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Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Cor. 1:18; Phil. 2:16; Eph. 5:26; Col. 3:16
The Bible is extraordinary among all other books. The word Bible means “the Book.” The Bible is called “the Book” because it is the greatest book. The Bible is extraordinary because it is entirely God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). In other words, the whole Bible is simply God’s breath. The Bible was not written according to the human mentality or human logic; rather, every sentence and every word of the Bible were breathed out from God.
The Bible is the divine revelation; however, the basic element of the Bible is not the divine revelation but the divine breath. The divine breath is the nature and element of the divine revelation. Therefore, whenever we come to the Bible, we enter into God’s breath and even God’s breathing. This is not merely a theory; it has been experienced by many believers. When we come to a textbook or a secular magazine, we will never have the sensation of God’s presence. However, whenever we come to the Bible, it leads us into the presence of God. As believers, we can all testify that every time we contact the Bible, we are in the presence of God. Whenever we come to the Bible, we immediately have the sensation that we have come into God’s presence.
We may sometimes wonder where God’s presence is and how we can enter into God’s presence. When I was young, I heard that God’s presence was in my heart. However, often when we turn to our heart, we do not meet God there but instead find something else. Many times when I turned to my heart, I was troubled by something in my heart. Hence, to turn to our heart is not the best way to meet God. God’s presence is always in the Bible. Whenever we come to the Bible, we find God.
That God’s presence accompanies the Bible is logical. One’s breath is always near one’s face. When we come into a person’s breath, we come into that person’s presence. Because the Bible is God’s breath, God’s presence always accompanies it, for His presence is always with His breath. God is mysterious, universal, and eternal, but we can find His breath in the Bible, for the Bible is His breath. We need to realize that the Bible we hold is simply God’s breath and that where God’s breath is, there His presence is. Whenever we come to the Bible, we should have the assurance that we are entering into God’s presence.
The unique way to receive God’s breath is to come to the Bible, for the Bible is His breath. The Bible is not only God’s breath but also God’s breathing. There is a difference between one’s breath and one’s breathing. Breath may be objective and in the past, but breathing is subjective and in the present. God is breathing in His word. Therefore, whenever we come to the Bible, we come into God’s breathing.
Many believers are concerned that after they read a portion of the Bible, they do not remember the verses they have read. As a result, some even doubt whether they truly need to read the Bible. However, because the Bible is God’s breathing, it is like the air that we breathe. When we breathe in fresh air, we do not remember the air. We daily need to be refreshed by breathing in God’s word. When we rise up each morning, we should come to the Word to come into God’s fresh and refreshing breathing. We do not need to remember what we read. We need to come to the Word simply to receive the breathing.
We do not need to memorize verses in the morning. Rather than exhausting ourselves by trying to memorize, we should simply read and pray-read a few verses. It is unhealthy to exert a great effort while eating or breathing. The best way to eat is to take the food effortlessly. Those who practice deep breathing do it peacefully. When we come to the Bible, we should be at ease because we are coming into the presence of God not to work but to enjoy and be refreshed by His breathing. This is my experience.
The Bible tells us that God’s word is not only the breath of God but also water (Eph. 5:26). Water is used in the Bible in a positive sense and also in a negative sense. Negatively, water sometimes signifies death (Gen. 1:2; Exo. 14:21; Matt. 3:16; John 2:7). Positively, water sometimes signifies a flowing supply of life (Exo. 17:6; Jer. 2:13a; John 4:14; 19:34; Rev. 22:1). Water also signifies cleansing (Lev. 14:52; John 13:5). Water not only supplies but also washes. Ephesians 5:26 says, “That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word.” There is water in the word that washes us. The word is water that washes us.
In Shanghai a sister once said to Brother Watchman Nee, “I read the Bible diligently, but after many times of reading, it seems that nothing remains within me. I forget everything that I read. Since I cannot remember what I read, is it still necessary for me to read?” Brother Nee answered her by using the following illustration. In the countryside in China the women wash rice in baskets made of willow branches. These baskets serve as strainers. The women fill the basket of rice with water, and all the water passes through the rice and the basket. Regardless of how much water they add to the basket, eventually not one drop will stay in the basket. The water simply comes and goes, passing through, and no water remains. Brother Nee pointed out that after water passes through the basket many times, both the rice and the basket are washed. Brother Nee said that we are like the basket. We need to allow the water of the word to pass through us again and again. Perhaps nothing of the word will remain, but neither will any dirt remain. If for one week we come to the Word for at least ten minutes each morning and allow the water of the word to pass through our being, we will be made clean. However, if no water of the word comes and goes in our being, after one week we will be quite dirty. Whether or not we come to the Word makes a real difference in our Christian life.
When we come to the Word, we come into God’s breathing and are refreshed. When we come to the Word, we are also washed and cleansed as the divine water of the word passes through us again and again. It may seem that we remember nothing and receive no help, but something negative will be washed away from us. We saw in the previous chapter that the word nourishes us (Matt. 4:4). In this chapter we have seen that the word also refreshes and washes us. Whenever we come to the Bible, we are refreshed by coming into God’s breathing. When we read through the Word again and again, we receive an inward cleansing. Just as our physical body needs to be washed every morning, so our inner man needs to be washed morning by morning by coming to the Word.
Recently, some have criticized my ministry, saying, “Brother Lee has given many legalities to us. He says that we need to legally come to the Word every morning and legally pray and contact the Lord every day.” I admit that I have encouraged the saints to be legal in these matters. If we do not have some legalities, we cannot be normal persons. If we are sloppy and careless, depending on inspiration to wash, eat, or breathe, we may claim that we are liberated, free, and not under any bondage, but we will actually be killing ourselves. The healthiest person is the most legal person. From the moment a man enters the military service, he must do everything according to instructions, which are legalities. Servicemen do not have an inch of freedom. Day and night they are governed by legalities. Without legalities no military force could be formed, built up, or trained. Without certain necessary legalities, it is impossible to have governments, corporations, schools, or even families. The United States is a free and open democratic country, one that receives all kinds of people, but only a normal, proper, legal person would be elected into public office. We should not be loose Christians. The more legalities we have, the more normal we will be, and the more success we will have.
We all need to practice certain legalities. If we are legal in our physical eating, taking three meals every day at certain times and not eating too much or too little, we will be healthy. If not, we may develop health problems. Likewise, we need to have certain spiritual legalities. Every morning we need to be legal to spend fifteen minutes in the Word to be in God’s presence, to breathe Him in, to be refreshed, to be nourished, and to be watered. In this sense, we need to be legal Christians.
Romans 6:14b says, “You are not under the law but under grace.” The law mentioned in this verse is the old law, the law of the Old Testament. Today we Christians should be under the new law, the law of the New Testament. The new law is more binding than the old law. The old law was objective, written on tablets of stone, but the new law is subjective, written on our hearts (Heb. 10:16). It spreads into all our inward parts, controlling our mind, emotion, and will. The New Testament economy is one that restricts us.
Every kind of life has certain principles, which are laws. Life is not loose; it does not give us liberty. Life restricts. The higher the life, the more it restricts. This principle can be seen even in humanity. Whoever regulates and restricts himself the most is the highest person. The loosest person is the lowest person. This is a fact. If we desire to be a high Christian, we must keep certain legalities. However, we should not be legal toward others but only toward ourselves. We should not allow ourselves to be loose. Rather, we should restrict ourselves by being legal in keeping all the healthy spiritual practices.
I once brought a young American brother to visit the Far East. I sent him from Taiwan to Manila to preach the gospel. The church there treated him well and placed him in the best room in a co-workers’ home. A few days later I arrived and stayed in the same home. One day the sisters who took care of the home asked me to look in on the other brother’s room. I saw a messy room with socks thrown carelessly about. I felt ashamed that I had sent such a brother there to preach the gospel. It was a shame to the gospel. We should not be this kind of Christian.
To be transformed means not only to be changed but also to be regulated. We need to learn to be legal with ourselves. Some may think that I was simply born with a proper, orderly disposition. On the contrary, I was not born this way. However, today I am very legal with myself. In my study I have several bookcases containing many reference books and different versions of the Bible. When I am working there each morning according to my schedule, I never need to guess where a certain book is. I can find any book with my eyes closed. Efficiency comes from being legal. When we are young, we need to learn to be legal to build up a good character. We should not become loose with ourselves in anything.
My burden in this chapter is that we would see what the constituents of the Word are. We may know that the contents of the Bible are the sixty-six books from Genesis to Revelation, but we need to see the very constituents of the Word of God. The Bible is constituted with three major items: Christ, who is the living Lord as our life, His death, and His resurrection. These items are the constituents of the Word of God; they are what is contained in the Word of God.
When I was a young person, I studied some ethical writings of Confucius. Later, I heard some Christian missionaries say that what is taught in the writings of Confucius concerning man’s character is also taught in the Bible. Therefore, at that time I saw no difference between the writings of Confucius and the Bible. I knew only that both contained ethical teachings. Now I know that the writings of Confucius only correct, regulate, and try to improve man. They do not contain the thought or the element of death and resurrection. However, the Bible, the Word of God, contains both a killing word and a resurrecting word.
First Corinthians 1:18 mentions “the word of the cross.” The word of the cross is the crucifying, killing word. The whole book of 1 Corinthians is the word of the cross, because at the time it was written, the church in Corinth needed such a killing word. In the church there were confusion, division, fornication, lawsuits, and many dissenting opinions. Because the church in Corinth was full of problems, the saints there needed the crucifying word to kill them. However, in the Bible there is also the word of life. Philippians 2:15-16a says, “That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world, holding forth the word of life.” As Christians, we are lampstands shining out the word of life. The word of the cross is the killing word. The word of life is the resurrecting word. First Corinthians is a book of the word of the cross, and 2 Corinthians is a book of the word of life. In 1 Corinthians there are mainly crossing out, killing, and crucifying, but in 2 Corinthians there is resurrecting. Second Corinthians 12:9a says, “He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you.” This is a word in resurrection. The main ingredient of the Bible is Christ. Besides this main ingredient, the Bible also contains Christ’s death and His resurrection.
When I was studying at an American Presbyterian college in China, one day the dean of another school spoke to our school. He read to us Philippians 4:8, which says, “Finally, brothers, what things are true, what things are dignified, what things are righteous, what things are pure, what things are lovely, what things are well spoken of, if there is any virtue and if any praise, take account of these things.” All the students loved this verse. Eventually, I discovered that even many unbelievers appreciated this verse. However, in order to have a life that is true, dignified, righteous, pure, lovely, well spoken of, virtuous, and praiseworthy, we must undergo the killing of the word of the cross and the resurrecting of the word of life. Romans 3:4a says, “Let God be true and every man a liar.” All men are false; only God is true. Therefore, in order to be true, our false being must be killed, and we need to be resurrected into God. Romans 3:23a says, “All have sinned.” Only God is righteous; all men are unrighteous. It is impossible for sinful man to be righteous. However, Philippians 4:8 indicates that we need to be righteous. We can never be righteous in ourselves. The only way to become righteous is by being crucified and resurrected through the word of the cross and the word of life. Likewise, it is impossible to be pure in ourselves. We are dirty, defiled, and filthy. We can be pure only by receiving the killing of the word of the cross and the resurrecting of the word of life.
The entire Bible is full of the killing word and the resurrecting word. In our daily reading of the Bible there is no need for us to read a verse about purity to experience the word of the cross. Genesis 1 does not speak of purity, but if we read Genesis 1, we will sense that we are impure. Then we will pray, “Lord, I sense that I am dirty. Cleanse me.” Although we may not realize it, this is an experience of the killing of the word of the cross. Moreover, when we are praying in this way, resurrection life is working in us. Thus, by reading any portion of the Bible, we can be purified by the killing and resurrecting word.
The word in the Bible does not mainly correct us; rather, it kills us and resurrects us. When a brother who is reading Revelation 1 encounters the word lampstands (vv. 12-13, 20), he may begin to sense within that he is in darkness, especially in dealing with his wife. He may confess, “Lord, I am not in the light when I deal with my wife. Forgive me.” In this kind of confession there is the killing of the word of the cross. When we pray and confess after reading any portion of the Word, we experience both the killing of the word of the cross and the resurrecting of the word of life. This killing and resurrecting will transform us, not merely correct us. The ethical teachings of Confucius result in correction, but the killing and resurrecting of the word of the cross and the word of life in the Bible issue in transformation.
Many saints have read in spiritual books that we have been crucified and resurrected with Christ. Some books teach that we need to reckon ourselves crucified and resurrected. After we learn this doctrine, we may begin to practice this. However, we will soon discover that this does not work. Reckoning does not work, because we do not receive the killing word or the resurrecting word by reckoning. Actually, we do not need to learn the doctrine of reckoning ourselves crucified and resurrected. As long as we spend time in the Word, the word of the cross will crucify us and the word of life will resurrect us, regardless of whether or not we know this doctrine. Regardless of whether or not children know that there are certain nourishing elements in their food, they will receive the benefits as long as they eat the food. Likewise, when we come to the Bible and receive the word of God, we will be nourished, refreshed, watered, washed, killed, and resurrected.
In order to receive all these benefits from the Word, we need to spend time in the Bible several times a day. Besides spending time in the Word in the morning, we can carry a small version of the New Testament and read a few verses or pray-read a verse from time to time. This is a good habit. This is the way for us to be crucified and resurrected. When we arrive at work, we may see a co-worker doing something wrong and become angry with him. However, if we read the Bible and pray-read a verse on the way to our job, we will not become angry with anyone; our old man will have been killed, and we will have been resurrected. Thus, we will arrive at work in resurrection. When we go home in the evening, we may become angry with our spouse. However, if we simply read the Word on the way home, we will not become angry, because our old man will have been crucified on the way. We will be a new man in resurrection. We do not need to reckon ourselves crucified; we need to be crucified. Neither do we need to reckon ourselves resurrected; we need to be resurrected. We can be crucified by the word of the cross and resurrected by the word of life.
The Bible is not constituted mainly with many teachings; rather, it is constituted with Christ, His death, and His resurrection. For this reason we all need to spend time in the Bible to take the word into us and, if possible, to store the word within us. Colossians 3:16a says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” The word dwell here means “to be in a house, to indwell, to inhabit.” We should not consider that the words of the Bible are like the words in ordinary books. The Bible is God’s breathing. It is our spiritual food, water, and air. It brings to us Christ as our life supply with His death and resurrection. All the spiritual riches are in the Word. If we do not read the Bible, we will be void of nourishment, refreshment, cleansing, Christ as our life supply, His death, and His resurrection. However, if we spend time in the Word day by day, the Word will convey all these riches into our being. Christianity teaches that we need to read the Bible merely to acquire knowledge. There is knowledge in the Bible, but the Word of God also contains God’s breathing, cleansing, nourishing, the life supply of Christ, the killing of the word of the cross, and the resurrecting of the word of life. We need to come to the Word daily to receive all these benefits. In order to experience Christ, the fresh, instant killing of His death, and the fresh, instant resurrecting of His resurrection, we need to spend time in the Word every day.
Spending time in the Word is a life matter, but we need to do it legally so that we will not miss all the benefits it brings. We Christians should never be without the Word. We need to either carry a small Bible in our pocket or purse or memorize many verses. The Word of God is our real riches. It contains the elements we need in order to grow. We cannot grow by ourselves; we grow by the elements in the Word. By now we should see the importance of spending time in the Word daily. For over fifty years I have spent time in the Word every day. I will never regret this but rather will always be grateful to the Lord. He has preserved me for my entire Christian life mainly through the Bible. This dear book is precious to me; it has not left me for one day. The Bible has kept me from many distractions.
The biggest frustration to understanding the Bible is trying to understand it. This thought may contradict our concept. We may think that when we read the Bible, the purpose is to understand it. There is certainly nothing wrong with understanding the Bible, but trying to understand it is a great mistake. We simply need to read the Bible; we do not need to try to understand it. The more we try to understand, the more we will not understand. There are two main ways of coming to the Bible: the way of eating and the way of reading. The way of eating, which we should practice especially in the morning, is to read and pray over a few verses. The way of reading, which we can practice in the afternoon or evening, is to read a few chapters. When coming to the Bible in the way of eating, we need to avoid exercising our mentality to understand what we read. This kind of exercise is a frustration to us. We simply need to come directly to the Bible and to God’s presence by reading, praying, and pray-reading. We should not allow any kind of hindrance or distraction to come in. We simply need to read and pray-read.
Many portions of the Bible are difficult to understand. The first seventeen verses of the New Testament, for example, are in this category. Therefore, many Bible readers tend to skip the first seventeen verses of Matthew. However, we should not skip over any portion of the Word. We do not need to try to understand everything in the Bible; we simply need to read it. When we finish reading through the Bible the first time, we should read it a second time, then a third and a fourth time. Although we may not understand a portion the first time we read it, we may understand it the second or the third time. Also, we may not understand or receive any light from a portion at the time we read it. However, we may receive light from that portion years after we read it. Sometimes light will come through a portion of the Word a few days after we read it. We do not know when the light will come. Through the shining of the light, we are supplied and strengthened. Often while we are fighting against the devil, a strengthening supply will come from a portion of the Word that we read months or years before. The Bible is a wonderful book. We simply need to read it. Whether or not we understand as we read does not mean much.
Some may argue that if understanding the Bible does not mean much, they do not need to read it. This is wrong. We need to read the Bible, but we do not need to try to understand it. If we try to understand, we often will not understand, but if we simply read, we cannot avoid understanding. As long as we read, we will understand something. We will never read the Bible in vain. We will always receive something spontaneously. What we receive does not depend on us or our effort. If we endeavor to understand something, we will be frustrated. As we read, what is given to us depends on the Lord and His timing. The timing is not in our hands but in His. We simply need to build up a habit to read the Word. Then the Lord will send us the proper help of light, life, cleansing, killing, and resurrecting at the proper time. If we practice to daily read and pray-read the Bible, we will see a positive change and much growth in life after only a few months. I hope that all the saints would practice this.
