Date: November 19, 1940Place: Unrecorded
Brother Yu Cheng-hwa asked: How can we practice the teachings of Matthew 5? In our daily life we still live very much by the natural life and the flesh. How can we obey the Lord's commandments in Matthew 5?
Answer: Man's mental capacity is limited; he cannot bear too much burden. Once the burden becomes too heavy, he subconsciously discharges this burden to his physical body, which may result in sicknesses like tuberculosis or heart disease. If he does not discharge his burden to his physical body, his mental health becomes overtaxed. If this condition deteriorates, he may lose his mind and become insane. Whenever there is discontentment, worry, burden, or anger, the first thing a person tries to do is to discharge them to the body. The second thing he tries to do is to withstand them with his mental faculties. When he cannot withstand them, he becomes sick and loses his mind. Humanly speaking, it is difficult for a Christian to practice Matthew 5 and pressing it would only lead to sickness of the body. Those who are patient are thin very often, because they try all the time to practice patience by themselves. If anyone treats you unjustly, like what is described in Matthew 5, you should unload your burden to the spirit. When you refuse the burden and allow the Lord to bear it for you, you have the cross. The cross is something that the Lord bears; it is not something that you have to bear. The cross is the opposite of one's work. Where there is work, there is no cross, and where there is the cross, one does not have to work by himself.
If you love a person, and he asks you to walk with him for a mile or to give him your tunic, it is easy for you to obey. You have no problem with his request. In fact, you might be afraid that he will not ask. When two lovers are together, they can walk for twenty miles without feeling tired. The practice of Matthew 5 is based on the love of the cross. With this love everything becomes easy. Many people try to act like a Christian, but God has never asked us to act like a Christian. The cross is good for our physical well-being. Unfortunately, many people do not know the cross because they take all of their burdens upon themselves and try to endure everything by themselves. The cross is even good for your mental health. When you lay everything on the cross, your problems all vanish away. Many Christians die early because they try to shoulder all of their problems in their bodies. This is asceticism; it is not Matthew 5. It is mortification, not the flow of life. Everyone who tries to endure by himself is not bearing the cross. I have not met one Christian whose physical and mental strength is so strong that he can withstand every suffering. We are Christians; we do not have to act like Christians.
Hebrews 1:3 says that the Lord upholds all things by the word of His power. God entrusts all things to the Lord's hand. Do we dare to entrust all things to His hands as well? If God only gave us Matthew 5 without giving us the cross, He would be a cruel God. Man pays attention to work, excitement, or stimulation. Those who are better pay attention to good deeds. But all these are works accompanied by the sweat of the brow. This is the Old Testament. The New Testament is for us to not work, and for Christ to do all the work (Gal. 2:20).
No affair or thing should demand so much earnestness from us that we cannot go on without it. But for some people, this is exactly how they feel. They are as earnest as the priest of Baal contending with Elijah on Mount Carmel. God is omnipotent; there is no need for us to expend so much energy in our prayer.
Many Christians live in the realm of behavior. They think that God wants them to do many things. What will you do if one day you find that God does not want you to do anything? It is true that genuine work is a cooperation between us and God, but the question is where the source of energy comes from, and what the goal of such a work is. The Christian life should be a very spontaneous thing; it should not be a painful living, because God's life is within us.
An elderly sister lived in the countryside. Her son was a sailor and always away from home. She was forced to live by herself. One night a thief came and began to steal things and move furniture around. When the old lady heard the noise she got up and lit a lamp. When she saw the thief she asked, "Do you need any help? Are you in a hurry?" She began to prepare some noodle soup for him. When the day was about to break, the thief ate the bowl of soup and left without taking anything. There was no hatred in the old lady, only love. Although she did not know the teaching in Matthew 5, she had the law of the Spirit of life within her, and she was able to treat the thief this way.
In eternity many things will still advance, but one thing has reached perfection already — love. This is something that is perfect today. The Lord said, "You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). The perfection spoken of in Matthew 5 is the perfection of the love of the cross.
A crucified person is not a wounded person. Those who are wounded are not crucified. A crucified one is a kingly one. Only those who are small need forgiveness. Those who are on the throne can forgive others. Many people seek sympathy and pity when they are suffering. When Christ was crucified on the cross, He was a King (Matt 27:37). He could forgive others. He did not blame others, and He prayed for others. Something came out of His side to supply others. He shed His blood to forgive others' sins, and He released water to dispense His life to others. Hence, the great ones are the ones who are on the cross.
When Christ died, He was not escaping; He was shouting loudly, committing His soul to the Father. When some Christians suffer, I pity them, but when a Christian bears the cross, I respect him and honor him. I will bow down my head and say, "Here is a person who really knows God." I can approach a cross-bearer on my knees, just as the magi in the East came to the Lord when they offered Him the gifts. Stephen was stoned to death. His persecutors were small while Stephen was great. He knelt down and prayed loudly. He did not pray after he was smitten to the ground. How trying were his circumstances! Yet none of the voices could drown his prayer for his persecutors. Pity cannot come near such a person; one can only honor and respect him.
A person who is suffering is not necessarily bearing the cross. I know of one person who has never borne the cross during the twenty years that I have known him, because he did not have the kingly resemblance of one who is on the cross. I have never heard of a person beneath the cross forgiving one who is on the cross. I have never heard of man forgiving God. Only those who are on the cross can forgive those who are beneath it. These words are not for those who are proud. Only those who are crucified can forgive and love others, and only they can walk an extra mile and part with a tunic. A cross-bearer never pities himself and does not need pity from others.
