The word of the Lord Jesus in Matt. 7:21-23 is very sobering and exposing – many people do works of power in His name, cast out demons in His name, prophesied in His name, but the Lord does not recognize them or know them… We can do a lot of good and great things for the Lord – even miraculous things, with the help of the power of God – but if we do things independently of the Lord, He does not approve or recognize it. How much we need the Lord to shine on us and expose our self in all its good or bad intentions and doings, so that we may deny our self and exercise our spirit to be one with the Lord!
The Lord regards our dependence on Him
The self is the independent soul – we may be good and right in our intention, in doing things, in our motive, aim, and goal; we may be even doing things for God, but if we do it independent of the Lord, we are in the self. We may preach the gospel, teach the truth, or do practical things in the church life in our self and by the self. Peter himself did not intend anything bad when he rebuked the Lord (Matt. 16:18-26), trying to prevent Him from going to the cross – but the Lord Jesus exposed Satan who is behind the self, frustrating the building up of the church.
O, Lord Jesus! This matter of being dependent on the Lord and doing nothing apart from our organic union with Him is so real yet so mysterious! The Lord Jesus doesn’t have regard for WHAT WE DO – He has regard for our dependence on Him. We may do less than what we actually intend to do in our good will for Him – but if we do it depending on the Lord, we will be approved by Him and acknowledged by Him. If we are dependent on the Lord, we are spontaneously dependent on the Body.
Real dependence on God brings in real peace
If we do things for the Lord in our self, we will seek other’s approval and confirmation that we are doing a good thing. But if we depend on the Lord and on the Body, we have the genuine peace and rest. Dependence on the Lord and on the Body of Christ brings in peace. This is not a man-made peace and it is not something others confirm outwardly, but the real peace of God. A man-made peace is a peace which needs the self to sustain it. But genuine peace doesn’t need any self effort or outward confirmation – we have real peace by being dependent on the Lord and on the Body!
Practically, the self is the enemy of the Body
When we see the Lord, we see our self, and we realize that the vision of the self has much to do with the Body of Christ. When it comes to the building up of the Body of Christ, the greatest problem and the greatest frustration is not something outwardly but it is the self. If we are in the self, we frustrate the building up of the Body. When we have the Body, we don’t have the self. The principle of the Body is dependence, but the self loves to be independent. How much we need to see a vision of the self to deny it by exercising our spirit to build up the Body of Christ!
In a practical way, this morning I was very exposed to see what the self is. Here are some of the aspects of the self exposed in the Bible and in our experience:
- Ambition, pride, and self-exaltation (Matt. 20:20-28; 1 Pet. 5:5; Rom. 12:3; Num. 12:1-10; Phil. 2:3-4).
- 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).
- Introspection and self-despising (S.S. 2:8-9; 1 Cor. 12:15-16).
- Being offended by the church, the leading ones, or the saints (Matt. 6:14-15; 18:21-35; Mark 11:25-26; Col. 3:13).
- Disappointment and discouragement (Rom. 8:28-29; 2 Cor. 4:1).
- Self-love, self-preservation, self-seeking, and self-pity (Matt. 13:5, 20-21).
- Murmurings and reasonings (Exo. 16:1-9; Phil. 2:14).
- Natural affection (friendship) based on natural taste and preference (Matt. 12:46-50; Phil. 2:2b; 1 Cor. 12:25).
- Being opinionated and dissenting (John 11:21-39; Acts 15:35-39; cf. 1 Cor. 7:25, 40).
- Being individualistic and independent (1 Cor. 16:12).
[sharing inspired from the outline on message 7 and, The Heavenly Vision (pages 45-47), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery. You can purchase the morning revival book online, follow the articles on The Four Great Pillars.]
Lord, from our self deliver – from all its misery! We want to be completely filled with You so that You may build up the Body of Christ even through us. O, Lord, save us from being independent. May we be those who take the lead to depend on You in everything we do and say. Strengthen our dependence on You and on the other members of the Body of Christ. Save us from thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. O, Lord, take us on and make us buildable members in Your Body!
Wow, how much we need to see the vision of the Body so that we may see the self, deny the self, and exercise our spirit to depend on the Lord! I was also touched to see these practical aspects of the self and the way to practically deny our self for the building up of the Body of Christ!
# ambition, pride, and self-exaltation – these are the expression of the self rising up and being exalted. When full of the self, we have a dominating attitude, a suppressing spirit (putting others down), and a critical speaking. None are good for the building up of the church – they are means for the gates of Hades to attack the church! May the Lord shine on our self so that we may be those who use the key to deny the self! We need to take the lead to be humble, think not highly of ourselves, but being OK with what we are by the grace of God. Because of one's strong disposition his usefulness can be annulled. 1 Pet. 5:5 says, God gives grace to the humble – we need to be those who take the lead to humble ourselves and exercise our spirit, not to suppress, criticize, or dominate! In Matt 20 the Lord says that if you want to be first, you need to first be a slave! The Son of Man came not to BE served but TO SERVE – this is the Real King living in us to make us the church as the kingdom of God. Also, in Rom. 12:3, after we see the Lord's sanctification and proving what the will of God is, Paul says, do not think more highly of yourself! I am what I am by the grace of God – exercise your spirit and be what you are, never thinking of yourself more highly than you ought!
# self righteousness, self-justification, and exposing – the self has his own righteousness, it justifies itself all the time, and it exposes others!
# introspection and self-despising – these have nothing to do with the experience of the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. Don't look at your function in the Body so as to despise it – just be very happy to be what you are! No competing and no despising of ourselves – this is Satan, who uses the self from many directions.
# being offended by the church, the leading ones, or the saints – If we are selfless, we will never be offended. If we deny the self, we will never be offended. All the offenses come because we are so full of ourselves. Lord, save me! Strengthen me to exercise my spirit to deny my self!
# dissapointment and discouragement – in the self. When you're in the church as the kingdom, you have righteousness, peace, and joy! We have love, light, and the life in us is never dissapointed and never discouraged!
# self-love, self-preservation, self-seeking, and self-pity – in this way we can recognize the self. Who loves ME? We pity ourselves. The Lord Jesus never had any self-pity – He was self-less. The way to build up the church is to exercise the key to deny the self.
# murmurings and reasonings – Philippians says, do all things without murmurings and reasonings! Christ as our life to be experienced as our organic Savior. Much more we will be saved! The Lord wants to save us from this aspect of our self. Outwardly we may not say anything, but inwardly there's the muttering and murmuring, and there's the reasoning… – these are attaking the church as the gates of Hades!
# natural affection (friendship) based on natural taste and preference – the Lord said, Who is my brother / mother / sister? Yes, He did love His family members, but He was not full of natural affection, He was not controlled or governed by this. He was controlled by the will of the Father! Phil. 2 encourages us to have the same love for all the saints! The Lord wants us to love all the brothers with the same kind of love!
# being opinionated and dissenting – see John 11, Martha being so full of opinions and frustrating Christ.
# being individualistic and independent (1 Cor. 16:12) – Apollos was asked by Paul to go visit some churches, but he said he will do so when it is convenient for him…
"May we be those who take the lead to depend on You in everything we do and say. Strengthen our dependence on You and on the other members of the Body of Christ. Save us from thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. O, Lord, take us on and make us buildable members in Your Body!" Amen!
Wow, how much we need to see the vision of the Body so that we may see the self, deny the self, and exercise our spirit to depend on the Lord! I was also touched to see these practical aspects of the self and the way to practically deny our self for the building up of the Body of Christ!
# ambition, pride, and self-exaltation – these are the expression of the self rising up and being exalted. When full of the self, we have a dominating attitude, a suppressing spirit (putting others down), and a critical speaking. None are good for the building up of the church – they are means for the gates of Hades to attack the church! May the Lord shine on our self so that we may be those who use the key to deny the self! We need to take the lead to be humble, think not highly of ourselves, but being OK with what we are by the grace of God. Because of one’s strong disposition his usefulness can be annulled. 1 Pet. 5:5 says, God gives grace to the humble – we need to be those who take the lead to humble ourselves and exercise our spirit, not to suppress, criticize, or dominate! In Matt 20 the Lord says that if you want to be first, you need to first be a slave! The Son of Man came not to BE served but TO SERVE – this is the Real King living in us to make us the church as the kingdom of God. Also, in Rom. 12:3, after we see the Lord’s sanctification and proving what the will of God is, Paul says, do not think more highly of yourself! I am what I am by the grace of God – exercise your spirit and be what you are, never thinking of yourself more highly than you ought!
# self righteousness, self-justification, and exposing – the self has his own righteousness, it justifies itself all the time, and it exposes others!
# introspection and self-despising – these have nothing to do with the experience of the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. Don’t look at your function in the Body so as to despise it – just be very happy to be what you are! No competing and no despising of ourselves – this is Satan, who uses the self from many directions.
# being offended by the church, the leading ones, or the saints – If we are selfless, we will never be offended. If we deny the self, we will never be offended. All the offenses come because we are so full of ourselves. Lord, save me! Strengthen me to exercise my spirit to deny my self!
# dissapointment and discouragement – in the self. When you’re in the church as the kingdom, you have righteousness, peace, and joy! We have love, light, and the life in us is never dissapointed and never discouraged!
# self-love, self-preservation, self-seeking, and self-pity – in this way we can recognize the self. Who loves ME? We pity ourselves. The Lord Jesus never had any self-pity – He was self-less. The way to build up the church is to exercise the key to deny the self.
# murmurings and reasonings – Philippians says, do all things without murmurings and reasonings! Christ as our life to be experienced as our organic Savior. Much more we will be saved! The Lord wants to save us from this aspect of our self. Outwardly we may not say anything, but inwardly there’s the muttering and murmuring, and there’s the reasoning… – these are attaking the church as the gates of Hades!
# natural affection (friendship) based on natural taste and preference – the Lord said, Who is my brother / mother / sister? Yes, He did love His family members, but He was not full of natural affection, He was not controlled or governed by this. He was controlled by the will of the Father! Phil. 2 encourages us to have the same love for all the saints! The Lord wants us to love all the brothers with the same kind of love!
# being opinionated and dissenting – see John 11, Martha being so full of opinions and frustrating Christ.
# being individualistic and independent (1 Cor. 16:12) – Apollos was asked by Paul to go visit some churches, but he said he will do so when it is convenient for him…
Amen lord.we just relying and depending on you lord cos without you we are nothing
Amen ,LET the peace of CHRIST arbitrate in your heart
Amen hermanos
Amen
Make us buildable members in your body
Praise the Lord! Amen!
Amen lord