Exercise the Key of Self-Denial to Lock up the Self and Build up the Church Today

As believers in Christ who want to build the church and follow the Lord by taking up our cross, we need to exercise the key of self-denial and lock up the self with all its expressions and manifestations so that the church may be built up today.

The way to cooperate with the Lord to build up the church today is not merely by doing outward activities, things that are very necessary for the good order in the church life, but by denying the self, losing our soul-life, and taking up our cross.

The church is the Body of Christ, and it is Christ who builds up the church.

How come that, even after two thousand years after being ascended, Christ did not finish building up His church?

It is not merely the outward persecution or the heresies that attacked the church but even more, it is the most subjective enemy of all that rises up day by day, even moment by moment, to frustrate the building up of the church.

The greatest enemy to the building up of the church is the self. It is you and I, the believers in Christ who live in the self, who are the worst enemies of God’s building. Oh, Lord Jesus!

When we live in the self, which is something we do by default, we damage the building.

Peter expressed his good heart and concern for the Lord not to go and die, but in God’s eyes, that was one of the gates of Hades being opened up.

This dear one, Peter, is so much like us. One moment, we see a great revelation from God, and we speak something that edifies, builds up, and releases God’s word on the earth.

The very next moment, however, we may open up the gates of Hades simply by being in the self and expressing our good intention, our good opinion, and our good heart, yet by this we hinder the building up of the church.

How much we need the Lord’s shining on what the self is!

We may think we are alright since we don’t sin, we don’t cause trouble at home or in the church, and we don’t seem to have major problems.

But as long as we live in the self, that is, as long as we do not live in the mingled spirit by exercising self-denial to lock up the self, our being and our living damage the church.

Throughout the ages, much damage has been done to God’s building simply by genuine believers who want to help God with the building work, yet they expressed themselves and eventually, they built their own “ministry” or even set up their own “church.” Oh, Lord!

May the Lord have mercy on us in this matter and may we be open to His shining so that the self may be thoroughly exposed and we would exercise the key of self-denial to lock up the self for the building up of the church!

Being Enlightened by the Lord to see the Self and some of the Expressions of the Self

We may talk about the self but we may not know exactly what the self is.

The self is the embodiment of Satan, for Satan’s thought was injected into the human soul to cause it to become the self, the independent soul from God.

But how is self manifested? How do we see the self, and where do we see the expression of the self?

First of all, we need to come to the Lord about this and allow Him to shine on us.

Without the Lord’s shining, no matter how many examples we have of the manifestations of the self, we will never be impressed.

When the Lord shines on a particular expression of the self, we will truly see the self, we will deny it, and we will turn to our spirit right away.

There are some expressions of the self that we can point out, with verses to back them up; these are the manifestations and signs not only of our weakness but even more, of the self.

When the self is free to do what he wants to do, he is unlocked, and he can manifest himself, thus damaging the church.

With the self, there are ambition, pride, and self-exaltation (Matt. 20:20-28; 1 Pet. 5:5; Rom. 12:3; Num. 12:1-10; 16:1-3; Phil. 2:3-4).

When we live in the self, we are ambitious to obtain something in the church life, a position or some level of authority or leadership.

This is in us, no matter whether this has been manifested in us.

With the self there’s pride and self-exaltation; instead of thinking of itself as it ought to, the self exalts itself.

With the self, there are self-righteousness, self-justification, and exposing, criticizing, and condemning others (Matt. 9:10-13; Luke 18:9-14; 1 Pet. 4:8; John 3:17; 8:11; Luke 6:37; Matt. 7:1-5).

On the personal side, the self has its self-righteousness and, if exposed, it has its self-justification, always ready to defend itself.

On the side of others, the self condemns them, criticises them and is ready to expose them.

Oh, may the Lord shine on these expressions of the self in us!

With the self, there are introspection and self-despising (S. S. 2:8-9; 1 Cor. 12:15-16).

The self is introspective; God wants to expose what we are, but He does not want us to be introspective.

When the self introspects, when the self analyzes the self, the self despises itself. Oh, Lord.

May His living light scatter all our night and everything make bright so that we may see what the self is, exercise the key of self-denial, and lock up the self with all its manifestations!

When we are in the self, we can be offended by the church, the leading ones, or the saints (Matt. 6:14-15; 18:21-35; Mark 11:25-26; Col. 3:13).

The self is easily offended; and if the self is more perfected or cultivated, it will be offended a bit later, but it still is offended, and it keeps the offense, remembers the offense, and even treasures the offense. Oh, Lord!

May the Lord shine on this matter in each one of us.

With the self there are disappointment and discouragement (Rom. 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 4:1); when we turn to our spirit, we see that all things work together for good to those who love God, but the self gets disappointed and discouraged.

With the self, there are self-love, self-preservation, self-seeking, and self-pity (Matt. 13:5, 20-21). Oh, Lord!

The self loves itself, preserves itself, seeks its desires, and pities itself. Oh Lord Jesus, shine on the self for us to see these manifestations and deny the self!

With the self there are murmurings and reasonings (Exo. 16:1-9; Phil. 2:14).

The self murmurs and reasons; when we are sad or offended or disappointed, we make sure we utter our feelings as murmurings and reasonings.

With the self there is a natural affection (friendship) based on natural taste and preference (Matt. 12:46-50; Phil. 2:2b; 1 Cor. 12:25).

There should be no such thing as being buddy-buddy in the church life, but the self is naturally inclined to hang out and be with some people who matches it. Oh, Lord!

With the self, there are the matters of being opinionated and dissenting (John 11:21, 23-28, 39; Acts 15:35-39; cf. 1 Cor. 7:25, 40).

The self is full of opinions to the extent that it becomes dissenting.

When we are in the self, we are individualistic and independent (16:12).

May the Lord shine on the manifestations of the self, the many expressions of the self, and may we exercise our spirit to deny the self for the church to be built up!

Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to live a life for the building up of the church today! Shine on us, dear Lord, and expose the manifestations of the self. Shine on the expressions of the self and enlighten us concerning what the self really is. May Your living light, Lord, scatter all our night and everything make bright so that we may repudiate the self, deny the self, and exercise our spirit to live for Your building! Amen, Lord, shine on our ambition, pride, and self-exaltation. Expose any self-righteousness, self-justification, and exposing, criticizing, and condemning others. May Your light expose our introspection and self-despising, which are expressions of the self. Oh Lord, save us from being in the self, thus being offended by the church, the leading ones, and the saints. Expose what is the source of our disappointment and discouragement. Amen, Lord, expose and remove any self-love, self-preservation, self-seeing, and self-pity! Shine on our murmurings and reasonings! Expose any natural affection based on our natural taste and preference. Dear Lord Jesus, we fully open to You! Expose the self and show us how opinionated and dissenting it is. Oh Lord, expose and remove our individualism and independence! We want to do all things for the building up of the church!

Exercise the Key of Self-Denial to Lock up the Self for the Building up the Church

If we believers in Christ exercise the key of self-denial, that is, if we deny the self today, we will lock up the self, which is one of the gates of Hades, and the enemy cannot attack the church anymore (Luke 23:34; Acts 7:60).

One of the particular expressions of the self is being offended. In the church life some saints may casually say that they have been offended by the elders, by the saints, and by this or that brother.

It is a serious matter to be offended, for when we’re offended, the self is offended, and Satan can come in to damage the church. The first one who suffers is the person being offended.

The Lord Jesus was never offended; rather, even when He was on the cross, unjustly being crucified by the sinners around Him, He prayed that the Father would forgive them, for they did not know what they were doing (Luke 23:34).

The apostle Paul also was a patter in this matter; he loved the saints in Corinth and spent himself upon them, even was utterly spent on them, but they treasured other “super-apostles” and did not love him that much; however, he was not offended with this (2 Cor. 12:15).

When we are offended, we open up the gate of Hades, the self, and the enemy can come in to damage the church.

But if we exercise the key of self-denial to lock up the self, the church is being built up and the enemy is defeated.

We need to realize that, when we are offended, we may think that the church is wrong, the Lord’s recovery is wrong, and even God is wrong.

Just because our child makes a mistake, it doesn’t mean that he’s no longer our child; rather, it is at this time that he needs us as a parent the most.

Similarly, if we may be offended by someone or something in the church, we should not make excuses for the self; such excuses frustrate the building up of the church.

When we make excuses for ourselves, we justify ourselves and think that others are wrong, the situation is not right, and we are always right, we are in the self, and the gate of Hades is open for the enemy to come in and attack the church.

But if we lock up the self by exercising our spirit and denying the self, the enemy is put to death!

We all get offended at one point or another, but remaining in that offense, thinking about it, and justifying ourselves while accusing others and criticizing them, this is of the self.

We need to come to the Lord with our offenses and open to Him concerning these hurts so that He would heal us and His word would operate in us to defeat the enemy.

If we can be offended, it is proof that we live in the self. But if the self has been locked up, we will not be offended in the church life.

Another manifestation of the self is having natural friendships in the church life; we may consider certain saints whom we like and with whom we “click” that they are our friends and we may exclusively be with them.

Certain ones may match our taste and we fit their taste; we feed one another’s taste.

This is damaging and it hinders the building. Instead of having natural friendships, we should have a pure divine love with no personal affection.

In order for the building up of the church to take place, everything that is natural needs to be extracted and put to death.

When someone loves us in a natural way, we should be afraid of this; similarly, if we find that we feed a brother’s self and he is feeding yours, we need to exercise our spirit and lock up the self.

We need to exercise the key of denying the self to lock up the self in every situation (Matt. 16:18-24).

This is a daily exercise, even a continual exercise.

Whether a situation is for us or against us, whether the brothers love us or hate us, we must lock up the self.

Instead of remaining in an offense or thinking about what others said to us or did to us, we should rather set our mind on the spirit (Rom. 8:6) and exercise our spirit to love the Lord (Mark 12:30), live by the spirit (Rom. 8:4), and walk according to the Spirit.

When we exercise our spirit and walk according to the Spirit, the self is spontaneously locked up, and the church will be built up.

Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to deny the self and live according to the Spirit for the building up of the church! Amen, Lord, we want to learn to exercise the key of denying the self to lock up the self in every situation! We come to You again and again, Lord, concerning our daily living and in every details of our daily life. Shine on us. Expose the manifestations of the self. May Your living light expose the self so that we may exercise the key of self-denial and lock up the self. We don’t want to deal with ourselves but rather, we come to You as we are so that we may touch You, be filled with You, and live in the organic union with You! Amen, Lord, may the self be locked up so that the church may be built up. May all the saints in the church life exercise their spirit and lock up the self, therefore locking up this gate of Hades so that the church may be built up! Yes, Lord, we are here for Your building! We give ourselves for the building up of the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 1, “The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building of the Church,” pp. 72-74, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living in the Reality of the Kingdom of God (2024 October ITERO), week 4, The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building Up of the Church.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Deny the Self for New Jerusalem (5), via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building Up of the Church, video sharing via, Heavenly Foods.
  – Christ, the Cross, and the Church, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Taking Christ as everything to gain Him by denying our self and turning to our spirit, a portion via, The Church in Regina.
  – Don’t Gossip, via, Lamb Follower.
  – The need of self-denial, a portion from, The Parts of Man, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – The Narrow Way of Bearing the Cross and Denying the Self unto New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The key to experiencing Christ – the human spirit, a portion from, The Key to Experiencing Christ–the Human Spirit, Chapter 1.
  – Testimony of Ana Carolina Garza, via, Living to Him.
  – Practicing to deny the self, a portion from, Our Human Spirit, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee.
  – What is the Soul and How Does God Heal Soul Sickness? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Denying our self, a portion from, Basic Principles of the Experience of Life, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Freed within the spirit / From self-righteousness, / From self-condemnation / And self-consciousness. / Freed within the spirit / From self-will and pride, / From self-love and glory, / All to override. (Hymns #866 stanzas 5-6)
  – I hardly know myself; / Deceived so much by pride, / I often think I’m right / And am self-satisfied…As for the church, I need / Thy revelation more, / The Body-life to know, / Thy wisdom to explore. / I long to be unveiled, / In everything made clear, / No more to be deceived / Or to my pride adhere. (Hymns #426 stanzas 2, 7-8)
  – Oh, may my spirit flow, / Oh, may it flow! / Now I implore Thee, Lord, / Oh, may it flow! / No more self-satisfied, / No more in self-bound pride, / No more my spirit tied; / Oh, may it flow! / Oh, may my spirit flow, / Oh, may it flow! / For this I plead with Thee, / Oh, may it flow! / High-minded not to be, / Pride shall not prison me, / I’d flow unceasingly, / In spirit flow. (Hymns #846 stanzas 2-3)