The heart is the entrance and exit of life: the coming in of life and the going out of life both depend on the heart. Moreover, the heart is also the switch of life. If the heart is shut, life can neither enter in nor be regulated out. Once the heart is open, however, life can enter in and also be freely regulated out. Whichever part of the heart is closed, the life of God cannot regulate to that part; whichever part of the heart is open, the life of God can regulate to that part. Thus, the heart is really the switch of life. Though life has great power, yet its great power is controlled by our small heart. Whether life can be worked out depends entirely on whether our heart is open. It is like the electric power of a generating plant, which, though powerful, is controlled by the small switch for the light in our room; if the switch is not turned on, electricity cannot enter.
This does not mean, of course, that as long as we have a proper heart it is sufficient. The heart can only cause us to love God and be inclined toward God; it cannot make us touch God and have fellowship with God. It is the spirit that causes us to touch God and have fellowship with God. This is why many brothers and sisters, though they love the Lord very much, cannot touch God in prayer. They have a heart, but they do not use the spirit. Many revivalists fail in their work for the same reason. They only move man’s emotion, stir man’s will, and make men love God and be desirous of God; they do not guide men to exercise their spirit to fellowship with God.
It is true that in order to understand spiritual things we need to use the mind of the heart, yet we must first use the spirit to contact these things, for the spirit is the organ to contact the spiritual world. We must first contact all spiritual things by the spirit, then comprehend and understand them with the mind of the heart. It is like hearing sound: it is first contacted with the ear and then comprehended by the mind. It is also like beholding a certain color: it must first be contacted with the eyes and then distinguished with the mind. Therefore, when we preach the Gospel to men, if our spirit is weak, we only use words to cause people to comprehend and understand with their mind; later we may lead them to touch the Spirit. When our spirit is strong, however, we send God’s salvation directly into men’s spirit by the words of the Gospel. As soon as men hear the Gospel, they touch the spirit and are saved. After that we gradually lead their mind to comprehend and understand.
Though the main function in contacting God and spiritual things is the exercise of the spirit, yet if man’s heart is indifferent, the spirit is then imprisoned within and is unable to show forth its capability. Even if God wants to fellowship and commune with him, it is impossible. Therefore, in order to contact God and spiritual things, we need to use the spirit, and we also need to have the heart so inclined. The spirit is the organ to contact the life of God, and the heart is the key, the switch, the strategic point which allows the life of God to pass through.
Since the heart is the entrance and exit of life and the switch of life as well, it has great influence on life; its slightest problem can fully hinder the working of life. Whichever part of the heart has a problem, life is obstructed and brought to a standstill there, and the law of life cannot regulate any more.
The life of God within us should be able to freely work and grow, causing us to receive daily revelation and frequent light. This is normal and is also fitting. But actually this is often not the case. There are many brothers and sisters whose spiritual life does not grow and whose spiritual living is not normal. It is not because the life of God in them is unreal; neither is it because there is any problem with the life of God within them; it is their heart which has trouble. Their heart is not turned sufficiently toward God, it does not love the Lord enough, it does not seek the Lord enough, it is not clean enough, and it is not sufficiently open. This reveals some trouble or problem with the heart. Either there is some problem with the conscience, which has the sense of condemnation but is not dealt with, or there is a problem with the mind concerning some care, worry, evil thought, argument, or doubt, etc. Either there is a problem with the will being stubborn and stiff-necked, or there is a problem with the emotion having fleshly desires and natural inclination. All these matters in the heart become a hindrance to the working of the life within us, making it impossible for the law of life to regulate. Therefore, if we desire to grow in life, we need first to deal with the heart, and then to exercise the spirit. If the heart is not dealt with, there is no point in mentioning the spirit. The problem of many brothers and sisters is not with the spirit but with the heart. If the heart is not right, then life in the spirit is hindered, and the law of life cannot work freely. If we desire to seek after life and walk in the path of life, we must have no problem in the heart; then the law of life can work freely and move without obstruction, thereby reaching every part of our whole being.
Since the heart is so vitally related to life, God has no other alternative but to deal with our heart that His life might be regulated out from us. Toward God, our heart has four great problems: hardness, impurity, unlovingness, and unpeacefulness. Hardness is a matter of the will, impurity is a matter not only of the mind but also of the emotion, unlovingness is a matter of the emotion, and unpeacefulness is a matter of the conscience. When God deals with our heart, He deals with these four aspects so that our heart may be soft, pure, loving, and at peace.
Firstly, God wants our heart to be soft. To be soft means that the will of the heart toward God is submissive and yielding, not stiff-necked and rebellious. When God deals with our heart so that our heart is soft, He takes away the stony heart out of our flesh and gives us a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26). This means that He softens our hard, stony heart so that it becomes a soft heart of flesh.
When we are newly saved, the heart is always softened. But after a certain time, the heart of some turns back and becomes hard again. Not being submissive to the Lord and not even fearing the Lord, they gradually fall away from the Lord’s presence. Whenever our heart is hardened, we have a problem before God. If we desire the condition of our spiritual living before God to be right, our heart must not be hardened; on the contrary, it must be continually softened. Indeed we should not be fearful of this thing and that thing, but we ought to be fearful of offending God. Fear not heaven, and fear not earth; only fear to offend God. Our heart must be dealt with until it is soft to this extent; then it is all right. It is indeed sad that many brothers and sisters are soft in many things; yet as soon as God and the will of God are mentioned, they become very hard. They would even say: “I am just this way; let us see what God will do about it.” This is dreadful! There are also brothers and sisters who are hard toward everything; yet when God and the will of God are mentioned, they become soft. Such people have soft hearts. We should ask God to make our heart soft like this.
How does God make our heart soft? How does He soften our heart? Sometimes He uses His love to move us, and sometimes He uses chastisement to strike us. God often uses His love first to move us; if love cannot move us, He uses His hand through the environment to strike us until our heart is softened. Once our heart is softened, His life can work within us.
Secondly, God wants our heart to be pure. A pure heart means a heart that sets its mind specifically on God. It is also a heart in which the emotion is exceedingly pure and simple toward God. (See 2 Cor. 11:3.) It only loves God and wants God; besides God, it has no other love, inclination, or desire. Matthew 5:8 says: “the pure in heart...shall see God.” Thus, if the heart is not pure, we cannot see God. If our thought is a little concerned with things outside of God, or if our emotion has a little love toward things outside of God, our heart is no longer pure; the life in our spirit is also hindered because of this. Therefore, we must pursue “with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22), and be those who love the Lord and want God with a pure heart; then we can let the life of God work freely within us.
Thirdly, God wants our heart to be loving. A loving heart means a heart in which the emotion loves God, wants God, thirsts after God, yearns for God, and has affection toward God. In the Bible, there is a book which speaks specifically of the love of the saints toward the Lord—The Song of Songs in the Old Testament. It says there that as the Lord’s people we should love the Lord as a woman loves her beloved. This love is so deep and unchanging, and is stronger than death (8:6-7). Because this book speaks especially of our love toward the Lord, it also shows forth especially our growth in the life of the Lord. Then in the New Testament, in John chapter twenty-one, the Lord asked Peter three times: “Lovest thou me?” This means that the Lord desired to lead the emotion of Peter to so love the Lord that he could be one who has a loving heart toward the Lord. The Lord did this because He wanted Peter to afford His life an opportunity to work and grow within him. This event is recorded in the Gospel of John, a book which speaks of how we may receive the Lord as life and how to live in this life. If our heart has such love toward the Lord, the life of the Lord within us can move smoothly and do as it pleases.
Fourthly, God wants our heart to be at peace. A heart at peace means a heart in which the conscience has no offense (Acts 24:16), no condemnation or reproach; it is safe and secure. The conscience within us represents God to govern us. If our conscience condemns us, God is greater than our conscience and knows all things (1 John 3:20); He would even condemn us more. Thus, we must deal clearly with all the offenses, condemnation and reproach; so we “shall assure our heart before him” (1 John 3:19). When our heart is thus at peace, God can pass through, and the law of the life of God can continue to work within us.
If our heart is soft, pure, loving and at peace, it is then upright. Only such an upright heart is a suitable counterpart to the law of life. It can allow the life of God to be freely regulated out from within us. How often toward God our heart seems to carry a sign: “Not a through street”; thus, we make it impossible for God to pass through; we cause the life of God to become obstructed and come to a standstill, so that it is unable to work and expand freely from within us to without.
Though these words are not of great eloquence and wisdom, yet they should make us carefully examine, as in a physical examination, all the conditions of our heart. We must ask ourselves, Does the will of our heart really choose God? Is it submissive and surrendered before God? Or is it stiff-necked and rebellious? We also should ask, Is the mind of our heart pure before God? Or is it crooked? Our thoughts, our cares—are they purely for God Himself? Or is there outside of God a person, a matter, or a thing which we are deeply concerned for and which has occupied our heart? Then we need to ask, Is the emotion of our heart single toward God? Does it love God and want God wholly? Or does it have some other love, some other inclination, some other attachment outside of God? We also should ask, How is our conscience before God? Is it without offense? Is it assured? Or does it have condemnation and reproach? We should carefully examine all these items and deal with them carefully, so that our heart may become a soft heart, a pure heart, a loving heart, and a peaceful heart—in other words, an upright heart. If so, the life in our spirit will definitely have a way out, and the law of life can definitely be regulated out from within us.
Thus, in whatever part our heart has been dealt with, there the life of God can work, and there the law of the life of God can also regulate. When all parts of our heart are examined and dealt with, the law of the life of God can then regulate out from our spirit through our heart to every part of our whole being. Hence, every part of our whole being can manifest the capability of this law of life and be filled with the element of the life of God, thereby reaching the glorious end of the unity of God and man.