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Question: How do we know the Lord’s way? How do we know which way is of the Lord’s arrangement?
Answer: The meaning of the phrase the Lord’s way is very broad. We may understand it literally but not actually know what it refers to. It can be compared to the phrase the vast expanse of the ocean. The phrase itself is easy to understand, but it is difficult to know what it refers to. We can say that the Lord’s ways are even greater than the vast expanse of the ocean. In the Bible the matter of the Lord’s ways is exceedingly broad. For example, Romans 11 says, “How...untraceable His ways!” (v. 33). It is impossible for man to measure and search God’s ways. Hence, the longer we follow the Lord, the less we dare to say what it is to know the Lord’s way. In the narrow sense, which is perhaps easier to understand, to know the Lord’s way in a particular matter is to know the Lord’s leading. The meaning of the Lord’s way is too broad, but the Lord’s leading is something that everyone can easily understand. Knowing the Lord’s leading and the Lord’s guidance is comparatively practical.
Spiritual matters are great, but we are not great. Therefore, when a person desires to follow the Lord, he should not say, “I want to touch the Lord’s way,” or “I want to know the Lord’s way.” The Lord’s way is a great matter that we cannot touch immediately; rather, we must approach it slowly.
It is relatively simple for us to know, to understand, God’s leading and guidance to us personally. To illustrate, if someone wants to go to Kaohsiung, which way should he take? The way that he takes to Kaohsiung will be according to the steps to which he is accustomed. He must go there step by step. He first stands up and then walks out of his house. He makes a few turns on the street, not knowing whether to go south or north and thus asking for directions along the way. Then people tell him that the safest way to Kaohsiung is by train. Therefore, he walks to the train station, buys a ticket, waits for the train on the platform, and finally boards the train to Kaohsiung. This all sounds very bothersome, but actually, each of us who follows the Lord must be practical and solid, not vague or careless. Sometimes the Lord gives us a feeling, touching us to follow Him. If we simply follow Him, everything will be fine, but many times we instead like to consider how we should know and understand the Lord’s way. It is as if we are trying to go on ahead of the Lord. Since the Lord wants us to follow Him, we should not try to go on ahead of Him, rushing to know or understand His way. We should simply follow Him.
The difference between believing into Christ and believing in religion is that in believing into Christ it is God who seeks man, whereas religion requires man to seek God. What is religion? Religion is man’s belief in and reverence for God; it is man’s consciousness that there is a God and his consequent desire to worship Him. Man believes in a religion because in his consideration there is a God, and he is thus determined to serve Him, worship Him, probe into Him, study Him, survey Him, and be zealous for Him. However, believing into Christ is not like this. Believing into Christ is God’s coming to seek man, desiring to enter into man, and desiring man to serve Him.
According to the common concept, people often ask, “What is the difference between Christianity and religion?” Or they may ask, “Is Christianity a religion?” To answer this question cautiously, we must say that Christianity is not a religion. The Lord Jesus never used the word religion during His ministry on the earth. Likewise, the apostles never used the word religion in their preaching of the gospel. Although Christianity is considered to be one of the five major religions in the world, the fact is that believing into Christ is not believing in a religion. We also can explain this by saying that those who truly believe into Christ are Christians, not followers of the Christian religion.
What does it mean to believe in a religion? People believe in a religion because they feel that there is a God and that they need to revere and serve God. However, those who believe into Christ are not like this; they are not like those who worship God out of their own initiation because they sense that there is a God and feel that they should worship Him. Every instance of man’s believing into Christ is initiated by God. It was God who came to seek Moses while he was shepherding the flock (Exo. 3:1-6); it was God who came to seek Saul while he was kicking against the goads (Acts 26:13-15); and it was God who said to Peter and Andrew while they were fishing, “Come after Me” (Matt. 4:18-20). It is wonderful that in the entire Bible, whenever a person has contact with God, it is always because God has contacted him first. God first came to find Job, and then Job served Him (Job 38:1—42:6); God first came to find Moses, and then Moses served Him (Exo. 3). There is no case in the Bible where a person served God because he first had the thought of serving God.
The entire Bible speaks only of God coming to find man. One day Isaiah saw a vision and heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” Therefore, he answered, “Here am I; send me” (Isa. 6:1-8). After seeing a vision, Jeremiah rose up to prophesy to the Israelites the words that Jehovah had commanded him (Jer. 1:4-19). Daniel also saw a vision before he rose up to fast and pray, beseeching Jehovah to restore Jerusalem (Dan. 7—9). The entire Bible shows that God first comes to find man before man serves God. Those who believe in a religion take the initiative to serve God; those who believe into Christ serve God after they have been prompted and touched by God.
For this reason we say that one should not rush forward to serve God. We should serve God only when He touches us to do so. If we serve God without God first touching us, we are in a religion. Figuratively speaking, many people today hang the sign “Christian” outside, but they are engaging in a religious enterprise inside. They are Christians in name but religious people in reality. What is it to be a Christian? A Christian is one who has Christ stirring within him through the Spirit and who thus becomes restless and has no choice but to serve God. A religious person, on the other hand, is one who initiates his service to God, desiring to do many things for God. This is the situation of many Christians today. They do not wait for the Lord to move in them and then follow Him accordingly. Instead, they themselves are the initiators, and the Lord is merely a spectator. However, in the experience of genuine Christians, the Lord is the One who initiates, and they simply say Amen. The Lord is the Initiator, and they are the followers. This is completely different from the way of religious people.
If you sense that the Lord is moving in you, you should ask, “O Lord, what do You want me to do? Lord, what do You want to do in me? Do You want to come forth out of me?” When you calm down in this way, the Lord will have the opportunity to let you know little by little how to act and how to submit to Him. In this way you will touch the Lord’s leading. In a broader sense you will touch the Lord’s will for you, or we can say, you will touch the Lord’s way. In your heart you will sense the Lord’s heart’s desire; then you can continue to fellowship with the Lord and be moved by Him further. You can then follow this moving immediately and seek Him, saying, “Lord, what do You want to do? How do You want to work it out through me?” Waiting quietly for the Lord is the proper way.
The principle here is to not move until the Lord moves in us. However, most Christians are not this way. In the past, when pursuing fame and position in the world, they were accustomed to rushing ahead. Now that they have been saved, the moment the Lord touches them a little, their old habit is manifested again. They rush ahead to organize a Christian fellowship to carry out a work on a campus, and they plan to invite a few great pastors and host a great evangelical meeting. All these matters are initiated by themselves. Hence, they become religious people who do not allow Christ to move in them and live out through them.
What does it mean for you to be a Christian? It means that when Christ moves in you, you follow His moving. If one day He says, “My child, come to Me,” you then should ask, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” After Paul met the Lord, the first words he spoke were, “Who are You, Lord?” The Lord then told him, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute. But rise up and enter into the city, and it will be told to you what you must do” (Acts 9:5-6). From the first day Paul met the Lord, he learned a lesson, realizing that all the things he did formerly were merely religious activities. He was zealous for the Lord, going to the high priest and asking for letters from him to Damascus for the synagogues, so that if he found any who were of the Way, he could bring them bound to Jerusalem (vv. 1-2). Going to Damascus was something determined by Paul. However, when the Lord met him, he fell down, saying, “What shall I do, Lord?” (22:10). All his actions from then on were of the Lord. When the Lord moved in him, he moved; when the Lord did not move, he did not move. All his moving outwardly was the Lord’s moving inwardly.
As Christians, we have One who is moving in us. When He moves, we move. Nevertheless, we are not puppets, having no feelings, thoughts, affections, or opinions. We are living beings; we have a mind, emotion, and will, as well as inclinations and preferences. Thus, we are not passive; instead, we are cooperative and submissive. To be submissive is to go along with the One who is moving in us. This is our oneness with the Lord. It is only when the Lord moves in us that we move. This is the way a Christian should be. In this way we are led by the Lord. In other words, we understand the Lord’s will and know the Lord’s way in us. The Lord’s way is a great and broad expression, but as we follow the Lord, we will gradually understand it in our experience.
Our greatest problem is that we desire to be today’s Paul and today’s Moses. Please remember, it is not by our aspiring to be Moses that we can be Moses, nor is it by our aspiring to be Paul that we can be Paul. It is God who chooses and calls people to become Moses and Paul. Today we have no way to imitate them. Our first problem is that we desire to be a spiritual giant. Our second problem is that we desire to do a great evangelistic work. We think that we must at least do a great evangelistic work on the campuses. To have such desires is to go beyond God. If we initiate something on our own without the Lord first moving in us, we go beyond God. This is our problem.
Question: As we follow the Lord, what great difficulties will we encounter in the way ahead?
Answer: In principle, a Christian should not predict that he will have difficulties. However, once he senses that there are difficulties, he should face them. The Lord said, “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself; sufficient for the day is its own evil” (Matt. 6:34). Someone said, “Do not borrow tomorrow’s troubles for today, and do not save today’s blessings for tomorrow.” We should not make predictions, much less have expectations. You must know that all difficulties come from Satan. When there are no difficulties, do not expect them. When difficulties come, push them away. The first step is to not hope for or expect to have difficulties. The second step is to push them away if you can. Never say that you welcome difficulties because you are learning the discipline of the Holy Spirit; neither should you begin to seek the Lord’s way only after you have failed to reject the difficulties. For example, if after hearing about the discipline of the Holy Spirit you take a rickshaw, and it costs only three dollars but the driver asks for ten, it is not right for you to give him ten. He is extorting money from you; you should speak with him according to reason. To speak is to attempt to solve the problem; if he is reasonable and agrees to back down, you should give him three dollars. It is wrong to expect sufferings, and it is foolish to blindly accept them. Hence, sufferings should not be predicted or expected.
However, when sufferings do come, how should we deal with them? The Lord said, “I am the way and the reality and the life” (John 14:6). Our way is the Lord Himself; thus, the One who deals with the sufferings should be the Lord Himself. There is no way for us to handle sufferings by ourselves. Only the Lord Himself can pass through sufferings. For example, if a young brother marries a sister and later cannot tolerate her, and then he comes to ask what he should do, we can only tell him, “Brother, you must meet the Lord in this matter; the Lord is your way. You need to fellowship with the Lord, bring this problem to the Lord, and touch the Lord. When you touch the Lord, however the Lord moves within you, move accordingly. In this way the difficulty will pass.”
In the experience of encountering persecution, no two persons are alike. One person can escape persecution, whereas another person must go through it. Because the Lord’s work in each one is different, the Lord’s leading in each one also is different. The Lord may use a very wonderful way to lead someone to escape persecution, but He may use persecution to kill someone else’s naturalness. The Lord’s leading is different in every person. Therefore, the way to deal with difficulties is the Lord Himself. If a difficulty were to befall you today, it would be useless to complain that it was caused by a certain person. You must submit before the Lord and say to Him, “Lord, I have no choice; I have no way; I have only You. Lord, You are my choice and my way. You desire that my weeping would be You and that my joy also would be You.” In this way you will experience the Lord bringing you through. Whatever way a Christian has is simply the Lord Himself. The Lord said, “I am the way.” He is our way and He is our method. Our fear should be that we would depend on ourselves, on others, or on methods and thus break our fellowship with the Lord. The Lord Himself is the way for us to face difficulties.
Question: We desire to submit and yet cannot submit. Exactly how can we gain the power to submit?
Answer: It is true that many times we desire to submit to the Lord and yet cannot submit. You must realize that God’s life contains God’s element; God’s element is in God’s life. Furthermore, this life is transmitted into us through His word. God’s word is the seed of life; once it comes into us, God’s life comes into us. Here we see three things: God, life, and the word. The element of God Himself is in His life, and this life is in His word. Every time the Lord speaks to us, His word is life (6:63), and in this life is God Himself. Thus, whenever we receive God’s word, we receive God’s life with God’s element.
Just as we do not have the power to do good, neither do we have the power to submit. In ourselves we are powerless. But thank the Lord that we have the Lord’s word. When we have God’s speaking, there is a power that brings us into submission. For instance, you initially do not believe in the Lord, but one day God sends someone to say to you, “You need to repent.” Once God’s word is spoken, the Holy Spirit speaks God, life, and His word into you, along with repentance, faith, and prayer. After returning home, you are compelled and driven from within to repent. The power to repent is not repentance; the power to repent is life. The next day the Lord’s word comes again: “You need to believe.” This word compels you from within so that you cannot help but believe. As a result, something further — faith — comes into you. The day after that, the word comes once again: “You need to pray.” You do not want to pray, but there is a voice within you saying that you should pray. This is God’s speaking.
God’s word is transmitted into you by the Holy Spirit. This word, this speaking, is like a seed planted into you through the Holy Spirit. In this seed are life and God. God is in His word as a seed. In the same principle, when you hear messages and draw near to the Lord, you hear a word from the Spirit, perhaps through the ministry of the spoken word, the Bible, a spiritual book, or a sense within. This word within will demand something of you and at the same time supply you with power to fulfill its demand.
There are two levels to a spoken message. On the first level, in the minds of the listeners the speaking may be a failure. On the second level, however, the speaking may be carried out with the exercise of the spirit and through the spirit. As the brother is speaking in this way, his spirit moves so that not only his voice but also his spirit enters into people. Once a word spoken with the spirit enters into a listener, there is always a power that enables him to submit without his own effort. Even if a person is stubborn, the Lord will continually work to conquer him until one day he submits. In this submission it is God who causes man to submit, not man who submits by himself. This is our spiritual experience.
For example, I know many young brothers and sisters who were a great source of pride to their families when they entered the university. After they believed in Jesus, however, they were inwardly compelled to consecrate themselves and give up their future. But because they did not want to disappoint their parents, they continued to study hard. However, the compelling within occurred again and again, persuading and urging them to surrender themselves. After a time it grew even stronger until it subdued them. They were not subdued the first year, the second year, or the third year; it was not until after they graduated from the university that they were finally subdued. Even after they had obtained a doctoral degree, they had to yield themselves completely without any recourse.
As another example, perhaps a message has subdued you. You heard the speaking, and something began to happen in you that could not be removed or rejected. This is the power of submission. No one can please God, just as no one can obey the law of God. Thank God, however, that He is the living God. His life is in His word, and His word has been received by us. We may use a florist as an illustration. Suppose the florist has a pile of small, ugly seeds placed next to some brilliant, beautiful flowers. Everyone who looks at the flowers will ask enviously, “How did you grow such flowers?” The florist would point to the ugly seeds on the side and say, “Those seeds grow into such flowers.” Every function of life is hidden within a seed.
Every function of God’s life is hidden in the word of God that enters into us. We have no power in ourselves. But there is power in Him who is life, and this life is in the word. One day this word, like an unrefined, round, and shapeless seed, is ministered into us. The speaking of most ministering brothers seems to be unrefined, but what matters is whether there is life in the speaking and whether it is the word of God’s life, the word of God. If it is the word of God’s life, the word of life, even if it does not seem good outwardly, all the riches of God hidden within it will one day develop and grow. This is the grace of our submission.
Some are subdued more quickly, whereas others are inclined to be slower. Hence, God’s word issues forth from some people quickly, but from others it issues forth slowly. Regardless of whether we are quick or slow, it will eventually issue forth from us. With some, however, it is as if the seed falls into rocky ground in which nothing can grow. This proves that the spiritual power is not with us but with the Lord Himself and with His word that enters into us. When we hear the Lord’s word, the function of life begins to take place within us.
