The heart is the aggregate of man; therefore, if the heart has problems, all the activities of the spirit and life within us will suffer hindrance and limitation. Even though our spirit is alert and our understanding is renewed, if there are problems with our heart, we still cannot obtain the inward knowledge of God. Therefore, we must also deal with our heart that it may be soft and clean, loving God, wanting God, and obeying God.
In Matthew 11:25, the Lord says that God has hid the spiritual things from the wise and understanding and has revealed them unto babes. The “wise and understanding” are those who are self-right in their heart, self-satisfied and stubborn; therefore, they cannot see the spiritual things of God. “Babes” are those who are humble and soft in their hearts; therefore, they can receive the revelation of God. Thus, our heart must be dealt with until it is humble and soft. It is only when it is rid of its self-satisfaction and stubbornness that we can receive the inward revelation and knowledge of God.
In Matthew 5:8, the Lord says that “the pure in heart shall see God.” If our heart is not pure in that we have inclinations and desires other than God, there is within us a veil which hinders us from seeing God clearly. Yet whenever our heart turns to God, the veil is taken away (2 Cor. 3:16). Thus, we must deal with our heart. Our heart must be pure and not “doubleminded” (James 4:8); then we can receive light and revelation in the spirit, comprehend and understand in the mind, and thus know God.
In John 14:21, the Lord says that “he that loveth me...I will manifest myself unto him.” Mary of Magdalene, on the morning of resurrection, because of her keen love for the Lord, sought for Him. She received the first manifestation of the Lord to His disciples after resurrection and became the first one who knew the resurrected Christ (John 20). Brother Lawrence said that if one wants to know God, love is the only way. Our heart must love God and seek God; then we can have the manifestation of God and know Him.
In John 7:17, the Lord says: “If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know...” This reveals that our heart must want God and His will; then we can know God and know the will of God.
In Philippians 2:13, the apostle says that it is God who works in us both to will and to work. If our heart does not submit or is not willing to submit to the working of God within us, God cannot work in us; thus, we cannot receive the consciousness which His working would give us in the knowledge of Himself. Hence, our heart must be dealt with until it not only can submit to God, but is also willing to submit to God. Then we can receive the consciousness and knowledge which comes through the working of God within us.
Therefore, we must (1) exercise and use the spirit until it is strong and alert, (2) have our understanding renewed by the Spirit, and (3) deal with our heart until it is soft and pure, loving God, wanting God, and submissive to God; then we can have the inward knowledge of God.
Because God delights that man should know Him, He has given man many ways and means so that he may know Him. In Old Testament times, He manifested His doings and declared His ways to men so that they might know Him. But the knowledge man had of Him by those doings and ways was only outward, objective, shallow, and incomplete. Therefore, at the time of the New Testament, though He still uses His doings and ways to make Himself known to us, the most important and glorious thing is that He Himself as the Spirit has entered into us to be our life. This enables us to have an inward, subjective, deep, and full knowledge of Him.
When God is in us as life, He causes us to have a law of divine life within, which regulates us from within continuously, causing us to know the nature of His life. The law of this life, because it is a law, is not a person; it is fixed and unchangeable. It regulates us within unchangeably according to the nature of the life of God. The result is that it causes the manner, nature, and taste of our living to be in accord with the nature of God.
The Spirit of God dwelling in us is as the ointment, anointing and teaching us to know Himself. Since this ointment is God Himself, it is a person, and it is unlimited and flexible. This ointment in us continuously anoints into us the infinite God Himself. The result is that it causes our whole person, behavior, and conduct to be filled with the essence of God and agree with the will of God.
God, as the law of life and the anointing, begins first in our spirit and expands then to our soul that our mind might comprehend and understand. Therefore, we need to exercise the spirit that the intuition of the spirit might be alert. We also need to have our mind renewed so that the understanding of our mind can be clear. In addition, we need to deal with our heart that it might be soft and pure, loving God, wanting God, and submissive to God. In this way, as soon as the law of life and the anointing move within us, the intuition in our spirit will immediately know, the understanding of our mind will also immediately comprehend, and we can have the inward knowledge of God at any time.
For such an inward knowledge, God has also given us the teaching and principles of the Bible from without to check and prove us that we may not be mistaken or deceived. In addition, through His many servants from without, God teaches or repeats the consciousnesses we feel from within. He may teach our mind to comprehend the consciousness we have in the spirit, or He may make clear to us the deep things of God and the fundamental knowledge of the spiritual life.
Since from within and without we have so many ways and means to know God, we can “be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:9-10). When we know God in this way, we not only can fully know the will of God, but we can also grow and mature in the life of God. The more we increase in the knowledge of God, the more we will grow in the life of God until He completely occupies us. Then the essence of God will be fully wrought into us, thus fulfilling that glorious goal of God’s desire to be mingled with us as one.