Now we will go on to see the experience of the different steps of God’s economy. Among the several steps of God’s economy, only two steps require our daily experience—not incarnation or human living but death and resurrection. The cross is a synonym for death, and the Spirit is a synonym for resurrection. Brother Nee said that the reality of resurrection is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the reality of resurrection; without the Holy Spirit there is no resurrection. In John 11:25 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” This indicates that resurrection is a person. Hence, the reality of resurrection is Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit. Today, as God-men, we should live the God-man life, which is a life of the experience of death and resurrection, a life of the experience of the cross and the Spirit.
Our Christian life altogether depends on two things: the cross and the life-giving Spirit. The significance of the cross is of two aspects: the aspect of redemption and the aspect of life. Christianity knows only the shallow aspect of redemption. Stanza 1 of Hymns, #1059 says,
Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain,
Free to all—a healing stream,
Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain.
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
From the cross my ransomed soul
Nothing then shall sever.
This concerns Christ’s redemption, that is, His dying on the cross on our behalf. However, Christ’s death on the cross has another aspect, that is, our dying with Him. His dying for us is the aspect of redemption, whereas our dying with Him is the aspect of life.
In our hymnal several hymns are concerned in particular with the aspect of the co-death of the cross. One of these hymns is #477. The hymn (without the chorus) was written in the third century; later, A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, added the chorus. This hymn is simple yet mysterious. It is a hymn of the inner life and was translated into Chinese by Brother Nee. The first stanza says,
Though Christ a thousand times
In Bethlehem be born,
If He’s not born in thee
Thy soul is still forlorn.
The Cross on Golgotha,
Will never save thy soul;
The Cross in thine own heart,
Alone can make thee whole.
This is a word of experience. If the cross remains only on Golgotha, without entering into you, it can only redeem you but it cannot save you. To be redeemed is one thing; to be saved is another thing. To “make thee whole” here refers to salvation, not redemption. The cross at Golgotha with the shedding of blood is more than able to redeem you; but this cross must enter into you as a tool of the Spirit before it can make you whole and save you.
The chorus appended by A. B. Simpson was fittingly and aptly done. It says,
O, Cross of Christ, I take thee
Into this heart of mine,
That I to my own self may die
And rise to Thy life Divine.
This was written altogether from the subjective side, not from the objective side. The objective cross on Golgotha cannot enter into us. The cross that enters into our heart is the cross that has become our subjective experience for us to live by the Lord practically. We need to sing such a hymn again and again in our daily life.
Stanza 2 is the climax of this hymn, but regretfully most people who sing it do not pay attention to its deep meaning. This stanza says,
What e’er thou lovest, man,
That too become thou must;
God, if thou lovest God,
Dust, if thou lovest dust.
Go out, God will come in;
Die thou and let Him live;
Be not and He will be;
Wait and He’ll all things give.
“Dust” refers not only to the physical dust but also to the world. “Be not and He will be” means that if we do not exist, God exists. In other words, we should not think about becoming somebody; actually, we are nobody. Do not consider that you are something; only God is. Hebrews 11:6 says that faith is to believe that God is and we are not. When we come forward to God, we must believe that God is and we are not. This equals to Paul’s statement: “No longer I...but it is Christ” (Gal. 2:20). “No longer I” means I am not; “it is Christ” means only Christ is.
“That I am nothing, Thou art all” in stanza 2 of Hymns, #395 conveys the same meaning. Recently I read a biography of John Nelson Darby. On the first page he says, “O the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothing but a living Christ in glory, and being careful for nothing but His interests down here.” This was a word spoken in his old age, in which he longed to be nothing, to have nothing, and to care for nothing but to have only Christ and care only for His interests on earth. What a joy this is! Hence, “Be not and He will be; / Wait and He’ll all things give.” Through the generations there were saints who experienced this. Today we should have this experience even more.
The cross that we experience today is not only the objective, vicarious death but even more the subjective co-death with the Lord. Such experience makes us nothing and makes God everything to us. As a result, we become God-men. Whatever you love, that is what you will become. If you love God, you will become God. Then where is your self? It is on the cross.Hymns, #631 is also a hymn on the subjective experience of the cross:
If I’d know Christ’s risen power,
I must ever love the Cross;
Life from death alone arises;
There’s no gain except by loss.
If no death, no life,
If no death, no life;
Life from death alone arises;
If no death, no life.
If I’d have Christ formed within me,
I must breathe my final breath,
Live within the Cross’s shadow,
Put my soul-life e’er to death.
If God thru th’ Eternal Spirit
Nail me ever with the Lord;
Only then as death is working
Will His life thru me be poured.
Hymns, #482, another hymn by A. B. Simpson, is also on the subjective experience of our co-death and co-resurrection with Christ:
I am crucified with Christ,
And the cross hath set me free;
I have ris’n again with Christ,
And He lives and reigns in me.
Oh! it is so sweet to die with Christ,
To the world, and self, and sin;
Oh! it is so sweet to live with Christ,
As He lives and reigns within.
Mystery hid from ancient ages!
But at length to faith made plain:
Christ in me the Hope of Glory,
Tell it o’er and o’er again.
This the secret nature hideth,
Harvest grows from buried grain;
A poor tree with better grafted,
Richer, sweeter life doth gain.
I appreciate stanza 3, which says that a buried grain does not die but lives and grows. Life arises from death alone. How wonderful this is! Where are we today? We are on the cross. When we are on the cross, we are in the Spirit of resurrection. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” The Christ who lives in me is the consummated, compound, all-inclusive, life-giving, indwelling, sevenfold intensified Spirit. This is what Hymns, #539 refers to:
O Lord, Thou art in me as life
And everything to me!
Subjective and available,
Thus I experience Thee.
O Lord, Thou art the Spirit!
How dear and near to me!
How I admire Thy marvelous
Availability!
To all my needs both great and small
Thou art the rich supply;
So ready and sufficient too
For me now to apply.
Thy sweet anointing with Thy might
In weakness doth sustain;
By Thy supply of energy
My strength Thou dost maintain.
Thy law of life in heart and mind
My conduct regulates;
The wealth of Thy reality
My being saturates.
O Thou art ever one with me,
Unrivaled unity!
One spirit with me all the time
For all eternity!
The aforementioned hymns speak forth the experience of the cross and the Spirit. Today on the one hand, we are on the cross, and on the other hand, we are living in the Spirit. This issues in the church, the Body of Christ, the house of God, the kingdom of God, and the bride of Christ. When we live the life of the cross and the Spirit, an issue with five aspects is brought forth.
Our living today must be the life of the cross and the Spirit. May the Lord cover me with His precious blood to say this: During the turmoil in recent years, I do not know how many slanderous and defaming words were aimed at me, but I did not say anything; I just let the Lord speak. This is the cross and the Spirit. I received great help from Brother Nee in this matter. When I was working with him throughout those eighteen years, I saw that all the opposers’ attacks were aimed at him; yet he just smiled and said nothing. He truly was one who experienced the cross and the Spirit.
Husbands and wives must also experience the cross and the Spirit continually in their living. Not to mention the big things, but even in small, ordinary things between husbands and wives, we should always say, “I am not; I am dying on the cross.” Before we speak to our spouse, we must ask, “Is this I speaking or the Lord speaking?” To practice this is to remain on the cross. All day long we should have this kind of experience. This is the normal Christian life. When we die on the cross, the Lord is brought forth in the Spirit, and the issue is the church.
Without the cross and the Spirit, there is no church. What we have is just a club; it is neither the church nor the Body of Christ. Neither is it the house of God, because it is we who act as lord. It is not the kingdom of God, because it is we who act as king. It cannot be the counterpart of Christ, because Christ is a God-man, so His counterpart must also be a God-man. Without the cross and the Spirit, there is only man without God, so there is no God-man. Hence, we must experience the cross and the Spirit daily that there may be an issue with five aspects—the church, the Body of Christ, the house of God, the kingdom of God, and the counterpart of Christ.