From the very first day that I came to the United States, the Lord showed me that I had to give up my Chinese mentality. I wanted a mind that only cared for the Lord’s recovery and not for my Chinese way of living. We need the Lord’s mercy and grace for Him to renew our mind. The Lord is going to perform something to bring this one new man into full existence. The Lord is going to do such a marvelous thing with all different cultures and races. The tendency of this age is pointed toward the Lord’s work for the one new man. But in order for this to happen we must have a thorough, proper, and adequate renewal of our mind which has been built up by our nationality. This is why we have to drink of the Spirit. Then our entire being, especially our mind, will be saturated by the Spirit.

In America the young people are trained and educated to act independently and also to be ambitious to attain to the highest position. This may be good for the United States, but this is absolutely not good for the new man. I have seen a number of American brothers who desired to be leaders in the church. If some are not elders, at least they would like to be service group leaders. This kind of mentality tears down the new man. We need to be renewed in the spirit of our mind for the new man. For the new man to come into full existence there is the need of a situation or condition where no one desires to be a leader. On the other hand, everyone should be fully burdened for the building up of the church. We should have the attitude that we would spend and be utterly spent for the building up of the church in our locality but have no ambition or desire to be a leader there. If the real situation needs you to take the lead, that is not up to you. That is up to the Lord according to the situation and the need. We all should desire to bear the burden to meet the Lord’s need and not care for rank or position.

We should have the attitude that if we are needed for a certain burden today, we want to bear it. After two months, it may be that there is someone more qualified and capable to bear this burden. Our attitude should be that this brother should replace us to bear this particular burden. You may not need to be an elder because there is someone who could bear the burden for the church in this capacity better than you. Two years ago you might have been the best one to bear a certain burden, but after two years there may be someone who has been raised up by the Lord to bear this burden in a more capable and excellent way. You should have the attitude that this is the Lord’s recovery and that the burden you are bearing is not your position. We all want to see the Lord go on in His recovery and all the members functioning in the Body according to His pleasure. In the Lord’s recovery it is a shame to have any thought concerning position. We need a real renewal.

Our mind needs to be renewed not just for our spiritual conduct, but for the very existence of the new man. We need to be baptized, we need to drink of the one Spirit, and we need to be saturated with the Spirit in our mind that we may have a full renewal in our mentality. We need to be renewed until all the cultural and natural makeup is over. Colossians 3:10 tells us that the new man is “being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” Because the new man was created with us, who belong to the old creation (Eph. 2:15), he needs to be renewed. This renewing takes place mainly in our mind, as indicated by the phrase “unto full knowledge.” The new man has been created in our spirit and is being renewed in our mind unto full knowledge according to Christ who is the image, the expression of God. Such a mind influences our emotion to love the Lord, and the loving emotion effects our will to choose the Lord.

Colossians 3:11 goes on to tell us that in the new man “there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all.” Not only is there no natural person in the new man, but there is no possibility, no room, for any natural person. In the new man there is only room for Christ. He is all the members of the new man and in all the members. He is everything in the new man. Actually He is the new man, His Body (1 Cor. 12:12). In the new man He is the centrality and universality.

The only possibility of the Lord’s eternal purpose being fulfilled in this age is that we would all be willing to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. This means that we have to open up ourselves and drink of the Spirit that the Spirit may get into our being, saturating our natural mentality so that we can have a metabolic change in our way of life. Then there is much possibility for the new man to come into full existence.
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