Search
Christian knowledge concerning the Holy Spirit has advanced gradually through the ages to what the Lord has shown us in these years. In the nineteenth century the Brethren saw some light concerning the Spirit, but the light that they saw cannot compare to what we have seen. The light that we have seen is very clear.
The Lord has shown us that He wants to gain the church as His expression. God created man in His image and according to His likeness so that man could express Him. God wants to enter into man to be man’s life so that He and man may be joined as one in life. Then God will be the life and content of a group of people, and they will be His expression. We know this truth, and we can speak it. If we liken this truth to a tiger, then every one of us is able to draw a realistic picture of a tiger.
We should not despise pictures, because the Old Testament is a picture. However, the reality of the Old Testament pictures is with the Spirit. With the Spirit the pictures in the Bible have reality and life, but without the Spirit the pictures are empty and dead letter. We are clear that the Spirit is God. To have the Bible without the Spirit is to have the picture without life. Hence, even though we speak the truths in the Bible and have seen much light, without the Spirit we have mere doctrine, a picture, and in principle we are no different from the Old Testament. Since the time of the apostles, countless spiritual men have touched the Spirit and have written about what they touched for later generations to read and experience. Without the Spirit, these spiritual men would have merely “drawn pictures.”
In the past we made the grave mistake of regarding the Old Testament and the New Testament as merely pictures. We must admit that we also regarded the truth and spiritual literature as pictures. Ninety-five percent of our reading of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and various spiritual publications has been a picture because we may have touched the Spirit in only five percent of our reading. Regrettably, instead of touching the Spirit, we received doctrines, testimonies, knowledge, methods, and practices. Hence, all these have become pictures.
We probably pay more attention to the Spirit than other Christian groups do. However, we have the Spirit five percent of the time, and the remaining ninety-five percent of the time we mainly have doctrines from the Bible, from the truths we have received from the Lord, and from spiritual practices. The Lord said, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). This word clearly shows that it is one thing to search the Scriptures and another to come to the Lord and receive life. If our reading of the Bible can be unrelated to life, then our reading of other spiritual publications can be as well.
We are skillful in our “drawings.” The trainings in Taiwan began in 1952, and we held numerous trainings in 1953 and 1954. These trainings brought in considerable blessings. However, we spent ninety-five percent of our time “drawing pictures.” It would be marvelous if ninety-five percent of our living, our work, and the testimony of the church were in the Spirit. However, perhaps less than five percent of our living, work, and testimony were of the Spirit. Everything we did was mainly related to “drawing a picture” because it was without the Spirit.
In 1958 we began to speak of eating the Lord, drinking the Lord, and enjoying the Lord, because we felt the futility of doctrine, knowledge, and philosophy. The Lord is the Spirit; hence, we must touch the Spirit. In 1960 we spent the whole year learning to exercise our spirit and to blend in the spirit. The Supplement of Eighty-five Hymns was written in early 1961 in Chinese. Christ, the Spirit, and the church are the three important items in these eighty-five hymns. One of these hymns is “Oh, what a life! Oh, what a peace!” (Hymns, #499). Everyone liked to sing these hymns, but they merely appreciated the hymns without touching the Spirit. We sang many hymns concerning the Spirit, but I am concerned that we did not touch the Spirit.
After October 1961 I went from Taipei to Manila and then to the United States. I remained in the United States for about a year. In October 1962 the brothers in Taipei wrote to me and asked me to return to Taipei for a conference. However, I was clear within that I should accept the burden to remain in the United States and not return to Taipei. So I cabled the brothers and told them that I could not return to Taipei. Hence, we began the work in the United States at the end of 1962.
The work in the United States began in the Spirit. Therefore, after a short period of time there were obvious results related to exercising the spirit. What we were unable to do in Taiwan in 1960 and 1961, we achieved in the United States. In the United States we emphasized the Spirit more than the truth. Hence, there was the supply of life that brought in the blessing. In 1970 we spontaneously began to migrate. That year there was an international conference in Los Angeles with an attendance of twelve hundred. At that time there were about fifteen hundred people in the Lord’s recovery in the United States. After the migrations began, we increased to over six thousand in two years, that is, by the end of 1972.
While we strengthened the migration in 1973 and focused on the propagation of the work, we unconsciously neglected and lost the Spirit. Hence, the migrations became a form. Most of what we did in our first ten years in the United States was in the Spirit, but what we did in the four years after 1972 became a form. We had less Spirit and more “picture.” Because we cared for the propagation of the work, we did not hold to the ground in the Spirit; we wanted to find good places and campuses to propagate the work by gaining people for the Lord. This, however, opened a door to Satan and let some ambitious ones in sheep’s clothing sneak in. Although we knew their true condition, we tolerated them for four years because we had unconsciously turned from the Spirit to the propagation of the work; we cared too much for the propagation.
In the beginning of 1978, less than three months after returning to the United States from a conference in Taipei, I discovered that someone was rebelling. Initially, I discussed the matter only with my wife and said nothing to others, not even to the co-workers or the elders. The two of us prayed earnestly because the rebellious one had deceived everyone. During our prayer I realized my mistake of not standing firm in the Spirit and not holding firm to life. By turning to the work and to propagation, I had opened a back door for the enemy. I therefore resolved to do nothing but pray. Because some in sheep’s clothing had sneaked in while we were neglecting the Spirit and life, we could not use human efforts to cause them to leave; rather, we had to stand in life. Therefore, I began to live in the spirit and in life.
In March, during a conference in Anaheim, I spoke concerning three keys in Matthew 16. From that point, the Lord began to take His recovery back from the hand of those who were plotting a rebellion. I received an invitation to hold a conference on the East Coast during the spring, and I went as planned. I did not know that some rebellious ones were there when I accepted the invitation. By the time I went, the situation was clear. However, while I was there, I gave messages only on life. I did not care for the outward things; I only cared for the matters of life.
After I returned to Anaheim, there was a conference in the summer that was followed by a training on Ephesians. That training was a great help. The messages on life restored the sense and the sentiment of the saints, turning us from work and propagation back to the Spirit and life. The saints were also clear that certain ones were taking the lead to rebel. Because I had emphasized the Spirit, not outward matters, with the saints, they also exercised to live in the spirit. This is how the rebellious ones were set aside.
After the training on Ephesians, the saints lost interest in the rebellious ones. When the rebellious ones saw that they could do nothing, they no longer wanted to stay.
On August 6 of that year the rebellious ones disrupted the bread-breaking meeting in the church in Anaheim. The next morning three responsible brothers came to see me concerning a rebellious one and said, “Brother Lee, we can no longer tolerate him. He cannot remain in the eldership. We want to have an open talk with him.” Because they were firm, I said, “Brothers, since you have come to fellowship with me, allow me to say something. I feel that it is best for us not to do anything at present. You are the elders; I am not, so perhaps my feeling does not match yours. But according to my observation, we should not do anything. We should rather let him be.” The brothers eventually agreed and also felt it was best not to do anything. Shortly afterward this rebellious one withdrew.
The messages given during the training on Ephesians had such an effect because they were on life. The work of the rebellious ones on the East Coast also reached its peak, and the saints were waiting to hear what I would say. But I did not care about outward matters; I only gave messages on life and focused on the Spirit. As a result, the saints were helped and strengthened. Those messages opened our eyes and made us clear. As a result, the rebellious ones were set aside and could do nothing.
We must understand that without the Spirit, everything we do is just a picture. Some may have problems that need to be solved, but the only solution is the Spirit. The highest point of the Bible is two spirits becoming one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). The Triune God has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension and has descended as the Spirit. Our former understanding of the Spirit was insufficient. Now we are clear why the Epistles, especially Paul’s Epistles, stress the Spirit. The term the Spirit is first used in John 7:39: “This [Jesus] said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” The Spirit is the all-inclusive Spirit, that is, the Triune God.
First Corinthians 15:45 says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” This life-giving Spirit is the Spirit. The Spirit possesses both divinity and humanity. The Spirit is the Triune God, who has passed through incarnation to put on humanity, crucifixion, and resurrection in order to bring humanity into divinity in order to become the all-inclusive Spirit. He is our Redeemer, our Savior, and our life. As the Spirit, He has entered into us to be joined with our spirit. Hence, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.”
In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, the apostle John said, “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day” (1:10). At the end of the Bible there is a man in his spirit. The Bible produces such a person in the spirit. The New Testament does not tell us to walk according to the commandments, but it does say, “Walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16). Such a walk includes our living and activities.
Because only prayer can keep us in the spirit, the New Testament tells us to unceasingly pray (1 Thes. 5:17). When we do not pray, we are not in the spirit, and when we are not in the spirit, our practice and living are but a picture. Our practice may be “realistic,” resembling reality, but it is merely a human practice without the spirit. Only that which is lived out of the spirit is real. We should speak to our spouse in the spirit and also buy things in the spirit. The Spirit is all-inclusive. The genuine Christian life and the genuine church life are in the Spirit. The secret to being a Christian is with the spirit.
This generation of young people is more blessed than previous generations, because the light that we now have is clearer. If we are not in the spirit when we speak of being dealt with, obeying our seniors, and having an absolute consecration, then we are merely drawing a picture. The spirit is the reality. Without the spirit, everything is a picture. I was not so clear when I spoke this several years ago, but during the recent turmoil I learned the lesson of doing nothing. The saints in the United States were amazed that I did nothing and said nothing concerning the dissenting ones. But I was clear that by neglecting the Spirit and life, we had opened the door to Satan for the pretenders to cause trouble. I realized that methods are futile and that we had to return to the Spirit and live in life. Thus, we received more light.
One day after the training on Ephesians, the Lord rebuked me while I was praying. He asked me how much I lived Christ during the day. I could only confess that I spent too little time living Him. Then I saw that my living was according to the letter of the Bible and according to knowledge and doctrine. I could not say that Christ was my not going to the movie theater and my not loving the world. Buddhist monks are separated from human society and love the world less than we do, but is that Christ? Chinese peasants are not fashionable, but is that Christ? The Lord told me that it is one thing to love Him and another to live Him. We must not only love Christ but also live Him. It is not sufficient to say that we do not watch movies because we love Christ. We still need to live Christ. I should not go to the movies because He is not going to the movies. This light shined brightly in me.
Whether in co-workers’ meetings, young people’s meetings, elders’ meetings, service meetings, or other meetings, I have only one burden—to live Christ. This is the only “dish” that I will serve for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I have no other burden. I only want the saints to live Christ and live in the spirit.
Our way and our ground are right. We are taking the way of the recovery, and we are standing on the proper ground because the Lord wants this way and this ground. If we do not take this way and stand on this ground, the Lord will have no way to go on. However, if we take the right way and stand on the proper ground but do not have the reality of living Christ, we are empty, and the Lord still has no way to go on.
We have experienced many turmoils, but where are the dissenting ones today? What is their condition? They are still Christians, and some may even be working for the Lord, but we must admit that they are scattered and have lost the blessing. They declared that they saw a vision, but they have each gone their own way and are finished. Several have left us, and they ended up with nothing. This proves that our way is right and that our ground also is right.
In the past few decades the Lord has made His intention known to us and has given us more light. It is difficult to find other publications with spiritual weight or of spiritual value. Between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century many weighty, spiritual books were published, but since then almost no publications of spiritual value have been published. The Lord’s mercy put us on a way that corresponds to His heart. However, if we merely take the right way and stand on the right ground without the reality of living Christ, we are empty, and the Lord cannot go on.
If we in the Lord’s recovery do not live Christ, where will the Lord gain a group of people who live Christ? Because the Lord has had mercy on us, we should care for nothing but the spirit. We should drop every problem and take care of the spirit. It is not a matter of right or wrong but of whether we are in the spirit. This is the only standard. We may do everything right and be free of problems, but it will be empty and of no value if we are not in the spirit. At best, our doing and living will be a picture for others to look at.
For example, there are two ways for the younger saints to be subject to the older saints. One involves a picture of subjection, and the other way is living the reality of subjection. If I live Christ, how can I not be subject to the older saints? How can I live loosely or indulge the flesh if I am living Christ? However, if I do not indulge in the flesh but also do not live Christ, I am only practicing asceticism, like that of Hinduism. I may have a high morality, but if I do not live Christ, my living is no different from the practices taught by Chinese neo-Confucianists, like Wang Yang-Ming. The Lord wants Christ to be lived out of our spirit. If we would live in our spirit, our problems would be resolved.
There are also two ways for us to keep the ground of oneness. One way is to have a picture based on the doctrinal knowledge of keeping the local ground and not being divided. The other way is by living Christ, for genuine oneness is in Christ. Christ is not divided; if we live Christ, we will not be divided from the saints. Recently, I gave ten messages in Anaheim on the ground of oneness (see the book The Genuine Ground of Oneness). My approach to these ten messages was completely different from the past, but the truth was not different. My former approach was to draw a picture, but this time I asked whether we live Christ. To live Christ is to be one and to be in the oneness. The oneness spoken of in John 17 does not depend on methods but on the oneness in the Triune God. Verse 23 says, “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one.” If we live in our spirit and live in the Triune God, what we live out will spontaneously be oneness.
We must ask whether we are walking according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4). We must be persons who walk according to the spirit. “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day” is the solution to everything (Rev. 1:10). For example, if we follow the spirit, we will know whether we should go to Taichung or to Hualien. Our only desire is to be in spirit, because the spirit is the solution to every problem.
If the Lord cannot gain a group of people on the earth who live in the mingled spirit, He will have no way. He does not need a large number of people, but He must gain a people on the earth who not only stand on the recovered ground of the oneness of the church but also live Christ in the human spirit. Otherwise, the Lord has no way. Whether we are taking care of the churches or going out for the propagation, everything that we do in ourselves is merely a work. This work may be on the proper ground, but it is a picture that only looks like reality. Without living Christ, there is no reality in our living.
Some of the local churches are so desolate that they do not even have the picture. But this does not mean that having the picture is equal to having a living. In the past we have paid too much attention to pictures. The Lord wants us to live the reality, but in order to live the reality, we must be in our spirit. Whenever we are not in our spirit, we are only drawing pictures.
We are on the proper ground, but we have been hindered by substitutes. We have the most noble and superior substitutes—our truth is superior, our doctrines are superior, our light is superior, and even our spiritual cultivation is superior. However, regardless of how superior these things may be, they are not Christ. Nevertheless, we should not say that we do not want a certain positive thing because it is not Christ. Culture is an example. Although culture is not Christ, without culture, including being subject to laws, we would become barbarians. This is not acceptable either.
Some brothers deal with the flesh in fear and trembling and accept the breaking of the cross but do not live Christ. Although this is better than letting the flesh erupt, this “better” thing will become a substitute for Christ. A person whose flesh erupts can repent and receive the Lord, but a person whose flesh does not erupt often holds on to substitutes. In China it was easy for some of the bandits and robbers and those who led a dissolute life to be saved upon hearing the gospel, but it was not as easy for the well-mannered followers of Confucius and Mencius to be saved upon hearing the gospel. The teachings of Confucius and Mencius are good, and culture is needed in human society, but Christ does not have a way with those who are deeply rooted in culture.
This word is not to encourage us to be barbaric or to be foolish; that would ruin our future. More than fifty years of testing prove that our way and our ground are unshakable. On the one hand, the truth is always victorious. On the other hand, we must live out Christ while taking the way of the truth and standing on this ground of the truth. The Lord does not want godliness or breaking; He wants the release of the Spirit. The exercise of godliness and the breaking of the flesh are helpful, but they are not Christ, nor are they the reality of the Spirit. The younger saints need to see and practice living in the spirit while they are young. The church is built up in our spirit. The younger saints can be subject to the older saints in this spirit. The breaking is also in this spirit. Instead of using our own methods to break ourselves, we should live in the spirit. Then what needs to be broken will be broken.
Hence, we must pray unceasingly. To pray unceasingly is to live in the spirit. In other words, only by praying unceasingly can we live in the spirit, because praying unceasingly is the only way to live in the spirit. If we do not pray, we are not in the spirit, but as soon as we pray, we are in the spirit. Revelation 1:10 says, “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Hence, whenever we are in our spirit, it is the Lord’s Day. Every day should be the Lord’s Day, because we should be in our spirit every day. This is to live Christ.
