First Peter 3:4 mentions “the hidden man of the heart.” Perhaps we have never realized that in our heart there is a hidden man. Some may think that this hidden man is Jesus, but according to this verse it is “a meek and quiet spirit.” Within our heart is our spirit. Our spirit is the hidden man of our heart. In order to be transformed into precious stones, we need to take care of this hidden man.
We should not primarily take care of what we think. I may say something that offends you, and the devil may use this offense to stir up your thinking. Some may be offended when I say that today we are building the New Jerusalem by building up the local churches. They may think, “This bothers me. I graduated from the top seminary, but I was never taught this. I have heard many preachers, but I never heard such a thing. I cannot swallow this; I cannot take it.” If some are troubled by this word, it is because I am speaking from the spirit, but they are thinking in their mind. Therefore, it is as if we are on two different planets. Because I am on the “planet” of the spirit, and they are on the “planet” of the mind, it is impossible for us to be one. Hence, we should not stay in our mind. Rather, we all need to come to our spirit.
In Revelation 1:12 the apostle John said, “When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.” The golden lampstands in this verse signify the local churches. In order to see the churches, we need to turn. To turn is to change one’s angle, direction, or destination. I may say that my head has seven holes, counting my eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. If you are standing behind me, however, you may disagree with me, saying, “This brother is telling lies. He says that his head has seven holes, but I see no holes.” You see no holes because you are facing my back. If you would turn to see my face, you would see that my head indeed has seven holes. Many of us have been drugged, doped, and befuddled by the traditional concepts of Christianity. As a result, we may not know where we are. Therefore, we need a turn in order to change our direction, to change our angle. We need to drop all the traditional concepts and turn to our spirit to see the churches as we have never seen them before.
Many saints have told me that the first few times they heard me speak, they inwardly condemned me and fought against me. However, something deep within them would not let them go. They did not know why, but something within them always said Amen to my speaking. When they went home, something in their mind said to them, “You are foolish. You are simply following a man. Besides, if you are going to follow a man, why not follow one from the West? Why should you follow a man from China? You might be deceived by him.” Nevertheless, when the time of the next meeting came, something deep within them told them to go. Their mind said, “I should not go. I will stay home.” However, something else within troubled them and stirred in them, not giving them peace to stay home. Eventually, in spite of the continued protesting in their mind, they came to the meeting. This “something within” that caused them to come to the meetings was the inner man of their heart, their spirit.
Jesus came not from a place of high regard but from the despised city of Nazareth. Nathanael said, “Can anything good be from Nazareth?” (John 1:46). To carry out His recovery in this age, the Lord went to the poor land of China. Some may ask, “Can anything good come from China?” Nevertheless, the Lord sent me from China to the United States, a country steeped in a long history of traditional Christianity. Though some in Christianity may oppose the Lord’s recovery, no opposition can defeat us, for we are on the Lord’s side. As long as we are in the Lord’s recovery, we are on His side—we are identified with Him. We simply need to take care of the hidden man in our heart, our human spirit, which is where the Lord Jesus is. Today the Lord Jesus is with our spirit, the hidden man of our heart (2 Tim. 4:22). We need to listen to Him there, not to our mind, which is filled with traditional concepts. We need to forget about our traditional concepts and turn from our mind to our spirit. Then we will have the full discernment to know if what we hear is of the Lord or not.
In order to be transformed into precious stones for God’s building, we also need to be separated from the world. First Peter 3:20b says that by entering into the ark, “a few, that is, eight souls, were brought safely through by water.” The eight persons were saved by entering into the ark, which typifies the redeeming Christ. However, according to this verse, the eight persons were saved also by water. This indicates that the waters of the flood, which were a judgment to the crooked and perverted generation, were a saving to the eight persons, saving them not from God’s judgment but from the corrupted generation. The judging water separated them, brought them out of that evil generation, and ushered them into a new age. Thus, their passing through the flood waters signifies resurrection.
First Peter 3:21 says, “Which water, as the antitype, also now saves you, that is, baptism, not a putting away of the filth of the flesh but the appeal of a good conscience unto God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” The saving mentioned in this verse is not a saving from hell or a saving from our flesh, as in Romans 8, but a saving from the present evil age, which is condemned by God. Christians today argue about the proper form of baptism but miss the true significance of baptism. To be baptized is to pass through the judging water to be separated from today’s evil generation. The waters of the Red Sea, which also typify the waters of baptism, on the one hand, judged the Egyptian army and, on the other hand, separated the children of Israel from Egypt (Exo. 14:22-29). After passing through the Red Sea, it would have been difficult for the children of Israel to return to Egypt, because the sea blocked the way. If we see the real significance of baptism, we will never go back to the world after we are baptized. The waters of baptism are the waters that judge the world. We might have loved the world in the past, but we have been saved from the world, not by the ritual, the rite, of baptism but by the reality of the resurrection of Christ.
First Peter 2 reveals that we need to be nourished by the word in order to grow. Chapter 3 reveals that we need to turn to the hidden man of the heart, our spirit, and that we need to be separated from the condemned world, that is, saved through water. Chapter 5 reveals that we need to flock together (vv. 2-4). All sheep need the flock. Some animals do not like to stay with others of their kind, but sheep always like to be flocked together. If a sheep does not like the flock, perhaps this is a sign that it is actually not a sheep but a wolf. First Peter 2:5 mentions our being built up. Practically speaking, this building up is the flocking together in chapter 5. To be flocked together is to be built together. We should never be individualistic. We always need to flock together.
The final item that we need for our transformation for God’s building is God’s grace. First Peter 5:5 says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Verse 10 mentions “the God of all grace.” God is the God not merely of one kind of grace but of all kinds of grace. Grace is God as our enjoyment and our supply. We all need the gracious supply from our all-sufficient God. May the Lord’s grace be with us all. By His grace we will grow, by His grace we will flock together, by His grace we will be transformed, and by His grace we will be built up together. We all need to give ourselves to experience this grace, for by it we will become God’s building and thus fulfill God’s eternal purpose.