In 1932, the Lord raised up the church life in my home town, Chefoo. After one year, Brother Watchman Nee came to visit us, and I took him to my home for hospitality. Sometimes when we ate together, we had fellowship. One time he said to me, “Brother Lee, if you bury a piece of stone in the soil, after one or two years, nothing will happen. However, if you bury a living seed in the soil, whether it be a flower seed or a barley seed, after a period of time, something will grow out of it.” Then he continued, saying, “We Christians are not a piece of stone, but a seed. If this seed falls into the death soil, it will surely bring forth something of life.” At that time, I did not quite understand that word. I seemed to understand, but I did not. Then, over a few decades, I had many experiences. Today, I can say that I understand the meaning of this word. Certainly there is a resurrection life within us. This is the Triune God. It is also the Spirit. If we do not die, this life will not live. But if our natural man is dead, this resurrection life will live.
In the church life, whether in the brothers’ houses or the sisters’ houses, if we live by the divine and resurrected life, this life will put to death our natural affection. In this way, we will have the same love toward all the brothers and sisters and will not be close to some and distant from others. If we daily die to our self, to our natural affection and opinions, the power of the resurrection life within will operate, and the divine life and nature will be manifested from within us. As elders, co-workers, and brothers or sisters, when we come among the saints, the first thing we need to do is to die to ourselves, not having our own choice, taste, or desire. Only then will the power of the resurrection life be able to operate within us, and only then will the resurrection life be able to be dispensed into others through us. This was the life that the Lord lived on the earth: dying to the self and living out the Father’s life. Today, if we believers are to live Him and follow Him, we need to have the same kind of living. Stanzas three and four of Hymns, #362 say:
He lives for me that I may live
As spotless e’en as He;
Savior, to me Thy nature give,
And live Thy life in me.
He lives for me that I may give
His love to hearts that pine;
Let me like Him for others live,
And trace His steps divine.
I hope that every one of us can see that the One in us is the processed Triune God; He is Christ, the Spirit—the ultimate consummation of the Triune God. He is also resurrection. The only way that we can allow Him to have a way is for us to die to ourselves. As long as we die to ourselves, He will energize and operate within us. Eventually, He will become the enjoyment within us and the dispensing and manifestation of life in others. This is to experience resurrection. We are not “gritting our teeth” to be Christians. We are not looking for suffering for ourselves. Rather, we are learning day by day to die to ourselves that the power of resurrection within can have the opportunity to energize and operate.
As we follow the Lord today, it is not a good thing in the long run for us to enjoy outward blessings. But suffering is very good perfecting for us because in the death of Christ and in dying to ourselves, we experience Christ. To follow the Lord and to always take the way of the cross means to always remain in the death of Christ. Then one day, there will be no more pride or humility; there will be no more self-hatred or self-love; there will be no more self-generated evil or self-generated good. In other words, there will be no more self, only Christ. This is God’s salvation. Regardless of the kind of circumstances we are in or the kind of situation we encounter, the Triune God within us is the all-inclusive Spirit. Through His bountiful supply, we will eventually be saved (Phil. 1:19). Therefore, we need to pray unceasingly, contact the Lord, enjoy the Lord’s love, and remain in the Lord’s death so that the power of His resurrection can be manifested. May the Lord be gracious to us!
(A message given by Brother Witness Lee in Taipei, Taiwan on April 29, 1988)