Search
Scripture Reading: John 3:6; 6:63; Phil. 3:3; Rom. 8:6
In the two previous chapters we saw that all the service that God wants from man must be in spirit. To enable us to serve Him in spirit, He became the Spirit through incarnation, death, and resurrection. Then as the Spirit, He comes to contact us in our spirit, making our deadened spirit alive so that we can serve Him by contacting Him as the Spirit in our enlivened spirit. Only the service that comes out of the contact and fellowship of our spirit with the Spirit is the service that God wants, and only this kind of service is acceptable to Him. This is how God wants us to worship Him—in spirit.
The verses above show us that in the matter of service to God there are two different sources: one is the flesh and the other is the Spirit. John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This shows us two different sources issuing in two different results. One source is the flesh, and the other source is the Spirit. Of course, the kind of result produced is determined by the kind of source that produces it. That which is born of the flesh can only be flesh and can never be spirit. That which is born of the Spirit can never be flesh but can only be spirit.
John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” Since the Spirit and the flesh are different sources, they have different natures. Consequently, their capabilities are also different. The substance of the Spirit (the Spirit of God) is the life of God; therefore, the Spirit gives life. The substance of the flesh is vanity and equals nothing; therefore, the flesh profits nothing.
Romans 8:6 says, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” The flesh not only profits nothing but also results in death, while the Spirit not only gives life but also imparts peace. The result of our serving God by the flesh is “nothing” and “death”; whereas the result of our serving God by the Spirit is “life” and “peace.”
Notwithstanding, Philippians 3:3 shows that just as we have the possibility of serving God by the spirit, so we have the possibility of serving by the flesh. Moreover, the possibility of serving by the flesh is very great in those of us who have not thoroughly dealt with the flesh and whose spirit has not yet become mature. Formerly, we were deadened in our spirit, we had fallen into the flesh, and we were living by the flesh. Now, although our spirit has been made alive through God’s salvation, we are still living in the flesh. Our spirit has not become mature yet, and it is not strong enough. Furthermore, perhaps due to our ignorance concerning spiritual matters, we may not even know that we must serve God by the spirit and not by the flesh. Therefore, after we have been saved, in the same way that we conduct ourselves, we serve God mostly by the flesh and very little by, of, and in the spirit.
Many people think that our flesh is capable only of committing sins but not capable of serving God, that is, that we are likely to commit sins but not likely to serve God by our flesh. In their consideration, there is only such a thing as man committing sin by the flesh, but not such a thing as man serving God by the flesh. However, the Bible tells us that just as man commits sins by the flesh, so man can also serve God by the flesh. Not only so, the facts also show that many indeed serve God by the flesh, just as they commit sins by the flesh. No doubt the apostle Paul served God by the flesh before he was saved (Acts 22:3; Phil. 3:4-7). Although many Christians have been saved, they still serve God by the flesh, just as the apostle Paul did before he was saved.
There are some others who think that using the flesh to commit sins is wrong, but using the flesh to serve God is right, and that committing sins by the flesh is forbidden, but serving God by the flesh is permissible. They do not realize, however, that when one serves God by the flesh, not only is his service unacceptable to God, but it is also virtually impossible for him to have access to God and to contact God, because the flesh simply cannot have access to God, nor can it touch God.
The flesh includes man’s fallen body and soul. Originally, man was spiritual, being dominated by the spirit. After the spirit became dead due to man’s fall, the soul rose up, replacing the spirit to control man and subjected itself to the lusts of the human body. The human body became the flesh due to its lusts, the sin derived from Satan. Since the human soul is in subjection to the lusts of the body, it becomes fleshly. Therefore, in the Scriptures flesh denotes all the soulish and fleshly things outside of the spirit. (It also frequently denotes the soulish and fleshly man.) All things outside of the spirit are the flesh. To serve God by anything outside of the spirit is to serve God by the flesh. This kind of service is of no effect.
We have already seen that God is Spirit, and therefore He created man with a spirit so that man may serve Him in spirit. Moreover, in His salvation He comes to contact man as the Spirit. Therefore, when we serve Him, we must contact the Spirit in our spirit. Unless a person’s spirit is touched by the Spirit of God, he cannot know God, serve God, or contact God. The service that God wants from man is a service that is in the spirit of man. And the contact that God wants to have with man is a contact that is in the Spirit of God and in the spirit of man. Therefore, if someone wants to serve God, he must touch the Spirit of God in his spirit, he must be contacted by the Spirit of God in his spirit, and the two spirits—his spirit and God’s Spirit—must have mutual fellowship and be mutually joined. Only then will he be able to contact God and serve God. Only such a one is able to know God and understand the things of God. No one can understand the things of God unless he touches the Spirit of God in his spirit. This may be compared to someone trying to touch colors without using his eyes or catch a sound without using his ears, which is impossible. Unless a person’s spirit is touched by the Holy Spirit, he has no way to understand the things of God, and thus, he cannot serve God.
Therefore, we must see clearly which part of our being we should use to serve God. We can contact God only by the spirit and not by the body. Our spirit can feel God, but our body cannot. None of the parts and organs of our physical body is able to feel or sense God. Many new ones expect to see God with their eyes, to touch God with their hands, or to sense God with a certain part of their body; this is impossible because God cannot be contacted by us in our body.
Before they begin praying to God, some have the concept that God will come upon their body while they are praying and that their body will be feverish and trembling. Before they pray, they are prepared for their body to be feverish and trembling, and after they have prayed, if they are neither feverish nor trembling, they think that God is not real. It is wrong for them to have the concept that God will come upon their body and to prepare themselves to touch God with their body. Man cannot touch God with his body because this is not what God wants. If someone always expects to feel God with his body, the result will be that the demons, not God, will come upon his body. The demons, the evil spirits of Satan, cling to the human body. However, the Holy Spirit of God is not like that. The Holy Spirit comes into the spirit of man, but the unclean spirits cling to man’s physical body. This is a great difference. If a man tries to use the body to contact God, he may end up contacting the evil spirits. This is neither proper nor permissible.
Man cannot use his body to contact God; likewise, he cannot use his soul to contact God. Like the human body, the human soul cannot be connected with God. None of the parts of the soul, whether the mind, the emotion, or the will, can reach God, know God, or contact God. Yet today man always tries to use the mind to consider God, understand God, and comprehend God. When he hears about God, he considers that perhaps God is like this or like that. Man’s knowledge of God is mostly the imaginations of his intellect, the mind in man’s soul. As a result, man’s knowledge of God consists mostly of illusions and vain things. This is because the human intellect (mind) cannot contact or touch God, nor can the human thought know and comprehend God. Man’s intellect, the mind in man’s soul, is not the faculty for contacting and receiving God.
Some have believed in the Lord by believing the doctrines of the Bible with their mind instead of receiving the Lord with their spirit. I have met many people like this. If you ask them whether they have believed in the Lord, they answer firmly that they have. If you ask them further whether they are saved, they will recite to you Ephesians 2:8: “By grace you have been saved through faith.” If you ask them whether they have eternal life, they will recite John 3:16: “Everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” However, if you question them as to whether they are truly saved and have eternal life, they do not have the assurance, and they dare not say so. This is because they do not have the experience of salvation. Although they have the scriptural doctrines in their mind, they still do not have the Lord in their spirit. They have only received the scriptural doctrines in their mind; they have not yet experienced the Lord’s salvation in their spirit.
When listening to a message, many people use only their mind and not their spirit. As a result, while their mind touches the message, their spirit fails to touch God. Their spirit is neither moved nor dealt with by the Spirit of God, in spite of the fact that their mind is affected and taught by the message. It is even possible for one’s mind to very clearly know and thoroughly understand the message, and yet his spirit does not touch God even a little. His mind is filled with the message, but his spirit is still void of God. God’s word may enter into man’s mind through man’s understanding, but God Himself can enter into man’s spirit only through the Spirit.
Many brothers and sisters also use only their mind and not their spirit in reading the Bible. Hence, they cannot receive inspiration from the Bible nor can they touch God in their spirit through the reading of the Scriptures. Their mind can clearly study many doctrines, and their thoughts can figure out many truths. Nevertheless, their spirit has not been touched by God in His word, and therefore they have not received the supply of God’s life. They have not been moved, strengthened, enlightened, or cleansed in their spirit by God as the Spirit through His word.
Many brothers and sisters also use only their mind and not their spirit when they pray. In their regular morning and evening prayers, they recite the same things from their mind as if they were reciting from a book. They recite something first concerning themselves and then concerning their family, the church, the nation, and the world. Their recitation starts from themselves and covers the whole world. Every day when they pray, they recite once in this manner, and if they cannot finish it in the morning, they make it up in the evening. For a few days in the beginning, this kind of recitation has a good taste to them, but after a longer period of time it begins to feel burdensome. Yet at the same time it has become a habit, so they have no peace if they do not recite. This kind of praying with the mind according to a set form cannot enable a person to contact God in the spirit, nor can it enable him to touch the presence of God and receive the supply of God. It only causes his heart to feel burdened and his spirit to be dry and empty, without being watered or satisfied.
Very often when the brothers call a hymn or offer a prayer in the meeting, they do it with their mind and not with their spirit. The hymns they select come from the considerations in their mind based on certain needs and not from being moved in their spirit. Moreover, the prayers they offer are prayers composed with their mind according to the existing situation and are not prayers released from their spirit. Therefore, the hymns they call and the prayers they offer cannot touch God, nor can they touch the spirit of others to make them sense God in their spirit and to uplift their spirit.
Many even preach the word with their mind instead of their spirit. Prior to their preaching, they first consider and select a topic, and then they use their mind to arrange the sections, prepare some stories, and add some illustrations. Then at the time of preaching, they speak the preconceived message in a very good order from their mind according to their memory. This kind of preaching is altogether done by using the human mind and depending on human thoughts. It is no wonder that it cannot bring the audience into contact with God, nor can it cause them to be moved by God. Furthermore, even the speaker himself is unable to touch God or be moved by God.
Even in visitation and in contacting people in spiritual matters, many brothers and sisters also merely use their mind and not their spirit. When they talk to people about the gospel or about spiritual matters, they do it according to the truth that they have comprehended in their understanding and the doctrine that they have remembered in their mind, instead of doing it according to the inspiration and revelation that they have received in their spirit. Therefore, their word can neither release forth God nor move the spirit within the listener. Likewise, their visitation cannot impart God and God’s supply to others to solve their spiritual problems.
Concerning all these spiritual matters, matters that pertain to the service of God, if a person touches any of these things merely with his mind and not with his spirit, he will not be able to touch or gain God, nor will he be able to touch God’s life or God’s supply.
Just as the mind in man’s soul cannot contact God, so the emotion and will in man’s soul also cannot contact God. A person’s emotion might be moved and his will might be changed, yet it is possible that he still has not contacted God. Very often, when someone listens to messages, reads the Scriptures, prays, attends meetings, or receives exhortation and instruction, his emotions may be greatly moved and because of this his will may also have a great change so that he strongly decides to turn to God and to live for God. Yet he may not have touched or contacted God at all. This is due to the fact that although his emotion and his will have been moved by the spiritual things, his spirit has not been moved by God. Spiritual matters may move his emotion and his will, but God wants to move and touch his spirit. His emotion and his will can contact the spiritual things, but they cannot contact God.
We must be clear and remember that God is Spirit and that only the spirit can touch and contact the Spirit. Therefore, if we want to contact and touch God in any matter, we must use our spirit. Apart from our spirit, we cannot touch God in any spiritual matter. A certain matter may be very spiritual, but if we do not use our spirit to contact God in that matter, we simply cannot touch God. A spiritual matter in itself still cannot enable us to touch God. We still must use our spirit to contact God in that spiritual matter; only then can we touch God.
When a person believes in the Lord, it is not enough that he receives the truth of the gospel merely with his mind. He must also receive the Lord with his spirit. Man’s mind can only contact the truth; it cannot contact the Lord. If a person merely touches the truth and does not contact the Lord, he cannot be saved. He can receive the Lord’s salvation only by contacting the Lord. However, in order to contact the Lord, he must use his spirit. He has to go beyond and deeper than his mind and get into the spirit deep within him in order to be enlightened and moved by the Holy Spirit, to be conscious of his sins, to confess that he is a sinner, and to receive the crucified and resurrected Christ, the ever-living Savior, not a dead doctrine. Only then can he touch the Spirit of the Lord, that is, contact the Lord Himself and receive the Lord’s salvation.
This is very different from someone who receives the doctrine of the gospel merely in his mind. One person who understands and comprehends with his mind takes doctrine as his goal, whereas another person who is moved and who receives salvation in his spirit takes Christ as his object. In the former case, someone may understand and receive many doctrines in his mind without touching Christ. In the latter case, the other person can contact Christ in his spirit without knowing many doctrines. In the former case, he may receive a doctrinal teaching and obtain some doctrinal knowledge, but his spirit may not be saved by Christ with His life. In the latter case, this one is enlightened by the Holy Spirit and is regenerated in his spirit, even though he may not understand many of the gospel truths or obtain a great deal of gospel knowledge.
A person may know many doctrines but may not receive the Lord’s salvation. He may have the knowledge of sin in his mind but not have the consciousness of sin in his spirit. In his mind he knows he is sinful, but in his spirit he does not feel so. He may have understood and comprehended Christ in his mind, but in his spirit he has not yet contacted or touched Christ. The reason for this is that he uses his mind to study the doctrines about Christ instead of using his spirit to contact Christ Himself. If he is willing to contact Christ with his spirit, and if he is willing to be moved by the Holy Spirit in his spirit to contact Christ and receive Christ, he will be able to touch Christ and gain Christ in his spirit. Thus, he will be able to receive Christ’s salvation of life and experience a change from within his spirit to his outward being.
When a person listens to a message, he must also go beyond and deeper than the mind, emotion, and will of his soul and get into his spirit to be inspired by God and to contact Christ Himself. If he merely uses his mind, emotion, and will to listen to the message, he can only understand its meaning in his mind, receive its inspiration in his emotion, and make a decision because of it in his will. He can only contact the message itself by the mind, emotion, and will; he cannot touch the Christ in the message. The message itself, which is merely letter and knowledge, cannot afford man the salvation of life or the spiritual supply. Only Christ in the message is life and Spirit, and only He can give life and spiritual reality to man. Man may contact the message itself with his mind, emotion, and will, but to contact the Christ in the message he has to seek Christ, look to Christ, draw nigh to Christ, and worship Christ with his spirit. In this way he can contact Him and have fellowship with Him.
When a person reads the Bible, he must use his concentrated and focused mind to study and meditate, but even the more he must use a quiet and eager spirit to seek God and His revelation through the word of God—the Holy Bible—and thus receive His enlightenment and supply. The mind can only understand the letters of the Bible and comprehend its doctrines; the mind cannot contact the God revealed in it or receive the life spoken of therein. Only the spirit can contact God and receive life through understanding the Bible and comprehending the truths by the mind. Therefore, when we read the Scriptures, we must draw near to God, contact God, and have fellowship with God in our spirit through His word. Only then will we be able to touch and gain Him and to receive spiritual enlightenment and life supply.
When a person prays, even the more he needs to use the spirit and to be in the spirit. Although the Bible says that we should pray also with the understanding (the mind), it does not mean that we pray only with the understanding. Rather, it means that we should use the understanding to comprehend the burden and feeling in the spirit and then pray with words from the understanding to express the burden and feeling in the spirit. If we pray only with the understanding, with the mind, with the intellect, we can neither receive inspiration nor sense God’s presence. We must pray with the spirit and in the spirit, and we must have the burden and the sense in the spirit. Then we must use the understanding to pray and express the burden and the sense in the spirit. Only then can we touch God and His presence and receive the watering and supply of the Spirit.
Someone may ask, What is it to pray with the mind, and what is it to pray with the spirit? To pray with the mind is to pray according to what the mind remembers and thinks, without any feeling in the spirit. Many times we first decide on what to pray and then we exercise our memory to pray with our mind according to what we have already decided. Sometimes we may have decided what to pray, but when we pray, we always use our mind to think, and even contemplate, about what to pray, and then we pray according to what we have thought and contemplated. We often have a list of things or a set form of prayer that we pray by reciting. Also, we often merely pray according to a record or report of the items for prayer by repeating the items once. All such prayers are prayers by the mind and not by the spirit. These kinds of prayers are merely from our mind and come out through our mouth without any inspiration. Such prayers not only are unable to move God and others, but they cannot even move ourselves, because they are not the living inspiration from the spirit but the dead knowledge from the mind.
Praying with the spirit is different. Although praying with the spirit also requires using the mind, the mind is not the source of prayer but merely a faculty through which prayer passes. When a person prays by using the spirit, his prayer does not originate from the mind. Rather, it originates from the spirit and passes through the mind. Instead of praying according to what he remembers and considers in the mind, he prays according to the sense and burden in the spirit. However, he uses the mind to understand the sense and burden in the spirit and expresses such understanding in prayer. Since sometimes there is first the knowledge and memory in the mind and then prayer, it seems that the prayer is according to what the mind knows and remembers. Actually, however, the knowledge and memory in the mind have already become the feeling and burden in the spirit. One must first have the feeling and burden in the spirit, and then he uses his mind, his understanding, to express in prayer the feeling and burden of the spirit. This is to pray with the spirit. This kind of prayer requires a person to go beyond, go deeper than, his mind, emotion, and will so that he may contact the Spirit of God in his spirit to receive the sense and burden of the spirit. This kind of prayer is according to divine inspiration and not according to a set form. It is fresh and not stale. It enables the praying one to touch God and sense His presence, and at the same time it also causes the praying one himself as well as those who hear him to be moved, watered, and supplied by the Spirit.
Very often this kind of praying in the spirit was not in one’s original consideration. For example, someone originally intended to pray for his job, his health, or his family, including his children. But when he comes to the presence of God, the Spirit of God touches his spirit and causes him to feel that he is full of shortcomings before God. At this moment the feeling and burden in his spirit are his shortcomings. Therefore, he no longer cares to pray for his job, his health, or his family. Instead, he just follows the feeling in his spirit to confess to God all his shortcomings before Him in order to relieve the burden in his spirit. This kind of prayer enables him to touch God, to enter deeper into God, to have fellowship with God, to be more filled by God, and to receive the sweet nourishing and rich supply of God. If he would be willing to disregard the matters that he has remembered and has prepared to pray, and instead would just pay attention to the feeling in his spirit and keep on praying according to that feeling, then within him he will receive the unlimited spiritual blessing of God. He will feel joyful, peaceful, at ease, satisfied, fresh, shining, living, and strong. After praying, not only he himself feels that he is full of the presence of God, but even those who contact him will feel that there is an unexplainable condition and power upon him.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, when we pray, we must first have the sense and burden from God by contacting Him with our spirit and touching Him in our spirit, and then we must use our understanding, our mind, to express the sense and burden in our spirit with words of prayer. When we pray, we must first reject the memory and thoughts in our mind and then draw near to God in our spirit to touch His feeling and receive His burden. This does not mean that we should not bring the things in our memory before God in prayer. What it means is that all the matters for which we intend to pray must first become the feeling and burden we have from God in our spirit, and then they can become the prayers that we ought to have before God. Therefore, when we bring a certain matter before God in prayer, instead of praying at once for that matter from our mind, we should first contact God in the spirit to touch His feeling. If that matter becomes the feeling in our spirit before God, then we may pray for it. Otherwise, we should not pray for it even though we have already decided to pray for it originally. If, without any feeling in our spirit, we still pray for it, then we are praying according to our mind and with our mind. Thus, we surely will not be able to touch God and His presence, because we are in our mind uttering a prayer of the mind. Only when we pray for a certain matter that has become the feeling and burden in our spirit can we touch the presence of God and be watered by Him.
Recently, when I was in Manila, a brother asked me, “What is a prayer of the mind? And what is a prayer of the spirit?” Although I felt that it was not easy to explain, I was able to answer him with a simple sentence. A prayer of the mind comes out of thinking, but a prayer of the spirit comes out of feeling. Any prayer that comes out of our thought is a prayer of the mind because it comes out of the mind. Any prayer that is uttered out of the feeling deep within us is a prayer of the spirit because it comes out of the spirit. We should pray for many matters, but we should not pray merely according to what we remember and consider in our mind. Every matter for prayer must first become the feeling and burden in our spirit before God. We must pray only according to the feeling in our spirit and for the burden in our spirit because we can only pray by contacting God in our spirit. We may bring many things before God, but we must see whether God makes them the feelings and burdens in our spirit before we decide whether we should pray for them. We can pray only for the matters with which we have been inspired; we can pray only by touching God in our inspiration; and we can pray only in our inspiration the prayers that touch God.
In our prayers we should follow the feeling in our spirit not only when we petition God but even when we praise and thank God. We should not praise and thank God merely according to the doctrines, knowledge, or sentiments concerning some outward things. Otherwise, although our praises and thanksgivings are toward God, they are of the letter, formal, outward, of the mind, not in the spirit, and without the Spirit. Only the praises and thanksgivings that are according to the feeling in our spirit can enable us to touch God and to have the confirmation of God’s acceptance, the feeling of the presence of God that He gives us in our spirit. This is because this kind of prayer is in the spirit and is full of the Spirit.
When one leads a meeting, whether he chooses a hymn, prays, speaks, or testifies, he should be in the spirit and act according to the feeling in the spirit. In many instances the activities in the meeting are carried out merely according to rules, common sense, or certain needs. These activities are all done according to one’s mind or emotion, instead of being done in one’s spirit according to the sense in the spirit. Therefore, they are ritualistic, formal, intellectual, rational, and emotional. They cannot cause people to sense the presence of God or receive the supply of God. In the meeting, before one does anything, he must open his spirit to God to contact God and have fellowship with God in his spirit so that he may receive inspiration from God. Then what he does will enable others to sense God’s presence and receive God’s supply. All the activities in the meeting must be initiated in the spirit in this way. For example, when a person chooses a hymn in the meeting, he must not choose one just at the right time, for the right situation, and with the right subject merely according to his knowledge of the hymns or according to his understanding of which kind of hymn is needed for which kind of meeting. Rather, he must also use his spirit to sense the spirit of the meeting and to receive inspiration from God concerning a certain point, and then select a hymn that can express, release, and touch that inspiration. As another example, when one speaks or testifies in the meeting, he must also not do it merely according to the outward situation and need by speaking a word that fits the situation or giving a testimony that meets the need. Rather, he still must use his spirit to touch God’s feeling concerning that situation and need and to receive inspiration from God, and then express something according to the sense in his spirit. It is not enough merely to have the knowledge about meetings in the mind. There is still the need to touch the feeling of God and receive His inspiration by fellowshipping and contacting Him in the spirit. Only in this way can others sense life and reality in their spirit. Otherwise, they can only sense death and vanity.
It is the same when a person preaches the word. He must not preach a word that fits the situation and meets the need merely based upon his doctrinal knowledge and according to the outward situation and need. If he does this, the word he preaches is merely of the knowledge, of the letter, of the mind, and not in the spirit. To preach the word in the spirit, a person must be in his spirit and touch the feeling of God to receive the inspiration from God concerning that particular situation and that particular need. Then he can release the feeling in his spirit with the appropriate doctrine and word. Only by such preaching can the speaker himself touch God’s presence and receive God’s supply and the listeners also receive the edification in life and obtain the spiritual help.
Even when we go to visit others, we must contact them in our spirit and according to the feeling in our spirit. We must not speak to them merely according to the doctrines that we have understood and remembered in our mind or according to their outward condition and needs. Otherwise, we will not be able to bring them to God, nor will we be able to impart God to them in order to supply the need in their spirit or deal with the problem in their spirit. When we touch God in our spirit and contact others out of the sense of God’s presence, we enable others to touch God and gain God, and we also enable them to receive the spiritual enlightenment and comfort, as well as the supply of life and edification, in their spirit. Only by contacting others in the spirit with the presence of God can we touch the Spirit of God and also touch the spirit of others. Moreover, only by this can others touch the Spirit of God with their spirit and receive the supply and help from the Spirit of God in their spirit.
Therefore, in our service to God, regardless of what we do, we must always use our spirit and be in our spirit. Only then can we touch God. This is a great law in the universe. This law is that man must use his human spirit and be in his human spirit to contact God. To contact God, man must do it according to this law and by fulfilling this law. Anyone who contacts God not according to this law violates God’s ordination and therefore cannot touch God. Because God is Spirit, anyone who wants to contact Him must use his spirit and be in his spirit. Only the spirit can touch the Spirit; therefore, only the spirit can touch God.
