In the record of Matthew 16, the Lord asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Having the accurate knowledge, Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Lord said that the vision of Him being the Christ, the Son of God, which Peter saw was correct. Then He went on to say, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church” (vv. 15-18). This shows us that the church life is manifested only when we realize and experience Christ. The church is not a human club or a worldly organization but an organism. When we have an inward union with the Lord and live in Him by this life union, the reality of the church is produced.
I hope that you will pray much over these points and pursue them. I have no intention of merely showing you some high visions or teaching you some truths as if you were students in a theological seminary. My burden is to help you realize and experience these visions and truths after you have seen and heard them. The way to realize and experience them is in your spirit. If you have not seen or heard these truths, you could not understand them even if you had realized them because you do not have the knowledge. Now these truths have all been completely unveiled and richly placed before you. The more you know them, the more you will realize them. The way of realization is to pray adequately to the Lord and have intimate fellowship with Him. Thus, the Lord will be the light in you, and every day you will be bright inwardly. Not one bit of shadow could remain hidden; He will correct every mistake. The law of life within you will regulate you, and you will be saved from your natural self. The last verse of Hymns, #501 says:
Thy Spirit will me saturate, Every part will God permeate, Deliv’ring me from the old man, With all saints building for His plan.
God’s building is the church. This is the practical way to experience Christ and realize the church.
I hope that you will not just learn to know the truths but also will truly pursue to subjectively realize and experience them. I regret that when I was young, I wasted so much time. I did not waste it in pursuing entertainment, but I wasted it in studying the Bible improperly. Why do I say this? Because I did not receive the proper teaching. Those who taught me mainly taught about the “husks” and the “pods.” We know that wheat needs the husks and that the peas need their pods to grow. In the same way, the Bible has some “husks” and “pods”; you do not need to get into them too much. But when I was young, I was taught to focus on these matters. I do not know how many times I studied the “seventy weeks” in Daniel 9:24-27. Yet I was never told that I have a spirit in me (Job 32:8; Zech. 12:1), that the Lord Jesus wants to abide in me (John 15:4-5), and that the Lord Jesus today is the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17).
Today you are surely a blessed group of people! In the Lord’s recovery you are nourished, taught, and have all the riches laid out before you in a delicious, rich, and easily digestible way. Of course, you need to learn, so that your learning may help you in your understanding and enjoyment. But in particular I hope that you will be able to have a real enjoyment of the Lord in a practical way. You must live in fellowship with the Lord and abide in the Lord. We have many books among us which speak about this point, that is, that you must always contact the Lord and continuously touch Him. When you do this, you are realizing and experiencing the truths which you have heard. Today the Triune God-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-are all in us. The more you use your spirit to contact Him and call, “O Lord Jesus,” the more you will sense His supply inwardly. The more you remember Him, appreciate Him, and consider His glory, beauty, and honor, the more you will be inwardly filled with His Spirit.
The Pentecostal movement in Christianity today pays attention only to whether or not people have spoken in tongues. They always encourage people to speak in tongues; some even want people to roll around and to shout and jump. They think that this is what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But the real filling by the Holy Spirit is when we inwardly appreciate and enjoy the Lord Jesus to the uttermost. The more you enjoy Him, the more you are filled with Him inwardly. Every day you need to spend some time before Him to open yourselves, to call on Him, and to appreciate Him. Then you will be filled with the Spirit inwardly. If you do not appreciate Him but still want Him to fill you, it will be impossible. This is why the experienced ones say that the more you praise the Lord Jesus, the more you will be filled with Him; it is really true. This, however, is not an outward skill. You must truly appreciate Him inwardly and from the depths of your being say, “Lord Jesus, I love You. Lord, You are exceedingly precious. It is not that I can love You, but it is because You are so lovable.” If you do this, He will certainly fill you.
The main topic of Romans 1-3 is living by faith. Where does faith come from? Romans tells us that this faith is the faith in Jesus Christ or the faith of Jesus Christ (3:22). Galatians 2:20 says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Therefore, this faith is the faith of the Son of God. Faith has an object and a goal, and it is derived from that object or goal. If there were no object, how could there be faith? For example, if I were to show you a rock, you would not have any faith; on the contrary, you would be disgusted. If, however, I were to show you a big diamond, the more you look at it, the more you would have faith. This shows that faith comes from its object. The Lord Jesus is worthy of our attention. If you were to look at me, the more you look, the less faith you would have. If, however, the Lord Jesus were here, the more you look at Him, the more you would have faith. Thus, our faith comes from Him. Furthermore, our faith brings Him into us; He is one with our faith. Therefore, our faith is the faith in Him and the faith of Him.
In the same principle, we cannot be filled just by praying; unless we touch the Lord, we cannot be filled with Him. The best way to be filled by the Lord is to behold and appreciate His beauty. The more you appreciate Him, the more you will be filled by the Holy Spirit, because the Lord is the Spirit. When you appreciate and love the Lord, He enters into you and fills you as the Spirit. Furthermore, every time you touch Him, you will sense the Father’s care and presence and receive the supply and transmission from the Father as the source. You will have an unutterable, indescribable enjoyment of Him. If you daily realize and experience the Triune God in this way, the reality of the church as the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all, will be manifested.
From the first chapter of Matthew to the last chapter of Revelation, we see this kind of vision. Matthew 1 tells us how He came into man and mingled with man. Then through the Gospels, Acts, and the Epistles to the end of Revelation, we see God, the Lamb, and the Spirit as the river of water of life proceeding out of the throne. Ultimately, the Spirit and the bride become one, speaking and announcing together. This means that the bride is full of the Spirit, full of the enjoyment of the Spirit, and that the Spirit has all the ground in her. This is God’s economy. I hope that you can all pursue, realize, and experience this.
Home | First | Prev | Next