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Scripture Reading: Rom. 1:9a; John 6:63; 2 Tim. 1:7; Luke 9:55
Contacting sinners and bringing them to the Lord is not a matter apart from man; however, neither is it a matter in man’s body nor a matter in man’s soul. Preaching the gospel and bringing people to the Lord is a matter in the spirit. In Romans 1:9 Paul says, “God...whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son.” The spirit here does not refer to God’s Spirit but to Paul’s regenerated spirit. Christ and the Spirit are present with the believers in their regenerated human spirit. Paul served God in his regenerated spirit by the indwelling Christ who is the life-giving Spirit. This was his first key point in preaching the gospel. Paul’s word in my spirit is altogether a Greek expression. A Chinese person might say with my spirit. However, to say with my spirit would annul the original meaning and the connoted significance. The words in my spirit indicate that what is involved is not only an instrument, but also a sphere and an element. God...whom I serve in my spirit means the God whom I serve in this sphere and in this element. Thus, its connotation is richer than that of with my spirit. Many verses in the book of Ephesians speak of being “in Christ” and “in Him.” These are also Greek expressions. In Chinese one can say by relying on Jesus, by virtue of Jesus, or by means of Jesus. To say saved by relying on Jesus, saved by virtue of Jesus, or saved by means of Jesus is not wrong, yet the significance and implication are not rich enough. To say that one is “in Christ” means that Christ is not only a sphere and a person but also an element. We are saved in His sphere, person, and element. This is by far richer in implication than to say that we are saved by relying on, by virtue of, or by means of Jesus. By saying in Christ, the connoted significance is not lost. Paul said that he served God in the sphere of the spirit and with the element of the spirit. Hence, the sphere and the element become a means. We may apply this sphere and element to serve God in our spirit.
Our service to God and our work for the Lord — in particular, our preaching of the gospel — must be a move in our spirit. This is like the full-time exercise and preparation that Olympic athletes do for the sake of their body. They study how they should eat, drink, and breathe; they study all of this to develop their physical functions. Today, when we serve God, work for Him, and preach the gospel, not only does our body have to move, but our soul has to match this move by thinking with the mind, choosing with the will, and loving with the emotion. These are the different parts of our soul. In short, to serve God, to work for Him, and to preach the gospel are all matters in the spirit. We must learn to use our spirit and to apply our spirit. When we talk with others, we need to speak from our spirit; when we sing hymns, we need to sing from our spirit; when we read the Bible, we need to read from our spirit; when we wish to convey something to others, we also need to convey it from our spirit.
Before a man is saved, he uses either his body or his soul. All secular education, whether it is education in the home or in the school, whether it is kindergarten or the university, is training in what the Chinese call the four disciplines, that is, moral, mental, physical, and social skills. These all aim to prompt, cultivate, and nurture the faculties of man’s body and soul. The ordinary person speaks with his body and his soul; he rarely uses his spirit. But the New Testament tells us that our relationship with God is altogether in the spirit. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.” This spirit refers to our human spirit. The Lord taught the Samaritan woman that she needed to use her spirit to contact God who is the Spirit. God is the living water. When man comes to drink Him, contact Him, and enjoy Him, he is worshipping Him. Our worship of God must be in our spirit. An unsaved person does not know his spirit, but we the saved ones must conscientiously learn to know our spirit. The human spirit of the unsaved is dead; it has lost its function. Peter says that the unsaved are as animals without reason (2 Pet. 2:12); they live by their natural abilities. It is God’s mercy that the conscience of some is still functioning so that they can listen to the gospel and repent to receive the Lord Jesus.
However, we the saved ones not only have a spirit, but we have a spirit that is regenerated and has been made alive. Ephesians 2 says that we were dead in offenses and sins (v. 1), but God, being rich in mercy, even when we were dead in offenses, raised us up together with Christ (vv. 4-6). When God raised the crucified Jesus from the dead, He also raised us up together with Him. It was by the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) that God raised us up, thereby dispensing His eternal life, which is Christ Himself, into our deadened spirit to enliven us. When God made us alive, it was the embodiment of Himself becoming the life-giving Spirit who enlivened our deadened spirit. His Spirit came in contact with our deadened spirit like electricity passing through our body. Now this “electric current” abides in us continuously. In this way He dwells in our enlivened spirit. Man’s spirit is his highest part. Today within our highest part lives the One who enlivened us, who even became one spirit with our spirit.
The Chinese Union Version of the Bible confuses the heart with the spirit in John 4:24. Most Christians not only confuse the heart with the spirit but also make no distinction between the spirit and the soul. Actually, the salvation of the spirit is one thing; the salvation of the soul is another. These are two aspects of salvation. When I started working in the United States in 1961, I led the saints to exercise their spirit from the very beginning. During those years, traveling from coast to coast, I visited many places. After hearing my messages, many older Christians who were well-acquainted with the Bible and had even gone through theological training came to me and said that they had never known that man has a spirit. Christians in general are very vague about this matter. The Chinese metaphysicists were also quite ignorant of man’s spirit. They divided man into two parts, one part being invisible, man’s soul, which they referred to as man’s higher form, and the other part being visible, man’s body, which they referred to as man’s lower form. As late as the turn of this century there was still a major turbulence aroused when Mrs. Penn-Lewis spoke on the tripartite man, especially on the distinction between the spirit and the soul.
The Bible, however, clearly shows us that man is tripartite. First Thessalonians 5:23 says, “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved.” This word strongly points out that man has three parts — spirit, soul, and body. If only two things were referred to here, the verse would not require the conjunction and in two places. Since Paul used the conjunction twice, surely there are three things here. Furthermore, it is clearly spoken in Hebrews 4:12 that the word of God is living, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit. The distinction between the spirit and the soul is too great. These two can be spoken of as two different worlds or two different spheres. According to John 3:6, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” It is in our spirit that the Spirit of God regenerated us. Therefore, our spirit today is not only the highest part of man, but it is also that part that the Spirit of God has enlivened. The Spirit of God is the heavenly electric current, conducted through us and remaining in us, even becoming one spirit with our spirit. Today we must learn to serve God, work for Him, and preach the gospel in this spirit. This is because God Himself is the Spirit, and this Spirit is in our spirit. If we do not know our spirit and if we do not know how to use our spirit or how to apply it, we cannot touch God. God is Spirit. At the same time this Spirit dwells in our spirit. It is impossible to serve God in a genuine way without using our spirit.
The life that we live in the twentieth century is a life of electricity. Once the electricity is cut off, the room becomes pitch black, the elevator will not move, the washer will not turn, the freezer will not operate, and the electric cooker will cease to cook. Although a power failure may last only a few hours, everyone groans with pain. Man’s life in the twentieth century fully depends on electricity. In the same way the Christian life is fully a matter in the spirit. Today the Christian life is fully a life of the spirit. We must learn to use the spirit. However, today there are still many Christians who are not willing to use their spirit. To them, it is too troublesome a matter. It is convenient for them to use their mind, for they have been using it since they were young. It is also convenient for them to use their emotion, since they are accustomed to living entirely in their soulish parts.
When you go out for the gospel outreach, this is the point you need to pay the most attention to. If you do not use your spirit regularly, you will not be able to use your spirit when you speak to people concerning the gospel. Therefore, you must know not only that God is the Spirit but also that this Spirit dwells in your spirit and is one spirit with you in your spirit. This is what transpires inwardly in a Christian. Within this inward happening, there is a reality, which is the Spirit of God. Not only do we need to use our spirit in our prayer and our speaking with God, but we need to use our spirit even when we speak with man. Since God is in our spirit, only by using our spirit can we help people to touch Him.
Superficially speaking, you have come to the training to learn some very useful techniques for home visitation. However, gospel preaching is not a matter of techniques but a matter of the spirit. The proper technique is required to do anything, but this does not mean that with the technique one can succeed. To have the technique is one thing; to have the proper element as the means is another. For example, a forty-year-old sprint coach may be very successful in teaching others to run the one hundred-meter dash, but if he himself were to run, he would probably not make it physically. However, when he teaches the proper technique to the young athletes, who have the strength to run in the field, they will surely win the championship. Before you go for the outreach, you need to learn the techniques. Never despise the techniques. There are many techniques in preaching the gospel through home visitation. There are also many techniques in inviting people to the small group meetings. There are also many techniques in speaking with gospel friends. However, regardless of the technique employed, the power and the strength are the spirit.
There is no problem with the Holy Spirit; He is always waiting for us. The problem is on our side. Some Christians do not know that they have a spirit. Others know that they have a spirit but do not know how to use it. Often, when the time comes for us to preach the gospel, we are like a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse; everything is by chance. When you go to the villages, be a live cat catching live mice. We need to be agile and exercised, bringing in fresh and living people. Techniques are needed to preach the gospel, but above all, there must be the spirit. Most seminaries train people in techniques. The Pentecostal movement, on the other hand, mostly stresses the spirit and ignores the techniques. I hope that you will have both the techniques and the spirit. From now on, you should start exercising your spirit. While you speak in your daily life, you should use your spirit. In your daily life you should learn to use the highest part within you. We all know that the body is merely a passive instrument among man’s three parts; it cannot purpose by itself. It is either our soul or our spirit that directs our body. Most people speak from their soul and rarely from their spirit. We, however, are people who love the Lord. We should learn to speak from within our spirit.
Whether or not our meeting is rich in content depends on the speaking of the brothers and sisters. Is the speaking from the soul or from the spirit? The fundamental difference lies in the source. If the source of the speaking is the soul, the word spoken will spontaneously be from the soul. Whether it is spoken from the spirit or from the soul all depends on the attitude of the speaker. The word of the speaker when spoken lightly is in the soul, but when spoken weightily, it is in the spirit. When an unbeliever becomes angry, he uses his spirit the most. Since he has nowhere to release his anger, he has to put his whole being into his speaking, exercising all his physical strength. When we prophesy for the Lord, our tone will be weighty if we put our whole being into it. Once our tone is weighty, our word will definitely come out of the depth of our being. What comes out of the depth of our being is surely the spirit. If our attitude is casual, our tone will spontaneously be light. All the casual speaking comes from the soul. The Chinese describe a remark that does not come from the heart as “words from the lips.” Even the speaker himself will easily forget his own “words from the lips” after they are spoken. Weightless words spoken in the meeting are not a supply but rather a distraction.
A Christian’s life should not be inconsequential but should be one that is significant every day. Even now while you have not yet gone out for the outreach, you should not be a loose person. The way you speak in your daily life should carry a weighty tone. You must learn to use your spirit the moment you open your mouth. If you always exercise to speak with your spirit, the gospel will flow out the moment you open your mouth when you go for the outreach in the villages, whether people come to visit you or you go to visit them. On the contrary, if you are a person who is careless about everything and not exercised in your ordinary speaking, you will not be able to quickly impart the gospel, the truth, and the life to people when you meet them.
Everyone who exercises his spirit prays. Only prayer makes a person exercised in his spirit, in the same way that only moving the feet enables a person to walk. If we want to walk, we must move our feet. Similarly, if we would exercise our spirit, we must pray. Prayer is not merely asking God for strength to accomplish what we are doing. Rather, prayer causes us to exercise our spirit to contact God. If you are a man of prayer, your word will come out of your spirit when you go out to contact people. Your attitude will be grave, and your tone will be weighty. Therefore, before going out to preach the gospel, you must first have an extended time of prayer to build up your spirit.
In 2 Timothy 1, Paul says to Timothy, “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (v. 6). Fanning into flame the gift of God has much to do with our regenerated spirit. This gift refers to the Spirit that we received from God. The gift we received from the Lord is like a little fire dimly burning. We need to fan it into flame and add fuel to it. Paul says that “God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness” (v. 7). Power refers to our will, love refers to our emotion, and sobermindedness refers to our mind. Our spirit is not frail, but we must exercise it more regularly. When we live in our spirit, our morality will be uplifted. The spirit makes a man sober and orderly. The orderliness and sobriety from the spirit come neither from rational restrictions nor from pretense; they are lived out through our spirit. For this reason they are spontaneous. Everything done and spoken from the spirit will surely convey God.
When you live in the spirit, you live in God, for God dwells in your spirit. God is powerful and gracious; He is also holy and righteous. As you live out God, what comes out is love, holiness, righteousness, and power. In this way you become a powerful person. This power is a matter in your spirit. I hope that before you go to the villages for the outreach, you will desperately exercise your spirit and will not be a light person. It is not enough for you to be a rational person. You must exercise yourself to get into your spirit in order to build it up and strengthen it, just as an athlete exercises his body daily. He does it in order to strengthen all the muscles of his body so that eventually his will can direct his body for an outstanding performance.
An athlete exercises to strengthen the physical element of his body. Similarly, our exercise of the spirit builds up and strengthens our inner, spiritual element, which is the Spirit bearing God’s presence within our spirit. Therefore, we should exercise our spirit all day. We should never behave loosely in our living, nor should we ever speak loosely, but in everything we should follow the spirit. Paul says in Romans 8:4, “Walk...according to the spirit.” Paul refers to our general conduct in living, which should be according to the spirit. If you are a person following the spirit, the Scriptures you use for your gospel preaching and the songs you select will all be full of the Spirit.
The best way to exercise the spirit is first to pray and second to sing. Hymn singing is very effective in freeing people from the soul. It causes them to forget the soul. Before you go to preach the gospel, it is best to sing one or two gospel hymns. When you sing or pray, your spirit will be strengthened.
This training provides you with some preparation. In the upcoming move, you will have to live in the spirit to be a person with a high standard. By living in the spirit, you will be restricted, regulated, and sober. If you are not loose, spontaneously you will not easily have friction and conflict with others. In this way there will be no difficulties produced in your relationships with the brothers and sisters. If you cannot regulate or restrict yourself, you will create friction with others in small matters. The best way to avoid creating difficulties is to live in the spirit and to yield to the restriction of the spirit. In this way the spirit will build up your person. In fact, a proper character that can be used by the Lord, as we have mentioned in the past, is brought forth in this way. Your going out to work for the Lord is like an army going into battle. Every one of you has to be trained to send out the gospel. For this reason you desperately need to exercise your spirit all the time and build up your personality and character in the spirit.
