CHAPTER FOUR THE MIRACULOUSLY NORMAL LIVING IN THE NEW WAY [contents] [previous] [next] Main Outline I. GOD BREATHING OUT AND WE BREATHING IN II. A NORMAL LIVING YET MIRACULOUS III. THE LORD’S LIFE AND HIS PRECIOUS PROMISES IV. THE LIVING IN THE NEW WAY V. BEING REVIVED AND OVERCOMING VI. SERVING THE LORD AND PERFECTING OTHERS VII. A LIVING FULL OF THE BLESSING Scripture Reading: Heb. 7:25; Phil. 1:19; 4:13; Heb. 3:12 OUTLINE I. Being revived every morning: A. Calling on the Lord and contacting the Lord immediately upon rising up in the morning. B. Enjoying the Lord and absorbing the Lord’s rich supply using a few verses. II. Living an overcoming life daily: A. Calling on the Lord unceasingly—Rom. 10:12. B. Dealing with sins and being filled with the Spirit at all times. C. Walking according to spirit—Rom. 8:4. D. Living Christ—Phil. 1:21. E. Speaking the Lord in any place at any time—2 Tim. 4:2. III. Gaining people by preaching the gospel: A. Going to visit people twice a month. B. Going out two hours each time. IV. Perfecting the new believers: A. Setting up a meeting in new believers’ homes—Acts 2:46; 5:42. B. Leading the new believers to go on in the spiritual life and to function in the meetings. V. Leading a small number of believers: A. Setting up group meetings. B. Leading the new believers to have contact and fellowship with neighboring saints in the group meetings. C. Leading the new believers to go on further in functioning in the group meetings by speaking for the Lord. VI. Participating in the district meetings: A. Striving to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord—1 Cor. 14:26, 31. B. Exercising to be in the same flow and to coordinate with the saints in speaking for the Lord. C. Supplying to perfect the saints, building up the Body of Christ—Eph. 4:12. Top of page GOD BREATHING OUT AND WE BREATHING IN In the New Testament, there is the thought that we can breathe God in. For example, in 2 Timothy 3:16 where the Apostle Paul was talking about the origin of the Bible, he said that the Bible is God-breathed. This indicates that when we are reading God’s Word, God is breathing out toward us; He breathes out and we breathe in. Not only so, but in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the word for “spirit” in Hebrew and Greek has a three-fold meaning: spirit, wind, and breath. The Lord said in John 3:6, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Verse 8 also says, “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The wind in this verse and the Spirit in verse 6 are the same word in Greek. Genesis 2:7 shows us that when God created Adam, He used the dust of the ground to form the shape of a body and then breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and he became a living person with a spirit. When we come to John 20, after the Lord died and resurrected, He appeared to the disciples and breathed into them saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 22). From this we can see that the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New, has the thought that God is breath to us. However, this is not the religious thought concerning God. The religionists consider God as someone great and unlimited; they only take God as an object of worship, as someone supreme and grand. We human beings are low and have no way to contact God; God is someone far away from us. But the revelation of the Bible shows us that God to us is a matter of breath; this matter is also of the Spirit. Romans 10:8 says that this resurrected Christ has become the living Word, being near to us, even in our mouth and in our heart. Just consider a little. If our great God is not breath, how can He be in our mouth, and how can He enter into our heart? Today many people have a wrong view of God and misunderstand God, thinking that God is so great that He is unapproachable. In John 4 the Lord Jesus was talking with a Samaritan woman about the matter of worshipping God. The woman said, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men should worship.” Jesus told her that God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in reality (vv. 20-24). Therefore, for us to worship God is to contact God the Spirit in our human spirit. You may say that we have already heard a lot of this kind of teaching in the Lord’s recovery, but unconsciously these things seem to have vanished in our living. This is because we have been too deeply influenced by the traditional religious thinking that God is too great, too solemn, and too majestic. Although there is nothing wrong with this aspect, God is also practical; He is breath. He breathes out, and we breathe in; this breathing in and breathing out is life. Hymn #255 speaks specifically about this. Because the writer of the hymn had such an appreciation and experience of the Lord, he said in the chorus, “I am breathing out my sorrow, breathing out my sin; I am breathing, breathing, breathing, all Thy fulness in.” This kind of hymn is indeed profound; merely singing it will cause us to be cleansed and be washed from all the spots and wrinkles in our lives. Today if we can learn the secret—to come to the Lord to breathe Him in, to call on Him from deep within, to breathe in this breath of life of the Lord—then our spiritual life will surely be healthy. Top of page A NORMAL LIVING YET MIRACULOUS The title of this chapter, “The Miraculously Normal Living in the New Way,” is based on the divine revelation of the Bible that we may have a living that breathes in God. Breathing is something too ordinary and too normal, not outstanding in any way, yet it is miraculous. We human beings can have God, not merely to be our outward help and support, but to enter into us to be our life and supply. This is truly an amazing fact. We all know that the most needful and most available thing to us is air. A person can live without eating or drinking for a few days, but he will be finished if he does not breathe for even a few minutes. Air is too precious, too needful. It costs nothing to buy and is available everywhere. This physical air signifies a spiritual thing; God is our real air. How simple it is for us to get air. In the same way, it is also simple for us to have God. Although it is simple to have God, yet it is miraculous that God enters into man to be his life and life supply. I would like to point out one thing to you. The Christian life that we have is one that is normal, without one bit of peculiarity, yet it is also miraculous; it is a story of the Triune God living within us. In Philippians 4:12 the Apostle Paul testified, saying, “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to be in want.” This word indicates that Paul had been poor, and he had been rich. When he was poor, he knew how to handle it; when he was rich, he also knew how to handle it. In my whole life, it has not been easy for me to see one person who really knows how to be in poverty and also how to be in abundance. Conversely, I saw many who could do well in poverty, yet when they became rich, they did not do so well. However, a Christian’s normal living should be one that is fitting in every situation and every place; to a certain point, he is neither poor nor rich. In the process of his entire human living, Paul had learned the secret in everything. His secret is mentioned in the following verse, where he says, “I can do all things in Him who empowers me” (v. 13). The secret of our normal Christian life is a person, Christ Himself. Today all the ones seated here are working brothers and sisters. I also have worked before; I know the difficulties of working. There are all kinds of pressures and all kinds of temptations. It is really not easy for the working ones to overcome. For this reason, I would like to fellowship two things with you. First, when Christians are suffering, having a difficult time, it is easier for them to depend on the Lord; however, when they are successful and are taking it easy, it becomes difficult for them. You need to know that during difficult times, there are not that many defeated Christians; during easy times, there are not many Christians who can stand, either. Second, the rarest and the most honorable Christians are those who can handle poverty as well as abundance. Not only so, they can handle the situation to a point that they are neither poor nor rich. For a Christian to maintain himself as neither poor nor rich is an exceptional matter. Most of the working young people after graduating from school give their everything to struggle and endeavor to establish their families and their professions in order to prepare for their future. Everyone wants to be rich and live a life in abundance. Not only would they like to have comfortable houses, but also fancy automobiles. I am not here encouraging you to be rich; neither am I advising you to remain in the same position you are in now. I desire that you always practice to live a normal Christian life. This kind of life is neither poor nor rich, neither suffering nor comfortable. The Bible shows us that the living of the man created by God is one that has obligation, responsibility, duty, and enjoyment. His obligation, responsibility, and duty are for his existence, and his existence should be a kind of enjoyment. When a person is so poor, it is hard for him to have any enjoyment, but when a person becomes rich, neither does he necessarily have the real enjoyment. When you eat too well or dress too meticulously, you will nevertheless be troubled. There are some who if they have a lot of money, will spend it indiscriminately. This not only damages that person, but also others. It not only damages his own morality, but also the atmosphere of society. We Christians are not like this. We learn to live a life that is neither poor nor rich. We are content with being clothed and fed. We also enjoy the material living in a simple, quiet, comfortable, worry free, and trouble free manner. We are blessed ourselves, and it is beneficial to others. Top of page THE LORD’S LIFE AND HIS PRECIOUS PROMISES In the last chapter we saw that the divine power of God has granted to us all things related to life and godliness and has also granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises. Hence, we should not worry for the needs of our daily life. Rather, we need to calm down our desire and concern, so that we can escape the corruption that is in the world through lust and be partakers of the divine nature, to enjoy God Himself. The tide of this age, the pressure of living, the bondage of human affection, plus our own lust, both inwardly and outwardly are seducing us, constraining us, in order to ensnare us into corruption through lust. But we have the Lord’s life and His promises. When we live by these, we can live peacefully and contentedly in the practical situation of our living. Our money and our time should also have proper arrangement and balance, affording help to man’s need and God’s business through proper means. Then we will have a living that really enjoys human life. Only the life of Christ and His precious promises can cause us to live this kind of normal yet miraculous living. Through this we can save much money as well as time for prayer, fellowshipping with the Lord, enjoying the Lord in His Word, going out to preach the gospel to people by visiting them, and caring for the saints. I always bow my head to worship the Lord for what He has allotted to me. Due to His sovereign arrangement, He caused me to be born in a poor village and grow up in a poor home. From my youth, I learned to be hard working and enduring, endeavoring to move forward. Hence, I was also preserved. Afterwards in my studies, I came in contact with missionaries from whom I learned English and had more opportunity to know the Lord. After my graduation, the Lord caused my living to be not too poor nor too rich, but just right for serving the Lord. Because I knew English, I could know the Bible in a more convenient way, even making footnotes to the Bible, and expounding the truths. Nevertheless, I did not know English to the point that I could become an English professor or scholar. If I had pursued that, I would not have been able to concentrate on being the Lord’s worker. For the Lord’s sake, I have been in poverty, and I also have been in abundance. The Lord still caused me to be at peace. Speaking of earthly achievement, I do not possess anything today, and neither am I anything. I am just an ordinary person, preserved by the Lord and enjoying the genuine human life. The Lord created and redeemed us, not for the purpose of making us someone special. What the Lord desires is that we live a proper and normal life, experiencing, enjoying, and expressing Him. The highest philosophy of human living is in the Bible. This kind of human life is normal yet miraculous because it is not something that we can live by ourselves, but God must enter into us to be our life in order for us to live out this kind of life. When the Lord Jesus was a man on the earth, He lived this kind of life. Before He came out to minister at the age of thirty, He was growing up in a despised city, in a carpenter’s home. The Bible does not record what He did or said; He was just there living. That God who created everything, including mankind, would become an ordinary and humble human being in the flesh, without anything outstanding is a real miracle. I can testify in this way: the Lord Jesus lives within me as my life. I am very satisfied in my living today. I feel that I am enjoying human life the most. I go to bed, rise up, eat, and drink on time. Hence, I have no woes or sicknesses. By the Lord’s grace, I am already over eighty years old. I am still healthy. Not only can I take care of many business affairs, but I can also memorize the words of the Bible. I am speaking this word to you working ones so that you may know that our being able to live the church life on the earth is a most blessed matter. The church life is the most normal and miraculous living. Therefore, none of us saved ones may say that we do not have time to live the church life. If someone does not have time to live the church life, it is because he does not enjoy the Lord enough. As long as the Lord’s supply within us is adequate, our church life will surely be proper and satisfying, and time will not become a problem. Although we saved ones live in the world, we should not belong to the world. We were saved and delivered from the worldly falsehood and deceit. In this current of the world, not only do we not join others in their evil, but we also are able to stand and become a pillar in the midst of the current. I hope that these words can help you so that you can be strengthened in the Lord’s grace. He has already granted to us all the supply. We should live in His living and stand on His promises, allowing His life and His promises to calm all the desires within us and remove all our demands. Then we can live our days in quietness and stability, living a normal church life, that we personally, our family, our relatives, and friends, and even the society may be blessed. This is what the Lord spoke in Matthew 5 when He said that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (vv. 13-14). We are salt because we can remove the corruption of the earth. We are light because we can enlighten the people in darkness. Nevertheless, any time we do not live the church life, we lose the taste and do not shine. Therefore, in order for us to maintain our status and function as salt and light, we must practice the church life in a good way. Top of page THE LIVING IN THE NEW WAY Following this, we come to see the outline of this chapter. Here, I will use very simple words to explain to you what the miraculously normal living in the new way is. BEING REVIVED AND OVERCOMING First, we must be revived every morning. At the end of a day is the night, and after the night is passed is the morning. Every morning we should have a revival from the Lord, a new beginning. For this reason, we should be calling on the Lord and contacting Him immediately upon rising in the morning, and enjoying the Lord and absorbing the His rich supply using two or three verses. Whether it is ten minutes or twenty minutes; it is still all right. It is like eating breakfast. At any rate, we have to eat the spiritual food every morning before the Lord so that our spirit is filled every day. Second, we must live an overcoming life every day through calling on the Lord unceasingly (Rom. 10:12). Regardless how busy we are, we may still call from our heart, saying, “O Lord Jesus!” We also must deal with sins and be filled with the Spirit at all times (Acts 13:52). As long as there is even a little in the way of trespasses, falsehood, or sins, we should confess and ask the Lord to cleanse us with His blood so that we can maintain the condition of being filled with the Spirit. Then, we walk according to spirit (Rom. 8:4). Our outward movement is governed by the inward spirit. We also live Christ (Phil. 1:21). This is our daily life. If we would practice the foregoing three items—calling on the Lord unceasingly, dealing with sins and being filled with the Spirit at all times, and walking according to spirit—spontaneously the issue is living Christ. Then we speak the Lord everywhere at every time (2 Tim. 4:2). Whether it is in season or out of season, whether it is convenient or inconvenient, we still need to speak the Lord to people, to testify for the Lord. If we would do this, spontaneously we will live an overcoming life. The first two items are concerning ourselves that we may be equipped. The following items are the living we ought to have for our serving the Lord. Top of page SERVING THE LORD AND PERFECTING OTHERS Third, we must gain people by preaching the gospel. It does not matter who we are, we need to preach the gospel. To preach the gospel is our heavenly profession. We do this by visiting people twice a month for two hours each time. If all the brothers and sisters here are willing to do this, formed in teams of three, working with each other, going to preach the gospel by visiting people twice a month, then you can bring in at least one person per month. That will be twelve persons in a year. As an average, every person can gain four new ones a year. Fourth, we must perfect the new believers. After we have baptized a new believer, we should not leave right away, but stay for half an hour to an hour to start immediately to set up a meeting in his home (Acts 2:46; 5:42). After that, we go there every few days, and then once a week. We have to lead him this way for about a year. We lead the new believers to go on in the spiritual life and to function in the meetings. We have to teach them how to speak, pray, call hymns, and speak the Lord in the meetings. Fifth, we must lead a small number of believers by setting up group meetings. Not only do we need to go to the saints’ homes to have meetings, but we need to also lead the new believers to gradually get connected with the neighboring saints, by setting up group meetings that they can have fellowship and contact with one another. In this way they will be stabilized. Then, we lead the new believers to go on further in functioning in the group meetings by speaking for the Lord. Sixth, we must participate in the district meetings. Finally, we also need to bring the new believers to the district meetings to help them do their best to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord (1 Cor. 14:26, 31). In the meetings, if anyone has a hymn, or a teaching, or a revelation, they may pour forth their portion, because we all can prophesy for the Lord one by one. We exercise to be in the same flow and to coordinate with the saints in speaking for the Lord, and we supply to perfect the saints, building up the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). Top of page A LIVING FULL OF THE BLESSING For this kind of living, the working saints should arrange their time every week properly. Every week I need to lead a home meeting and also to help out a group meeting, and then attend the Lord’s Day district meeting, plus the Tuesday prayer and service meeting. Besides this, I would go out to preach the gospel by visiting people every other week. If we would properly arrange our time, I definitely believe that doing this should be very easy. However, in order to be able to do this continuously throughout the year according to a schedule and a plan is not an easy thing. Therefore we need a kind of miraculous life and power, that is our Lord Jesus, to supply us inwardly so that we can live this kind of normal Christian life. May we all rise up to cooperate with the Lord to receive the burden to push this matter that we may do this continuously. If there is a place with one hundred people meeting together, and forty or fifty of them are willing to practice this—going to gain people by preaching the gospel, perfecting the new believers, leading the group meetings, and attending the district meetings—then assuming that one person can bring in two new ones per year, there will be a one hundred percent increase rate. Even if they can only bring one half of that, they will still get a fifty percent increase; this is for sure. As long as everyone is willing to do this, this is a highway to us. This matter all depends on the brothers and sisters living this kind of miraculous yet normal living every day—going out, coming in, going to work, doing business, and staying at home at proper times, doing everything according to schedule in a regulated way, being revived every morning, and living an overcoming life every day. In this way, not only can we ourselves be preserved, but also it will be beneficial to others. We ourselves can have such an enjoyable church life, our Lord will get the glory, and everyone can be blessed. (Spoken by Brother Witness Lee on April 17, 1988 in Taipei Top of page
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 01:47:11 +0000
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