In this chapter we will cover the things that a serving one should build up before the Lord. To be useful in the Lord’s hand, one who serves Him must first be properly built up.
We have said that if a person desires to be used by the Lord, he must realize that his natural life is unuseable in the Lord’s hand and that he himself is totally corrupt before the Lord. The natural life is nothing but a thorn-bush, and the self is nothing but leprosy. However, every truth in the Bible is twofold, showing us something in one aspect and then something else in another aspect. Both aspects are true. Any doctrine that is not two-sided is defective. Concerning our being useful in the Lord’s hand, there are two aspects. One aspect about which we have heard much is the tearing down of the self. Formerly you may have felt that you were talented and very capable or that you were better than others. But now you have seen a vision that your natural life is nothing but a thorn-bush and your self, nothing but leprosy. Once you realize this, you will spontaneously fall down and collapse. To collapse is to be broken. Actually, God always shines upon us and leads us in the principle of breaking. On one hand, the Bible shows us that a person who serves God must be adequately broken. It is true that his natural life, self, temperament, and disposition need to be touched by the Lord, broken, and torn down. On the other hand, the Bible shows us that something must be built up in a person who serves the Lord. This building up refers not only to the inward constitution of the Lord’s life but also to the development of his character. What does this mean? We must cover this in more detail.
First, we need to see that God would never use what is of us for the work that He wants us to do, just as the flame of fire burned upon the thorn-bush without consuming it. We cannot add anything to God’s work. However, when God does use us, we must be fit for His use. Although the thorn-bush was not the material which fueled the fire, it nevertheless upheld and showed forth the flames. Brothers and sisters, please remember that when God uses you to accomplish His work, you cannot add anything of your own, since all that you have does not avail in God’s work. Yet on the other hand, it may be questionable whether you can be used by the Lord and whether His work can be carried out through you.
For example, when I put a Bible, a hymnal, and a cup of water on a table, the table will never add a drop of water to my cup, a verse or a chapter to my Bible, or a hymn to my hymnal. But here is a problem: if the table is tilted, I will not be able to put a cup on it. In one sense I do not use the table at all, because it does not add anything to my Bible, my cup, or my hymnal. However, there is the question of whether I am able to place my Bible, cup, or hymnal steadily on the table.
So never assume that you are clear about the Lord’s teaching and say, “Well, we are just thorn-bushes; we have no function in God’s work, and we cannot add glow to His fire. We are just persons upon whom God’s flame can burn as brightly as He desires. Anyway, He does not use us as fuel. We are merely bushes with no responsibility.” I am afraid that many saints hold such a concept. If you do, you are wrong. It is true that the table does not add anything to the contents of the Bible, hymnal, or cup when I put them on top of it. However, if the table is not set properly, so that it is level and stable, I will not be able to use it at all. On one hand, I do not utilize anything of the table, yet on the other hand, I must use it. Similarly, even though God does not use what is of us, our proper condition and situation qualify us to be used by Him.
Remember, whether the flames of God will burn upon a particular thorn-bush is a conditional matter. Do not assume that God will burn upon any thorn-bush. This is not so. God’s fire can burn upon Moses but not necessarily upon you. Although God did not use Moses as the fuel, He could burn upon him. However, He may not be able to burn upon you.
We should acknowledge that we can contribute absolutely nothing to what God wants to produce in us. Paul said, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter, but of the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:5-6). This means that whatever Paul had could never be added into God’s holy fire. He also said, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7). This power comes entirely from the treasure, and not at all from us. On the other hand, Paul also said, “Therefore, having this ministry, as we received mercy...we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience before God” (2 Cor. 4:1-2). While Paul confessed to his own insufficiency, he also told us that he bore much responsibility. We can readily see here that God used Paul, though not the things of Paul.
Having seen the principle, we shall now consider a few practical matters. For example, if we are doing the Lord’s work among the Chinese-speaking people in Taiwan, can we be illiterate in Chinese? Surely we cannot. “Why not?” you may ask. “If the fire which burned upon the bush had no need of the bush as its fuel, why do I need to know Chinese? Literate or not, I am still a bush. What difference does literacy make?”
This illustrates that although the fire burning upon the bush does not use the bush as its fuel, there still is the need to pay attention to the bush itself. For God to give His complete and detailed set of laws to the Israelites, He needed a servant like Moses. Every student of law considers the Roman law a requirement in his studies, and the Roman law derived its principles from the Old Testament. Even until now, no law is more complete or more lofty than the law of Moses, because the law written by Moses was from God. The question is this: had Moses not been educated with the knowledge of that time but rather had been an unlearned peasant, do you think God could have used him? I absolutely believe not.
When I was first saved, I met some people who had the idea that education was unnecessary. They thought that if we have God’s love, all is well; it is completely useless to be educated. This is a wrong concept. Undoubtedly, it is the fire that burns upon the bush, but still the bush must be qualified in order for God to ignite this fire upon it. Some thorn-bushes meet the requirements, whereas others do not. The flame of God’s deliverance of the Israelites and the giving of the law could burn only upon Moses, and on no one else, because there was no other person who was qualified.
In this chapter we are considering the need for character building in order that some could meet the requirements. God does not need you as the fuel, but when He uses you, you must have the proper qualifications. To be useable, a table must be level and stable. A carpenter must work on it, attach four legs, and polish the surface. This is the building work of a carpenter to make it a suitable piece of furniture.
According to our continuous observation, we must conclude that many brothers and sisters are of little use to God because they are ill-qualified for His use. They are like a table that is not quite straight, upright, level, or stable. God’s fire could burn upon Moses but not upon them, because Moses was qualified for God’s burning, whereas they are not.
I would like to give another example. Suppose there is a downpour today and you have put several basins under the building’s eaves to collect rainwater. All the basins will be filled within a short time. However, if some of the basins are cracked and full of holes, could any water stay in them? No. The leaking simply offsets the filling, and regardless of how much it rains, all the water that comes into the basins will eventually run out. It is easy to see that these containers are inadequate. Suppose some other basins are not merely broken and leaking but are almost flat. Surely all the water will run off despite the continuous rain. Such basins do not meet the requirements for holding water. We need water to bathe, wash clothes, and water the plants. It is true that the basins themselves cannot produce water, and it is true that what we actually use is the water and not the basins. We use the water all year long. We do not use anything from the basins except the water that falls into them. Nevertheless, from another viewpoint, the ability of the basins to hold water depends on whether they meet the requirements. Some are able to hold water, whereas others are not.
Brothers and sisters, are you a basin with holes, a broken basin, or a flat one? There must be a certain building up in a person who serves God. The dimension of depth must be added to the flat surface, and all the leaks and cracks must be patched. Furthermore, your capacity must be enlarged. As a basin, you may be able to hold four gallons of water on the first day. After four days you may hold eight gallons, and then twenty gallons in another ten days. Originally, you may be only three inches tall. Two days later you may extend to one foot. Brothers and sisters, remember that the extent of our usefulness to God depends on the extent of His building work in us. The amount of building up in us determines the measure of our usefulness to Him. If God does not find us built up, He cannot use us.
Now let us discuss a few matters that need to be built up in us. They are all essential. We will not be useful to God if we lack even one of them.