A Digital Newsletter from Living Stream Ministry
[First Corinthians 4:13] says, “Having the same spirit of faith according to that which is written, ‘I believed, therefore I spoke,’ we also believe, therefore we also speak.” Speaking by the spirit of faith in our practical life is a great, crucial point. This very particular expression is used only once in the entire Bible.
The spirit of faith is a mingling of the Holy Spirit with our spirit. The phrase spirit of faith places the spirit in apposition to faith. Faith is of the spirit. Therefore, the spirit of faith is faith. Our faith is just the mingled spirit. Furthermore, faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the preaching of the word (Rom. 10:14). The very source of faith is the word (v. 17). This is why we must get into the Word. The more we get into the Word, the more we will have faith, and this faith is the spirit. Now by such a spirit we may speak the Word that is the source of our faith. Here is a cycle. The Word produces faith, faith is the spirit, and by this spirit we speak the Word. Our speaking will become the source of faith in others. The faith in them then becomes the spirit by which they speak (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, vol. 3, “Elders’ Training, Book 6: The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles,” pp. 486-487).
Genesis 12:7 says, “And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I will give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.” In this verse we see that the altar is based on God’s appearance. Where there is no divine appearance, there is no altar.
No one can offer himself to God unless he has first met God. Unless God has appeared to a man, he cannot offer his all to God. Consecration is not the result of man’s exhortation or persuasion but of God’s revelation. No one can voluntarily offer up all he has on the altar if God has not first appeared to him…When man meets God, consecration takes place spontaneously in his life.
When we meet God, a radical change takes place in our life. We can no longer do what we did in the past. When we meet God Himself, we have the power to deny ourselves. The matter of denying one’s self ceases to be optional when we have met God. His appearance makes a person unable to go on by himself; it forces him to not live by himself anymore. God’s appearance brings with it inexhaustible power. Such an appearance will alter the whole course of a person’s life. For a Christian, the power to live for God is based on his vision of God (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 37, “The Life of the Altar and the Tent,” pp. 89-90).
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