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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 2:13; 4:13, 16; 6:6; 7:1, 13; 12:18
In this chapter we want to see the revelation concerning the human spirit in 2 Corinthians. Second Corinthians covers not only the Holy Spirit of God but also the human spirit. Paul covers the human spirit not in the way of doctrinal teaching but in the way of experience. He did not teach doctrinally about the human spirit, but from his writing we can see that he was a person always living, acting, and walking in his spirit. Second Corinthians may be considered as an autobiography of the apostle Paul. In this autobiography we see that he always acted in his spirit. First Corinthians speaks about the human spirit, but the second Epistle speaks about the human spirit in a deeper way.
In 2 Corinthians 2:12-13 Paul said, “Furthermore, when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and a door was open to me in the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, for I did not find Titus my brother; but taking leave of them, I went forth into Macedonia.” If we were composing this portion, we might say, “When I came to Los Angeles to visit some of my worldly friends, and the door of the gospel was shut to me by the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit.” But Paul did not say this. He said that he came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and that the door was opened to him by the Lord. But he did not have the rest in his spirit, so he went away.
Since the Lord opened the door, why did Paul leave? Are we going to follow what the Lord has done, or are we going to follow what we feel in our spirit? It seems that since a door was open to Paul in the Lord, this must have been the Lord’s will. Some were taught that although the door was opened to Paul of the Lord, he gave in to his own personal weakness, because his brother Titus was not there. We may think that Paul was too selfish and that he just cared for his feeling and not for the Lord’s interest.
Now let us consider whether Paul’s leaving was right or wrong. We need to realize that the apostle Paul was absolutely right because he was very subjective, not objective. He did not care for the outward situation. What he cared for was the inward feeling. Now I would like to ask, “Was the Lord more intimate with Paul in the open door or in Paul’s spirit?” The door was opened by the Lord, but the Lord was more intimate to Paul in his spirit. Here we all have to learn a lesson. This lesson is that we should not care too much about the outward circumstances. Even if there is a door opened by the Lord to us, if we just care for this and not for the Lord Himself in our spirit, we are not very intimate with the Lord.
We can illustrate this by a parent’s relationship with his or her child. Sometimes the parent would tell the child that it is all right for him to do something, but the child may sense that he will lose the intimacy of his parent if he does that certain thing. In our service to the Lord, He may open a door for us to go on, yet we may feel deep within that we have no rest. Do we want the open door or the rest in our spirit? I can testify that a number of times the Lord opened the door widely to me, but I did not have the rest. I could not go through the door; I had to go along with the rest. The inner rest is the green light, not the open door.
In a sense this is a difficult walk, but it is a closer walk in the Lord. It is a walk of intimacy with the Lord. Some may say that they have a door widely opened to them in the mission field, but do they have the rest within? We may take the door and drop the rest. We may go somewhere and do a great work, but not have the rest within. Do we want the door or the rest? The door is in verse 12, and the rest is in verse 13. The apostle Paul was not the same as many Christians are today in their service. They just care for the door. But do we have the rest in our spirit? Would we sacrifice the door for the rest?
Paul paid the price to take care of the rest in his spirit. Even though the Lord opened the door to him, he sacrificed that door. He paid that price to keep the rest. This shows that we should take care of the inner rest all the time. If we just take care of the outward situation, environment, and circumstances, we are through with the Lord. We must learn to restrict ourselves to the inner feeling. The outward situation may be favorable to us, but we should not care for that. We should care for just one thing — the inner rest.
If we do not have the rest in our spirit, how can the Lord have rest with us? Many times the Lord would allow us to have a choice. We should say, “Lord, my choice is not Your work or the doors opened by You. My choice is just You.” The Lord may allow us to go through the open door, but if we do, we will lose the rest. The Lord may open the door for us to preach, but if we go through the door, we will lose the rest. This is a deep lesson for us to learn. We should not care much for the outward situation. Even if the outward circumstances are in favor of us, that still is not the green light. The green light is only the inner rest.
Rest includes the thought of relief, peace, and ease. If you have no rest, this means that you have no relief, peace, or ease. You may say that it is right for you to stay in a certain place to do a work for the Lord, but deep within you may have no relief, peace, or ease. Others may not know this, but you do. You may argue that the door has been opened by the Lord for you, but you still have an inner strain and feel bound within. Your arguing in a vindicating way is according to the consideration in your mind, not according to the registration in your spirit. We need to take care of the inner relief, peace, and ease within our spirit. This is one basic, spiritual principle in the matter of life. If we are going to grow in life, we should not care for the outward circumstances. We have to take care of the inner feeling of whether or not we have the rest deep within us.
The inner anointing has much to do with this inner feeling of rest. A sister once gave a testimony of how she had been given a certain amount of money. She went to the department store, where she saw a piece of wool on sale. The more she considered the cheap price and the money the Lord had sent her, the more she was convinced that she was right to buy that piece of wool. But at the same time, she did not have the peace. Still, after much consideration she bought it. Later she came to a meeting and gave this testimony. She said that after she bought that piece of wool, she could not pray. She felt bound in the spirit because she had lost the inner peace, rest, and ease. What she had done was not sinful. But she lost the peace until she sold that piece of wool to someone else. Then the peace came back.
Have we learned the lesson to take care of the inner peace and not the outward circumstances? Paul had a door opened to him by the Lord to preach the gospel. This was something very good, not sinful. But he did not have the rest. What we do is not a matter of argument but a matter of the inner rest. In the heavenly court the more you argue, the more you lose. The Lord might say to us, “My child, I know that your circumstances and reasons are good, but do you have the rest with Me? Do you care for the outward circumstances or the inward rest? I am not in the outward circumstances. I am in your spirit.”
A wife may say that she is right in her argument with her husband. She may be right, but does she have the peace? Sometimes the brothers may complain about their wives, but do they have the rest? Would we go along with being right in our complaint, or would we go along with the rest? To follow the rest you have to pay a price. To argue may give you a certain kind of pleasure, but you lose the Lord’s presence; you do not have the rest with the Lord. I am not speaking of the rest in your thinking or of the satisfaction in your emotion. I am speaking of the real ease, relief, peace, and rest in your spirit. We all have to learn this deeper lesson. I encourage you all to follow the Lord in this way. This is the way to grow in life. Never care for the outward circumstances; always care for the inner rest.
In 2 Corinthians 4:13 Paul said, “Having the same spirit of faith according to that which is written, ‘I believed, therefore I spoke,’ we also believe, therefore we also speak.” This verse says that we have the spirit of faith, so we speak. We speak, not according to our mind, not according to what we think, but according to what is written. We do not speak in the meetings because we are so much in the mind. When we are in the mind, we have a mind of doubts, not a spirit of faith. Doubts are in our mind, but faith is in our spirit. If we turn from our mind to our spirit, we have faith. If we turn back to our mind, we have doubts.
When you are in the meeting, you may agree with everything that is said, but after you go back home, you may turn to your mind and begin to doubt what you heard. The book of Genesis tells us that Satan did his best to turn Eve from her spirit to her mind (3:1-5). When he succeeded in this, Eve had a question mark put in her concerning God. Faith is in the spirit. When you turn to the spirit, you believe.
This believing faith immediately becomes the speaking faith. When we believe, we will speak. To talk is one thing, but to speak is another thing. We come to the meeting to speak, not to talk. The Scripture says, “I believed, therefore I spoke.” It should be the same with us.
Many of you do not open up your mouth in the meeting because even after you come through the entrance into the meeting hall, you are still in your mind. When you look at yourself and at the other brothers and sisters, you have a lot of considerations. As the saints are functioning in the meeting, you may say to yourself things like this: “This one is too poor.” “This one is too loud.” “That is a word without experience.” “That is shouting without reality.” When you are thinking in this way, you are in your mind, so your mouth is shut up by your thinking. The more you think, the more you consider, the harder it is for you to open up your mouth. You do not speak because you are so much in the mind. You need the spirit of faith. You need to turn yourself to the spirit.
Sometimes when you come into the meeting, you may have a sensation that the atmosphere is dull. Actually, this sensation of dullness is Satan himself. This is his subtlety to defeat you. When you have this sensation, you should immediately declare that Satan is a liar. Then you should open up your mouth to speak for the Lord. If you practice this, the meetings will be in the third heaven.
A brother may call a hymn, and for no reason you will think that you do not like that hymn. That is the subtlety of the enemy. You have to overcome this. You should say, “I believe. I turn to the spirit of faith.” If you remain in the mind, Satan has many ways to catch you. If you turn to the spirit, you will not care about what hymn has been called. Nothing will bother you.
A number of the saints are fragile; they are easily subdued and broken. They will be depressed by just a little thing. We all must learn to turn ourselves to the spirit. When we turn to the spirit, we have the spirit of faith. Then we will speak. Sometimes when I come to the meeting to minister, frustrating things will come up one by one. Even when I come into the entrance of the meeting hall, something might happen. This is the work of Satan. I have learned the lesson not to care for all these disturbing things. I have the spirit of faith, and I must speak in the spirit of faith. I do not care for all the troubling, outward circumstances. But many of us fluctuate too much simply because we are not so stable in the spirit. We have to learn the lesson to stay in the spirit. Do not care for the mind. Stay in the spirit. Then you will have the faith and the speaking spirit.
Second Corinthians 4:16 speaks of the outer man and the inner man. The outer man needs to be consumed. This consuming takes place gradually, little by little. I have been under this consuming for many years, and my outer man still has not been thoroughly consumed. If we are going to live and act in our spirit, the outer man needs to be consumed all the time. Then the inner man is being renewed day by day. Our outer man needs to be reduced, not corrected, and our inner man needs to be renewed. Renewal is a matter of life. We need to be metabolically renewed day by day with the fresh supply of the resurrection life.
We are old because we remain in the soul so much. As long as we remain in the soul, we are old. We need to be transferred from the soul to the spirit, and this transfer is the renewing. To be renewed day by day simply means to be transferred all the time from the soul to the spirit. This is not a matter of teaching. Teaching does not work. This is absolutely a matter in life. We should always learn to turn from the outer man to the inner man.
In 2 Corinthians 6 Paul said that he and his co-workers commended themselves as ministers of God “in a holy spirit” (vv. 4, 6). This refers to their regenerated spirit. This means that our spirit must be holy. Thus, in the next chapter Paul said that we have to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and of spirit (7:1). Then the spirit will be holy, and we will perfect holiness in the fear of God. We need to purify ourselves so that the holiness of God can saturate our entire being.
We may be right in our reasoning and arguing, but we are not holy in our spirit. We need a holy spirit without any defilement, even without the defilement of arguments. We may be right in our mind, in our soul, in our argument, but filthy in our spirit. The more we talk and argue, the more we are right, but the more we are defiled in our spirit. We may be right in our doing but not so holy in our spirit. We need a holy spirit, a spirit separated from all things unto God. We need a spirit that does not care for anything except God Himself. Then we get rid of all the defilements, such as arguments and reasonings.
We may have many reasons, but all those reasons are filthy to our spirit. We can be defiled in our spirit not just with outwardly sinful things but with something which is right, but other than God. Anything other than God is a defilement to our spirit. We need to be separated and consecrated to the Lord inwardly. Our spirit must be solely and wholly separated unto God. If our spirit is tied to anything other than God, that becomes a defilement. We need a holy spirit.
In 2 Corinthians 7:13 Paul said, “We rejoiced more abundantly over the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.” Here we have a number of lessons to learn.
First, you have to refresh others’ spirits. Many times when you are with a certain brother or sister, after a while you feel the refreshment in your spirit. Someone else may be able to make you happy in your emotion but not refreshed in your spirit. Sometimes your emotional feeling may be hurt, yet your spirit is refreshed. To make people happy in the emotion is one thing. To make people refreshed in the spirit is another thing. So you all have to learn the lesson of refreshing others’ spirits.
Second, you also need to learn to be refreshed in your spirit. Sometimes you do not care for this refreshment in the spirit. Instead, you care for people’s sympathy. If you are in a certain kind of trouble or trial, someone may sympathize with you and say something good to you. You may like this. But if someone would do something to refresh your spirit, you would not receive it. You have no willingness to have your spirit refreshed by someone. You have to learn to be refreshed in your spirit. You should not care for people’s sympathizing with you or saying something good to you. You should care only for your spirit being refreshed by others.
Third, you have to learn to be joyful in others’ refreshment. Paul was joyful in the refreshment of Titus’s spirit. Sometimes you do not care for others’ refreshment. You need to refresh others’ spirits, you need to have your own spirit refreshed by others, and you need to be joyful in others’ refreshment.
In 2 Corinthians 12:18 Paul said that he and Titus walked in the same spirit and in the same steps. The spirit here is our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This spirit governs, rules, directs, regulates, and leads us in our Christian walk (Rom. 8:4). The apostles walked in such a spirit. Paul did not say that they walked in the same doctrine, but in the same spirit. To walk includes speaking, thinking, talking, fellowshipping, and doing anything. We have to walk in the same spirit and in the same steps in a corporate way.
