I am really glad to be in your midst tonight. I look to the Lord that He may teach us something of very great importance to every single believer. Let us pray for an opening of our mind and heart to what He has to say through His Word.
Dear Lord, You are the Word of God. You are the divine expression of what God has to say to mankind. So, when we listen to Your Word, what we need, Lord, is to touch Yourself—Your very being.
We ask You, Lord, to reveal to us this evening Your own heart. We want You to share with us Your own burden. We want to be a people who care for what is in Your heart, Lord.
We need something that You may touch us with this evening and give us an enlargement of seeing more of this wonderful, all-inclusive Son of God, who has been crucified, but raised from the dead, and is seated at God’s right hand, unto whom was given all power, authority, and glory. Amen.
Now, what I have on my heart this evening is something very basic to every born-again Christian. I think we all have had some experiences with the Lord since we were saved. But there are some principles that govern all our experiences.
One of these principles is this basic matter of revelation. I am burdened to speak tonight about the principle of revelation in our Christian experience. You will see afterwards why it is so basic and necessary.
There is no Christian who can do without revelation from God. We want to understand—or at least try to understand—what revelation means and what the Bible has to say concerning this matter.
Let us see, first of all, why we need revelation and what revelation is according to the Bible. We have one scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:14, a very well-known scripture. But I think we always have to go deeper into the meaning of the Word of God.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged.
—1 Corinthians 2:14
What we have here—I think we all know—is that the word natural refers, in fact, to the soul. So we should read: “Now the man of the soul”—or, as somebody put it, “the soulish man”—the man who is governed and ruled by his soul.
The man of the soul receives not the things of the Spirit of God. One thing we have to know very clearly is which part God has created in man to receive the things of God. As long as we mix up things, we will never have a clear understanding of God’s mind and God’s purpose.
We can speak a lot about God’s purpose, God’s concern, the church and its position, and whatever you like. But unless we have a clear understanding of the proper organ to receive the things of God, we will never understand clearly and properly.
You all know that man is a tripartite being: body, soul, and spirit. It is very basic and very simple, but it is not so simple as it sounds.
We have to understand that our soul has been invaded by Satan. This was when Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, sinned against God and disobeyed God’s command. You all know the story, but you have to understand what happened there.
Something man possessed from the beginning was lost: his spiritual ability to receive the things of God. Something was cut off, or, as the Bible puts it, something died in man.
You know, death is not only a physical matter. Death starts within our spirit. That is why the Bible says that when we were in sin, we were dead. We were spiritually dead. That means that our spirit was in a condition of death, and there was no ability whatever to receive things coming from God.
Without revelation, there is no way of seeing something of God or being able to understand God’s mind, the truth, and spiritual reality. That is why it says here that the natural man, the man of the soul, receives not the things of the Spirit of God.
Now, the soul is the instrument of our personality. We live normally by our soul. We have our will, our mind, and our emotions, and we know each other just by the soul. The soul is the expression of our character, of our being.
We need the soul, but we need dealing, as we shall see afterwards. We need especially, in this matter, a clear understanding of what is of the soul and what is of the spirit.
God is Spirit, and He communicates only with spirit. He cannot communicate with the soul. God is a spiritual Being, and whatever is connected with God is spiritual reality. Spiritual realities cannot be touched by the soul.
It is like a radio: you need the proper frequency in order to receive something. Otherwise, you will never hear what is broadcast on the other side. You need the right frequency. That is what we need: the proper organ to receive.
You all know, I think, that when we are saved, when we are regenerated, God brings to life our spirit, which was dead. This is a marvelous thing.
When I first saw this, I was just in heaven, because it is really something. You do not only repent, and you do not only receive forgiveness; you receive something new. God creates something in you. God puts something in you, and this something is nothing less than eternal life.
You receive a new ability to touch God, to have fellowship with God, to walk with God, and to be part of God. This is a very deep matter.
So, the soul, as it is in its natural condition, is absolutely unable to reach God or touch God. Why do we need to understand this? Because if you look into human history, you will see that so many attempts have been made to reach God and to touch the things that are of God.
Every religion is nothing else than an attempt to break out of our human prison, out of the soul realm, in order to reach God. But there was no possibility. Even today, so many people try to touch God with their emotions, their mind, and their will, but there is no way.
God had to find another way, and He has found another way in what He has done and given in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the marvelous thing.
The first point is this: why we need revelation is because our mind, our soul, is unable to touch or receive the things of God.
Then another scripture: Galatians 1:12 and Galatians 1:15-16.
For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ.
—Galatians 1:12
But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me…
—Galatians 1:15-16
Take this little phrase: “to reveal His Son in me.” Paul says nothing less than that whatever he preached, whatever he wrote in his letters, he got by the way of revelation.
There were people who said, “Well, that is just his opinion. Paul has this idea; this is his interpretation.” But now he says, “As sure as I am standing here, whatever I brought to you, to the Galatians, to the Christians in Galatia, I got through revelation.”
For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ.
—Galatians 1:12
Whatever comes from God must come to us by revelation. Otherwise, we will never have the reality of it.
We can read books and books and books—all these wonderful books, all these messages by Watchman Nee. We can go to thousands of conferences like those we have. But we will never touch the reality of what has been preached unless God brings it home to every one of us by way of revelation.
Otherwise, we never possess it. We have it in our minds. We know everything. But there are so many Christians: they know their Bible, but there is nothing real in their life. They do not possess what they claim to have. There is no reality in what they say.
Whatever is from God comes by way of revelation. Ephesians 3:3 says:
How that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words.
—Ephesians 3:3
Here again, Paul states that these mysteries of which he speaks in Ephesians were made known unto him by revelation. Whatever we have in the New Testament was given by God to His ministers by revelation. This is the way God gives His truth to His ministers and to His people.
Let us turn to Ephesians 1:16-18.
[I] cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him;
having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling.
—Ephesians 1:16-18
Now Paul says that he prays for all these Christians in Ephesus that the Lord may give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation. He knows quite well that he is going to speak on the matter of the church and the deep mystery that even the Gentiles are included in the salvation of Christ and in God’s eternal purpose.
Even if he writes them all these mysteries, they need revelation to understand. They need an unveiling of these truths. They need the spirit of wisdom. They need God’s interpretation of what He is going to speak to them.
There is another verse: 2 Corinthians 4:6.
Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
—2 Corinthians 4:6
Here Paul refers to the record of creation. Let us read Genesis 1:3 together with this scripture.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
—Genesis 1:3
Again, in 2 Corinthians 4:6, it says, “Light shall shine out of darkness.” “Let there be light.” Now we come to the matter of what revelation is.
We have seen the necessity of revelation in order to really touch the things of God—not only to see something of them, but really to enter into them. Now, what is revelation?
We see that in the first verse of the Bible we find the statement, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is, in fact, spiritually speaking, the only record of creation.
We do not have another record of creation, because in Genesis 1:2 we find that the situation has entirely changed. If we read the Hebrew text, we have to read it this way: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth became waste and void.”
Have you noticed the difference? Usually, we read, “And the earth was waste and void.” But can you imagine that whatever God creates is waste and void? Can you imagine that?
Whatever God creates is perfect and wonderful, because whatever He does, He does His best; He gives His best.
So, the only record of creation is Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This phrase, “the heavens and the earth,” includes the whole universe, with all the stars, all the galaxies, all the space, and whatever we are able to imagine. God created everything in the beginning.
We do not know when this happened. We do not know how long things were in this perfect state. But one thing we know: one day, the earth became waste and void.
These two words, “waste and void,” are found in two prophets, and in both places they refer to God’s judgment: in one place upon the nation of Israel, and in the other place upon a Gentile nation. So these two words speak of judgment.
Something must have happened in the meantime. From other scriptures, we know that there was a tremendous rebellion in the spiritual realm, because the creation of God included also the realm of angels and all spiritual beings.
All these authorities and powers Paul speaks of were included in this tremendous creation of God. Nothing was lacking. Nothing was forgotten. Everything was perfect.
In this spiritual realm, behind the scenes, in the unseen realm, there was a tremendous rebellion. Whatever God did afterwards had to do with this rebellion. God had to recover something.
This rebellion of Satan, who used to be one of the archangels of God and who was in charge of the worship of God, involved the place that God had purposed man to occupy.
That is why Jesus had to become a man and recover mankind to God. God needs a man to bring in His eternal kingdom. That is why He gave Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ was incarnated. These are deep things, and this is not the time to speak of all these things.
But one thing is very interesting. Now, the first thing God does—the first reaction of God in this situation—what was it?
It seems to me that this is very basic and instructive to us. The first thing was, “And God said, Let there be light.”
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
—Genesis 1:3
Can you imagine? The judgment of God was upon the earth. The earth was waste and void, and darkness was upon the face of the waters. Now, in the midst of this darkness, comes a tremendous light.
God separated light from darkness and set up a signal to the whole universe that He is going to recover everything according to His eternal purpose, as He planned it in eternity past. This is really a tremendous thing.
This light was an immense light. It was not some small light. It was something that initiated, or inaugurated, God’s recovery.
Whatever God must recover, He will recover by way of revelation, because this light is not the light of the sun, the moon, or the stars. It is the light of God: revelation.
“Let there be light.” You see, in 2 Corinthians 4:6, as we have read, it is the same light that shines into the heart of a sinner in order to recover his life for God’s glory. The same light.
You have these two references. Maybe one day you will take these verses and pray about them. You will see that God has His principles, and He works all along according to His principles. Whatever He does, it is the same light.
At the end of this message, we will see the effect of this light of revelation. Revelation has to do with light, because in our soul there is darkness.
Even what we call light—if we say, “We have seen something”—I just trust it is not darkness according to God. We need God’s shining of light into our hearts, separating darkness from light and human wisdom from God’s wisdom.
With God there is no mixture. Everything is pure. Whenever you experience revelation, you experience everything according to God’s purity—God’s light.
Let us go on. Psalm 36:9. What is revelation?
For with Thee is the fountain of life:
In Thy light shall we see light.
—Psalm 36:9
Revelation is not only to have light. Maybe, after listening to a message, you may say, “Well, I have seen something.” But make sure that you have seen the right thing and in the right way.
Revelation means that we see things in God’s light, that we see things as God sees. This is revelation.
In this verse, you have two things together: “With Thee is the fountain of life. In Thy light shall we see light.” Life and light are connected together and mentioned together in the same verse. We have this in John 1:4, and this is very important.
In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.
—John 1:4
Have you heard it? “The life was the light of men.” What is revelation? It is the manifestation, the appearing, of God as life to us.
Without revelation, you will not have any life. Everything is dead in the realm of our mind. People who live by their mind are so difficult to handle—so difficult, you know. You always have the feeling, “I cannot come through.”
Life and light are exactly the same thing. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
The substance of the light God shines into our hearts is the life of Christ. Revelation means an imparting of Christ as life to us, because Christ is everything.
In Christianity, we do not merely have truth. We can say, “This is the truth; this is the truth.” But when God gives revelation, we see that every truth is a part of Christ as life—not merely as teaching.
Things are dead in themselves. We need revelation, and that means we need God to bring this truth to us as something of Christ. Then we possess the truth, because He is the truth.
I want to add something about revelation and the Word of God. This is necessary because there are many different ideas concerning this matter. Let us turn to Hebrews 4:12-13.
For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
And there is no creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
—Hebrews 4:12-13
I guess you all know this word very well. But it is one thing to know the verse and another thing to experience the thing here.
We have to understand that this “word of God” here does not refer to the Bible as such. There are so many people who have the whole Bible in their mind, and it seems that the whole Bible is absolutely ineffective in their life.
There is no dividing work of the Holy Spirit in their life, even if they know all the truth, even if they have read The Spiritual Man, all three volumes. Why?
Because here we have the actual speaking of God. The Bible is an expression of the word that has been spoken.
You know, Hebrews begins, “God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners…” God has spoken.
What we have in the Bible is God’s speaking in those times that lie behind us. God has spoken, and the Bible is the record of what God has said in divers portions and in divers manners.
If you only have the Bible, you have something that has been spoken in former times. You need God’s actual speaking.
What is spoken of here is exactly that: God’s actual speaking. You could translate it, “The speaking of God is living.”
Naturally, God does not speak just like that. He uses the Word of God. But what we need to see is that God, through His Spirit, takes what He spoke before and speaks it again—now into our very life, into the situation in which we are.
If we experience this kind of God’s Word, God’s actual speaking into our lives, then we start to experience what we have read in this word: the actual speaking is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit.
It goes on: both joints and marrow. It goes deeper and deeper and deeper, and is quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. There is no creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
This is what God’s actual speaking does in our lives: it manifests whatever is in us. When God said, “Let there be light,” the light that came into that ruined creation opened to view what was there: waste and void, judgment and rebellion.
That is what the actual speaking of God does. What we need is the working of the Holy Spirit, that He may take the written Word of God and speak it again into our life. Then it becomes living and active. That is the way we have to understand this word.
Now we come to another very important matter: how do we get revelation? I think this is very practical. We all see the necessity of revelation, but how can we get revelation? How does God give us revelation?
Well, most Christians, when you ask a question like this, say, “Well, let us pray.” It is a good thing to pray.
Maybe every one of you will go home and say, “Lord, give me revelation.” And what happens? We will see it later. Let us look at a few verses.
Thou hast set me at large when I was in distress.
—Psalm 4:1
We can translate the verse, “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.”
They came upon me in the day of my calamity;
But the Lord was my stay.
He brought me forth also into a large place;
He delivered me, because He delighted in me.
—Psalm 18:18-19
Out of my distress I called upon the Lord:
The Lord answered me and set me in a large place.
—Psalm 118:5
He delivereth the afflicted by their affliction,
And openeth their ear in oppression.
Yea, He would have allured thee out of distress into a broad place, where there is no straitness.
—Job 36:15-16
All these four references we have read speak of the same thing, and they give us the answer: how do we get revelation?
There is another word that speaks of the same thing: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” We cannot have wisdom—God’s wisdom—without revelation. That is why Paul mentions these two things together: the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
In all these words it says that through distress God enlarges and delivers us. So what happens? You go home and start to pray, “Lord, give me, grant me, revelation. I need it, because without revelation I will not be able to touch You, to have reality, to be in Your life, and to experience the life of Christ in my life.”
So what happens? You pray for revelation, and the Lord gives you trouble. That is the way it works, you see. You know why? Because in order to give you revelation, the Lord has to take something from you. Otherwise, there is no room.
We are all full of our own ideas. We are full of our own strength. We are full of our soulish life. In order for the Lord to be able to give us revelation, He has to enlarge us.
He needs capacity, because revelations of God are tremendous things. In order that we are able to contain revelation, He has to enlarge our life, and He enlarges us through troubles and through environment.
Then all these dear Christians, when they start to pray and really mean what they ask, they want to have revelation. Then they say, “Lord, I have asked You for revelation. You give me trouble. Why is it? You are not righteous.”
You have said that if a child asks the father for a fish, he will not give him a serpent. But You do exactly the same. I ask You for revelation; You give me trouble.
But that is the way God answers our prayer. There is no other way to get revelation than through these dealings.
Watchman Nee put it in this way: we get revelation through dealings with God and being dealt with by God. That is what we need: being dealt with by God, step by step.
God has to work in our lives in such a way that He is able to keep on giving revelation. He needs capacity. Through these dealings, He enlarges our capacity.
Whenever He takes something away, you can be sure He will add something of Christ. That is the reason why He takes away: in order to have more room for Christ.
I think Lance mentioned this at the conference. We all know the circumstances in which Paul was when he wrote Ephesians: he was in prison.
The prisons at that time were just a terrible thing. We in Switzerland have some prisons where you could spend your holidays. I have seen a cell in a prison.
I was brought up in the Salvation Army, and every year we went to a certain prison to sing and bring the gospel. We were allowed to look into some of these cells. One had a television, carpets on the floor, flowers all over. It was marvelous.
But not so with Paul. These prisons were terrible, and most of those who were there for a longer time died simply because nobody cared for them. If there were no members of their family, or people like them, who cared for them, they had nothing to eat. Nobody brought them anything.
Under such circumstances, God was able to give Paul these tremendous truths concerning the Body of Christ, the position of the church according to God’s eternal purpose.
The same was true with John. He was in a prison camp on the island of Patmos. He had to work all day long. He was not there simply sitting down doing nothing.
We always think that in order to get revelation, we need quiet time. We have to separate ourselves from everything that disturbs us and keeps us away from God. No, not so.
All the revelation God gave me in my life, He gave when I was in distress and in trouble. The more I got into trouble, the more the Lord opened my mind and my spirit to see more of Christ. That is the way it goes.
Now finally, let us have a look at the effects of revelation. We have six points.
First of all, revelation brings everything to light—the hidden things of the heart. There is a scripture for this: Ephesians 5:13-14.
But all things when they are reproved are made manifest by the light: for everything that is made manifest is light.
Wherefore He saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.
—Ephesians 5:13-14
This is revelation: Christ shining upon us all the time. I want to point out one thing in order to be clear about this: we not only need revelation at the beginning; we need continual revelation.
Even if we have had revelation concerning a certain matter, we may lose it. It has to be kept alive throughout our lifetime.
There are dear brothers—I know some of them—who attended, I think, most of these marvelous conferences with Brother Sparks in Switzerland. If you watch them today, you just see that all the glory has gone.
They have seen something of God’s purpose, but they just sit in their own living room and do nothing. The glory has gone. The revelation has dimmed. Everything has become knowledge.
We need to keep alive the revelation God has given us. This is our responsibility, and the Lord has to add revelation throughout our whole lifetime.
The first effect of revelation is that it brings everything to light. Every hidden thing in us is a hindrance to God’s move in our lives. So everything has to come to light. That is what revelation does, first of all.
The second effect is that it humbles you. When you have your own opinion, you are so strong. You see everything. Everything is right according to your mind. You have got it. You have seen it, and nobody else is able to explain the thing as you are able to do it.
But once you touch the truth by revelation, you just fall to the ground. There is nothing to say. Whatever you saw before has gone. You are just out. The Lord has a way, and it humbles you.
That is what Isaiah experienced in Isaiah 6. You know his experience there. He experienced the presence of the holy God. It was the day of his revelation, and he said, “Woe is me.”
There was fear and trembling because he had touched God’s reality.
Once you have stood in the presence of God, you are never the same again as you were before. That is what revelation does. It humbles you. It kills something in you.
It takes away your own strength. It brings in God’s glory. Once you meet revelation, you dare not open your mouth, because you know God knows who I am. God knows the way, and God is in charge of everything. So I have nothing to say.
Then the next point is that revelation enlightens you. This means in every practical matter, in all circumstances, the revelation God gives enlightens.
We see light in His light. When we have revelation, we see light. John 1:9 says that Christ came as light into this world, and He enlightens every man coming into this world who is open to God and to the gospel.
Revelation enlightens. It gives us an understanding. God interprets our experience by revelation, and that is what we need.
Then the fourth point: we have just read one of these references concerning how we get revelation, and there it says, “He delivered me.” You know, revelation delivers us.
It delivers us from our theologies. We all have so many burdens that we carry along with us. I was brought up in certain places and environments, and then I went to a Bible school.
Then I went through certain experiences, and I had my own conceptions concerning Christian ministry and all these things. But once the Lord touched my spirit and gave me revelation, it delivered me of all these concepts.
Whenever the light of God comes into our life, it delivers us.
One thing concerning the work of the cross: naturally, these dealings have to do with the work of the cross. We had a sister in our assembly, and she had a very bad time. She was always depressed, and she spoke of the cross.
Another brother came to me and said, “What do you think? Is this really the cross?” I said, “I do not think so, because the cross delivers us.”
It never brings a burden into our life. It takes away things from us. It delivers us.
You can easily detect whether somebody has, perhaps, a direct attack of Satan in his life. Then we have to take the position of Christ as the exalted One, Christ who has overcome the enemy.
Maybe there is suffering in a life that is due to some fault or wrong in the believer himself, or something else. But if we really experience the work of the cross, it delivers us. It makes a way for God Himself.
The fifth point: let us read 2 Corinthians 3:18, the end of this whole passage.
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.
—2 Corinthians 3:18
As long as we look into the shining of Christ, as long as we have revelation in our life, we are transformed. Revelation transforms you.
There is no other way to be transformed into the image of Christ than through revelation. Revelation is based on dealings, on the work of the cross.
The last point is from Psalm 119:105, this well-known verse.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
And light unto my path.
—Psalm 119:105
Revelation gives us leading and guidance in our Christian life. I think we all are dependent on God, who guides us and gives us direction—which way we should take, where we should go.
If we are under the shining of Christ, if we are under a continual revelation, if we experience the dealings of Christ in our life, if we never escape difficulties merely because they are burdensome to us, then we will see that every difficulty is able to give us revelation.
Then we have guidance in our lives. Then the Lord guides us and leads us into His purpose.
Now I think we will close this. May the Lord bring His Word home to everybody, to every one of us.
It is a very basic thing to have revelation. It is very necessary, especially after a conference like this. Even if we have understood what has been preached, we do not possess it—we do not have it—unless the Lord brings it again to us by way of revelation.
Never forget: in order to enter the realm of God’s reality, God needs to know us, to form us, and to lead us through pressure and difficulties. That is the way we get revelation.
May the Lord be gracious to us.