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There are two aspects of our experience of life. The first aspect is the inner operation of the Holy Spirit, that is, the teaching of the anointing (1 John 2:27). The second aspect is the outward discipline of the Holy Spirit through our environment. We need to obey the operation of the Holy Spirit within us and accept the outward discipline in our environment. A believer’s growth in life involves developing his inner sense and accepting his environment. The more a saint grows in the divine life, the more he will grow in knowing God through fellowship in obeying the teaching of the anointing. He will also grow in accepting the discipline of the Holy Spirit that he encounters in his environment. The more spiritual a person is, the more he will surrender to the anointing and to the discipline in his environment.
The spiritual lessons we learn every day are related both to the anointing within and to what we encounter in our environment. Thus, the spiritual lessons that we need to learn include accepting what we encounter in our environment in coordination with the inner anointing. Many Christians do not seem to experience the inner anointing, nor are they subject to what they encounter in their environment. For this reason they have not learned any lessons related to the anointing, and although they suffer much pain and affliction, they have not learned any lessons from their environment. They listen to messages, read spiritual books, pray often, and fellowship with the Lord, but they have not learned to live in the anointing, they do not know God’s leading, nor do they accept the lessons that God has given them through their environment. Such saints have not grown in the divine life.
In contrast, a person who is growing in life has the inner anointing and lives in the Lord’s operation daily. His experience of the anointing is not limited to once or twice a day; rather, he lives in the anointing and follows the inner operation of God throughout the day. Furthermore, he is constantly learning lessons from what he encounters in his environment and is submissive to his circumstances. He learns spiritual lessons whether he is praised or mocked and whether his environment is calm or turbulent. Furthermore, the lessons he learns are not a matter of doctrine or theory; they are experiences of life. He sees how a situation deals with a problem within him and how it causes him to experience the indwelling Christ and to live in the resurrection life so that he may be conformed to Christ’s death (Phil. 3:10).
The anointing and the environment are two different dealings and two kinds of leading, but they have the same result. The inner operation of the Holy Spirit is for us to experience resurrection life and be conformed to the Lord’s death. The discipline of the Holy Spirit in our environment is also for us to experience resurrection life and be conformed to the Lord’s death. What we encounter in our environment coordinates with the anointing within us; our environment and the anointing have only one goal. Hence, when we obey the anointing, what we often encounter in our environment is not severe. If we closely follow the inner anointing, a coordinating discipline in our environment will not be necessary. Then instead of our environment being a matter of discipline, it will be an opportunity for the divine life to mature in us. In many cases the coordination of discipline from our environment is an indication that we have not followed the inner sense of life. God often arranges an outward environment for us when we do not diligently follow the operation of the Spirit through the inner anointing.
We can examine our condition by asking, “What is the condition of our love for the Lord?” Although our love for the Lord cannot be considered a spiritual experience, we must love the Lord in order to have spiritual experiences. No one can have an abundance of the divine life if his love toward the Lord is weak.
Several verses in Ephesians mention love, such as: “holding to truth in love” (4:15), “the building up of itself in love” (v. 16), and “being rooted and grounded in love” (3:17). Love is often more important than faith. The subject of Song of Songs concerns a believer’s fellowship with the Lord. No other book in the Bible thoroughly describes the personal fellowship of a believer with the Lord or the growth that results from a believer’s union with the Lord in fellowship as much as this book does. Song of Songs rarely mentions faith, but it shows that the condition for fellowship is love (1:2-4; 2:4-5; 3:1-4, 10; 4:10; 5:8; 6:2-3; 7:10-12; 8:6-7). We fellowship with the Lord in love, we are joined to the Lord in love, and we also grow in life in love.
The principle revealed in the Bible is that we receive the divine life by faith, and we grow in the divine life by love. A person who does not believe in the Lord cannot receive the divine life, nor can he grow in the divine life. In order to receive this life, one must receive the Lord, and in order to grow in life, one must also love the Lord. Hence, the Gospel of John says that man receives the divine life by faith — those who believe will have life (1:12); concerning growing in life, John says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word” (14:23). Here love is mentioned. The last chapter says even more concerning love. The Lord asked Peter, “Do you love Me more than these?...Do you love Me?” (21:15-17). The first chapter of John speaks of faith, but the last chapter speaks of love. Faith is the means for man to receive life, and love is the means for man to grow in life.
At issue here is whether we love the Lord. We should not think that to serve in the church is the same as to love the Lord. This is not necessarily true. While we are serving in the church, our heart toward the Lord is often cold, and there is often a problem with our love. Every section in Song of Songs is related to love, because every spiritual experience is in the context of love. In the original Hebrew language the words for my beloved (1:13, 16; 2:3, 8-10) and my love (1:9; 2:2, 10) indicate love. The word translated as “my beloved” is masculine, and the word translated as “my love” is feminine. Solomon addresses the seeker as “My love,” and the seeker addresses him also as “my love.” This shows that spiritual progress is a union in love and fellowship.
Love cannot be stirred up. It would be of little avail for me to call a brother every day from morning until evening, saying, “Brother, you should love the Lord! Love the Lord!” I cannot cause him to have an ounce of love. I can give messages on loving the Lord and even exhaust my vocabulary, but I cannot make him love the Lord. The Bible does not show us how to love the Lord. In the Epistles Paul says, “The love of Christ constrains us” (2 Cor. 5:14), but he does not say how to stir up a person’s love for the Lord.
People love things or persons without reason. For example, if you go to a jewelry store and see an item, you may fall in love with it as soon as you see it. You may be able to describe the beauty of the item, but you cannot explain why you fell in love with it at first sight. The beginning of Song of Songs speaks of this: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! / For your love is better than wine... / Your name is like ointment poured forth” (1:2-3). Some people say that if we see the Lord, we will love Him. However, many people saw the Lord when He was on earth, but not all of them loved Him. For example, both Martha and Mary saw the Lord, but their love for Him varied in strength. Genuine love has the element of “love at first sight”; that is, a person falls in love the first time he sees an object. Not even death can stop such love. Genuine love for the Lord is without reason.
Those who believe in the Lord do so without reason. No one believes in the Lord because he has weighed all the reasons. If there is such a person, he is not yet saved. Those who believe and are saved do so without reason; they believed even though it did not make sense. If a person believes only after everything makes sense, there is a problem with his faith. This is a mystery. Hence, when we preach the gospel, we should not try to reason with others, because reasoning helps people to understand but not to believe. We need only to say that the Lord Jesus is man’s Savior and that He was incarnated, lived on the earth, died, and resurrected. When some people hear this, they believe even though they do not understand everything that they have heard. They do not know who the Lord Jesus is, but they nevertheless believe in Him. This kind of faith is right.
When the Lord Jesus lived on the earth, not every disciple who followed Him knew who He was. They were not clearer than we are and may even have been more confused. When Peter followed the Lord Jesus, he had no idea where the Lord came from (Matt. 4:18-20), but he saw that Jesus was wonderful (Luke 5:8-9). Peter could not comprehend the work of the Holy Spirit; he simply felt that the Lord Jesus was wonderful. He admired the Lord Jesus so much that he believed in Him.
Faith is inexplicable, and love is also inexplicable. This is the story of Song of Songs. For this reason Song of Songs begins by saying, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” (1:2). Some people are like this; they cannot help but love the Lord, and they do not know the source of their love. Martha and Mary were two sisters who lived in the same home, had the same opportunities, and were in the same environment, but they had two different kinds of love toward the Lord Jesus. What was the source of this difference in their love? Did the Lord Jesus do something for Mary that He did not do for Martha? We cannot find such a distinction in the Bible. The Lord treated them the same, but one was more earnest in her love for Him than the other.
We must ask ourselves whether we love the Lord. I cannot tell you how to love the Lord, but I must ask whether you love Him. Love is the unique condition for us to experience the Lord’s life. There is no other condition; we must love the Lord. Some may say that in order to experience the Lord’s life, we must have spiritual understanding and receive revelation. Spiritual understanding and revelation are based on love. Song of Songs speaks solely concerning the growth and maturity of our spiritual life. This book begins with love, continues with love, and ends with love. Hence, Ephesians speaks of “being rooted and grounded in love,” of “holding to truth in love,” and of the Body “building up...itself in love” (3:17; 4:15-16). Without love it is useless to speak of growth in life. Growth in life is not a matter of knowledge but of love. It is possible to understand messages, to read spiritual books, and to study the Bible thoroughly and still not grow in the divine life. Growth in life depends on our love for the Lord.
According to Song of Songs, even if we have only a little love for the Lord, we should seek Him on the basis of this love. Verse 2 of chapter 1 says, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” The more we contact the Lord, the more we will feel that He is lovely. We cannot find a verse in the Bible that tells us how to love the Lord, but the record in the Bible shows that our love for the Lord grows by our seeking Him with what little love that we have. The more we seek Him, the more we will contact Him in fellowship; and the more we fellowship with Him, the more we will feel that He is lovely. Every believer has some love for the Lord, but the question is how to cause our love to increase. If we seek the Lord a little more, admire Him a little more, and fellowship with Him a little more, our love for Him will grow spontaneously.
Song of Songs describes a progressing life and a developing love, both of which grow so strong that it is difficult to determine whether the love in chapter 8 represents the Lord’s love or the love of His seeker. Some say that it is the love of the Shulammite for her beloved, but others say it is the love of the beloved for the Shulammite. It is rather difficult to determine who is speaking in chapter 8. As far as the beloved is concerned, his love is stronger than death, but as far as the Shulammite is concerned, she has grown and is rooted and grounded in the love of her beloved. Hence, verses 6 and 7 simply say “love,” not “your love” or “my love.” This love is as strong as death, and floods cannot drown it. At this point the seeker’s union with the Lord in fellowship has reached its peak.
Although we do not have much love for the Lord, if we spend a little more time to long for Him, to seek Him, to consider Him, to fellowship with Him, and to contact Him, our love for Him will increase. The more we seek Him and fellowship with Him, the more we will love Him.
We can also examine our condition by asking, “Are we learning to live in the anointing every day; have we surrendered to the inner anointing?” This is not a matter of listening to messages. If we love the Lord, we will give ourselves over to the inner anointing and live in the anointing all day long. This is the way to have genuine growth.
Finally, we can examine our condition by asking, “Are we learning spiritual lessons through the circumstances in our daily living?” We must learn lessons from the circumstances that we encounter in our environment. This is the way to have genuine growth in life. I hope that we would answer these three questions before God.
Question: Is having a heart for the Lord equivalent to loving Him?
Answer: Having a heart is not equivalent to having love. We often say, “So-and-so still has a heart for the Lord.” This is not clear. Let me ask, “Do you have the heart to eat every day?” This is a strange question, because if we needed to have a heart in order to eat, we would starve to death. We eat whether or not we have the heart to eat. Suppose I ask, “Is So-and-so attending a university?” You should tell me whether or not he is attending a university. There is no need to say that he has the heart to attend a university. If he has the heart to attend a university, he should be at a university. Or I may ask, “Are those two people engaged?” If you reply, “They have the heart to be engaged,” then I would ask, “Why are they not engaged if they have the heart to be engaged?” Likewise, with regard to a person’s condition before the Lord, when we are reluctant to say whether or not a person loves the Lord, we speak of him as having a heart for the Lord. This indicates that having the heart is not equivalent to having love.
Question: In the past I sensed the presence of my flesh and the mixture within me, and I often confessed my sins, asking the Lord to deliver me. Later, I heard that we are already dead and do not need to confess our sins. Is this correct?
Answer: To confess our sins is to deal with the sins that we have committed. If a sin has been committed, it needs to be confessed. If we have not committed a sin, yet we see our corruption, then we need acknowledgment, not confession. If in the light we see that our corrupted flesh has already been nailed to the cross, we need only to praise the Lord. In contrast, if we commit a definite sin, it is not sufficient merely to say, “Praise the Lord.” We must confess our sin before God and before man; we must confess the actual sins that we have committed. However, regarding our corrupt nature, we need only to acknowledge it and receive the work of the cross.
Question: When we have doubts about whether something is of the Lord, should we stop or continue?
Answer: The things that are necessary in our daily living should be taken care of according to common sense; as long as we lack a sense of prohibition, we may do them. We need the inner leading for special matters. However, the teaching of the anointing does not emphasize leading. Many people incorrectly understand the teaching of the anointing merely as leading. The anointing is not merely a matter of whether or not we should do a certain thing; rather, it is for us to live in the anointing and to do everything according to the anointing.
As soon as the anointing is mentioned, people understand it as leading. This is the influence of Christianity. For example, if I want to write a letter, I ask the anointing to teach me whether or not I should write the letter. This is an erroneous concept. The anointing is not a fortuneteller, who previously had nothing to do with us but now tells us whether what we are about to do is good or bad. The proper situation is to live in the anointing so that the anointing becomes our life, just like the feelings of our body. For example, when we taste sugar, we immediately sense sweetness, and when we taste vinegar, we sense sourness. We do not need to ask the anointing to be our fortuneteller and tell us whether what we are about to do is right or wrong. We must live in the anointing so that when we “taste something,” we will immediately sense whether it is sweet or sour.
Question: What should we do in order to live in the anointing practically?
Answer: We need to exercise. For example, we may say that we want to consecrate ourselves to the Lord because we love Him. However, to say that we want to consecrate ourselves to the Lord is vague; we need to know where the Lord is. The expression give ourselves to the Lord is doctrine. In our experience it means to give ourselves to the inner anointing and to the discipline in our environment. How should I respond when a brother gives me a long face? Can I give thanks and praise the Lord, saying, “Lord, this long face is from You. I give myself to You”?
In terms of experience, to love the Lord and to give ourselves to Him mean to submit to the inner anointing and to our outward circumstances. We live in the anointing, and we also accept our circumstances. We know the Lord in the anointing, and we also know Him in our circumstances. Then in our experience the Lord will lead us to know when we are in the self, when we are natural, and when we are living in the old creation. He will lead us to know the meaning of resurrection and the cross. Furthermore, He will lead us to know the power of resurrection and to be conformed to His death (Phil. 3:10). When we do not care for the inner anointing, the discipline of the Holy Spirit may become necessary. The circumstances in our environment are coordinated with the anointing in order to break us and to expose us so that we know how much we are still in the self. If we desire to grow in life, this must be a daily exercise.
Question: If we want to live in the anointing and be subject to the discipline of the Holy Spirit, does our will need to cooperate?
Answer: There is no need to analyze whether or not our will is cooperating. We should simply surrender to the anointing. We can say that this is the cooperation of the will. We need to give ourselves to the Lord. We need to learn to be genuine and to give ourselves to the Lord because we love Him. We give ourselves practically according to the anointing and our environment. Hence, we must learn to receive the teaching of the anointing.
Question: How can we discern the teaching of the anointing?
Answer: The teaching of the anointing is manifest in our daily living, letting us know whether we are in ourselves or in Christ. The anointing Spirit does not teach us whether or not we should do something. Rather, He asks, “Is this Christ, or is it you?”
Do not think that the teaching of the anointing is to lead us concerning what to do and what not to do. The teaching of the anointing lets us know whether or not we are in Christ. As human beings, we are concerned with whether or not we should do a certain thing and whether or not we are doing it correctly. The leading of the Holy Spirit is for us to be delivered from the self so that we live in Christ. Hence, the teaching of the Holy Spirit asks, “Is this Christ, or is it you?”
For example, when I am about to lose my temper, I might ask, “Lord, do You want me to lose my temper?” The real question, however, should be, “Am I losing my temper, or is Christ losing His temper?” As long as it is Christ who is losing His temper, the inner anointing will say, “It is right to lose your temper.” If I am the one who wants to lose my temper, the anointing will say, “No, it is not okay.” Similarly, when we are not sure whether our love for a person corresponds to the Lord’s will, we often ask, “Lord, is it right to love this brother?” In contrast, the teaching of the anointing will ask whether or not Christ is loving the brother. If we say that it is Christ, the Holy Spirit will say Amen. But if we answer that we are the one loving him, the Holy Spirit will say, “It is not okay.”
Question: What should I do if it is difficult for me to discern whether or not it is Christ who is doing something?
Answer: First John 2:27 does not say that when we have a need, we should ask the anointing to make us clear. The anointing Spirit is for our living and our life; we should live in the anointing. However, instead of giving ourselves to Him, we often check with Him only when we have a need. We have received mercy to love the Lord and give ourselves to Him; hence, we should give ourselves to the anointing inwardly and learn to live in Him. Instead of asking whether or not we should do something, we should exercise to live in Christ, not in ourselves. If we practice this, spontaneously the anointing will show us whether or not it is Christ who is living. This requires practice. It is ineffective to seek the leading of the anointing only when we have a need.
Believers often wait until they encounter a situation before they seek the Lord’s will. The Lord reveals His will to those who give themselves to the anointing and live in the anointing. He does not reveal His will to those who do not give themselves to the anointing. The apostles did not make an effort to know the Lord’s will. They gave themselves to the anointing and lived in the anointing; thus, they could know God’s will.
Question: When I learn a lesson from my environment, should I confess to God, or should I thank Him?
Answer: On the one hand, we should confess the sin of disobedience, and on the other hand, we should thank the Lord for showing us that we are wrong. However, such an experience is not precious, nor is it a genuine lesson. According to our concept, the teaching of the anointing is for us to know what is right and what is wrong, but the Lord does not lead us to know what is right and what is wrong. The teaching of the anointing shows us whether something is of the self or of Christ.
The Bible does not teach us concerning right and wrong. The concept of right and wrong is related to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The teaching of the Bible is centered on whether the self is living or Christ is living. This is the goal. However, it is difficult for us to drop our concept of right or wrong; thus, we expect the Holy Spirit to teach us what is right and what is wrong. This is not the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is to teach us what is of ourselves and what is of Christ. As long as we are focused on what is right and wrong, we can only say that what is out of ourselves is wrong and what is out of Christ is right. However, when we focus on the leading, we will say that the Holy Spirit is leading us to live by Christ, not by the self.
May God have mercy on us so that our eyes would be opened to see that He does not want us to do “right things” but to live Christ. When we see this, we will ask, “Am I living out myself, or is Christ being lived out?” As long as Christ is being lived out, it will be right to love, and it will be right to hate; nothing will be wrong. But when Christ is not being lived out, both loving and hating are wrong.
The situations in our environment are for our breaking so that we may experience the resurrection life of Christ. The discipline in our environment does not teach us to discern right from wrong. When our concept is changed, we will know what it is to be led by the Lord. The Lord’s leading is not for us to know what is right and what is wrong but for us to see what is according to the self and what is according to Christ.
For example, suppose a brother who has the gift of preaching the gospel is invited by a locality to preach the gospel. Because it is his habit, the brother may kneel down and pray, “Lord, please tell me whether You want me to go and preach the gospel.” However, we cannot find many examples of such a prayer in the Bible. This kind of prayer is not very spiritual. If this brother has the experience of living in the anointing and has learned the lesson, he would say, “Lord, let me know whether going to this place is of me or of You. Am I the one who wants to preach the gospel, or is it You?” If he receives the teaching of the anointing to see that Christ is asking him to go, then he should go. But if the anointing shows him that his desire to go is from himself, he should not go. There is a great difference between the two prayers. Almost every believer seeks the Lord’s will according to the first prayer, not according to the second. Those who have the experience of living in the anointing will not ask the Lord, “Do You want me to do this?” Rather, they would ask, “Is this matter of me, or is it of You?” This is what the Holy Spirit is teaching us. The extent to which we give ourselves to the anointing determines our growth in life.
Furthermore, a person who knows the Lord will not only accept every circumstance in his environment; he will also ask what lesson he has learned. To learn to be patient is Buddhism, and to learn to endure sufferings is Hinduism. We must be able to say that our environment has caused us to know the flesh, that we have received the breaking of the cross, and that we have experienced Christ abiding in us. These are genuine lessons, and this is the genuine Christian living. We must know the self through the revelation gained from our environment. At the same time, we must receive the arrangement of the Holy Spirit in our environment to put the self to death by the cross. Through such experiences we will know that Christ is real in us; we will have genuine fellowship with Him and know Him more. This is the way to have genuine growth in life.
We must learn to surrender to the anointing within us and to the discipline of the Holy Spirit in our environment. The goal of these lessons is for us to be delivered from the self and to live Christ. This is the way to grow in life.
Question: In the past whenever I suffered or was sick, I would ask the Lord whether I had offended Him or what lesson did He want me to learn. When I received the anointing, it was easy for me to obey and to deal with the mistake. Can this be regarded as living in the anointing?
Answer: Although this can be regarded as living in the anointing, I do not wish to answer this question from this angle. I would rather say that our concept of the anointing is different from God’s concept. We think that the function of the anointing is to teach us what is right and what is wrong. However, according to God’s concept, the anointing is to show us what is of Christ and what is of ourselves. We pay attention to doing things, but the Holy Spirit pays attention to the life that is operating. We ask, “What should we do?” and “How should we do this?” The Holy Spirit asks, “Who is doing this?” There is a big difference between God’s concept and ours.
This question is still concerning right and wrong. You check with God whether you have done something wrong when you suffer or get sick, and you are willing to deal with your mistake if you are enlightened. This concept is still related to right or wrong. You do not have the concept of discerning whether it is Christ or yourself.
It is difficult to find a verse in Paul’s Epistles that says, “You should not do anything wrong,” or “You must do the right thing.” However, numerous portions in the New Testament show that Christ lives in us. In Galatians 2:20 Paul says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” In Philippians 1:20 he says, “As always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.” In Romans 8:11 he says, “If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” This teaching is prevalent in the New Testament, but we do not pay attention to it. The New Testament does not say, “You should follow the Holy Spirit to do the right thing and not the wrong thing.” However, after we read the Bible, we always ask, “Is it right for me to do this? Is it wrong for me to do that?” The fellowship in this chapter is clear, but your question is, “When I get sick, I pray, and God enlightens me as to what I did wrong, so I deal with it. Is this living in the anointing?”
After eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man has not been able to leave the things related to that tree. We even view messages that we hear concerning the Holy Spirit according to right and wrong. Ninety percent of the teaching of the apostles concerns the Holy Spirit. When we read these portions, we cannot find a place where the Holy Spirit is teaching us what is right and what is wrong, nor is He teaching us to do the right thing rather than the wrong thing. On the contrary, the Bible says, “If by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13), and “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). This is the teaching of the apostles.
God does not intend to correct our mistakes, and being right does not increase our standing before the Lord. Instead of correcting our mistakes, the Lord puts us on the cross. Christ is revealed in us through the Spirit so that Christ can grow, live, and be formed in us (1:16; 2:20; 4:19). The Lord also uses the cross to do a killing work in us through the Spirit. This is the teaching of the anointing, the work of the anointing. The teaching of the anointing is not for correcting our mistakes. The anointing is to bring us into the death of the cross so that Christ may have all the ground in us.
In terms of being a human being, it is right to correct our mistakes and wrongdoings, just as parents correct their children. However, as far as being a Christian is concerned, correcting a mistake does not have much value. Being a Christian is a matter of changing our person. In educating our children, it is right to correct their mistakes, but in leading the saints in the churches, we should help change their person. The teaching of the anointing Spirit differs from the teaching that parents give their children at home. We should not think that we are good Christians because we have good conduct. Many saints with good conduct do not understand spiritual matters. They are spiritual novices. The church has only Christ. The Holy Spirit and the cross must put us to death and add Christ to us. This is the purpose of the anointing.
We need revelation. We should not think that we understand the anointing. Tomorrow some saints might still pray, “O Lord, please tell me what is right and what is wrong. Tell me what I should do and what I should not do.” Such prayers prove that we do not have light. When we are enlightened, we will no longer ask whether a certain thing is right or wrong. Instead, we will ask, “Is it Christ or myself who is living?” We will hate and detest the self that does wrong and also the self that does right.
We pay attention to things, but the Holy Spirit pays attention to our person. We pay attention to right and wrong, but the Holy Spirit pays attention to Christ. Of course, sometimes the Spirit will correct our mistakes. However, He corrects us with the purpose of changing our person. For example, suppose a sister has a bad temper when dealing with her husband. She may seek the Lord, hoping that He will take away her temper. The Holy Spirit may also show her that her temper is not good. However, the Holy Spirit does not intend to change her temper but to change her person. If her person is not changed, her temper will remain. To soften her temper without changing her person is the practice of Hinduism, Buddhism, or Confucianism. The Holy Spirit does not want to correct our mistakes; He wants to change our person. In the initial stage of being a Christian, we are inevitably concerned about matters of right or wrong. However, gradually the Spirit will open our eyes so that instead of asking whether a matter is right or wrong, we would ask, “Lord, are You doing this, or am I?” Concerning our temper and our meekness, we would ask, “Lord, is this You, or is it me?” We must learn to say, “If it is of me, I will not do it. If it is the Lord, I will do it.”
Question: I am a talkative person. When the Holy Spirit does not allow me to talk, I submit. Can this be regarded as accepting the discipline of the Holy Spirit?
Answer: The discipline of the Holy Spirit that we are speaking of does not refer to the Holy Spirit restricting us within but to the circumstances that we encounter in our environment. It is not that the Holy Spirit restricts you from within, prohibiting you from talking. Rather, He will arrange an environment in which you will be in trouble because you talk too much. Without the enlightening of the Holy Spirit, we cannot understand a message, even if we exercise our mind. The basic purpose of the discipline of the Holy Spirit is to break us; it is not a matter of our being in subjection. For example, the Lord arranges for a brother to have a difficult wife. This is the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Because of his personality, temperament, and disposition, this brother needs this kind of wife in order to deal with him every day. If this brother thinks that he understands a message concerning the discipline of the Holy Spirit, he may bow his head in subjection and say, “I am willing to be subject to the discipline of the Holy Spirit.” This kind of subjection is wrong. God gave this brother a precious wife so that he would be broken, not for him to be submissive.
I know a brother who has “subjected” himself to the discipline of the Holy Spirit, but his self has only become stronger. He said that when he first got married, his wife was good, but she gradually became worse. The more he tried to reason with her, the more unreasonable she became. Eventually, he said, “Now I understand that this is the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I am willing to submit. I will no longer argue with her. God has ordained this.” At the beginning of his marriage he could be likened to an unfurled steel sheet. When he began to “submit,” he rolled himself up like an iron ball. Instead of fighting with his wife, he prayed, “O God, vindicate me at the judgment seat.” His self became stronger because of his wrong understanding concerning the discipline of the Holy Spirit. It was possible for him to receive the breaking when he was not willing to submit; however, he cannot receive the breaking when he merely submits.
The discipline of the Holy Spirit is not for man to be subdued but to be broken. The discipline of the Holy Spirit is not to ask us to be silent but to break our talkative nature. This question shows that we receive the discipline of the Holy Spirit according to our natural man, not according to the intention of the Holy Spirit. The understanding that the discipline of the Holy Spirit is to subdue us is in the principle of correcting our mistakes. Formerly, you liked to talk, and you argued with your spouse. Later, you decided to submit and would stop arguing. This is a correction. Similar to the teaching of the anointing, the purpose of the discipline of the Holy Spirit is to change our person. The Holy Spirit disciplines us in order to break our talkative nature.
Question: Will a person who receives the teaching of the anointing and the discipline of the Holy Spirit still make mistakes?
Answer: This question shows that we still have not been delivered from our concept of right and wrong. Let me say again: God does not care about right or wrong, nor does He care about sinning or not sinning. He cares about Christ. Even if we did not commit any sins, we would not be valuable. If we could live to be ninety years old without sinning, God would still not want us. If an ordinary stone did not have any dirt on it, I would not consider it to be a treasure. A stone cannot become a pearl. Our heart is filled with the thought of sinning or not sinning. We think that we are precious and spiritual if we do not sin. This is a human concept. God’s concept is not related to sin but to whether we are men of clay or men of gold who contain the element of Christ.
These questions concerning being right or wrong are from the mind; they lack light. We cannot do anything if the Holy Spirit does not enlighten us. God’s goal is to deliver us from the self so that we can live Christ. We must be delivered from the concept of good or evil and right or wrong in order to see that the goal of the Holy Spirit is to use all kinds of environments to put us to death so that Christ can be lived out from us. This is the goal of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to put us to death. This is what we must see and consider. It is best for us to say, “Lord, I thank and praise You because You are the anointing. I know only Christ and Him crucified; I know only the killing work of the cross. I do not care about being right or wrong, or about sinning or not sinning.” Then we can receive salvation.
Question: Because some circumstances are from Satan and others are natural, I am afraid that I would confuse his attack with the discipline of the Holy Spirit and that my suffering will be in vain. What can prevent me from receiving my circumstances foolishly?
Answer: This kind of analysis is unnecessary. When we ate breakfast this morning, we did not consider whether the food came naturally or was sent by Satan, or whether it was prepared by God or by the self. Do we consider how we came here? Were we sent naturally, or were we sent by the devil? Does God want us to be here, or were we brought by the self? Why were we born as Chinese and not as Americans? The more spiritual a person is, the less he will consider such things, because these things are not in our hands. Some people have attempted to commit suicide five times, and they are still alive. There are others who took every precaution against tuberculosis but still contracted it. We need to see that we are in the Lord’s hand, not in our own. Everything that comes upon us has an element of the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and we should accept it. Without our heavenly Father’s permission, nothing will come upon us; it does not matter whether it is a natural law, our own doing, Satan’s attack, or the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
It is rare for a suffering situation not to be from Satan. Job’s afflictions came from Satan. All the suffering situations are caused by Satan. We might say, “I do not accept anything from Satan; I only want things from God,” but we should realize that Satan’s attacks are permitted by God. One day God had a council in heaven to discuss how to deal with Job, and Satan came too (Job 1:6-7). God said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (v. 8). Satan answered, “Does Job fear God without cause? Have You not set a hedge around him and his household and all that he has?...Stretch forth Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face” (vv. 9-11). God replied, “Here is all that he has, in your hand; only do not stretch forth your hand against him” (v. 12). God let Satan attack Job. This was the stripping that God wanted for Job.
We should not try to avoid our environment. Some people try to avoid the natural man and the self, but eventually, they are the ones who suffer the most. Because we are in God’s hand, we will suffer if we try to rely upon our own intelligence and wisdom. If we try to dodge different situations, we will end up in a place where we will really suffer. Hence, we must give up and admit that we are in the Father’s hand and that there are no mistakes associated with the discipline of the Holy Spirit. We make mistakes, but He never does.
We must remember that the discipline of the Holy Spirit is not to correct our wrongdoings or to subdue us. The book of Job concerns discipline. Initially, Job could not submit, much less be broken, but in the end he abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes (42:6). Without the attacks from Satan, Job would have been a good man but not a broken man. He was a perfect man as well as a whole person. God does not want us to be perfect and whole. Hence, He raises up situations in our environment to discipline us. The Holy Spirit did not want Job to submit. The discipline of the Holy Spirit had the unique goal of breaking him. The purpose of the breaking was for Job to know God. Hence, Job was able to say, “I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, / But now my eye has seen You” (v. 5).
We do not need to analyze whether the discipline of the Holy Spirit has a natural source, is of our own doing, is sent by the devil, or is permitted by God. We may be able to avoid some difficult situations, but we cannot avoid every situation. There is no need to analyze the situations that we cannot avoid. We can fire a maid who does not listen to our instructions, but we cannot dismiss our precious wife when she is unbearable. This is the discipline of the Holy Spirit. If an employee does not listen to us, we can fire him according to the terms of his contract. However, if a brother with whom we labor causes us hardships, we cannot avoid him. We must coordinate with him and receive what the Holy Spirit has arranged. We can avoid only the difficulties that God allows us to avoid. We must believe that we are in His hand.
Let me repeat: The more spiritual a person is, the more he believes that he is in God’s hand, and the less he fears adverse environments or circumstances. Those who try to run away from discipline are not spiritual and are not willing to receive discipline. We do not need to analyze the circumstances in our environment.
