We can compare ourselves to an electric iron, God to the source of electricity, and Jesus Christ to the electricity. If we remain “plugged in,” joined to Christ without any interruption, and open our heart to Him by praying to Him with our full attention, coming to Him and waiting on Him, His life will flow into us continuously. As a result, we will be set on fire.
I often say to Christians that if they quiet themselves before the Lord Jesus and pray earnestly to Him for an hour, their cold and hardened heart of hatred will be softened, set on fire, and full of love. The longer we pray to the Lord Jesus, the more He comes to us and makes us willing to be filled with Him. This is the wonderful way of God’s salvation. God is not merely sitting on His throne in heaven and commanding angels to rescue us, nor is He merely sending forth a surge of power to meet our need when we pray. This is not God’s way of salvation. God’s way of salvation is to enter into us, join with us, and bear every burden with us. Whenever we call on Him, He enters into us to be our power to strengthen us and our life to supply us.
Once, after I spoke to some highly educated people with high ranking professions about God’s way of salvation, they invited me to speak with them in their office. They said that although my speaking was good, it seemed to be superstitious. They thought that Jesus coming into us by our praying to Him was superstitious. Thus, they asked me to give them some examples. I responded that it was difficult to give examples, because God’s salvation is a matter of life within us, but I could tell them of my experience. I said, “Although you did not know me before my salvation, I can tell you that I was worse than you. I was exceedingly impatient and strict; if a person said something wrong or did something improper, I would hit him. This was the kind person that I was. However, what do you think about me today?” They responded, “Based on what we see, you are quite a nice person.” Then I asked, “How could I have changed from the kind of person that I was to being a nice person? I am not the only one like this; there are many others who have had similar experiences. How could they have changed from what they were to be nice persons?” They all admitted that they did not know.
Then I answered emphatically, “There is no other reason—not my will, self-cultivation, or trying hard to restrict myself—but my praying to the Lord Jesus. Since the day I believed in Him, I have prayed to Him every day. I can testify that it has been impossible for me not to be set on fire after praying for half an hour, and it has been impossible for me not to be changed after praying for an hour. Before praying, I might have envied and hated a certain person, but after praying to the Lord Jesus for half an hour, the envy and hatred within me were dissolved. After praying for another half an hour, it became impossible for me not to love the person whom I hated. After praying yet another half an hour, I was compelled to run to this person, shake his hand, and with tears speak words of love to him. Such a burning fire and such a change from being cold to being hot are absolutely not generated from within me but from Jesus Christ entering into me.”
Many electrical appliances can receive the flow of electricity, yet no one can see the electricity in these appliances. That electricity is able to pass through electrical appliances is a fact, yet man cannot see the electricity. Many households can use a radio to receive the radio waves from the United States and listen to radio programs from the United States. By means of a little radio the activities in the Western Hemisphere are made known to the people in the Eastern Hemisphere without connecting any electric wires. Today there is a very small radio that a person can carry around with him. When he turns it on, he is able to hear voices from the United States and from South America. This is wonderful. God is Spirit (John 4:24), and in the same way that electricity is transmitted into electrical appliances, He transmits Himself into man. God’s way of salvation is wonderful.
The Chinese characters for Spirit and electricity are grouped together, both containing the same radical. This is meaningful. It indicates that the Spirit, like electricity, is invisible yet real and has an expressed reality. God does not want to be separated from man. Rather He desires to reach man and enter into man. Therefore, in Christ, through His death and resurrection, He became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). He did not remain a God far away in heaven who bestows favor on man to save man on earth. Rather, He became a man, lived a human life, died on the cross, and was resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit in order to enter into man on earth. Wherever and whenever anyone calls upon Him, He will enter into him and operate within him. When He enters into man, He enters not as someone extraordinary but as the Spirit to be joined with man’s spirit as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17); thus, it is difficult for man to distinguish whether he is experiencing the Spirit of God or the spirit of man, or whether the one living is God or man. This is the way that God joins Himself with man to become one with man, and this is the mystery of the faith of a Christian.
This joining of God to man is the power of a Christian (Phil. 4:13). Most people acknowledge that the most powerful preachers are Christians. This is because there is a motivating power within Christians that makes it impossible for them to stop preaching. Often people ask me what advantages I gain from preaching and why I am burdened to persuade people to believe in Jesus. I respond by telling them that there is no advantage; there is only a story. The story is that if I do not pray for thirty days, I will not preach the gospel, but if I pray for half an hour in the morning, I must preach the gospel on that day. I cannot help it; once I pray to Jesus, I must preach Jesus. If I do not preach Jesus, He will bother me within. If I speak Him forth, He will be happy, and I will be at peace. The more I speak, the happier I am. Therefore, I am always thankful for many of my dear friends who have given me great opportunities to preach Jesus to many people. Whenever I preach Jesus, my heart is full of joy, and I am able to go home and sleep peacefully. I can testify that every time I preach the Lord Jesus, I mysteriously have peace and power within.
The peace and power that I enjoy is Jesus Christ. He enters into man to be man’s life and power. If a person desires to overcome sin, to have a proper living, or to live in the light, it is futile for him to make up his mind, practice self-cultivation, and try harder. There is only one way of salvation, the way of calling on the name of the Lord Jesus so that He immediately enters into you (Acts 4:10-12; Rom. 10:13). Once He enters into you, all your sins will be forgiven and forgotten (Heb. 10:17-18), all your lusts will be subdued (Rom. 8:1-2), and you will become a proper person who lives in the light (Eph. 5:8; 1 John 1:7). Once the Lord Jesus enters into you, you will be able to love whatever you were unable to love in the past, you will be able to endure whatever you were unable to endure previously, you will readily forgive what you formerly could not forgive, and you will easily bear what you previously could not bear. Once He enters into you, your entire perspective will be changed. Jesus is God, and once He enters into you, He joins Himself to your spirit to become your life (Col. 3:4) and causes you to be filled with power (Eph. 1:19).
In this chapter we have covered only the first of the three steps of the wonderful way of God’s salvation to man. In the following chapter we will cover the two remaining steps. I hope that many will see clearly that God’s way of salvation is to enter into us and to be joined with us. We only need to open our heart, receive Him into us, confess our sins, unload our transgressions, and let His Spirit fill us inwardly. If we are willing to believe and to pray in this way, He will enter into us and save us to the uttermost.