To live by considering what is right and what is wrong is the teaching of religion. Where I was raised in China, many considered that there was no need to receive Christ, since they were already taught right and wrong by Confucius. However, God’s salvation is absolutely different from religion. It is not a matter of right or wrong, good or evil. It is a matter of living and doing things by the self in the soul or by Christ in the spirit. To live by the spirit is the mark of God’s salvation; this has been missed by religion, but today the Lord is recovering this.
To exercise our spirit by coming together to pray is only a small part of our daily walk. We need to constantly exercise our spirit. Whatever we do or speak, whoever we contact, and wherever we go, we must do it in the spirit. I have been learning this lesson for more than thirty-five years, yet even today I still fail. We were all born in the soul, raised in the soul, and educated in the soul, and we have practiced to live in the soul continually. Because of this, it is very easy for us to live in the soul. Within our sixteen waking hours, how much do we live, abide, and remain in the spirit? The Lord told us to watch and pray (Matt. 26:41). We need to be watchful that we would not live in the soul and prayerful that we would live in the spirit. If we are not watchful, we will immediately fall back into the soul.
Christianity today has missed the mark, always giving teachings to people. We do not need mere doctrinal teachings. It is sufficient simply to check whether or not we are in spirit. There is no need for us to teach someone to outwardly love his wife. We may simply ask, “Brother, are you in the spirit?” When a brother is in the spirit, he will be right toward his wife. However, if we are not in the spirit, our contact with others is mere soulish or fleshly conversation, not spiritual fellowship. I often realize that even in doing good things I have been too much in the soul and not faithful to remain absolutely in the spirit. For this reason, when I go to the Lord I spend more time to confess than to pray. To remain in the spirit is a real lesson for us. Recently, I have considered before the Lord what the content of my messages should be. I do not care to pass on merely doctrinal knowledge. The more I have been with the Lord, the more I have had the deep feeling that our urgent need is to be brought into the full realization that we must live in the spirit.
In all four Gospels the Lord Jesus told us that we need to deny the self and lose our soul-life (Matt. 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24; John 12:25). The Epistles also frequently tell us that we need to live, walk, do things, and pray continually in the spirit. In order to see the things of God, have wisdom, and receive revelation, we need to be in the spirit (1 Cor. 2:11-12; Eph. 1:17).
Satan uses two means to improperly develop the human soul. The first way is supernatural, as in Buddhism and Hinduism. These devilish “isms” teach people to exercise their soul in a supernatural way, developing it to contact the evil spirits in the supernatural world. The other way is through contact with the natural world by means of modern education, science, and culture. Education, television, and newspapers are often used by the devil to improperly develop the soul. Because of this, it is difficult for people to turn from the soul to the spirit and to live in the spirit. Some young brothers have come to us to argue whether or not we should play sports. What matters is not sports themselves. What matters is whether we are in the soul or in the spirit. Are we certain that we are in the spirit when we are playing sports? If we can exercise our spirit by praying while we do something, it is fine to do it. However, often while the brothers are playing sports, they realize that they are in the soul. It is not a matter of what we are doing; it is a matter of in what person we do it, in the soul or in the spirit. The issue today is not what we do but simply whether we live by the spirit or by the soul in whatever we do.
To exercise the spirit is not only to pray. If we cannot exercise our spirit in other matters, we will not be able to exercise our spirit in prayer. The reason we sometimes cannot pray and do not have the appetite to pray is that we are soulish, even fleshly. We have left our spirit behind and have not used it for a long time. Medical experts tell us that if we covered our eyes for a number of months, we would lose our function of sight. In the same way, many brothers and sisters set their spirit aside and always use their mind, emotion, will, or simply their physical body. Because they have no exercise of their spirit, their spirit is out of function.
In 1943 I was very sick and was confined to bed for six months. After these six months I could not get out of bed and stand on my feet. The function of my legs was weakened, and it took me a long time to recover my walking function. Similarly, we may have put aside the function of our spirit. We may talk, argue, reason, debate, discuss, and even quote the Scriptures merely by exercising the soul. Because of this, a church may be poor, weak, and in confusion. This is due simply to one thing: we have neglected our spirit. We should not argue, reason, or talk in the soul but simply exercise our spirit. If we want to argue, we must first exercise our spirit to contact the Lord and consider our argument before Him. We need to come back to the spirit.
To exercise the spirit is not only to pray but to live, walk, speak, and do everything in the spirit. It is to take care of our inner man and always go along with the inner man in all things. If we practice this, it will be easy to pray at any time and in any place, because our spirit will be strong, living, and active. Not only in prayer or in reading the Word but in all matters in our daily life and walk, private or public, we need to always exercise our spirit. If before we come to read the Bible we first prepare ourselves to exercise our spirit, we will see a difference in our reading. Likewise, in all things we should first exercise our spirit. If we want to talk with our wife or with a brother, we must be ready to exercise our spirit. Even to go shopping we need to prepare ourselves by exercising the spirit. If we do this, we will be saved from much of our shopping. We will do many things in a brief and simple way. We do not trust in mere doctrinal teachings, which do not work. Rather, we trust in the practice of exercising the spirit. In whatever we do, we need to exercise our spirit. The one thing that the New Testament charges us to do at every time is to live, walk, pray, receive wisdom and revelation, and do all things in the spirit.
Ephesians 1:17 speaks of a spirit of wisdom and revelation. We cannot receive revelation by arguing with people. The more we argue, debate, or merely study, the more we are blinded. We should not trust even in our studying. The more we study in our natural mind, the more we are darkened. If we would silence our natural mind and enter into the spirit, we will receive light and revelation in spirit. A brother may not be clear concerning a certain matter, but if he would enter into the spirit, light and revelation will come. Arguments and reasonings get us nowhere, but to enter into the spirit brings in the light.
A husband may feel that he is right and his wife is wrong, and the more he argues, the more he feels he is right. However, if he would stop his arguing and reasoning and enter into the spirit, he will realize that he is wrong, and he will repent, even with tears. Darkness and blindness are in the mind, but light and revelation are in the spirit. Certain Christians say that they are not clear about the practice of the church life. The more they argue, the more they remain in darkness, but if they would enter into the spirit, they will receive light. This is true of all matters.
Sometimes people are bothered by me because when they come to argue about something, I prefer not to join the argument. Whenever I did argue, I regretted it afterward. It is better not to speak in this kind of arguing way. Rather, if we would enter into the spirit and remain in the spirit for a certain time, everything will be clear. We will be clear with our wife, children, parents, the brothers, the sisters, the church, and the work. To be in the mind is not to be clear, but to be in the spirit makes everything crystal clear. John said, “I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day....and when I turned, I saw” (Rev. 1:10, 12). As John was in spirit, he saw the entire situation of the church, the world, all the ages, and even eternity. When we simply enter into the spirit, everything is clear. Please try this. If any part of the Word is not clear to you, do not merely try to understand it. Instead, bring what you have read into the spirit, and there you will see the light. Wisdom and revelation are in the spirit. In order to have wisdom we must remain in the spirit. When we are outside of the spirit, we may do many things foolishly, but if we are in the spirit, we will do things with wisdom. All things are clear when we are in spirit.
On the one hand, when we come together to pray, we should not wait. The Lord is ready, so we should simply take the initiative to pray. On the other hand, we should give others the opportunity to pray in the meetings. Again, we may use the illustration of a basketball team. It is never right for one player to play while the others are idle. To pray and to give others the opportunity to pray are two sides. Those who pray much should give the opportunity to others, and those who do not pray must learn not to wait. Those who do not “play” should not complain that others play too much. If you wait, the “ball” will go to another player. In the meetings we all must learn to coordinate. This is a help for us to exercise our spirit to pray in the meetings.