Let us first have a word of prayer.
Lord, we thank Thee that Thou hast guided us to this last afternoon together. We thank Thee for Thy guidance, and we continue to look to Thee for Thy guidance today and for the path ahead.
May we not only with our ears hear Thy desire for us, but may Thou also guide us so that our footsteps would walk according to Thy will. Wouldst Thou reveal to us the words that are in Thy heart, so that we may see more clearly Thy working hand upon us, which is to lead us into Thy glorious, eternal purpose.
For this, we ask that Thou wouldst illuminate our eyes within, so that we would not only see what is external, but would see Thy eternal purpose fulfilled. May we all be captivated in this way until we see Thee face to face.
Lord, we look to Thee, and we pray in the Lord Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.
Thank the Lord, this is our last afternoon together. We want to see what is the consummation of the Lord’s cross upon us. Let us first take a look at a few passages.
Brothers and sisters, will you turn with me to Revelation 21? We will read Revelation 21:1-6.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
We thank God that He has given us these afternoon times together to look at the lessons of the cross through daily life. In other words, throughout daily living we learn the lessons of the cross.
This particular time, we are looking at the lessons of the cross from the angle of being a useful vessel in the Master’s hand. We thank God that, before He leads us in this way, He has first given us this qualifying condition.
God Himself has already restored the normal relationship we ought to have with Him. At the same time, He has granted Himself to be our life. Therefore, now we are qualified to receive these lessons of the cross.
This is the result of what our Lord Himself said when He was crucified on the cross: “It is finished.”
Again, in the passage we have just read, we find these words: “It is done.” These words are spoken by Him who sits upon the throne. The cross has finished, completed, the salvation way of God.
But the fact that it is spoken by Him who sits on the throne—“It is done”—means that the eternal purpose of God is now finished. From the throne this proclamation is made.
When our Father God proclaims from the throne, “It is finished,” it means there is not one thing left undone. At that moment, the eternal purpose of God is completely finished.
Then we must see what appears before God is able to make such a proclamation. From the passage we have read, we can see two facts. In fact, these are two sides of the same fact.
First, we see a new heaven and a new earth. Second, we see that the bride has been fully adorned and made ready. The emphasis is upon the bride being made ready.
Without the bride prepared and adorned for her husband, the new heaven and new earth would not appear. Then we must take note of this fact: the bride is made ready. What is this about?
Of course, we all know that it speaks of the eternal purpose of God upon the church now being completely fulfilled. In other words, the church is at her full maturity.
How are we able to see the maturity of the church? Brothers and sisters, when the bride appears adorned for her husband, what does God say?
When Revelation speaks of the bride, it tells us that she has put on bright and fine linen. That is in Revelation 19. We will not go into that passage, but we must see where the fact that the bride is adorned for her husband is expressed.
The Holy Spirit uses the description that she has fine linen which is bright and holy. What is this bright and fine linen that she has on? The Holy Spirit points out for us that it is the righteousness of the saints.
The righteousness of the saints has a direct relationship with the daily living of the saints. It is the righteousness which they live out and walk out that becomes the fine, clean, and bright linen for the bride.
Because we are very pressed for time today, I will only point out some verses for brothers and sisters to take note of.
When God gave the law to the Israelites in the Old Testament, Moses said these words to the people at the end of Deuteronomy 6:
And it shall be righteousness unto us, if we observe to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.
God had already shown Moses a way for man to come into the presence of God and be righteous: to obey and keep all the commandments of God, the Word of God, without reservation.
But was man able to use this way to enter into the purpose of God? In the days of the Old Testament, it was not that God did not give His people a way. Very clearly God said, “If you do it, if you keep this way, you will gain it.”
But, very sadly, when we read the book of Isaiah, we see that God says all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
Brothers and sisters, God gave the Israelites a way, yet they did not enjoy the way which God provided unto them. Before the presence of God, they were still in filthy rags.
But we thank our Lord. Through His finished work, God has opened a new and living way for us, so that we are able to come boldly before the throne of God. God acknowledges us as righteous.
It is not that we have become better. No. It is the fact that God uses His Son to be our righteousness. We thank God.
That is the fruit of “It is finished” on the cross, now accomplished upon us. But the fact that the fruit of the finished work of the cross is accomplished upon us does not mean that the eternal purpose of God is finished.
Therefore, God continues to work upon us until one day, when the bride is adorned for her husband and ready, there is a proclamation from the throne: “It is done.” It is now completely finished.
The fine linen of the bride, which is clean and white, manifests the very nature of the bride. The garment which the bride has on expresses the nature of the bride.
When we read into spiritual matters, we are able to see that what we have externally is based upon what we have within. If there is no reality within, then the manifestation without is only an empty shell. There is no meaning or reality.
But now the bride is placed in the presence of God. God acknowledges that she is completely adorned in righteousness. This righteousness is the fact that the righteousness dwelling within her—the righteousness of Christ—is now completely manifested.
This is the function of the lessons of the cross upon our daily living. Brothers and sisters, this is our experience. Our original position before God was that we were enemies of God.
But God has brought us to this point. Without any withholding, God admires us as a group of people. Why is it that God admires us?
It is because this bride—the corporate person, the church of God—is filled with Christ within and without. We thank our God.
How can we be filled with Christ within and without? This returns us again to the fact that we are governed and ruled by the cross. We are broken, and we are built up.
The heart and desire of God is Christ. The way in which God works is for Christ to bring forth the fruit of the finished work of the cross.
Therefore, we are able to see that God works through man. God works through Christ, and Christ works upon man through the cross. The result is that, before the presence of God, man is filled with Christ.
Brothers and sisters, we realize this is not overnight. These are lessons and exercises throughout our lives.
Many times, the children of God may have this misunderstanding. Perhaps we think that, by hearing some doctrine of the cross, we have obtained it for ourselves.
We hear the doctrine of the cross and seek the work of the cross upon other brethren, yet we forget that the cross is for us ourselves. It is for us to take up our cross daily.
But we praise and thank the Lord that there are children of God who understand. According to the government and guidance of God, they accept the dealings and lessons of the cross.
Gradually, then, we ourselves decrease. Gradually, the portion of Christ increases. Until one day, the glory and riches of Christ more and more daily are revealed in those individuals.
Some children of the Lord are not willing to accept the dealing of the cross. They love to hear the doctrine, but are not willing to be dealt with by the cross.
Then, on that day when the bride appears in her fine linen, clean and white, there is a question: when the bride is filled with Christ within and without, do those saints have a portion?
When the bride appears before the Lord in that condition, we have already passed through the judgment seat of Christ.
If, while living today, we do not accept the dealings and work of the cross upon us, we can say that we have lost our portion, or that our portion will decrease. At the judgment before the Lord, He will still remove those things that are not worthy of Him.
We are still in the bride, but as to how much portion we have in the fine linen, the clean and white linen of the bride, I dare not say.
Therefore, the Lord reminds us that we have to daily take up our cross to follow Him.
Perhaps brothers and sisters may ask whether taking up our cross daily to follow the Lord is difficult. We cannot only see the suffering side of the cross. We must also see the other side of the cross, which is resurrection.
There is this proclamation from the throne: “It is done.” What is the result that we see? We thank the Lord.
At the end of Revelation 21, it shows us that the bride is the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is the church in glory.
The glorious church, this bride, is the reality of the saints throughout the ages and their acceptance of the work of the cross upon them.
Of course, you might say that in this process there may be much blood and tears. I cannot say there were not. But all the blood and tears shed by the children of God, all their sighing, at that instant are passed away.
We thank God that all the experiences of the cross—whatever we may say from our feelings and emotions—may be scars. But on the other hand, we are able to see this glorious church.
The church now has a complete union with Christ, with God. Though Adam did not partake of the tree of life, that fact is completely accomplished upon the glorious church.
At that time, all glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving will be given to God, because they have brought in the finished work of the complete will of God.
But what is amazing is that, when we read Revelation, all the nations do not give this to God and the Lamb directly, but all the glory, honor, and praises are brought into this New Jerusalem.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
If we do not understand the heart desire of God, we would question God. But when we see this result, then we know why God deals with us through the cross.
He has used the cross to open this new and living way back to the Father for us. He also guides us by the way of the cross to enter into the riches and glory of God in Christ, to a point where there is no separation at all between the church and God and Christ.
At that time, the church is a complete manifestation of God Himself. This is the purpose of God’s creation.
Man was created according to His image. Man accepted the entrustment of God to manifest His glory and authority. All the work of God, even hiddenly throughout all history and all ages, is for this purpose.
Now God is able to proclaim from His throne, “It is done.” It is the work of the cross done upon man that completes all the work of God. We praise and thank our Lord.
Many times, when we share on the lessons of the cross, we feel that it is painful to bear the cross. But we thank our God. Perhaps the experience of the cross may not be pleasant at all, but surely the result of the cross brings us absolutely into the limitless glory of God.
Therefore, those who know the cross are able to write hymns such as, “I love the way of the cross.” They no longer escape the way of the cross. They are willing to walk according to the guidance of the way of the cross into the eternal will of God.
Because of time, I can only lightly point out these matters to brothers and sisters. May the Lord Himself do the working of the Holy Spirit and enlighten us even more.
Now we ask Sister Wong to share some of her experiences of the lessons of the cross in her daily living. At the end, Brother Boy will conclude for us with a summary of the daily lessons of the cross.
Paul said these words:
For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Christ Jesus and Him crucified—these two things cannot be separated. Of course, we are children of God, saved by grace. We know that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for us to finish salvation for us.
But many times we neglect the fact that the finished work of the Lord on the cross is for us continually to appropriate and enjoy from Him. If we are to follow the Lord, we have to continually appropriate and enjoy all the finished work of the Lord on the cross.
He has delivered us from our old creation. We are very clear on this point. This is our daily experience.
The Lord Himself said:
If any man will come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
To deny ourselves is to give up ourselves. Daily means that it is continual and unceasing. To take up the cross means that we should appropriate and enjoy all the finished work of the Lord on the cross for us.
Here I want to recount the blessings of God. As I count the blessings of God, I would also like to share some of the dealings of the Lord upon me through the lessons of the cross.
After I finished college, I returned to the school from which I had graduated to teach English. I really loved to teach, and I had a good relationship with my students.
After five and a half years of teaching, the school asked me to be the dean of studies. Even though I no longer taught English, this was a Christian school, and there was a Bible-study subject.
At that time, I was teaching on the one hand, taking care of the affairs of the dean on the other hand, and helping with the activities of the Christians on campus. I was very happy about that.
After six and a half years of that work, the elderly principal was about to retire. He shared with me that the board had met and hoped I could take over his position when he retired.
I thought this was a great opportunity. By then I had established a very deep relationship with the school. I had an opportunity to lead the students as Christians and in their testimony, and I would have a great sense of success.
So I agreed to the request of the elderly principal. I was willing to take on this challenge.
But unbeknownst to me, before the semester was over in mid-June, I received a letter from the board.
It was very simple, just one letter. The letter stated that those participating in administrative positions and duties in the school must worship in the same fellowship and hold membership in that church.
I forgot to share that, during my high-school years, it was at this school that I came to know the Lord. I was baptized and entered into the membership of this church. Therefore, I had membership there.
I studied in Guangdong, but by the time I was teaching, the school had moved to Hong Kong. The request was that I transfer my membership from Canton to Hong Kong and begin worshiping there each Sunday.
During that time, I was worshiping on Sundays in a place where there was no denomination. I taught at this school, participated in fellowship activities, and even attended the young people’s fellowship on Sundays.
Therefore, if they had an issue with my belief, they ought to have brought it up long ago. But it was at this moment that they brought up this issue, and it was unacceptable to me.
It was against my understanding of the Lord’s desire for His church—that there should be no denomination. I thought this request was too much, and it was not according to the truth.
So I said to the principal, “I cannot agree to this request.”
Some of my fellow workers knew about the issue and came to encourage me. They said, “This is a small, minor issue. Do not be so stubborn about it. You should sacrifice a little and look at the big picture. We do not want you to leave.”
They said, “All the students love you, and you have taught here for so many years.” At that time, it was very hard and very painful for me.
It was difficult because I was so welcome there and everyone adored me, yet I was not responding to their affection for me. It was difficult because I felt that I had wronged them.
Actually, if I continued to work there, it was a very good situation. I was not yet thirty at that time. It was a great opportunity for me to have such an achievement at that school.
My coworkers said, “This is a great opportunity. You have such a bright future. Why do you not think about it some more?”
There was also a fellow employee who taught English. We got along very well and often shared many things. Her husband was on the board. Both of them invited me to their house and diligently tried to encourage me to change my mind.
It was a very great struggle and conflict within me. At that time I was already married, and my husband, Brother Wong, was beside me encouraging me.
He said, “If you clearly see that this is not according to the heart desire of God, you cannot be mindful of man’s emotions and feelings. Whatever career it is, whatever future it is, that is only in man’s perspective.”
“If, no matter how bright our future is, it does not please God, why are you focused so much on it?”
Even though I struggled greatly, I knew what I ought to do. We should obey God rather than man.
Therefore, I told the principal my stand. I could not agree to the request. I wrote a letter stating my stand, and I resigned from my position as dean of studies.
It was nearing the semester break, and I had to wrap up some of my work. At that time, I did not have any desire to look for work.
Brother Wong had also begun to serve the Lord on a full-time basis. We were learning the lesson of faith, looking to the Lord by faith. Without a set salary, how were we to sustain our family?
A fellow employee at the school could not accept this situation. She saw that I was without work and asked what I planned to do. But she knew someone looking for an English teacher.
Therefore, I went to a smaller high school to teach English. The school was quite far from where I lived, and I needed to make several bus changes to get to work.
The school was near refugee camps, and its conditions were not very good. But I taught very restfully there. I began all over again.
After school, many students were open when I preached the gospel to them. The Lord still gave me the opportunity to do some work for Him there.
There is now a sister living in New York who was one of my students during that time.
At that time, the Chinese University of Hong Kong was hiring. I sent in my résumé. Since I had worked in the field of education for many years, I thought I should qualify. The Lord allowed me to be accepted.
My post was administrative assistant in the personnel office. I had to be on probation for three years.
At that time, the Chinese University of Hong Kong was very much like a London university. On campus there was much school and research, but the headquarters did not have too many personnel. The structure and scale were very small.
Because of this small structure, I was in the personnel office with a manager above me, and there were just the two of us. My job duties were like those of an office aide.
All the work I did was confidential. They could not allow an office assistant to do all the typing of confidential memoranda and related work.
Although I had taught in schools for twelve years, I had not had much opportunity to type. I still remember many times they needed me to prepare material for meetings, and I had to type it all up.
There were many times I typed the wrong things. The more errors there were, the more anxious I became; and the more anxious I became, the more mistakes I made.
I remember that many of my coworkers had left for the day while I was still there typing away, preparing all the documents needed for the meeting the next day. Then I realized how comfortable it had been not to have to do this type of work during the previous twelve years.
After a few years, the school began to grow and they hired a secretary to help me. I no longer had to do all the typing.
Instead, I had to prepare drafts and memoranda, get everything ready for meetings, and take notes and minutes at meetings.
After working for so many years, I had never taken a course or had experience in taking minutes. An American sister taught me how to take minutes, but when I showed them to my manager, he said, “No, this is not acceptable. This is not the way it is done.”
At that time Hong Kong still followed British traditions, so I had to learn it all over again.
Even when I had taught English before, I did not need to write so much English. At that time I felt my English was not sufficient.
Many times, when I gave a draft to my manager, he made many corrections. I felt very grieved. I had worked diligently and thought it should do, but he said no.
Perhaps he had much pity on me. He studied physics and shared with me that, when his English was poor and he studied in the United States, others mocked him.
He said that no one helped him. He learned English by going through the dictionary from A to Z. His father was a Chinese teacher, and he was also very well studied in English.
When I heard him say this, I was comforted. I thought, “Oh, there is still hope.”
At that time, I was working part-time and learning part-time, so that I could do better. I worked at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for about twenty years.
For the last two and a half years, I was the manager of the personnel office. It seemed that God had lowered me to the duties of an office assistant and then uplifted me again.
But during that time I felt it was time for me to leave and come to the United States. Brother Wong had already moved to the United States. I had remained in Hong Kong for the sake of my two daughters, so they could study more Chinese, but I felt it was not good to have such a separation.
As a result, I resigned my post and left. My manager wrote to me, “I knew that sooner or later you would leave, but the way in which you resign like this, I cannot accept it.”
He knew I would eventually go to the United States, and he gave me compliments and thanked me for helping him through those years.
Once I arrived in the United States, all my experience and credentials from Hong Kong were useless here. If I wanted to teach again, I needed to take seven courses to make up the credentials.
I thought to myself that it was not worth spending so much time. At that time, an educational organization was looking for a bilingual aide, a research assistant. I worked there for one year, and it was very meaningful. I helped parents of foreign students.
But I was working in the East Bay, and every night when I got home it was past seven o’clock. Brother Wong would cook, I would eat quickly, and then we were off to the meeting. I felt this was not good.
At that time my two daughters were in high school, and their school was looking for a bilingual aide. They already had bilingual aides in Spanish and Filipino, but they needed someone bilingual in Chinese.
It was only part-time work, five mornings each week. The benefits were not very good, but I felt it was what I was looking for. It would not affect my attendance at meetings in the evening. That is where I began to work.
I thank the Lord. My work there was very pleasant. Again, much of it was office-assistant work, but the Lord gave me a great opportunity to preach the gospel to students from Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong.
At that time, a brother from the church worked together with me. Thank the Lord, I worked there for fourteen years.
I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to work there. About a dozen brothers and sisters were saved during that time.
If I recount correctly, about five students from that time come to this conference. The Lord did not allow me to spend those years there in vain.
I was able to enjoy so richly of His presence.
My time is about up. I just want to summarize my experience in two points.
First, I learned to accept the dealing of the cross upon my emotions and feelings.
The Lord said that if we love our mother, father, children, or brethren more than Him, we are not worthy to be His disciples. In the Gospel according to Luke, it says that we cannot be His disciples. We are not worthy, and we cannot.
These words are very weighty. The Lord allowed me to learn some lessons during that time concerning this. My emotions were dealt with in this way.
James tells us that we should rejoice when the lowly are exalted, and when the rich are made poor, we should likewise rejoice. When we are humbled, we need to rejoice.
I know that if we obey God and accept His guidance, He will bring us through whatever it is. Regardless of what man says or what his views are, we will come through and enjoy His fullness.
God is not willing for us to suffer in vain.
After such experiences, I would want to say, as Paul proclaimed:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
May I also be able to say what John the Baptist said regarding the Lord Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
May I learn these lessons well, so that I may decrease and more of the Lord within me may increase. May God gain all the glory and praise. Thank the Lord.
Let us turn to a couple of Bible passages.
Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God.
John 1:35-36.
And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Luke 9:23.
For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
1 Corinthians 4:15.
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Philippians 4:11.
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1.
Our brother asked me to offer a conclusion during this last afternoon. I feel that my personal lessons are slow and shallow, but our elderly brother continued to give me this opportunity. So I thought I would share with brothers and sisters according to the measure in which I am walking.
This workshop in the afternoon concerns our daily lessons of the cross throughout our work and daily living.
We know that the work of the cross is the apex of the Lord’s work and the end result of His work on earth. Yet the thought of the cross is not only manifested when the Lord Himself was crucified.
The Lord lived on earth for a little over thirty-three years. In His daily living over those thirty-three years, there was the life of the cross.
Even as He was baptized by John the Baptist, and on the next day as He walked by John, John proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God.”
It speaks of the fact that within the Lord Himself He has the nature of a Lamb. The Lamb is a sign and mark of the cross upon the Lord.
Today, when we see those of this world, they like to have the image of the lion. Many times, we can say that the rich hold their noses high. This tells us that their image is the image of this world.
But Jesus, when He was on earth, as He lived and walked, had the image of the Lamb. Even from His birth, through His walk, and until He left the world, it was the life of the cross.
We thank the Lord because He Himself gave us a good example. He became a model for all of us, and He completed salvation.
When we believe in Him, God gives us a new spirit. Christ abides in us through the Holy Spirit, and within us He is our life.
Within us, He is the fountain of living water. Within us, He is like a dam holding all the living water. All that we need to live our daily life is in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The cross is the natural manifestation and expression of what He has within. In other words, the nature of the Lamb is the nature of the Lord. He does not need to learn it; that is His internal life.
All external living is only the manifestation and expression of what He is within. But as for us, the children of God, we have gained the fact that the Lord is our life.
Yet it is not that we become spiritual overnight or immediately learn how to live the life. We must learn, and we must learn well.
The Apostle Paul tells us that we are all learning Christ and are imitators of Christ. What does it mean to learn Christ? It is to follow Him.
How do we follow Him? We must learn to deny ourselves, to give up ourselves. When the old nature wants to come out, we must say, “I do not know you anymore.” Then we take up our cross, that we may daily follow Him.
After Paul was saved by grace, he became a follower and imitator. In Philippians, he is able to say, “I have learned. I have learned well.”
How did he learn? He said, “I have learned well to be content.” In every circumstance, he learned. This is our life.
Under this condition, Paul walked a very long path. He was able to testify to brothers and sisters, “I learned well.”
Therefore, he encouraged brothers and sisters, “Learn of me as I learn of Christ.”
Brothers and sisters, as we learn the lesson of the cross in our daily living, one day we will attract others to learn from the model of Christ.
Just as Sister Wong shared, because she is learning Christ in her daily living, as she serves young people they are captivated—not into her presence, but through her into the presence of Christ, the Lamb of God.
What a glorious and honorable ministry this is. Perhaps we do not have the gift to preach. Perhaps we do not have the gift to administrate. But each one of us has a ministry.
We have to captivate others to learn of Christ. Paul said, “I have learned well.” Therefore he said to brothers and sisters, “Imitate me, even as I also imitate Christ.”
It is not to imitate Saul, who did not follow Christ, but to follow Paul, who follows Christ.
I want to share a little with brothers and sisters concerning the different circumstances and aspects in which we can learn the lesson of the cross.
After we come to know the Lord, the Lord teaches us in our daily living to learn the lessons of the cross. The first lesson is the lesson concerning the center of our life.
Before we came to know the Lord, all of us may have manifested it in different ways, but the principle was the same. We were fleshly, natural men. A natural man is self-centered.
As we learn the daily lesson of the cross, the Lord teaches us gradually to move from being self-centered to being Christ-centered—to having the Lord Himself as our center.
I see this transformation in brothers and sisters in the church after they are saved. Perhaps before, they always wanted their own way. But now they are able to listen to the thoughts of others.
In family life and work life, their center is no longer themselves or only the things they love.
The second matter is that, as we learn to follow the Lord in daily living, we learn the lessons of the cross. The Lord manifests to us the nature of our sin, and then we depart from it.
I have encountered young people in school who learned foul language from fellow students. There was foul language from their lips, even in nearly every sentence they said.
But after they were saved by grace, the Lord showed them that this was not appropriate. They came to see that it was filthy.
Brothers and sisters, when we are newly saved, the Lord does this work of deliverance. As days go by and our salvation becomes longer, when the Lord shines His light upon us, we see more of how filthy and sinful we are.
This is not only the work of the cross when we are newly saved. It continues until we see the Lord.
Our elderly brother tells us that, as long as we are living in this mortal body, the dominion of sin is present. Therefore, the work of the cross continues to deliver us from this.
The third point is that in our daily living we do not live alone. We have many social relationships. In society, we have relationships with coworkers, fellow students, friends, and perhaps business partners.
Brothers and sisters, in these relationships we learn the lessons of the cross. We do not fight or contend; rather, we suffer loss.
I see many brothers and sisters in the church who get along well and say, “Let us enter into a partnership and work together.” Yet once they enter into the partnership, they can no longer be brethren.
It seems that in church life we can be brethren, but in work life there is no cross. Yet those who know the Lord and follow the Lord can maintain unity in such conditions.
Paul encouraged us that, as brethren, we would rather suffer loss. In society, when we get along with others, we would rather suffer loss. We know that the Lord knows, and that when the Lord rewards, it is far beyond what we ask or imagine.
The fourth point is that in our family life we learn the lessons of the cross. These are often the deepest lessons of the cross.
For those who are married, marriage itself is a laboratory for the work of the cross. After I got married, I discovered that my wife was learning many lessons.
Brothers and sisters, we have so many opportunities to learn the lessons of the cross. After we become parents, how do we deal with our children? Even before we marry and have children, we learn as children in our family how to live.
When we see our Lord living in His body, we see that when He was twelve years old, His understanding was opened. He went into the temple and was completely occupied by the Father and the Father’s business.
When His earthly parents came to seek Him, He submitted to them and returned to Galilee. Brothers and sisters, when we see the life of our Lord, it is a life of the cross.
Whether we have relationships with siblings, in-laws, or others in the family, these are opportunities for us to learn the lessons of the cross.
The fifth point is our wealth and whatever we gain in our careers. Brothers and sisters, this also is a place for us to learn the cross.
I appreciate what Brother Lance shared with us: one who learns the lesson of the cross never sees that he owns what he has. He is only a steward for the Lord.
We see many children of God who love the Lord and learn this lesson. They are good stewards for God. Truly, in the future they will gain their inheritance.
Perhaps we think we own what we have today. Then what is truly ours in the future, the Lord cannot give to us. Many parents teach their children in this way.
Another point is our legitimate rights. As human beings, we have rights that are reasonable, logical, lawful, and given to us in society.
But sometimes the Lord asks us, “Are you willing, for My sake, to give up this right?” Perhaps the circumstance does not outwardly appear to be for the Lord; it may be for a brother or sister. Yet are we willing?
Brothers and sisters, these are opportunities to learn the lessons of the cross. The more we pay attention to these matters, the sooner we will learn this lesson.
The last point is 1 Corinthians 13. This is the lesson of love. That is the Lord Himself.
Many brothers and sisters may have this passage displayed in their homes. When we have patience, we discover that patience is love.
I know a brother who, in his daily living, was accused by his in-laws. His relatives spoke falsely and badly of him.
If you and I encountered such situations, we would suffer very much. Perhaps we would want to justify ourselves a little.
But this brother knew the Lord and learned the lesson of the cross. He often came before the Lord, praying for this particular relative.
The Lord told him, “Go and love this relative. Visit this relative and help him.”
This brother shared with me that, after he had prayed to a certain point, if he did not see this relative for a few days, he became very mindful of him.
Later, the relative who had falsely accused him said to everyone, “This relative of mine is the best Christian.”
Brothers and sisters, we learn the lessons of the cross at any moment, in every circumstance, daily. May we have this attitude.
Just as Brother Lance shared with us, “Lord, grant me this opportunity to die.” Then we become very happy. We will not suffer in vain.
Perhaps at the beginning of the experience we have to bear the cross, but when we learn in this way, we see how close our Lord is, and how sweet and beautiful He is.
Lastly, I want to mention some attitudes we should have as we learn the lessons of the cross.
The Lord Himself, when He was on earth, had many circumstances that troubled Him. Hebrews tells us that He endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself.
As a teacher, if students continually spoke against you, perhaps you would say, “I do not want to be your teacher anymore.” As parents, if children continually spoke back to us, perhaps we would say, “I will not love you anymore.”
When we serve in the church and brothers and sisters continually speak against us, we may say, “We will not visit you anymore.” This is how sinners rebelled against the Lord.
Those sinners are no others than you and me. We are only sinners saved by grace. But when the Lord encountered such circumstances, what was His response?
In Matthew 11, He said, “Father, yea; for so it seemed good in Thy sight.”
Many times in our daily living, we lose sleep over what has happened during the day. Sometimes we wake in the morning and immediately turn on the television because we are in a bad mood.
But if we learn, then gradually we learn to rise and pray, until we say to the Father, “Father, yea.”
Many years ago, I had many sleepless nights. I came before the Lord with much grumbling. I said, “Lord, look at those individuals,” speaking of those around my daily living.
When I prayed in that way, it never solved the issue. Even when I began to pray for them, it did not settle the matter until, at the very end, I said to the Father, “Yes, Lord. Thank the Lord. They are my dearly beloved.”
This is the attitude Paul shares with us. When we have this attitude, brothers and sisters, perhaps we do not know it, but Christ has increased in us.
Perhaps we feel that we are narrow-minded, but our capacity has been enlarged. Perhaps we do not know it. Perhaps we love face, but in fact we have been broken.
Brothers and sisters, this attitude is the attitude of Christ. This prayer is the prayer of the Lamb: “Father, yea, Father.”
The second point is that in our circumstances we must be like-minded with Christ and have His attitude.
Paul shows us in Philippians 2:5-8 the nature and thought of the Lamb within. Very simply put, to be like-minded with Christ and to have His attitude is to humble and lower ourselves.
This humbling and lowering of ourselves is the lesson of the cross. When we have such an attitude, things from without may come within, but we will not be provoked.
Yes, we may be provoked, but what comes out is no longer I. Paul uses his own experience. He was imprisoned in Rome.
Some brethren outside preached the gospel for their own benefit. Some, under the pretense of preaching the gospel, were adding affliction to Paul’s chains.
They wanted to provoke Paul. They said, in effect, “The gospel is prospering even more without you.” But Paul said, “What then? Notwithstanding, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice.”
Paul had learned the attitude of Christ. He did not see himself as anything. He saw himself as very little.
Paul’s attitude was one of lowering himself, and that is the meaning of his name, Paul. He was little before the Lord.
Many times our difficulty in daily living is that we are provoked and use our own nature to respond. The more we react, the more difficulty we have.
I also want to mention this point. The Lord gave Paul a thorn. Paul came before the Lord in prayer that the thorn might be removed.
The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
Brothers and sisters, learning the lessons of the cross is for us to experience the Lord’s grace. Only those who learn the lesson of the cross can experience such grace.
We know there is much grace that we enjoy in our daily lives. When days are smooth and nothing is wrong, we experience the Lord’s grace.
But there is a special grace from the Lord for brothers and sisters in hardship: the sufficient grace of the Lord.
Many times when we visit brothers and sisters in hardship, we do not know how to comfort them. Yet we come back saying, “Thank the Lord, I am the one who was comforted,” because there we see the sufficiency of God’s grace.
This grace is given to every individual willing to learn the lessons of the cross.
Lastly, we see the prayer of the Lord in the garden of Gethsemane:
Father, not My will, but Thine, be done.
Brothers and sisters, if we have such attitudes in our daily living, I believe in a very short time we will be able to testify of the wonderful grace of the Lord upon us.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, our hearts are filled with praise and thanksgiving to Thee. We confess that we are infants, born abnormally and prematurely.
Lord, may Thou have abundant grace and mercy upon us. Thou lovest us, so Thou nourishest us. Thou lovest us, so Thou teachest us through the Spirit. Thou lovest us, so Thou leadest us through the Holy Spirit.
Lord, for all of this we thank Thee, and we pray to Thee: may Thy love captivate us, so that we may come into Thy presence.
May we be a people willing to follow after Thee according to Thy calling. We want to learn to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and daily to follow after Thee.
We offer praise and thanksgiving from our hearts to Thee. We know that Thou rememberest our prayers and Thou wilt complete them. May Thy will be done.
In the precious and holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.