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Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:5b, 6b; 12:2, 5-11
The life of God in Christ saves us in five aspects and brings in four results. The first result is that we reign in life to subdue all kinds of insubordination. Thus, we take control of all kinds of environments. Second, we are enabled to live the church life in a locality, being saved from our self-view and self-goal. Every one of us has his own view. It is the church life that saves us from our own view. If a church is full of opinions, it is no longer normal. It becomes Laodicea. Man’s views and opinions produce different goals. These different goals hinder the church from being built up. The third result is the crushing of Satan under our feet, which brings in God’s kingdom. Last, the ultimate consummation of God’s salvation in life brings us into glorification.
Tonight I want to tell you again that in order to be in the Lord’s work, you must first have the vision. The vision governs the view. Our view has to be governed by the vision. Second, we must not form parties. To form parties has to do with our private interests and personal goals. The phrase to form parties has been translated in the Recovery Version as factions, strife, and selfish ambition (Rom. 2:8; 2 Cor. 12:20; Gal. 5:20; Phil. 1:17; 2:3; James 3:14, 16). People are in strife and rivalry because they have their own personal goals and are for their private interests. The result is problems.
Six months ago a brother insisted on seeing me and tried to fellowship with me concerning the present problem in the Lord’s recovery. I told that brother that I have been in the church life for fifty-eight years and have become very familiar with these kinds of things. They are like the cycles of metabolism of the body; after a while the body gets sick for a time.
During the eighteen years that I was in mainland China, Brother Nee was responsible for the ministry of the word. During those eighteen years, I saw at least four storms. In 1949 we moved to Taiwan and began the work here. During this period of forty years, the cycle of storms has been a little farther apart. But the storms have still occurred about once every ten years. The seed of the first problem was sown as early as 1957. By 1959 the seed had almost sprouted. This incident had much to do with my burden to go to the West.
In 1962 I was clear that the Lord wanted me to pick up the burden to begin His recovery work in the United States. I remained there until 1965 before coming back to Taiwan to clear up the situation. At that time the church was pursuing the life messages on the Gospel of John. In chapter 2 the Lord told the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (v. 19). At that time I told the brothers and sisters that if the work in Taiwan was of the Lord, even if man were able to destroy it, the Lord would raise it up again in resurrection.
We have to see that there is no sea that does not have storms, and there is no human being who is never sick. Some sicknesses make men weak. Other kinds of sicknesses can eventually make a person strong. All parents know that children have to go through sicknesses before they can grow up well. If a child is rarely sick, he could die of a sickness when he does become sick. This is because he does not have a defense system built up within him against sickness. For this reason, although it is not a good thing to be sick, we do not have to be afraid of it. Today I am eighty-six years old, and I have passed through many serious sicknesses. First, I had tuberculosis, then I had a stomach disorder, and eventually I had an ulcer. After passing through a few serious illnesses, I have become even stronger than before. Hence, do not be afraid of difficulties. Difficulties are very beneficial to the organic growth of the church.
During the past few decades, the problem among us has been that some have the ambition, but they do not have the capacity. If a man does not have the capacity to reach the goal of his ambition, he will be like a disgraced politician. Whether in the church or the work, the problem lies in this point. In addition to capacity, there must also be the proper heart. We should be pure in our heart and single for the Lord’s recovery. Only then will we be a help to the recovery. This is like a person engaged in world government. If he has the ambition and the ability to do something for his nation and his people, and if his motive is pure, he can become a hero to the nation and a savior to his people. But if he has the ambition and the ability yet lacks a pure motive, he will become a problem. The same principle can be seen in the Lord’s recovery.
In 2 Corinthians 5:9 Paul says, “We are determined...to gain the honor of being well pleasing to Him.” At that time Paul was also very capable. He not only received gifts from the Lord; he was also very well educated in Greek and Hebrew. He was taught at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) in the city of Tarsus, a city that had the highest academic institution of the time. He had a strong academic foundation. Fourteen Epistles in the New Testament were written by Paul. His Greek was fluent, and his logic was sound. Peter and Mark’s writings could not match his. In their writings we cannot find terms such as economy, mystery, the eternal purpose of God, etc. John was a Galilean fisherman. His style was to express the mysterious things with simple words. For example, he said such things as, “I in them, and You in Me” (John 17:23); “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1); and, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (v. 4). All of these are simple words, but these words contain mysteries within them. This is the characteristic of the books of John.
Paul, however, wrote in Romans, “I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind” (7:23). In chapter 8 he said, “For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death” (v. 2). Because Paul wrote of such deep things in his Epistles, we sometimes wonder whether or not the believers who received his letters were able to understand them. Today we are able to understand what a law is because modern science has advanced so much. In Paul’s writings there are indeed many mysterious things.
I encourage you young ones to have ambition. But we still have to look to the Lord to give us the capacity as well as a pure motive. Only when we have all three can we become useful in the hands of the Lord. Otherwise, sooner or later we will become a problem. May the Lord be merciful to us.
The mind is the principal part of the soul. In some places in the New Testament, the mind and the soul mean the same thing. Our mind is renewed within by the renewing Spirit. This is only the beginning. The renewing Spirit spreads from our mind to our whole soul, which is composed of our mind, will, and emotion. The mind, will, and emotion together with the conscience in the spirit compose our heart. The renewing of the mind is the renewing of the whole soul of man together with his spirit. Hence, transformation results from the renewing of the mind. Romans 12:2 tells us that we are “transformed by the renewing of the mind.” First, our spirit is regenerated. After our spirit is occupied by the Lord, the Lord Spirit then spreads from our spirit to our mind. When our mind is renewed, we are brought on until our whole soul is transformed.
Transformation is not the same as change. It is the result of a metabolic process. I have used this example many times. Tonight I will use it again. When a person’s complexion is not good, he can put on powder and cosmetics to improve his complexion. But this is not transformation; it is only a change. What then is transformation? Suppose your face is yellow and pale and looks appalling. If you will eat nutritious food in the right proportions, the food in your body will produce a metabolic change in you after it is digested. On the one hand, this metabolism provides you with fresh supply. On the other hand, it eliminates the old elements. Gradually, your pale and colorless complexion will be gone, and your face will shine with a rosy complexion. This is not a change; it is transformation. The Lord Jesus is our life. When He enters into us, He becomes a supply to us. This supply produces an effect in us. It eliminates the old and the natural elements from us. In the end we are transformed and are full of His image (2 Cor. 3:18).
After we are transformed by the renewing of the mind, a power will be produced in us that saves us from a living soaked with the element of the world. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be fashioned according to this age.” To be fashioned according to this age is to be modern. This verse says that we should not be fashioned according to the modern way of this age. To be modern is to be fashionable; it is the appearance of this world before our eyes. I have experienced the simplest rural life, and I have also lived in the most modern cities. I discovered one thing: everyone likes to be modern. Whether the modern way is good or not, man loves it just the same. Everything that is modern and that is in conformity to this age is welcomed by man. But we have to know that the age of this world and the modern way of this world are common and unsanctified. Hence, we must not be fashioned according to this age. Rather, we should be renewed in our mind and be transformed in our soul. This will save us from a living soaked with the element of the world.
To be renewed in our mind, we need to set our mind on the spirit daily. The result will be the renewing of the mind. While we are in the church life today, no matter what happens and what needs there are, we have to set our mind on the spirit. We should not set our mind on what is right or wrong or set it on our views. We must set our mind on the spirit. This will result in our mind being renewed.
Renewing is different from brainwashing. Renewing is the total replacement of all of man’s thoughts, notions, and conceptions. Brainwashing, on the other hand, is like putting powder on a person’s face. Renewing is an inward metabolism. When the Lord’s life and His Spirit enter into man, there is a turn. Furthermore, to be renewed in our mind is to hand over to the Lord our concepts, perceptions, and views through loving Him and fellowshipping with Him and through saying to Him, “Lord, I take You as my life, my view, and my way.” He is constantly operating within us. In this way our whole mind is renewed, and within us we will have a different view toward the world than we had before. This is not a change. This is an inward transformation in life. Hence, we have to set our mind on the spirit (8:6b). This will bring in the renewing of the mind.
Furthermore, we have to mind the things of the Spirit according to the spirit (v. 5b). We should not mind the things of the earth and should not be fashioned according to the age.
Now we are qualified to understand the will of God (12:2b). According to Romans 12, the will of God is for the saints mutually to be members one of another, coordinating to be the Body of Christ and living the Body life in it (v. 5). Furthermore, we coordinate and serve together with the saints in the Body of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ in order to accomplish God’s New Testament economy (vv. 6-11).
