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Scripture Reading: Matt. 9:38; Mark 11:22; 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 1:1, 14; 2 Cor. 12:1, 4, 7; Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 4:10; Matt. 13:9, 52; Hosea 7:8; Matt. 5:48
We hope to see by the help of God the kind of way God ordains for us to take. I have taken verses from various places in the Bible. Some may wonder what these verses are all about. In particular, I want to draw your attention to Hosea 7:8, which says that "Ephraim is a cake/Not turned." Brothers, in God's eyes, there are always two sides to whatever we do. A bird can only fly with two wings. Even a blade of grass has to have two sides before it can be complete. Likewise, a door has to have two sides. In this universe, everything is balanced. What is true in the physical realm is also true in the spiritual realm; everything should be balanced between two sides.
Hosea 7:8 says, "Ephraim is a cake/Not turned." What is an unturned cake? Although many of us have not made cakes before, we all have eaten cakes. Even if we do not know how cakes are baked, we have at least seen others cooking bean curd or frying vegetables. If a person only cooks one side without turning it over, the result will surely be that one side is raw, and the other side is overcooked. One side will have too little heat, while the other side will have too much heat. Anyone who cooks vegetables or bean curd knows that the same amount of heat has to be applied to both sides. If one keeps cooking only one side, the result will be that one side is burnt and the other side is uncooked. Anything burnt cannot be considered proper food; it cannot feed others. Today I will not expound on Ephraim becoming an unturned cake through mixing himself with the Gentiles. I will only draw attention to the phrase "a cake not turned." This is a principle from God for our living. If a person pays too much attention to anything, he becomes a cake not turned. One can, of course, cook one side by exposing it to fire. But if he does not turn it to the other side, the whole piece will not be well-cooked and will become useless. The most important thing for a Christian to do is to be balanced. We will pick out some examples to see how a Christian who over-emphasizes one aspect of things will become a cake not turned.
Many Christians are living a life of an unturned cake. Many emphasize personal spiritual living and neglect the corporate life. This is an unturned cake. Some pay much attention to the corporate life but forget about the individual life. Such people are also unturned cakes. Some pay too much attention to righteousness and have no grace at all. Such people are unturned cakes. It is right to be righteous. But paying attention to righteousness all the time without taking care of grace is being an unturned cake. Some people are nice; they are good to others. But they do not have any principle of righteousness. They do not want to deal with others. They pay too much attention to grace and no attention to righteousness. This also is an unturned cake. Some people pay most of their attention to the objective truths and forget the work of the Holy Spirit within man. These people are also unturned cakes. Some people pay too much attention to the subjective truths and do not pay much attention to the accomplishments of Christ on the cross. They also are unturned cakes. We can say much more about what an unturned cake is. But because of time, I will only mention these few cases.
No truth should be over-emphasized. There is always the need of balance, and there is always the need to pay attention to both sides. With the Bible, we should be aware of two things. The first is fact, and the second is principle. A fact requires us to believe in it, while a principle requires us to obey it. Many people pay attention only to the facts and not to the principles. These persons are unturned cakes, being burnt on one side. Other people only pay attention to the principles and speak much about obedience, but they do not pay attention to the accomplished facts of Christ. These people are also unturned cakes, being burnt on the other side. Such an over-emphasis of one side will cause a Christian to have a distorted living and not bring him to perfection.
Today I will draw your attention to the matter of being a Christian in four aspects. We should not be an unturned cake. I cannot enumerate all the examples of unturned cakes. I can only mention a few of them. Now I will speak on being a four-sided Christian. On the one hand, we will consider the Lord's commands. On the other hand, we will consider Paul's pattern. The Gospels show us the Lord's commands, while Paul's Epistles show us his experience.
First, the Lord commands His disciples to know. He says, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Matt. 13:9). Again He says, "For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old" (v. 52). This refers to knowledge. If a believer is not an unturned cake, he will surely advance in knowledge.
Second, one should have faith because the Lord says, "Have faith in God." This is the original meaning of Mark 11:22.
Third, the Lord says, "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest that He would thrust out workers into His harvest" (Matt. 9:38). This refers to zeal. We should be zealous for the gospel.
Fourth, the Lord says, "You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). This refers to life and in particular to love. We may not be as perfect as the heavenly Father is in other aspects. But at least we should pursue to be as perfect as our heavenly Father is in love. The Lord once passed through Samaria, and the people there would not receive Him. When James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" (Luke 9:54). The Lord turned and rebuked the two disciples, saying, "You do not know of what kind of spirit you are" (v. 55). Oh, we should know of what kind of spirit we are.
We have not divided these subjects randomly. If we read the Gospels carefully and group the Lord's commands together, they are of these four categories. The Lord turns our attention to either faith, zeal, knowledge, or life. It is always one of these four things.
The same is true with Paul. This is why he could say, "Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1).
As far as knowledge is concerned, even God feared that Paul's knowledge would become too great. Therefore, He allowed the messenger of Satan to buffet him and press him down so that he might not be exceedingly lifted up. Paul was caught away into Paradise and heard unspeakable words — words which were not allowed for a man to speak. It seemed as if God had shown him too much. Within him, there were still many things that he did not speak. There are still many questions which we would like to ask him today. He knew the mysteries, all kinds of mysteries. He mentioned "the transcendence of the revelations" (2 Cor. 12:7) that he received and that he was not inferior to the super-apostles in anything (v. 11).
Concerning faith, he said, "For we walk by faith, not by appearance" (2 Cor. 5:7). He said that he once fought with wild beasts at Ephesus (1 Cor. 15:32) and despaired even of living (2 Cor. 1:8). Yet through God who raises the dead (v. 9), he was able to find the good end. He could perform works of wonders and heal sickness. He was a prophet and not afraid of snake bites. When he was on a ship and everyone abandoned hope of being saved, even when no one had food for a long time and there seemed to be nothing that anyone could do, he was still able to calm everyone down. He could do this because of what he said: "I believe God that it shall be so, even in the way in which it has been spoken to me" (Acts 27:25). This was his life of faith.
Not only did he have knowledge and faith, but he was also excellent in life. He could say, "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20). He could truly say, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21) and "Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body" (2 Cor. 4:10).
At the same time, he was very zealous in preaching the gospel. He was truly zealous. He went from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum, preaching the gospel of Christ everywhere he went. He said, "But now I no longer have place in these regions" (Rom. 15:23). Brothers, have you ever preached in a region until there was no longer any place to preach in that region? Paul said this as if he knew every face there. While he was on the road, he preached the gospel. While he was at sea, he preached the gospel. While he was in prison, he preached the gospel. Even while he was under bondage in Rome, his testimony became manifest among the whole Praetorian guard and to all the rest. This means that even his guards received the gospel. These guards were originally posted there to keep a watch on Paul. But they became locked up by the Christ whom Paul preached; they had become the prisoners of Christ.
My intention is not just to speak on the Lord's commands, nor on Paul's experience, but to draw your attention to one thing: a Christian ought to be a four-sided person. Every Christian must pay attention to these four things. Not only should we have zeal, but faith as well. Not only should we grow in knowledge, but in life as well. If any one of the four things are missing, there will be an imbalance. Please analyze the experiences of Paul when you read the New Testament again, and see if zeal, faith, knowledge, and life are the four characteristics of Paul. We are only speaking in a general way. This is why we say that there are only these four points. According to the Lord's commands, we should not only be encouraged to have zeal and faith, but we should also grow in knowledge and life.
Today I will speak a little more about faith. Sadly, the church has become desolate and lost its eyes for the Lord. We have a perfect Lord, but there are so many different kinds of Christians. I am not talking about differences in terms of sins. Some have tempers, while others have pride. The devil can create a hundred different kinds of sins. The differences I am talking about are the differences in the good things. Brothers, when you contact others, do you not feel that there are many different kinds of virtues?
Once I met a Western missionary preaching in Kweichow. He was very zealous for the Lord in China. Although he was a university graduate and a capable man, he was willing to give up everything in order to preach the gospel in inland China. During the Boxer Rebellion, he was preaching the gospel in China. He had many virtues and was very powerful in preaching. Yet his virtues were all one-sided in the matter of zeal; he was lacking in the other aspects.
I also met a missionary in Shanghai who was very good at memorizing the Scriptures. He could memorize the Scriptures verse by verse and expound them with much light. His knowledge was very good, but in the matter of faith in God, he was lacking. When he was sick, he was hopeless. When he caught a cold, he would have to find a doctor. As far as his knowledge was concerned, he could speak about faith. But he had no assurance of what faith actually was. At the same time, his life did not match his knowledge.
I knew another Western missionary who was as gentle as a lamb. Whenever you prayed with her, she would carry you away with her gentleness. She never lost her temper. Wherever she was, God's presence was there. She indeed had considerable growth in life, but she did not have much knowledge. She was also strong in faith, though faith was not her special characteristic. She also had zeal, but her zeal was not as strong as her growth in life.
Another Western missionary had great faith. She could believe even when she had nothing in her pocket. Every time I was with her, she always said that she was down to the last dollar in her pocket. Although she lived in the countryside for many years, she never experienced any financial difficulties. When she spoke on the victory of Christ, there was the real manifestation of the victory of Christ. But in other aspects, she was not as strong as her faith.
Does this mean that Christians can be divided into four categories: the zealous kind, the faithful kind, the knowledgeable kind, and the life kind? May we not have the intention of criticizing others, but may we gain some benefit from this study. We are not separating people into categories in an intentional way. We are merely saying that naturally there are these four groups. These are not differences in sins but differences in good things. When a man develops himself in a certain area and becomes more advanced in that area, those who come in contact with him will feel that he is excellent in a certain, particular aspect. Some may be the zealous kind, while others may be the faith kind. Some may belong to the knowledge group, while others may belong to the life group. As long as one has special growth only in one area, his growth will be distorted. Either he has to continually advance in certain points or continually advance in some other points. It is difficult to find a four-sided Christian who is advancing on all four sides.
I admit that the holiness group of believers have certain virtues in certain areas. They pay a great deal of attention to life. Men like John Wesley were excellent in their growth in life; the beauty that was manifested in their life is unmatched. They knew God very well. But one does not find many among them with deep and profound knowledge. They were lacking in knowledge. They were good at faith and zeal, but they were still short in knowledge.
Among the so-called Brethren, you can find one interesting phenomenon. Their specialty is not faith. I do not mean to say that they have no faith. Their specialty is not life. I do not mean to say that they are poor in life. Even more their specialty is not zeal. They seem to be somewhat cool for gospel preaching. Yet they are particularly strong in knowledge, Bible teaching, and the light and revelation they have received from God. They are particularly gifted in the aspect of knowledge.
The founder of the China Inland Mission, Mr. Hudson Taylor, was a man of great faith. At the beginning when he started the China Inland Mission, he only had a few sterling pounds in his pocket. He deposited this money into the bank under the name of the China Inland Mission. This was the beginning of the China Inland Mission. Today they receive offerings about every minute. At the beginning, only a few went to the China inland to preach. Even while the money in his hands was only enough to support a few people, he prayed that God would send more men to China. First he asked God to send a few, then a few dozen, and finally a few hundred. He was very advanced in faith and zeal. He was also very good in life. But in knowledge, he was not very outstanding.
Mr. George Müller was also a person advanced in faith and life. But his specialty was not the light of the truth. He was very good in life and zeal. But his specialty was his faith.
As for zeal, we can find many people who are very zealous in China and in other countries. For example, the first person to come to China, Mr. Robert Morrison, was very zealous. But he was stronger in zeal than in other areas.
I present all these cases to you to draw your attention to the fact that we should not be one-sided. This is not what God is after. If a person is good in knowledge, we receive help from him. He may not be that zealous, but we should not therefore consider that zeal is unimportant. A bad thing among believers today is that some do not want knowledge at all, while others do not pay attention to life at all. Those who emphasize life but not knowledge think that it is all right even if one does not know anything. Those who emphasize knowledge but not life can lose their temper as soon as they finish their preaching. While their temper is still with them and the redness still on their face, they can sit down and immediately start teaching again. Brothers, we should not pay attention only to others' shortcomings. But at the same time, we should not pay attention only to others' virtues. Someone may be good in knowledge but not good in life. Others may be good in faith but inadequate in zeal. Still others may be good in life but not preach the gospel to others. Some are good in faith, and you should follow their faith. Some are good in knowledge, and you should follow them in their knowledge. Some are good in life, and you should follow them in life. Some are good in zeal, and you should follow them in zeal. If you want to be a four-sided Christian, you should pursue all four things.
Faith enables us to receive God's power. Knowledge enables us to know the things of God. Life enables us to express God's love and light. Zeal enables us to bring God to men and give God's salvation to men. Whenever there is the opportunity, we should pass out gospel tracts, and we must testify to our colleagues, family members, and children. If we only emphasize one of these four aspects, we are an unturned cake.
Furthermore, we should be people who experience answers to our prayers. A believer once told me that prayers are for children and that grown-ups do not have to pray. This is a joke. Saying that one can advance from getting answers to prayer to not getting answers to prayers and advance from God answering prayers to God not answering prayers is like "advancing" from a grown-up to a child! Those who say this think that they have advanced. They may have advanced in knowledge but certainly not in faith. If a Christian never has his prayers answered, we cannot say that he is an experienced person. Every Christian must experience some answers to prayers. Faith is always indispensable. In the church, there are not a few who have knowledge, zeal, and even life. But the greatest lack is those who have faith. It is easy to find growth in other aspects. But it is difficult to find growth in faith.
Furthermore, knowledge is also very important; it has its place. If a Christian does not know the basic truths of the Bible, if he is ignorant of the principles of God's work, and if he does not understand the general outlines of the Bible, he will take in all kinds of doctrines. For example, in the matter of baptism, someone may tell him to be baptized with his face looking downward because the Lord lowered His head on the cross. He may think that this is very reasonable. But if he has biblical knowledge, he will see that the Lord lowered His head on the cross, not in the tomb. If all one cares for is scriptural quotations and does not ask for what purpose they are quoted, he may end up lowering his head even when he eats. Many believers have been listening to messages for one, two, or even five years. If anyone asked them about the difference between justification and salvation, they would say that the two things are more or less the same. They do not know what justification is and what salvation is. To them forgiveness and salvation are more or less the same. In fact, everything is more or less the same. Only paying attention to faith is to be cooked on one side; it is to be an unturned cake. Those without knowledge do not know how to go on and do not know how to lead others to go on because they are blind.
At the same time, we should pay attention to life. We should seek for God and overcome all sins. May God cause us to realize our sins, and may God put our besetting sins under our feet. How many of us can say that we know we have overcome all sins through Christ living in us? If a Christian does not grow, it is because he has not overcome his sins. We should daily deny ourselves and deal with ourselves. Not only do we have to deal with sins every day, but we also have to obey God. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to work within us day by day so that His life can flow out of us.
I am presenting these four things before all of you. If we want to be a perfect Christian, we have to pursue these four things. We should not pay attention to just one of them, but we should have a balanced development in all four areas. We should not be an unturned cake. We should not only pursue love; we should also pursue knowledge. At the same time, we should pursue faith and zeal so that we can please God. May God bless us.
