The last thing needed is light. A person who is rich is one who receives much light. We must not just learn the lessons; the Lord must also enlighten us in spirit so that we see what we are learning. We do not merely know that something has happened. What has happened must be molded into a teaching in us. This is the only way we will be able to turn our experience into words to supply others. The situation does not just happen to us. We are able to take what we have learned and supply it to others. When the light comes, we can speak, and our words will supply others.
God often deals with us, but we do not know it. Sometimes, however, we know. This knowing makes the dealing more effective in reaching its end. We can believe and obey because of the enlightenment. Therefore, we can quicken the end of the dealing. Fruit is brought forth, and this fruit is ripened. This is man's end before God. This kind of enlightenment is the eyesalve spoken of in Rev- elation 3:18. It enables one to see and to shine.
Question:Is the enlightenment which you speak of different from inspiration?
Answer:Yes, it is different. This light comes through revelation; it is an inward light. The basic problem with the inward being is the matter of obedience.
Question:When a situation comes to us, we should submit as quickly as possible, but does this kind of swift submission depend on swiftly acknowledging that this situation is from the Lord?
Answer:Yes, that is true, but it is important for us to understand the meaning of the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
The discipline of the Holy Spirit means that when the Holy Spirit is operating in our outward circumstances to bring us to a particular goal, He is also making an inward demand on us. This operation is called the discipline of the Holy Spirit. If we do not obey, it will not serve His purpose immediately. But even if we do not submit, He will bring us to the point of obedience. A day will definitely come when He will make us submissive. The discipline of the Holy Spirit often brings about our submission. This is not to say that we have the will to submit in ourselves, but we are brought to the point where we obey spontaneously. Brothers and sisters who have believed in the Lord for many years can look back on their lives and count many times when the Lord spoke to them and they obeyed. The Lord spoke again, and they obeyed again. We can all say this. If we look back and think, we can identify many times when the Lord spoke and we had no intention to obey. Yet, in the end we obeyed. This is the result of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we actually set our mind on disobeying, yet mysteriously, after two or three years of confusion, our resistance fades away, and the disobedience is no longer there. This is the result of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. When we submit by ourselves, the job is done soon. But thank God, even when we have no heart to submit, and there is no faith, we can still be brought to the point of submission. This is a result of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. I often consider the discipline of the Holy Spirit to be a measure whereby He fills up our own lack of submission.