People may be in a variety of conditions when they are enlightened by God. Some people do not have a heart for the Lord after they are saved. As a result, when they are happy, they come to the meetings; and when they are happy, they pray; but when they are depressed, they neither meet nor pray. Often, however, when these kind of people are walking on the street or studying, they suddenly have a feeling within them that they should go to God to pray. Once they pray, they immediately sense that they are sinful, and the more they confess, the more they find themselves full of sins. In this way they are revived by the Lord, and many people may wonder what has happened to them. Once they are enlightened within and stirred up by the Lord, they walk their first step right away—they repent, confess their sins, cleanse themselves, and start to read the Bible. The more they read the Bible, the more they are filled with light. As a result, they love to preach the gospel. In the beginning they did not have a heart for God, but they were chosen and enlightened by God.
There is another kind of person, whose inner condition is exposed when he is listening to a message. At that time he makes a thorough confession and is full of freshness. Someone else may be drawn by hearing the testimonies of other people. As a result, he goes to God to ask for His shining. Eventually, he also is enlightened by God and makes a thorough confession. Another kind of person, after fellowshipping with the saints, feels that he should go to God and be enlightened by Him. As a result, he also receives the shining and thus thoroughly confesses his sins. There is still another kind of person, who receives the feeling that he is sinful when he is in a prayer meeting where either a small or large number of people are praying. When he receives this feeling he thoroughly confesses and also receives the shining. Another kind of person may hear the exhortation of other people and realize that for a Christian to progress in life he must thoroughly confess his sins. As a result, he prays, “O God, I pray that You would shine on me and forgive all my sins.” He prays in this way for one or two days, and on the third day, God truly shines on him. Finally, there is a certain kind of person who prays and God gradually shows him that he is sinful.
A resolution is an expression of our seeking before God. Thus, we should all come back to God and tell Him, “O God, I need Your shining. So I ask You to shine on me and show me my sins. I know that there is a principle here: If I am not enlightened and my sins are not exposed, there is no way for me to grow in life.” This kind of prayer is one that God is very willing to answer and one that He will answer quickly.
One other kind of person may become enlightened when he asks God for something. God does not give it to him, but instead shows him that he is wrong. This kind of situation is common with children. A child may go to his father for a piece of candy and stretch out his small hands and say in a spoiled way, “Daddy, give me a piece of candy.” Then the father would say, “Look at your hands, they are so dirty. Go wash them.” Then the child may wash his hands and again ask for a piece of candy. The father then may take out a mirror and ask him to look at his dirty face, and the child would go to wash his face. After he washes his face, he may ask for a piece of candy again. Then the father will show him his dirty neck and dirty clothes. So eventually, after he washes his neck and changes his clothes, his whole being is clean. It is the same with many people when they go to pray before God; they ask God for this and that. God not only does not answer them, but He also shows them how unclean they are. Not until then do they know what it is to follow God, to forsake the world, and to reject sin. And it is only at that time that they will have a start in their spiritual life.
If a person does not have this experience of being enlightened, then he will at most understand some mere doctrines and will have never started on his spiritual path. He will not have any hatred toward sin; neither will he have any feeling toward filthiness. He will stay this way until the day when God shines on him and shows him his sinful condition, and he begins to confess his sins. This kind of feeling toward his sinful condition always lasts for a few years rather than for a few days. In addition, this feeling toward his corruptness, evil, and wrongdoing will keep him coming to God for His shining and cleansing.
After the period that included the years 1931 to 1935, whenever I went to God to ask for something, this prayer always lasted for only two minutes. For example, when I would pray, “O God, please solve this problem for me,” it would take only half a minute to pray such a prayer. Prior to this half a minute, however, it would take me twenty to thirty minutes to confess my sins. When I saw how sinful I was, before I could ask the Lord to solve my problem, I had to confess my sins. After twenty or thirty minutes of confession, I had thoroughly confessed all the sins within me. As a result, I had peace in my conscience, and there was no barrier between my spirit and God. By that time I could be almost face to face with God, telling God boldly and easily, “O God, I am cleansed by the precious blood of Your Son. O God, I have a problem, I ask You to solve this problem for me.” Then, God would immediately answer this kind of prayer.
When we pray we are often unclear, and do not know God’s will. The key to knowing God’s will, however, is to make a thorough confession of our sins. After doing this we will be clear. Anyone who is insensitive to God is also insensitive to sin. We should try praying a simple prayer: When we are walking on the street or at home, we should tell God, “O God, may You shine on me and expose all my sins.” Then one day, the light will reach you, and you will sense that you are wrong. No one will tell you that you are wrong outwardly, but inwardly you will sense that you are wrong. Then you will go to God to confess your mistakes. If you realize that you have offended your parents, you will go to God and say, “O God, in the past, I offended my parents in a certain matter, please forgive me.” We have to confess our mistakes specifically.
If a wife has committed many mistakes and offended her husband, she has to confess them specifically before God, telling Him the specific matters in which she has wronged her husband or her children. It is the same with a husband. He has to thoroughly confess the specific matters in which he has wronged his wife or his company. In addition, all of our inner intentions and inner thoughts have to be confessed one by one. There is a Western sister who always exhorts people to confess their sins. One day she heard someone pray, “O God, I have so many sins, please forgive me.” Then this sister said, “Do not throw such a big bundle to the Lord Jesus. You have to open it up and count the contents item by item.” This bundle includes everything; you cannot just say one sentence, “O Lord, I am a great sinner.” You need to count the contents item by item, saying, “O Lord, I have wronged my brother in a certain matter. O Lord, I have wronged my husband on a certain occasion, and I have wronged my children at a certain time.” In this way, we will see that our sins are exceedingly many, and we will be under the light. Today people are living in darkness and do not have any sense of sin; even though they confess their sins every day, they still do not have any sense of sin.
Here is the problem of many people: Owing to a lack of light, they do not have any feeling. Many people arrive at work at nine or nine-thirty in the morning, even though their company clearly stipulates that they should arrive at eight o’clock, yet when they fill out their attendance cards, they indicate that they were on time. Once a saint asked me, “What should I do in this situation?” I told him, “If your company requires you to work at eight o’clock, you should arrive at eight; if you arrive at nine o’clock, you should write that down.” This is to be a true Christian. Today the pitiful situation is that many Christians do not have such a sense. The reason why they do not have any sense is that they are short of light. Do we not know that the path of life begins with confession? Even if we have decided to do a certain thing and then God shines on us, we should not do it; rather, we should confess our sins. After confessing, we will know what sin is.
There is an employee of an elementary school who often used the letterhead and envelopes of the school. This is not right. However, if the school has a regulation that says that all school letterhead and envelopes are also for personal use, then he may use them, but if there is no such regulation, it is unrighteous for him to use them. Some elementary school teachers take chalk home for their children to play with, without any sense of sin. We cannot say that this kind of person is unsaved, but we can say that he does not have the sense of sin. A person who has confessed his sins before God will not be careless in any matter. Before one confesses, he may go to other people’s homes and read their newspaper or open their letters. But after his confession, he will have a sense of unrighteousness when he does the same thing. This is not merely a matter of regulation but a matter of righteousness. When we have this kind of sense we will know what is the path of Christ. If we want to grow in life, we have to confess our sins. The path of life begins with confession. Many people have heard many doctrines, but they have never taken a step on the path of life; hence, they do not have the discipline of the Holy Spirit or the restriction of the Holy Spirit. Although they do not commit great errors, they have committed many tiny mistakes. We have to look to God for His mercy, seek His shining, and confess to Him so that our sins might be forgiven.