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Scripture Reading: 1 John 1:1-9; 2:27-28a; Acts 2:42
Many people say that consecration is for the purpose of being used by God to do a work for God. To some extent this is a wrong understanding. If we come back to the Scriptures, we will find that consecration is actually for life, not for work. We consecrate ourselves to the Lord not to work for Him but for Him to work in us. To do something for the Lord is a matter of work, but to be wrought on by the Lord is a matter of life. What we mainly need is to be worked on by the Lord. We are not the workers but the workmanship in the hand of the Lord (Eph. 2:10). For the Lord to work on us requires our cooperation. If we do not cooperate with Him, He cannot work on us. In order to put something in a bottle, there is no need to ask the bottle to cooperate, because the bottle has no life, no mind, no will, no emotion, and no desire. To put something in the bottle is an easy, one-sided matter. To give medicine to a child, however, is to put something into a living “bottle.” This is hard to do because it requires the child’s cooperation. If a child is not willing to cooperate, the parent may need to open his mouth and force the medicine into him. God has many things to put into us and many things to remove, but this requires our cooperation, which is our consecration. We need to consecrate ourselves to the Lord, saying, “Lord, I am here. I accept what You accept and refuse what You refuse.”
The human concept is that the Lord is waiting to use us. However, if we are not wrought on by the Lord, we cannot be used by Him. Work comes out of life; it is the outflow of the inner life. How much we can be used by the Lord in His hands depends on how much we have been wrought upon by Him. His work through us and on us depends on our cooperation, that is, our consecration. We always have to consecrate ourselves to the Lord for His work upon us. We should not have the concept that we consecrate ourselves because the Lord needs us to work for Him. We are not tools in the Lord’s hand. Rather, we are vessels to contain Him (Rom. 9:21-23).
On the negative side, many things need to be taken out of us. We have been filled up with many things other than the Lord. On the positive side, however, many things of the Lord—all the riches of Christ—must be wrought into us. On the one hand, we are dirty, and on the other hand, we are empty. Therefore, we need the Lord’s work to clean us out and remove the many things other than Christ, and we need Him to put Christ into us more and more. This is the work of the Lord upon us, which always requires our consecration.
As we said in the last chapter, after we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, we must try never to defeat Him. We must always be willing to be defeated by Him. If we are persons consecrating ourselves to the Lord, there will often be a struggle between us and Him. This is because the Lord wants to take some things out of us. If we say, “Lord, don’t take it,” there will be a struggle, but in this struggle we must learn never to defeat the Lord but rather to be defeated by Him. Then the Lord will have the opportunity to work something into us. This requires our genuine consecration, which is for life, not for our work.
After I have spoken here about consecration, I will not continue by speaking about how to work for the Lord and be used by Him. Rather, my intention is to speak about life. Consecration is for life. Consider the type of the tabernacle. After passing the altar, we come to the laver, and after the laver we come into the Holy Place. If we understand the correct meaning of the types, we can see that there is not much work here. Instead, there is much enjoyment. This indicates that after our consecration, our main need is not to work for the Lord but to grow in life. We need to be worked on by the Lord. To work for the Lord is not even secondary; it may be the eleventh item of importance, because there may be ten other things the Lord needs to do in us before He uses us to do something for Him. We need to leave the thought of working for the Lord and pay our full attention to life.
In the Gospel of John the Lord told us to do almost nothing but believe in Him, love Him, and abide in Him. Then we will bear fruit. Our work is to bear fruit. This is a not a work apart from life. Fruit-bearing is the out-working of life.
After our consecration there are three basic matters of life that we need to know: the fellowship of life, the consciousness of life, and the law of life. To a greater or lesser degree, these matters are neglected in today’s Christianity. I have no intention to condemn others, but I must speak the truth. I have read many books and have listened to messages, and I am sorry for the situation of Christianity today. Here and there in various groups of Christians, people talk about life, but life is often just a term or an “-ology.” A brother once testified that when he came among us, he found that we always talk about life; almost all the messages in our conferences and trainings concentrated on life. He asked himself, “Why do these people always say ‘life.’ Why don’t they say ‘the Spirit?’” Later, however, the Lord opened his eyes to see the meaning of life and the meaning of Spirit.
If we do not know the three basic matters mentioned above, we will not be able to know what life is. In theology, in terminology, and in teaching we may know life, but we will not know life in our experience, and we will not be on the line of life. However, if we do know the fellowship of life, the sense or taste of life, and the law of life, then we know what life is in our experience.
The scriptural basis for the fellowship of life is 1 John 1. The Gospel of John is a book on life, showing how to have and receive life, and the Epistle of 1 John is on the fellowship of life. After we receive the eternal life in Christ, that is, Christ as our life, we need to pay attention to the fellowship of life. That is why the Epistle of John comes after the Gospel of John.
First John 1 is one of the greatest chapters in the entire Scriptures. Because it is one of the few chapters on the fellowship of life, it holds an extraordinary position. Other passages speak of the fellowship of the Spirit, such as 2 Corinthians 13:14, but John speaks of the fellowship of life. The first two verses of 1 John 1 say, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life (and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and report to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us).” While verse 1 speaks of the Word of life, verse 2 simply says life. The life which was with the Father and was manifested to us is the Son of God, Christ Himself.
Verse 3 continues, “That which we have seen and heard we report also to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” The apostles ministered life to the believers in a practical and real way. As a result, the believers had fellowship. Since fellowship comes from life, we call it the fellowship of life. Moreover, this fellowship is “with us,” the apostles. The apostles saw life, and they ministered this life that we may have fellowship with them. In addition, our fellowship is with the Father and His Son. Here is a fellowship in two directions, vertical and horizontal. Horizontally we fellowship with one another, and vertically we fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. From life we have fellowship, and this fellowship is with the saints and with the Triune God.
Verse 3 speaks of the fellowship with the apostles. The fellowship in the Body is the fellowship of the apostles. Acts 2:42 says, “They continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Four things are mentioned here, but according to the grammatical construction, only two things are of the apostles. The teaching and fellowship are of the apostles, but the breaking of bread and the prayers are not. We can have no other teaching than that of the apostles. Any teaching other than the apostles’ is heresy. Likewise, we cannot have any fellowship other than the apostles’ fellowship. Among the saints there is only one fellowship because there is only one life, one source of life, one Lord of life, Christ Himself. The Lord Christ is the unique source of this unique life, so from this unique life we have the unique fellowship. We cannot say that the saints in the ancient time had one fellowship, but we have another. Neither can we say that the brothers in the Far East have one fellowship, but here we have another. In the universe, among all the saints—East and West, ancient and modern—we have only one fellowship, the fellowship that comes from the unique life, which is Christ Himself.
We know that life is Christ Himself, but for many years I considered what the fellowship of life might be. I believe we now have the right words to describe and define the fellowship of life. It is the current, or flow, of life. We may compare it to the flow of blood in our body. There is one life in our body. The finger does not have one life, the nose another life, and the ears a third life. There are many members in our body, yet they have one life, and in that one life the entire body has one fellowship. Among all the members in the physical body there is the fellowship of life, which is the flow of the blood. The blood circles in our body very quickly. While I am still speaking, the blood already may have made one or two complete circuits. We may also compare the fellowship of life to the current of electricity. If we go to the electric meter, we can see that the current is flowing. If the current stops, the lights go out.
The flow of the blood in our body is the blood itself, just as the current of electricity is the electricity itself. If the electricity is stationary, there is no current, but when it moves, it is the current. In the same way, the fellowship of life is the flowing, the current, of life within us; it is life itself flowing. Since we were saved, there has been something flowing in us. The life that we received in Christ is a flowing life, and when it flows, it becomes the fellowship of life. In this fellowship, you fellowship with me, I fellowship with you, we fellowship with the other saints, and we all fellowship with the Lord. There is something living and flowing within us all the time. Therefore, after we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, we must care for this inner flowing, because consecration is for life. Consecration is for us to be worked on by the Lord, and the Lord works in us by the flow of life.
The flow of blood within us does much work for the physical body. It supplies the nourishment that the body needs, and it carries away discharges. It molds the body and strengthens its functions. This is a good illustration of the fellowship of life. What the Lord works in us, upon us, and into us depends entirely on the flowing of life. When we have the flow, the fellowship, of life, this flow kills the germs of death within us and carries them away, and it also nourishes us with a supply and molds us into a certain shape. We cannot be molded by teachings. Teachings help, but what type of Christian we are mostly depends on the inner molding by the flow of life.
In addition, our function comes from the inner flow of the fellowship of life. In Christianity today there are many different practices, such as the formal practice, the fundamental practice, the Pentecostal practice, and the Brethren, Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian practices. Which of these is prevailing? It seems that none is prevailing, because for the most part Christians neglect the function that comes out of the inner flow of life, thinking that their function is something that comes from outside of them. I may be the best dentist, but if I take teeth from outside of you and put them into you, they will not function as real teeth. In the same way, an eye specialist can put two new eyes into you, but they will not work. The function of the members must come from within. Consider a baby. He is born without even one tooth, but if we feed him properly, the blood within him will constantly flow, and the more it flows, the more the teeth will come. The kind of teeth that come from the flow of life function properly, but teeth inserted from the outside do not work. In a similar way, seminaries have “teeth experts,” but the “teeth” they put into people do not work.
Some believe that 1 Corinthians tells us that when we have the gifts, we have the function. In more than forty years I have never observed that the baptism, or outpouring, of the Holy Spirit develops the inner function. It is only when we have the inner function that the outpouring, the baptism, helps. The proper function of all the members of the Body comes from within, not from the outside. Is there a function in any member of our body that comes from the outside? Rather, all the members’ function comes from within. Therefore, we must have a strong, pure current of blood flowing all day long. Whatever we should not have, it will carry away, and whatever we need, it will supply. It will afford the function that we need, and it will build us up into the right shape or mold. Our shape and mold all depend upon the inner flowing. If we stop the current, everything in us will stop.
Today what we need is the flowing of life within. All the precious experiences of Romans 6, 8, and 12 depend on the flowing of life within, that is, on the fellowship of life. The problem in the church is a problem related to the inner fellowship of life, and the problems of all the saints are also problems related to the inner fellowship of life. Therefore, we must pay our full attention to this inner life, to the inner flowing, the fellowship of life. We have received Christ as life, and with this life within there is the flowing, the current. This flowing is the fellowship of life.
First John 1:5 and 6 say, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and are not practicing the truth.” After fellowship we have light. If we are in the fellowship, we must be in the light, because the fellowship brings us into the presence of God who is light. That is why if we are still in darkness but say that we are in the fellowship, we are lying.
Verse 7 continues, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.” Light is God Himself with whom we fellowship. When we are in the light, we need one thing: the blood. The word cleanses here is in the present tense. Regardless of how much we have grown, as long as we are in this old nature and as long as we are on this earth, there is always some defiling touch. When we are in the fellowship and the fellowship brings us into the presence of God, who is light, we are in the light. Then at this time we realize that we need the cleansing. Because we are under the light and in the light, the light exposes us, and we see that we are dirty. Therefore, right away we sense the need of the blood; we need the cleansing of the blood. We need to consider our own experiences. If we do not neglect the inner fellowship, in the light of God we will always realize and sense that we are dirty, sinful, wrong with something, and wrong with someone. For this reason, as long as we are in the light, we sense the need of the cleansing of the blood.
Here we have four items: life, fellowship, light, and blood. We receive the life, and the life brings us into the fellowship, the current, the flowing, of life. This fellowship brings us into the light, and in the light we sense the need of the blood. Many times when I hear brothers and sisters praying, they do not definitely and strongly mention that they need the cleansing of the blood. I doubt a little that they are truly in the fellowship. To be in the fellowship means that they are in the light. Why then do they not realize their need of the cleansing of the blood? If we are truly in the light, we will have the real sense, the real realization, that we need the cleansing of the blood, because we are still in this old nature and we are still on this earth. Regardless of how careful we are, we are still dirty. Can we be so careful for a whole week that we do not need to wash our face and hands? Regardless of how careful we are, we still have to wash. I am not careless, but I still need to wash my hands five, six, or seven times a day. If I do not wash, I have a certain kind of feeling. I may not see that I am dirty, but I still need to wash. Then after washing, I feel refreshed and cleansed. Even while we sleep at night, some dirt comes upon our face. There is no need to touch the dirt; the dirt comes to visit us. This is a dirty universe and earth, so we need the cleansing.
In type, after the sprinkling of the blood there is the anointing. The anointing of the oil always follows the sprinkling of the blood. According to type, these two items are the very means to keep us in fellowship with God. Whether it is an item of furniture or a person that is brought into the presence of God, that item or person needs the sprinkling of the blood, and after the sprinkling and upon the sprinkling it is anointed. There is not one person who can come into the presence of God without being sprinkled and anointed. If a person comes into the presence of God without the sprinkling and the anointing, he will die immediately. He needs the sprinkling of the blood, and upon the sprinkling of the blood he needs the anointing. Then by the sprinkling of the blood and the anointing of the ointment, this person or this item of furniture is acceptable to God. This means that these two things—the sprinkling of the blood and the anointing of the ointment—bring people into the presence and fellowship of God.
In chapter 1 of 1 John there is the cleansing and sprinkling of the blood, and in the very next chapter there is the anointing. Verses 27 and 28 of chapter 2 tell us that we need to abide in the Lord according to this anointing. Verse 27 says, “The anointing...abides in you...and even as it has taught you, abide in Him.” This abiding is the very fellowship; to abide in the Lord is to fellowship with the Lord. According to typology, this inner anointing comes to us based on the sprinkling of the blood; that is, the anointing follows the blood. Exodus and Leviticus clearly tell us that all the items and persons that come into the presence of God had to be sprinkled with the redeeming blood and anointed with the ointment. We must realize that we always need the blood on the negative side to cleanse us and the ointment, the Holy Spirit within us, on the positive side to anoint us.
This kind of anointing brings us into life. The more anointing we enjoy, the more life we have; the more life we have, the stronger the fellowship we are in; the stronger the fellowship we are in, the more light we have; and the more light we have, the more cleansing of the blood we need. Then more cleansing of the blood brings us into more anointing, and the more anointing we enjoy, the more we have life. This is a cycle. When we have life, we are in the fellowship. In the fellowship we are in the light. As we are in the light, we sense the need of the cleansing. Under the cleansing we enjoy the anointing, and the anointing brings us more life.
This is the real flow of life, and the more flow of life we have, the more our problems are solved. When I was younger, I was active to help people solve their problems. I would say, “This is easy; let me help you. Just do this and that—one, two, three, four—and your problem will be solved.” Eventually, I found that this does not work. “One, two, three, four” is good in mathematics, but in the matters of life it does not work. Only the inner fellowship, the current within us flowing all the time, can solve our problems. No one and no teaching can do this. If a brother has a problem with his wife, I may advise, warn, beg, and entreat him. I may say, “Brother, you must do this and that for the Lord’s glory.” But regardless of how much I speak in this way, although it may seem that he receives the help, in actuality he does not. One day, however, he may consecrate himself to the Lord, saying, “Lord, I love You, and I consecrate myself to You for You to work on me.” Then as he allows the inner flowing to flow, this flowing will solve his problems. If not for this, Christianity would be like the many religions. Religions always try to solve problems by teaching and instructing people. The proper way, strictly speaking, is different. It is something within that is living and flowing.
If we still have problems, either with God or with man, we are wrong concerning the fellowship. Probably the flowing within us is stopped. At least it is not fresh, living, strong, and adequate; it may be weak and nearly dead. At this time we need to experience our consecration. In order for the inner flowing to be stronger, we need to refresh and renew our consecration. The more we consecrate ourselves, not to work for the Lord but to be worked on by the Lord, the stronger the inner flowing will be, and when it flows strongly, it solves our problems.
We cannot help people to avoid even the sin of a little pride. We may say, “Brother, I realize that you are a proud person. Because you love the Lord and I love you, I want to tell you frankly that you must learn to be humble. Don’t be proud!” This, however, does not work. I did this kind of work many times when I was young, but now I never do this foolish work. I do not like to do this kind of foolish and useless work. It would be better for me to go to sleep. We should let such a brother be proud; it is better for him to be proud. To advise him to be humble is falsehood; that is not the real humility. He will merely be acting. What this brother needs is the inner flowing of the inner life. When he truly loves the Lord and consecrates himself to Him, does not struggle with the Lord, and never defeats the Lord, he will have a strong flowing within him. This will solve the problem of his pride. It will be something within, life swallowing up death. It will not be an outward adjustment, correction, or improvement, which is the work of religion, but by the working of the inner life. The working of the inner life is the constant flowing. In order to know life and in order to describe what life is in the way of experience, we must describe it in the way of fellowship.
