Search
Scripture Reading: Phil. 2:8; 11:5, Matt. 11:28-29; 12:16, 19-20; 9:36; Luke 4:18-22; John 11:35; 53-56, Luke 9:58; Isa. 53:3, 7; 1 Pet. 4:1; 2:21-23; Luke 23:34a, 42-43; Heb. 2:18; 4:15; John 5:19, 30; 8:28; 14:10; 6:38; Matt. 26:39, 42; John 7:6, 8; 1 Tim. 3:16a
IV. In His ministry:
C. His living for His ministry:
1. Based upon the significance of water baptism:
а. Realizing that a man in the flesh is good for nothing but death and burial.
b. Denying His self and His natural man.
c. Putting His self on the cross and living under the shadow of the cross all the time.
d. Living a humble life by humbling Himself — Phil. 2:8.
e. Living under the yoke of God, being meek and lowly in heart — Matt. 11:28-29.
f. Charging people not to make Him known — Matt. 12:16.
g. Not striving nor crying out nor making anyone hear His voice in the streets; a bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench until He brings forth justice unto victory — vv. 19-20.
h. Having a concern for God’s flock — 9:36:
1) Doing miracles to take care of the needy ones:
“The blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; and the dead are raised and the poor have the gospel announced to them” — 11:5.
2) Preaching the gospel to the poor with words of grace proceeding out of His mouth — Luke 4:18-22.
3) Sympathizing with the suffering and ignorant disciples, even unto weeping — John 11:35.
i. Having no place where He may lay His head, though the foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have roosts — Luke 9:58.
j. Correcting His disciples to have a right spirit toward the rejecting ones — vv. 9:53-56.
k. Suffering afflictions without avenging, leaving us a model so that we may follow in His steps — Isa. 53:3, 7; 1 Pet. 4:1; 2:21-23.
l. In His crucifixion He prayed for those who were crucifying Him, that the Father would forgive them their sin of ignorance — Luke 23:34a.
m. Even in His suffering and dying, He extended His salvation to one of the criminals who were crucified with Him — vv. 42-43.
n. Being tempted but without sin — Heb. 2:18; 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22.
o. Doing nothing from Himself — John 5:19, 30a; 8:28.
p. Not speaking any word from Himself — 14:10a.
q. Not seeking His own will but the will of God — 5:30b; 6:38; Matt. 26:39, 42:
r. “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
s. “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
t. Being obedient to God even unto death, and that the death of a cross — Phil. 2:8.
2. Having no freedom to live according to Himself:
а. He said to His brothers, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready” — John 7:6.
b. “You go up to the feast; I am not going up to this feast, because My time has not yet been fulfilled” — v. 8.
3. Coordinating with the Father who abides and works in Him for the accomplishment of His economy — 14:10b.
4. Manifesting God to express God’s attributes in His human virtues — 1 Tim. 3:16a.
Thus far, we have seen the first God-man’s living in His infancy, in His youth, and in His silence between the age of twelve and the age of thirty. We have also seen His living in the commencement of His ministry and in His temptations. In this chapter we want to see the first God-man’s living for His ministry. We need to consider our living for our ministry. Many people today are living on this earth with no purpose. I came to the United States to live a life for my ministry. If it were not for the ministry, I would not have come to this country. We are living for the Lord’s ministry.
When He commenced His ministry, before He did anything, He came to John to be baptized. Water baptism signifies that a man in the flesh in the eyes of God is good for nothing but death and burial. Christ’s living for His ministry was based upon this significance of water baptism. We need to have the same base in our living.
Based upon this significance, Christ denied His self and His natural man. We should not forget what our water baptism means to us. It means that we were buried. We should not deal with our spouse the way that we did in the past. Based upon our having been buried, we should deny our self and our natural man. We should not do anything by our natural life, because it has been buried.
The Lord put His self on the cross and lived under the shadow of the cross all the time. He said, “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24). We followers of Christ should apply the cross to our self all the time. We should continuously live under the shadow of the cross. Throughout my entire Christian life I have been learning the lessons of putting my self on the cross and of living under the shadow of the cross. From the very beginning of my following the Lord, I was taught to follow Him by bearing the cross. It does not matter whether our natural man is good or bad. We should reject and deny our natural man, even if it is good. We should not think that we should live by our natural life because it is meek, gentle, and good to people. We have to remember that that meek, gentle life was buried when we were baptized. Our life today is Christ as the Spirit, the divine life.
Christ also lived a humble life by humbling Himself (Phil. 2:8). This shows that we should not be proud of anything. We have nothing that is worth being proud about. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh because God was concerned that he would be proud because of the revelations he had seen. God allowed a thorn to be placed upon him to subdue him from being proud.
In His earthly ministry the Lord also lived under the yoke of God, being meek and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:28-29). For our ministry’s sake we should be living such a life under the yoke. An animal under the yoke must labor to plow the land under the master’s direction. When we are under the yoke of God, we have no freedom, no choice, no preference.
Matthew 12:16 says that the Lord charged people not to make Him known. This means that He did not want to be renowned. All the co-workers are facing such a temptation. Some like to be renowned, to be known by everybody, but the Lord Jesus was contrary to this. To be popular is a temptation. When we want to be popular, we are finished. Some Christian workers dare not say anything bad about people, because they want to be popular. They will not say certain things out of fear that they will not be invited the next time. In 1964 I was invited to speak to a group of believers in Dallas. I was welcomed by them because I ministered Christ to them. Eventually, at the end of my time with them, I spoke about the church being the Body of Christ. I was rejected because of this. We must be faithful to speak the truths of the divine revelation. One former co-worker dared not say that Christ as the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit, because he said this would offend others. This is contrary to the living of the first God-man. He was not seeking to be accepted by everyone to make a name for Himself.
Matthew 12:19 and 20 say, “He will not strive nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench until He brings forth justice unto victory.” In ancient times the Jews made flutes of reeds. When a reed was bruised, they broke it. Also, they made torches out of flax, which can burn oil. When the oil ran out, the flax smoked, and they quenched it. Some of the Lord’s people are like a bruised reed, which cannot give a musical sound; others are like smoking flax, which cannot produce a shining light. Yet the Lord will not break the bruised ones or quench the smoking ones. Some of those who are as bruised reeds and smoking flax will be used by Christ to bring forth justice unto victory. If we think that no one is useful except ourself, we cannot carry out the Lord’s work. When we select co-workers, we may consider only how they appear outwardly, but they may not be that faithful. The Lord would select some bruised reeds and smoking flax. Then He would perfect them so that they could become useful in His hand to bring forth justice unto victory. We should use what the Lord has given us. If He gives us good ones, we should use the good ones. If He gives us bad ones, we should use the bad ones.
When the Lord saw the crowds, “He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and cast away like sheep not having a shepherd” (9:36). He did miracles to take care of the needy ones. He said, “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; and the dead are raised and the poor have the gospel announced to them” (11:5). This is the mercy exercised by the Lord as their Shepherd to take care of them. As a minister of the Lord, we should learn how to be concerned for the needy ones. The Lord also preached the gospel to the poor with words of grace proceeding out of His mouth (Luke 4:18-22). Sometimes we speak words of rebuking and condemnation instead of words of grace. We must learn to be one with the Lord to speak words of grace. Also, the Lord sympathized with the suffering and ignorant disciples, even unto weeping (John 11:35). Martha and Mary lost their brother Lazarus, but they still remained ignorant, and that compelled the Lord to weep. The word weep here means “to weep silently.” The Lord told them that Lazarus would be resurrected, but He was frustrated by human opinions. Martha postponed the resurrection to the last day (v. 24). Thus, the Lord Jesus wept. Many Christians today are suffering, without knowing why or what they should do under that suffering. The Lord sympathizes with this situation.
The Lord did not have a place to lay His head, though the foxes have holes and the birds of heaven have roosts (Luke 9:58). We have to learn to suffer poverty in this way.
The Lord corrected His disciples to have a right spirit toward the rejecting ones. The Lord and His disciples passed a village that would not receive them. The two sons of thunder, James and John, asked, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” Then the Lord said, “You do not know of what kind of spirit you are” (vv. 53-56). This indicates that the Lord always treated people with a right spirit. I regretted that sometimes I had treated people with a wrong spirit. We must learn the lesson to correct our spirit in the way that we treat people. If we respond with a wrong spirit to people who do not receive us, we are not qualified to serve people. We cannot minister the word of God to people if we have a wrong spirit.
According to the New Testament, the church has only one local ground; there is only one church for one city. By practicing this we annul the standing of all the denominations. Because of this they would not receive or welcome us. Should we respond the way James and John did in Luke 9, with a wrong spirit? We must exercise to have a right spirit. The Lord is a real model of the God-man living.
The Lord suffered afflictions without avenging, leaving us a model so that we may follow in His steps (Isa. 53:3, 7; 1 Pet. 4:1; 2:21-23). He was suffering silently like a sheep before its shearers. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. Today we co-workers must learn of this model. If people revile us, we should not have any thought of avenging by reviling them in return.
The Greek word for model literally means “a writing copy, an underwriting, used by students to trace letters and thereby learn to draw them.” The Lord has set His suffering life before us so that we can copy it by tracing and following His steps. This does not refer to a mere imitation of Him and His life but to a reproduction of Him that comes from enjoying Him as grace in our sufferings, so that He Himself as the indwelling Spirit, with all the riches of His life, reproduces Himself in us. We become the reproduction of the original writing copy, not a mere imitation of Him produced by taking Him as our outward model.
In His crucifixion He prayed for those who were crucifying Him, that the Father would forgive them their sin of ignorance (Luke 23:34a).
Even in His suffering and dying, He extended His salvation to one of the criminals who were crucified with Him (vv. 42-43).
Although Christ was tempted, He was without sin (Heb. 2:18; 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22).
The Lord said that He did nothing from Himself (John 5:19, 30a; 8:28). This is because He considered Himself a buried person.
The Lord did not speak His own words. He spoke the Father’s words (14:10a).
He did not seek His own will but the will of God (5:30b; 6:38). In Matthew 26:39 He said, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” Then in verse 42 He said, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
Philippians 2:8 says that the Lord was obedient unto death, and that the death of a cross.
The Lord had no freedom to live according to Himself. He said to His brothers, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready” (John 7:6). In verse 8 the Lord said, “You go up to the feast; I am not going up to this feast, because My time has not yet been fulfilled.” The Lord lived on earth as a man, being limited even in the matter of time. This shows that before doing anything, we need to contact the Lord. We may pray, “Lord, I have a burden to go and see a certain brother. Is this the right time?” Often when I prayed in this way, the Lord told me that I should wait. I had a burden to help a brother, but the Lord would not allow me to do it then. We must learn the lesson of timing. We must learn not to act according to our preference.
Stanza 1 of Hymns, #501 says concerning Christ, “God infinite, in eternity, / Yet man in time, finite to be.” He was God in eternity without limitation, but He became a man on the earth limited by time and space. He was limited to the village of Nazareth in His living for about thirty years. Can we be limited in such a way? We may have the burden to visit many places, but the Lord may not want us to. We must learn the lesson to be limited.
Everything that the Lord Jesus did was in coordination with the Father who abode and worked in Him for the accomplishment of His economy. In John 14:10b the Lord said, “The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does His works.” This was a coordination with the Father who lived and worked in Him.
He was on the earth living a life totally for the manifestation of God to express God’s attributes in His human virtues (1 Tim. 3:16a). When people saw His virtues, they saw God’s attributes, and that was a manifestation of God. We need to apply all these points to our daily living in our contact with everyone.
