In this message we come to our need to cooperate with the Spirit. As we pointed out in the last message, we must die in order to live. This is very mysterious. The proper and genuine Christian life is a life of dying, yet living. For example, if you do not allow a seed to die by sowing it into the ground, it cannot live. But if it falls into the ground and dies, it will grow. Hence, it grows by dying. Without dying, the life in the seed cannot grow. The life is there, but it is not living. In order for the life in the seed to be living, the seed must die. How mysterious this is! Although it is a mystery, this principle operates throughout the universe, in the plant life, in the animal life, in the human life, and even in the divine life. God became a man to die so that He might live out God. The Lord Jesus said, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). If a grain of wheat does not fall into the ground and die, there will be no growing, no living. But if it dies, it will produce many grains. Here we see the principle of life growing through death. Where death is, there life is growing. This principle applies not only to the plant and animal life, but also to the human life and even the divine life.
In the process of dying, we need to cooperate with the Spirit. On many airplanes there are a pilot and a co-pilot. The co-pilot must cooperate with the pilot. As we are dying, we should not operate, but cooperate. It is a terrible thing for us to operate, to try to do something, as we are dying. However, a brother may pray, "Lord, my wife is giving me a difficult time. I must overcome this problem." If you do this, you are wrong, because you are operating instead of cooperating. The word "cooperate" implies that there is someone better than you who is operating. For example, the pilot is better than the co-pilot, for he is first and the co-pilot is second. Sorry to say, most of the time you pilot your own life. The result is misery. The reason your family life is miserable is that you are the pilot instead of the co-pilot. Our pilot is Christ as the wonderful life-giving Spirit. Although we have Him as the Pilot within us, we often do not honor Him, respect Him, or care for Him. Instead, we prefer to be the pilot.
Some Christians may think that as long as Christ is the Pilot, everything is fine. No, everything is not necessarily fine. Although Christ is the Pilot, you need to be the co-pilot. Our practice is either to be the pilot or to be nothing. Both are wrong. Many Christians realize the truth of Galatians 2:20, that they have been crucified with Christ, that they live no longer, and that Christ lives in them. This, however, is just half of the verse. This verse also speaks of "the life which I now live in the flesh." Many Christians either pilot their own life or neglect everything. However, we should do neither of these and avoid both extremes. Our Pilot needs us to be the co-pilot.