This article contains the messages delivered by the author in 1978 during the Special Winter Conference held on the outskirts of Manila, Philippines. The recorded messages have now been lightly edited and arranged for publication, in order to meet the present need. May the Lord bless His word, and may He raise up His saints to be sent by Him, that they may fulfill His commission. T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Chapter 1: God's Calling Chapter 2: Man's Surrender Chapter 3: Sent by God Chapter 4: God's Purification <-- Back to "Ministry"

Bible Reading: Jonah Chapter 1 (whole chapter) The theme of this conference is “Whom shall I send?” The term "send" carries the sense of commissioning and dispatching—being appointed and sent forth. “Whom shall I send?” is the voice of the God in heaven calling to every saint, His own people. In delivering this message, we will take the Book of Jonah as our background. The first chapter of Jonah speaks of God's Calling. I. A Perishing World Awaiting Salvation — The Wickedness of Nineveh The first chapter of the Book of Jonah records that Jonah was commissioned to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire at that time. Yet Jonah disobeyed and fled toward Tarshish. Assyria had once been a great empire, lasting for roughly three centuries (900–607 B.C.). Its population was vast; even those who “could not discern their right hand from their left” numbered more than one hundred twenty thousand (Jon. 4:11). From this, we may infer that the total population of that great city was likely around one million. Because the wickedness of Nineveh had risen up before the Lord, He sent Jonah to that great city. The God we worship is indeed a God of love, yet He is also a God of righteousness. Concerning sin, He must execute judgment. Yet out of His love for the world, He desires that all should repent and be saved, and that none should perish. For this reason, God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim repentance to its people. God’s Judgment upon Sin Concerning God’s judgment upon sin, the Old Testament repeatedly shows us that God never compromises with evil; judgment is unavoidable. In the days of Noah, when the Lord saw that humanity—whom He had created—was filled with violence upon the earth, and that every intention of their thoughts was evil, The Bible records: “The Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was grieved.” Because the holy God cannot tolerate sin, He resolved to destroy that generation with the flood. God does not tolerate sin for the world; neither does He overlook the sin of a single city. Consider the days of Abraham: The Bible records that the people of Sodom were exceedingly wicked before the Lord, and not even ten righteous persons could be found within it. The God who is righteous, holy, and jealous therefore destroyed that city with brimstone and fire. Now there was yet another city—Nineveh—greater than the cities of old. The Lord executes judgment upon the sins of the world, and He likewise judges the sins of a city; He also judges the sins of each individual. Therefore, before judgment would fall, He called Jonah and commissioned him to go and rescue, to restore the sinful great city of Nineveh. The Present World Awaits Salvation From the generations in which God judged sin, we clearly see why God calls man: because the perishing world awaits salvation. This world—our present dwelling place—was created by God and is precious to Him. Yet it is marked by a fearful condition: day by day it moves toward the path of destruction. This world, heading toward ruin, is in urgent need of deliverance. For this reason, God calls people from heaven. When we look at the present age, the condition of human life—its moral decline and corruption—truly mirrors that of ancient times. Each day the newspapers report criminal acts from every corner of the world, seemingly without end. It is as though sin has become common, even fashionable. As the Bible declares: “There is none righteous, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. All have turned aside” (Rom. 3:10–12). In the sight of God, all have sinned and fall short of His glory. Such sin God cannot leave unjudged. Praise the Lord! While we were still weak, Christ came to earth in the fullness of time, taking on flesh, and accomplished redemption upon the cross, bearing the sins of all humanity. This glad tidings—already accomplished—must be proclaimed. We are to declare that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Therefore today, to the world, we preach the gospel of Christ’s redemption; and to Christians who have grown cold, withdrawn, or fallen, we proclaim that the Lord still calls people. He calls them to save a perishing world and to restore a declining church. Even now the Lord stretches out His saving hand toward the world, desiring to show grace to all. This is the backdrop of God’s call to humanity. II. God's Calling -- the word of the Lord came to Jonah The opening verse of the Book of Jonah states plainly: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai” (Jon. 1:1). This reveals that God calls man. The very day you and I believed in the Lord Jesus and received His grace was the day we received God’s call. It was because His call came to us that we repented, confessed our sins, were born again, saved, and baptized into Christ. From the moment God called us, we have borne a sacred commission: to go forth and proclaim the gospel everywhere, making disciples of all nations and baptizing them into His name. This commission does not refer to forsaking all things in order to serve the Lord full‑time. Those who serve the Lord full‑time are individuals whom the Lord calls in a particular way, setting them apart to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. But for the general Christian who has received grace and salvation, the moment he believes and accepts the Lord, the Lord calls him to follow Him throughout his entire life until the journey’s end. Thus, a student may continue studying while being used by the Lord; a teacher may continue teaching while being used by the Lord; even those engaged in business may carry out their work while being used by the Lord. In other words, the Lord calls every Christian—each and every one—to rise up and serve Him. Yet let us ask ourselves: How many times in a week have we been used by the Lord? In a month? In a year? How many believers have we visited? How many souls have we sought to rescue? Today the Lord’s call is coming to you, just as the word of the Lord came to Jonah in former days. Will you obey and respond to the Lord’s call? Are you able to submit to the Lord whom you serve? God Does Not Send Angels to Save a Perishing World We must understand that after Jesus Christ accomplished redemption, He said to His disciples before ascending to heaven: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). From this we see that the Lord chooses to use human beings to continue His saving work; He does not send angels. Indeed, it is not easy to preach the gospel to our classmates, and it is even more difficult to share the gospel with middle‑aged and elderly people. The more materially advanced our twentieth‑century civilization becomes, the more hardened the human heart seems to be, and the more reluctant people are to receive the gospel. Many Christians have likely imagined that if one day the Lord were to send angels to appear in the sky—gliding through the air like airplanes—and proclaim to humanity: “O people, do not continue in your drunken, dreamlike living; you must repent and believe in Jesus,” surely the world, hearing the voice of angels, would repent and turn to God. Yet God does not act in this way. During the era of redemption, God does not send angels directly to save people; He sends angels only to announce good news. When Jesus was born, the angel was sent by God to bring a message to the shepherds in Bethlehem: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11). At times, when the Lord’s servants were imprisoned, angels were sent to comfort and deliver them (Acts 23:11; 27:23). For are not all angels ministering spirits, sent forth to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Heb. 1:14). God Sends Man to Save a Perishing World From this we see that in God’s eternal ordinance, He has appointed man to proclaim the gospel, visit and care for others, and serve the Lord. In this present age, God sends you and me to save a world that is perishing. Consider the days of Noah: the world was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. When God beheld such a scene, His heart was grieved. Before He determined to destroy all living creatures by the flood, He first sought out a righteous man named Noah. God commanded him to build an ark so that the stream of life would not cease in that generation. Knowing the lovingkindness of God, Noah obeyed the command of the Lord. He preached while building the ark, and he preached for one hundred and twenty years. Oh, how I admire Noah’s perseverance! He preached righteousness for one hundred and twenty years, yet the people remained utterly unmoved. If you and I were to preach for one or two years without anyone believing in Jesus, our legs would grow weary and our hands would lose strength. If we preached for five or ten years with no fruit, our hearts would already be discouraged. If we preached for twenty years without a single convert, we would surely be exhausted and ready to give up. But Noah remained steadfast and faithful, without the slightest hint of slackness. He preached for one hundred and twenty years. This is the faithful servant whom God Himself commends. God Called Jonah Since God has ordained that He will not use angels to save a perishing world, but will instead use human beings, He therefore sent Jonah to save the great city of Nineveh. The opening chapter of the Book of Jonah records plainly: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it’.” From this we see that whenever God calls a person and entrusts him with a commission, He always begins by speaking to that person and giving him His charge. God Calls People to Serve Him Today Dear brothers and sisters, today God still calls, and all who have been saved must rise and be used by the Lord. In the Old Testament, the Lord spoke directly to people; His word came to the prophet Jonah, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it.” In our present age, the Lord uses the message proclaimed from the pulpit and the voice of the Holy Spirit—His inward stirring—to call people to respond to Him and to rise up and let Him use them. III. Man’s Escape — Going Down to Joppa and Fleeing to Tarshish When God called Jonah, Jonah failed to appreciate the honor and instead fled. Little did he realize that if God desires to use us, we ought to come kneeling and crawling to serve Him. Yet man choose to escape God’s call. Scripture records: “But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3). Reject God's Call When the word of the Lord came to Jonah, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it,” Jonah instead rose up and fled to Tarshish. This clearly shows that Jonah rejected the Lord’s call. The Lord wanted Jonah to go east to Nineveh, but Jonah went west to Tarshish. Likewise, many Christians today respond in the same way. When the Lord calls, saying, “Brother, arise and visit,” or “Sister, arise and serve,” they not only refuse to visit or serve, but even neglect to attend meetings, choosing instead to sit at home watching television. God moves their hearts to love the Lord, yet they turn to love the world. For the nature of man is to refuse God’s call. Flee From God Not only so, but because Jonah sought to flee to Tarshish, “he paid the fare and went aboard, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3). “Paid the fare” means he bought a ticket—spiritually speaking, it signifies paying a price. How true this is of many Christians today. Attending meetings costs nothing, yet they are unwilling to come. Prayer and Bible reading require no money, yet they refuse to pray or read. Even special gatherings require not a single cent, yet they will not attend. In contrast, watching movies requires payment, and they are willing to pay. Sinning often costs money, and they are willing to spend it. But when it comes to loving the Lord and freely receiving His grace, they are unwilling. All this reveals the true nature of man: he would rather fall, pay the wages of sin, and indulge in wrongdoing than freely receive the Lord’s boundless grace. Turning One's Back on God Nineveh lay in the east, the place of sunrise. Tarshish lay in the west, the place of sunset. The Lord wanted Jonah to go east, but Jonah went west. East and west are opposite directions—spiritually, this signifies turning one’s back on God. It shows that Jonah was unwilling to walk in the Lord’s way, unwilling to follow God’s will, but instead followed his own will and fled far away. IV. God’s Discipline — In the Belly of the Fish Since Jonah rejected God’s call, he boarded a ship to flee to Tarshish. Brothers and sisters, when a person turns his back on God, how does God deal with him? How does God bring him back? From the Book of Jonah we see that God stretches out His hand of discipline. Concerning God’s discipline, we must highlight several key points. May the Lord use these as a warning to us, lest we repeat the same mistake. In truth, when a person refuses God’s call and is unwilling to respond to Him, it is simply because his spiritual eyes have not been opened—he has not seen the preciousness of the Lord nor the glory of serving Him. Now let us look at the four steps of God’s discipline toward Jonah: God’s Restraining Hand When God disciplines a person, He does not immediately strike him down; rather, He first stretches out His hand to restrain him. Scripture records that while Jonah was on his way to Tarshish by ship, “the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.” (Jonah 1:4). Clearly, this violent storm was no accident—it arose by the command of the Lord. It reveals the restraining hand of God, indicating that Jonah must not continue on to Tarshish. Dear brothers and sisters, remember this: whenever we turn our backs on God, flee from Him, and insist on walking our own way, the Lord’s first step is to stretch out His hand to restrain us. In our experience, for example, suppose there is a youth meeting on Saturday. You avoid attending and instead go to watch a movie. Yet as you arrive at the theater’s ticket counter, you unexpectedly meet a familiar Christian who greets you, “Brother, where are you going?” At that moment you must understand—this is God restraining you from turning your back to Him. Or perhaps your spiritual life has recently grown dull. You have no interest in prayer, and Bible reading no longer attracts you. Then the Lord sends a believer to visit you, to pray with you, and to draw you back from your coldness. “There was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.” This shows that if you continue stubbornly in your own way, the ship will indeed be destroyed. In other words, this act of restraint carries a danger to life. If the ship breaks, everyone on board would drown in the sea. On the other hand, it also tells us that God’s restraining hand can at times be exceedingly severe. Man Still Refuses to Turn Back At that moment, in order to preserve their lives, the people on board threw the cargo into the sea so the ship would not be weighed down. “But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down and was fast asleep” (Jonah 1:5). This shows us that when Jonah boarded the ship, he did not stay on deck to breathe fresh air or admire the vast ocean. Instead, he went down into the lowest part of the ship. Going “down into the lowest part” signifies moving farther away from God, for the deck is closest to the heavens, while the lowest hold is farthest from them. This illustrates that anyone who tries to flee from the Lord is like Jonah descending into the ship’s lowest place. A ship has many levels, and Jonah went down to the very bottom. Spiritually, this speaks of a downward fall—declining step by step, level by level, until reaching the lowest point. Jonah then “lay down and was fast asleep” in the lowest hold. This signifies a spirit that has grown numb. Many Christians, having run from the Lord’s calling, lose their spiritual sensitivity: Bible reading no longer brings light, prayer no longer touches God’s presence, gatherings no longer stir interest, and their condition becomes scarcely different from those who do not believe. Dear brothers and sisters, how often, when God tries to stop us, we respond just like Jonah—not only refusing to turn back, but even going further away from Him. Many who were unwilling to attend this special conference are much like Jonah, lying down and sleeping in the ship’s hold. “Lying down fast asleep” not only reveals a spirit that has grown numb, but also shows a stubborn refusal to yield. Even as the ship was tossed violently by the raging storm, Jonah remained indifferent—hands folded, pretending not to hear, lying there asleep, unwilling to humble himself before God and confess his sin. Giving Oneself Up in Despair The storm grew fierce and the ship was on the verge of breaking apart, the sailors were terrified, and everyone on board cried out to his own god. They then said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. The people questioned him: “Tell us, who has brought this disaster upon us? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? To what people do you belong?” Jonah confessed, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” The men became greatly afraid and said to Jonah, “What should we do to you so that the sea may become calm?” At this moment Jonah finally understood that the raging storm was the result of his disobedience. So he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, then the sea will become calm for you.” (Jonah 1:12). The sailors had no choice but to throw Jonah into the sea, and indeed, the violent storm immediately subsided. When the ship was being battered by the fierce storm and raging waves to the point of nearly sinking, Jonah already knew that he was the one who had brought this calamity. Discouraged and despair, he assumed that God had rejected him and no longer cared for him, so he thought it would be better simply to die. This reveals a condition of utter stubbornness—an unwillingness to turn back, preferring to give himself up, abandon hope, and destroy his own spiritual future. Today, many Christians fall into the same self‑defeating attitude as Jonah. Some serve in the church, but after a brother offends them with a single remark, or a sister’s attitude stirs up anger, or they encounter some discouraging setback, they stop serving. They think, “I’ll just attend meetings and be an ordinary believer.” Once, they loved the Lord and pursued ministry; now they neither serve nor seek Him. Oh, we must remember this well—do not, like Jonah, lightly give yourself up, abandon hope, and destroy your own spiritual future. Little do we realize that no one can escape the hand of God. Jeremiah 23:23–24 records: “Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” God's Discipline Now let us consider: when Jonah was thrown into the sea, was everything finished? Was his self‑despair the end of the story? Oh, the hand of God is never so simple that a person can easily escape it. Brothers and sisters, from the very day we were saved, God has held you and me firmly in His hand. The Father’s hand is greater than all things; not only can no one snatch us out of His hand, but no one can escape His mighty grasp. David wrote in the Psalms: “You (God) have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, You are there” (Psalm 139:5–8). Truly, when the men on the ship threw Jonah into the sea, the storm immediately became calm. This reflects a spiritual principle: whenever sin is cast out, peace enters in. Yet there is an even deeper spiritual meaning we must grasp. Outwardly it was the sailors who threw Jonah into the sea, but behind the scene it was the disciplining hand of God coming upon him. Dear brothers and sisters, when God calls us, we must not run away. And even if we do run, His persistent love will first reach out with a restraining hand to remind us to turn back. If we still refuse to return, He is compelled to stretch out His hand of discipline—sometimes light, sometimes heavy. There was a sister who grew up in a Christian home. From childhood she attended Sunday school; after she grew older, she joined the youth fellowship. She had once expressed her desire to dedicate herself to the Lord and even served in Sunday school. But after marriage, her heart toward the Lord gradually cooled and drifted away. Although other sisters tried to fellowship with her, she still refused to turn back. Later she discovered that her young son had a problem with his lungs. Soon after, she herself fell ill and had to undergo surgery. Only then did she awaken and realize that this was God’s discipline. “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” (Hebrews 12:6). God’s love surpasses all human understanding; His discipline is to bring His own people back to Him. God's Hidden Protective Love Hallelujah! God truly is a God of lovingkindness. For “His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for life” (Psalm 30:5). Consider this: when Jonah was lifted up and thrown into the sea, Scripture deliberately records, “the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” (Jonah 1:17). If Jonah had been cast into the sea without that great fish prepared by God, he would surely have perished—either drowned in the depths or torn apart by sharks. Years ago, in Keelung Harbor, fishermen brought back a huge shark. When they cut it open, they found a human leg still wearing a shoe inside its stomach. Whether the person had already been digested or had merely been bitten apart, no one could determine. This shows that if the Lord had not prepared the great fish to swallow Jonah, Jonah would have died long before. And notice: the fish arrived neither too early nor too late. One minute earlier or later, it would have missed Jonah. Oh! This is God’s hidden, protective love—deep, high, and beyond human knowing. Brothers and sisters, you may have forgotten the Lord, but the Lord has never forgotten you. You may be far from Him, but He draws near to you. You may reject Him, but His eyes remain fixed on you. You may not want Him, but He desires to win you back. For the Lord has a hidden love—unchanging, unwavering—preserving you and me at every moment, in every place, through every circumstance. It was not that Jonah possessed anything admirable, nor that he had any virtue worth God’s attention. It was simply that the Lord loved him without cause. No wonder the poet wrote: Lord, when I think of myself, truly there is nothing in me to compare; What do I have that is better than others? What makes me more noble than anyone else, That You should look upon me with favor and delight? I can only marvel in wonder! Therefore, Jonah being swallowed in the belly of the great fish clearly reveals both the disciplining hand of God’s love and the hidden, protective care of God. Thank the Lord! If it were not for His hidden, preserving love today, none of us could stand firm, nor could any of us continue following or serving Him. May the Lord, through today’s message, open our eyes to hear the call that echoes from heaven: “Whom shall I send?” God is searching for Christians—who can be used by Him? When the Lord found Jonah, He called Jonah. But Jonah fled from God’s calling, and God had no choice but to stretch out His hand of discipline to bring him back, and His hidden hand of love to preserve him. Today the Lord is calling you. Will you run away like Jonah? Or will you submit to the One who is your Lord in all things? The hymn says: Can you? Then beloved, Christ just waits for you; Listen for His orders, Glad His will to do; Then when soldiers muster At the set of sun, And your name is mentioned, Christ will say, “Well done.” (Hymn "Can you be obedient" by Margaret E Barber) <-- Back to Main page Chapter 2 -->

Bible Reading: Jonah Chapter 2 (whole chapter) Hebrews 3:1 says, “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling...” This expresses that all Christians are holy brothers and sisters who have received a heavenly calling. Everyone who has received salvation belongs to this group of people who have been called from heaven. Speaking of the church, the church is a people called out from the world. In other words, it is a group whom the Lord Jesus has called out from within the world. Each one of us bears the identity of the “called ones,” yet many people do not live a life that reflects this calling. Earlier we saw that when God’s calling came to Jonah, he actually ran away. He stubbornly went down to Joppa and boarded a ship to flee toward Tarshish. But do we not often do the same? When the Lord calls, we fail to set aside time to visit others; when there is an evangelistic meeting, we do not bring classmates or friends to believe in Jesus. Truly, our spiritual living does not match the grace of the calling we have received. I. The painful cry of one who destroy his own spiritual future -- in the belly of the fish When Jonah fled from God’s calling and boarded a ship to Tarshish, who could have expected that once the ship reached the open sea, the Lord sent a violent storm, the waves surged, and the vessel was nearly torn apart? Yet Jonah, instead of awakening to his condition, remained stubborn and even sank into despair. He told the sailors, “Lift me up and throw me into the sea,” as if determined to destroy his own spiritual future and end his life altogether. But thanks be to the Lord for His manifold lovingkindness. His mercy did not cease. His hidden hand of preserving love had already been stretched out, preparing a great fish to swallow Jonah. Now, by tracing Jonah’s torment inside the belly of the fish, we want to speak about the consequences faced by those who destroy their own spiritual future. Jonah determined to be thrown into the sea From Jonah’s words to the sailors—“Lift me up and throw me into the sea”—we can easily sense the tone behind them. Jonah knew he had disobeyed God and assumed that God would surely abandon him. His will had collapsed; his heart was utterly hopeless that he wished only to end his life. He never imagined that in the very moment of his despair, the Lord had already arranged for a great fish to swallow him. Today many Christians encounter blows they cannot withstand, some within the church, some in their ministry, some within their families. In discouragement, they give up on themselves: they stop attending gatherings, and they cease pursuing the Lord and serve Him. They feel as though Jesus no longer watches over them, and in their disappointment they decide simply to let things take their course, turning toward the world to finish out their lives. Little do they realize that such self‑abandoning thoughts are one of the devil’s methods of sifting believers. Truly, God’s love never changes, and His gifts and His calling are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Yet we must understand that Jonah, in the belly of the fish, suffered bitterly beyond measure. He could have received forgiveness if he repented on the ship We can well imagine Jonah inside the belly of the fish—surrounded by darkness, unable to move his hands or feet. Trapped within the blood‑soaked, pulsing organs of the fish, the stench was nauseating. Every passing second must have felt unbearably painful, indescribable. In truth, if Jonah had not given up on himself but had instead repented on the ship when the storm first arose—calling upon the Lord for forgiveness—then the Lord would have immediately forgiven him and shown grace. He would have been spared the bitter suffering inside the belly of the fish. Suffering after he tried to destroy his future But Jonah did not do so; therefore he had to suffer the pain of being cast into the sea and entering the belly of the fish. Now we will go on to point out the five painful experiences Jonah encountered as a result of destroying his own spiritual future. May the Lord remind us through these five points, those who refuse the Lord’s calling and give up on themselves to turn back in time, so that they may avoid the suffering of entering the fish’s belly. Physical suffering Consider Jonah when he lay in the belly of the fish—unable to move, groaning in pain, with no way to survive. In Jonah 2:1–2 it is written: "Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. And he said, 'I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me.'" Notice Jonah’s first words: he did not say, “I cried out to the Lord from the fish’s belly,” but rather, “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction.” From this we see that anyone who destroys his own spiritual future will sooner or later encounter the first form of God’s discipline, which is called “affliction”—that is, physical suffering. When I visit young believers in the hospital, the first thing I ask is: “Brother (or Sister), do you know the reason you are lying here in this hospital bed?” Some immediately nod and say, “I know… the Lord is disciplining me.” Then they ask me to pray for them. I always have them pray first. When they begin to pray aloud, the very first thing they do is to repent with sorrow—asking the Lord to forgive how they had hardened their hearts, refused His deep love, and lived for themselves rather than for Him…After they confess, I then lay hands on them and pray. Praise the Lord! He is full of mercy and grace, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. He does not always chide, nor does He keep His anger forever. And indeed, these brothers and sisters recovered quickly. I remember a young brother who stopped attending meetings and wandered about everywhere. One day he accidentally slipped from an upper floor and fell, breaking a leg bone. When I heard about it, I immediately went to visit him. I asked whether he wanted me to pray for him, and he was very glad. I said, “Good—pray first.” As soon as he opened his mouth, he confessed his sins: “Lord, forgive me for walking my own way. Thank You for having mercy on me and using this incident to bring me back before You.” From this we can see that anyone who destroys his own spiritual future and willingly sinks into spiritual decline will fall into the hand of God’s discipline and suffer physical pain. Suffering in the soul and spirit Next Jonah prayed, saying: “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.” Here Jonah does not say, “I cried out to the Lord from the belly of the fish,” but rather, “from the belly of Sheol I cried” “Sheol” refers to the place where people go after death. Death brings deep pain to the human soul; therefore, in spiritual meaning, "Sheol" represents the suffering of the inner being. In other words, the pain of the soul is described by the word "Sheol". Dear brothers and sisters, when a Christian tries to ruin his own spiritual future, there will come a day when the Lord’s disciplining hand rests upon him. Not only will he suffer physical pain, but he will also experience pain within the soul. The pain of the soul is a state in which one cannot find rest; the mind cannot settle. During the day the heart is troubled and confused, unable to find direction. At night one tosses and turns, unable to sleep peacefully. The whole day is filled with agitation and fear, leaving both body and mind exhausted. Praise the Lord! On the day we were saved, we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. We immediately experienced this: the heavy burdens that once pressed upon both body and soul were lifted, and peace filled us inside and out. The Lord forgave all our sins; He bore all our difficulties; He rescued us from our wandering and set us on the right path. Yet whenever we turn away from Him and walk our own way, the peace in our hearts disappears. Our spirit feels pressed, dry, and without release. Oh, the pain of the soul is far harder to bear than the pain of the body. If such inner suffering continues for a long time, the consequences will be unimaginable. The pain of losing God's presence Look again at verse 4, where Jonah says: “I have been cast out of Your sight.” This plainly states that Jonah was no longer before the Lord’s face. In other words, Jonah at that moment was not in the presence of the Lord. He said, “I have been cast out of Your sight.” “Cast out” means to be expelled, to be sent out. For example, in the Philippines, when a foreigner is caught trafficking drugs, the government arrests him and then punishes him by deporting him—sending him out of the country. That is “casting out.” Now Jonah, though physically inside the belly of the fish, felt that he had been driven out by God. The spiritual meaning is this: he had lost the presence of God. For a Christian, the most precious treasure is the presence of God. As the hymn goes: I need Thy presence every passing hour: What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power? I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless: Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness: Where is death’s sting? where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if Thou abide with me. (Hymn: Abide with Me by Henry Francis Lyte) Hallelujah! On the contrary, when a person loses the Lord’s presence, he becomes the most pitiful and tragic person in the entire universe. In Matthew 12, the New Testament records a man from whom an unclean spirit had departed. Yet his inner being was not filled by the Lord. So after the demon left him, it wandered about, searching for a resting place. Finding none, it returned to its former dwelling (that man). Before re‑entering, the demon saw that the man’s inner life was empty—like a house without an owner. It then invited seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they all went in and lived there. Scripture says: “The last state of that man is worse than the first” (v. 45). This shows us how deeply Christians need the Lord’s presence. When the Lord is present, Satan cannot easily attack. When the Lord is with us, nothing can terrify us, and no enemy can make us afraid. On that day, the Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross by the hands of lawless men to fulfill God's will. As He bore the sins of all humanity upon the cross, “Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?"—that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). We see here that the greatest suffering Jesus endured on the cross was not the crown of thorns on His head, nor the nails piercing His hands and feet, nor the spear thrust into His side, nor His body covered with wounds and flowing with blood. Rather, the deepest agony was this: on the cross, God laid the sins of all people upon Him, and because of God’s righteous anger, He was forsaken. Darkness covered the land as the righteous God executed judgment. Thus, losing the presence of God is an exceedingly painful spiritual experience. Dear brothers and sisters, pay close attention to the Lord’s presence. Once His presence is lost, the condition that follows is unimaginably dreadful. The pain of struggling and unable to break free In his extreme suffering, Jonah felt as though he had descended to the very depths of Sheol, as if the gates of the earth were about to shut him in forever. Therefore he said: "You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God." (Jonah 2:6). Jonah did not say that God rescued him from the deep sea; rather, he said that God rescued him from “the pit.” The meaning is that the deep sea was like a deep pit. Once a person slips and falls into such a pit, even if he cries out to heaven and earth, heaven does not respond and earth does not move. He only sinks deeper and deeper, unable to free himself. A hunter captures an elephant by digging a deep pit in the forest, covering it with branches and sand, and then driving the elephant toward it. Once the elephant falls in, it cannot climb out no matter how hard it tries. Jonah uses the image of a deep pit to describe the deep sea, expressing his struggling, painful, and helpless condition—a struggle from which he could not free himself. Likewise, when a Christian tries to ruin his own spiritual future, he too will fall into a state of struggling without being able to free himself, experiencing this painful bondage of the soul. There was once a young couple who serves in the church and were preparing to build a family. They felt mutual peace and believed clearly that their union was God’s will. The Lord’s servant conducted their wedding. Not long after marriage, their zeal for serving the Lord declined; soon afterward, because they were busy with their careers, they stopped serving altogether. At first, they still attended meetings regularly, and their life seemed pleasant. They thought their path was correct. Later, however, the brother’s business failed. He fell into heavy debt—as though he had fallen into a deep pit from which he could not free himself. After several years, not only were the debts not repaid, but they grew even worse. Oh! Truly he had fallen into a pit, sinking deeper and deeper, just as Jonah was trapped in the belly of the fish. The only path to deliverance was to look up to God’s mercy. Suffering according to God's time (Prolonged) “The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” (Jonah 1:17). Our God is the Triune God; therefore in the Bible, the number three often signifies God’s number. “Three days and three nights” represents God’s timing. Jonah’s three days and three nights in the fish’s belly show that when a Christian destroys his own spiritual future and the Lord stretches out His disciplining hand, He does not withdraw it easily. The spiritual meaning of “three days and three nights” does not necessarily mean literally three days. Rather, it means God releases only when He considers the time sufficient. Some may be “shut in” for five years, eight years, or ten years. Some may even remain under discipline for long, extended years, and still God’s hand does not let go. Therefore, the moment of release does not depend on you or me; we must wait for God’s timing. May the Lord be merciful to us, and through this remind us once again: when we encounter setbacks or blows, we must never act out of impulse and destroy our own spiritual future. For if we abandon ourselves, the suffering and loss that follow will be impossible to repair. II. Knowing God through suffering The most precious experience for a person under God’s discipline is coming to know God, for knowing God is often learned through discipline. Why does God discipline us? Hebrews 12:10–11 says: “For they (earthly fathers) indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” This shows that God’s discipline is not meant for us to suffer in vain, but that we may know Him through suffering. This is the principle of God’s work. Next, let us consider how Jonah came to know the Lord while in the belly of the fish. Because of limited space, we will present three points only: Knowing God's Lovingkindness Just now we read Jonah 2:2: ““I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.” At this moment Jonah had already experienced that God is full of lovingkindness and that He is a God who hears prayer. Look again at verse 6: “Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.” The pit is a place without hope. Originally, Jonah should have perished in the sea; yet the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow him, but he didn't let the fish digest him. Truly, Jonah suffered in the belly of the fish, struggling in pain, seemingly unable to survive. But God turned the fish’s belly into a house of prayer, so that in the fish’s belly Jonah came to know that God is a God of lovingkindness who hears prayer, and that He is the Lord who brings his life up from the pit. Hallelujah! Dear brothers and sisters, from this we can see that if we fall into suffering and are able to humble ourselves before the Lord—submitting, repenting, and confessing—we will experience how deeply the Lord loves us. Isn’t this true? Let me ask you: did you feel the Lord was nearer before you became ill, or after you became ill? It was after. Why is that? Logically, it should be when our bodies are healthy, when the Lord is preserving us, when life is smooth and under His care. How is it that after becoming ill we feel the Lord loves us even more? It is simply because through God’s discipline, we come to realize in our sickness how greatly we have failed the Lord and offended Him. Thus we pray, asking the Lord for forgiveness, and we experience that although He already knew our coldness, our changeable heart, and our turning away from Him, He still chooses to love us. When we think of the Lord’s love, we marvel—He truly loves sinners without reason. Knowing God's Almighty Power The Lord is not only a God full of lovingkindness; He is also the almighty God. What is impossible with man is possible with God. Look at Jonah 2:2 and 2:6: “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice… You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.” “Sheol” is a place of hopelessness. Once a person steps into Sheol, he cannot return to the land of the living. Yet by His almighty power, God lifted Jonah out of the pit of Sheol. In terms of our own experience, we too were once sinking in the bitter sea of sin—forever lost, without hope. But thanks be to the Lord! Just when we were discouraged and in despair, He heard our cry, and He stretched out His mighty hand to save us. The Lord saved you; the Lord saved me. When we were drifting in the world, The Lord saved me. Hallelujah! Knowing God's Faithfulness “Faithful” means reliable—never failing. The faithfulness of God tells us that God is utterly trustworthy, keeping covenant and mercy. His promises will never fail; what He has spoken with His mouth, He fulfills with His hand (1 Kings 8:24). Now let us see how Jonah, through his own personal experience, came to know the faithfulness of God. Look at what verse 4 records: “I said, ‘I have been cast out from Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’” Then verse 7 goes further: “When my fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple.” From Jonah’s prayer we see that the holy temple is mentioned twice. In verse 4 he says, I look toward Your holy temple, showing that although Jonah had been unfaithful and disobedient—God called him to go to Nineveh, yet he secretly fled toward Tarshish—now that he had fallen into affliction, he turned his eyes toward God’s temple. His gaze shifted back to the holy place of God. We must briefly explain the background of the holy temple. After Solomon succeeded his father David on the throne, he built the temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. When the temple was completed, Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, lifted his hands toward heaven, and prayed. In this long prayer, there is an important portion recorded in 1 Kings 8:30–53. The main idea of this portion of Solomon’s prayer is this: O Lord, if Your people one day rebel and turn away from You—even falling into sin and worshiping idols—so that they are defeated by their enemies and carried away captive, scattered among the nations; yet if, in the land of their captivity, they turn their hearts back to You and pray toward the temple that I have built for Your Name, then You will forgive Your people who have sinned against You, pardon all their transgressions, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who have taken them captive. This prayer was accepted by God. Jonah was a prophet who understood God’s ways. He knew the heart of God, so he held firmly to the faithfulness of God. He went further and declared: My prayer has entered Your holy temple; O Lord, You must hear my prayer. I, Jonah, truly have been unfaithful and have forsaken God. Yet now I turn back in my heart and pray toward His holy temple. The faithful God who made covenant with Solomon will surely keep covenant and show steadfast love. Dear brothers and sisters, from Jonah’s threefold experience of knowing God in the belly of the fish, we are truly encouraged and strengthened to walk well on the spiritual path. As the hymn says: Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His Word; Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord!" III. Surrender to God Indeed, Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, tasting every kind of torment and suffering—physical, emotional, and spiritual. At last he was subdued. Yet what is even more precious is that he came to recognize the lovingkindness of God: that God answered him and forgave him; that he personally experienced the Almighty God who saved him and set him free. At the same time, he discovered that God is faithful—even when humans are unfaithful, God remains trustworthy. Quite naturally, his heart yielded in willing submission and surrendered to God. Consider the record in verse 9: “But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.” Submitting to God's Discipline "But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving;" This sentence shows us that although Jonah’s body was still inside the belly of the fish—within the realm of the dead, in the depths of the pit—he harbored no resentment. Instead, his heart overflowed with gratitude toward God, lifting his voice in thanksgiving. This reveals that he had submitted to God’s discipline. He recognized that God’s discipline came from His love for him. Jonah worshiped God’s will as the best, and God’s ways as the most perfect. Fulfilling vow "I will pay what I have vowed. "Every true prophet must carry a deep longing before God: "Lord, according to Your will, I am willing to obey. In Your loving hand, I will submit in all things.” Jonah was no exception. He had once made a vow to the Lord. Yet when the word of the Lord came to him—not to speak to the people of Israel, but to cry out for the salvation of the inhabitants of Nineveh, an enemy nation—he resisted. He regarded the great city of Nineveh not only as Israel’s enemy, but also as exceedingly wicked, deserving judgment. So he disobeyed God’s command and fled toward Tarshish. He did not act according to the vow he had originally made. But now he is fulfilling his vow again before the Lord: “Lord, it is not for me to decide what I want to do, nor where I want to go. I ask You to choose for me. I am willing to follow Your command and surrender to You unconditionally.” Let me ask you: have you not also made vows to the Lord? Some of you made vows in Baguio, dedicating your whole life to the Lord, choosing to live entirely for Him. But what about now? Have you forgotten the vows you once made to the Lord? How I long for you today to awaken—just as Jonah did—to repentance, and to fulfill your vows before the Lord once again. You must understand: God remember the vows you make to Him forever; He never forgets them. Ecclesiastes 5:4–5 tells us: “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, for He has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you have vowed. Better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.” IV. Being delivered from God's discipline When Jonah was in the belly of the fish, he repented, surrendered to God, cried out to Him, gave thanks, confessed his sin, made his vow, offered his sacrifice, and lifted his praise. Then God commanded the fish, and the fish vomited Jonah out onto dry land (Jonah 2:10). God withdraws His hand of discipline Jonah boarded a ship to flee toward Tarshish. "The Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea” (Jonah 1:4). This was a lighter form of God's discipline stop him. Yet Jonah refused to turn back. Instead, he gave himself over to despair, destroying his own spiritual future, and asked the sailors to throw him into the sea, hoping to end his life once and for all. But unexpectedly, “the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17). This was God stretching out His severe hand of discipline. Praise the Lord! When Jonah sincerely surrendered himself to God, “the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” Spiritually speaking, this signifies that Jonah had been fully released from God’s discipline. This shows that whenever we sincerely submit ourselves to God, and He deems that the time has come, He will determine to release us—so that we may once again be usable in His hands. God’s purpose in discipline is to prepare and perfect His vessel Lastly, we must clarify an important spiritual principle. We see Jonah suffering in the belly of the great fish, tormented in pain. I earnestly hope you will understand this and not misunderstand—thinking that when God’s hand of discipline comes upon us, it means He has abandoned us or intends to destroy us. On the contrary, we must affirm this truth: if a person runs away from God’s will, his life will never prosper. Know this: when God stretches out His hand of discipline, it is to perfect us, establish us, and build us up. The prophet Hosea says, “Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has stricken us, but He will bind us up” (Hosea 6:1). This clearly expresses that God’s disciplining hand carries grace, aiming to make us perfect and obedient children of God. Thanks be to the Lord! The rebellious Jonah, in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, was ultimately perfected by the lovingkindness of God. Man’s part is to return and surrender to God; God's part is to release and perfect us. <-- Chapter 1 Chapter 3 -->

This book is a transcription of the speaker’s oral study of the Acts of the Apostles given during a period of co-workers' training Manila, Philippines in January 1991. During those sessions, there was a deep sense of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, bringing help to both the speaker and the listeners.. The recorded notes have now been lightly edited and compiled into this volume as a reference for those who desire to witness and study the Scriptures. May the Lord grant the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that as readers diligently study the Bible, they may receive richer light and instruction from the Lord, and be enlightened, cleansed, and nourished—so that their spiritual lives may become ever more pure and abundant. T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Acts - Chapter 1 Acts - Chapter 2 Acts - Chapter 3 Acts - Chapter 4 Acts - Chapter 5 Acts - Chapter 6 Acts - Chapter 7 Acts - Chapter 8 Acts - Chapter 9 Acts - Chapter 10 Acts - Chapter 11 Acts - Chapter 12 Acts - Chapter 13 Acts - Chapter 14 Acts - Chapter 15 Acts - Chapter 16 Acts - Chapter 17 Acts - Chapter 18 Acts - Chapter 19 Acts - Chapter 20 Acts - Chapter 21 Acts - Chapter 22 Acts - Chapter 23 Acts - Chapter 24 Acts - Chapter 25 Acts - Chapter 26 Acts - Chapter 27 Acts - Chapter 28 I. Introduction to Testimony Bible Reading Over generations, books on biblical interpretation have accumulated, becoming a precious spiritual heritage for the church. Whether for foundational faith or the edification of truth, they provide rich nourishment and guidance to believers. 2 Timothy 3:16 states: "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the person belonging to God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work." This verse tells us that Scripture originates from God's inspiration and serves to teach, correct, and guide believers into righteousness, enabling them to grow in spiritual maturity and be prepared for good works—this is the fundamental understanding of the verse. However, if we delve deeper, we discover that the phrase "All Scripture is inspired (revealed) by God" carries a profound and elevated meaning. It speaks of God’s eternal plan, His will, and His purpose, which He desires all believers to pursue, understand, and ultimately fulfill. To accomplish God's eternal plan and fulfill His heart’s desire, believers need to advance in spiritual growth through Bible reading. The maturity of a Christian’s inner life, the increase of Christ's stature in the church, and the victorious testimony of individuals and congregations all require further strengthening. Thus, learning how to read the Bible in a way that daily provides spiritual nourishment and enables spiritual growth is a pressing priority for believers today. John 6:63 records: "Jesus said, 'The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.'" This verse clearly explains that the Lord’s words are meant to supply spiritual life. Just as the Israelites were sustained for forty years in the wilderness by manna, believers grow and live spiritually through God’s Word. The prophet Jeremiah once said: "Lord God of Hosts, when Your words came, I ate them; Your words were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name." (Jeremiah 15:16) Again, this shows that Scripture is God’s Word—it is spiritual food, life, and strength, allowing believers to grow spiritually, live powerfully, and have the strength to overcome. John 5:39 records Jesus Himself saying: "You study the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me." This reveals that the Bible is a testimony to Christ’s divine and supreme authority. First, through the Word of God in the Bible, we receive eternal life. As 1 Peter 1:23 states: "You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." Second, through the word of God in the Bible, we live out the testimony of Christ. When God's Word enters the believer, it becomes life—this life is the life of the Son of God, which grows within and manifests Christ, and be a testimony of Christ. This way of reading the Bible—where believers are transformed to live out Christ's testimony—is called "Testimony Bible Reading". In other words, Testimony Bible Reading means reading Scripture to receive divine illumination and apply spiritual principles to a believer’s daily life, work and service, knowing Christ, experiencing Christ, and ultimately living out Christ. II. Basic Principles of Bible Reading A. Understanding the eternal nature of the Bible God is the eternal God (Psalms 90:2) An eternal plan as blueprint Revealing the Bible through the eternal Spirit The Bible transcends time and space and is applicable in every era and place B. Understanding the present nature of the Bible God is the eternal God, yet He is also the God of the present. With God, there are no time limitations—everything is "now". (Hebrews 13:8) Every part of the Bible is applicable to present-day spiritual experiences. C. Understanding that the content of the Bible is Christ The Bible is the manual that reveals God's Son, Christ (Luke 24:44-45). The central figure of the Bible is Christ. Through explicit texts, prophecies, symbolic representations, historical narratives, and poetry, the Bible expresses Christ. D. Understanding the infinite spiritual meaning of the Bible (Ephesians 3:8) The Bible contains literal facts. Spiritual meaning is revealed through these literal facts. Because Christ is spiritual, heavenly, eternal, and infinitely rich, the Bible’s spiritual significance is also limitless E. Understanding that the interpretation of the Bible depends on the revelation of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26; Ephesians 1:17; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11) The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit; therefore, only the Holy Spirit can interpret it. Knowing Christ requires revelation, so interpreting the Bible also requires the revelation of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26). III. The Spiritual Principles and Application of Testimony Bible Reading A. Clearly understand the literal meaning of the Bible Understand the literal meaning of the Bible Comprehend the spiritual significance of Biblical text B. See illumination and spiritual principles with the revelation of the Holy Spirit Receive the illumination given by the Holy Spirit through the literal text of the Bible. Gain revelation from the Holy Spirit through biblical facts to understand spiritual principles. C. Apply the illumination and spiritual principles in life, work and ministry Apply the literal meaning of the Bible in daily life, work, and service. Practice the spiritual significance of biblical texts in life, work, and service. Apply the illumination revealed by the Holy Spirit in life, work, and service. Apply the spiritual principles received through the revelation of the Holy Spirit in life, work, and service. <-- BACK to New Testament

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Luke - Chapter 1 Luke - Chapter 2 Luke - Chapter 3 Luke - Chapter 4 Luke - Chapter 5 Luke - Chapter 6 Luke - Chapter 7 Luke - Chapter 8 Luke - Chapter 9 Luke - Chapter 10 Luke - Chapter 11 Luke - Chapter 12 Luke - Chapter 13 Luke - Chapter 14 Luke - Chapter 15 Luke - Chapter 16 Luke - Chapter 17 Luke - Chapter 18 Luke - Chapter 19 Luke - Chapter 20 Luke - Chapter 21 Luke - Chapter 22 Luke - Chapter 23 Luke - Chapter 24 Reflections After Reading the Gospel of Luke Key verse: "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (19:10) Reflections: The Lord Jesus came as the perfect Man, fulfilling God's will in the identity of the Son of Man. His main characteristics as a man is as follows: (1) Mindful of the Fathers' business He went up to the temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve. Sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions He replied to His parents, "I must be about My Father’s business." (2) Obeyed the Law He was circumcised at the eighth day. (2:21) He was presented to God after purification was completed. (2:22-23) His parents offered a sacrifice. (2:24) He went up to Jerusalem at twelve according to the custom. (2:42-43) He obeyed the law for 33 and a half year. He completed the law on the cross. When the centurion see what happened, he said, "Certainly, this was a righteous man." (23:47) (3) Fulfilled the duties of the Son of Man He departed from the temple and went back to Nazareth with His parents. (2:51) He honored His parents. (2:51) Fulfilled the duties of the Son of Man in His family for 33 years. (3:23) (4) Lived a prayer life He prayed eight times. a. After being baptized (3:21) b. Withdrew into the wilderness. (5:16) c. Before He appointed the twelve disciples. (6:12) d. Transfiguration on the mountain. (9:19) e. Prayed in a certain place (11:1) f. In the garden of Gethsemane (22:39-46) g. Commit His spirit in the hands of the Father on the cross (23:46) Three times He taught the disciples to pray. a. Teach the disciples to pray. (11:2-4) b. A fervent prayer (11:5-13) c. Always aught to pray (18:1-8) (5) He was a model role (lead by example) First He provided a model of a prayerful life, then He taught His disciples to pray. He received the Holy Spirit first, then He taught people to receive the Holy Spirit (4:1; 11:13). He obeyed the Law first, then He taught people to obey it. (6) He seek the lost (a sinner's friend) He told a parable about seeking the lost. (chapter 15). Call Levi the tax collector, and dine with sinners and tax collectors (5:27-32). Allow the sinful woman to anoint Him with oil (7:36–38). He praised the tax collector for his humble prayer (18:9-16) Zacchaeus was saved (19:1-10) (7) He did not despise the poor The angels brought good news to the shepherds (2:8-14). His parents offered turtledoves and pigeons. (2:24). He preached the gospel to the poor (4:18). Lazarus, the beggar entered paradise. (16:19-31) Praise the poor widow for offering two mites. (21:1-4) <-- BACK to Luke

This book is a transcription of the speaker’s oral teachings given in 1991 in Manila, Philippines, during weekly Sunday afternoon studies of the Gospel of Luke with a group of young brothers and sisters who loved the Lord and were devoted to pursuing Him. The recorded notes have now been lightly edited and compiled into this volume as a reference for those who desire to witness and study the Scriptures. May the Lord grant the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that as readers diligently study the Bible, they may receive richer light and instruction from the Lord, and be enlightened, cleansed, and nourished—so that their spiritual lives may become ever more pure and abundant. I. Introduction to Testimony Bible Reading Over generations, books on biblical interpretation have accumulated, becoming a precious spiritual heritage for the church. Whether for foundational faith or the edification of truth, they provide rich nourishment and guidance to believers. 2 Timothy 3:16  states:   "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the person belonging to God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work."  This verse tells us that Scripture originates from God's inspiration and serves to teach, correct, and guide believers into righteousness, enabling them to grow in spiritual maturity and be prepared for good works—this is the fundamental understanding of the verse. However, if we delve deeper, we discover that the phrase "All Scripture is inspired (revealed) by God" carries a profound and elevated meaning. It speaks of God’s eternal plan, His will, and His purpose, which He desires all believers to pursue, understand, and ultimately fulfill. To accomplish God's eternal plan and fulfill His heart’s desire, believers need to advance in spiritual growth through Bible reading. The maturity of a Christian’s inner life, the increase of Christ's stature in the church, and the victorious testimony of individuals and congregations all require further strengthening. Thus, learning how to read the Bible in a way that daily provides spiritual nourishment and enables spiritual growth is a pressing priority for believers today. John 6:63  records: "Jesus said, 'The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.'"  This verse clearly explains that the Lord’s words are meant to supply spiritual life. Just as the Israelites were sustained for forty years in the wilderness by manna, believers grow and live spiritually through God’s Word. The prophet Jeremiah once said: "Lord God of Hosts, when Your words came, I ate them; Your words were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name."  (Jeremiah 15:16) Again, this shows that Scripture is God’s Word—it is spiritual food, life, and strength, allowing believers to grow spiritually, live powerfully, and have the strength to overcome. John 5:39  records Jesus Himself saying: "You study the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me."  This reveals that the Bible is a testimony to Christ’s divine and supreme authority. First, through the Word of God in the Bible, we receive eternal life. As 1 Peter 1:23  states: "You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." Second, through the word of God in the Bible, we live out the testimony of Christ. When God's Word enters the believer, it becomes life—this life is the life of the Son of God, which grows within and manifests Christ, and be a testimony of Christ. This way of reading the Bible—where believers are transformed to live out Christ's testimony—is called "Testimony Bible Reading" .   In other words, Testimony Bible Reading  means r eading Scripture to receive divine illumination and apply spiritual principles to a believer’s daily life, work and service, knowing Christ, experiencing Christ, and ultimately living out Christ. II. Basic Principles of Bible Reading A. Understanding the eternal nature of the Bible God is the eternal God (Psalms 90:2) An eternal plan as blueprint Revealing the Bible through the eternal Spirit The Bible transcends time and space and is applicable in every era and place B. Understanding the present nature of the Bible God is the eternal God, yet He is also the God of the present. With God, there are no time limitations—everything is "now".  (Hebrews 13:8) Every part of the Bible is applicable to present-day spiritual experiences. C. Understanding that the content of the Bible is Christ The Bible is the manual that reveals God's Son, Christ  (Luke 24:44-45 ). The central figure of the Bible is Christ. Through explicit texts, prophecies, symbolic representations, historical narratives, and poetry, the Bible expresses Christ. D. Understanding the infinite spiritual meaning of the Bible  (Ephesians 3:8) The Bible contains literal facts. Spiritual meaning is revealed through these literal facts. Because Christ is spiritual, heavenly, eternal, and infinitely rich, the Bible’s spiritual significance is also limitless E. Understanding that the interpretation of the Bible depends on the revelation of the Holy Spirit  (John 15:26; Ephesians 1:17; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11) The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit; therefore, only the Holy Spirit can interpret it. Knowing Christ requires revelation, so interpreting the Bible also requires the revelation of the Holy Spirit  (John 15:26). III. The Spiritual Principles and Application of Testimony Bible Reading A. Clearly understand the literal meaning of the Bible Understand the literal meaning of the Bible Comprehend the spiritual significance of Biblical text B. See illumination and spiritual principles with the revelation of the Holy Spirit Receive the illumination given by the Holy Spirit through the literal text of the Bible. Gain revelation from the Holy Spirit through biblical facts to understand spiritual principles. C. Apply the illumination and spiritual principles in life, work and ministry Apply the literal meaning of the Bible in daily life, work, and service. Practice the spiritual significance of biblical texts in life, work, and service. Apply the illumination revealed by the Holy Spirit in life, work, and service. Apply the spiritual principles received through the revelation of the Holy Spirit in life, work, and service. <-- BACK to New Testament

This book is a transcription of the speaker’s oral studies on the Gospel of Mark, conducted every Sunday afternoon in 1973 in Manila, Philippines, together with a group of young brothers and sisters who loved the Lord and were devoted to pursuing Him. The recorded notes have now been lightly edited and compiled into this volume as a reference for those who desire to witness and study the Scriptures. May the Lord grant the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that as readers diligently read the Bible, they may receive richer light and instruction from the Lord, and be enlightened, cleansed, and nourished—so that their spiritual lives may become ever more pure and abundant. I. Introduction to Testimony Bible Reading Over generations, books on biblical interpretation have accumulated, becoming a precious spiritual heritage for the church. Whether for foundational faith or the edification of truth, they provide rich nourishment and guidance to believers. 2 Timothy 3:16  states:   "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the person belonging to God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work."  This verse tells us that Scripture originates from God's inspiration and serves to teach, correct, and guide believers into righteousness, enabling them to grow in spiritual maturity and be prepared for good works—this is the fundamental understanding of the verse. However, if we delve deeper, we discover that the phrase "All Scripture is inspired (revealed) by God" carries a profound and elevated meaning. It speaks of God’s eternal plan, His will, and His purpose, which He desires all believers to pursue, understand, and ultimately fulfill. To accomplish God's eternal plan and fulfill His heart’s desire, believers need to advance in spiritual growth through Bible reading. The maturity of a Christian’s inner life, the increase of Christ's stature in the church, and the victorious testimony of individuals and congregations all require further strengthening. Thus, learning how to read the Bible in a way that daily provides spiritual nourishment and enables spiritual growth is a pressing priority for believers today. John 6:63  records: "Jesus said, 'The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.'"  This verse clearly explains that the Lord’s words are meant to supply spiritual life. Just as the Israelites were sustained for forty years in the wilderness by manna, believers grow and live spiritually through God’s Word. The prophet Jeremiah once said: "Lord God of Hosts, when Your words came, I ate them; Your words were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name."  (Jeremiah 15:16) Again, this shows that Scripture is God’s Word—it is spiritual food, life, and strength, allowing believers to grow spiritually, live powerfully, and have the strength to overcome. John 5:39  records Jesus Himself saying: "You study the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me."  This reveals that the Bible is a testimony to Christ’s divine and supreme authority. First, through the Word of God in the Bible, we receive eternal life. As 1 Peter 1:23  states: "You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." Second, through the word of God in the Bible, we live out the testimony of Christ. When God's Word enters the believer, it becomes life—this life is the life of the Son of God, which grows within and manifests Christ, and be a testimony of Christ. This way of reading the Bible—where believers are transformed to live out Christ's testimony—is called "Testimony Bible Reading" .   In other words, Testimony Bible Reading  means r eading Scripture to receive divine illumination and apply spiritual principles to a believer’s daily life, work and service, knowing Christ, experiencing Christ, and ultimately living out Christ. II. Basic Principles of Bible Reading A. Understanding the eternal nature of the Bible God is the eternal God (Psalms 90:2) An eternal plan as blueprint Revealing the Bible through the eternal Spirit The Bible transcends time and space and is applicable in every era and place B. Understanding the present nature of the Bible God is the eternal God, yet He is also the God of the present. With God, there are no time limitations—everything is "now".  (Hebrews 13:8) Every part of the Bible is applicable to present-day spiritual experiences. C. Understanding that the content of the Bible is Christ The Bible is the manual that reveals God's Son, Christ  (Luke 24:44-45 ). The central figure of the Bible is Christ. Through explicit texts, prophecies, symbolic representations, historical narratives, and poetry, the Bible expresses Christ. D. Understanding the infinite spiritual meaning of the Bible  (Ephesians 3:8) The Bible contains literal facts. Spiritual meaning is revealed through these literal facts. Because Christ is spiritual, heavenly, eternal, and infinitely rich, the Bible’s spiritual significance is also limitless E. Understanding that the interpretation of the Bible depends on the revelation of the Holy Spirit  (John 15:26; Ephesians 1:17; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11) The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit; therefore, only the Holy Spirit can interpret it. Knowing Christ requires revelation, so interpreting the Bible also requires the revelation of the Holy Spirit  (John 15:26). III. The Spiritual Principles and Application of Testimony Bible Reading A. Clearly understand the literal meaning of the Bible Understand the literal meaning of the Bible Comprehend the spiritual significance of Biblical text B. See illumination and spiritual principles with the revelation of the Holy Spirit Receive the illumination given by the Holy Spirit through the literal text of the Bible. Gain revelation from the Holy Spirit through biblical facts to understand spiritual principles. C. Apply the illumination and spiritual principles in life, work and ministry Apply the literal meaning of the Bible in daily life, work, and service. Practice the spiritual significance of biblical texts in life, work, and service. Apply the illumination revealed by the Holy Spirit in life, work, and service. Apply the spiritual principles received through the revelation of the Holy Spirit in life, work, and service. <-- BACK to New Testament

This book is based on oral Bible study sessions on the Gospel of Matthew, conducted by the speaker every Sunday afternoon in Manila, Philippines, in 1974, together with a group of young brothers and sisters who were devoted to the Lord and earnestly seeking Him. These studies took place . The recorded notes have been slightly refined and compiled into this book as a reference for Testimony Bible Reading. May the Lord grant wisdom and the spirit of revelation so that, as readers diligently study the Scriptures, they may receive greater light, teachings, illumination, cleansing, and nourishment from the Lord, leading to a purer and more abundant spiritual life! I. Introduction to Testimony Bible Reading Over generations, books on biblical interpretation have accumulated, becoming a precious spiritual heritage for the church. Whether for foundational faith or the edification of truth, they provide rich nourishment and guidance to believers. 2 Timothy 3:16  states: "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the person belonging to God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work."  This verse tells us that Scripture originates from God's inspiration and serves to teach, correct, and guide believers into righteousness, enabling them to grow in spiritual maturity and be prepared for good works—this is the fundamental understanding of the verse. However, if we delve deeper, we discover that the phrase "All Scripture is inspired (revealed) by God" carries a profound and elevated meaning. It speaks of God’s eternal plan, His will, and His purpose, which He desires all believers to pursue, understand, and ultimately fulfill. To accomplish God's eternal plan and fulfill His heart’s desire, believers need to advance in spiritual growth through Bible reading. The maturity of a Christian’s inner life, the increase of Christ's stature in the church, and the victorious testimony of individuals and congregations all require further strengthening. Thus, learning how to read the Bible in a way that daily provides spiritual nourishment and enables spiritual growth is a pressing priority for believers today. John 6:63  records: "Jesus said, 'The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.'"  This verse clearly explains that the Lord’s words are meant to supply spiritual life. Just as the Israelites were sustained for forty years in the wilderness by manna, believers grow and live spiritually through God’s Word. The prophet Jeremiah once said: "Lord God of Hosts, when Your words came, I ate them; Your words were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name."  (Jeremiah 15:16) Again, this shows that Scripture is God’s Word—it is spiritual food, life, and strength, allowing believers to grow spiritually, live powerfully, and have the strength to overcome. John 5:39  records Jesus Himself saying: "You study the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me."  This reveals that the Bible is a testimony to Christ’s divine and supreme authority. First, through the Word of God in the Bible, we receive eternal life. As 1 Peter 1:23  states: "You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." Second, through the word of God in the Bible, we live out the testimony of Christ. When God's Word enters the believer, it becomes life—this life is the life of the Son of God, which grows within and manifests Christ, and be a testimony of Christ. This way of reading the Bible—where believers are transformed to live out Christ's testimony—is called "Testimony Bible Reading" . In other words, Testimony Bible Reading  means r eading Scripture to receive divine illumination and apply spiritual principles to a believer’s daily life, work and service, knowing Christ, experiencing Christ, and ultimately living out Christ. II. Basic Principles of Bible Reading A. Understanding the eternal nature of the Bible God is the eternal God (Psalms 90:2) An eternal plan as blueprint Revealing the Bible through the eternal Spirit The Bible transcends time and space and is applicable in every era and place B. Understanding the present nature of the Bible God is the eternal God, yet He is also the God of the present. With God, there are no time limitations—everything is "now".  (Hebrews 13:8) Every part of the Bible is applicable to present-day spiritual experiences. C. Understanding that the content of the Bible is Christ The Bible is the manual that reveals God's Son, Christ  (Luke 24:44-45 ). The central figure of the Bible is Christ. Through explicit texts, prophecies, symbolic representations, historical narratives, and poetry, the Bible expresses Christ. D. Understanding the infinite spiritual meaning of the Bible  (Ephesians 3:8) The Bible contains literal facts. Spiritual meaning is revealed through these literal facts. Because Christ is spiritual, heavenly, eternal, and infinitely rich, the Bible’s spiritual significance is also limitless E. Understanding that the interpretation of the Bible depends on the revelation of the Holy Spirit  (John 15:26; Ephesians 1:17; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11) The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit; therefore, only the Holy Spirit can interpret it. Knowing Christ requires revelation, so interpreting the Bible also requires the revelation of the Holy Spirit  (John 15:26). III. The Spiritual Principles and Application of Testimony Bible Reading A. Clearly understand the literal meaning of the Bible Understand the literal meaning of the Bible Comprehend the spiritual significance of Biblical text B. See illumination and spiritual principles with the revelation of the Holy Spirit Receive the illumination given by the Holy Spirit through the literal text of the Bible. Gain revelation from the Holy Spirit through biblical facts to understand spiritual principles. C. Apply the illumination and spiritual principles in life, work and ministry Apply the literal meaning of the Bible in daily life, work, and service. Practice the spiritual significance of biblical texts in life, work, and service. Apply the illumination revealed by the Holy Spirit in life, work, and service. Apply the spiritual principles received through the revelation of the Holy Spirit in life, work, and service. <-- BACK to New Testament

This book is a transcription of the speaker’s oral study of the Gospel of John, conducted every Sunday afternoon in 1983 in Manila, Philippines, together with a group of young brothers and sisters who loved the Lord, were consecrated to Him, and earnestly sought Him. The recorded notes have now been lightly edited and compiled into this volume as a reference for those who desire to witness and learn through Bible reading. May the Lord grant the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that as readers diligently study the Scriptures, they may receive richer light and instruction from the Lord, and be enlightened, cleansed, and nourished—so that their spiritual life may become ever more pure and abundant! I. Introduction to Testimony Bible Reading Over generations, books on biblical interpretation have accumulated, becoming a precious spiritual heritage for the church. Whether for foundational faith or the edification of truth, they provide rich nourishment and guidance to believers. 2 Timothy 3:16  states:   "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the person belonging to God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work."  This verse tells us that Scripture originates from God's inspiration and serves to teach, correct, and guide believers into righteousness, enabling them to grow in spiritual maturity and be prepared for good works—this is the fundamental understanding of the verse. However, if we delve deeper, we discover that the phrase "All Scripture is inspired (revealed) by God" carries a profound and elevated meaning. It speaks of God’s eternal plan, His will, and His purpose, which He desires all believers to pursue, understand, and ultimately fulfill. To accomplish God's eternal plan and fulfill His heart’s desire, believers need to advance in spiritual growth through Bible reading. The maturity of a Christian’s inner life, the increase of Christ's stature in the church, and the victorious testimony of individuals and congregations all require further strengthening. Thus, learning how to read the Bible in a way that daily provides spiritual nourishment and enables spiritual growth is a pressing priority for believers today. John 6:63  records: "Jesus said, 'The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.'"  This verse clearly explains that the Lord’s words are meant to supply spiritual life. Just as the Israelites were sustained for forty years in the wilderness by manna, believers grow and live spiritually through God’s Word. The prophet Jeremiah once said: "Lord God of Hosts, when Your words came, I ate them; Your words were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name."  (Jeremiah 15:16) Again, this shows that Scripture is God’s Word—it is spiritual food, life, and strength, allowing believers to grow spiritually, live powerfully, and have the strength to overcome. John 5:39  records Jesus Himself saying: "You study the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me."  This reveals that the Bible is a testimony to Christ’s divine and supreme authority. First, through the Word of God in the Bible, we receive eternal life. As 1 Peter 1:23  states: "You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." Second, through the word of God in the Bible, we live out the testimony of Christ. When God's Word enters the believer, it becomes life—this life is the life of the Son of God, which grows within and manifests Christ, and be a testimony of Christ. This way of reading the Bible—where believers are transformed to live out Christ's testimony—is called "Testimony Bible Reading" .   In other words, Testimony Bible Reading  means r eading Scripture to receive divine illumination and apply spiritual principles to a believer’s daily life, work and service, knowing Christ, experiencing Christ, and ultimately living out Christ. II. Basic Principles of Bible Reading A. Understanding the eternal nature of the Bible God is the eternal God (Psalms 90:2) An eternal plan as blueprint Revealing the Bible through the eternal Spirit The Bible transcends time and space and is applicable in every era and place B. Understanding the present nature of the Bible God is the eternal God, yet He is also the God of the present. With God, there are no time limitations—everything is "now".  (Hebrews 13:8) Every part of the Bible is applicable to present-day spiritual experiences. C. Understanding that the content of the Bible is Christ The Bible is the manual that reveals God's Son, Christ  (Luke 24:44-45 ). The central figure of the Bible is Christ. Through explicit texts, prophecies, symbolic representations, historical narratives, and poetry, the Bible expresses Christ. D. Understanding the infinite spiritual meaning of the Bible  (Ephesians 3:8) The Bible contains literal facts. Spiritual meaning is revealed through these literal facts. Because Christ is spiritual, heavenly, eternal, and infinitely rich, the Bible’s spiritual significance is also limitless E. Understanding that the interpretation of the Bible depends on the revelation of the Holy Spirit  (John 15:26; Ephesians 1:17; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11) The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit; therefore, only the Holy Spirit can interpret it. Knowing Christ requires revelation, so interpreting the Bible also requires the revelation of the Holy Spirit  (John 15:26). III. The Spiritual Principles and Application of Testimony Bible Reading A. Clearly understand the literal meaning of the Bible Understand the literal meaning of the Bible Comprehend the spiritual significance of Biblical text B. See illumination and spiritual principles with the revelation of the Holy Spirit Receive the illumination given by the Holy Spirit through the literal text of the Bible. Gain revelation from the Holy Spirit through biblical facts to understand spiritual principles. C. Apply the illumination and spiritual principles in life, work and ministry Apply the literal meaning of the Bible in daily life, work, and service. Practice the spiritual significance of biblical texts in life, work, and service. Apply the illumination revealed by the Holy Spirit in life, work, and service. Apply the spiritual principles received through the revelation of the Holy Spirit in life, work, and service. <-- BACK to New Testament

Bibile Reading: Galatians 3:14 — "...that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Joel 2:28-29 — "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants. I will pour out My Spirit in those days." Isaiah 44:3 — "For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring;" Zechariah 12:10 — "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn." Ezekiel 1:3 — "...the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon him there." Ezekiel 1:4 — "Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire." Ezekiel 3:22 —   "Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and there I shall talk with you.” Acts 2:1-4 — "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:23 — "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;" 30-31— "David...being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption..." 36 — "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Acts 3:13-15 —  "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses." Acts 4:25-26 — " who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage,And the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand,And the rulers were gathered togetherAgainst the Lord and against His Christ.’" Acts 5:31 —   "Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins." Acts 10:36, 42 — "The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all...And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead." Romans 5:5 — "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Titus 3:5-6 — "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior" The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the action of God’s eternal will If the Lord is willing, starting from tonight, we will have four messages in our meeting which is to continue the work the Holy Spirit over the past month or two. On one hand, this is to help brothers and sisters continue to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and walk on the path of revival. On the other hand, this is aimed to speak more deeply with brothers and sisters regarding the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that the Spirit may lead us into a deeper level of understanding and experience. To begin, we must first consider how the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is positioned in God’s own perspective. Please take note that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is an ordinance that proceeds from God’s eternal will; it is the action of His eternal purpose. The Blessing God Promised to Abraham Galatians 3:14 says, " ..that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith ." The ‘promised of Spirit’ mentioned here refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, because the Lord Jesus Himself said in Luke 24:49, "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you . " And indeed, on the day of Pentecost, the promised Holy Spirit was poured out. According to Galatians chapter 3, we see that this outpouring of the Spirit was something God had already promised as early as the time of Abraham, around 2000 B.C. Therefore, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is an ordinance long established within God’s eternal plan. When Jehovah promised Abraham, "In blessing I will bless you" (Genesis 22:17), Abraham did not yet know what this blessing ultimately referred to. It was not until the apostle Paul received revelation from the Holy Spirit that he told us in the book of Galatians that this blessing refers to the Holy Spirit poured out after Christ’s ascension. From this we can see that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not an impromptu action of the Lord; rather, it is an act that proceeds from God’s eternal will. It was promised to Abraham around 2000 B.C., began to be fulfilled at Pentecost, and was later revealed through Paul as the blessing God had long intended. The Prophecy of the Prophet Joel Not only so, God also spoke through several prophets to foretell the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, further confirming that the outpouring of the Spirit truly is an action that proceeds from God’s eternal will. First, more than eight hundred years before Christ, the prophet Joel prophesied, saying: And "It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; .... And also on My menservants and on My maidservants. I will pour out My Spirit in those day" (Joel 2:28-29) In Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, this prophecy was indeed fulfilled. The apostle Peter stood up and quoted the very words spoken by the prophet Joel concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17–18). Thus, God not only promised Abraham; He also revealed to the prophet Joel long beforehand that the Holy Spirit would one day be poured out. The Prophecy of the Prophet Isaiah Next is the prophet Isaiah. More than seven hundred years before Christ, the Lord raised up Isaiah to speak repeatedly about the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 44:3— which is also the very promise God has been working among us this year in the Philippines— is a clear example. The Scripture says: "For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring;" Here, the ‘water’ is a type of the Holy Spirit (John 4:14), the ‘streams’ also symbolize the Holy Spirit (John 7:38), and even the ‘blessing’ refers to the Holy Spirit (Galatians 3:14). All of these point to the outpouring of the Spirit. The reason God revealed to the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament era that one day the Holy Spirit would be poured out was to show that this is an action that proceeds from God’s eternal will. The Prophecy of the Prophet Zechariah We may also cite the prophecy of the prophet Zechariah from the latter part of the Old Testament. More than three hundred years before Christ, the prophet Zechariah received revelation and prophesied, saying: "I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication…" (Zechariah 12:10). This means that when the Holy Spirit is poured out, the result is that we will pray to the Lord. This promise was indeed fulfilled. The entire book of Acts is filled with prayer, because when the Holy Spirit was poured out, people were moved to earnest supplication. This again shows us that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is part of God’s eternal will, foretold long beforehand through many prophets. A sister once came to ask me a question. She said that after receiving the outpouring of the Holy Spirit the previous night, she went home and prayed six times before morning. She wondered whether such an experience was right or not. I told her it was a very good experience. For the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of grace and supplication, and the result of the Spirit’s outpouring is that people pray fervently. The Spirit places a burden of prayer within a person—no wonder she prayed six times in such a short period. The Prophecy of John the Baptist Finally, we come to John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Testament. Standing at the junction between the Old and New Testaments, and serving as the forerunner of Christ, he spoke even more clearly and definitively about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When he bore witness concerning Jesus, he said: "He who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Matthew 3:11). This too is a prophecy of the outpouring of the Spirit. And indeed, on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, tongues as of fire appeared (Acts 2:3), fulfilling this prophecy. God used the prophets of the Old Testament to speak repeatedly about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that we might see that this outpouring is an action that proceeds from God’s eternal will. It was meant to prepare the hearts of those who would come later, so that they might be ready to receive this exceedingly great blessing. The Charge of the Lord Jesus Finally, we must quote the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Every word He spoke is important, but the words He uttered after His resurrection and just before His ascension are especially significant. For He had to make absolutely clear the most crucial matters before returning to heaven. At His departure, He charged the disciples not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4–5). Before the Lord Jesus sent His disciples out to labor, they first had to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. Was the three and a half years of training from the Lord still not enough? Did they still need to receive the outpouring of the Spirit? Indeed, from the outward view, the outpouring of the Spirit is for receiving power. But the deeper reason is this: receiving the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is part of God’s eternal will, and we must honor and accept God’s eternal purpose. From all the evidence mentioned above, it is clear that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is an action within God’s eternal will. Therefore, we hope that every brother and sister will not take it lightly, but rather value it and receive it with humility. May the Lord have mercy on us. The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit Began at Pentecost and Continues Until Christ’s Return After speaking about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as an action rooted in God’s eternal purpose, we must also mention that the outpouring of the Spirit began at Pentecost and will continue until the Lord returns. Today there is a mistaken teaching among some Christians who think that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was something that happened only in the early church and has now become merely a part of history. This view is completely contrary to the facts. From the entire book of Acts, we can clearly see that the outpouring of the Spirit began at Pentecost and continues unbroken until Christ comes again. First, we see that at Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out, and about one hundred and twenty disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1–4). A few years later, through Philip, the gospel reached the city of Samaria. After many believed in the Lord and were baptized in water, the apostles Peter and John came and laid hands on them, and the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them (Acts 8:17). Not long after, when Peter was sent to preach in the house of Cornelius, the Holy Spirit again came upon them (Acts 10:44). Later, Paul was called and sent to labor in Asia. When he arrived in Ephesus and laid hands on the twelve disciples there, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them (Acts 19:6). By that time, more than twenty years had already passed since Pentecost. Moreover, the book of Acts ends without indicating that the Spirit’s work had ceased. This shows that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit has not stopped; it continues without interruption until the Lord returns. The Spiritual Significance of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit Since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is both an action rooted in God’s eternal purpose and something that continues until the Lord’s return, we must ask: Why did God ordain this matter? Within God’s eternal will, what profound, unfathomable, vast, and wondrous meaning does the outpouring of the Spirit contain? This evening we will present three deeper, higher, and richer aspects of its significance. Carrying Out God’s Eternal Will Upon the Vessel The first point is this: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit being poured upon a vessel, and from that moment on, He carries out God’s eternal will and exercises God’s sovereign authority upon that vessel. The purpose of the Spirit’s outpouring is to execute God’s kingship upon the vessel so that God’s will may be carried out. This is the first and most important emphasis. The hand of the Lord came upon Ezekiel The passage we just read—Ezekiel 1:3—says, “ The Spirit of the Lord came upon him .” In the original Hebrew, it is “ the hand of the Lord came upon him .” The Bible translates it as “the Spirit of the Lord came upon him,” but according to the original wording, it is “the hand of the Lord came upon Ezekiel.” If we take the original text literally, we would have to imagine: the Lord, who is in the unseen heavens—how long must His hand be to reach all the way down to Ezekiel? Clearly, the “hand” mentioned here refers to the Spirit of the Lord. Yet the revelation of Scripture intentionally uses the expression “the hand of the Lord.” This means that when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon a person, it is as though God’s own hand has come down and been laid upon that vessel. We know that the hand of God is a hand full of power, a hand that rules over all things, a hand that holds unlimited authority and acts according to His own will. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us, it is God’s hand being laid upon us. From that moment on, God carries out His sovereign authority upon us through the Holy Spirit—His hand—upon this vessel. Throughout the entire Bible, many instances of the laying on of hands are mentioned, and the primary meaning of this act is union. Thus, when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon us—when the hand of the Lord rests upon us—it signifies that God has united Himself with us. As a result, God’s own sovereign authority is exercised in our lives, directing, governing, and ruling over us. Although at that time God could not yet carry out His will freely on the earth, once His hand came upon Ezekiel—once the Spirit of God was poured out upon him—it was as if God were declaring: “Ezekiel, from this moment on, you no longer have freedom. You may no longer hold your own opinions or make your own choices. You must submit entirely to My sovereign authority. I will direct you and govern you. From now on, you will act according to My will.” From that moment forward, Ezekiel no longer had personal freedom. His whole being was led and governed by God. Wherever the Lord told him to go, he went. Whatever the Lord told him to speak, he spoke. Whatever the Lord commanded him to do, he did. His entire life—his words, his actions, his movements—was no longer his own. He was completely constrained and controlled by God. Thus, we see that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit carries a deeper spiritual meaning: it is the execution of God’s sovereign authority upon His vessel according to His eternal will. Today many believers readily accept the teaching that the indwelling Spirit governs our whole being, yet they still have questions about the outpouring of the Spirit as the execution of God’s sovereign authority upon His vessel. Therefore, we must add further explanation. In the book of Ezekiel, some passages speak of the indwelling Spirit. For example, Ezekiel prophesies that God will give us a new heart and a new spirit, and that the Spirit of the Lord will dwell within this new spirit to enable us to walk in His statutes. This refers to the indwelling Spirit, as foretold in Ezekiel 36:26–27. But what we are considering tonight is the Holy Spirit being poured out upon a person. When the Spirit of the Lord came upon Ezekiel, it was the hand of the Lord resting upon him. The result was that God gained Ezekiel as His vessel, and the Spirit of God governed and directed Ezekiel according to God’s own will. In summary, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is God laying His hand upon us so that He may gain us as vessels fully governed and directed by Him. This truth was fulfilled even more clearly on the day of Pentecost. The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Disciples at Pentecost When the day of Pentecost came, the Holy Spirit was poured out. It was like a mighty rushing wind that filled the house where they were sitting. Then tongues as of fire appeared and rested on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:2–4). The result of the Holy Spirit being poured out upon the disciples was that they spoke according to the utterance given by the Spirit. It was not that, after the Spirit was poured out, each person spoke whatever he wanted, freely expressing his own thoughts. No, absolutely not. The outpouring of the Spirit resulted in speaking according to the Spirit’s intention. This alone is sufficient proof that the purpose of the Spirit’s outpouring is to govern a person—that the Spirit may carry out God’s eternal will and exercise God’s sovereign authority in that person. This is one of the clearest examples. James says, “If anyone does not stumble in words, he is a perfect man” (James 3:2). Our words represent the whole of our living. On the day of Pentecost, the result of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring was that they spoke in other tongues according to the utterance given by the Spirit. This means that the outpouring of the Spirit causes a person to no longer live or act carelessly, but to come under the Spirit’s governance—to conduct oneself according to the Spirit’s intention. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit carries a deeper meaning: it brings in the Lord’s sovereignty. The entire vessel is gained by God, and the Holy Spirit executes God’s authority upon that vessel according to His will. Dear brothers and sisters, our experience also tells us that whenever the Holy Spirit is poured out and fills us, it is always when we are humbled, bowed low, and fallen before Him. It is when the Holy Spirit establishes the kingship of Christ and fully governs and directs us. May we all allow the Holy Spirit the freedom to carry out God’s will in us. Imprinting God’s Eternal Will Upon the Vessel The second meaning of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is that God lays His eternal will upon the vessel—that is, He entrusts His eternal purpose to this person. Brothers and sisters, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the revelation of God’s will to us. God causes us to see His great and glorious purpose, so that we may live within His will. Ezekiel Saw a Vision In Ezekiel 3:3, it first says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Ezekiel. Immediately afterward, in verse 4 and onward, it describes how he looked and saw the likeness of a throne above the living creatures, and above the likeness of the throne was something like the appearance of a man. This was Ezekiel beholding the vision of Christ. Dear brothers and sisters, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not merely to stir us up or create excitement. Its deeper meaning is to bring us into the sight and understanding of God’s eternal purpose. Ezekiel Heard the Lord Speaking When we read Ezekiel chapter 3 carefully, we find in verse 22 another record: “The hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me…”  This shows that when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon us, God speaks to us. God speaking means that He is revealing His will to us. Therefore, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not merely to give us power, nor simply to produce outward manifestations or allow us to receive certain blessings. The outpouring of the Spirit has a deeper purpose—to bring us into the sight and understanding of God’s eternal will. Once Ezekiel saw God’s will, he lived within that will, was used by God, and eventually wrote the book of Ezekiel. Peter Received the Revelation of the Fullness of Christ We can also see a striking example from Peter. In Matthew 16, while in the region of Caesarea Philippi, Peter—through revelation given by God—declared that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is the central revelation, and Jesus was certainly pleased to hear it. But immediately afterward, the Lord began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised on the third day. Peter then took the Lord aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “ Lord! This shall never happen to You ” (Matt. 16:22). Jesus turned and said to Peter, “ Get behind Me, Satan! ” From this we see that although Peter had received revelation from the Holy Spirit—recognizing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God—he had absolutely no understanding of the cross. He had revelation concerning the reigning Christ, but he had not seen the suffering Christ. Therefore, he tried to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. Not only so—John 6 records Peter saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” He had set his heart to follow the Lord. He even declared, “Even if I must die with You, I will never deny You” (Matt. 26:35). Yet in the end, in the courtyard of the high priest, he denied the Lord three times before a servant girl. And when the Lord rose from the dead, Peter had already taken the disciples back to fishing, until the Lord sought him out and brought him back. Although Peter had received revelation, what he lived out was still unstable and wavering, because the revelation he had was partial. He did not yet know the suffering Messiah, nor did he understand the fullness of Christ. But remember—when the day of Pentecost came, the disciples were gathered together in one place. The Holy Spirit was poured out. Peter was filled with the Spirit, and the entire Scripture was opened to him. God’s eternal purpose and the fullness of Christ were unveiled to him. How different Peter was after Pentecost compared to before Pentecost! By Acts Chapter 2 In Matthew 16, Peter did not recognize the suffering Messiah. He did not understand the cross, and therefore he tried to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. But in Acts 2, the Peter who stood up on the day of Pentecost suddenly understood. The result of the Holy Spirit being poured out upon him was that God’s will was laid upon him—imprinted into his very being. In other words, the outpouring of the Spirit opened to him the eternal purpose of God. Thus, on the very day the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, the entire Scripture—God’s eternal purpose—was unveiled to Peter. When he stood up to preach his first message, he first explained that the outpouring of the Spirit was not drunkenness, but the fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel. Immediately, he spoke forth the revelation from the book of Joel. Then he went on to explain the meaning of the cross. In Matthew 16, Peter was completely confused about the cross. But in Acts 2, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, the meaning of the cross was opened to him. He proclaimed concerning Jesus Christ: “ Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ” (Acts 2:23) He now understood that Christ’s crucifixion was according to God’s determined purpose and foreknowledge—part of God’s eternal will. The Peter who received the Spirit’s outpouring at Pentecost had the eternal purpose of God unveiled to him, and he was able to explain the meaning of the crucifixion of the fullness of Christ. Next, the Psalms were also opened to Peter. He could quote the Psalm to proclaim the resurrection of the fullness of Christ. In his first message he said concerning the Lord Jesus: “For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. ” (Acts 2:27) He explained that this was the fulfillment of David’s prophecy regarding the resurrection of Christ (Psalm 16:10). We also see that Psalm 132 — concerning Christ’s ascension, enthronement, and kingship—was opened to him. He quoted verse 11 regarding Christ’s enthronement, and then boldly declared: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36) From this we see that God’s eternal purpose was opened to Peter. This is the goal the Holy Spirit’s outpouring seeks to bring us into By Acts Chapter 3 Dear brothers and sisters, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not merely to give us some outward form of spiritual service. It carries a far higher meaning—to lay God’s eternal purpose upon us. After Acts chapter 2, the outpouring of the Spirit did not stop. Likewise, Peter’s revelation did not stop. His understanding of God’s eternal purpose and of the fullness of Christ continued to advance and expand. By the time we reach chapter 3, when Peter rises to testify for Jesus, he does not simply repeat what he preached in chapter 2. Instead, he bears a further testimony. He says: “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our fathers—has glorified His Servant Jesus…” and “You denied the Holy One and Just… you killed the Prince of life.” (Acts 3:13–15) Peter’s proclamation of Christ did not remain at the level of Acts 2. His light kept advancing. His knowledge of the fullness of Christ continued to increase. Having been filled with the Holy Spirit, with God’s word opened to him, Peter stood up in chapter 3 and, when speaking of the Son of God, declared that He is the Servant whom God has glorified, the Holy and Righteous One, the Author of life whom they had killed. The Christ Peter preached was a progressing Christ—a Christ revealed in ever-expanding fullness. By Acts Chapter 4 By chapter 4, Peter faced persecution from the rulers, elders, and scribes. After he was released, he immediately gathered with the disciples to pray. While they prayed, Psalm 2 was opened to them. Peter prayed, acknowledging that those who persecuted Jesus Christ were actually fulfilling what God’s hand and God’s purpose had predestined to occur. He then quoted Psalm 2, saying: “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed. ” (Acts 4:26) Peter declared that God’s Son, Jesus, is the Anointed One — the fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalm 2. God has already set Him as King upon Zion, His holy mountain. Peter was able to connect the Psalm to the ascension of Jesus, proclaiming that God’s Son is the Anointed Christ, the One in whom God’s entire plan and eternal purpose are centered. God has anointed Him and entrusted everything to Him, that through Him God’s plan and purpose might be accomplished. Peter’s revelation had expanded even further. As we read Scripture, we see that Peter was continually filled with the Holy Spirit, continually experiencing the Spirit’s outpouring, and his revelation never stopped advancing. For the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is to cause a person to see God’s great and eternal purpose—and to live within that purpose. By Acts Chapter 5 In chapter 5, Peter again faced persecution. Standing before the council, he proclaimed Christ once more. This time he spoke even more boldly: "We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior" Here, Peter gained yet another fresh understanding of the Christ he preached. His revelation and experience continued to advance. Brothers and sisters, when the Holy Spirit comes, He always leads us into the fullness of God’s purpose. Praise the Lord! By Acts Chapter 10 When Peter went to Cornelius’s house to preach the gospel, the revelation of Christ he proclaimed was even broader. He preached that Jesus Christ is Lord of all (Acts 10:36) — the One before whom the entire universe must bow, acknowledging Him as the sovereign Lord over all things. Finally, he declared that Jesus is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). Christ is the standard of all judgment. Peter’s message continued to rise higher and move forward. Dear brothers and sisters, in Peter we truly see that the result of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring was like what Ezekiel experienced: the hand of God laid upon him, claiming him as a vessel and exercising kingship over him. At the same time, God’s eternal purpose was imprinted upon him—opened to him—so that he lived within God’s will. In the same way, the deeper spiritual meaning of the Spirit’s outpouring for us is no exception. Perhaps after hearing these messages, you might ask: “That sister was recently filled with the Holy Spirit—then let’s have her explain God’s eternal purpose to us.” or, “That brother was powerfully filled with the Spirit last time—let’s invite him now to give us a detailed exposition of God’s eternal purpose. Let’s see whether he can explain it or not. Otherwise, how can we know whether God’s purpose has been opened to him?” Brothers and sisters, the unveiling of God’s eternal purpose does not come merely through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We also need to experience the deeper work of the cross, and we must become thoroughly acquainted with God’s Word—truly understanding the Scriptures. If from the beginning of the year to the end, we have not even read through the Bible once, and we rely only on the Spirit’s outpouring — almost like depending on dreams and visions — how can we possibly understand God’s eternal purpose? God does not work in that way. God desires that we become deeply familiar with His Word, and that we ourselves undergo a substantial experience of the cross. Then the Bible becomes a living book to us, and only then can God’s eternal purpose be opened to us. Therefore, if a brother is very familiar with the Scriptures and has also experienced the work of the cross, even if he has not received an obvious outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he can still clearly expound God’s eternal purpose. For when the Spirit of revelation comes, He will open these things to him. On the other hand, if a brother or sister has experienced a powerful outpouring of the Spirit but is unfamiliar with the Scriptures, then it is impossible for them to understand God’s eternal purpose. The Spirit of revelation must work through the Word of God in order to reveal God’s eternal purpose to us. If we are people who know the Scriptures well, who have also undergone a deep experience of the cross, and who already possess some revelation, light, and understanding of God’s will—and then we also receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit—then God’s Word will be opened to us even more. We will gain a deeper and broader understanding of God’s eternal purpose. The Work of Inner Transformation Regarding the deeper spiritual meaning of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we must add one more point: The outpouring of the Spirit is not something that comes and goes for a moment. Each time the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us, the result is that our spirit is opened afresh. The impurities within our spirit are cleansed, giving the indwelling Spirit more ground and strengthening His function within us. He works inwardly to transform us, so that this vessel may be aligned with the will of God. Strengthening the Function of the Indwelling Spirit Remember this: there is never a single instance of the Spirit’s outpouring that remains merely on the body without touching the indwelling Spirit within. Only those without experience would say somethig like that. The Holy Spirit never pours Himself out casually upon the flesh. Whenever the Spirit is poured out, it is always at a moment when our heart and spirit are aligned toward the Lord. If our inner being is not turned toward the throne, the Spirit will not be poured out. But when our heart is truly directed toward the Lord on the throne, the Holy Spirit comes upon us. As a result, the Spirit connects with our inner being—He touches our spirit—and our inner spirit overflows. Naturally, the function of the indwelling Spirit is strengthened. For example, His functions such as: Conviction (John 16:8), sealing (Ephesians 1:13), Putting to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13), burning and cleansing (Isaiah 4:4), teaching (1 John 2:27), revelation (Ephesians 1:17), comforting (John 14:16), bearing fruit (Galatians 5:22)—all these operations begin to work more powerfully within us. Through them, the Spirit performs His transforming work, changing us inwardly so that we may live out God’s will and be aligned with His purpose. This is the deeper, higher, and fuller meaning of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pouring Out God’s Love Into Our Hearts Romans 5:5 says, “Because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” This means that the result of the Spirit’s outpouring is that we truly come to know this: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  (Romans 5:8) Oh! brothers and sisters, when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us, He often vividly sets the cross of Christ before our eyes. Our hearts are stirred by the love of the Lord, and we offer ourselves to Him. Our hearts are melted, our first love is rekindled, and we willingly deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Him. Thus, the outpouring of the Spirit also brings the great love of the Lord into us, transforming our inner being—turning us from hard, rebellious, selfish, self‑seeking people into those who are tender, obedient, self‑denying, and living for the Lord. I recently met a brother in Cebu who often experiences the outpouring of the Spirit. He told me personally that whenever he sees a picture of Jesus on the cross in the marketplace, tears flow down his face. In the breaking‑of‑bread meeting, he often weeps with gratitude as he is moved by the Lord’s love. Whenever I fellowship with him, I sense a spirit that deeply knows the love of Christ. The Renewal of the Holy Spirit Finally, we must mention one more work of the Spirit’s outpouring—the renewing work that makes us spiritual . Titus 3:5–6 says: “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior . ” Here we see that the rich outpouring of the Holy Spirit is for our renewal. When we were saved, our spirit was made alive and we became a new creation. But as time goes on, through the assaults of sin, the influence of the world, and the disturbances of the flesh, we can become old, dull, and weighed down again. Yet the result of the Spirit’s outpouring is that our spirit — whether in fellowship, intuition, or conscience—is awakened and made more sensitive. Even the mind of our soul is renewed. In this way, our inner being is gradually transformed and renewed, making us truly spiritual. In summary, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit carries at least these higher, deeper, and richer spiritual meanings described above. May the Lord lead us out of superficiality and into deeper experiences, so that the spiritual significance of the Spirit’s outpouring becomes the personal experience of each one of us. This is the higher and deeper revival. <-- Back 　 Part 3-2 -->

Bible Reading: 2 Kings 4:1-7 — A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.” Romans 1:14 — "I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise." 1 Corinthians 12:8-13 — "For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit." 1 John 2:27-28 — "But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." The Widow of the Prophet's Disciple in Debt In this special series of meetings, our burden is to fellowship with the brothers and sisters about how to move forward after receiving the Spirit’s baptism and being filled with the Holy Spirit. But since some among us have not yet received the Spirit’s baptism, tonight’s gathering has two purposes. The first purpose is to help every brother and sister be revived by the Holy Spirit. If anyone has not yet received the Spirit’s baptism, we hope you will seize this opportunity to receive it.The second purpose is to speak about how, after being baptized in the Spirit and filled with the Spirit, we should enter into deeper experiences. Therefore, in the first half of the meeting we will still touch on receiving the Spirit’s fullness, and in the second half we will speak about how to go forward. The story we just read in 2 Kings 4 describes the wife of one of the sons of the prophets. She came to Elisha and told him that her husband had died, and that the creditor was coming to take her two sons as slaves. She asked Elisha for help. Elisha asked her, “What do you have in your house?” She replied, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Elisha then said, “Go and borrow vessels from your neighbors—do not gather just a few. Then go home, shut the door, and pour the oil into those vessels.” After the vessels were filled, she was to sell the oil to pay her debts, and the remainder would be enough for her to live on. We want to use this story to speak about how to receive the Spirit’s baptism, and how—after receiving it—to use our gifts and obey the anointing’s teaching. The Widow First, this story identifies the wife of the son of the prophets as a widow, because her husband had died. This symbolizes the identity of Christians in relation to the world today—we are like widows. A husband is the support of his wife; and for us believers, the Lord Jesus is our support. But as far as the world is concerned, since the Lord Jesus was crucified and has ascended to heaven, He is no longer physically present on earth. Therefore, in the eyes of the world, we appear to be like widows—people without visible support. In Debt This widow had two sons. In the Bible, the number two represents a testimony. The sons she bore signify her life; therefore, her two sons symbolize the testimony of life. The fact that the creditor came to take her two sons as slaves shows that the outward demands of the work are far too great, and our small measure of life‑testimony is truly unable to meet those needs. Paul said, “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and unwise” (Romans 1:14). The Greeks were the wise and cultured; the barbarians were the uncivilized and rough. Whether wise or unwise, we owe them the debt of the gospel. Today, we Christians owe a debt of gospel to the entire unbelieving world—to every class, every people, every nation. Yet the little bit of life‑testimony we possess is far from sufficient to meet such a vast need. The Oil Filling the Vessels Elisha came and brought the solution—the oil filling the vessels. Through Elisha’s help, all the vessels the widow borrowed were filled with oil. She was then able to sell the oil to pay off her debts, and the remaining oil was enough for her to live on. Thus, the entire problem was completely resolved. Oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. The vessels filled with oil represent believers receiving the baptism of the Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit. As a result, we are able to meet the outward needs of the work. This is not something we produce ourselves; it is the Lord supplying us, and we simply pass on what we receive from Him. There is no burden on us—we only need to bring empty vessels and continually receive from the Lord, and we will be able to meet even the greatest needs. This is not laboring for the Lord in our own strength; it is the outflow of His grace. It is truly grace freely given. The widow received the abundant oil freely, and then she sold the oil to meet every need. In the same way, today we must freely receive the grace of the Holy Spirit in order to meet the many needs around us. Now let us briefly look into how we may receive the outpouring and fullness of the Holy Spirit so that we may be equipped to meet every need. Shutting the Door The first point is that we must "shut the door " . Only after the door is shut can we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit symbolized by that jar of oil. During my recent trip to the South Island, I prayed together with the brothers and sisters to receive the outpouring of the Spirit. Many were filled with the Holy Spirit, but some did not receive. One of the reasons was that they had not “shut the door.” After we reminded them, they shut the door—and one after another, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to “shut the door”? It means that our hearts must be shut off from the outside world—from all outward circumstances—and be joined only to the Lord, communing with Him face to face. Only then can we receive the outpouring and fullness of the Holy Spirit. There was an evening meeting in which everyone was praying to receive the Spirit’s fullness. One brother was especially eager to be filled. He prayed, “Lord Jesus, tonight if You do not fill me, I will not let You go. You must fill me!” Yet after praying and praying, he still did not receive. Why? Because he had not shut the door. While kneeling in prayer, he heard someone in front receiving the Spirit’s fullness. Immediately he opened his eyes to see who it was. “Oh—it’s Brother Chiu!” Then he closed his eyes and continued praying. Soon he heard someone behind him receiving the Spirit’s fullness. Again he turned around to see who it was. “Ah—it’s Brother Wang!” Then he closed his eyes and prayed again. Throughout the entire time of prayer, his head, eyes, and ears were extremely busy—turning here and there, looking at this person and that person. Sometimes he used his ears to identify voices: Who just received the Holy Spirit? In this way, his heart had “windows” open on all four sides—front, back, left, and right. He had not shut the door. No wonder one person after another was filled with the Holy Spirit, yet he still received nothing. The next evening, after we reminded him, he prayed, “Lord, now I am shutting the door. No matter how much the people beside me are filled with the Spirit, no matter how loudly they shout, I will not pay attention to them.” And he truly ignored everything around him. He prayed face‑to‑face with the Lord alone. Sure enough, that very night he was filled with the Holy Spirit and was exceedingly joyful. Dear brothers and sisters, if we want to receive the outpouring and fullness of the Holy Spirit, we must shut the door. We must shut out sin, the world, work, anxieties—everything earthly and external—and commune with the Lord alone. When the Lord brings us to the point where we are unaware of who is beside us or what is happening around us, in such a condition we are quickly filled with the Holy Spirit. Empty Vessels The second point is to bring empty vessels. As the hymn we just sang says, we must empty ourselves. An empty vessel is not only empty on the inside, it must also have no lid on top. If a lid remains, no matter how much the Holy Spirit is poured out, He cannot enter. The lid must be completely removed. There must be no barrier, no covering, nothing standing between us and the Lord. We must be fully open, emptied of everything. All distracting thoughts, including any preconceived ideas about the Spirit’s outpouring, any negative impressions, incorrect views, or fears—everything must be poured out. Only then can the Holy Spirit fill us. A few years ago, on a Saturday morning, I personally experienced a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That morning, the Spirit moved me to pray like this: “Lord, I want to empty everything—my old concepts, my opinions, my teachings, even the things I consider most correct. As long as something hinders the Holy Spirit from coming in, I want You to empty it out. Remove every blockage.” As a result, I was greatly filled with the Holy Spirit. This is a clear example. Pouring Out the Oil The third point is pouring out the oil we already have. Every believer has a “jar of oil” within — the Holy Spirit we received when we born again. This indwelling Spirit is that jar of oil. Only when this oil is truly poured out can the fuller outpouring and overflowing of the Holy Spirit come in. What does it mean? It means that in prayer, our spirit must break forth. Many people pray with their mind—using reasoning, thoughts, and mental effort. I am not saying that God does not want us to use our understanding; rather, I mean that prayer must begin with the feeling in our spirit, and then flow through the understanding. That is prayer that comes from the spirit— prayer that is true, sincere, and arises from the deepest part of our being. Such prayer is the pouring out of the oil. And when the oil is poured out, the Holy Spirit naturally fills us. During my recent time in the Southern region, there was a brother who liked to pray with his mind. He prayed from creation to redemption — thinking as he prayed. His entire prayer came from his head. As a result, he prayed for several days and still was not filled with the Holy Spirit. That day, I finally helped him by saying, “Stop praying with your mind. Pray from your spirit.” So he prayed, “Lord, thank You. I will no longer pray with my mind — I will pray with my spirit.” He had prayed only a few sentences when he was filled with the Holy Spirit! This shows that when the oil in the jar is poured out, the vessels are filled. Brothers and sisters, today many Christians are not filled with the Holy Spirit—not mainly because of sin. (Of course, sin does hinder the Spirit, but once we ask the Lord’s blood to cleanse us, that hindrance is removed.) The greatest obstacle is the activity of the mind. The mind becomes such a powerful barrier that the Holy Spirit cannot fill us. Therefore, we must pray from our spirit so that the Holy Spirit may fill us. When we say the spirit must come forth in prayer, it has nothing to do with the volume of our voice. For some people, their spirit is released only when they pray loudly—then let them pray loudly. There was a brother who felt embarrassed to pray loudly, so he held back. Because he would not release his prayer, he sought the Spirit’s fullness for a long time and still did not receive. Later, when he attended a meeting elsewhere, he finally opened his mouth and prayed loudly. Immediately he was filled with the Holy Spirit. But for others, even when their prayer is not loud, their spirit still comes forth, and they too are greatly filled with the Holy Spirit. There was an elderly sister whose prayer was very soft. One day she came to us for prayer. Though her voice was gentle, her prayer came from the depths of her spirit. Instantly she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Filling the Vessels with Oil On that day, the wife of the son of the prophet poured out a single jar of oil, and as a result, all the empty vessels were filled with oil. This shows that when we pray out of our spirit and in truth, something marvelous happens: our spirit touches the fullness of the Holy Spirit, bringing in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and filling our whole being.　 We should also briefly mention the relationship between the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Outpouring refers to God’s side — it begins with God. He sends down the Holy Spirit, and this is called the outpouring of the Spirit. From our side, the result of God pouring out the Spirit is that we become filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus, in John 7:38–39, the Lord Jesus said: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Jesus said this concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. From this we see that after Jesus ascended and was glorified, He poured out the Holy Spirit. As a result, those who believe in Him are filled with the Spirit and rivers of living water flow out from within them. Acts 2 also says that the Holy Spirit came “as a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting” (that is, the Holy Spirit was poured out)… “and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:2, 4). In Acts chapter 4, when the apostles were persecuted, they prayed with one accord.“when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:31). The shaking of the place shows that the Holy Spirit had been poured out; as a result, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. This shows that when the outpoured Spirit meets the spirit within us, our whole being is filled and begins to overflow. This widow originally had only one jar of oil, yet when she poured it out, the oil filled all the empty vessels. This signifies that the Holy Spirit within us, when released through prayer, meets the Spirit poured out from above, and the result is an overflow of the fullness of the Spirit. Normally, the widow’s oil should have been exhausted after pouring into one jar. But once she began to pour, it brought in the unlimited. In the same way, the little measure of the Spirit within you and me—when released through prayer—draws in the outpouring of the Spirit, filling us without limit. Thus says, “God does not give the Spirit by measure.” Now let us take a moment to speak about how we should go on after being baptized in the Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit. As yesterday’s message emphasized, those who are filled with the Spirit must live under God’s sovereign authority, absolutely allowing the Holy Spirit to rule and establish the Lord’s kingship. We must continually enter into revelation through the Lord’s word, understanding God’s eternal purpose and growing in an ever-increasing knowledge of His Son. Furthermore, we must accept the inward transforming work of the Holy Spirit so that we may live out God’s will. Selling the Oil to Repay the Debt There are two other very important matters revealed in the story of the widow whose vessels were filled with oil—matters we must pay special attention to. The first is selling the oil to repay the debt. When the widow’s vessels were filled with oil, Elisha told her to sell the oil and pay the debt. What does it mean to? In the Bible, when buying and selling are mentioned, they often refer to the exercise of spiritual gifts. We surely have not forgotten the parable spoken by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 25. First, He spoke of the ten virgins, teaching us to be like the five wise virgins who prepared oil in their vessels—that is, to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately following that is the parable of the talents: one servant received five talents, another two, and another one. The one who received five talents went and traded with them and gained another five. The one with two talents did the same and gained two more. But the one with one talent dug a hole and hid his master’s money. When the master returned, he took the one talent away and gave it to the one who had ten, and the servant was left with nothing. This teaches us that after being baptized in the Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit, the Lord gives us spiritual gifts. Although the gifts given to each person differ in measure, the Lord requires only one thing—that we trade with what we have and gain more. In other words, we must diligently exercise the gifts we have received. This exercise of spiritual gifts is what it means to sell the oil. And why do we sell the oil? To repay the debt .  Brothers and sisters, the people around us are our creditors. Look at our neighbors— many still do not believe in Jesus. Some families among us still have unsaved members. We owe them the debt of the gospel, and we must sell the oil to repay it. In our cities, millions of souls are still unsaved; even more in remote places. How great is the need for us to sell the oil and repay the debt of the gospel. Among believers, many are sick and need our prayers; many are spiritually weak and need our help; many have stopped gathering and need our visitation, support, and restoration. Should we let them drift away on their own? These needs are placed before us, waiting for us to repay our debts. Can we still harden our hearts, caring only for ourselves and ignoring them? How do we repay the debt? By selling the oil. When we exercise our spiritual gifts to serve these people in need, we are selling the oil and repaying what we owe. If we do not do this, the work of the Holy Spirit will stop. We must sell the oil and repay the debt. There was a young brother who attended a summer conference where the Holy Spirit was richly poured out upon him, bringing a great spiritual turning point. After returning home, he said he needed to sell the oil and repay the debt. That very day, he exercised his gift and ministered to his family, laying hands on them and praying. As a result, his family members were also baptized in the Spirit, and the whole household rejoiced greatly. Concerning the gifts of the Spirit, the first part of 1 Corinthians 12 lists nine spiritual gifts: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. These are all distributed by the Spirit as He wills. When a person is baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, it is very natural for him to receive a portion of spiritual gifting. If we continue to use these gifts, we will be like the servants who received five and two talents—the more we trade, the more we gain. The more we exercise our gifts, the more skillful and enlarged we become. But if we do not use the gifts we have received, we will be like the servant who hid his one talent in the ground. Not only will the talent be taken away, but we ourselves will suffer loss. To strengthen our faith and encourage us to use the gifts given by the Holy Spirit, Paul, after listing the nine gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, immediately says: “ For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free... ” (1 Cor. 12:13). This means that the result of being baptized in the Spirit is that we become one Body. Each of us is a member, and we must live out the testimony of the Body of Christ. A crucial key to this is that every member must exercise his or her spiritual gifts. Therefore, Paul continues by saying… “much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.” (1 Cor. 12:22). This means that every gift each person receives is extremely important. We must never despise the smaller gifts. Not only so, Paul goes on to say, “And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty” (1 Cor. 12:23). This shows how earnestly the Lord desires that every member value the gift he or she has received. We must never belittle our own gift as insignificant and therefore neglect it or leave it unused. May these words stir us to exercise our spiritual gifts so that we may sell the oil and repay the debt. There was a brother who served the Lord and who, on this occasion, was greatly filled with the Holy Spirit. I encouraged him to sell the oil and repay the debt—to make full use of the spiritual gifts he had received. He obeyed the Lord’s leading and actively exercised his gifts. Previously, he had no interest in preaching the gospel. Whenever gospel was mentioned, he felt no burden at all; he preferred spiritual pursuits such as prayer, Bible reading, and fellowship. But recently, he has been leading brothers and sisters to preach the gospel on Saturdays, preaching again on Sundays, and even going out to visit people. Thank the Lord—he is now actively using his gifts, and using them in many different ways. On one occasion, when we were helping brothers and sisters by laying on of hands, I invited him to come and join us. Wanting to exercise his gift, he stepped forward and laid hands on a sister. Immediately, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon her in a powerful way—she began speaking in tongues and praying. Praise the Lord! Another afternoon, a sister’s young child suddenly fell ill with a fever. He went to visit them and, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, commanded the sickness to leave, laying hands on the child and praying. A few hours later, the fever truly subsided. Thank the Lord! This is what it means to sell the oil and repay the debt—to use one’s spiritual gifts to serve those in need. I sincerely hope that every person here will rise up to exercise your gifts and minister to others. Although our goal is not merely to do work, the Holy Spirit must have full authority among us. The gifts He distributes to each member of the Body of Christ must be exercised. When everyone fulfills their function, the testimony of the Body of Christ can grow and take shape. Just as our physical body must move—hands must work, feet must walk—so that the body may be strong, in the same way, since we have been baptized by the Spirit into one Body, we must diligently use our spiritual gifts. This is what it means to sell the oil and repay the debt. The church must use all kinds of spiritual gifts to repay the debt of the gospel to sinners, and to repay the debt of service and supply to the saints. In short, we must sell the oil and repay the debt—only then can the church maintain revival. Living on the Rest There is one more thing. Elisha said to the wife of the prophet’s disciple, “And you and your sons live on the rest.” What does “the rest” mean? It refers to the Holy Spirit who never leaves us, who remains within us, the indwelling Spirit of truth who abides with us forever (John 14:16–17). The aged apostle John called “the anointing which abides in you” (1 John 2:27). To “live on the rest” means to live daily under the teaching of the anointing. For example, in eating and drinking, in daily routines, in how we treat people, in our living, our work, our gatherings, and our service—everything is regulated by the teaching of the anointing. If He prompts you to cook, you cook. If He leads you to buy certain groceries, you buy them. If He urges you to wash clothes, you wash them. If He directs you to do a certain task, you do it. If He moves you to visit someone or preach the gospel, you go and do it. To follow the anointing in all things—this is what it means to "live on the rest". Of course, the scope of the anointing’s teaching is vast and comprehensive. It teaches us “in all things,” and therefore it is sufficient for us to live by for our entire life. Thank the Lord. During our recent time in the Southern region, we had meetings almost every night. Because the electricity supply there was weak, the larger fluorescent lights were difficult to turn on. So each evening, before anyone turned on the lights, we would switch on the power early while the electricity was still stable, so that all the lights in the meeting hall could come on. One afternoon, we turned on the switch, but one of the lights did not turn on. I said to a brother, “What should we do? We don’t know how to fix it." We really hope that a certain young brother could come—he knows a little about electrical things. While we were speaking about this young brother, he walked through the door. I said, “What a coincidence—you came at just the right time.” He replied that while he was at home, the Lord moved him to come to the meeting hall. He asked the Lord, “What am I going to the hall for?” The Lord simply said, “Just go.” He arrived precisely when we needed him to repair the light. Very quickly he fixed it. He rejoiced, and we rejoiced with him. By obeying the anointing, he experienced the living guidance of the Lord—so satisfying, so sweet. We who watched were also encouraged and strengthened. Brothers and sisters, from morning to evening every day, we must obey the anointing’s teaching in every matter. Especially after receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, if we are not faithful in this, the outpouring of the Spirit may gradually lose its effect. The messages in these days have emphasized how to walk forward in a practical, grounded way. On one hand, after receiving the outpouring and fullness of the Spirit, we must sell the oil and repay the debt—diligently exercising our gifts to serve the brothers and sisters and the sinners around us. On the other hand, we must also live on the rest —faithfully following the inward teaching of the anointing in our daily conduct. This is what makes a Christian steady, balanced, and truly spiritual. Then the fire of revival will not die out; instead, it will burn hotter and brighter—until that day. <-- Part 3-2 Part 3-4 -->

Bible Reading: Hosea 7:8 — "Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake unturned." Ephesians 5:18 — "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit" Colossians 3:16 — "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20 — "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies." Acts 6:4 — "but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Ephesians 6:17-18 — "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." The Path the Lord Walks Today Before we share the message, we would like to give a brief explanation. Last night a brother asked that in these days the Holy Spirit has been poured out among us and has filled us. If this continues, what difference is there between us and the Pentecostal groups or various charismatic movements? For they also receive the outpouring and filling of the Holy Spirit, and they actively preach this truth. Are we not becoming the same as these groups? For the sake of the road ahead, we feel we should give some clarification. Therefore, at the beginning we want to offer a brief explanation before we fellowship on this morning’s message. This time, our increased attention to the matter of the Holy Spirit is entirely based on the Word of God. Our consistent attitude has always been this: whatever is in the Bible, we fully accept; whatever is not in the Bible, we completely reject. Everything that is in the Scriptures—not only the literal words, but especially the spiritual meaning expressed through the literal facts—we must receive and make it our experience, so that we may reach God’s purpose. In past days, the message and experience concerning the outpouring and filling of the Holy Spirit have been overly neglected in the church. Therefore, this time may be considered a recovery, a returning to make up what has been lacking. It is the marvelous leading of the Holy Spirit, the timely shepherding of the Lord, guiding us to receive the outpouring and filling of the Holy Spirit. In this matter, there is nothing special about us. Just as the Lord’s disciples Peter and John experienced it, just as Paul experienced it, and just as the saints throughout the generations experienced it, we also experience it in the same way. As far as the experience itself is concerned, there is no difference at all—it is entirely the same. Take salvation as an example. Today, among the many Christian groups we see, every group has genuine Christians within it. They believe in the precious blood of Jesus and receive the redemption of the Lord Jesus. No matter which group they belong to, the fact of their salvation is exactly the same as the fact of our salvation—the only difference is the place where they gather. Or take baptism as another example. Many Christian groups today practice immersion baptism, and we also practice immersion baptism. As far as the experience of baptism is concerned—being united with the Lord in His death, burial, and resurrection—the way they experience it is the same way we experience it. It is identical. We earnestly hope that all of God’s people on earth may experience the full salvation revealed in the Scriptures, without distinction, all receiving the same grace. This is our heart. And we truly hope that the experience of the Holy Spirit will also be the same—that all Christians on earth may receive the outpouring and filling of the Holy Spirit, walk together on the path of the cross, pursue the goal which is Christ, and reach the full stature of Christ. Therefore, it is not that we intentionally want to establish another group, nor that we deliberately want to be different from others. We hope that all Christians in the whole world may receive the same grace, be brought into one in Christ, be brought into one in the Holy Spirit, and together bear a unified testimony in the one Body of Christ. Truly, nothing could be more beautiful or more satisfying to God than this. This is the heart we bear. As to whether this can be achieved—that is entirely the Lord’s matter. The reason it is so difficult to reach this goal today is mainly because some groups insist stubbornly on certain teachings, and some groups have taken an extreme path, going beyond the teaching of Christ. In such conditions, it becomes difficult to bear a unified testimony. Today the church may have thousands of gatherings on earth, yet their nature ought to be the same and their goal the same—that all are led by the Lord, allowing Christ to be the Head, giving the Holy Spirit the authority, and building up the Body of Christ. Setting aside for the moment those groups that reject the filling of the Holy Spirit, even among the groups that do receive the Spirit’s filling, there are differences. Some have received a particular commission, emphasizing divine healing and evangelism. God indeed uses them, and we wholeheartedly praise the Lord for that. Yet they often remain within that segment of experience and do not continue forward toward God’s eternal purpose and His eternal will. Naturally, they stay where they are, and God uses them within that limited sphere to carry out His limited intention. There are others who, out of prejudice, form another group and claim to be the only true church—believing that apart from the early church at Pentecost, they alone are the church throughout all ages and all lands, denying every other church. Their workers do the same: all the workers in the world are not counted, and only their small number are considered the Lord’s servants. Such groups, having taken an extreme path, are truly difficult for anyone to follow. Our heart, however, is to include all Christians — whether Spirit‑baptized or not Spirit‑baptized. As long as they are born again and saved, they are brothers and sisters. We gather together, break bread together, and move forward together. Yet we also hope that the salvation God reveals in the Scriptures, the salvation He desires us to receive, may be experienced by all of us together. Therefore, we help those who have not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit to receive the filling; we help those who have not yet walked the way of the cross to walk the way of the cross together. This is our desire16—not a restriction, not a boundary, and certainly not a regulation. Our measure should include all Christians. This is our attitude. This is the path the Lord is taking today among His people. God Requires Us to be Balanced Christians Now we return to our main subject. This morning is the final meeting of this conference. In the past three evenings we have spoken about the further experiences of the Holy Spirit after His outpouring and filling. This morning we will speak on the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Before presenting the main topic, we must first let the brothers and sisters know that God requires us to be balanced. The verse we just read, Hosea 7:8, says: “Ephraim is a cake unturned.” We all know that a cake must be baked on both sides before it can be eaten. It cannot be burnt on one side while the other side remains raw. The meaning is that it must be balanced. In the same way, a Christian, in the lifelong journey of following the Lord, must not lean toward only one kind or category of experience, becoming extreme and losing balance. For example, suppose my two hands—if my right hand is constantly exercised and becomes strong and well‑developed, while my left hand, lacking exercise, becomes thin and weak — such a sight would be quite unattractive. Or if my two legs were of different lengths, my walking would always be unnatural. Or if my eyes—one were larger than the other —it would look uncomfortable. Or if one of my ears were whole and the other deformed, it would also appear unpleasant. Likewise, if a Christian does not have a balanced life, whether from God’s view or from man’s view, he cannot bear a beautiful testimony. A Christian who desires to move forward in a balanced way must first maintain balance in two matters: the Holy Spirit and the Bible — that is, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. These two must receive equal and balanced attention. In the past hundred years, although many Christians have placed considerable emphasis on the side of God’s Word—gaining much knowledge of the Scriptures, producing many writings, and offering much teaching, so that there has been much to read and much to hear—yet the side of the Holy Spirit has been greatly neglected, resulting in extreme lack of experience. Thus, a group of Christians has emerged who are hearers of the Word only, even becoming those who can hear but cannot do, Christians in name but lacking reality. On the other hand, in recent decades, some Christians have seen the preciousness of the Holy Spirit and have actively received the outpouring and filling of the Spirit, continually focusing on the Spirit. Yet they have neglected to be rooted in the Word of God, and thus have gone down another extreme path. Therefore, this morning we must address the matter of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, and the need to hold both in balanced emphasis. God’s way of working is through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God First, we must see that God carries out His work through His Spirit and His Word. Throughout the entire Bible we see that God uses two means to accomplish His will: one is the Holy Spirit, and the other is the Word of God. God completes His work by means of His Spirit and His Word. Creation We can look at this matter beginning from creation. The opening of Genesis chapter one says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep.” What could be done in such a situation? It continues, “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” This is the very first action God took in His work of creation. Concerning the earth that had undergone judgment, this was the work of re‑creation. And the first step was that the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. Then it records, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Here, “God said” is the second step. First the Holy Spirit moved; then God spoke. When the word came forth, the thing was accomplished. From God’s work in creation, we can clearly see that on the one hand God uses His Spirit, and on the other hand He also uses His word to complete His work. Redemption After humanity fell, God had to prepare redemption. And in the work of redemption, we again see that God uses these two means. When God sent His Son to the earth, the Gospel of Matthew records that He was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. The Son of God came into the world through the Holy Spirit— it was the Holy Spirit who conceived the child in the virgin Mary. But the Gospel of John records, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” Matthew says that the Holy Spirit conceived and that the Son was born from Mary— that the Holy Spirit put on flesh. John, however, says that the Word became flesh. From this we see that in the work of redemption, God uses the Holy Spirit on the one hand, and His word on the other. When we say the Lord Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that is correct; and when we say He was born of the Word, that is also correct. For in accomplishing His work, God operates through the Holy Spirit on one side, and through His word on the other. When the Lord Jesus completed redemption on the cross, Hebrews tells us that He “through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God.” This means that the Lord Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, was nailed to the cross and accomplished redemption. But on the other hand, the four Gospels record that Jesus said, “It is finished.” And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Thus redemption was accomplished. Concerning the completion of redemption on the cross, Hebrews says it was accomplished through the Holy Spirit, while the Gospels record that it was accomplished through His word. Man's Born Again For Christ’s redemption to be applied to us and become our experience, it likewise comes through the Holy Spirit and the word of God. The very first step of our Christian experience of salvation is being born again. John 3:3 says, “Unless a person is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Verse 5 continues, “Unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” From this we see that born again is brought about by the Holy Spirit. Yet 1 Peter tells us something further: “You have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God.” Here it says that born again comes through God’s living word. These passages are both correct and do not contradict each other. God uses these two means to accomplish His work. Therefore, our salvation is the Holy Spirit giving us birth, and it is also God’s word giving us birth. Lacking either one would be impossible. Shepherding Believers After we are saved, the Lord’s way of shepherding us is no exception. Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters.” The “green pastures” symbolize God’s word, because grass is the food of sheep, and the food of Christians is the word of God. Jeremiah 15:16 says, “O Lord God of hosts, Your words were found, and I ate them.” When sheep are led by the shepherd to green pastures and be filled, it signifies Christians being nourished and satisfied by enjoying God’s word. On the other hand, the sheep are also led beside still waters. “Water” symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Drinking freely and fully brings rest. A sheep cannot survive by eating grass only and does not drink water. Likewise, a Christian who only listens to messages but has no experience of the Holy Spirit cannot live as a vibrant Christian. Conversely, if the sheep are given water to drink but no grass to eat, they also cannot live. In the same way, a Christian who is often filled with the Holy Spirit but doesn't experience God’s word will also be weak, empty, and spiritually emaciated, unable to live. Our Lord Jesus, the good Shepherd who laid down His life for us, leads us forward as His flock by feeding us with His word on the one hand and supplying us with His Spirit on the other, guiding us along a level path. Brothers and sisters, I do not know whether in these days you have experienced both sides. Perhaps you read many spiritual books and have read the Bible to some extent, but if you have not been filled with the Holy Spirit, then you may be in the green pastures yet lacking the still waters. Or perhaps you are often anointed and filled with the Spirit, yet you neglect God’s word and do not spend time in the Bible to receive spiritual food—then you are missing the green pastures. We must have both in balance; this is the way God shepherds us. Guiding Believers Exodus 13:21–22 says, “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.” The Israelites’ journey through the wilderness into Canaan is a picture of Christians walking a heavenly path toward the fullness of Christ. The Israelites walked the wilderness road by following the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. The pillar of cloud symbolizes the Holy Spirit; the pillar of fire symbolizes God’s word. These two are the means by which the Lord leads Christians throughout their entire life on His way. Therefore, Christians must diligently understand the Lord’s will through the Scriptures, and also hear His voice through the Holy Spirit. Ask yourself: in these days, have you experienced the Lord’s word guiding you? Have you experienced the Holy Spirit teaching you? If you and I have neither the instruction of the Spirit nor the guidance of God’s word in Scripture, then we are not walking in the Lord’s way. For the Israelites in the wilderness, whenever the pillar of cloud or the pillar of fire moved forward, anyone who refused to follow would be left behind and eventually die in the wilderness. Only by continually following the cloud and the fire could they reach the good land of Canaan. Likewise, a Christian who does not receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit and God’s word cannot reach the fullness of Christ, but will become a defeated believer—one who falls in the wilderness. Brothers and sisters, may we not treat this as an old, familiar saying that goes in one ear and out the other. Rather, let us engrave it on our hearts, staying watchful and careful to be led by the Holy Spirit and by God’s word. In the seven letters of Revelation, the Lord warns the churches to pay attention to one thing: never carry a name without reality, never lose spiritual substance. If there is doctrine without experience, repentance is needed. The Lord preserved the aged apostle John for the purpose of recovering the desolate church and restoring spiritual reality. When he wrote 1 John, he began with, “That which was from the beginning....concerning the Word of life” He did not say, “concerning Jesus Christ,” because when the Lord Jesus becomes our experience, He becomes our life. So John continues, “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled.” In the last days, what must be recovered is spiritual reality, not merely doctrine. We must ask: in these days, how many times has God’s word—Scripture—been your pillar of fire? We long to hear from your testimony how God’s word has guided you. For example, before I came to the Philippines this time, I kept asking the Lord what message He wanted me to bring. Please do not think that a worker can easily preach whatever he wishes; it is not that simple. Although I had prepared a series of messages, I felt no inward assurance. So I prepared another message, yet still felt no clarity. Then, one week before my departure, on the morning I was to speak at a retreat, just as I was about to read the Bible, God’s word came: I was to speak on “The Fire of Revival” in the Philippines. Immediately the Scriptures concerning the fire of revival—from the Old Testament to the New—began to shine. I became clear and assured within: God wanted me to speak on “The Fire of Revival” on this trip. This is an example of being guided by the pillar of fire. On the other hand, we must also continually receive the Holy Spirit’s teaching. From morning to evening each day, the anointing teaches us in all things. If in the past month you have not followed the teaching of the anointing, then spiritually you have remained in the same place for a month. We walk the Lord’s way by following both the revelation of Scripture and the Spirit throughout our whole life. There are countless examples of the anointing’s teaching. For instance, during a prayer meeting, when the Holy Spirit moves you and you pray out loud, that is one act of obedience to the Spirit. Or suppose we have an gospel meeting at the beginning of the month, and the Holy Spirit tells you to bring a certain classmate, or a certain gentleman, or a certain lady to attend—and you go and bring them. That is following the teaching of the anointing; that is being led by the Holy Spirit. To set the saints free and transcendent Not only so, for a Christian to be free and transcendent, the Lord also releases us through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. John 8:32 says, “The truth will set you free.” Of course, “truth” refers to the Lord Jesus, yet in another sense it also refers to God’s Word in the Bible. When God’s Word comes, it brings us into freedom. On the other hand, 2 Corinthians 3:17 also tells us, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” The Spirit of the Lord is the Holy Spirit. When He comes, He releases us from the bondage of the flesh and from earthly constraints. The Lord’s Word makes us free, transcendent, and victorious; likewise, the Lord’s Spirit also makes us free, transcendent, and victorious. Cleansing the Church The sanctification of the Church is the same. Ephesians 5 says, “To make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Eph. 5:26–27). Water symbolizes the Holy Spirit or life. The “word” refers to God’s Word. This means that the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, enlightens us, burns away what is impure, washes us, cleanses us, and removes every spot, wrinkle, and stain until we are made completely holy. Dear brothers and sisters, sometimes we receive the Spirit’s enlightenment through listening to messages or testimonies. Yet even more importantly, we must read God’s Word for ourselves, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us again through the Scriptures. In this way, we are washed with water through the Word. For example, perhaps we have no interest in serving, and we are idle and unfruitful. One day, while reading the Scriptures, we come to Romans 12, and suddenly a verse comes with power: “Do not be slothful in zeal, but be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Rom. 12:11). You are deeply enlightened, and you pray, “Lord, forgive my coldness. Remove my corruption. Deliver me from laziness. Make my spirit fervent to serve You.” As a result, your coldness, laziness, selfishness, and disobedience—your spots and wrinkles—are cleansed away. In this way, the Lord, by His Spirit through the Word of Scripture, cleanses the Church again and again, repeatedly and continually, until the Church becomes holy and without blemish. Reviving the Church Let us take the revival of the Church as another example. The Lord also works through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. Today many Christians hold a mistaken concept, thinking that we can work for the Lord. Yet after serving for a short while, they find themselves exhausted and unwilling to continue. Or at best, they force themselves to serve by sheer willpower. Here we must understand that all spiritual work is done by the Holy Spirit Himself, and it is God who accomplishes His work by speaking. In spiritual matters, human hands cannot intervene; man is absolutely powerless. If this is so, does man then have no responsibility? No—man still has a responsibility: to believe and to obey. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He said, “The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). Whenever God speaks, the work is accomplished, and the Church is revived. On the other hand, God also works through the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit enlightens, He causes people to be convicted concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment, and they come alive and are revived. At times, when the Spirit grants revelation and shows you the beauty of the Lord, you run after Him. Sometimes the Holy Spirit is poured out upon believers, bringing revival. We must believe in God’s Word and also believe in the work of the Holy Spirit; then we will surely see God’s activity and the manifestation of His glory. At the same time, we must obey what God speaks and obey the voice of the Spirit. In this way, the Lord will display His glorious works. Ezekiel records several visions concerning the revival of God’s people. Whether it is the river that causes everything dry to live again, or the breath that brings the dry bones back to life, both symbolize the work of the Holy Spirit. The river represents the Spirit’s work; the breath also represents the Spirit’s work—God’s act of revival. On the other hand, when God’s Word goes forth, it likewise brings revival, for “the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” To be raised from the dead is the greatest revival. Thus we see that God revives His work through the Holy Spirit and through His Word. Bearing Witness to Christ Today the Lord keeps us on earth so that we may be His witnesses, and He leads us through the Holy Spirit and His Word. John 15:26 says, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me..” Brothers and sisters, when we were still sinners, the Holy Spirit came to convict us concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. He brought us to the Lord Jesus and continually revealed Christ to us—showing us that He is the Son of God, the Savior, and unveiling His glory, victory, beauty, and greatness. He draws us again and again, causing us to run after Him, worship Him, and serve Him. All these are works of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 3 says, “That He may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Eph. 3:16–17). This refers to our receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit. When we are filled within, our inner man is strengthened, and Christ begins to rule within us, bringing us under His lordship. This too is the Holy Spirit bearing witness to Christ. Galatians 5 further shows us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are all the very expressions of Christ when He was on earth. When we are filled with the Spirit, the Spirit produces this fruit in us so that we may live out the image of Christ. This also is the Holy Spirit bearing witness to Christ. On the other hand, in John 5:39 the Lord Jesus says, “These are the very Scriptures that testify about me.” Thus, God’s Word—the Bible—also bears witness to Christ. We know that the Bible is divided into the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament introduces Christ. Through its history, types, and poetry, it portrays Christ and prepares the way for His coming. The New Testament reveals Christ. The four Gospels speak of Christ incarnate and His accomplished redemption. Acts speaks of the ascended Christ continuing His work on earth through the Holy Spirit. The Epistles speak of how Christ becomes our life, growing, forming, and being constituted in us through the cross. Revelation speaks of the full testimony of Christ—His complete manifestation. Thus, the entire Bible, the Word of God, bears witness to Christ. God Requires the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to Hold a Balanced and Supreme Place Among the Saints From all the points mentioned above, it is not difficult for us to understand that God carries out His work through the Holy Spirit and through His Word. Therefore, the entire Bible also shows us that God requires the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to hold a balanced and fully superior place among the saints. Being Filled with the Holy Spirit and Filled with the Word of God The verse we read earlier in Ephesians 5:18 says, “Be filled with the Spirit.” Since God intends to accomplish His work in us through the Holy Spirit—and to bring it to fullness—He commands us to be filled with the Spirit. On the other hand, God also uses His Word to complete His work in us. Therefore, Colossians 3:16 tells us to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” This means we must come before God, open our hearts, and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, while at the same time seriously allowing God’s Word to equip us inwardly. On one hand, we are to be filled with the Spirit; on the other hand, we are also to be filled with the Word of God. By speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with hearts full of grace, we praise and sing to God (Eph. 5:18–19; Col. 3:16). The Moving of the Holy Spirit and the Prophetic Word For the edification of believers, 1 Thessalonians 5:19–20 says, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt.” This means that God requires us as believers to honor the Holy Spirit and give Him His rightful place; likewise, we must honor the prophetic speaking, giving God’s Word the same place as the Holy Spirit. For prophetic speaking is the expression of God’s Word. We must receive guidance from both sides in a balanced way, so that we may be built up in a well-rounded manner. The Most Holy Faith and Praying in the Holy Spirit To enable us to stand firm in an ungodly generation, Jude 20 says, “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit” Being built up on the most holy faith is to give God’s Word its rightful place. Praying in the Holy Spirit is to give the Holy Spirit an outlet. When both the Word and the Spirit are given their proper place, we experience them working together in a balanced way. Prayer and the Ministry of the Word When the apostles sought to work together with God and fulfill their ministry to the Lord, they said in Acts 6:4, “And will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” Prayer signifies being brought by the Lord to a point where we no longer rely on our own methods or abilities, but serve and fulfill our ministry solely by the Holy Spirit. Thus Zechariah 4:6 says, “‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” The ministry of the Word, on the other hand, signifies serving and fulfilling our ministry by means of God’s Word. Therefore Luke 1:37 says, “For no word from God will ever fail.” This means that when the word that comes from God is proclaimed, the power that accompanies it also goes forth. Thus, devoting ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word shows that both the Holy Spirit and the Word of God must be given a balanced and superior place. The Sword of the Spirit and Praying in the Spirit Brothers and sisters, the Bible place the Holy Spirit and the Word of God before us in perfect balance—even spiritual warfare is no exception. Ephesians 6:17–18 says, “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” On the spiritual battlefield, if we are to overcome the devil, we must put on the whole armor of God. This includes taking up the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God—and praying at all times in the Spirit. This shows how crucial the balanced place of both the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is in spiritual warfare. We have briefly shared the importance of maintaining this balance between the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. May the Lord lead us to value and experience both the Spirit and the Word in a balanced way, so that He may guide us steadily and securely to continue walking on the path of His revival, pressing on toward the goal, which is Christ Himself. <-- Part 3-3