Search
This book is divided into three volumes with ten sections. The writing of the book began in the latter part of 1925 and was completed in June 1927.
The following explanation by the author himself on the nature of the book is quoted from an announcement in Issue No. 3 of The Present Testimony:
"This book puts particular emphasis on spiritual reality. Hence, what is covered in each volume can all be attested in experience; nothing is there as an empty word.
"The most frustrating experience of believers today is that in seeking for progress on the spiritual path, they do not find the proper way. As a result, they grope in darkness, being at times high or low, lingering around the crossroads year in and year out, and having no one to consult for direction. The author of this book was such a one. For this reason, the book emphasizes clear guidance on the proper path. Every chapter of this book is for the purpose of directing the believers on the right course. Therefore, all those who seek after God with an honest heart can go step by step accordingly. Almost every chapter begins from the position of the sinner and goes on step by step toward the peak of spiritual life.
"The whole book covers a wide scope; every question concerning the spiritual life that the believers want to know but cannot answer is explained here. For example, difficult matters such as hearing God's voice and understanding God's will are all clearly explained. After reading this book, all major spiritual problems will be fully resolved.
"Regeneration, salvation, sanctification, denying the self, the filling of the Holy Spirit and power, the baptism of the Spirit, fellowship, prayer, Bible study identification in death, the flesh, the soulish life, the emotion, supernatural experiences, miracles, the discernment of true and false speaking in tongues, the intuition, the conscience, revelation of God, spiritual work, warfare with Satan, the evil spirits, demon possession, the free will, the renewing of the mind, passivity, consecration, affection, the feeling of coldness and hotness, the body, illness, the way to escape death, and countless other subjects are explained in the deepest as well as the simplest way.
"If a believer wants to walk on the proper spiritual course, he must read this book. If anyone wants to help others and explain to others their true condition, he also cannot skip this book.
"All who read this book will find light even on many ordinarily overlooked topics. Even a matter as familiar as regeneration will be understood in a way that was unthought of before."
Thank the Lord that since the publication of this book in the fall of 1928, believers from various places have put in orders for it. Within a short time, we sold out of the first edition. Many have undauntedly told us how they have experienced deliverance through the truth recorded in this book. This makes us realize that God's commission to us has not been in vain. We really have to thank the Lord for the way this book has been received by God's children.
Since then, for about two years, we have not been able to offer this book in its complete three-volume set. Originally, I had no intention to print the second edition, thinking that two thousand copies in circulation would be enough. At the same time, I was reluctant to hastily make another edition because I wanted to see how much result the outworking of the truth of this book would produce. But during the past two years, there have been more than a few hundred requests for this book. We have also seen from many testimonies that the truth of this book can be put into practice, that it can liberate men, and that it is what God's children need. Hence, we feel that we cannot delay reprinting it.
This edition is not much different from the first edition in teaching and in truth. However, because of the new light and new awareness I received, which were not yet clear at the time I wrote the first edition, I have undertaken, with much effort, to make many changes and additions in this edition. In such an editing work, I have asked the Lord's help and tried my best to match the terms used in the book with those used in the Scripture.
We know that the terms that we use are often different from those used in the Bible. For example, we use the word "redemption" with reference to the whole of the Lord Jesus' work on the cross. But the biblical meaning of the word "redemption" is only limited to the covering of sin.
Hence, there are many terms which sound right to us but are not accurate if judged by the Bible. For example, we all know the expressions "the overcoming of sins," "the crucifying of the self on the cross," and "the crucifixion of the soul-life" and what they refer to. But these expressions are not found in the Bible. The Bible does not have these things. The Bible does not speak of "the overcoming of sins," but "the deliverance from sin" and "being freed from sin." God's way of salvation is not for us to overcome sin, but to crucify our old man so that we are delivered from sin and the power of sin. (When this book uses the expression "overcoming sins," it is merely making reference to one's experience.) Again, the Bible does not say that we should "die to the self," but that we should "deny the self." One does not "crucify the self"; the self is dealt with by "taking up the cross." This is because the self is our own personality and can never be crucified. Once the self dies, our own person dies. The self is the person. Hence, we can only deny the self and take up the cross to deal with it. The meaning of bearing the cross is not to die, but to be willing to die. In the same way, the Bible never says to "crucify the soul-life"; it only says to "lose the soul-life," for if our natural life is crucified, our physical life will be gone as well.
This does not mean that we were not aware of these distinctions in the first edition. However, we thought that if we were right in the spiritual facts and principles, outward terminology would not matter much. While we were making changes even at this time, we did not try to correct these errors altogether. It was during the past few days that the Lord reminded us to specifically take care of this matter. He has shown us how an inaccurate term can lead to inaccurate truths, and how accuracy in terminology is equally important. Of course, we would rather have spiritual reality than accurate terminology. But when we do have the spiritual reality, it is also valuable that we have the accurate terminology, not to mention that accurate terminology will afford us new light. Hence, we have changed our terms in many places. I hope that we can do the same in our other publications.
I would like the readers to pay attention to the subjective result of the truth in us. For this reason, I have not mentioned many of the objective truths. This is the nature of this book. It was because I have felt that subjective truths are too few that I began to write this book. Therefore, the readers should know that the various truths mentioned in this book are not meant to be all that can be said about them. They are merely an exposition of these truths in their subjective aspects.
Soon this book will go out again to do the work that the Lord has allotted it to do. At this juncture, I can only feel the inadequacy of my writing. God's truth always suffers loss at the hand of man. I can only say that all the glory should be to God and all the shame to me. May God bless what He can bless.
The authorShanghai, May 30, 1932
I give thanks with all my heart to the Lord whom I serve, for He has given me the privilege to write this book. I had hoped that a better writer would be raised up to fulfill this responsibility, but it has pleased the Lord that I should take it up myself. According to my choice, I should and would be the last one to write such a book. My reluctance is not due to my timidness, but to my thought that writing such a book on spiritual progress and the stratagems of warfare is not an easy task for one who has believed in the Lord for less than ten years. Among the spiritually seeking believers there is always the danger of excessive subjectivity concerning one's own spiritual experience. This is not healthy, for self-examination, the analyzing of oneself, is a means of cultivating the self-life and fills a person's mind with vain thoughts. The Bible does permit believers to relate their own experience; this is something that the Holy Spirit would lead men to do. But experiences that are as wonderful and profound as the rapture "to the third heaven" should better wait "fourteen years" to be mentioned. It is most important that we pay attention to experience, but a mind that is filled with experience will make it more difficult for one to give up the self-life. I do not have "third heaven" experiences, and I have not received any great revelation; I have only received the grace from the Lord to learn in an incomplete way to follow Him in the small things in daily life. In this book I have merely tried to communicate to God's children what I have received from the Lord during these few years.
About four years ago I felt the need to write such a book. At that time, due to my physical weakness, I was resting, studying the Word, and praying in a little house by the lake. I felt the need for God's children to have a book based on scriptural teaching and spiritual experience, which would make a clear analysis of the spiritual life and would afford the Holy Spirit a way to guide the saints and lead them out of searching in darkness. At that time, I was very clear that the Lord had commissioned me to do this. As a result, I began to write the chapter on the difference between the spirit, the soul, and the body, the chapter concerning the flesh, and the half chapter on the soul-life. After a while, I stopped for a number of reasons, one of which was the fact that I was called to do other things. However, that alone could not have stopped me, because had I wanted to, I could still have found the time to write it. The greatest reason I stopped from further writing was that many of the truths which the Lord had commissioned me to write were not fully confirmed in my experience at that time. If I had written the book under such a condition, its value and power would have been diminished. I was willing to learn more and to confirm and experience His truths more, so that what I wrote would not be spiritual theories, but spiritual facts. This stopped the work for three years.
During these three years or more, I can say that the writing of this book was on my mind every day. Although to man, the publishing of this book is long overdue, I myself was most clear about the Lord's hand. During the past few years, the truths in this book — particularly those in Volume Three — have released many from the authority of darkness. This proves that we have seen the spiritual reality. The Lord has been particularly gracious to me to show me the goal of God's redemption and the way to differentiate between the new creation and the old creation. For this, I have to thank the Lord. The Lord has allowed me to travel more during these few years and has afforded me the opportunity to meet with some of the best of His children in various places. This, of course, increased my observation, knowledge, and experience. The Lord showed me in my contact with others the shortages among His children and the way of salvation revealed in the Bible. I can say to my readers that even though this book is a book that examines the spiritual life, all the points recorded in it can be proven in real experience.
Recently, due to the special experience which my physical body has undergone, I have come to realize, on the one hand, the reality of eternity, and on the other hand, my indebtedness to the church of God. Therefore, I began to wish that I could finish this book within the shortest possible time. I thank God the Father, and I also thank a few of my friends in the Lord, who have prepared a quiet place for me according to the need of my body. This allowed me to finish Sections One through Four within a few months. Although I have not yet started on the remaining sections, God the Father is always waiting for me when I need the grace. Now that this book is about to be published, I would say a few honest words: it was not an easy matter to learn the truths of this book, and it was more difficult to write about the truths of this book. During those two months, I can say that I was living between Satan's jaws. What a conflict that was! How much there was to withstand! All the strength of the spirit, the soul, and the body were hurled against Hades. Such warfare has temporarily ceased now. However, the remaining sections are not finished. May those who stood with Moses on the mount not forget Joshua on the plain. I know that the enemy deeply hates this book. He will try all he can to obstruct it and to stop people from getting it. Even when they get it, he will stop them from reading it. May the enemy not prevail in this matter.
Because of the thickness of the book, I have divided it into three volumes. Some parts of the book emphasize spiritual life, while others emphasize spiritual warfare. The parts that speak of spiritual warfare also speak of spiritual life, and the parts that speak of spiritual life also cover spiritual warfare. The only difference between them is the emphasis. Since the purpose of this book is to guide those who are lost, more attention is paid to the actual steps of the journey than to exhortations to take the journey. This book is not an exhortation to the pursuit of spiritual truths; rather, it is for those who are pursuing spiritual truths but who have not found the way. All those who have the desire will find the proper guidance. The style of this book is neither homiletic nor expositional. There are variations in the degree of depth covered. One should take note of this fact while he is reading it.
I deeply believe that the spiritual conditions of the readers of this book will be very uneven. The degrees of spiritual life mentioned in this book are also quite varied from one section of the book to the other. Hence, if a reader comes across places that he does not understand or finds difficult to comprehend, he should not reject them and not try to research them with his mind; those truths are for those who are more mature. If he will read the book again after a while, perhaps after half a month or a month, he will find that he will understand more of them. In short, what this book talks about is absolutely a matter of spiritual life and spiritual experience, and no one can try to understand it by any method. What one considers as most common and unattractive may in the end turn out to be most precious. The point to which a person has reached is the degree to which he will understand. Does this then mean that a person can only understand something after he has reached that point? If that is the case, why is there the need for this book at all? There is a mystery in a believer's spiritual experience: for the Lord to lead a believer into a deeper spiritual life, He will first give such a one a taste of the outline of that level of spiritual life before actually leading him into it. When many believers first get the taste of a certain level of spirituality, they think that they have already attained to that level. Little do they realize that it is only the beginning of the Lord's work in leading them into such matters. Hence, when a believer has tasted a certain level but has not entered fully into it, he can take advantage of the teachings of this book.
We should beware of one thing in reading a book of this nature: we should not take the knowledge acquired from this book as a tool for self-analysis. If we see in God's light, we will have the knowledge of ourselves, and at the same time we will not lose our broadness in the Lord. But if we analyze all day long, we will be in our own thoughts and feelings. Such unrelenting self-analysis will hinder us from losing our self in Christ. Unless a believer has been deeply taught by the Lord, he will not know anything. All self-analysis and self-consciousness are harmful to the spiritual life.
Here, it would be well if we remember God's way of redemption. God's goal is to deliver us, through the new life which He gives to us at the time of our regeneration, from (1) sin, (2) natural things (our nature), and (3) supernatural things (the sinful aspects). All three steps of deliverance are indispensable. If a believer limits God's way of salvation and is satisfied only with victory over sin, he is short of God's will. The natural good nature must be overcome, and the supernatural enemy must also be overcome. It is good to overcome sin, but unless one overcomes the natural narrowness and the supernatural evil, he is not perfect. Such victory can only come from the cross. By God's grace I hope to pay more attention to these points, so that the readers will understand them.
Except the section in Volume Three which deals with the body, this book can be considered biblical psychology. All the things we cover are based on the Scripture and confirmed by our spiritual experience. The result of our study is that with every spiritual experience, such as regeneration, there are specific changes within our inner man. After we have studied this subject, we have found that the Bible divides a man into three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body. Later on, we will consider the function of these three parts, in particular, the functions of the spirit and the soul. We will also see what each part includes and how they are different from one another.
A few special words are needed for Section One in Volume One. Knowledge of the distinction between the spirit and the soul and the different functions of the spirit and the soul is indispensable to spiritually-seeking believers. Only after one knows what the spirit is and what it is to be spiritual can he walk according to the spirit. Today this teaching is very much lacking in China, and that is why we cover the subject in detail in Section One. Those believers with a good amount of knowledge will not find it hard to understand. But those who are not familiar with this kind of distinction should just remember the conclusion for now, and should go on to read Section Two. The first section is not on the spiritual life but on the prerequisite knowledge for the spiritual life. One will understand more if he finishes the whole book first and then comes back to read that section.
There also needs to be a word of explanation concerning the translation of the Scripture in this book. I thank God that He has given us a very good translation, the Chinese Union Version. In many passages, it is even better than some of the English versions. However, in many places, due to Chinese grammar and usage, the translation is bound to vary from the original text. This is obviously a shortage when it comes to the study of the spiritual life. Whenever such places occur, I have to furnish my own translation. We are not concerned with the bluntness of the style; our aim is only to convey the spiritual meaning of the word.
The teaching of the difference between the soul and the spirit did not originate with me. Andrew Murray said that the one thing the church, as well as individuals, has to dread the most is the inordinate activity of the soulish will and mind. F.B. Meyer also said that unless one knows how to differentiate between the soul and the spirit, he cannot imagine what his spiritual life would have been. Others such as Otto Stockmayer, Jessie Penn-Lewis, Evan Roberts, and Madame Guyon have given similar testimonies. Because we have received the same commission as they, I have freely quoted their writings. Because there are so many places where I have referenced them, I have not made specific reference to the sources.
This book is not only written for ordinary believers, but for those in the Lord's work who are younger than I am. Those who are responsible for leading others in their spiritual pursuits should be clear what we are leading others out of and what we are leading them into. We should know from where to where we are journeying. Does the Lord only want us to help others not to sin, on the negative side, and become zealous, on the positive side? Or is there something deeper than this? To me, the Bible is most clear concerning this point. God's goal is to lead His children fully out of the old creation and into the new creation. No matter how good the old creation looks in man's eyes, in God's eyes it is always condemned. If we the workers are clear what it is that we have to tear down and what it is that we have to build up, we will not lead others on in a foolish way.
Regeneration — the receiving of God's own life — is the beginning of all spiritual life. It is most useless to spend much energy in exhorting, persuading, debating, explaining, and researching and end up with nothing other than some understanding in the mind, some decisions in the will, and some activity in the emotion with nothing else being done to cause a person to receive God's life in his spirit. I wish all those who bear the same responsibility as I do in preaching God's Word would realize that unless we bring about a reception of God's life in man's deepest part, nothing is useful. If we know this, what a revolution there will be in our work. This will show us that many who claim that they have believed in the Lord Jesus have actually not yet believed in Him. Many tears and repentance and much good behavior, zeal, and work are not the characteristics of a Christian. If we know our responsibility, we will be satisfied with others receiving God's preeminent life.
Because of the limitation of space and subject material, many basic doctrines are only briefly covered here. If the Lord delays His coming, and if He allows me to remain on earth, I will be happy to put them in another book in the future. When I recall how the enemy tried to stop me from learning the truths in this book, especially those in Volume Three, I cannot help but realize that even if a believer has secured this book, Satan will stop him from reading it; and even if he reads it, Satan will cause him to forget it. Hence, I will warn the readers ahead of time that they should ask God to destroy Satan's work in frustrating them from reading this book. I hope that while they are reading it, they will pray as they read and will turn what they have read into prayer. We also ask that God put on you the helmet of salvation. Otherwise, you will either forget what you read, or your mind will be filled with endless theories.
A few more words for those brothers who have acquired the truths in this book: if God has given you the grace and has delivered you from the flesh and the power of darkness, you should preach these truths to others. Hence, after you have become familiar with this book and have received the truths in it, you should use this book as a textbook and should gather together a few believers and teach them the truths in this book. If the whole book is too much for them, you should at least teach them one or two sections. Do not let the truths of this book lie still. It is even a profitable work to lend this book to others to read.
Now I commit this little book into the Lord's hand. If it pleases Him, may He bless it so that my brothers and sisters will grow in spiritual life and overcome in spiritual warfare. May God's will be done, may the enemy's will be destroyed, and may the Lord Jesus come soon to reign. Amen.
The authorShanghai, June 4, 1927
Today I rejoice because I have finished the last section of this book. When I wrote the preface, I had only finished the first four sections. While I was writing the last four sections I felt that I still had much to say to my readers. Hence, this postscript.
Sixteen months ago I began writing this book. During these sixteen months, I have been burdened with this book every moment. The enemy is not happy when he sees God's truth being preached in this way. Therefore, attacks came from all angles, and it seemed as if they had become too much for me to handle. But thank the Lord that His grace sustained me until today. Many times I thought that there was no way to go on; the pressure in the spirit was too great, and the body was too weak. It was as if I had lost hope of my very life. But the God whom I serve and to whom I belong has strengthened me according to His promise and in answer to the prayers of many. Today everything is over, and my burden is released. What a consolation for me today!
Today I offer this book up with both hands to our God. My prayer before Him is that since He has finished what He has begun, He would bless this book for the accomplishment of His commission in His church. I pray that God would bless every one of the readers that they would find the proper path and would learn to follow the Lord unto perfection. My spirit and my prayer now go out with this book. May God use this book according to His excellent will.
Brothers, humanly speaking, a writer ought not to be too enthusiastic about his own book. But I cannot care about this. I am not drawing attention to it just because it is my book. Today we are here for the truth. If this book were written by someone else, I would have more liberty to recommend it. Therefore, I would ask for your forgiveness in this matter; I am compelled to do this. I only know that the truth in this book is important, and for that reason I cannot shy away from recommending it just because it was written by me. According to my understanding of God's will, I realize that the truth contained in this book is very much needed in this age. I may be mistaken, but one thing is sure: I know that I did not initiate the writing of this book. I was clearly commissioned by the Lord to do it. Moreover, the truths in this book are not mine but are given to me by Him. Even while I was writing this book, He gave me many new blessings.
I want my readers to fully understand that this book is not on theories of spiritual life and warfare. I myself can testify that the truths contained in this book were learned through many sufferings, trials, and failures. Almost all the teachings have the mark of fire on them. The words were not written lightly but were produced out of the deepest part of my being. God knows where these truths come from.
Those who read this book will naturally feel that its style is different from ordinary writings. In addition, there are many special terms which are quite incomprehensible. Let me clarify a few points. If a man has never set out to write a book like this, he will not realize in reality how many difficulties there are. It is when he takes up his pen and starts writing that all these problems come before him. The Chinese language does not lend itself easily to spiritual writings. For this reason, I have to express the meaning of the truth in a style that is half Chinese and half foreign. Many terms in the book were created by me. Had I not done this, many truths could not even have been expressed. I hope that the readers will pay special attention to the proper spiritual terms. After they are more widely used, they will not sound that strange anymore. I thank the Lord that during the past few years, many spiritual terms have become common among Chinese believers and can be understood without much explanation. I hope that the readers will not find difficulty with this category of terms.
When I wrote this book, I did not try to group the same kind of truths in the same place. The reason for this is that I could only mention the different truths as I went along. Although some truths fall under the same category as others, I could only postpone them for later discussions. Many times, because of the importance of some subjects, I have mentioned them repeatedly, hoping that God's children will have a deep impression of them. I deeply feel that believers today forget easily. For this reason, I cannot help but mention these matters again and again at the appropriate times so that they will not be lost. Many people receive a truth only after repeated reminders. "Therefore Jehovah's word to them will be:/Rule upon rule, rule upon rule;/Line upon line, line upon line;/Here a little, there a little" (Isa. 28:13).
I also realize that many places in this book appear to contradict one another. When readers come to these places, they should realize that in actuality, there are no contradictions; they only appear to be so. Because this book concerns things in the spiritual realm, many theories appear to be contradictory. Actually, in experience, they complement one another. Many spiritual things appear to be contradictory (2 Cor. 4:8-9). I admit that in many places, they appear to be incomprehensible. But my request is that you try your best to understand, and not to misunderstand. If anyone tries purposely to misunderstand, he may find some things in this book which I never intended to say.
I deeply feel that only one kind of person can understand this book. My original intention for writing this book was to meet the need of many believers. Therefore, only those believers who have a need will understand this book. Those with a need will find this book to be a guide. If a reader has no need, he will either consider its content to be theoretical or will criticize it. The amount of need determines the amount of understanding of this book. If a reader does not have any need in his experience, this book will not solve anything for him and will only serve as an object for idle criticism. Hence, the readers should take note of this point.
The more profound a truth is, the easier it is to become a theory, because the more profound a truth is, the more difficult it is to attain to it without the operation of the Holy Spirit. Once a person fails to attain to it, he will consider it a theory. Therefore, when we read a book like this, we have to be careful lest we receive its teachings in the mind only, thinking that we have acquired everything. This is most dangerous. If we do this, we will be more deceived by the flesh and the evil spirit day after day.
The reader of this book should also be careful that he does not take the knowledge he has acquired from this book as a tool for criticizing others. It is easy for us to say that this person is soulish and that person is fleshly. But it is difficult to know if we ourselves are the same. The truth is given to set men free; it is not given to criticize others. I am afraid that some who are naturally inclined to show themselves off will not change after receiving the truth in this book, but will use the truth in this book to criticize their brothers and sisters. This book is meant to lead men on the right path; it is not meant to judge men. If we do this, it means that we are no less soulish than the ones we criticize, only a bit more fleshly. This danger is the greatest, and we should guard against it carefully.
I have mentioned one thing in my preface, which, due to its extreme importance, I would like to mention again here. This concerns the warning that we should never analyze ourselves. After reading a book of this nature, it would be very easy for us to unconsciously have excessive self-analysis. When we pay attention to the inner life, we tend to be lead into excessive analysis of our own thoughts and feelings and the activities of the inner man. In this way, we may advance much outwardly, but in reality, the self-life will become more difficult to reject. If we turn inward exclusively, we will lose all peace. When we expect to see holiness filling us, yet find that our condition is not as we have expected, we will naturally feel uneasy. God has no intention that we engage ourselves in such introspection. This is the cause of spiritual lethargy. Our rest comes from looking to the Lord alone and not to ourselves. The amount we look to the Lord is the amount of deliverance we will receive. We rest on the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus and not on our volatile experience. Real spiritual life depends not on continuous analysis of our own feelings and thoughts but on looking away to the Savior!
The readers must not be misled to think that all supernatural things are to be rejected. My purpose is only to help you test if these things are from God. I firmly believe that many supernatural things are from God, and I have seen many of these things. However, I must also admit that there are many supernatural things that are falsely claimed to be from God. I do not have the slightest intention that men would reject everything supernatural. I am merely pointing out the basic difference in principle between these two things in their manifestations. If a believer encounters supernatural things, he should test them carefully according to the scripturally revealed principles before he makes the decision to accept or reject them.
Concerning the problem with the soul, I feel that many believers often drift from one extreme to the other. We commonly consider it to be soulish when one is too emotional, and we think that to be soulish is to be emotional. For this reason, we label the emotional and easily-excited ones as soulish. But we have to realize that an intellectual person is not spiritual either. We are acutely aware of the fact that many people have taken the intellectual life to mean the spiritual life. This is another thing that we have to be aware of.
We must never allow the activity of our soul to cease completely. It is very easy for us to fall into extremes. Either we fall into one extreme, or we fall into the other extreme. At one time we might have considered the emotion and the excitement in the soul to be good and might have walked according to them. Now that we know they are wrong, we begin to suppress them and to restrict their activities. This sounds good, but such actions do not make us spiritual. I deeply feel that if the readers of this book have but a very slight misunderstanding concerning this point, their life will become very dead, for their spirit will then be imprisoned by their dead emotion, and will not have the opportunity to express itself. If excitement is an expression of the spirit's feeling, it is most valuable. In short, if a believer over-suppresses his emotion, he will only become a person living in his mentality and will not be a spiritual person.
I have a few words to say particularly about the last section. It seems that I am not worthy to write it because of the weakness of my body. But precisely because my weakness, sickness, and sufferings are more than others', I can write about them in more detail. Many times I did not have the boldness to write. But thank the Lord that eventually I wrote it. I hope that those whose experience with their earthly tabernacle is similar to mine will accept what I have written and take it as light from a brother who has seen light in his darkness. Of course, believers today have many contentions about the matter of divine healing. A book such as this one on the teaching of principles should indeed not engage in any debate with the brothers and sisters concerning the fine points. I have said what I wanted to say. My request now is that in our sickness we should differentiate between the things that come from ourselves and the things that come from God. As to the rest, I do not like to say too much.
I confess that this book has many deficiencies. However, I have done my best. I have offered to you my best. I know how solemn the consequence of releasing this book is. For that reason, I have no other prayer except that, in fear and trembling, I would ask God to bring us through all the experience. Now that the book is completed, I would commend what I have written to the conscience of God's children and leave it up to them to discern and to judge.
I know that such a book that exposes the enemy's tactics will surely stir up the hatred of the power of darkness and will subsequently raise up much opposition. But my purpose in writing this book is not to please men. Hence, none of these things will affect me. I also know that some of God's remnant will be helped by this book and will consider me more highly than I should be considered. May I say this to these ones: I am a man only and a very weak one indeed. The teachings in this book can testify to my experience of weakness.
Now this book is in the hand of the readers. This is God's grace. If you have the courage and the patience to go on after reading Section One, God will perhaps bless you with the truth contained in it. If you read through the whole book, I would advise you to read it one more time after a while. Dear friends, at this point, while you are reading these lines, may we lift up our heads to our Father, and may we come to Him once again in faith, casting ourselves into His bosom and receiving from Him His life once more. May we confess anew that we are nothing and that with Him is the fullness. We have nothing, and He has all. Unless He gives, and unless He graces us and fills us, we remain helpless sinners. Let us praise Him with a heart of thanksgiving for the grace that the Lord Jesus has bestowed on us.
O holy Father, what You have entrusted to me is now here. If You see fit, bless it! But may You preserve Your children in this end time and deliver them from the corrupted flesh and the wicked evil spirits. Father, build up the Body of Your Son, destroy the enemy of Your Son, and hasten the coming of His kingdom! Father God, I look to You! I trust in You! I long for You! I trust in You!
The authorShanghai, June 25, 1928
The spirit and soul mentioned in this book, and their respective functions, are important matters. What we have covered is but an outline of these subjects; there are still many areas which we have not covered. Because there are many important [Greek] words which are not translated uniformly into the same Chinese words in the Chinese Union Version, which of course is often impossible to do, it becomes impossible for those who desire to search more finely into the question but who are ignorant of the original language to grasp the subject. For the sake of accommodating these brothers, we have listed a table here to point out the different Chinese translations in our [Union Version] Bible of the same word in the original language, so that for each Chinese word the readers can see the corresponding word in the original language.
The word "spirit" is ruach in Hebrew in the Old Testament and pneuma in Greek in the New Testament. These two words are used about seven hundred times. Of these, about half of them refer to the Holy Spirit and the evil spirits. About a hundred times, especially ruach in the Old Testament, the word is used in reference to the wind. Once ruach is translated "quarters" (1 Chron. 9:24), and six times it is translated "side" (Jer. 52:23; Ezek. 42:16-20). All other times it refers to the highest part of man, the spirit. For simplicity's sake, we will only list here the verses concerning man's spirit.
[The list on the spirit is omitted.]
The word "soul" in Hebrew in the Old Testament is nephesh, which in Greek in the New Testament is psuche. These two words are used about eight hundred times in the Old and the New Testaments.
[The list on the soul is omitted.]
The word "flesh" in the Old Testament Hebrew is basar, and in the New Testament Greek it is sarx. The word is used about four hundred times.
[The list on the flesh is omitted.]
The word "heart" in the Old Testament Hebrew is leb, and in the New Testament Greek it is kardia. This word is used about seven hundred times.
[The list on the heart is omitted.]
The word "mind" in Greek is nous, which is used over twenty times in the New Testament.
[The list on the nous is omitted.]
There are a few words in the original languages which refer to the mind, intellect, and thoughts. We cannot enumerate them all here. However, when a reader finds out that a word should not be translated as spirit, soul, or heart, and is not nous, it is possible that the word refers to the mind.
