As we follow the pattern of the Lord Jesus, our self has to be denied, our purpose has to be rejected, and our ambition must be given up for the sake of the one new man so that we can be useful to the Lord in His recovery. We need to learn from the Lord Jesus in this respect.
In Matt. 11:28-30 the Lord tells us to learn from Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart; what does it mean to learn from the Lord?
Does it mean that we should try to imitate the way He lived, and to try our best to do the same things He did, have the same attitude He had, or speak the same words He spoke? Does it mean that we should stop and think, What would Jesus do right now in my situation?
All these sound like good things to do, but God never intended that we would do this.
Rather, when we believed into Christ and were baptized, we were put in Him as the mold, as the pattern; now we need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
At the same time, Christ has passed through a process to become a life-giving Spirit, and He is now in our spirit to impart life to us and to live in us the same kind of life that He lived when He was on earth.
So what we need to do is come to the Lord even as we are, with our toils, burdens, and problems, and we need to learn from Him; we need to come to Him in His word, enjoy Him, and be filled with Him, and we will learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
The way we imitate Christ is by living Christ; we imitate Him by turning to Him, enjoying Him, and being one spirit with Him.
In Christianity there are so many genuine believers to really really try their best to obey the word of God and do what the Bible tells them to do; however, as everyone can clearly notice, it just doesn’t work.
We cannot express God by our trying to do this; we cannot live the same kind of life that Jesus lived by our own efforts.
We really need to turn to the Lord, enjoy Him, learn from Him, and allow Him to live in us.
The Lord Jesus as the Spirit is within us to bountifully supply us, and we have been put in Christ as the mold; now we need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
On the positive side, this means that we need to spend time with the Lord, be infused with Him, enjoy Him, and fill our vessel with Him.
On the negative side, we need to deny the self, put aside our purpose, and give up our ambition, for the Christ we live and express did this throughout His life.
We look to the Lord for His blessing, we treasure His blessing, we depend on His blessing, and we take Him as the source; we are nothing, and He is everything, and He is the initiator, the source, and the One who does everything in us and through us.
Learn from the Lord Jesus not to Seek our own Glory but seek God’s Glory and Contact Him before doing anything
The Lord Jesus lived in a very particular way; He didn’t do anything of Himself, He didn’t initiate anything, and He didn’t do His will nor did He seek His glory.
Rather, the Lord sought the will of the One who sent Him, and He always looked up to the Father, spending much time with the Father, so that the Father would initiate everything and work everything through Him (see John 5:30b; 6:38; Matt. 26:39, 42).
He said that he who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him, this One is true, and unrighteousness is not in Him (John 7:18).
Everyone today seeks their own glory, and especially as they do something good, they want that everyone would find out and praise them.
But the Lord sought the Father’s glory, and He avoided situations in which He would gain the glory. He did not receive glory from men (John 5:41).
Those around Him loved the glory of men more than the glory of God (John 12:43), so they hated Him and wanted to put Him to death; especially those who knew the Scriptures and taught the people the Word of God, they sought their own glory, so they hated the Lord Jesus and persecuted Him.
The Lord Jesus did great works for God, but if we read the Gospels carefully before He would do anything, He spent much time in secret with the Father.
For example, in Luke 6:12-18, we see how the Lord selected some of His disciples to send them out to preach the gospel, visit men, and take care of the people who were troubled by unclean spirits and heal them.
He did this not of Himself, according to His own preference, or because He wanted to accomplish something; rather, He spent much time with the Father on the mountain in prayer, even the whole night, and as a result, He sent His disciples with His power.
We need to consider the Lord’s example and learn from Him. We may want to do this or that for the Lord, and we may see this or that situation that really requires help.
We may see a certain brother in need, or a saint may be entangled in some situations, so we want to go and help him.
Sometimes we may not have the heart to care for others, but when we have the heart to care for them, do we do it in and of ourselves, or do we contact the Lord?
We need to learn from the Lord and not do anything of ourselves; even though we may have a feeling that this one or that one needs visitation or help, we should first contact the Lord.
We need to spend time with the Lord and pray, contacting Him and enquiring of Him what is in His heart concerning us and concerning this person or this particular need.
We shouldn’t simply go and visit someone or call them when we hear about something; we should first contact the Lord, for He is the Head of the Body, and we as members depend on Him and relate to all the other members through Him as the Head.
We don’t want to do anything of ourselves or by ourselves; such things rather damage the Body of Christ that build it up, and we may tear others down even when we do things out of a good heart.
May we come to the Lord, again and again, contact Him, be before Him, and learn from Him; we have been put in Him as the mold, we have His word to pray over, and we can learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
Sometimes the Lord may direct us to go visit someone, but at other times He may simply keep us in His peace because He knows that this one is in His hand, and He knows what He is doing.
Lord Jesus, we want to learn from You as our pattern. Even as You did not seek Your own glory but the glory of the Father who sent You, so we want to seek Your glory and be one with You in everything we do. Save us from initiating something merely according to the need that we see in front of us. We come to You, again and again, Lord, and we enquire of You concerning this or that situation, this or that person, and this and that matter. Oh Lord, what would You do in this situation? Would You want us to go visit this brother or pick up the phone to call him? Dear Lord, we look to You for Your leading. We don’t want to do anything of ourselves; may our doing be initiated by You and carried out in Your way for the building up of the Body!
Denying the Self, Rejecting our Purpose, and Giving up our Ambition for the Sake of the New Man
As we learn from the Lord Jesus with His God-man living, we need to realize that our self, our purpose, and our ambition are three big destroying “worms” in our work, and we must learn to hate them.
As we love the Lord, enjoy Him, and live the church life, we are involved in things related to the Lord’s work; it is easy to be ambitious in the Lord’s work, and it is so easy for our self to be expressed and for us to do things for our own purpose.
For example, we may be given to do this or that in the church life, and as we practice doing that particular work, we may think we’re pretty good at it, and we may have the ambition to “get higher up the ladder” in the church.
There’s something hidden in each one of us that causes us to be ambitious to seek our own glory or to get a better and higher position.
In the service that we render to the Lord in the church life, there’s always the matter of our ambition.
A brother may have the ambition to be an elder, and he may think that the first step is to be a deacon and serve practically, so that he may “prove himself” that he can be an elder. He may think that serving practically as a deacon is a step toward being uplifted to the eldership.
We all as fallen descendants of Adam are sick of the same disease, the same sin; we have ambition, the self is present with us, and we do things according to our own purpose.
Brother Watchman Nee’s greatest concern regarding his co-workers and their being sent to certain areas to do a work for the Lord was that they would seek their own purpose when they go.
We need to seek the purpose and intention of the Sending One, which is God Himself.
By the Lord’s mercy, may we all learn the secret of dealing with our self and our intention and our ambition, so that we may not seek to glorify ourselves but rather, seek the glory of God.
For us to be useful to the Lord in His recovery, our self has to be denied, our purpose has to be rejected, and our ambition has to be given up.
We cannot be useful to the Lord if we still live in the self and seek the things of the self, if we have the ambition to be someone and accomplish something, and if we still seek our own purpose and intention.
These three things – the self, our purpose, and our ambition – are like three snakes or scorpions in us; we must learn to hate them.
The way to deal with them is simply to turn to the Lord and take Him as our pattern; He denied Himself, took the will and intention of the Father, and gave up His ambition, for He sought only the glory of God.
In all our relationships with the saints in the church life, whether young or old, we need to have a pure heart, having no impure motive.
May we be purified in our heart and serve God with no hidden motive or personal purpose; may all our contact with the saints in the church life have the unique motive of ministering Christ to them so that they may grow in the Lord.
For this to take place, we need to deny the self, reject our purpose, and give up our ambition for the sake of the one new man; then, the Lord can use us in His recovery, and we can serve the Lord with purity of heart.
When we speak to the young saints, we should not seek any gain for ourselves or seek some kind of advantage or promotion. When we speak to the older saints, we should not be impure in our motive.
May the Lord purify our heart and intention, and may we learn to cooperate with Him by denying the self, rejecting our purpose, and giving up our ambition for the one new man!
Lord Jesus, cause us to see that our self, our purpose, and our ambition are three big destroying things in our work for the Lord. Save us from expressing the self, seeking our purpose, or doing things out of ambition. We open to You, dear Lord, and we want to learn from You; we take You as our pattern and we put ourselves aside. We want to deny the self, reject our purpose, and give up our ambition for the sake of the one new man. Amen, Lord, we want to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus and be purified in heart so that we may have a pure heart in serving You. Amen, Lord, may our unique motive in our work for the Lord be ministering Christ to the saints for their growth in the Lord.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” pp. 546-564, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The All-Inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man (2020 Thanksgiving Conference), week 5, Living the Life of the One New Man instead of Our Culture by Learning Christ as the Reality Is in Jesus.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Jesus, I my cross have taken, / All to leave and follow Thee; / Destitute, despised, forsaken, / Thou, from hence, my all shalt be. / Perish every fond ambition, / All I’ve sought, and hoped, and known; / Yet how rich is my condition, / God and Christ are still my own! (Hymns #460)
– Pray to labor with the Lord; / Self-ambition and self-will / We must ever cast away, / All His purpose to fulfill. (Hymns #786)
– All hidden things that block my vision, / Rocks of self-ambition, pride; / Now expose and burn away, Lord / By Your look intensified. / Increase the weight of glory in me, / Let Your Spirit now transform, / That all things would not be wasted / But would work to save me more. (Song on, Lord Jesus, draw me)
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