Will you please turn to 1 Timothy 4? We will read from verses 8 through 10.
Exercise thyself unto godliness:
for bodily exercise is profitable for a little;
but godliness is profitable for all things,
having promise of the life which now is,
and of that which is to come.
Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation.
For to this end we labor and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God,
Who is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe.
Hebrews, chapter 5, verse 14:
But solid food is for fullgrown men,
even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised
to discern good and evil.
May we look to the Lord.
Dear Lord, as we gather here unto Thy name, we know that Thou art here with us. Lord, we do sense that we are standing on holy ground. Lord, we remove our shoes; we bow before Thee and say, “Lord, speak. Thy servants hear.”
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
These two afternoons, we are sharing on this matter of spiritual exercise. Now, spiritual exercise is exercise unto godliness. That is to say, we need to exercise our spirit in order that we may be conformed to the image of God’s beloved Son.
Having life is one thing, but for that life to be developed into maturity—to be Christlike—it needs exercise. And such exercise is of tremendous value because it is profitable not only for this age, but also for the age to come.
Now, brothers and sisters, we also mentioned that spiritual exercise is not bodily exercise, nor soulish exercise. It is exercise of our spirit.
When God created man, He created man with a spirit, a soul, and a body. He used the red earth to form the body of man, and then He breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. That breath of life, which comes directly from God, when it enters into that body becomes the spirit of man. When the spirit and the body interact, you have the soul.
So, brothers and sisters, God is Spirit, and He creates us with a spirit—a human spirit. Why? Because He wants to commune with us.
We mentioned also that the function of our spirit is mainly in three areas, according to the Word of God. One is the area of conscience; the other is the area of intuition; and the third is the area of communion.
Our human spirit is made in such a way that it is able to commune with God, the Spirit. God is the proper environment of our spirit. We are supposed to commune with God, to receive God’s life into us, and to be changed and conformed to the image of God’s beloved Son.
Then we have that intuitive power: when we hear God’s voice, we may know His will inwardly. We also have a conscience that tells us what is right and what is wrong. So, brothers and sisters, man is created with such a capacity—an ability to know God, to be one with God in life, and to become the bride of God’s eternal Son.
But, as we said, when man sinned—when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit—on that very day they died. Their physical bodies continued on for hundreds of years, and they begot sons and daughters—many sons and daughters, very active. But their spirit was dead.
On the day that they sinned, they were dead in sin and transgression. This was signified by their being driven out of the Garden of Eden. In other words, they were separated from God; a distance was created between them and God.
But that does not mean that, because their spirit was dead, they no longer had a human spirit. People may not be conscious that they have a human spirit in their makeup. As we find in Jude, it says, “natural, having not the Spirit.” In other words, people live in a natural way. They live according to their flesh, their soul, and their body.
You know, I always remember when I was a boy, we had a missionary lady living with us. She was the one from Virginia who brought my father to the Lord, so we called her Grandma. After she retired, she did not want to go back. She wanted to remain in China, so she stayed with us as one of the family.
She had an expression that I heard over and over again. Whenever she was frustrated, she said, “Oh, my soul and body!” Now, where is the spirit?
Naturally speaking, in this world people do not even know that they have a spirit. They live by their soul and their body. But they do have a spirit. The spirit as an organ is still there, but it has lost its proper function. The senses are still there; the faculties are still there. Yet these faculties cannot function properly. Unfortunately, they can function improperly.
Now, brothers and sisters, before we go into what we are going to say this afternoon, I feel there is something I need to say as a warning.
Because we have a human spirit in us, and unfortunately that human spirit is dead toward God, it cannot communicate with God. Even though there are still some traces of the former communion, you find that it is not functioning properly. It cannot commune with God.
People know somehow that there is a higher power outside of them. People know that one day they will meet their Maker. They have a guilty conscience, and because of that, you find people invent religions and engage in religious exercises.
But these religious exercises are not what we call spiritual exercises. Unfortunately, you find that in these religious exercises, they not only involve the soul, but actually delve into the spirit realm.
I think if we read one verse in Scripture, it may help us understand this. It is in Ephesians 2. We will read verses 1 and 2:
And you did He make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins,
wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the powers of the air,
of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience.
We were dead in sin and transgression, and yet we walked according to the course of this world. More than that, we walked according to the prince of the powers of the air. Who is this ruler? It is the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.
In other words, people who were dead in sin and transgression had a spirit that could not communicate with its proper environment, which is the true and living God. Yet, because they still have a human spirit, evil spirits can influence them, even unto a kind of exercise which is not proper exercise, but improper exercise.
Now, what do I mean by that? People do feel there is a need to communicate with a higher power, but they cannot communicate with God. So with whom do they communicate? They communicate with evil spirits. They worship idols. Behind these idols, who is receiving their worship? It is the archenemy of God.
You find also that they try to delve into the spirit realm under the influence of evil spirits. So they not only develop their psychic powers, but in delving into the area of psychic power, unconsciously they enter into a spiritual power that originates from the enemy of God.
All these so-called Eastern mysticisms are not something purely soulish. Actually, they develop into something that delves into the area of the spirit, yet the spirit is functioning improperly. By meditation and by all these kinds of things, one can be led astray into the area of the spirit.
I do not know if I should illustrate. I have a friend who had a PhD degree in chemistry in Paris. He was interested in all kinds of things, and for a number of years he was interested in qigong. What is that in English? I do not know the English name for that.
It is very mystic because, according to the Eastern concept, there is a thing called qi—breath. People exercise themselves to develop their breathing. In the beginning, it is for health reasons.
You find that when you are doing that, it can make you healthier, and sometimes even sickness may be healed. Lots of Chinese are now doing it for health reasons. But this brother delved very deeply into it. It became a kind of obsession to him.
Actually, he traveled all over the world to test it. He went to the North Pole and the South Pole, and he considered it scientific research concerning magnetic fields and things like that. Now, he told me about it, but I did not understand.
When he was doing that, I warned him. I said, “Brother, if you are just doing it for the sake of health, it is all right. But do not go too deeply into it. If you go too deeply into it, you may be in trouble. You are treading on thin ice.”
Sure enough, later on he discovered that it was more than merely an activity in the area of the soul. It really entered into the spirit realm. Thank God, he is now lecturing against it.
So, brothers and sisters, these things are happening. I am afraid that in the Western world, many people are attracted by Eastern mysticism—transcendental meditation and things like that.
But you find the enemy would use these things, not only trying to control your soul, but even penetrating into your spirit and turning it into improper functioning. Be careful about that.
Even with conscience, you find that the enemy has created a concept that you can appease your conscience by works. That is religion; that is religious exercise. On the one hand, these things prove that man does have a spirit. On the other hand, they show that our spirit was dead in sin and transgression. Therefore, it is not able to function properly, but it can function improperly.
So beware of this. Since this is not preaching but sharing, I feel free to say this. If you have met such things, be careful. There is a warning there.
What we are trying to share together is exercise unto godliness. Do not mix these two things up. Improper exercise is unto ungodliness, but proper exercise of our spirit and spiritual senses is unto godliness, that we may be like God and take up the character of our Lord Jesus, the Son of God.
We mentioned that the human spirit mainly has three different functions. We shared previously on conscience, and yesterday we shared on intuition. This afternoon, we would like to share on communion.
Even though we mention communion last, communion is actually the most basic function of our spirit. Intuition and conscience are based upon our communion. The more we commune with the proper environment—God—the keener will be our intuition, and the more sensitive will be our conscience.
The reason we mention this last is not because it is the least important. It is actually the most important function of our spirit. But so far as our experience goes, probably we experience the awakening of conscience first.
In John 16, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict man of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they do not believe in Christ.
Oftentimes we think of sin as murder, robbery, and all these kinds of things. But the Lord said that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict people of sin. What is that sin—the sin of all sins? It is not believing in the Lord Jesus.
That is the greatest sin in the whole world. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and you do not believe God’s love. That is the greatest sin in the world, and it is that sin that causes people to go through hell.
Of righteousness—why? Because the Lord said, “I go to the Father, and ye behold Me no more.” In the whole world, in the whole history of mankind, there is not one who can go to the Father. Since Adam and Eve, our forefathers were driven out of the Garden of Eden. No man ever returned to the Father. We are not able to do so.
But here is One who is going to His Father. That is righteousness. No one has the right to go to the Father. God is the righteous One, and only Christ, who is the righteous One, can return to the Father.
When you compare yourself with Christ, then you have the sense of what God’s righteousness really is. When you compare yourself with other people, probably you feel you are righteous. But when you compare yourself with the Lord Jesus, that perfect Man who has the right to go to the Father, then you know that you are full of filthy rags.
Of judgment—why? Because the evil one is being judged. Satan is being judged. When our Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, Satan thought that he had overcome Christ, not knowing that by that very cross the enemy was judged.
So, brothers and sisters, when the Holy Spirit convicts us and wakes up our sleeping conscience, we repent and turn to Christ. So far as our experience goes, it seems as if our conscience is awakened first.
But actually, the first thing that happens when you are born again is the recovery of communion. Why? Because in Romans 8:15-16 it says:
For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear;
but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are children of God.
When we are born of the Spirit, when we are born again, we receive a spirit of sonship, crying out, “Abba, Father.” The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
You know, when you come into this world, the first thing you do is cry. If you do not cry, the doctor will handle you and beat you until you cry. You enter into this world with a cry—a cry of pain, a cry of sorrow. Life is difficult. When you leave the world, there are tears. That is life without God.
But when you are born into the family of God, it also begins with a cry. It is a cry of joy; it is a cry of affection and love. That long-lost relationship is restored. Wonderful!
Now I have to go back again. What is the purpose of God in creating man with a spirit? The purpose of God in creating man with a spirit is because He wants to commune with man.
You can put it in different ways. You can say that God wants to dwell among men. As our brother mentioned last night, He wants to have an eternal home. Heaven and earth are His office, because Isaiah said that heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool. So that is His office, but He has no home. He wants His home in man and with man.
Or you can put it in another way: God created man in His image because He wants to give man to His only Son as His bride. It must be one like Him, His counterpart, who can be united with Him in one—not only in life, but even in purpose.
But anyway, you find that the reason God created man in such a marvelous way was not to make man a marvel. It was because He wants to fellowship with man. Through communion, He communicates His life and His will to us, that we may be one with Him. That is the desire of God in creating man.
We do not know, because it is not recorded—and what is not recorded is speculative—whether, after God created Adam and Eve, He came down every day to fellowship and commune with them. How many days later Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, we do not know.
Some people try to figure out the exact hour, but I am not a mathematician, and it is beyond me. Yet it seems that after they ate the forbidden fruit, God did come to the garden. Instead of running toward God, they ran away from God and hid themselves because they had a guilty conscience.
So evidently God did commune with them. Through communion, God was giving Himself to man, giving His life to man, drawing man to Himself, in order that man might eat of the tree of life and grow in life into the likeness of God’s beloved Son. That is God’s purpose.
But unfortunately, when man sinned, what happened? Communion was cut off.
Brothers and sisters, we often feel what a loss it is to us that we have sinned. If we had never sinned, if our forefathers had never sinned, how good it would be. We lost our inheritance; we lost so much.
But, brothers and sisters, have we ever thought how much God loses because we have sinned? God is love. How He longs to commune with man! And now He has lost man. God loses much more than we do.
How long He has to wait and wait and wait! Think of the prodigal son. He received from his father his inheritance; everything came from his father. Yet he took the gifts, left his father, went to a distant place, and wasted everything.
When he was enjoying himself in the pleasures of sin in the far country, what happened to the father? It was not by accident that when the prodigal son returned, the father was at the door—watching and waiting. No, the father was there every day.
He felt the loss of his son. He longed for that communion. This is history. If we could only see the heart of God—what a loss to Him when He is unable to commune with us.
He never gave up. He waited at the door. Throughout the Old Testament times, you find He tried to reach out. He spoke to a few who would listen. He appeared to a few who would respond to Him. He had been trying all through the patriarchal period, reaching out and reaching out to communicate and commune with man. Very few responded.
Then you remember that He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. It was not until they came to Mount Sinai that God revealed His heart. He said, “I brought you unto Myself. I want to dwell among you. I want to commune with you. Make Me a tabernacle, because I want to dwell among you.”
In Exodus 25:22, He said:
And there I will meet with thee,
and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat,
from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony.
Brothers and sisters, that reveals the heart of God.
Once a year, the high priest alone, with the blood and the incense, entered behind the veil to make atonement for the sin of Israel. In Hebrews 9, we are told that as long as the first tabernacle had its standing, the way into the holiest had not yet been made manifest.
In other words, the tabernacle was only a shadow, not the reality. It was a shadow to show us how God longed to commune with man, but how impossible it was.
But all these things would exist until the time came. When Christ came, brothers and sisters, that was the reality.
When our Lord Jesus was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem, and when He shouted, “It is finished,” the veil in the temple in the city of Jerusalem was rent from top to bottom in two.
Dear brothers and sisters, now in Christ Jesus we can enter boldly into the holiest of all, and there behold His beauty. What a privilege! People who did not have that privilege through all those centuries now have it as our privilege.
In John 1:12:
But as many as received Him,
to them gave He the right to become children of God,
even to them that believe on His name:
who were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man,
but of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, do you know that when you believe in the Lord Jesus, you are made a child of God? As a child of God, you are given a right—an authority.
What is that right? As a child, you have the right to see your father. You have the right to be with your father. You have the right to live with your father. You have the right to talk to your father at any time. That is the right of a child of God.
Brothers and sisters, what right is more precious than this right?
Thank God, brothers and sisters, after we cry out, “Father,” that is just the beginning. We need to exercise that communion—the power of our spirit—to maintain communion with our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.
Do we treasure that right? Are we exercising that right?
Our heavenly Father has been longing for that, waiting and waiting patiently until we are brought to Him. Then we do not use that right.
You know, the enemy of God really understands. He tries to break the heart of God. He uses the world to attack people, to occupy our hearts, so that we have no time for God.
When the children of Israel cried out that they wanted to go into the wilderness to worship God, Pharaoh said, “It is because you have too much time. Double your work. You must give the exact amount of bricks, but you are not given straw. Find your own straw. Make them busy. Make their hearts so hard that they cannot think of God anymore.”
Is that not a tactic of the enemy today?
Not only that, but, brothers and sisters, he even uses the service of God to take us away from communion with God. Many servants of God are so occupied with work, work, work that they have no time to pray, no time to draw near to God, no time for God. Is that not a tragedy? Look, that is happening.
I always remember a story. There was a father with a little girl. That girl was all that he had. Every evening after supper, they would spend time together—just be together and talk.
Then suddenly, after supper, the girl ran away to her room and left the father alone because she said she was busy. Every evening the father sat there alone. It hurt his heart, did it not?
After a few months, his birthday came. The girl came to her father and presented him with an embroidered pair of slippers to show her love to her father.
When the father saw that, he began to understand. The girl had been too busy making that pair of slippers. The father said, “I do appreciate what you did, but you do not know how much I lost.”
Brothers and sisters, do you see the heart of God? You may be doing something for Him, and yet He misses you.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we who have been given this right of communion, let us exercise it.
Now how do we exercise this right of communion with God? First of all, we need to have an awakened desire. In other words, we need to desire to commune with God.
God always has that longing. There is no problem with Him. He always has time for you, and He is waiting for you. But He cannot force you. You have to have a longing for Him.
Psalm 27 is a psalm of David. David was a man after God’s own heart. He knew God’s heart. Psalm 27:4 says:
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
David knew the heart of God. He said, “There is only one thing I desire, one thing I seek after, and that is to be in His presence, to behold His face, and to inquire in His temple.”
Brothers and sisters, do we have this desire? Do we make this our first priority? What is the most important thing in your life? Do you desire to be with Him, to commune with Him?
To commune with words or without words. Sometimes communion without words is even deeper than communion with words—just to be there, behold Him, appreciate Him, and listen to Him.
Psalm 27:8 says:
When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face;
My heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
Here you have David’s heart. His heart could speak for God and speak for God’s heart. He said, “My heart said unto Thee.” What is the heart of God? “Seek ye My face.” Then David responds and says, “Thy face, O Lord, will I seek.” Face-to-face with God—this is communion.
For quite a long time, this was my prayer: “Lord, show me Thy face. If Thou canst not give me Thy smiling face, let me see Thy angry face. But I want to see Thy face.”
We need to see His face. His face will tell us everything. We need to have that longing, that desire for Him, to be with Him.
Second, communion is a matter of the spirit. You remember our Lord Jesus in John 4, when He talked to the Samaritan woman. He said that the hour is coming, and now is, when true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth. God is seeking such worshippers.
If you want to give God anything, do not give Him what He does not seek. Give Him the thing that He seeks. What is it that He is seeking for? Your worship—but worship in spirit and truth.
To put it another way, it is from your heart. You remember the Lord Jesus said to the Pharisees, quoting Isaiah, “This people honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me.” It is in vain that they worship.
Brothers and sisters, communion is a heart-to-heart matter. You lift up your heart, you open up your spirit, and there you commune with God.
Communion with God is not a duty. It is love.
Oftentimes in our Christian life, we make communion a duty. Sometimes we even fail to do our duty because we are too busy. We are told that it is our duty to read the Bible and pray every day. We pray; we read the Bible. But is there communion?
If you read the Word of God out of duty, just to fulfill your assignment, all you have is black words on white paper. Is there any touch with God?
You come to read the Bible, you come to say your prayers, and you leave without seeing Him, without hearing Him, and without talking to Him. It is a matter of your heart and your spirit.
Oh, how we need to draw near to Him—not in haste, but to be still before Him and know that He is God. Communion is a matter of the heart. Open your heart to Him. Talk to Him, and hear Him.
Communion is a matter of abiding. You remember our Lord in John 15:5. He said:
I am the vine, ye are the branches:
He that abideth in Me, and I in him,
the same beareth much fruit:
for apart from Me ye can do nothing.
So far as our position and relationship with the Lord are concerned, the Lord said, “I am the vine, and ye are the branches.” That is our relationship. It is so close. He is the whole vine, and we are the branches—an inward relationship, a relationship of life. We have that.
Then the Lord said, “Abide in Me, and I in you.” Now that is our responsibility. God has put us in Christ; now it is our responsibility to abide in Him, to make our home there, to remain there, to stay there, and to continue there.
If you do, you will find that He abides in you. His life will flow through you, and you will bear fruit. Brothers and sisters, communion with God is your abiding.
How do we abide in Him? Again, you find in 1 John 2:27 that you have the anointing within you. The anointing within you will teach you concerning all things, great and small. Whatever it teaches us is true. If you obey the teaching of the anointing, you abide in Christ.
All these activities are joined together. If we remain in Him and continue with Him, then we will find that He remains in us. His Word remains in us. He speaks to us, and whatever we ask shall be done for the glory of God the Father.
So, brothers and sisters, God is longing for communion. This is the best gift you can give to Him, and it is a right that He has given to us. Do you think that you should exercise that right?
Now, perhaps in a practical way, I would suggest something. How do we go about it?
Communion is a life. It is not restricted to time or space. It is no longer in Jerusalem nor in Mount Gerizim. It is no longer at a certain time of festival. It is a life—living with God.
But for practical reasons, may I suggest—and I believe, if not all, probably many of you are doing this—oh, how we need that morning devotion.
We must start our day with God. Before we do anything else, let us approach the throne of grace. Let us draw near with a true heart. Let us behold Him. Let us wait upon Him.
In the early morning, just like David said in Psalm 108, “I will awake the dawn.” Before the day breaks, David was there, drawing near to God, to commune with God.
Reading the Bible, praying, singing, or whatever—these are means. They are means of communion. Communion is deeper than that. Just draw near to God.
When you come into the presence of God, slow down your steps. Do not rush in and rush out. Enter into your closet. Be still. Open your heart to Him.
Some people like to read a verse or two to help them draw near to God and help them in prayer to God. It does not matter. Whatever help you use is all right, so long as it brings you closer to Him.
When you read the Bible, listen to what He says to your heart. When you pray, open your heart and pour out your heart to Him. Dear brothers and sisters, we must cultivate this habit.
Then throughout the day, I would suggest that we practice what we call the presence of God. Of course, God is always present with you. Yet, when we are surrounded by the world and the things of the world, sometimes we may be led away.
Therefore, from time to time, just lift your eyes to heaven. Open your heart. With words or without words, just say, “Lord, thank You.” Continue that. Make it a habit.
You know, in Hebrews 5 it says that through habit we exercise our senses to discern good from evil. There are some holy habits that can be formed, and they will be a help to us.
Communion brings us into the spirit of worship.
It is through communion that we are brought near to Him. Seeing the glory of the Lord, the majesty of the Lord, and the worthiness of Christ draws out worship to Him. Worship simply means that you put Him in His proper place and place yourself in your proper place—at His feet.
Brothers and sisters, our conscience will guide our walk. It will tell us what is right and what is wrong. Our intuition will tell us the will of God—what is the good, well-pleasing will of God. It shows us His holiness.
But only communion will enable you to know Him in Himself. When you know Him Himself, the result is worship.
Not only that: communion is the way to transformation. In 2 Corinthians 3:18:
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.
When our heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now we behold the glory of God with unveiled face, and we are transformed from glory to glory unto His image by the Lord, the Spirit.
So you find that when you commune with Him—the more you commune with Him—the Holy Spirit does the work of transformation. He transforms you from glory to glory according to His image.
You see how important communion is. It is the basis of our spiritual life. It is a spiritual exercise that we must not overlook.
May the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Lord, show us Thy heart. Wilt Thou only create within us a desire to be with Thee, to commune with Thee? O Lord, that is the only thing we can give to Thee.
Forgive us for being occupied with many things. For the one thing that Thou dost desire, we do not give Thee opportunity. Lord, have mercy upon us. Give us a desire for that uninterrupted communion with Thyself, that Thy heart may be satisfied.
In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.