Date: December 1, 1940, mid-week meetingPlace: ShanghaiScripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:30; Col. 3:4; John 8:24, 28
Spiritual deliverance is the result of seeing; it is not the result of hearing. Other than Christ, God has not given anything to man. But it is strange that even though man claims that he knows this fact and has heard it already, he may still hold on to many things apart from Christ.
The main cause of poverty is pride. Pride is evil, and it is foolish to be proud. Only those who are in darkness can be proud. Everything that man is proud of is worthless in the eyes of God. Unfortunately many people do not realize this; they do not realize how worthless the things that they take pride in are. Those who are in the light will never be proud even if you force them to be so. Light alone can strip a person of everything. It shatters him and restricts his vision to the Lord alone. The whole matter rests on how much we have seen the Lord. If we have not seen Him, our experiences are merely isolated events. Even if these experiences are scriptural or spiritual, they are worthless in the eyes of the Lord.
First Corinthians 1:30 is one of the great verses in the New Testament: "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption." The colon after the phrase "who became wisdom to us from God" indicates that wisdom includes righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
We must note that this verse does not say that Christ has become our Justifier, Sanctifier, or Redeemer. It says that Christ has become our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are three important items in God's salvation. On the one hand, we have to know that Christ is our objective Justifier, Sanctifier, and Redeemer, but on the other hand, we have to go on to know that Christ is our subjective righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Many people can testify that Christ is their Justifier, Sanctifier, and Redeemer, but they do not know that Christ is also their righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We must consider what it means for God to say that Christ is our wisdom: righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Man needs righteousness when he comes before God. Righteousness has much to do with God. As soon as we think about God, the question of righteousness comes in. Suppose you leave your bedroom and go downstairs to meet a guest. The first thing that comes to your mind is the way that you are dressed. You will surely tidy up a little. Similarly, when man comes to God, the first thing that comes to his mind is the question of righteousness. Without righteousness no man can see God. In the Christian life, righteousness is a very basic matter. If a Christian has not settled the issue of righteousness, his foundation is not secure.
Christians often consider righteousness to be something related to conduct. The world also thinks that man's righteousness has to do with his conduct. When it says that a man is not righteous, it means that his conduct is not very good. This is why Christians often come to God based on their own conduct. If their conduct on a certain day is poor or if they have lost their temper and engaged in arguments, they dare not pray when they come to the prayer meeting. Even when they pray, they can only pray in a soft voice. But if they behave well on that day and do not lose their temper or argue with others, they will pray with a loud voice in the prayer meeting. These Christians are using their own conduct as the standard of their righteousness. But God takes Christ as the standard of our righteousness.
I have found one interesting thing in my life — conduct and righteousness are two different things. In the past I thought that my conduct constituted my righteousness when I came to God. Now I see that only Christ is my righteousness. Our conduct is not our righteousness. I have discovered that my righteousness is a person, the One who is sitting on the throne. Brothers and sisters, we can improve our conduct; we can be more diligent and love others as ourselves, but none of these things can be counted as our righteousness. Our conduct can improve and change; it can change for better or for worse, but this will not change our righteousness, because our righteousness is the unchangeable One on the throne. Now I come to God through Him. Ten or twenty years from now, I will still come to God through Him. He does not change.
Such a revelation will greatly change your Christian life. You will see that good behavior cannot justify your boasting before the Lord, nor should bad behavior become a cause for discouragement before Him. Only Christ is your righteousness! This is a law, something that will never change. You can criticize my poor conduct, but you cannot criticize my righteousness. Christ as my righteousness is unblamable. My righteousness is Christ — this is the greatest salvation. A Christian can be a believer for ten years and improve his conduct in many ways, but until he realizes that Christ is his righteousness, he will not know what salvation is. Simply listening to this message will not give you deliverance; deliverance only comes when you have a true revelation. In the past you received Christ as your Savior. Now you need to receive Christ as your salvation.
Sanctification is a much-debated topic today. As far as we know, all the teachings on sanctification take sanctification as a moral virtue, an act, or an inward condition. They all consider sanctification to be a thing, an object. If a person has this kind of concept, it means that he does not know what it means for Christ to be our sanctification.
Some Christians have a natural concept concerning sanctification. They think that sanctification is Christ coming to us and helping us become holy. What they are really saying is that they are not holy and that Christ is helping them to become holy. However, 1 Corinthians 1:30 says that Christ Jesus became to us from God sanctification. We are not sanctified through ourselves or through the help of Christ. Rather, Christ Himself has become our sanctification. Sanctification is in Christ, not in us. Sanctification is the person of Christ, not the help of Christ.
Other Christians think that sanctification is Christ giving us the power to become sanctified. Actually, man can never be sanctified, and God has no intention to give man the power to become sanctified. God's Word tells us clearly that Christ Jesus became to us from God sanctification. Our sanctification is a gift, a person, not the result of some kind of empowering. Only those who have seen this revelation can tell the difference between these two things. Only they can see the great distance between them. This revelation is not something that one can fathom with his mind. We must ask God to show us something; we must see that Christ did not come to help us to be holy. Neither did He come to give us the power to be holy. Rather, Christ Himself has become our sanctification.
Many Christians think that with sanctification there is a need for the power of sanctification on the one hand and a need to bear the fruit of sanctification on the other hand. They think that they will produce the fruit of sanctification if they have the power of sanctification. But where do they place Christ in this process? Most people say that Christ is necessary for power, because power will enable us to bear the fruit of sanctification. However, 1 Corinthians 1:30 does not say that Christ is a power to empower us to sanctification. Instead, it says that Christ Himself is our sanctification. We can have sanctification only after we have Christ, and we can have the fruit of sanctification only after we have Christ. Brothers and sisters, we may consider sanctification to be a thing, but God's Word shows us that Christ is that very thing. Our sanctification is a living person — Christ. Christ is our sanctification.
Suppose I am a proud person with no humility whatsoever. I can be aware of my pride, but I cannot humble myself. I may pray to God, saying, "Be merciful to me. Lord Jesus, empower me and make me humble." I think that I need the power of humility in order to be humble myself. If Christ helps me and empowers me, I think that I will surely become humble. I pray and ask for help, but this is only my own concept. It is not God's way of salvation. God has not given us the power of humility, but humility itself. God has given us a perfected humility — Christ. Is the Lord powerful? Of course He is. Has God given us this power? Surely He has. But why are we still so weak? Brothers and sisters, we have to realize that the Lord's power is real, but this power is not accessible to us as a thing. Even if we can be humble and even if we can have a perfect performance, we only have an act of humility at the most. Within us we still do not have humility itself. Humility is Christ Himself, not the power of Christ.
We should pray, "Lord, You are my humility. God has made You my humility. I ask that You live out Your humility from within me." This is the right attitude. In asking the Lord to be our humility, we should lift up our head and say, "Lord, I have no humility of my own. Be my humility and live out humility on my behalf." If we look to Him in this way, our humility will not be our own. Instead the Lord will become our humility, and our humility will no longer be a conduct, but a living person — Christ Himself.
When I was young, I loved to watch slide projection shows at school. After I believed in the Lord, the slide shows became a frequent illustration I used. The light behind the slides never changes, but the slides change all the time. Sometimes the light illuminates scenery, and sometimes it illuminates some kind of atmospheric phenomenon. Sometimes the light illuminates landscapes, and sometimes it illuminates flowers and trees. In the same way all virtues are just the different expressions of Christ being reflected in us. Humility, meekness, and patience are not works that we do; they are virtues of Christ. They are the very human virtues of Christ. In fact, they are just Christ Himself. All the different virtues radiate from the one unchanging life of Christ. These different virtues are produced as a result of the many different kinds of environments. Hence, the virtues of a Christian are not different types of conduct, they are the result of Christ being reflected in him. This is the meaning of Christ being our sanctification.
We do not need to manufacture a holiness of our own. Rather, we reflect Christ as holiness. Such a revelation and knowledge forms the basis of our Christian life. Many Christians are striving to be humble, obedient, and meek. Little do they realize that they are not producing reflections of Christ, but "products" of their own effort. Actually, none of these virtues can be planned or manufactured.
When many Christians try to forgive, they pray for the Lord's strength. Then they try to muster their own strength to forgive. Even then they find that they cannot forgive. We have to see that when our forgiveness runs out, we should ask the Lord to be our forgiveness. We should acknowledge that we cannot forgive in ourselves and that there is no forgiveness in us. We should lift up our head and say to the Lord, "I have been wrong. I have tried to be a Christian on my own. I will no longer do this. Lord, I will allow You to live out of me." The whole issue rests with the Lord Himself, not with you.
Christ is not only our Redeemer; He has become our redemption. Not only has He become our sanctification in our inward constitution, He has become our redemption in our outward body. If the Lord Jesus was only our Redeemer, He and we would still be separate. Thank the Lord that He is not only our Redeemer; He has become our redemption. Hence, our redemption is not just a thing, but a person who is joined to us. First Corinthians tells us that the Lord will appear one day. At that time all those who believe in Him will receive God's redemption; that is, the dead will be raised and those who are living will be changed (15:52). On the day of redemption we will be manifested as the sons of God and will reign with Him. None of this is the result of any doing of our own. Just as we were not saved by works, we also should not live according to our works. Our assurance, whether it is related to our salvation, walk, or rapture, is based on Christ.
When two Christians died once, I said to some, "When a Christian dies, he is not buried; he is sown." First Corinthians 15:42-44 does not speak of "burying," but of "sowing." We know that there is a difference between sowing something and burying something. Anything that is sown will eventually grow up. But anything that is buried is buried; it will not grow. As Christians we do not have cemeteries; we only have gardens. What we sow will one day grow up. Christ is within us, and He is also in our body. This Christ is not bound by death. Death cannot hold Him. On that day, neither death, nor the grave, nor Hades, nor Satan will stop us from rising, because the resurrected Christ has become our redemption.
The end of an unbeliever is burial. His death is an entrance into an eternal grave. Although there will be the second resurrection, this resurrection is different from those participating in the first resurrection. Unbelievers will be judged at the second resurrection; they will enter the second death, which is the greater death (Rev. 20:14-15).
A child once asked me, "Does it take much effort for Christians to be raptured?" To the child the rapture requires a great deal of effort. If we see that Christ is our redemption, this kind of question will not arise. A Christian is raptured because he has Christ within him. Going to the throne is an effortless matter. May the Lord open our eyes to see that there are not many things or objects in Christianity. Everything is Christ. This is not a theory, but a reality. Christianity is not a religion of works. It is not a matter of works, but a matter of life. The first step in our salvation is regeneration: "You must be born anew" (John 3:7). The last step is the redemption of the body. From beginning to end, everything is based on "Christ our life" (Col. 3:4). Christ is not here to be outward things to us. He has come into us to become our life.
Many people say that love is a thing, that gentleness is a disposition, and that humility is an attitude. But we must see that all these things do not depend on what we do, but on our knowledge of Christ. What we know concerning Christ is what truly matters. The Bible tells us that Christ is the "I AM" (John 8:24-28). His name is the "I AM." These verses do not tell us what He is. This means that He is whatever we need. In one circumstance He is love. In another circumstance He is humility. This love and humility are not merely love and humility per se, they are a living person. Christ becomes our love. Christ becomes our humility. Some of us have already realized this. I hope that all the brothers and sisters can have such a realization.
Prayer: Lord, besides You, we have no greater reward. You are the great things, and You are the small things. By Your mercy and blessing, may these incomplete and imperfect words remove our veils and shine within us so that we can truly know You as the "I AM." In Your name we pray, amen.
