Nevertheless, while we need to touch and contact the Bible with the spirit, it is also necessary to have the understanding in the mind. We must realize that the reason we want the mind to understand the Bible is so that our spirit can contact and touch its words. One thing is sure: it is difficult for our spirit to touch the words in the Bible without the words first passing through the understanding of the mind. This is true with the words in the Bible; it is also true with the word that is preached. Even the words in this chapter cannot touch your spirit without first passing through the understanding of the mind. Suppose I am here preaching in Chinese, and there is one sitting here who cannot understand Chinese. Nothing will get into this person’s mind. How can his spirit be touched? The truth must be grasped by the mind first before it will reach the spirit and touch the person. If there is a person here who is illiterate, and he opens up the Bible to read it, how can his spirit be touched? For his spirit to be touched by the Bible, he must put in some effort to first learn to read with his mind. He must at least be able to identify the words in the Bible before he can read it and be touched by it in his spirit. If we do not understand the words in the Bible, even if we pray for three hours with much inspiration, it will still be impossible for us to understand or be touched when we read the Bible, because its words cannot get through our mind. We must spend much time to learn the language with our mind before we can come to read the Bible. Only then will the words be able to get through our mind to touch our spirit.

Furthermore, the Bible itself is not that simple. One may know every word in the Bible but still not be able to understand its meaning. There are passages in the Bible that cannot be apprehended just by mere reading. The Bible has its own distinctive features and its own background knowledge. Many people with doctorate degrees and much learning open up the Bible to read it, only to find that, though they know every word, they cannot understand some of the passages because they do not comprehend the background knowledge or the special terms of the Bible. Since they do not understand them, it is difficult for them to be touched. Of course, there are certain passages, such as John 3:16, which present no technical difficulty in their wording. As long as one understands the words, a mere reading will be sufficient for the mind to grasp. However, there are many other places in the Bible that contain special problems in their wording. For example, there are specific names of people and places, there is the problem of the dispensation, the types, and the prophecies. In addition to these, there are numerous other matters such as numbers, allegories, and symbols. The ability to understand these specific expressions and terms definitely does not belong to someone who is merely literate or learned in worldly education.

This can be likened to the fact that though I am literate, I am entirely lost when presented with a book on electricity. I can read the words, but I do not understand their meaning because of the many specific terms. To understand a book on electricity, we must first study some of its special terms.

In the same principle, the words in the Bible may be quite common, yet they are very specific and contain many particular terms. If we have not been properly trained in these specific terms and technical matters, we will have a hard time understanding as we read. For example, John 1:17 says that the law was given through Moses. “The law” is a special term, and “Moses” is also a special name. Without a background for these two terms, even a hundred Ph.D.s put together would not be able to understand their meaning.

Hence, in order for a saved person to understand the Bible properly, he must spend time in the specific terms and wording and must be trained in his mind. With the training, the reading would be much facilitated. There would not be any difficulty when one encounters words such as “the law,” “Moses,” or “the shedding of blood for the remission of sins,” because one would already know these special terms. As soon as one reads them, they will be readily understood. The words of the Bible will immediately pass through the mind and will be touched by the spirit. Therefore, this time we will spend much time to look into the specific terms and wordings of the Bible. This aspect of training the mind is a preparation in helping us to use our spirit to contact and touch the Bible.

We hope that through this training, most of the brothers and sisters would, on the one hand, become trained in the technique of getting into the Bible and in the specific terminologies to have the so-called Bible knowledge, and on the other hand, become exercised in their spirit. In this way, when they read the Bible, the words will immediately penetrate through their mind. At the same time, they will know how to use their spirit to contact the Spirit in the Word.

In short, this training is for everyone to learn to understand the Bible with the mind and to touch it with their spirit. The first half of this series is the training of the mind; and the second half is the exercise of the spirit. In the first half we will spend much time to get into the special terms and techniques used. This requires much patience. Sloppy people cannot know the Bible. One cannot expect a sloppy person to know the Bible properly. Perhaps once in a while God in His mercy would allow him a touch and an inspiration. However, this is like being hit by a bolt of lightning, which is extremely rare. All those who know the Bible properly have a proper mind and a proper understanding. Although we have a spirit, we are not spirit only. God never has the intention to make us a spirit; He only intends that we be spiritual persons. God still wants us to be human beings. As human beings, we not only have a spirit but also a mind. Therefore, for us to know the Bible, we need to exercise our spirit within and be trained in our mind without. Only when we have both aspects are we proper persons.

Now we will come to the first lesson of this series. We need to find out what is the Bible. What really is the Bible? If someone asks, “What is this table?” we can immediately say that this table is made of wood; one can put things on it. But few are clear what the Bible is. Even today, it is difficult for us to fully explain it. We will speak what we can. We will use four points to explain what the Bible is. The Bible is one, but we will speak about it from four aspects to cover the matter fully.
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