the believers are living letters of Christ for others to read and know Christ in them

the believers are living letters of Christ for others to read and know Christ in them [picture: Living Letters of Christ]This morning we were enjoying a very precious portion in the book of 2 Corinthians concerning being letters of Christ inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God (2 Cor. 3:1-3). The believers in Corinth were the fruit of the apostles’ labor, the apostles’ living letters of commendation – they were written by the apostles with the indwelling Christ as the content in every part of their inner being. On the one hand, the believers were the apostle’s letters, and on the other, the believers were written into the apostles’ hearts – two original copies of the same letter, expressing Christ!

the believers are living letters of Christ

Day by day, as we get into the Word of God and as we are under the speaking of the Word of God, Christ is being written into every part of our inner being to make us His living letters! What is a letter of Christ? The apostles’ ministry writes Christ into our being and inscribes us to be Christ’s living letter, so that others may read and know Christ in us and through us. As we spend personal time with the Lord to enjoy Him and “being written on by Him” and as we meet with the believers to write Christ on one another, we become the living letters of Christ to express Christ in all our being!

The tablets on which Christ is written is not something of stone or of paper, but it is “tablets of flesh” – in our heart, Christ is being inscribed with the Spirit of the living God as the ink. This means that Christ is being written daily into every part of our inner being – in our mind, our emotion, our will, and our conscience – and we become letters of Christ to express Him! This is so wonderful! All we have to do is be in the apostles’ teaching, in the word of God, and in the meetings, and Christ is being inscribed on our heart, on every part of our inner being!

two original copies of the same letter

In 2 Cor. 3:2-3 we see that on the one hand the believers were inscribed on the apostle’s heart and on the other hand the apostle inscribed Christ on the believers heart. There was a writing taking place both in the hearts of the believers and in the hearts of the apostles – the same letter was written in two original copies! On the one hand the believers are letters of Christ and on the other hand they were the apostle’s letter, and the apostle was inscribed both with Christ and with the believers. So mysterious, wonderful, and sweet!

We can all testify that we can never forget those into whom we have written Christ – there are some people to whom we ministered Christ, and they became a living letter of Christ! These ones were also inscribed on our heart and we bear them in us as a living letter. Also, we can never forget those who ministered Christ into us – those who inscribed Christ into us. As Christ is being ministered, there’s a writing going on in two hearts at the same time – one copy in the hearts of the believers and another in the heart of the speaking ones!

the ink is the Spirit of the living God

Many people think that brother Lee emphasizes “the Spirit” too much, but verses like these in 2 Cor. 3:2-6 show us that the Spirit of the living God is the ink used in writing the living letters of Christ. The pen, the instrument of writing, is the speaking one, but the element and essence for writing is the Spirit. The Spirit contains all that Christ is, has, has accomplished, and has attained – it is a “compound Spirit”, an all-inclusive Spirit. This Spirit makes all the things of God real to us, and brings the element of God into us. As we are written on with the Spirit again and again, the essence of Christ is dispensed into us and we become living letters expressing Christ!

References and Further Reading

Lord Jesus, continue to inscribe us with the Spirit of the living God so that we may be living letters of Christ! O, Lord, we even want to cooperate with You by having a tongue like the pen of a ready writer to write Christ into the ones around us. Lord, keep our hearts open to the inscribing of Christ on every part of our inner being. Make us the living letters of Christ to express Christ that others may see Christ in us!

being the captives of Christ in His triumphal procession scattering His fragrance

being the captives of Christ in His triumphal procession scattering His fragrance [in the picture: 2 Cor. 2:14]In 1 Corinthians we see that Paul writes to the Corinthian believers who were fleshly and even fleshy that they would aspire to grow in life and be governed, dominated, led, moved, controlled, and guided by their mingled spirit. In 2 Corinthians we see the apostle’s speaking concerning their ministry and he used five metaphors to describe and illustrate what they were, how they were constituted, and how they were behaving as ministers as the new covenant. These five metaphors are: captives of Christ (2 Cor. 2:14), incense bearers (2:14-16), letters of Christ (3:1-3), mirrors beholding and reflecting (3:18), and earthen vessels with a priceless treasure (4:7).

being the captives of Christ

We as believers in Christ and as ministers of the new covenant are captives of Christ – He took captive those taken captive by Satan and now we are His captives (2 Cor. 2:14)! Here this verbe means leading men as captives in a triumphal procession (Conybeare). Christ is a victorious General: He defeated Satan, and He took his captive to be Christ’s! Now we all the believers in Christ need to allow Christ daily to defeat us and subdue us so that we may follow Him as the General in His triumphal procession to scatter the fragrance of Christ everywhere!

A captive of Christ is one who lives and serves in his spirit, caring for the rest in his spirit more than for the outward circumstances and environments. Paul was such a pattern – a door was opened to him in the Lord to go somewhere, but he had no rest in his spirit (2 Cor. 2:13). He didn’t care for the outward circumstances, but for the rest in his spirit. MY SPIRIT – this is the center of God’s economy! We as captives of Christ should care for the rest in our spirit and we should be a lover of the church! In 2 Cor. 12:14-15 Paul was glad to spend and be utterly spent on behalf of the Corinthian believers’ soul. Regardless how the church treats you, you love the church!

who is whose captive in your experience?

In our experience we all have to admit that many times Christ is captive to us, and we “defeat Christ” by living in our natural man, in our flesh, and guided by our self. We may not have problems with sin or with the world, but the question is, Who is Whose Captive? This is why we all need to pray, Lord, make me Your captive – never let me win! Defeat me all the time! The Lord doesn’t need “spiritual giants” but He needs little captives, those who have been defeated by Christ and who are subdued by Him. We need to cooperate with the Lord’s defeating work by praying in such a way, so that He may have a gateway to enter in and defeat us all the time.

Oh, Lord Jesus… We should consider whether we have this desire to be defeated and subdued by Christ – has our self-will ever been conquered? Even in our seeking the Lord, in our reading the Bible, in our meeting with the saints – are we defeated and subdued by Christ or are we opponents of Christ? May the Lord have mercy on us that we would allow Him to defeat us and conquer us. May it not be He being a captive in our fleshly victory but may it be us who are defeated, subdued, conquered, and captured by Him to be His captives in His triumphal procession…

scattering the fragrance of Christ

The ones who have been defeated and subdued by the Lord to be His captives in His triumphal procession scatter the fragrance of Christ – they are incense bearers scattering the savor of the knowledge of Christ in His triumphant ministry. Our knowledge of Christ as captives of Christ is fragrant and savoury – when we are subdued and captured by Him, we bear the fragrance of Christ wherever we are! We will pray like the loving seeker in Song of Songs 4:10-16, Come Beloved in my garden… Awake north wind and come south wind, let my fragrance flow… The Lord uses difficult environments and pleasant environments to help us scatter the fragrance of Christ!

References and Further Reading

Lord Jesus, You are the General leading us in Your triumphal procession! Oh, Lord, never let us win. Defeat us all the time. Subdue us and conquer us. Save us from defeating You and winning a fleshly victory in which You are our captive. Lord, we are delighted to be just little captives in Your triumphal procession, scattering the fragrance of Christ. May we know You to such an extent that it is fragrant and savoury!

being a laboring farmer and an unashamed workman cutting straight the word of truth

being a laboring farmer and an unashamed workman cutting straight the word of truthIn 2 Timothy 2 Paul describes what an inoculator is – he is a teacher, a soldier, a contender / an athlete, a farmer / husbandman, and a workman cutting straight the word of truth. A teacher entrusts the healthy teaching to faithful men by cherishing them in the humanity of Jesus and nourishing them with the divine life. A soldier fights the good fight as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. An athlete runs with endurance according to the rules to obtain the crown! Today we enjoyed the last two qualifications – the inoculator is a farmer and a workman.

being a farmer in the church as God’s farm

The church is God’s farm, God’s cultivated land, and we all the believers are God’s fellow workers (see 1 Cor. 3:6, 9). As God’s fellow workers and as farmers in God’s farm, we need to labor with endurance to sow the seed of the Word of God and to water the saints that Christ may grow in them. We are working together with God by an all-fitting life to sow the seed of life into people and to water them with the Spirit of life by His healthy words (see Luke 8:11; John 7:38, 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6). I love the last part of the footnote in 2 Cor. 6:1 about, And working together with Him

“They worked together with God by a life (not by any gift) that was all-sufficient and all-mature, able to fit all situations, that is, able to endure any kind of treatment, to accept any kind of environment, to work in any kind of condition, and to take any kind of opportunity, for the carrying out of their ministry. “ 

The word of God is like a grain of wheat – it dispenses God as life into us to nourish us. Also, the Word of God is like a fire and a hammer to purify us and break down our self, our natural life, our flesh, our lusts, and even our concepts (see Jer. 23:28-29). As laboring farmers, we diligently and patiently minister the Word of God to people for their growth in the divine life. In all our contact with the saints, we should be pure and have only one motive – ministering Christ to them so that they might grow in life in the Lord (1 Tim. 5:1-2).

being a workman cutting straight the word of truth

2 Tim. 2:15 says, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman, cutting straight the word of the truth. What does it mean to “cut straight the word of the truth“? Some of the Brethren teachers interpreted this word as being concerning dividing the Bible into various dispensations: innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law, grace, and kingdom. These dispensations help us understand the Bible. But there’s more than this about “cutting straight the word of the truth!

To cut straight the word of the truth means to unfold the word of God in its various parts rightly and straightly without any distortion. Just as in carpentry, we are workmen who need to know the word of the truth and then rightly unfold it so that it would enlighten the darkened people, it would inoculate the saints against any poison or heresy, it will swallow up death, and it will bring the distracted ones back to the right track in the Bible (see Acts 26:18; Psa. 119:13). We need to be those consituted with the truth who cut straight the word of the truth in such a way!

The truth is the contents of God’s New Testament economy – the healthy words of the economy of God in the New Testament. God desires that all men be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). Also, the church is the pillar and base of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). As believers in Christ and inoculators together with the apostle, we need to be diligent workment cutting straight the word of the truth by unfolding without any bias or distortion the reality of God’s economy revealed in the New Testament.

References and Further Reading

Lord Jesus, make us such inoculators today! Thank You for the word of God which is so rich and so powerful! We are Your fellow workers – the farmers in God’s farm. Lord, may we be constituted with the Word that we may minister the word to sow the seeds of life and water the plants. Lord, make us those who cut straight the word of the truth by unfolding the healthy words of God’s New Testament economy! Lord, make us such ones!

being a good soldier of Christ Jesus and an athlete contending in the games

being a good soldier of Christ Jesus and an athlete contending in the games [picture: Soldier of God]In 2 Tim. 2 we see that Paul was not only a teacher entrusting the riches of God’s grace in His Word to faithful men but also a soldier of Christ Jesus. In the Old Testament the priestly servie was considered a miliatary service, a warfare (see Num. 4:23, 30, 35). Whenever we minister Christ to others, we find ourselves in a battle! The enemy wants to distract us from getting into the Word of God, from speaking the Word, and from ministering Christ – therefore, we need to fight the battle by exercising our spirit!

a good soldier of Christ Jesus

The Lord Jesus has an interest on the earth and we as believers in Christ are good soldiers of Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 2:3-5). We have been enlisted in God’s army and now we need to fight the good fight (2 Tim. 4:7). We should not be entangled by the things of our physical life, just as a soldier forgets about anything else outside the army and focuses absolutely on fighting the battle! Our priestly service is a ministry to God, serving God and bringing God to man and man to God; on the other hand, our service is a warfare against God’s enemies.

In Rev. 18:13 we see that the cargo of the material Babylon is gold and the souls of men. Babylon deals in the souls of men – even today, men sell their soul to their occupation and they neglect God and His eternal destiny. We need to have a job, we need to earn a living, and we need to take care of all the practical aspects of our human life, but we should not sell our soul to Satan! Our soul was created to enjoy God and express God, and we fight for God’s interest on the earth one in soul with all the saints!

paying the price for the morale

The foremost aspect related to fighting the battle in the army is the morale, the fighting unity. No matter what opinion a soldier may have and no matter how a soldier feels when he hears news from home or about others, everyone needs to deny themselves and be one! To maintain the morale in the Lord’s army we all need to learn to kill our opinions, any dissenting talk, any gossip, and anything that damages the morale. We need to be fully for the Lord’s interest, fighting for God with a heart solely for Him, listening to the trumpet for war!

the church is God’s army fighting for God

We do not fight against God’s enemy on the earth individually – the church is God’s army fighting for God’s interest on earth! In Ephesians we see many aspects of the church – the fullness of the One who fills all in all (1:22-23), the new man created in Christ on the cross (2:15-16), the kingdom of God, the household of God (2:19), the wife of Christ (5:24-25), etc. The final aspect of the church is seen in Eph. 6 where the church is a warrior fighting against God’s enemy. Corporately as the Body of Christ, we need to wear Christ as our breastplate (6:14), our shield (v. 16), our loins being girded with Christ (v. 14), and Christ is our shoes for battle (v. 15).

Praise the Lord, the church is a universal and divine army fighting for God in the universe! For this, we need to clear away any earthly entanglements for the Lord, and we need to obtain the testimony that we are well-pleasing to God (Heb. 11:5-6). We need to take God as our center and our everything, and we need to do everything according to His revelation and leading. Also, we fight the battle against death – we are separated from natural affection, worldly pleasure, rebellion, and death. We shouldn’t touch or spread death but be filled with anti-death – we need to be filled with life and be swallowed up by life (2 Cor. 5:4).

being an athlete contending in the games

Another aspect of our being an inoculator against the decline of the church is being an athlete contending in the games (2 Tim. 2:5). We are at the same time a teacher, a soldier, and an athlete. Later this year in London there will be the 2012 Olympic Games, and many people are preparing and training very hard for this time. As athletes we need to contend lawfully in order to receive the crown. We need to not look to the left or to the right but run fast and with endurance to win the crown! We need to run the race to win the crown – run to reach the goal!

References and Further Reading

Lord, may we see Your interest on the earth and give ourselves to be the soldiers fighting in Your army! Save us from any earthly entanglements. We want to forget about anything else and focus only on Your interest on earth. Lord, we hate death and we want to consecrate ourselves to You to fight against death. Fill us with the resurrection life, the anti-death life, and swallow us in life!

being an inoculator by teaching and ministering the riches of God’s economy

being an inoculator by teaching and ministering the riches of God's economyThis week in the morning revival we come to two practical ways for us to live in the focus of the Lord’s recovery – being the inoculators and the ministers of the new covenant. On the one hand we are “the inoculators” – inoculating the saints against the decline of the church – and on the other hand we are “ministers of the new covenant” – ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit, who gives life. The focus of the Lord’s recovery is the corporate expression of the Triune God, the testimony of Jesus. For us to live in this focus, we need to be inoculators and ministers of the new covenant.

being an inoculator

In 2 Tim. 1:1-16 the apostle Paul presented himself as a pattern and an inoculator. He described an inoculator as being teachers, soldiers, contenders, husbandmen, and workmen. In the physical realm no one likes to be inoculated – getting a shot is not a very pleasant thing for many. But the spiritual inoculation is a pleasant one, the pleasant inoculation of the word of grace of the Triune God. Whenever we are in the meetings, conferences, trainings, etc. we are inoculated against the decline of the church!

The divine antidote of the divine inoculation is the divine word of God. The way we are being inoculated against the decline of the church is by receiving and taking in the God-breathed word of God, the word of the Scriptures. Also, as Paul was mentioning this in 2 Tim. 2, the word of God’s grace is an inoculation – many times it is a pleasant thing to be inoculated with the word of God’s grace!

entrusting the riches of God’s grace to faithful men

Timothy received a good deposit and he has been nourished with the riches of grace – that’s why Paul charged him to commit these things to others who would be faithful and competent to carry on the same ministry (2 Tim. 2:2). On the one hand, we need to be those who are in the things of God’s economy, the healthy teaching, being constituted with the truth and the riches in the word of God. We need to dive into the New Testament with the footnotes and the life-studies which open up the Word of God, so that we would receive a good deposit of the riches of grace concerning God’s New Testament economy.

On the other hand, there is a great need for some who would rise up and entrust these things to faithful men by teaching the riches of God’s economy! God needs some faithful ones who firstly are constituted with the truth and then find others wo commit these things to. By passing on the riches of grace to others and by imparting the healthy things of God’s economy into the saints we inoculate others against the decline of the church and we even hasten the Lord’s return! Lord, make us these ones who gain a good deposit of the riches of God’s economy and then commit these things to faithful men!

shepherding by dispensing and teaching

We all need to shepherd the saints with the teaching of God’s economy (see Eph. 4:11 and 1 Tim. 3:2, 4:11-16). How do we shepherd the saints? It is mainly by dispensing the divine life in the humanity of Jesus to cherish them (to make them happy, comfortable, and open) and by teaching them the divine truths in the divinity of Christ to nourish them (Eph. 5:29). The Lord Jesus was a pattern for us in this by denying His natural human life and living by the divine life in resurrection – He was charming and attracting people in His humanity, and He fed them in His divinity with the words of God!

We all need to learn to be pleasant persons, even charming persons, in order to make others happy for them to receive the inoculation by the imparting of the riches of God’s economy. But we shouldn’t be charming or pleasant in a natural way – by putting on a mask. No, we need to deny ourselves, not live by our natural life, but live by the divine life in resurrection – and Christ as the great Shepherd will have a way to care for others through us. How we need this divinely enriched humanity of Jesus to be lived out in us, so that we would cherish others in His humanity and nourish them in His divinity!

References and Further Reading

Lord, fill us with the riches in the New Testament economy of God! We want to be those who give ourselves to be constituted and saturated with the healthy teaching of God’s economy so that we would be inoculated ourselves! Also, Lord, make us those who commit these things to faithful ones – make us the inoculators of today! May our teaching and our speaking be filled with the riches of God’s economy to inoculate others against the decline of the church!

the secret of the Christian life and the church life is living in the mingled spirit

the secret of the Christian life and the church life is living in the mingled spiritWhat is the secret of the Christian life? Many unbelievers and believers alike may think that to be a Christian one must obey what the Word of God says practically and do your best to fulfill the Bible. But actually the secret of the Christian life, the power and supply for the Christian life, is not our doing and our striving but is living in the spirit. To live in the spirit does not mean that we engage in religious worship, in religious service, or in religious work. To live in the spirit means that we turn to our mingled spirit and allow the Lord to saturate us and pearmeate us to the point that He lives in us!

the reality of church life

The secret of the Christian life is to live in the spirit. This simply means that we allow Christ to fill us and saturate us to the point that He permeates our whole being – and we spontaneously live Christ, the One who made His home in our hearts and saturated us. Only the Christ who has been wrought into our being can express God and can fulfill God’s purpose – we need to allow Christ to make His home in all our inward being so that He may fill and saturate us! Then, there will be a spontaneous living, a “natural result” – we will live Christ and express God!

What is the reality of the church life? The church life is composed of all the believers in Christ who live in their spirit. The reality of the church life is to live in the spirit. In the church life we learn to pay attention not to our mind or emotion but to our spirit. The Christian life, the family life, and the church life – are all a life in our spirit. The divine Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God is mingled with our spirit as the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, continually saturating us as we open to Him and allow Him to spread in us…

the highest gospel and its result

What is the gospel and what is its result? The highest gospel as revealed in the whole Bible is that we would be saved to the extent that God and we are completely mingled as one – having one life and one living. Though we may be fallen sinners, in His salvation God regenerates us by putting His divine life into us, and daily He is working Himself into us to mingle Himself with us! We need to have a deep realization that the gospel of God saves us into Him to live with Him so that He and we can have one life and one living. We are branches abiding in Christ as the vine (John 15:4) and by eating Him and enjoying Him, we live because of Him (John 6:57).

the central vision of God’s economy

1 Corinthians deals with a lot of problems in the church, but in it Paul is faithful again and again in this epistle to bring us back to the central vision of God’s economythe Triune God as the Spirit dwelling in our spirit. The solution to all the problems in the church is our experience of the all-inclusive, life-giving indwelling Spirit as the Christ who is applied to us today. We shouldn’t miss this – don’t focus on the problems in your life or the way to solve the problems in your life, but focus on enjoying the Spirit with your spirit as the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God! When we enjoy this organic union with the Lord in our spirit, there are no more problems but Christ lives in us!

References and Further Reading

Lord Jesus, show us this secret for our Christian life! May we be those who give up trying to fulfill the law or the commandments and just focusing on their spirit! Lord, fill us and saturate our entire being until we are permeated with You. Fill us to the brim, Lord, until we spontaneously live out Christ. Make Your home in our heart, in all the inward parts of our being, until it is Christ living in us and being expressed through us!

the only requirement the Bible has from us is that we live in our mingled spirit

the only requirement the Bible has from us is that we live in our mingled spiritIt is so wonderful that we as believers in Christ have a mingled spirit – the divine Spirit is mingled with our human spirit! Ultimately, the Bible requires only one great thing from us – that we may walk according to the mingled spirit! We are joined to the Lord as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), but practically and daily, in our day-to-day life, we need to live a life in our mingled spirit! Everything is in our spirit – salvation, sanctification, renewing, the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, the entire Triune God, the testimony of the church, etc. All we have to do as Christians is live in our mingled spirit!

the bountiful supply of the Spirit

In Phil. 1:19 we see the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit mingled with our spirit is bountiful – this Spirit includes the entire Triune God, the rices of the Father and the Son, the humanity of Jesus, Christ’s accomplishments, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and everything that God is and in Christ has passed through. Everything is in the rich and bountiful Spirit. Even more, in Rev. 5:6 we see that this Spirit has been intensified sevenfod – He is the seven Spirits of God sent forth in all the earth! We need to see this Wonderful and Rich Spirit mingled with our spirit!

If we pray over all the details and components of this bountiful Spirit, we will have a thorough and rich realization of how amazing and awesome our mingled spirit is. We need to appreciate what we have – our human spirit is mingled with the all-inclusive, life-giving, compound, sevenfold intensified Spirit! When we see this and we pray ourselves into the realization of this Spirit with our spirit, we will be bountifully supplied in our daily living!

the only way is to live in the spirit

Paul discovered this way, and he encouraged us to live in our spirit and walk according to the spirit. This is what the Bible basically tells us – all we need to do is to live in the spirit. We may be students going to our classes or writing our essays, or we may be parents and our kids are naughty – we need to live in the spirit. Whether the environment is good or it is not so pleasant, we need to live in our spirit. In good things, in bad things, in big things, in small things, in all things – we need to live in our spirit! As long as we live in spirit, we spontaneously bear the cross, because the cross is in our spirit.

We don’t need to fight or struggle with our disposition or temper, trying to put it down whenever we feel it rises up and makes us do or say things that we shouldn’t. No, all we have to do is turn to our spirit and live in our spirit. The only way we can deny our self and we can bear the cross is by living in the spirit. “In the spirit Christ is life to me, / Strengthening and blessing all-inclusively; / Living in the spirit, holiness I prove, / And the triune God within my heart doth move” (Hymns #593, last stanza).

living in the spirit is what matters

Paul thought that he was serving God by being zealous for the law and imprisoning the believers in Christ (Acts 22:3) – but he was actually under the authority of Satan! Merely being zealous for God and “doing our best in our power and knowledge to serve God” is not enough – we may still do these things and be under Satan’s authority. What we have to do is to turn to our mingled spirit and live in our spirit. This is the key and the only way – living in our spirit. Even in having morning watch or morning revival, we need to do it in our mingled spirit. Then throughout the day, we need to keep turning to our spirit that we may live in spirit!

References and Further Reading

Lord, may we stop our trying and our struggling and simply turn to our wonderful mingled spirit! Thank You that everything is in our spirit. All we need to live our human life and our Christian life is in our mingled spirit! Lord, keep us turning to our spirit! May we learn to live in spirit in any kind of situation and condition. Bountifully supply us, Lord, that we may live, walk, and be in our spirit daily!