II. HAVE YOU REKINDLED YOUR NEW MAN?
We believers have been regenerated and made by God to be a new creation. We have a new man in our being which needs to be rekindled. But most of the time we put this new man aside. We may come to the meetings, and yet leave our new man at home. Doctrinally speaking, this can never happen, but practically speaking, it can. This is why we have to always rekindle our new man.
There is no need for us to rekindle our old man because this ugly thing is everlasting. The old man will be with us until it is thrown into the lake of fire to be burned. When I was young, people would ask me why God would burn sinners in the lake of fire for eternity. We need to see that the old man came out of the evil Satan who is everlasting, so he needs a kind of everlasting fire. There is no need for us to rekindle our old man because the evil one is always rekindling it. But we do need to rekindle our new man, and the only way to do this is by constant and continuous prayer. This is why the Bible tells us to pray unceasingly (1 Thes. 5:17). Once we cease our prayer, right away our new man needs rekindling. To have our new man rekindled is not a common thing. Very few Christians know how to rekindle their new man.
III. HAVE YOU REFILLED YOUR LAMP?
Have you refilled your lamp? This question is based upon Matthew 25. The five wise virgins had oil in their vessels and in their lamps (v. 4). But the problem with the foolish virgins was that they neglected the refilling of the oil in their lamps (v. 3). We can refill our lamps by spending time with the Lord. This is not just by prayer. First, we have to pray that our new man will be rekindled. Then we have to stay with the Lord to have the refilling of the oil in our lamps.
If we go for an entire day without praying, we feel that there is no burning within us and no light. There is no rekindling. But if we pray, after five minutes we realize that something has been rekindled within us, and that is the new man. A few minutes of prayer may rekindle our new man, but that cannot refill our lamp. To refill our lamp we have to stay with the Lord. According to my experience, we need at least half an hour for this. One hour is the proper time to be with the Lord in this way.
This is not just to pray, but to be with the Lord; not just to read the Bible, but to be with the Lord; not just to meditate, to muse on some golden verses, but to be with the Lord. To be with the Lord is even better than musing on some golden verses. It is better than meditating on some portion of the Bible. To be with the Lord is better than studying the Bible. It is even better than praying. Without reading, without praying, and without meditating, you can enjoy the Lord’s presence by being with Him. Then you get the refilling. Put this into your experience. To rekindle your new man is by prayer. To refill your lamp is by spending time with the Lord.
IV. HAVE YOU FANNED YOUR FLAME?
In 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul told Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God which was in him. We may have a flame, but the flame is dying. We have to fan the flame within us into a fire until we become burning. Today there is just a little flame within us, so we can sleep well. But when the flame becomes a fire in the house, we cannot sleep. We will be burning in spirit for the Lord’s interests.
V. HAVE YOU STARTED TO HAVE THE INTIMATE AND THOROUGH FELLOWSHIP WITH YOUR COMPANION? HOW MANY TIMES?
The real intimate and thorough fellowship with your companion is something particular. The fellowship you had in the past probably was not that intimate or that thorough. You have to open up yourself to your companion. Prayer is the way to rekindle your new man; spending time with the Lord is the way to refill your lamp; now you have to open yourself up to your companion.
(The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)
