By the Lord’s mercy we need to have the vision of the self, the greatest hindrance to seeing and entering into the reality of the heavenly vision.
In relation to ourselves, the self is the soul life expressing its thoughts and opinions. In relation to Satan, the self is the embodiment of Satan, the thought of Satan injected into our soul. In relation to God, the self is the soul declaring independence from God.
When Satan asked man questions and injected his doubts into man’s mind, the soul of man became the self and declared independence from God. Previously, man used to depend on God for his enjoyment, satisfaction, protection, and everything. But after man fell, man hid from God and tried to cover himself, doing his best to provide for his needs without God.
Man took the thought, the idea, of Satan into his soul, and his soul became the self, which is independent from God. Whenever we do not live one with the Lord but in our self, no matter what we do, we are separated from God, declaring our independence from Him.
The soul is especially independent from God in the opinion and in the will (see Matt. 16:22-23). The more opinions we have, the more independent we are from God. Whenever we do something by ourselves without depending on God, we are in the self and whatever we do is not accepted by God.
We need to follow the pattern of the Lord Jesus and depend on God in everything, and the way we do this is by eating Him and living because of Him (John 6:57). As we eat the Lord Jesus in His word, we depend on Him more and more.
He came and lived because of the Father, doing everything in oneness and dependence on the Father. In the same way, no mater how many times we have preached the gospel, cared for the new ones, studied the Bible, etc, we need to depend on the Lord in all these things.
In all the things of our daily life we need to depend on the Lord by turning to Him, eating Him, and living because of Him. Also, we need to depend on the Body; when we depend on Christ, we also depend on the Body of Christ.
The Self is the Soul Declaring its Independence from God
What is the self? In the world we are taught and encouraged to develop our self, make it stronger, be independent, think for ourselves, do things by ourselves, and live by ourselves. If we read the Bible under the shining of God’s light we will realize that our self is the soul declaring its independence from God (see Matt. 16:23; Luke 14:26).
In relation to God, the self is the soul declaring independence from God (see Gen. 3:1-6). After man was created by God, he was in constant fellowship with Him and he took God as the supplier of all his needs; God was his peace, joy, protection, existence, enjoyment, and satisfaction. But after man fell and had Satan’s thought injected into his mind, he stood apart and away from God, declaring his independence of God.
The worst thing is to be independent and separated from God, since you and God are apart. As a result of man taking the thought of Satan into his soul, his soul became the self, independent of God. This means that today we are by default inclined to be independent of God, especially in our opinions and in our will.
The more we are independent of God, the more we have opinions as the manifestation of the self. The most opinionated person is the person most independent from God, the person living in himself all the time.
Who on earth doesn’t live in the self? Who on earth doesn’t express their thoughts and opinions but genuinely depends on God for everything? There is only ONE person in the whole universe and throughout history that fully depended on God for everything: the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 6:57 As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.
When Jesus came to earth, He told us, The living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father (John 6:57). He was God incarnated, yet He didn’t consider the matter of being one with God something to be grasped. He denied Himself, took the position of a man, and said, I live because of the Father. I speak what My Father speaks. I do the works of My Father. I seek the glory of My Father.
Jesus Christ was the most qualified person to be independent – He was God Himself incarnated and could do what the things He wanted, speak what He desired, and seek His glory. But He took the position of a man and declared His dependence on the Father. His words, actions, will, and everything He did was because the Father did and spoke those things.
This One is the Head of the Body, and we as His Body are His reproduction, becoming the same as He is. Just as He was, fully delivered from the self and fully depending on the Father, so we will be if we eat Him and live because of Him. As we eat Jesus every day, we depend on Him and we live because of Him.
There’s a tendency that, at one point after doing things repeatedly, we would get used to doing them and not consulting the Lord first. We may know how to preach the gospel, how to care for the young people, or how to read the Bible by ourselves – without touching God and depending on Him. But the moment we do things out of habit and not depending on the Lord, that moment we are apart from the Lord.
Our testimony needs to be that we depend on the Lord all the time. The Lord has to deliver us from living in the self. The self needs to be identified and denied, put aside.
The more we grow in the Lord and the more we know Him, the weaker we feel we are in ourselves, and the more we need the Lord moment by moment. We do not have any confidence in ourselves, in our flesh, in our experience, or in our ability (Phil. 3:3) but trust in the Lord, boast in Him and serve by the Spirit of God mingled with our spirit.
We need to have a vision of the self as the soul declaring independence from God and seek to depend on the Lord by turning to Him, eating Him, speaking to Him, doing everything one with Him, and constantly depending on Him.
Lord Jesus, save us from being separated from You by living in the self. May we eat You in Your word to depend on You and live because of You. Lord, shine on us and show us how independent from God our self is. Save us from doing things apart from You. May we grow in life day by day and depend on You more and more. Lord, we need You moment-by-moment! We can do nothing without You! We choose to deny the self as we see it exposed under Your light, and depend on You!
Being Independent of the Body of Christ is the Same as Being Independent of God
Phil. 3:3 For we are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.
Many believers say, I love the Lord Jesus, I love to be with Him, spend time with Him, and fellowship with Him. It’s all about “me and my Lord”, and it is so sweet! However, they don’t depend on the Body in a practical way but do things according to “how they feel before the Lord.”
In the church age today being independent of the Body equals being independent of God. The Christ we eat and depend on is the Head of the Body, and if we genuinely enjoy Him and eat Him, we will depend on Christ and on the other members of the Body the Lord put us with.
If we see that the self is the soul declaring independence from God we will realize that the self is the greatest problem to the building up of the Body of Christ. Because of the soul declaring independence from God, we don’t depend on the Body.
Check with your experience: when you are about to do something or go somewhere in the church life, do you fellowship with the saints? It’s not about “asking permission” or “consulting the brothers and sisters to see what they think about it”; it’s about depending on Christ the Head and the Body.
If we are isolated from the brothers and sisters, we are isolated from God. Yes, the Lord is omnipresent and He’s with us wherever we are, but if we’re not properly related to the saints, if we do not fellowship with the saints, we don’t have the Lord’s presence. If we are not rightly related to the Body, no matter where we are and what we do, we don’t have the Lord’s presence.
Sometimes we have a deep sense that we don’t have the Lord’s presence; this can be due to the fact that we’re isolated from the Body. If we are right with the Body, in fellowship with the saints, and built up in the Body, we will surely sense the Lord’s presence.
If we depend on the Head of the Body we will also depend on the Body of the Head; if we are independent of the Body, we are independent of Christ.
A very sweet example of the fellowship in the Body is Paul in his epistle to Philemon, where he entreats him to first forgive Onesimus (his runaway slave), and then he tells him that Paul would have liked to have Onesimus with him to serve him, but he wants to ask Philemon about it in fellowship with him.
The aged apostle could have just claimed Onesimus to be with him, but he had fellowship with Philemon about it, as he was sending Onesimus back to him.
When we are about to do something in the church life, do we have the feeling that we should fellowship with the other saints? We can’t say “we depend on the Lord!” and yet forget about the Body and not depend on the Body. The test on how much we depend on God is how much we depend on the Body.
Lord Jesus, save us from being independent of the Body. Cause us to realize that our self is the greatest hindrance to the building up of the Body of Christ. Lord, deliver us from our self! May we be people who depend on God and depend on the Body. May we be saints who fellowship with others about things before they do these things. Show us how much we need the Body. Save us from our independence.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. James Lee’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1965, vol. 3, “The Heavenly Vision,” ch. 4, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Heavenly Vision, week 4 / msg 4, The Vision of the Self.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Abide in Me, and I in you, / As the branch cannot bear fruit / Of itself unless / It abides in the vine, / So neither can you / Unless you abide in Me. (Hymn on Abiding in the Lord)
# Yes, all our strength of independence died, / For we with Christ were fully crucified. / Now we’re so glad to be His proper wife, / Dependently enjoying Him as life / Forevermore. (Hymns #1140)
# Freed from self and Adam’s nature, / Lord, I would be built by Thee / With the saints into Thy temple, / Where Thy glory we shall see. / From peculiar traits deliver, / From my independent ways, / That a dwelling place for Thee, Lord, / We will be thru all our days. (Hymns #840)
# Your faith in Christ helps me pursue; / My progress depends upon you! / As I seek Christ, with you in view, / My heart, full of prayers, is for you. (Hymn on Depending on the Body)
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