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Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:4; Eph. 6:18; Rev. 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10; Eph. 1:17; Gal. 6:1; Phil. 2:1; 1 Pet. 3:4
Romans 8:4 says, “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.” Different translations of the Bible render spirit in Romans 8 either with an uppercase S to designate the Holy Spirit or in lowercase to designate our human spirit. According to the usage in the New Testament, the word spirit in verse 4 denotes our regenerated human spirit indwelt by and mingled with the Spirit. Christ as the life-giving Spirit is mingled with our regenerated human spirit, and these two spirits are mingled as one (1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17; Rom. 8:16). We need to walk according to this spirit. Ephesians 6:18 says, “By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit.” This again is the mingled spirit, our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God.
In Revelation 1 John saw the vision of the seven golden lampstands with the Son of Man standing in their midst. Verse 10 says, “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Again this refers to the mingled spirit. Prior to the second vision concerning the judgment of the world throughout the ages, 4:2 says, “Immediately I was in spirit.” Then at the beginning of the third vision concerning Babylon the Great in chapter 17, verse 3 says, “He carried me away in spirit,” and before the vision of the New Jerusalem in chapter 21, verse 10 says, “He carried me away in spirit.” In receiving each of the four major visions of the book of Revelation, John was in spirit.
Ephesians 1:17 says, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.” A spirit of wisdom and revelation is the mingled spirit. Galatians 6:1 says, “Brothers, even if a man is overtaken in some offense, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, looking to yourself lest you also be tempted.” One who is spiritual is one who lives and walks by the Spirit of God who indwells and is mingled with his regenerated spirit. If we go to restore a fallen brother, we must do it in spirit. Philippians 2:1 says, “If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any tenderheartedness and compassions.” Our fellowship is in the mingled spirit. Lastly, 1 Peter 3:4 says, “The hidden man of the heart in the incorruptible adornment of a meek and quiet spirit, which is very costly in the sight of God.” The hidden man of the heart is our human spirit because the heart, composed of all the parts of the soul plus the conscience, surrounds the spirit. Peter tells us that sisters should adorn themselves with the hidden man, the inner man, the spirit.
All the preceding verses show that we, the regenerated ones, need to walk, live, and do everything in the spirit. We may have the wrong impression that to exercise our spirit is only to pray. To pray is one of the many ways to exercise our spirit, but it is not the only way. We may exercise our spirit in everything we do. When we speak with people, we need to speak by exercising our spirit. When we are angry with someone, we must be angry by exercising our spirit. Of course, if we exercise our spirit, we may not become angry, but if we are angry, we must be able to say that we are angry in the spirit. Then our anger will be justified. Even our love, if it is not in the spirit, is not justified. What matters is not whether we love or hate. What matters is whether we live by the old man or by the new person in our spirit.
Luke 14:25 and 26 say, “There were great crowds going along with Him, and He turned and said to them, If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and moreover, even his own soul-life, he cannot be My disciple.” What matters today is not simply to outwardly love or hate but whether we love or hate in the soul or in the spirit, whether we live by the old man or by the new man. To love by the soul is wrong, but to hate by the spirit is right. Once, the Lord Jesus became angry in the temple, driving out the moneychangers with a whip and overturning their tables (John 2:14-15). On other occasions He called the Pharisees the offspring, or brood, of vipers (Matt. 3:7; 12:34; 23:33). In 1 Corinthians 4:21 the apostle Paul says, “What do you want? Should I come to you with a rod or in love and a spirit of meekness?” Sometimes in our soul, not in our spirit, we are meeker and more gentle than the Lord Jesus and the apostle.
To exercise the spirit is not only to pray. It is to do everything in the spirit. If we have no confirmation or feeling in our spirit when we do or say something, we should not do or say it. The proper way for Christians to live is to consider not whether something is good or bad but whether we are doing it by our self, in the soul, or by the Lord as the life-giving Spirit mingled with our spirit in a subjective way. We must always exercise our spirit. Even when we deal with our family, we must learn to exercise our spirit. Sometimes the spirit restricts us from speaking something to our wife. In such a case we should remain silent. However, when our spirit releases us to say something, we should follow our spirit.
To live by considering what is right and what is wrong is the teaching of religion. Where I was raised in China, many considered that there was no need to receive Christ, since they were already taught right and wrong by Confucius. However, God’s salvation is absolutely different from religion. It is not a matter of right or wrong, good or evil. It is a matter of living and doing things by the self in the soul or by Christ in the spirit. To live by the spirit is the mark of God’s salvation; this has been missed by religion, but today the Lord is recovering this.
To exercise our spirit by coming together to pray is only a small part of our daily walk. We need to constantly exercise our spirit. Whatever we do or speak, whoever we contact, and wherever we go, we must do it in the spirit. I have been learning this lesson for more than thirty-five years, yet even today I still fail. We were all born in the soul, raised in the soul, and educated in the soul, and we have practiced to live in the soul continually. Because of this, it is very easy for us to live in the soul. Within our sixteen waking hours, how much do we live, abide, and remain in the spirit? The Lord told us to watch and pray (Matt. 26:41). We need to be watchful that we would not live in the soul and prayerful that we would live in the spirit. If we are not watchful, we will immediately fall back into the soul.
Christianity today has missed the mark, always giving teachings to people. We do not need mere doctrinal teachings. It is sufficient simply to check whether or not we are in spirit. There is no need for us to teach someone outwardly to love his wife. We may simply ask, “Brother, are you in the spirit?” When a brother is in the spirit, he will be right toward his wife. However, if we are not in the spirit, our contact with others is mere soulish or fleshly conversation, not spiritual fellowship. I often realize that even in doing good things I have been too much in the soul and not faithful to remain absolutely in the spirit. For this reason, when I go to the Lord, I spend more time to confess than to pray. To remain in the spirit is a real lesson for us. Recently, I have considered before the Lord what the content of my messages should be. I do not care to pass on merely doctrinal knowledge. The more I have been with the Lord, the more I have had the deep feeling that our urgent need is to be brought into the full realization that we must live in the spirit.
In all four Gospels the Lord Jesus told us that we need to deny the self and lose our soul-life (Matt. 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24; John 12:25). The Epistles also frequently tell us that we need to live, walk, do things, and pray continually in the spirit. In order to see the things of God, have wisdom, and receive revelation, we need to be in the spirit (1 Cor. 2:11-12; Eph. 1:17).
Satan uses two means to improperly develop the human soul. The first way is supernatural, as in Buddhism and Hinduism. These devilish “isms” teach people to exercise their soul in a supernatural way, developing it to contact the evil spirits in the supernatural world. The other way is through contact with the natural world by means of modern education, science, and culture. Education, television, and newspapers are often used by the devil to improperly develop the soul. Because of this, it is difficult for people to turn from the soul to the spirit and to live in the spirit. Some young brothers have come to us to argue whether or not we should play sports. What matters is not sports themselves. What matters is whether we are in the soul or in the spirit. Are we certain that we are in the spirit when we are playing sports? If we can exercise our spirit by praying while we do something, it is fine to do it. However, often while the brothers are playing sports, they realize that they are in the soul. It is not a matter of what we are doing; it is a matter of in what person we do it, in the soul or in the spirit. The issue today is not what we do but simply whether we live by the spirit or by the soul in whatever we do.
To exercise the spirit is not only to pray. If we cannot exercise our spirit in other matters, we will not be able to exercise our spirit in prayer. The reason we sometimes cannot pray and do not have the appetite to pray is that we are soulish, even fleshly. We have left our spirit behind and have not used it for a long time. Medical experts tell us that if we covered our eyes for a number of months, we would lose our function of sight. In the same way, many brothers and sisters set their spirit aside and always use their mind, emotion, will, or simply their physical body. Because they have no exercise of their spirit, their spirit is out of function.
In 1943 I was very sick and was confined to bed for six months. After these six months I could not get out of bed and stand on my feet. The function of my legs was weakened, and it took me a long time to recover my walking function. Similarly, we may have put aside the function of our spirit. We may talk, argue, reason, debate, discuss, and even quote the Scriptures merely by exercising the soul. Because of this, a church may be poor, weak, and in confusion. This is due simply to one thing: we have neglected our spirit. We should not argue, reason, or talk in the soul but simply exercise our spirit. If we want to argue, we must first exercise our spirit to contact the Lord and consider our argument before Him. We need to come back to the spirit.
To exercise the spirit is not only to pray but to live, walk, speak, and do everything in the spirit. It is to take care of our inner man and always go along with the inner man in all things. If we practice this, it will be easy to pray at any time and in any place, because our spirit will be strong, living, and active. Not only in prayer or in reading the Word but in all matters in our daily life and walk, private or public, we need to always exercise our spirit. If before we come to read the Bible we first prepare ourselves by exercising our spirit, we will see a difference in our reading. Likewise, in all things we should first exercise our spirit. If we want to talk with our wife or with a brother, we must be ready to exercise our spirit. Even to go shopping we need to prepare ourselves by exercising the spirit. If we do this, we will be saved from much of our shopping. We will do many things in a brief and simple way. We do not trust in mere doctrinal teachings, which do not work. Rather, we trust in the practice of exercising the spirit. In whatever we do, we need to exercise our spirit. The one thing that the New Testament charges us to do at every time is to live, walk, pray, receive wisdom and revelation, and do all things in the spirit.
Ephesians 1:17 speaks of a spirit of wisdom and revelation. We cannot receive revelation by arguing with people. The more we argue, debate, or merely study, the more we are blinded. We should not trust even in our studying. The more we study in our natural mind, the more we are darkened. If we would silence our natural mind and enter into the spirit, we would receive light and revelation in spirit. A brother may not be clear concerning a certain matter, but if he would enter into the spirit, light and revelation would come. Arguments and reasonings get us nowhere, but to enter into the spirit brings in the light.
A husband may feel that he is right and his wife is wrong, and the more he argues, the more he feels he is right. However, if he will stop his arguing and reasoning and enter into the spirit, he will realize that he is wrong, and he will repent, even with tears. Darkness and blindness are in the mind, but light and revelation are in the spirit. Certain Christians say that they are not clear about the practice of the church life. The more they argue, the more they remain in darkness, but if they would enter into the spirit, they would receive light. This is true of all matters.
Sometimes people are bothered by me because when they come to argue about something, I prefer not to join the argument. Whenever I did argue, I regretted it afterward. It is better not to speak in this kind of arguing way. Rather, if we will enter into the spirit and remain in the spirit for a certain time, everything will be clear. We will be clear with our wife, children, parents, the brothers, the sisters, the church, and the work. To be in the mind is to not be clear, but to be in the spirit makes everything crystal clear. John said, “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day...and when I turned, I saw” (Rev. 1:10, 12). As John was in spirit, he saw the entire situation of the church, the world, all the ages, and even eternity. When we simply enter into the spirit, everything is clear. Please try this. If any part of the Word is not clear to you, do not merely try to understand it. Instead, bring what you have read into the spirit, and there you will see the light. Wisdom and revelation are in the spirit. In order to have wisdom we must remain in the spirit. When we are outside of the spirit, we may do many things foolishly, but if we are in the spirit, we will do things with wisdom. All things are clear when we are in spirit.
On the one hand, when we come together to pray, we should not wait. The Lord is ready, so we should simply take the initiative to pray. On the other hand, we should give others the opportunity to pray in the meetings. Again, we may use the illustration of a basketball team. It is never right for one player to play while the others are idle. To pray and to give others the opportunity to pray are two sides. Those who pray much should give the opportunity to others, and those who do not pray must learn not to wait. Those who do not “play” should not complain that others play too much. If you wait, the “ball” will go to another player. In the meetings we all must learn to coordinate. This is a help for us to exercise our spirit to pray in the meetings.
