This leads us to an important question which needs our attention. What is the work of the Holy Spirit within man? What do we know about His engraving work in man? We must realize that the Spirit of God not only resides in man but is doing an engraving and constituting work in man. This constituting work of the Holy Spirit is something that can never be erased. The Holy Spirit is in man and is one with man. Now He is engraving something into man. We should never consider that the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is like a guest taking hospitality in someone else’s house, residing for ten or twenty years and then leaving everything in the same condition when he leaves. No. The Holy Spirit does an engraving, building, and constituting work in man. Little by little the Holy Spirit constitutes the Lord’s character in man. Even a house takes on the characteristics of its occupants after a while. The enduement of gifts upon a person may not produce any change in the person, but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will surely manifest heavenly character traits when the Spirit bears fruit in man. The very fruit of the Spirit is the changes that are produced in a man’s character. God reconstitutes man’s character through the work of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit operates in man’s mind, He changes man’s mind. When the Spirit operates in man’s feelings, He changes man’s feelings. When the Spirit operates in man’s opinions and judgments, He changes man’s opinions and judgments. The Holy Spirit works and constitutes something in man. The result of this work is a change in man’s character.
Paul did not serve as a minister of God’s word merely because he afforded the Spirit the freedom to speak through him. The Spirit actually took up his very character. The fruit of the Spirit in the Divine Trinity is the very product produced in man’s character. The Spirit operates in man, a little today and a little more tomorrow, engraving and trimming more and more each day, until a certain character emerges. This character is distinctly man’s, yet at the same time, it is distinctly a work of the Spirit. The character fully belongs to man, yet at the same time, it is fully begotten of the Holy Spirit; it is the result of the Spirit’s work in man. When the Spirit builds up something in man, there is a transforming change in man from glory to glory.
We must realize that transformation is a basic truth as well as a fundamental experience in the Bible. Philippians 3 speaks of one kind of fundamental experience, and 2 Corinthians 3 speaks of another kind of fundamental experience. We readily admit that our flesh will never change. But at the same time, we believe that the Lord will transform us; He will create a new character in us. The Spirit of the Lord does not reside in us like a man residing in a house; He is in us as our life. It is unthinkable that the Lord could dwell in a man, being his life for ten or twenty years, yet the man would remain unchanged. When the Lord’s Spirit abides in us and becomes our life, our mind, feelings, judgments, and opinions all have to change. Our heart and spirit have to change. Formerly there was nothing within us except the flesh. Now the cross has dealt with the flesh and overcome it. There is a new constitution and new fruit in our feelings, thoughts, and judgments, as well as in our heart and spirit. What then is the constitution of the Spirit? It is what results from God’s building and constituting work within man. This will never go away. We should realize that the Lord’s work within man is always solid, firm, and unchanging.
Paul received mercy from the Lord again and again. The Lord continued to work in him until he became a faithful one. His faithfulness refers to his attitude towards his ministry. He admitted that he did not have the Lord’s commandment, yet he told the Corinthians his opinion. His opinion was the result of the constitution of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s words were no ordinary inspiration; they were the issue of an inward constitution by God. In the end, these words of constitution became words of inspiration. This is amazing! When a man is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he is conscious of God’s word. When a man speaks under the constitution of the Holy Spirit, he may not have the consciousness that God is speaking. He may feel that he is speaking and expressing his own opinion. But because the constitution of the Holy Spirit has been wrought into him, his words become the words of the Holy Spirit. This is the reason that Paul said, “I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” We need the constitution of the Holy Spirit. We need the Spirit’s engraving work upon us. We need Him to work on us to the extent that our opinions, words, thoughts, and feelings no longer contradict God’s word. When this happens, we are qualified to be a minister of God’s word.
The character which the Holy Spirit constitutes within man is different from person to person. Paul’s preaching carried his distinctive features. Peter’s message carried his distinctive flavor. His Epistles are very different in style from Paul’s Epistles. John’s writings are also different from others’ writings. Everyone has his own style. The styles are personal. Yet it is an amazing fact that the Spirit would take up the style of those who have been constituted by Him. If the sixty-six books of the Bible were all one style, the Bible would be very dull indeed. God’s glory is manifested in man’s various styles. This can only happen when there is the constitution of the Holy Spirit. A word may be uttered in different ways, but it remains the word of the Holy Spirit. When a man submits to the discipline of the Holy Spirit, he is given the freedom to express his characteristics. No two items in God’s creation are identical. Every blade of grass is different. Every tree is different. No two faces are identical. The glory of one star is different from the glory of another star. In the same way, the constitution of the Holy Spirit is different in different people. Paul was full of the love of the Spirit, and so was John. But those who have been taught by God know that the Spirit’s love as manifested in Paul was different from that which was manifested in John. They each expressed the love of the Holy Spirit, but in a different way. God does not need uniformity. Everyone has his own characteristics, and the constitution of the Holy Spirit is different in everyone.
Brothers, do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that we can all follow the example of 1 Corinthians 7. In the whole Bible, only 1 Corinthians 7 presents such a noble example. If the Lord has no leading for us to speak in this way, however, it is a gross error for us to speak this way. First Corinthians 7 shows us the kind of person Paul was. This helps us to understand the books of Ephesians, Colossians, Romans, and Galatians. First Corinthians 7 reveals the person of Paul; it shows us the person who wrote Ephesians, Galatians, etc. We know that the book of Colossians is very high, but 1 Corinthians 7 tells us about the person who wrote Colossians. Romans contains a clear exposition of the gospel, but 1 Corinthians 7 tells us about the person who wrote Romans. This is what makes 1 Corinthians 7 precious.
In this chapter we clearly see a man whose feelings, thoughts, opinions, and words were worthy of God’s trust. When God’s word was put into him, this word became the highest revelation; it did not suffer any corruption. If we did not have 1 Corinthians 7, we could only know what the Holy Spirit had done through Paul; we would not know what the Holy Spirit had done in Paul. First Corinthians 7 shows us a man whose feelings, thoughts, and words are all trustworthy. When God’s word came upon this man, there was no frustration to the word, just as there was no frustration during those times when God’s word was not active in such a person. If we are not trustworthy, we become a frustration even when we have God’s word. The Lord cannot commit His revelation and light to some because they are not trustworthy. He cannot acknowledge them as ministers of the word because their thoughts, feelings, opinions, and words are not trustworthy.
Brothers, some of Paul’s Epistles, like Romans, Galatians, and Colossians, show us high revelations. His Epistle to the Ephesians even shows us the highest revelation. Yet in the two Epistles to the Corinthians, we find the kind of person to whom God would commit His revelation. Paul was qualified to receive these revelations because of the kind of person he was. If we only had his other Epistles, without having 1 Corinthians 7, we would not know the kind of person Paul was. He was a faithful and trustworthy person. That is the reason that God’s revelation did not suffer any corruption in him. In fact, there was so much glory in his constitution that his style was adopted to perfect God’s word. Paul’s personality and idiomatic expressions all contributed to God’s word; they made the latter more glorious and rich. What a glory that man can be used by God and that his human elements can be used by Him without compromising the perfection of God’s word, but instead enhancing its glory, riches, and perfection!
May God be merciful to us so that He can use us and release His word through us. No need is greater today than the need for the word. May all the brothers see that there is a pathway that must be followed in order to be a minister of God’s word. We have to beseech God to grant us much light, word, and inner dealings. We need deep and profound dealings. We need to be molded deeply, inwardly, and thoroughly. Even our most delicate feelings have to be faithful to God. When these feelings are expressed, they will be regarded as the Lord’s very own feelings. When our inclinations are expressed, they will be regarded as the result of the work of the Holy Spirit. Our own love and patience will flow out, yet this love and patience will be the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This fruit will be the result of the frequent, deep, and thorough work of the Holy Spirit in us. Through His operation in us we can bear this fruit. When we are constituted with the Holy Spirit, fruit is expressed in a spontaneous way. Brothers, as the Holy Spirit performs His work in us and as we are being reconstituted by the Spirit, our feelings spontaneously become the Spirit’s feelings, our thoughts become His thoughts, and our opinions become His opinions. When this happens, God will commit His word to us and allow us to transmit it to others. Others will acknowledge it as God’s word, and God will receive the greatest glory.
The fundamental question today is whether or not God can commit Himself to us. We have to see that the problem is not with His word but with the ministers. Without the ministers, there is no word of God. Today God is still speaking just as He did in earlier days. He has no intention of annulling the prophetic ministry in the church. Neither does He have the intention of removing the teaching ministry or the evangelistic ministry from the church. The biggest problem today is the scarcity of ministers. Whether or not there is ministry in the church and whether or not this ministry can be multiplied depend on us; the responsibility is on our shoulders. May we awake to the fact that the poverty and darkness of the church are related to us. May we pledge to the Lord solemnly, “Lord! I am willing to be broken. Break me so that Your word can get through in me.” May the Lord be gracious to us.