A RECEIVING ORGAN
Our spirit was created by God as the organ for us to receive Him. We must not confuse it with another organ. Suppose a medical doctor considered that the stomach, the heart, the liver, and the kidneys were all synonyms for the same organ. What kind of a doctor could he be! The stomach is the receiving organ for our food. We take in food with our mouth; then the food passes to the stomach to be digested. This food, after being completely digested, is assimilated into our tissues and cells, becoming part of us. How useful is this physical organ which receives our physical supply! We have another receiving organ, that we may take in the spiritual supply. This supply is God Himself.
After man’s creation God provided him with the tree of life and told him to freely eat (Gen. 2:8-9, 16). This was an indication that the man created by God needed to receive this life, which was God Himself, as his supply. John 6 makes this clear. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.…This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die.…He who eats Me shall also live because of Me” (vv. 48, 50, 57). We can eat the Lord Jesus because He is our life supply. He is the food of life from heaven.
A SENSING ORGAN
Let us consider the organ which receives this spiritual and heavenly food.
Where is our spirit located? This we are not sure of. We know that we have two hearts: a physical one and a psychological one. The location of the physical one we know; but where is the psychological one? It is hard for us to pinpoint its exact location, though we know from experience that it is inside us. The same is true of our spirit. Our experience confirms that we do have such an organ within us.
Let us suppose that the thought comes to me that I need to contact Brother So-and-so. My mind considers it and approves. My emotion has the desire to go. My will then makes the decision that I will go. Nonetheless, deeper than all these there is a sense that I should not go. My mind, emotion, and will are all in agreement that I should take one course. What part of me is saying that I should take another? It cannot be the soul. It is the spirit.
Let us use another illustration. You may have quite a comfortable life. You have a good family. You live in a nice house. You eat well and dress well. You are happy with your work. In the evenings you enjoy listening to good music. Your environment is peaceful. Nonetheless, you sense a lack. You need something more. Where does this sense of emptiness come from? Outwardly you are satisfied, but deep within you are not.
This part deep within us that feels dissatisfied, the Bible calls the human spirit. Even in fallen man the spirit has been preserved by God. His evil doings come not from his spirit but from his mind, emotion, will, and heart. No verse in the Bible tells us that man’s spirit is evil. The mind, in contrast, is spoken of as corrupt (2 Tim. 3:8); the heart, as deceitful and wicked (Jer. 17:9). The spirit in fallen man, though deadened (Eph. 2:1, 5), has been sovereignly preserved by God.
When we hear the gospel preached, God’s Word touches our conscience and causes us to repent. Repentance is an act from the spirit. It is a response to the conscience, which is part of the spirit, in fact, the main part. Then, when we believe in the Lord and call on His name, the Spirit of God enters into our spirit. He comes in to enliven us with God’s life, that is, to regenerate us.
(The Mending Ministry of John, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee)
