If we would serve the Lord, we must know the Spirit, the life in the Spirit, and the righteousness of God. Furthermore, we must know God’s mercy in the selection of grace. In the past I dreamed of a flourishing work in north China, even in inner Mongolia and Manchuria. But that dream was never fulfilled and instead by the Lord’s mercy I am in this country today. I look to the Lord that He will deeply impress us with the matter of His mercy in selecting us. Do not put your trust in what you are able to do or in what you plan to do. Rather, bow down before the Lord and worship Him for His mercy. The more you worship the Lord for His mercy, the more you will be uplifted. Instead of striving to bear responsibility, you will find that, in His mercy, the Lord is bearing you. We all need to know the Lord in this way. What a mercy that He has selected us, predestinated us, called us, and placed us in His recovery! For our future we trust not in ourselves, but in Him and in His marvelous mercy. Everything regarding us has been initiated by the Lord. All is of Him; nothing is of us. I can testify that the more we worship God for His mercy, the more we are deeply in His heart and the more we are one with Him.
Do not strive to bear responsibility. Instead, worship God for His selection. If you do this, He will bear you in the bearing of responsibility. The more we try in ourselves to be responsible, the more we shall suffer inwardly. Our inward taste will be that of bitterness. But if we worship the Lord for His mercy and experience Him bearing us in bearing the responsibility, our inward taste will be as sweet as honey. One reason I am happy day by day is that I have learned to trust in the Lord’s mercy and to worship Him for it. Years ago I used to ask the Lord to do so many things for me. But now I pray by thanking Him for His mercy. He said that He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy and compassion on whom He will have compassion. If we enjoy the Lord’s mercy and worship Him for His selection, we shall be in the heavenlies.
Our going on with the Lord is a matter not of our willing or running, but of God’s mercy. Our willing is of no avail, and our running is in vain. God’s mercy, however, works in a wonderful way. We are changeable, constantly fluctuating. It seems that, as far as we are concerned, our spiritual condition is like weather that is unstable. Hence, we need to see that the selection of grace does not depend on us, but depends on God’s selection of us before the world began. What we are experiencing today is related to God’s selection in eternity past. If we see this, we shall turn our eyes away from ourselves and from our circumstances and gaze steadfastly upon Him.
The gospel in which we serve God is a gospel of grace, not a gospel of works. As 11:6 says, “But if by grace, it is no longer out of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.” However, the fact that God’s selection is wholly a matter of His grace does not mean that we are free to do whatever we want. If this is our attitude, then we either have not been selected by God or we are backsliders from God’s selection. Oh, let us forget ourselves and our situation and keep our eyes upon the Lord. Again and again, let us say, “Lord, we praise You for Your selection of grace. O Lord, we worship You for Your mercy.” This is the gospel revealed in the book of Romans.