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Scripture Reading: John 1:12-13
John 1:12-13 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Four aspects of the Lord are related to the word Him. First, Him refers to God. Second, Him refers to the Word (v. 1). Third, Him speaks of the life that is in the Word (v. 4). In 6:63 the Lord said, “The words which I have spoken to you...are life.” Not only is there life in the Word, but His words are life. Fourth, Him speaks of the life that is the light (1:4). God is the Word, the Word is life, and the life is the light. The Lord whom we believe in and receive is God, the Word, life, and light. Light is related to shining, and life is related to living. The Word is related to expression, and God is related to worship. Thus, 1:12 refers to the One who shines in us, who lives in us, who is expressed in us, and who is worthy of our worship.
Although these four particular aspects speak of the Lord in whom we have believed and whom we have received, these aspects of the Lord should also be realized in our experience. When we draw near to the Lord, worship the Lord, pray to the Lord, and even think of the Lord, we are filled with light. When the Lord is light in us, He shines in us, and we become bright. We also are enlivened with an inward strength. Thus, we are full of energy, joyous, and uplifted. This is our experience of touching the Lord, who is life and light.
As part of our experience, we should also be aware of the Lord’s continuous speaking in us. Whenever we draw near to the Lord, pray to the Lord, and touch His presence, a sense of the Lord’s speaking arises within us. Even though it may seem as if His speaking is ever so slight, we cannot deny this sense. This is a mysterious matter that many Christians do not understand. When we pray out of sorrow and grief, there is a speaking within us that tells us to be calm, to be at rest, and even to be peaceful. When we pray to the Lord related to our wrongdoings, there is a speaking that reminds us that we are children of God who should be above doing such unbefitting things. As a result of this speaking, we are filled with life and light. Such speaking is indeed marvelous.
Furthermore, we can only praise and worship the Lord when we touch Him. Our praise and worship do not come out of a determination to worship the Lord who is high above, but out of our being filled with life and light through His speaking in our being. At such times we spontaneously pray, draw near to Him, and worship Him in spirit, saying, “My Lord and my God, I worship You from my heart. I praise You from my heart. I turn to You and give myself to You completely.” Even when we draw near to Him and receive a further rebuke, we can only declare His worthiness to be praised for His life and light.
Our Lord is God, the Word, life, and light. When God is manifested, He is the Word, He is the life that enters into us to enliven us, and He is the light that shines into us to enlighten us. When we touch the Lord, we experience these four aspects. This is because we cannot separate the Lord from the life that enters into us and from the light that shines into us. Furthermore, we cannot separate the Lord from the words that He speaks in our being, which lead us to worship Him as God. We are full of light because He is the light, we are living because He is the life, we are able to know Him because He is the Word, and we are led to worship Him because He is God.
We obtain grace and receive the Spirit when we open ourselves and let God, who is the Word, life, and light, come into us. Once He comes into us, He shines, lives, speaks, and manifests Himself as God. I believe many brothers and sisters have this kind of experience. I can testify that I have countless such experiences in a day. I can only bow my head and say, “Lord, You are worthy to be worshipped. God, You are worthy to be praised.” The “Him” whom we have received is God as the Word, coming into us as life and shining in us as our light.
It may not seem difficult to understand the matter of receiving, because we all know how to receive a book, a glass of water, or a gift. Nevertheless, how can we receive the invisible and intangible Lord, who is God, the Word, life, and light? Knowing that we would encounter this question, John was moved by the Spirit to clarify the matter of receiving. When John wrote, “As many as received Him,” he added, “to those who believe into His name” (v. 12). Although we cannot see God, we know His name. He is Jesus, He is Christ, and He is the Lord; we know His name. We cannot use the excuse that we do not know His name. He is Jesus, Christ, the Lord, and God. His name is the name above all names, the transcendent name, the wonderful name, and the most glorious name in the universe. We all know His name.
At any time and in any place, a person who believes into the name of Jesus and calls upon the name of Jesus will receive Him as life and light. When a person believes into Him and receives Him through His name, something mysterious happens. Receiving by believing can be compared to electricity coming into a lamp and shining as light when someone turns on the light switch. It does not matter whether the person understands the principles of electricity. As soon as the switch is turned on, electrical current flows. In the same principle, we may not fully understand the matter of receiving Him, but if we believe into the name of Jesus, call upon the name of Jesus, confess the name of Jesus, and say from our heart, “Lord Jesus, You are my Savior!” something mysterious will happen within us.
In 1938 I was invited to preach the gospel at a junior college, where a man, who was a judge, also taught. He was not saved, and his colleagues dragged him to the meeting to hear the gospel. After my speaking, he asked many strange questions. I said, “In order to believe in God and receive Him, studying alone will not help. Even if you truly had answers to all your questions, you would still not be saved. Instead, I hope that you would pray to the Lord Jesus when you go home.” He took this word and agreed to try. When he returned home, he shut his door and half-jokingly knelt down on the floor and prayed, “Jesus, if You are the true God, cause me to convict myself.” He then confessed some sins, waiting for Jesus to appear to him. When nothing happened, he went to bed. The next morning he went to work as usual, but while he was on his way, his whole mood changed. He felt a sense of relief throughout his whole being, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from him. All his surroundings became quite lovely to him — the sky was lovely, the earth was lovely, and even the dog on the street was lovely. His heart was full of joy as he heard his court cases. From that day his whole being changed because he received the Lord as his Savior when he confessed the Lord’s name and called upon Jesus.
Another brother was saved in 1947 in the church in Shanghai when we were preaching the gospel to the young people. When I finished speaking, I asked those who were touched and who wanted to believe in the Lord to stand up. This brother was a young student, and his parents, who loved the Lord very much, had dragged him to the meeting to hear the gospel. He did not want to believe, but he thought, “I will stand up and pretend that I want to believe for the sake of my parents.” So he stood up with the others, but as soon as he stood up, he felt the weight of his sins. His “act” became real, and he repented and was saved. It is difficult to even joke about believing in Jesus. It is entirely possible for a person, who jokingly pretends to believe in Jesus, to actually be captured by Jesus in the end. This is a wonderful matter.
The name of the Lord Jesus is powerful. When our heart is full of sorrow and there is no one to whom we can talk, we simply need to call on the Lord in order for our sorrows to be lifted and our burdens to be unloaded. This is a wonderful matter. We simply need to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, and we will touch something within; that is, we will touch God, the Word, life, and light. God, the Word, life, and light are in the Spirit because the Lord is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). Although it may be difficult to understand the Spirit, receiving the Spirit is very practical. Even though we may not understand electricity, we can live by it every day. God is Spirit, the Word is Spirit, life is Spirit, and light is Spirit. If we want to receive Him, we only need to fulfill the requirement of believing into His name. To believe into His name is to receive Him. We can call upon His name, saying, “Lord Jesus, You are so lovely! Lord Jesus, You are so dignified! O Lord, You are so great! You are full of love!” Even new believers can speak simple words, saying, “Lord Jesus, You are so good to me! Lord Jesus, Your heart is so tender, loving, and forbearing.” We only need to call on Him, and we will be shining, living, and full of the Word. When we call on Him, He enters into us. We know that He has entered into us, because we are living, shining, joyful, uplifted, clear, and released. In our anguish He comforts, and in our grief He supplies. When we have such experiences, we know that we have received Him.
As many as receive Him, to them He gives the authority to become children of God. Whenever we receive the Lord, we receive authority. Authority is the highest matter in the universe. Although power is a great thing, authority is even greater. The power of an atomic bomb can cause great destruction, but the authority to use this power lies in the hands of the president. A display of the power of an atomic bomb depends upon an order that is backed by the authority of the president. Similarly, a car has a powerful engine, but a traffic-control policeman has authority over its power. When a policeman gives an order based on his authority, all the power of a car on the street comes under his authority. Authority prevails over power.
When we received the Lord, He gave us not only power but also authority. When we contact the Lord and we receive the Lord in our experience, we have authority. A person who contacts the Lord is one who not only has power but also authority. This authority is the authority to become children of God. This authority enables us to enjoy everything of God and everything in the house of God.
John 1:13 says, “Who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Being begotten of God means that man receives God’s nature. When we contact the Lord, God’s nature increases in us, and the influence of our physical life, the will of our flesh, and the will of our created humanity decrease in us.
Our natural life, our life in the old creation, is summarized in three terms in verse 13: blood, the will of the flesh, and the will of man. According to the words in Greek, blood refers to the physical life of man, the will of the flesh refers to the will of fallen man, and the will of man refers to the will of created man. Although the will of man is slightly better than the will of the flesh, it is still related to man, including only the element of man. Hence, not of blood means not to be begotten of man’s physical life; nor of the will of the flesh means not to be begotten of the will in man’s fallen soul; and nor of the will of man means not to be begotten of anything related to man himself. A person who is not begotten of God can only be begotten of things related to man — blood, the will of the flesh, and the will of man.
We often tell the saints not to walk according to the elements of their natural man, but the more we exhort them not to live according to their physical life, the stronger this element becomes. Similarly, the more we exhort them not to live according their fallen will and human opinions, the more they express their will and opinions. The only way not to live according to our natural life is to contact the Lord. The more we draw near to the Lord, muse upon Him, praise Him, and worship Him, the more we are filled with Him, and the more we enjoy God’s nature. When our living comes out of our being begotten of Him, we receive His authority as children of God (v. 12).
Our authority is God Himself, because God Himself is our life. He has given us the authority to become children of God, who fully enjoy His life and His nature. This delivers us from the elements of our natural life, and the Holy Spirit even bears witness that we are begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man but of God. This is not a doctrine or a teaching but the spiritual experience of every child of God.
Being begotten of God has absolutely nothing to do with man’s physical life, man’s fallen soul, or man himself; rather, it involves God entering into man so that man may enjoy all His riches. We have authority to enjoy God every day by calling on the Lord’s name, contacting the Lord, and receiving more of Him into us.
Whenever we call upon the Lord, praise Him, and make mention of His name, we receive Him, and we are given the right, the authority, to enjoy God Himself. This is something that does not depend on our human life, our fallen will, or our created will. Instead, He enters into us to be our life, our nature, our substance, our riches, and our all. Even though we received Him at the time of our salvation, He is unlimited. Therefore, we need to enjoy Him even more and let Him increase in us more and more. If we need strength, He will be our strength. If we need power, He will be our power. If we need comfort, He will be our comfort. If we need leading, He will be our leading. If we need light, He will be our light. If we need a word, He will be our word. He is full of riches, and we can enjoy all His riches. Being a Christian is a matter of being begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Consequently, we do not need to make resolutions, determine to do good, or desire to have power. When we enjoy Him, we have all that we need. Being a Christian is different from being an adherent of a religion. As a Christian, we do not need to improve ourselves or adjust ourselves; we only need to praise Christ more and fellowship with Him more by beholding Him, contacting Him, and calling on His name. Then we will be full of authority to enjoy our glorious Lord as life, and we will rejoice in Him, be at rest in Him, be full of praises to Him, and be shining and uplifted every day. God is life to shine in us, to speak in us, and to be our God in us. This is a glorious matter. “As many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” This is a glorious matter!
