Walk by the Spirit and have the Building with God’s Shining to have God’s Leading

For us to have God’s leading, we need to live and walk by the mingled spirit, judging all that the Lord exposes, and we need to have the building up of the Body, for it is in the Body that we can know God’s will and we can be clear about our situation and others’ situation.

In the Old Testament, we see a wonderful type of having the Lord’s leading by means of the breastplate of judgment.

When the high priest went into the house of God, he was dressed in a particular priestly garment, and on it, there was the breastplate of judgment.

This breastplate was composed of twelve stones set in gold, and behind them, there was the Urim, the illuminator, with the Thummim as the completer apart from it.

The Lord spoke to His people by means of the breastplate of judgment with the Urim and the Thummim.

The breastplate had twelve stones inscribed with the twelve names of the tribes of Israel, which had most of the letters of the alphabet; the Thummim was the completer, having the remaining letters of the alphabet.

We could say that the breastplate of judgment with the Urim and the Thummim was like a divine and heavenly typewriter, for by it God conveyed His leading and His message to His people.

This type in the Old Testament is rich and wonderful, and it has much spiritual significance in our Christian life and church life today.

The Urim and the Thummim typify Christ Himself as the witness of God, the testimony of God.

He is the One who testifies God to man, defines God before man, expresses God, and manifests God to His people.

Furthermore, Christ is the very speaking of God, the word of God, the effulgence of the glory of God, being the speaking of God to man; God today speaks “the Son”, that is Christ (Heb. 1:2).

The New Testament also shows us that Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

As the Alpha and Omega, He is the first and last letter of the alphabet, and He is also all the letters in between.

Christ is all the letters of the spiritual alphabet.

If we want to know God’s leading, we need to have Christ shining on us, and He will enlighten us and convey to us what is the word of God to us.

Furthermore, the fact that the stones were engraved and built shows that we believers in Christ are the precious stones built up into the breastplate, and we’re engraved, inscribed, with Christ.

Hallelujah, we are inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tablets of stone but in the tablet of our heart (2 Cor. 3:3).

We have God’s leading and His present speaking when we have Christ and the church, Christ with the believers in Christ who are inscribed by Christ and shined on by Christ. Hallelujah!

We have God’s Leading when we Live and Walk by the Mingled Spirit, Judging what God Shines on in us

In the New Testament, the reality of the Urim and the Thummim is the mingled spirit (Rom. 8:4, 14, 16; Rev. 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10).

Today God dwells in our spirit, and He speaks to us in spirit.

The unveiling Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, indwells our receiving Spirit, our regenerated human spirit, to become one mingled spirit.

The New Testament tells us again and again that we need to live in the spirit, walk by the Spirit, and do all things in spirit.

Rom. 8:4 says that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us when we walk according to the spirit.

When we walk according to the mingled spirit, we have God’s leading, and the righteous requirement of the law is spontaneously fulfilled in us.

The oracle of God is in our spirit today.

When we set our mind on our spirit, we have life and peace, which is the inner sense in the spirit from the Lord (v. 6).

How can we know the leading of God? We need to live in the spirit, walk by the spirit, and do all things in the spirit.

However, our problem is that many times we have so much experience with the Lord and in the church life that we ignore the matter of turning to our spirit.

Many times we’re on automatic pilot: we have done this many times, we went to visit this one so many times, and we know what to do and what to say, without turning to our spirit.

We need to have much and thorough prayer so that we may enter into, live in, and walk according to the mingled spirit.

If we do not set our mind on the spirit, if we don’t walk by the mingled spirit, we do things in ourselves and by ourselves, and that is not the Lord doing and speaking things in us.

We all are guilty of this.

It is so easy to just do things, say things, and go places in ourselves, by ourselves, without checking with the Lord, without turning to our spirit.

It is so easy to come together and fellowship, but actually, our fellowship is a chat and coming to a common agreement, without touching the Lord in spirit, without praying much, and without turning to our spirit. Oh, Lord Jesus!

Doing things and speaking things without turning to our spirit and walking in the mingled spirit is a sin we all have committed.

When we touch the Lord in spirit and walk in the mingled spirit, we have God’s shining, and He exposes our lack of living Christ, our independence from Him, and our living in the self.

Everything that the Lord shines on, we need to condemn and judge.

Under His light, as we contact Him in spirit, we need to judge and condemn what is of the flesh, the self, the old man, and the world.

The breastplate was of judgment, for when the light was shining, the Lord was speaking and the situation of the people was exposed and judged.

According to the Old Testament, the Urim and the Thummim added to the breastplate were a means for God to speak to His people to indicate His leading.

We can say therefore that the breastplate of judgment is a “breastplate of leading” (see Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21; Deut. 33:8; Josh. 7:16-21; 1 Sam. 23:6, 9-12; 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65).

When we have His leading, we have His judgment, and when we judge anything that He shines on by His light, we have His leading.

Similarly, today, for us to have more of God’s speaking, we need to judge what the Lord judges and we need to condemn what He condemns.

When we judge what He judges under His shining, we clear the way for God to lead us.

We can have God’s leading by living and walking in the mingled spirit and by judging whatever the Lord Judges, being one with Him in condemning and judging what does not correspond to Him.

Lord Jesus, we turn to our spirit right now. We do not want to do anything apart from You. We want to live in spirit and walk in the mingled spirit. We do not want to just do things for You because we have always done them, neither do we want to speak things for You yet apart from You. Oh Lord Jesus, may we be sons of God who are led by the Spirit of God in our daily life. Shine in us and on us. Expose anything that is of the flesh, the old man, the self, and the world in our being. We say Amen to Your shining, and we want to condemn and judge whatever You condemn and judge in our being. Lord Jesus, we do not stand with the enemy and his things in our being; we stand with You and we condemn anything of the enemy. Keep us in our spirit today. Keep us in the mingled spirit to enjoy Your leading and guiding as we judge whatever Your light exposes in our being!

Having God’s Leading by having the Building, the Presence of God, and God’s Shining

The breastplate of judgment is a type of God’s building, for the stones were set, built, into the breastplate.

In order for us to know God’s leading, we need to have the building of the Body of Christ in our experience.

For us to know God’s judgment and His will, we first need to building up of God’s people.

Then, we need to have Christ as light, we need to have God’s presence, and His light will shine to determine the message of God for us.

Rom. 12:1-2 tells us, in the context of the whole chapter, that we need to have the building for us to have God’s leading.

For us to know the good and perfect will of God, we need to give ourselves to the Lord for the building.

How much we need to have the building up of the saints together!

Without the building, we can’t have God’s leading and we can’t know His will.

But when we have the building of God, when we’re built up with the saints in the church as the Body of Christ, we know what is the good and pleasant and perfect will of God.

Without the building, we know and do our own will; when we have the building, we know the will of God.

In the Old Testament, in order for God’s people to know His leading, they needed to have the breastplate; today, for us to have God’s leading, we need to have the building up of the Lord’s people.

Take a look at the apostles and how they wrote their Epistles.

They didn’t merely research and study the Old Testament to dig out the best and most wonderful teachings which they put in writing and then sent to the churches.

Rather, as seen in the first and second epistle to the Corinthians, Paul lived in the Body, being built up with the saints, and he had the saints in Corinth built and composed on his heart as a breastplate.

He was so much concerned for the Body of Christ that the saints were built on his heart as a breastplate, and he had the Lord’s shining.

Then, he could write something that was under God’s shining and according to the need that he saw in the Body.

We need to be built up in the Body, have the saints on our heart, and be in God’s presence to have His shining; then, we will see what the situation is, and we will be clear on what to say and do, for we will be one with the Lord in this.

We need to have Christ as our light and perfection, and we need to stay in God’s presence through much and thorough prayer in order to receive the fresh, new light.

In the Lord’s light and by being built up with the saints to have the building, we can consider the saints one by one, and the Lord will have a fresh message.

May the Lord save us from merely speaking to others things such as our concepts, our doctrines, our ordinances, and our good and spiritual teachings.

May we come to the Lord again and again, seek to be built up with the saints in the Body, and allow the Lord to shine so that, under His shining and in His presence, we would see the real situation of the saints and have the Lord’s fresh and new message to them.

For us to know the will of God and His judgment about His people, we need redemption, the nourishment, the enlightening, and the building up.

When we’re built up together, there will be the breastplate of judgment among us, and the Lord’s shining and leading will be clear to us.

When we live in the church life and are built together with the saints, having the Lord’s shining and His presence, we will be clear about what to do and what not to do, what to speak and what not to speak, and who to visit and when.

We will know the Lord’s way, for we will have His leading, and the whole church will go on according to the judgment given by the Lord.

Lord Jesus, we want to have the building up of the church. Build us up together with the saints in the Body so that together we may be the building of God, having Your shining, Your presence, and Your leading. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You to be in the Body, live in the Body and do all things in and for the Body. We want to know the perfect will of God in the building of God. Shine on us, Lord, and enlighten us concerning our situation and the situation of the saints. Keep us in Your presence as we are built together with the saints. Shine in a specific way, Lord, to expose our situation and the real condition of the saints and of the church. Have Your way to give us Your leading so that together we may know what to do and what not to do. Oh Lord, grant us to be built together, have God’s presence, and receive God’s fresh message and leading in the church life. May we all have a way to go on in the church life by Your leading!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1966, vol. 1, “The Priesthood,” ch. 18, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living and Serving According to God’s Economy Concerning the Church (2023 fall ITERO), week 4, entitled, A Proper Prayer Life for a Proper Church Life.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Living and walking by the mingled spirit, a portion from, The Christian Life, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
  – Living in the Mingled Spirit, The Secret of the Christian Life, article via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Walking according to the mingled spirit, a portion from, Lesson Book, Level 3: Two Spirits—Two Spirits – the Divine Spirit and the Human Spirit, Chapter 17, by Witness Lee.
  – The mingled spirit – the key to the Christian life, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The True Nature of Our Relationship with the Lord Jesus, article via, Bibles for America Blog.
  – The Daily Exercise of a Believer—Exercising the Mingled Spirit to Breathe in the Lord, article via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The experience of reading the breastplate in the presence of God, a portion from, Elders’ Training, Book 09: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (1), Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Pray to labor with the Lord; / Self-ambition and self-will / We must ever cast away, / All His purpose to fulfill. / Pray to labor with the Lord; / Let the Lord initiate / All the plan and all the work; / Then thru us He’ll operate. (Hymns #786 stanzas 3-4)
  – Pray with one accord in spirit, / Supplicate relatedly; / Seek the Lord, His mind, His leading, / In the Spirit’s harmony. / Pray with one accord in spirit, / Pray and watch persistently; / For God’s kingdom and His glory, / Pray and watch in harmony. (Hymns #779 stanzas 4-5)
  – Deal with me and make me balanced, / As in preaching, so in prayer; / Leading others oft in praying, / As Thy Word I too declare. / Only serving by our praying / Will our spirits mingled be; / Stressing prayer as much as preaching— / Thus the church is built for Thee. (Hymns #848 stanzas 6-7)