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In the previous chapters we saw that God’s eternal intention and His eternal plan are centered on Christ. God wants Christ to be our everything, to be our life and our life supply. We also saw that the purpose of God’s salvation is to build the church. The church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Christ, and the issue of our enjoyment of the riches of Christ. If we are to enjoy the riches of Christ in order to fulfill God’s purpose, we need the following five practices.
First, we need to practice living a life of faith. Second, we need to read the Lord’s Word and apply the word of life to feed our spirit. Third, we need to have an absolute and thorough consecration and to learn to have continual fellowship with the Lord in spirit and to abide in the Lord. Fourth, we need to experience death and resurrection. In other words, we need to experience our co-crucifixion on the cross, which has terminated our soul-life, and we need to know resurrection life and enjoy the riches of Christ in resurrection. Fifth, we need to practice being built together with the saints in our locality to practically live the church life. We must bring these matters to the Lord in prayer both privately and corporately, and we also need to practice these matters by the Lord’s grace.
We need to practice living a life of faith. We must understand the doctrine of living by faith and also commit ourselves with our needs, problems, and situations into the Lord’s hand, looking to Him in faith. When the Lord tries us, we can prove Him. Many problems come to us because the Lord wants to bring us to our end so that we would learn the lesson of faith. Our end is God’s beginning, and our dead end is God’s way out. If we do not learn to trust in the Lord, we may be loose and careless. When we learn to trust in the Lord, He will demand certain things of us and correct us. Then He will have a way to flow out of us.
We need to read the Lord’s Word. We must not only understand the Word with our mind but also feed our spirit with the Word. It is not necessary to read a large portion each time, but we should read a few verses every day. This is like eating a meal. We should not eat too much lest we get an upset stomach, but we should always eat a few meals a day to stay healthy. A person who is fed is healthy, safe, and happy. It is good to ask one another whether we have read the Bible or spent time with the Lord. We must eat spiritual food through the Lord’s Word daily. We should not talk about the building up of the church on a spiritually empty stomach. Instead, we should eat, drink, and enjoy the Lord through reading His Word. Some may feel that it is barbaric to speak of eating the Lord, but the Lord Himself said, “As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me” (John 6:57). The thought of eating the Lord is in the Bible. We can eat the Lord because He is our food. We eat Him by reading the Bible. We do not read the Word to accumulate spiritual knowledge but to obtain spiritual food with our spirit.
When saints ask me why they are weak, I ask them how many days they have been without a meal. This question is not concerning physical food but concerning reading the Lord’s Word daily to be fed by the Lord. Most of these saints confess that they do not read the Lord’s Word daily. If we do not eat every day, it is impossible for us to be strong. A person who does not eat physical food is unlikely to survive after forty days. This should be a warning to us.
Christians are weak because they neither read the Bible nor fellowship with the Lord. A person who does not eat or drink will not have much strength the following day and is more likely to get sick. We have spiritual problems because we lack spiritual vitamins. In order for us to be strong and free from various spiritual ailments, we must read the Bible and draw near to the Lord daily. Reading the Bible daily to enjoy the Lord not only solves our spiritual problems but also strengthens our spirit. I hope that the saints will not neglect this matter.
Some Christians excuse themselves, saying that they are too busy to read the Lord’s Word. We do not need to spend much time to read the Lord’s Word, but it is important that we take a little time to feed on the Word daily. About thirty years ago I read a tract that said Christians should spend ten minutes to speak, four times a day. The first ten minutes are for speaking to the Lord, that is, for prayer. The second ten minutes are for listening to the Lord speak, that is, for reading the Word. The third ten minutes are for speaking with other believers, that is, for fellowship. The fourth ten minutes are for speaking to the Gentiles, that is, for preaching the gospel. We should practice these four ten minutes daily. We should at least practice the first two ten minutes; we should spend ten minutes to speak to the Lord and ten minutes to listen to the Lord speak. We should not wait until night to speak to the Lord or to listen to Him speak; rather, we should spend ten minutes in the morning to speak to the Lord and ten minutes to listen to the Lord speak.
Someone once asked George Müller why believers should read the Bible and pray in the morning. He replied that in the Old Testament people offered up the precious fat of the sacrifice, not the dung of the sacrifice (Exo. 29:13-14; Lev. 4:8-12). The morning can be likened to fat, but night can be likened to dung. Therefore, reading the Bible and praying to draw near to the Lord in the morning can be likened to offering up the fat of the sacrifice. We should not wait to use whatever time is left over at night for drawing near to the Lord. No matter what day it is, we should always spend ten minutes for prayer and ten minutes for Bible reading in the morning. Ten minutes is not a long time; hence, this can easily be done. Such time is very precious. May we respond to the Lord and give Him our most precious and best twenty minutes in the morning by praying and reading the Bible to draw near to Him.
We should force ourselves to practice this; otherwise, we will not be strong. Listening to messages will not make us strong. I hope that we would sign a spiritual agreement with the Lord to practice reading His Word and praying. Children must learn to eat so that they can grow up to be strong. Therefore, we must practice reading the Lord’s Word every day. We should calm our inner being to read every morning. We do not need to read for too long. We need only ten minutes, and then we should turn what we have read into prayer. This is the way to feed our spirit daily.
We need to have an absolute and thorough consecration. In the Old Testament the children of Israel daily offered up burnt offerings in the morning and in the evening, and particular offerings were offered every Sabbath, at the beginning of every month, and for every feast (Num. 28—29). The children of Israel also had to offer up burnt offerings on major events (Lev. 8:18, 28; 1 Kings 3:4, 15; 8:62-64). Offering the burnt offering typifies our need to consecrate ourselves on every occasion, for everything, at all times, and in every place. Young people who are taking college entrance exams and young adults who will be getting married and starting a family must both have proper consecrations. We should also consecrate ourselves for spiritual activities, such as preaching the gospel or visiting the saints. Renewing our consecration daily is an important and great lesson. Practices such as learning to abide in the Lord and having His presence through consecration were recovered by Mrs. Hannah Whitall Smith. We should not do anything that will cause us to leave the Lord’s presence. If saying something will take us out of the Lord, we should not say it. We must learn to pay attention to the inner sense and practice abiding in the Lord.
We need to experience death and resurrection in everything. We must experience the cross in all things. Even our love for the brothers needs to go through the cross. Our inclinations and desires must go through the cross. We must also learn to experience resurrection. Resurrection is the next step of the cross. Thirty years ago a brother told me that a stone buried in the earth would yield nothing, but a seed buried in the earth would bring forth fruit. This is resurrection. As Christians, we have Christ in us. If we would accept the cross, stop ourselves, and let ourselves die, the resurrection life of Christ within us will be lived out. Therefore, we must experience death and also resurrection.
We must ask ourselves whether we are individualistic or are joined to others and being built up together with others. As Christians, we must be on the proper ground, and we must practice being built up with others as the church in our locality. This is God’s eternal intention and the goal of His eternal salvation.
Question: What does it mean to experience death by accepting the cross?
Answer: A dead person has no feelings; he cannot even feel death. If we can feel death, we are not yet dead. If we still have feelings, we are not yet dead. In Foochow there was a married woman who had such a disagreeable contention with her husband’s family that she threatened to drown herself in the sea. She ran to the sea, and her family followed, but when she reached the sea, she held on to her skirt so that it would not get wet. When the family saw this, they knew that she would not drown herself, because she was unwilling to let her skirt get wet. Many Christians say that they accept the cross, but they have too many feelings. They are like the woman who held on to her skirt. A person with so many feelings is not dead. When we truly experience death, we do not feel anything.
Question: How can we always renew our consecration?
Answer: We should consecrate ourselves in great matters and in small matters. For example, a sister who wants to visit a friend should consecrate herself before leaving her home. She may say, “Lord, I belong to You; I am not my own. I am going to visit a friend, so I hand myself over to You so that You can make every decision.” Once she consecrates herself, she may sense that the Lord does not want her to go. The Lord may ask whether this visit is according to her will or according to His will. Then the sister should ask the Lord to forgive her because the visit was according to her will. She may also say that she no longer intends to go. If the Lord then leads her to go, she should be exercised not to say anything presumptuously. She should follow the Lord’s leading in whatever she says and does. We need such an absolute consecration in what we say and do.
The younger saints sometimes ask me whether they may still watch movies now that they are Christians. I do not debate with them, nor do I say anything related to going or not going. Instead, I advise them to consecrate themselves whenever they want to watch a movie. They can say, “Lord Jesus, I belong to You; I am not my own. I am now going to watch a movie, so I consecrate myself fully to You.” Then they will know whether they should watch the movie. They often say that after such a consecration, they are not able to watch a movie. Whether or not they watch movies should not be the result of human exhortation but of their consecration. Our consecration can make things clear for us. When we place ourselves on the altar, our eyes will be opened, and there will be no more reasoning. This is my experience; many things become clear to me when I pray and consecrate myself.
Question: How do we know whether something is of the Lord or is acceptable to Him?
Answer: We should never analyze spiritual matters with our mind. I still do not know whether my right foot or my left foot is the first to move when I walk. If I always paid attention to whether I use my left foot first or my right foot first, I still would not know how to walk. Instead of analyzing, we should just walk. We need to believe that the Lord accepts our consecration, regardless of who is consecrating himself or of what is being consecrated. Even if a brother would feign a consecration, the Lord never pretends; He will make a feigned consecration real. In the Old Testament no one could take an offering back once it was on the altar (Lev. 27:9-10). After something has been placed on the altar, it cannot be taken back. This proves that the Lord remembers our consecration forever and that no one can annul his consecration.
Question: How can I know whether I have growth in life?
Answer: We need to have faith regarding matters of life. Matters of life have their law. Once I planted a seed but did not see anything grow after two days. I was so worried there might be a problem with the seed that I dug up the soil to see whether the seed was still there. There was no problem with the seed, yet nothing grew after several more days. Later, an experienced person told me to leave the seed alone, because it has its law of life and will grow when it is time. Likewise, it is sufficient to love the Lord, draw near to Him in prayer daily, consecrate ourselves, wait on the Lord and abide in Him, and give heed to the sense of peace within. We do not need to analyze our situation or worry. We should be at peace and let the law of life take care of the matters of life. The life seed will grow, and we will be strong. There is no need to check whether we have grown. When we analyze, we interfere with the law of life.
Being a Christian is very difficult and also very easy. My youngest daughter is often concerned about how many centimeters she has grown. She should not worry, even though she seems to be the same height every day. The Lord said, “A man cast seed on the earth, and sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and lengthens—how, he does not know. The earth bears fruit by itself” (Mark 4:26-28). Hence, we do not need to be anxious concerning whether we are growing. We simply need to eat and sleep properly, and life will grow.
Question: What should we do when we do not want to eat, drink, or enjoy the Lord?
Answer: There are two solutions. First, we should force ourselves to eat and drink the Lord. We must eat and drink the Lord even when we do not want to. If we would force ourselves to eat and drink the Lord, after a while our negative feelings will disappear. Second, if we are unable to eat and drink the Lord for a long period of time, we need to see a spiritual physician. The Lord is our spiritual Physician, and the church is also. When we come to the church, the Lord will speak to us through the saints concerning our sickness. By praying for us, the saints “prescribe medication” and also strengthen and supply us. Therefore, there is no reason for a Christian to be weak for a long period of time. He must always eat and drink the Lord normally.
Question: What should we do if we do not understand our environment?
Answer: Christians encounter two kinds of environments. The first kind of environment is an obstacle raised up by Satan when we obey and carry out God’s commandment. We must overcome such environments by faith, but we must not use our flesh to deal with Satan. The second kind of environment is a trial from God. We should not expect to overcome the environment that God gives us but should rather accept the environment and learn the lesson in that environment. Because it is difficult for believers to discern whether an environment is an attack from Satan or a trial permitted by God, we need to pray more and also pray together with our fellow members. We may ask the Lord to resolve the environment if it is an attack from Satan and to strengthen us if the environment is a trial from the Lord. The lesson that the Lord wants us to learn is different in each environment. If through prayer we are certain that an environment is of Satan, we should pray until the environment is resolved.
Question: How do we discern what is of God and what is an obstacle from Satan?
Answer: When we encounter a situation that we do not understand, we should first wait and not do anything. We should never have an attitude of resignation, of accepting everything. We should do our best to avoid problems. We should avoid what is avoidable and commit the unavoidable into the Lord’s hand. For example, if a brother sees that a car is about to hit him, he should not stand still and say, “I do not know whether this is an attack from Satan or a trial from the Lord.” Of course, he should try to avoid being hit by the car. Some things, however, are unavoidable, no matter how much we try to avoid them. In such situations we should willingly submit and accept them. It is wrong to willingly accept avoidable problems, but we should accept with thanksgiving and learn lessons from things that are from the Lord.
Question: Does the Lord reveal His will to us in one instant, or do we wait for Him to gradually reveal it to us?
Answer: It is not easy to be clear concerning the Lord’s will, because there are many intricacies that are involved. In principle, the Lord does not let us know everything about a matter; He often reveals things to us bit by bit. In this way we will always look to the Lord, draw near to Him, and depend on Him. When God called Abraham, He said, “Go...to the land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). However, Abraham did not know where he was to go. God did not tell Abraham the destination. If God had told Abraham, he would not have needed to depend on Jehovah God. Abraham needed to follow God step by step; he took one step one day and another step the next day. Abraham could not afford to lose God, because God was his Guide. God did not give Abraham a map, so Abraham could not forsake God.
Sometimes the Lord wants us to understand His will, but we are distracted by the mixture within us. Miss M. E. Barber knew the Lord. She said, “If you have not forsaken yourself completely, you are only ten percent into your hundred-mile journey of pursuing to know the Lord, but if you have forsaken yourself, you have already finished ninety-nine miles.” This means that the greatest problem in knowing the Lord’s will is the self.
There is a story of a captain who steered his ship toward the foot of a mountain, even though he navigated with a map and compass. He could not explain why the ship was steered to the foot of the mountain. Some experts later discovered that the mountain was so rich in magnetite that it affected the compass. This is a very good illustration. The self is so rich in “magnetite” that it can influence a Christian to read the Bible according to his concept and to deliberate concerning God’s will according to his own thoughts. Such Christians are like a ship with a failed compass. If we want to know God’s will, we should be pure, trust in the Lord, and follow Him closely step by step; we must not expect to know His will in one instant.
On our journey of following the Lord, we must forsake our self when we sense that it is entangled in a certain matter. However, we should not overanalyze. If we fellowship with the Lord and accept the cross, we do not need to analyze.
Question: I still have a strong feeling concerning my consecration to the Lord, but I lack a clear calling from the Lord. Should I still drop everything and hand everything over for His use?
Answer: To consecrate oneself to the Lord for His use does not mean that one must drop everything and become a preacher. We consecrate ourselves to let the Lord live in us and pass through us. Such a consecration requires that we hand ourselves over fully. Consecration depends on us, but what we do after our consecration does not depend on us. The problem of many believers is that either they do not consecrate themselves, or they consecrate themselves and then instruct the Lord concerning how to use them. The Lord wants us to consecrate ourselves, but He does not want us to direct Him.
