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Concerning the pursuit of spiritual life, we should not take the easy way. As we are dealing with life, which is something living, we should avoid any dead condition. We should not focus merely on the principle of life; rather, we should focus on the genuine pursuit of life.
Question: How much of our need to “hand ourselves over” is related to our condition?
Answer: Since we have not had sufficient fellowship concerning this matter, many saints think that they need to hand themselves over because they are defeated. They seem to think that if they had not failed, that is, if they were all right, they would not need to hand themselves over. However, this is not the case. As far as God’s original intention is concerned, we must still hand ourselves over no matter what our condition is, even if it is the best. Handing ourselves over has nothing to do with our condition. This relates to the fact that even apart from our sins the Lord needed to go to the cross and die for us in order to release the divine life. In God’s eyes, even if we are strong and victorious, we need to hand ourselves over to Him for the divine life to be wrought and constituted into our being.
Humanly speaking, even if others consider our condition to be excellent, in the eyes of God we are still living out ourselves rather than the life of God. This is not what God wants. God’s intention is not to save and help us by His life because we are weak and our condition is poor. His original purpose in His plan is to work His life into us; this has nothing to do with whether we are weak or strong. When we are weak, He works His life into us; when we are strong, He still works His life into us. This is what He does whether we are weak or strong.
God needs our cooperation in order to work His life into us. However, His life being worked into us is not for making up a lack on our part. God’s intention is to work His life into us so that His Son may be the Firstborn among many brothers for the expression of the glory of His Son. Since the light we have seen is inadequate, low, and shallow, we always think that we need the strong life of God to help us because we are weak. Actually, man needed God’s life when he was still in the garden of Eden, long before our father Adam fell. This is typified by Adam’s being placed in front of the tree of life after he was created. Even though Adam had not yet fallen and was not yet weak, he was placed in front of the tree of life in order to receive God as life.
Hence, we must hand ourselves over to God to let Him have the proper opportunity to work Himself into us so that His original purpose may be fulfilled in us. This is not related to being weak or strong; this is a matter concerning the accomplishing of God’s eternal plan.
Question: Subjectively speaking, do we experience the Lord’s death once and for all?
Answer: Anyone with such a thought does not have much light. People analyze whether their experience of the cross is subjective or objective because they lack adequate light regarding the cross. They do not see that all things have been crucified with Christ, not just the old man and the flesh.
For a period of time there were two factors that caused me to be afraid of the Japanese; one factor was specific, and the other was general. The general factor was that I had a bad impression of the Japanese; to my impression they were terrible. The specific factor was my being put in prison as a result of false charges brought against me by the Japanese who were envious of the fact that the Lord was blessing my work in northern China. Even though I was released from prison because of a serious illness, I was still kept under surveillance. When I was released, the Japanese were in control, and Tsingtao was under their occupation. When I saw what the Japanese had done in Tsingtao, I was very depressed. One evening in 1945 a brother heard over the radio that the Japanese emperor would announce an unconditional surrender on August 14. I have not been afraid of the Japanese from the day I heard this news. Formerly, I feared the sight of a Japanese military officer. However, after hearing of their imminent surrender, I would not have been frightened even if they pointed a gun at me. This is to see a great light.
In the same principle, when the Lord opens our eyes to see that Satan has been defeated on the cross and that the cross has terminated all things, including us, then all that we are and have will be terminated. For three days, from August 13 through 15 of 1945, when Japan announced their surrender, some of us went everywhere, shouting, “Japan has surrendered! Japan has surrendered!” We were beside ourselves. We heard the announcement over the radio and read about it in the newspaper. It was not a matter of whether Japan’s surrender was subjective or objective; it was a matter of seeing the fact that the problem between Japan and China was over.
The Bible tells us that Satan, sin, the self, our old man, and all things have been terminated on the cross. There is nothing subjective or objective regarding this. We should not think that objectively we need to know that our flesh has been crucified with the Lord, and subjectively we need to experience the crucifixion of the Lord when we are losing our temper. If we think this way, we may think that though we know that our flesh has been crucified objectively, it is difficult for us to experience it subjectively. This would mean that we need someone beside us to daily and subjectively remind us not to lose our temper. Once the news of Japan’s surrender was broadcast, I realized that the Japanese were finished. From that time on I was not afraid whenever I saw a Japanese. Likewise, we need to see daily that our flesh has been crucified with the Lord. Perhaps we would say that we do not feel anything. This can be compared to my experience with the Japanese. Originally, I did not know that Japan had surrendered, but after a brother came and told me of their surrender, I was beside myself for three days. We need light so that we may have a genuine seeing.
We need to hand ourselves over to God whether we are victorious or defeated. God wants us to hand ourselves over, because His original plan is to work Himself into us. Even in the beginning, in the garden of Eden, the created Adam was not weak and had not fallen, yet God still wanted him to receive the tree of life. If we genuinely see this great principle, we will not care for minor points. From eternity God’s plan has been to work His life into us in His Son. We need to see this. This has nothing to do with our falling, sinning, being weak, or being strong. This is what God will do whether we are good or bad.
When we see this, we will forget trivial matters. It is a great matter to see that our condition does not matter; such a seeing can solve our problems. This also applies to Christ’s death on the cross. We need to see that this all-inclusive death has been accomplished. On the cross, not only were we crucified, but the flesh, the self, and everything in the universe were dealt with by the cross. Death, Satan, and everything that was created was terminated on the cross. When Japan surrendered, all her people, including the emperor, great officials, and even small soldiers, were finished. As long as we see and receive Christ’s all-inclusive death on the cross, our problems will be solved.
Question: Is there a distinction between receiving that is according to knowledge and receiving that is according to the spirit?
Answer: Concerning the declaration of Japan’s surrender, was there a distinction between receiving this news as knowledge and receiving it by the spirit? When people heard of Japan’s declaration of surrender, did anyone wonder whether he received the news as knowledge or in the spirit? We have these kinds of questions in our mind because we have not seen the Lord’s all-inclusive death on the cross. Therefore, we ask ourselves: Is this subjective or objective? Is this knowledge or the spirit? Seeing is seeing. Japan’s surrendering simply meant Japan’s surrendering. Christ’s death simply means that Christ died. His death, which terminated all things, simply means Christ’s death terminated all things. The simpler we are when we apply these matters in our experience, the better. There is no need to analyze, because we cannot enter the spirit by analysis. The fact that Christ died means that Christ died; that all things were terminated on the cross means that all things were terminated on the cross; that we died in Him means that we died in Him. All analyses come from the mind.
Question: Why is it that spiritual matters sometimes seem so real and at other times so distant from us?
Answer: This is exactly right. Spiritual matters can be very near, as near as “in your mouth and in your heart” (Rom. 10:8). They can also seem so distant that they are beyond our reach our entire life. This same principle applies to hearing the gospel and receiving salvation. One person may receive the gospel immediately upon hearing it the first time, whereas another person may not receive the gospel after hearing it numerous times. Suppose there are two brothers, and the younger one receives the gospel, but the older one does not. The older brother may ask the younger, “How did you receive the gospel?” The younger brother may reply, “I simply received it.” The older brother says that it is difficult to receive the gospel, but at the same time the younger brother says that it is easy. This shows that God will have mercy on whomever He will have mercy, and He will have compassion on whomever He will have compassion (9:15). Our salvation is truly a matter of mercy. We are saved because God showed us mercy.
It is difficult for God to work in a person who does not think clearly. It is strange, however, that some people’s minds are clear when we speak concerning subjects such as engineering, machinery, and economics. However, when we speak to them concerning God’s salvation, no matter how hard we try, we cannot get through with them. They are easily distracted in their thoughts. This is truly a matter of God’s mercy.
What can we do to receive God’s mercy? If we want to give a lofty answer, we can say, “If God will have mercy on me, I will be shown mercy; if God will not have mercy on me, I will still ask Him for mercy.” We need to be humble to say, “O God, enable me to see. Let me see today; if not today, then let me see tomorrow.” However, our eagerness to see is often a hindrance to seeing. Yet at the same time a lack of eagerness to see can also be an obstacle. Hence, when the apostle Paul wrote Ephesians, he prayed for the saints, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him” (1:17). Paul’s responsibility was to write the Epistle, but whether or not the saints would know the Lord Jesus depended on God’s mercy.
For this reason, whenever I give a message such as this, I am reluctant to exhort or incite people with words; by the Lord’s mercy I would like to unveil this mystery so that perhaps some could hear and receive mercy to see it. Similarly, when we preach the gospel, we do not know who will be shown mercy. In this matter we can do nothing to help. Man’s salvation is of God’s mercy; no one can help in this matter.
We may think that we are very capable, but have we gained anything? We have preached the gospel, but our number has not increased. We have not gained what we thought we were capable of gaining. We need the light. In the book of Job, God did not speak until Job’s friends had finished their speaking (38:1-2). When man stops speaking, the light comes. We are often bothered if we do not do something for the Lord, but even when we do, we often have no impact. This is because we do not have the light. God wants simplicity. Our words and thoughts need to be purified; they need the shining of God’s light.
The most successful people in the world are the simplest people. This is the same in spiritual matters. We must stop our distracting thoughts and worship before the Lord, saying, “Lord, You are the Lord. Whether or not I see, You are still the Lord.” Then our problem will be solved. We must be able to stop and not try to analyze whether something is this way or that way. If we think that we can find a solution by our analysis, we are finished. We need to learn to be simple. Since the Lord has said so, we should simply stop and receive. In response some might ask, “What if I receive it but nothing happens?” This continual asking of questions is like being presented with food but still asking, “Is there bacteria in the food? What if I eat it and have a stomachache? Should I see a doctor? What if the doctor is inexperienced?” Questions like these can be endless.
Many people are like this. They may have heard the words of the faith many years ago, but in their mind they have one question after another. Thus, they can neither touch nor receive the reality in God’s Word. We need to stop our distracting mind, stop wandering in our mind, stop all our questions, and simply come back to God’s Word to allow the light in God’s Word to shine on us. Once we have the light and have seen the light, our being will spontaneously be terminated.
Romans 6 shows that we who are baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. We are a group of people identified with the death of Christ: “Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be annulled” (v. 6). Galatians shows that “I,” the flesh, and the religious world have been crucified. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ”; 5:24 says, “They who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts”; and 6:14 says, “The world has been crucified to me and I to the world.”
Colossians 2:14 says that the ordinances were nailed to the cross, and verse 15 says that the rulers and the authorities of the air were hung on the cross: “Wiping out the handwriting in ordinances, which was against us, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. Stripping off the rulers and the authorities, He made a display of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” This shows clearly that the law and the written ordinances were nailed to the cross.
Romans, Galatians, and Colossians list only a few items that are related to us. Since the believers in Rome were not clear regarding the significance of baptism, the apostle Paul asked, “Are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” (Rom. 6:3). Then he went on to say, “Our old man has been crucified with Him” (v. 6). Because the Galatian believers tried to keep the law by themselves, Paul asked them why they still wanted to keep the law since they had already been crucified (Gal. 3:2-3). Since the Colossians wanted to go back to Gentile philosophy and the ordinances of the Old Testament, Paul told them that both Gentile philosophy and the ordinances of the Old Testament had been nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14, 20-23). Today our focus should be the crucified Christ, not the keeping of the law. Since the believers were not clear, Paul pointed out that the law, the world, the self, the flesh, the old man, and even all things have been crucified. The problems that occupied the believers in Rome, Galatia, and Colossae had already been terminated.
Question: In the Old Testament God’s work in man was outward, but in the New Testament it seems that God’s work in man is inward. Why is God so complicated?
Answer: God spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. This is the principle of God’s creation. This is all that He needs to do in order to create. The principle of incarnation, however, is not the same. God established the types in the Old Testament before the New Testament age so that through these types men could comprehend the eternal purpose of God, which is presented in the Old Testament. This purpose is to gain man and to accomplish what He wants to do in man. In the Old Testament, whenever God wanted to call man to work for Him or whenever He wanted to move through man, it was always done through the Spirit of God coming upon man. In the New Testament, in order for God to gain man, He gives the Holy Spirit to man and puts His life within man. Hence, from the day of our salvation, the Holy Spirit has been dwelling and spreading in us.
In God’s creation He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. But in order for God to accomplish His eternal goal, He had to pass through a process with numerous steps. This process is for the manifestation of God’s wisdom. Therefore, the Old Testament presents types, and the New Testament presents the reality. In the Old Testament God worked on man outwardly, and in the New Testament God works on man inwardly. All His work is for the accomplishment of His plan and the manifestation of His wisdom.
Question: Is the salvation that we have received from God complete?
Answer: In the Old Testament age God gave the land of Canaan to the children of Israel. After they crossed the Jordan River, the entire land of Canaan was theirs. Their enjoyment of Canaan began when their feet stepped on the land. Even though they were able to enjoy only the part of the land they walked on, the entire land of Canaan was for their enjoyment. In the New Testament age the Holy Spirit has been in us from the day of our salvation. The Holy Spirit is Christ, and Christ is God. Thus, the Holy Spirit, Christ, and God are in us. But our knowing and enjoying the Holy Spirit depend upon our actual experience of Him. The day we were saved, we received everything, but we still need to hear the truth. The truth we hear points out and shows us that all that is in Christ is ours.
In God’s plan Christ intends to work His glorious and great person into us. We received everything that Christ is at the time of our salvation, even though we did not understand this. Hence, God repeatedly sends His servants to tell us that all things are ours. Since we may not have heard clearly the first time, God arranges the environment so that we can have a better comprehension of what we have received when we hear it a second time. Since our knowledge and comprehension of salvation are very limited by our natural concepts, God gives us more of His divine speaking. This is the reason that we have writings such as Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Revelation in the New Testament.
This, however, is not to say that the riches of Christ were not our portion before we heard God’s further speaking after our salvation. In fact, all the riches were our portion, but we did not know it. Hence, God in His Word reveals and shows that all things are ours, item by item. At the same time He shows that not only were we finished on the cross, but all things were dealt with on the cross. The only reason we think that we are poor is because we have not seen the full salvation that God has given us in His plan.
Question: What does “many first will be last, and many last first” mean (Matt. 19:30; 20:16)?
Answer: We should realize that there are always two sides to the truths in the Bible. The things in the physical world have this same principle. For example, our head has a front side with seven “holes” and a back side with no “holes.” In the universe, according to Chinese philosophy, there are yin and yang, males and females, the sun and the moon. This simply reflects a law in the universe that everything has two sides. In spiritual matters, from God’s side, everything is related to His mercy; from man’s side, everything is related to man’s responsibility. Let us consider the matter of salvation. From God’s side, if He had not predestinated us to enter His kingdom, we would be unable to enter, regardless of how much we strive and struggle. From man’s side, if we would not believe and receive the gospel, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. Hence, some say that salvation is a matter of God’s predestination, and others say that it is a matter of man’s responsibility. There is no need for debate. From the side of God in heaven, it is God’s predestination; from the side of man on earth, it is man’s responsibility. D. L. Moody has said rightly that on the outside of the entrance to God’s kingdom, it is written, “Whosoever will may come”; however, once inside, it is written, “Chosen before the foundation of the world.” A student of D. L. Moody once asked him, “There is no doubt that salvation is predestinated by God, but when we go out to preach the gospel, what will happen if someone whom God has not predestinated believes?” Moody answered, “My child, just go ahead and speak. All who believe through your speaking have been predestinated by God.” The same seed of life is sown into us, but in some it will bear fruit and produce thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold, but some will not bear even twofold. This shows man’s responsibility. To yield thirtyfold is good, to yield sixtyfold is better, to yield a hundredfold is the best, yet to yield nothing is the worst. This is the responsibility that man bears. Whether a seed can grow is God’s responsibility, but whether a seed can be sown into man is man’s responsibility. Whether or not God allows us to hear His word is His responsibility, but whether we receive His word is our responsibility. If we have a distracting mind, we will miss God’s shining and will be unable to receive God’s speaking. Therefore, we must stop our thoughts.
Question: The Lord Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:1). Since we have received the Holy Spirit after believing into the Lord and being baptized, what should we do when the Holy Spirit leads us and evil spirits follow?
Answer: Many times, spiritual things may not be our reality; instead, they may merely be thoughts in our mind. Hence, we should look to the Lord in His presence and learn to stop these thoughts. We should not think that when the Holy Spirit leads us, evil spirits are always involved. The spiritual fact is that the Holy Spirit has been in us since the day we were saved and baptized. We should simply believe this fact, and spend more time to consider the Lord and draw near to Him, not allowing ourselves to be distracted in our mind about thoughts of evil spirits.
I have already said that in matters pertaining to our spiritual life, the most important thing is seeing. The Lord Jesus once said of the Jews that although they had seen Him in the flesh, they had not really seen Him (13:13; John 12:40-41). If they had seen Him, they would not have forsaken and crucified Him. The reason the Jews crucified Him was that they had not seen Him.
There are three aspects of seeing. First, God must unveil the spiritual things to us. For example, if I am hiding something, you will be unable to see it unless I show it to you. If you want me to show it to you, you will either need to beg me, or, without your begging, I may voluntarily show it to you. If God does not show, or unveil, His mysteries to us, we will be unable to see them. Hence, the first point concerning seeing is God’s unveiling, or showing, His mysteries to us. Christ is the mystery of God, and the cross is also a mystery. If God does not reveal Christ and the cross to us, none of us will be able to understand them. Thus, the first point about seeing is God’s unveiling. It is only when God pulls open the veil in heaven, making known to us the heavenly mysteries, that we can know Christ and His cross.
Second, we need the veil taken away from our eyes so that we may see. If we are blind, we will be unable to see anything. Hence, if we want to see, our eyes must be opened; they must be bright. If God unveils a certain matter to us, but we do not have eyes that can see, His revelation will be useless. In order for us to see what God has unveiled, our eyes must be able to see.
Third, there must be light. If we want to see an object, it must first be placed before us; then we need eyes that can see; and finally, there must be light. Even if our sight is normal, we will be unable to see an object placed before us in the darkness of night. Hence, seeing spiritual matters depends on God’s unveiling, our eyes being able to see, and God’s shining. God’s unveiling is His revelation. For example, Christ and the cross may have been mysteries behind the veil, but one day God will lift the veil and show us Christ and His cross. This is revelation. At this time our eyes must be open to see, and there must be the shining of light to enable us to see this spiritual matter. Therefore, revelation plus sight plus light equal seeing. Our seeing is called a vision. If our eyes are opened and God’s light is shining, we will immediately see Christ when God reveals Him to us. This is a vision.
God has already lifted the veil in heaven. The problem is whether or not our eyes can see. Since God has given us revelation, He is surely willing to grant us light. There is thus no problem on God’s side with the first and the third aspects. The problem on our side is that we may not have eyes that see. Even if we have revelation and there is light, we will not see anything if we do not have sight.
Many people have revelation but no vision, because their eyes are not opened. Many among us are blind, even though we have revelation, and the Spirit of God is doing a shining work here. This is our biggest problem. Whether we have eyes that see is our responsibility. Many of our concepts, views, and ideas are veils that hinder us from seeing. In order for the veils to be removed, we need to stop and reject all our natural thoughts and ideas. Otherwise, we may think and think until the Lord comes back, and still be unable to see. If we do not stop analyzing, our eyes will be blurred, and we will not be able to see. Even if we do see, it will not be clearly. Some people in our meetings do not really want to see; they are satisfied with merely coming to the meetings. Thus, they see very little.
We must see that spiritual matters depend entirely on seeing. When there is seeing, there will spontaneously be believing, but without seeing, there cannot be believing. Once we see something, we cannot help but believe. Therefore, we need to remember that spiritual matters depend on our seeing. Christ is all-inclusive, but our experience requires that we have eyes that can see. If we have sight, we will see His all-inclusiveness; we will see that His death is all-inclusive and that His riches are all-inclusive.
Man’s natural thinking is a big hindrance to God, because it restricts God. Spiritual matters are not for our study or analysis but for our eating, digesting, and receiving. We simply need to eat. Some people may ask, “What if we do not eat properly and become sick?” Such unnecessary questions hinder us from taking in what God has revealed to us. It will be difficult for us to see light if, after hearing a message, we ask endless questions. For example, a head chef may prepare a delicious dish for us, but instead of eating, we may ask, “Does the food contain bacteria? What if we become sick after we eat it?” What would the chef do? He would say, “I put out a delicious dish for you to eat, not for you to study.” When some people see a “delicious dish,” that is, when they hear a message, they do not analyze in their mind, rather, they open their “mouth” and take in everything spoken in the message, including the all-inclusive death of Christ and His all-inclusive riches.
We may use another illustration. After hearing a message concerning the four living creatures, represented by a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle, some may ask, “What about fish?” As soon as they ask this question, everything that they have heard becomes null and void. None of the truths, not even the truth related to Christ or His cross, can enter into us if all we have are questions. This kind of situation is a “dead-end street,” and we will be filled with all kinds of strange ideas that are simply rubbish. We need to see that all these troubling and distracting thoughts hinder us from seeing clearly; hence, we do not have a vision.
Writers always like to make inferences, but it is altogether wrong to make inferences in relation to seeing a vision. We need to look to the Lord for His mercy and grace that we would have eyes to see, stop all our thinking, and simply receive what He reveals to us. When reading the Bible, we should stop all our thoughts in order to see. In the same way, when listening to God’s word, we need to stop our entire being, including our natural thoughts, so that we may see the revelation in God’s word. God has no way to show us anything if our mind is racing. The main reason that many saints are blurred in their vision is because of their distracting thoughts. When people speak to us, we should stop all our thoughts, even if we think that we are experienced; otherwise, we will be unable to hear what is being said. In order to hear, we must stop our natural thoughts. The reason we cannot see is that we have not stopped these distracting thoughts.
We need to go to the Lord and ask Him to grant us sight. We need adequate prayers, sight, revelation, and light. On God’s side, there is no problem with revelation and light; on our side, however, very few of us actually have eyes to see and ears to hear. We do not need to study how to hand ourselves over, overcome the flesh, or be spiritual. Our need is to drop such questions and, instead, go to the Lord and say, “O Lord, I want to be as quiet and calm as You are. Grant me the light in this matter. Lord, I do not know what it is to be victorious or holy. I only know that I lack eyes that are clear. I look to You to enable me to see.”
