I have spoken in the past concerning the two “becomings” of Christ. The first “becoming” is “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14), and the second “becoming” is “the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). I declared these truths strongly and published them in print. Then some opposing ones said, “Witness Lee has spoken wrongly. Jesus never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” They spoke this strongly. However, the Bible does not say that He is the same eternally, but that He is the same “yesterday, and today, and forever.” He rose from the dead and became the life-giving Spirit; that was “yesterday.” He also ascended, and that is “today.” When He comes in the future, that will be “forever.” Therefore, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. But when He, as the eternal God, became flesh, He did change. In eternity He was God, not having the flesh. Through nine months, from Christ’s conception to His birth, God became a man. This God was a baby in a manger. Isaiah 9:6 says, “Unto us a child is born...his name shall be called...The mighty God, The everlasting Father.” In eternity He was the mighty God; in the manger He was a child. How great this change was!
But that was not the only change He underwent. After thirty-three and a half years, He was nailed to the cross and suffered death, was buried, and was resurrected on the third day. He resurrected bodily from the dead and became the life-giving Spirit. This was another great change. Since resurrection is “yesterday,” ascension is “today,” and the future is “forever,” it is true that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But He has undergone two great changes since eternity past—His incarnation and His resurrection—and both changes have been accomplished.
Today believers in general also pick up another verse from the book of Hebrews, that is, 7:25: “He is able to save to the uttermost those who come forward to God through Him, seeing He is always living to intercede for them.” Their understanding is that Jesus as the High Priest intercedes for us and is able to save us to the uttermost in everything, healing those who are ill and keeping those who are experiencing great difficulties. They do not see that this High Priest desires to give us a heavenly salvation, that He is carrying out the heavenly ministry in the heavenly tabernacle to supply us with the heavenly life (8:2), and that this heavenly life is in the life-giving Spirit. He dispenses Himself as the life-giving Spirit into us from the heavens, causing us to receive the supply of life, enabling us to rejoice when we are ill and to praise Him when we are in trouble. What a wonderful salvation this is!
This is the word of righteousness. It speaks of the ministry of the Lord Jesus in His ascension as the life-giving Spirit, to transmit the all-inclusive supply into our spirit, just as electricity is transmitted into a building. The lights and electrical appliances in a building depend on the supply of the electrical current from the power plant. Today the Lord Jesus in the heavens is the “power plant.” We are the “lamps,” shining because of His supply.
We believers are weak persons, but in one respect we are different from others. Our sicknesses may not be healed, but we have sufficient grace. Paul’s ministry was full of healing power. Whenever he prayed and laid hands on people, they were healed of their sicknesses (Acts 19:11-12). But in his body there was a sickness which was like a thorn pricking him. He prayed to the Lord three times to remove this thorn from him, but the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:7-9). The Lord seemed to be saying, “If I were to take away this thorn from you, you would not need Me anymore, and you would not enjoy My grace. Therefore, I am leaving the thorn here to remind you to enjoy Me.”
Furthermore, Paul’s spiritual son, Timothy, had a stomach illness. Paul did not pray to the Lord to heal him. On the contrary, he told Timothy, “No longer drink water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent weaknesses” (1 Tim. 5:23). If I were there, I surely would say, “Paul, now you have become weak and have lost your faith. You see how full of faith and full of power you were in Acts. Why do you not send for Timothy and lay hands on him that he may be healed?” Not only so, 2 Timothy 4:20 also records that Trophimus, one of Paul’s co-workers, was sick. But neither did Paul lay his hands on Trophimus and pray for him. Paul himself had a thorn in his flesh, Timothy had a stomach illness, and Trophimus was sick. But none of them received a miraculous healing. Was it that Paul had fallen behind and lost the power he had at the beginning? Not at all. Paul, Timothy, and Trophimus experienced life much more through these sufferings. Therefore, in 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul spoke of laying hold on the eternal life.
Brothers and sisters, we need to see that it is not miracles that make us mature in life. Those in the charismatic movement depend too much on miracles. This is altogether wrong. They do not see that God granted miracles to every apostle, whether it be Peter, John, or Paul, at the beginning of their ministry; but the more they advanced in age, the less those kinds of miracles were seen in their ministry. Eventually they all were martyred. When Peter was put into prison as a young man, an angel came to open the prison door and lead him out (Acts 12:5-11). But when he was in his old age, the angel did not come; instead, he was nailed to a cross. When John was old, he was exiled to the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9). Paul was martyred. But even when Paul’s head was about to be cut off, he was still rejoicing. This is actually the greatest miracle. This is life, and this is grace.
John 2:23-25 says that many in Jerusalem saw the miracles that Jesus did and believed in His name, but the Lord did not entrust Himself to them. John chapter six records that the Lord fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes. But after the Lord was resurrected, those five thousand disappeared. Eventually, only one hundred and twenty believers remained, gathering in a small room in Jerusalem. When the five thousand were fed, they came to look for the Lord again the next day. But the Lord did not perform a miracle. He said, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides to eternal life...I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes in Me shall by no means ever thirst” (vv. 27, 35). The Lord told them that He could be eaten. But they said, “This is a hard word; who can hear it?” (v. 60). From that time on, many of His disciples drew back and walked no longer with Him (v. 66). Because the Lord Jesus did not perform miracles, they drew back. But Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (v. 68).
Today in our ministry, I prefer not to perform miracles, but rather to preach the words of eternal life, supplying men with eternal life. This is not the good word but the word of righteousness. Praise the Lord, the word of righteousness will decide whether we will share the glory with Him in His kingdom. If we receive this word, He will give us the reward, and we will receive the kingdom when He comes; but if we do not receive it, He will reject us, and we will suffer loss outside the kingdom. Therefore, this is the word of righteousness, not the good word.