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It is easy for people to say that the church is the Body of Christ. However, the Bible says that the church is not only the Body but also the new man. The new man is different from the Body. Let us use the physical body as an example. A body is simply a vessel to be used as an organ. A man, however, is not merely an organ; a man has a person. A body needs life, but a man needs a person in addition to life. Life is different from a person. A plant has life, but it does not have a person. A man has not only life but also a person. In the past we saw that the church is the Body with Christ as its life. However, we did not see that the church is the new man with Christ not only as its life but also as its person.
The Bible says that the church is the new man. Ephesians 2:15 says that Christ abolished “in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.” Paul says that the Lord created the two — the Jewish and the Gentile believers — into one new man. Therefore, the new man is not an individual. The new man is corporate. Verse 16 continues, “And might reconcile both in one Body to God.” Verse 15 says that the Lord created the two into one new man, not an individual man but a corporate man, and verse 16 says that He reconciled both in one Body. This indicates that the Body is the new man. Moreover, in chapter 1 the Body is the church. Hence, the church is not only the Body but also the new man.
Some believers say that while the Bible says that the church is the Body of Christ, it does not say that the church is the new man. These believers say that before a person is saved, he was an old man, but after he is saved, he becomes new. Hence, the new man refers to a saved individual, not to the church. Without a clear foundation in the truth, we will be influenced by such talk. We must guard against the schemes of Satan. We should ask such believers to read Ephesians 2:15 and ask them what the two refers to. If they cannot answer us, we should tell them that the two refers to Jewish and Gentile believers. Since the new man is composed of two peoples, Jews and Gentiles, the new man cannot refer to individuals. It is a corporate new man. Besides, verse 15 says that He created the two “into one new man,” not merely “into a new man.” Into a new man may be understood as each believer being a new man. However, verse 15 clearly says “one new man.” Verse 16 then says, “And might reconcile both in one Body to God through the cross, having slain the enmity by it.” Ephesians 1:22b-23a says, “Gave Him [Christ] to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body.” These verses indicate that the Body is the church. According to the context, the Body also refers to the new man in chapter 2. If we see this point, we will have a firm foundation.
We need to grow in life and be clear concerning the truth, and we must also fight the battle for the truth. Fighting for the truth is not something that we began. From the time of the church fathers, believers have been fighting for the truth. The Reformation began with Martin Luther’s contending for the truth. Today the whole world is in confusion, but the truth in the Bible is crystal clear. What do we mean by truth? Here is an example: It is true that two plus two is four. To say that two plus two is 3.99 is false; it is an error. Similarly, to say that two plus two is 4.01 is also an error. Truth stipulates that two plus two is four. The truth in the Bible is very accurate and very exact. Nothing can be more accurate than the thoughts of God. The Bible as God’s revelation, His speaking, is very accurate. We must locate the truth in the Bible. Based on the Bible, we can say that the church is not only the Body but also the new man.
As Christians, we need to know how to present the truth to people; otherwise, we are useless to the Lord. We must be able to render genuine help to others. Second Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.” Our spirit is a spirit not only of power but also of love and sobermindedness. The word sobermindedness indicates that our mind is clear and sober, not confused. Our spirit should be a spirit not only of power and of love but even more a spirit of sobermindedness. If we have love but are not sober, we will love in a foolish way. For example, suppose I make a cup of coffee for a brother because I love him. However, I add two spoons of spicy chilies to the coffee. When he drinks the coffee, he will surely suffer; he may even get an upset stomach. Hence, it is not adequate to have only a spirit of love. We still need a spirit of power and of sobermindedness. Power is related to our will, love is related to our emotion, and sobermindedness is related to our mind. We need to be loving in our emotion, strong and powerful in our will, and sober in our mind. Hence, it is not enough to have only life. If our mind is confused, we will not be able to help others with the truth.
Every believer should lead others to salvation. If we truly love the Lord and grow in life, the people we pray for will get saved. We must be trained so that we can lead people to salvation. We should speak the truth in life to bring people to salvation. Truth, life, and speaking are a threefold cord. We have the truth and we have life, but we also need the ability to speak to others so that they are subdued. If we have love without a sober mind, we will confuse our gospel friends, and they will be unreceptive to our speaking. Hence, we need to learn to speak the truth.
Now we must consider a crucial point. Why is there a person in man? A man is not a machine, because machines do not have a person. However, human beings have a person. The importance of being a human being is that human beings have a person. Without a person, I am merely a body. My body is not my person. I am a man because there is life within me. This life, however, is also related to a person. Hence, in order to be a human, our life must be expressed through a person.
Our person is our personality with our ego, inclinations, preferences, and thoughts. Our body is an outward organ that needs life. A tree has a visible trunk and also life within, but a tree is not a human being. As human beings, we not only have life but also a person. This means that in addition to having life in our body, we also have a personality, a person. This is what makes us different from plants. Plants have an outward form as well as life within, but they do not have a personality, a person. A human being has not only a body but also life and a personality. This personality is our person. We are human beings because of this crucial distinction: we have a person within us. Without a person, we are not human beings. Likewise, since the church is the new man, it needs a person. If the church were merely a Body, it would need only life. However, since the church is also the new man, the church needs a person.
The church needs to have a person, and this person is Christ. Christ is the person in the church. In order for Him to be our person, He needs to make His home in our hearts. For this reason, we need to make room in our being and allow Christ to occupy us and be our person. Galatians 2:20 says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me,” and Philippians 1:21 says, “To me, to live is Christ.” These verses indicate that Christ desires to be our person.
Ephesians 4:22 says, “Put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man.” The former manner of life refers to our old way of living and contacting others. If a person lives a secluded life, whether or not he loses his temper, loves or deceives people, or honors his parents has no meaning, because he has no community, no human interactions, no social relationships, and therefore no manner of life. Our former manner of life refers to the kind of life we lived and includes our contact with others, our social activities. Hence, to put off the old man means to put off our old manner of living, that is, the living we had in the past in contacting and dealing with others.
When we take Christ as our person, we can no longer live the way we lived in the past. Since we have put off our former manner of living, we can no longer seek worldly pleasures, such as social clubs. Our former manner of life, our old life, whether it was related to a social club, a society, or a certain community, has been put off. To put off the former manner of life is to put off the kind of living we had in the past.
Verse 24 says, “Put on the new man.” To put on the new man is to put on the church life. Verse 23 says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” The expression the spirit of your mind is difficult to understand. Even the translators of the Chinese Union Version did not render it correctly. They translated verse 23 as “that you be renewed in your will power”; they missed the two words spirit and mind. Without spiritual knowledge it is not easy to understand the meaning of “the spirit of your mind.” The Chinese Bible translators, probably due to their inadequate experience, could not understand the special terms used by Paul in his Epistle.
The Bible reveals that our regenerated spirit needs to be strengthened, and then it will spread outward to all the parts of our soul. The leading part of our soul is our mind. Hence, our spirit spreads first into our mind to saturate and occupy our mind. Then it spreads into our emotion and our will. As a result, Christ will occupy every part of our mind, emotion, and will. This is how Christ makes His home in our heart. Eventually, our mingled spirit will not be limited to our spirit but will spread into our mind. Hence, we have the expression the spirit of your mind. It is in such a spirit that we are being renewed.
If our spirit cannot spread into our soul, it will be restricted within us. When our spirit is restricted, it cannot become the spirit of our mind and cannot do the work of renewing. It is only when our spirit spreads and occupies our mind and becomes the spirit of our mind that it becomes the renewing spirit. It is in this renewing spirit that we are renewed. On the one hand, the renewing takes place when we put off the old man, the former manner of life. On the other hand, the renewing takes place when we put on the new man. The putting off of the old man in verse 22 comes before the putting on of the new man in verse 24. In between these two verses is verse 23, which says, “That you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” The fact that this verse is in between the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man indicates that the way for us to put off the old man and put on the new man is to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. In other words, to be renewed in the spirit of our mind is to put off our old man in our former manner of living and also to put on the new man. To be renewed in the spirit of our mind is to put off our former manner of living and to put on the church life.
To be renewed in the spirit of our mind is to live the church life, which is the life of the new man. Putting off the old man and putting on the new man are to be renewed. This renewing is accomplished in the spirit of our mind. Hence, we must allow our spirit to spread, to subdue, and to occupy our mind and even our emotion and our will until our spirit controls all the parts of our soul. This is to be renewed. Then we will spontaneously live in the new man; that is, we will put on the new man and live the church life.
In every locality we should exercise to speak concerning the church as the Body and as the new man. We should also tell the saints how to live the life of the new man. We should begin to speak in this way. Wherever we are, we should speak concerning the church as the new man, concerning Christ being our person, and concerning putting on the new man and living the life of the new man.
In Ephesians 1 the desire of God’s heart, His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, is to have an economy according to His will. Verses 22 and 23 speak of the church as the Body of Christ. Chapter 2 says that the church is the new man, and chapter 3 speaks of Christ making His home in our hearts. Chapter 4 speaks of putting on the new man and living the life of the new man, and chapter 5 speaks of being filled with the Holy Spirit in our spirit. Ephesians is a profound book, and we can pray-read it many times.
We must practice speaking the truths in Ephesians until we are clear concerning how to take Christ as our person and how to put on the new man. We must also have many experiences of these truths. Doctrines are useless. When we have life and experience and an understanding of the truth, our speaking will convey the truth to others and supply them. This will make us useful. Hence, we must exercise to speak, seek experiences, and gain an understanding of the truth. We should be able to speak these items of the truth in a clear way. May we all exercise in this way.
Many Christians do not understand these items of the truth. Few Christians know that the church is not only the Body but also the new man. Few Christians understand the difference between the new man and the Body or can explain that the Body is a mere organ with life but that the new man must have a person in addition to life. Even fewer can explain that to put off the old man is to put off our former manner of life, and to put on the new man is to put on the church life.
The most popular and authoritative version of the Bible in English is the King James Version. It was authorized by the King of England in the 1600s. In the 1800s Bible scholars acknowledged that some portions of the King James Version did not match the original text. Furthermore, new manuscripts had been discovered that were more trustworthy than those used for the King James Version. The scholars knew that the original text of the Bible was copied by hand, and as a result, some manuscripts were inaccurate. Since the manuscripts that were used for the King James Version were inferior to those that were discovered later, the King James Version needed to be revised.
Several items must be considered before translating the Bible: the study of the original languages, the study of the ancient manuscripts, and the study of translation. Since numerous manuscripts of the Bible are available, archeologists determine which manuscripts are authentic and the most accurate. The study of translation is concerned with the best way to translate the text. In order to translate the Bible, one needs to know the original languages of the Bible, one needs to consult various manuscripts and understand the manuscripts of the Bible, and one needs to know how to translate the Bible, because there are many special terms in the Bible. In around 1870 Bible scholars from both England and the United States felt that there was a need to revise the King James Version, so they proceeded with a revision. However, after the revision, the British and the American scholars had some disputes over a few points. For example, the American scholars were in favor of using the title Jehovah, but the British scholars did not agree. They wanted to translate Jehovah as “the Lord.” Therefore, the British scholars published the Revised Standard Version, and the American scholars published the American Standard Version. The text in both versions is almost identical.
Recently, the American scholars felt that the English in the American Standard Version was not current. They therefore revised it and made it more suitable for readers of modern English. This was not a new translation; it was only a revision. In this revision they changed new man in Ephesians 4:24 to new nature. This rendering is very misleading. This explanation concerning the translation and revision of the Bible shows that it is not simple to understand the Bible. The translators of the Chinese Union Version translated the spirit of your mind as “will power.” This makes it very difficult for people to understand the meaning of the original text.
We must understand the spirit of your mind. When our regenerated spirit, indwelt by the Lord, is strengthened, it will spread into our mind and control, occupy, and saturate our mind. Thus, it will become the spirit of our mind. It is in this spirit that we put off the old man, our former manner of living, and put on the new man, the church life. It is also in this spirit that we are renewed.
I hope that you will not only grow in life and know the truth but also learn to apply the truth and speak it to others. This requires that we exercise our spirit, our heart, and our mind. It is not enough to have a strong spirit or a heart to love the Lord. We must have a sober mind so that we are able to speak clearly. Then we will be able to help others. This is the purpose of this training. The goal of this training is for us to be useful. In order to be useful persons, we must pay attention to these three items: growing in life, knowing the truth, and speaking the truth to others. We must learn how to speak the truth.
The saints who are studying or teaching in schools are in an environment that is useful to the Lord. No other environment is better. It does not matter whether you are a teacher, a professor, a teaching assistant, or a student. The school is the best environment for the Lord. From one perspective a school may seem small in scope, but even a small school can have several thousand students. The oldest students typically are no more than twenty-five or twenty-six years old, and they are not yet set and settled. They may still be deciding which job to take. Once a person begins to work, he becomes set and settled. Whether he goes into business or another field, he will quickly become set and settled. At such a time it will be more difficult to speak to him about the Lord. The best time to speak to him concerning the Lord is while he is still a student, because students are not set or settled. Students who have not chosen a profession are easy to reach with the gospel. Hence, if we desire to be used by the Lord, we should grasp the opportunity to preach the gospel in the schools.
Furthermore, the future of the church lies in the young ones. It is not easy for a couple who are in their sixties and who are set and settled to receive the truth concerning the Lord Jesus. Even after speaking to them for six months, they still may not be clear. Suppose they are clear and are saved; it will not be easy for them to go out and preach the gospel. This does not mean that we should not preach the gospel to older people. The Lord is not a respecter of persons. He will save older people and younger people. Nevertheless, our burden should be the young ones.
From the testimonies it seems that a good number of Taiwanese young people have been gained by the Lord. This is very encouraging. Hence, we should first do a thorough work in the schools to gain the young ones. Then our next generation will be Christians. It is very easy for young people to receive the gospel. Sometimes we need to speak for only half an hour, and a young person will become clear and receive the gospel. Once he receives salvation, there will be a desire and an impetus in him to tell his friends or his parents. The young people should know that their parents listen to them. After they are saved, the young people must tell their families. Initially, their parents may not be pleased, but if the young people will continue to speak, their parents will believe. Some parents say that the knowledge their children receive in high school or college is of a new era and should be right. Therefore, they will follow their children because they love their children, and they identify with what their children do. Hence, as soon as the students are saved, their parents can be saved without much effort.
The Taiwanese have a very strong practice of idol worship. If we preach the gospel to them without first saving their children, they will most likely chase us away. Young people today are very clear in their mind, making it easy to preach the gospel to them. After they believe, they will preach the gospel to their parents. This will be the easiest route for the gospel. A young Taiwanese brother testified that when he first believed in the Lord, he dared not go home during the New Year holidays, because his parents wanted to beat him. Instead, he went to the meeting hall. Recently his younger brother was saved, and his parents are ready to be saved.
The young people should not only pray for their parents; they should go home to “compel” their parents, telling them how good it is to believe in Jesus. In this new age, parents will follow their children. As a parent, I know that children are capable of compelling their parents. The more the children compel, the better they become at it. However, it is not so effective for parents to compel their children. I hope that this word will encourage the young people.
Our heart is for the Lord Jesus and His church. Therefore, we truly hope that the Taiwanese people will get saved. The way to reach this goal lies in the schools. The government in Taiwan stresses education. The basic education has been increased to nine years. We must preach the gospel to the young ones during their nine years of education so that they hear the gospel. This is our responsibility. Everyone is required to finish junior high school; therefore, we must aggressively preach the gospel to the students in junior high school. After their salvation, the junior high school students will become gospel seeds when they enter high school. They will be gospel seeds in college also. The co-workers need to open their eyes and see that to labor in the schools will reap double the results with half the effort.
However, even if all the co-workers labored in the schools, only a few students would get saved. But if the saints who are students can preach the gospel in this way, many other students will be saved. The saints in school will be like thousands of foot soldiers. This is our burden. We have no desire to give many messages. We want to train and produce useful “foot soldiers” who will be in every city in Taiwan. Then whenever the gospel is preached, a person will be saved, and afterward, a whole family will be gained. If we gain a classmate, he will preach the gospel to his parents, and in this way family after family will be saved. This is our burden. It is the responsibility of the young people to spread the gospel all over Taiwan.
Many of the young people love the Lord and have consecrated themselves to Him. Some of them are willing to serve the Lord full time. This is more glorious than going abroad to study. The most glorious thing for our young people, especially for the Taiwanese brothers and sisters, is to receive a burden from the Lord to spread the gospel to every corner of Taiwan. Leading a thousand people to salvation is more glorious than making millions of American dollars. We need to see the Lord’s way and receive a burden.
I do not intend to stir up the young people to be preachers. My desire is for them to graduate from college and then give themselves to preach the gospel throughout this island. They do not need to give up their jobs in order to preach the gospel. Before I began to serve the Lord full time, I gave messages seven days a week even though I had a job. I was working and serving the Lord at the same time. Hence, preaching the gospel does not depend on our serving full time. Preaching the gospel depends on our taking Christ as our person. If the Lord leads us to serve full time, we should serve full time. If He does not lead us to serve full time, we should not serve full time. Either situation should not be a problem. We must make a resolution and tell the Lord that we were born in Taiwan, we grew up in Taiwan, and we live for the people of Taiwan; we give ourselves for their souls to be saved. The Taiwanese need us. Therefore, we should place ourselves in the Lord’s hand. Do not wait until you graduate. Whether you are in college, high school, or junior high school, you should give yourself to the Lord while you are still a student. The students around you are your targets; whenever you gain one person, you gain a whole family. This is the Lord’s present desire.
Many of the saints are willing to serve the Lord full time but are not so clear. Sometimes the more we pray, the more confused we become. Should you serve full time, or should you first go abroad to study, or should you serve full time after you graduate? There is no need to pray concerning these questions. We need only to take Christ as our person and love Him. We do not have to consider our future; we should simply take Christ as our person and let Him live in us. If we continue with our education, we should let the Lord lead us to study while we testify for Him. We do not care for old Christianity. Neither do we care for serving full time or not serving full time. Forget about these things. We all need to take Christ as our person and let Him live in us. Then we will live to Him even in our studying. We will live to Him in whatever we do.
Paul is a good example. Before he served full time, he was a tentmaker (Acts 18:3). Later, when it was needed, he made tents, and when it was not needed, he did not make tents. We are here to preach the gospel until people are saved. We should not worry about whether we serve full time or go abroad to study. We should not focus on these things; instead, we should simply take Christ as our person and begin preaching the gospel. The Lord is a living person. He will lead us concerning our future.
I guarantee you that you will not need to worry about your livelihood. I cannot say that the Lord Jesus will take care of your meals, but He will bear you. He is the Lord of heaven and earth; hence, no one who lives for Him will die of starvation. We should learn to experience the Lord Jesus as our person in big things and small things. In matters related to our livelihood we should learn to experience Him as our person. In daily matters such as sleeping and eating, we must experience Him as our person. We should not worry about our livelihood.
I had a very good job before I served full time. My salary was more than a hundred silver yuan a month. That was considered a very good salary. However, the Lord led me to leave my job. When I left my job, I had nothing. At that time the practice in China was for extended family to live together. Hence, all the money in our family was controlled by my mother. My mother-in-law, who was a Christian, was concerned about our financial situation. She did not agree for me to leave my job. She said to me, “You have a good job. You can work during the day and lead the meeting in the evening. On the Lord’s Day you do not have to work. Why do you want to quit your job? What are you going to eat and drink?” In spite of her advice, I listened to the Lord and dropped my job.
More than forty years have passed, and the Lord Jesus has never allowed my family to starve. Therefore, do not make plans for your future. Your future is in the Lord’s hand. Your future is the Lord’s future, and His future is bright. Do not worry. Going abroad to study is not the way, nor is serving full time the way. We need to take the Lord Jesus as our person and live with Him. We should practice living together with the Lord, living the church life, putting on the new man, and preaching the gospel to our classmates and colleagues.
There are about two to three thousand young saints in the churches in Taiwan. We must receive the burden to take Christ as our person in a genuine way and practice what we have fellowshipped in this chapter. I believe that by the summer of next year, we will gain at least ten thousand young students all over Taiwan. This should be easy to do. We must not miss this opportunity. The best time to serve the Lord is today, not in the future. A co-worker told me that there are saints who want to serve the Lord full time in the future instead of now. Do not say that you will serve the Lord in the future; rather, say that you will serve the Lord today and that you will serve in coordination with the church. Those who work in schools should serve with the students. We should all work with the students. This is my burden. After speaking this burden to the saints in Taipei, I will go down to Taichung and speak the same thing. After Taichung I will speak to the saints in Tainan, and after Tainan I will speak the same thing in Kaohsiung. I will speak to the young people in every locality until they are willing to serve in the schools. I was a student. I know that the best place to do anything is in the schools and that we will be successful if we labor in the schools. We all need to go to the schools. It does not matter whether or not we are trained; the Lord will bear the responsibility. Our need is to cooperate with Him.
