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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. Ephesians 1:3
When we were saved, the grace of God filled our hearts with joy. At that time, our life was filled with hope; we thought that from that point on, all our sins would be under our feet. We thought that, henceforth, we could overcome everything. At the time we were saved, we thought that no temptation was too great for us to overcome and no difficulty was too much for us to surmount. Our future was full of a glorious hope. For the first time, we tasted the peace of forgiveness and the savor of joy. At that time, it was so easy and sweet to fellowship with God. We were filled with joy and happiness. Heaven was so close to us. There was nothing that was impossible for us to do. At that time, we thought that every day would be a day of victory.
However, that wonderful condition did not last, and that wonderful hope did not materialize. The sins that we thought were gone suddenly came back. The sins that we thought we had overcome returned. We thought we had left them behind, but they came back to us. Our former temper came back. Pride returned, and our old jealousy flared up once more. We may have tried to read the Bible but to no avail. We may have prayed, but the sweet taste was no longer there. Gone was the former zeal for lost souls. Love began to wane. Some matters were indeed dealt with, but we found others impossible to deal with. Our daily song became one of defeat rather than victory. We saw more failures than victories in our daily life. We began to feel a great lack within. When we compared ourselves with Paul, John, Peter, and those in the first century, we felt that there was a great difference between their experience and ours. We could not help others. We could only speak to others about the victorious part of our experience. We could not tell them of the part in us that failed. We felt that our days of victory were few and that our days of failure were numerous. Daily we lived in misery. This is the common experience of many Christians.
When we were saved, we thought that since our sins were forgiven, they would never come back to us. We felt that once we had joy and peace, they would abide with us forever. Unfortunately, the sins and temptations came back. There were fewer high experiences, and low experiences became common. There were fewer joyful times, and sorrowful times became common. In these circumstances, we experience two things. On the one hand, temptations, pride, jealousy, and temper return. On the other hand, we endeavor to suppress ourselves. As soon as these sins come back, we struggle to suppress them and to stop them from manifesting themselves. Those who are successful in suppressing themselves think that they have overcome. Those who have failed live in a cycle of failure, victory, sin, and remorse. As a result they become extremely discouraged. Shortly after they are saved, either they consciously suppress their sins, or they resign themselves to the thought that victory is impossible. They become despondent and discouraged. On the one hand, they experience some victory; on the other hand, they also experience many failures. When they succeed in restraining themselves, their sins are temporarily stopped. But when they fail, they concede to the inevitability of committing sin.
Brothers and sisters, I would like to ask you a question before God: When the Lord Jesus went to the cross, did He expect us to have the kind of experience we have today? When He was crucified on the cross, did He know that our life would be victorious one day and defeated the next? Did He know that we would be victorious in the morning and defeated in the evening? Are His accomplishments on the cross insufficient to make us serve Him in holiness and righteousness? Did He shed His blood on the cross only with a view to deliverance from the punishment of hell, without a view to deliverance from the pain of sin? Is His blood shed on the cross only sufficient to save us from the coming eternal pain of sin, without saving us from the pain of sin today? Oh, brothers and sisters, I cannot refrain from saying “Hallelujah!” The Lord has accomplished everything on the cross! When He was on the cross, He dealt not only with the pain of hell but also with the pain of sin. He was reminded not only of the pain of the punishment of sin but also of the pain of the power of sin. He has prepared a way of salvation for us. Such a way enables us to live on earth in the same way that He lived. Brothers and sisters, not only did Christ take care of the suffering of hell; He also took care of the suffering of sin. In other words, His redemptive work has given us not only the position and basis to be saved in a shallow way, but also the position and basis to be saved to the uttermost. We do not have to live the way we do today. We have to say “Hallelujah!” because there is a gospel for sinners and a gospel for “Christian sinners”! The gospel for Christian sinners is preached in the same way that the cross was preached to us before. Hallelujah! There is a gospel today for Christian sinners!
In the last message, we saw our experience in ourselves. Today we want to consider the kind of life that God has ordained for Christians. According to God, what kind of life should a Christian live? We are not talking about advanced Christians; we are talking about every saved and regenerated Christian, every Christian who has received the eternal life. What kind of life should they live? Only after we know this will we see what our shortages are. What does the Bible say about the Christian life? Let us consider a few passages in the Bible.
Matthew 1:21 says, “And she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” When I was in Chefoo and Peking recently, a few brothers remarked that in the past they loved calling the Lord the Christ, but that now they like calling Him “Jesus, my Savior!” He is called Jesus because He “save[s] His people from their sins.” We have received Jesus as our Savior. We have obtained the grace of forgiveness. Thank and praise the Lord that Jesus is now our Savior and our sins are forgiven. But what has Jesus done for us? “He...will save His people from their sins.” This is God’s ordination. This is Jesus’ accomplishment. The question now is whether we are still living in sin or whether we are delivered from it. Does our old temper come back to plague us? Are we still bound by our sins and entangled by our thoughts? Are we still as proud as before? Are we still as selfish as before? Or have we been delivered from our sins? I have mentioned one illustration many times, and I will mention it again: There is a difference between a life-saving ring and a life raft. When a man falls into the water and is thrown a life-saving ring, he will not drown if he holds onto the ring, but neither will he be delivered out of the water. He will not sink, but neither will he be lifted out. He is neither dying, nor is he living. It is different with a life raft. In the case of a life raft, the drowning person is lifted out of the water into the raft. Our Lord’s salvation is not the salvation of a life-saving ring but the salvation of a life raft. He will not stop halfway between dying and living. He will save His people from their sins. He does not leave us in sins. Therefore, biblical salvation saves us from sin. However, even though we have believed, we are not yet saved from sin; we still live in sin. Is the Bible wrong? No, there is nothing wrong with the Bible; it is our experience that is wrong.
What else did Jesus do when He came to us? What does the Bible say about His work? Let us go on.
Luke 1:69 says, “And raised a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant.” Verses 74 and 75 say, “We, having been delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.” God has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David. We have this horn of salvation already. What has this horn of salvation done for us, and to what degree has it delivered us? He has delivered us out of the hand of our enemies. What kind of life does He want us to live after we are delivered? After we are delivered out of the hand of our enemies, is He only interested in our serving Him in holiness and righteousness? Is that all He wants? If this is true, we will only serve Him in righteousness and holiness sometimes. But thank and praise the Lord, His Word says that we should serve Him in holiness and righteousness all our days. We should serve Him in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live on earth. This is the kind of life that God has ordained for us. We should serve Him in holiness and righteousness all our days. Of course, to our shame we must admit that we have not served Him in holiness and righteousness all our days, even though God has delivered us from the hand of our enemies. Either the word of the Bible is wrong or our experience is wrong. The only way our experience can be right is for the Bible to be wrong. In the past, I always wondered what kind of life the Bible expects from a Christian. According to the Bible, everyone who is saved by the Lord should serve Him in holiness and righteousness all his days. If the Bible is wrong, our experience can be justified. But if the Bible is not wrong, our experience must be wrong.
John 4:14 says, “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water gushing up into eternal life.” How precious is this word! It does not speak of a special kind of Christian. It does not say that only those who have received special grace from the Lord can have a spring of water gushing up into eternal life. The Lord said this to a Samaritan woman whom He previously had never met. He said that if she believed, she would receive living water. This living water would be in her a spring that gushes up into eternal life. Brothers and sisters, what is the meaning of being thirsty? When one is thirsty, it means that he is not satisfied. Those who drink of the water that the Lord gives will never thirst again. Thank and praise the Lord! A Christian is not only a contented person but a person who is forever satisfied! It is not enough for a Christian to merely be contented. Everything that God gives to us makes us eternally satisfied. But how many times have we crossed the main streets without feeling thirsty? When we pass by the great department stores, are we thirsty? If we crave for this or that, is this not being thirsty? Are we thirsty when we consider our classmates or colleagues and envy their possessions? Yet the Lord said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water gushing up into eternal life.” What He gives to us is one kind of life, yet we experience something else. The Lord says that He is all we need, but we say that He is not enough. We need this and that before we can be satisfied, but He said that He alone is enough. Is what we received from the Lord wrong or is our experience wrong? One of the two must be wrong. The Lord cannot possibly write us a bad check. Whatever He promises, He will surely give. Our experience in the past was, in the words of one hymn, “a half salvation” (Hymns, #513, stanza 2). Why does the Lord say that a believer will not be thirsty again? This is because he has become different inside. Within him, there are new demands and new satisfactions. Brothers and sisters, are we living before God and serving Him in holiness and righteousness all our days? Are we living before God every day in holiness and righteousness, as the priest Zachariah spoke of in Luke 1:75? Do we have something within that gushes forth all the time to quench others’ thirst? The Chinese have an expression, wu-wei, which means “to do nothing.” Christians have to be those who are asking for nothing. We can say that the Lord is enough for us. Are we satisfied with just the Lord? Are we really satisfied with the Lord Jesus alone? If we are not satisfied, it means that there is something wrong with our living.
John 7:37 and 38 say, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” Rivers of living water will flow out of whose innermost being? They will not flow out of only special Christians or the apostles Paul, Peter, or John, but out of all those who believe, out of ordinary men like us. It is out of the innermost being of men like us that rivers of living water will flow. When men touch us, they should be satisfied and cease from their thirst. I had a friend whose simple contact with others made them feel the banality of the world, the foolishness of ambition, and the tastelessness of greed. Someone might feel dissatisfied about something. But as soon as he contacted her, he would find that the Lord is enough to satisfy. On the other hand, one might feel satisfied about something, but as soon as he contacted her, he would find these things to be worthless. The Lord said those who believe into Him will have rivers of living water flowing out of their innermost being. This should be the common experience of all ordinary Christians. What I am talking about is not the experience of special Christians but the experience of all common Christians. Brothers and sisters, do others stop thirsting when they touch us? Or do they continue in their thirst? If others complain about their sufferings and we also complain, if others feel sorrowful and we also feel sorrowful, and if others confess their failures and we also confess our failures, we are not rivers of living water but dry deserts. Even the grass of others will be dried up by us. When this happens, either God is wrong or we are wrong. God cannot be wrong, so it must be we who are wrong.
Let us see what happens in Acts. Verse 26 of chapter three says, “God, having raised up His Servant, has sent Him to bless you in turning each of you away from your wicked deeds.” Peter’s message at the portico of the temple still speaks of our condition today. The Lord Jesus’ accomplishment is more than able to deliver us from sin. One basic experience of a Christian should be deliverance from sin. As Christians, we should at least overcome the known sins. We may not overcome the sins that we do not know about. But we should overcome by the Lord all the sins that we know about. We may have many besetting sins that have plagued us for years. By the power of the Lord, we should overcome all these sins. This is the biblical standard. A man should only occasionally be overtaken by offenses. But our experience is that we only occasionally overcome. How abnormal is our experience!
Romans 6:1-2 says, “What then shall we say? Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? Absolutely not! We who have died to sin, how shall we still live in it?” Every person who has believed in the Lord Jesus and has become a Christian is dead to sin. No one who has believed in the Lord Jesus and has become a Christian should live in sin any longer. But how do we know that we are dead to sin? The next verse provides the answer.
Verse 3 says, “Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” In other words, everyone who is baptized and saved is dead to sin. When a person is baptized, he becomes dead in Christ Jesus.
Verse 4 says, “We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.” This should be the daily life of every Christian. Everyone who is baptized should walk in newness of life. This is not a verse for some special Christians; it is for Christians who are saved and baptized. We all have been baptized; therefore, we all should walk in newness of life. This is the experience that God has ordained for every Christian. Are we those who walk in newness of life?
Romans 6:14 says, “For sin will not lord it over you, for you are not under the law but under grace.” I treasure this verse very much! Brothers and sisters, who is not under the law but under grace? Is Andrew Murray the only one? Are Paul, Peter, and John the only ones? Or are all those who have believed not under the law but under grace? How many of you sitting here today are under grace? Thank and praise our God, we are all under grace! None of us is under the law.
However, there is another sentence prior to this sentence: “Sin will not lord it over you.” Thank and praise the Lord, sin will not lord it over us! Thank and praise Him that victory is not only the experience of some special Christians. Thank and praise God that victory is the experience of ordinary Christians. Thank and praise Him that every saved Christian is under grace. When I was first saved, I saw this verse and treasured it very much. I realized that I had experienced many victories and had overcome many sins. I realized that God had graced me. But there was still one sin which lorded it over me. In fact, a few sins always came back to visit me. I had overcome several sins, but a few other sins often came back to visit me. This was like my experience with a brother one day. I met him on the street and nodded to him. Then I went into a shop to buy something. When I came out, I met him coming my way, and I nodded to him again. Then I went into a second store and bought something else. When I came out, I met him yet again and nodded to him once more. When I turned to the next street, I met him and nodded to him again. I turned onto a second street and met him once again and nodded to him yet another time. In all I met and nodded to him five times that day. We encounter sins the same way that I encountered this brother. It seems that sin purposely tries to meet us. We are always running into it; it seems that it is constantly following us. Temper seems to follow some all the time. Pride and jealousy seem to follow others all the time. Laziness seems to follow one, and lies seem to follow another. One finds himself always having an unforgiving spirit while another is plagued continually by base desires or selfishness. Some find unclean thoughts following them all the time, while others find unclean lusts following them all the time. Everyone seems to have at least one sin which follows him all the time. I had a few sins which continually plagued me. I had to admit that sin lorded it over me! God says that sin will not lord it over me, but I had to confess that something was wrong with me. I had to admit that the mistake was in me and not in God’s Word. Brothers and sisters, if we are living a defeated life, we should know that this is not what God ordained for us. We have to know that it is not God’s intention for sin to lord it over us. His Word says that sin will not lord it over us!
Romans 8:1 says, “There is now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” I have expounded on the word condemnation many times. About twenty years ago someone discovered some ancient manuscripts and found that there were two meanings to this word. One is used in a civil context and the other in a legal context. According to its civil application, it can be translated “impotence.” Hence, this verse can be translated, “There is now then no impotence to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Brothers and sisters, how wonderful this is! But for whom is this verse written? Is it only for John Wesley? Is it only for Martin Luther or for Hudson Taylor? What does the Bible say? It says, “There is now then no impotence to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Who are these ones? They are Christians. Every Christian is a person who is in Christ Jesus, and every one of them is no longer impotent.
Verse 2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.” I will repeat a hundred times that it is not special Christians only who are delivered from the law of sin and of death. Every Christian should be delivered from the law of sin and of death. What is the meaning of being impotent? According to Romans 7, it means doing what one hates and not practicing what one wills. It is finding that “to will is present with me, but to work out the good is not.” The meaning of impotence is being unable to do anything. The history of many Christians is one of constant resolutions and constant breaking of resolutions. They continually resolve to do something and continually fail. But thank and praise the Lord, God’s Word says that no Christian is impotent any longer.
What is a law? It is something that happens again and again. With a law, the same action produces the same result under whatever circumstances the action is performed. A law is a steady phenomenon; it is a constant tendency, a condition that continues to come back. For example, there is the force of gravity. Whenever an object is dropped, gravity will draw it downward. This gravitational force is a law. With some people, losing their temper is a law. They may hold back once or twice, but they are provoked the third time. By the fourth time, they lose their temper. This happens to one brother after another. One may hold back at the beginning, but eventually his temper breaks out. Every time a temptation comes, the same result occurs. We observe that the same is true with the matter of pride. When others say one good word about you, you may not be moved. But when they say a second good word about you, your expression immediately changes and your face shines. A law is anything that gives the same result when it goes through the same steps. Sin has become a law for us. Many brothers are agreeable in some things, but they are provoked as soon as they are stirred up in other things. They can overcome many things, but as soon as they encounter certain other things, they are provoked.
Brothers and sisters, it does not take special Christians to overcome the law of sin. No Christian has to remain impotent. Every Christian can be delivered from the law of sin. All of the above verses are facts; they are not commands. Every Christian should have these experiences. Yet our experience does not quite match God’s Word. How sad this is!
Romans 8:35 says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?” Verse 37 says, “But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us.” Oh, our Lord who loves us has more than conquered all these things! This should be the Christian experience. But in our case, we do not need tribulation or swords to come upon us; as soon as someone gives us a bad look, we lose the love of Christ. However, Paul said that he more than conquered in all these things. This should be the common experience of all Christians. Victory is the normal experience of a Christian; defeat should be the abnormal experience. According to God’s ordination, every Christian should more than conquer. Whether we encounter tribulation, anguish, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword, we should not only conquer it but more than conquer it! It does not matter whether there are difficulties. Outsiders may think that we Christians have gone mad. Hallelujah, others can say that we are mad. We are not concerned about these things any longer, and we have more than conquered them because of the love of Christ. Thank and praise the Lord, this should be the experience of a Christian; it is the experience that God has ordained for us. But what is our actual experience? The Bible has not kept these experiences from us, but we often do not find the way to enter such a life. Before tribulation even comes in abundance, we are already shouting, “I need patience! I am suffering!” If we find the way to this life, we will more than conquer in all these things.
Second Corinthians 2:14 says, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ and manifests the savor of the knowledge of Him through us in every place.” Brothers and sisters, a Christian life is not one that overcomes sometimes and is defeated at other times. It is not one that overcomes in the morning and is defeated in the afternoon. A Christian life is one that overcomes all the time. If you encounter a temptation today and you overcome it, you should not be so happy about it that you can hardly sleep at night. Only the experience of not overcoming should be uncommon. Overcoming should be common and frequent.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we would walk in them.” Brothers and sisters, remember that Ephesians 2:10 comes after verses 8 and 9. In the preceding verses, it says that we are saved by grace. Here it says that we are His masterpiece, created for good works which God has prepared beforehand for us to walk in. This is not a special experience for some Christians; rather, it should be the common experience of every saved Christian. God saves us in order that we may do good. Brothers and sisters, are our good works according to God’s ordination, or are we always complaining while we are doing good? Suppose you are mopping the floor. While you are mopping, you may complain that only one or two people are helping and that others are not helping. This will either result in boasting or murmuring. This is not doing good. Every good work of a Christian should be accompanied by an overflow of joy; we should not be stingy, boastful, or selfish, but generous and ready to give to others. It would be a pity if only the best Christians could do good. God’s ordination is that doing good should be the common experience of every Christian.
John 8:12 says, “Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” This is the life that God has ordained for a Christian. Those who can stay away from darkness and who can walk in the light of life are not special Christians. Every Christian who follows Christ should not walk in darkness and should have the light of life. A Christian who is full of light is nothing more than a normal Christian, while a Christian who does not have the light is an abnormal Christian.
First Thessalonians 5:23 says, “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is the apostle Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonian believers. Since he said “sanctify you wholly,” there must be the possibility of being sanctified wholly. It is possible to find no fault in a Christian. God will sanctify us wholly, and He will preserve us complete and without blame.
We are speaking of the Lord’s provision for a Christian. The Lord’s salvation has given every Christian the power to fully overcome sin, to be fully delivered from the bondage of sin, to trample sin underfoot, and to have unhindered fellowship with God. This is the life that the Lord has ordained for us. This is not merely a theory but a fact, because this is the Lord’s provision.
Brothers and sisters, what is your experience? If your experience is different from the Bible, you have not received full salvation yet. It is a fact that you are saved, but you have not received full salvation yet. Today I will announce a tiding to you: The Lord’s accomplishment on the cross has not only delivered you from the judgment of sin but also freed you from the pain of sin. He has prepared a full salvation so that you do not have to remain in your initial salvation but can daily experience victory while living on earth.
What is victory? Victory is the making up of what is lacking in our salvation experience. It is true that many are saved, but they lacked something at the time of their salvation. God has saved us and graced us. He has no intention that we live a wandering life on earth. He wants us to experience a full deliverance. We need a make-up lesson today because we were not properly saved when we believed. We need the overcoming experience to make up for what was lacking in the past.
Brothers and sisters, has God saved us only to find us repeatedly sinning and regretting? Since God’s Son has died for us, should we still sin? Before we were saved, we were bound to sin. Now that we are saved, are we still bound to sin? Before we were saved, sin reigned. Now that we are saved, should sin still reign? Sin is diametrically opposed to God. We should not allow a trace of sin to remain in us. Will God do something contrary to Himself? Certainly not! How evil sin is! A sin is a sin, whether it is a dispositional sin, a sin of weakness, a sin in the body, or a sin in the mind.
Let us say to the Lord, “Thank and praise You; Your accomplishment on the cross has not only delivered me from the punishment of sin but also saved me from the power of sin.” May the Lord show us that our experience of salvation was not complete at the time we believed. May the Lord show us the need to overcome. Brothers and sisters, if our experience does not match the Scripture, it means that we need to overcome. May He shine on us and expose us. We should not deceive ourselves by saying that it is inevitable for a Christian to sin. No word will hurt the Lord’s heart more deeply than this. Brothers and sisters, do we know what the cross has done? Do we think that the Lord went to the cross just for the sake of leaving us the way we are? We should not lie. We should not boast that we can suppress or control ourselves. Suppressing and controlling ourselves is not victory. The Lord’s victory completely crushes sin. Hallelujah! Sin is under the Lord’s feet! All of us who have not experienced a continual fellowship with the Lord and who have not experienced the sin-crushing power need to overcome. May the Lord grace us with His blessings.
