According to the divine revelation in the word of God, God the Father is the only legitimate Originator in the universe, and His Holy Spirit is the only legitimate Initiator in our hearts; our serving God is initiated by Him!
In all spiritual work for God, only God Himself can be and should be the source; He is the only One who has the right to initiate anything, and His will must govern the beginnings of all our service.
All believers in Christ are servants of God, serving God in the spirit and in the gospel of His Son. In all our service to the Lord we must have a definite experience and come to a clear point of being enlightened by the Lord to see that our service must be of God, not of ourselves.
We need to have such an experience at least once in our lifetime in which we are shined on by the Lord to realize that He is the only One qualified to initiate any work for God, and we should simply cooperate with Him.
God doesn’t need our initiation – He simply needs our cooperation; He initiates, He operates, and we cooperate.
However, if we look at our Christian experience and in church history, so much work for God and in the name of God has been done by being initiated by man, and the result was the increase of a certain denomination, the spread of a certain Christian group, and the division of the Body of Christ in many little or big sects, denominations, free groups, “churches”, and parties.
May the Lord save us from repeating the pitiful history in Christianity in this respect of working for God out of our own initiative, and may we learn to take the Lord as our source and life supply in everything we do!
Two Different Sources of Service: from Ourselves by the Letter and from God by the Spirit
In 2 Cor. 3:5-6 we see two different sources of service: the first one is of ourselves and by the letter, and the second is of God and by the Spirit. “Ourselves” in v. 5 is joined with “letter” in v. 6, and “God” in v. 5 is one with the “Spirit” in v. 6.
There are two sources of service in this universe: one is ourselves (and is by the letter, which kills), and the other is from God (and is by the Spirit, which gives life). We are either in ourselves, in dead letter, or we’re in the Spirit, in God.
Serving God by the letter is actually serving God by ourselves, and serving God by the Spirit is serving God by God Himself. When we are serving God by God Himself, we are at rest: we come to Him, learn of Him, take His easy yoke and His light burden, and we find rest for our soul.
Just as the service by the letter is the service in ourselves and from ourselves, so also the service of the Spirit is the service in God and from God. Christ became a life-giving Spirit, and our service to God should be by the life-giving Spirit which is with our spirit.
There are only two kinds of services with two kinds of sources: one kind of service is by the letter, taking ourselves as the source, and the other kind is by the Spirit, taking God as the source. There is no third source or third way of serving God: we either serve God in ourselves or serve Him in God.
The service which is from ourselves takes ourselves as its source, and it is performed by us according to the ordinances and rituals of the letter. It can be carried out by us outside of God and independently of God, without any need to rely on God, seek God, or fellowship with God. But the service which is from God is not like this! It requires us to rely on God, seek God, fellowship with God, be in God, and absolutely take God as our source. This kind of service is not from man’s wisdom, does not rely on man’s power, and is not for man’s pleasure. Rather, it is from God’s revelation, relies on the Holy Spirit of God, and is for God’s purpose. Hence, it requires us to live in and by the spirit. Witness Lee, The Spirit and Service in Spirit, pp. 105-107
The service that is from ourselves has ourselves as the source, and it is performed by us according to the ordinances and rituals of the letter – outside of God and independently from God, without us relying on God, seeking God, or fellowshipping with God.
But the service that is from God requires us to constantly rely on God, depend on God, fellowship with God, be in God, and take God as our source in an absolute way, realizing that we’re a branch in the vine and apart from Christ we cannot serve or do anything (John 15:5; Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 8:6).
If we are the source of our service, our service is not from God’s revelation, it doesn’t rely on God but on ourselves, and its purpose is for us, thus damaging the Lord in His economy. We need to take the lead to exercise our spirit and live in the mingled spirit.
As we read, pray, and do everything, we need to enjoy a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ to see what’s on His heart and cooperate with Him for His purpose. May we be those who choose to serve God by the Spirit and reject our self, our opinions, and our ideas.
Lord Jesus, save us from serving You from ourselves by the letter which kills and does not give life. Lord, we want to serve You by the Spirit, by taking God as the source of our service. We rely on You, seek You, want to be in You, and fellowship with You so that we may absolutely take God as our source. Oh Lord, we reject ourselves, our opinions, and our ideas, and we take You as our unique source in our service so that our service may be pleasing and acceptable to You!
The Service that is from God requires us to Fellowship with God and be One with God
Yesterday we saw some hints on what it means to serve God by not taking God as our source, and today we want to see what it means to serve God by taking God as our source.
The service that is from God and by the Spirit is not from our own initiation but from God’s revelation; it relies on the Holy Spirit of God, and it is for God’s purpose (Eph. 1:17; 3:3-5; Col. 1:9).
The service that is from God requires us to live in the spirit and by the sense of the spirit, walking constantly according to the leading of the Spirit so that all the requirements of the law may be fulfilled in us (Rom. 8:4).
First, we need to have a governing controlling vision of God’s economy, so that we can rely on Him and cooperate with Him for His purpose, and at the same time we need to exercise our spirit for a proper living.
The service which is from God requires us to live in the spirit; all that we do and say and act need to be according to the leading of the Spirit. At any given moment we are walking according to the Spirit, what God is desiring and expecting from us is being fulfilled and lived out in us.
The service that is from God requires us to have fellowship with God and not be detached from God, but remain in the organic union with Him all the time (1 John 1:3; John 15:5; 1 Cor. 1:9; 6:17). Serving God by the Spirit requires a moment-by-moment fresh contact with God.
In serving God we need to always rejoice, unceasingly pray, and in everything give thanks; our service to God is our rejoicing, praying, praising, loving the Lord, amen-ing His word, and never stop exercising our spirit!
Every service that is from God and pleasing to Him is carried out by contacting and touching Him; we serve while contacting Him (see Rom. 1:9; 7:6). At any moment that we are outside of the mingled spirit, we are in the oldness of letter; but whenever we’re in our spirit, we’re in the newness of life, we’re one spirit with the Lord, and we take God as the source of our service.
If we serve outside of God, regardless of whether it is by our zeal or anything else, our service is not from God and therefore has no spiritual value. A service that is from God and has spiritual value must be one in which we are joined to God and in fellowship with Him by abiding in Him (1 Cor. 6:17; 1 John 2:27-28).
We need to remain one spirit with the Lord, practice living one spirit with the Lord, and allow the Lord Jesus in us to be the originating, motivating, and operating One in us to carry out His work in us and through us.
On the one hand, God operates within us, and on the other hand, we serve Him outwardly (see Rom. 1:9; 7:6). He operates, we cooperate; we live one spirit with the Lord, and the inner operating God operates in us to enable us and empower us to work for Him.
The service that is from God and by the Spirit issues out of God’s operation within us; outwardly we serve God, yet inwardly He is operating.
Lord Jesus, keep us in a fresh moment-by-moment contact with You all day long. We want to be those touching You all the time by rejoicing in the Lord, praising the Lord, praying to fellowship with the Lord, loving the Lord, Amen-ing the word of God, and always exercising our spirit! Amen! We want to serve God by being joined to God, in fellowship with God, and by abiding in Christ to take Him as the source of our service. Lord, operate in us both the willing and the working, and we will cooperate with You by serving You!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message for this week, and The Spirit and Service in Spirit (pp. 105-107, by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Service for the Building up of the Church (2016 Spring ITERO), week 4 / msg. 4, The Service that is from God.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Not of letters, but of spirit, / The New Testamental way; / For ‘tis life the spirit giveth, / But the letters always slay. / Outward work God never reckons, / But what’s from the inmost part; / It is not to serve in letter, / But life’s newness to impart. (Hymns #908)
# Exercise the spirit! / Natural sense renounce; / Serve with one another, / Christ the Lord announce. / Exercise the spirit! / Soulish life deny; / Helping one another, / On the Lord rely. (Hymns #866)
# Stay in fellowship with Jesus and behold His face / If His glorious radiance you’d impart. / Love and serve the Lord sincerely; this will touch men’s hearts; / Brighten the corner where you are. (Song on Fellowship with God)
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This kind of service from God requires us to have fellowship with God and not be detached from God. In order to have this kind of service, we must be in fellowship with God; we cannot act independently of God, God and we being separated. Every service that is from God and pleasing to Him is carried out by contacting and touching Him. We serve Him while contacting Him. We cannot stand apart from Him and lose touch with Him. If we serve outside of Him, regardless of whether by our zeal or anything else, our service is not from Him and therefore has no spiritual value. A service which is from God and has spiritual value must be one in which we are joined to God and in fellowship with Him by abiding in Him. On the one hand, He operates within us, and on the other hand, we serve Him outwardly. Therefore, this kind of service is an activity issuing out of God’s operation within us. Outwardly, we are serving Him, yet inwardly He is operating. (The Spirit and Service in Spirit, pp. 105-107, by W. Lee)