THE PRINCIPLE OF INCARNATION
We need to coordinate adequately with the Lord. In the New Testament dispensation, the Lord needs the human coordination. If we do not render any coordination to the Lord, the Lord cannot do anything, for in the New Testament dispensation there is the principle of incarnation. The principle of incarnation is that in everything God is mingled with man, and man is mingled with God. Man must cooperate with God before the Lord can work. I believe that the Lord has been waiting for a long time, even for nearly twenty centuries, for a proper coordination from man.
Do you not believe that the Holy Spirit is desirous of having a group of people singing on the streets? Do you think that the Holy Spirit is happy when so many Christians are dumb all the time? I do believe that the Lord desires Christians singing on the streets as they come to the meetings, and I believe that for centuries He has had this desire, but it has never occurred because the human coordination was lacking. If the Lord needed a kind of angelic coordination, this would have been done long ago. The angels would be so quick to afford an adequate coordination to the Lord. But we are so slow, so dull, so sloppy, and so influenced by formal religion that we think that it might not be so nice. Only a “bunch of fools” would sing on the streets as they come to the meetings.
We must learn to cooperate with the Lord. To do this, we must learn to walk in the spirit. The word walk in the Greek language means to do things, to say things, to behave and to have our being, including all the matters of our daily life. We must walk in the spirit. This means that we must have our being in the spirit. We must continually behave in the spirit. Even when we talk to our wife, we must talk in the spirit. We must not only pray in the meetings in the spirit, but even talk with our wives in the spirit. Then our spirit will be so exercised and strengthened.
Any part of the physical body needs proper exercise. Even our mentality, psychologically speaking, needs exercise. Those with a doctor’s degree have exercised their mind for many years; therefore, they are so keen in their mind. But now we need the exercise of the spirit so that our spirit will be strengthened and made strong. We do have a spirit, so we must exercise and use it. Then not only will our spirit be made strong, but we will be so accustomed to using it. Then whatever we do or say will be done or said from the spirit.
What we need is not to wait for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but to exercise our spirit. The Holy Spirit is waiting for us to exercise our spirit. It is similar to opening a window: when we open it, immediately a draft comes in. If we close the windows and doors and kneel down to pray for a draft, we are utterly foolish. “Lord, I am calling on You for the draft; I am waiting for You, Lord. I cannot do anything, Lord, unless You give the draft.” This is an illustration of the wrong teaching in today’s Christianity. I have seen people waiting for thirty years, yet no draft has come in.
The current of the draft is there, but He is waiting for the open windows. We must render the draft adequate coordination. If we simply open all the windows, Hallelujah, the draft comes in. If we exercise our spirit, the Holy Spirit will immediately move; He is waiting within us. So we must use and exercise our spirit all the time.
I believe that this point is clear, but we need much practice. Sometimes saints will ask how to overcome their temper. Formerly, I told them a certain way, but today I simply tell them to exercise the spirit. If you are going to lose your temper, you must exercise your spirit to lose your temper. Everyone knows that if they will just exercise their spirit, they will not lose their temper. That is the way to overcome our temper. If we are going to overcome our temper, we must exercise our spirit. We must even exercise our spirit to laugh or to weep. All the time we need to practice this one matter of exercising our spirit in order that it may be strengthened. This will prepare us to coordinate with the Holy Spirit.
(The Practical Expression of the Church, Chapter 16, by Witness Lee)
