What Every Believer Must Know About The Way Of The Cross – Part 2

The way of the cross is the only way to go – to die.

Jesus went the way of the cross. He said we are to follow Him. He told us to take up our own cross and follow Him.

What do most people think taking up their cross means? What do you think it means?

• believing in Jesus
• believing you sinned
• believing Jesus died for your sins
• being baptised in His name
• being baptised in the Holy Spirit
• etc
• etc

No. It isn’t these at all.

To take up our cross and follow Christ (as the Holy Spirit leads us – into all TRUTH) is to suffer the loss of our own nature through a process much similar to how Jesus suffered on His way to the cross as a sacrifice for us.

Obviously it is unique to everyone and ordered specifically by Father himself, for our benefit. In fact, for our glory.

The process is one of our dying as a seed in the ground, just as Jesus’ parable depicted He was a seed that would be fruitful by dying as a seed in the ground. As we go through a process of death, our self dies to all the bonds that the natural world has on us by way of our nature, our sinful nature, our human nature. The pure and holy seed which is Christ (a spiritual nature), within us grows through this process and we become less like ourselves (carnal) and more like Him. Thereby growing up into His likeness. Hereby becoming a NEW CREATION as Godlike in a human form, just as Jesus was the FIRST of many brethren.

As I mentioned in the previous post, putting off or dying to our sinful nature though, also includes dying to the ‘good’ of that nature. That’s because abiding in the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which we do very naturally, is carnal and of a double mindedness. It is not Holy.

Too many believers think that it is enough to be Good. It is NOT. We must become HOLY just as He is Holy. And this is not something we can decide to do starting today, as though it were a New Year’s resolution. This is a process of putting our hearts, lives and desires on the altar of sacrifice and the refiner’s fire of heaven coming down to consume it until only ashes are left.

In some extremely difficult situations I have found myself in, I have pleaded to the Father for deliverance from them. I have begged and pleaded in emotional pain and agony that He have mercy on me and change my circumstances. But I have found one way of the Lord in this way of the Cross, was to let me beg, plead, and cry out until I was so utterly spent the only thing left was to put all that it was to me on my own little altar and say “Father, I give it all to you. Do with it whatever you will. Your will, not mine, be done.” At that point He has something to work with.

My carnal reasoning struggles with every possible scenario and solution and outcome to my circumstances until it has exhausted itself so completely it has no further energy, in it’s own life and strength, to keep fighting back.

Like Job, we must learn to not turn away from the Lord here. This is vital. Our faith grows if we can hang on a little longer and not forsake the profession of our faith. God gives and He takes away, blessed be the Lord.

There are not many people willing to go through this. The cross is foolishness to them that are perishing (everyone that doesn’t understand that God has purposed these things that we may become holy as He is holy).

So what is the Way of the Cross?

• it is death to our sinful nature
• it is also death to the ‘good’ of our nature
• it is life to Christ within us
• it is not something we can do ourselves
• it is not a process we can truly understand
• it is for our glory
• it is as John the Baptist said “He must increase, I must decrease.”
• it is life by death and the ONLY way we become Christ like and Holy as He is Holy.
• it is an individual process, the church can’t take you there

Good deeds, giving of ourselves to worthwhile causes, tithing, providing for children in third world countries, not murdering, lying and maintaining flawless church attendance are not the ways in which we ‘get to heaven’.

We are seated with Christ in the heavenlies if and when in the ‘eating of Him as our bread’ He is assimilated into our being as a growing Holy seed.

Religion and religious practices can not live through the way of the cross. The cross will devour any and all man made laws that the Spirit of God may become the true fulfillment of God’s law as it is written on your heart.

What Every Believer Must Know About The Way Of The Cross – Part 1

 

What Every Believer Must Know About the Way of the Cross – Part 1

Believers know of course, that they must stop sinning and they pray to God for forgiveness and help to walk a sinless walk. In our pursuit of godliness we do all we can in our own strength to put off evil and sin and embrace the proper things like patience, generosity, and humility. We even come into knowing our spiritual gifts, begin to experience the joys of ‘witnessing’ and answered prayers.

Yet Father has designed it that even as we ‘achieve’ these good things, by doing so in our own strength we have inadvertently empowered SELF. We can’t even tell we’re doing it and there is no way we can stop from doing things in our own strength either.

What we were pursuing was definitely good and not bad though! Right?

Well, yes, and no. Let me try to explain.

In the realm of our humanity, yes, these things are good. In the realm of spirit, not quite. It’s the difference between the tree of knowledge of good and evil versus the tree of Life. Of good and evil, the good is better, but even the good isn’t Life.

If we can only become born of the spirit by His spirit in us, having begun in the spirit we are NOT going to be spiritual if we try to FINISH in the flesh. ALL of it MUST be by His SPIRIT.

So we’re turned on our heads when, through a process of stripping, God would also begin to remove our knowledge and confidence in ‘good’. When we think it is just the bad that needs to be put off.

What’s the good?

• our religion,
• our spiritual gifts
• our ability to witness
• our understanding of scriptures
• our prayers that avail much
• our patience
• our generosity
• our goodly/godly relationships
• our tithing
• church attendance
• ‘ministering’ in church programs
• etc

Everything we have worked so hard for to put as much distance between us and our sinful nature and to be a good little Christian. It all HAS TO GO!

We can’t get rid of it ourselves though. It must be Christ growing in us and transforming us from the carnal nature we now have into His nature. This process is the overcoming He refers to in Revelations.

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’ Revelation 2:7

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’ Revelation 2:17

‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. Revelation 3:5

and others.

The only way to overcome is by way of the cross. This way of the cross is our own crucifixion process.

 

Boasting in Our Weakness

”He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in your weakness.’ Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ may tabernacle over me.” II Corinthians 12:9

It is one thing to say that we cannot make it, and it is another thing to give up trying to make it altogether. Can we see that these are two things? The first condition to victory is to realize that we cannot make it, and the second is to give up trying to make it. If we will admit that we cannot make it and give up trying to make it, we will overcome.

What does it mean to try to make it? Let me take temper as an example. Suppose you are a quick-tempered person, and you cannot control your temper. The more you try, the more you fail. You admit that you can do nothing about your temper. What should you do? You know with certainty that there is no way to control your temper, yet you still try to control it. Then what do you do? You try to be more careful when you speak with others. You try to avoid those with whom you cannot get along well, and you try to talk to those with whom you can get along well. You avoid fellowship with those who agitate you and run away from their face. Every time you are about to lose your temper, you try your best to suppress it. You try to suppress it with more prayers. What is this? This is being unable, yet at the same time trying to be able.

Brothers and sisters, please remember that the condition of victory is acknowledging that we are unable, and the greatest barrier to victory is trying to be able. Victory is from Christ; it is Christ who is living on our behalf. The overcoming life requires that we take a stand and declare, ”I cannot make it and I do not intend to make it. Please make it for me. I will not fabricate my own victory.” I have heard a few sisters remark to me, ”Brother Nee, it would be wonderful if my temper could improve a little.” I always tell them, ”You have to thank the Lord for your quick temper.”

Weakness is not something that one should lament over or weep about. Weakness is something that one should boast in. You may have said, ”Thank and praise the Lord He has made me overcome,” but have you ever said, ”Thank and praise the Lord, He has made me fail miserably”? You thank and praise the Lord for giving you patience, but have you thanked and praised the Lord for your impossible temper? Have you thanked and praised Him for your pride? Have you thanked and praised Him for your jealousy? Have you thanked and praised Him for your unclean thoughts within and for your sin? Brothers and sisters, do you have a sin which you cannot even confess? What are you going to do? Are you going to be sorrowful? It is a glorious thing for a man to realize that he is helpless. Once the Lord shows you that you cannot make it, He will immediately show you that God can make it. Your Lord does not show you your inability to discourage you, but for you to believe that He has an excellent opportunity to work in you. In the past you may have grieved over your weakness or wept over your sins. But today you can boast and praise! ”Lord I thank You because I cannot make it. I thank you because I have no way to overcome. I am not able. I rejoice because I am not able. I rejoice because I cannot do anything. Only You can do everything.” If you do this, you will overcome.

by Watchman Nee

1903-1972

From lighthouselibrary.com

I thought this small article by Watchman Nee, probably an excerpt from one of his books, was perfect. Could it be said any plainer, our place and proper humility in submission to the loving, transforming work of Christ within us? Of course it is always easier said than done, but that’s only until we really believe it, I think.