In order for us as children of God to reach the spiritual age of twenty, we need to pass through the first three stages of the experience of life and enter into the fourth stage; there’s the need for the dealing with the flesh, the self, and the natural constitution.
Only those who were twenty years old and over could join the army, for only they had the maturity required to be formed into an army to fight for God’s interest on earth.
The Lord is faithful to bring us through the experiences that He sees necessary for us to be transformed metabolically and matured in life so that we may be part of His army on earth.
On one hand He uses all things for our good, so that we may be transformed, having a metabolic change so that we may be conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God.
On the other hand, the Lord wants the level of the divine life to grow, increase, and fill us so that we may be brought on to maturity.
In the Lord’s recovery today and in all the churches on earth there’s an urgent need for the growth and maturity in life so that we may be formed into the army that God needs to fight for His interest on earth.
This means that we need to grow in life day by day, going through all the stages of the growth in life unto maturity so that we may arrive at a full-grown man, at the stature of the fullness of Christ.
In his book, The Experience of Life, brother Witness Lee points out four main stages of our experience of life; spiritual warfare is a matter in the fourth stage.
Children, infants, or weak ones cannot fight the warfare; only those who have both the proper growth and maturity in life and the required training can be qualified to join the army.
Today we want to see how we need to pass through the first three stages of the experience of life so that we may arrive at the fourth stage; in particular we will focus on the third stage of the experience of life.
Reaching the Third Stage of Experience of Life, Christ Living in us and the Dealing of the Cross
The first stage of the experience of life is being in Christ, the second stage is abiding in Christ, and the third stage is Christ living us – this stage is also the stage of the cross (Gal. 2:20; 3:1; 5:24; Matt. 16:24).
In the first stage of the experience of life we are regenerated and we clear the past. In the second stage we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, and we deal with sin, the world, and the conscience; then, we begin to know God’s will and we learn to obey the teaching of the anointing.
Then there’s a decisive turn to the third stage, which is the stage of Christ living in us, the stage of the cross.
However, many believers stop at this juncture, at the second stage; they are very good people and also good Christians – they confess their sins, they don’t love the world, they deal with their conscience, and they follow the teaching of the anointing.
Those who stop in the second stage of the experience of life are good people but not God-men; they are good men, ethical and spiritual men, but they don’t advance in their experience of life.
The third stage of the experience of life can be considered as “spiritual adolescence”; it is the stage of Christ living in us and the cross operating in us.
We must be faithful to grow in life and deal with all the things that the Lord expose in us and about us, and we need to be fully open to the Lord to enter into the third stage.
And when we’re in this stage, we may not know what to do, but there are many other members in the Body who have been here and can shepherd us in the dealings what we need to get.
We may discover how ugly our flesh is and how terrible the self is, and we may really be exposed to see how much our natural strength and ability can do things apart from God.
In the third stage we realise that the flesh will never change or improve; our soul is being transformed, but our flesh will never improve.
Our future in this age and whether we enter into the joy of the Lord in the next age is determined by whether or not we experience a thorough dealing with the flesh, the self, and the natural constitution.
The Lord is thorough and relentless; if we give Him our consent and consecrate to Him, He will not stop half-way but He will go on until our flesh, our self, and our natural constitution are dealt with.
If we allow the Lord to shepherd us through this kind of experiences, we will realise that there’s a Body of Christ, and we are members of the Body.
If we cooperate with the Lord to have the necessary dealings, we will enter into the fourth stage of the experience of life, and we will be qualified to be the army. It is the Lord’s desire to bring us on to maturity.
Lord Jesus, put in us the aspiration to grow in life unto maturity until we reach the spiritual age of twenty to be formed into Your army to fight for Your interest. May we experience and enjoy Christ stage by stage until we reach maturity in life for the sake of the Body, the army, the warfare, the kingdom, Your bride, and Your coming back! Amen, Lord, may we reach maturity even before we are that old humanly, so that, from now until You return, we would be part of Your army causing Satan to suffer serious loss. Amen, Lord, we are standing here for You, and we want to progress, grow, have the necessary dealings, and be brought on to maturity!
In the Third Stage of the Experience of Life we Deal with the Flesh, the Self, and the Natural Constitution
In the third stage of the experience of life we as believers in Christ deal with the flesh, the self, and the natural constitution with the natural strength and ability.
First we see what the flesh, the self, and the natural constitution is, and then we cooperate with the Lord to deal with these one by one, little by little.
What is the flesh? The flesh denotes the totality of the fallen old man, our entire fallen being (see Gen. 6:3; Rom. 7:18; Gal. 2:16). The flesh is the living out and the expression of the old man (Rom. 6:6).
The flesh can’t be changed or improved, so we should not try to; rather, we need to be mindful of the fact that the flesh is always with us (Gal. 5:16). The flesh is the camp of God’s enemy in us, and it is the largest base for his work (Gal. 5:19-21).
The flesh is the first among our enemies, taking the lead over sin, the world, and Satan to fight against us. God hates the flesh in the same manner that He hates Satan, and He wants to destroy the flesh in the same manner that He wants to destroy Satan (Exo. 17:16; Deut. 25:17-19; 1 Sam. 15:2-3).
Oh, may the Lord show us the flesh, and may we hate the flesh and welcome the cross, so that the flesh may be dealt with!
What is the self? The self is the soul-life with the emphasis on human thoughts and opinions (Matt. 16:23-25). In Matthew 16:23-25 three terms are related to one another: mind, himself, and soul-life.
Our mind is the expression of our self, and our self is the embodiment of our soul-life. Our soul-life is embodied in and lived out by our self, and our self is expressed through our mind, idea, thought, concept, and opinion.
The self is the embodiment of Satan; the self is the essence of Satan in the soul, making the soul independent from God to express its self-opinion and self-will (Gen. 3:1-6; 2 Cor. 11:3). The self is the soul declaring its independence from God (Matt. 16:23; Luke 14:26; Job 42:5-6).
We need to see the self for what it is; the more light there’s on the self, the more we can stand on the Lord’s side and allow the cross to operate in our being.
We need to ask for the Lord’s shining on every aspect of the self, and we will see that Satan is using our mind and thoughts to attack and destroy; when we see this, we will hate the self and welcome the cross.
What is the natural constitution? The natural constitution is the aggregate of our physical and mental abilities (see 1 Cor. 2:14-15; Phil. 3:3, 10-11).
Every one is proud and self-confident when it comes to certain physical or mental abilities; the natural strength and ability do not have the divine element, so they are not welcomed int he Body of Christ.
The Body of Christ doesn’t accept our natural brilliance, our creativity, our administrative ability, and our natural strength; the Body accepts only what is in resurrection.
Are we willing to enter into the process of death and resurrection so that our natural ability would be resurrected?
If we want to get some glory and honor for our eloquence, intelligence, or creativity, then the church life and the Body are not the right place; here only God gets the glory, for to God is the glory in the church!
In the church life we love one another, we pray for one another, and we want to encourage one another go on, be in resurrection, arrive in the fourth stage of the experience of life so that we may know the Body, reign in life, be in ascension, and fight the spiritual warfare!
The natural strength and ability act on their own, not according to God’s will. When we work with our natural ability, we seek our own glory and satisfy our own desire.
When our natural strength and ability are dealt with by the cross, they become useful in resurrection.
If we see this, we will not feel sorry for ourselves and what we are but rather, we will hand over everything that we are, all that has developed in us, to the Lord, knowing that He will be faithful to thoroughly touch every fiber of our natural constitution and thoroughly bring all that we are into resurrection.
Such an issue will be honored by the Body and discerned by the mature saints. May the Lord have mercy on us and shine the light on the flesh, the self, and the natural constitution, and may He not be held back anymore by us.
He doesn’t need us to do anything except give Him our consent and say Amen, Lord, do this in us.
After our natural strength and ability are dealt with by the cross, they will be in resurrection; then something divine has been wrought into our strength and ability, and they become useful for our service to the Lord.
May we have many opening and allowing prayers before the Lord, telling Him,
Lord, please give us the experiences that we need that will bring our whole being into resurrection. Have mercy on us, Lord, and shine on our flesh, our self, and our natural constitution; may all our natural being be brought through death and resurrection to be useful to You in Your service in resurrection. We give ourselves to You, Lord, so that You may deal with the things in our being that are natural. We do not want to hinder You or hold You back in our being anymore. Bring us on to maturity for the Body, for the church, for the formation of the army, and for the fulfillment of Your purpose!
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Tratarea cărnii, sinelui și constituției naturale pentru creșterea înspre maturitate.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, vol. 2, ”Basic Lessons on Service,” chs. 16-20, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 2, The Growth and Maturity Required for the Formation of the Army to Protect God’s Testimony and Fight for His Move on Earth.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Now I know myself in part, / And confess my helplessness; / All my temperament is odd, / All my life corrupted is. / Subtle self I cannot trust, / Nor to fleshly strength can cling; / All my trust and all my hope / Is in Jesus Christ my King. (Hymns #412)
# There are seven golden lampstands in the nature all divine— / Nothing natural does the Body life allow. / When we’re one and share God’s nature, / how the lampstand then does shine— / Hallelujah, it is brightly shining now! (Hymns #1226)
# By the cross discern the spirit; / Passing thru the riven veil, / Flesh and soul are wholly broken, / And the spirit doth prevail. (Hymns #748)
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