If I am a person living in the emotion, I will be so easily affected by what others say about me. If you say something good about me, I will be happy. If you say something bad about me, I will be offended. If I live in the emotion, I am just a superficial person. Being in my spirit, however, insulates my emotion. When I am in my spirit, nothing can disturb me. Regardless of how much you praise me or rebuke me, I am not touched because I retreat to my spirit and stay in my spirit. Sometimes we may not sleep well because we stay in our mind, thinking and reasoning. We worry so much because we are used to staying in our mind. We all have to exercise to retreat to our spirit. If we retreat to our spirit, we will be at peace (Rom. 8:6), and we will get the best sleep.
Furthermore, if we are not in the spirit, we cannot be clear about anything in our daily life. Many times, if we are not in the spirit, we are not fair or honest. Suppose a husband and wife begin to argue. The more they fight, the more they have something to fight about. Today there are so many divorces just because of this kind of endless fighting, but we Christians have a place to which we can retreat. While you are fighting with your spouse, you have to remember that you are a dear saint and that you have a regenerated spirit. Retreat to that spirit. Stop fighting, stop using your mouth. Retreat to your spirit, and stay in your spirit. If you practice this, you will be honest and fair. You will be clear; you will realize that you are wrong, not your spouse. The only place that we can see things clearly is in our spirit.
Suppose I hear something that is not so good. If I am in my mind or in my emotion, I cannot discern the matter clearly, fairly, or rightly. I may even immediately try to speak of this negative matter to another brother. If the brother listening to me has learned some lessons, he will not say a word to me from his mind, but remain in his spirit. I may try to stir up his interest in this matter, but his staying in his spirit will stop my talking. Sometimes this will even help me to retreat to my spirit. Then in my spirit, I may have the deep sensation that I am wrong. The only place where we can see things clearly, fairly, honestly, faithfully, and accurately is in our spirit. If we are going to know any matter, if we are going to know ourselves, or if we are going to know the real situation of our family life, we have to be in our spirit (1 Cor. 2:11a).
In order to know the church or see something of the church, we must be in the spirit. We can never see the church, the mystery of Christ, merely by using our small mind to consider and try to understand it. The more we do this, the more we will be confused. We should not trust in our mind, but we have to cooperate with God by retreating to our spirit. Many of us may have seen something of the church, but we have to see more in order to stay in the church. We should pray: “Lord, save me. Deliver me from my mind, emotion, and will. Help me to stay in my spirit.” Some may not have seen the church. If you have not seen the church, do not argue with others about this matter or try to understand it on your own. Simply turn to your spirit. You must realize that the deepest part of your being is your human spirit. Your spirit is the very spot where God can reveal things to you. If you turn to your spirit and remain there, the church can be revealed to you.
We need a spirit of wisdom and revelation that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened (Eph. 1:18). These are not our physical eyes, but our inner eyes, the eyes of our heart. Because we have a spirit, our inner eyes can be enlightened. Then we can not only understand, but also see. We must realize that seeing is much better than understanding. Through all the years I have learned not to trust in my knowing or my understanding. Regardless of how much you tell me about the city of London, I do not trust in that. Eventually, I have to go and look at the city of London. When I go there, what I see will be different from what I understood. What we understand will never be as much as what we can see. It is not enough for us to understand the things concerning the church; we must see the church.
Paul prays for us to have a spirit of wisdom and revelation that our inner eyes may be enlightened to see three things: the hope of God’s calling (v. 18), the glory of God’s inheritance (v. 18), and the surpassing greatness of His power (v. 19). These three profound things are far beyond our human concept.
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