BASIC WORD: TAKING CHRIST AS OUR PERSON BY KEEPING HIS WORD

                   ENJOYING THE LORD’S WORD DAILY BY EATING AND DRINKING

We must eat the Lord’s Word. I once drew a diagram of a triangle with the words God, Spirit, and Word at the corners. God is Spirit (4:24), and God is also the Word (1:1). Furthermore, the Word is Spirit. The words that the Lord has spoken to us are spirit (6:63). Hence, the three are one. We cannot contact God without breathing in the Spirit. Neither can we contact God and breathe in the Spirit without dealing with the Word. None of us can live apart from the Bible. We should have more than one Bible so that we can have the Word with us at all times. We should never be separated from the Word. All day long we should eat the Lord’s Word, because the Lord Himself is the Word, and His words are spirit and life. When we open the Bible, we should not focus on understanding but on eating and being nourished in our spirit. It is one thing to understand the food that we eat for breakfast, but it is another thing to eat and digest the food. In the same principle we need to digest the words of the Bible. Pray-reading the Bible is to eat the Lord’s Word. As long as we take in the Lord’s Word, our spirit will spontaneously digest the Word.

Two different Greek words are translated as “word” or “words” in the Gospel of John. For example, the Greek word for words in 6:63 is rhema, which is different from the Greek word for Word in 1:1, which is logos. The former refers to the instant word, and the latter, to the constant word. The Lord gives us both the instant word [514] and the constant word. For example, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” This is an example of His constant word. However, when the Lord spoke to the man who had been impotent for thirty-eight years, saying, “Rise, take up your mat and walk” (5:8), He was speaking an instant word to him. All the words in the Bible are constant; however, when the Lord repeats a constant word to us, it becomes an instant word. Whether the Lord’s words are constant or instant to us, we should receive His words constantly.

               KEEPING THE LORD’S WORD AND EXPERIENCING ANOTHER COMFORTER

The Lord said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever” (14:15-16). Commandments refers to His words. As we keep the Lord’s words, another Comforter comes. Although the Holy Spirit is already in us, when we receive a word from the Lord and keep that word, we have a deep sense of the Holy Spirit coming to us as another Comforter, because of the freshness of His taste. For example, as we are walking toward a department store, the Lord may tell us not to go into the store. At this point we have to either follow or disobey the Lord’s speaking. Occasionally, we turn away out of our love for the Lord, but often we bargain with the Lord, saying, “Lord, forgive me. I am already here. Please let me go in just this one time.” The Lord rarely responds by saying, “Absolutely not!” Rather, He indicates His feeling and leaves the decision to us. Most of the time, we follow our own feeling and do not turn away. Consequently, when we go into the store and make several purchases, we often have a sense of deadness within as if the Holy Spirit has disappeared. Yes, we still have the Holy Spirit in us, but our touch with the Lord is gone, and we even feel shameful before the Lord. At such a time, we do not have a fresh sense that there is another Comforter in us.

On the other hand, if we call, “O Lord!” when the Lord says, “Go home,” and say Amen, we will sense the Holy Spirit within us as another Comforter. As we head toward our home, it will seem almost as if we were flying, because we sense the comforting presence of [515] the Spirit. When we love Him and keep His commandments, another Comforter comes to us.

Verse 15 of chapter 14 says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Then verse 16 says, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter.” Ordinarily we separate these two verses, but actually they are connected. If we desire to have another Comforter, we must love the Lord and keep His commandments. Then in our experience the Lord will become another Comforter, bringing us the fresh taste of the Holy Spirit as our enjoyment.

                                MANIFESTING HIMSELF AND MAKING AN ABODE WITH US BY

                                                 OUR KEEPING OF THE LORD’S WORDS

Verses 20 and 21 of chapter 14 say, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him.” If we arrive at a department store and the Lord says, “Go home,” do you think that the Lord will manifest Himself to us if we do not listen to His word? Although He is still in us, He will hide Himself. The Lord will never forsake us or leave us, but He will not always manifest Himself to us. I do not encourage you to watch movies. However, if you go to a movie, the Lord will go with you. Nevertheless, He will go in a hidden way, and you will not be able to feel His presence or His manifestation.

After the children of Israel worshipped the molten calf, God told Moses to bring the Israelites to Canaan but that He would not go up in their midst with them (Exo. 33:3). However, Moses negotiated with God, saying, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (v. 15). It was as if he said, “God, this will not do. I am not going. Your presence must go with us; otherwise, I will not go. I know You can exercise Your power to lead us into Canaan. However, if we cannot touch Your presence, we will not be able to endure the journey. Therefore, Your presence has to go with us.” What does it mean for God’s presence to be with us? Suppose three people are riding together in a train, but one of the three is unhappy and does not want to sit in the same train seat with the other two. Even though he is going with the other two, they do not have his immediate presence. Similarly, even though the Lord is in [516] us, we will not have His immediate presence if we do not keep His words. As soon as we respond to the Lord’s words, however, His presence with us is immediately manifested. It is a special blessing to know the Lord as another Comforter and have His manifestation by keeping His words.

In John 14:23 Jesus also said to His disciples, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” Since the Lord Jesus is in us already, why does He say that He will come to us and make an abode with us? Does this imply that He is not in us? No, He is in us, but in order for us to enjoy not only His manifestation but also His abiding in us, we must be those who love Him and keep His word. In such a condition we will have a special sense of the Lord’s abiding in us. Further, we will be practically one with the Lord, because He will be our person within, and we will be His manifestation without.

It is easy to call on the Lord’s name, but the greatest test is how we deal with the Lord’s word when it comes to us. Many times we let the Lord abide in us, but we do not let His word abide in us. For example, a sister may let her husband reside in their home but still not receive his words. Sometimes wives argue with their husbands, and husbands argue with their wives. Similarly, we often argue with the Lord. Although we may not openly defy the Lord’s words, we often ignore them. We are willing to let the Lord indwell us, but we are unwilling to let His words abide in us. This is our real situation.

                         KEEPING THE LORD’S WORD SO THAT WE MAY GROW IN LIFE

In these days many saints are calling on the name of the Lord, and our meetings are becoming more living. However, the growth in life in the saints is still slow. The Lord said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (v. 15). Do we really love Him? Do we really keep His commandments? His commandments are of two kinds—constant and instant. His constant commandments are found in the Bible, whereas His instant commandments often consist of only one word, no. If a Christian can always obey the word no, he will grow in life. For example, ” When we say, “Lord, I want to buy something,” He may say, “No!” The Lord says “No!” to us numerous times during a [517] day, but we ignore His word because we want to do as we please. This hinders our growth in life.

Actually, outward exhortations are useless. It is useless for me to exhort you not to love the world or not to lose your temper. Instead, we should call on the Lord and receive His words because we love Him. The food that we eat must be digested in our stomach. Similarly, the words that we receive must be allowed to operate in our being. If we do not digest the Lord’s words, we will suffer from “indigestion” and become spiritually sick. Even though we call on the Lord’s name and pray-read the Bible, there will be spiritual growth only if we allow His words to operate in our being.

We must look to the Lord for His mercy so that He may give us a heart that loves Him fervently and absolutely. When His word enters into us, it must be received and digested. This will provide us with the proper spiritual nutrients, and we will grow in life. This is our need today. We all need to pray for this. We should not only call on the Lord’s name, breathe Him in, and drink Him, but we must also eat His Word in a genuine way, digesting His Word and allowing His word to operate in us. Then He will gain ground in our being, manifest Himself to us, and make an abode with us so that we will grow in life.