God does not want us to be always up or to be always down

/ livinglywrong

God does not want us to be always up or to be always down. Even in nature the alternating of day and night testifies of this. There is no such thing as an unending day or night. Rather, there is the alternating of day and night, night and day. God did not create us so that we would have a day or night that would last for many years. This may be according to our way, but it is not according to God’s way.

Young people, you must know your rule, your limit. This means that you must know how much God has measured to you, how much He has apportioned to you. This restriction, this limitation, is a very practical dealing with our flesh. Our natural man wants to be without limitation. However, God knows our problem. Therefore, He sets up boundaries and restrictions so that we may stay within the measure that He has apportioned to us.

(Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 444-445)

The Christian’s happiness is not to be found in external things, but in learning to enjoy God Himself in the midst of trial

/ livinglywrong

“What is the significance of suffering? This, that the devastation it brings to the old creation provides an opportunity for the God of resurrection to impart Himself to His creatures, so that they emerge from the death process with a divine element in their constitution. The primary purpose of suffering in this universe, particularly as it relates to the children of God, is that through it the very nature of God may be wrought into the nature of man. “If indeed our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). Through a process of outward decay an inward process is taking place that is adding a new constituent to our lives.

Beloved brothers and sisters, through hardship and pressure a divine element is being wrought into the very fabric of our beings, so that we cease to be colorless Christians, but have a heavenly hue imparted to our lives that was lacking before. Whatever else suffering may effect in this universe is incidental; this is primary — to bring those whom the living God has made possessors of created life into the uncreated life of the God of resurrection. It is in the death experiences which come through suffering that the life of the creature is blended with the life of the Creator. We may know the living God without such drastic experiences, but only through death can we come to an experiential knowledge of the God of resurrection.

Suffering is the God-appointed lot of the Christian. The Christian’s happiness is not to be found in external things, but in learning to enjoy God Himself in the midst of trial. Paul and Silas could rejoice and sing His praises while they were in prison, because their happiness did not come from outer circumstances, but from an inner enjoyment of God. In Paul’s short letter to the Philippians, written during his imprisonment, there are over a score of references to joy. In deep distress he could still be joyful because in his affliction he was learning to know Christ, to appropriate Him and to enjoy Him. His outward circumstances were all conducive to sorrow, but it was in sorrow that Christ was imparted to him as the source of his joy.”

(The God of Resurrection)

If we would bear fruit, we must do so corporately

/ livinglywrong

THE PRACTICAL WAY TO BEAR FRUIT

While we need to enjoy the Lord by pray-reading His Word, this alone is not sufficient; there should be a practical result of our exercise in the Word. The practical issue of our enjoyment of Christ in the Word is fruit-bearing. If we do not bear fruit, we will not have good spiritual digestion. To bear fruit is to pass on to others the portion of Christ that we have enjoyed. Instead of keeping Christ locked up within us, we should pass Him on to others. Bearing fruit is more than simply preaching the gospel. Bearing fruit is the result of enjoying on a daily basis the Christ whom we have received. As a result of enjoying Christ, we spontaneously pass Him on to others, bearing them as fruit.

We should check ourselves in these two areas.

  • First, we should check to see whether we are enjoying Christ throughout the day. If we are enjoying Christ, then we are a branch in the vine.
  • Second, as branches in the vine, we should spontaneously bear fruit.

We need to ask ourselves whether we are bearing fruit or not. Regarding this matter, many of us have a problem. Our problem is that we do not pass Christ on to others. To enjoy Christ is to receive Christ into us; to bear fruit is to pass Christ on to others. Fruit-bearing involves a flow: Christ flowing in through our enjoyment of Him, and Christ flowing out through our fruit-bearing. All the brothers and sisters should bear the responsibility of bearing fruit. None of us has an excuse for failing to bear fruit. We should not say that we have no possibility of bearing fruit.

Forming a Nucleus

Although we have fellowshipped in the past concerning how to bear fruit, a number of saints may not be clear concerning this matter. Hence, I wish to pass on a few points that we should put into practice if we are to bear fruit. First, we need to form a nucleus with the saints to whom we are related. The reason we need a nucleus is that as branches, we cannot bear fruit individually. Trying to bear fruit individually is not effective. If we would bear fruit, we must do so corporately, and the first step in bearing fruit corporately is to form a nucleus.

Praying Together

Once we have formed the nucleus, the primary matter that we should attend to is prayer. It would be very good for the members of the nucleus to meet once a week simply to pray. Such meetings are very important. In principle, these gatherings are just as important as the meetings of the church.

After we have formed our nucleus and have begun to pray, we should list the names of our acquaintances. Our acquaintances include our relatives, classmates, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Each member of the nucleus may have a list that contains dozens of names.

After composing our lists, each of us should pray over our list, seeking the Lord’s guidance so that we can select two or three people—four at the most—for whom we should begin to care. By seeking the Lord’s mind in this way, we will become clear concerning which persons are the right ones for us to care for at the present time. After we have the Lord’s leading concerning certain ones on our list, we should pray for them, contact them, and try to bring them into the nucleus.

Adding People to the Nucleus

Once we begin praying, we should not expect quick results. Only after praying and endeavoring for a period of time will we bear fruit. After we have prayed together for a period of two or three weeks, we should seek to bring those for whom we have prayed into our nucleus one by one (bringing more than one at a time is generally too difficult). From then on, whenever we meet with our nucleus, we should come with new ones. This is the easiest way for us to bring people to Christ. If we succeed in bringing those for whom we are praying into the nucleus, they will be gained for the Lord.

If we put these points into practice, it will be easy for people to be gained. Of course, there are other things that the nucleus can and will do, but they are not nearly as important as the things I have outlined above: forming the nucleus, praying together, and bringing our friends into the nucleus. By praying as a nucleus and inviting our friends to it, our friends will gradually be brought to Christ and into the church life.

The nucleus is like a little fishing boat, and the members of the nucleus are like hooks that can catch people and bring them into the nucleus. To bring our friends into the nucleus is to bring them ninety-five percent of the way to Christ, Eventually, it is through this nucleus that our friends will also be brought into the church life. If we try this, we will discover that each member of our nucleus will bear at least one fruit every six months.

(Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1967, vol. 2, “Enjoying the Lord in the Word to Bear Fruit”, ch. 2)

In order for the gospel to go forth, we have to move

/ livinglywrong

Although God has made many preparations in the environment in order for us to migrate, we still have problems practicing migration. Such problems include our nature, habits, family relationships, relatives and friends, work factors, geographic factors, and property. There is also the inability to adapt to different languages, different customs, and new environments. In addition, there are hardships, costs, and losses suffered when we migrate. These matters cause us to hesitate. Furthermore, according to our natural disposition, Chinese people do not like to move. It is difficult to leave our native land. In general, migration is relatively easy for Caucasians but difficult for the Chinese. Unless we are forced to move, we are unwilling to go even to a nearby region, let alone to a faraway land. Our natural disposition, habits, environment, and human relationships make us inclined to stay in one place. Hence, we need the Lord’s deliverance in relation to migration.

We do not have to move for our sake or for the sake of our family, but we do need to move for the Lord’s sake and for His gospel. If we do not move, the gospel cannot go forth; if we stay in one place, the gospel will be held back. In order for the gospel to go forth, we have to move. In order to move, however, we must overcome the problems that hinder us. We need to be delivered from these problems by allowing the Lord to break our natural disposition and our lack of desire to move. We must also ask the Lord to enable us to overcome every factor that restrains us from migrating.

We need the Lord to break our natural disposition and habits in relation to migration. We ask the Lord to enable us to overcome sin and the world, but we must also ask Him to enable us to overcome all the things that restrain us from migrating. Most people would rather stay in one place than suffer moving to different places. We need the Lord to deliver us from this preference. We need the Lord’s grace to make us willing to move so that we would not be half Christians, ones who come but do not go. By the Lord’s grace, we need to be sojourners on earth who follow the footsteps of Abraham.

When Abraham was called, he obeyed and went from his land to Canaan, the land that God promised to give him. Abraham dwelt in Canaan as a foreigner; he was a sojourner who moved from place to place in a tent, thus confessing that he was a stranger and a sojourner on the earth (Heb. 11:8, 13). Wherever Abraham went, he pitched a tent and built an altar to Jehovah; he also called on the name of Jehovah and maintained God’s testimony on the earth (Gen. 12:6-8; 13:3-4, 18). The tent and the altar were inseparable in the life of Abraham. The tent was a symbol of his life of sojourning on earth, and the altar was a testimony of his calling on the name of Jehovah. Abraham built an altar only after he pitched a tent. He had the testimony of calling on Jehovah only when he lived a sojourning life. Likewise, if we want to serve God, declare His gospel, and maintain His testimony, we must live as sojourners; that is, we must move. If we stay in any place for a long period of time, we will lose the characteristic of a sojourner and the life of the tent. When we lose the life of the tent, we also lose the testimony of the altar. Hence, we cannot maintain God’s testimony when we lose the characteristic of being sojourners.

Whenever we stay in a place for a long time, we will be in danger of being rooted on earth. When we received salvation, the Lord uprooted us out of the world. However, some saints have not allowed the Lord to pull their roots out of the earth. Abraham obeyed God’s command immediately after he was called by going from the land of his birth, that is, from Ur of the Chaldeans (11:31). Some brothers and sisters have been called to be God’s children, but they have not obeyed God’s command to go out from their “Ur,” the place where their roots are in the earth. If they would be willing to migrate, the Lord would pull their roots out of the earth…

May we follow the example of Abraham, the father of faith, by always moving, living the life of a sojourner who pitches a tent and builds an altar as a testimony of God.

(CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 2, “Serving According to Revelation,” ch. 8)

What should we do if there is no clear sense of the atmosphere or direction of the meeting?

/ livinglywrong

“Often the atmosphere of our meetings is cloudy or foggy, and our meetings seem to have no focus or direction; consequently, the saints do not know where the meeting is going or how to direct the meeting. In such a case, someone must take the lead to exercise his spirit and break through the “fog.” This may be done by simply choosing a hymn or praying in a strong way in the spirit. This is something we need to learn to do. We need to realize that what the Lord can do among us and the extent to which He can work depend on our cooperation. If no one is willing to cooperate with the Lord to function in the meeting, the Lord will be unable to move, and the meeting will be empty. If we are truly open to the Lord, the Lord will do many things.”

(Basic Principles for the Church Meetings, ch. 1)

According to God’s economy, there are only four races on this earth

/ livinglywrong

“The Bible is a book concerning God with man. In between God and man, there is a third party, Satan. Satan always makes trouble, and all the trouble is the chaos. The Lord needs a group of people, the overcomers, who will be one with Him to conquer all the destructive chaos and triumph in His unique constructive economy.

THE ADAMIC RACE, THE ABRAHAMIC RACE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, THE ABRAHAMIC RACE ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT, AND THE OVERCOMING RACE

In the first 10 1/2 chapters of Genesis, God was dealing with man as the Adamic race. But after these chapters of the Bible, God shifted to another group of people. The second group of people is composed of the descendants of one father, Abraham. God shifted from the Adamic race to the Abrahamic race. God‘s dealing with the Abrahamic race occupies nearly the entire Old Testament, from partway through Genesis 11 to the end of Malachi. The Old Testament covers the race of Adam and the physical descendants of Abraham. Both were a failure to God, but God could never be disappointed. He is the almighty One and the faithful One. He has the capacity to fulfill His faithfulness to keep His economy.

In the New Testament economy, God had a serious, vital shift to another group of people. He shifted from Abraham’s descendants according to the flesh to Abraham’s descendants according to the Spirit. The book of Genesis tells us that Abraham had two kinds of descendants, who were likened to the dust of the earth (13:16), and the stars of heaven (15:5). His earthly descendants are as the dust of the earth, and we, the New Testament believers as his heavenly descendants, are as the stars of heaven. The Jews, by their natural birth, all belong to the physical descendants of Abraham. Then all the believers in Christ, regardless of their race, are the spiritual descendants of Abraham (Gal. 3:7, 29). Regretfully, however, most of the spiritual descendants of Abraham, also fail God. Then to whom can God go in order to carry out His purpose?

At the beginning of the last book of the Bible, the Lord Jesus as the High Priest walking among the golden lampstands gives a call to another group of people, the overcomers. In Revelation 2 and 3, He says “to him who overcomes” seven times (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). This is a sevenfold call to us, His believers, the spiritual descendants of our great father, Abraham. Christ calls out seven times for the overcomers.

The overcomers are the fourth race. The first race was Adamic, the second race was Abrahamic according to the flesh, and the third race was still Abrahamic, but according to the Spirit. However, even the spiritual Abrahamic race becomes a failure. Humanly speaking, it is quite disappointing, but divinely speaking, our God can never be shaken or disappointed. He is God! Regardless of what happens, He is still standing. Not only is He standing, but also He is the One who sat enthroned at the flood and who sits as King forever (Ps. 29:10). Because He is such a One, He produces another race, the top race, the super race, the race above all the races. This last race is the overcoming race!

From the time of Adam to the time of Abraham was exactly 2000 years. After the first 2000 years of human history, God shifted from the race of Adam to the race of Abraham. From the time of Abraham to the time of Christ was another 2000 years. Now we are here in the New Testament. The New Testament age is approaching 2000 years of history. Thus, there have been 2000 years for the Adamic race, 2000 years for the Abrahamic race according to the flesh, and almost 2000 years for the Abrahamic race according to the Spirit. What the Lord needs is the race of overcomers to conquer all the satanic chaos and triumph in the divine economy.

The book of Revelation is a book on the overcomers. The overcoming race in this book begins from Revelation 4 and continues through Revelation 22. The overcoming race brings in the success to God for His economy. We need to consider where we are today. Are we in Genesis 1-10 in the Adamic race, in the remainder of the Old Testament in the Abrahamic race according to the flesh, or in the New Testament, from Matthew to Revelation 3, in the Abrahamic race according to the Spirit? We may say that we are in the New Testament, but this in itself is not adequate. We must be in the last 19 chapters of the Bible, from Revelation 4 through 22, from the throne to the New Jerusalem.

We need to be those who belong to the overcoming race. If someone were to ask us what kind of people we are, we should be able to say, “I belong to a race of which you do not know. I belong to the race of the overcomers.” According to God’s economy, there are only four races on this earth — the race of Adam, the race of Abraham according to the flesh, the race of Abraham according to the Spirit, and the race of the overcomers. We should declare by faith that we belong to the race of the overcomers.”

(The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation, chp. 3, pp. 63-65)

Teaching the new ones to sing hymns is the best way to nourish them

/ livinglywrong

“To teach the new ones to sing the hymns is the best way to nourish them…. After the time we go to someone’s home to baptize him, the next time we meet in his home, we can begin to teach him to sing. After singing only four or five times, he will be infused and nourished by the hymns. He may have children at home. When you sing, they may not sing, but after you leave, they will start singing. By singing a little, the truths in the hymns will gradually enter into them.”

(The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 4, p. 416)

How do we grow in life?

/ livinglywrong

“We all need to have a private time with the Lord. This needs to be built up into a daily habit. The best time for such a private time with the Lord is in the morning. Some who leave for work very early, however, may need to choose another time of the day. Nevertheless, we all need to set aside time for the Lord daily, preferably at least thirty minutes.

During this time, you should go to the Lord and pray, not for so many affairs or business matters, but to contact the Lord, asking Him to examine you, to enlighten you, and to expose your situation in His light. As the Lord enlightens you, you will need to confess one item after another. When we do not come to the light, we do not see the uncleanness, especially the offenses on our conscience. But when we are enlightened, we are aware of all the dirt. We need to confess everything exposed by the Lord’s light. Once I made a confession to the Lord that lasted more than two hours. The more I confessed, the more I needed to confess. After I confessed one thing, I had to confess another, and then another. To confess is the best way to contact the Lord in prayer for the genuine growth in life. The more we are dealt with by the Lord, the more He will be wrought into our being. This is what it means to grow.

In order to grow, we must firstly contact the Lord in our time of private prayer. I encourage all the saints, especially the young people, to build up such a habit. Every day you must have a time of prayer. Sometimes you may pray for the church or for the Lord’s recovery, if you are burdened to do so. You may also pray concerning your affairs. But the primary matter is to pray for the Lord’s enlightenment, exposing, and examining. Ask the Lord to show you what is within you and ask Him to deal with you. You should say, “Lord, expose through Your light my real situation and condition.” If you pray like this, the light will come, and you will be dealt with. Then whatever you pray will not be a performance, but a genuine prayer from your cleansed spirit.

You need to lay a good foundation in the Word of God by reading through it consecutively from Genesis to Revelation. Read book after book without selection, choice, or preference. Try to read the Bible through once every year or every two years. It is important to build up the habit of reading and studying the Word.

We need to pray and to read the Word, putting these things together.

Along with reading the Bible, we need to develop the habit of reading some profitable and nourishing spiritual books, doing this in a very balanced way and not eating too much at one time. Rather, it is better to eat several times a day. You may read four pages of a message at one time and then read more later in the day or the next day. In reading spiritual books, do not try to take in too much at once. If you build up the habit of reading the Word and spiritual books, you will be healthy spiritually and you will grow.

If you take the Word without receiving light, there must be a problem within. There can be no problem with the Word, for the Word is light. Because you do not receive light, you need to ask the Lord to show you what is wrong, to show you why you have not been receiving light from Him. When you receive light on certain matters, accept the light and confess to the Lord immediately without excusing yourself.

We need to be filled in spirit with the fullness of God. The way to be filled is the same as the way to grow in life: to pray properly, to take the Word of God, to read some nourishing spiritual books, and to be enlightened. If we pray, read the Word, and are enlightened, we shall spontaneously and immediately be filled with the Lord, and the Lord will be added to us. This is the growth in life.”

(From Life Messages vol. 1, chapter 2)

Abiding is for the sake of fruit-bearing

/ livinglywrong

“John 15 is a very valuable and deep chapter in the Bible. A number of Bible teachers teach only the abiding in the Lord from this chapter. Actually, however, John 15 stresses the bearing of fruit. Abiding is not for the sake of abiding; abiding is for the sake of fruit-bearing. If you abide in the Lord for your whole life and do not bear any fruit, your abiding means nothing. The stress in John 15 is not on abiding. The key is abiding, but the stress is fruit-bearing. We can have the fruit-bearing by abiding.

For the branch to abide in the vine is the living of a life under all kinds of conditions—the sunshine, the blowing wind, the rain, the heat, and the cold. In other words, to abide in the Lord is to live a life in Him under all kinds of suffering. Actually the vine tree suffers day and night for and until the season when it will produce its fruit (see Hymns, #635).”

(Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, chapter 23)

We need to come to the Bible daily and even hourly

/ livinglywrong

“Because the word in the Bible embodies God, Christ, the Spirit, and life, we Christians need to come to the Bible daily and even hourly. We should not take the excuse that we do not have time. Finding time to spend in the Word depends on our realization of its importance. We all find time to eat every day, no matter how sloppy, lazy, or loose we may be, because we realize that eating is a life necessity. If we do not eat, we will die. When we see that reading the Word is a life necessity, we will find time to do it.

We need to spend time in the Word every morning… Everyone can make it because life necessity teaches us. Contacting the Bible is much more important than keeping a job or eating breakfast. There is no excuse for not contacting the Lord through the Word every morning.”

(CWWL, 1978, vol. 3, “The Recovery of Christ as Everything in the Church,” ch. 7, p. 273)