Tonight we will consider another matter before the Lord, but before doing this, we have to review what we have seen. We have seen that our experience has been a story of constant failures. We have seen also that the life that God has ordained is a life that is far higher than our current Christian experience. Third, we have seen that the overcoming life which God has given to us is Christ and that human ways, such as suppression, struggling, prayers, etc., are useless. Fourth, we have seen that there are five characteristics to the overcoming life, the most important of which is that this life is a matter of exchange and not change. Fifth, we have seen the conditions for experiencing this life. The two most basic conditions are (1) surrendering, which is to let go, and (2) believing. When God says that His grace is sufficient for us, it is sufficient for us. When God says that Christ is our life, He is our life. When God says that Christ is our holiness, He is our holiness. Sixth, we have seen what it means to let go. Seventh, we have seen that faith is the substantiation of what God has done. Eighth, we have seen that even though we have believed, our faith needs to be tested. Tonight, we will go on to consider another matter related to the overcoming life—the pathway to growth. After hearing the above points, you will surely ask, “After we have overcome, is our life on the highest plane, and is there no further progress from that point on?” I am going to speak tonight on what a person should do after he has overcome.
Many Christians have indeed overcome, and Christ is indeed their victory. But they do not know how to maintain this life, and they fail again very soon. The most immediate thing that a Christian should look forward to, expect, or hope for after his victory is God’s deliverance from particular sins, that is, the sins which have bothered and hindered him continually. No Christian who has entered the overcoming experience should carry any particular sin with him. The Lord has saved us, and He is already our overcoming life. We can say, “Lord, I thank and praise You because Christ’s victory has become my victory! Lord, I thank and praise You because Christ’s holiness has become my holiness.” It is Christ living for us. If a brother was previously bound by his temper, this temper should now go away. A brother might have been a doubting person, and his doubt may have troubled him much in the past. He might have been a talkative person, and his talkativeness may have been his frustration. A person might have been bound by any one of the eight kinds of sins mentioned before and been very bothered by it. Now he can expect God to drive these sins away. Once a person has overcome, he should say to God, “Lord, I look to You to put these sins behind me.”
Many other problems related to sin have to be dealt with. For example, you might have offended others or offended the brothers. Now you have to apologize to them. Formerly, you did not have the strength to apologize; now you have the strength to do it. In the past, you might have been bound by something. Now Christ is living in you, and you are free. Hence, immediately after a brother or a sister enters the overcoming experience, he or she has to look to the Lord to remove his or her particular sin, that is, the recurring sin which has been entangling him or her all the time. If such a sin is allowed to remain, not only will others say that such a one has not yet overcome, but he also will begin to doubt his experience of victory. Before one receives the overcoming life, he has no strength to fight the battle. Now that he has received the overcoming life, he has the strength to fight. He has the faith and the power now, and he can fight the battle.
In Chefoo, a few Western sisters once came to ask me whether one still has to fight the battle after he has overcome. I answered, “The question is whether one fights to overcome or overcomes to fight. You can never fight to overcome, but it is right to overcome to fight. Therefore, the question is whether you go from battle to victory or from victory to battle.” Many people struggle and strive to overcome, and the result is always failure. Victory can never be attained by our own striving. Victory comes from Christ and is absolutely something given by God. We have believed that the Lord is our holiness, perfection, and victory. Hence, everything else must now move out. Everything not planted by the Father will be plucked out.
I used an illustration once when I was talking to a brother. I asked: “Suppose you bought a piece of land and the seller made a contract with you. The contract specified the length and breadth of the land. When you went to claim the land, you found a few rascals trying to build a cottage on the land. What should you do? You should drive out the rascals based on the authority of your contract.” This should be the same way with us in our battle over sin. We do not have to fight according to our own strength but according to the authority which God has given to us. It is true that the Bible tells us to fight, but it also tells us to fight with faith. It is true that the Bible says we should prevail over the enemy, but it also tells us that we should prevail over him by faith. It is true that the Bible says we should withstand the devil, but it also tells us to withstand him with the shield of faith.
Brothers and sisters, is our peculiar disposition something that comes from the life of Christ? Do our acute suspicion, excessive talkativeness, and tenacious sin come from the life of Christ? We know, of course, that they do not; these things are not from Christ. Since they are not from Christ, we can command them to go away. If we try to withstand them first and then overcome, we will surely be defeated. If we try to fight through to victory with our own strength, we will surely fail. But if we overcome first and then fight, and if we fight from the basis of victory, we will go from victory to victory. Therefore, the crucial issue is whether one fights to victory or fights from victory. Fighting from victory is saying, “Lord, I thank and praise You that You have overcome! Because You have overcome, I can drive all these sins from me.” After a Christian has experienced the overcoming life, he should say, “Thank God. Since Christ is my life, these sins should not remain in me anymore. They should go away.” Any besetting sin can be removed immediately. This is the real meaning of warfare. The sin that used to continually follow us can now be brushed away at one stroke. This is the meaning of victory.
Second, our life should always be the same as it was on the first day we experienced the overcoming life. Every morning when we wake up, we should say to the Lord, “God, I am still weak and powerless before You. I have not changed; I am still the same. Nevertheless, I thank You because You are still my life, and You are still my holiness and my victory. I believe that You will live Your life out of me throughout the day. God, I thank You because everything is according to Your grace, and everything has already been accomplished by Your Son.” There are, however, a few things that we should pay attention to.