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The secret of fruit-bearing lies in prayer, confessing of sins, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. John 15:16 says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.” Many people do not understand why, after the Lord says that we should bear fruit and that our fruit should remain, He immediately says that whatever we ask the Father in His name, the Father may give us. Why does the Lord connect the answering of prayer to fruit-bearing and having remaining fruit?
Then verse 17 says, “These things I command you that you may love one another.” It is difficult to discover the relationship between these few things — bearing fruit and having remaining fruit, having our prayers answered, and loving one another — and it is not easy to apprehend according to our logic. The fact is that to love one another is to be in one accord. Both bearing fruit and having our prayer answered depend on our being in one accord. This is the secret that relates to fruit-bearing, answered prayer, and loving one another.
Throughout this year more than thirteen thousand people have been baptized in Taipei. If we do not conduct our home meetings well, and if there is not enough support, there will certainly be some new ones who will slip away. John 15:16 says, “That your fruit should remain.” The Lord does not want us only to bear fruit; He also desires that our fruit would remain. Knocking on doors and bringing people to salvation is to bear fruit; conducting home meetings is to have the fruit remain. When we visit people by knocking on their doors, bringing them to salvation and baptizing them, we are begetting them. Then home meetings are the nourishing after people have been begotten. All mothers know that a child must be nursed after he is born. If the child is not nursed after he is born, he will surely die.
If we gain thirteen thousand new ones, but eventually we lose twelve thousand, with very few who remain, the saints will be discouraged. Therefore, we have to endeavor to raise up these new believers one by one. This depends altogether on the home meetings. How the home meetings are conducted is one of the ultimate secrets to the success of the new way. We knock on doors, bring people to salvation, and baptize them, yet doing all this is not the conclusion. As we all know, even the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses rise up to knock on doors. However, these are two great heresies, which have differing and wrong opinions concerning the person of the Lord Jesus. They do not confess that the Lord Jesus is God, yet their door-knocking has been very effective. Therefore, knocking on doors to bring people to salvation is not the conclusion. We still need to ensure that the fruit we bear remains.
This is a test with two aspects. On one hand, we bring many people to salvation, but on the other hand, we must face the issue of whether or not these people will remain. We can say that we have won the battle of bringing people to salvation. However, this victory still needs a confirmation, a conclusion. This confirmation, conclusion, depends on the home meetings, on whether or not the fruit gained from door-knocking is living and remaining.
We previously did not have much light concerning the practice of the new way. In the past we emphasized the four lines of Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. We have spoken of Christ being the Triune God, who became a man, passed through human living, went to the cross, entered into death, and resurrected from death to become the life-giving Spirit. As such a One, He has entered into us and dwells in our spirit to be our life and element, not only to regenerate us but even the more to transform us. Thereafter, He constitutes us to be the church, which is His Body as His fullness. In addition, the churches that appear in every locality are His living testimony. This is the line we have paid attention to in the past.
This Christ is the Spirit. If He were God and Christ but not the Spirit, He could have nothing to do with us. On the one hand, He has a relationship with us because He is the Creator and we are the creation; He is God and we are men. On the other hand, He would not have an organic relationship, an organic union, with us. He could not enter into us, and neither could we enter into Him. He could contact us, but He could not join Himself to us. According to His heart’s desire, He wants not only to be joined to us but also to mingle with us. He wants to become us and that we would become Him. This would be impossible without the organic union. If Christ were not the Spirit, He would have no way to have an organic union with us, to be our life, and to abide in us. Therefore, Christ must be the Spirit. In John 15 the Lord said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him” (v. 5). This is the organic union. Such a union is not like the binding together of two pieces of dead wood or the welding of two pieces of iron or steel. Rather, it is a living tree having living branches in a union of life. This is altogether a matter of life. If God and Christ were not the Spirit, how could He have such a life union with us?
For sixty years the light that God has continually granted us has been first concerning Christ and second concerning the Spirit. When Brother Watchman Nee was with us, he fellowshipped very clearly concerning the first aspect. He also paid attention to the second aspect, but he did not have the time to fellowship clearly about it. In 1952 Brother Nee was put into jail. Since then I have had within me a heavy burden that I must speak clearly concerning Christ being the Spirit.
The first message that I spoke concerning Christ being the Spirit was released in Manila. Then when I was in Taiwan, I spoke further concerning this. By the time I came to the United States, the burden within me had become even heavier. At that time there was a dear co-worker who warned me, saying, “The Bible truly speaks about the Spirit of Christ, telling us that Christ is the Spirit. However, you cannot speak this in America, because Christianity here will not receive it.” He had a good intention, but his good intention was with disagreement. We may have much doctrine and knowledge of the Bible, but if we do not know that Christ is the Spirit, those doctrines are not related to us in a real way, and we have no taste for them. It is only when Christ as the Spirit enters into us that all the spiritual realities are brought to us. The One who was crucified, passed through death, resurrected, and entered into us has become the Spirit, the reality. The One on the cross is Christ, but the One who enters into us is the Spirit. I told that co-worker that speaking on Christ being the Spirit was my burden; if I did not speak this, I would have nothing to say. Therefore, I have to speak this.
In 1962 at the beginning of our work in America, I first released The All-inclusive Christ, and after that I fellowshipped on Christ being the Spirit. There are two verses related to Christ being the Spirit. The first is 1 Corinthians 15:45b, which says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” However, many in Christianity do not understand this. They say, “This simply means that Christ has a Spirit, just as you and I have a spirit.” However, this portion of the Bible does not say that the last Adam, Christ in the flesh, has a Spirit. Rather, it says that the last Adam has become a life-giving Spirit. There is a distinct adjective here: Christ has become a life-giving Spirit. If this life-giving Spirit is not the Holy Spirit, how can He give life? If He is not the Holy Spirit, then are there two life-giving Spirits in this universe? The second verse that tells us that Christ is the Spirit is 2 Corinthians 3:17; it says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” Nothing can be clearer than this.
In the summer of 1969 in the conference in Erie, Pennsylvania, we released further messages on the seven Spirits. Many brothers in the United States can testify that the period of time after this may be considered the time when the churches in the United States were very living and high. Everyone enjoyed the burning of the seven Spirits.
Although for sixty years we have been holding to these four lines — Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church — we have to admit that on certain practical points we have had some problems, mainly concerning the preaching of the gospel. The majority of us have inherited the practice of Christianity, which is to give messages in a big congregation and invite people to come and listen. Throughout these decades, it is hard to say how many love feasts we have held and how many messages we have given. However, the result is that the number of people has not increased much. This is the situation in Taiwan and also in the United States.
Our truth has been rich and high, and the light has been clear and bright in a way that is beyond comparison. However, before October 1984 our numbers were not increasing, and our fruit was not remaining. At that time, when we finished the life-study of the New Testament, we decided to go to Taiwan to research the reasons for this. As a result of this research, we have seen the line of gospel preaching in the Bible.
Most Christians feel that to speak about preaching the gospel is a common thing. Who does not know about preaching the gospel? Apparently, as long as someone knows how to speak, he knows how to preach the gospel. However, we all can testify that it is not effective to depend on only one person to preach. With only one person speaking and all the others listening again and again, there is not much remaining fruit. At this time the Lord is opening our eyes to show us a line that we have neglected, which is to “go” (Matt. 28:19) and to meet “from house to house” (Acts 2:46; 5:42).
In the past we had the rich truth, the high gospel, but the result of our going out to gain people was not satisfactory. This was because we did not go in the right way, and we did not pay attention to meeting in the homes. Therefore, there was not much result. In the Bible we see the importance of the homes. In the Old Testament there were the houses of Israel in which the passover was held, the house of Joshua, the whole house of Rahab the harlot, the house of Jacob, and the house of David (Exo. 12:3-4; Josh. 24:15; 6:17; Exo. 19:3; Psa. 114:1; Zech. 12:7-8, 10; 13:1). In the New Testament there is the house of Zaccheus, the house of Simon the Pharisee, the house of Stephanas, the house of Lydia, and the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark (Luke 19:5, 9; 7:36; 1 Cor. 1:16; 16:15; Acts 16:40; 12:12). Because of this, we know that we must go to people’s houses.
The first one in the universe who came to man was God Himself. Although God created man, this man fell. The first couple, Adam and Eve, fell together. They were so frightened that they hid among the trees and made loincloths out of fig leaves, avoiding the face of God. God came to the garden of Eden, walked in the garden, and cried to Adam, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). In other words, God said to Adam, “Do not avoid Me. I have come to save you.” This is the same as the Lord’s words in the New Testament: “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). God was the first one to visit man and seek man. Not only did God Himself come, but He came with the gospel, telling Adam and Eve that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). God has come and brought to us the true gospel.
Four thousand years after Adam, God Himself came to be a man. The infinite God became a finite man. Philippians 2:6 says that He existed “in the form of God.” This phrase denotes Christ’s existence from the beginning. He existed in the form of God from the beginning, but He laid aside His original form and entered into the form of a man, being in the likeness of man and the same as man. Therefore, He is able to touch the heart of man.
God’s coming to be a man, Jesus, was not like that of a stage performer, who comes merely as an act. Rather, He was in the womb of Mary, remaining there for nine months. After being born according to the human manner, He lived in the home of a poor carpenter in Nazareth for thirty years. We cannot imagine what kind of living that was. After thirty years He began to carry out His ministry, like the Old Testament priests who needed to reach the age of thirty in order to be qualified to serve God. During that period of time, as Philippians 2:8 says, He was “found in fashion as a man.” Luke 19:10 says, “The Son of Man has come”; it does not say, “The Son of God has come,” or “God has come.” What did the Son of Man come to accomplish? He came “to seek and to save that which is lost.”
Luke 10:1 says, “Now after these things, the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to come.” Being in the flesh, the Lord could not go to every place at once. Therefore, He sent seventy others to go to the places to which He wanted to go. In the same way, when we go door-knocking today, every house that we visit is a place to which the Lord wants to go. The Lord has become the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of power, and the Spirit of authority, but if such a Spirit were to knock on doors Himself, He would frighten people. Therefore, He must be in us, put us on, and send us out.
What do we go out to do? We go out to seek and to save that which is lost. These lost ones were chosen and predestinated by God before the foundation of the world. Those who are chosen and predestinated are the sons of peace (v. 6). All those who have knocked on doors have experienced this. Sometimes when you have knocked on someone’s door, you may have felt that this person is not a son of peace, but after a few minutes you became clear that he indeed is a son of peace. Our going is to seek out the sons of peace. The Lord said to the disciples whom He sent, “Go; behold, I send you as lambs in the midst of wolves” (v. 3). Although the Lord sent the disciples as lambs in the midst of wolves, there were sons of peace among the wolves. Today He wants us to go to gain the sons of peace.
The desire of the Lord is for man to be saved. When He was on earth, He sent people out. Before He departed from the world in His ascension, He said to His disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and disciple all the nations” (Matt. 28:18-19). This indicates that the Lord wants the disciples to go and seek out the sons of peace so that they may be regenerated and enter into the kingdom of the heavens. Those people were originally the people of Satan’s kingdom, but through our seeking and preaching, they are regenerated and become the people of God’s kingdom. To find people in this way is to bring back the sons of peace.
On the other hand, this shows us that God does not want us to give messages in a big congregation, nor does He want us to ask people to come to hear messages. Rather, God wants us to go out. What shall we go out to do? We should go out to visit people. This is what the Lord Jesus did as the Son of Man, seeking and saving that which was lost. In the same way, our going door-knocking is to visit people in order to seek and to save that which is lost. Moreover, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples that when they entered someone’s house, they should not say anything at first except, “Peace to this house” (Luke 10:5). When we were in Shanghai, we had two gospel tracts entitled “Where Are You?” and “Peace Be to You.” The first time we went to visit people, we gave them “Where Are You?” Then the next time we went to visit them, we gave them “Peace Be to You.” “Peace be to you” indicates that we are seeking the sons of peace. If someone is worthy to have peace, he is a son of peace, and peace will rest upon him. But if he is not worthy, the peace will return to us. Therefore, we should simply go.
We go out to seek the sons of peace because the Lord Himself wants us to go. He said that if people receive us, they receive Him (v. 16). We are representing the Lord when we go. Therefore, our going must be the Lord’s going with us and our going with the Lord. It is not that we go on our own to the place we choose. Our going is actually the Lord going with us to the place He wants to go. Therefore, we must be one with the Lord. We must be those who abide in the Lord and who let the Lord abide in us.
Only when we are with the Lord and live with the Lord can we bear fruit with Him. The way that branches bear fruit is by remaining with the tree and living with the tree. In the past we pursued to be spiritual, holy, and victorious, and many times we seemed to be quite spiritual, holy, and victorious, yet we did not bear fruit. Therefore, there are some problems with this kind of pursuit. As some saints have testified, if we go out to knock on doors but do not see anyone saved, this is a sign, an indication, that we have a problem either with God or with man. We must repent and confess our sins quickly. If we confess our sins, the next time we go door-knocking, we will have fruit immediately. Therefore, we must be fully joined to the Lord as one, practically living in Him and letting Him live in us. When we two — He and we, we and He — become one, our going out will be His going out. When we arrive at this stage, we will experience being full of authority.
In the past when we preached the gospel in our traditional way, we did not have this experience. As a result, not many people were saved. This was because we did not abide in Him. Our abiding in the Lord and going door-knocking to visit people is the Lord Jesus’ seeking and saving that which is lost. It is not we who go door-knocking, but Jesus Christ who abides in us goes door-knocking in order to seek and to save that which is lost. Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Did Paul live Christ so that he might be spiritual, holy, and victorious? No, he lived Christ so that he might bear fruit. This is the meaning of 1 Timothy 1:15, which says, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Since Paul lived Christ, he was the same as Christ in the matter of saving sinners.
I hope that we all would see that in order to be truly spiritual, holy, and victorious, we must abide in the Lord and also let Him abide in us. Whether or not we abide in the Lord is fully indicated by whether or not we bear fruit. If we do not bear fruit, this proves that we have not been abiding in the Lord and that there are some problems in our organic union with Him. This can be likened to the circulation of electricity in our homes. The electric current is cut off wherever there is insulation. Although the power station is functioning and the electric lamps are in place, if the supply of electricity is blocked, the lamps will not shine. Similarly, if we do not abide in the Lord, outwardly we may still go to the meetings and keep ourselves from sin, yet we are insulated within and cut off from the Lord. This is why the Lord said, “He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This means that if we are apart from the Lord, we cannot bear fruit.
Every one of us is a branch of Christ and should bear fruit. If we do not bear fruit, we should realize that there is a problem. If we have lived our Christian life for decades yet in all those years have not borne any fruit, this indicates that we have had certain problems all along. Whether or not we are spiritual can be determined by whether or not we bear fruit. If we are not spiritual, it will be hard for us to gain people through door-knocking. Do not think that knocking on doors to visit people is an easy matter. Those with experience know that it is not easy. However, if we are willing to pray seriously and properly join ourselves to the Lord, immediately there will be the results. The supply of “electricity” will come again. Although the flow of “electricity” has been cut off, it will now be recovered, and our contacting people will spontaneously be effective.
I am afraid that many of us have been living a life of not bearing fruit. This should not be the case. Frankly speaking, preaching the gospel to bring people to salvation is not as difficult as it was before; now the way is much easier. Recently, two sisters from Denmark and Germany testified that they preached the gospel to the owner of a restaurant in Yang Ming Shan, and he immediately believed into the Lord Jesus. This shows us that gradually the earth will be filled with Christians. We do not have to expend all our effort to invite people to love feasts to hear the gospel, as we did in the past. Many whom we invited did not come even after ten invitations, and eventually they became annoyed with us. It was hard to save anyone in the way we took in the past. However, it is much easier now to get someone saved.
Whether or not the preaching of the gospel is easy altogether depends on what kind of people we are. If we are the proper kind of people, it will be easy; if we are not, then preaching will not be easy. If someone is untrained as a cook, he will not have the skill or the boldness to kill a chicken even if he is given the right kind of knife. He is not the right kind of person to do that job. If someone is trained, however, he can do the job without much effort. When we are trained to preach the gospel, our rate of success is very high. Within only three days some of the saints have baptized more than seventy people. This was easy for them, but it is not always easy for others. Whether or not it is easy altogether depends on what kind of people we are. If we are the right kind of people, it is easy, but if we are not, it is difficult.
We must be trained to be experts in preaching the gospel and in bringing people to salvation so that we can bring whomever we meet to salvation. Never say that it is very easy. Perhaps when other people go out, they are able to bring whomever they meet to baptism. However, when we go out, we may not able to do it. Satan has his authority in man. If we do not pray thoroughly, Satan will not let go. When we tell someone that he should be baptized, he may be unwilling and not consent. This is because Satan will not let go of him. Only when we pray thoroughly will we have the power. This thorough prayer is like the work of a surgeon. Before performing surgery on a patient, a doctor must first sterilize everything to kill the germs. Only when everything is sterilized completely can the surgery begin. In principle, this is the kind of person we must be. One who knocks on doors and brings people to salvation is one who is truly spiritual, holy, and victorious. This is a test of whether or not we are spiritual, victorious, and holy. If it is not easy for us to bring people to salvation, this proves that we are not truly spiritual, holy, and victorious. The matter of fruit-bearing is a very good test of our spirituality.
We must set a goal for our fruit-bearing. Then according to the goal, we should stretch forth with our full strength and pray before the Lord. I believe that the Lord will surely listen to our prayer. A young sister testified that originally she had decided to gain ten people, but eventually she gained only eight. In general we may feel that this was good enough. However, she felt that it was not right and that she must have some problems. When she went home, she prayed and confessed her sins before the Lord. After confessing her sins, she even prayed, “Lord, tomorrow You have to add four more to me to complement the two I yet lack.” Such a prayer pleases God. In addition to prayer, whether or not our estimate and goal can be attained depends entirely on whether we endeavor. If we endeavor, they can surely be attained; if we do not endeavor, they certainly cannot be attained. Our estimate and goal can never be attained if we are loose. In the matter of door-knocking and visiting, we should stretch forth with our full strength.
This is the principle according to which God wanted Gideon to test the three hundred men (Judg. 7:2-8). Among the children of Israel there were many who wanted to fight against the enemy, but God told Gideon that the people were too many and that only three hundred would be sufficient. But how should they be selected? There was a very good way, which was to observe the manner in which they drank water. Some people came to the water and bowed down on their knees to drink it. God told Gideon that he should not accept these; they cared too much for the drinking of water. He could take only those who lapped the water with their tongue. Their heart was not on drinking the water; it was desperate to go out to fight against the Midianites and cast them out. This illustrates that once we set our goal, we cannot be loose. Not only do we need to pray more, but we also need to be more in one accord. Everything has to be intensified. In this way we will certainly be weighty. Once we are weighty and girded up, our goal will be attained.
The new way of going out to knock on doors, bring people to salvation, and baptize them is not an easy one. Rather, it is the secret of the saints’ being spiritual, holy, and victorious. Taking this way will make the church holy and sanctified before the Lord, and the saints will be built up together. In the past we listened to many messages concerning being built up, but the result was still that everyone built up his own matters. No one was attuned to another one. As a result there was not much reality of the building or any great result in our work. Now we have this proper way. Therefore, we should “go” in one accord, knocking on doors, visiting people, bringing them to salvation, actively taking care of home meetings, building ourselves up, and being built up with the saints.
We all must have a thorough dealing with the Lord and be thoroughly cleansed to be without any problems so that He can pass through our inward being. We and He, He and we, must have the unhindered relationship of the “power station” and the “lamps,” in which we are fully connected and the “electricity” freely flows. This matters not only for our bearing fruit; it matters even more for our progress in the spiritual life.
