For example, we would find it rather difficult to apply an additional coat of paint to a small table which already has been painted with a thick layer of glossy paint. Such a surface simply cannot absorb the new paint. In other words, the original element becomes an opponent to the element which is to be added. Therefore, we must sand off the original paint, so that the surface becomes rough and better able to absorb the new paint. Likewise, if we are filled with the element of self, the Holy Spirit finds it difficult to anoint us through His moving and anointing within. Hence, there is also the need for the Holy Spirit to raise up environments which act like sandpaper upon us. This kind of scraping is not to punish us for rebellion, neither is it to correct our mistakes, but to make us rougher, who otherwise would be shiny and glossy, untreated and hard, thereby enabling the Holy Spirit to anoint God’s element into us.

There are many brothers and sisters who are like glass, slippery and hard. Although the Holy Spirit often speaks to them, they will not listen. They have listened to many messages; indeed they have become an ‘old pro’ at them. Regardless of what the message is, they know every point in the proper sequence; yet in fact they have not touched the reality of the message at all. This kind can only be dealt with by the Holy Spirit through various difficulties of the environment cutting and scraping them here and there; then they will listen to the message in a serious manner. At this time the word of the Holy Spirit as well as the anointing and moving of the Holy Spirit will be effective. Therefore, the second purpose of the discipline of the Holy Spirit is to coordinate with the inner anointing of the Holy Spirit, thereby educating us so that we may be receptive to the working of the Holy Spirit.

To prepare a spiced egg, the shell must be cracked so that the spices can penetrate into the egg. When God desires to penetrate us by the Holy Spirit, we who are whole according to nature, like the shiny egg shell, need to be cracked as a coordinating process for the penetrating work of God. This is the educational purpose of the discipline of the Holy Spirit.

For the educational purpose, the discipline of the Holy Spirit is given not only to break us so that the element of God may mingle more with us, but also to cook us, because we are so raw and wild by nature. When we cook rice, it is not because the rice is faulty and needs to be corrected. We put the rice in the pot and cook it with water over fire so that the rice, which is raw and hard, may become cooked and softened, savory and good for eating. Similarly, all of us, before being dealt with by God, are raw, wild, and hard. We need God’s discipline through the Holy Spirit and by the environment to burn and cook us. Such cooking will cause us to suffer and be afflicted, as though we had passed through fire and water, but it is done so that our raw and tough condition may become matured and softened, and that we may obtain the fragrance of maturity and be able to supply and satisfy man’s need.

A raw person not only is wild and hard, but also has a foul smell, like any uncooked fish or meat, regardless of how good the quality may be. A raw brother may have many natural virtues: he may be very gentle and meek; he may love the Lord, pursue the Lord, and even fervently serve the Lord. This is all good; yet, because he is still raw, uncooked, and of the natural, unresurrected life, all his virtues carry a foul, human smell rather than the fragrance of Christ. If you meet such a brother after he has been placed in difficulties for a certain length of time or has passed through serious illness, you will find that he is still gentle and meek, he still loves the Lord, pursues the Lord, and serves the Lord; yet you will sense that all these qualities are different: the raw and smelly odor has been greatly eliminated, and a sweet savor flows forth from him. If so, we must bow in worship to the Lord and say that this brother has really been educated by the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
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