Date: November 15, 1935, eveningPlace: Chuenchow
In the Old Testament, Adam was commanded by God to obey His word after he was created. If Adam had obeyed God, he would have pleased God. At the time of Moses, God decreed the law and He intended for the Israelites to keep the law. God said that those who kept it would live. God gave many commandments and laws for man to keep. In the Old Testament, God gave the commandments and man was to keep the commandments. God was the One who gave the law, and man was the one who obeyed the law. Although God still has His commandments for man in the New Testament, they are not to be kept by man but by God Himself. The Old Testament is a matter of God demanding and man meeting the demands, whereas the New Testament is a matter of God demanding and then meeting the demands. In the New Testament, man bears no responsibility whatsoever. Brothers and sisters, do you think that I have made a mistake? No, this is the glorious grace of the New Testament.
Some have said that the responsibility placed on man in Matthew 5 is greater than the responsibility placed on man in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, "it was said to the ancients, `You shall not murder, and whoever murders shall be liable to the judgment'" (v. 21), but in the New Testament, the Lord said, "Every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to the judgment" (v. 22). The Old Testament says, "You shall not commit adultery" (v. 27), but in the New Testament, the Lord said, "Every one who looks at a woman in order to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (v. 28). This means that even a thought in the heart is not allowed. This may sound like a higher requirement than those in the Old Testament and that our burdens are heavier. But we do not have to bear any responsibility of our own because the Lord Jesus said, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (11:30). This means that we do not need to bear any responsibility; we can let go and the Lord will bear the responsibility. God is fulfilling His requirements through Christ who is living in us. Second Corinthians 4:7 says, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us." Everything of Christ is ours. His love, purity, patience, meekness, and all of His virtues are ours. We do not have anything to do with meekness directly. First we have the indwelling Christ, then we have meekness, love, purity, and patience, etc. Our relationship is firstly and directly with Christ.
The Bible shows five relationships that we have with Christ. The first is the relationship between the vine and the branches (John 15:1-8). The second is the relationship between the Head and the members (1 Cor. 12:27). The third is the relationship typified by Christ's flesh becoming our food, that is, as our bread of life (John 6:35, 51-56). The fourth is the relationship between the bride and the Bridegroom (John 3:29a; Eph. 5:22-33). The fifth is the relationship between the Father of the orphan and the orphan (John 14:18).
John 15:5 says, "I am the vine; you are the branches." The word "are" in this verse is very precious. This speaks of a fact. We do not have to ask to be a branch; we are the branches. We often look at ourselves and find no fruit, and we are hesitant to say that we are the branches. However, God said, "You are the branches." We are the branches. If God says that we are the branches, we are the branches.
During a certain period of his life, Mr. Hudson Taylor experienced constant failure. He experienced weaknesses constantly. He wrote to his sister that he was experiencing much turmoil in his mind. He felt that he lacked holiness, life, and power. He thought that everything would be well if he could only continually abide in Christ. For a few months he prayed, struggled, fasted, made resolutions, read the Word, and spent much time meditating on the Lord, but nothing worked. He wished to remain in Christ all the time, but it seemed as if he could only do so for a little while. He felt that he was detached from Christ. He thought that everything would be well as long as he abided in Christ, yet he could not abide in Him continually. In his diary he recorded a story. One day he was praying and considering how he would have the strength to overcome his sins if he could only abide in Christ and receive nourishment and supply from Him. He prayed repeatedly and went to the Word repeatedly. When he came to John 15:5, which says, "I am the vine; you are the branches," he suddenly exclaimed, "I must be the greatest fool in the whole world! I have been praying all this time to be a branch, to abide in Christ. But the Lord said, `You are a branch already, and you are already in Me.'"
Mr. Taylor testified, saying, "From the day I understood this truth, I became a new Hudson Taylor." From that time forward, he realized that the branches of the vine do not have the responsibility of bearing fruit; it is the vine that bears this responsibility. The Lord is the vine as well as the branches, the leaves, the root, the fruit, and even the sunshine and the soil. He is everything to the vine. The husbandman is the Father, and the vine bears fruit through the branches. There is no need for us to struggle to be branches, and there is no need to force ourselves to bear fruit. All that we have to do is to remain in our position as branches.
Our second relationship with the Lord is one which is between the Head and the body. Christ is the Head, and we are the members of His Body. The fingers are organically joined to the body and do not need to bear any responsibility of their own. The head will supply all their needs. Those who have wounded themselves and have lost too much blood need a transfusion of blood. Ordinarily, however, a person does not need any infusion of blood because he has the ability within him to produce blood. The head of the body supplies the needs of the whole body. In the same way, Christ is the Head and we are the members of His Body. He is responsible for meeting all the needs of the members.
Another relationship we have with the Lord relates to His being our bread of life. He is here for us to eat, and He is here to be our life. In John 6 the Lord said, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst....Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within yourselves....He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him" (vv. 35, 53, 56). The Lord descended from heaven to be our bread, meet our needs, satisfy us, and give us the strength to live on this earth. As the living Father has sent Him and He lives by the Father, so he who eats Him shall also live because of Him (v. 57).
Ephesians 5 says that Christ is the Husband and the church is the bride. This speaks of another relationship we have with the Lord. Everything that a bride has is found in the bridegroom. After the bride marries the bridegroom, everything of the bridegroom belongs to the bride. A girl may have some debts before her marriage. But after she is married, the bridegroom will take over all the debts of the bride. In addition, all that the bridegroom has will become the bride's. Our Lord is the Lord of all. Everything belongs to Him. We might have been a poor girl, but now we are married to Christ. Once we belong to Christ, everything becomes ours (1 Cor. 3:21).
An orphan does not have a father or a mother. He has to make all of his own provisions. He has to take care of his own food, clothing, shelter, and travel. The Lord said that He has not left us as orphans. Today He has become our Father. He is not only helping us by standing beside us; He is abiding in us to be the Father to us. He is supplying all of our needs (cf. Matt. 10:19-20).
The above five relationships between a believer and the Lord are spiritual facts, and they are recorded in God's Word. We do not need to do much. All we have to do is believe and receive, and these facts will become our experience. We believe in God's Word, which says that we are the branches of the vine, that we are the members in the Body of Christ, that the Lord is our bread of life, that we have been married to Christ, and that Christ is the Father to us the orphans. When we believe in these facts, we will enter into the enjoyment of the Lord's full provisions.
A brother once came to me and asked, "How can I overcome?" I said, "First, you have to let go. Second, you have to believe. Letting go is giving up your struggling, and believing is accepting the facts that God has accomplished in Christ." He told me that he had let go and believed, but had not experienced victory yet. I told him, "Brother, what would you do if you purchased my land and signed a contract, and then someone came and built a little hut on it, claiming that he would not move away because it was his land? All you have to do is show him the grant deed and prove that you purchased the land. Either the grant deed is wrong or he is wrong. Are you going to believe in your own defeat, or are you going to believe in God's Word?" God's Word is the fact; it is God's contract with us. We have to believe what God's Word says and ignore the interference the devil puts in our mind.
We often say that we have let go. Actually we have not really let go. This is like two friends, one fighting to give the other some money and the other fighting to refuse it. The two fight back and forth with the money. Finally, one puts the money on the floor and walks away. The other will surely go and pick it up. But our experience is like a person who puts the money on the floor and then feels uneasy, turning his head back to check on the money every few steps as he walks away. If a person does this, the other party surely will not pick up the money. Only when we have completely let go of ourselves will God pick us up.
In Chefoo, Mrs. Witness Lee once came and said to me, "I have surrendered and I fully believe that the Lord is my victory. I have indeed broken through in the matter of overcoming. Yet my victory is very short-lived. After a week, I am defeated again. What is happening to me?" I asked, "Has Christ changed?" She answered "No." I said, "Has God's Word changed?" Again she answered "No." Then I said, "Suppose your son is out in the streets one day and a person comes along and says to him, `You are not born of your mother. You were bought.' Your son may come back crying and ask if he was bought. Of course, you will say to him, `You are born of me. Do not listen to strangers telling you all kinds of nonsense.' After hearing this, he may feel relieved and go out to play again. The same man may come again, say the same thing to him, and add that others are also saying this. Your son may come back crying again. What will you say to him then? You will surely say, `Son, are you going to believe in a stranger's word, or are you going to believe in your mother's word? Whose word is more trustworthy?' Today we act the same way. We believe Satan's word which seems to be backed up with all kinds of proofs, rather than believing in God's Word. Every time Satan comes to trouble us, we should declare `Satan's words are lies, and only God's Word is real.'" This is faith. This kind of faith has passed through the test; this kind of faith glorifies God's name.
Mr. W —— was an Anglican preacher. One day his daughter died. After he returned home from her funeral, he considered what he should speak the next day, which was the Lord's Day. He chose the subject of his sermon from 2 Corinthians 12:9, which says, "My grace is sufficient for you." He knelt down and prayed for God to bless the subject. While he was praying, he asked himself, "Is God's grace sufficient after all? If God's grace is not sufficient for me, how can I tell others that God's grace is sufficient for them? My daughter has died, and I am grieved and cannot get over it. This means that God's grace is not sufficient for me. I cannot lie." He thought of changing the subject, but there was no time to prepare for another one. He could only pray, saying, "God, I want to experience Your sufficient grace; may Your grace become sufficient for me." He prayed for a long time, but it did not seem to have any effect on him. At that moment, he looked up and glanced at a verse on the mantel. The verse had been left there by his mother on her way to the funeral. It was 2 Corinthians 12:9: "My grace is sufficient for you." The words "My" and "you" were printed in blue, and the words "is sufficient" were printed in red, while the rest of the letters were printed in black. Suddenly, light dawned on him. He said, "The Lord says that His grace is sufficient for me, yet I am still praying for His grace to become sufficient to me." He confessed his sins and, at the same time, thanked and praised the Lord for His sufficient grace. He was filled with joy and thanksgiving. The next day when he was on the platform, he delivered the best sermon of his life. Someone asked what his secret was, and he answered that he had seen what faith was after his daughter's funeral. Faith is not asking God to fulfill His promise. Faith is thanking and praising God for what He has said.
A brother spoke once on the overcoming experience. After he spoke, he asked if there were any questions. He noticed that one sister was weeping silently. Another old sister stood up and said, "I have been praying for the past few years for victory, but I have not yet overcome. What is wrong with me?" The brother answered, "There is nothing wrong with you. The only problem is that you have prayed too much. If you would turn your prayers into praises, everything would be fine." Right after he said this, another brother stood up and said, "I have prayed for victory for eleven years, but have never been able to overcome. This sister's question and your answer have just brought victory to me." The preacher then turned to the young sister and asked how she felt. She said that she also had been touched by the question and answer and had also broken through. This is faith. Faith is believing that the Lord has overcome and that He has given us His victory. That evening all three overcame at the same time.
Romans 1:17 says, "For the righteousness of God is revealed in it out of faith to faith." This means from faith to faith. "Out of faith" is one thing and "to faith" is another thing. It is one thing to go from Amoy to Chuenchow, and it is another thing to go from Chuenchow to Amoy. A prayer that issues out of faith is one thing, and a prayer that results in faith is another thing. "Out of faith" means that faith is the starting point. "To faith" means that faith is the goal. Only faith can produce a work of faith; no work can produce faith.
Suppose a sick brother has received a promise that God will heal him. He begins to praise the Lord, and the Lord heals him in two days. After this, he testifies about it. From this we see that there are seven steps to healing by faith: (1) sickness, (2) prayer, (3) receiving a promise, (4) believing in the promise, (5) praise, (6) healing, and (7) testifying. If another brother tried to do the first five steps but could not experience the sixth, what would be the reason? The first brother believed that his sickness was going to be healed and then praised. His praise issued from his faith, whereas the second brother praised in order to reach the goal of faith. He regarded praise as the means to arrive at faith. The first brother's praise was a result, whereas the second brother's praise was a means. The second brother hoped to be healed through praising. He did not have genuine faith. Therefore, it did not work. We can only praise because of faith, not in order to produce faith.
Once I was very sick. The Lord promised that I would live by faith, stand by faith, and walk by faith. When God spoke to me, I believed His word and prayed no more. I believed in God's promise for my living, standing, and walking. As a result, I lived, stood, and walked. Later, another sister became sick, and she tried to duplicate my experience. She tried to make herself strong, but she could not do it. She wanted to work herself to a position of faith, but this was impossible. She did not have any faith, yet she wanted to produce faith. This will never work. The experience of faith is based on the Lord's promises, and praise issues from faith. One does not experience faith by copying someone else's act of faith, and one cannot praise himself into faith. One can copy formulas of faith; however, formulas are useless. Only living faith will produce results.
When I was in Shanghai, I spoke on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I said that first there is faith, and then there is praise. A man must first have faith before he can have the work of faith, which is praise. Praise is not the means by which we reach faith. Trying to reach faith by practicing the work of faith, that is, through praises, will not work. When we talk about the assurance of salvation, we can render either help or damage to people. Some nominal Christians in the denominations are not yet regenerated. When they hear a word on the assurance of salvation, they are relieved to know that they are no longer bound for hell. Faith, however, must be accompanied by visions and revelations. The Bible does not say that faith is receiving, but it does say that faith can receive. Receiving is a function of faith. Faith can appropriate, but appropriation is not necessarily faith. For example, a man can walk, but this does not mean that anything that can walk is a man. Faith must be accompanied by visions and revelations. One cannot take someone else's visions and revelations and make them his own faith. Faith must be built upon one's own visions and revelations.
Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." This verse gives us the definition of faith. Faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, in the same way that our five senses substantiate the things that are outside of us. The eyes are related to colors and shapes; they substantiate the color and shape of objects. A blind man does not know anything about the colors in the world or the shape of objects. There are, no doubt, objects in the world, but a blind man cannot see them with his eyes. There is no seeing organ to substantiate color and shape for him. A blind man's world does not have any color. Today the eyes of our faith need to be opened to see visions and revelations. When they are opened, we will substantiate spiritual things.
God's Word shows us that the Lord is the vine and that we are the branches. This is a fact that will never change. But if we lack the organ to see this vision, we will not experience this reality. God's facts will not change whether or not we believe. Our unbelief cannot change God's view, but if we believe in these facts, we will enjoy what God has prepared for us. In the spiritual realm, a person enters into the enjoyment once he sees. When a person opens his eyes, he will see the scenery before him. If he does not open his eyes, the scenery will still be there, but he will not be able to enjoy it. We know that our old man is evil; we cannot change him, and it is impossible to chase him out. However, if a man comes into God's presence, and if he sees what God sees, he will realize that in the eyes of God his old man is crucified. He will immediately be released and everything will be done for him. God's facts do not change, whether we see them or not. Whether or not we see, we are crucified already. In God's eyes this is a fact. The Bible records what God sees. The Bible records all the wonderful "colors" and "shapes" of the spiritual things. The Bible is like a spiritual art gallery. When we read the Bible to a person who is spiritually blind, and when he opens his eyes of faith, he will see what God sees, and every word and letter of the Bible will become real to him.
