THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

The Divine and Eternal Life
Message Seven—The Experience of Life—Four Stages with Nineteen Points

Scripture Reading: Col. 3:4; Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:17; John. 15:1; 1 John 2:28; Eph. 6:12-13; 4:13

I. From the experiences of the saints throughout the ages, and in the light that we have seen in these recent years before the Lord, we may say that the experience of life can be divided into four stages with a total of nineteen points—Col. 3:4; Gal. 2:20:

A. The experience of this stage, from our point of view, may be said to be the stage of salvation or the stage of regeneration, but from the standpoint of our relationship with Christ, it is simply being in Christ—2 Cor. 5:17:

1. The first experience of the first stage is regeneration; from the point of view of knowing life, regeneration means that in addition to his original life man obtains the life of God—John 3:3-4, 7.

2. The second experience of life is the clearance of the past; since a man who has been truly regenerated and saved will naturally bring all his past to an end—cf. Luke 19:1-10; Acts 19:18-19.

B. The second stage of the spiritual life, the experience of “abiding in Christ”; “abiding in Christ” refers to the experience of our fellowship with Christ and of enjoying Christ—John 15:1; 1 John 2:28:

1. The first experience of the second stage of spiritual life is consecration; actually speaking, consecration itself is a part of life; and for that matter, it is a major part of life; the fullness of one’s experience of life depends on the fullness of one’s experience of consecration—Rom. 12:1; Lev. 6:12-13.

2. After having consecrated ourselves, the first thing we need to deal with is sins; dealing with sins is the first lesson in our experience of dealings; if we desire our spiritual life to grow, we need to deal with sins; the day that we do not deal with sins, our spiritual life does not grow; by dealing with sins daily, our spiritual life will grow daily; this is an ironclad principle—Matt. 5:23-26; 2 Cor. 7:1; Prov. 28:13.

3. Immediately after our consecration, sin should first be dealt with and then the world; the emphasis in dealing with the world is on dealing with the usurpation of people, activities, and things—James 4:4; Rom. 12:2; 1 John 2:15-17; cf. 2 Tim. 4:10.

4. The sixth experience of life is dealing with the conscience; it is not the conscience itself, but rather the feeling of the conscience that is the object of our dealings—1 Tim. 1:19, 5; Acts 24:16; 23:1.

5. The seventh lesson of the experience of life is that of obeying the teaching of the anointing; the main purpose of experiencing the anointing is that we touch God Himself and have His presence; the key to all our spiritual life is the anointing—1 John 2:27.

6. We now come to the lesson of knowing the will of God or the leading of the Lord; since God’s will is lofty and eternal, man must come out of his own little circle and get into the larger circle of God—Eph. 5:17; Col. 1:9; Matt. 6:6; Heb. 13:21.

C. The third of the four stages in our spiritual life, that is, “Christ living in me,” or, the experience of “the stage of the cross”—Gal. 2:20:

1. The first experience in the third stage of our spiritual life is dealing with the flesh by the cross; the outcome of our dealing with the flesh is that we live in the law of the Spirit of life, depending on the Holy Spirit in all matters, never upon ourselves; it is not until this point is reached that we experience dealing with the flesh in its fullest measure—Rom. 8:7-8; 8:13; Gal. 5:2.

2. Now we come to see the matter of dealing with self; this experience is very closely related to dealing with the flesh; this is an important experience in the stage of the cross; dealing with self is a life-long lesson; during our entire life, we should apply the death of the cross to our self and be one who denies self and bears the cross—Matt. 16:21-25.

3. The eleventh experience of life is dealing with the natural constitution; the natural man is useless before God; only the resurrected one can be of use before God; for this reason the natural constitution needs to be broken and dealt with—cf. Gen. 28:20-22; 35.

4. The twelfth experience in our spiritual life is accepting the discipline of the Holy Spirit; the discipline of the Holy Spirit refers to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our outward environment; it refers to His arranging of all people, things, and happenings, through which we are being disciplined—Rom. 8:28.

5. Now that we have seen the discipline of the Holy Spirit, we will study dealing with the spirit; dealing with the spirit is dealing with its passage—Psa. 51:10; 2 Tim. 1:7; Gal. 6:1; Matt. 5:3.

6. The fourteenth experience of life is being filled with the Holy Spirit; the filling of the Holy Spirit within and without is a glorious blessing under the New Testament—John 20:22; Acts 2:1-4.

D. The fourth stage is the last and highest stage of our spiritual life—Christ’s full growth in us; this stage is also called the stage of spiritual warfare—Eph. 6:12-13:

1. The first experience of this stage is knowing the Body; everyone who wants to engage in spiritual warfare must first know the Body; nothing requires us to know the Body so urgently as spiritual warfare, because spiritual warfare is not an individual matter, but a Body matter—Eph. 4:4-6.

2. The sixteenth experience of life is knowing the ascension; ascension is the result of resurrection from death—Eph. 1:20; 2:6.

3. In the previous chapter we have seen the matter of knowing the ascension; now we will go on immediately to see the experience of reigning; with regard to the goal of God’s salvation, we need to reign for Him; with regard to our growth in life, we also need to reach the stage of reigning; with regard to Satan’s unlawfulness, we need even more to rise and reign—Gen. 1:26; Rev. 2:26-27.

4. The fourth experience of this stage is spiritual warfare; the purpose of spiritual warfare is to bring in the kingdom of God—Matt. 6: 9-10, 13b.

5. We shall now study the nineteenth lesson concerning life, which is also the last experience of life—being full of the stature of Christ; being full of the stature of Christ, we mean that our life in Christ has attained to the realm of full maturity—Eph. 4:13.

II. “Therefore, when the life experience of a Christian attains to the full stature of Christ, it has reached the climax. He shares the same position with Christ, and he reigns and deals with the enemy together with Christ. His whole being is filled with the element of Christ. Aside from the fact that the body has not yet been transfigured into the body of glory, all else has reached its highest or final point. The life experience of a saint in Christ thus comes to a conclusion. Other than waiting to be raptured and entering into glory, there is nothing else left to be desired.” (The Experience of Life, msg. 19)

 

Ministry Excerpts:

THE FOUR STAGES WITH A TOTAL OF NINETEEN POINTS
OF THE EXPERIENCE OF LIFE

From the experiences of the saints throughout the ages, and in the light that we have seen in these recent years before the Lord, we may say that the experience of life can be divided into four stages with a total of nineteen points.

According to our experience, the first four stages may be designated as follows: the first stage may be called the salvation stage; the second, the revival stage; the third, the stage of the cross; and the fourth, the stage of spiritual warfare. But according to our relationship with Christ, these four stages should be designated in this way: the first stage; in Christ; the second, abiding in Christ; the third, Christ abiding in us; and the fourth, Christ fully grown in us. The experiences of these four stages are based on our relationship with Christ.

Life is God Himself, yet in order that God may be our life, this life must necessarily be in Christ. Therefore, the Scripture says, “Christ is our life” (Col. 3:4). Since life is Christ, when we experience life, we experience Christ. The experience of life may be expressed, therefore, as our relationship with Christ. (The Experience of Life, Introduction)

THE FIRST STAGE—IN CHRIST

The first stage of the experience of life is being in Christ. This is due to the fact that our relationship with Christ results in our being in Christ. Before we were saved, we were outside of Christ; we were in Adam. But when we are regenerated, God translates us into Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). The experience of this stage, from our point of view, may be said to be the stage of salvation or the stage of regeneration, but from the standpoint of our relationship with Christ, it is simply being in Christ. (The Experience of Life, THE FIRST STAGE—IN CHRIST)

THE SECOND STAGE—ABIDING IN CHRIST

What we have seen in the preceding chapters is the first state of spiritual life, that is, the experience “in Christ.” Now we will continue by looking at the second stage of the spiritual life, the experience of “abiding in Christ.”

“Abiding in Christ” and “in Christ” are different. Although both speak of our relationship with Christ’s life, yet the matters referred to are different. “In Christ” refers to the fact of our sharing what Christ is and our oneness with Christ. “Abiding in Christ” refers to the experience of our fellowship with Christ and of enjoying Christ.

Originally we were in Adam and shared what was of Adam. When we received the Lord as our Savior, however, God translated us from Adam into Christ. This is the first stage of our experience of life, so we call this stage “in Christ.” After we are saved and have been attracted by the love of the Lord, we pursue the Lord more, consecrate ourselves, and have various kinds of dealings. Thus, we enter into the second stage of the experience of life. We begin to abide in Christ in a practical way, fellowship with Christ, enjoy Christ, and experience Christ. We call this second stage, therefore, the stage of “abiding in Christ.”

We cannot avoid dividing a Christian’s early life experiences into these two stages. Yet, according to the truth, these two stages should not and cannot be divided. Let us first consider the division, “in Christ” and “abiding in Christ.” When a man is saved, he is translated into Christ and should then be abiding in Christ. Once we share what Christ is, unite with Christ, and possess the fact of being in Christ, we should have fellowship with Christ, enjoy Christ, and have the experience of abiding in Christ. No one ever moves into a house without living in that house and enjoying it. Likewise, once a man is in Christ, he should abide in Christ—these two events are closely connected and take place almost simultaneously. Because of this, “in Christ” and “abiding in Christ” can only be regarded as one stage. “Abiding in Christ” should be the first stage, with “in Christ” being simply the beginning of this first stage.

As to the division of the “salvation stage” and the “revival stage,” the situation is also the same. Regeneration in the salvation stage is actually “revival.” Originally man lived in the presence of God, but because of his transgression, he became dead and fell into sins. Now because of the Lord’s deliverance, he is quickened together with the Lord and raised up together with the Lord. This is regeneration, and this is revival. Therefore, a regenerated and saved man should also be a revived man. It is abnormal for a man to be saved but not revived, since the central point of salvation is regeneration, that is, revival. Only in the salvation which does not reach the mark is there no condition of revival; salvation which reaches the mark is not only regeneration, but also revival. For this reason the salvation stage is the revival stage, and the two should not be divided.

Strictly speaking, therefore, the four stages of the spiritual life are in reality only three stages, with the first two stages regarded only as one. There are many, however, who though they are saved, do not appear to have the condition of revival; although they are actually in Christ, yet they do not have the practical experience of abiding in Christ. They still need the mercy of the Lord to be attracted by Him, to love Him, to pursue Him, and to follow Him, so that they will manifest the condition of revival and begin to enjoy Christ and experience Christ. For this reason then, we divide the Christian’s early experience of life into two stages. (The Experience of Life, THE SECOND STAGE—ABIDING IN CHRIST)

THE THIRD STAGE—CHRIST LIVING IN ME

We come now to study the third of the four stages in our spiritual life, that is, “Christ living in me,” or, the experience of “the stage of the cross.”

If a Christian, after he consecrates himself to the Lord, deals thoroughly with all unrighteousness, unholiness, and the feelings of the conscience, and has certain experiences in obeying the teaching of the anointing and understands God’s will, then the Lord will lead him to accept the dealings of the cross. Thus, he will obtain experiences of the stage of the cross.

The experience of the stage of the cross is different in many respects from the previous spiritual experiences. The first two stages of the experience of life can only be counted as the experience of one stage, because all those dealings can be experienced once a person is saved. A person who is saved in a very thorough way begins immediately to clear the past and deals with sin, the world, and the conscience. Even in the deeper lessons, such as obeying the teaching of the anointing and understanding the will of God, he has already made headway. Therefore, these experiences actually belong to the stage of salvation. However, there is definitely a difference when we come to the third stage. It brings us to the starting point of another aspect in Christian experience, and this serves as a great turning point for a Christian before the Lord. Mrs. Penn-Lewis named this stage “the way of the cross.” She used the term “way” to denote that it is at this stage that a Christian begins to walk formally in the way of the cross, having the experience of the cross and walking entirely under the cross. Therefore, from this time on, his spiritual walk enters into a new stage.

Moreover, all the dealings during the first two stages with regard to unrighteousness, unholiness, and even the unpeaceful feelings in the conscience are related to matters outside of us and have nothing to do with our own self. In the first two stages, we conceive of all our problems as being things related to sin and the world, and that if we have dealt with them, we will have no further problems. However, not until we consecrate ourselves to the Lord and obey Him in an absolute way, making progress in the Lord and entering into the third stage, do we gradually discover that, in following the Lord, not only do we have problems related to matters outside of us, but also problems of our very being, such as our flesh, our self, and our natural constitution. Furthermore, these inward matters hinder and offend the Lord most severely. At this time we will be led by the Lord to see how the cross can solve all these difficulties pertaining to our being. Then we will have deeper dealings with regard to these matters. This is why we say that if a Christian can enter into this third stage of the experience of the cross, then indeed a great turning point and a new beginning will be effected in his life.

Two Different Kinds of Dealing

The matter concerning the cleansing of leprosy (Lev. 14:2-9) is a type which very clearly shows these two different kinds of dealing related to the matters outside of us and the things of our selves. In the Bible a leper always typifies our fallen, sinful man. The problem of a leper is really not in his outward filthiness and ugliness, but in the poison of the disease within. Likewise, the main problem with us fallen sinners is really not our outward sinful deeds, but the sinful nature within us, which originates from the evil life of Satan. Therefore, the typology regarding leprosy is a very accurate and thorough description of our sinful condition before God. Hence, the way of cleansing related to the leper, as recorded in Leviticus, is also the way of our being cleansed and dealt with before God.

The first requirement for the cleansing of a leper was to bring him to the priest. The priest typifies the Lord Jesus. “The priest shall go forth out of the camp” to examine the leper, because the leper could not enter into the camp, but must remain outside. This tells us that we sinners cannot come into the midst of God’s people, where God manifests His grace; but the Lord Jesus has come out to examine us. If we have really repented from our heart, then the plague of leprosy is healed in the sight of God. After it is healed, “then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: and the priest shall command to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar-wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: and he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let go the living bird into the open field.” The filthiness of the leper is a sin before God; therefore, it requires the cleansing of the sprinkling of the blood. This is not for the cleansing of the sinful nature, but for the abolishing of all record of sin before God. The procedure in the sprinkling of the blood is to prepare two birds: one to be killed in an earthen vessel over running water, and the other, which is living, to be dipped in the blood and sprinkled over the leper. The bird that is killed typifies the Lord Jesus shedding His blood and suffering death; the living bird typifies the Lord Jesus resurrected from death; and the running water typifies the everlasting life of our Lord. Therefore, this indicates that the Lord Jesus shed His blood and suffered death in His everlasting life. Furthermore, the blood, shed by His death, and His everlasting life are brought unto us and become effective in us through His resurrection. The seven times sprinkling indicates the completeness of the cleansing of the Lord’s blood; it can abolish all our sinful record before God and make us acceptable to God. After the living bird was dipped into the blood, it was set loose into the open field. This means that after a person receives the death of the Lord Jesus in his stead, the blood of the Lord becomes effective upon him, and the power of the resurrection of the Lord is manifested in him and sets him free.

When a person is resurrected and liberated through the death and resurrection of the Lord, he is saved. From this time forth, he must cleanse away all his filthiness, dealing with both his inward and outward difficulties.

“He that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes.” Clothing, which is something put upon the human body, typifies our living, deeds, and actions. Therefore, the washing of the clothes indicates dealing with all improper and wrong deeds in our lives. This includes all that we have mentioned before—the clearance of the past, the dealing with sin, the world, and the conscience, which belong to the first two stages of the experience of life.

Being Dealt with by the Cross

It follows then that the leper has to “shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean.” The hair, which is something grown out from a man’s body, signifies the difficulties within ourselves. Therefore, shaving the hair means dealing with the difficulties of our own self. This is the work of the cross in dealing with our being. After one passes through the dealing of the cross, his whole being is cleansed in a practical way. This kind of dealing is not once for all; it must be repeated again and again to become thorough. Therefore, “on the seventh day he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eye-brows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and he shall be clean.” This continuous dealing is not only thorough, but detailed; that is, it is not only the shaving of the hair in general, but it also differentiates between the hair of the head, the beard, the eyebrows, and the hair of the whole body. These areas must be dealt with one by one, and eventually the whole body completely shaved.

In the Bible, each of the different kinds of hair has its own significance. The hair of the head signifies the glory of man, the beard represents the honor of man, the eyebrows speak of the beauty of man, and the hair of the whole body denotes the natural strength of man. Everyone has his boasts in certain areas. Some boast of their ancestry, some of their education, some of their virtues, some of their zeal in their love for the Lord. Almost everyone can find an area in which to boast, to glorify himself, and to make a display before man. This is typified by the hair of the head. Moreover, people esteem themselves honorable with regard to their position, their family background, or even in their spirituality; they always have a superior feeling that they are above others. This is his beard. At the same time, men also have some natural beauty, that is, some naturally good and strong points, which did not issue from the experience of God’s salvation, but from natural birth. This is the eyebrows of man. Finally, as human beings, we are full of natural strength, natural methods and opinions, thinking that we can do this or that for the Lord, and that we are capable of doing all things. This means that we still have very long hair all over our body; we have not been shaved. All these are not outward contaminations, but problems of our natural birth. The outward contaminations need only to be washed with water; however, our own natural problems must be shaved with a razor, which means that they must be dealt with by the cross. This kind of dealing is deep and severe, hurting us within and causing us much pain.

What we will discuss in the third stage are the experiences of “shaving of the hair,” that is, dealing with the problems of our own self. We will divide these dealings into the following items: dealing with the flesh, dealing with self, and dealing with the natural constitution. These are the major experiences of dealing in the third stage of the experience of life. (The Experience of Life, THE THIRD STAGE—CHRIST LIVING IN ME)

THE FOURTH STAGE—CHRIST’S FULL GROWTH IN US

Now we will consider the fourth stage of our spiritual experience. This is the last and highest stage of our spiritual life—Christ’s full growth in us.

After we have passed through the previous stages, all difficulties in us relating to sin, the world, the offense in the conscience, the flesh, the self, and the natural constitution having been dealt with and purged, there remains in us nothing but God. God now has gained absolute ground in us, and our whole being within and without is entirely filled with the Holy Spirit. Now we enter the highest stage of the spiritual life, where Christ is fully grown and matured in us. We have, therefore, called this highest stage, “Christ’s full growth in us.”

Let us look at the type in the Old Testament as shown in the account of the Israelites’ departure from Egypt and their entrance into Canaan. At the outset of their journey, by passing through the Red Sea, they left Egypt, the land of bondage, while Pharaoh and his army were buried under the sea. Henceforth, the world with its usurping power was stripped off. Later, they fought with the Amalekites, which was a type of their dealing with the flesh. Then the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years. The number forty in the Bible denotes testing and affliction. God led them to walk through the wilderness for forty years, because He desired, by means of testing and affliction, to expose the wickedness of their flesh. His intention was that the flesh should be dealt with exhaustively. Our experience is the same. After baptism, it is not enough to deal with the flesh just once; we must be dealt with in the hand of God for months and years. Sometimes God leads us through the wilderness so that not only is our living difficult, but even our spirits are dry, depressed, and miserable. The only reason for this is that through testing and affliction our flesh might be dealt with.

When the Israelites fulfilled their days of wandering, God led them through the Jordan, and they were circumcised in Gilgal. On one hand, they entered the promised land of Canaan in a practical way; on the other hand, they were facing the seven nations of the Canaanites, and warfare was required in order to annihilate them and establish the kingdom of God. This prefigures the fact that when our days of testing in the spiritual wilderness are fulfilled and we have learned to let our flesh be dealt with to a certain degree, God will lead us through the spiritual Jordan, where the flesh will be completely rolled away (Gilgal means, “roll away”) and cut off (Col. 2:11). Henceforth, we shall attain to the heavenly realm in a practical way, thereby inheriting all the fulness of Christ. Furthermore, it is at this very time that we contact the hosts of evil spirits in the heavenlies and begin the experience of spiritual warfare.

Engaging in Spiritual Warfare

During their entire journey, the Israelites passed through two bodies of water: the Red Sea, and the River Jordan. The Red Sea was for the burial of Pharaoh and his armies, whereas the Jordan was for the burial of the Israelites themselves. When they passed through the Jordan, they brought twelve stones over with them and set up another twelve stones in the river bed. These two groups of twelve stones represent the twelve tribes. They signify that the old twelve tribes were terminated in the Jordan, and the newborn twelve tribes passed over to the other side of the river to enter into the promised land. Both of these two bodies of water through which they passed typify the death of Christ. The water of the Red Sea is a type of the aspect of Christ’s death which ends the power of the world. The water of the Jordan represents the aspect of Christ’s death which brings our old man to an end. When the Israelites passed through the Red Sea, they could fight only with the Amalekites; not until they passed through the Jordan could they fight with the seven nations of the Canaanites. This means that in the beginning of our spiritual life, after our baptism, we can only have warfare with the flesh (Gal. 5:17). Not until our spiritual life has reached the climax, when our flesh has been completely buried and rolled away and all our difficulties within have been resolved, will we be able to deal with the enemy without and engage in spiritual warfare.

We understand by all these types that the first three stages of our spiritual life have transpired before we pass through the Jordan. The fourth stage occurs after we cross the Jordan and enter into the land of Canaan. All our difficulties have been dealt with on the other side of the River Jordan and in the River Jordan. Now we come to this side of the river to deal with God’s difficulty, to fight against and totally destroy the seven nations of the Canaanites—the powers of spiritual darkness and wickedness in the heavenlies (Eph. 6:12)—who are usurping this promised land of God. Thus, spiritual warfare must be placed in the last and highest stage of our spiritual life. Only by passing through the various dealings and having our own problems solved, can we engage in spiritual warfare.

From another point of view, God has a two-fold purpose for all His redeemed ones: first, and most important, that we be filled with God Himself and manifest His glory; secondly, that we rule for God and deal with His enemy. When we reach the end of the third stage of our spiritual life, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, or God Himself; this, the first and most important purpose of God, has been fulfilled. It is at this time that God desires that we learn to fight for Him and deal with His enemy so that His secondary purpose can be fulfilled in us. This is what we will experience in this fourth stage of our spiritual life. (The Experience of Life, THE FOURTH STAGE—CHRIST’S FULL GROWTH IN US)