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Scripture Reading: Exo. 33:14-16; John 5:19; 14:10
Some saints wonder why we experience God more through failure than through victory and why God’s leading often involves experiences of failure. According to our concept, God’s graciousness should lead us into victory. Consequently, when God allows us to fail, we assume that He is displeased with us. Our experience, however, reveals that this concept is not accurate. On the contrary, God allows us to fail because He wants to give us grace. In order to understand this matter clearly, we need to speak of God’s goal.
God’s goal for man is not related to avoiding failure or to achieving victory. God’s unique goal for His chosen ones is to enter into them and to mingle Himself with them. In eternity past and in His creation of man, God’s considerations were related to His intention to enter into man and to mingle Himself with man. This is a plain and simple statement, but it conveys the desire within God’s heart. God’s consideration of man’s significance is related to His desire and ability to mingle Himself with man. Man’s usefulness and function in relation to God are connected to his capacity to be mingled with God.
Man is mentioned first in the Bible in the context of God’s intention related to His creation of man. At the time of man’s creation, the Triune God held a council and decided to create man, saying, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). God created man in His image and according to His likeness in order to give man the capacity to be mingled with Him.
A Christian has a dual nature, including both divinity and humanity. A Christian has more than just the human nature; the Christian life is a hybrid life. Those who grow fruit trees know that the significance of grafting is the mingling of two lives to produce a hybrid nature. Christians have a hybrid nature, a dual nature, that is the product of the mingling of divinity with humanity. When we were unbelievers, God was God and man was man; we lived independently of the divine nature. However, in God’s chosen ones, God and man and man and God have been mingled as one.
God did not want to be alone in the universe. Consequently, He created man to be a counterpart for Himself (cf. 2:18). God does not want to be God merely in Himself; He wants to enter into man to be God in man. He is God, but He desires to be mingled with man. In the same principle, God created man because He wants man to be mingled with Him. Although He wants man to be man, He wants man to be man in Him. Just as He does not want to be alone in the universe, He does not want man to be man merely in himself. He wants man to be man in God.
Although the thought of man being man in God may seem difficult to understand, it can be simply illustrated with sugar and water. In order to fully enjoy the taste of sugar, we often mix it with water. If we try to eat sugar by itself, it is dry and sticks to our mouth. However, when we mix sugar with water, it dissolves, and we can easily receive and enjoy it by drinking the sugar water. We are like a dry cube of sugar, but when we are put into God, the full flavor of man, who is in God’s image and likeness, is manifested. Similarly, God is like the water. A glass of water can quench our thirst, but without sugar, its flavor is not fully realized. When God is put into man, the full flavor of God is expressed. God does not like to be alone; He wants to be mingled with man. Furthermore, God does not want man to be alone; He wants man to be mingled with Him.
Our concept of what God wants is limited primarily to matters related to good and ethical behavior; it does not occur to us that God wants us to be mingled with Him. Nevertheless, God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isa. 55:9). God’s goal for us is not confined to good and ethical behavior. He wants us to receive all that He is, and He further wants us to be mingled with Him. A moral person at the most is like a white sugar cube, clean and square. However, a moral person who is not in God will not be able to express the full flavor of God.
Every kind of food tastes better when it is seasoned. A person who is not in God is like unseasoned food. We may claim that we have been “seasoned,” but our “seasonings” include only things related to wickedness, lust, and the world. None of these seasonings produce a sweet odor in our being. In God’s salvation, however, the Lord’s precious blood washes us of the things related to wickedness, lusts, and a love for the world and “seasons” us with the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit, who is God Himself, is mingled with our spirit, we have a fresh and new “scent” in us. This is what God wants to do in us.
God has a desire to come into man to be God in man as well as a desire for man to enter into God to be man in God. I hope that we will see this matter and also learn to speak such a word. This is God’s goal in the universe. It is not good for God to be alone. He desires to enter into man to be God in man; this occurred when the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1). The thirty-three and a half years of the Lord Jesus’ life as a Nazarene is a record of God entering into man to manifest Himself as God in man. God not only came from heaven to the earth, but He also entered into man to be God in man. All the life and living of the Lord Jesus on earth are a record of God being God in man.
Through the Lord’s death and resurrection the believers have been saved and regenerated and have been brought into God so that man could be man in God. God is in every Christian, but every Christian is also in God. The proper living of a Christian manifests the mingling of two natures, that is, the mingling of divinity with humanity and humanity with divinity. When we see a believer with a proper living according to the mingling of God and man, we sense both a human flavor and a divine flavor. Although we sense that he is fully human, we also sense that he bears the flavor of God.
God allows us to fail so that He can mingle Himself with us. People who seemingly never fail do not have much experience of mingling. It is as if they have only good humanity but with no divinity. When such a one stands, his standing comes out of himself without anything of God. He may not fail, but his victory comes only from his self-effort. Without some genuine failure, it is difficult for God to enter into him as grace and to be mingled with him. Without a crack in his being, nothing can enter into him, even God. Such a one is sufficient in himself and has no real understanding of what it means to rely on God. He is sufficient in himself to stand, to overcome, and to deal with every matter.
However, God is not looking for a person who is merely able to stand and overcome in himself. God wants a person into whom He can enter and with whom He can be mingled. It is truly regrettable that a person can seemingly be so strong that he can stand without God and so powerful that he can overcome without God. Although he may seem to stand and overcome, he does not have God. A person who only has good humanity is not what God desires. God wants to enter into man and mingle Himself with man so that man may manifest God’s divinity in his humanity. Any person who thinks that he is sufficient in himself has no need for God.
When such a one comes to the meeting, he can even give glory to God, saying, “Hallelujah! Although I was tried, I stood firm; although I was tempted, I overcame.” What he is really saying is that God can remain in heaven and that there is no need for God to enter into him, because he can glorify God and accomplish His will all by himself. Do you think that God would be satisfied with such a testimony? What do you think God would say to such a believer? I believe that God would be displeased and would say, “You are satisfied, but I am not. You may seem to be standing without any failure and seem to be victorious without any defeat, but you will certainly fail.” If a believer can bear the weight of a certain amount of pressure, God will double the amount. If a doubling of the amount is not enough, He will allow the pressure to increase even more. God is able to break even the strongest believer. A believer who is able to stand when a certain amount of pressure comes should not be confident that he will be able to stand indefinitely. Eventually, a believer who has confidence in himself will have a great fall, a serious fall. He will fall to the extent that his actions will be beyond comprehension and even be manifested before all the saints in the church.
If a person falls to such an extent, it is only because he is so strong in himself and even says to himself, “I can stand firm, and I can overcome. I am sufficient in myself.” We need to remember that God hates our “I” the most, and He will use any means in order to allow our “I” to be exposed and to fall. There are many means that God can use to expose our self. He can use everything in the universe to assist Him in accomplishing His goal. He can use our family circumstances, including children and even grandchildren. He will give us the circumstances that we need in order to expose us. When God allows it, a man can fall to the uttermost. When a person falls in this way, he is more easily broken because he begins to understand what it really means to rely on God, to experience God, and to have God mingled with him. We need to see that God’s desire for us is not related to either our victory or defeat. God’s attention is not focused on victory or defeat, standing or falling; God’s only desire is to have an opportunity to enter into us and to be mingled with us.
In my youth someone who loved the Lord very much impressed me deeply with the matter of pride. At that time I saw that when we are proud, we will fall (Prov. 16:18; 1 Tim. 3:6). I also saw the need to be in fear and trembling lest we fall. This principle has helped me continually for decades. However, in recent years and through God’s mercy I have learned that it is not enough to merely be fearful of falling. There is something far more serious than falling — God’s absence. In whatever we do, we should be more fearful of God being absent in our actions than we are of merely falling or making a mistake. We need to consider whether God is absent in what we are doing. It is not enough for me to give a message; God must be in my giving of the message. If God is not in it, it will be a terrible thing. We should be fearful of God’s absence. These three words — God is absent — are quite sobering.
Moses knew God in the Old Testament age. Moses was eighty years old when he was called by God, and he suffered many trials and dealings throughout his life. In Psalm 90:10 he says, “The days of our years are seventy years, / Or, if because of strength, eighty years.” According to Moses’ estimation, a person who reaches eighty years of age is past the normal age of death. Because of God’s selection and calling, however, Moses was used by God to lead the children of Israel, even when he was past the normal age of death.
When Moses was called, God showed him a vision: “The Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thornbush. And when he looked, there was the thornbush, burning with fire; but the thornbush was not consumed” (Exo. 3:2; Acts 7:30). Through the thornbush and the fire, God showed Moses a type of mingling, and Moses realized that everything was of God and that nothing was of himself. It was as if God spoke to Moses, saying, “You are a thornbush. I am Jehovah, and as the flame of fire, I will burn you, but you will not be consumed. My glory and My power will be manifested through you. I will use your person, but I will not use your strength as the fuel of My fire. I will use you to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and will deal with Pharaoh through you, but I will not use your strength. You are the thornbush, and I am the fire in the thornbush. I want you to cooperate with Me and be a vessel for Me to display My strength.” When God called Moses in this way, He showed Moses the matter of God being mingled with man.
The children of Israel, however, did not see this matter. When they rejected God by worshipping an idol at the foot of Mount Sinai, God came to Moses and said, “Go, get down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves” (Exo. 32:7), and then He said, “Now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you” (v. 34). Moses, however, responded by saying, “Consider also that this nation is Your people” (33:13). This response indicates that Moses realized the children of Israel had been rescued through Jehovah’s strength, not his strength. Thus, they were God’s people.
Then Moses prayed, saying, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then shall it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, are distinct from all the other people who are on the face of the earth?” (vv. 15-16). This indicates that Moses knew he could not bear this responsibility in himself and even that he should not bear the responsibility in himself. This is a prayer of one who knows God. How many times have the elders in the churches prayed such a prayer, saying, “God, if You do not bear the responsibility with us, we will quit”? This is my secret before God. I often pray, “O Lord, if You are not working in me, if You do not bear the responsibility with me, I will quit. I will resign and go fishing; I will go to Egypt and take the way of the world. This is Your responsibility, not mine. I am just like Moses, who was only a shepherd, and like Peter, who was only a fisherman. Nevertheless, You called me, telling me that You would work through me. Now, if You want me to do everything by myself, I will quit.” This prayer does not sound respectful, but the Holy Spirit can testify that I often pray in this way. I have said to the Lord, “If You do not come, I will not do anything. If You do not go, I will not go. I have to give a message today, but if You are not in it, I will not speak. Whether I speak or do not speak is not up to me; it is up to You. The church belongs to You. The saints belong to You. They are Your people. If they are hungry, You must feed them. You are their Father; I am only a laborer. Whether or not Your children are fed is Your responsibility. So if You are not in my speaking, I will not speak.”
Rather than begging God, as we usually do, we should be like Moses, who was adamant in his speaking to God. It was as if he pointedly asked, “God, are You going or not?” and then said, “If You are going, I will work; if You do not go, I can only resign. It is Your decision whether or not to go; it is not mine.” Like Moses, we must live according to the principle of being a person with two natures that have been mingled together. In everything we do, we need to check to see if God is in it, even in such matters as visiting a friend or speaking a simple word to someone else. We need to ask, “Is God in it?”
It is not enough to be fearful of making mistakes or of falling. We also need to be afraid of God being absent in our actions. We need to ask whether or not God is present in our actions and in our goings forth. Even when the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He said, “The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does His works” (John 14:10). Although the Lord was speaking, it was the Father who was doing His works. This should also be our experience when we speak. Although we are speaking, it must be God who is doing His work. He should be mingled with us and working in our speaking. Then our speaking will be His speaking because He and we are mingled as one. Although we are speaking, it will really be God who is speaking in us. Although He is God, He does not speak directly from heaven; instead, He enters into man and speaks through man. This is the experience of a Christian who lives according to his mingled natures.
This is also the way that should be manifested in every aspect of our Christian life, including our daily living. Daily and hourly, when we do something, whether great or small, we should be able to say, “I am not here alone; God is here. I am not doing something out from myself, but God is doing it in me and with me.”
When we truly learn this lesson, we will be able to avoid many failures because in our experiences of being broken, we will learn to know ourselves, deny ourselves, have no confidence in ourselves, and not depend on ourselves. As we are about to do something, we will be focused more on not losing God’s presence and on God working in us than we will be of failures. Whenever we do anything, we should be prostrate before God and say, “O Lord, if You do not go, I will not move; if You are absent, I will not do anything. This whole matter depends on You, not on me. I am afraid that You may not be in this matter. I am afraid that I may do something in myself. I am afraid of standing and even of being victorious in myself. God, I am even more afraid of being successful in myself than of failing, and I am more afraid of standing by myself than of falling. I would rather fall than stand alone; I would rather fail than be successful alone. I am fearful of standing and of being successful without You. I want to learn to do only those things that come out of my being mingled with You. I only want to live and to work in a mingled way.”
God allows us to fail when we neglect this lesson and do not learn it. Our concept is much lower than God’s concept. We think that God’s goal for us is to overcome, to stand, and to be victorious. However, this is not God’s concept. His goal is not for us to overcome, to stand, or to be successful but for Him to enter into us and to be mingled with us.
God desires to enter into man to be God in man; He also wants man to enter into God to be man in God. We need to ask ourselves whether this is our Christian life. In our living do we allow God to come into us to be God in man, and do we enter into God to be man in God? If we have such a life, we do not have to be concerned with defeat or victory. We should focus on this glorious fact: God has entered into us to be God in man, and we have entered into God to be man in God. If we do not see this glorious fact, we will fail and fall. If we do not see this glorious fact, any “standing” that we exhibit will be worthless because it will not be according to the mingled living of a proper Christian. We should praise the Lord that when we stand and overcome in ourselves, God allows us to fail and fall. When everything is seemingly smooth, God allows us to fail and fall in order to break and expose us to the point that we will say, “Lord, I know that Your goal is to enter into me to be God in me and for me to enter into You to be man in You. Thank You that Your desire is to be practically mingled with me.” God’s being mingled with us, rather than our standing, overcoming, failing, or falling, is all that matters.
