The inner sense given to us by the law of life and the teaching of the anointing enables us to know God. Yet, even though this inner sense may be absolutely real and true, still it needs to be proved by the teaching and the principles of the Scripture. If the consciousness we have within is not in accord with the teaching and principles of the Scripture, we should not accept it. In this way we can guard against being deceived or going to an extreme, and we can be accurate and stable.
Whether the inner consciousness is from the law of life in our spirit or from the Holy Spirit as the anointing, it should be in accordance with the truth of the Scripture. If the consciousness we feel within us is not in accordance with the truth of the Scripture, then it must not be from the law of life or the teaching of the anointing. Though the consciousness within may be living, yet the truth in the Scripture is accurate and secure. Though the truth of the Scripture alone is only accurate and secure without being living, yet the inner sense alone can sometimes be living but not accurate; or living, but not secure. It is like a train going forward: there should not only be the power inside, but also the tracks outside. Of course, if there are only tracks outside and no power within, the train cannot move. But if there is only power inside and no tracks outside, though the train may move, it definitely will rush into calamity. Therefore, we not only need the living sense within, but also the accurate truth without. The living consciousness within is from the law of life and the teaching of the anointing; the accurate truth without rests in the teaching of the written words of the Scripture and the light of its principles.
When the children of Israel walked in the wilderness, a pillar of cloud was their guide during the day, and a pillar of fire their leading at night. Likewise, when our spiritual condition is as the broad daylight, when we are inwardly as bright as noon and our inner sense is clear and accurate, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit as typified by the pillar of cloud, then we can walk in the right path of God. But at times, our spiritual condition is like the dimness of night; within we are as dark as midnight, and our inner sense is blurred and unclear. Then we need the Scripture, typified by the pillar of fire, to be the lamp to our feet and the light for our path to lead us to walk in the upright way of God.
Therefore, if we desire to walk in the safe way of life and truth, we should check and prove every consciousness, guidance, and revelation by the teaching and principles of real power and secure strength. Only this balance will enable us to go forward without being one-sided.
Though on the one hand the Scripture says that, because we have the law of life and the teaching of the anointing within us, we can know God and do not need others to teach us, yet on the other hand there are many places in Scripture which speak of the teaching of man. For instance, such passages as 1 Corinthians 4:17; 14:19; 1 Timothy 2:7; 3:2; 2 Timothy 2:2, 24, etc., say that the apostle Paul taught men, and he wanted others also to learn how to teach men. There are three main reasons for this.
First, although the inner sense given to us by the law of life and the teaching of the anointing is sufficient to make us know God, and thus we do not need the teaching of men, yet we often do not listen and do not heed such consciousness. We are weak, especially in hearing God’s words. Sometimes we do not hear, and sometimes we are not willing to hear. Those who are sick in their minds, those who are subjective, those who insist on their own opinions, and those who intentionally close themselves often cannot hear. And those who do not love the Lord, who will not pay the price and who will not follow the Lord, are not willing to hear. Because they are not willing to hear, they naturally do not hear. Because they do not hear, they even more would not hear. Therefore, many times it is not that God does not speak, that His life does not regulate, or that His anointing does not teach, but that we do not hear. Job 33:14 says: “God speaketh once, yea twice, though man regardeth it not.” We have conditions worse than this. Even when God speaks five, ten or twenty times, we still would not listen. But, thank God, He is forgiving and longsuffering. If we do not listen to what He says within, He uses the teaching of men from without to repeat. He has already spoken within us, but because we do not hear, He teaches us from without through men to repeat what He has already said within.
Under the New Testament, much teaching follows this principle of repeating. In the Epistles, this saying, “Know ye not?” occurs frequently. This is to say that you have already heard and known, but you do not mind and hear; therefore, God uses men to teach you again. Thus, many times, whether God uses the words of the Scripture or His servant to teach us, He does not do it to replace His teaching within us, but to repeat what He has already taught us within. Though the outward guidance and the inward teaching are of mutual help to each other, yet the outward cannot take the place of the inward. It is only a repetition of the inward.
Thus, today when we help others in spiritual matters, we should not give them the ten commandments in order to teach them to act in this way or in that in an objective way. We can only explain what God has ordained in principle, thus bearing witness to the words that God speaks from within and repeating what God has already taught them from within. We should not objectively teach men in this way or in that way in detail. This is what the prophets of the Old Testament did. In the New Testament, there are only the prophets for the church, explaining what God has ordained in principle. There is no prophet for individuals, deciding on matters in detail. The settlement of details is what God, by the law of life and the teaching of the anointing, makes known to every man from within. This is the principle of the New Testament. Thus, though we should be humble to receive teaching from others, yet it must be what the law of life within us has regulated or the anointing has already taught that governs us. Otherwise, it will not be in accord with the New Testament principle.
The second reason for the teaching of man in the New Testament is that, though the law of life and the anointing can cause us to know God, yet the consciousness and teaching they give to us are all in our spirit. If we do not receive adequate teaching from without, it is difficult for our mind to comprehend the consciousness and teaching given in our spirit by the law of life and the anointing. In order for our mind to comprehend the consciousness and teaching given to us by the law of life and the anointing from within, we need men to teach us the way of God from without. The more we receive such outward teaching, the more our mind comprehends the consciousness and teaching from the law of life and the anointing within. And the more we receive such outward teaching, the more it will help our spirit to grow, thereby giving the law of life and the anointing even more ground and opportunity to manifest their functions and give us a deeper sense and teaching. Therefore, though the law of life and the anointing do give us consciousness and teaching from within, we still need the teaching of men from without. However, this teaching from without cannot and should not take the place of the consciousness and teaching of the law of life and the anointing from within. It is only to help us comprehend this inner sense and teaching and to give opportunity to the law of life and the anointing to give us a deeper sense and teaching. The teaching of men from without always should have an “amen” or “echo” from the consciousness and teaching from within given by the law of life and the anointing. Then it is in accord with the principle of the New Testament. The teaching and guidance from within and without are not to substitute for each other, but to have a mutual response.
Third, although the law of life and the teaching of the anointing can cause us to know God in all things, yet concerning the truth of the deep things of God and the fundamental knowledge of the spiritual life, we often still need others who have the ministry of words in God’s revelation to teach us that we may understand. We need the subjective knowledge which comes from the anointing and the law of life within, yet often without the objective teaching of others, we cannot obtain the subjective knowledge from within. Of course, under the New Testament, the outward, objective teaching cannot take the place of the inward subjective knowledge; but often the inward, subjective knowledge is attained because of the outward, objective teaching.
For the above three reasons, God often raises up those who have spiritual knowledge and experience before God and arranges for them to teach and guide us. Let us hope that on one hand we may reverence what God teaches us from within through the law of life and the anointing, and that on the other hand we would not ignore the teaching God gives to us through men from without. We should not refuse the teaching of men from without simply because we have the law of life and the teaching of the anointing within. We do thank God for giving us the law of life and the teaching of the anointing, but we still should humble and empty ourselves to receive the teaching and guidance God gives to us through men. Let us remember that under the New Testament, God not only gives us the law of life and the anointing to teach us from within, but He also gives those who can teach and guide us from without.