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Scripture Reading: Phil. 3:6-8
We need to see the obstacles that God’s life encounters in us. I believe that many brothers and sisters know and have seen a little about life. The brothers and sisters also have some understanding concerning the way to obtain life and the issue of obtaining life. However, from our experience, we know that God’s life also faces obstacles and difficulties in us. Every part of our entire being, both inwardly and outwardly, presents some obstacles to life. Although we know that God’s life has come into us to be our life and to be lived out of us, in reality, this life encounters obstacles in us. Thus, it is very difficult for life to be lived out from us.
Our whole being is a hindrance to God’s life. God’s life encounters many obstacles in us. It is difficult to find one Christian in a thousand who allows God’s life to have a free way in him. It is difficult to find a tenth of one percent, much less one percent, who give God a free way. The most difficult problems and severe restrictions that God’s life encounters in the universe are related to these obstacles in man. This is a very serious matter, and it is worthwhile to study this matter in a thorough way.
It is a fact that we have been saved and that God’s life has come into us. We know about God’s life, and we also know how to touch and contact His life. Nevertheless, God’s life still does not have a way in us, and it is unable to get through in us because it faces obstacles in us every day. In our daily living we do not give God’s life the way, and we do not allow God’s life to have the ground in us. Everything of our natural man is a restriction to God’s life. Even our exhortation of others can be a problem for God’s life. Everything we have, whether good or bad, approved or disapproved, can be an obstacle for God’s life.
We should never think that the lukewarmness and backsliding of some brothers and sisters are a hindrance to God’s life but that the zealous pursuit of the Lord by other saints is not a hindrance to God’s life. This concept is false. Often, our zeal and pursuit are the greatest obstacles to God’s life. Similarly, we should not think that the ungodliness and worldliness of some saints are a hindrance to God’s life but that godly saints, who do not love the world and who forsake sin, do not present any obstacles to God’s life. This is not necessarily true. God may encounter significantly greater and even stronger obstacles in these saints rather than in those who are ungodly and unrighteous.
Therefore, we need to spend much time to see the obstacles that God’s life encounters in us. Although these are negative matters, the danger is quite serious; consequently, we must study them. We have met many people who love and pursue the Lord zealously and who are very pious, but we rarely meet people who allow God’s life to have a free way in them. We rarely see God’s life flowing freely out of anyone without encountering some difficulties. Among today’s Christians we can hardly find anyone who gives God the free way. If we could find such a person, it would be the greatest blessing and miracle in the universe. This means that it is very rare and noteworthy for us to find someone who does not place restrictions and obstacles before God. May the Lord have mercy on us so that we would not only know life and the way of life but also discover the things that hinder and restrict life.
The first problem that God’s life encounters in man is the problem of ignorance. After any person is saved and becomes a Christian, he still has his thoughts and concepts. After a person is saved, he even has concepts and thoughts concerning what it means to be a proper Christian. A person may believe in the Lord on the first day, be baptized on the second day, and consider what kind of a Christian he should be on the third day. Everyone has human concepts. However, all human concepts are in darkness. It does not matter whether we are wise or foolish, whether we are highly educated or uneducated, all our human concepts are in darkness, and they prevent us from knowing life and Christ. No matter how good, lovely, and precious, all our concepts are in darkness, and they keep us from knowing Christ as life in us.
After some people are saved and become Christians, they have a concept that they need to be zealous and preach the gospel. They do not realize that even this concept can be in darkness and prevent them from knowing life. Other people have a different concept. They think that being a real Christian involves forsaking the world, fame, and wealth. They look down on everything that is physical and worldly, and they even attempt to forsake everything that is worldly. In their view, this is what it means to be a model Christian. Nevertheless, we must remember that these concepts are in darkness, and they prevent us from knowing life. People have such concepts because they do not know life.
Therefore, the first problem that God’s life encounters in us is that we do not realize the darkness of our human concepts. We do not realize that our concepts, even though they seem proper and upright, are actually full of darkness and without life. Most Christians think that they should be zealous and forsake the world once they become Christians. From man’s view, this sounds very logical. But without God’s life, this is not practical.
Being a Christian is not a matter of zeal, nor a matter of spreading the gospel, nor a matter of forsaking the world, nor even a matter of not caring for material enjoyment. Being a Christian does not depend upon doing anything; it does not depend upon anything under the sun. Being a Christian depends upon how we take care of the Christ in us. The day we were saved, we received a living Christ, who became our life in us. From that day forward, our being a Christian has not depended on anything other than taking care of the living Christ in us. The only thing that matters is how we take care of the living Christ in us.
After we are saved, the concept of trying to be good is within all of us. We think that being a Christian means to forsake the world, to be zealous, and to preach the gospel fervently. This is a natural, human concept. This is our thought, not God’s thought. As soon as we are baptized, we typically think that we should be zealous and preach the gospel. However, when we pray and fellowship with God in the morning, the living Christ in us may touch us in a different way according to His constant operation and move in us. Then things truly begin to happen in us. For example, as He operates in us, we will see that some things we may have done in the past are inappropriate, such as beating our wives, blaming our husbands, and complaining about others. We will even have a sense that we should apologize. Therefore, we need to lose our face and go to those whom we have offended and say, “I am truly sorry about how I treated you in the past. I also offended God. Now I ask you to please forgive me.” This is what Christ is doing in us. When we pray, the living Christ will move in us and touch us to apologize to those whom we have offended.
However, after experiencing this kind of moving within, a brother may not apologize but instead begins to reason, “I am a man, a real man. I will lose my face if I apologize to my wife. I will go and preach the gospel, and that will be enough.” So he asks the Lord, “Grant me the power to preach the gospel.” If we are this kind of Christian, we are wrong because preaching the gospel and zealousness have become our goal, rather than following the living Christ in us. I have been in the church life for many years, and I have seen some people who are very zealous and tireless in preaching the gospel, but when we go to their homes, their wives say, “Others may believe in Jesus, but I will not believe. Others may preach the gospel, but I do not believe what my husband preaches.” This often is our situation.
We may preach the gospel and be zealous, but this does not mean that the living Christ is living Himself out of us. We can be zealous and active in preaching the gospel but totally ignore the sense of the living Christ in us. The living Christ wants to conquer and break us, but we are not willing. From the day we were saved, we have not allowed Christ to break us even once. We accept what fits our taste, such as zealousness and preaching the gospel, but we completely ignore anything that does not fit our taste, such as apologizing to our wife. This is our true situation. While we are spending much effort in considering what to do before we go to preach the gospel, our wife or husband may be thinking, “You are going to preach the gospel! You have no Christ and no reality.” This shows that our zeal and preaching of the gospel are merely religious activities. The living Christ is not moving or being lived out of us.
If we genuinely know the Lord, when we pray to Him in the morning, He will move in us and give us a sense of our need to apologize to our wife. After praying, we should humble ourselves and apologize for our past wrongdoings to our wife. After apologizing, we need to say to the Lord, “O Lord, thank You. I have obeyed Your moving in me. I have no choice; I do not want to have my own concept. You are my only choice and my only concept.” If we would all do this, the living Christ would have more ground and opportunity to speak to us and to give us even more feelings. The result of this continual operation would spread to our dealings with others, or it may touch our wrong actions toward others. At such moments we need to care only for Christ, not for our face or self-esteem. We need to go to people and apologize for our past wrongdoings. In this way Christ will surely have more ground in us.
I believe that those who have experienced this can testify that after such an experience, they truly feel that they are filled with Christ’s presence. Even though we are on the earth, we feel as if we are in the heavens. We cannot describe the sweet, happy, peaceful, and clear feeling in us. At this point we may ask the Lord, “O Lord, how will You lead me? I care for Your feeling.” Then the Lord will direct us to do something else, and without relying on our own concepts and opinions, we can simply follow Him. This is what it means to be a Christian, and this is the Christian’s pathway of life. Our old concepts involve us only in religious activity; they cannot cause us to become normal Christians.
It is difficult to change our concepts, but we will not have a way to go on unless we put aside our own concepts and opinions. Being a Christian means not taking anything other than Christ as our aim. Many people have difficulty in their spiritual life after they are saved because they do not know the pathway of life, and they do not take Christ as their life.
The second problem that life encounters in us is hypocrisy. There was a sister in the church in Nanking who spoke slowly and walked softly; everything she did was soft and gentle. Consequently, all the responsible brothers in the church in Nanking thought that she was very spiritual. However, strictly speaking, this was a false spirituality. We need to see that being slow is not necessarily of life and being quick is not necessarily of life. Whether or not something is of life is not determined by whether it is quick or slow. These have nothing to do with life.
Many people think that to be slow is of life and to be quick is not life. For example, if a certain brother does things quickly or does too many things when he serves, some saints think that he has a quick temper and is not spiritual and that he needs to be dealt with and broken. On the other hand, if another brother wipes chairs and sweeps the floor slowly when he cleans the meeting hall, many saints think that he is very spiritual and that his life has been dealt with and broken. This is not correct. Just as being quick is not life, being slow is also not life. Whether or not a person’s actions are of life does not depend upon whether he is quick or slow; rather, it all depends upon how he takes care of Christ.
Furthermore, a certain brother may be born with a disposition like a sharp stone. It seems as if he had eight horns when he was born, and it is very difficult for others to get along with him. Both at home and at work, his horns easily touch other people. Even after being saved, his horns continually touch people in the church. People cannot speak a few sentences to him before he starts an argument with them; he can pound the table and glare at people. Because of this, people quickly say that he is fleshly and needs to be broken. On the other hand, another brother may be born with a smooth personality like Jacob. A smooth stone does not have any sharp edges or protrusions. Some people are born this way; they never offend their siblings and parents at home, and they never offend their co-workers and superiors at work. Regardless of how people treat them, they are always smooth and even. When such a person is saved, he becomes a smooth Christian in the church. Three to five years may pass, and he never offends anyone. Many brothers and sisters praise him, saying, “This person is truly spiritual. He never argues at home or causes trouble outside. We see him doing many things, but he never gives his opinion. He is truly spiritual and full of life.” This kind of speaking shows a lack of knowledge about life. We need to realize that this is actually hypocrisy. If his behavior were truly spiritual, then it would mean that he was spiritual even before he was saved. This is not possible. A person’s spirituality is not determined by outward appearance but by how he takes care of Christ.
Not only do other people think that such a brother is spiritual, but even the brother himself thinks that he is spiritual. He not only deceives others; he even deceives himself. Although he does not criticize others outwardly, he is full of criticism inwardly. For example, when he sees a certain brother lose his temper, he questions why this brother has such a bad temper. He inwardly criticizes the brother for not being like himself, because he has never lost his temper or fought with others since being in the church life. Although he may not say anything outwardly, he feels this way inwardly. He thinks that others are in their flesh and need to be broken but that he does not need any breaking. Moreover, he can even pray to the Lord, saying, “O Lord, have mercy on my brother. Although I do not dare to say too much, may You have mercy on him and break his flesh.” He never prays for himself because he thinks that his smoothness is spiritual. He does not realize that his spirituality is false and that it is actually a great hindrance to life.
Some people may be naturally gentle, modest, uncontentious, caring, willing to shed tears for others, sympathetic, and self-sacrificing. They have many good points and virtues. After they become Christians, they bring these natural virtues into the church. They think that these virtues are of life and that Christians should have them, but they do not realize that their inner eyes have not been opened. They are blind and do not realize that these virtues are false. From the point of view of morality, people should have these virtues, but from the point of view of life, these virtues are false. Life is God Himself, life is Christ, and life is the Holy Spirit. Anything that is not of God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit is not life. Hence, regardless of how much a person can meet — and even go beyond — the standard of morality, this is still not necessarily life.
Life involves only the expression of Christ Himself out of us. Suppose a person treats his wife in a harsh way, including hard looks and beatings. After being saved, the Lord will begin to operate in him and give him a strong feeling to stop his habit of oppressing his wife, to apologize to her, and even to ask her for forgiveness. This is not something natural and inborn; this is Christ being expressed from him. Such an operation breaks and defeats him so that Christ can be expressed out of him. When he apologizes to his wife and asks her to forgive him, life and Christ are being expressed in him.
There are actually some people who never lose their temper. However, there is a greater possibility of these people becoming truly spiritual if they would lose their temper once or twice. This is because they often truly know the self and Christ only after losing their temper. We should never think that it is easy for people to lose their temper. Some people are born with a disposition that does not lose its temper even when others try hard to make them lose their temper. It is difficult for some people not to lose their temper, but for others it is difficult for them to lose their temper. This is due to their disposition, and their disposition cannot be changed easily. Nonetheless, when Christ operates and moves in them, urging them to speak some frank, strong words, life will be expressed if they go against their disposition and obey the inner feeling to speak a frank word. This is very difficult for them, and it requires that they pay a great price.
Thus, the expression of life involves the rejection of our natural disposition and preference, and simply allowing Christ to operate in us and break us. Then our actions through the inner operation of Christ will be of life. If we always do things according to our disposition and natural being, the outcome will always be hypocrisy. We must see this matter clearly.
The third problem that life encounters in us is rebellion. Christ operates and moves in us in order to make us clear about His will and requirements for us and about His leading and dealing with us. However, if we do not obey but go against the feeling within, not accepting His leading or paying the price, this unwillingness and opposition are rebellion. In this case we may have our freedom and choice, but we will not have the way of life.
Many times we think that we are obeying the Lord, but actually we are rebelling against the Lord. For example, we may want to preach the gospel, but the Lord’s operation in us is to pray. Since we do not like to stay at home and pray, but instead prefer to speak to gospel friends and fellowship with the brothers and sisters, we may simply act according to our desires. This is to act in rebellion. Nevertheless, we may think that we are following God by visiting people for the gospel and fellowshipping with the saints.
We may truly have an inward feeling that Christ wants us to pray and quiet ourselves in fellowship with Him, to draw near to Him, and to muse upon His Word. But instead we may visit with a brother, a sister, or even a gospel friend because we do not like to stay at home and fellowship with the Lord. We do not have the thought that our preaching of the gospel without prayer is rebellion. Actually, we are fully in rebellion. If we visit people in this way, they will certainly not be able to sense God’s presence with us, because we have disobeyed the living Christ in us. At such a time we should realize that our outward work of preaching the gospel is merely a religious activity.
Visiting gospel friends and fellowshipping with the brothers and sisters are very pleasant things to do. However, we may be very active and zealous in doing those things but still may imprison the living Christ within us by ignoring Him. Thus, we are actually disobeying the living Christ in us. He wants us to do things in a certain way, but we refuse to follow His way. Our unwillingness to do things according to His will is clearly rebellion. Many of us commit this sin every day. The sin that we commit the most frequently and most severely is not an outward and visible sin; rather, it is the sin of disobeying the sense of Christ in us. Christ is living in us, and He is constantly giving us an inward sense of life. We should obey Him, but we often disobey Him. We often do not do what He wants us to do, and we often do what He does not want us to do. We often rebel against Him. Rebellion continually creates obstacles for His life in us.
The fourth problem that life encounters in us is our natural capability. Our natural being, disposition, and self are all problems that prevent God’s life from coming out of us. However, the problem of our natural capability and ability is even more serious, and it is a strong obstacle that prevents God’s life from flowing out of us. Many brothers and sisters truly love the Lord, are zealous for the Lord, and are very godly. Nevertheless, their greatest problem is the strength and greatness of their capabilities and abilities. Consequently, Christ has no ground or way in them.
We all know that some people have a problem with sin, others have a problem with the world, and still others have a problem with their disposition. However, it is not easy for us to be aware of the problem of our natural capability. For example, a group of brothers and sisters, who are very strong in their natural capability and ability, may truly love and pursue the Lord. But when a person touches them, he only senses their capability and ability because they have never been broken in their capability and ability. When he contacts them, he can only say that they seek and pursue the Lord but that their natural capability has not been broken. This is because the Lord is unable to get through in them when He encounters their capability.
There are many brothers and sisters like this among us. They are capable and talented, but they do not consider these things as sin or filthiness. They even think that these are good and useful things to the church. They think that they need such capabilities and talent in order to serve God. They do not despise their natural capabilities; instead, they treasure them. If these capabilities remain unbroken in them, they will become a problem to Christ’s life.
May the Lord have mercy on us so that we would be enlightened to see how many obstacles there are in us and how much these obstacles restrict God’s life. Actually, the obstacles in us are not limited only to these things. Nevertheless, there is one solution to all these obstacles in us — we must pass through the cross and let the cross break us. If we want Christ’s life to be unhindered in us, we must experience the breaking of the cross and allow these obstacles to be dealt with and removed. This will allow Christ’s life to be lived out from us.
