Search
Those who lead the young people’s meeting must lead the young people to pray. This is a matter of great importance. There are several ways to lead a meeting. Some lead by emphasizing knowledge, and others lead by appealing to people’s emotions. These kinds of leading will result in only a small amount of help. Strictly speaking, genuine help can be rendered only by leading the meeting with the spirit; hence, there is a need for prayer in the spirit.
We need to ask ourselves whether we are leading the college students with knowledge, related to doctrines, and emotions or with the spirit. We must lead them with the spirit. If we want to lead the young people to pray, we must be strong in spirit and have sufficient prayer ourselves. If we do not have a strong spirit and do not pray, we should not expect the young people to pray in the meeting. We must have a praying spirit, a spirit that is living and fresh, so that we can lead the young people to pray more in the meeting.
When I was with the saints in Baguio, there was much prayer. While we were on the mountain, the saints spent at least half of the time in prayer. Not many prayed on the first day, but the number of saints who prayed began to slowly increase. After seven or eight days almost everyone was praying in the meeting. They also had personal times of prayer, but most importantly, they prayed in the meetings. After breakfast and before the meeting they would pray. There were also many opportunities for them to pray after the meeting. There was much prayer both before and after a meeting. Their prayer was very beneficial to them. Through their prayer their spirit was opened, and the Holy Spirit was able to impart into them the message that was released in the meeting. Without prayer it would have been difficult for the content of the message to be imparted into them. We must lead the young people to pray regularly so that their spirit will be open. In this way the word will enter into them and provide them with real help.
We must pay attention to this point: In our meetings we should do more than just speak; we should lead the young people in a way that causes their spirit to be open to the Lord. If our speaking is filled with only our logic and concepts, an adequate spiritual supply will not be rendered, and our message will not edify the young people. However, if we desire to lead them to be open before the Lord or to lead them to pray, our spirit must first be opened to Him. If our spirit is not fresh or living, if we do not have a spirit of prayer, and if we do not pray, it will be impossible to lead the young people to pray. If our spirit is weak because of a lack of prayer, we should not expect the young people to be able to pray in a strong way. Furthermore, if our thoughts are not logical and clear when we give a message, those who hear will not have a logical and clear understanding of the content.
In both the young people’s meetings and the larger meetings of the church, the matter of truth has been stressed to the neglect of prayer. In all the churches there is more stress on matters related to truth than to prayer. This has been a great shortcoming among us. Both the knowledge of the truth and the exercise of the spirit must be stressed equally. In a meeting the truth should be presented with a strong spirit that renders a spiritual supply to others. In every meeting we should release and open our spirit, and those who take the lead in the meetings should release and open their spirit. This requires much prayer. The more we pray, the more prayer we will have in the meeting. I am concerned that those who lead the young people’s meeting spend much more time preparing for a message than in prayer. If there is an inadequate exercise of the spirit, only an objective knowledge of doctrines will be stressed. We must correct this situation by stressing prayer and the exercise of the spirit as much as the knowledge of the truth.
In the conference and training in Baguio, we grasped this point, and we spent more time in the matter of prayer. Although sixty percent of the time was devoted to prayer and forty percent was related to the truth, the truth was ministered into the young people with a praying spirit. Hence, the help they received in the spirit was genuine and living. We must not pay attention to methods but to our person. If the leading ones do not pray, those under their leading also will not pray. Those who lack a spirit of prayer should not expect that those under their leading will have a spirit of prayer. The leading ones must exercise their spirit and pray much so that their spirit will be strong, fresh, living, and released.
According to our observation, the concept of the brothers in the churches has not changed sufficiently in regard to serving by and in the spirit. It seems as if the exercise of their spirit always lags behind the use of their intellect, reason, emotion, feelings, and will. This is a great problem with us, and it is an even greater problem in Christianity as a whole. It is no wonder then that God has reacted in response to this situation. One example of God’s reaction has been His allowance of the emergence of the Pentecostal movement. In this reaction emphasis on the Spirit overpowered all other considerations, and all emphasis on the intellect was put aside. Nevertheless, God still allowed this reaction to occur even though it went too far. When we consider the Pentecostal movement solely from the aspect of the Spirit, we must realize that Christianity had fallen into a situation of dead knowledge, ordinances, rituals, regulations, and doctrines. Consequently, meetings that stressed such things as sitting quietly with a Bible, singing hymns, and listening to intellectual messages forced God to raise up an environment, a movement, to overthrow this emphasis on objective things.
Although we may not agree with everything associated with the Pentecostal movement, we must admit that the reaction associated with this movement occurred with God’s permission. For example, in meetings where everyone was sitting so properly in their chairs, God reacted by causing some to roll on the floor. Many criticized these ones, saying that it was wrong to roll on the floor and jump in the meeting, but a considerable number were saved in their midst. In contrast, many who were brought into the denominations by “proper” pastors were not even genuinely saved. Those brought into the Pentecostal movement, however, truly repented and were saved. Even though some came from very dark backgrounds, including addiction to opium and possession by demons, all this darkness fell away after their Pentecostal experiences related to salvation. Even though many of their practices are questionable, we should not deny that they are related to God’s reaction to the situation in Christianity.
Even though we are God’s children, having been regenerated with God’s life and serving Him in some capacity, we must admit that our spirit is still rather weak. When we come together, we are either focused on intellectual or emotional things. In other words, our soul is the leading part of our being, not our spirit. This is an undeniable fact. Hence, the leading in our meetings is very poor, and it is difficult for our spirit to be living. This is true not only in the young people’s meeting but also when the whole church comes together.
Acts 6:4 says, “We will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.” Prayer is a matter of the spirit, whereas the ministry of the word is a matter related to knowledge and the mind. Today, however, it seems as if we carry out only the ministry of the word and neglect the matter of prayer. Although we do not know whether the apostles prayed before or after a meeting, we know that they prayed. Consequently, when we bear responsibility for a meeting, we must endeavor to lead those who are in the meeting to pray; we must lead them into the matter of prayer.
In the past we suffered because we would bring people to the meetings but not lead them to pray. In one of the meeting halls in Taipei, there are at least sixty people who attend the bread-breaking meeting on the Lord’s Day. According to observation, however, half of them never open their mouth. This is a fact. Among the sixty who break bread, thirty never open their mouth. If this is the situation in the bread-breaking meeting, it is even more noticeable in the ministry meeting, where many come and only listen to a message. Of the three to four hundred who come to the ministry meeting, less than one hundred pray. In other words, less than twenty-five percent of those who listen to the messages exercise to pray in the meeting. Some saints have been in this condition for many years. Although they may have listened to messages for ten years, they have never prayed in a meeting. Messages have been continually released, but their spirit has not been open. It is no wonder that the word cannot penetrate their being. This is like a person who tries to take food into his stomach through his nostrils rather than his mouth. Such an effort will have no effect. Similarly, we have been giving messages for many years, but there has been little to no effect.
This is the same situation in relation to our gospel preaching. Some come to our gospel meetings every week to listen to our speaking, but we do not lead them to pray. Hence, it is very difficult for them to be saved. We do not need to wait for another week to pass; we can preach the gospel and immediately lead our gospel friends to open their mouth and pray. When we preach the gospel to others, it is imperative that we open their spirit through the exercise of the spirit. As soon as their spirit is open, they will be saved. This is a basic principle in leading people to salvation.
Presently, the most urgent thing is to help the young people to have a genuine knowledge of the Spirit, because the genuine experience of life is altogether a matter in the spirit. Spiritual life is a matter of the Spirit. The Gospel of John shows that we are born of the Spirit (3:6) and that we worship the Spirit with our spirit (4:24). When we are filled with the Spirit inwardly, the words that we speak will also be spirit, flowing out unceasingly to become rivers of living water (7:38-39). Genuine spiritual experience is altogether a matter of the spirit.
A few verses will strengthen the young people’s knowledge concerning their spirit. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” All that the Lord is doing in us is related to our being joined to Him. Our spiritual life is the issue of being joined to the Lord. Without being joined to the Lord, we could not have any spiritual experience.
If a person does not have the Lord, he does not have life, because the Lord is life (John 14:6). Hence, in order to have life, we must have the Lord. First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” Having the Son of God means that we are in union with the Lord, but we still need to understand how we are joined to the Lord. First Corinthians 6:17 tells us clearly that being joined to the Lord is a matter of being one spirit with Him. We are joined to the Lord because we are one spirit with the Lord.
First Corinthians 6:17 is a great verse in the Bible. Strictly speaking, when the Lord comes to us, He comes as the Spirit, not as the Father or the Son. When we present this point to others, we should be precise so that there will be no misunderstanding. The Son is in the Spirit, and the Father is in the Son. We cannot receive the Son or know the Father without the Spirit. Our receiving of the Son and our knowing of the Father is entirely a matter related to the Spirit in our spirit. Even the Lord’s entrance into us as life is a matter in the spirit. This point is confirmed by the fact that the Holy Spirit received by the disciples in John 20:22 is spoken of in Romans 8:2 as the Spirit of life.
When 1 Corinthians 6:17 speaks of our union with the Lord, it is in the context of our being one spirit with Him. The Lord is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). When He comes to us, He comes as the Spirit. Moreover, when He enters into us to be our life, He enters as the Spirit. In order for us to receive the Lord, we cannot use our mind, emotion, or will. We also cannot gain Him by striving or studying. We must use our spirit to receive Him because His being joined to us is as one spirit.
We do not need to give too much knowledge to the young brothers and sisters; nevertheless, we know that students in high school and college pay close attention to matters related to reason. Therefore, we need to stress this point concerning the spirit. We must show them that God wants us to be joined to Him and that it is only through a union in one spirit that we can receive God and God can become everything to us. Since God is Spirit, He comes to us as the Spirit, and when He enters into our spirit to be our life, He enters as the Spirit. Therefore, we must use our spirit to receive God as Spirit.
First Corinthians 6:17 does not speak of two spirits but of two spirits that have become one spirit. In other words, two spirits — God the Spirit and our human spirit — have become one spirit. When we are joined to the Lord and become one with Him, this oneness is the issue of two spirits becoming one spirit. This means that the Lord, who is the Spirit, has come into our spirit to become one with our spirit.
Romans 8:9 says, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.” If we are of Christ, we have the Spirit of Christ. Anyone who is of Christ is joined to Christ; as such, such a one surely has the Spirit of Christ in him. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” This verse does not say that the Lord is one person and that the Spirit is another person. The Lord being the Spirit means that the Spirit of Christ is Christ Himself. Just as our spirit is inseparable from us, the Spirit of Christ is just Christ Himself. Romans 8:9 speaks of the Spirit of Christ rather than just Christ because it is in the context of Paul’s speaking concerning our union with Christ. If the Lord were not the Spirit, He could not enter into us and be joined with us. Neither could we be joined to Christ and be of Him. The fact that we belong to Christ, are joined to Christ, and have become one with Christ is altogether related to the fact that the Lord is the Spirit. As the Spirit, He can enter into our human spirit so that these two spirits can become one. This is the reason that verse 9 speaks of the Spirit of Christ instead of Christ.
The Spirit of Christ does not refer to another person. We should not think that Christ is one person and that the Spirit of Christ is another. We must always remember that the Spirit of Christ is Christ, that Christ and the Spirit of Christ are one. Christ is God who was incarnated, who died for our sins on the cross, who resurrected from the dead, and who has entered into us. However, when He enters into us, He enters as the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ is the resurrected Christ entering into our spirit. First Corinthians 6:17 speaks of our being joined to the Lord from a positive perspective, whereas Romans 8:9 speaks of our being joined to the Lord from a negative perspective, that is, that anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ is not joined to Christ and does not belong to Christ. We must present these two perspectives to the young brothers and sisters until they understand.
After we are saved, we have the Lord’s life. From that time onward, our relationship with the Lord is altogether a matter of union in spirit. Hence, we should not neglect the spirit by relying merely on messages. We should use our spirit to listen to a message, and we should use our spirit to digest the message that we understand with our mind. When giving a message, the speaker’s words should open the listeners’ mind and understanding so that the Spirit, through the spoken words, can pass through the listeners’ mind and enter into their spirit. This must be the goal of giving a message. The words spoken in a message serve as an opener, a forerunner, and a lead into the spirit. The Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit” (John 6:63). In this verse the Lord’s words are a guide and herald of the Spirit. Although the Lord speaks the words, they become spirit and life to us when they pass through our understanding and enter into our spirit. Hence, if we desire to contact the Lord and be joined to Him, we cannot rely merely on our mind to understand His words. We must allow the words to open our mind and enter into our spirit through our mind. Next, we must receive the Lord’s words with our spirit. Once the Lord’s words enter into our spirit, they become the Spirit, and as soon as the words become the Spirit, they are life to us. When this is our experience, the words that the Lord speaks are spirit and life to us.
Why does the Lord, who is the Spirit, have to enter into us through His words? The Spirit becomes words because human beings have a mind, and everything that is not physical enters into us through our mind and thoughts. Without passing through our mind and thoughts, nothing spiritual can enter into us. In order for the Lord who is the Spirit to enter into us, He must pass through our mind. To this end, as the Spirit, He becomes words that can open our mind and our understanding. Once our mind and our understanding are opened, that is, once the gate to our person is opened, the Lord’s words can enter into our inner chamber, our spirit. As soon as these words enter into our spirit, they become the Spirit. Once these words become the Spirit, they are life to us. Hence, we should not be satisfied with the young people merely listening to a message. The message must open their understanding, change their concept, and leave a clear impression in their thoughts. This will open the gate to their spirit so that the words that they receive in their spirit will become the Spirit and be life to them.
At this point we need to consider John 16:15, which is important, even though it is not easy to understand. In this verse the Lord said, “All that the Father has is Mine; for this reason I have said that He [the Holy Spirit] receives of Mine and will declare it to you.” This verse often is neglected and put aside. It states that the Holy Spirit receives all that the Lord Jesus has and discloses it to us. In this short verse there are four main points. First, all that the Father has refers to all the fullness of the Godhead in Colossians 2:9. Second, is Mine refers to in Him dwells in Colossians 2:9. All that the Father has is Mine means that all the fullness of the Godhead is in Christ. Third, in reference to the Holy Spirit, He receives of Mine means that the Spirit receives all that the Son has. Hence, according to John 16:15, all that the Father has is given to the Son, and all that the Son has is received by the Spirit. We also can say all that is of the Father is in the Son, and all that is of the Son is in the Spirit. In order to have a complete understanding of verse 15, we must look at some preceding verses. Verse 13 says, “When He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality.” In verse 7 the Lord Jesus told His disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you.” This means that if the Comforter does not come, all the reality that is in the Son will not be able to enter into the disciples. All that is of the Father can only be in the Son, but all that is of the Son cannot enter into the disciples unless the Holy Spirit, as the Comforter, comes. In order for all that is of the Father to not only be in the Son but also to reach the disciples, the Holy Spirit must come, because He receives all that the Son has. Fourth, will declare it to you in verse 15 corresponds to guide you into in verse 13. All that is of the Father is in the Son, all that is of the Son is received by the Spirit, and all that the Spirit receives is declared to us and revealed in us by the Spirit’s guiding us into all the reality.
We must clearly tell the young people that they must touch the Spirit if they desire to touch God and gain Christ practically. We need to touch the Spirit because all that is of the Father is given to the Son, and all that is of the Son is received by the Spirit. Without knowing and touching the Spirit, we cannot touch anything of the Son. This is the reason we say that we need to use more than our mind when we listen to a message. We must let the words open our mind, pass through our mind, and enter into our spirit to become the Spirit. All that the Son has, which is all that the Father has, is in the Spirit.
In leading the young people, we must clearly show them the difference between the Bible, which is outside of us, and the Spirit, who indwells us. Although the Bible is outside of us and the Spirit indwells us, the two in reality are one and should not be separated in our concept. The Spirit is the Spirit of the Bible, and the Bible contains the words of the Spirit. The Bible is the utterance of the Spirit so that our mind can understand. When the words of the Bible open our mind, they pass through our mind and enter into our spirit; thus, the words of the Bible become the Spirit. Whenever we understand the words of the Bible with our mind and receive them with our spirit, we sense that the Spirit, not merely the words of the Bible, has entered into our spirit.
The Spirit outside of us is the reality of the Bible, and when the words of the Bible enter into us, we realize them as the Spirit. The entire Bible, but especially the Gospel of John, shows us that the Lord is the Word and the Spirit (1:1; 4:24; 6:63). The Lord must be the Word so that we can understand and comprehend Him in our mind, and the Lord must be the Spirit so that He can enter into our spirit. The Lord’s words can open our thoughts and mind, and when we understand His words, our spirit can receive His words, which then become the Spirit. The Bible is the forerunner and guide for the Holy Spirit to open our mind. The reality of the Spirit outside of us is the Bible, and the realization of the words of the Bible inside of us is the Spirit.
We should never read the Bible without receiving the Spirit. If we merely read the Bible and do not receive the Spirit, the Bible will be of no benefit to us as dead letter and dead doctrines. Without receiving the Spirit, our reading will be similar to that of the Pharisees, who cared only for the black and white letters contained in the Old Testament and not for life in the Scriptures. As a result, the Pharisees fell into the dead letter and were condemned by the Scriptures instead of being saved by them. This is because the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6). If the Bible is merely the letter outside of us, it will bring us into death. However, when the words of the Bible become the Spirit in our spirit, we receive life.
Based on John 16:15, we must present to the young people the truth that all that the Father has is in the Son, and all that the Son has is received by the Spirit. Thus, when the Spirit comes, He reveals all that He received of the Son to us. The Spirit’s revelation is through the words in the Bible, which enable us to understand and comprehend in our mind. However, we should not be limited to just understanding with our mind; we must receive the words with our spirit. All that we understand and comprehend in our mind should be turned into prayer in our spirit. The more we pray with our spirit, the more we will receive in our spirit, and what we receive in our spirit will be the rich Spirit, not the black and white letter in the Bible. When we contact and receive this rich Spirit and fellowship with Him, He will gradually reveal all that is of Christ. Thus, we will enjoy all the riches of God in Christ. This is related to Ephesians 3:17 and 19, which speak of Christ making His home in our hearts through faith so that we may be filled unto all the fullness of God.
When Christ makes His home in our hearts, we will be filled unto all the fullness of God, because the Spirit in our spirit, through the words in the Bible, will reveal Christ in us. Christ can make His home in us only through the revelation of the Spirit, and the result of Christ’s making His home in us is that all the riches of God in Christ will fill our inner being so that we become the fullness of God, God’s expression. Becoming the fullness of God is the result of the Spirit’s declaring and revealing all that the Son has from the Father.
Speaking everything in this chapter to the young people all at once may be too challenging. It is important, however, that they have a change in their concept. They must understand the Lord’s words and receive them with their spirit. We should help them to realize that God and Christ come to them through words that can be understood, comprehended, and then received in their spirit as the Spirit.
Now we understand the reason that the Lord is both the Word and the Spirit, and we also understand that God has given us His Son so that we may obtain God and enjoy Him through His Son. In His Son and through His Spirit, God gives Himself to us for our enjoyment. When His Spirit operates in us, He operates through the words in the Bible. Hence, the words in the Bible serve as a guide for the Spirit to open our mind. When our mind is open and when we receive these words into us with our spirit, the Spirit enters into us. When the Spirit enters into us, God and Christ enter into us, because all that is of God is in Christ, and all the riches of Christ are received and declared by the Spirit. Therefore, through the Bible the Spirit reveals all the riches of Christ in us. Through this receiving with our spirit, the words of the Bible are no longer doctrines to us but the reality of the Spirit, the flowing of the Spirit, the passing through of the Spirit, the operation of the Spirit, and the anointing of the Spirit, which is also the supply of the Spirit. When we lead the young people, we must stress this point. Even if we have to repeat it, we should do so, because this point does not exist in man’s natural concept and thoughts. If necessary, we should speak it again and again so that as they pursue the Lord in their youth, they will understand the importance of the Spirit.
In the past we did not touch the matter of the Spirit in a deep way in our leading of the young people; we also did not explain clearly the key to walking according to the Spirit or following the Spirit. If the Lord is willing, we will speak in detail concerning these things, and I believe that it will render a big help to the brothers and sisters. In this way they will be able to touch the experience of the Spirit step by step and understand what it means to know God in Christ as our life. First Corinthians 6:17 and John 16:15 are two great verses in the Bible. Our speaking cannot exhaust the spiritual matters in these two verses. I hope that all the serving ones will pay attention to the Spirit in their leading. However, we do not have to be anxious or quick. Neither is it necessary for the churches and the young people’s meetings to progress uniformly and in the same way. The need of the serving ones to touch the Spirit is more important than speed.
