Question: How do we know the Lord’s way? How do we know which way is of the Lord’s arrangement?
Answer: The meaning of the phrase the Lord’s way is very broad. We may understand it literally but not actually know what it refers to. It can be compared to the phrase the vast expanse of the ocean. The phrase itself is easy to understand, but it is difficult to know what it refers to. We can say that the Lord’s ways are even greater than the vast expanse of the ocean. In the Bible the matter of the Lord’s ways is exceedingly broad. For example, Romans 11 says, “How...untraceable His ways!” (v. 33). It is impossible for man to measure and search God’s ways. Hence, the longer we follow the Lord, the less we dare to say what it is to know the Lord’s way. In the narrow sense, which is perhaps easier to understand, to know the Lord’s way in a particular matter is to know the Lord’s leading. The meaning of the Lord’s way is too broad, but the Lord’s leading is something that everyone can easily understand. Knowing the Lord’s leading and the Lord’s guidance is comparatively practical.
Spiritual matters are great, but we are not great. Therefore, when a person desires to follow the Lord, he should not say, “I want to touch the Lord’s way,” or “I want to know the Lord’s way.” The Lord’s way is a great matter that we cannot touch immediately; rather, we must approach it slowly.
It is relatively simple for us to know, to understand, God’s leading and guidance to us personally. To illustrate, if someone wants to go to Kaohsiung, which way should he take? The way that he takes to Kaohsiung will be according to the steps to which he is accustomed. He must go there step by step. He first stands up and then walks out of his house. He makes a few turns on the street, not knowing whether to go south or north and thus asking directions along the way. Then people tell him that the safest way to Kaohsiung is by train. Therefore, he walks to the train station, buys a ticket, waits for the train on the platform, and finally boards the train to Kaohsiung. This all sounds very bothersome, but actually, each of us who follows the Lord must be practical and solid, not vague or careless. Sometimes the Lord gives us a feeling, touching us to follow Him. If we simply follow Him, everything will be fine, but many times we instead like to consider how we should know and understand the Lord’s way. It is as if we are trying to go on ahead of the Lord. Since the Lord wants us to follow Him, we should not try to go on ahead of Him, rushing to know or understand His way. We should simply follow Him.
The difference between believing into Christ and believing in religion is that in believing into Christ it is God who seeks man, whereas religion requires man to seek God. What is religion? Religion is man’s belief in and reverence for God; it is man’s consciousness that there is a God and his consequent desire to worship Him. Man believes in a religion because in his consideration there is a God, and he is thus determined to serve Him, worship Him, probe into Him, study Him, survey Him, and be zealous for Him. However, believing into Christ is not like this. Believing into Christ is God’s coming to seek man, desiring to enter into man and desiring man to serve Him.
According to the common concept, people often ask, “What is the difference between Christianity and religion?” Or they may ask, “Is Christianity a religion?” To answer this question cautiously, we must say that Christianity is not a religion. The Lord Jesus never used the word religion during His ministry on the earth. Likewise, the apostles never used the word religion in their preaching of the gospel. Although Christianity is considered to be one of the five major religions in the world, the fact is that believing into Christ is not believing in a religion. We also can explain this by saying that those who truly believe into Christ are Christians, not followers of the Christian religion.
What does it mean to believe in a religion? People believe in a religion because they feel that there is a God and that they need to revere and serve God. However, those who believe into Christ are not like this; they are not like those who worship God out of their own initiation because they sense that there is a God and feel that they should worship Him. Every instance of man’s believing into Christ is initiated by God. It was God who came to seek Moses while he was shepherding the flock (Exo. 3:1-6); it was God who came to seek Saul while he was kicking against the goads (Acts 26:13-15); and it was God who said to Peter and Andrew while they were fishing, “Come after Me” (Matt. 4:18-20). It is wonderful that in the entire Bible, whenever a person has contact with God, it is always because God has contacted him first. God first came to find Job, and then Job served Him (Job 38:1—42:6); God first came to find Moses, and then Moses served Him (Exo. 3). There is no case in the Bible where a person served God because he first had the thought of serving God.
The entire Bible speaks only of God coming to find man. One day Isaiah saw a vision and heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” Therefore, he answered, “Here am I; send me” (Isa. 6:1-8). After seeing a vision, Jeremiah rose up to prophesy to the Israelites the words that Jehovah had commanded him (Jer. 1:4-19). Daniel also saw a vision before he rose up to fast and pray, beseeching Jehovah to restore Jerusalem (Dan. 7—9). The entire Bible shows that God first comes to find man before man serves God. Those who believe in a religion take the initiative to serve God; those who believe into Christ serve God after they have been prompted and touched by God.
For this reason we say that one should not rush forward to serve God. We should serve God only when He touches us to do so. If we serve God without God first touching us, we are in a religion. Figuratively speaking, many people today hang the sign “Christian” outside, but they are engaging in a religious enterprise inside. They are Christians in name but religious people in reality. What is it to be a Christian? A Christian is one who has Christ stirring within him through the Spirit and who thus becomes restless and has no choice but to serve God. A religious person, on the other hand, is one who initiates his service to God, desiring to do many things for God. This is the situation of many Christians today. They do not wait for the Lord to move in them and then follow Him accordingly. Instead, they themselves are the initiators, and the Lord is merely a spectator. However, in the experience of genuine Christians, the Lord is the One who initiates, and they simply say Amen. The Lord is the Initiator, and they are the followers. This is completely different from the way of religious people.
If you sense that the Lord is moving in you, you should ask, “O Lord, what do You want me to do? Lord, what do You want to do in me? Do You want to come forth out of me?” When you calm down in this way, the Lord will have the opportunity to let you know little by little how to act and how to submit to Him. In this way you will touch the Lord’s leading. In a broader sense you will touch the Lord’s will for you, or we can say, you will touch the Lord’s way. In your heart you will sense the Lord’s heart’s desire; then you can continue to fellowship with the Lord and be moved by Him further. You can then follow this moving immediately and seek Him, saying, “Lord, what do You want to do? How do You want to work it out through me?” Waiting quietly for the Lord is the proper way.
The principle here is to not move until the Lord moves in us. However, most Christians are not this way. In the past, when pursuing fame and position in the world, they were accustomed to rushing ahead. Now that they have been saved, the moment the Lord touches them a little, their old habit is manifested again. They rush ahead to organize a Christian fellowship to carry out a work on a campus, and they plan to invite a few great pastors and host a great evangelical meeting. All these matters are initiated by themselves. Hence, they become religious people who do not allow Christ to move in them and live out through them.
What does it mean for you to be a Christian? It means that when Christ moves in you, you follow His moving. If one day He says, “My child, come to Me,” you then should ask, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” After Paul met the Lord, the first words he spoke were, “Who are You, Lord?” The Lord then told him, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute. But rise up and enter into the city, and it will be told to you what you must do” (Acts 9:5-6). From the first day Paul met the Lord, he learned a lesson, realizing that all the things he did formerly were merely religious activities. He was zealous for the Lord, going to the high priest for letters to Damascus for the synagogues so that if he found any who were of the Way, he could bring them bound to Jerusalem (vv. 1-2). Going to Damascus was something determined by Paul. However, when the Lord met him, he fell down, saying, “What shall I do, Lord?” (22:10). All his actions from then on were of the Lord. When the Lord moved in him, he moved; when the Lord did not move, he did not move. All his moving outwardly was the Lord’s moving inwardly.
As Christians, we have One who is moving in us. When He moves, we move. Nevertheless, we are not puppets, having no feelings, thoughts, affections, or opinions. We are living beings; we have a mind, emotion, and will as well as inclinations and preferences. Thus, we are not passive; instead, we are cooperative and submissive. To be submissive is to go along with the One who is moving in us. This is our oneness with the Lord. It is only when the Lord moves in us that we move. This is the way a Christian should be. In this way, we are led by the Lord. In other words, we understand the Lord’s will and know the Lord’s way in us. The Lord’s way is a great and broad expression, but as we follow the Lord, we will gradually understand it in our experience.
Our greatest problem is that we desire to be today’s Paul and today’s Moses. Please remember, it is not by our aspiring to be Moses that we can be Moses, nor is it by our aspiring to be Paul that we can be Paul. It is God who chooses and calls people to become Moses and Paul. Today we have no way to imitate them. Our first problem is that we desire to be a spiritual giant. Our second problem is that we desire to do a great evangelistic work. We think that we must at least do a great evangelistic work on the campuses. To have such desires is to go beyond God. If we initiate something on our own without the Lord first moving in us, we go beyond God. This is our problem.