Although 1 Corinthians 6:17 says that we are one spirit with the Lord, in our daily experience we are often not one with the Lord. Rather, the Lord is the Lord, and we are we. Therefore, we need to contact the Lord. In order to contact the Lord, we need to eliminate any kind of insulation. Electricity is a good illustration of the Lord Jesus. As the life-giving Spirit, He is real, living, and powerful. Although electricity is powerful, if we do not contact electricity, we will have no sensation that it is powerful. Electricity is not visible in a wire, yet it is real and powerful. However, to separate something from electricity does not require a large amount of insulation. Only a little insulation will stop the flow of electricity. Similarly, the power of the church, Christ as the life-giving Spirit, is always available within our spirit, but most believers are detached from this divine electricity. We do not need to be miles away from the Lord to be detached from Him. Many believers are very close to the Lord yet are not attached to Him. We may say, “I am not far away from the Lord; I am quite close to Him. Five years ago I was far away, but the Lord has gradually brought me back. Now I am very close to Him.” Regardless of how close to or far from the Lord we are, if we are not contacting Him, it is essentially the same.
A few saints may be very far from the Lord, but most are not far from Him. We may come to all the meetings and be very close to the Lord yet still be detached. However, we should not be discouraged. Some may hear this word and say, “If this is the case, I do not need to come to the meetings. Even if I come to the meetings, I am still detached.” Actually, being close to the Lord by being in the meetings does make some difference. It is very difficult for those who are far away from the Lord to contact Him. However, if we are close to the Lord by being in a meeting, perhaps we will contact Him after hearing only a few words in the meeting. Hence, to be close is much better than to be far away. Nevertheless, we need to be not merely close to the Lord but actually attached to Him. We need to have a direct contact with the Lord, just as an electrical appliance must have direct contact with electricity. There may be a strong current of electricity in a wire, but if there is no contact, no attachment, the appliance will never receive the supply of electricity.
Our contact with and attachment to the Lord is the abiding of the branches in the vine mentioned in John 15. The Lord said, “Abide in Me and I in you” (v. 4). This indicates that if we abide in the Lord, He will abide in us. Our abiding in Him is a term, a condition, of His abiding in us. Once again, we can use the illustration of electricity. If an appliance is attached to an electrical outlet, the electricity will come into it and supply it with the power it needs to function properly. If the appliance abides in the electricity, the electricity abides in it. Likewise, if we abide in the Lord, the Lord abides in us and supplies us so that we may function spiritually.
We still need to see the way to abide in the Lord. The Lord is real and living, yet He is mysterious, abstract, invisible, and untouchable in a physical sense. For many years I wondered how we can abide in such a mysterious, abstract, invisible, and untouchable One. It is easy to abide in a house. We only need to walk into a house and remain there in order to abide in it. Because the house is physical, we can easily see it, touch it, enter into it, and abide in it. The Lord, however, is not like a physical house. How can we abide in such a One?
According to our experience and the experience of many others, in order to abide in the Lord, we must rely on the word of the Bible. In John 15:7 the Lord said, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will.” Comparing this verse with verses 4 and 5 reveals that the Lord’s words are equivalent to the Lord Himself. Our words represent us. If people reject our words, they reject us. Others accept us by receiving our words. When we say that someone has rejected us, we often mean that someone has rejected our words (cf. John 12:48; 2 Tim. 1:15). This shows that our words are us. The Lord’s words are the Lord Himself.
The Bible reveals that Christ is the embodiment of God. Colossians 2:9 says, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” God is mysterious, yet all His fullness is embodied in Christ. Christ also is mysterious, but the mysterious Christ is embodied in the word (John 6:63; 1 Cor. 15:45b). The word is not mysterious or abstract. The word, which is solid and concrete, is the embodiment of the mysterious and abstract Christ. Through the word Christ has been made solid and tangible. We Christians should daily handle the word as the solid embodiment of the abstract Christ. Our contacting the Lord in order to abide in Him depends upon our handling of His word.