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At one time or another we all have made up our mind to pursue spiritual growth and usefulness to the Lord. However, pursuing by our own determination often can become a matter of formality and therefore become inconsistent with reality. Real pursuing should be carried out in every aspect of our daily life. You can be enjoying the sights of mountains and rivers in your travels yet still be pursuing. You can be chatting with a friend about all sorts of topics yet still be paying a price. We should be paying a price and pursuing the Lord in every aspect of our daily life.
We cannot find that the Lord ever presided over a formal meeting while He was on the earth, because the Lord was not bound by formalities. Rather, He led the disciples to pursue in their daily life. Even while they were traveling, they were still pursuing (Matt. 5:1; 8:23; 9:10; 13:1-2, 10, 36; 16:13; 17:1-2; 24:1-3). In the Old Testament Gideon and his followers were tested in their daily life in the matter of how they drank water (Judg. 7:4-8). This should be the principle of our spiritual pursuit. We should not pray only when we enter into a certain room, nor should we preach and work only when we enter into the meeting hall and step onto the platform. If we pray, preach, and work only at these times, we are merely keeping religious formalities.
We can pursue at any time, whether we are on the mountain or by the seashore, on the road or at home. It is in our daily living that people can detect whether we are truly seeking after the Lord and whether we can truly be used by the Lord. If we cannot work for the Lord in our daily life, then we surely cannot work for Him at scheduled times. A true worker is one who is able to render spiritual help and spiritual supply to others in his every move and action during the course of his ordinary daily life. Only this is reality. Our living must be real and not religious. All the persons and things we contact and encounter every day, at every time, and in every place are opportunities for us to pay the price and pursue being useful to the Lord.
A basic price we need to learn to pay in our daily pursuit is that the younger ones must receive help from the older ones, and the older ones must try their best to help the younger ones. In order to become manifested before the Lord as those who are truly pursuing spiritual growth, we must take care of these two matters. On the one hand, we should do all that we can to receive help from whoever can render us help, and on the other hand, we should do all that we can to help whoever needs our help. This is real pursuing. However, usually our situation is that the younger ones seek out the younger ones while the older ones seek out the older ones. This is neither true pursuing nor paying the price. This is most likely due to our own preference. Always seeking out those who are of your age group in order to talk intimately with them is not paying a price but having your preference. This practice of spending time only with those whose taste and temperament are the same as yours should be torn down. It is due to an unwillingness to pay the price that the younger ones do not go to the older ones. It is also due to an unwillingness to pay the price that the older ones do not go to the younger ones. This kind of situation is mostly caused by being in the flesh and being unwilling to deny the self.
In Song of Songs 1 the seeker pursues the Lord but still has to pasture the young goats (v. 8). If we neglect the young ones, we are not very useful to the Lord. The older ones should go to help the younger ones because they sense the responsibility to do so. The younger ones should go to the older ones because they sense the need to receive help. This is the proper service.
We should not wait until the meeting time to serve. Instead, we should serve while we are working in the office, while we are doing chores at home, and even while we are away from home, traveling during our leisure time. This may be likened to the fact that whether a mother is at home or away from home — working at a job, taking care of some business, or doing some recreational activities — she cannot forget her children. The real lessons of pursuing are learned in our daily life, and the real time to serve is during ordinary times.
In the church life no one is solely a younger one or solely an older one; rather, everyone is a younger one and an older one as well. In spite of this, everyone still has to know his position and keep his place. In the work, in the church, and even when we all gather together, the younger ones should behave as younger ones, and the older ones should behave as older ones. Each one should firmly keep his proper position and pay the price to learn this.
Every matter in the universe has certain principles. For example, no one who loses his proper position can be blessed. Anyone who leaves his position will surely lose the blessing that rightfully belongs to him. In the family, the more the children conduct themselves properly as children, the more firmly they stand in their position as children, and the more the parents conduct themselves properly as parents, the more firmly they stand in their position as parents. The same is true in the church — the more the saints grow in a normal way, the more firmly they keep their position. The Bible says that the younger ones should be subject to the older ones (1 Pet. 5:5) and that the older ones should take care of the younger ones (cf. vv. 1-3). We all should know our position without waiting for others to give commands or depending on others to make arrangements. We should always keep our position, paying the price to learn this lesson.
Every person should know his position clearly. For example, a person who has truly learned this lesson and knows his position would not dare to say anything about the food placed in front of him, regardless of how bad the food is. Even if the food is poisonous, all he would do is refrain from eating it. He cannot say whatever pleases him because he does not have the position to say anything, nor is it the proper time to say anything. A person who has truly learned this lesson will make every effort to speak when it is the proper time to speak. However, if it is not the proper time to speak, he will keep silent. A person who has truly learned this lesson always keeps his position. When it is the proper time to discuss something in a meeting, he speaks. However, outside of the meeting after the discussion is over, he refuses to speak. Knowing our position and keeping our position — this is to pay the price to learn this lesson.
We must always learn to pay the price because only then can we be useful in the Lord’s hand. When we all come together, the position of the younger ones and the position of the older ones should be clearly manifested. The more evident this situation is, the more blessing there will be. In the church the more evident the order is, the stronger the church is. The younger ones should not feel ashamed, and the older ones should not feel proud. We should not think that those who correct us are ill-treating us. We should realize that the younger ones’ being able to listen to the older ones is a very glorious and sweet thing. Our position is to obey the more advanced brothers and the elderly sisters, whether they are right or wrong. We have no position to say anything before them. Once we say anything in a loose way, we lose the blessing.
Noah committed a grave mistake when he became drunk and uncovered himself. However, when Ham, the father of Canaan, spoke about it, he lost the blessing (Gen. 9:20-27). When there is loose talk in the church, the blessing is lost. Do not think that speaking a few words is a small thing; actually, a small spark can cause a great fire. In our daily life we need to learn the lesson of knowing our position. This requires us to pay a considerable price.
The price we must pay has two aspects. One aspect concerns our inner sense, and the other aspect concerns the light of the truth given to us by the Lord. Ordinarily, what we sense within is mostly related to trivial matters. The significant, rich, and profound things are mostly found in the truth. The latter aspect is seen mostly in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew is a book concerning the kingdom. The kingdom has a twofold significance in relation to us. On the one hand, it involves the ruling of the heavens, and on the other hand, it requires the paying of a price. Nearly the entire book of Matthew is concerning the requirement of paying a price. However, the most important chapters are 5 through 7, 13, and 24 and 25.
Matthew 5 through 7, consisting of the teaching given on the mountain, concern the reality of the kingdom. Chapter 13, consisting of the parables spoken beside the sea, concerns the appearance of the kingdom. Chapters 24 and 25, consisting of the prophecies spoken on the Mount of Olives, concern the manifestation of the kingdom. Both the reality and the manifestation of the kingdom were spoken on a mountain. This was because only those who “go up to the mountain” can participate in the reality of the kingdom today and enter into the manifestation of the kingdom in the future. Although a multitude of people followed the Lord, only a small number of them heard the word concerning the reality and the manifestation of the kingdom. Those who heard were those who followed the Lord up to the mountain and who came near to Him. In other words, they were those who paid a price and had fellowship with the Lord. The word concerning the appearance of the kingdom was given beside the sea, which signifies the world usurped and corrupted by Satan. Those who are in the world can only hear the word concerning the appearance of the kingdom. They cannot see the reality and manifestation of the kingdom because they have not paid the price by going up to the mountain and coming to the Lord.
Although the teachings covered in these three sections of Matthew differ in their content, they have one point in common. In every section there is the requirement that a price be paid. In Matthew 5—7 the price required of us is that our whole being and entire human living be completely given to the Lord so that we may attain to the surpassing righteousness, enter the narrow gate, and walk on the constricted way. Matthew 13 requires us to be delivered from the great tree and the leaven and to be wheat and a mustard seed. It requires us to be ground and crushed so that we may give the life supply to others. Chapter 13 also requires us to be the treasure (including the precious stones) and the pearl. In other words, this chapter requires us to pass through the burning of the Holy Spirit and the pressure of sufferings so that we may be valuable before the Lord. In chapters 24 and 25 the price that we are required to pay has two aspects — the aspect of life and the aspect of work. The aspect of life is that we need to buy the oil, and the aspect of work is that we need to be faithful. To buy the oil — the aspect of life — is to forsake all outward things in our daily life and to care only for the indwelling Spirit. To be faithful in the aspect of work is to use the gift that we have received to supply others.
We all know that God’s salvation consists of two parts. In the first part we receive forgiveness of sins and the eternal life by faith, and in the second part God intends to work Himself into us that we may be mingled with Him as one. The prerequisite to receiving the first part of God’s salvation is faith. Strictly speaking, the prerequisite to receiving the second part of God’s salvation is the paying of a price. Because God’s salvation consists of these two parts, there are two requirements for receiving these two parts. To receive forgiveness of sins and obtain eternal life, it is enough just to have faith. However, if we want God to work Himself into us and mingle with us, we must fulfill the second requirement — we must pay a price.
To pay a price is to put aside everything that is apart from God in order to receive the second part of God’s salvation. We must forsake everything that is outside of God, including our self, flesh, natural being, disposition, family, religion, wealth, reputation, position, and future. The totality of all these things that we need to forsake is the “all...possessions” mentioned by the Lord in Luke 14:33 and the “all things” mentioned by the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:8. The Lord said that we need to forsake all our possessions to follow Him, and Paul says that we need to suffer the loss of all things to gain Christ. We must do this because God in Christ intends to work Himself into us so that we may be united and mingled with Him. We need to forsake, to put aside, everything apart from God, regardless of whether those things are good or bad, in the past or in the future.
Thus, the price we must pay has many aspects, such as the price required in Matthew 5—7, 13, and 24—25, the price in Philippians 3, and the price in Revelation 3:18. In addition, there is also the price related to reward and punishment (1 Cor. 3:8, 14-15; 9:18, 24-25; Heb. 10:35). All these prices involve one principle — the price that we must pay is the loss of everything outside of God. We must put aside everything that is not in agreement with God and that opposes God, replaces God, and is a substitute for God. Otherwise, we do not allow God the adequate opportunity and sufficient ground to freely work Himself into us. As a result, we will not experience God richly.
Do not think that it is too much that the Lord told us to forsake everything. Also do not think that to abandon all things, as the apostle Paul said, is too difficult. The Lord and the apostle said this because in order to experience and obtain God, we must forsake all that is other than God; that is, we must abandon all things. This is not merely a condition, it is a necessity. If we live by ourselves, God cannot be in us as our life. If we rely on numerous persons, things, and matters and do not commit ourselves wholly to God, He cannot be everything within us. If our families, husbands or wives, and children are sweeter to us than God, then God cannot be everything within us. If our education, fame, position, and future are more lovable to us than God, then God cannot be our inner enjoyment and constituent.
Suppose that although we believe in God, we live by things that are outside of God, and these things are everything to us. Although there is no question that we are eternally saved, God’s intention to work in us, to the extent that we are completely mingled with Him as one, is absolutely impossible and unattainable. When we live this way, not only have we not fulfilled what is required of us, but also God’s intention cannot be attained in us. We have not paid the price, and paying the price is the requirement for God to work Himself into us and be mingled with us.
Some may say that in speaking about paying a price, we despise the effectiveness of the Lord’s salvation. Those who say this do not realize that what they say is not according to the truth. The part of salvation concerning forgiveness of sins and the receiving of eternal life can be obtained by faith alone. However, if we want God to come into us and be mingled with us so that He can operate in us both the willing and the working (Phil. 2:13) and enable us to live Christ (1:21a) — always allowing Christ to be magnified in our body (v. 20b) — then we must pay a price. We cannot arrive at this stage merely by faith. We cannot find a verse in the entire Bible telling us that we can obtain this result merely by faith. Paul says explicitly that since God operates in us both the willing and the working, we must obey with fear and trembling (2:12). He also says that if we desire to live Christ, we must not care for whether we live or die. Not only so, if we want to gain Christ and know Him and the power of His resurrection, we need to suffer the loss of all things and count them as refuse (3:8-10). Is this not the paying of a price? The second part of God’s salvation requires us to pay a price. This is both a requirement and a fact.
The purpose of paying a price is to afford God the opportunity to do in us what He intends to do. The significance of paying a price is that we allow God to have a place in us so that He may come into us to be our life and even to be fully mingled with us without any hindrance, limitation, or difficulty. Our living, preference, inclination, future, and interest must be given up in exchange for Christ because Christ wants to replace everything that we have. We need to hand over all that we have. If we hand over more, we will receive more. If we hand over less, we will receive less. If we hand over nothing, we will receive nothing. If we hand over everything, we will receive everything. We must pay the price and deny ourselves, forsaking our family, career, and future and discarding everything that replaces God. In this way God will come into us to be our life, power, nature, and content.
If someone believes in the Lord yet is not willing to pay a price to gain Christ, then the salvation he receives will consist only of the forgiveness of sins and the receiving of eternal life. The aspect of salvation that includes forgiveness of sins and the receiving of eternal life has been prepared by God for you, and all you need to do is to receive it. However, for God to be mingled with you, you must forsake all that you have. Hence, Matthew says that we need to buy the oil (25:8-9), and Revelation says explicitly that we need to buy gold refined by fire, white garments, and eyesalve (3:18). The word buy in these two passages was spoken by the Lord Himself. Paul did not use the word buy; instead, he said, “I have suffered the loss...that I may gain...” (Phil. 3:8). In principle, suffering loss and buying both involve paying a price. The extent of your suffering loss determines the extent of Christ’s coming into you. If you hold on to what you already have, you have no way to gain Christ.
The early Christians sold all that they had for the Lord’s sake (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32). They once had been under the usurpation of those things, and God therefore had no opportunity, no ground, and no way in them. However, eventually they realized that all those things should not be the goals of their pursuit but that God Himself should be their unique goal. Hence, they hated all those things and suffered the loss of them. The rich young man in the Gospels loved the Lord and wanted to follow the Lord, yet eventually he went away sorrowing (Matt. 19:16-22). Why did he go away sorrowing? It was because he would not sell his possessions. Since he was usurped by all those things, Christ had no place in him.
Whenever a person is usurped by his reputation, future, position, power, and relatives, there is no way for Christ to have the first place in him. The Lord said that no one can serve two masters (6:24). This means that no one can have two loves. This matter cannot be resolved merely by faith. Therefore, at the end of the Gospel of John, a book that frequently refers to faith (1:12; 3:15-16, 18, 36; 6:40; 20:31), the matter of love is mentioned. Many Bible readers acknowledge that John 21 was added by the author as an afterthought. The Gospel of John obviously concludes with chapter 20, yet the writer added another chapter — chapter 21, which is of another nature. The first twenty chapters of John speak about faith, but the last chapter, chapter 21, speaks about love (vv. 15-17). Peter and John had no problem with the matter of faith. However, unless they left their fishing boats and nets, they could not gain Christ. Today there are so many believers who are in John 20, but how many believers are there in chapter 21? Phrases such as more than these (v. 15) and when you grow old (v. 18) indicate that we are required to pay a price so that Christ may have the opportunity to fill us richly with Himself.
Although in John 20 Peter had already been saved, inwardly he did not have much room for Christ. He had received the eternal life abundantly, but he had not been sufficiently filled with Christ. Therefore, the Lord said, “Do you love Me more than these?” (21:15). To have more love for the Lord would require him to pay a price. If we only have faith, we still cannot say that for us to live is Christ, we still cannot know the power of Christ’s resurrection, and we still cannot say that it is God who operates in us both the willing and the working. The Lord said that anyone who does not forsake all that he has cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:26, 33). If merely having faith were enough, then Paul would not have needed to run the race (1 Cor. 9:24, 26; Gal. 2:2; 2 Tim. 4:7), nor would he have desired to receive the reward in the future (Phil. 3:14).
What is the result of paying a price? The result is that by handing yourself and all that you have over to God, God and all that He has are mingled with you. Paying a price is not only for you to receive a reward and be raptured in the future. Rather, it is for you and all that you have to be taken away and for God and all that He has to be added to and mingled with you. Those who are raptured first are those who have been filled with God. Those who enter into the kingdom to receive a reward are those who have been filled with Christ. Those who participate in the out-resurrection are those who have lived in the power of Christ’s resurrection today. Strictly speaking, it is not those who pay a price who will enter into the kingdom. Rather, it is only those who have paid a price and are thereby filled with Christ who will be able to enter into the kingdom. It is not the price itself that qualifies you to enter into the kingdom, nor is it the price itself that gives you the qualification to be a king. Rather, it is the Christ with whom you are filled who brings you into the kingdom and qualifies you to be a king.
If you want to be filled with Christ, you need to pay a price. God’s element cannot come into you unless your element goes out. If you are short of God, you cannot mature early. If you are short of Christ, you will lose your qualification to be a king. Therefore, the result of paying a price is not that you will enter into the kingdom to receive a reward but that you will receive more of God and of Christ. However, those who are full of God and full of Christ are those who will ripen and be raptured first, and only such ones will enter into the kingdom and reign on the throne.
If all day long children think only about receiving their parents’ possessions but do not love their parents, they are as unreasonable as robbers. If we do not pay a price, love God, or pursue the Lord, but all day long we only think about being raptured and receiving a reward, then we are just daydreaming. On the contrary, if children do not care for their parents’ possessions but only know to constantly love their parents and to please them, eventually all that the parents have will be theirs. We should not consider the reward, the rapture, and the kingdom to be the goals of our pursuit. Madame Guyon said that we have become fallen if we pursue the reward merely for the reward itself. The goal of all our pursuits should be God and Christ, and we should pay any cost to gain Him. If we would pursue with such singleness of heart, how could we not mature early? How could we not receive the reward?
If you read the biography of George Müller, you will see that in every matter he sought God’s leading and tried to sense God’s feeling in fellowship. He wrote a book with the title, Narrative of the Lord’s Dealings with George Müller, which corresponds exactly with the content of the book. He sought the Lord in fellowship regarding every matter, whether great or small, in his living. One thing which is deeply impressive is that after his death, people tried to make an inventory of his belongings, yet they found none, because he had completely handed over himself and all that he had for the sake of Christ. In man’s eyes he was so destitute after his death, unlike many people today who leave a great inheritance after their death for their children to fight over. However, in God’s eyes, Müller was a person who was according to God’s heart and who pleased God.
We have said again and again that the purpose of paying a price is for us to gain God and to have God added to and mingled with us, thereby replacing everything of ourselves. People who desire this willingly reject their natural life and disposition and take God’s life and nature. They live and walk not by their own wisdom but by God’s wisdom, and they forsake their possessions, relatives, fame, and position and want only God to come into them to be their all. This is what is meant in the Bible when it says that we must leave all and follow the Lord and suffer the loss of all things in order to gain Christ. This is what it means to pay the price, and this is the result of paying the price. Only people who pay the price have God operating in them both the willing and the working, have Christ being magnified in them all the time, whether through life or through death, and can say that for them to live is Christ. They are filled with Christ, filled with God, and can be used by God.
In summary, the first requirement for our being used by God is God’s visitation, which is not of us but of God. God’s visitation is His coming to us to visit with us. This is the beginning of God’s using us. Whenever we have a desire to serve God, we know assuredly that God has reached us and visited us. However, merely having such a desire does not enable us to be used by God, because on our side we still have to pay a price.
One day God came to Isaiah, and as a result, Isaiah was determined to go and work for God (Isa. 6:1-8). However, at that time he could not be used by God. He still had to pay a price. The result of paying a price is that by giving up all that we have, we take in all that God has. Only people like this can be used by God. Therefore, paying a price is the basic requirement and fact for us to be useful to God.
