Date: November 17, 1935, eveningPlace: ChuenchowScripture Reading: 2 Tim. 1:12; Phil. 1:6; 1 Pet. 1:5; Psa. 17:8; Jude 24-25
The work of overcoming is initiated by the Lord (Phil. 1:6). In fact, both the initiation, continuation, and consummation of the overcoming life are from the Lord Himself; we have nothing to do with them. The Lord's name is Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8). Alpha refers to the beginning, whereas Omega refers to the end. He is the only One from beginning to end. He is the beginning of everything and the end to everything. He is the initiation of the overcoming life, as well as the consummation of the overcoming life. Hence, the overcoming life is abiding. Someone asked once, "What is victory?" I responded, "Victory is just Christ." Let me ask: Does Christ remain the same? Of course He does. He is the One who remains the same from the beginning to the end. Everything will pass away, but the Lord will remain forever. This afternoon we have to declare that our experience is just Christ Himself. He has done everything. All our experiences are centered upon Christ. We experience victory through faith in Christ. Yet from beginning to end, even our faith is just Christ Himself. It has nothing to do with ourselves. All we have to do is praise and rejoice. As long as He is the One who begins the work, He will complete it.
Jude 24 says that God is the One who is able to guard us from stumbling. How does He guard us? Jude does not say that God guards us by raising us up again after we stumble. Neither does it say that God will guard us from falling. It says that He will guard us from stumbling. There is a difference between falling and stumbling. Falling is tumbling over. If a Christian can walk in a straight path for three years without falling, he should be considered as a top-class Christian. But this verse speaks of not even stumbling. The Lord will guard us from stumbling not for just three or five years, but forever. Of course, we cannot trust in ourselves or look at ourselves. If we do, we will fall tomorrow. Our eyes have to be set on the Lord and on Him alone, and we have to trust that He will guard us from stumbling.
How does the Lord guard us? The most sensitive part of a man's body is the pupil of the eye. How do eyelids protect the pupil of the eye? Whenever objects fly into our eye, there is no need to instruct the eyelids to close; they close automatically. When dust is blown into the eye, the eyelids close immediately to prevent the dust from entering into the eye. First Corinthians 15:52 mentions the twinkling of the eye. This is how God protects us. His protection comes instantly in the twinkling of the eye, just as our eyelids protect the pupil of our eyes. Before the Lord was crucified on the cross, Peter cried, "Lord, save me!" (Matt. 14:30). After the Lord's crucifixion, he did not cry for the Lord's help anymore because after His death and resurrection, He lived within Peter. As soon as temptation came, the Lord was there to protect him.
In Psalm 17:8 the psalmist prayed, "Guard me like the apple of Your eye;/In the shadow of Your wings hide me." We can all pray this same prayer. The Lord is both willing and able to guard us like guarding the apple of His eye. Many people incorrectly think that even though victory is a matter of the Lord's grace, the guarding of this victory is our own work. Please remember that just as victory is related to the Lord and not ourselves, the guarding of this victory is related to the Lord and not ourselves.
What are the necessary conditions for us to be guarded by the Lord? There are two conditions. First, we must commit ourselves into the Lord's hand. Second Timothy 1:12 says, "He is able to guard my deposit unto that day." The Lord will guard us, but we have to commit ourselves into His hand. The degree to which we commit will be the extent to which He will guard. If we do not commit ourselves into His hand, He cannot guard us in any way. Many people read the Bible and find that the Lord has preserving grace. Yet they also find that they cannot appropriate this promise. This is because they have not committed themselves to the Lord. Many people have known Jude 24 and 25 and Philippians 1:6 for many years, but they cannot believe that these words are real. They are satisfied if they can rise up after they have fallen. They have not committed themselves into the Lord's hand to allow the Lord to guard them from stumbling. They cannot experience the Lord's guarding this way. In order to experience the Lord's guarding, we must say to the Lord, "I commit myself to Your guarding. I believe in Your guarding power." A sister once asked me to rent a deposit box in the bank, and the bank charged six dollars. But our Lord's guarding is free as long as we are willing to commit ourselves to Him.
Second, we have to believe in the Lord's guarding power. First Peter 1:5 says that we are being guarded by the power of God "through faith." In order for us to experience the Lord's guarding, committing ourselves to Him is not enough. We also have to believe in God's guarding power. Suppose I asked Brother Luk to take a sum of money to another person. I have to believe that Brother Luk has the power to guard the money I committed to him. If I truly believe in him and commit the money to him, I will not need to go repeatedly to him and ask if my money is still in his hand. After we have committed ourselves to the Lord, we do not have to repeatedly ask Him what He is going to do. Will the God of the heavens and earth not guard us well? God's word upholds all things. Is He not able to uphold us? God does not guard us as if He were guarding a piece of worthless paper. No! He guards us like the pupil of His eye (Deut. 32:10). In the same way that a finger is joined to the body, He has joined us to Himself and constituted us members of Christ by His life. We have to believe that He is well able to guard us. Our eyes should be set on the Lord and not on our experience. The only things that are trustworthy are the Lord's power, His Word, and His love. Our experience is not trustworthy at all. "For I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard my deposit unto that day" (2 Tim. 1:12).
