Now I would ask you, “Do you love the Lord?” I believe that like Peter many of the brothers and sisters would say to the Lord, “Lord, You know that I love You.” In every believer there is a heart to love the Lord. How do you know that you have believed into the Lord Jesus and that God has accepted you? How do you know that the Lord lives in you? How do you know that you are one with the Lord? We do not know these things by touching the Lord outwardly. We often hear the saints say, “Once I believed into the Lord, I touched the Lord. Once I believed into the Lord, I gained the Lord. Since I believed into the Lord, the Lord has been with me. Since I believed into the Lord, the Lord has never left me.” As a result of hearing such statements and understanding them according to their human intellect, some expect to be able to touch the Lord Jesus outwardly. This, however, is the human understanding, the human concept. The Lord Jesus is the life-giving Spirit. He is a mystery.
The Spirit is a mystery, but there are several matters that illustrate the Spirit. One such matter is electricity. Electricity is very practical and is an essential part of modern living, but we cannot see it or touch it. Another mystery is our physical life. No one has ever been able to thoroughly define life. Because we have life within us, we are able to speak and move. However, once a person dies, although all of his inward parts are still within him, he is no longer able to function. Death is the cessation of the function of life. When someone dies, where does his life go? It is difficult to say. Life is a mystery. Therefore, the Bible reveals that our Lord is life to us. He is our life—He is real, practical, and almighty, yet we cannot touch Him. Although life cannot be touched, its presence is discernible. If I am standing before you, do I need to tell you that I have life? I do not, because when you see me standing before you, you know that I am living. Likewise, how do you know that you have believed into Jesus and are saved, and how do you know that Jesus is in you? You know because you have been enlivened within. There is something within you that you cannot remove. I was saved at a young age. After I had been saved, whenever I heard someone say something negative about Jesus, I would become very unhappy. Later I understood that this was proof that the Lord Jesus had come into me.
Outwardly you may not appear to love the Lord very much, yet deep within you, there is a feeling that the Lord is sweet and that you like Him. Perhaps you may not yet know how to love the Lord and, according to your inner feeling, you do not feel that you love Him. Nevertheless, there is still a sense hidden deep within you that Jesus is good, and every time you think about Jesus, you feel that He is good and that you like Him. If this is your sense within, this is proof that you are saved.
You may say, “Brother Lee, do not try to fool me. If I am saved as you say, why is it that I still like to play mah-jongg and go to the Chinese opera? Surely, I am not saved.” In response I would say that while I do not encourage you to do these things, I am not concerned about them. I only ask you whether or not you have the inner sense that Jesus is good. When Jesus is mentioned, do you have the inner feeling that you like Him? Do you sense that Jesus is lovable? It may even be that while you are playing mah-jongg, while your fingers are on the tiles, a thought arises within you—“Jesus is good.” It may also be that while you are at the Chinese opera, while the stage is filled with exciting things, the statement arises within—“Jesus is truly good.” Moreover, regardless of how hard you try to get rid of this sense, you are not able to do so. The fact that you have this feeling within that Jesus is good proves that you are saved.
I hope that the sense that Jesus is good is growing within you every day. You do not need to determine to give up mah-jongg or the Chinese opera. All that you need to do is to daily say, “Jesus is good; Jesus is really good! Although I am here playing mah-jongg, Jesus is better than mah-jongg. Jesus is truly good!” If you say this more and more every day, by the time that you have said this hundreds of times, you will no longer play mah-jongg or go to the opera. You will give up these things, because Jesus is good, and Jesus is so lovable.
Dear brothers and sisters, please do not think that it is superstitious to say this. I began hearing sermons in Christianity when I was very young, and although I have heard many of them, no one ever clearly told me that we should confess, “Jesus is good! Jesus is so good! O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! Lord, You are so good!” Then one day when I was compiling the hymnal, I found a hymn that says, “O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord! / Forgive me if I say, / For very love, Thy sacred name / A thousand times a day” (Hymns, #208). These lines deeply touched me. I said to the Lord, “O Lord, I am truly sorry. I have been saved for so many years, but I have never said Your name a thousand times in one day.”
Some say that calling “O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!” is almost the same as the Buddhists’ chanting “Amitabha.” However, the real situation is that the more the Buddhist priests and nuns chant “Amitabha,” the more their faces become downcast, the more their foreheads grow wrinkled, and the more their countenances become sorrowful. Even the rooms that the Buddhist priests and nuns live in are dark and gloomy. When they walk into them, they cannot see anything. Calling upon the name of the Lord is completely different from the chanting of the Buddhists. When you say “O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! You are so good!” from morning to night, your sad face turns into a smiling face, your downcast face becomes an uplifted face, your furrowed brow loosens up, your wrinkles diminish, and even your bedroom is filled with warmth. How amazing this is! Why is there such a contrast between calling on the Lord and chanting? It is because when the Buddhists call “Amitabha,” demons come. The more they say “Amitabha,” the more demons there are, and demons are gloomy. However, when we say, “O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! You are so lovable!” the Lord Jesus comes, and the more we say this, the more He comes. The Lord Jesus is the reality of every positive thing in this universe. Thus, when He comes, we have everything.
Everyone who has seen a diamond loves it because diamonds are lovable. However, if you bring me a handful of dirt, how do you expect me to love it? I may be genuinely willing to love it, but I cannot love it because it is not lovable. We love the Lord Jesus not because we know how, but because He is truly lovable. This is the reason that millions of people treasure the name of Jesus. Whenever the name of Jesus is mentioned, there is a feeling of sweetness and love within them. We may think that only little children call upon the Lord, but even I, an elderly man who is over seventy years old, call out “I love the Lord Jesus” every day. Our Lord Jesus is so wonderful.