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In chapter 17 we have seen that the divine life which we have received issues in the fellowship of life, or the current of life, and this current of life produces the inner feeling, the deeper consciousness of life. Now let us consider the difference between the soul and the spirit.
Bear in mind that the tabernacle and the temple had three parts: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. Remember that the New Testament definitely declares that we are the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19). Therefore, the tabernacle and the temple are not only the type of Christ but also of Christians. The human being consists of three parts: the body, the soul, and the spirit (1 Thes. 5:23). These three parts correspond with the three parts of the tabernacle: the body with the outer court, the soul with the Holy Place, and the spirit with the Holy of Holies.
In the type of the tabernacle God’s presence, or the shekinah glory of God, and the Ark, which is a type of Christ, were in the Holy of Holies. Christ in our spirit is the New Testament application, or fulfillment, of this type. Today He is in the inmost part of our being, which is now the Holy of Holies.
This is why the book of Hebrews deals with this matter. Hebrews 4:12, as we have seen, sets forth the need to divide the spirit from the soul. In other words, we need to discern the spirit from the soul in order to realize in our experience the living Christ, who dwells in our spirit. This conforms with the teachings of the whole New Testament. The four Gospels exhort us to deny and renounce the soul, and the Epistles encourage us to walk according to the spirit and live in the human spirit. It is in this spirit that the Lord Jesus as the divine Spirit dwells (2 Tim. 4:22). Therefore, we discern the human spirit from the soul by denying the soul and by following the Lord in our spirit.
Let us consider a problem in the application of this principle. A sister once came to me, saying, “If we are not in the Holy of Holies, it means that we are still in the body or the soul. How, then, could we exercise the spirit?” It seems quite logical. If we are still in the body or the soul and have not entered into the spirit, how could we exercise the spirit? We cannot answer this question by any mental process. However, when we are still living in the body or the soul, it does not mean that we are wholly cut off from the spirit. When we exercise our hands or our feet, does that mean our hands or our feet are cut off from the head? We are a whole being — body, soul, and spirit. We cannot cut this being into three parts. I told this sister that even when she repented and believed on the Lord Jesus, her repentance was an exercise of the spirit. Real repentance requires a contrite spirit. If repentance is merely in our mentality, it is not a deep and real repentance. It must be realized deeply within our spirit. When we received the Lord Jesus, we exercised our spirit, though we had no conscious knowledge of the term spirit. Every stage in our experience of the Lord is something in our spirit.
When we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we came to the cross, where we were redeemed. In the type of the tabernacle the cross is typified by the altar which was located in the outer court. We repented and received the Lord Jesus at the cross. At the very moment we were saved, there was a real exercise of our spirit. Because we exercised our spirit, we touched God, sensed God, and had a living contact with God.
But perhaps afterwards, we did not live by the spirit or even by the soul, but by the ways of the world. Yes, we were saved at the cross, which meant we passed by the altar in the outer court, but we did not subsequently live by the spirit, nor even by the soul, but according to the worldly ways.
You may ask what are the worldly ways. Let me illustrate by telling about a brother by the name of Sun, who originally was a judge in a law court. One day he was brought to the gospel meeting where I was preaching. After the meeting this unbeliever came to me with a worldly question: “Mr. Lee, please tell me, is God a male or a female?” I told him a little bit about God and Christ. Then he said that he was really impressed by my preaching, but he did not know how to believe. I told him simply to open himself to receive Christ, for Christ is a Spirit and He is everywhere. I said, “Go home and close your door; kneel down, confess your sins, and open yourself to Christ. Tell Him that you believe He died for you and that you receive Him as your Savior.” He promised that he would do it.
That night while he was with his family, who knew nothing about Christianity, he suddenly closed the door to his room. His wife and son asked him what he was going to do, to which he replied that he had some special business and that he had to close the door. He knelt down and prayed. His wife and son, spying through the window, wondered why he was kneeling down and laughed at him. After he prayed, he thought something would suddenly happen to him, but nothing did. The next morning after breakfast he had to go to court to take care of a case, and on his way, all of the sudden, something happened. He told me that the whole universe changed. How wonderful the heaven and the earth became! Even the little dog and cat, which he formerly despised, were now so pleasant to him. He was so joyful that he began to laugh. He wondered, “What is this?” When he entered the court and began his case, he could not control his laughing, and after the case he came home laughing more and more. His wife asked, “What happened to you? Did you get a lot of money? What makes you so happy and joyful?” He replied, “I do not know. I am simply joyful. Everything in the universe is changed.” The next day he met a young brother who helped him to realize that he was really saved.
Afterward, however, although he was saved, he continued to act and live in a worldly way and look at things as worldly people look at them. He was still in the outer court under the sun; all his senses were the same as before. On the third day he was brought again to the church meeting. I was happy to see him there. After the meeting he said, “Mr. Lee, you are a good speaker and quite eloquent. From what school did you graduate?” His remarks revealed the worldly way that he looked at things. Then he conversed with me about many matters concerning the church. He said, “How did you bring in so many people? What means did you use? Did you advertise or use some kind of propaganda like a political party?” This is a totally worldly way of looking at things. Then he asked me, “Mr. Lee, I would like to be a Christian. Please tell me the procedure. Do I have to fill out some forms or sign some papers?” Of course, I helped him to have the right understanding. But then he asked me, “Suppose I become a member of your church, how much money do I have to contribute yearly? And what shall I do with my family? Will your church control my whole family? Will you give many regulations to my wife and child?” What is this? This is the worldly way. This person was really saved, but all these things proved that he was still in the outer court, still in Egypt. He experienced the Passover, but he had not yet crossed the Red Sea. He was still in the physical world.
Let us continue to use this brother as an illustration. He was saved in 1938. The next year, nothing happened. He was really saved, but he was still entirely in the world. For three years nothing happened. Then in 1941 he was revived; something revolutionized him. One day while praying, he dropped everything worldly. He said, “Lord, I give up my knowledge, my job as a judge, my family, and everything of the world. O Lord, from now on I love You. I was saved three years ago, but now I know that I have to drop everything worldly.” He gave up the world.
In so doing, this brother passed through the first veil from the outer court and entered into the Holy Place. From that very day he discovered how to fellowship with Christ and how to take Christ as his daily manna through the reading of the Bible. The Bible became very precious and sweet to him. Every day he enjoyed taking something from the Bible as food. Since that day he not only enjoyed the bread on the table, but he was also enlightened by the light within. Then, too, he had the joy of praying. He told me, “Brother Lee (he never called me Mr. Lee anymore), whenever I close my eyes and pray, I have the feeling that I am in the heavens.” What is this? It is the sweet savor of the burned incense. He felt the presence of God because he had the experience of Christ as his daily manna, as the inner light, and as the sweet savor of resurrection.
At this point we need to be very clear as to where this was experienced. He entered from the outer court to the Holy Place by passing through the first veil. He had not yet passed through the second veil. First, his sins were dealt with at the altar of the cross, but the world and the worldly things were still upon him. Three years later, by passing through the first veil, he dropped the world and the worldly things and entered into the Holy Place. Day by day he started to experience Christ as his life, as his food, as his light, and as his sweet savor of resurrection.
But still he was not in the Holy of Holies. The sins and the worldly things were gone, but one thing remained — the flesh. Hence, there was still another veil of separation. Through recent correspondence from the Far East, I learned that this brother, during the last year or two, has been experiencing the breaking of the outer man. The breaking of the outer man is the rending of the second veil. It is the rending, or breaking, of the flesh. The letters reveal that from this experience he is receiving the real discernment of the spirit. He can discern not only his own spirit but also the spirit of others, because now he is more in the spirit.
When we entered the outer court through salvation, our sins were dealt with. When we entered the Holy Place, the world was put to death. The self, however, is still left if we have not entered the Holy of Holies. Day by day we can enjoy Christ as the wonderful manna, as the heavenly light, and as the sweet savor of resurrection, but this is still rather shallow, for everything in the Holy Place is openly displayed. The bread is not the hidden manna, the light is not the hidden law, and the incense is not the hidden rod of resurrection. When we come into the meeting, everyone can see that we are showing the manna, shining the light, and spreading the sweet odor of the burned incense. If this is the case, we should not think that we are so deep. Many times when we come to the meeting with the sweet odor of the burned incense, some would comment, “What a nice brother! Such a sweet sister! Whenever they open their mouth, everyone senses the sweet savor of Christ.”
But this is not the hidden manna, the hidden law, and the hidden budding rod. However, these good experiences of the Holy Place should not be rejected. On the contrary, we should respect them. Praise the Lord, many are enjoying Christ as their daily manna. Day by day they are also enjoying Christ as their light and as their sweet savor in resurrection. But we must realize that this is not the goal; this is not the land of Canaan. This is only the wilderness, where there is the living rock flowing with the living water and where Christ is supplying us with the daily manna. To partake of the manna from heaven and the living water flowing out of the rock does not prove that we are in the goal of God. It only proves that we are not in Egypt, that is, not in the world. In other words, we are in the Holy Place but not in the Holy of Holies. It is holy, but it is not the holiest. We must press on to enjoy the best. It is not good enough to be merely out of Egypt — this is only the negative aspect. There is something much more positive. We need to enter into the good land which is the type of the all-inclusive Christ in our spirit. Neither the passover lamb in Egypt nor the daily manna in the wilderness can compare with the good land of Canaan. The good land of Canaan includes not only one aspect or one part of Christ but the all-inclusive Christ.
Again, we must point out that when we were saved, unconsciously we exercised our spirit. There is no doubt about this. Now in the Holy Place, day by day we read the Scriptures, contact Christ, and experience the shining of the light. All this must be experienced by exercising our spirit, even though we may be a person in the soul rather than in the spirit. Perhaps we read the Scriptures in the morning by exercising our spirit and thereby feed on Christ as our daily manna. But as far as we ourselves are concerned, we are not yet in the spirit; we are still in the soul. Finally, one day we will realize that the self must be dealt with and broken. When we realize that we have already been crucified, we will apply the cross to ourselves, and when we realize by experience that the self has been buried, we as a person will be transferred into the spirit. Then we will not only exercise our spirit to contact the Lord, but our whole being will be in the spirit. So there are three strategic points that we need to pass: the altar, the first veil, and the second veil. At the altar our sins are dealt with, at the first veil the world is dealt with, and at the second veil we ourselves — the soulish life, the natural man, the outer man, the flesh, the self — are dealt with. Then we become a person in the spirit. This is beyond the mere exercise of our spirit to experience something of the Lord.
Let us look further into the geography and history of the children of Israel. In Egypt the people of Israel partook of the passover, which dealt with their sins. They were saved when their sins were dealt with by the passover lamb, but the Egyptian force, Pharaoh and his army, still enslaved them. So they had to pass through the Red Sea. Under the waters of the Red Sea the worldly forces were buried. The army of Pharaoh includes a host of people and all the worldly things. With some people, a pair of eyeglasses is a soldier of the Egyptian army, because for them it is a worldly item. With others, the matter of dress is not only a single soldier but a division of soldiers in the Egyptian army. Many worldly items bind and control us under their tyranny. But when Israel passed the Red Sea, the whole world was dealt with. All the Egyptian army was buried under the water of the Red Sea. The water of the Red Sea typifies the first aspect of the effectiveness of Christ’s death. All the worldly things are dealt with and buried in the death of Christ.
Later, after Israel left Egypt, they began wandering in the wilderness and daily enjoyed the manna, which was something heavenly of Christ. They could always testify to others how they enjoyed Christ, but at the same time they were wandering in the wilderness. One day they passed through the Jordan River, and in the water of the Jordan twelve stones representing the old Israel were buried. Under the water of the Red Sea the Egyptian forces were buried, but under the water of the Jordan the self and the old man of the Israelites were buried. After this, they entered the third place, the land of Canaan, and enjoyed its all-inclusive riches.
When the people of Israel were in Egypt, they were in the outer court. When they came into the wilderness, they were in the Holy Place. Finally, when they entered into Canaan, they were in the Holy of Holies. The Red Sea corresponds to the first veil, and the Jordan River corresponds to the second veil. It is very clear that these two waters typify the two aspects of the cross of Christ. The first aspect of the cross deals with all our worldly things, and the second aspect deals with the self in our soul. In other words, it is the cross that rends the two veils. We must pass through the two veils just as the Israelites had to pass through the two waters.
Now we must check ourselves and determine where we are. Are we in Egypt, in the wilderness, or in Canaan? In other words, are we in the outer court, in the Holy Place, or in the Holy of Holies? Are we in the worldly atmosphere with everything under the sun? Those who are in the outer court do not have the light of the Holy Place — they have only the sun. All worldly things are under the sun. Are we such Christians, who believe in the Lord Jesus, accept Him as Savior, and believe that He died on the cross for our sins and yet still have the worldly point of view and live in the worldly atmosphere? Or are we in the Holy Place enjoying Christ day by day as our manna, our heavenly light, and our sweet savor of resurrection?
Or are we deeper than this? In the Holy of Holies we can experience Christ as the hidden one — not as Aaron in the outer court but as Melchizedek in the heavenly Holy of Holies. Here we may enjoy Christ as the hidden manna, as the hidden law, and as the hidden authority of resurrection in order to rule over all things. Everything here is hidden, because Christ is now experienced most deeply within. May the Lord be gracious to us that we may know where we are and where we need to go.
