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In this chapter we will see how to live in fellowship with God. The goal of redemption is for God to work Himself into man so that the divine nature is mingled as one with the human nature and so that the human nature is mingled as one with the divine nature. To be spiritual does not mean that the human nature is annulled and replaced by the divine nature. Rather, to be spiritual is to have the divine nature mingled with the human nature so that the human nature is transformed and uplifted. The human nature that we received from birth was merely created, but with the addition of the uncreated divine life and nature of God, it is transformed.
The first step of God’s work is to enter into man to be man’s life. When we are saved, we receive the life of God. This life is actually God Himself. Furthermore, God enters into man as the Spirit. Therefore, when God enters into man, the Spirit enters into man, because the Spirit is God.
In order to fellowship with God, we must know that God is Spirit (John 4:24). If we do not know that God dwells in us as the Spirit, we cannot fellowship with Him in every place. God is Spirit; hence, we can fellowship with Him at any time and in any place. The Lord Jesus said to the Samaritan woman that the place to worship the Father was neither in Jerusalem nor in Samaria (v. 21). God is Spirit; He transcends every geographic location. The Spirit can be likened to air. He can be contacted anywhere, and we can fellowship with Him at any time. Just as God is not limited by time or space, our fellowship with Him is not limited by time or space. We can contact the Spirit in any place, at any time, and in any environment. First John 3:24 says, “In this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave to us.” God gave us the Spirit so that we could fellowship with Him at any time, in any place, and under any circumstance.
God’s nature is Spirit, and His content is life. The life of God contains many rich items, such as holiness, love, light, goodness, righteousness, meekness, and humility. As God’s nature, the Spirit is omnipresent. As God’s content, the divine life is all-inclusive. Not only can we fellowship with God at any time and in any place, but in this fellowship we can contact the content of God, including all His attributes.
What is the relationship between the Spirit and life? Does the Spirit include life, or does life include the Spirit? Does the Spirit issue in life, or does life issue in the Spirit? Is the Spirit primary and life secondary, or is life primary and the Spirit secondary? The Spirit includes life, and the Spirit issues in life; hence, the Spirit is primary. The Spirit is a person. When we fellowship with God, we touch the Spirit, the nature of God’s person. Furthermore, the Spirit is omnipresent. We contact the Spirit in our fellowship.
Air is a good analogy of the omnipresence of the Spirit. However, air does not have personality or life. Just as we can breathe air anywhere, we can contact the Spirit anywhere. The Spirit is a divine person. Furthermore, when we touch the Spirit, we touch life, because the Spirit is life. With such a realization it is easy to fellowship with God. Whenever and wherever we desire to fellowship with God, we need only to contact the Spirit, because God is Spirit. When we touch the Spirit, we touch the divine life, and this life will operate in us. This life will cause us to love others and to be humble, meek, patient, righteous, and forgiving, because these virtues are contained in the divine life.
The more we fellowship with God, the deeper the divine life will operate in us. We cannot determine to love, to be patient, or to be humble. Our love, patience, and humility must be produced by the operation of the divine life in us when we fellowship with God. It is not that we determine to love or to be humble but that He is our love and our humility. Through the operation of the divine life, the divine attributes increase within us. After fellowshipping with God just once in the morning, a brother will not have perfect love or perfect patience. However, each time he fellowships with God, the divine love and the divine patience will increase within him. As he continuously contacts the Spirit, the divine life will operate within him until he expresses divine love and divine patience spontaneously. The branches of a tree constantly receive the supply from the roots. As the life sap flows within the branches, they will bloom and bear fruit spontaneously. The visible fruit is the overflow of the hidden life of the tree. Galatians 5:22-23 speaks of the nine Christian virtues. These virtues are the fruit of the Spirit; they are not the issue of human effort. When the Spirit works within us, the divine life is infused into us until we overflow with the fruit of the Spirit. Hence, fellowship is the key to every Christian experience. If we learn the lesson of fellowship, we will gradually enter into every spiritual experience.
Our work should bring the brothers and sisters into the divine fellowship. Only this kind of work can produce gold, pearl, and precious stones. This kind of work will remain at the Lord’s return. No matter how good a work may seem outwardly, it will not have any value if it is not gold, pearl, and precious stones. The Lord wants gold, pearl, and precious stones. When we bear the nature of gold, pearl, and precious stones, we will have the authority of the kingdom of the heavens. Otherwise, we are merely wood, grass, and stubble. May the Lord have mercy on us so that we remain in the divine fellowship and are filled with His rich and precious nature (1 Cor. 3:10-17; Rev. 21:18-21).
God is not only the Spirit; He is also life (John 1:4). The Bible speaks of fellowship as the fellowship of life (1 John 1:1-3) as well as the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14; Phil. 2:1). Hence, the fellowship of life is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Life and the Spirit cannot be separated. Life depends on the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit contains life. As we learn to live in fellowship, we must know the Holy Spirit and life.
Romans 8 clearly portrays the Spirit and the divine life in our spirit. The Spirit of God with the life of God both dwell in our spirit and are joined to our spirit. It is difficult to discern whether the word spirit in Romans 8 and in other places in the New Testament denotes the Holy Spirit or our regenerated human spirit. In some verses, such as Romans 8:9 and 16, the word spirit is clearly designated. Verse 4, however, speaks of walking according to the spirit. In this verse spirit denotes the mingled spirit, that is, the Spirit mingled with our human spirit. Fellowship is of life and of the Spirit. Both the divine life and the Spirit dwell in our spirit. Hence, fellowship is altogether a matter in our spirit. In other words, the flow of our spiritual life occurs in our spirit.
The Spirit and our spirit are mingled as one spirit, and the Spirit contains the life of God. Hence, our mingled spirit involves the Spirit, our spirit, and the divine life. To illustrate, our spirit can be likened to a glass of water, the Spirit to a fruit-juice concentrate, and the divine life to sugar. When the three are mixed together, they become a fruit-water-sugar drink. The Spirit contains the divine life, and the Spirit is in our spirit. Hence, setting our mind on our mingled spirit is life (v. 6). The flow of life is in our mingled spirit. The divine life is always flowing in the Spirit, and this flow is in our spirit. Hence, in order to fellowship, we must turn to our spirit.
The deepest part of our being is our spirit, our body is the outermost part, and our soul is between our spirit and our body. Our soul is composed of three parts: mind, emotion, and will. In fallen man the mind is the strongest part of the soul, followed by the emotion and the will. Therefore, the mind represents the soul. Romans 12:2 says that we should “be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” This verse does not say that transformation is by the renewing of our emotion or by the renewing of our will. This shows that our mind is the leading part of our soul. Romans 8:6 speaks of “the mind set on the spirit,” which in the original language is literally “the mind of the spirit.” Ephesians 2:3 says that formerly we fulfilled “the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts.” Here the thoughts represent the soul, and the flesh relates to the lusts of the physical body. This means that prior to our salvation, when we were dead in offenses and sins, we conducted ourselves according to our flesh and our mind. Hebrews says that God will impart His law of life into our mind (8:10) and that He will inscribe it upon our mind (10:16). At our salvation God put His law of life into our spirit. Now this law is spreading from our spirit into our soul, represented by our mind. In these verses the mind represents the soul. After the fall man’s mind became the leading part of his person. The mind is the dominant and leading part of fallen man.
The divine life is in the Spirit, and the Spirit is in our regenerated spirit. Therefore, the fellowship of the divine life is in our spirit. As human beings, our mind is our strongest part. Hence, if we desire to learn to fellowship with God, we must turn our mind to our spirit. Romans 8:5 speaks of minding the things of the Spirit. This means that we should use our mind to touch the things of the Spirit, which is also to turn our mind to our spirit in order to contact the Spirit. In other words, to mind the things of the Spirit is for the mind to contact the Spirit. In verse 6 the mind set on the spirit means that the mind is controlled by the spirit and has become the mind of the spirit.
According to verses 5 and 6, when we turn our mind to our spirit, our entire being enters into the divine fellowship. In order for our mind to be mingled with our spirit, it must be set on our spirit. When our mind is set on our spirit, it is under the control of our spirit and becomes the mind of our spirit. For this reason, when we have time alone to fellowship with the Lord, it is best to close our eyes so that our mind can turn to our spirit. When we close our eyes and contemplate quietly, we can muse on the Lord Jesus, on heavenly and spiritual things, and on the Word. Such contemplating will turn our mind to our spirit and issue in spiritual feelings, which in turn will help set our mind further on the sense in our spirit. This is the way that our mind becomes the mind of our spirit.
Ephesians 4:23 also speaks of the mind and the spirit: “That you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” The expression the spirit of your mind is different from the mind set on the spirit used in Romans 8:6. The experience of Ephesians 4:23 is more advanced than what is described in Romans 8. With the mind set on the spirit, the mind is directed toward the spirit, but with the spirit of the mind, the spirit has entered into the mind. In Romans 8 the Spirit of God has entered into our spirit, but our mind is not yet occupied by our spirit. In Ephesians 4 our mingled spirit is in our mind, which represents our soul. In other words, the Spirit in our spirit has spread and entered into our mind. Hence, our mind is called the spirit of our mind.
When we regularly turn our mind to contact our spirit, our mind will become the mind of our spirit. When we continue to exercise in this way, gradually our spirit will occupy our mind, because the Spirit of God mingled with our spirit will spread into our mind. Thus, we will have the spirit of our mind.
Romans 8 also speaks of minding the things of the flesh and the mind set on the flesh (vv. 5, 7). When we set our mind on the things of the flesh, our mind becomes the mind of the flesh. The Lord delivers us when we turn our mind to the things of our spirit (v. 5). When we mind the flesh, our mind is turned away from our spirit, but when we mind our spirit, our mind is turned toward the depths of our being. By minding the spirit, our mind becomes the mind of the spirit, and the spirit gains its proper position. The issue of minding the spirit is life and peace. When we turn to our spirit, we touch the fellowship, and we receive the life supply.
Do not think that we are getting into too many details or that our analysis is too fine. Genuine spiritual experiences are very fine. In Mark 12:30 the Lord quoted the Old Testament, saying, “You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.” How fine this is! The Lord spoke of our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength. The heart includes the soul, and the mind is a part of the soul. The heart, the soul, and the mind are related. Nevertheless, the Lord spoke of them separately. Our exercise in fellowship must be fine; otherwise, our experience will not be genuine. The things that we have mentioned are not doctrine; they are practical matters in our spiritual experience. We need to exercise in a practical way.
To turn our mind to our spirit is to turn our being to God because He is in our spirit. Hence, the fellowship of our spiritual life is the fellowship of God. God is not only in the Spirit; He is the Spirit. Likewise, He is life. According to His person, God is Spirit, and according to His content, He is life. Whether we touch the fellowship of life or the fellowship of the Spirit, we are touching the fellowship of God; that is, we are touching God.
We can use electricity as an illustration. When we touch an electric current, we touch electricity. Electricity can be touched only through its current. Wherever there is an electric current, there is electricity. Similarly, if there is the fellowship of God, God is present; and if there is no fellowship of God, God is not present. We can touch God practically only when we are in fellowship. In the fellowship of God we touch the Spirit and the divine life.
God can have a relationship with us because He is the Spirit as well as life. Genesis 6:3 says, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, for he indeed is flesh.” This word clearly reveals that God’s desire to have a relationship with man is related to the Spirit. In order to have a deep relationship with man, God must enter into man. When He enters into man, He is not only the Spirit as a person but also as life, which is the content of God. When God enters into us, we have His Spirit as a person in us, and we have life as the content of God. Regarding His person, God is in us as the Spirit; regarding His content, God is in us as life. God being the Spirit refers to His person and nature, whereas God being life refers to His content. Hence, the fellowship of the Spirit is the fellowship of life, and it is also the fellowship of God. The divine flow within us is the Spirit as well as life. This flow is mutual; hence, it is also called fellowship. This mutual flow, this fellowship, is in our spirit.
We can fellowship with one another because the flow of God is within us. There are many light bulbs in this room, and electricity is flowing through them and in them. Although there are many light bulbs, there is only one electric current. Another example is the blood circulating in our body. This circulation brings all the members in our body into fellowship. Likewise, the fellowship among the saints exists in the flow of the Spirit. When a brother praises God, there is an echo in our spirit; therefore, we also praise God. If his praise is not from the spirit, there will be no echo. However, if his praise comes from the spirit, there will be a response with us, because there is a flow of the Spirit. This also applies to prayer. If a brother’s prayer is from his mingled spirit, his prayer will touch our spirit, because we are in the one fellowship of the Spirit. The Spirit is the flow and also our oneness.
The church does not need unity. The church needs oneness. The oneness of the saints is the fellowship, the flow of the Spirit. There are many saints, but there is one flow of the Spirit within us. When we live in this flow, we are one spontaneously; we do not need to be united. If we are fleshly, the flow will be blocked. This does not mean that the Spirit is not in us but that the flow of the Spirit is obstructed by the flesh. If we live in the spirit, we will respond to each other’s spirit whenever we see one another, because we are in the same flow. If we do not fellowship in the one flow of the Spirit, our dealings with one another will merely be political and social. In spiritual terms such dealings are called leprosy.
When a person with a strong spirit invites a brother to a love feast out of a burden for fellowship, he is living in the spirit, even if the invitation is not accepted. Fellowship among the saints requires that both parties live in the spirit. If one party is not in the spirit, the flow will be cut off. Hence, it is possible to have fellowship with some saints but not with others. There is fellowship only when both parties are in their mingled spirit. Otherwise, there will not be a flow. Without the flow in our spirit, we are being political. Those who learn the lesson of fellowship are genuine, without pretension, disguise, or insincerity. They learn to live in spirit in singleness, simplicity, and purity.
We often live in our wandering mind, thinking about many things. As a result, we are turned away from our spirit. Our mind can even travel around the world. Evil people often think about evil things, and good people often think about good things. However, both evil and good people live in their mind, not in their spirit. Now that we are learning to live in the fellowship of the divine life, we should no longer live in the realm of good and evil. Instead, we should pay attention to whether or not we are living in our spirit.
When we love a certain thing, we should ask ourselves whether our love is from our spirit. If we love something as soon as we think about it, our love is not from our spirit. However, if we first turn our mind to our spirit and touch the sense within, the love that we express will come from our spirit. Similarly, if we hear an admonition and immediately adjust ourselves, this adjustment is not from our spirit. After hearing an admonition, we should immediately turn our mind to our spirit and live out what we touch in the divine fellowship. Then, if there is any adjustment, it will be an expression of life. As we learn to fellowship, we should always care for our spirit, not for good and evil. We should reject whatever is not of our spirit, even if it is very good. We should not make decisions based on the circumstances of persons, matters, or things. Every decision must be made according to the sense in our spirit.
Everything that is apart from the Lord can draw us away from our spirit; praying and reading the Bible are not exceptions. Hence, we must learn to turn our mind to our spirit in every situation. A brother who can turn his mind from outward things to his spirit will become skilled in fellowship. This is the secret to genuine Christian experience, including the life, power, light, and authority of a believer. When a sister reads a spiritual book, she should seek the supply that is in her spirit. The book should not draw her mind from her spirit. The same principle applies to prayer. We should turn our mind to our spirit when we pray. Strong and thorough prayers are uttered when our mind is subject to our spirit and when our entire being is turned from our environment to our spirit. The longer we can remain in our spirit, the stronger our spirit will become. The more we live such a life, the stronger the meetings will be. Many brothers and sisters do not open their mouth in the meetings because their mind is turned from the spirit. Those who constantly turn their mind to the spirit can pray in any situation. Not only so, as soon as they open their mouth, their spirit is released. Only those who often turn their mind to their spirit know the sense in their spirit, receive light when they read the Bible, and are effective in the work.
While learning to fellowship, we should pay attention to our spirit, not to good and evil, because we cannot touch God unless we turn to our spirit. God is Spirit and life, and He dwells in us. May we not be those who turn from God but those who turn to God by touching the fellowship of life in our spirit.
Before the fall man lived before God, but after the fall man entered into the realm of good and evil. When we were saved, we returned to God’s presence, and God entered into us. Good and evil are not the goal of a genuine Christian living. The genuine Christian living takes the indwelling God as its center. Hence, our Christian living should come from our mingled spirit, not our soul. The people in the world do not have God in them, nor do they live before Him. As a result, they live in the realm of good and evil, right and wrong.
Throughout human history there have been many sages and religionists, who taught that we should reject evil and pursue good. There are even quite a few believers in Christianity who regard the Lord’s salvation merely as a solution to problems related to good and evil. Salvation, however, is not focused on solving problems related to good and evil. Salvation delivers us from the realm of good and evil to the realm of God. The purpose of salvation is not to deliver us from evil to good but to deliver us from everything that is apart from God to God Himself. In His eternal plan God did not ordain that we be good men; He ordained that we be God-men. God does not desire to fill us with so-called goodness. He desires to fill us with Himself.
God’s intention is for us to be mingled with Him and to let Him live in us by taking Him as our life so that our entire being would be filled with His divine element. He not only wants us to have His life in our spirit, but He also desires that every part of our being — including our mind, emotion, and will in our soul and every part of our heart — would be filled with His life and nature. Eventually, even our physical body, which He made from the dust of the earth, will be filled with His divine element and conformed to His glorious body (Phil. 3:21). In order for God to accomplish His purpose, we must learn the lesson of fellowship, that is, learn to forget good and evil and turn to our spirit to touch God.
The Old Testament saints knew that if they desired to live before God, they had to focus their minds on God and the things of God. Most of the words in the Psalms describe how the pious lived before God. They often turned their mind to God and to the things of God. To muse on Jehovah in the Psalms is equivalent to setting the mind on the spirit in Romans 8:6. The words of David in Psalm 104:34 are very precious. He says, “May my musing be sweet to Him.” A footnote in Darby’s New Translation says that this can also be rendered, “My meditation of him shall be pleasant.” On the one hand, God regards our musing to be sweet; He likes us to muse on Him. On the other hand, musing on God is sweet and pleasant to us. This is indeed true. When we muse on God, we feel sweet within. To muse on God is to turn our thoughts from everything apart from God to Him. Our person follows our thoughts and runs to whatever we think about. The expression absent-minded indicates that the mind is constantly running toward different things. When we muse on God, our mind runs toward God.
Psalm 1:2 speaks of a person whose delight is in the law of Jehovah and who meditates in His law by day and by night. This shows how much the Old Testament saints mused on God and lived before Him.
Since the Spirit has entered into our spirit, we must turn to our spirit in order to contact God. However, we must remember that fallen man lives in the mind. The mind represents our person; hence, our person follows our mind. Although our mind represents our person, our mind cannot lead us, and even though it may seem as if we are being led by our will, we are actually being led by our emotion.
According to Psalm 1:2, a person who delights in the law of Jehovah muses on the law of God, meditating in it by day and by night. To delight in something involves our emotions. We cannot ask a person who dislikes God, does not consider Him to be sweet, and has no love for Him to set his mind on God. If our emotions do not like a certain thing, our mind is not of much help to us. A person who loves the world rather than God will fall asleep when he tries to mind the spirit.
We must turn our mind to our spirit in order to muse on God, but we also need to stir up our emotions so that we lean toward Him, long for Him, and love Him. This was the experience of the psalmists: “As the hart pants / After the streams of water, / So my soul pants / For You, O God” (42:1). Only those who love God will think of Him. Those who do not love God cannot be exhorted, much less be forced, to think about Him. In order for our mind to continually remember and consider God, our emotions must be touched by Him, encouraged by His love, and moved by His loveliness and sweetness.
Song of Songs speaks of the love of a believer toward the Lord. No other book in the Bible speaks as thoroughly of our fellowship with the Lord. According to Song of Songs, there must be love before there can be fellowship. This is also true in our dealings with others. If you do not love me, you will not want to fellowship with me. We fellowship regularly with those whom we love. Similarly, if we love the Lord, we will desire to fellowship with Him, and our mind will spontaneously turn to our spirit and muse on Him. Merely loving the Lord is not fellowship. Only by turning to our spirit can we enter into fellowship. Loving the Lord is the motive for fellowship. It is the main source that motivates us to fellowship with the Lord, but loving the Lord is not fellowship. In order to fellowship, we must touch our spirit with our mind.
In Romans 12 the apostle first exhorts us through the compassions of God, and then he speaks of being transformed by the renewing of our mind (vv. 1-2). His exhorting through the compassions of God is to stir up our emotion with God’s love. The apostle knew that only when our emotion is moved will our mind turn to God and be transformed. When our emotions are inclined toward God and we love and desire Him, nothing will hinder our mind from turning to God.
In addition to our mind and emotion, we also have a will. There are several places in the Bible that speak of exercising the will in order to fellowship with the Lord. Imperative statements, such as “hope in God” (Psa. 42:5, 11; 43:5) and “wait in silence for God alone” (62:5), involve the exercise of the will. Even after our emotions are moved by His love and our mind turns to our spirit, we still need to exercise our will in order to fellowship. The decision to fellowship with God is the responsibility of our will.
An indifferent person has a weak will. It is difficult for such a one to learn the lesson of fellowship. Those who learn the lesson of fellowship have a strong will. When their emotions are not stirred up, they can exercise their will to turn their mind to their spirit. Their will is able to control their restless mind and turn it to their spirit. Those with a strong will can have deep fellowship with the Lord. Statements such as “O my soul...Hope in God” (42:5, 11; 43:5) and “my soul, wait in silence for God alone” (62:5) indicate that the psalmists were downcast and needed to exercise their strong will in order to direct their heart toward the Lord and thereby enter into fellowship.
The New Testament also shows the relationship between the will and fellowship. Statements such as “unceasingly pray” (1 Thes. 5:17), “praying at every time in spirit” (Eph. 6:18), “they ought always to pray” (Luke 18:1), “rejoice in the Lord” (Phil. 3:1), “casting all your anxiety on Him” (1 Pet. 5:7), and “in nothing be anxious” (Phil. 4:6) are in the imperative mood and command us to exercise our will in order to fellowship with the Lord. We often excuse ourselves and say that we cannot pray because we are not in a good mood or that our thoughts are scattered. Some believers say that they cannot pray because they are in a bad mood or because their mind is not calm. Such believers can be compared to a rudderless boat that is being directed only by the wind and the waves without a definite goal. The rudder, however, is needed to control, stabilize, and direct a boat to sail toward a definite goal, even when there is a storm. This illustrates the relationship between our will and fellowship.
Both our mind and our emotions are indispensable in learning to live in fellowship, but our will is more important. Our mind and our emotions are both unreliable. We behave one way when we are happy and another way when we are unhappy. Our will is our most reliable part; it is our rudder. A normal, noble, and proper person does everything by his will. He has feelings of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, but he does not express himself based on these feelings, because he is controlled by his will. He may be grieved and feel the need to weep, but he is controlled by his will; hence, he shows no sign of grief. A person with a strong will knows how to use his mind to exercise discernment and caution, but his behavior is still controlled by his will. He is not without thoughts or emotions. His thoughts are rich, and his emotions are fervent, but they are under the control of his will.
Without a strong will a person cannot stop his wandering mind or calm his agitated emotions. When such persons are angry, their anger is wild, and their love is intense and often unbearable. Such persons often fail because they lack a strong will as their rudder.
Although the Lord is in us as our life and power, He needs our cooperation in order to be expressed through us. When the Lord moves within us, there will be no effect if our will does not carry it out. Hence, we must adjust our mind, emotion, and will if we desire to live in fellowship with the Lord. Our mind is adjusted when it turns to our spirit. Our emotion is adjusted when we exercise to love God and make Him the unique object of our love. Our will is adjusted when we use it to carry out spiritual activities. When we feel down, we should exercise our will and pray or contemplate the Lord. When we do not have inspiration, we must exercise our will and pray from our spirit. We often say that we need to exercise our spirit, but the exercise of our spirit requires a strong will. A person who does not have a strong will does not have a strong spirit and cannot readily release his spirit. Such a person is either tossed about by his emotions or scattered in his mind. Hence, it is difficult for him to turn to his spirit and for his spirit to be released. In order to be freed from the encumbrances of our emotion and mind, we must have a strong will. Then we can force ourselves to exercise our spirit.
If we practice exercising our will, both our mind and our emotions will be strengthened. By exercising his will, a brother who rarely thinks about God will begin to consider Him. Similarly, when a sister who is slothful in her emotions and is indifferent toward God exercises her will, she will love God and want to live in His presence. This also applies to the spirit. A brother who is deflated in his spirit often waits for his spirit to move, but this rarely happens. Instead, he should exercise his will to move his spirit and pray. Initially, this may be difficult, but if he continues to exercise his will in this regard, his spirit will become burning, and he will be unable to stop praying. Our spirit, our mind, and our emotion can become slothful, just as we can become lazy. Hence, we need to exercise our will in order to move our spirit, our mind, and our emotion.
A car is powered by gasoline, but in order for the gasoline to burn, the engine must be ignited. If instead of igniting the engine, a person waits for the gasoline to ignite by itself, the car will never start. A car is not driven by electricity, but electricity is needed in order for the engine to be ignited. Similarly, in order to pray or fellowship with the Lord, we do not rely on our will but on our spirit. However, it is vain to wait for our spirit to stir itself up. We must use our will to stir up our spirit, just as the ignition starts a car. Strictly speaking, exercising our spirit is equivalent to using our will to move our spirit. The only way to exercise our spirit is to use our will. As those who desire to learn to fellowship and pray, we must learn to exercise our will. If we do not learn to exercise our will, we will not learn to fellowship.
A brother who is not willing to pray should force himself to pray. He should force his mind to consider God. Initially, this may seem awkward. The Bible does not tell us to wait for our spirit to be moved. Rather, it uses imperatives in regard to praying, to proclaiming the word, to testifying, to praising, and to giving thanks in everything (Matt. 24:20; 2 Tim. 4:2; John 15:27; Psa. 22:23; 1 Thes. 5:18). This shows that we need to be active, to take the initiative, and to not wait passively. If we wait to be inspired, inspiration may never come. When we do not have an appetite for food, we must use our will and force ourselves to eat something. In spiritual matters, however, we often are not willing to force ourselves to exercise.
Many believers wait for inspiration, and they are not willing to move without inspiration. To them exercising their spirit is a man-made effort to stir up excitement. Instead of waiting for inspiration, we should exercise our will. When we come to the Lord’s table to remember and worship Him, we should know that we are here to take care of business and not to wait for inspiration. A teacher does not wait to be inspired before she begins to teach her class. Since we are here to take care of business, we should exercise our will. To worship the Lord is a matter in spirit; hence, we ought to use our will to stir up the spirit to praise, pray, and call hymns. Regrettably, in the Lord’s table meeting some saints feel no obligation to take care of business. They use their will to direct their mind, rather than their spirit. Many saints are relaxed in spirit, and they do not use their will to direct their spirit to function. As a result, the meeting lacks the operation of the spirit. If our will is not exercised, our spirit will not be strong. As those who desire to live in fellowship, we must learn to exercise our will.
The heart is another organ that is also related to fellowship. The soul is composed of three parts: the mind, the emotion, and the will. The will is the weakest part of the soul, and the mind is the strongest. The spirit is composed also of three parts: fellowship (John 4:24), intuition (1 Cor. 2:11), and conscience (Rom. 9:1; 8:16). The spirit of an unbeliever is dead. This does not mean that he does not have a spirit but that the function of his spirit toward God is dead. This also does not mean that his spirit is unable to function but that his spirit is insulated from God. His conscience still has some function. When a person is saved, his spirit is made alive, and it is renewed to become a new spirit. The most apparent function of this new spirit is still the conscience. A new believer often feels condemned, reproved, or lacking in peace in his spirit. This shows that the conscience is the strongest sense in his spirit. In contrast, the function of the intuition is relatively weak. The strongest part of his spirit is his conscience, and the weakest part is his intuition. If he regularly takes care of the feeling of his conscience, he will have fellowship, and while he is in fellowship, his intuition will be strengthened. In experience, we begin with the conscience and then proceed to fellowship and intuition.
When we preach the gospel, the first work of the Spirit is to touch people’s conscience by causing them to feel condemned because of sin. Once their conscience is touched, they will draw near to the Lord. Then their prayer, which is fellowship, will come out of their spirit. Finally, in this fellowship they will receive intuition. Hence, in a person’s experience of salvation, the parts of the spirit function in the same order: first conscience, then fellowship, and last intuition.
According to the Bible, in addition to a spirit and a soul, man also has a heart. The heart is not an independent part; rather, it is composed of the three parts of the soul and one part of the spirit. The Bible speaks of the thoughts of the heart. Thoughts are a function of the mind, but Hebrews 4:12 speaks of thoughts in relation to the heart. This proves that the heart includes the mind. In Matthew 9:4 the Lord said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?” To think evil things is a function of the mind, but the Lord said that the function of thinking is related to the heart. This also proves that the heart includes the mind. Acts 2:26 says, “My heart was made glad.” In John 16:6 the Lord said, “Sorrow has filled your heart.” Both being glad and being sorrowful are functions of the emotion. This proves that the heart includes the emotion. Hebrews 4:12 speaks also of the “intentions of the heart.” Intention is a function of the will. This proves that the heart includes the will. The heart is composed of the three parts of the soul: the mind, emotion, and will. Thus, it seems that the heart is the same as the soul. However, this is not so, because the heart also includes the conscience, which is not a part of the soul. Hebrews 10:22 speaks of “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.” This shows that the heart includes the conscience. Hence, the conscience, which is a part of the spirit, is also a part of the heart. We cannot find a verse in the Bible that speaks of the heart in relation to fellowship and intuition. If there were such verses, the heart would be a full combination of the spirit and the soul. However, the Bible speaks only of the heart in relation to one part of the spirit, which is the conscience. Concerning this point, the Chinese language is very meaningful. In Chinese the characters for fellowship and intuition do not contain the radical for heart, but the characters for mind, emotion, will, and conscience contain the radical for heart, just as the heart includes these four parts. In conclusion, the heart includes the three parts of the soul plus the conscience in the spirit.
Our heart is related to our fellowship with God. The kind of relationship that we have with God depends on the condition of our heart. Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Psalm 73:1 says, “Surely God is good to Israel, / To those who are pure in heart.” Second Corinthians 3:16 says, “Whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” First John 3:21 says, “If our heart does not blame us, we have boldness toward God.” These verses show that our heart is the key to our fellowship with God. Because we desire to learn to fellowship, we must deal with our heart thoroughly.
There are four crucial points concerning dealing with the heart. We need to deal with our heart until it is pure, loving, soft, and at peace.
Being pure in heart is mainly related to the mind and the emotion. On the negative side, we need to exercise so that our mind is not confused and our emotions are not impulsive. On the positive side, we must exercise so that our mind considers only God and our emotions love only God. This is to have a pure heart, to have a single heart, and to consider and love God in singleness of heart.
A loving heart is a heart that loves God. Mark 12:30 says, “You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.” Love involves the emotional part of our heart.
To have a soft heart refers to our will. Being soft is the opposite of being hard. Initially, our will is hardened and rebellious, but after it is dealt with, our will becomes softened and pliable. In Ezekiel 36:26 God said, “I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” Our original heart is as hard as a stone, but at our salvation God gives us a heart of flesh, which is soft. Those whose will has been dealt with have a soft heart.
To be at peace is related to our conscience. When there is an offense in our conscience, there is no peace in our heart. Once the offense is removed, our heart is at peace.
To deal with the heart is to deal with the mind, emotion, will, and conscience. Our mind and our emotion need to be dealt with until they are single and pure. Then our heart will be pure. Our emotion needs to be dealt with until it loves God. Then our heart will be loving. Our will needs to be dealt with until it is subdued. Then our heart will be soft. Our conscience needs to be dealt with until there are no offenses. Then our heart will be at peace. Only a heart that is pure, loving, soft, and at peace is a proper heart. Our heart can maintain a proper relationship with God and have fellowship with Him only when our mind is pure in considering Him, our emotion is single in loving Him, our will is submissive to Him, and our conscience is at peace with Him. This is the lesson of fellowship. If we exercise accordingly, we will touch God. If we deal with our heart in regard to being pure, loving, soft, and at peace, we will enter into fellowship. May God be gracious to us!
