In these last days we believe that the Lord will gain a people who are free from forms, teachings, and gifts. In one of His hymns A. B. Simpson testifies, "Once His gift I wanted, / Now, the Giver own; / Once I sought for healing, / Now Himself alone," and, "Once the pow'r I wanted, / Now the Mighty One" (Hymns, #513). The living Christ is not in forms, teachings, or gifts; He is in our spirit, dwelling there quietly. We need to deal with Him in our spirit continually, taking care of Him in our family life, our job, our studies, and our shopping, and experiencing Him in all our daily affairs. In this way we will keep ourselves constantly on the cross and become a person whose self, natural life, old man, soul, and soulish nature are on the cross. We will not give up the cross or come down from it but will remain there, learning to exercise our spirit to contact the Lord Jesus, who is the Spirit dwelling in our spirit. As we contact and experience Christ, we will realize that within us there is a bountiful supply sufficient for every circumstance (Phil. 1:19). We will be able to declare as the apostle Paul did, "I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me" (4:13). The source of power within us, the bountiful supply, is the living Christ in our spirit.

Christ has gained us not that we may gain gifts, but that we may gain Him. In one of his best hymns, A. B. Simpson says:

Once it was the blessing,

Now it is the Lord...

Once His gift I wanted,

Now, the Giver own;

Once I sought for healing,

Now Himself alone.

(Hymns, #513)

As this hymn indicates, the governing principle of the Christian life is not gifts or healing—it is Christ Himself. Realizing this, A. B. Simpson also put out a tract on this theme entitled "Himself."

I appreciate Hymns, #513, written by A. B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Stanza 1 says, "Once His gift I wanted,/Now, the Giver own;/Once I sought for healing,/Now Himself alone." The Healer is different from the healing. We may have healing, but we may not have the Healer. As long as we have the Healer, we have everything. Likewise, to have the gift is superficial, but to have the Giver is something deep and solid. As long as we have the Giver, we do not need to worry about the gift, just as when Rebecca came to Isaac, she inherited everything that he inherited. We need to realize that we build up the believers and the church not by anything other than the Triune God Himself.

John 4:14 says, "But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water gushing up into eternal life." How precious is this word! It does not speak of a special kind of Christian. It does not say that only those who have received special grace from the Lord can have a spring of water gushing up into eternal life. The Lord said this to a Samaritan woman whom He previously had never met. He said that if she believed, she would receive living water. This living water would be in her a spring that gushes up into eternal life. Brothers and sisters, what is the meaning of being thirsty? When one is thirsty, it means that he is not satisfied. Those who drink of the water that the Lord gives will never thirst again. Thank and praise the Lord! A Christian is not only a contented person but a person who is forever satisfied! It is not enough for a Christian to merely be contented. Everything that God gives to us makes us eternally satisfied. But how many times have we crossed the main streets without feeling thirsty? When we pass by the great department stores, are we thirsty? If we crave for this or that, is this not being thirsty? Are we thirsty when we consider our classmates or colleagues and envy their possessions? Yet the Lord said, "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water gushing up into eternal life." What He gives to us is one kind of life, yet we experience something else. The Lord says that He is all we need, but we say that He is not enough. We need this and that before we can be satisfied, but He said that He alone is enough. Is what we received from the Lord wrong or is our experience wrong? One of the two must be wrong. The Lord cannot possibly write us a bad check. Whatever He promises, He will surely give. Our experience in the past was, in the words of one hymn, "a half salvation" (Hymns, #513, stanza 2). Why does the Lord say that a believer will not be thirsty again? This is because he has become different inside. Within him, there are new demands and new satisfactions. Brothers and sisters, are we living before God and serving Him in holiness and righteousness all our days? Are we living before God every day in holiness and righteousness, as the priest Zachariah spoke of in Luke 1:75? Do we have something within that gushes forth all the time to quench others' thirst? The Chinese have an expression, wu-wei, which means "to do nothing." Christians have to be those who are asking for nothing. We can say that the Lord is enough for us. Are we satisfied with just the Lord? Are we really satisfied with the Lord Jesus alone? If we are not satisfied, it means that there is something wrong with our living.

Christ has gained us not that we may gain gifts, but that we may gain Him. In one of his best hymns, A. B. Simpson says:

Once it was the blessing,

Now it is the Lord...

Once His gift I wanted,

Now, the Giver own;

Once I sought for healing,

Now Himself alone.

(Hymns, #513)

As this hymn indicates, the governing principle of the Christian life is not gifts or healing—it is Christ Himself. Realizing this, A. B. Simpson also put out a tract on this theme entitled "Himself."