The Communion of the Holy Spirit (16 page)

How can a person overcome weakness? How can his problem be solved? His weakness and his problem are resolved under an awesome light. When God’s light comes, it provides man with no place to hide. All that is not of God is dried up and withered. And the stronger the light, the quicker the withering. Whether or not a brother’s difficulty is solved depends on the degree of light we give. Leprosy in its hidden stage cannot be healed; but once it is fully exposed, the leprosy is healed. In order to give sufficiently strong light, we ourselves must not harbor any personal feeling or have any personal interest. We need to be purely for the brother’s sake. If any personal feeling or personal interest is present, you and I are unable to solve people’s problems. By speaking frankly to our brethren and bringing their weakness into God’s light, we can deliver them from their problem that can now be withered beyond revival.

Some may ask why it is necessary to bring along two or three other brothers? When one person speaks alone, sometimes the light does not appear to be strong enough. The bringing of two or three others into the picture is to increase the measure of light, to heighten the problem present in the opposite party, to amplify the exposure of that difficulty, and to aggravate his shame. Thus will he be broken at once, and be delivered from his problem. The light brought in by two or three others is stronger than the light of just one person. The issue now is whether that person will accept the dealing.

It is also asked, Why is there the need of reproof? In the Bible there are many incidents recorded wherein reproving words were required. Today in the Church, there are few of us, if any, who dare to reprimand people. And why? Because our own life is not right, and so we are not found worthy to dispense reproof. For as soon as we would reprove others, we would in reality be reproving our own selves. Moreover, we have our personal feeling, and therefore we cannot reprove others. To reprove others we must not bring any personal feeling into the matter at hand. The reproofs in the Bible do not involve personal feeling. They are all for God, for the Church, and for the brothers and sisters.

For the benefit of your brethren, you cannot but speak frankly. To reprimand others, you must deeply hate the particular matter at issue. You must have such strong revulsion against the error that you are very angry at it. Unless you yourself are such before God, you have no way to scold others. If your words come from God, then as you speak severely to the troubled one in the presence of other brothers, light will shine upon that one and blind him. And after two or three days, he will gradually see light. Something has been cut away from him: a wound has been inflicted upon him: and his problem has withered away.

You will notice that I entitled these messages under the general rubric of “spiritual judgment.” And one of the various aspects in God’s judgment is His wrath. As He judges, all is cleansed. One day when God’s anger is totally provoked, this entire world will be purified and Satan’s work will vanish from the scene forever. It is a good thing if after following the Lord for thirty or fifty years, a person may be called upon to represent God’s wrath. The (righteous) anger of elderly brothers can deliver some brethren from their problems. But younger brothers should not be tempted in this respect.
Your
time to represent God’s wrath has not yet come. You who are younger should instead learn to bear the cross and accept the discipline of the Holy Spirit. This is because currently you can only exhibit anger that comes from yourself, and thus you will find it necessary to go before God to confess. But with some elderly brothers, they may indeed exhibit anger, but because it is from God they do not need to return to Him to confess. For anger which comes from God is vastly different from anger which comes from self. Whatever anger or loss of temper which comes from self needs to be confessed; otherwise, one cannot have fellowship with God. But whatever wrath comes from God need not be repented of, and one’s communion with Him remains unbroken. Ordinary brethren can only admonish, they cannot reprove the brother who needs help. Those elderly among us who have godly confidence within may alone judge with the wrath of God the difficulties of the brethren.

I very rarely mention these matters because they are not common. We must always exercise judgment with fear and trembling. We should have more learning at the hands of Almighty God.

Prayer:
O Lord, I pray especially for the brothers and sisters gathered here, that they may be delivered inwardly. I pray that they may be able, without self love or despair, to know themselves before the Lord so thoroughly that they can help many by bringing them to the way of light and out of the way of darkness. May they live day by day in You, and not in themselves. Cause them, Lord, to receive greater enlightenment in You, to enter more into the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and learn to fear You and be delivered from self as they seek to serve You and the body of Christ. Amen.

[1] Part One consists of two messages that cover this multi-faceted subject. They were delivered in Chinese by the author at two successive Lord’s Day gatherings of his fellow- workers on 13 June and 20 June 1948. These two gatherings, which met at the Conference Center on Mount Kuling just outside Foochow in southern China, were but two of many meetings that were held as part of the months-long First Workers Training Session which had its beginning in June and concluded in October of 1948. The contents of these two messages to follow have been derived from extensive notes taken down in Chinese by participants present at the Workers Conference, and have now been translated into English-
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[2] The nine messages which comprise this Part were delivered in Chinese by the author at either Chuenchow or Shanghai in China between 1935 and 1942, as will be more specifically indicated at the beginning of each message. The contents of these nine messages to follow have been derived from extensive notes taken down in Chinese by those who were present at the meetings concerned, and have now been translated into English.-
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[3] Notes of message given at Chuenchow, Fukien Province 18 November 1935.-
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[4] Notes of message given at Chuenchow, Fukien Province, again on 18 November 1935. -
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[5] It needs to be noted that to those who have not experienced the victorious life, this outpouring of the Holy Spirit will have little effect on their walk: it will fade away after but a few days. Such a situation can be likened to a tire that leaks air, soon making the bicycle immovable. Such is the condition of those without the experience of a victorious life but who receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the first time. And if such be your experience, you should ask the Spirit to be outpoured once more. Whenever you feel cold, you need to seek the outpouring again.
-Author
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[6] Notes of message given at Chuenchow, Fukien Province, 19 November 1935.
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[7] Notes of message given at Chuenchow, Fukien Province, again on 19 November 1935. (
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[8] Notes of message given at Chuenchow, Fukien Province, 26 November 1935.
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[9] For a much more thorough discussion of this subject, the reader can consult Watchman Nee,
The Latent Power of the Soul
(New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1972). Originally published in Chinese in issues of
Revival
magazine, 1932, but now translated into English.-
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[10] Notes of message given at Shanghai, sometime during 1938-1942, a more exact date unobtainable.-
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[11] Notes of message given at Chuenchow, Fukien Province, 20 November 1935.-
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[12] Notes of message given at Shanghai, sometime during 1938-42, a more exact date unobtainable.
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[13] Notes of one of the messages given by the author at a conference held in Shanghai, August 1939.
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[14] For an indepth study of these fifteen Psalms, the reader may wish to consult Stephen Kaung,
The Songs of Degrees
(New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1970).
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[15] Part Three consists of four messages that cover this overall subject. They were presented in Chinese by the author before an audience of his fellow-workers on four consecutive days in 1948: 29 and 30 September a
nd 1 and 2 October. As was the case with the messages that comprise Part One of this volume, the author delivered these messages on spiritual judgment during the lengthy First Workers Training Session that was convened during the summer of 1948 at the Conference Center which had been established by the author on Mount Kuling, near Foochow, China. Derived from the extensive notes taken down in Chinese by several participants present at the Workers Conference, the contents of these four messages have now been translated into English.
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[16]
This particular trait-“able to listen” -is in fact the subject of the very first in a series of messages on the overall topic of “The Character of God’s Workman” which the author delivered at this same lengthy summer workers conference on Kuling Mountain in 1948 at which the present messages on spiritual judgment were also given. See Watchman Nee,
The Character of God’s Workman
(New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1988), translated from the Chinese
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[17] The author has devoted an entire volume to this very important lesson of the Christian life. Please consult Watchman Nee,
The Release of the Spirit
(Indianapolis: Sure Foundation, 1965), translated from the Chinese.
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