No doubt some one will raise the question, Why then do the Scriptures speak in many places of teaching? For instance, Paul said, “For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who shall put you in remembrance of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4:17). He also said, “Howbeit in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might instruct others also” (1 Cor. 14:19). Many other places also speak of teaching such as Colossians 1:28; 2:22; 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:7; 3:2; 4:11, 13; 5:17; 2 Tim. 2:2, 24; 3:16. How are such passages to be explained? In order to answer this question we must start from our experience and then see what the Scriptures say.
The Lord’s anointing truly is teaching us inwardly. The difficulty is that we cannot hear. Brothers and sisters, we must realize how weak we are. We are so weak that even though God has spoken once, twice, five times, ten times, or even twenty times, we still have not heard. Sometimes we hear but we pretend that we do not. We understand, yet pretend that we have not understood. Our greatest weakness before God is in the matter of hearing. The Lord said, “He who has an ear, let him hear” (Rev. 2:7a). In each of the seven epistles in Revelation it is repeated, “He who has an ear, let him hear.” The Scriptures consider hearing to be a very important matter.
When the disciples asked the Lord Jesus why, in speaking to people, He used parables He answered, “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, neither do they understand” (Matt. 13:13). The Lord Jesus also quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 by saying, “Hearing you shall hear and shall by no means understand, and seeing you shall see and by no means perceive; for the heart of this people has grown fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should perceive with the eyes and hear with the ears and understand with the heart and turn around, and I will heal them” (Matt. 13:14-15). These verses show us that the problem is not that there is no teaching within or that there is not the speaking within, but that man purposely would not hear.
Therefore, many times the problem is not that God has not spoken or that man does not have the speaking within, but that man refuses to hear. God has spoken once, twice, five times, or even ten times, yet we still would not hear. Because we would not hear, we could not hear. Because we do not hear, we simply give up hearing. Job 33:14 says, “For God speaketh once, yea twice, though man regardeth it not.” This is the very situation of some of God’s children.
Those who have problems in the mind, who are subjective, who are stubborn in their own ways, and who are conservative, are people who do not easily hear. Therefore, whenever we do not hear God’s voice and do not have the teaching of the anointing, we need to realize that something must be wrong with us. We must have some problem. The difficulty is never on God’s side, it is always on our side. But praise Him, He is patient and continues to speak to man. Job 33:15-16 says, “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction.” If we do not hear Him, He will still use visions and dreams to instruct us. Therefore, it is not that God has said nothing; God has spoken a great deal. The difficulty is that man is very short in hearing.
When we read the Epistles in the New Testament, we realize that many teachings are repetitions. They were repeated because of some difficulties in the church. In the Epistles of the New Testament we often find the phrase, “Know ye not?” Such a phrase appears in Romans 6:3, 16; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 5:6; 6:2-3, 9, 15-16, 19; and James 4:4. “Know ye not” means that though we had heard something and we had known something inside, we had ignored it. We had simply let it go. Therefore, through the Scriptures God says, “Know ye not?” The Scriptures do not speak in place of the anointing within, but simply repeat what the anointing has already said. Because we are spiritually sick and abnormal, and because we have neglected the inner teaching, the Lord through His servant uses the words of the Scriptures, repeating outwardly what the anointing has spoken inwardly. The Lord’s anointing has taught us inwardly, so we must start listening from within. We must see that the inward teaching and the outward teaching are mutually helpful. The outward teaching, however, must not replace that which is inward. The inward speaking is living and of life. This is the characteristic of the new covenant. Everyone who belongs to God must pay attention to this matter.
Here we must say a few words by way of reminder to the brothers and sisters. When we help others we should never give them the “Ten Commandments.” Neither should we subjectively teach them to do this or to refrain from that. We should not speak of God’s will to individuals as the prophets in the Old Testament did. The reason for this is that in the New Testament the prophets are only for the church and not for individuals. A prophet in the New Testament time can only point out God’s ordained will in principle. He should not point out God’s will for an individual. All of us who belong to God must learn to receive the teaching of the anointing within, otherwise it is not the new covenant. We can only confirm what God has already spoken in man. All we can do is repeat what God has already taught within. To go further is to go beyond the new covenant. On the other hand we should humbly receive the teaching of those who teach us in the Lord. However, the teaching which we receive must also be the teaching of the anointing within us. Otherwise, it is not the new covenant. We must remember that the letter kills; only the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6).