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Scripture Reading: 1 Thes. 1:5; 2 Cor. 6:1; John 1:12-13; 1 John 3:2; Phil. 1:19-21a; 3:10; Deut. 6:7; Psa. 78:5-7; Joel 1:3; Acts 2:38-39; Eph. 6:4; 2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15; Gal. 6:7-8
In [2 Corinthians] 2:12—3:11 Paul covers the ministry of the new covenant, and in 3:12—7:16, the ministers of the new covenant. The section in this Epistle on the ministers of the new covenant is much longer than the section on the ministry of the new covenant. The reason for this is that God cares much more for the ministers than He does for the ministry. In other words, God cares more for what we are than for what we do. This means that what we are is much more important to Him than what we do.
Today both in the Christian world and the secular world more attention is given to what people do than to what they are. Christians mainly pay their attention to work or ministry, yet neglect the being of the person who does the work. They pay attention to the work and the ministry much more than to the worker and the minister. But according to the Bible, God pays more attention to what we are than to what we do or to what we can do. He cares for the kind of person we are and for the kind of life we live. Therefore, in 2 Corinthians Paul first presents the New Testament ministry. Then he goes on to show that this excellent, marvelous ministry needs excellent ministers with an excellent life.
We need to be deeply impressed by the fact that God cares much more for what we are than for what we do. What we do must be measured by what we are. Furthermore, our being must match our work; that is, what we are must match what we do. Our being must match our doing. Thus, our being and our doing go together. If we care only for what we do and not for being the right kind of person, then what we do will not be very weighty. Our doing will be weighty only when it is matched by what we are in our being. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 339-340)
The service of the elders has to do with the person of the elder. It does not depend on the method but on the person. In the New Testament it is very difficult to find out what is the method or way to serve. Some places seem to speak about the method or the way, but actually the emphasis is still the person himself. The person is the way, and the person is the Lord’s work. If God does not gain a person, He will have no work, and He will have no way. A way is a course that a person takes. If God does not gain man, He will have no course to take. Man thinks that the most important thing to do is to find a good way. However, God’s work does not involve giving us the ways, but is a matter of gaining the persons. If God can gain two or three brothers here, He will have a way. Even if I present to you the best way to be an elder, it will be useless if the person is wrong. We, the person, should be gained by God. We have to learn to be the proper person more than to learn to do the proper things. It is meaningless for things to be done properly without the person being a proper one. What you are is what you do. You cannot serve God beyond what you are as a person. (Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, pp. 59-60)
Margaret Barber was a great example to Watchman Nee in the one matter of paying more attention to life than to work. He realized that God cares for what we are more than what we do, and his work was according to this principle. He observed how Miss Barber continually stressed the matter of life, paying almost no attention to her work.
From time to time, he and Miss Barber would go together to listen to a Christian speaker. He always admired either the speaker’s eloquence, knowledge, zeal, ability, or natural power of persuasion. Then Miss Barber would point out to him that what he admired was neither of life nor of the Spirit. What he admired might be able to stir people up and motivate them to perform certain works, but it could never minister life to people. Through such spiritual diagnosis, he was educated to discern and distinguish the difference between life and work. He began to realize that most of the sermons given by preachers and Christian teachers were not grains of life but flakes of chaff. He also observed that in most Christian work, supposedly carried out for Christ, there is very little life ministered to people. (Watchman Nee—A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, p. 85)
We all know that to do anything, first there is the need of a person to do it. Next comes the method. The Chinese say that the kind of thing accomplished depends on the kind of person carrying it out. The method may be the same. But for you to do it, it will succeed. For me to do it, it may fail. For you, there may be a good result. For me, the result may not be very good. Hence, the problem is not the method but the person.
I would seriously warn the brothers that to manage affairs in the church, it is dangerous to use any method when the person is not right. What are methods? To put it in terms that are not so nice, methods are crafts. To be crafty is to be political. To administrate a church, you cannot be political. The work of all those who manage the church in a political way will result in vanity. The worldly politicians can play politics, but the elders in the church cannot play politics. The church is not a society; the church is a family. In a family, the head of the household cannot be crafty or play politics. The head of the household manages the family by his person. It is the person that manages the family, not a method that does it. In the same way, the church is the house of God. There is no need for a good method of administration; rather, there is the need of a good person for administration.
I admit that this lesson is difficult to learn. We are all sons of Adam, and it is difficult for our hearts to be broad. We all have a wicked nature. For us to be human is easy, but for us to deal with others honestly is very difficult. Nevertheless, brothers, since we have received the Lord’s mercy to be appointed as elders among His people, we should be honest persons. We are not here to learn some methods of being elders. Rather, we are here to be enlightened, to submit to the Lord’s hand, and to receive His dealings. It is not a question of picking up some method, but a matter of receiving His dealings. To be an elder is a matter of the person. As soon as we become involved with methods, we fall into pretense.
Brothers, even your politeness and courtesy have to be genuine. For some elders, even their politeness to the brothers and sisters is false. In the world, there may be the need for polite pretense, but in the church, the elders should not have any polite pretense. Furthermore, even your anger has to be genuine. It is true that an elder should restrict his temper, but there should not be any false restriction. False restrictions are but attempts to be human and political. (The Elders’ Management of the Church, pp. 25-27, 31)
We are regenerated of God the Spirit to be spirits—gods (John 3:6b) belonging to the species of God to see and enter into the kingdom of God (vv. 3, 5). John 1 tells us how we received the authority to be the children of God. Then John 3 speaks of regeneration again. Verse 6 says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” We are the flesh and born of the flesh in our natural life. But we were born of God the Spirit to be spirits, gods. That which is born of a cow is a cow. That which is born of a horse is a horse. We are born of the Spirit, and the Spirit is God. John 4:24 tells us clearly that God is Spirit. Because we are born of God the Spirit, we must be gods in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. If we do not believe that we who are born of God are gods, then what are we? That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Our second birth caused us to enter into the kingdom of God to become the species of God. The animals and plants have their particular species. We are born of God, so we are gods belonging to the species of God. We should always remember that we are God-men belonging to the species of God. A God-man does not quarrel with others. This is an intrinsic-study of the Word of God.
Regeneration is the first step of Christ’s organic salvation. The washing of regeneration purges away all the things of the old nature of our old man (Titus 3:5). This washing is an organic saving. Without regeneration’s washing, there would be layers of the old creation in our being. Perhaps some would feel that they are not of the species of God, but of the “species” of the Americans. This species should be washed away. We need to see that regeneration as the first step of Christ’s organic saving is to wash away the layers of the old creation of our old nature.
We must not forget that we are God-men belonging to God’s species. As God-men born of God and belonging to God’s species, we cannot speak to our spouse in a loose way. A husband must be a God-man, living as a God-man. To be merely a good man is far away from God’s good pleasure. We need to see that we are God-men, born of God and belonging to God’s species. This is the beginning of the God-man living.
God loves you. God has a good pleasure to make you the same as He is. He is God, so you must be God also. A God-man living is God living. This kind of teaching is much higher than the teaching concerning how to be holy or victorious. In my early days as a believer, I saw many books on how to live the Christian life, but these books did not really reveal the way. How can you be holy? You can be holy by living a God-man life. How can you be victorious? It is only by living a God-man life. Never forget that you are a God-man, born of God and belonging to God’s species. (The God-man Living, pp. 8-9)
When we think of ourselves as God-men, this thinking, this realization, revolutionizes us in our daily experience. For example, a brother may be unhappy with his wife. But he remembers that he is a God-man, and immediately his attitude is changed. Then he will desire to be a God-man husband.
We need to understand that to be a part of mankind is to be something negative. In God’s view mankind is a negative term referring to fallen man. As believers in Christ and children of God, we are not mankind—we are God-man kind. To realize this is to be changed, even revolutionized. When we realize that we are God-men, we will say, “Lord, You are the first God-man, and we are the many God-men following You. You lived a human life, not by Your human life but by God’s divine life to express Him. His attributes became Your virtues. You were here on this earth dying every day. You were crucified to live. Lord, You are my life today and You are my person. You are just me. I therefore must die. I need to be conformed to Your death. I have to be crucified to die every day to live a God-man’s life, a human life yet not by my human life but by the divine life, with Your life and Your nature as my constitution to express You in Your divine attributes, which become my human virtues.” This makes us not just a Christian or a believer in Christ but a God-man, one kind with God. This is the highest point of God’s gospel. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, pp. 27-28)
Since the ministry began in the United States in 1962, I have actually ministered only one matter—God becoming a man that man may become God in life and in nature. However, it was not until February 1994 that I received such a clear view with a heavy burden to tell God’s people that we all are God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.
To know who we are and to realize who we are revolutionizes us. Suppose a certain brother who has been living like a scorpion realizes that, as a child of God, he is God in life and in nature. Immediately this brother will be radically changed. The atmosphere and everything related to him will also be changed. If all of today’s Christians realized that they were God in life and in nature, the whole world would be different.
During the past ten months, I have often checked with myself: “Is a God-man like this? You have spoken that the believers have become God in life and in nature, yet what are you now? Are you God or are you something else?” My answer has been to repent and ask for the Lord’s forgiveness because at least some of the things I did were not in Him or according to Him. This realization has revolutionized me. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, p. 12)
Let us now consider the situation in the recovery. We all are believers. We believe in the Lord Jesus. We have repented and come back to the Lord, and we have been saved, even dynamically saved. Yet in our daily life we may not have the living of a God-man.
We have pointed out that for the children of Israel to keep the law was to live God and express God. However, they did not keep the law, and therefore they did not live God and express God. The situation is the same with us today. For the most part, we do not express God in our daily living.
We need to have a God-man living in our married life. If a married brother would live the life of a God-man in his married life, he would surely be a good husband, for he would be a real God-man in loving his wife. Likewise, if a married sister would live the life of a God-man in her married life, she would be a good wife, submitting herself to her husband.
We also need to have a God-man living in the church life, especially in relation to what we call the vital groups. How can we have a vital group if we ourselves are not vital? This is impossible. Suppose at dinner a brother and his wife are not happy with each other. They even exchange words and argue for quite a long time. Suddenly they remember that later that evening they must attend a meeting of their vital group. But how could this couple be vital in the meeting? Because they are not vital at home in their married life, they have no way to be vital in the meeting.
We have such a Spirit within us, but what do we live and how do we live? Do we live Christ? In the church meetings we may live Christ, but do we live Christ at home with our husband or wife and with our children? We need a real revival to be God-men who live a life of always denying ourselves and being crucified to live Christ for the expression of God. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, pp. 76-77)
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We need to be careful in every detail. For instance, when we talk to our spouse, we have to talk according to the spirit. We need to walk in all things according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4). We need to be warned and be on the alert that whatever we say, whatever we do, whatever we express, our attitude, our spirit, and our intention must be purified by the life-giving, compound, all-inclusive Spirit. Otherwise, we will lose much in the enjoyment of Christ, today’s good land. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, p. 49)
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When we have problems in our daily life, we do not have to seek advice from others, because we have a spirit in us and the Lord as the Spirit dwelling in our spirit is very near to us. We can ask Him about everything, without any need to use the telephone or the fax machine, for He can talk with us right within us. You can talk with Him and confer with Him in everything. The Lord’s Word says, “In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). Hence, if you have some problem, you just need to tell Him. He is right within you, and He is with you face to face. The Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—is in us not to trouble us but to be our Paraclete, Comforter, Supporter. I always pray, “O Lord, now I am going to take a walk. Support me, sustain me, and strengthen me.” This is to drink the Lord. In this way I have no anxiety. When anxiety comes, you should say, “O Lord, this anxiety is Yours, not mine; I give it to You because You bear it for me.” Thus, you receive the Lord’s element into you, and metabolism will work constantly in you. Consequently, what is expressed through you outwardly is Christ. This is to live Christ. Those who do not know this secret consider to live Christ a difficult thing. Actually, you just need to practice speaking with the Lord constantly; then spontaneously you will live Christ. (The Organic Aspect of God’s Salvation, pp. 54-55)
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Adam and Eve certainly must have preached the gospel to their children, telling Cain and Abel how they had been created by God, how they had been charged by God not to eat of the tree of knowledge, how they had disobeyed God and had eaten of that tree, how they were in fear and trembling as they awaited the sentence of death, and how God came in to preach the gospel by promising them that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. Furthermore, Adam and Eve must also have told them how they had stood naked in the presence of God and how God had slain some lambs as sacrifices, using the skins to make robes to cover their nakedness that they could stand before God and have fellowship with Him. I am convinced that Adam and Eve preached this gospel to their children. Evidence of this is found in Hebrews 11:4, which says, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” According to the Bible, faith comes from hearing the word that is preached (14, Rom. 10:17). Since Abel had such faith, exercised this faith, and offered a sacrifice to God in accordance with this faith, he must have heard the preaching of the glad tidings from his parents. Out of that word he received faith. He did not present his sacrifice according to his own opinion or learning, and his offering was not his own invention. He presented his offering by faith according to the words preached by his parents.
Adam was a good father, taking the lead in believing the gospel. I hope that all the fathers reading this message will be leaders in believing the gospel. Eve, a good wife and mother, was also a believer, following her believing husband and opening the way for her child to believe. Therefore, in Genesis 4 we have a believing father, a believing mother, and a believing child. Look at this family—they all believed in the same gospel. When people have asked me if Adam and Eve were saved, I have said, “Why not? If you are saved, then certainly they were saved as well. In fact, they were saved much earlier than you were.” Adam and Eve were pioneers in believing the gospel. Adam cut the way, Eve paved the way, and Abel walked on the way. Now we are followers of Abel. I wish that every father would be an Adam, every mother an Eve, and all the children Abels. The first family on the earth was a gospel family, a family of believers.
Adam and Eve were saved, and they passed on the word of salvation to the following generation. We also must share these things with our own children, telling them the sad story of man’s fall and proclaiming to them the good news of God’s salvation.
Once again I say that I strongly believe that [Cain’s] parents preached the gospel to him and his brother, telling them of their need for coverings made from the skins of the sacrificial lambs. I believe that this accounts for Abel’s desire to be a feeder of the sheep. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 289-290, 292, 293)
[The kind of life that God can use to change the age] always inherits the godly ways of the forefathers. Thank God that Noah, the tenth generation from Adam, had many good forefathers...Noah inherited Adam’s way of salvation (Gen. 3:20-21)...Noah also inherited Abel’s way of offering (4:4)...The third godly way that Noah inherited was Enosh’s way of calling on the name of the Lord to enjoy all that He is (v. 26)...Noah also inherited [all the fathers’] way of living and begetting (5:3-28)...Noah also inherited the fifth way, [Enoch’s] way of walking with God (vv. 22, 24). (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 390-391)
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Question: Was Moses called after he turned eighty?
Answer: A person’s calling has a beginning, course, and completion. If we investigate the time when Moses was called, it was before the foundation of the world. The calling of Moses was not an accidental act or idle whim of God. The name Moses means “drawn out.” Long before the foundation of the world, he was drawn out. God also set apart Paul in his mother’s womb (Gal. 1:15). Not only did the matter of our calling take place before the foundation of the world; even our salvation occurred before the foundation of the world.
This shows that God took several steps in the preparation of Moses. First, God prepared godly parents who infused him with godly thoughts after his birth (Exo. 2:7-9). Second, God prepared the environment of the palace in Egypt for him so that he could receive the best education of his time to lead the children of Israel (3:10; Acts 7:22). Moses’ commission could not have been undertaken by someone who did not have any training. Hence, God allowed him to enter into the palace to be properly regulated and cultivated. Third, through the infusing of his parents, Moses had the godly thought and concept that he needed to rescue the children of Israel (Heb. 11:24-25). To him, this was the beginning of God’s calling. Fourth, God prepared the wilderness for him in order to train his character. Although he had godly thoughts and had received a high education, his character was not fully trained, nor had he gone through any human sufferings (Acts 7:23-28). He was very strong. He had no children or any special environment, so God caused him to shepherd a flock in the wilderness for forty years so that he could be refined in a furnace like hard steel (v. 29). When all these environments had been arranged successfully, God came in and called him in a definite way. At this time, God’s calling was complete (v. 30).
Hence, it is difficult to determine when God called Moses. If we consider the source, we must say that it was before the foundation of the world, but also it was in the palace, the wilderness, and the training process. Then God came in. The principle is the same with us. If we look back, we can testify that our calling was predestinated by God in eternity past. Then at a certain time, He arranged for us to be in the proper environment and did not let us go; it was at that time that we answered His call. (Knowing Life and the Church, pp. 234-235)
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With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, those who were qualified and ready to take possession of the land were younger ones. They were of the second generation. The older ones, those of the first generation, had passed through many things and had learned many lessons. However, they were not qualified to enter into the land. The lessons learned by the first generation surely became part of the heritage passed on to the second generation. Their children certainly inherited from their parents all the lessons they learned during the forty years in the wilderness. By their birth the younger ones were put into a position to inherit the tradition of their family and all that their parents had experienced.
I believe that the fathers spoke to their children about their experiences in Egypt, in the exodus from Egypt, and in the wilderness. No doubt, the fathers spoke about how they were cruelly treated as slaves in Egypt, about how God in His mercy sent Moses to deliver them from bondage, about how they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month, and about how they marched out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. The fathers must have also explained to their children that they entered into the wilderness without food but that God fed them with manna and supplied them with water from the smitten rock. They might have also explained that although they eventually felt that manna was loathsome, they nevertheless appreciated it. The people did not grow any crops, but for forty years they daily received the heavenly supply of manna. Furthermore, the younger ones learned about Moses and about the great help he rendered to the people of Israel. Moses himself was not allowed to enter into the good land, but he contributed many constructive factors to God’s people.
The second generation did not pass through as much as the first generation did, but they received the benefit of what the first generation experienced. I believe that the older generation told the younger generation about all they experienced, enjoyed, and suffered. This speaking was part of the raising up, or the building up, of the second generation. What the first generation experienced was not experienced in vain, for it was passed on to the second generation. What the older ones experienced actually was not effective for them, but it was very effective in building up the younger ones. Therefore, God was able to prepare from the second generation more than six hundred thousand men with a rich inheritance and strong background who were qualified to be formed into an army to fight with Him and for Him.
The principle is the same with us in the Lord’s recovery today. The recovery has been in the United States for twenty-seven years and has passed through many things. Do you think that all these things have been in vain? They certainly have not been in vain. These things are being passed on to the younger ones in the Lord’s recovery and will be very effective in building them up and preparing them to fight with God and for God. The younger ones in the Lord’s recovery have a rich inheritance. Because this inheritance is being passed on to the younger ones and even being constituted into them, I have the full assurance that when a further testing comes, there will be a very positive result. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 368-369)
Apart from the book of Proverbs, the Old Testament does not seem to give us much teaching concerning parenting. In the New Testament, however, Paul wrote something about being parents. Most books in the world teach children how to be children; not many books teach parents how to be parents. Most people pay attention to teachings for children. But the New Testament pays much attention to teachings for parents. It does not pay much attention to teachings about being children. Although it does teach us something about children, the emphasis is not on children. Both Ephesians 6 and Colossians 3 put more emphasis on parents than on children. We should learn to be proper parents because God pays more attention to parents than to children.
If we try to summarize the words in the Bible concerning parenting, the main thing parents should do is nurture their children in the teaching and admonition of the Lord and not provoke them to anger or discourage them. This means that parents must exercise self-control and must not be loose in any way. This is Paul’s teaching concerning the subject.
As difficult as it is to be a husband or a wife, I hope you will realize that there is something more difficult—being a parent. Being a husband or a wife involves only two people; being a parent involves more. Being a husband or a wife is a matter of personal happiness; being a parent is something that affects the well-being of the children of the next generation. The responsibility over the future of the children of the next generation is on the shoulders of the parents.
We have to realize how serious this responsibility is. God has placed a person’s body, soul, and spirit, even his whole life and future, into our hands. No individual influences another individual’s future as much as parents. No one controls a person’s future as much as parents. Parents almost have a say in whether their children will go to hell or to heaven. We must learn to be good husbands and good wives, but above all we must learn also to be good parents. I believe that the responsibility of being a parent is more than that of being a husband or a wife. (Messages for Building Up New Believers, vol. 2, pp. 519-520)
Verse 5 of 2 Timothy 1 says, “Having been reminded of the unfeigned faith in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded dwells also in you.” Here Paul reminds Timothy of the unfeigned faith, which is in him. This faith first indwelt Timothy’s grandmother and then his mother. Now it dwells in him. (Life-study of 2 Timothy, p. 5)
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Mary as a young woman was very familiar with the Old Testament. Mary was the right person, the proper vessel, selected by God to be the channel for the Savior’s incarnation. In ancient times, females were not as well educated as males. However, although both Mary and Elizabeth were females, they both had gained a great deal of knowledge from the Old Testament. (The Practice of Prophesying, pp. 23-24)
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Mary’s poetic praise is composed of many quotations from the Old Testament. This indicates that she was a godly woman, qualified to be a channel for the Savior’s incarnation. It also indicates that the Lord Jesus would grow up in a family which would be filled with the knowledge and love of God’s holy Word.
Although Mary was a young woman, she was very knowledgeable concerning the Old Testament and could quote verses from it in her praise to God. Actually, her praise was a composition of quotations from the Scriptures. Surely she was the right person for God to use in conceiving the Savior who was to be born.
As we consider Mary’s praise, we can see something of the reason she was chosen by God for the conception of the Man-Savior. No doubt Mary also taught the Lord Jesus many portions from the Scriptures as He was growing up. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 33, 37)
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Everything we do is some kind of sowing, either to the flesh or to the Spirit. Wherever we may be and whatever we are doing, we are sowing seeds. You sow at work and also at school. The elders sow while they are caring for the church, and those who minister the Word sow as they minister. Husbands and wives are constantly sowing in their married life, and parents are sowing in their family life. Everything parents say to their children and do with them is a seed sown into them. Day by day we all are sowing. The Christian life is a life of sowing. Furthermore, the place where we live and work is our farm. You are sowing even by the way you dress or style your hair. Virtually everything you do is an act of sowing. It is crucial for us to realize that the Christian walk must be a walk by the Spirit and a life of sowing to the Spirit.
In our experience, the flesh should be crucified. As Paul says in Galatians 5:24, “They who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts.” We should not continue to walk according to the flesh. We should not be in the flesh in expressing our attitudes. In speaking to their children, parents need to be in the Spirit and according to the Spirit. Otherwise, what they say will be a sowing unto the flesh. We should also be careful of the way we express our attitude. Even the expression of an attitude may be sowing according to the flesh. On the other hand, we may express our attitude by sowing unto the Spirit. We should also be cautious in expressing opinions. Do you have the assurance that the utterance of your opinion is according to the Spirit? If not, be careful, lest you sow unto the flesh. If we all sow unto the Spirit day by day, many problems will be eliminated. The troubles in the church life and in the family life will diminish. Most problems and troubles come from sowing unto the flesh.
Seeds are small. Have you ever seen a farmer sow seed which is a foot in diameter? No, the seeds a farmer sows are tiny. The same is true of our sowing. We may regard certain things as tiny—a little gossiping or a little criticizing—but they are seeds sown into others. Have you ever asked yourself how many seeds you have sown into others, seeds that are not according to the Spirit but according to the flesh? In the church life we are constantly sowing tiny seeds. Even the way one brother looks at another is a seed. We certainly sow to the flesh when we criticize, argue, or condemn. In principle, all that we say or do is a seed sown either to the flesh or to the Spirit.
In 5:25 Paul speaks of walking by the Spirit, and in 6:8, of sowing unto the Spirit. Actually, to walk by the Spirit is to sow unto the Spirit. Whenever we walk by the Spirit, we sow unto the Spirit. Sowing unto the Spirit, we eventually reap life eternal.
The fact that we may sow either to the flesh or to the Spirit and thereby reap either corruption or eternal life should encourage us to be careful in what we say and do. Let us realize that everything in our daily living is a sowing either to the flesh or to the Spirit. (Life-study of Galatians, pp. 258-261)
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The word sowing is actually equal to living. To be careful in our sowing is to be watchful concerning our living. I repeat, sowing causes a certain result. This was the reason Paul warned us to be careful of our sowing. (Life-study of Galatians, p. 311)
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The first kind of relationships in human life is family relationships. First Timothy 3:4 says, “One who manages well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity.” Managing one’s house is a matter of taking the lead, but Paul’s concept here is not mainly related to authority. As a husband and father, an overseer should take the lead in his family not merely by ruling but by establishing a good example and pattern. A family is not like a government or an organization, which are led by authority. A father’s leadership in his family should not mainly be based on his ruling with authority but should instead be based on the pattern of his daily living. Similarly, to be an elder does not mean to rule the church with authority. This concept is absolutely wrong. A father’s management of his family is very different from a supervisor’s management of a business. A supervisor may hire and fire employees, but a father cannot hire or fire his children. The basic need in a family is the father’s example. As a father, an elder must live properly before his family. This is the proper way to manage one’s house. In our home we should not try to exercise our authority as a king, law officer, administrator, or school principal. Paul’s concept in this section concerns the overseers’ daily living. It does not work to merely discipline our children. God’s ordained principle is that a father must live a life that is a pattern, an example, to his children.
As overseers, we must take the lead in our family by presenting a pattern in our living. This is our duty. However, if our children are in subjection with all gravity, we should not think that it is because of our doing; instead, we have to worship the Lord for His mercy. Although the disposition of our children is not under our control, this does not mean we can neglect our duties to live as an example and to spend as much time and energy as we can on our children. Nevertheless, we must realize that the way our children turn out ultimately depends on the Lord’s mercy. We know that this is true, because if two children are siblings and are raised by the same parents with the same care, they may still turn out very different. One may have a good character and become a seeking believer, while the other may have a poor character and not even be saved. Therefore, we must do our duty to live a proper life as an example to our children, but we should not be discouraged or proud because of how our children turn out.
Paul’s word concerning an overseer’s children in verse 4 does not involve salvation or spirituality. We should be a good example to our children, but whether or not they will eventually be saved depends on God’s predestination. Jacob and Esau were twins, but Romans 9:10-13 shows that their destiny depended on God’s selection. We cannot cause our children or anyone else to be spiritual, but we can establish an example by living a sober, temperate, and orderly life and by seeking the Lord. If two flesh brothers listen to the same gospel message, one may be saved, but the other may not. We have seen cases like this. Therefore, we must be zealous in preaching the gospel and convincing people to receive the Lord, but we must also realize that a person’s salvation ultimately depends not on our effort but on God’s predestination. We should not think that because it depends on God’s predestination, we do not need to preach the gospel. We must do our duty. Similarly, we should not assume that our children will behave well if we are a good example, nor should we neglect our duty. The best and most proper way to be a parent is to live as an example to our children and pray for the Lord’s mercy.
If our living establishes a proper standard, we are not liable if our children behave badly. However, if we do not live as a pattern, our children’s bad behavior is our responsibility. If they are good, the credit does not go to us, but if they are bad, we receive the “debit.” This is the divine accounting. We should not say that God is not fair. Romans 9:20 says, “O man, who are you who answer back to God? Shall the thing molded say to him who molded it, Why did you make me thus?” We cannot argue with God. If our children behave well and are eventually saved and live before the Lord, we must worship the Lord, saying, “Lord, I am nothing. Even my best behavior is like dust; it means nothing. I can only thank You for Your mercy.” We should not ascribe anything to our goodness. We have to acknowledge God’s predestination, His mercy, and His grace. If our children begin to live sinfully, we must humble ourselves, praying, “Lord, forgive me. I accept the blame because I may have neglected to adequately care for them in some aspect.” This must be our attitude.
Paul’s concept in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 concerns the overseers’ living. Whether our children behave well is secondary; the primary matter is whether we have a proper living. We must take the lead and manage our family well by having a living that presents a positive pattern to them. This depends on what we are; it is a matter of life. (Basic Principles concerning the Eldership, pp. 49-51)
