According to 2 Peter 1:2-8, partaking of the divine nature issues in fruitfulness. Verse 4 says that through God’s precious and exceedingly great promises, we “become partakers of the divine nature.” Then verse 8 says, “For these things, existing in you and abounding, constitute you neither idle nor unfruitful unto the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We can all be fruitful by partaking of the divine nature. A life that is according to the inward divine nature is a fruitful life. In the Lord’s recovery, we do not need any outward regulations concerning the style of our clothes or the length of our hair. We should not pay any attention to outward regulations and organization. The Lord does not want an organization. He wants a living testimony composed of living witnesses as a corporate testimony of Jesus. We should only pay attention to the divine nature within us.
When the young people go to the campus to preach the gospel, the Christ you bear witness to depends upon the life you live. You need a daily life that matches the gospel. When you partake of the divine nature and are inwardly regulated, you will gain fruit not only by your words but also by your life and living. In Philippians 1:27, Paul charged the saints in Philippi to conduct themselves worthily of the gospel of Christ. We need a life that matches the gospel. In other words, we need to live out the gospel. We should live by the gospel and live out the gospel. Eventually, our preaching will be our living, and our living will be fruitful.
The Lord has touched me many times while I was praying concerning the gospel. As I would pray concerning a certain person, the Lord would respond, “You do not need to take care of that situation now, you need to take care of yourself.” Then the Lord would point out several matters in me that were not according to the divine nature. While I was concerned about another person, the Lord was more concerned about matters in my daily living. If the Lord never touches our conscience through prayer, we are not praying in the Holy of Holies in His presence. Although we may pray a great deal, we may be far away from the presence of the Lord in the Holy of Holies. If this is the case, the Lord will never touch our conscience. However, if we pray to the Lord in the Holy of Holies, in His holy presence, He will touch whatever we are and whatever we do. We must allow the Lord to touch us inwardly; otherwise, we will be loose. If we are serious with the Lord, He will transform us by His life and according to His divine nature. We should open every part of our being to the Lord in prayer so that He can touch us through His inward regulation. Then our life will match our preaching. Our life will even be our preaching.
Throughout the years, I have seen many different brothers preach the gospel. Some were eloquent speakers, but their preaching often did not yield much results. Their preaching was just like sounding brass (1 Cor. 13:1). I have also seen other brothers who were not eloquent. They could not speak well, but they had a life that matched their preaching. A life that matches the gospel touches and convinces people because most people have a fair conscience. A fair conscience is like a balancing scale that weighs whatever a person is. It tests where someone is and what someone is. Once you preach the gospel, people will start to watch you. While they accept their own unrighteousness, they will not accept any unrighteousness on your part. Their fair conscience may not make any demands on them, but it will demand a proper daily living from you. Therefore, you have to live a life that matches the gospel.
Matthew 5 tells us that we are the light of the world and that we must let our light shine before men (vv. 14-16). We must be full of light, shining over people. We should shine out Jesus Christ and the gospel. Paul stressed the same thing in Philippians 2. He said that we should be “blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life” (vv. 15-16). The word of life is not held forth only by our speaking but also by our daily life. We must have a daily life that holds forth the word of life.
I hope we are impressed with the need for a proper daily living in preaching the gospel. We have to go to the Lord to be fully checked by Him. We need to pray, “Lord, I am going to the campus to preach Your gospel. I open myself in Your presence. I want to be checked and examined by You. I want to have a full ‘x-ray’ of my entire being.” We all need to do this. Everything in our life and living should be checked. Nothing is too small to be checked. We should even check with the Lord about the watch we wear while preaching the gospel. Even it should be proper. This is not too legal. We have to be checked because even though we think we are okay, we are not.
We need the Lord’s shining light. If we are a careless, loose person, then we will not be successful in our gospel preaching, and our gospel preaching will not yield any remaining fruit. Because the early apostles were solid converts in the Lord’s salvation, their gospel preaching produced solid, remaining fruit. I am so glad and grateful to the Lord that I was saved through a young sister who was so solid in her life and living. The impression she gave me remains today and will never vanish. She had a life that matched her preaching. We also must have a life that matches our preaching.
The young people do not need to check about the length of their hair with others. Rather, they need to check with the Lord. Before you go to the campuses, go to the Lord. If the young people are told to have their hair the same length, that would be only an outward form of legality. Anything, however, that comes out of the inner divine nature is beautiful. If you check with the Lord, you may have your hair adjusted, but the adjustment will be according to the inner divine nature, not according to outward legality.
Home | First | Prev | Next