Ezekiel 36:25-27 speaks of at least five things: (1) we have been cleansed with clean water; (2) we have been given a new heart; (3) we have a new spirit within us; (4) our stony heart has been removed, and we have been given a heart of flesh; and (5) God’s Spirit has been put within us. The result of putting these five things together is that we might walk in God’s statutes and keep His ordinances. We have already pointed out that God has given us a new heart with a new spirit and that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Now we shall give attention to the matter of how God removes our stony heart and gives us a heart of flesh. We must realize that when we speak of a stony heart and a fleshly heart, it does not mean that we have two hearts. We have only one heart. A stony heart refers to the hardness of the heart, while the fleshly heart refers to the softness of the heart; but the heart is still one. When we were saved, God gave us a fleshly heart, but our stony heart was still there. We could say that on one hand we had a fleshly heart, while on the other hand we had a stony heart. The removal of the stony heart is not something which occurs all at once, but is a gradual softening. To what extent God’s life can grow in us depends completely upon how much our heart is softened. Our stony heart must be gradually transformed into a fleshly heart so that God’s life can move out with no hindrance.
Among God’s children, many have had the following experience: first they were saved and their hardened heart became softened, but not completely softened. At the time of their salvation their heart was softened perhaps seventy percent, but after a while their heart becomes hardened again. It seems as if they have gone back to their former condition. Moreover, this hardening of the heart seems worse than before. Perhaps the heart is caught by certain things, touched by a certain person, entangled by some object, or attracted by a certain job. These things begin to drag the man down. They are all problems of the heart. Whether the life can grow and spread in us depends completely upon whether our heart is transformed. It depends upon whether our heart is soft or hard. If our heart is caught by things other than God, whether it is some thing, some person, or some matter, it will always hinder the moving of life. Therefore, God wants to transform our heart. He will continue to transform us until our heart is completely changed into a fleshly heart. Then God’s Spirit will cause the life in us to move out in a strong way.
When God’s life desires to move out within us, He always touches our heart first, causing our stony heart to be softened. Some people are touched by God’s love, others by His disciplining. When the children of Israel turned away from God, He smote them and they turned back to Him. Another example is that of a sister who was captured by her child, overly treasuring it. God spoke once, but she would not listen. God spoke twice and three times, but still she would not listen. Then God took the child away. At that time her heart was turned to God. Another brother was ensnared by his business. God spoke once, twice, five times, ten times, but he would not listen. Then God caused his business to fall apart. At that point he was turned to God. Some who have served God have been caught by the work—being busy from morning till night. It is true that the work is something spiritual, but it can capture the heart and take the place of God. To a certain one in such a situation God spoke once, but he would not listen. God spoke ten times, and still he would not listen. God struck him and he fell; his heart became enlightened, and thus he turned to God. Some brothers and sisters have their special practice, their special merit, or their special righteousness. But their practice, merit, or righteousness becomes their boast, the yardstick by which they measure others. These things crowd their heart. God speaks to them once, twice, ten times, twenty times—but they do not listen. Then God’s hand comes upon them. At that time they become enlightened and prostrate themselves before God. Their hearts are completely turned to God. By such a work God is transforming a stony heart into a fleshly heart so that His life can move without any hindrance. If your heart has been touched by God, you will spontaneously say, “O God, I consecrate myself to You. I want You to turn my heart wholly toward You.” When you offer yourself in such a way and allow God to do the work, He will move in you, and when He moves you will see something, hear something, and feel something. If you are willing to obey God, His life will move out into your conscience, into your mind, into your will, and into your emotions. In this manner, God’s life will continue to move in you without ceasing.
The law of life should be continually moving out. God wants to move out through the different inward parts of our being, but many times when the law of life moves it runs into a hard wall and cannot get through. There is a hindrance to the moving. Therefore, in order for the life to move and get through, we need to fulfill two conditions.
The first condition is to obey the first sense of life. Unless a man is not regenerated, he will have some sense of life. A Christian who was a medical doctor asked a preacher the following question: “Both the beginning and the growth of our spiritual life start with hunger and thirst. However, many people do not feel hungry or thirsty. When that is the case, how can we cause them to become hungry and thirsty?” The reply was: “You are a medical doctor. You know that a man has life. Unless a man is dead, he will have some appetite. Then how do you increase his appetite? You prescribe something for him to increase his appetite. As he takes medicine, his appetite increases little by little. You continue this until his appetite is restored to normal. Therefore, whenever we have a little sense, we should obey this sense. When we obey this sense, our hunger and thirst increase slightly. When we obey more, the hunger and thirst increases again and our sense becomes stronger. Then we obey a little more. The more we obey, the stronger the sense will be. By taking this way we become alive from within.” The Lord’s life moves within us in the same way. It moves into our emotion, causing us to turn to God; it moves into our mind, causing us to turn to God; then it moves into our will, causing us to turn to God. By such continuous moving and turning, the life within us will be increased, deepened, and caused to grow. Therefore, we need to begin by obeying the least sense. Whenever there is a sense, we should obey.
Some will ask, “After obeying, what is next?” The answer is that before you obey the first sense you need not worry about the next step. According to the Scriptures, God never gives a man two senses at the same time. Abraham is an example. When he went out, he did not know where he was going (Heb. 11:8). He only knew that God wanted him to leave his home, his land, and his kindred and go into a place which God would show him (Acts 7:3). His first sense was to leave Ur of the Chaldees. The leading of life will never cause you to be independent, but always dependent. Abraham’s experience was this: “I will take this first step. The next step I do not know.” But as he walked step by step, he was fully dependent upon the Lord. God not only gave Abraham faith, but also wrought His life and nature into Abraham. Therefore, after obeying in the first step, you still need to continue to look to God, committing the second step to God through fellowship. By going on in this way, step by step, God will give you guidance.
When by God’s grace we learn to follow Him from within, there will be feelings in us. When we go on in this way step by step and make a move which is beyond God, a move which does not match the life within us, we will immediately sense the forbidding of the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6). This is very precious. Immediately, you will sense that the Spirit of Jesus suffers you not (Acts 16:7). If you obey the inner guidance again and again, either to do or to stop, you will grow in life. We repeat that we need to obey the first sense of life; even the least sense needs to be obeyed, for obeying is an important condition in allowing the life to move.