Let us pray.
We thank You that You have brought us to the last afternoon of the conference. In Your mercy, You have compelled us to desire to live in Your presence. We pray that You will continue to teach us positively, according to Your pleasure, so that we may know Your arrangements and not lose our way.
We pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
This is the last afternoon of our workshop. We want to finish on time, because the brethren have a meeting afterward.
In these afternoon workshops, we have made a beginning in considering the will of God in His operation in man. This afternoon, we must also look at the end result that God has designed.
The purpose of God’s creation of man is that man may fully manifest God—manifest His glory and His authority. This is according to the image and likeness of God Himself.
God gave man the right to govern over the world, over this land. Of course, this is a process. In the heart of God, it is not only the land, but also eternity.
Because of man’s fall, man rejected God’s authority. Now, is the restoration of God merely for us not to perish, but to have everlasting life? No. That is merely the beginning point.
Where, then, is the goal of God? It is when man is able to fully manifest the authority and glory of God. That will be the completion of God’s will.
Therefore, after man’s fall, God prepared His salvation exactly according to what we need, step by step and stage by stage, to accomplish His purpose.
We thank God, because man’s constitution is spirit, soul, and body. By design, God has arranged His salvation according to exactly what we need in our spirit, soul, and body.
We have mentioned repeatedly that the deliverance of our spirit and our body in salvation is accomplished in an instant.
But as for the soul, from the moment that we are saved until we see the Lord face to face, that is a process throughout our life.
Therefore, in salvation, God has brought us into such a fact: He not only delivers us from sin and death, but He also grants us a new life.
Why did God not decide to save our souls immediately, in a moment? According to the power and authority of God, absolutely He is able. But God did not do so.
It is in His arrangement that we must go through this process, because man rejected the authority of God. In the salvation of our soul, because we fell at the point of rejecting His authority, God wants to use this process to restore us completely.
When God saved us by grace, He did not completely remove our self-life. If God were to remove our self-life, that also could be done in a moment.
But God has kept this matter so that we may learn to exercise ourselves to accept the authority of God. That is also where God will lead us to fullness.
Therefore, in salvation we are placed in this fact for life to reign. As far as this exercise for life to reign is concerned, it continues until that day when we shall reign with Christ.
God leads us in our daily living to exercise the fact that life reigns within us. On the one hand, God gives us His Word externally. Within, He gives us the teaching of the anointing.
Then we follow the guidance of the teaching of the anointing in order to live within the Word of God. It is in this training that, gradually, self-will decreases.
Gradually, in our daily living, point by point and step by step, we follow the footsteps of the Lamb.
Brothers and sisters, in our daily living and in our church life, God gives us every circumstance in which to encounter the details of this exercise.
Today, we will look more closely at how God practically arranges matters in our daily living and in every circumstance, so that we may first live within the authority of God in order to manifest that authority.
If we are not first living within the authority of God, when we are to reign with Christ, we will have no authority that we are able to manifest. At that time, there is no authority aside from the authority of Christ.
Therefore, in daily living, at every time and in every circumstance, God gives us opportunity to learn the exercise of following the footsteps of the Lamb.
It may not be that we encounter very great trials before we learn to follow the footsteps of the Lamb. Let me give you some examples.
Brothers and sisters, when we come together and see instructions written outside the doors, we may say that such things are no big deal. But if we are practically going to follow the teaching of the anointing, we cannot say that these instructions are no big deal.
When the brothers and sisters are singing a short hymn before the meeting, the hymn says, “The Lord is in His holy temple.” This is according to the words of the prophet.
What are the words of that hymn? The Lord is in His holy temple; we come into His presence, and we should keep silent. That is the Word of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, let us look at our reality. Why do we come here? We come here to gather and meet together. We come to seek the Lord’s face, and we are waiting to hear the Word of the Lord.
But when we look at ourselves, how do we come? It can seem as though we are going to a theater, or perhaps to a café.
Even in minor details, do we notice what is being said within us? When we are meeting together, what are we speaking about? We may speak about every kind of worldly matter.
For example, people may speak excitedly about the stock market. Then a brother stands up and says, “We will begin our meeting, and this is the hymn we will sing.” The auditorium may become quiet, but the minds may still be racing.
Perhaps a brother says, “Let us sing Hymn 388,” and someone is still thinking, “The stock market rose 388 points.” Brothers and sisters, we must ask what is being said to us within.
Perhaps I am exaggerating a little. But if we are going to learn to follow the guidance of the teaching of the anointing, we must begin with small things.
Perhaps there is teaching in the assembly concerning sisters covering their heads. Of course, we are not encouraging brothers and sisters to learn spiritual lessons in a confused way.
When we encounter such matters, do we focus on what is being said externally, or on what is being said internally? There may be much doctrine and knowledge, but we must pay attention to what is being said within.
If what is being said within and what is being told to you without do not match, what do you choose?
These are some of the arrangements God has made in our circumstances and daily living for us to learn.
It does not mean that, if a sister covers her head, she will reign immediately. But if she covers her head, it merely means that she is beginning to learn daily to accept the authority of the Lord.
Before I came to the conference, I saw an article in the newspaper about an event in Beijing. There was a very famous performing group from Taiwan, world-class performers, and they had a show in Beijing.
They had already made announcements requesting the audience to keep silent, not use their gadgets, and observe other requirements. Yet even when the show was about to begin, there was still much noise in the audience.
The director said, “We must stop the show right here.” He came onto the stage and said that perhaps ten years earlier he had stopped a show in Shanghai for the same reason.
He said, “Today is 2017. It is the same thing, and now it is in Beijing. How come there is no change at all? If this is the situation, we will stop the show.”
Then the entire audience became silent, and they began the show all over again. The next day, when another show was performed, the entire audience was silent, waiting for the show to begin.
Of course, this is something that happens in the world. But even those in the world, for the sake of etiquette, will be silent in that way.
As we learn our exercise to be kings, when we come to the King of all kings, do we have no feeling about this at all? Within, would there not be words spoken to us?
We thank our Lord. He has much patience. He waits for us until we are completely willing. But what is this willingness based upon? We pay attention to the words of the Lord and to the governing of the Spirit.
That is how, in our daily living and church living, little by little, we learn to have Christ reign within us.
Then this question comes: for us to follow the Lord, do we suffer much? It seems as though we are limited in so many ways. It seems as though we are constrained and have no freedom in all things.
Brothers and sisters, we must say that this is true. Yes, there is liberty, but whose liberty? Yes, there is suffering, but whose suffering?
The Lord clearly knows that when we are learning these lessons, we will have such feelings. But He also tells us the result of all this exercise.
Let us turn to the Scriptures: Romans 8.
Romans 8:17 says:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him.
Let us also turn to 2 Timothy 2, beginning with verse 10.
2 Timothy 2:10-12 says:
Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Faithful is the saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him:
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.
Brothers and sisters, we thank God. He knows exactly how we feel. We may feel that if we follow the Lord and learn to live as the Lamb, we are limited and constrained.
But the Lord tells us in His Word what the result is. I am not saying that we must pay a price merely to gain a result. When we truly see the end result, we will not call this a cost at all, because this is what we ought to do.
What is the result? It says that if we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified together with Him.
Let us use our present situation. If we keep a little quieter before the meeting, we cannot normally consider that suffering—unless, perhaps, you are a brother who simply must talk.
But the Word of the Lord speaks of suffering. In our exercise, we should learn to follow the Lord and not merely ask whether something is suffering or not.
But if we are in a condition of much suffering, the Word says that we suffer with Him. Then God shows us the result: we shall be glorified together with Him.
In other words, if we are to be glorified with the Lord, we must accept the things that we consider suffering.
Even more, as we are exercised to learn to reign as kings, we should not merely consider whether something is suffering or not.
Perhaps at the beginning of this process, we feel some discomfort. But we must look at the end result.
We cannot say to the Lord when we see Him, “Lord, I want to reign with You, but can You avoid my having to suffer with You?” The Lord’s reply would be, “I did not say these words to you today. I spoke them long ago.”
“If you suffer with Me, then you shall be glorified together with Me. Even in extreme difficulties, if you endure, then you shall reign with Me.”
Therefore, what we are learning today is for the reality of our being in glory with the Lord.
On that day, when we shall reign, this kingship is different from the kingship of this world. The kings of this world ask of you and tell you what to do. But when you reign as kings, you are to give.
Brothers and sisters, if others ask us for something and we are on the throne, what do we have to give? How much do we have to give? This is a very serious question.
We may realize that we have nothing with which to provide for others. Not only is the one asking disappointed; we are also disappointed.
But as the Lord leads those who follow after Him, He continues to teach us this lesson.
I want to mention one event. The Lord was teaching His disciples the same principle through two different events.
Brothers and sisters, you recall that there are two miracles which our Lord performed that, from the outward details, appear similar. One is the feeding with five loaves and two fish; the other is the feeding with seven loaves and a few fish.
When we look at these two miracles, we see glory, wonder, and abundance. But if we look at these miracles from another angle, was God’s purpose merely to feed those who came into His presence?
When the people came back for more, the Lord did not provide for them in the same way. Evidently, there was another purpose. That purpose was for those who followed after Him.
When those who heard the Lord teach were hungry, did the disciples also hunger? When the multitude was weary, would His disciples be weary as well? Of course they were weary, and they also hungered.
As they were ministering, they likely spent more energy than the multitude. Then the Lord said, “Give them to eat.”
The disciples said, “We have nothing.” Yet they did have something. Then the Lord arranged the people, told the disciples to set them in order, and commanded them to provide for the multitude.
Could the disciples have grumbled? “We are already so fatigued, and You want us to provide for others. How can we do this?” But they did so, and the result was very good.
There were twelve baskets full of fragments remaining, and they took them back. Brothers and sisters, do we see this?
A few years ago, I saw this point: the Lord was training them to be kings.
These two miracles are recorded in detail in the Gospel according to Matthew. As the disciples followed the Lord, they were learning to be kings.
How do kings reign? They provide for others. What do they use to provide? Not what they have in themselves, but what is supplied by the Lord.
You take what the Lord provides and give it to others. From these two miracles—the five loaves and two fish, and the seven loaves and a few fish—we see something of learning to be kings.
Throughout all the days of our lives, little by little, we learn to follow the teaching of the anointing. That is the manifestation of the authority of God.
The result is that we decrease and the Lord increases. At the very end, we shall reign.
After we go through the judgment seat of Christ, what is left is only Christ. If only ten percent of Christ is manifested in us, then ninety percent is merely an empty shell. We can provide only that measure of Christ to others.
But we thank God. When God leads us in this training in life and it is complete, we will have the full measure of the stature of Christ.
At that time, the Lord places us on the throne, and He uses us to shepherd the nations, whether in the days of the kingdom or in eternity.
Today, as we learn to follow the footsteps of the Lord, the purpose is that on that day we may manifest our Lord without any withholding.
All our pursuit today is in order to fulfill the original purpose of God in creation.
All that we are willing to do, and all that we will do, is because God works within us according to His good pleasure.
Our pursuit before the Lord has a direction and details: Christ is to increase, and we are to decrease.
How is this completed? Through our daily living and through church living. In every area and in all circumstances, God will bring us to this goal.
Our pursuit is not only for our individual growth, although that is one result of pursuit. May the Lord have mercy on us, so that our pursuit may be for the sake of His good pleasure.
It is not for us to be complete in ourselves. It is so God may gain us to fulfill His good pleasure.
We thank the Lord. I must end here.
Our brother will share a little concerning lessons learned in his spiritual pursuit, and another brother will conclude this workshop topic.
Brothers and sisters, I am really humbled to come before you and to be able to offer a testimony here.
When a brother first approached me about a month ago and asked me to share, I asked him what the topic was. He asked me to share on submission, if I remember correctly.
My first response was, “Really, you should ask my sister—my wife. I do not know whether I have learned the lesson of submission very well, because it is something that I do not practice very much, I do not think.”
But as I waited upon the Lord, it became very clear that this is something very practical to each and every one of us.
I need to start from the beginning. I hope you do not mind if I do so.
One lesson that the Lord has placed upon my heart to share is something I learned when I was a little younger in the Lord. It is still something that I need to learn and be reminded of continually.
I came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ when I was a boy, perhaps ten or twelve years old. But I did not follow after the Lord Jesus Christ until much later.
I knew Jesus as my Savior, but I did not know Him as my Lord. It was not until I moved away to college that I committed my life to Him and began to follow Him as Lord.
The fellowship I attended in college was a very vibrant fellowship. It was full of life and energy, and it was a rather large college fellowship.
There were several hundred brethren in the fellowship, and there were many ministries in which I wanted to be involved: visitation, campus prayer meetings, campus Bible studies, gospel outreaches, and ministries to the poor and homeless.
I found myself participating in these things, and they brought me much joy and excitement. That was all well and good.
But I think one problem that Christians can easily fall into—particularly Christians who grow up in what is called the Western church—is that our eyes can easily become distracted. We begin to focus on the external more than the internal.
When I graduated from college and relocated, I began looking for a fellowship. Naturally, I gravitated toward fellowships that were vibrant, full of life, and full of energy.
I looked around for years, trying many different fellowships. I was never able to find the same sort of experience that I had during my college years.
I think the Lord had a purpose in that. I know He had a purpose in that.
I thank the Lord for bringing a wonderful sister into my life. After meeting her and dating for a couple of years, she invited me to attend the fellowship in which she had grown up.
She had some trepidation, because she had gone through an experience similar to mine. She knew that her home fellowship was rather plain, and things were done a little differently from what I was accustomed to.
Nevertheless, she invited me, and I accepted her invitation. I did not know quite what to expect.
It turned out to be true: there really was not much there to be expected outwardly. I was surprised at how plain the whole church assembly was.
But there was something that really struck me: the simplicity and purity of the devotion that the saints had for the Lord.
That really remained in my heart. I could not get it out of my mind. It was so different from what I had experienced.
I had never been exposed to that kind of teaching: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
We are a generation in which everything is for me. In many regards, even in those college fellowships, things were geared toward the individual.
It was very foreign to me to focus so much on Someone outside of the individual. But I thank the Lord that in this particular fellowship and locality, there was nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
There were no other distractions. The worship may not have been as dynamic as I had been accustomed to, but I sensed the presence of the Lord there.
There may have been very few ministries compared with what I had grown up with, but I could really sense that the Lord was there.
Still, it was a struggle for me. It was a Chinese-speaking church, and my Chinese language skills are not very good.
I grew up in a Baptist church, and I attended a Baptist church in college. I will not say anything bad about the Baptists. God bless them.
One thing I appreciated about the Baptist church was that at twelve o’clock every Sunday, it was time to go. The sermons always ended on time.
But at this fellowship, sometimes the meetings ran rather long. That took some getting used to. It was a struggle.
But as I spent more and more time there, I realized that this was where the Lord was. I had to let go of all the other things that had crept into my mind concerning the way the church ought to be.
I think that is such a challenge today. So much of the world’s thinking and man’s thinking has crept into the church.
To some degree, the church has become like a social organization. But I know that is not what the Lord desires it to be. It is to be much more than a social organization.
The second lesson I had to learn was regarding busyness. I think, like most of you, we are all rather busy. I am busy.
That is the way our society is structured. As people living in America, we fill up our schedules. If our schedule is not completely filled, we think something must be wrong with us.
I find it difficult to squeeze in time for things I really want to do. The Lord has had to teach me much about this over the years.
Most recently, since I started a family, God has had so much to teach me. I have learned much about being patient—or rather, I have learned much about how impatient I am.
I have also learned much about how selfish I am. Before I got married, I was very committed to my workplace. I still am committed, but I worked many hours.
I spent far too much time at work. There was always a struggle with my wife, because she would remind me that my work would one day burn and had no eternal value.
But I could not let go. Even after we had our first child, I still spent so much time at work. I missed many blessings that a new parent and a new father should enjoy.
It was not until my second child was born that I began to awaken. The Lord began to speak to me and tell me that I needed to spend more time at home with my family.
I cut back my hours and tried to be home at a more reasonable hour of the night. But I still did not know quite what to do with that time, especially concerning spiritually nourishing my family.
I had grown up in a non-Christian home. It was easy for me to make excuses. I could say that I had no models, that my father had not shown me how to lead my children and family in following after the Lord.
I struggled with this. I did not know how to set aside time for family devotions.
It was not until my fourth child was about to arrive that I began to awaken. I do not know what happened with my third child; I did not learn any lessons there.
But I definitely remember when the fourth child was arriving, and I had three others growing up, that I realized I had better do something.
The children were growing up fast, and we were not doing anything spiritually.
Then the Lord placed within my heart the passage from Deuteronomy:
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart;
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.
This is what I needed to do. First of all, I needed to teach my sons in the way of the Lord.
From then, I realized that I needed to spend time with them—not merely as a father in this world might spend time with his children, playing ball or helping them with schoolwork.
I needed to spend time with them in the things and matters of God.
Even though the Lord gave me this verse, it was still a struggle for me. By nature, I am selfish. I found it very difficult to give up my time.
It is much easier to say yes to your boss at work when he asks you to perform a project. To some degree, it is easier to say yes to your wife, if she is a good wife.
To some degree, it is not too difficult to say yes to the leading brethren in your assembly when they ask you to perform certain things.
Sometimes, saying yes to your children is very hard. You may think that I am crazy. What father would not give something to his own son?
But when you are selfish at heart, it can be very difficult. Children are the easiest to neglect. It is easy to say no to them, to brush them off, and to say, “Daddy has more important things to do.”
But the Lord really spoke to me. He told me that I needed to say yes to Him.
At the heart of the matter, it was not merely the issue of whether I was being a good father or whether I was saying yes or no to my children. The real challenge was what I was saying to my Lord.
The Lord has entrusted me with four sons, and this was not without purpose. Since I have been entrusted with children, I need to be a faithful steward back to Him.
Ultimately, this is a matter of God telling me to be faithful back to Him.
Those here may not be parents, but nevertheless the Lord asks each one of you to be faithful in some area. We all need to learn together to be faithful back to the Lord.
We need to recognize that the Lord has something at stake, something that He desires to gain. One thing He truly desires is our obedience—that we would learn to say yes to Him.
The third area in which the Lord has been teaching me is a lesson He has especially been teaching me in recent years: stepping out of my comfort zone.
Outwardly, many people think I am rather easygoing. I hope that is true. But inwardly, people do not really see who I am.
You may not realize that I am a person who likes organization. I need organization in my life. I do not deal with chaos very well.
When it comes to my own life, I really try to structure it. I try to control it and arrange it. I want to make it nice, perfect, and orderly.
In trying to arrange my life so perfectly, I have bought into much of this world’s way of thinking.
There is a saying we use in our house quite frequently: “Either you are part of the problem or you are part of the solution.”
We are always telling our children that if they want to be part of the solution, they need to stop being part of the problem. They need to take control of the situation, or the situation will take control of them.
If they do not take care of the situation and bring it to completion, then others will do it for them. In our family, “others” usually refers to me.
When my children do not do what I tell them they need to do, I direct them to do it. This kind of mentality has also made its way into my spiritual life.
That is my shame. I try, in the same way, to organize my spiritual life neatly. Somehow I think I can control my spiritual growth.
I think I need to practice all these spiritual disciplines before I can really enter into service for the Lord. I need to read through the Bible so many times, memorize so many Scriptures, and spend so many minutes each day in prayer.
I think I can begin serving the Lord only once I have arranged all these matters in my life—even in my spiritual life.
Many of us come from small fellowships. There is both a good side and a difficult side to being in a small fellowship.
The good thing about being in a small fellowship is that there are many opportunities to serve. The difficult thing about being in a small fellowship is that there are many opportunities to serve.
Our fellowship is small compared to what I was accustomed to. There are many needs, and many areas where service can be performed. Often, requests are made for the saints to rise up and serve.
There are definitely some areas of service in the household of God in which I am not comfortable.
One area in which I have been asked to serve more is to stand up in front of people and share. This makes me feel very uncomfortable.
I would much rather be sitting down like you, with my arms crossed, and listening. Naturally, I am very introverted. If I had my choice, I would move out to the woods and live by myself.
As a student, I was a fairly good student and received good marks. But consistently, the one area where teachers marked me down was participation.
It was always something like, “Your child, Eddie, is a good student, but he needs to learn to participate more.”
This is something about which I feel very self-conscious. But the Lord has spoken to me recently.
He has told me that it is not a matter of what I am comfortable with. It is not a matter of arranging all the situations and circumstances in my life until I feel comfortable performing a particular service.
It is much more than trying to arrange a work schedule, a personal family schedule, or even spiritual growth.
What the Lord really desires is that we learn to be individuals who let Him be King.
Many times, that means letting go of myself. I must truly learn to die—to let go of myself.
It is not for me to decide in what areas of service I should participate. Rather, I need to learn to follow the Lord and recognize that He has a work that He wants to accomplish.
Just as my employer at work—or my employer at home, my wife—may ask me to do something that needs to be done, I need to learn simply to say yes.
I need to say yes in spite of my lack of qualifications and in spite of how uncomfortable I may feel. I know that when I decrease, the Lord will increase.
Let us turn to two passages. The first is John 1:4.
In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.
The second passage is Romans 5:17.
Much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.
On the second morning of this conference, an older brother asked me to have a little sharing today. I felt a measure of pressure and burden.
But in the morning devotion there were these words: all those who are heavy laden may come to the Lord. As the older brother made this arrangement, I learned to say yes.
For the past two days, I have come to this workshop. Personally, from the testimony and instruction of the older brothers, I have gained much.
Our brother has already shared very clearly on this matter of life. I simply want to summarize what has been mentioned.
Life is in our Lord Jesus Christ. At the moment we are saved by grace, this life begins within us. But that is only the beginning of our experience.
This life should become the principle that guides and governs us from that point onward.
After we are saved, there is another nature and another feeling within us. The Apostle Peter tells us that we have received the divine nature.
Some of us may not have been very clear when we were saved, but indeed we received the Lord Jesus Christ to be our life. The Lord teaches us and shows us that He is within us. He is our life and our Lord.
When we realize this, it affects all our experiences. When we lose Him or rebel against Him, we feel it.
In the days when we first begin to follow the Lord, we have peace and joy, and we feel that this is reasonable.
But one day we disobey the leading of the Lord within, and we lose that peace.
I love this testimony. There was a man who had been a thief before he believed in the Lord. After he believed in the Lord, he repented, was saved, and obtained honest work.
One day after work, he was very hungry. On his way home, he passed by a store where food was displayed, and he naturally took some food home and ate it.
Afterward, he could not pray. By habit, he knelt before his bed and went to sleep, but he could not sleep. He felt terrible.
Early the next morning, he went to fellowship with a brother.
The brother asked him, “Were you happier when you stole something before you believed in the Lord, or are you happier now that you cannot steal and cannot sleep after doing so?”
Through this experience, the man suddenly realized that the Lord was within him. The feeling of life within him was the principle of life.
Brothers and sisters, we are saved. Sooner or later, we will reach the point of knowing that the Lord is within us, and that the life within us is our life.
This is not only the life we receive when we are saved. It is the principle that reigns within us throughout our lives.
When we abide in the presence of the Lord, we know there is grace. We know that our Lord is gracious.
Our Lord is also peace, and within us He has given us His peace. His life is love. Each day of our life, we may experience Him.
Because we have the nourishment of this life, our life becomes normal.
We have already shared that when we fellowship together, perhaps outwardly things are plain. But brothers and sisters, what we pay attention to is not the outward appearance.
We pay attention to the fact that life reigns within us. The Lord Jesus Christ governs through the Holy Spirit in our personal lives and in church life.
Outwardly, things may be plain and simple; inwardly, they are abundant and beautiful. We may say they are majestic.
Just as in the tabernacle, every item may be made of gold, so the salvation that is in Christ is precious. Today, through this life, the Lord Jesus Christ reigns within us.
We know that the Holy Spirit abides in us. The teaching of the anointing teaches us in all things.
God, through the Holy Spirit, also works within us and gives us the strength to obey. All our living begins from within. It is the leading of the Holy Spirit within.
This reign of life is a matter of authority. When the Lord is Lord within us and is our Governor, before the Lord’s presence we take the form of servants.
Our brother told us this morning that Christ, being God, emptied Himself and took the form of a servant.
The servant has the likeness and mind of a servant. When we have this willingness, life is able to bring us into blessing in our living.
Life reigns by grace through righteousness. Whenever we obey the guidance of this life—and that life is the Son of God Himself—then in the eyes of God, it is right.
When we live in this righteousness, we live in grace. We need to learn obedience.
This life leads us onto the way of the cross and into the experience of the cross.
When this life reigns within us, we may feel constrained. By nature, we have our own nature and personality. But within us is the divine nature of God.
Through this life and this nature, the Lord is constituting His character within us. Because of this, we may feel constrained.
Yet when we are constrained, we experience the liberty that is in Christ.
Sometimes in our circumstances, outwardly it may seem that we have lost something. But inwardly, there is abundance.
Sometimes it seems as though we have to die to ourselves. But brothers and sisters, the life of the Lord is within us. This is the principle of how life reigns within us.
If we do not understand this principle, many times we will feel that the inward restraint is a bad feeling. We may think, “It always comes against my will.”
But life reigning within us leads us into the experience of the cross, into death, and into rest.
Brothers and sisters, the boundary of this life is unlimited and infinite. It applies in our personal living, family living, careers, church living, and in the Body of Christ.
It can apply even in minor details, such as where we should eat today. Perhaps we want to eat a little more, yet there is a guidance within. Even in such details, the Lord leads us.
It also applies at turning points in our lives and in times of crisis. Many times, such circumstances are trials and tests for us.
If we are able to submit before the Lord, willing to wait and willing to see, the guidance of this life will lead us forward.
Even though reason may tell us that following the Lord brings suffering, we need to be willing for Him to be Lord.
Brothers and sisters, He will surely lead us into life and peace.
When we learn to follow and exercise in this way, perhaps the result is not immediately evident to us. But we draw near and grow close to the Lord.
Our Lord is a loving Lord. It seems that we are brought ever closer to Him. We do not need an external atmosphere or environment in order to draw near to Him. Whenever we turn to the Lord, He is there.
I admire some Christians. Sometimes when they begin to pray, it is as though heaven is on earth.
Some children of God are simply so close to the Lord. It seems as though wherever they are, that is where the Lord is. This is because life reigns within them.
Not only this: when someone follows life in this way, the Lord gives spiritual insight.
I read a biography of a servant of God. Even when he was saved, the Lord taught him that there was another life—a new life—within him.
This life was not merely a thing. It was the Lord Jesus Christ, who loves us and abides in us.
Gradually, he began to follow the guidance of this life and submit to its leading. Because he submitted and followed, the Lord brought him into the experience of the church.
He came to see that fellowship and gathering are not merely an organization. He began to see that we are all members of the Body of Christ.
The church is living; it is an extension and manifestation of the Lord on earth. Then he became even more willing for this life to reign within him.
In this way, when he read the Scriptures and learned to serve, he saw how great Christ is. Brothers and sisters, do we see the beauty of Christ?
When we experience the abundance of grace, the result is that we gain not only life from the Lord, but life abundantly.
We can also be light in this world, reflecting the light of our life. We can have a great outflow because we have experienced Christ.
Because the Lord Himself is our peace, we are filled with the love of the Lord. Then we can become a channel of that love.
Let us have a simple prayer.
Lord, we confess that we are very slow. There are times when we fail You.
Yet You are full of grace, mercy, and patience toward us. You have held on to us, reminded us, supported us, and provided for us.
Lord, may we be compelled toward You in our daily living, so that You will reign in life in our daily living and reign in the church.
May we all be conformed to Your image. We thank You for hearing our prayer.
In the precious and holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.