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Scripture Reading: Matt. 1:20b, 23; Gal. 1:11-16; Phil. 3:5-8; 2 Cor. 3:5-6, 8
What we have pointed out in the preceding chapter can be summarized as four main principles of New Testament service. As we mentioned, the first instance in the New Testament, the birth of Jesus Christ, shows us the principles of New Testament service. For our service today we need to learn the principles rather than try to copy the ways recorded there.
The first principle is that the New Testament service is absolutely out of religion with all its traditions. This is a main principle that we should not forget. New Testament service has nothing to do with religion. In the birth of Jesus, nothing is related to religion. The apostle Paul spoke of both religion and tradition in Galatians 1:13-14. He was in the Jewish religion and had all the traditions of his forefathers. When he was met by the Lord, however, he was delivered out of religion and was through with all the traditions.
When Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb, there was not one bit of religion or tradition. His birth was something which was absolutely new and completely different from the religious background. Mary was greatly surprised when the archangel Gabriel came to her. No one would expect such a thing to happen. It was absolutely new — new to religion, to culture, to nature, and even to the natural law. It was something contrary to the natural law but revealed by God and conceived of the Holy Spirit.
The New Testament service is different from religion and tradition in every detail. Even the place where Jesus was brought up was not a great religious center like Jerusalem but a despised region and a little town. No part of the New Testament service was related to the law, the regulations, or written code, but this service was absolutely something of the Spirit. Furthermore, it was begun not in a marvelous and great way but in a small way, without any advertisement. Everything was small, humble, and low. According to appearances, it was not honorable for a virgin to be with child. No one would boast of such a thing, but this is the New Testament way.
Today there is much religious service and work carried on in a way that is contrary to the principles of Christ’s birth. In the recovery of the church life, however, these principles must be recovered. If we go out to spread the church life in a way that is so marvelous, so noble, a way that causes us to be so boastful, such a way proves that we are wrong and that we are not in the Lord’s recovery. The recovery of the church life in every aspect will be in principle the same as the birth of the Lord Jesus.
In a sense, whenever we carry on the New Testament service, that is again the birth of Jesus, for the birth of Christ is simply to bring forth Christ to people. If some of us migrate to another city, there should be a birth of Christ. To migrate in order to spread the church life is to bring forth Christ to the people. This can only be carried out in a new way, not in an old way, not in a traditional, religious way with all its advertisement and propaganda. We should go out in a lowly, humble, and small way.
We may say that the New Testament service is something like the situation of a virgin with child. Sometimes we would even feel ashamed to mention it. Of course, in the eyes of God it is glorious, but in a human sense, it is a shame. When others ask what kind of a work we are doing and what church we go to, it may sometimes be difficult to answer. Apparently, it is not so glorious. That is the case of a virgin with child. Sometimes we may want to tell others that the work we are doing is somewhat like a virgin with child, but the child we are going to deliver is Jesus Christ. There is no glory or honor, but the enemy knows that it is a real glory to God. Man does not know, but the devil knows, and, praise the Lord, we know also! We know what we are doing.
Matthew is really a wonderful book. It begins with the birth of Christ in chapter 1, and it ends with the church going forth to meet Christ in chapter 25. It begins with Christ and ends with the church. It begins with one virgin bringing forth Christ, and it ends with ten virgins going forth to meet Christ. We all need to be virgins. If we are not virgins, we have nothing to do with Christ, and if we are not virgins, we have nothing to do with the church. To bring forth Christ to others, we need to be virgins. To be the church going forth to meet Christ as the coming Bridegroom, we also need to be virgins. Do we need to be evangelists, pastors, preachers, or ministers with a doctor’s degree? No! We all should be virgins going forth to meet Him. It was a virgin who brought Him in, and it will be the virgins who meet Him and bring Him back.
Praise the Lord that we are simply the virgins here. There are many in the local church in Los Angeles who are former missionaries, former pastors, former preachers, former teachers, and former seminary students. Nevertheless, now they are all virgins! Hallelujah! In the New Testament service there should be the freshness of a virgin, with nothing old, religious, or traditional. Everything should be so young, so new, so fresh, so up to date, and so much against culture, human nature, and even the natural law. The New Testament service is entirely contrary to religion. At the time of the birth of Christ, the problem was the Jewish religion, but today it is the Christian religion. We need to see the principles in God’s Word in a living way.
We all need to realize that all those serving in the New Testament service should be as virgins. If we consider that we are giant preachers, we are through as far as New Testament service is concerned. Regardless of how much we could do for the Lord, we need to say, “Lord, I would be nothing but a virgin to bring forth Christ.” The book of Matthew begins with a virgin and ends with all the virgins. We need to be virgins to bring forth Christ and to bring Him back. Christ does not need great giants today. He needs the virgins to conceive Him and to bring Him forth, and He needs the virgins to bring Him back.
No matter how good the religion and traditions are, they have nothing to do with New Testament service. This is proved with the case of the apostle Paul. He was beyond many contemporaries in the Jewish religion and was zealous for all the traditions of his forefathers. One day, however, when the New Testament way was revealed to him, all the religion and all the traditions passed away. They had been something of gain to him, but now they all became a loss.
We should apply these principles to ourselves, not to others. It is very easy for us to remain in religion and tradition. For example, we need to consider why we come to the meetings without functioning. Do you not think that this is according to tradition? With many of us I am afraid that a great part of our Christian life and service is traditional. Sometimes I ask people why they do not praise the Lord, and they answer, “I am not accustomed to such a thing.” They are simply in the habit of being quiet. Being quiet is also a tradition. May the Lord be merciful to us. We are under the influence of traditions, although not consciously so. We are influenced by them, and we are accustomed to them.
The way some people read the Bible is simply traditional. They have been reading it in a traditional way for years, yet there is no change in their lives. If they would pray-read the Word, what a difference it would make, and what a change would take place in their lives! Some people do not like pray-reading because it is something new. What is wrong with praying and reading the Bible? This is even better than simply reading the Bible; it is not only reading but pray-reading. What is wrong with praying the Bible and praying about the Bible? We admit that it may be something new, but does that make it wrong? The religious and traditional people, however, do not like anything new; therefore, they do not like pray-reading.
Some friends have even told me that I should not minister anything new because it might offend others. In that case, how could we have the recovery? If we avoid offending people by not speaking about anything new, then we would need to keep all the old things, and the recovery would be gone. Suppose that in the time of Martin Luther someone told him not to speak about anything new because it might offend others. Justification by faith would not have been recovered if he had taken such advice. I am a little man, but recently I received a letter from a place I had never visited, a letter telling me that the leaders in a group there were aware that I teach “new doctrines.” That letter did not offend me, but rather it encouraged me to teach more new things, more heavenly new things.
Oh, how much the traditions are a frustration to us! We all need to pray, “O Lord, Amen, deliver us from traditions!” If we would do this for ten days, many traditions in our Christian life would be exposed. We may even see that the word of grace we offer at the dining table may be simply traditional. If we are in the spirit, we may simply shout, “Hallelujah!” as our word of grace at the table, according to the Lord’s leading. We should not be set in a way that has become old.
If we come under the heavenly light, we will see how many things we need to let go of. All the old things, the outdated things, the religious and traditional things, will be put aside, and we will be living, active, and aggressive. Our sharing with others, both with unbelievers and believers, will be quite different. It will be something of the Spirit and not something of dead letters.
I am so thankful to the Lord for the meetings here in Los Angeles, but I am still praying that the Lord will grant us something new and newer. We need to be daily renewed. We need newer things. If we would be more in the spirit, the Lord would be brought forth in a new and different way.
The second principle in the case of the birth of Jesus is that there is no human effort, human strength, human doing, or human working. The Lord did not ask Mary to do anything. In the New Testament service there is no need of our effort or strength, our doing or our working. What the Lord needs is our cooperation. We need to learn to say, “I am a slave of the Lord. May it happen to me according to your word.” Mary was not asked to work. She was only told that something would be wrought into her. There is no need for us to do something for the Lord, but there is the need for the Lord to work something into us. Are we willing to cooperate with the Lord?
On the day of Pentecost, nothing, strictly speaking, was initiated by the apostles. That was a work done by the Lord Himself as the One who was wrought into the apostles. In Antioch Paul’s work among so many churches was not initiated by him. It was begun by the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament service all human effort, strength, work, and doing need to be terminated and abolished. We should realize that we are simply slaves of the Lord. We cannot do anything, and we should have no intention of doing anything. Let the Lord initiate the work and finish the work. We are slaves to render Him our cooperation.
Humanity can do nothing but be a means for God to bring forth Christ. This is a basic principle, and we should apply this principle to all the things we do. We should not think that God needs our effort — this concept should be condemned. We should condemn what the Lord condemns and simply open ourselves to be available to Him. Praise the Lord, that is good enough! In the New Testament service there is no doing, only enjoying. If we take the way of doing, we lose the enjoyment. The proper way is for Him to do the work, and we enjoy His doing.
The third principle is that the New Testament service must be something conceived of the Holy Spirit. This is a very important matter, and this is why I say again and again that teaching does not help. The New Testament service is not something conceived of teaching, tradition, or religion, but something conceived of the Holy Spirit. It is not of letters but of the Spirit. When the Spirit comes in to do something in us, then we see that it is altogether different from what we have learned. Teaching does not work; the service is something of the Spirit. What we need to do is to keep an open contact with the Holy Spirit.
We should not go to the Lord only to ask Him by what way we should do a certain thing. To do something only according to what the Lord has said may be merely a matter of religion. Our need today is not a matter of merely keeping the Lord’s word but a matter of keeping His presence. Many years ago I tried to learn to know the Lord’s way. Eventually, however, I have learned that the main thing is to have the presence of the Lord Himself, not merely to know His way.
The New Testament service is a matter of staying in the presence of the Lord, not a matter of learning a certain way. The brothers who are migrating to other cities should not think that because they have experienced the Lord so much in Los Angeles, they should do things in other places according to Los Angeles. If so, Los Angeles should be condemned. Los Angeles has learned only one way: to always be in the presence of the Lord. It is not a matter of a way; it is a matter of His presence. There is no way but to have His presence. It is not of letters but of the Spirit. Only to have the Word in the letter is a dead way, but to have the person is a living way. Only to have the way is something of the letters, but to have the Lord’s presence is something of the Spirit. What we need today is not merely to learn a way but to always be in the Lord’s presence. Everything in the New Testament service should be conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Mary asked the question, “How will this be?” The answer was, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” That is good enough. To have the Holy Spirit with us is all we need. In the Acts and Epistles all the activities of the apostles and early saints were of the Spirit. There was nothing of letters or mere teachings. What was there was something of the Spirit. Praise the Lord, we all need to learn this one principle: the New Testament service is not a matter of the mere teachings that we have but a matter of the presence of the Lord in the Holy Spirit.
The fourth principle seen in the birth of the Lord is the bringing forth of Christ. To conceive something of the Holy Spirit requires the repudiation of all our efforts and doings. However, to bring forth Christ requires us to give up our aims, our goals, our intentions, and our enterprises. Some dear saints are simply occupied with their mission work. Their aim is to carry out the work of the mission, instead of to bring forth Christ. They may argue that they are preaching Christ to others, yet Christ Himself is not their goal. We all need to learn that the bringing forth of Christ should be our only aim and intention. “That which has been begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus...And they shall call His name Emmanuel” (Matt. 1:20-21, 23). To do this we need to give up all our work, our aims, our goals, and our desires.
The New Testament service is eventually to bring forth Christ — this should be the final goal. It is to bring forth Christ as Jesus, the saving One, and as Emmanuel, God with us. We have seen that the book of Matthew begins with a virgin and ends with ten virgins; this book also begins with the individual Emmanuel and ends with the corporate Emmanuel. In chapter 1 we see Emmanuel, God with us, and in chapter 28, the last verse, the Lord says, “Behold, I am with you all the days.” The proper church life in a locality is the saving power of Christ, and God with us manifested in a corporate way. This can only be brought forth by the New Testament service. When others come into such a church life, they will immediately sense the saving power of Jesus and the presence of God. This is the proper church life, and this is the bringing forth of Christ through our service.
