LESSONS ON THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY
Lesson Nine
The Life of the God-ordained Way—
The God-Man Living (3)—In the Daily Life
Scripture Reading:
1 Tim. 3:16 And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.
Eph. 4:22-24 That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.
Col. 3:18-21 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, do not vex your children, that they may not be disheartened.
2 Tim. 1:5 Having been reminded of the unfeigned faith in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded dwells also in you.
Phil. 4:12 I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack.
2 Tim. 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will recompense me in that day, and not only me but also all those who have loved His appearing.
I. Living a God-man life in our daily life—1 Tim. 3:16:
A. Living a life of the highest virtues—Act. 28:6b and note 1, 9 note 1; Rom. 12:9-21.
B. A God-man living being a man living God—Acts. 16:25.
C. We are human who live divinely—divine yet so mysterious—2 Tim. 3:16.
D. We need to apply all of these points to our daily living—1 Tim. 3:16a.
II. The living in the new way—the miraculously normal living—1 John 1:2:
A. Being revived and overcoming—Phi. 1:19-21.
B. Only by living a God-man life can one be holy and victorious—John 1:12; Col. 3:12; Eph. 4:22-24.
C. The requirements for living a God-man life:
1. To be revived every morning—Prov. 4:18.
2. To overcome day by day—2 Cor. 4:16.
3. To live in the spirit moment by movement—Gal. 5:25.
4. To walk according to the Spirit for our serving—Rom. 8:4.
5. To be in one accord and in harmony with the saints—Acts. 1:14; Phil. 1:27, 2:2-4; 1 Cor. 1:10.
III. Living a God-man life in our homes—Eph. 4: 22-24, 6:1-4:
A. The highest family life is a mingling life—a mingling of God and man—Luke 1:39-46; Matt. 1:18-25.
B. The building up of the homes in order to perfect the saints—Acts. 5:42, 18:26:
1. Teaching the brothers and sisters how to behave as parents, children, husbands, wives, etc.
2. Once that happens, we can invite our relatives to the home meetings.
C. Living a God-man life by meeting in the home with our family members:
1. The unit of salvation being the household—Acts 16:13-15, 29-34.
2. Meeting with our family members first.
3. Not for group meetings but for meetings from house to house—Acts 2:42.
IV. Living a God-man life by setting up home meetings—2 Tim. 1:5:
A. Becoming holy and spiritual by setting up a home meeting—2 Tim. 1:5; 1 Peter 3:7.
B. The way of meeting in the Bible being a way for us to be revived—1 Cor. 14:26.
C. The gospel being preached spontaneously through the homes—Luke 5:29.
V. The working saints meeting the Lord’s present need and having a glorious living and goal—Acts 26:19; Phil 3:13-14, 4:12:
A. By recalling the past experiences and vision—Act. 26:19.
B. By responding to the Lord’s attraction and calling—2 Pet. 1:3.
C. By renewing the former commitment and consecration—Rom. 12:1.
D. By setting aside one’s time and specifically budgeting one’s daily life—Phi. 4:11-13.
E. By fulfilling all the needs in the new way—Mat. 28:19-20:
1. Visiting people to preach the gospel and to gain new ones.
2. Regularly and consistently helping the new ones in the home meetings.
3. Diligently learning to help the small group meetings.
4. Seriously pursuing functioning and prophesying in the district meetings.
F. A glorious living and a glorious goal:
1. Living—to live Christ—Phil. 1:19-21a.
2. Goal—to build up the Body of Christ—Eph. 4:12, 16.
3. Result—to receive the reward in the kingdom—2 Tim. 4:7-8, 18b.
VI. The corporate God-man living—Phil. 1:19b-21, 3:10:
A. The reality of the Body of Christ being the union and mingling of God with man to live out a corporate God-man.
B. The model of a corporate God-man living being the greatest revival in the history of the church.
Excerpts from the ministry:
LIVING A GOD-MAN LIFE IN OUR DAILY LIFE
Living a Life of the Highest Virtues
Romans 12:9-21 is a long section in which a life of the highest virtues is described. We need to live out the highest virtues of Christ in our dealings with others, with God, with ourselves, with the persecutor and enemy, and in general, before all men. Such a complete and proper life is a life of surpassing quality with an excellent issue. (The Experience of God’s Organic Salvation, p. 61)
A God-man Living Being a Man Living God
The title God-man indicates clearly that Jesus was a man, but He was living God. Today you are a God-man. This means that you are a man, yet you live God and express God. You are a man, yet it is God who lives in you. This is the significance of the title God-man. A God-man’s living is a man living God. (The God-Man Living, pp. 92-93)
We Are Human Who Live Divinely—Divine yet So Mysterious
We have a concept concerning spirituality which blinds us. We need to see that we should not be merely spiritual but divine and mystical. Every believer today should be a divine and a mystical person. We should be divine yet so mysterious. Even those who are close to us should be able to sense that there is something about us which is mysterious and cannot be understood. The key is that although we are human, we live divinely. True spirituality should make us divine. This is higher. (The God-Man Living, p. 92)
We Need to Apply All of these Points to Our Daily Living
[Our Lord Jesus] was on this earth living a life totally for the manifestation of God to express God’s attributes in His human virtues (1 Tim. 3:16a). When people saw His virtues, they saw God’s attributes, and that was a manifestation of God. We need to apply all of these points to our daily living in our contact with everyone. (The God-man Living, p. 8)
THE LIVING IN THE NEW WAY
Following this, we come to see the outline of this chapter. Here, I will use very simple words to explain to you what the miraculously normal living in the new way is.
Being Revived and Overcoming
First, we must be revived every morning. At the end of a day is the night, and after the night is passed is the morning. Every morning we should have a revival from the Lord, a new beginning. For this reason, we should be calling on the Lord and contacting Him immediately upon rising in the morning, and enjoying the Lord and absorbing His rich supply using two or three verses. Whether it is ten minutes or twenty minutes; it is still all right. It is like eating breakfast. At any rate, we have to eat the spiritual food every morning before the Lord so that our spirit is filled every day.
Second, we must live an overcoming life every day through calling on the Lord unceasingly (Rom. 10:12). Regardless how busy we are, we may still call from our heart, saying, “0 Lord Jesus!” We also must deal with sins and be filled with the Spirit at all times (Acts 13:52). As long as there is even a little in the way of trespasses, falsehood, or sins, we should confess and ask the Lord to cleanse us with His blood so that we can maintain the condition of being filled with the Spirit. Then, we walk according to spirit (Rom. 8:4). Our outward movement is governed by the inward spirit. We also live Christ (Phil. 1:21). This is our daily life. If we would practice the foregoing three items—calling on the Lord unceasingly, dealing with sins and being filled with the Spirit at all times, and walking according to spirit—spontaneously the issue is living Christ. Then we speak the Lord everywhere at every time (2 Tim. 4:2). Whether it is in season or out of season, whether it is convenient or inconvenient, we still need to speak the Lord to people, to testify for the Lord. If we would do this, spontaneously we will live an overcoming life. The first two items are concerning ourselves that we may be equipped. The following items are the living we ought to have for our serving the Lord. (Messages Given to the Working Saints, pp. 42-43)
Only by Living a God-man Life Can One Be Holy and Victorious
We must not forget that we are God-men belonging to God’s species. As God-men born of God and belonging to God’s species, we cannot speak to our spouse in a loose way. A husband must be a God-man, living as a God-man. To be merely a good man is far away from God’s good pleasure. We need to see that we are God-men, born of God and belonging to God’s species. This is the beginning of the God-man living.
God loves you. God has a good pleasure to make you the same as He is. He is God, so you must be God also. A God-man living is God living. This kind of teaching is much higher than the teaching concerning how to be holy or victorious. In my early days as a believer, I saw many books on how to live the Christian life. But these books did not really reveal the way. How can you be holy? You can be holy by living a God-man life. How can you be victorious? It is only by living a God-man life. Never forget that you are a God-man, born of God and belonging to God’s species. (The God-man Living, p. 9)
The Requirements for Living a God-man Life
For us to live the church life in the Lord’s recovery today, there are certain requirements. The first requirement is to be revived every morning. We need to have a revival every morning like the rising of the sun. In this way, our path is the path of the righteous, which shines brighter and brighter (Prov. 4:18). The second requirement is to overcome day by day. Every day we begin with morning revival; then during the day we continue to live an overcoming life and are thereby renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16). The third requirement is to live in the Spirit moment by moment (Gal. 5:25). The fourth requirement is to walk according to the Spirit in everything, to not walk according to the flesh (Rom. 8:4), to have no murmuring and reasonings (Phil. 2:14), and to have no selfish intentions and covetousness (Gal. 5:26). The fifth requirement for us to live the church life in the Lord’s recovery today is to be in one accord and in harmony with the saints. (1 Cor. 1:10). (The Church Life in the Lord’s Recovery Today, p. 55)
LIVING A GOD-MAN LIFE IN OUR HOMES
The Highest Family Life Being a Mingling Life—a Mingling of God and Man
The highest family life, marriage life, and social life come out of such a life. This life is the life of the church and the life of the Body of Christ. Such a life is the reality of the Body of Christ. Such a life, like that of Jesus Christ in His thirty-three and a half years on the earth, saves us from all negative things, from small things and big things. (Living a Life According to the High Peak of God’s Revelation, pp. 40-41).
The Building Up of the Homes in order to Perfect the Saints
We have to realize that the way the Lord is taking is to build up His church in the believers’ homes. Once the church is built up in the homes, the homes will be transformed. The husbands and the wives might have been arguing couples, but once they have meetings in their homes, they will stop their arguing. The children will also be preserved from drifting along the current of the age. In the end, the family will become proper and normal.
Teaching the Brothers and Sisters How to Behave as Parents,
Children, Husbands, Wives, etc
If possible, we should compile some material to teach the brothers and sisters how they should build up their own homes. For example, we should have something to teach them how to behave as parents, children, husbands, and wives. This is scriptural. A book as spiritual as Ephesians contains teachings on being proper husbands, wives, children, parents, slaves, and masters. In the past we were somewhat negligent in this matter. All the brothers and sisters devoted their attention to the big meetings and neglected the building up of the homes.
Once That Happens, We Can Invite Our Relatives to the Home Meetings
In the coming days, we hope that we can compile some messages on the building up of the homes so that every saint’s home would be a proper home. Once that happens, we can invite our relatives to the home meetings, and they will see the situation in our homes and will be touched to receive the Lord’s salvation. (The Ministry Magaine, Vol. 3, No. 5, pp. 8-9)
Living a God-man Life by Meeting in the Home with Our Family Members
The Unit of Salvation Being the Household
Concerning eternal life, the Bible takes an individual, not a household, as the unit. However, concerning salvation, it shows that men are saved household by household. The unit of salvation is the household. We want to spend a little time to consider several portions of the Word. This will show us clearly that salvation is for the whole household. We can inquire of God according to these words. We can deal with Him not only for ourselves individually but also for our whole family.
We hope that all the children who are born among us will not need our extra effort in the future to bring them to salvation and to rescue them out of the world. Some have already been born into our fleshly family. We should make sure that they are born into our spiritual family also. We cannot afford to lose them year by year and then fight to rescue them back year by year. We cannot just beget them into the world; we still must bring them to the Lord.
If all the brothers and sisters agree that this is the way we should take, we will have at least as many saved ones as the number of children in our midst. The Lord has placed them in our hands. We should not let them go; we must make sure that they are saved. Otherwise, it will take considerable effort to bring them back from the world. All the little fishes born of our big fishes should be on our side; we should not let them go back into the sea and then struggle to catch them again. Whether or not the church will continue with its second generation depends on whether our children belong to the Lord.
I hope that the brothers and sisters will see the importance of this matter. Whether or not the church will go on in the next generation, whether or not those after us will go on, depends on whether we can bring our own children to the Lord. If we lose as many as are born to us, our second generation will be gone, If generation after generation all those who are born into our midst stand fast and if we also have some increase from the outside, the church will be strong and its number will increase. We must never give birth to a child only to lose it later. Instead, those who are born to us must be regenerated. (Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 49, pp. 305-306)
Meeting with Our Family Members First
According to our study, experience, and observation, I would say that we have found that the home meetings are the unique way for the increase and building up of the church. There are many positive things that come out of the home meetings. In the home meetings, everyone becomes a seeking one, a serving one, a preaching one, a teaching one, and one that spontaneously witnesses for the Lord. We hope to encourage all the saints in the Lord’s recovery to have meetings in their homes.
The Greek phrase in Acts 5:42 indicates that not one house was missed. They met from house to house. We should not take the way of selecting some promising homes and then having the meetings in those promising homes. This is wrong. Every home of the believers is promising. We need to open up our home. First we can meet with our folks. We do not need to meet with others first. We can initiate our home meeting by meeting with our family members. We who have wives and children can all have a home meeting. We just meet with our folks, with our wife, and with our little children. To set up a meeting will stir up our heart and will fan the flame in our heart and in our spirit. First, we will be burned, and then our family will be burned. To set up a home meeting will keep out many evil things from our homes. (The Home Meetings––The Unique Way for the Increase and the Building Up of the Church, pp. 19-20)
Not for Group Meeting but for Meeting from House to House
Acts chapter two says that on the day of Pentecost three thousand people were saved. Immediately they met from house to house. They were not group meetings, but meetings from house to house. Anyone can decide the size of a group meeting, to make it larger or smaller, but as for the size of the home no one can change its size. Furthermore, the home is the smallest corporate unit. If something can be applied to the homes, it means that it has been done thoroughly.
Therefore, we should not only be divided into groups, but also be divided into the unit of homes. One and a half years ago I said that we would work to the extent that there would be a meeting in every saint’s home. …We expect that every home will have a meeting, including the weaker ones and the dormant ones. (The Vision and Specific Steps for the Practice of the New Way (Chinese), pp. 149-150)
LIVING A GOD-MAN LIFE BY SETTING UP A HOME MEETING
Becoming Holy and Spiritual by Setting Up a Home Meeting
Do not say that you are weak, that you cannot overcome your self, that you cannot overcome your temper, that you cannot control yourself, that you cannot do this or that. Just set up a home meeting in your home. I have seen in many cases that when you set up a meeting in your home the Holy Spirit brings people to you. Gradually people will come. I would say that if you are a Christian, yet you do not have a home meeting, you are not up to the standard. You may know the Bible, be spiritual, be seeking, love the Lord, and so forth, but if you do not open your home, you are not up to the standard. Even a single sister can open her apartment for meetings. Every lodging of the saints, whether single or with a family, should be opened up for meeting. You may say, “With whom do we meet?” First, with the angels, then with a believer, and then with a neighbor. You must pray, endeavor, and even fast until you get a neighbor to come to meet with you. If you determine to have some meeting with you in your home, surely there is a way. A lot of people are around you every day. You have a lot of relatives and friends.
Are you going to be holy? Set up a home meeting. Are you going to be spiritual? Set up a home meeting. Are you going to know the Bible? Nothing will force you to seek the knowledge of the Bible more than setting up a home meeting. The home meeting will force you to seek after the proper, spiritual knowledge, and while you are seeking the knowledge for teaching others, you yourself will be taught, enlightened, and nourished. I can recall my own history. When I was trying to teach others I began to realize that I needed to be taught. The definite, single, and sole step for the Lord’s recovery to take today is to promote the home meetings. This is the unique way. (The Home Meetings––The Unique Way for the Increase and the Building Up of the Church, p. 20)
The Way of Meeting in the Bible Being a Way to Be Revived
The meeting revealed in the Bible is where everyone functions: prays, sings, speaks, and testifies; this requires us to live in the spirit. We must be those who love the Lord, who are consecrated, who fellowship with the Lord, and who walk according to the spirit. If we have any offense toward others in our conscience, we have to confess it before the Lord immediately and confess it to the ones we offended and make reconciliation. Only then can we recover the fellowship and thus function in the meeting. Hence, this way is one that requires us to be revived. (Being Up-to-date for the Rebuilding of the Temple (Chinese), p. 154)
The Gospel Being Preached Spontaneously through the Homes
Once we build up the church in the believers’ homes, we will be able to spread the gospel through the homes. All the churches that do a good job with the homes will not need to have big gospel meetings; the gospel will spread spontaneously. The home is one place that touches man’s heart. It pierces and digs deep into man’s very soul, even his very spirit. This does not mean that we cannot have big gospel meetings, but we only need such meetings a few times a year. The main emphasis with such meetings is in reaping, not sowing. The crucial thing is to build up the church in the homes and to spread the gospel through the homes. At the same time, we have to encourage the brothers and sisters to group two or three families together into small groups. In the small groups they should fellowship together and render spiritual help, nourishment, and care to one another. Then in the larger church meetings there should be the teaching of the Truth Lessons. Such teaching is mainly for everyone to learn the truth. If we build up the church in such a well-coordinated way, the Lord will greatly bless us. (The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 5, p. 9)
THE WORKING SAINTS MEETING THE LORD’S PRESENT NEED
AND HAVING A GLORIOUS LIVING AND GOAL
In order to meet the Lord’s present need, we must first recall our past experiences and vision. I believe all of you have had some experiences and some vision in the past. Now we have to recall them. Second, we have to respond to the Lord’s attraction and calling. The fact that you are here today proves that the Lord has attracted you from within. In this attraction there is a calling that calls us to meet the need of the Lord in the new way today. Third, we have to renew our past commitment and consecration. In the past, many of us have had a heart for the Lord and have consecrated ourselves to the Lord. Now we need to have these renewed. Fourth, we need to set aside some time and specifically budget our lives. We have to set down some guidelines for our lives. In our daily lives, we should set aside some time for the service of the Lord. Fifth, we have to meet the different needs of the saints. There are the following four needs:
(1) Visit people to preach the gospel and to gain new ones. The practice of knocking on doors to visit people for the preaching of the gospel is absolutely correct. It should not be stopped.
(2) Regularly and consistently help the new ones in the home meetings. To help the new ones to have home meetings is a work that needs to be done regularly. We should visit them at least once a week.
(3) Diligently learn to help the small group meetings. All who have worked in the communities know that it is not easy to conduct a home meeting or a small group meeting. Especially the young saints, whose experience in the human life is not rich, find it hard to help others when family and marriage problems are involved. We have to learn all these things. For this purpose, the church also should give training of all kinds.
(4) Pursue seriously functioning and prophesying in the district meetings. This also requires a lot of learning. Now that we have the New Testament Recovery Version, it should help us somewhat in prophesying. For example, in the Chinese Recovery Version there is a footnote to John 3:16 for the word “world.” One day I came across this footnote and was very much impressed by it. This note describes man from his fall, with the poison of the serpent injected into him, until the New Jerusalem, where he becomes God’s eternal expression. You should first study such a note at home and digest it a little. Then, practice speaking it. In this way, you will be able to function and to prophesy when you come to the meetings.
Our life is to live Christ. Our goal is the building up of the Body of Christ. The result is the reward in the kingdom. This is the glorious life and the glorious goal for those saints who practice the new way. (Messages Given to the Working Saints, pp. 67-68)
THE CORPORATE GOD-MAN LIVING
The Reality of the Body of Christ Being the Union and Mingling of God with
Man to Live Out a Corporate God-man
The Body of Christ is not merely a term but a reality. The reality of the Body of Christ is the union and mingling of God with man to live out a corporate God-man. For this we need to pass through death and resurrection, dying daily and being resurrected daily. We also need to be in the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit daily.
Again, let me speak something of my own experience. For many years I have felt that I am quite all right, but recently the Lord showed me differently. I have been telling the brothers and sisters that the people of God are God’s wife and that they should take God as their Husband, and I have presented this in a very clear and reasonable way. Yet, in reality, instead of taking God as the Husband, I have been taking myself as the husband in my living. It is according to moral standards that I do not do bad things or speak bad words to my wife. Yet, I do not take God as my Husband and speak by Him. I myself am the husband, and I speak by myself and speak concerning the work by myself. Recently. because of the great vision that I saw, I have been practicing one thing, that is, when I am going to speak to others, within me I ask, “Is it you who want to speak, or is it your Husband?” In other words, “Is it you who want to speak, or is it the Spirit who dwells in you? Is your speaking in the Spirit and according to the Spirit?” If we use this standard to weigh or measure ourselves, we will see that we are far below the standard. Although we have seen the vision concerning the Body of Christ and can speak clearly about it, what we have as the reality of the Body of Christ is very little. (The High Peak of the Vision and the Reality of the Body of Christ, pp. 54-55)
The Model of Corporate God-man Living Being
the Greatest Revival in the History of the Church
If we live such a life, surely we will go out to contact people for the preaching of the gospel. A vital group is a group of this kind of people. The vital groups should not be practiced as a formality; they should be groups of people who live such a life. Our living the life of a God-man will save people, edify others, and build up the local churches even to the building up of the Body of Christ.
If we practice what we have heard, spontaneously a model will be built up. This model will be the greatest revival in the history of the church. I believe that this revival will bring the Lord back.
In conclusion, I would encourage you to try faithfully to practice living a God-man’s life by contacting Him through calling on His name, pray-reading His living word, praying unceasingly, not quenching the Spirit, and not despising prophesying. May the Lord bless us with Himself as the life-giving Spirit that we may touch Him in the mingled spirit by these life practices. (Living a Life According to the High Peak of God’s Revelation, p. 41)
References: Collected Works of Watchman Nee, Vol. 49, chs. 20, 32 and 33; The God-Man Living, ch.1; The Church life in the Lord’s Recovery Today, ch. 5; Messages Given to the Working Saints, ch. 4; Living a Life According to the High Peak of God’s Revelation, ch. 4; The Home Meetings––The Unique Way for the Increase and the Building Up of the Church, ch. 2; The Experience of God’s Organic Salvation Equaling Reigning in Christ’s Life, ch. 5; The Vision and Specific Steps for the Practice of the New Way (Chinese), ch. 6; Being up-to-date and Rebuilding the Temple (Chinese), ch. 14; The High Peak of the Vision and the Reality of the Body of Christ, ch. 4; The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 5.
