CHAPTER ONE
EXERCISING THE SPIRIT, THE HEART,
AND THE MIND
USING THE SPIRIT TO PRAY-READ
In this chapter we will fellowship concerning pray-reading. When we pray-read, we must first exercise, use, our spirit, because the substance of the Bible as the word of God is Spirit. The Chinese classics are excellent, but no matter how we read them, we cannot feel the Spirit, because the Spirit is not in them. The Spirit is in every sentence and every word of the Bible. However, if we do not read the Bible with our spirit, we will not be able to touch the Spirit. But once we use our spirit, we can touch the Spirit in the Bible.
We also need to read the Bible with our mouth because our human spirit is released through spoken words. The words that we speak are the outlet of the spirit. If we do not speak, there will be no way for the spirit to come forth. In order to light a match, we must strike it. Once we strike it, the phosphorus on the match will catch fire. One can say that the fire in the phosphorus is waiting for us to strike it. We must strike the match in the right place in order for fire to be kindled. The fire in the phosphorus is an example of the spirit within us. This fire comes forth when we open our mouth to utter something, to speak. When we say something, our spirit will come forth. Our spirit coming forth will “ignite” the Spirit in the Bible. In this way the two spirits respond to each other; our spirit draws out the Spirit in the Bible, and the Spirit in the Bible strengthens our spirit and causes our spirit to burn. This is the way to eat the word and be satisfied, to receive light, and to be built up.
I hope that this illustration will help us to exercise diligently when we pray-read. Whether privately or in the meetings we must exercise our spirit. We must not be mechanical or depend on methods that we have observed. Rather, we must be living in spirit. Our observations should leave us only with an impression of our need to use our spirit. The Lord is the Spirit, the words in the Bible are [130] Spirit, and we have a spirit within us. Therefore, when we read the Bible, our spirit must be living.
We are still too mechanical because of the influence of Christianity. The way that we meet is still mechanical, not living. When we come to the meeting, we can begin to sing prayerfully or pray-read even before the scheduled time of the meeting. We still are not exercised in our spirit.
EXERCISING TO HAVE A LIVING SPIRIT
Some saints are attending this training because they like to listen to messages or to the expounding of Scriptures. However, this training is not focused on such matters. The burden of this training is neither to give messages nor to promote spiritual cultivation. Our burden is to conduct a Christian training. It is not a light thing to hand oneself over to the training. We should break our old concept concerning listening to messages. This training is for us to exercise to have a living spirit and to live in our spirit. There should no longer be any forms in our meetings; we must drop all forms. Of course, this does not mean that we can do things in a disorderly way. The Bible says, “The wind blows where it wills” (John 3:8), but the wind does not always blow wildly.
We should not pray-read in an old way. For example, we should not pray-read Genesis 1:26-28 by repeating the words mechanically. Rather, we should read one word at a time in order to taste the words. There are no formal rules. Whether we are loud or quiet, fast or slow, our spirit must come forth as soon as we begin reading.
Someone once told me that every substance has atomic energy, but a correct method is needed in order to access this energy. The “energy” of the Bible is the Spirit. We must draw out the Spirit in our reading. For this reason, we need to practice reading the Bible. We should not always be scholarly, mechanical, or dead. We should not expect to always listen to messages. Instead, we should diligently exercise to read the Bible until we touch the Spirit in our reading.
EXERCISING THREE ORGANS—
THE SPIRIT, THE HEART, AND THE MIND
This Christian training is not boot camp for new soldiers, nor is it orientation for new students. Physical exercise trains a person’s body and helps a person to gain physical skills. We may think that a [131] Christian training is to train the spirit. That is right. However, if a Christian has only a spirit, he is more like an angel than a person, because an angel has only a spirit. Christians have a soul in addition to their spirit. Does this mean that we should also exercise our soul? The Bible does not speak of exercising our soul but of denying it because of its contamination due to the fall. The soul needs to be put on the cross, to be put to death.
While the purpose of this training is to train our spirit, our heart and our mind also need to be trained. Our heart needs to be trained, because if our heart is not right, our person will not be proper. Therefore, the heart needs to match our spirit. Our mind is also very important. Our mind is a part of our soul. Although the Bible says that we should deny and forsake the soul (Matt. 16:25; Luke 9:23-24; John 12:25), it does not say that we should forsake the function of the mind. Instead, the Bible says that we should be “transformed by the renewing of the mind” (Rom. 12:2). Hence, in order to be trained to be proper Christians, our spirit, our heart, and our mind need to be trained.
THE HEART BEING PURE
Have we paid attention to our heart? Does our heart love the Lord? Love is entirely a matter of the heart. What is the direction of our heart? It is possible to shout Hallelujah while our heart is occupied with something else. This means that our heart, as well as our love, is not focused in the right direction. The Chinese phrase translated “absent-hearted” adequately describes this situation. Maybe you came from Tainan to attend this training, but your heart is still in Tainan. This means that you should deal with your heart. This same principle applies to the Lord. If our heart is on something other than the Lord, there is a problem with our heart, and we should deal with it. We should also ask whether our heart is upright or crooked. A crooked heart is also a heart with a problem, and it is in need of the Lord’s dealing.
All the saints in Taiwan are exercising to release the spirit. However, after our spirit is released, we must not forget about our heart. We should deal with the problems related to our heart. We should take care of not only releasing the spirit but also of having a proper heart. We should train our spirit as well as our heart. In order for us to be proper Christians, we need a spirit that is strong, living, fresh, [132] rich, and bright; we also need a heart that is upright, single, and pure. Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” To be pure in heart is to want only the Lord and nothing else. It is also to have no impure motives but to be as clear as crystal. This is the proper condition of the heart.