Overcome Worldliness, Ambition, Self-Exaltation and Opinions by the Sanctifying Truth

We need the sanctifying truth to deal with all the factors of division in our being so that we may maintain the one accord among us, the practical expression of the oneness which is in the Triune God and which was enlarged to include us also.

The Lord Jesus prayed in John 17 that we all may be one; the oneness He prayed for is not mere unity in doctrine or being attuned in our mind, but even more, the oneness of the Triune God.

We can have such oneness because we are sanctified by the truth. When the Father sanctifies us in His word of truth, we are one. Sanctification issues in the genuine oneness because this sanctification keeps us in the Triune God. When we are sanctified, we are kept in the Triune God.

Even as the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, so we are in Him by being sanctified in the truth. We can be one even as the Father and the Son are one. Oh, what a oneness!

This is not a oneness of orfanisation or sitting down and thinking the same thing because they are kind of similar and they all agree. Rather, this oneness is oneness of coinherence.

The only way it is possible for us to be one is to be in the Triune God. We need to be in the Triune God by means of the sanctifying truth. We need to be sanctified in the truth, which is in the Word of God, so that we may be one.

May we aspire to have such oneness and be in such oneness by being in the Triune God! When we are in the Triune God by being sanctified by the truth, any factors of division in us are put to death.

The sanctifying truth puts to death and terminates the factors of division, and we are spontaneously brought into the genuine oneness. As we are personally opening to the Lord to be sanctified by Him in the truth, we spontaneously have the oneness of the Body of Christ.

The oneness of the Body of Christ is the enlarged oneness of the Triune God. The Triune God is one; the Father is in the Son, the Son is in the Father, and the Spirit is one with the Son and the Father.

Through His death and resurrection, the oneness of the Triune God has been enlarged to include us, the many believers in Christ.

As long as we remain in the sanctifying truth, allowing the truth in God’s word to renew us, separate us unto God, and saturate us, we are in the Triune God, and we enjoy the enlarged oneness of the Triune God.

Overcome Worldliness by the Sanctifying Truth to Love God and not the World

There are four main factors of division, as indicated by the Lord Jesus in John 17; all these factors of division are overcome by the sanctifying truth.

The first of these factors is worldliness. As long as we believers in Christ love a certain aspect of the world, that aspect of worldliness becomes a cause of division (John 17:14-16, 18; 1 John 2:15-17; 5:19).

We may say we don’t love the world, but we may love the world in only one aspect; that aspect of worldliness will cause a division, separating us from the brothers and sisters. Oh Lord!

The Lord Jesus mentioned the word “world” eighteen times in John 17; sometimes He was talking about the earth, the foundation of the world, or about the fallen people in the world, but at least half the time He mentioned the world, He referred to the system of Satan.

Worldliness disqualifies us from participating in the one accord. The apostle John said that we should not love the world nor the things in the world, for whoever loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. This is very practical.

The whole world is a satanic system, and it lies in the evil one; when we do not love the world, we do not give the ground to the enemy. Loving the world just a little gives the evil one the ground to defeat us and occupy us. Oh Lord!

It is good to come to the Lord regarding this matter, enquiring of Him and being open to His shining, so that He may show us what aspect of the world we still love.

We may ask the Lord to shine on us if there’s anything remaining in our being, anything in our habits, anything in our daily living, that is in the world and loving the world.

How about the way we use our phones, the way we handle the internet and social media? How about the things in our house and the things in our bedroom – are they an expression of our loving the world?

Anyone who loves the world and is worldly is through with oneness. We can overcome the love of the world by loving the Lord and by the sanctifying truth.

When we are in the Word of God and the truth is infused into our being, we simply see the world for what it is, and we will not love the world.

May the Lord have mercy on us and expose any aspect of the world we still love and hold on to so that we may no longer love the world but love God and enjoy the sanctifying truth!

Lord Jesus, we love You and we open to You. Save us from loving the world. Save us from worldliness. We open to Your shining, dear Lord: shine on us and expose any worldliness in our being. Oh Lord, what about the way we speak and the way we dress? We open to You concerning our speaking, our looseness, our involvement in the things of the world, and our loving the world. May we see that the world lies in the evil one, and that loving it just a little gives the evil one the ground to defeat and occupy us. Oh Lord Jesus, we turn our heart to You! We love You! We want to be filled with love for the Father and not love for the world! Amen, Lord, keep us in the sanctifying truth so that the world may be exposed and we may love God and not the world!

Contact the Lord through the Word to Allow Him to Infuse Himself into us and Deal with our Ambition

A second factor of division is ambition; ambition is in each one of us, like a gopher that works underground in a hidden way to cause damage (Isa. 14:13; Phil. 2:3-4; John 5:44; Rom. 12:16; Matt. 23:5-7; 1 Cor. 10:24).

When we contact the Lord through the Word and allow Him to infuse Himself into us, the truth thus imparted into our being kills our ambition.

What can deal with our ambition? We all have ambition, and whether we realise it or not, ambition undermines us from within.

Rebuking doesn’t work, and merely exposing someone’s ambition doesn’t do it.

We need to simply come to the Lord and be under the sanctifying word; only when the Lord infuses us with the truth through His word can we no longer be ambitious.

Ambition is in all of us; it may not be manifested quickly or often, but it is in us, lurking and waiting for an opportunity to be manifested.

We may be in a service group and someone else may be asked to do something and not us, even though we think that we are the right person for the job; ambition is exposed.

We need to be sanctified in the truth, enjoying the sanctifying truth to deal with this factor of division. We need to come to the Lord and open to Him so that He may sanctify us.

When we are sanctified by the Lord through His word, we move out of ourselves and into the Triune God; in this way, the germ of ambition is killed.

It is only the truth imparted into our being through our contact with the Lord through His word that can deal with our ambition.

May we remain in the word of God day by day. May we come back to God’s word and open to the Lord so that He may shine on us and expose our ambition.

It is the sanctifying truth that kills the element of ambition within us. Even though we may think we are not ambitious people in the world, there’s the germ of ambition in our blood; we need the sanctifying truth as the antibiotic to kill it.

If ambition in us is not killed, there cannot be genuine oneness. Of course, we need to be ambitious to please the Lord and live to Him, but the ambition for a position, the ambition to be someone and achieve something, needs to be killed.

The only way we can be one is when the gopher of ambition is exterminated by the sanctifying word.

If we believers in Christ and saints in the church life desire to have the genuine oneness in the church life, we need the sanctifying truth to deal with our ambition.

Only when we are being sanctified by the truth in God’s word can we be kept in the Triune God, and we are spontaneously one. When we’re in God, we’re one, but when we’re out of the Triune God, we are divided immediately.

Lord Jesus, we open to You. Shine on us. Purify us. Intensify Your shining on us and within us. Expose any element of ambition in our being. Oh Lord, have Your way in us. We want to have the sanctifying truth infused into us so that our ambition may be killed and terminated. We desire to have the genuine oneness in the church life, so we let the sanctifying truth deal with our ambition! Oh Lord Jesus, we fully open to You! We come to contact You through the Word and we allow You to infuse Yourself into us so that the truth imparted into our being may kill the element of ambition in our being! Keep us in the oneness. Keep us in the one accord. Keep us in the Triune God by our being sanctified in the Word!

Being Willing to be Nobody and Exalt only Christ to Deal with Self-Exaltation

A third cause of division is self-exaltation; this factor of division usually accompanies ambition. Some people are ambitious and they exalt themselves, while others are ambitious yet never exalt themselves.

Those who exalt themselves desire to have a certain preeminence and higher position for others to see and appreciate.

The disciples were not only ambitious for position but even more, they exalted themselves above others; Peter took the lead to do this. Oh Lord!

May we be willing to be nobody and to exalt Christ as the only Somebody, for He has the universal preeminence (Col. 1:18; 2 Cor. 4:5; 3 John 9-11). Self-exaltation is like a serpent, causing division among the saints.

May we learn not to exalt ourselves but rather, exalt only Christ. If we are given a certain responsibility or if we take the lead in the church life in a certain aspect, we should not be eager to mention this to others or claim that we are somebody.

If we want to be somebody, the genuine church life is not the place for us, for in the church life we are all nobodies and only Christ is Somebody.

In the Lord’s recovery, everyone is brought low and only Christ is exalted. We are all willing to exalt only Christ and give only Him the preeminence in our being, for He is the only Somebody and we are all nobodies.

We are willing to take the way of the cross and live a crucified life, even when we may be persecuted by those outside and reviled by someone in the church life.

In God’s economy, the preeminence belongs only to Christ alone. We only live a crucified life so that self-exaltation is defeated, and we give Christ the preeminence.

Even when the Lord does something wonderful among us, for there’s a certain amount of one accord, and we give a report or a testimony concerning this, may we be aware of self-exaltation.

Self-exaltation is pernicious, being expressed when we don’t even realise it; others around us may sense it, but we may be oblivious. Self-exaltation is insidious, and we need to repent for exalting ourselves.

We need to come to the Lord in His word, give Him the first place, and be in the sanctifying truth so that any element of self-exaltation may be eradicated from our being.

If we realise that Christ is preeminent to God, we will no longer try to exalt ourselves but hold on to Christ, exalt Christ, and give Him the preeminence in our being. Amen!

Lord Jesus, we give You the preeminence in our being and in the church life. We give You the first place in all things by faith. Have the preeminence in us and in everything related to us. Have the preeminence in the church life and in all our service in the church. Save us from self-exaltation. Save us from exalting ourselves or lifting ourselves up for others to see us and appreciate us. Oh Lord, shine on us and expose any exaltation of the self. Expose anything that is of the self trying to exalt itself. May we remain one with You on the cross to live a crucified life, a life in which the self is crucified and only Christ is exalted. Amen, Lord, no longer I but Christ! Not I but Christ be exalted and appreciated! Praise the Lord, Christ has the first place in all things!

Not Holding to our Opinions and Concepts but Focus on the Recovery of Christ as Life and as Everything for the Building up of the Church

The fourth factor of division is opinions and concepts (Matt. 16:21-24). We all have concepts and opinions, and even after becoming a Christian, we still have opinions; even more, now we hold on to our opinions.

Opinion is like a scorpion, biting us and causing us to lose life and be void of the enjoyment of Christ. Peter’s good opinion was uttered when the Lord said He has to go to the cross, and the Lord immediately identified it as being Satan speaking in Peter.

Probably the most damaging thing is concepts and opinions in the church life. We may talk about something related to raising up our children, and some may bring in their concepts and opinions based on how they were raised up and their background.

May the Lord grant us the grace to not hold on to our opinions but rather, let them go, and focus only on God’s goal.

We need to pursue simply the Lord’s goal, which is the recovery of Christ as life and as everything for the building up of the church.

Because concepts and opinions are actually the enthronement of the self, we should not hold on to them. Even our good opinions, caring for others and not wanting them to suffer, can be something that Satan uses to bring in division and damage the oneness.

Especially in the Lord’s service and as we learn to serve Him in the church life, we need to learn to say, I don’t know. It is easy to express your opinion and do things according to your concepts, for you may know so many things.

The more we are involved in the church life and in the Lord’s work, the more we need to have the attitude that we don’t know and that we need to fellowship.

We are not experts. We are not becoming experts. We are learning to depend on the Lord and not to hold on to our opinions and concepts.

The Lord wants to renew us. May we learn not to insist on anything except Christ as life and as everything for the church. Apart from God’s goal, we should not insist on any opinion or concept.

We need the sanctifying truth. Only the sanctifying truth can deal with our opinions and concepts.

When we have the divine reality infused into our being, we are not worldly nor do we love the world, our ambition is killed, self-exaltation is terminated, and our opinions and concepts are laid aside.

Thank the Lord that we have the sanctifying truth to deal with and terminate the factors of division in our being.

As we contact the Lord every day, any factor of division in our being is overcome.

The factors of division are put to death by the sanctifying truth, and the result is that we’re brought into genuine oneness, for sanctification keeps us in the Triune God.

But if we don’t remain in the sanctifying word with the exercise of our spirit, we will be worldly Christians, ambitious Christians, self-exalting Christians, or opinionated Christians, and such ones can never be one!

May we allow the sanctifying word of the truth to deal with worldliness, ambition, self-exaltation, and opinion so that we may remain and be kept in the genuine oneness, the enlarged oneness of the Triune God!

Lord Jesus, we love You and we love the church. We want to focus only on the recovery of Christ as life and as everything for the building up of the church. We open to You, dear Lord. Shine on us and expose our opinions and concepts. Grant us that we would not hold on to our opinions and refuse to cling to our concepts. Oh Lord, may we learn not to insist on anything except Christ as life and as everything for the church! Amen, Lord, may Your goal become our goal. May we be willing to drop our opinions and concepts and simply take Christ as our life and as our everything for the building up of the church! May the factors of division in us be put to death by the sanctifying truth so that we may be brought into genuine oneness! Hallelujah, sanctification keeps us in the Triune God, and in Him we are one!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 3, “Truth Messages,” pp. 329-331, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, One Accord and Crucial Aspects of the Book of Acts (2025 April ITERO), week 3, Maintaining the One Accord by the Three Substances of the Power in the Lord’s Recovery – Prayer, the Spirit, and the Word – day 3.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Overcoming the world, a portion from, The Mending Ministry of John, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
  – Questions and Answers about Apostles and Co-workers, via, Shepherding Words.
  – To overcome worldliness, a portion from, The Overcomers, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee.
  – Deuteronomy (Program #15) – A Word Concerning Division and Apostasy, via, Bible study radio.
  – Abandoning the ambition for position, a portion from, The Practical Expression of the Church, Chapter 13, by Witness Lee.
  – The Narrow Way of Bearing the Cross and Denying the Self unto New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Usefulness and capacity, a portion from, The Experience and Growth in Life, Chapter 23, by Witness Lee.
  – Corporate reading concerning Self-exaltation, via, The Church in New York City.
  – The way to deal with the self, a portion from, Basic Principles of the Experience of Life, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee.
  – Being Sanctified by the Truth to Move out of Ourselves and into the Triune God for the Genuine Oneness, via, The Church in Regina.
  – The need to deal with our opinions and oldness, a portion from, Opening Word to the Full-Time Trainees Concerning Regulations and Opinions, An, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – Being Sanctified by the Truth to Move Out of Ourselves for the Oneness, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Pray to labor with the Lord, / Be identified with Him / In His purpose and His aim / Till His blessing floodeth in. / Pray to labor with the Lord; / Self-ambition and self-will / We must ever cast away, / All His purpose to fulfill. (Hymns #786 stanzas 2-3)
  – How we thank Thee that Thy holy Word / With Thy nature, saturates us; / From the world it separates us. / Thank Thee, Father, for Thy holy Word. / Through Thy Word, through Thy Word, / We have oneness through Thy Word. / Through Thy Word, through Thy Word, / Through Thy holy Word we’re all made one. (Hymns #1081 stanza 2 and chorus)
  – Not I, but Christ be honored, loved, exalted, / Not I, but Christ be seen, be known and heard; / Not I, but Christ in every look and action, / Not I, but Christ in every thought and word. / Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord, / Oh, to be lost in Thee, / Oh, that it may be no more I, / But Christ that lives in me. (Hymns #591 stanza 1 and chorus)