We should thank the Lord that after Psalm 1 is Psalm 2. The conclusion of Psalm 2 is that all they that put their trust in Christ are blessed, and that we should “kiss the Son, / Lest He be angry” (v. 12). Do not meditate in the law but kiss the Son. (This is fully covered in chapter one of the book Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms.) Most of the Bible expositors, if not all, appraised and uplifted Psalm 1. Why would we dare to say something different? What is the basis for our interpretation of these two psalms? Again, our basis of interpretation is the principle of the vision of the Triune God being wrought into our being. This really makes a difference.
I do not care how young you are, how old you are, or how many years you have been in the Lord’s service. If you are not possessed and captured by this vision, sooner or later your preaching, your teaching, and your messages will be somewhat natural. You will have no ability to discern what portion of the Bible is religious and what portion of the Bible is of life. During the training on the books of James and Mark many of you probably wondered how I could interpret the book of James in such a way. This is because I have the key of this basic principle. I say again that the Bible, the holy Word, was written under this governing principle. I believe that a number of the writers of the Scriptures did not realize this principle at the time they were writing because they were under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They were means, instruments, used by the Spirit. Undoubtedly, Paul knew and realized what he was writing, but I do not believe that some writers, such as those in the Old Testament, knew what the governing principle of their writings was. Some of them must have known that they were under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The reason why I say this is because David told us in 2 Samuel 23:2, “The Spirit of Jehovah spoke through me, / And His word was on my tongue.” David told us that he was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to compose a psalm. Whether or not the writers of the Scriptures knew or did not know that they were under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we must realize that the “rudder” was in the hand of the Holy Spirit in their writing of the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:20-21).
The sequence of the Trinity in Psalm 36:8-9 is the same in Luke 15. In Luke 15 Christ is first as the Shepherd (vv. 4-7), the Spirit is second as the seeking woman (vv. 8-10), and the Father is third (vv. 11-32). In Psalm 36:8-9 Christ is the fatness, the Spirit is the river, and the Father is the fountain. We should believe in Christ; then we receive the Spirit who leads us to the Father. We enjoy the fatness of Christ; then we have a share of the flowing Spirit; and then we are in the presence of the Father enjoying Him as the fountain of life and light. This indicates how the Old Testament, like the Psalms, was written by the Holy Spirit.
We must have the key, the governing principle of the writings in the Bible. Just as the master key to a building gives us the ability to open the door in that building, so we need the key to open every book of the Bible. This key also gives us the ability to discern every portion of the Scriptures. This vision, this principle, can be applied to every portion of the word in the Bible, including typology, prophecy, and even dispensations. As a young man fifty-five years ago, I spoke concerning typology, prophecies, and dispensations. Even though I spoke in an interesting way, I did not relate them to life at all. There was no life there. Today, however, if I would interpret any type it would be full of the enjoyment of Christ, the flowing of the river of the Spirit, and the fountain of life and light.
Every portion of the one hundred and twenty Life-study messages of Genesis is filled with life, the river, the fatness, the riches of Christ, the flowing of the Spirit, and the fountain of the Father as life and light. This principle governs all the Life-study messages. I have been much criticized for this. Some people say that it is not necessary to come and listen to me because I always preach and teach the same thing. I totally agree with this statement. What I serve is always “American beef.” This beef is cooked and served by me in many ways; sometimes it is in the style of steak, sometimes in the style of a hamburger, and sometimes I serve this beef in the Chinese way of stewing. Whatever I serve is beef. Beef is my key and I have nothing but beef. What is this “beef”?—the processed Triune God. This is the beef. Some Chinese cooks boast that they have twenty ways to cook certain things. By the Lord’s mercy, I can boast to these cooks that I have hundreds of ways to cook my “beef” because I have put out more than two thousand messages. Every message is a different way of cooking the same thing—the Triune God being wrought into His redeemed people. Also, all of the hymns I have written were written under the same governing principle. The biblical way is this way—the Triune God is “cooked” in different ways from the first page of Genesis to the last page of Revelation. This is the Bible. You need the key. If you have the key, you will eventually say that every page of the Bible is the same. For instance, all the females in the Bible are the same—Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, and the seeking one in the Song of Songs are types. The ultimate consummation of these females in the Bible is the eternal wife, which is the very tabernacle. With this key and by this principle one can wrap up the entire Bible. Then we can discern whether or not someone else’s teaching and ministering is holding people back or frustrating and distracting them.
A certain message may be wonderful, eloquent, and very inspiring, yet in principle that may be a distracting message, a holding back message. We could be laboring for ten years, but by one message people could be held back for five years. Still, most of the people who listen may appreciate that kind of message. To discern this, you need this basic principle of this vision to see that the Triune God is the very essence and should be the very essence of every message that we put out. Only this serves God’s purpose, only this keeps us from being led astray, and only this can keep us in oneness from today through eternity.
In 1 Corinthians Paul charged the believers to speak the same thing (1:10) and in Philippians he charged them to think the same thing (2:2). Philippians is a book on the Triune God—specifically on Christ and specifically on the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. When we are enjoying the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we have the key. In Philippians Paul tells us that he aspired to be found in Christ (3:9). If we can be found by others in nothing else but Christ, then we have the key. Not only will our messages be found in Christ, but also even our being, our person will be found in Christ. We are a person in Christ because we live Christ and we magnify Christ. Because we are a person in Christ, our speaking is the speaking in Christ and our message is a message in Christ. Everything is directed by this principle.