The Characteristics of the New Covenant: (3) Inward Knowledge

We have now spoken of two essential characteristics of the New Covenant. God forgives our iniquities and remembers our sins no more. Such is the grace which He bestows on us in the New Covenant, yet this is only a process by which His eternal purpose is to be realized. No doubt, too, God will be our God and we will be His people—all according to the law of life.

Even so, the New Covenant does not end at this point. The word of God continues by stating that “they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them” (Heb. 8.11). This would signify a deeper knowledge of God, a knowing God himself. By the Holy Spirit God will bring His redeemed people to the spiritual peak of knowing His very own Self. Putting His laws in our mind and writing them on our heart is but God’s procedure by which to arrive at the deeper goal, that of knowing His own Self. It is true that to fellowship with God is an end in itself, yet at the same time fellowship is also God’s means to reach a deeper end, which is the full knowledge of God. Let us know assuredly that His purpose is to incorporate himself in us, that He may be one with us in life. Achieving this characteristic of the New Covenant depends upon the degree to which we attain this purpose of knowing God himself in the law of life.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4.6a)! The lack of knowledge spoken of here is a lack of the knowledge of God. The greatest reason for Israel’s apostasy and destruction lay in their not knowing the Lord. Thank God, though, that the characteristic of the New Covenant is that all who have eternal life know Him (John 17.3). Eternal life is today a kind of ability to know

 God. He will reveal His will and guide us in the law of life, enabling us to worship and serve Him and to commune with Him, so that we may grow step by step into knowing Him more and more. Let us now see how in this law of life there is no need for anyone to teach others how to know God.

THE TEACHING OF THE ANOINTING

Let us again read Hebrews 8.11: “They shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them” (the “shall not” here is very emphatic in the original Greek: it may be translated “definitely not”). What is said here coincides with the word in 1 John 2.27: “As for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him.”

Why does one who has God’s life need no one else to teach him? It is because the anointing of the Lord abides in him and shall teach him in all things. This is most practical. When God says “need not,” it means just that! The Lord’s anointing always abides in us. Sometimes His grace is so immense that we can hardly believe. Therefore God’s word continues with: “and is true, and is no lie.” Never let us doubt the word of God because of our own abnormal spiritual condition. What our God has said is one with what He will accomplish. We must believe His word. Then will we praise and thank Him.

What is the teaching of the Anointing? In order to understand it, we need to be reminded of three principal functions of the human spirit—intuition, communion, and conscience.*

* It s suggested that for a much more thorough analysis by the author of these three functions than is given below the reader consult Part 5 (“An Analysis of the Spirit”) of Volume Two of Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man (New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1968), pp. 67-127. An entire chapter is devoted to each function—Translator

The Spirit Has the Function of Communion

We know that as soon as we are regenerated our spirit is made alive. This is the first step towards the communion between God and man. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. As God is a Spirit, He must be worshipped in spirit and truth. The Holy Spirit therefore leads us in our human spirit to worship and to fellowship with God. This speaks of the function of communion in the human spirit.

The Spirit Has the Function of Conscience

 In regeneration our conscience is also resurrected. The blood of the Lord Jesus washes the conscience to make it clean and sensitive. The Holy Spirit testifies in our conscience concerning our conduct: “The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit” (Rom. 8.16), “my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 9.1), “I...being...present in spirit...have already...judged” (1 Cor. 5.3), “the testimony of our conscience” (2 Cor. 1.12). All of these passages speak of the function of conscience in the spirit. If we commit wrong, the Holy Spirit will reprove us in our conscience. Let us observe that whatever the conscience condemns has undoubtedly been condemned by God. Consequently, if our conscience declares a thing wrong, it must be wrong. It should be repented of and confessed, and be cleansed by the precious blood of the Lord (1 John 1.9). We can serve God without fear only with a pure and clear conscience.

The Spirit Has the Function of Intuition

As the human body has its senses, so the human spirit has its sensing too. The sensing of the human spirit lies in the innermost recesses of man’s being. Here are some examples from Scripture: “the spirit...is willing” (Matt. 26.41), “perceiving...that they so reasoned within themselves” (Mark 2.8), “sighed deeply” (Mark 8.12), “groaned” (John 11.33), “provoked” (Acts 17.16), “constrained by the word” (Acts 18.5), “fervent” (Acts 18.25), “purposed” (Acts 19.21), “bound” (Acts 20.22), “refreshed” (1 Cor. 16.18), and “joyed the more exceedingly” (2 Cor. 7.13). All these are the function of the spirit’s intuition. (It may be said that the sensings of the spirit are as numerous as are those of the soul. This calls for the necessity of discerning what is of the spirit and what is of the soul. Only through the deep working of the cross and the Holy Spirit can we know this important distinction).

We call this sensing of the spirit “intuition,” for it comes directly from the spirit. Ordinary human feelings are induced by persons, things, or events. If the cause is joyful we rejoice, if it is sorrowful we grieve. Such feelings are causal in origin, therefore they cannot be reckoned as “intuition.” What we mean by intuition refers to those sensations which can be attributed to no external causes but come directly from within.

For instance, we may be contemplating doing a certain thing. It appears quite reasonable, we like it, and we decide to go ahead. Yet somehow within us is a heavy, oppressive, unspeakable sensing which seems to oppose what our mind has thought, our emotion has embraced, and our will has decided. It seems to tell us that this thing should not be done. This is the forbiddance or restraint of intuition.

Or take another yet opposite example. A certain thing may be unreasonable, contrary to our delight, and very much against our will. But for some unknown reason there is within us a kind of constraint, urge or encouragement for us to do it. If we do, we will feel comfortable inside. This is the constraint of intuition.

The Anointing Is in the Spirit’s Intuition

Intuition is where the Anointing teaches us. “As for you,” writes John, “the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him.” In very clear fashion, this passage has described the way the Anointing is to teach us. The Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit, and the Anointing is in the spirit’s intuition. The Anointing teaches us concerning all things. This means that the Holy Spirit will teach us in the spirit’s intuition, giving our spirit a sense similar to the physical feeling experienced when the body is anointed with oil. As our spirit receives such a sensation we know at once what the Holy Spirit is speaking to us.

Just here we should be aware of the difference between “knowing” and “understanding.” Knowing is in the spirit while understanding is in the mind. We come to know a thing through the spirit’s intuition, and our mind is then enlightened to understand what the intuition has known. In the spirit’s intuition we know the persuasion of the Holy Spirit; in the soul’s mind we understand the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The work of the Anointing is independent of any human help. It expresses its idea sovereignly. It operates in the spirit, causing the intuition of man’s spirit to know its thought. Such a knowing in the spirit’s intuition is called revelation in the Bible. Revelation is nothing but the unveiling by the Holy Spirit of the true character of a thing to our spirit so that we may clearly know it. This kind of knowledge is much deeper than the understanding of the mind.

Since the anointing of the Lord abides in us and teaches us concerning all things, we have no need for people to teach us. This Anointing will teach us in all things by the operation of intuition. The Holy Spirit will express His thought through the spirit’s intuition because the latter has a kind of ability to know what the Holy Spirit means by His action. We therefore need only follow the dictate of intuition—and not inquire of other people nor even of ourselves—if we wish to do the will of God.*

* Yet the author acknowledges that there is a place for outward instruction as a complement to (but never a substitute for) the inward teaching, and that there is also a need to check the inner anointing against the word of God. These two points he makes clear below in the two later sections of this Chapter entitled, respectively, “Repeat Outside” and “The Scriptures Check Our Inward Sensation.”—Translator

The anointing of the Lord will teach us concerning all things. At no time will He ever fail to teach us concerning anything. Our responsibility lies in nothing else than to be taught.

A Few Stories

Let us now give some practical illustrations. Once a brother related the following story. There was a brother who used to drink heavily. He had a friend who was also a heavy drinker. It so happened that both of them became Christians. One day the younger invited the older to a meal. On the table was some wine. Seeing this, the older friend asked: “As saved people shouldn’t we probably not drink?” The younger one replied, “It does not matter if we drink a little. For what we drink is ‘Timothy wine.’ It is permitted by the Bible.” Later on they asked a preacher: “Is it all right for saved people to drink ‘Timothy wine’?” “I have served the Lord for over ten years,” said the preacher, “and never have I heard of this ‘Timothy wine’.”

A few days later, they came again to the preacher, saying, “We have stopped drinking ‘Timothy wine’.” “Who taught you so?” he inquired. “Nobody.” “Is it the Bible that tells you so?” “No,” replied the two friends, “the Bible says Timothy may have a little wine. But we do not drink because there is no permission inside us.”

Do let us see that this inward forbiddance is the restraint of the law of life. For this law of life is living and powerful. It would not permit these two to drink. It speaks, it operates, and it gives sensation; and hence we must learn to respect it.

A servant of God once told this story. A brother came to him and asked whether he could do a certain thing. “Do you know in yourself?” he inquired. To which the brother immediately replied, “I know.” Some days later this brother came again to ask the servant of the Lord about another matter. The latter answered him in the same way as before: “Do you know inside yourself?” “Oh, I know, I know,” he again replied. The brother came back the third time, and for the third time the servant of God asked him, “What does your inside tell you?” And immediately he once more replied that he knew. At that moment God’s servant said in his heart (though he did not utter anything with his lips): “Why, my friend, do you forsake the near and seek the far? You have something in you that will teach you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie.” Let me say here and now that this something is the law of life. It teaches us what we should or should not do.

The question comes down, then, to whether you and I are willing to follow this inward law. Is our heart turned to God? If our heart turns sufficiently to Him, we need not that anyone teach us because there is in us the living and the true which will surely teach us. Every child of God has had such an experience—some more, some less; all have encountered something of this nature. There is the law of life which operates within. It speaks, therefore no one else needs to speak.

We can relate still another story. There was once a Christian who loved to entertain believers. Whatever preacher he met, he would not only invite him to a meal but also give him a gift. One time he was listening to a preacher at a certain place. What the man was preaching did not seem to agree with the Bible, for he denied that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This Christian did not feel comfortable in hearing such a sermon, but according to his usual habit he was thinking of shaking hands with the preacher and conversing with him a few moments. Yet somehow he felt something within was forbidding him to do so. After some hesitation he went home without shaking hands.

This believer was not aware of what the Scripture says about not receiving into one’s house, nor giving greetings to, those self-styled preachers who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (see 2 John 4-7). The conviction which came out from his inner life agreed perfectly with the word of the Bible. This is a knowing without the need of human help. And this is the characteristic of the New Covenant.

Why Bible Mentions “Teaching”

Perhaps some will raise the question, Are there not many places in the Bible where “teaching” is mentioned? For example: “I [Paul] sent unto you Timothy... who shall put you in remembrance of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4.17); also: “Howbeit in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might instruct others also” (1 Cor. 14.19). There are many other Bible passages on teaching, such as Colossians 1.28, 2.22, 3.16; 1 Timothy 2.7, 3.2, 4.11,13, 5.17; 2 Timothy 2.2,24 and 3.16. What should we say about them? To answer this question, let us begin from our experience and then move on to the Bible.

Already Spoken Inside

The anointing of the Lord has actually taught us within, but the problem lies in our not hearing it. We should realize how very weak we are. We are feeble to such an extent that God may have spoken once, twice, five, ten or even twenty times, and yet we do not hear. Sometimes we have heard but we pretend to have not; we have understood yet we feign not having understood. Our greatest weakness before God is in the matter of “hearing”: “He that hath an ear, let him hear,” cautions the Lord. In each of the seven letters recorded in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3, there is this continual refrain: “He that hath an ear, let him hear.” Hearing is reckoned to be most important in Scripture.

When our Lord Jesus was asked by His disciples why He used parables in addressing the multitude, He answered, “Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand” (Matt. 13.13). In the next breath He also quoted the words from Isaiah 6.9-10: “By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should turn again, and I should heal them” (vv.14-15). All these show that men deliberately do not hear the teaching and speaking within them.

Hence often it is not a matter of God not speaking from within, but is a matter of man not hearing. After God has spoken once, twice, five times, even ten times, you still do not hear. You do not hear because you are not listening. You cease hearing because you do not hear: “God speaketh once, yea twice, though man regardeth it not” (Job 33.14). Such is the condition of some of God’s children today.

There is another aspect to this to be considered. All who are sick in mind, all who are highly subjective in approach, and all who are obstinate and inflexible in opinion will find it hard to “hear.” Consequently, whenever our inside fails to hear God’s voice or to receive the teaching of the Anointing, we should realize that something must be wrong with ourselves. The difficulty lies with us and not with the Lord.

Thank God for His long patience. He still speaks to men: “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction” (Job 33.15). If you do not hear, He will even use dream and vision to teach you. Hence it is not that God does not speak; on the contrary, He has spoken too much. The trouble is that men are deficient in hearing.

Repeat Outside

In reading the epistles in the New Testament we may see how the many teachings and instructions that are there are repetitive in nature. They are there because of problems in the church. Often we read “Are you ignorant” or “Know ye not” (such as in Rom. 6.3,16; 1 Cor. 3.16, 5.6, 6.2,3,9,15,16,19; James 4.4). “Are you ignorant” means you have already heard and known but you deliberately ignore it and let it pass away. God says “Are you ignorant” by means of the Bible. Yet the Bible is not to be a substitute for the speaking of the inner Anointing; it merely repeats what the Anointing has already spoken in you.

Because of our abnormal spiritual state due to our neglecting the inward teaching, the Lord sends His servants to us again and again to repeat outwardly with the word of the Bible what the Anointing has already spoken in us. Since the Lord’s anointing has already taught us within, why do we not learn to hear from within? Let us understand that the inward teaching and the outward instruction are complementary to each other, though the outward can never substitute for the inward. The inward words are living and full of life. Therefore, this characteristic of the New Covenant needs to be highly esteemed by each one who belongs to God.

Here we would like to briefly remind some brothers and sisters of one point. Today in helping other people, do not legislate or hand down ten commandments to them, nor instruct them with our subjective do’s and don’ts. We should not act like Old Testament seers, telling individuals what God’s will is for each of them. For in the New Testament, there are prophets to the church but none to individuals. New Testament prophets can only point out God’s will in principle; they should never try to declare God’s will to each individual. This is because all of us who belong to the Lord should learn to receive the teaching of the Anointing within us. Otherwise, there would be no New Covenant. We may only confirm or repeat what God has already said or taught in men; else where would the New Covenant be? Most certainly we need to humbly receive the instructions of those who teach us in the Lord; even so, whatever we do receive must also be taught by the Anointing within us. Only thus shall we have the New Covenant. Let us ever keep in mind that “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Cor. 3.6b).

Mind Renewed

The anointing of the Lord teaches us in all things in the intuition of our spirit, but sometimes our mind fails to understand the sensation in our spirit. For this reason, our mind (or nous) needs to be renewed, enabling us to comprehend what the Anointing is teaching us. Romans 12.2 shows us that the phrase “be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” precedes “that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Moreover, Colossians 1.9 indicates that to “be filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will” needs to be “in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Hence the renewing of the mind is imperative.

If our mind is not renewed we will not be able to understand the teaching of the Anointing. On the contrary, we may take sudden thought injected into our mind like lightning, or groundless imagination and vain reasoning, or meaningless and worthless dream or vision, as the Lord’s revelation to us. All these are harmful and profitless. We acknowledge and believe that sometimes the Lord does use dreams or visions to open man’s ear, as indicated in Job 33.15,16. Nevertheless, we reject those confused, meaningless, and worthless dreams or visions as being of the Lord. The renewing of the mind is therefore highly important to the understanding and comprehension of the teaching of the Anointing.

Just how, though, is the mind renewed? Titus 3.5 reads: “renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Hence the work of renewing is the work of the Holy Spirit. Romans 12.1-2 mentions “present your bodies a living sacrifice” first and then speaks of “the renewing of your mind.” Accordingly, the renewing of the mind is based on consecration. Ephesians 4.22,23 declares that to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind” must be preceded by experientially “put[ting] away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man.” So the renewing of the mind is accomplished through the cross. To be renewed in the spirit of our mind indicates that the renewing begins in the spirit until it reaches the mind.

As we have mentioned before, the Holy Spirit always works from the center to the circumference. If the human heart—the depth of man—is not dealt with, the renewing of the mind is impossible. And that is why the Holy Spirit first renews the spirit of the mind and then the mind itself. Putting this all together, then, we can say that as we are constrained by the love of God to present our bodies a living sacrifice, the Holy Spirit will apply the cross in us that we may experience the putting away of the old man as regards its former manner of life and in addition fill us more abundantly with the life of Christ so as to effect the renewing of the mind as well as that of the spirit. Such renewing is a constant and continuing work of the Holy Spirit. How we must pause and offer our praise and thanksgiving to God: for all are the works of His grace. We really have nothing to do except to receive His grace and praise Him.

Let us reiterate that the teaching of the Anointing in us is most real. We have not overstated the case at all in saying we need not that anyone teach us, because the law of life is operating in us. Indeed, the Bible in fact says so. Yet on the other hand we must guard against deception or any extreme, for unquestionably we need the word of the Scriptures as a check on our inward sensation.

The Scriptures Check Our Inward Sensation

Since the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth” and that He is to guide us “into all the truth” (John 14.17,16.13), our inward sensation, if it is of the Holy Spirit, will undoubtedly agree with what Holy Scripture says. In case our inward sensation disagrees with the word of God, such sensation must be inaccurate. We should know that just as the inner sensation is living, so the outer Bible is accurate. The word of the Bible is accurate and certain but not necessarily living by itself. The inward sensation may be living but sometimes is neither accurate nor certain. Similarly, a train with its locomotive has steam power, yet it must have tracks. A train cannot move on tracks without a locomotive, but neither can it, with its locomotive, run without tracks. It either will not run at all or will run disastrously. The Bible shows us that in coming out of Egypt the children of Israel had before them as their guide the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. When our spiritual condition is normal we are as though walking under blue sky and bright sun. But our spiritual condition does not always remain constant. The Bible also says that “thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path” (Ps. 119.105). Were there no dark night there would be no need of lamp or light. When we are bright inwardly, our inner sensation is clear and sure; but when we are inwardly dark, our inner sensation tends to be confused and flickering; and so there is the need to check with the word of the Scriptures. Life plus truth becomes real and steady power. We must walk on this lasting path of both life and truth. Every thought and judgment of ours needs to have checked against it the word of the Bible. This will help us to walk straight ahead without turning to the left or right.

TWO KINDS OF KNOWING GOD

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