Guidance

1. Beware of testifying, “I am dead.” It is drawing attention to yourself and is “I” in another form! We may speak of our Living Lord and all that He is, but it is for Him to bear witness to what He has done for us. Let us welcome also every exhortation so that we may learn to know ourselves and seek deliverance. By this means, the outward life will soon be brought into conformity to the Christ within, and discrepancy between lip and life be avoided. Beware of dogmatizing over spiritual truths. 1 Corinthians 8:2 is true to the end.

2. Beware of seeking after “experiences.” Leave yourself in the loving hand of God, and let Him do as it pleases Him, leading you in any path He may choose.

3. Beware of losing rest in your soul by seeking further blessings. God cannot work in anxious hearts, even concerning your spiritual experience. Take Him at His Word, but leave the fulfilment of it to Him.

4. Beware of judging God’s Word by your experience. God’s Word is true, whatever our experience may be.

5. Beware of wanting to “feel” that you are dead. Already in the words there is a contradiction. If we had literally passed out of this world into the next, we should not feel that we are dead.

6. Beware of having faith in more than “reckoning yourself to be dead,” rather than in the living God who undertakes to make your reckoning true!

7. Surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit, and He will make the truth apprehend you.

8. God has never promised that you shall be able to look within you and say to your own satisfaction that “my self has disappeared.” Others will notice that this is true, while you are still resting on God’s Word that you have died with Christ, counting upon Christ to manifest His life through you.

9. Bear in mind that to be dead with Christ doesn’t put you in a state but rather it positions you. When the Holy Spirit has applied to you the experience of the death with Christ, and brought the soul into the real glorious freedom, it remains for you to maintain this position moment by moment; that is precisely what it means to abide in Him. There need be no effort required to “abide” in Him, when we count upon the Holy Spirit to keep us there.

10. Remember, when you step out upon God’s Word, take heed that you do not look to see if the work is done, and watch the “operation of God.” (Col. 2:12) As we rest on His Word, the work is being wrought in the depths of our being by the mighty inward Operator; if we begin to question, “have I died, or have I not?”, God has to wait until He can get us to rest upon the Word again.

11. Remember the adversary will dispute every inch of ground. The Devil is not dead. When we seek to hide in Christ upon the Cross, he seems more alive than ever, but God will guard us from all his subtleties. Let God fight the Devil, then victory is always certain.

12. Remember it is vain to ask God to set us free from our own “I” if we retain one single thing that ministers to the self-life. An honest desire to let Christ entirely possess us, and a practical committing to the Cross of all that is revealed, will bring God’s deliverance. Let us remember, too, that in God’s dealing with us, He will allow a “trial” to remain until we cease to writhe under it. We may well say, “Yes, Lord, as you will” at the beginning, but the one who stands firm will receive much before the end.

Finally, the “end goal of the Lord” is “life,” life out of death (Rom. 6:5). “If we have become united with Him by the likeness of His death, we shall be also by the likeness of His resurrection.”

Let us trust Him to complete His work in us whilst we surrender to His dealings with us. Let us have full confidence in Him, and always obey Him without delay!