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Scripture Reading: Rom. 10:6-13; 8:2, 6, 9-11
What I speak to you in this chapter may surprise you. However, if you have some deeper knowledge of the Bible and have experience in the spiritual life, you will know that what I am transfusing into you is accurate.
Let me begin with my testimony. I was saved when I was nineteen years old. At that time I was not clear regarding my salvation. Only afterward did I know that I was saved. At that time I had a natural imagination within me that salvation should be an extraordinarily miraculous thing and that some great things should happen to me. Although I did not express it, I had the concept that some extraordinary and unusual miracle should happen to me. Otherwise, how could I be considered saved? At that time I pursued the Lord fervently. I read in the Bible that when the Holy Spirit came upon men, men began to speak in tongues (Acts 2:4; 10:45-46; 19:6). I then thought that if the Holy Spirit came upon me, I would also have some special manifestations. Some time later I also read in Acts and the Epistles of Paul that the Holy Spirit wants to fill us within. I thought that this must also be an extraordinary thing. Therefore, I spent time to pursue the matters of experiencing salvation and the filling of the Holy Spirit. I pursued to the point of not sleeping or eating. I did not sleep well, nor did I have the desire to eat. I wanted to know whether I had actually been saved. However, no matter how much I tried, I did not obtain any extraordinary experience. Besides this, regarding being filled by the Spirit, I also pursued in a serious manner. I was hoping that one day some great thing would happen to me. But after I had passed through many experiences, I had never had anything extraordinary happen to me. Instead, all that happened in my spiritual experience concerned merely normal matters. Today, over half a century has gone by. The more I have experienced, the more I feel that these matters of spiritual life, which are matters in God’s New Testament economy, do not have anything that may shock people outwardly; rather, they all appear to be normal occurrences. When I first was saved, I was not clear concerning this point. But the more I experienced, the more I felt normal. And now, I see clearly that as far as spiritual matters are concerned, the more normal they are, the more proper and real they are. And the more normal they are, the more rich they are.
In the Bible there is a principle that the Lord uses the visible, tangible physical things to signify the invisible, intangible spiritual things. Every good Bible student admits this matter. God uses the tangible physical things in the universe to signify, represent, and describe the invisible spiritual things. In the past few decades I have had several serious illnesses. I have discovered that our body is truly an organism full of the organic function. If you are ill, you do not depend only on taking medicine, but you must also depend on the organic function of the body itself. The human body is indeed wonderful. It is first conceived in the mother’s womb; after development, the members of the body gradually become formed, and then the baby is born. During the development from a baby to a child, then to a young person, then to a middle-aged person, and then to an old person, many things take place. Yet these things that happen are altogether a matter of organic function. Every one of us is born with all the organic functions of our entire body; these functions are even the same in all of us. The organic functions of our physical life are real to us; in the same way, according to the revelation of the Bible, the life we obtained through regeneration is also real. This is not imagination or superstition. We can have this assurance, not by our experience but primarily by the word of the Bible.
I can testify to you that the most valuable and superior book in the world is this Bible. If there were no God, human beings absolutely would not be able to write such a book. Throughout the generations not one book of wisdom written by the philosophers could compare with the Bible. All the wonderful expressions, words of wisdom, and mysterious points in the Bible adequately prove the existence of God in the universe. They also prove that the spiritual life given by God is real. Moreover, from the viewpoint of experience, I can truly testify from more than sixty-three years’ experience that the spiritual life of God within us is a reality. This is not the physical life created by God but God coming into us, born within us, to be our life. Our outward man is the God-created life; our inward man is God being our life. Christianity has nearly discarded the aspect of God becoming our life within. They have also made the matter of the Holy Spirit coming upon men and the Holy Spirit filling men a rare and strange thing. In fact, this spiritual matter of God coming into us to be our life is a very normal matter. To be saved is a very normal matter. However, everyone who desires to be saved or who has been saved considers it as an extraordinary event and expects something unusual to happen to him when he is saved.
In 1938 I was preaching the gospel in my school in my hometown. In the audience was a judge who also taught classes there; he became very interested as he listened. He came to me and said that he was willing to believe, but he did not know how to believe. I told him that he should simply kneel down beside his bed after he went home and pray to the Lord. After he went home, he did what I suggested. He told me afterward that while he was praying, he was preparing for something to happen to him. Although he waited quite a while, nothing happened. He thought that if believing in Jesus could cause one to be saved, then something had to happen. But why was nothing happening? He was afraid that what he had done did not work. Because he felt that his prayer did not work, he went to bed disappointed. The following morning, on the way to the courthouse, without any reason he suddenly sensed that the sky was beautiful, and the earth also was lovely. Formerly, whenever he saw a cat or a dog, he was disgusted. But now when he saw the dogs and cats running around on the street, he instead felt very interested in them. Whatever he saw, he felt that it was lovely. After he went into the courthouse, his colleagues saw his face overflowing with smiles and asked him whether he had made a fortune, or why he was so happy. He could not tell how this had happened. While he was working, in his heart was happiness. After he went home from work, it was still like that. It was only after a few days that he realized that he was saved and that the Spirit of God had entered into him. At the time of his believing and prayer, nothing special had happened. It was in this way, however, that he was saved.
When I was a young person, eighteen or nineteen years old, what I liked the most was to play soccer and watch Beijing opera. Once I believed in the Lord, I did not do those two things again. Formerly, watching Beijing opera was really enjoyable, and playing soccer was really exciting. But after I was saved, although no one forbade me or taught me, I spontaneously lost my taste for those things. At that time what I liked the best was reading the Bible, then prayer, and also preaching the gospel. I remember very well that at that time I loved reading the Bible to the point that the Bible never left my hands. When I lay in bed at night, I still would read a few more verses before turning off the lights. As soon as I woke up in the morning, even before I crawled out of the blankets, I took the Bible next to my pillow and began to read. No one had taught me; I simply loved reading the Bible, praying, and preaching the gospel. In the past sixty years I have experienced a lot. The principle is the same. I have spoken all of these things with the intention of changing your natural concept so that you may see that the matters of spiritual life are normal matters of spiritual life.
Now I would use an illustration from the Bible to show you that matters of spiritual life are normal matters. Romans 10:6 says, “The righteousness which is out of faith speaks in this way, Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ that is, to bring Christ down.” This portion of the word means that for our salvation, Christ needed to come down from heaven. But no one can ascend to heaven to bring Christ down. Furthermore, there was no need to bring Him down because He had already come down. Verse 7 then says, “Or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.” The abyss is Hades. No one can cause Christ to come down from heaven and then to descend to the abyss and to be resurrected from the dead. Christ has already accomplished all this for us. In other words, no one can do this thing; and neither is there any need for someone to do it, because Christ has already accomplished this for us. God has already prepared everything of His salvation for us. This can be compared to God preparing air for human beings on the earth so that once a person is born, with a cry he can breathe the air into him. Today, if a person wants to be saved, he only needs to open his mouth and call, “O Lord Jesus!” Then he will obtain salvation.
Therefore, verse 8 continues, “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.’” The “it” in this verse is “the righteousness” (in v. 6), which is “the word.” This refers to Christ. This word of the apostle Paul was spoken to those who had heard the gospel but had not yet called on the Lord to be saved. After a person hears the gospel, before he calls on the Lord and believes, Christ is already in his mouth and in his heart. As soon as he calls, he will be saved.
When you go out to knock on doors to preach the gospel, you should tell those who are listening to the gospel, “Christ is now in your mouth and in your heart.” Although it is very difficult for people to comprehend this word, it is nevertheless a very normal matter because Christ has already accomplished everything, and through the word He has supplied everything. Today Christ is so wonderful that He is beyond our understanding. He has a person and a personality, but He is also like the air. This Christ is the righteousness of God to be our righteousness; hence, He needs to be received by us. For this He needs to be the word, because only as the word are we able to hear and to receive Him. Once this Christ who is the word is heard by you, even though you have not yet believed in Him nor called on Him, He is already in your mouth and in your heart.
Therefore, you need to tell those who have heard the gospel and have not yet believed, “Friend, I am here to tell you some good news. You need the Savior. Although now you have not believed in Him yet, this Savior, along with the word of the gospel that you heard, has come into you already. As I am here speaking to you, He is in your mouth and in your heart. If you do not believe, the matter of salvation will still not be accomplished in you; however, as soon as you believe, the matter of salvation will be accomplished in you. This is just like the air being here. If you do not breathe, nothing will happen; as soon as you take a breath, the air comes into you. Today, for you to be saved is too simple a matter. There is no need to speak to the heavens and ask who will bring Christ down from heaven. Neither is there the need to speak to the earth and ask who will bring Christ up from beneath. The Christ that you need is now in your mouth and in your heart. You simply call on His name now! As soon as you call on His name, you will be saved. This is a very normal and easy matter.”
It is also the same with the matter of being filled with the Holy Spirit. The resurrected Christ as the reality of the filling of the Holy Spirit is within us, accompanying us day by day. The Lord’s word says clearly, “I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age” (Matt. 28:20). The Lord accompanies us all the way; He is within us. Now you need simply to say, “Lord! Fill me!” You will be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the secret of being filled with the Lord. You should never consider that being filled with the Holy Spirit is a very difficult matter and that only those who have been saved over sixty years like me can have this experience. Let me tell you that even if you were saved today, you can be filled with the Holy Spirit. Every one of you can be filled with the Holy Spirit. I have been breathing for over eighty years. A newborn babe also breathes, and his breathing is the same as my breathing, with no difference at all.
Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This word indicates that once a person has heard the gospel, he has in his mouth and in his heart the Savior who can save him. He needs only to confess Him as Lord with his mouth, that is, to open his mouth and call on His name, and he will be saved. Verse 10 follows, saying, “For with the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation.” To confess with the mouth is to call on the Lord and also speak the Lord Jesus to others. Therefore, once a person is saved, you will need to lead him to speak the Lord Jesus to others, to speak to the parents, the wife, the husband, the children, and the neighbors. The more he speaks, the more he breathes. When we go to the communities to help people to be saved, we must set up home meetings in their homes so that they will not only call on the Lord’s name, but also speak the Lord to others.
Verses 11 and 12 continue, “The Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes on Him shall not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him.” The secret of our enjoyment of all the riches of Christ is very simple. It is to call, “O Lord Jesus!” Calling on the Lord is really the secret of our enjoyment of all the riches of Christ. Therefore, for our salvation we need to call on Him; after salvation, daily, even hourly, we need to call on Him. Some will tell you that to be filled with the Holy Spirit, you need to fast, to confess, to empty yourself, to be broken, and also to pay the price to follow the Lord. When you hear this word, you may exercise much effort to fast and to pray. Eventually, you may obtain the filling. But actually, being filled with the Holy Spirit is not obtained by the act of fasting and praying; rather, it is obtained by the calling during the fasting and praying.
Romans 8 shows us that God coming into us to be our life is such a normal matter that it has become a law. The law of the Spirit of life has freed us and delivered us (v. 2). Every day we are breathing unceasingly; this is a law. The matter of God in us as our life is also a law; it is a very spontaneous matter. However, when the law of life is operating in us, we need to cooperate with it. Hence, verse 6 says, “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” When we set our mind on the spirit to cooperate with the law of the Spirit of life, the issue is life and peace. The following verses from verse 9 to verse 11 mention God, Christ, and the Spirit at the same time. These three are one; this is simply the Triune God. Christ is within us, God is within us, and the Spirit also is within us. It is sufficient that we obey Him and cooperate with Him. This is the way to be filled with the Holy Spirit in our spirit.
According to my own experience, to be filled with the Spirit does not require much struggling or striving. You do not need to say, “Lord, I am too weak. I cannot help loving the world. I cannot free myself from my family affairs. I cannot drop my burdens. Lord, I can only be a fallen, backsliding Christian. Besides, I am no good in anything...” It is useless to pray this way. You need to realize that God in the economy of His spiritual life wants us to be those who call on the Lord, enjoy Him, and experience Him regularly and in a normal way.
Therefore, every morning when you get up, you should call “O Lord Jesus!” to begin your spiritual breathing. You should call in this way all day long. Also, you cannot separate the word of the Lord from the Spirit of the Lord. Even the more, you cannot separate the Spirit of the Lord from the Lord Himself. The Lord is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the word. Not only did God come down to the earth from the heavens and then from the earth to Hades; He also ascended to the heavens from Hades and became a life-giving Spirit. In the universe among the human race, there is also the word of God written and printed here, and it has been left in our hands. Therefore, every morning as soon as we wake up, we need to call on Him and also receive His word. During the day we simply do these two things: contact the Lord and receive His word. This is what is spoken of in Hymns, #501, stanza 4, which says,
We do not need much begging and groaning. I exhort you sisters who are housewives not to be bothered by your talkative husband, your troublesome children, and the endless household chores. All these are for the purpose of compelling you to call on the Lord. Today the Spirit is within us, and the Word is in our hands. All we need to do is to call on the Lord moment by moment and receive His word day by day. Then many of the problems will not exist. When we are weak, we feel that everything is difficult. When we are strong, however, we feel that nothing is difficult.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord as the Spirit is already in your mouth and in your heart. The Lord as the Word is also already in our hands and within us. Now you need only to receive the word and contact this Spirit, and the Lord will become your supply. Then day by day you will be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, and you will allow the Holy Spirit to descend upon you. This should be your daily experience, which is normal yet miraculous. Brother Moody once said, “The greatest miracle in the universe is that man can be regenerated.” Truly, regeneration is a great thing in the universe. Every day in the spiritual life, we can experience this great thing in the universe. It is miraculous yet normal. Therefore, it is a miraculous normality.
