Question-and-answer session (6)
Date: August 20, 1948Place: Kuling
Dealing with idle talk
Question: In the course of our work, what should we do when we encounter idle talk?
Answer: One basic training a worker of the Lord must go through is to ignore idle talk. Those who like to listen to idle talk or who are keen to hunt for idle talk are not qualified for God’s work or for the ministry. Their mind and mental energy are wasted on inconsequential things. It is no surprise that they are not able to focus themselves on their ministry. Listening to idle talk is one of the worst habits in the work of God.
Ephesians was written by Paul, a servant of God. It is absolutely God’s word, and its revelation is very high indeed. Paul could be so free, uninhibited, and released in that Epistle because God’s word was so heartily received in the church in Ephesus. In contrast with the book of Ephesians, we have the Epistles to the Corinthians. They were written by Paul also, and they are also God’s word. Yet they do not reach the same height as the book of Ephesians. This is because Paul had to deal with so many low things in the church in Corinth. This shows that when we pay attention to the low things, God cannot show us the high things. Therefore, we have to set our eyes on the high and great things. When our spirit and words are released, they will be high and great.
The spirit discerns all things and knows all things. If we are new to a local church, we may not know anything about the place. Yet our spirit can still sense the condition in that place. We have to serve by our spirit. The spirit has to be the organ with which we contact others. We must not merely exercise our ears to listen to others or to deal with people and events. Those whose ears are too open are surely loose and careless. Those whose mouth is too open are surely unbridled in their tongue. It is, of course, different when God wants to direct our ears to hear something. We have to learn from the pattern of the Lord Jesus, who was a “blind” and “deaf” servant (Isa. 42:19). The most important thing a minister of the word has to remember is to not seek out gossip or encourage idle talk. He should instead cultivate his spirit and serve by his spirit.
The release of the spirit and the breaking of the outer man
Question: How can we exercise our spirit?
Answer: In exercising our spirit, we have to realize that the basic requirement is first to break down the outer man. This is the only way the spirit within can be released. Our need is to be torn down in a fundamental way, to be weakened, and to be broken in the outer man. If our mind, emotion, and will are not broken, they will be released before the spirit is given the chance to be released, and we will never be able to exercise our spirit. Our spirit must be stronger than everything else. It has to become the strongest part of our being. Only after it has become the strongest part of our being will our mind, emotion, and will become useful. For example, some brothers are very eloquent, but they are not broken. When they speak, only their eloquence comes out; their spirit does not have a chance to be released.
Why does God not break the mind or emotion of some people? The answer involves the matter of proportion. God breaks and deals with the conspicuous parts that come out of a person first. If the part that comes out first is the emotion, God will deal with the emotion. If the part that comes out first is the mind, He will break the mind. He breaks and deals with the parts that come out first. After He has done this, the spirit gains the preeminence. If a man has a very strong spirit, and his emotion is behind his spirit, this emotion can be useful. If a man does not have a strong spirit, however, and his emotion is ahead of it, he will be in trouble; he will not be able to use his spirit.
If a man is not broken, it is easy for his outer man to clash with others. If his outer man is broken, it will be easy for him to be one with others in spirit, and spontaneously this will eliminate any conflict. Once a man manifests a strong spot in any area, his spirit is hampered. Therefore, strong spots must be broken before a man can release his spirit. If we cannot release our spirit, we cannot serve. This is the reason we do not admire the gifted or eloquent ones. Rather, we admire those who are in God’s hand, who have passed through His chastisement, and who bear the mark of the cross. Only they give prominence to their spirit when they function, and only they are useful in the eyes of God.
The dividing of the soul and spirit and the breaking of the outer man
Question: What is the difference between the sense of the spirit and the feelings of the soul?
Answer: The more one tries to distinguish the sense of the spirit and the feelings of the soul, the more confused he becomes. Only an experienced person can differentiate the spirit from the soul. It is God’s business to divide our spirit from our soul. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow.” As God performs a special work of breaking and tearing down our outer man, we will be clear about the dividing of our soul from our spirit. We all have strong spots. Once these strong spots are crushed, our spirit will come out, and our soul will be put to use. When the outer man is broken, the inner man will be released.
Our outer man is a shell; it exists on this earth for the purpose of interacting with outward circumstances. The inner man is our true self. Those whose spirit is divided from their soul have a great gulf separating the outer man from the inner man. Those whose spirit and soul are separated can be very busy in the outer man, but their inner man is untouched. It is not affected by the outside world, and it remains in God. For example, one brother had a very tragic experience. Yet under God’s special mercy, he remained calm and peaceful inside in spite of the outward pains. God set the peace as a gulf, a separating wall, between him and his outer man.
It is God’s great mercy to break down our outer man. The breaking enables us to always abide in the inner man. When the outer man is broken, the inner man seems to have moved its home. It is no longer affected by the outer man. The inner man belongs to us; it is deep, and it is spiritual. The outer man is shallow; it is of the flesh. If the outer man is not broken, we will never be able to tell the difference between the outer man and the inner man.
Christian virtue and worldly asceticism
Question: What is the difference between Christian virtue and worldly asceticism?
Answer: A proper Christian will convey a sense of God to others. He will incite others to worship and glorify God, but those who cultivate themselves merely build up themselves. They only give others a taste of man, and they draw praises to man. The more they practice asceticism, the stronger their self becomes. In fact, the more “virtuous” a person is, the more he gives others the feeling that he is above them. The more a Christian is broken, the less others will be conscious of him, and the humbler he becomes. Others will only touch God in him. The more a worldly person practices self-denial, the greater his self becomes. We find this particularly prevalent in India. Indian philosophy far excels the ethics of most ordinary men and women. Yet no one touches God through this philosophy. A Christian who takes up the cross, however, whether he is a Chinese, a Japanese, or an Englishman, gives others the impression of God. They cause others to worship God and to glorify Him.
The release of the spirit and freedom from self-consciousness
Question: What does it mean to release the spirit, and what does it mean to be free from self-consciousness?
Answer: When we speak for God, our spirit rises up. Every time we speak, our spirit rises up a little. When our spirit rises up during our speaking, we have to consciously release this spirit. As our speaking becomes more and more weighty, we will learn that a frivolous spirit cannot carry the weight of our word. We have to release the word with a sober spirit. We have to exercise our will to stir up our spirit to release the word. Therefore, our spirit as well as our feelings must be in line with God’s word. We need to accept God’s breaking under the discipline of the Holy Spirit so that our outer man can be dealt with and we can be purified daily. Then our spirit will be free and available. There is the need of a fundamental breaking work. Only then will our spirit be free to be released. Otherwise, our soul will come out instead.
Those who are free from self-consciousness can be considered “naturally spiritual.” Self-consciousness is a function of the soul. Those who are strong in self- consciousness are strong in their soul. Those who do not have self-consciousness can use their spirit more freely. For this reason, it is easier for God to use those who are free from self-consciousness. The absence of such consciousness is a basic qualification for preaching the gospel.
Whether or not our meeting will be strong depends on whether a minister of the word pours out his all on his audience. He must stake all his feelings and thoughts on his spirit and push such a spirit out. The more a minister of the word sacrifices, the more focused and powerful his word becomes. If he sacrifices little, his words will be diluted, and there will be little power to them.
A basic revelation
Question: What is a basic revelation?
Answer: Peter received a knowledge of the Lord when he was in the region of Caesarea Philippi, but he received a knowledge of himself in the courtyard of Pontius Pilate. In his case, knowledge of the Lord and knowledge of the self were two separate matters. Paul saw a great light on the way to Damascus; it flashed all around him, and he fell to the ground. When he fell, he knew the Lord and himself at the same time. This is the proper and standard way to be saved. We should receive our basic revelation in the same way that Paul received his; we should know the Lord in an instant and know ourselves thoroughly at the same time. This is the standard experience of salvation. Unfortunately, gospel preachers today do not render people enough light, and men do not have enough knowledge about themselves or about the Lord. We are speaking many things which can only be considered as make-up lessons for the gospel. In one sense we can even say that we are still preaching the gospel now.
Many spiritual things should have come to us at the time salvation came to us, but because of a shortage of light, we have wasted much time. The only thing that requires time is the growth in life. Other things such as consecration can be experienced at the same time that a person is saved. However, due to the shortage of light, some have not consecrated themselves even ten years after being saved. Nothing can bring in more confusion to one’s salvation than the shortage of strong light and adequate revelation. Some experience grace ten times, even a hundred times, but the total effect of these experiences is less than the one time Paul experienced the grace of knowing the Lord and himself at the time of his conversion. What we are doing here today can only be considered a kind of make-up lesson. In his Epistles Paul tells us of the riches the Lord has given us. He tells us about everything that the Lord has given us. What we have received today comes far short of what Paul speaks about. The Lord has given us everything. From the time of the apostles, the church has been busy with make-up lessons. It has dropped many things that the Lord has given it. The Lord has done everything for us. Today when we speak of revelation, we are merely speaking of seeing what the Lord has accomplished for us already. We need a basic revelation because we were short in the past; we received less than a quarter of the total revelation. Today under God’s light, we want to receive all four quarters. This is what we mean by receiving basic revelation. Some are saved one hundred percent. Others are saved ten percent. What we are doing today is recovering fully and completely what the Lord has given us already.