Although the supply of the Spirit is bountiful and all-inclusive to meet all our needs, we still need to realize that the Spirit works within us in a quiet, gentle, normal, ordinary and human way. Even so, His working in us is very rich and powerful. A certain brother among us was born in England, but he grew up in China and was educated in the United States. Consequently, he became quite a peculiar person. One day he was saved, and the Spirit as the all-inclusive dose entered into him. On the day of his salvation this peculiar person received a particular dose, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who entered into him and from that day forward indwelt him continually. Day by day this wonderful Spirit worked within him in a very gentle and normal way, giving him a little sense, consciousness, and registration within. One day there was an inner sense telling him to forget about his Cantonese peculiarity. Another time there was another small sense that he should give up certain things. Later, there was a little sense within him that he should offer himself to the Lord. Still later, there was a little sense within him to move to Taiwan. When he went there, he was very peculiar, constantly criticizing the church and endeavoring to adjust us. But day by day, morning and evening, little by little, something within him was illuminating, shining, and regulating him. One morning he gave up something, and the next morning he dropped something more. Although he tried to adjust us, eventually he himself was adjusted. What he experienced was not merely the Holy Spirit of God but the Spirit of Jesus Christ—the Holy Spirit of God in whom are the elements of Christ’s human nature, the effectiveness of Christ’s death, and the power of Christ’s resurrection. By his going along with the inner sense, this brother’s peculiar Cantonese nature was dealt with; it was put to death by the effectiveness of Christ’s death and was killed by the cross of Christ.
When the Spirit of Jesus Christ is moving in us, working in us, and anointing us, He gives us a little sense, a consciousness in our inner being. If we take care of this and go along with it, the Spirit will kill the “germs,” the negative things, in our being. Moreover, in this wonderful Spirit there is also the resurrection power of Christ. When we go along with the inner sense, on the one hand, we experience the killing of our peculiar self, and on the other hand, we experience the resurrection power that energizes, strengthens, and empowers us from within. We also feel glorious, and we are very much adjusted. At the same time we have the sense that we are transcendent, that we are not on the earth but in the heavens. Occasionally, we even feel that we are enthroned with the Lord.
On our part, all that is needed is to go along with the Lord, who continually works in us and anoints us within. We need to simply go along with the gentle, quiet feeling in our inner being that results from the Lord’s working in us. We should not expect anything magnificent or extraordinary, for that is not the proper way to experience Christ as life. Christ is such a wonderful Savior, yet when He as the Spirit operates in us, He does so in a very ordinary, normal, and human way. We need to be faithful to Him and realize that He is working within us in such a way. He is always patient, gentle, and quiet because now He is not only the almighty God but also a man with the human nature and the human life and with the effectiveness of death and the element of resurrection. If we are obedient and submissive to Him, day by day and moment by moment, gradually and continually, we will experience Christ and His riches, and we will grow to be a proper and normal Christian.
When you undergo certain sufferings or trials, you may pray, “O Lord, help me!” expecting the Lord to come to you in a miraculous or supernatural way. At the same time there will be a small feeling within you that you must put your trust in the Lord, that there is no need to worry about your situation or bear the burden of your trials. It is easy to doubt such a small feeling, thinking that it is just something of yourself rather than the Lord’s answer and help. However, you should realize that this little feeling is the Lord’s working within you, giving you the sense that you must trust in Him and cast the burden of your trials upon Him.
There may be occasions when you have the desire either to visit a certain person or to buy certain things, but within you there is just a little sense that it is better not to do these things. You need to go along with this sense and give up your own desire. Sometimes when you are at home, a little feeling arises within you encouraging you to pray. You should go along with this feeling and pray, opening to the Lord and seeking His mind and will concerning your prayer. You may have a little feeling to pray for a certain brother, or to pray for yourself that you may see something more of the Lord. You should simply follow this feeling within.
At other times you may be criticized by others. Criticism is always a test, even to Christians. I myself have been tested many times by this matter. To be beaten may be somewhat easy to endure, but to be criticized is very difficult to bear. However, when you are criticized, there will be a little feeling within that you should receive this kind of criticism and thank the Lord for it. You should simply go along with this feeling and say, “Lord, I thank You for this criticism. Bless those who are criticizing me.” This is to pray according to the inner sense.
The right and proper way to experience Christ as life is not in an extraordinary way but in a very normal way. Through such a simple, normal, and ordinary way, we will have a full experience of Christ. All the riches and fullness of Christ will be ours, and we will continue to grow in life. Then we will realize what the Body of Christ is and what the function of the church is to Christ.
We need to realize that it is in the law of the Spirit of life that our relationship with God is maintained, that God is our God, and that we are a people to God. In the Old Testament God gave the people of Israel the Ten Commandments as the old law. All the people of Israel had to be right with God according to those commandments. If an Israelite did many good things to help others, sacrificing what he had and even his life for them, yet broke one or more of the Ten Commandments, he was still not right with God. In the same principle, we may do many good things for others, sacrificing, working, preaching, and ministering on their behalf, but we may not be right with God according to the inner law of life.
Today the law according to which God is God to us and we are a people to God is the law of life within us, which is regulating us all the time. We must be right with God according to the inner regulating. Otherwise, regardless of how many good things we do for God or for others, He will not approve of us (Matt. 7:21-23). We need to learn the lesson that anytime, anywhere, and in any matter, if we have a little sense concerning what the Lord wants us to do, we should immediately obey and submit. If we cooperate in this way, we will see how wonderful our Christian life will be. Day by day in all the small things we need to take care of the inner feeling, the inner consciousness. This small feeling is of the wonderful Spirit. By our simply going along with the wonderful Spirit, He will possess and occupy us more and more. He will saturate us continually, and we will be transformed.
What the Lord is seeking today is some who know the inner way of life, that is, the way to experience Christ and take Him as their life in a practical, normal, ordinary, human, quiet, and gentle way. Day by day and moment by moment these people will gradually be transformed into the image of Christ from glory to glory. Furthermore, automatically and spontaneously they will be built up together and coordinated as a corporate Body to express Christ in a living way. This is the church life that the Lord is seeking today. This is the proper way for us to practice both the Christian life and the church life.