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Scripture Reading: Titus 2:2-6; Gal. 5:22-23; Phil. 2:15; 4:8; Matt. 5:13-16
We have seen that the humanity of Jesus is necessary for the spiritual warfare and for the church service. If we would fight the spiritual warfare for the kingdom of God, we need a proper humanity. God needs man to deal with His enemy, Satan, and this man is Jesus. Only one man is qualified to fight the battle, and this man is our person. Since He is our person within, His humanity is ours to fight the battle for the kingdom of God.
Furthermore, to serve the Lord in the church in a proper way, we need the humanity of Jesus. In his two letters to Timothy, Paul covered three kinds of serving ones. He first spoke of the elders, the overseers or bishops (different titles for the same person). These are the leading ones of the church. Then he referred to the deacons and deaconesses, the brothers and sisters who are the serving ones in the church. Deacon comes from a Greek word that means “one who serves.” Paul also addressed the Lord’s servants, such as Timothy. Hence, there are three kinds of serving ones in the church: the elders, the deacons and deaconesses, and the workers for the Lord. All these serving ones need the proper humanity. This is basic. Just as the acacia wood was the standing element for the boards of the tabernacle (Exo. 26:15), so the humanity of Jesus is the standing element in all the spiritual things. Whether we are in the spiritual warfare or in the church service, we need the proper humanity.
In this chapter we must see that the humanity of Jesus is also necessary for our daily walk. The humanity of Jesus is needed for fighting, for serving, and also for living. If we do not have the proper humanity, our daily walk cannot be proper.
Most of the older ones have already experienced the fact that the more we try to use our own humanity, the more we realize that it is absolutely disabled. Some of the younger ones may not yet believe that their humanity is so worthless. The older you are, however, the more you will recognize the depravity of your own humanity. Before we were sixteen years of age, we had a certain kind of confidence in our humanity. But once we were sixteen, we began to realize how hopeless we were. Then, after graduating from college, we realized that we were even more hopeless. And by the time we were married, we were fully convinced that our humanity was fallen beyond repair. Many young sisters, before they were married, thought that they were indeed wonderful, but marriage became a real exposure to them. After being married, although many would blame their husbands, they found out their true condition.
Now we are in the church, where there is no darkness. Everything is under the light, and everything is transparent. There is nothing that exposes us like the church. While we are in the church meetings, we are under the heavenly x-ray. Our humanity is exposed so that we may see the need of the proper humanity. Yet, when we are exposed by the heavenly light, we must immediately apply the blood. We need to pray, “O Lord, cleanse me from all my past with Your blood. Cover me with Your blood.”
Sometimes, however, we are quite foolish. Before we are enlightened in the church, we may not admit that we are wrong; we may not admit any kind of evil or corruption in ourselves. After we have become enlightened, however, we should never tell our failures to others. This is wrong. Rather, we must all apply the Lord’s blood. All the past is under the blood. We should never take anything out from under the blood to show others, especially in the meetings. This is absolutely unhealthy and unprofitable, and it is not according to the Scriptures. On one hand, we need to be exposed by the divine light, but on the other hand, after being exposed, we have the covering of the redeeming blood. God has no intention to shame us by exposing us before others. He only wants us to see how worthless and hopeless we are in our humanity so that we may learn to take His humanity. After seeing this, we have the covering, cleansing blood. The exposing of the divine light is always followed by the cleansing and covering blood. We should not talk about ourselves and our past anymore. Once it has been exposed, it is under the covering of the blood. Let us forget about all our failures in the past, for God’s forgiving is His forgetting. Sometimes we try to remind God of the things that He has forgiven. But God simply does not have a memory for these things. Once He forgives, He forgets. Praise the Lord for His covering and cleansing blood!
All the above-mentioned verses concern our daily walk. Paul instructed Titus to help the saints in all age groups. “Exhort older men to be temperate, grave, of a sober mind, healthy in faith, in love, in endurance; older women likewise to be in demeanor as befits those who engage in sacred things, not slanderers, nor enslaved by much wine, teachers of what is good, that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be of a sober mind, pure, workers at home, good, subject to their own husbands, that the word of God would not be blasphemed. The younger men likewise exhort to be of a sober mind” (Titus 2:2-6).
I am so happy that Paul mentioned older men and older women, young men and young women. These are not the elders or deacons but the brothers and sisters in the church. Without these verses we might think that only the elders and deacons must have the proper humanity and that it is not necessary for the others. But what Paul told the elders, he also said to the brothers and sisters. In the last chapters I stressed the fact that the young people are the key persons for the Lord’s recovery. But in this chapter we see how the older ones must go before. Paul does not charge the younger ones first, but the older ones. They are the ones who must take the lead in the matter of humanity.
We all know that the two books to Timothy and the one to Titus were written in the latter time of Paul’s ministry. Therefore, by the time of these three writings, Paul had more experience. What he wrote in these three books, therefore, was based more upon his experience. These books are quite different from Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, and other books that were written in his earlier ministry. For example, in 1 Corinthians 7 Paul told the believers that it is better not to be married, especially for the sisters. But when he wrote 1 Timothy 5, his attitude had changed. In 1 Timothy he said that all the young widows should be married. Why is this? Because after many years Paul had more experience. In these three books he does not say much concerning doctrines. In these later books he simply stresses the proper humanity. In his other letters he never stressed the matter of humanity as much as he did in these three. If we would read 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus again with this attitude, we would see that the central and basic point of which Paul speaks is the matter of humanity. This is because he had learned from experience that, for the long run, the church life requires the proper humanity much more than other things.
When Paul wrote these three books, the church was degraded, and under that kind of degradation, the need was not mainly for teachings or gifts but human virtues. I believe that the message of these three books just fits today’s situation. We are under such a degradation. What is the proper cure for this age? What is the proper dose for this generation? The answer is the proper humanity that comes from the man Jesus. The proper humanity is the only healing power for today’s generation. I have confidence that the Lord will use the church as a remedy for today’s crooked and perverted generation. The remedy for such a generation is a church with the proper humanity. I have the full assurance that if the young people in the church take the humanity of Jesus, they will be the proper remedy for this generation.
It is not just a matter of shouting, “Hallelujah, Jesus is Lord!” We need the humanity of Jesus to back up our shouting. Then there will be the manifestation of the humanity of Jesus in the schools, on the jobs, and wherever the brothers and sisters are. There will be the shining of the humanity of Jesus into the darkness of this generation.
Paul mentions something concerning the matter of humanity in these three books, and he also speaks of human virtues in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, what things are true, what things are dignified, what things are righteous, what things are pure, what things are lovely, what things are well spoken of, if there is any virtue and if any praise, take account of these things.” It is clear that these are all human virtues. He also tells us in this book that we are the children of God as luminaries shining in this world in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation (2:15).
In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit here refers to the Spirit of the humanity of Jesus. Paul does not speak of the fruit of the Spirit of God or the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit of Jesus, because all the items mentioned are human virtues. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” The things that are mentioned in these verses are not divinely powerful or miraculous. They are something of humanity — but not of our humanity. These things come forth only from the humanity of Jesus.
Suppose we have two brothers before us. One has a marvelous healing gift, and the other takes the humanity of Jesus to be gentle, meek, joyous, and full of self-control and long-suffering. Which of these two brothers would you prefer? I am afraid that many Christians would pay little attention to the one with the proper humanity. All would admire the one with the healing gift, and he would even be advertised in the newspaper. I have never seen an advertisement in the newspaper concerning a Christian who is exercising the proper humanity.
Paul did not say that the fruit of the Spirit is divine healing. Healing is something that is performed outwardly, but gentleness, meekness, and self-control are part of one’s being. Our being is much more important than our doing. Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, once said that God pays more attention to what we are than to what we do. Many Christians pay too much attention to what people do, rather than what they are.
I believe that today in the church life the Lord is going to recover His humanity in us. We not only need His power; we need His humanity. We not only need what He can do; we need what He is. I cannot believe that the miraculous gifts are the remedy for today’s generation. Rather, the proper humanity shining forth through the young brothers and sisters will be a strong testimony and remedy to this present age. This humanity will also cause us to have the strongest church life. The fruit of the Spirit is just the expression of the humanity of Jesus.
The Lord Jesus told us in Matthew 5 that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. The function of salt is to kill corrupting elements so that things may be preserved. There is much corruption on the earth today. Everywhere you go you can see the germs of corruption. How we need the salt! And the basic element of the salt is nothing but the humanity of Jesus. The humanity of Jesus in our daily walk is the heavenly salt. The more we live by the humanity of Jesus, the more salty we will be. With this humanity there is the killing power for all the corrupting germs. The more we apply, experience, and live by the humanity of Jesus, the more we will be the salt to this corrupted and corrupting generation. Hence, we see what a responsibility we have. It is not just a matter of shouting, “Jesus is Lord!” but of being the salt with the salting power. We all need the real transformation that comes from the application of the humanity of Jesus in our daily walk.
Furthermore, the problem today is not only a matter of corruption but also of darkness. How dark it is today! I simply do not dare to read the papers. The whole situation is under darkness. But, Hallelujah, the church is the lampstand, and we are the light! Yet we can be the light only by taking the humanity of Jesus.
Now the importance of the meal offering in Leviticus is apparent. When we come to the last three offerings, we will see that they are based upon the first two. The burnt offering and the meal offering are the basic offerings, and all the other offerings are built upon them. But the meal offering is more weighty and even more basic than the burnt offering.
In all spiritual matters the basic structure is the humanity of Jesus. We have already seen nine or ten matters that are produced by the Lord’s humanity. If the tabernacle had not had the standing boards, it would have been in confusion. The basic structure of all spiritual things is the humanity of Jesus. This humanity is the heavenly salt and the divine light. Without this humanity the salt loses its flavor. May the Lord be merciful to us so that His humanity may be wrought into our Christian walk and daily living.
