Let us first take a brief look at the two books of Thessalonians. Because these two books are especially concerned about the Lord’s coming again, they mention the matter of the Spirit only a few times. In these two books there is a statement that cannot be found in the New Testament nor in any other place in the entire holy Scriptures. This statement is in 1 Thessalonians 5:19: “Do not quench the Spirit.” In these two books there is no particular light, particular discussion, or particular revelation concerning the Spirit, but there is a very solemn charge, which is to not quench the Spirit. After the other books have spoken about the Spirit, now here is a charge, a reminder: “Do not quench the Spirit.” This word must be a reminder to us even today.
Now we come to 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. We all know that when the apostle Paul wrote these books, the churches were already in desolation, had deviated from the right track, and had lost their original form. This was the background of these writings. In addition, Bible readers all acknowledge that these three books deal with the administration of the churches, and in the West some people called them the pastoral Epistles, the Epistles for the shepherding of the church. These observations are all correct. The background of these books is the deformation of the churches, and the content seems to be instructing people how to administrate the churches. However, I say again, the external things of the holy Scriptures appear to be one thing, but the core of the holy Scriptures is another thing. This may be compared to the way the body and appearance of a person are one thing, while his soul and life are another. The external matters, the superficial matters, of these three books were written under the situation of the churches’ deformation, and they were for the administration of the churches. However, the contents, the center, the life, the soul, of these three books are still life and spirit. This is because the more the children of God are under the deformation and desolation of the churches, the more they need to know life and the more they need to live in the spirit. If we do not live in the spirit, and if we pay attention to outward, doctrinal discussions instead of paying attention to life, then the church will even more be in confusion. If we all absolutely focus on life and live deeply in the spirit, then the problems, disputes, and deformation will be gone. The reason that the churches are deformed is that they have departed from life and are not living in the spirit.
In these days we have been talking about washing each other’s feet, blending with one another, loving one another, and coordinating with one another. Please consider this: If we neglect life and are not in the spirit but pay attention to doctrines and other matters, soon our coordination will collapse, and we will have problems with each other. Therefore, the central matters of the Epistles written by Paul under the decline of the church are altogether related to life. For this reason, in the two books of 1 and 2 Timothy, life is mentioned numerous times, and the spirit is also spoken of many times in a particular way.
Let us first look at 1 Timothy 1:3: “Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things.” If you read through 1 and 2 Timothy, you will see that different things refers to the things which were different from what the apostles preached and taught. What were the apostles preaching? The apostles preached that Christ, who is our Savior, comes into our spirit to be our life, thus issuing in the church as a great mystery. This is what the apostles preached and taught, but at that time there were certain ones who rose to teach other things. I absolutely believe that they were teaching the law and the Old Testament. They were not preaching a strange religion or the things of other religions. Instead, they were teaching the holy Scriptures, and their teachings were based on the Scriptures, yet what they emphasized was different from what the apostles emphasized. The apostles emphasized that Christ as our Savior and as our life produces the church as the great mystery of God, which is the house of God, the pillar and base of the truth. Another group of people were also teaching the Scriptures, but they had a different interpretation and were disputing with others. This kind of problem did not begin at the present time but had already begun in the first century.
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