Serve God by the Resurrected Ability and let the Cross Deal with the Natural Ability

May the Lord have mercy on us that we would not serve Him in our natural strength and ability but in the resurrected ability; may we learn to contact the Lord, depend on Him, live in spirit, and trust in Him, not in our natural ability, and may we serve Him in resurrection in the church life.

Each one of us was created by God not only in His image and according to His likeness but also with a certain set of abilities, capabilities and aptitudes.

As we grow up humanly, we develop our abilities, we cultivate our abilities, and we learn how to do things with and by the help of our abilities.

Some people may be more gifted than others, while others may not be that outstanding, yet still have some ability given by God.

Solomon was the top person in his time, for he had God-given wisdom and understanding, and everyone else was amazed at how much he knew and how wise he was.

However, with Solomon, we don’t see a measure of the growth in life, no maturity in life.

David, his father, was not as gifted as Solomon, but with David, we see genuine experiences of God, genuine repentance and fellowship with God, and even continual fellowship with God and before God.

Solomon, however, indulged in his flesh and did not restrain his lust, and he was completely disqualified from enjoying the top portion of the land; furthermore, his descendants lost most of the good land and did not inherit it.

We need to learn from the story of Solomon to not only ask God for wisdom and understanding but even more, seek to grow in life unto maturity and allow the Lord to shine on and deal with our natural ability.

God does not appreciate or receive anything we do in our natural man. Our natural man is impotent and insufficient when it comes to the things of God.

No matter how able and gifted we are, our natural ability is not useful to God at all unless it passes through death and resurrection.

If we do something in our natural ability, we are proud of what we have done, and we boast about it and seek to gain glory from others.

However, if we do something in the resurrected ability, we are not proud but rather, we seek that God would gain all the glory.

When we do something in our natural ability, it’s all about us and it’s all for us, for the self has no regard for the will of God.

However, when we serve in the resurrected ability, there’s no element of the self; rather, we trust in God, we want God to gain the glory, and we seek the will of God.

May the Lord have mercy on us and deliver us from living in and according to our natural man and from serving God in our natural ability.

The Natural Strength and Ability need to be dealt with by the Cross to be Useful to God in Resurrection

The history of the church is filled with people who are talented and gifted and who do many things for God, but they do things according to their natural strength and ability but not according to God’s will.

Many Christians today, because they have the strength and ability, feel that they don’t need to pray and seek God’s will, and they do not wait on the Lord to have His feeling and thought before they do something.

Even we ourselves, we may only seek to have the Lord’s blessing but not wait for Him to lead us in what we should do.

This is what Moses also did; he slew an Egyptian to protect his fellow Hebrew, but he didn’t do this according to the Lord’s will but according to his own will (Exo. 2:11-12).

If we look around us in Christianity today we see a very sad situation, for people work for the Lord mostly on their own by their natural strength and ability.

They may pray that God would bless their work, but they do not seek God’s will, nor do they wait on the Lord; rather, they trust in their natural strength and ability.

May the Lord have mercy on us to shine on us and expose our self-seeking and impure motives in doing things for the Lord in the church life.

We shouldn’t do things just because we can, we have the ability to, and there’s a need; we need to seek the Lord’s leading.

We need to allow the cross to deal with our natural strength and ability so that we may be useful to God in resurrection.

Dealing with the natural strength and ability by the cross is a great, subjective lesson; it is more subjective than dealing with sin.

Our natural strength and natural ability are what we are by nature and in our nature.

On one hand, we need to deny the self, and on the other hand, after we deny the self we still need to reject our natural strength and ability, dealing with them by the cross.

When our natural strength and ability are dealt with by the cross, they will be brought into resurrection, and they are useful to God.

We can see an example of this with Peter; he had a lot of natural strength and ability, to the point of thinking that he would follow the Lord to prison and even to death (Luke 22:33).

He even promised the Lord that he will never deny Him.

However, Peter was tested and he denied the Lord three times, even before a little maid (John 18:15-18, 25-27).

He was absolutely defeated and became a complete failure (Matt. 26:69-71).

He loved the Lord with his whole heart, but he was too confident in his own strength, his natural strength, so the Lord allowed him to fail miserably.

Then, the Lord came in to recover his love for him, and Peter’s ability was brought into resurrection to be useful to the Lord.

Peter’s love for the Lord was precious, but his natural strength and ability had to be denied and dealt with.

His failure and the Lord’s coming in to recover him to his function of shepherding others caused Peter to serve the brothers by faith in the Lord and with humility (Luke 22:32; 1 Pet. 5:5-6).

Peter, who used to be so self-confident, was now broken and turned from the natural ability to something in resurrection, something that is useful to God.

May the Lord have mercy on us and shine on us to expose our natural ability, the natural strength, and may we agree with His light and reject our natural strength and ability.

May we allow the cross to operate in us and put to death our natural strength and ability so that they would be in resurrection full of the divine element.

Only when our natural strength and ability pass through the cross and enter into resurrection can we serve the Lord in resurrection and minister life to others in the Body.

Lord Jesus, save us from trying to serve God or do things for God in our natural strength and ability. Save us from simply doing things for the Lord without seeking His leading and without waiting on the Lord. Oh Lord, we are not here to do a great work for You; we are here to love You, enjoy You, and be one with You. Keep us contacting You in our spirit day by day. Keep us depending on You and waiting on You. Shine on us, Lord, and expose the efforts of our natural man to do things for God. Give us the experiences we need so that we may serve You in resurrection. Grant us the necessary experiences for our natural strength and ability to pass through the cross and be in resurrection to be useful to You! Amen, Lord, may our service to God in the church be in resurrection for the ministry of life to others!

Natural Ability seeks its own Glory, but Resurrected Ability seeks God’s Will, His Glory, and His pleasure

The natural ability has no divine element; rather, it is natural, it seeks its own glory and satisfies its own desires.

The natural ability is mingled with the elements of the flesh and the temper. Therefore, when the natural ability is disapproved, it is provoked.

Resurrected ability, on the other hand, is devoid of the flesh (1 Thes. 2:4). The flesh and the natural ability are very much related.

What we are in our flesh is manifested in our service to God if we serve in our natural strength and ability.

Our service to God may be presumptuous, impulsive, and temperamental, with a kind of passion and fervour that are natural.

When we serve God in our natural man, we bring in strange fire, like the sons of Aaron did; this is not fire from the altar, it is something strange.

Also, the natural ability is easily provoked, stirred up, and ready to react; resurrected ability, however, is devoid of the flesh.

Natural ability is temporary and is unable to withstand tests, setbacks, or opposition.

Resurrected ability, on the other hand, extols the Father, acknowledging the Father’s will (Matt. 11:20-26; John 2:19; Acts 2:24).

In Matt. 11 the Lord Jesus extolled the Father not because everything was working out so well for Him but because, even though some unrepentant people in Israel rejected Him, the Lord still extolled the Father, not being provoked by this situation.

When we serve in the natural strength and ability, we may want to call fire from heaven on those who oppose us or hinder our work for the Lord.

This should be a warning sign to us.

Those who serve in the resurrected ability are gentle, meek, and not provoked even when others oppose, persecute, and try to hinder the work.

Those who serve according to natural ability desire rewards or appreciation from others, but those who serve according to resurrected ability desire to win Christ and are determined to gain the honour of being well-pleasing to Him (Phil. 3:8; Gen. 15:1; Heb. 11:5-6; 2 Cor. 5:9).

When we serve God or do things for God in our natural ability, we desire others to see it, know it, and appreciate it.

But if we are one with the Lord and serve in the resurrected ability, we will desire only to gain Christ and be well-pleasing to Him, for this is an honour to us.

Natural ability likes to manifest itself, to be known by man, and to be carried out in front of man.

Resurrected ability likes to do things in secret, being one with the God who hides Himself, and it takes root downward and bears fruit upward (Isa. 45:15; 37:31; Matt. 6:4, 6, 17-18).

May we be those who seek to know and be one with the God who hides Himself, doing our good works not before men but in secret, before the Lord and one with the Lord.

May our life with the Lord be a hidden one, not merely a public one; may there be much root downward so that there would be much fruit upward.

Natural ability and capability apart from life are like a snake, biting and poisoning God’s people. Life, however, is like a dove, supplying God’s people with life and causing us to become a person who expresses Christ (Exo. 4:1-9; Matt. 3:16-17).

When we serve God in resurrection, allowing the cross to put to death our natural ability and strength so that we serve in the resurrected ability, we will express God in our daily living.

We will become a person who expresses in his humanity the bountiful God in His rich attributes through His aromatic virtues.

Life, the divine life we enjoy, experience, live and serve by, causes us to become like a lily growing out of brambles and like a bright star shining in the dark night.

Whenever people try to bring their natural ability into the church, this damages the church, and the reality of the church is lost.

Only that which passes through death and resurrection can be brought into the church, and only this builds up the church.

Only what passes through the cross and enters into resurrection can build up the church as the Body of Christ.

May we be such ones who do not serve in the natural ability or strength but in the resurrected ability for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Lord, we want to know You as the God who hides Himself. May our living and service before God be in secret, not in public, not for show, and not to gain any glory from others. We love You, Lord, and we want to spend time with You to take root downward and bear fruit upward. We desire to gain more of Christ. We are determined to gain the honour of being well-pleasing to God. Amen, Lord, we choose the way of life, not the way of natural ability and strength. May our service to God supply God’s people with life and make us one who expresses God. Save us, dear Lord, from trying to bring our natural ability into the church. May our natural ability and strength pass through death and resurrection so that we may be useful to You for the building up of the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen in the message, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, vol. 2, “Basic Lessons on Service,” lsns. 16, 20, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 5, entitled, Natural Ability versus the Resurrected Ability of the Maturity of Life for the Building up of the Church as the Organic Body of Christ.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – As for Thy life within, / In darkness I mistake- / If spirit or the flesh, / One for the other take. / As for Thy way, O Lord, / I often am not clear; / I toward seclusion tend / And from the pathway veer. / Oh, may Thy living light, Lord, / Scatter all my night, Lord, / And everything make bright, Lord, / For this I pray to Thee. (Hymns #426, stanzas 4-5 and chorus)
  – First we must prepare the vessels / That the Oil they may contain; / Dig the valley full of ditches / That they may be filled with Rain. / First we must go thru the Jordan / Ere anointed from above; / First in death we must be baptized, / Then experience the Dove. (Hymns #279 stanza 4)
  – Oh, may Thy Cross within me / Deepen its work and burn / In me enlarge Thy measure, / And me to ashes turn. / Oh, may Thy Spirit fill me / Each day more than before, / And may Thy living water / On me and thru me pour. (Hymns #280, stanza 4)