Month: June 2018

How should we fellowship?

/ livinglywrong

“After we come together, we should spontaneously fellowship. The fellowship will bring in the need for intercession, and from this fellowship and intercession the mutual care, concern, and shepherding will develop. After that there will be some studying and teaching of the truth, with the rendering of some help in life…. All this must be done in an organic and spontaneous way. The mutual fellowship should be open and spontaneous. The mutual intercession also should be sincere and spontaneous…. This kind of organic meeting is what Hebrews 10:25 describes as ‘our own assembling together.’ Such a meeting is like a family gathering with spontaneous, mutual fellowship in which some may ask questions and others may all answer. There is mutual teaching and mutual learning…. Whether a person has been saved for a long time or for a short time, he can speak like all the others.”

(CWWL, 1989, vol. 2)

Everything should be initiated by God, not by us

/ livinglywrong

“While we live on this earth, our first question should not be whether or not we should do a certain thing. Rather, in doing a certain thing, we should ask to whom are we submitting. It is not a matter of doing or not doing. It is a matter of to whom we submit. Without submission there is no work and there is no service. When Adam took the fruit, the first question that should have been asked was whether or not this was in submission to God. All of the work of a Christian should come out of submission. Nothing is of our own initiative; everything is responsive. No act is active; everything is passive. In other words, everything should be initiated by God; nothing should be initiated by us.”

(Authority and Submission, chapter 2)

The Bible is like a big puzzle

/ livinglywrong

“We all know that not only the New Testament, but also the Old Testament was written in the way of a puzzle. This is why so many teachers of the Bible like to systematize the things in the Bible. Isaiah 28:10 and 13 tell us that God speaks His word here a little and there a little. He speaks a little to Moses and a little to Joshua and a little to another one and a little to David. In the Bible God didn’t speak in the way we do. Whenever we speak we like to have a completion to our speaking. But God didn’t speak in that way. God spoke just a little bit to Abraham. Then, of course, God spoke a lot to Moses. At least two full books were God’s speaking to Moses, especially the book of Leviticus. From the first verse of chapter two to the last verse of the last chapter, it is altogether God’s speaking. That speaking of God to Moses was longer than God’s speaking to anyone else. Even Psalm 119 has only one hundred seventy-six verses. The book of Exodus has forty chapters; Leviticus has twenty-seven; Numbers has thirty-six; and Deuteronomy has thirty-four. This means there are one hundred thirty-seven chapters of God’s speaking just to one man, Moses. Yet still that was only a little of God’s entire speaking. Why? Because it was not completed. After speaking to Moses it may be that the Lord spoke to over forty different people in different places at different times. Still God’s speaking was not completed until Paul. Paul said his commission was to complete the word of God (Col. 1:25). Paul was bold. No other one ever had the boldness to tell people he had a commission to complete the word of God. In the Bible no one chapter is so complete in revealing God’s economy to us, but a little is here, a little is there, piece after piece, like a big puzzle. All the pieces are scattered and mixed up, so you need to spend many hours to put the pieces together. Then you can see the picture.”

(Perfecting Training, chapter 16)

Truth is found a little at a time

/ livinglywrong

“In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul issued a charge: ‘Be eager to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, cutting straight the word of the truth’ (Gk.). Every Bible student pays attention to this verse. When I was young, the Brethren teachers stressed the importance of cutting straight the word of the truth. Paul charged Timothy in this way because the truth regarding any matter is not found all in one place in the Bible. Rather, it is found throughout various books of the Bible, with a part in one place and another part in a different place. In His wisdom the Lord reveals the truth in this way. Perhaps He did this so that those who are careless will have difficulty knowing the truth. To know truth we must be diligent. Hence, Paul charged Timothy to ‘be eager.’

Some say we should not be strict or legal in studying the Word. They insist that we should read the Bible only when we are inspired by the Spirit to do so. This is like saying that there is no need to eat three meals a day, but a need to eat only when the Spirit inspires us. This means that if there is no inspiration, we should not eat. Paul, on the contrary, charges us to be eager. If we are truly eager to present ourselves approved to God, then when we read the Word, we shall find the truth revealed in one place after another, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. We need to put all these pieces together in order to see the picture, the vision. According to Isaiah 28:13, the word of the Lord is ‘precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.’ This means that we find the truth a little at a time.”

(Truth Messages, chapter 3)

The life in us cannot be independent

/ livinglywrong

“Everyone who is saved is a member of the Body of Christ. Is the life in each one of us, then, a life pertaining to the members or to the Body? The Bible and our experience prove that though each one of us is a member of Christ, yet the life in each one of us is not a member life, but a Body life. All the members of our body are sharing one life. Each member shares in common the same life together with all the other members, that is, the life of the entire body. For example, an ear, unless it has been cut off, shares the same blood which flows through the eye, the nose, and the whole body. Similarly, in the Body of Christ, when one member is joined to the Body or having fellowship with the Body, his life is the life of the Body, and the life of the Body is his life. It would not do for him to be separated from the other members, or vice versa, because the life both in him and in the other members is of the same Body; it can neither be distinguished nor separated. It is this life which joins us together to become the Body of Christ; or, to say it more precisely and emphatically, it is this life which mingles with us to become the Body of Christ.

We cannot, however, experience this before the difficulties of the self have been entirely dealt with. If we are still living according to the flesh, in ourselves, and serving the Lord in our natural ability, the life of the Body, which is Christ Himself in us, has no way of being manifested, and there is no way for us to know the Body. The more we live by the flesh, the less we feel the need for the support of the Body. If we live by our self-opinion, we find no need for the sustaining of the church. If we serve with our natural ability, we sense no need for the coordination of the members. Only when our flesh has been dealt with, the self-opinion has been broken, and the natural life has been smashed, shall the life within cause us to realize that we are simply members of the Body and that the life in us cannot be independent. Hence, this life requires us to have fellowship with all other members and be joined to them, and it also brings us into that fellowship and the experience of being joined together. It is at this time that we begin to know a little concerning the Body and become qualified to engage in spiritual warfare.

On one hand, we say that if we want to fight the spiritual warfare and deal with God’s difficulty, we must first deal with our flesh, self, and soul life, thus solving our own difficulties; on the other hand, we say that in order to fight the battle, we must first know the Body, and in order to know the Body and live in the Body, we must first deal with our flesh, self, and soul life. Whether, therefore, we speak from the standpoint of fighting the warfare or knowing the Body, we all must first pass through the preceding three stages— coming out of the flesh, the self, and the soul life— in order to attain to the fourth stage of the experience of life.

…. I will never forget the message given by Brother Watchman Nee in a special meeting. He repeatedly stressed the fact that before Romans 12 there must first be Romans 8. One must pass through the putting to death of the flesh of Romans 8 before he can attain to the knowledge of the Body of Romans 12. Therefore, from the beginning we must be very severe in dealing with ourselves, especially in regard to our flesh, our self, and our natural constitution. We must mean business and be thoroughgoing until we have the experience of Romans 8. Not until we have experienced the putting to death of the flesh in Romans 8 can we realize the Body in Romans 12. When our body (flesh) has been put to death, the Body of Christ will then be manifested. This is a spiritual reality wherein is no counterfeit and which cannot be counterfeited. There may be counterfeiting in other spiritual areas, such as humility, gentleness, faith, and love. We may even pretend to be spiritual. But no pretension is possible where knowing the Body is concerned. When our experience has attained to the degree of knowing the Body, then we know it. If in our experience we have not attained to this degree, we do not know it, and listening to much preaching on the subject avails nothing.”

(The Experience of Life, chapter 15, “Knowing the Body”)

Why do the saints not function in the meetings?

/ livinglywrong

“If all the saints live Christ by walking according to the spirit, there will be a great increase in the church. Much gospel preaching will spontaneously issue from our walking according to the spirit. Several years ago I proposed that the saints in a certain locality go out at least once a week to contact others. Everyone listened and agreed, but eventually no one practiced it. I found that it does not work to charge the saints to go out regularly to preach the gospel. However, if the elders in a locality take the lead to walk according to the spirit, and they minister such a life to the other saints, the saints in that locality will also walk according to the spirit and regularly preach the gospel.

Our primary concern should not be how to do things such as preaching the gospel and shepherding the new believers. Instead, we need to see that God wants a people who live Christ by walking according to the spirit. If we practice to continually walk according to the spirit throughout the day, everything else will spontaneously issue forth from such a living…. Our gospel preaching and shepherding should not be activities but should be the issue of a daily life of walking according to the spirit…. All such aspects of the Christian life should be part of our living. For instance, a daily life of walking according to the spirit will issue in our functioning with a released spirit in the meetings. If we do not live Christ in our daily life, we will have no surplus of Christ to bring to the meetings. In order to exhibit Christ, we must gain Christ in our daily life by walking according to the spirit. If the saints are living Christ, they will spontaneously function in the meetings.

We need a clear view from the heavens to see that what the Lord wants is a group of people who walk according to the spirit. The Lord’s desire is not for many co-workers, elders, or activities, or much organization. As leading ones, we primarily need to walk according to the spirit in our daily life and help other saints to enter into this kind of living.”

(CWWL, 1982, vol. 1, “The Importance of Living Christ by Walking according to the Spirit,” pp. 388-390)

The sisters are more important for the accomplishment of God’s economy than the brothers

/ livinglywrong

“In God’s administration of His economy, a very important position is assigned to the women. After man was created, what happened to man was very much related to the woman. By this we can see that whether or not God can have His way today in His purpose depends very much upon what the sisters will do. If the women, or the sisters, will function properly, God will have a success; otherwise, there will surely be a failure or a loss. After the fall of man, God came in, not to do something through the man but to do something through the woman. The subtle serpent, the enemy of God, came in through the woman. Therefore, God chose to defeat the enemy also through woman—through the same channel by which he came. In Genesis 3 the serpent came in through the woman, and in the same chapter God promised that this woman would bring forth a seed who would bruise the head of the serpent (v. 15). Thus, the fall occurred through the woman, and the deliverance was promised also through the woman. This shows us the importance of the sisters’ position in the Bible.

The first account in the New Testament concerning a direct relationship with the Lord is related to a woman—Mary. The story of the life of the Lord Jesus begins with this woman. Of course, we know that this is the fulfillment of the promise given in Genesis 3:15. In Genesis God promised that the woman would bring forth a seed who would destroy the damaging serpent. This promise is fulfilled at the very beginning of the New Testament.

Mary the mother of the Lord Jesus is not the only Mary mentioned in the New Testament. Do you realize that there are at least six Marys mentioned in the New Testament? The first Mary is the mother of the Lord Jesus, and the second Mary is the sister of Lazarus. The third Mary is Mary the Magdalene, out from whom seven demons were cast out. While the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross, a few sisters were standing there with Him. Besides Mary the Lord’s mother, there were two other Marys. One was Mary the Magdalene, and the Gospel of John tells us that the other Mary was the wife of Clopas (19:25). This fourth Mary, with the other sisters, saw the death of Christ. On the morning of the resurrection, Mary the Magdalene went to the tomb. The Gospel of John mentions only that Mary the Magdalene went there, but the other Gospels tell us that there was another Mary (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10). This other Mary was the first Mary, the Lord’s mother (Matt. 13:55). The fifth Mary was the mother of John Mark. In Acts 12:12, after Peter was released from prison, he went to Mary’s home, where many saints were gathered together praying. The sixth Mary is in Romans 16:6. Here Paul says to greet the Mary who labored much for the church.

These six Marys are very meaningful. One Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus; another loved the Lord Jesus and followed Him, ministering to Him; two other Marys saw the Lord’s death and prepared something for His burial, to anoint His body. They saw the resurrection and also received the vision of the ascension of Christ. Another Mary was related to the church, praying all the time. Finally, a Mary was laboring over so many in the church life. In the New Testament there are not so many Peters or Johns, but there are so many Marys. This simply means that to fulfill God’s purpose and accomplish His economy, there is a great need for the sisters. In a sense, the sisters are more important for the accomplishment of God’s economy than the brothers.

The little family at Bethany spoken of in John 12:1-9 is a type of the church. That family was composed of one brother and two sisters. This means that it consisted of one-third brothers and two-thirds sisters. A strong, normal, proper church should have one-third brothers and two-thirds sisters. In the church life we need more sisters.”

(The Six Marys, pp. 1-4)

Spiritual giants cannot satisfy God’s desire

/ livinglywrong

“The Lord does not need spiritual giants in His church. He needs every member. Hence, instead of being concerned about whether the members are small, our concern should be whether they are built up together. Once the members are built up, even the smallest ones will be useful. First Corinthians 12:23 says that ‘those members of the body which we consider to be less honorable, these we clothe with more abundant honor,’ and verse 22 says, ‘Much rather the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.’ Medical doctors know that the small members of our body, which we consider to be of little use, are often the most indispensable. I hope this word will strengthen us to see that in this age spiritual giants cannot satisfy God’s desire; rather, it is the built-up church that He desires and that brings in His blessing and presence.”

(The Vision, Type, and Practice of the Building Up of the Church, Chapter 3, Section 1)