The understanding of a spiritual matter is not equivalent to the experience of that spiritual matter itself. We may have listened to very good messages and may have a thorough understanding of the truth, but what we have gained is merely the understanding of spiritual matters and the knowledge of spiritual truth, not the spiritual reality itself. Spiritual reality is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Therefore, spiritual work is not done by us. Only the Holy Spirit can do it. In other words, none of us can make another person spiritual; only the Holy Spirit can. For example, suppose we are paying attention to our naturalness in the old creation. Previously, due to our ignorance, we were not aware of the existence of our naturalness, but now we have heard and now we know about it. However, in the spiritual realm knowing does not equal seeing. At most, our hearing of the truth can lead us to understand the truth; it cannot lead us to touch the spiritual reality of the truth itself. Not until the Holy Spirit works in us and gives us the sense can we really see and touch what it means to be natural and truly sense that being natural is condemned. At such a moment we not only have a mental understanding of the truth, but we also are touched within by the Holy Spirit. The result is that we have the spiritual reality.
When we first heard the gospel, we may have heard a very clear message on the truth of the gospel and truly appreciated it. However, we can be clear about the truth yet still not be saved. What does it mean to be saved? We are saved when we touch God after receiving the revelation of the Holy Spirit in our spirit through the message we heard. Only when the Holy Spirit comes to us can we have faith; such faith is the issue of the work of the Holy Spirit in our spirit. It is at such a moment that we can be considered saved. Spiritual reality does not come from our own work or endeavor. It is altogether the work of the Holy Spirit.
For example, perhaps someone preaches the gospel to us, telling us that the Lord Jesus died for us on the cross and shed His precious blood for the washing away of our sins. Although this truth of redemption may genuinely win our appreciation, it does not necessarily generate faith in us. A few days later, however, after the Holy Spirit has worked in us, causing us to feel that the Lord Jesus really did die for us, we may pray, “Lord Jesus, thank You that as my Savior You bore my sins and died for me on the cross.” At this moment salvation becomes our experience. The vicarious death on the cross is now no longer merely a truth but a spiritual reality to us. The doctrine itself cannot accomplish this work; this is altogether the work of the Holy Spirit, working by and through the doctrine we heard.
This is true not only in our experience of being saved but also in all our spiritual experiences after we have been saved. For instance, suppose someone has a heart to pursue the Lord after he has been saved, yet he discovers that he is always eager to express his opinions. Thus, he is determined to stop this habit. Another person may feel that he is very individualistic and has very little fellowship with the other saints, so he is determined to have more contact with others. However, this is just a doctrine to him. He has heard and understood the doctrine, but he has not yet touched the fellowship of the Body. We may understand that as Christians we should not loosely express our opinions or be individualistic, yet we may not have touched the real meaning of not having opinions or being individualistic. If we merely understand a doctrine but lack the spiritual reality, we will employ our own effort. What is human effort? Human effort denotes behavior. This means that having been convinced by a message that we have heard, we work out a certain kind of behavior accordingly. This kind of behavior, however, is not spiritual reality. If one day, perhaps a month or even a year after hearing a message, we are touched and enlightened within concerning our natural life and our natural disposition through the work of the Holy Spirit within us, then this is spiritual reality. From that moment onward we do not need to depend on our own work.
In a training meeting in 1940 Brother Nee spoke strongly on the experience of Jacob. He said that Jacob wrestled not only with men but also with God, and even God could not prevail against him (Gen. 32:28). On that day at the ford of the Jabbok, God had to touch the socket of his hip. From that time onward he limped. With much burden Brother Nee related the story of Jacob’s being crippled, saying that our natural life must be touched by God and must become limping. Then a brother testified, “My hip has been crippled also; my natural life has been crippled; this natural life of mine has been touched by the Lord.” In response Brother Nee said, “A person who has really been crippled does not need to remember that he is crippled. Moreover, he does not need to tell others that he is crippled, because as soon as he walks, people will notice that he is crippled. A person who acts crippled has to always remember that he is crippled, because once he forgets, his real condition is exposed. As a result, he has to repeatedly adjust himself, endeavoring to make himself crippled.” This may sound like a joke, but this is our situation.
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