. The tree of life bears fruit every month and bears twelve kinds of fruit, but the root of sin produces thousands of different kinds of fruits. There is only one root of sin, but its fruit multiplies day after day. God may say, "If you only deal with one sin and neglect the other sins, the other sins will come back, and you will find yourself committing the same old sinful habits as before." If you only deal with your temper, while the other sins are still there, before long the sin of temper will come back. You have not dealt with your pride or your jealousy, and you have forgotten to deal with other sins like your unclean thoughts. All those who forget to deal with other sins will find their past sins coming back to them. All those who forget to deal with the root of sin will find the miscellaneous sins coming back to them. If you only pay attention to your temper, you will fail. But if you pay attention to dealing with sin itself, God will bless you.
While you are dealing with your sin this way, you may think that you have overcome and are walking on the broad way to victory; you may think that now you can live peacefully. But perhaps not too long afterward, sin will come back again, and you will find yourself failing again. This is a critical time, and you must not relax. You have to come before God once more to ask Him to deal with you. After praying once or twice, God may give you another new revelation. You will realize how you should live after you have overcome. God will show you that all Christ has accomplished on the cross can be maintained only in fellowship with God. God may say that your prayer and reading of the Bible have become lax or that you have been rising too late every day; therefore, your fellowship with God has been frustrated. This does not mean that the work of Christ on the cross has failed. It only means that the accomplishment of Christ on the cross can only be maintained in the atmosphere of fellowship with God.
Perhaps after a few days, you will lose your temper again. You will pray the same way again, asking God to deal with you. Perhaps God will say that you are good in everything but that you still have not obeyed one of His commandments. This may be a specific commandment that God has for you. You have been touched, but you have refused and procrastinated. As a result, God allows you to lose your victory. You have not obeyed, and your old sins begin to come back again. Therefore, brothers and sisters, as long as we disobey once, we will not overcome sin. In the past I have often shared with you the matter of trusting and obeying. This is the secret to victory. If one slackens in his obedience, his faith will be weakened.
If you know God and have experienced God's dealings, you will know at which point someone cannot get through. Since you may have experienced dealing with God more than fifty times in certain matters, you can help others go through the same. You are not just telling someone about the Bible, but are telling them about God.
Last summer many famous people were speaking at a very popular spiritual conference. Someone told me that I should attend because a certain one gave good messages during those few days. I went there once. The subject of the message was "The Infilling of the Holy Spirit." The Scriptures he used were quite adequate, and the parables and logic were also very good. But after he spoke for ten minutes, I asked myself, "Is this the so-called infilling of the Holy Spirit?" His preaching was good, but several laymen's words slipped out from his mouth; therefore, I knew that he did not know God in this matter at all. He did not know anything about the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Mere Bible knowledge cannot make one know God or minister God. We must learn to take the way of the cross and must experience God's dealings. The Lord did not say, "I am the Son of God, so I do not need to worry about God's will." On the contrary, He prayed to the Father once, twice, and even three times, until He finished the prayer. Then He said, "The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11).
The apostle Paul also prayed to the Lord again and again until the Lord spoke to him: "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Cor. 12:9). Later Paul was misunderstood by the Corinthians. Second Corinthians express Paul's sorrow, while Philippians expresses Paul's joy. Only these two books among Paul's epistles express his emotions. But I love to read the Epistles to the Corinthians more than the Epistle to the Philippians. The Corinthians misunderstood him and said that he was not honest and that God consequently made him sick. Paul did not ask God to remove his thorn in an attempt to avoid being laughed at by the Corinthians. He said, "Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Cor. 12:8-9a). Because God had spoken, he did not ask God to change His will. Paul said, "Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me" (2 Cor. 12:9b). No one can know God without first having dealings with Him. I have told several brothers that if anyone wants to progress, the only way is to be dealt with by God. If you do not accept God's dealing, you will never progress. If you want Bible knowledge, all you have to do is study hard and receive some help from those who have Bible knowledge. But if you want to know God, there is no way except to deal with God personally and be dealt with by Him.
I often treasure very much the experience of those who know God. I know from their words that they are experienced in knowing God and that they truly know God. One sister from the West was truly a person who was waiting for the Lord's second coming. (Many scholars of prophecy do not even know what it is to wait for the Lord's second coming!) Whenever I went to her, I was afraid of doing anything, because as soon as she opened her mouth, I realized that she was a very experienced person. I remember that I prayed with her on the last day of 1925. She said, "Lord, are You really going to let 1925 go by? Do You really want to wait until 1926 before You will come back? Even on this last day, I will still ask You to come today." I knew what she was praying for. Several months later I met her on the street. She held my hand and said to me, "Brother, it is strange. Why has He still not come back today?" These words proved that she not only was a scholar of prophecy, but was also a person who had fellowship with God and who truly waited for the Lord. She knew God and was experienced in the matter of the Lord's coming again.
Once I talked to another sister. I thought she was not very experienced in spiritual things. But after a short conversation, I knew that she was very experienced. She was one who had passed through God's dealings and was a person who had dealt with God.
In Peking I met an old believer. He did not have much knowledge of the Bible. I did not think highly of some of his behavior either. But he really knew God. While I was talking to him, he said, "Christ is responsible for everything." He was rather poor, but both he and his wife were happy. He said that although he encountered many difficulties, Christ was responsible for everything. I asked him, "What then are you responsible for?" He said, "I am responsible for singing the praise." This is like King Jehoshaphat who, when going into battle, ordered the singers to sing before the battlefield (2 Chron. 20:21-22). I said, "Since you gave up everything for Christ, do you have any regrets at all?" He answered straightly, "You do not understand. Christ is responsible for everything; I am not responsible for it." You can see that regarding the matter of the Lord bearing our responsibility, he was far ahead of us. We can only be his student. He is an experienced person regarding the Lord's bearing of our responsibility. What he has is not just Bible knowledge, but knowledge that he has learned from God. Some have really experienced God's dealing, and they know what it is to be dealt with by God.
Not only do we have to deal with our sins, and not only do we have to know God, but we need dealings in our environment as well. For example, do you let everything that happens in your family go by freely? If you pray only once and then stop praying because you do not receive God's answer, you can never expect to know God. Paul surely was not like this. He prayed once, twice, even three times to the Lord until the Lord answered his prayers. If you are only willing to pray once, then you do not need to pray. If God does not answer you the first, second, or third time, you should pray ten times or a hundred times until God speaks to you. Keep in mind that any hastiness is contrary to faith and prayers. Faith is the most enduring thing. If God does not answer, you should be able to wait until you are one hundred years old. Abraham believed in hope in a situation that was against hope. Elisha told King Joash to beat the ground with an arrow. Joash only beat the ground three times, and Elisha said that he could only win the battle over the Syrians three times. If he would have beaten it several times more, he could have destroyed the Syrians (2 Kings 13:14-19). Our prayers should be the same. We cannot stop our prayers at two or three times.
Mr. Usher said that prayers are like putting name cards on a balance. You put one gram of weight on one side and then put the cards one by one on the other side. After the first one or two cards, the other side may not move; perhaps, only after you have added the last card will the weight be offset. Prayer is the same; you have to pray once, twice, three times, again and again. Perhaps by the last time, the prayer will be answered.
Therefore, we have to learn to deal with God. In our physical health, in our work, in our family, in every detail of our environment, we have to ask God to deal with us. I know a sister who is over sixty years old. She said to me that everything she encounters in her environment has something to do with her. I asked her, "Is this really true?" She said, "Yes." I thought that she only said this in her preaching and that the fact might not have been so. Once a brother had a cold, and she wrote to him: "What lesson have you learned from this cold?" I thought that it would be reasonable to learn something if he had a severe disease like intestinal flu. But how could he learn a lesson from a small cold? But this brother received the help. He replied, "I did not normally pay attention to this. By your asking, this matter has come to my attention. I have been dealt with by God, and I have repented."
There was another brother whose relative was sick. This sister again wrote and said, "You have to be responsible for prayer. You should not allow this sickness to go on." Consequently, this brother also received help from her. Once she herself was sick in bed. Her co-worker was away in another place. She was out of money, and her cook also went home for some reason. She prayed continuously, asking God, "Why does this sickness come upon me?", and God showed her that this was not from Him, but this was Satan's attack. She said, "If this is due to my own problem, I can remain sick. But if this is Satan's attack, let the sickness be gone." She had been ill for four days with a high fever, but she stood up right after she prayed. At this time she wrote a song: "To the foe my word is always, `No,' / To the Father it is `Yes.'" We have this song in our hymn book. When she finished writing this song, she went out to work, and her sickness was over.
Wherever she was, she had God's hand with her. She fully understood Christ's victory. Once she told me that everything would be all right if we really knew Christ's victory. I could easily find Colossians 2:14-15 in the Bible, which says that Christ triumphed over everything on the cross, or Hebrews 2:14, which says that through death He destroyed him who has the might of death, or 1 John 3:8, which says that the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, or Revelation 12:11, which says that the brothers overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb. But whenever I heard of Christ's victory from this sister's mouth, I always felt that with her there seemed to be a special meaning. I did not understand this, and I was bewildered all the time. Once I stayed in her house and was very sick. At that time in addition to my sickness, I was really depressed in my heart because a few matters were still unresolved. She came to see me, and I told her my problems. After every phrase that I spoke, she stared at me and said, "Christ has won the victory." I said that I was not afraid of the outward sickness, but that whenever I thought about the inward problems that were not yet worked out, I broke out in a cold sweat, and I just could not bear it. She still said, "Christ has won the victory." I said, "You cannot say this. To the enemy you can say, `Christ has won the victory.' To sin, we can trust in the cleansing of the blood. To sickness, we can say that Christ has borne our infirmities. In all these things, we can say that Christ has won the victory. But this is my own fault; I have a problem with God. How can you say Christ has won the victory?" But she still said, "Christ has won the victory." Then she read two verses to me. At that moment I became fully clear inside and out. On that day I realized what Christ's victory really meant. Prior to this I had only the Bible knowledge. From that day on, I received the real knowledge from God. I also realized that the victory I used to know was a weapon of reed and that it was useless. On that day I realized how much Christ's victory includes. Whether it be the enemy, sin, sickness, or personal business, Christ's victory covers them all. She knew Christ's victory through her repeated experience of God's dealings. She knew God, so she was able to help others.
Today many believers have not paid enough attention to Bible knowledge. Let me ask you: which book from among the sixty-six books of the Bible do you really know? It is a pity that most of today's Christians do not even understand one book in the Bible. But more pitiful than this is the fact that they are ignorant about the knowledge of God. If you want to know God, you have to deal with God concerning your body, your family, and your environment. You should not let anything go by carelessly. You have to pray until you have God's answer. By doing this you will learn a lesson which the Bible alone cannot teach you. If you do this you will know the next time that you have to deal with God in everything. If you learn this time after time, you will really know God.
Let me also say a few words to those brothers and sisters who are co-workers. No one can work for God without knowing God. Many people who believe in the clergy-laity system think that as long as they go to the seminary to study the Bible, they can preach the gospel. I would like to ask this: when we preach the gospel to others, are we merely giving them some Bible expositions, or are we giving them the Savior? Is this merely Bible exposition, or are we telling others the good news? Even if the seminary is as good as you think, it can only teach you to understand the Bible; it cannot teach you to know God. Today many people understand the Bible, many can even systematize the Bible in a very good order, but how many of them can minister God and know God? We have to learn to know God before we can work for God. Some people say that they want to do a personal preaching work. They hope that they can preach, but they have nothing to say when they come before the crowd. They are uncertain as to what they should say. Indeed, a man can only preach what he is touched by in the Word; he can only help others in the areas that God has touched him. What can we preach if we do not know God?
Suppose you have not dealt with a certain sin, and God's hand is always touching you concerning this point. Whenever you pray, God always points to this sin and says, "You have not dealt with this sin." He will not let you go. Next time when you see a brother in a similar situation, you will know that Bible knowledge alone cannot help him get through and that he has to deal with his sins. If you carelessly allow your sin to get by, and if you see a brother committing a similar sin, you will excuse him in your heart because you have been excusing yourself. If you do this, you cannot help him at all.
If a brother has a hard time rising up early, and if he has been caught and dealt with by God in this matter, when he sees another brother doing the same thing, he will lay hold of this brother and will tell him, "Brother, get up quickly; otherwise, the manna will be melted." He can help this brother because he has been dealt with by God.
Preaching the word is preaching what we have been dealt with by God. If this is not the case, even though we may preach something, we cannot lead others to what we preach. Today we have so much preaching with so little result because we have not been dealt with by God nor taught by God. If we only preach a Bible sermon that we have prepared in two or three hours, it will be merely a teaching, and it would be better for us not to preach it at all. We must have three to five years of experiencing God's dealing before we can preach something to others. New wine and aged wine are both useful, yet most people prefer aged wine because it is more tasteful. If we deal with everything that we run into every day, one by one, we can help those who encounter the same thing. Many of us do not know how to help young believers and sinners because we do not know what is within their hearts and what their backgrounds are. Under these circumstances, we cannot offer any help to them.
Do you know the difference between a discourse and a report? A discourse cannot render any help to people, but a report can. The discourse that you expound may make others feel that you are very logical. But you cannot help others go on the way, because your discourse does not have any base to it. This is like an elementary school student composing a travelogue; he writes of sceneries which he has never seen. What about a report? A report means you have something in hand and can describe it point by point. You can only give a poor description; you can never give a wrong description. This is because what is described is real, something that can be touched and seen. Whether you are working on believers or unbelievers, the most important thing is that you have to be dealt with by God. After you are dealt with, you will speak the reality, and others will touch it.
Brothers and sisters, we have to deal with hundreds and thousands of events before God. Unfortunately, to this day we have neglected so many things that need to be dealt with by God. Day after day if we learn to be dealt with by God, we will know God in the long run. Many believers run around asking people questions, but they themselves never seek to know God. They may have been saved for many years, but they still do not know God. What a pitiful situation this is! We should ask God what we should do in this or that matter, and we should not stop asking until we know God. Do not pray just once and think that it is over. Again I say it would be better for those who only want to pray once to not pray at all.
Finally, I have to say that no lazy person can know God. I would also tell the co-workers that if something does not cause us to feel pained, we will never cause others to feel pained. I hope we learn to deal with God daily, and I hope that we are dealt with by Him daily. This kind of experience and condition is most precious. It is more precious to know God than to have mere Bible knowledge. May God bless us.
