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Message One

God’s Relationship with Man Being Subjective

Gal. 2:20a I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.

Eph. 3:16-17 That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love.

Phil. 1:20-21 According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

The Natural Concept Being That

Man’s Relationship with God Is Objective

The main revelation of the Bible is the relationship between God and man. What this relationship should be also occupies very much of human thought. When man thinks of God, he thinks in terms of worshipping, fearing, and perhaps loving Him. God, in man’s concept, is far off in the heavens, dwelling in unapproachable majesty; the best mere man can do is to offer Him worship and try to please Him.

This natural concept is that man’s relationship with God is objective. Religion also promotes such a concept, whether that religion is Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. Verses from the Bible can be used to support this idea of a God to be worshipped and revered from afar.

Man’s Relationship with God Being to Be

a Subjective One If We Penetrate the Heart of the Bible

If we penetrate the heart of the Bible, however, we shall see that man’s relationship with God is to be a subjective one. God wants to come into us and become our life and nature. Then He wants us to become His living. Colossians 3:4 says “Christ our life.” Galatians 2:20 says, “Christ lives in me.” Philippians 1:21 says, “To me to live is Christ.” Since Christ is God, Paul was saying that for him to live was God.

Daily Experiencing God Being Our Life,

We Being the Living of God;

God Living within Us, to Us to Live Being God

God is our life. We are the living of God. God lives within us. To us to live is God. These four sentences are the center of the New Testament. If they are not our daily experience, we are not up to the standard.

Further Reading: CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Life Messages, vol. 2,” ch. 69

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Message Two

The Revelation of the Bible Being

Not for Doctrine but for Experience

1 Cor. 15:45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

The Purpose of the Biblical Revelation

Not Being to Give Us Doctrines but for Our Experience

Concerning the person of Christ, who is a mystery, we must not merely have objective knowledge in doctrine. Rather, we must have the subjective experience in life. In Christianity, there is the bad habit, the bad influence, of considering everything in the Bible to be merely a doctrine. When preaching God, many merely preach a doctrine, and when preaching Christ, many also merely preach a doctrine. In today’s Christianity nearly all the truths concerning God and Christ have become theology and are presented altogether in the way of doctrine and theory, and very few people stress experience. However, the purpose of the biblical revelation is not to give us doctrines. The ultimate purpose of the Bible in speaking about God and Christ is for our experience. We may speak about God thoroughly and speak about Christ fully, but if we do not have the experience, both God and Christ have nothing to do with us.

The Secret of Experiencing Christ—Exercising Our Spirit

For us to experience Christ we need to see that Christ has become the life-giving Spirit in His resurrection. First Corinthians 15:45b says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” …Because Christ is the life-giving Spirit, He can enter into us. But which part of our being does He enter? To be sure, it is not our mind. The most our mind can do is help us to apprehend Christ, but it cannot contain Christ. Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” The Lord is the life-giving Spirit, and we have a regenerated spirit within us. Today the Lord as the life-giving Spirit enters into our regenerated spirit to be with us. Hence, in order to experience Christ we need to exercise our spirit.

There may be a table spread with an abundance of food and drink, but unless we eat and drink them, all the abundance has nothing to do with us. If we want to enjoy the rich food on the table, we need to open our mouth to eat and drink. Likewise, Christ our Lord is the One who is God over all, blessed forever. He is God who became flesh to be our Redeemer, and He is the all-inclusive One. However, if He were only on the throne, He would have nothing to do with us. Thank the Lord, today He is the life-giving Spirit, and we also have a spirit within that can contact and receive Him. Hence, by exercising our spirit we can obtain Him, receive Him, and enjoy Him. When we experience Him, at the same time we also experience the Father and the Spirit who are in Him. Hence, we experience the Triune God.

Further Reading: CWWL, 1984, vol. 1, “The Four Crucial Elements of the Bible—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church,” ch. 1

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Message Three

“Not…Outwardly…but…Inwardly”

Rom. 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God.

He Not Being Who Is One Outwardly,

but Who Is One Inwardly

We should focus on a few expressions from the two verses we have read in Romans 2: “For he is not…who is one outwardly…But he is…who is one inwardly”; “in spirit, not in letter”; “not from men, but from God.” Here are a few contrasts: “outwardly” versus “inwardly”; “spirit” versus “letter”; and “from men” versus “from God.” The Bible shows us clearly through these contrasts the fact that Christianity is not a matter of outward regulations, forms, and ceremonies but a matter of the inner life. Christianity is not an outward religion or a product of the human mind; Christianity is an inward revelation and a religion of life.

A Christian Becoming a Christian Inwardly;

He Being a Person Who Has the Life of the Lord within Him

What is it to be a Christian? A Christian is one who has the life of the Lord within him. Some people were baptized when they were young; they attend church services regularly and carry a Bible with them. They can recite the Lord’s Prayer and know the Ten Commandments. They can sing hymns and say amen to others’ prayers, and they are very familiar with the stories in the Bible. They even consider themselves to be Christians. But are they? The Bible says that “he is not…who is one outwardly.” Therefore, a Christian is not a Christian by teaching or by learning. A Christian becomes a Christian inwardly; he is a person who has the life of the Lord within him. The Lord Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly” (John 10:10). A Christian is a person who has something to do with life. He is not one outwardly but one inwardly.

Christians Who Are Christians Inwardly Withstanding Tests

Christians who have revelation and who are Christians inwardly can withstand tests. They treasure God’s truth and are not afraid of any trial. We see Paul suffering many persecutions and much tribulation for the sake of the Lord’s name. One day he was brought in chains to Caesarea to be judged by Festus. Even Festus himself admitted that Paul did not commit any crime and that the only questions against him were about a certain Jesus who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive (Acts 25:18-19). Brothers and sisters, this is a sober question: Are you an outward Christian or an inward Christian? Paul had the experience; it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. This is why he insisted that Jesus was living when others said that He had died. Even when others held him in chains, he said the same thing. Even when others charged him with many false accusations, he said the same thing. On the way to Damascus, he had indeed met the Jesus who was raised from the dead. Therefore, he could present his good testimony under any trial.

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 37, “General Messages (1),” msg. 34

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Message Four

Ministering to the House or to God

Ezek. 44:15 But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to present to Me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord Jehovah.

Much of the Labor and Ministering before God

Not Being to Minister to Him

Oh, may we see that much of the labor and ministering before God is not ministering to Him. The Bible tells us that there was a group of Levites who were busily ministering in the house, but they were only ministering to the house, not to God. Ministering to the house is very similar to ministering to the Lord. Outwardly, there is almost no difference. Those Levites were in the house preparing the peace offerings and burnt offerings. This was a wonderful work. Suppose an Israelite wanted to worship God and offer up a peace offering and burnt offering, but he could not drag in the cattle or sheep. The Levites would help him drag in the animals and slay them. How good this was! They helped someone else be close to the Lord and know the Lord! …This was not a false work; it was altogether genuine. God knew their work. They were truly rendering help to others in offering up the peace offerings and burnt offerings. They were truly saving and helping men; they labored very hard. Nevertheless, God said they were not ministering to Him.

God Has Only One Goal: Wanting Us to Be

before “My” Presence and Minister to “Me”

Brothers and sisters, if you knew the heavy burden within me, you would know the goal of God. God is not after the outward, lively ministering. God is not after the salvation of sinners. God is not after gaining men or helping believers to be more spiritual or more advanced. God has only one goal: to have men belong absolutely to “Me.” In other words, He wants us to be before “My” presence and minister to “Me.”

Praying to God to Grace Us That We May Know

What It Is to Minister to God and to the House

I say again, …What I fear most in my heart is that many will come out to preach the gospel to help men, save sinners, and perfect the believers, yet not minister to the Lord! The goal of many so-called ministries to the Lord is none other than serving their own likes and pleasures. It is unbearable for them to be confined. They are energetic and must run around and be active in order to be happy! Although outwardly they are ministering to sinners and the brothers, inwardly they are ministering to their flesh! …Please remember, there are many areas in the Lord’s work that naturally attract us. However, this is truly damaging to us. When we see something naturally attractive in the Lord’s work, we go about doing it! What a pity this is! For this reason, we must pray to God to grace us that we may know what it is to minister to God and to the house.

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 11, “The Present Testimony (4),” Issue No. 35

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Message Five

Spiritual or Mental

2 Cor. 3:6 Who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

God’s Word Not Being Separated from God’s Spirit

God’s Word cannot be separated from God’s Spirit. God has written His word into the Bible and has given this Bible to us. At the same time, God has a condition for man to receive His word-he must receive it through the power of His Spirit. God supports His word with His Spirit; He proves His word with His Spirit. His Spirit guarantees that His word will not fail. Those who only contact God’s Word without contacting His Spirit will see that God’s Word does not have the power. Without God’s Spirit, God’s Word will become dead letters.

The Holy Spirit Being Full of Life and Power

We need to constantly realize one thing: the Holy Spirit is full of life and power. Therefore, everything that is of the Holy Spirit should be full of life and power. When we see a person who knows a certain truth but has not received any help in life or increase in power, who merely has some beautiful thoughts which enable him to analyze things but do not help him in times of fierce temptations, we have to doubt if he has the work of the Holy Spirit. We should not think that words which are full of meaning are necessarily good. We must seek the power of the Holy Spirit. …What believers lack is the life of God, not anything else.

Trusting in the Power of the Holy Spirit

All the Time in Receiving the Truth of God

Just as man’s life cannot be interrupted for a moment, the power from the Holy Spirit must also be constantly renewed and must continue all the time. What He has done once cannot become a guarantee that He will do the same thing every time. Every time we contact Him, we only receive the strength for that time. There is no once-for-all experience in our dealing with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in receiving the truth of God, we have to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit all the time. For example, when we hear about others’ spiritual experiences, it is very natural for us to imitate them and wish that God would lead us in the same way and grant us the same results. However, we are often disappointed. The reason for this is that others’ experiences are of the Holy Spirit, but our encounter is only of the mind. God has to disappoint us all the time so that we will seek after Him directly through the Holy Spirit. All imitations from the mind are futile. Even to quote verses from the Bible will not make any difference. The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit. We may think that by quoting more Scriptures we will have the strength. Actually, this never happens. The Holy Spirit must repeat the word to us again before the power will be there.

Therefore, what we must now pursue is the Holy Spirit’s dispensing of life to us through the truth. We should seek after His revelation and application and allow Him to move the truth from our head into our spirit. Let us fully trust in God’s Word. Let us wholeheartedly believe that all of His words are real and not be satisfied with the knowledge of biblical theories.

Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 8, “The Present Testimony (1),” Spiritual or Mental

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Message Six

Our Human Spirit

Zech. 12:1b Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.

John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.

The Spirit of Man Being Ranked

with the Heavens and the Earth

Zechariah 12:1 says that the Lord stretched forth the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him. No one can deny that these three items—the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man—are crucial in God’s creation to fulfill His purpose. The heavens were created for the earth, the earth was created for man, and man was created for God.

Zechariah does not refer to “man,” but to “the spirit of man.” This is because the spirit of man is the very organ that can take in God to enjoy God’s life and God’s Spirit and be one with God’s Spirit. This is why man’s spirit has become so crucial and important, even to the extent that it is ranked with the heavens and the earth.

The Function of the Human Spirit Being to

Contact God, to receive God, to contain God

John 4:24 shows that the function of the human spirit is to contact God.

Ezekiel 36:26 says that God gives us a new heart and a new spirit. The new heart is for loving God and seeking after God, whereas the new spirit is for receiving God. The heart is the loving and seeking organ, and the spirit is the receiving organ. We all have a heart to love certain things. A person may love tea, but if he does not have a stomach, he has no organ to receive the tea. This shows that we need a new heart to love God and a new spirit to receive God.

Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” Our spirit is the place where God stays within us, so our spirit is a container of God.

Walking by the Spirit and Being According to the Spirit

Galatians 5:16 and 25b charge us to walk by the Spirit, and Romans 8:4 says that we need to walk according to the spirit. In Revelation 1:10 the apostle John said that he was in spirit on the Lord’s Day. This shows that we need to have a life in the spirit. John was a man in the spirit. This means we need to live in the spirit. …All the new ones and young ones among us need to have a strong understanding of the human spirit.

Further Reading: CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” lsn. 16

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Message Seven

Being Joined to the Lord as One Spirit

1 Cor. 15:45b The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

1 Thes. 5:23 And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete.

1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

God Being Spirit, Christ Becoming the Life-Giving Spirit

John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit.” This speaks of the nature of God. As far as the divine essence is concerned, God, the complete Triune God, is Spirit. The Triune God is three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father is the source, the Son is the expression of the Father, and the Spirit is the realization of the Son (Matt. 28:19). The last Adam is the incarnated Christ, who through death and resurrection was transfigured to become the life-giving Spirit (2 Cor. 15:45b), the Spirit of life (2 Cor. 3:6, 17) as God’s ultimate expression.

The Spirit Being the Center of Our Being

1 Thessalonians 5:23 clearly and definitely reveals to us that our complete person is of three parts—spirit, soul, and body. The body is our outermost part, by which we act and walk, and by which we contact the material things. The soul is the part between our body and our spirit as our personality and self, by which we contact the psychological things. The spirit is our innermost part by which we know and worship God, and by which we contact the spiritual things. Thus, the spirit is the center of our being and is crucial to God, more crucial than even the heavens and the earth (Zech. 12:1)

Being One Spirit with the Lord

Since we are joined to the Lord, we are one spirit with the Lord. This means that the spirit, which is the mingling of our spirit and the Lord’s Spirit, is both the Spirit of the Lord and our spirit; it is the Lord’s Spirit mingled with our spirit and our spirit mingled with the Lord’s Spirit. All our spiritual experiences after we are saved, such as our fellowship with the Lord, our prayer to Him, our living with Him, and our obedience to Him, are in this spirit, the Lord’s Spirit and our spirit mingled into one.

How marvelous! Oh, we all must realize that we are one spirit with the Lord. If we see this, we shall say, “Praise the Lord that I am one spirit with Him! God created me with a human spirit, and my spirit has been regenerated by Him. Today the all-inclusive Christ is the life-giving Spirit dwelling in my spirit. He is one with my spirit, and I am one with Him.”

Further Reading: CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” lsn. 30; Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 12

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Message Eight

The Organic Union

Rom. 6:5 For if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, indeed we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.

The Relationship between God and Us Being That

God and We May Have a Union in Life

What the Bible reveals as the ultimate relationship between God and us is far deeper than that of Creator and creature. The nature of this relationship is beyond human concept. It is that God and we may have a union in life. The divine life and the human life join together to become one life.

Grafting Being One Picture of the Union between God and Us

Grafting is one picture of this union between God and us. …Notice the two aspects of grafting and growing together in Romans 6:5: “For if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.”

The words “have grown together with Him” in the Greek imply an organic union. The meaning is quite rich. It can be likened to a skin graft. The surgeon may cut a piece of flesh from a patient’s leg and attach it to his arm. After a few days the skin taken from the leg will grow together with the flesh of the arm; they will be organically joined to each other. Life growth will occur.

This is the very kind of union meant in Romans 6:5. We have been grafted to the Lord Jesus and are now supplied by His life and His riches. A growth is taking place as we are enjoying Him. This union is not like two dead pieces of wood put together; however closely they may be placed to each other, there is no growing together. There must be a living branch grafted into a living tree for there to be not only a joining but also an organic growing together, with the branch enjoying the riches of the life of the better tree. …In this union are victory, life, light, power, and all the other divine attributes. All these are ours, not by an exchange, not by reckoning, but by being grafted into Him.

As Saved Ones, the Life We Live Being

That of Two Lives Grafted into One

This concept of the divine life and the human life being grafted into one is foreign to human thought. Because of this, when we come to read the Bible, we miss it. I trust that now we have all been deeply impressed that as saved ones, the life we live is that of two lives grafted into one. By the Lord’s grace we have repented, and through repentance and believing we have been grafted into the divine life. In this grafting we grow together with Him. Then in resurrection His life grows in us. The divine life is in us, supplying us. This is the Christian life.

Further Reading: CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Life Messages, vol. 2,” ch. 58

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Message Nine

Partaking of the Divine Nature

2 Pet. 1:4 Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.

Having Given Us the Promises for the Purpose

That We May Enjoy the Divine Nature

He has called us to His glory and virtue and He has given us the promises for the purpose that we may enjoy the divine nature. To have eternal life is a matter once for all, but to partake of the divine nature is a continual matter. Although we have the divine life once for all, we cannot enjoy the divine nature once for all. During the entire course of our Christian life on earth and even in eternity, we shall still be partaking of the divine nature. …God’s nature is holy, loving, righteous, kind, and pure. Actually God’s nature is all-inclusive. The more we partake of the divine nature, the more we have holiness, love, righteousness, kindness, and all manner of divine attributes. These attributes then become our virtues, which eventually will consummate in God’s glory.

The Divine Nature Denoting All That God Is

The divine nature denotes all that God is. We may use eating food as an illustration of partaking of the divine nature. When you eat chicken, you partake of the chicken nature. What the chicken is becomes your nourishment. When you eat chicken, you are actually eating the chicken nature, which includes various nourishing elements. These elements or ingredients are the constituents of the nature. The principle is the same with the divine nature. Through God’s promises, we are partaking of God’s nature with all the divine ingredients. Just as we do not eat food once for all, so we do not partake of the divine nature once for all. We eat food daily, and for eternity we shall be partaking of the divine nature. …God’s nature is holy, loving, righteous, kind, and pure. Actually God’s nature is all-inclusive. The more we partake of the divine nature, the more we have holiness, love, righteousness, kindness, and all manner of divine attributes. These attributes then become our virtues, which eventually will consummate in God’s glory.

Escaping the Corruption in the World

Qualifying Us to Partake of the Divine Nature

Becoming a partaker of the divine nature has a condition, and this condition is that we escape the corruption which is in the world by lust. Lust is a barrier that keeps us from enjoying the divine nature. Christ died to redeem us from the vain manner of life (1Pet.1:18-19), and now we should abstain from fleshly lusts (1Pet.2:11) and no longer live in the flesh in the lusts of men (1Pet.4:2). As redeemed ones, we should abstain from lusts. This is to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.

God has given us promises that He will work out the virtue and glory so that we may partake of the divine nature. This is God’s operation. But God’s operation requires our cooperation, and our cooperation is to abstain from a lustful life and thereby escape the corruption which is in the world by lust. Then having escaped this corruption, we are ready to become partakers of the divine nature. By this we see that escaping the corruption in the world qualifies us to partake of the divine nature.

Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Peter, msg. 3

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Message Ten

“To Live Is Christ”

Phil. 1:20-21 According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

“To Me, to Live Is Christ”

Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” To be sure, we announce Christ, but now He is no longer only the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended One. Now He is the One who is living in us. We are preaching such a subjective Christ. In Philippians 1:21 Paul said, “To me, to live is Christ.” Can we say that to us to live is Christ? Sometimes we dare not say this. If we say this, others may ask, “Is Christ the way you are? You lost your temper yesterday, and today you were joking. Is Christ like this?” This may give people doubts about the Christ we speak of. Nevertheless, Paul truly declared in the New Testament, “To me, to live is Christ.” In this sense, Paul became Christ. In verse 20 Paul said, “As always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.” Paul magnified Christ not only once but “as always.” This is the One whom Paul preached. He did not announce an objective Christ. Rather, he preached a subjective Christ, the Christ whom he had enjoyed and who had become him.

Learning to Experience Christ So That Day after Day

He Will Become a Subjective Christ to Us in Our Daily Living

Some people may say to us, “You have been saved for many years. This is why you can speak such a word. We have been saved for only several months, so we dare not say this.” This is a valid excuse, but at least we all can take this as our goal. We need to tell the Lord, “O Lord, one day I will tell others that to me, to live is Christ. From now on, to me, to live is Christ.” In our daily living we must learn to experience Christ so that day after day He will become a subjective Christ to us. In this way we can boldly, strongly, and fearlessly tell others, “To me, to live is Christ.”

Methods cannot subdue people. Instead, it is the true Christ who has become our life lived out from within us. Only this is the power, only this has the authority, and only this can subdue people. We should not go out with a mere saying that “to me, to live is Christ” without being those in whom Christ can be found.

Further Reading: CWWL, 1987, vol. 1, “Bearing Remaining Fruit,” msg. 24