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THE HUMANITY OF ONE WHO SERVES THE LORD
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we love You, and we treasure Your word. Lead us into Your word. Let us meet, touch, enjoy, and gain You in it. Be with us again this morning in this meeting. We pray that You will open Yourself to us so that every day we can pick up what You want us to learn here. We want to be like Paul who said that he had learned the secret. O Lord, remember us, and remember these young brothers and sisters that they would learn this secret from their youth, which is to be able to do everything in Him who empowers us. May all that is spoken in Philippians 4 be lived out in us. O Lord, build us up. Build up our character and our humanity, which is just Yourself. We pray that Your blood will cleanse and cover us again. Amen.
EXPLANATION OF HUMANITY
We have to consider again the humanity of one who serves the Lord. The word ren-ger in Chinese, which we translate as “humanity,” is a word that is hard to define. The definitions vary according to different dictionaries and lexicons; there are different explanations of the word. According to what I know, there is even a legal definition of the word; it refers to a man’s position and rights. Legally speaking, to lose one’s ren-ger, or humanity, is to lose his position and rights as a human being. Of course, this is a very serious matter.
According to my experience and observation, humanity refers to what a person is. This intrinsic being of a person eventually becomes a form that expresses itself before men. It is not easy to find an equivalent word for ren-ger in English. The closest word may be personality. But this word only refers to the character of a person. This is still somewhat different from what a person is. Humanity emphasizes the outward expression; personality emphasizes the inward nature. Usually, whatever is within a man is expressed outwardly in a certain way or form. Therefore these two aspects are very close. One is inward, and the other is outward. Inwardly it is the personality, and outwardly it is the humanity.
THE HUMANITY OF ONE WHO SERVES THE LORD BEING FOUND BY OTHERS TO BE IN CHRIST
Philippians 3:9 says, “Be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is out of the law.” The Chinese Union Version renders the first part of this verse, “Being in Him.” There is a big difference between being found in Him and being in Him. To “be in Him” does not involve the matter of humanity; it only expresses a fact and a hope. The proper translation is to “be found in Him.” To “be found in Him” has to do with our humanity.
Our humanity should be Christ. Christ should be my form as a man. Others should see a form in me. This form is Christ. Christ should be my humanity.
In Philippians 1 Paul says, “As always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death” (v. 20b). Paul did not care for life or death. He always magnified Christ in his body. This magnification is a form. This form can be likened to the squares in the exercise book that we used for practicing Chinese penmanship when we were young. The teacher would write the characters properly in the top squares first. The students would then copy the words in the other squares. There was a form there; one could not write randomly. Today we also have a square around us, which is Christ.
BEING IN CHRIST AND MAGNIFYING CHRIST AS ALWAYS
The humanity that we are speaking of here is different from the humanity taught by the Chinese Confucianists. We both speak concerning humanity, but the elements of the two speakings are different, and the natures are not the same. The Confucianists’ nature at best is but bronze. But our nature is gold. Take a pocket watch as an example. We may all have a pocket watch, but your watch is bronze or steel, and mine is gold. They are all watches, but they are not the same kind of watch. The difference is in their nature and element. We have to see this.
The Christian humanity does not refer to our natural virtues; rather, it is the Christ who lives in us and out of us. According to Philippians, we are people in Christ. From the day we were saved, we have been transferred from Adam into Christ. According to the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, the Lord sowed Himself into us. However, 1 Corinthians 3 considers our salvation as a kind of planting (v. 6); we have been planted into Christ. On the one hand, it is Christ growing in us. Our hearts are like the soil; they are for growing Christ. On the other hand, it is of God that we are in Christ Jesus (1:30). It is God who has translated us from Adam into Christ. Today our position is in Christ. However, we have to attain to a condition in which we are found in Christ. Moreover, whether through life or through death, Christ should be magnified in our body as always. This is the Christian humanity.
OUR OLD CREATION CAUSING PROBLEMS TO OUR HUMANITY
Over the past sixty years I have seen much that has happened. In the first thirty years I saw things happening to Brother Nee personally. In the second thirty years I experienced them myself. We both realized that although some Christians did love the Lord and eventually became co-workers and elders, after a period of time they changed, and their humanity became a problem. One could no longer see any love, forgiveness, or faithfulness. There was no humility and purity. On the contrary, we saw lying. This is an undeniable fact. More than twenty years ago a co-worker wrote a letter to me that was filled with good words and was totally positive. But after three days another letter was sent to me from Manila; it was a copy of a letter that this same brother had written. The content of that letter was totally negative. May the Lord’s blood cover me in saying this. This matter has affected me very much and has rendered me great help.
In 1962 when I first arrived in the United States, the messages released during the first one or two years were all on transformation. Transformation is a kind of metabolism. When you add one element to another, the substance will be transformed. Before we were saved, we only had improvements. Once we are saved, the heavenly chemical element, which is the Lord Jesus, is added into us. From that time on we have another constituent in us, and we begin gradually to be transformed.
We are transformed from being in Christ to being found in Christ. This is like what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, that he was then only a man in Christ (v. 2). But in Philippians 3 he says that he would like to be found in Christ (v. 9). When we were saved, we had the Lord’s mercy and grace to consecrate ourselves fully to the Lord and to love Him in a pure way. At that time surely we were in Christ, living out Christ, and found by others to be in Christ. But after many years, due to positions, private interests, and other situations, we became disturbed; as such, we could no longer live in Christ and were no longer magnifying Christ.
We have to see that it is only when the Lord returns and our bodies are redeemed that we can be totally free from the old creation. Otherwise, a certain part of our being still remains in the old creation. This is the part of the old creation that gives problems to our humanity.
THE BETTER BRANCH GRAFTED TO THE POOR TREE PRODUCING TWO KINDS OF FRUITS
We can describe the relationship between the Lord and us by grafting. Hymns, #482, stanza 3, says,
Grafting in the Bible is the grafting of a better branch to a poor tree. Christ is the better branch, and we are the poor tree. This poor tree grows up to the spot where the grafting occurred; the life element of the better branch comes in, and whatever grows from the better branch is good. However, whatever grows from parts other than the better branch is still poor.
We can illustrate this by the life of a married couple. Early in the morning the husband rises up to touch the Lord, to pray, and to read the Bible. He is bearing good fruits now. He comes out of his study, and it is past breakfast time. He sees that his wife is unhappy, and her countenance has changed. This disturbance takes away all the husband’s revivals of the morning, and he also begins to speak with a changed countenance. Five minutes ago he was in the heavens. But now, five minutes later, he has fallen down to the earth. This kind of experience happens to us all the time.
We have to see that the two trees in the garden of Eden are both in us. One is the tree of life, and the other is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When the husband touches the Lord in the morning and is revived, he is eating of the tree of life. At breakfast time, when he loses his temper with his wife, he switches from the tree of life to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At the office during lunch time, the husband calms himself down and considers. He begins to regret the manner in which he spoke to his wife and determines not to do the same thing next time. He will be patient and will not lose his temper anymore. This is neither the evil aspect of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil nor the tree of life; he is but striving to improve himself in the good aspect of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All these speak of our real condition.
Therefore, if we want to have the proper humanity, we have to allow the better branch, Christ, to be grafted to us, the poor tree, so that we can grow up and produce good fruits through the joint of grafting.
EXAMPLES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Demas Having Loved the Present Age and Forsaken Paul
In 2 Timothy 4 Paul mentions the names of two brothers. The first one is Demas. He says, “Demas has abandoned me, having loved the present age, and has gone to Thessalonica” (v. 10). Demas was a co-worker of Paul. Paul would not have chosen a co-worker easily. Demas was chosen to be a co-worker, but he changed afterward. We believe that this change was caused by Paul’s circumstance. At the beginning, Demas had also loved the Lord and consecrated himself to Him. He worked with Paul and was like the poor tree yielding good fruits. But after he saw Paul being attacked, arrested, sent off to Rome, judged by Caesar, and jailed for over a year or two without release, he could not overcome this pitiful situation and began to love the age. By then he was the poor tree yielding poor fruits again. He was affected by the outward circumstances.
Alexander Doing Many Evil Things to Paul
Besides this there was another name, Alexander. Paul mentions in 2 Timothy 4 that “Alexander…did many evil things to me” (v. 14). If he did many evil things to Paul, this proves that he had been in touch with Paul. If Alexander had not known Paul and had had no dealings with Paul, he would not have persecuted Paul. This is like two persons who if they are never married will never have a divorce. A husband and a wife can divorce each other because they are married. Alexander may have been saved and may have been a brother, but he did evil things to persecute the Lord’s servant. Not only are such things recorded in the Bible; I have also seen similar things happening among the brothers.
Today you are all being trained in the full-time training center. Daily you exercise your spirit and live a heavenly life. But if one day a brother or a sister offends you and wrongly accuses you, are you going to leave the training center? We have to see that today we still have the corrupted nature of the old creation within us; we are not yet totally free from it. This is like a beautiful butterfly that has changed from a hairy caterpillar. The beautiful butterfly will never revert back to the ugly movements of the caterpillar. However, while it is still the hairy caterpillar, ugly movements can still be seen. All these illustrations warn us that the old creation is still with us. If we are not in Christ, we are in the old creation, and our old creation will cause problems to our humanity.
GOD REGULATING MAN THROUGH DELEGATED AUTHORITY AND THE INWARD CONSCIENCE
We have to know that the old creation and the natural life within us can do many things. If there were no laws in the country, we could even rob banks. Today God sovereignly puts nations and rulers on earth. Romans 13 says, “Let every person be subject to the authorities over him, for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are ordained by God” (v. 1). All rulers govern for God to maintain the world situation. If there were no law courts, governments, or police stations on earth, we would not be able to live and work peacefully.
In addition, God has created a conscience within man. The conscience controls our walk and conduct. Moreover, we the saved ones have God added to our conscience. The conscience forms a part of man’s spirit. Since God lives in our spirit, He lives in our conscience. However, God does not use brute force to rule over this part of us. Rather, He draws us with His love. We see this in the Lord’s question to Peter, “Do you love Me?” Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” The Lord said to him, “Shepherd My sheep” (John 21:16). This is His drawing us with His love. If we do not love the Lord, we lose the restraint that comes from this kind of attraction and are liable to do anything and everything.
HUMANITY BEING SAFEGUARDED THROUGH LOVING THE LORD
For a Christian to serve the Lord, he must have the humanity of a servant of the Lord. We do not have to wait for the government, the law court, or the policeman to regulate us. Neither should we be regulated merely by our conscience. Our humanity comes from our loving of our God. We have been planted in Him. Now we are willing to live in Him and are willing to be found by others to be a person in Him. Furthermore, what we live out is just Christ. We always allow Christ to be magnified in our body. No matter what kind of circumstance, whether it be poverty, riches, suffering, enjoyment, peace, danger, or even death, I magnify Him. In this way He becomes my humanity.
However, such a high humanity can be lost. One can degenerate from a noble humanity to a base one, giving up one’s position and rights as a man. It is possible for Christians to degrade to such an extent. This is like Alexander; he did not have a proper humanity. He would even do many evil things to a servant of the Lord who loved and served Him. Likewise, Demas loved the present age and forsook Paul.
Today we should be those who are willing to remain in Christ and be found in Him. In this way we can do all things in Him who empowers us (Phil. 4:13). Every one of the six virtues—what things are true, dignified, righteous, pure, lovely, and well spoken of (v. 8)—is hard to achieve from man’s point of view. But we can do all these in Him who empowers us. In this way we live out godliness and the proper humanity, which is just Christ manifested in our bodies and lived out through us.
Hence, we should not think that as Christians our humanity is safeguarded. Whether our humanity will be safeguarded or not depends on whether or not we continue to love the Lord and consecrate ourselves. This is why the new way is helping us to be revived every morning and to overcome every day. Such a living will keep us in the proper condition. Otherwise, it will be impossible for us to live out the normal, proper humanity.
In February of this year I visited the churches near San Francisco. A brother there asked me if I, as one having been in the Lord for so many years and with such a vast area and heavy burden in the work, had ever had any trouble. I replied that certainly there are many troubles. The brother then asked me if I have peace within. I replied that although troubles are many, the peace is even more. This is because the work is not my business but the Lord’s business. It is the same with the preaching of the gospel. It is the Lord’s business whether a person will be saved or not. It is our duty to preach the gospel. If others accept it, they will receive grace. If they reject it, they will miss the grace. For me, I am not troubled at all. This is something that we need to know.
STANDING FIRM IN CHRIST AND NOT FEARING THE WAVES
We have to see today that first we have to be equipped with such a humanity. Only then are we qualified to serve the Lord. Once we lose this humanity, we do not have the position and the right to serve the Lord. Second, I know that you are still young. I am at least sixty years ahead of you. I am very familiar with this way, but you have a long way yet to go. There are many difficulties along the way. “God hath not promised skies always blue, / Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through” (Hymns, #720). For this reason, by grace you have to stand firm in Christ, maintaining this life through holding Christ as the humanity. When you see a storm, do not listen to rumors and do not be affected by those who have changed. Do not ask why. When a man is changed, he is changed, and that is all. We have to look to the Lord’s mercy today to keep us unchanged and to preserve us all the way to the end.
Mark 4 describes the Lord Jesus sitting in the boat with His disciples as they crossed over to the other side. Suddenly a great windstorm came, and the waves beat into the boat so that the boat was filling up. The disciples were very afraid, but Jesus was sleeping on the cushion in the stern (vv. 37-38). The stern of a small boat is the part that is most easily swayed. Although the swaying was severe, the Lord still had a peaceful sleep.
May the Lord’s blood cover me. I have the same sensation today. There may be windstorms. But I can still sleep in the stern. I hope that you also can be like this. You should know that even with such a short trip as the journey across the Sea of Galilee, there were still frequent windstorms and high waves.
Paul says in 2 Timothy 1 that all those in Asia had turned away from him (v. 15). Chapter 4 also shows us that Demas had abandoned Paul (v. 10). Moreover, Alexander did many evil things to Paul (v. 14). It seems that there was no one there who was one with Paul. But thank the Lord, there was still Timothy who was one with him. That is why in 2 Timothy Paul does not show any discouragement. Rather, he is singing the victory song. He says, “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will recompense me in that day, and not only me but also all those who have loved His appearing” (4:7-8). If we love His appearing, we will be kept in the realm of having Christ as our humanity. When He returns, we shall surely be rewarded.