The Cross

To bear the cross means to refrain from doing what you have the power to do

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“To bear the cross means that you refrain from doing what you have the power to do. You are qualified and empowered to do everything necessary to fulfill your desire, yet you refrain from doing so. A person like this is the strongest person. The strongest person is not the one who is able to do something, but the one who is able not to do what he has the power to do. This self-denial is the unique way to usher in God’s kingdom and to realize the kingdom life. As we shall see in the next message, the kingdom life came in through Joseph’s ability not to do what he had the power to do. We need to be such people today.

There is no doubt that, in ourselves, we cannot be such people. Our life is not the kind of life that has the power not to do what it is able to do. When we have the opportunity to do something, we simply do it. But the life of Christ has the power not to do what it is capable of doing. This fact is the key to the four Gospels and to the life of the Lord Jesus. Often He had the position, the power, and the right environment to do many things, but he also had the power not to do those things. For example, He could have asked the Father to send twelve legions of angels to rescue Him; yet He had the strength not to do this (Matt. 26:53). This life of self-denial, of bearing the cross, is the life that ushers in the kingdom.”

(Life-Study of Genesis, Chapter 119, Section 7)

Four crucial points

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“Concerning the spiritual and divine things for the church, we must keep in mind four crucial points. First, we must go through the cross. Our native flavor should be crossed out by Christ. Both the Americans and the Chinese should be crossed out. In the church there is room for no natural person, but Christ is all and in all (Col. 3: 11). On the cross both the Jews and the Gentiles were crossed out. Second, everything should be by the Spirit. Third, this is to dispense Christ to others. Fourth, everything is for the building up of the church. In other words, whatever we do should be through the cross and by the Spirit to dispense Christ to others for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.”

(CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “The Divine and Mystical Realm,” p. 157)

All genuine work depends on what we are in our being

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“Genuine work does not depend on how much we have said or how much we have done. All genuine work depends on what we are in our being, how much we have been broken in the Lord’s hand, and how much we know concerning the church and the Body. Whether or not we are talkative does not matter. The only things that matter are the lessons we have learned, the attitude we have, the spirit we have, and the kind of person we are. If our situation is proper, we will be able to serve together and visit others with brothers and sisters who are talkative. Their talkativeness can even be a blackboard upon which we can convey the spiritual lessons we have learned. Hence, there is no need to be individualistic or to do an individualistic work.

An individualistic work is based on a demand that others be the same as we are; however, everyone is different. Whether in disposition, temperament, viewpoint, or opinion, no one can be exactly the same as we are. We become individualistic whenever we are unwilling to coordinate with others or be attached to others. We also produce individualistic members when we work to make others the same as we are. If our work is individualistic, our work will produce individualistic members who are separate from others. On the surface, it may seem as if we have edified others, but actually, we have torn down the church.

We should never have a goal to make others the same as we are. Our work is not to build up ourselves, nor to build up a group of people who are the same as we are. Our work is to build up the church, the Body of Christ. This is a crucial principle.”

(Service for the Building Up of the Church, pp. 88-89)

In order for the element of Christ to increase in us, we need to accept the breaking of the cross

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“We must ask ourselves: How much ground does Christ have in us? How much of the element of Christ Himself, the fullness of Christ, do we have? These are important but basic questions. In order for the element of Christ to increase in us, we need to accept the breaking of the cross. The more we accept the breaking of the cross, the more the element of Christ will increase in us. The work of the cross deals not only with evil things; it deals also with good things. The evil things in our natural being need to be broken by the cross, but even our natural goodness needs to be broken by the cross. God has no desire that we would be constituted with evil things, but He also has no desire that we would be constituted with good things. His only desire is that Christ would be constituted into us. However, in order for Christ to be constituted into our being, God needs to break us.

Being broken is not a doctrine but a reality. All matters related to our living must pass through the breaking of the cross. Husbands are broken through their wife, and wives are broken through their husband. A husband who is naturally good may not have much of the element of Christ in him. Likewise, a wife who is naturally good may not have much of the element of Christ in her. Both the husband and the wife must pass through the cross and be broken in order for the element of Christ to increase in them. This principle also applies to parents as well as to children. In both big things and small things, we must learn the lesson of being broken. We must accept the dealing and breaking of the cross in every circumstance. This is the only way for Christ to gain ground in our being so that His element can increase in us.

If we are willing to accept the breaking of the cross and allow Christ to have ground in us, we will spontaneously lead others to accept the breaking of the cross. This will impart the element of Christ into them, and our work will have real spiritual value. This is the only way for the church to be built up. If our work does not cause the element of Christ to increase in the saints, our work will not build up the church. The church is constituted only with the mingled nature of Christ. Hence, we must work to increase the element of Christ in the brothers and sisters in order to build up the church.

For example, when we visit the saints, we may meet a sister who has a problem of not submitting to her husband. When we meet her, it is very easy to turn to Ephesians 5:22 and exhort her, saying, “Sister, the Bible clearly says that a wife should be subject to her husband because he is the head; we must stand in a covered position.” Although such an exhortation is based on a biblical truth, it may not cause the element of Christ to increase in her. Instead, our speaking may only cause her own element to increase, especially if she agrees with us. She may say to herself, “Yes, I am the wife, but I do not submit to my husband. As a child of God, I should follow the Bible.” Thus, she will receive our exhortation, pray with us, and resolve to submit to her husband. Since she is also afraid that she will not be able to submit, she will pray to the Lord, asking Him to give her the strength to submit to her husband. Although this prayer seems quite good, there is a hidden thought in this prayer that her element must be strengthened.

There are two possible outcomes to her resolution to submit to her husband. The first outcome is relatively rare: She will grit her teeth and submit in her natural strength until she thinks that she has succeeded. Then she will say, “Praise the Lord! He has really heard our prayer. I can submit now. I acknowledge my husband as the head, and I am willing to stand in a covered position.” When she meets another sister who cannot submit to her husband, she will even testify of how she accepted the Lord’s lesson and followed His word to receive her husband as her head and submit to him. Even if this is the outcome, it will have no spiritual value, because her submission is entirely based on her own effort; it is altogether man-made. Although she submits to her husband, there will be no element of Christ in her submission.

The second possible outcome is more common: She resolves to submit but is unable to do it. In fact, the more she tries to submit, the less she is able and the more she will fail. Eventually, in complete despair she will say, “I know that I should submit, but I cannot. I also know that the Bible tells me to submit, but I simply cannot. Therefore, I have no choice but to quit trying to submit.”

It is hard to know which outcome is worse. As far as good behavior is concerned, I would choose the first outcome, because there is more harmony in a family when a wife submits to her husband. Nevertheless, I would rather choose the second outcome so that the wife would gain Christ. Both outcomes are initially void of Christ. A sister who can submit based on her own strength is void of Christ, and if she cannot submit, she is still void of Christ. Neither her success nor her failure has an element of Christ. However, her inability to submit will be better for her in terms of her being broken.

If we visit such a sister, the help that we can render depends on the lessons we have learned. If we have learned the lesson of being broken by the cross, we will know that God has no intention to build up the natural element, and we will know that God desires to build up Christ in us. If we have allowed God to do a building work in us, we will be able to help the sister, leading her to see that God has a good intention despite her inability to submit. We can help her to accept the cross and to learn to condemn herself and put herself aside by the cross so that the element of Christ can increase in her. Then she will begin to turn to the Lord and say, “Lord, it is impossible for me to submit, but it is possible with You. I have no way to submit to my husband; I am not able. Only You are able. I cannot submit in myself. I want to be in You.” In this way she will become more than just a sister who submits; she will become a sister who is full of Christ. She will be constituted not merely with submission but with Christ’s element. Her constitution will be Christ.

If we do not lead the saints in this way, I am concerned that the more we lead, the greater the saints’ problems will become. If we can only advise a sister to submit to her husband, the result will not be good if she listens to us. If she submits in herself, Christ will not have much ground in her being, and in the future we will be able to help her even less because we have only strengthened her self, which cannot be built up. Although she has the natural strength to submit, Christ will not increase in her. After being “edified” by us, it will be more difficult for her to be broken. She will become like a block of concrete. She will pray, “O Lord, thank You. You are helping me to submit to my husband,” and she will stand up and testify, “This is the Lord’s work. Formerly, I could not submit to my husband. However, I was taught how to submit.” At this point she will become almost unbreakable, and she will have no understanding of her need to be broken and subdued by God. Instead, she will only boast of her strong resolve and success.

As far as human conduct is concerned, the family atmosphere of this sister will become more harmonious if she submits, but as far as the building up of the church is concerned, there will be big problems and great difficulties in the future because the element of Christ has not increased in her. She will become a person who is strong in her will but completely void of Christ. It will be very difficult for her to be built up in the church. She will be self-confident, self-assured, and full of hidden pride. She will not be able to get along with others or be considerate and sympathetic toward others, because she has not been broken.

Such a self-righteous and self-confident sister cannot easily be joined, coordinated, or built up with others. Instead, she will cause problems in the church. Outwardly, she may behave very well and seem like a brand-new tire that has no wear and tear. However, when a small incident touches or offends her, she will explode like a tire that is filled with too much air. When she becomes angry, she will not only defy her husband but also cause problems in the church.

Brothers and sisters who have wrestled with God and who have been broken by God cannot be “pumped up” very easily. When they encounter people and circumstances that previously “pumped them up,” the air “deflates” from their being. No matter how much difficulty they encounter, it is not easy for them to become agitated. These saints are humble, but their humility is spontaneous; it is not forced. Although they live in Christ, they can sympathize with others and do not belittle those who do not live in Christ. Although they live an overcoming life, they can be considerate of the weaknesses of those who fail and sympathize with them. Hence, they can easily be built up in the church.

If we want to build up the saints, we must grasp this principle: we must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and help others to learn to live in Christ according to the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in them. This will enable Christ to have more ground in them so that the element of Christ will increase in them. This is to build Christ into the saints; it is also to arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

I hope that we can grasp this principle. The goal of our help and leading must be to build Christ into the saints. Without this focus, we will not be able to build up the church. The saints can be delivered from being individualistic, secluded, and scattered only when Christ is built into them, and then they will become one in Christ. This is the second principle related to the building up of the church.”

(Service for the Building Up of the Church, pp. 80-84)

Whether or not you are really broken is tested by the coordination with others

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“THE WAY OF COORDINATION

… In this chapter my burden is another point of the service, that is, the matter of coordination. In the service we need to be coordinated with others. I do not say that we need to be organized. To be organized is one thing, and to be coordinated is another. What we mean by the word coordination is simply to be built up together, to serve in the way of being built up together.

The more you serve, the more you will be built up together with others. In these days we are talking about the building up of the church. The building up of the church is in the service of coordination. If we are serving the Lord in the way of coordination, we are being built together while we are serving.

We need to see what this means in a practical way. Suppose that I am a sister serving the Lord among the saints in the church. I need to serve the Lord in such a way that the more I serve, the more I will be built up together with others, and the more I serve, the more others will be brought in to be built up together with me. In other words, the more I serve, the more the church is built up.

In many places today, however, the more the people serve, the more they become independent. The more gifted they are, the more they become a giant, and the more they become independent. Some of the gifted ones would think that they are so high that others cannot follow them. They consider themselves so high and everyone else so low. They would put themselves on the top and others on the bottom. As a result, they would be independent. This is not the right way.

The right way is that while you are serving, you are being built together with others. The more you serve, the more you exercise your gift, the more you will be united, the more you will be coordinated with others. In the Lord’s service you never act in an independent way. Here there are lessons for us to learn.

Let me illustrate in this way. Suppose that I am a brother with a gift, and the more I serve, the more I will learn and the more I will know how to serve. The more I serve, the more I will become strong and the more I will become great. Then I will become proud, thinking that I know this, I know that, I know everything. Therefore, I must do everything, because I am the only one who knows how to do it. In a sense, I am becoming almighty. I can do everything, and I do everything. The more I serve, the more everything comes into my pocket, and everything is in my hand. The more I can do, the more I am independent, and I can do everything in my way. I have no more lessons to learn, and no one can teach me anything. In the meeting I announce the hymn, play the piano, start the hymn, lead the prayer, and do the preaching—I do everything. There is no need for anyone else. I can accomplish the whole job. I am on the top, and I am the most independent. Others may admire me as such a wonderful brother. Nevertheless, you all need to realize that this kind of brother simply damages the church life. The more he does, the more he delays the building up of the church; he even spoils and frustrates it. Since such a brother is so capable in himself, there are no lessons for him to learn, and there is no need for him to coordinate with others. This is not the right way.

LETTING THINGS PASS INTO THE HANDS OF OTHERS

The right way is this. On the first day that I come here to serve, I may do ninety percent of the things, and leave ten percent in the hands of others. But after one month I am taking care of only sixty percent, and the other forty percent has passed into the hands of some others who have come in to serve with me. After another month I may take care of only thirty percent, and another month later maybe only five percent, then a little later only one percent. The rest of the job of the service goes to all the serving brothers and sisters. One sister takes care of the piano. A brother takes care of the hymns. Another takes care of this, and another takes care of that. To serve the Lord in this way I need to learn many lessons. Each one of us naturally thinks that he is the best and would never let others do the same thing that he does. But if you would learn the lesson to be coordinated with others, you need to learn how to look down on yourself, how to be limited by others. Otherwise, you could not bring people more and more into the building.

There was a sister in China who was quite capable, educated, and experienced in doing things, and she loved the Lord very much. However, when she came into the service of the church, the more she served, the more everything came into her hand. After two or three months it seemed that all the others had been dismissed. One day the elders asked her why it was that there were only two or three left in the Lord’s service, when a few months ago there had been quite a number. They asked where the others were. Her answer was that they did not know how to do things, and they did not do them well. The more she served, the more all the others were dismissed, dismissed because of her ability and her capability. No one could work as fast as she could. In everything it seemed that she was right because she was so capable. But in spiritual reality she damaged the church life very much. She acted independently. Later on, with this sister there was a great spiritual cancer.

A cancer is a part of the body that overdevelops, a group of cells that goes wild, that goes too far. You need to be limited by others so that you will not be a cancer to the Body of Christ. You need to be limited by others so that you will be a member coordinated with others, not a cell gone wild.

The best way for us to serve the Lord in the church is this way. The first week that you come to serve the Lord, you may take care of seventy percent of the things, and the others take care of thirty percent. The next week you take sixty-five percent, and the others take thirty-five percent. The third week you may take sixty, and the others take forty. With you the percentage is always being reduced, and with the others it is always being increased.

From another angle, the first week that you come, only five percent of the saints are serving with you. After one week there are eight percent, then twelve, twenty, and eventually, maybe after one year, one hundred percent. The percentage of the work in your hands is always being reduced, yet the number of the people serving with you is always increasing. After maybe one or two years, the service will be absolutely out of your hands and one hundred percent in the hands of all the brothers and sisters. The number of the serving ones will be increased from just a handful to more than a hundred. This is the right way.

If you take this way, you will learn to be limited, to be broken, and to submit yourself to others. If you do not serve the Lord with others, you will never know yourself, but when you serve with others, you will be exposed how “good” you really are. In this kind of service there are many lessons for you to learn.

TESTED BY THE COORDINATION

In my experience I have always been tested by the brothers in the service. This kind of testing is very hard to take, but you simply need to take it. You may tell the Lord, “Lord, this is a cup from You, and I have no choice but to take it.” This is the way for you to learn the lesson of serving the Lord in the way of coordination.

When you do things by yourself, it seems that everything is convenient. But when you do things with others, it seems that nothing is convenient. For example, I would always prefer to travel by myself in the Lord’s work. However, in China, under the Lord’s sovereignty and under the coordination of the co-workers, I always had to travel with two or more brothers and even to be the leader among them for the traveling. I am a person who always likes to have everything ready ahead of time, to leave nothing to be done at the last minute, and I would urge the brothers to have everything prepared for our trip. Every time there would be someone who was not ready. Eventually, I would need to help him get ready, take care of things for him, and do everything for him, and we would not be ready on time. I encouraged everyone to take responsibility for their own things and not to burden others, but whatever way I tried, nothing seemed to work. Eventually, I had to submit to the Lord and learn to be patient, and I had to take care of all the suitcases and all the problems for the others. The more people you have traveling with you, the more problems you have– the luggage, the things others forget, all the special needs. You have no choice but to help. It seems that the others have come to help you, but you need to help them. They become a burden instead of a help, but they are really a help for you to learn the lesson.

One of the biggest problems is to visit a church with several co-workers who are to be received for hospitality by the church. Many co-workers simply do not know how to be a guest. There are many problems and many lessons for us to learn in the coordination.

What should you do in all these situations? You cannot dismiss your co-workers and send them home. You simply need to learn the lesson in the coordination. This is the only way for you to serve the Lord with others, to build up the church. You should not be a giant. You should not be the one who is on the top. You always need to be coordinated with others. If you will try this way, you will surely see where you are. It is not so easy.

We are always ready to dismiss others. When some matters of the service were assigned to certain brothers or sisters, many times they would say that they wanted to make it clear that no one should come to the place where they were to serve. If they were to do the cooking, they would insist that no one else come to the kitchen. On the one hand, this is right. But on the other hand, they needed a few not only to help them but also to be a burden to them. Otherwise, there would be no lesson for them to learn. If you have some helpers that are a burden to you in the service, then you will be limited, broken, and adjusted. You need someone to be your burden. You may be too quick, and you need someone to burden you to slow you down. Then you will learn the lesson, and you will bring people in.

SURROUNDED BY SERVING ONES WITH THE WORK OUT OF YOUR HANDS

In serving the Lord in the way of coordination, the best test of your service is to check, after a certain time, how much of the service is in your hands and how many more people have been brought into your part of the service. After six months, if all the service is in your hands and nearly all the people are gone—you are almost the only one left—that is serious. You may be much better than others in doing the job. However, although the job is done in a much better way, the situation in the church life has actually become worse. By doing a better job by yourself, you have actually brought damage to the church life.

You need to bring more people in, and eventually, not even one percent of the work should be left in your hands. Everything should be in the hands of others, and eventually there may be hundreds of people serving with you. This is the way of coordination, the way to bring people in and to have the church built up. The more you serve, the less is in your hands. The more you serve, the larger is the number of serving ones.

You should not consider the job that you have done. Rather, you need to consider the percentage of the service that is in your hands and the number of the serving ones. There are some real lessons to be learned regarding this matter. The biggest lesson in this matter is brokenness. We may talk about being broken, but the way to be broken is to serve the Lord with your brothers and sisters in the way of coordination.

OPENNESS FOR THE COORDINATION

We need the training in this matter, and we need the practice. What we have been talking about is mainly on the practical side. If you will take these matters and put them into practice, you will realize how much is involved here. Just this little word is enough for you to practice for your whole life. You will find that there is a nature within you that is always independent, a nature that is always secretive. You do not like to open yourself to others. Something in your blood always likes to be independent and to keep things secret, hidden from others.

Some brothers and sisters are able to talk about many things without opening themselves to others. They talk, but they always keep themselves closed. You may serve the Lord with them for quite a period of time and still not know where they are.

If you will take this word to serve the Lord in a way of coordination, then you will find out where you are. By nature you are an independent person, a secretive person, even a person of mystery. You like to keep yourself hidden in yourself as a mystery. God caused the church to be hidden in Himself as a mystery in the Old Testament, but today you are keeping yourself as a mystery within yourself. It is not so easy for you to open yourself to others.

If there is no openness, this means that there is no brokenness. The more brokenness there is, the more openness, and the more openness there is, the more blending with others. Unless we learn the spiritual lesson of being broken, of being open, and of being blended with others, it will be impossible for us to have the church life. We can come together week after week, month after month, and year after year, but we can never have a church life. We can never be built up together to express Christ in a corporate way. We can never be blended as one in the spirit because our natural life, our soulish life, our human nature, has never been broken. There is only one way for you to experience the real brokenness of the natural life, and that is to be coordinated with others. You cannot merely close yourself in your room to read the Scriptures and pray and praise the Lord that you are broken. The more you declare in your room that you are broken, the more you are not broken. Whether or not you are really broken is tested by the coordination with others.

Suppose there is a sister who always likes to close herself in a room to seek after the Lord. She is very faithful to read the Word, to meditate, and to kneel down to pray day by day. Her practice is very good, but the real test is whether or not this sister is really broken. It is possible for a person to be very spiritual alone with the Lord and yet never have the self broken.

Suppose that, under the Lord’s sovereignty, this sister is placed in some kind of coordination and put among seven sisters. Each of the seven is a Martha, and they simply do not know how to be quiet. In fact, all they know is work and more work, doing and more doing. Sovereignly these eight are put into a situation where there is so much that needs to be done that there is no time for this dear sister to seek the Lord alone in her room. This will become a real test to her. She may even lose her temper because she has no time for this. This is a proof that she has never been broken. After passing through such a testing, how could this sister close herself in her room in her old way and praise the Lord that she is broken? Actually, the sovereignty of the Lord brought her into such a situation to show her that she has to be broken in this very matter.

The teachings among today’s Christians place too much emphasis on individual spirituality, making Christians into antiques and showpieces instead of preparing them as materials for the building. God never intended that you should be individually spiritual. Individual spirituality spoils and does much damage to the building of the church. If you realize that God’s eternal purpose, God’s ultimate intention, is to have a Body, a corporate vessel to contain Christ and to express Christ, you will say, “Lord, save me, deliver me from my individual spirituality. I have to be broken even in this matter of individual spirituality. I need to be delivered from this kind of individuality. I need to learn the lesson to be broken so that I could be coordinated with others, so that I could be blended with others and become a real help to them.”

The proper way for such a spiritual sister to serve the Lord is to learn the lesson of brokenness, to learn how to be delivered by the Lord from her individual spirituality, to learn to go along with others. Then, gradually, the others will learn the same lesson, and this sister will be a help to them and minister the life of Christ to them in the proper way. All of these eight will then be built up together, and they will bring more and more people to be coordinated with them. Then they will be spiritual in a coordinated way, not in an individual way. Surely this is a much-needed lesson.

We need to stress this matter so much simply because by experience we realize that if we would not learn this lesson, we can never have a real church life. Without this, our church life would be a false one. We can come together on the Lord’s Day and sing a hymn, have some prayer, and hear a message— but that is all. We can never have a church built up. We cannot have a group of believers built up together as a living corporate Body. We need to learn to serve in a way that we could be coordinated with others and others could be coordinated with us. There are many lessons here for us to learn.

Besides brokenness, you need to learn always to make it possible for others to coordinate with you. If you all would simply take this word and go on to serve the Lord in a way of coordination, there is no need for me to say anything more. There are many lessons ahead of you, but you should not give up. The more lessons you have, the more you need to learn, and the more you learn, the more the lessons will continue to come. This is the way that the Lord builds up His church.

If three persons can do a particular job in the Lord’s service, you should not reduce the number to two. It would be better to have four or even five. Never reduce the number, but always increase it, because the more the number is increased, the more lessons there are for you to learn, and the more building will be realized.

Some brothers have said, “I simply cannot do anything if some sisters are here. If you would ask me to do something, you must tell these sisters not to come to me.” I am afraid that we may still have some brothers in such a situation. If you are such a brother, the Lord will send you more sisters, and probably, under His sovereignty, He will send you the most troublesome ones. The Lord will test you to show you where you are. You need to learn the lesson to do the work in the service in a corporate way. The church is a test to you, and the real service of the church is also a test.

We all should try to know the church. We need to practice to know the way of the church service, which is a service of coordination, never a service of an individual person. All the service in the church is a service of coordination.

Many times I like to fellowship with the brothers about my message before I deliver it. This is the best way. It is good to come together with the brothers to fellowship about the message you are going to give, taking the attitude of being open to others and being ready to be adjusted. If the brothers would give you just a little hint that they would not have you minister, you should be willing to take it. You should not act in an independent way. In everything, in every job, in every part of the Lord’s service, you need to try to open yourself to others to be coordinated with them and to do everything in the service in a way of coordination. Then you will learn the lesson, and the church will be much profited in the matter of building up. Otherwise, we may have many meetings, but we could not have the real church life.”

(To Serve in the Human Spirit, chapter 8, pp. 101-109)

The Christian life is both a living life and a dying life

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We are persons under the shadow of the cross of Christ. The Christian life is both a living life and a dying life. We live, but we live in the mold of the death of Christ. When the Lord Jesus lived on the earth, He was being crucified every day. Every day He lived a crucified life. We also can live such a life because we have the power of His resurrection. As we have seen, this power is the person of Christ, and Christ today is the Spirit of Jesus Christ who is in our spirit. As we remain in our spirit, we experience this power in the shadow of the death of Christ. Every day our spouse and children are the “shadows of death” to us. Our children may be very enjoyable to us at first. However, one day they may become shadows, and the more they grow, the darker the shadows may become. Eventually, our children will put us into the mold of the cross. We should simply remain there and say, “Hallelujah!”

Not only are our marriage life and family life the mold of the cross, but even the church life becomes the mold of the cross to us. Certain saints may wonder why there are hardships in the “glorious church life,” and eventually the church life may not seem so glorious to them. Every brother and sister may seem to be a “dark shadow.” This may cause some to consider moving to a new locality. However, they may discover that the church in the locality to which they move is even darker. Furthermore, if they leave the church, their situation will become darker still. We have no place to which we may escape. Every locality is a cross. This is our destiny. We have been destined to pass through the cross. Only when we are in the New Jerusalem in the new heavens and new earth will we be out of the shadow of death. In the New Jerusalem there will be no night and no shadow (Rev. 21:25). However, today there are shadows of the cross everywhere.

Praise the Lord that within us there is the power of resurrection. Paul said, “I can do all things in Him who empowers me” (Phil. 4:13). The One who empowers us is the power of resurrection. By Him we can live a life that expresses and magnifies Christ (Phil. 1:20).

(The Experience and Growth in Life, chapter 12)

Over 90% of our growth in life depends upon the dealing with our disposition, character, and peculiarity

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“I believe that the vital group meetings will be greatly used by the Lord. In the church many of us love the Lord, love the Lord’s recovery, and love the church, but not many are really useful because of the defects related to our disposition, character, and peculiar traits. All these defects annul us, making us useless. This vital group training and the practice of the vital groups will make us useful in saving sinners, in nourishing the new ones, and in feeding the saints. We need to endeavor to put all the things we have covered in this training into our practice in the vital groups.

In order to deal with our disposition, character, and peculiarity, we need to see a vision that we have been crucified on the cross (Gal. 2:20a). We should pray, “Lord, thank You that on the cross You have crucified my disposition, my character, and my peculiarity.” We need to see a vision of Christ’s crucifixion. By His mercy and grace we need to accept this vision and then proceed to live by the Spirit. In our daily life the Spirit applies Christ’s death to all the negative things in our being.

We have to learn practically in our daily life to be dealt with very finely in our disposition, character, and peculiarity. Sometimes we might think certain brothers and sisters have made some improvement, but their improvement is questionable. The real improvement must be because of the particular dealing with our disposition, character, and peculiarity. If we do not have some definite and practical experiences in this, we cannot have the real improvement in life. Over ninety percent of our growth in life depends upon the dealing with our disposition, character, and peculiarity. Our daily lives are filled up with these three items.

Each of us has his particular disposition. One brother has his particular way to come to the meeting and to find a seat in the meeting. Even in coming to the meeting and finding a seat in the meeting, he does not obey the Spirit, but he obeys his peculiarity. If the usher would try to seat this brother in another place, this brother might be offended. We need to consider how often we obey the Spirit during the day. Mostly we act, move, and behave according to our disposition, character, and peculiarity.

Some brothers are very active people, so they like to move around in the meetings by helping to usher people to their seats and by caring for the distributing of the bread and wine at the Lord’s table. Other brothers are very inactive people. Once they are seated, they do not want to be moved by anything or anyone. If you ask the brother who is active to be an usher, he will be very happy. If you ask the inactive brother to usher, he will say that he does not like this. Both of these brothers are acting and serving according to their disposition and not according to the Spirit. This shows that we have to die to ourselves so that Christ may live in us.”

(Fellowship Concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, ch. 17)

Why do we need to pass through afflictions and persecutions?

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We ourselves boast in you among the churches of God concerning your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and the afflictions which you bear,
A plain indication of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be accounted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which also you suffer. (2 Thes. 1:4-5)

Establishing the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)

“The believers have been called into God’s kingdom and glory (1 Thes. 2:12). To enter into this kingdom, we need to pass through afflictions (Acts 14:22). Hence, the persecutions and afflictions are a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment, showing that we may be accounted worthy of the kingdom of God.”

(2 Thes. 1:5, footnote 2)

Why does God allows us to be afflicted?

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‘Psalm 119:71 says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” This verse indicates that God raises up circumstances to discipline us so that we may learn the Word. Through suffering and affliction we learn His law. Inwardly we have faculties created by God by which we can understand His Word, and outwardly we have the environment and the circumstances by which we are disciplined. God allows us to be afflicted so that we may learn the Word of God.’

(Life-Study of Exodus, message #57)

Hymns #279: Through the Cross O Lord I pray

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“A stanza of a hymn in our hymnal says:

‘When we see the ripened harvest
Of the golden countryside,
We may know that many seeds have
Fallen to the earth and died.’

Before there can be a harvest, many grains need to fall into the earth and die. But who is willing to die? Instead of dying, nearly everyone wants to receive glory. Thus, no life is imparted into others. It is easy to have a crowd, but difficult to impart life into others. To do this, we need to die. This is my burden in this message. In the Lord’s recovery we do not need a crowd; we need the death that releases life. We need to experience this aspect of Christ’s death.”

(The Experience of Christ, chapter 18)