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Scripture Reading: John 7:39; Acts 2:32-33; Rom. 1:4; John 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:17
Incarnation brings God into man, and death and resurrection bring man into God. It is easy for people to comprehend that incarnation is God’s coming to be a man, but most people do not truly understand the matter of death and resurrection. What is death, and what is resurrection? Death is the cross. Every time we mention the Lord’s death, we understand it to mean the Lord’s crucifixion. The cross of the Lord is His death. Whenever we experience the Lord’s death, we experience the Lord’s cross. In other words, without the cross there is no death of the Lord. Where there is the Lord’s cross, there is the Lord’s death, and whoever has the Lord’s death has the Lord’s cross. When we speak of experiencing the Lord’s death, we imply the experience of the Lord’s cross. The experience of the cross is the experience of death.
We may already have a clear and accurate knowledge regarding the Lord’s death, but we still may not comprehend or be able to explain the Lord’s resurrection. In John 11 the Lord said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” (v. 25). This word tells us that the Lord Himself is the resurrection and that resurrection is the Lord. However, the Lord’s flesh was not the resurrection, and thus, He had to pass through the cross. Before passing through the cross, He was in the flesh; after passing through the cross and entering into resurrection, He became the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17).
The Lord’s flesh was not the resurrection, but when He became the Spirit, His whole being became the resurrection. Hence, the Lord’s being the resurrection today implies His being the Spirit. If He were not the Spirit, He would not be the resurrection. In other words, resurrection is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the reality of resurrection. Apart from the Spirit there is no reality of resurrection.
John 7:39 says, “The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” The glorification of Jesus was His resurrection. In the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, He became the Spirit. The Spirit is the embodiment of resurrection. This means that resurrection is wrapped up in the Holy Spirit and embodied in the Holy Spirit. In other words, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is realized in the Holy Spirit. Everything of resurrection is in the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:32-33 Peter said, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we all are witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you both see and hear.” This indicates that after the Lord Jesus resurrected and received the Holy Spirit from God, He poured out the Holy Spirit.
Everything of resurrection is in the Holy Spirit, and everything that is in resurrection can come into us in the Holy Spirit. In the Lord’s resurrection all the things in resurrection come into us through the Holy Spirit. In John 14:2 the Lord said that He had to go. This meant that He had to go to suffer death. Then He said that He would come again (v. 3). His coming again was His resurrection. His going was His death, and His coming was His resurrection. However, His coming again was as the Holy Spirit. His going was His death, and His coming again was His resurrection as the Spirit. His coming as the Holy Spirit was His coming in resurrection. He brought resurrection into the Holy Spirit, and He Himself is the resurrection.
Verse 19 says, “Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me; because I live, you also shall live.” The two instances of the word live in this verse convey the story of resurrection. After the Lord’s resurrection He came into us as the Holy Spirit. He is living in resurrection, and because He lives in us, we live, and we also live in resurrection. The Lord’s resurrection is altogether realized in the Holy Spirit, and the resurrected Lord is the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Holy Spirit there is no resurrected Lord, and similarly, apart from the Holy Spirit there is no realization of the resurrection of the Lord. The resurrected Lord and the Lord’s resurrection are both in the Holy Spirit. When we touch the cross, we touch death, but when we touch the Holy Spirit, we touch resurrection. Hence, the cross is the Lord’s death, and the Holy Spirit is the Lord’s resurrection.
In Revelation 4 and 5 we see two pictures. The first picture is of a throne, and upon the throne there is One sitting. There are also seven lamps of fire before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God, the Holy Spirit (4:2, 5). The second picture shows us that in the midst of the throne and of the seven Spirits before the throne there is a Lamb standing as having just been slain (5:6). The phrase having just been slain refers to death, and standing refers to resurrection. The Lamb standing as having just been slain signifies that He not only died but that He lives again. Revelation 5 shows us that the Lamb who was slain and resurrected is the Christ who died and resurrected.
The seven Spirits before the throne are the seven lamps of fire. Why are they lamps of fire? It is because God is a consuming fire, and from the God of consuming fire comes fire. In order that we would not be afraid, God put this fire in a lamp. The fire is the Spirit because God is Spirit. The Spirit is God, and the fire also is God, so the Spirit is the fire. Thus, on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out as fire. God is the Spirit and the fire, the fire and the Spirit, because what comes out of God are Spirit and fire. This is what we see in Revelation 4. Then in chapter 5 there is a Lamb in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and this Lamb has seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God. Originally, the seven Spirits of God were the seven lamps of God, but after Christ’s death and resurrection the seven Spirits of God became Christ’s seven eyes.
In Revelation 4 the Spirit of God is the seven lamps of God that enlighten the universe. But in chapter 5 the Lamb who was slain is standing, indicating that He has died, resurrected, and ascended. Before Christ’s death and resurrection the Spirit of God was the seven lamps of God. After Christ’s death and resurrection the Spirit of God became Christ’s seven eyes, which observe the whole universe, the whole earth. The seven eyes are the seven Spirits of God, being sent forth into all the earth. The seven eyes of Christ observe the whole earth. Wherever Christ’s eyes look, His Spirit reaches, His light shines, and His fire burns.
Revelation 4—5 shows us the scene of Christ’s ascension. After Christ passed through death, resurrection, and then ascension, He stood in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures. He was the resurrected Lamb, and He was resurrection. There was a Lamb standing before the throne in heaven. This standing Lamb was resurrection. Resurrection hinged on Him, depended on Him, and was in Him. However, where did Christ, the resurrected Lamb, put Himself so that He could be contacted and received by man? The resurrected Christ put Himself into man and became the Holy Spirit so that man could contact and receive Him.
We have seen that everything of resurrection is in the Holy Spirit. Christ is the resurrection and the totality of resurrection. Resurrection is in Him, He is resurrection, and He is now the Holy Spirit for man to contact and receive. In other words, the reason why the Christ who is in the heavens can reach the earth and be contacted and received by man is that in resurrection He put Himself into the seven Spirits, and He is diffused through the seven eyes. The seven eyes are the seven Spirits of God, and the seven Spirits are the Holy Spirit. The number seven implies completion. In Revelation the number seven describes the function of the Holy Spirit, indicating that the function of the Holy Spirit is complete. He is well able to satisfy all our needs both great and small.
Therefore, the resurrected and ascended Christ has become the Holy Spirit, and through the Holy Spirit He looks at man’s inner being and comes into man. Through the Holy Spirit, He contacts man, has fellowship with man, and is received by man. Suppose a brother is standing at a distance from you. If he wanted to contact you, how would he reach you? First, he would look at you with his eyes. When your vision and his vision join together, even though there may be a distance between you and him, the distance is bridged through your eye contact. The Holy Spirit is the eyes that diffuse and shine forth Christ. Wherever the Holy Spirit looks, Christ shines, and wherever the Holy Spirit shines, Christ reaches. In addition, whomever the Holy Spirit looks into, Christ shines into, and whomever Christ shines into, that one has fellowship and contact with Christ inwardly.
As the Holy Spirit, the resurrected and ascended Christ came to the earth to contact man, to be touched by man, to fellowship with man, and to be received by man. The resurrected and ascended Christ is resurrection. Resurrection is in Him, and He became the Holy Spirit. Hence, the Holy Spirit is resurrection. If we want to touch resurrection, we must touch the Holy Spirit. Everything of resurrection is realized in the Holy Spirit. Whenever we touch the Holy Spirit, we touch resurrection. Just as there is no death apart from the cross, there is also no resurrection apart from the Holy Spirit. Only when we touch and experience the cross will we touch and experience death. Only when we touch and experience the Holy Spirit will we touch and experience resurrection.
Due to the lack of light, in the past we thought we knew about resurrection, when actually we did not know about it. Now, however, we know that resurrection is in the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit is resurrection. The Holy Spirit who was poured out after Christ’s ascension is resurrection. The resurrected Christ ascended to the heavens. He is the totality of resurrection, and everything of resurrection has been gathered into Him.
In the Gospel of John the Lord not only said that He was the resurrection but also that He had to ascend to heaven and come back as the Holy Spirit (14:26, 28). When He comes back as the Holy Spirit, He shines on us and looks at our inner being. The Holy Spirit is resurrection. In other words, resurrection is in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is connected to resurrection, and resurrection is contained in the Holy Spirit. What is in the Holy Spirit is resurrection. This may be likened to a glass containing grape juice. Wherever the glass is placed, the grape juice is there. Resurrection is contained in the Holy Spirit. Wherever the Holy Spirit is, there is resurrection. There is no resurrection outside of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is resurrection. Our experience can prove this. Every time we are in resurrection, we are living in the Holy Spirit. In the same way, every time we live in the Holy Spirit, we are living in resurrection. When we are living in our natural life, we are living in our self and the flesh, but when we are living in the Holy Spirit, we are living in the resurrected Lord. When we receive Christ’s death, we receive Christ’s cross, and when we live in the Holy Spirit, we live in resurrection.
In short, the Lord’s death is the cross; that is, the Lord’s cross is death, and the Lord’s Spirit is resurrection. Before the Lord’s resurrection the Holy Spirit was not available as resurrection, but now after the Lord’s death and resurrection, everything of resurrection is in the Lord, and the Lord is in the Holy Spirit. Thus, resurrection is in the Holy Spirit. Just as the cross is the reality of the Lord’s death, so also the Holy Spirit has become the reality of resurrection. Where there is the cross, there is death, and likewise, where there is the Holy Spirit, there is resurrection. Without knowing the Holy Spirit, our talk about resurrection is vain, because the Holy Spirit is the reality of resurrection.
To experience the Lord’s death, we must receive the cross. We must see that when the Lord was nailed to the cross, we also were hung on the cross. We have already been crucified and dealt with. If a person wants to experience the death of the cross, he must see and receive the cross. Similarly, if a person wants to experience resurrection, he must see that when Christ was resurrected and ascended, He put everything of resurrection in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit as the embodiment of the resurrected Christ is the descending of the glorified and resurrected Christ.
The Holy Spirit of Pentecost is the embodiment of the resurrected Christ. The resurrected Christ is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to enter into us, but how can He do this? A sinner is saved because he has an experience of the Holy Spirit. At the beginning he may feel that God is visiting him and that God’s eyes are looking at him. He may immediately feel that he is a sinner, even a worthless sinner, yet God is willing to visit him with His own eyes. This look is God’s eyes. This is the story of the embodiment of the Spirit of God in us. This look is the first step. Then the second step is enlightenment. After He looks at us, our inner being is enlightened. Once He enlightens us, we immediately feel that we are very filthy and corrupted. Whether a person is a sinner or a saint, when he experiences the Holy Spirit, the principle is the same. When God’s eyes look at us, we are immediately enlightened by the Holy Spirit. The third step is the burning of the Holy Spirit. Eventually, the Holy Spirit enters into us, and we experience the Holy Spirit.
In other words, God is embodied in Christ, and Christ is realized as the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit enters into us, we then live in the Holy Spirit. God first looks at us, and then He enlightens us. Once He has enlightened us, He burns us, and once He burns us, we live in the Holy Spirit. When we are living in the Holy Spirit, we are living in resurrection. At this time our inward feeling is the feeling of the Holy Spirit, the feeling of resurrection, and our inward power is the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of resurrection. Hence, the power of resurrection is the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead,” indicating that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead (v. 11). The power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit. His resurrection was accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. The power is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the power of resurrection. We are touching the reality that the Holy Spirit has entered into us. The Holy Spirit is the power of resurrection and is resurrection. After He looks at us, He enlightens us; after He enlightens us, He burns us; and after He burns us, the Holy Spirit comes into us. He is resurrection.
Now we have an inward power that enables us to overcome the world, sin, and Satan, to bear what is unbearable, to suffer persecution, or to be martyred. This power is what 2 Corinthians 4 calls “the excellency of the power” (v. 7). As earthen vessels, there is an exceedingly great power in us that is of God and not of us. This exceedingly great power in us enables us to be pressed on every side but not constricted and to be cast down but not destroyed (vv. 8-9). This resurrection power is the Holy Spirit, the resurrection, which is in us, who are vessels. This power enables us to live a life of holiness, not fearing hardship or suffering. Today we can be conformed to Christ’s death because we know the power of His resurrection in us.
We know that God is the Spirit. When the Spirit of God touches our spirit and interacts with our spirit, there is spiritual reality. Christ is this spiritual reality. Not only so, the Spirit of God is the seven Spirits of God, the seven lamps of God, and the seven eyes of God. When the seven eyes look at our inner being, they shine into our inner being. When they shine into our inner being, they burn in our inner being, and eventually, the Spirit comes into our spirit to be our spiritual reality. Hence, we see that the Holy Spirit is everything. God is the Holy Spirit, Christ is the Holy Spirit, resurrection is the Holy Spirit, power is the Holy Spirit, and resurrection life is also the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit touches our spirit, contacts our spirit, and meets with our spirit, there is an issue—spiritual reality.
We can see in Revelation 4 that the ascended Lamb looks at our inner being through His seven eyes and that these seven eyes are the seven eyes of God. He looks at our inner being, enlightens our inner being, and burns in our inner being. Thus, we live in the reality of resurrection and in the power of resurrection. Then this reality and power lead us to have a kind of living that we cannot live by ourselves. This living is in resurrection and by the power of resurrection.
Question: After Christ was resurrected, He could no longer die, yet with us, we live in the Holy Spirit one day but live in the flesh another day. Does this mean that resurrection can be changed in our experience? Why is it that incarnation is once for all, but God’s work in us is in the principle of death and resurrection? What does this mean?
Answer: After being resurrected, the Lord Jesus cannot die again but lives forever. However, in our experience we may not live in resurrection continuously. Our experience of death and resurrection may last for only one day or only half a day before we turn back to our flesh. When this happens, we need to die again. Most of us stay in the Holy Spirit for a very short period of time and then leave. This is very real. Hence, in terms of our experience, we do not have a solution to this problem, because in this age we still have the flesh and the old creation in us. This is why we always say that a Christian is a dual person, having a dual condition. This dual condition cannot be resolved until we are raptured and delivered from the old creation and the flesh. At that time in eternity we will live in resurrection in reality and will never go back.
Presently, our flesh and old creation are with us. Therefore, we need to experience the death of the cross every day. Every time we experience death and live in the Holy Spirit, we enter into resurrection, but when we do not live in the Holy Spirit, we are not living in resurrection. When we turn back and live in the flesh and the self, we immediately sense that we should live in resurrection. At that time we need to pass through death again. In brief, most of us may be living in our self, our soul, being motivated and directed by our mind, emotion, and will. However, the cross requires us to put our mind, emotion, and will to death. By this, we deny our soul, our self, and turn back to our spirit. Then we are in the Holy Spirit, in resurrection, and our mind, emotion, and will are brought into our spirit. This is to bring man into God, to pass through death and enter into resurrection. Then our spirit within, that is, the Spirit of God, will direct our mind, emotion, and will from our soul. We will be living in the Holy Spirit, in resurrection.
Sometimes we leave the realm of resurrection as soon as we wake up from our sleep. Our mind thinks by itself, our emotion loves by itself, and our will makes decisions by itself, and as a result, we live in our flesh. However, through fellowship and prayer we may enter into resurrection and allow God to direct our being. This condition is very normal and spiritual because we have been mingled with and joined to God. In this situation the Spirit of God reigns in us and dominates us, directing our mind, emotion, and will in order to bring our spirit under the ruling of the Spirit of God. This is resurrection.
For example, we may wake up in the morning with our own ideas, and with them come our mind and emotion. We may neglect our spirit and turn back to the self. At such a time we are going backward and are not in the Holy Spirit. After we suffer a blow and encounter some difficulties, we may be enlightened and turn back. In other words, we may pass through death and enter into resurrection again. This experience is repeated in us continuously. We may wish to stay in our spirit all the time, but most of the time we enter into our spirit and then leave it again. Sometimes we go in and out several times a day. When we kneel down to pray, we enter into our spirit, but when we rise up and contact people, we leave our spirit again. We may quickly get out of our spirit and just as quickly enter into our spirit. This is very normal. However, the most normal situation is that once we enter into our spirit, we remain there all the time. This is what the Lord desires.
The incarnation of Christ took place in us once, at the time we were saved. After we are saved, all our experience is in the principle of death and resurrection. Incarnation is God coming into us. This took place in us when we were saved. Each one of us experienced the principle of incarnation at that time, and there is no need to repeat it. After that time what matters is the principle of death and resurrection. The principle that we must apply in our work, our service, our living, and our experience is not incarnation but death and resurrection. Incarnation was accomplished in us once for all. All of God’s riches came into us on the day of our salvation. But our entering into God depends on our experience of God after our salvation. God’s work in us is to bring us into Him through death and resurrection. The final step of death and resurrection is our rapture in transfiguration. The principle of rapture in transfiguration is still death and resurrection, that is, to enter fully and completely into God.
Question: If we say that God saves us so that He may live in us, then what is the purpose of reading the Bible and praying?
Answer: The purpose of all our activities—whether reading the Bible, praying, meeting, or preaching the gospel—is for God to live in us. At the time of our salvation, we received all of God’s riches but now the big question is how to know and experience these riches. After we are saved, we receive God by coming to the meetings, reading the Bible, and praying, but this does not mean that we receive more than what we received at the time of our salvation. Rather, it is through reading the Bible, praying, attending meetings, preaching the gospel, and our daily living that we know and experience what we have received. On the day of our salvation everything of God entered into us, and we cannot receive more than that. In our experience, however, we may know, experience, or enjoy only a little of what we have received. We have already received the riches, but when we have more experiences, then we will have the feeling of being filled with all of God’s riches.
Question: In our experience the Holy Spirit comes out through our soul, but if our soul is blocked, will our soul restrict the work of the Holy Spirit in us?
Answer: The coming out of the Holy Spirit from within us is not affected by us. The Holy Spirit Himself is exactly the same, being no different, regardless of whom He comes out of. However, the Holy Spirit does not nullify us but mingles us into Him and thus comes out from us. Due to the differences in each one of us, the results of this mingling in each one of us are not the same. The Holy Spirit Himself is the same in all of us, but His mingling with us varies from person to person. The result of this mingling is different for each one of us.
Paul, Peter, John, and James all wrote parts of the Bible, but Paul’s writing bears Paul’s flavor, Peter’s writing bears Peter’s flavor, John’s writing bears John’s flavor, and James’s writing bears James’s flavor. All these writings are the Word of God and the moving of the Holy Spirit, and all of them came out of the Holy Spirit. However, because they were written through man’s cooperation and man’s mingling with the Holy Spirit, the four of them are different and have their own flavor. The reason is that man’s personality is not nullified in the mingling of the Holy Spirit. Rather, it still exists.
Question: How do we discern our soul from our spirit?
Answer: In order to see the distinction between the soul and the spirit, we must realize that the soul is the mind, emotion, and will. Every time we live and walk by our mind, emotion, and will, we are living by and in our soul. One who pursues the Lord should not be like this. He should not live directly by his mind, emotion, and will. Rather, he should turn to his innermost part and take care of the sense deep within his being.
The deepest sense within us is from the spirit. There is a sense in our innermost part that comes from the spirit and represents the spirit. We should allow this sense to direct our mind, emotion, and will so that they do not take the first place but the second place in our living. In other words, our spirit should have the first place in our living, directing our soul—our mind, emotion, and will. In short, our soul is the totality of our mind, emotion, and will, and our spirit is the sense of our innermost part. It is enough to know the spirit and the soul in this simple way. Do not try to analyze. The more we analyze, the more confused we will be.
Question: When we were saved, God’s light came in, and we received the Holy Spirit. Why do we still need to be enlightened again?
Answer: When we were saved, the Spirit of God looked at us and shined into us, and at that point the Holy Spirit entered into us. But after our salvation God’s eyes still look at us continuously, again and again, from the outside in and from the inside out. Sometimes we sense that the heavenly eyes are looking at us, and other times we sense that He is looking from within us. This is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Fellowship is not a one-way traffic. Christ is in the heavens, and He is also on the earth. He is in us, and He is also outside of us. Because He is the Holy Spirit, Christ is omnipresent. Sometimes He comes to us from the heavens, and sometimes He comes from within us. These comings and goings are for us to touch His presence and thus increase our experience of Him.
Question: Concerning the experience of death and resurrection, how is man’s personality brought into God through the Spirit of God? Does it involve getting rid of the old creation in Adam?
Answer: This question, in fact, does not require any analysis because the more you analyze, the more confusion there will be. We must hold on firmly to the principle that death and resurrection have already brought us into God. However, one thing is certain—all our defilement, sins, worldliness, and corrupted nature cannot be brought into resurrection. Before we enter into resurrection, we must pass through the cleansing of the precious blood and the dealings, and what remains after that is the man before the fall, the man originally created by God, which can be brought into God. Therefore, before we can be raptured in transfiguration, we must enter into God, which depends on the cooperation of our mind, emotion, and will with the Holy Spirit.
God transforms us by mingling our mind, emotion, and will with the Holy Spirit so that the entire organ of our soul is controlled and directed by the Holy Spirit. Our mind must be mingled with the Holy Spirit, our emotion—our joy, anger, sorrow, and delight—must be mingled with the Holy Spirit, and our will must also be mingled with the Holy Spirit. Our entire living must issue from the mingling of the inward organ of our soul with the Holy Spirit. Our body, however, will not be brought into God’s glory until the day that we are raptured. On that day our body will be brought into glory.
When God’s life comes into us, transformation begins. Then throughout our entire lifetime He has to change the body of our humiliation into the body of His glory, from being finite into being infinite, from being weak into being strong, and from being temporal into being eternal. Romans 8 says that we will enter into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (v. 21). We have to enter into a realm that is free and belongs to the glory of God.
Today our body is still full of limitations, but when our body is fully transfigured, we will enter into the glory of God, and there we will be free from any limitation. Before the transfiguration of our body, we already have the Spirit of God in our spirit. Our spirit has already been regenerated. Now the Spirit of God needs to enter into our soul in order to control and direct our soul. In this way the organ of our soul will be transformed. Originally, our soul was merely our mind, emotion, and will, but now our soul is being mingled with the Spirit of God. Our mind, emotion, and will are becoming spirit. Eventually, we will have a spiritual mind, a spiritual emotion, and a spiritual will, and what we live out will be something spiritual—spiritual reality.
When the Holy Spirit first comes into our spirit, our spirit is regenerated. This is the first step of the working of the Holy Spirit in us, and this is in the realm of the spirit. After we are saved, God requires us to submit to His Spirit. This submission includes putting our mind, emotion, and will under the ruling of the Holy Spirit so that our entire soul becomes the sphere for the work and operation of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit operates in us in order to direct our whole soul—our mind, emotion, and will. Eventually, our whole soul will become the sphere for the work and operation of the Holy Spirit.
When we proceed and become more spiritual, the power of the Holy Spirit will permeate our mind, emotion, and will and direct our body so that it will be changed—our weakness will be made strong, and our sickness will be healed. Romans 8 says that He will give life to our mortal bodies (v. 11). At that time our body will also become the sphere for the operation of the Holy Spirit. However, it is not until we are raptured that the Holy Spirit will operate in our entire body, causing our body to be changed into a glorious body. At that time our whole being will be the sphere of the operation of the Holy Spirit. Thus, we see that in our experience of the process of death, resurrection, and transfiguration, the sequence is first the spirit, then the soul, and then the body.
Question: It is easy for our emotion to submit to the Holy Spirit, but it is not that easy for our mind to submit. What shall we do?
Answer: If it is easy for your emotion and will to submit to the Holy Spirit but not your mind, this may be your own particular problem. In brief, the meaning of having our mind, emotion, and will ruled by the Holy Spirit is to not allow our mind, emotion, and will to have the preeminence. You have to consider whether a certain matter comes from your mind or from the feeling of your spirit. If it comes merely from your mind, you have to stop it, but if it comes from the feeling of your spirit, you have to submit to it. This is to have your mind under the ruling of the spirit. In speaking about this we may analyze in this way, but in our practical experience we should never analyze, because too much analysis is not healthy. You have to learn not to live in your mind, emotion, and will but in the feeling of your spirit. Just bear this principle in mind, and do not analyze too much.
Question: How does the Holy Spirit direct our mind and emotion?
Answer: This kind of question is dangerous because it may bring us into analysis. Please remember that we cannot live directly and simply in our mind, emotion, and will. We have to allow our spirit to rule over our mind, emotion, and will. For instance, you may want to love a brother, but this may be just the reaction of your emotion. Therefore, you should not love him right away, but you should ask whether or not your spirit agrees with you. Does your innermost part allow you to do this or not? Once you ask, you will be able to know. If it is you making the decision, this is the activity of your soul, and you have to stop it immediately. You have to wait until there is the motivation in your spirit for you to love that brother, and then your emotion has to cooperate with it.
Sometimes your spirit may require you to love a brother, but your emotion does not prefer him. In such a situation, would you say that your emotion is under the direction of your spirit? If there is another brother whom you like in your emotion, but your spirit forbids you to like him, will you listen to your spirit? Your emotion may be like metal and that brother like a magnet that attracts the metal. What can you do? Regarding the first brother, your spirit requires you to use your emotion, but you are not willing to do so. Regarding the second brother, your spirit forbids you within and does not allow you to use your emotion, but you choose to. This shows what the activity of the emotion is and what the ruling of the Holy Spirit is. If you learn to love the Lord, live in the spirit, and put aside your own emotion, you will not do things directly and simply from your emotion but from your spirit, and your emotion will cooperate. The mind and will also function in the same principle.
