The receiving spirit has been greatly neglected in Christianity. In some places messages stirred up people's loving heart, but gave them no help how to exercise their spirit. Praise the Lord! In His recovery we have seen that God has given us not only a new heart, but also a new spirit! We not only have a heart to love Him, but also a spirit to contact and enjoy Him. It is wonderful! Our new heart is very soft toward the Lord. It is not a stiff, hardened, or strong heart, but a heart of flesh, soft toward the Lord. Before we were saved, we could do many sinful things without any feeling of regret. We had no sensation toward sin because our heart was hardened and stiff. But after we were saved, our heart was changed by the Lord. Now we have a softened heart. For example, sometimes we may speak only part of a sentence and sense that we should not have spoken. Then we are forced to cut off the remainder of the sentence, and perhaps even apologize for the first part. We sense even a tiny mistake or a slight impureness in our motive because our heart is soft. This proves we have been converted, revived, and turned to the Lord. Our heart is soft and sensitive.
Furthermore, we all must realize how to exercise our spirit. A loving heart is not sufficient. We all need both a loving heart plus a receiving spirit. Although we had a human spirit before we were saved, it was dead and functionless. Ephesians 2:5 says that we were dead in our sins and transgressions. This surely means that we were dead in our spirit. We were not dead in our body or in our soul, but in our spirit. When we were saved, the Lord Jesus quickened our spirit and made it alive. Thus, we have a spirit which is alive and renewed. You may feel it is difficult to discern the difference between your spirit and your heart, but do not analyze this with your mind. You can realize the difference according to your experience. Let me again illustrate the difference between having a loving heart toward the Lord and exercising the spirit to contact the Lord. When we consider how sweet the Lord is, how precious the Lord is, and how much He has done for us, we become excited and we can express to the Lord, "Lord Jesus, I love You! O Lord Jesus, I love You!" This is a loving heart.
On the other hand when we cry and shout and call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we can realize that something deep within besides our heart has been exercised. This is our spirit. When we cry out to the Lord, saying, "O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!" that is the use of our spirit. You discern that you have two feet simply by using them to walk. While you are walking or running you do not need to remember that you have two feet. All the other organs in your body spontaneously pay attention to your feet. Thus, you know that you have two feet simply by using them. It is the same way with the spirit. You can know that you have a spirit by using it. One of the best ways to exercise your spirit is by calling on the name of the Lord, "O Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus! Praise You Lord Jesus!" Immediately, you will forget all your darkness, and you will have the sense of something moving deep within your being. That something is your spirit. Satan, in his subtlety, has cut off and hidden this matter of the spirit from most Christians. They read the Bible, but they do not exercise their spirit. They read the Word merely by the exercise of their mind. We need to pray-read when we read the Bible. This will cause us to exercise our spirit. Just as athletes need to exercise their bodies, we Christians need to exercise our spirit. It is a pitiful thing that we were taught to neglect our spirit. We were taught to take care of our mind, but not our spirit. What a tragedy that most Christians either take care of fundamental teachings or Pentecostal gifts! According to history, teachings and gifts have not been effective in building up the church. This is not to say that teachings and gifts are of absolutely no value, but the main thing we need today is the exercise of our spirit. This is the most crucial thing; this is the most prevailing thing.
In 1968 a Pentecostal pastor came to visit a church in the Chicago area. After he attended some of the meetings, he told the brothers that although they did not seem to have the manifestations of the gifts, their meetings were more living than his own meetings. Surprised and puzzled, he did not understand how this could be. This indicated that he only appreciated the gifts. This means he only knew the old mule wagon. He did not realize that on the earth today is a 747 jet. Even in 1 Corinthians, there are not only the gifts, there are also many other things. Paul said, "I fed you with milk...I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth" (1 Cor. 3:2, 6). These are not gifts. In addition to this, he said that we all have been baptized into one body in one Spirit and that we all were made to drink of one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). Neither are these Pentecostal gifts. These other items are also in 1 Corinthians, but those who only care for gifts are blind and cannot see them. Furthermore, the same book says in 15:45 that "the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit." The Pentecostal people appreciate 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 concerning speaking in tongues and prophecy, but they neglect 15:45b. Do you prefer tongues above Christ as the life-giving Spirit? By comparison, the life-giving Spirit is like gold and the tongues are like brass. First Corinthians 13:1 says "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." This indicates a sound without life. If one can speak in the tongues of angels or the tongues of men and yet have no life in spirit, that is sounding brass. In these verses, Paul is showing us that speaking in tongues is not a matter of life. It is a matter merely of sound. I may speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but that is not an expression of life. Why do people appreciate a mule wagon that much? It is simply because they have not seen the 747. It is in the Bible, but they have not seen it. In contrast to present-day Pentecostals, Paul never used the term "Thus saith the Lord." In 1 Corinthians 7:25, Paul said that he had no commandment from the Lord, but based on his age and experience he gave his opinion. He did not say "Thus saith the Lord," yet his opinion is now the inspired Word of God. This term, "Thus saith the Lord," is from the Old Testament. The Roman Catholic Church took Christianity back to Old Testament forms and rituals, and the Pentecostals took Christianity back to Old Testament terms. Neither Peter nor Paul nor John ever wrote, "Thus saith the Lord." None of the ministers in the New Testament used this term "Thus saith the Lord." Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel used this term, but they were the Old Testament prophets. Not one of the New Testament writers used this term. When some Pentecostal people came to our meetings and did not see the manifestation of tongues, they were disappointed. This is pitiful. We all must see the 747 jet airplane and forget about the old mule wagon. We need to see something new, something higher, something better. We must see the Lord's economy. He has given us a new spirit.