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Scripture Reading: Psa. 52:8; Luke 2:25-32, 36-38
We all like to encourage the young people to learn more, because young people learn everything quickly. However, the older ones should not be discouraged, because there is a verse in the Bible that says, “So that your youth is renewed like the eagle” (Psa. 103:5). Even if we are old, our youth can be renewed, and we can still have the opportunity to learn.
We saved ones are regenerated people. Once we are regenerated, we cannot get old. The life that we received in our regeneration is an eternal life, a never-aging life. This life is different from the life that we received by birth. The life that we received from our parents is not growing daily but dying daily. If we are destined to live until we are ninety years old, then for every year that passes, we must subtract a year from our life, and for every ten years that pass, we must subtract ten years from our life. For example, if we have ninety dollars, every dollar that we spend means that we have one less dollar to spend. Because many of us do not have many years left, we do not want to waste them. This is not merely a feeling but a fact.
The life that we received in our regeneration is not like the gradually declining life we received by birth. The life that we received in our regeneration is a life that grows daily and is an eternal life. One psalmist in the Bible says, “But I, like a flourishing olive tree / In the house of God” (Psa. 52:8). I believe that this psalm was written by an old, even very aged, psalmist. But although he was old, he did not yield to his oldness. Hymn #715 in the Chinese hymnal says, “The withering days of life are seemingly increasing but actually decreasing.” This means that man’s life is like withering days that are apparently increasing but are actually decreasing. Some Christians who are already over eighty have subtracted more than eighty years from their life and do not have many years left. However, they have the eternal life in them, and this eternal life renews their youth.
Today the reason some of the elderly saints are so lively is that they have the eternal life in them. Although they themselves may not have this feeling, this is the fact. Their youth is being renewed day by day. In particular, we see many elderly saints in the meetings who welcome people with smiles and are full of vigor. What is real in them is manifested outwardly. They have a life in them that is a never-aging life. When this life is expressed in them, it becomes joy, because our Lord is the Lord of joy. There may be nothing in the outward environment to make us joyful, but the Lord who lives in us is our joy. We are joyful when we sing, and we are even more joyful when we testify for the Lord. The more we open our mouths, the more joyful we are. Even by saying Amen or Hallelujah, our faces become glowing, shining, and full of joy.
Even though the writer of Psalm 52 may have been aged, he saw himself as a flourishing olive tree that was growing in the house of Jehovah. I hope that all of us elderly saints would have the feeling that although we are aged, we still are flourishing olive trees. Instead of being weakened, as flourishing olive trees we have been planted in the house of Jehovah and are trusting in God’s lovingkindness forever and ever.
In the New Testament Luke 2:25 and 36 mention two elderly saints — one brother and one sister. The brother is named Simeon and the sister is named Anna. Verses 25 through 32 are concerning Simeon. Although this passage is short, it mentions the Holy Spirit three times. The first time it says, “The Holy Spirit was upon him” (v. 25). The Holy Spirit was on Simeon. Today we elderly saints are more blessed than Simeon because the Holy Spirit is not only on us but in us. The second time it says, “It had been divinely communicated to him by the Holy Spirit” (v. 26). It was not through a dream or his thoughts but through his receiving the revelation from the Holy Spirit that Simeon knew that he would not see death before he had seen the consolation of God’s people. The Lord Jesus was the consolation of God’s people. The elderly Simeon not only had the Holy Spirit but also received revelation from the Holy Spirit. The revelation that he received was concerning Christ. We all should be like Simeon who received a revelation from the Holy Spirit that was not related to peace or prosperity but to Christ.
Simeon received a revelation from the Holy Spirit and knew that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ, who was the consolation of God’s people. Later, the Holy Spirit moved him to enter the temple because the consolation of Israel, for whom he had been waiting, had arrived. At that time the Lord Jesus was still a little child. Simeon came in the Spirit into the temple, and the parents of Jesus brought Him in. Once he saw the child, he did not hesitate to receive Him into his arms. Simeon blessed God and said, “Now You release Your slave, Master, according to Your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all the peoples” (vv. 29-31). In his two short words, the word says that the Lord Jesus was the consolation of God’s people, and the other says that the Lord Jesus was God’s salvation (vv. 25, 30). Simeon saw that the Lord Jesus was both the consolation of God’s people and God’s salvation. The revelation and the spiritual feeling that Simeon received were both concerning Christ.
Today many Christians claim that they have received a revelation and have been touched to preach the gospel to certain relatives to save them from hell and perdition. Although we cannot say that this is bad, it is certainly not very high. Simeon received the revelation to see that Christ was the consolation of God’s people; he was also moved to receive Christ and said that he had seen God’s salvation. This proves that in his old age the elderly Simeon did not care for anything other than Christ. Every day he focused on Christ based upon God’s promise. The Old Testament promised again and again that Christ would come, and it hinted that Christ was the consolation of God’s people. Moreover, there were clear types showing that Christ was the salvation of God’s people. The elderly Simeon must have nearly memorized the entire Old Testament because he knew very well that these promises, hints, and types all referred to Christ.
Simeon was inwardly filled with Christ as the consolation of God’s people and God’s salvation. It could be said that he was charmed and captured by Christ. Hence, the revelation that he received was Christ, and he was moved with Christ. This is an excellent example for us. However, even though the elderly Simeon was merely in the Old Testament and had not entered the New Testament, he received such a high revelation. He arrived at such a revelation merely by enjoying the grace in the Old Testament. Nevertheless, he is truly a good pattern for us. Today what do we elderly ones think about? If we think about our children, there will be no end to our thinking. Of course, all parents think about their children, but we have to realize that it is not worthwhile to think about our children so much. To do so is to look for trouble. When we think about our children so much, not only are we unable to render them help, but sometimes we may be bound by them or cause them to be bound by us. This is truly pitiful.
After the account concerning Simeon, the Gospel of Luke gives the record of an elderly sister named Anna who loved Christ very much and pursued Christ. Luke 2 mentions these two elderly saints, showing us that they both considered Christ. This is very precious. I want to ask the younger saints what you think about. Do you think about beautiful clothing, good food, and high positions? Most young people think about what to wear and how to adorn themselves whereas most elderly people do not think about these things. Rather, they think about their children. It is truly a blessing for some elderly saints that they do not have children. If you do not have children, you will be unoccupied. A person spends all his money for himself when he is young, but when he is old, he saves every penny for his children. The sisters are especially frugal and thrifty for their children. Hence, it is hard for elderly people to overcome their preoccupation with their children, and it is not easy for young people to overcome their preoccupation with adornment.
The elderly Simeon and Anna were not like this. Their hearts were on Christ. I have eight children, twenty-two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. When I am among them, listening to their stories, I really need the Lord to put the helmet of salvation upon me. I would like to tell the elderly people that our children are not our consolation. Only Christ is our consolation and our salvation. The more the elderly people are focused on Christ, the more blessed they will be. If we dream of Christ at night, think about Christ in the morning, talk about Christ all the time, and are full of Christ, we will be blessed.
The churches changed their system of practicing the church life several years ago. This kind of change in system, however, should not be merely a change in outward practice but a change in our living. In the past we elderly people were filled with either our daughters and sons or with our sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. If we are filled with them, we will have nothing to say when we come to the meeting. Sometimes our body is in the meeting, but our mind is thinking about our children. Even in the Lord’s table meeting when we are remembering the Lord, we are still thinking about our children. Apparently, we are breaking the bread and drinking the cup, but what we are thinking about and remembering inwardly is not the Lord but our children. What a pitiful situation this is!
Blessed are those who do not have children. When they remember the Lord, they simply remember the Lord. Although some elderly ones who are like this may be lonely, they do not have any anxiety. When they break the bread and drink the cup, they remember the Lord wholeheartedly. Aside from the Lord they have no one to remember. They are like the psalmist who said, “Whom do I have in heaven but You? / And besides You there is nothing I desire on earth” (Psa. 73:25). The elderly Simeon was like this, simply loving the Lord and looking to the Lord. If we all lived in this kind of condition, we would spontaneously open our mouths to praise the Lord when we come to the meeting. When those who always think about their children in their hearts open their mouths in the meeting, there is a danger that once they open their mouths the content of their speaking will be their children. Matthew 12:34 says, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Simeon not only pointed out that Christ is our consolation and our salvation, but he continued to say in Luke 2:32 that Christ is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel.” Christ’s coming to us is light and glory. If, like Simeon, we think about Christ, speak Christ, and even dream about Christ at night, our change of the system will surely be successful. Our changing the system in these few years is not to change the way of our meetings or merely to change a method. The change in system requires us to dream of Christ, receive a revelation of Christ, and be touched by Christ so that once we open our mouths, we will speak Christ. Christ is our patience, and Christ is our joy. Yesterday what we thought about was Christ, and today what we think about is also Christ. When we go to work, we should be think about Christ, and when we go home to do our laundry and cooking, we should still be thinking about Christ. What we think about day and night should be Christ. I hope that we all would be encouraged to rise up to be a Simeon.
The account concerning Anna shows us more about our experience of Christ. The Gospel of Luke tells us that this elderly sister was “serving God with fastings and petitions night and day” (v. 37b). She not only prayed but also fasted and petitioned. Eventually she saw Christ. Once she saw Christ, she spoke concerning Him to all the people. Verse 38 says, “She came up and returned thanks to God, and spoke concerning Him to all those waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” Her speaking must have been something remarkable; otherwise, Luke would not have recorded this.
When Anna spoke about Christ, she could not stop. All elderly people, especially sisters, like to talk about their children. Whenever they talk about their children, they cannot stop. They gossip and make critical remarks about people’s appearances, and in the end they lose Christ. However, Anna was not like this. She spoke Christ to everyone. I hope that we all, especially the sisters, would exercise not to speak about our children but to speak about Christ. If people ask us how our sons or sons-in-law are doing, we would say, “I thank the Lord that everything is fine. Let us talk about Christ.”
Anna not only spoke about Christ, but her prayer was filled with praises of Christ. The main point in considering Simeon and Anna is that if all the elderly brothers were like Simeon and all the elderly sisters were like Anna, when we all came together, we would not be without anything to say. We would also become those who love to meet, because we would realize that it is not very enjoyable to speak merely to our family at home. We would realize our need to be with all the saints and to speak Christ for the building up the Body of Christ.
In our meetings in the past, we always had one who stood on the platform and spoke. Moreover, we have never been trained to speak for the Lord in the meetings. As a result, we do not know how to lead people to speak for the Lord, and the most we can do is to encourage them to give their testimonies in the meetings. If we consider those who are mothers, we will realize that what they worry about is that their children will not know how to speak. It is universally known that if a child does not begin to speak by the time he is a year old, his mother will begin to worry about him and try to make him speak. All mothers know that it is their important task to make their children speak. In the beginning when a child is learning to speak, the more he speaks, the happier his mother is.
When people come to our meetings, even though we do not have a sign saying, Please Remain Silent or No Talking, the form of our meetings is already like a sign, causing those who come to the meetings to not speak. Even though they have Christ within, they do not speak, because everything we do in the meetings — including our singing, reading of the Scriptures, praying, and listening to the messages — already has an invisible arrangement and agenda. Thus, it is hard for people to be free in the meetings.
We deeply understand that changing the system is like changing one’s habit and that to do so is not easy. We have been meeting for more than thirty years. In the meetings over these past thirty years, there were some who called hymns, some who prayed, and some who spoke. The messages released in the meetings were rich, so when people came to the meetings, they did not need to function and only needed to wait for those who were taking the lead. This is the habit that has been developed. Now, however, we are suddenly saying that we have to change this system and get rid of the old way. Surely the saints will not be used to such a change.
Owing to the influence from the West, my mother sent me to an English institution in China to study English after I finished elementary school. Later, I was admitted to an American school in China. Everything in the school was American. Even our textbooks had been imported from America. Among all the teachers there was only one who was Chinese. This teacher taught Chinese literature. The rest of the teachers were all American. The students were of many different nationalities. Although we were studying in an American school, none of us dared to wear a suit, because if we wore suits, we would be scolded. At that time if someone were to walk on the street in a suit, people on the street would scold him for conforming to Western fashion. Even though we all learned English quite well, we did not have the boldness to speak English because if we were to speak, we would also be scolded.
After I graduated from school, I worked in a company with people of seven different nationalities — German, French, British, American, Greek, Norwegian, and Russian. Because I had also studied some foreign languages, I worked among them for seven and a half years. At that time I still wore a long gown every day while walking among them. In 1949 when I began to preach in different places I did not have a suit or a shirt. All I had were long gowns. It was not until a year later when I went to the Philippines that I started to wear suits. Therefore, I know that it is extremely difficult to change one’s habit or system.
Our traditional way of meeting was inherited from Christianity. Although we have been delivered from Christianity, the traditions of Christianity have not been purged from us. In the past we did not see any other way to meet besides the traditional way. Hence, our meetings followed the tradition of Christianity. On the one hand, the old way of meeting was successful, but on the other hand, it matched our natural man. The older generation always charged the young people not to speak much, regardless of where they went or what the occasion was, because young people easily make mistakes. Therefore, they taught that the less you speak, the fewer mistakes you will make. If you do not speak, you will make no mistakes, but if you speak much, you will make many mistakes. This became a motto for people in general. Thus, when people come to the meetings, they just sit quietly and wait for the preacher to speak a good message for them. This kind of meeting, in which one person speaks and everyone else listens, is very convenient and is welcomed by almost everyone.
During the first few years that I began the work in the United States, we had a twenty to thirty percent increase in number every year. But in the past five years we have had an increase of less than two percent. When I discovered this, it made me very discouraged, and I wanted to find out the reason. So I came back to Taiwan to study the condition in Taiwan, and I found out that even though we were preaching the gospel and baptizing people every year, in the end the total number was still decreasing.
Some people told me that the reasons for the decrease were twofold. They said that the first reason was that many saints from Taipei had moved away because they had remodeled or built new houses outside Taipei and that when these ones moved away, we lost track of their whereabouts. This statement is not completely correct because we did not lose the whereabouts of any of those who moved. They said that the second reason was that more and more younger saints were going to the United States to study. This is surely true, but we cannot say that the number of those who went abroad to study exceeded the number of people who were saved. After I observed these phenomena, I went back to study the Bible and church history. In the end I clearly saw that the problem was that the old way of meeting did not work and was not able to make people stay.
Our traditional way of meeting was to shut people’s mouths so that the longer people met with us, the more they did not open their mouths. There is a Chinese saying that says, “A newborn calf does not fear the tiger.” When the newly saved ones first came to the meetings, they were like little children, saying a few words. But sadly, after three to five years of meeting with us they would no longer say anything. The older they got, the more they did not speak. Under this kind of condition it was hard to bring in new ones, and it was even harder to make them stay. Hence, in the past when we preached the gospel, we may have baptized a hundred people, but less than ten stayed. For this reason we felt that we must change the system. Acts shows us that we should meet from house to house (2:46; 5:42; 20:20), so in light of this we will now change the system.
Recently, there have been meetings in the communities. If the elderly saints have the burden, I hope that they also would join these meetings to help those in the communities and to establish home meetings with them. This will be effective. During our history of more than thirty years in Taiwan, never before have we had twenty-four thousand people baptized in less than four months. We estimated that one out of every four baptized would remain, but the results have been beyond our estimation. Out of twenty-four thousand people who have been baptized, eight thousand have remained. This does not, however, mean that we lost sixteen thousand. Some of the ones baptized have been unable to come into our midst for a time because of certain situations such as moving. Through our one-on-one visitations, five thousand out of these eight thousand people have already signed up. The first cause of this impact was our door-knocking, and the second cause was the continuous labor of the trainees who sacrificed their Lord’s Day meetings to meet with the new ones in their homes. This is inspiring and encouraging.
We have seen that the change in system is necessary. Through much fellowship we have more or less entered into this burden. I hope that the older saints would take the lead to pray for those who have received the burden to visit and take care of the new ones and for the commission that these ones have received. I also hope that you would try your best to join the group meetings and to pay attention to the group meetings. We have to realize that our gatherings in the homes are more important than the big meetings at the meeting halls. We have said earlier that big meetings and small meetings go together like the two wings of a 747 airplane. If an airplane had only one wing, the airplane would not be able to take off. Two wings are required for an airplane to fly. The small meetings are the base, and the big meetings are the harvest.
The basis of a big meeting hall is the homes, just as the basic unit of a nation is the home. Without homes, a society has no basis. Without homes, a nation also has no basis. Hence, we must first establish the homes. Only in the homes can we produce people, and only in the homes can we beget, nourish, and teach people. I hope that the begetting, nourishing, and teaching would all be done in the homes. Thus, the elders of all the halls must lead and oversee the saints so that they would have at least one small group meeting a week. You may be exempt from other things but not from the small group meetings.
We have a kind of slogan that says, “Heaven may fade, and earth may flee, but small group meetings must never be missed.” However, based on my observation, the taste of our small group meetings is not strong enough. In the big meetings there are people who release messages to us, and once a message is given, the taste is strong. But when we gather in the homes, we are accustomed to not speaking. Thus, you do not speak, I do not speak, nor do the other brothers speak. In the end we can only look at each other, eat some dessert, and drink some water. There is not much taste to our meetings. There is a co-worker serving in the United States in the city of San Francisco whose father is in a denomination where they have also adopted the way of small group meetings. This co-worker’s father was assigned to lead a small group, and he told his son that when they came together, none of them spoke. Eventually, everyone left and felt that they did not need this kind of meeting because no one spoke.
For a small group meeting to be enjoyable and rich, we must have the Lord’s word. There are some saints among us who never speak, but if they were to open their mouths, the meeting would be enriched. The truths among us are pure, all-inclusive, and rich. We have the truths concerning the cross, resurrection, the Spirit, life, the church, the essence of the church, the testimony of the church, and the ground of the church. We may say that we are a literate family. Now we have to grasp the opportunity to exercise to speak the word of God. We have the riches, and we also have the utterance. I believe that as long as we all exercise properly, we will all be able to speak for the Lord.
Now I would like to have some fellowship with you and to make a request of you. First, I hope that all of us would change our concept to pay more attention to the small groups than to the big meetings. This does not mean that we should not have big meetings but that we should put more emphasis on the small group meetings than on the big meetings. Second, from now on all the elderly saints must renew their youth and learn to speak for the Lord. They all have the word in them and are rich inwardly. Now they simply need to learn to speak. I hope that all the elderly saints would go to the small group meetings to speak for the Lord.
Pray-reading was brought in among us in Tainan in 1965. The year after, in 1966, we began to call on the Lord in Los Angeles. Later, in 1968 we developed the practice of speaking in the meetings. This encouraged everyone. I remember one time in a meeting on the Lord’s Day morning in Los Angeles when I asked everyone, “Do you know what to say after you are saved?” Then I continued, “At least you know how to say four words. The first word is O, the second word is Lord, the third word is Amen, and the fourth word is Hallelujah. O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah.” From that day on, the words O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah became a short hymn. Whenever we sang that hymn, the meeting was enlivened.
When you come to the meeting, you may try to stand up to speak a few phrases such as, “O Lord, thank You that You are so good!” Then you may try to say something a little deeper such as, “O Lord, thank You that You are so good. You are my life.” If you had an experience, you may speak your experience. For example, perhaps you were not happy in the morning and felt that things were not going smoothly. Usually in such a case you would grumble. But that morning when you were about to grumble, you began to call inwardly, saying, “O Lord.” Then your grumbling disappeared, and your temper was gone because the Lord came in. This is a good and short experience. If ten people were meeting together, and everyone spoke briefly like this, the meeting would surely be fresh and living. This is the secret to a rich meeting.
We all can do this because none of us are newly saved. Even if we were newly saved, we still would have the essential characteristic in us of being able to speak for the Lord. However, when we speak, we should not tell long stories. Some saints either do not speak or once they begin speaking do not stop. They start with the first three generations of their ancestors and continue until everyone is bored. So remember that when speaking for the Lord, do not talk about your history. Instead, simply give a brief testimony. For example, you may say, “This morning I was not that happy, but once I thought about the Lord Jesus and called on Him, my inner being was soothed, and I began to sing. Thus, this whole day I have been very joyful.” This is a good speaking.
Moreover, it is also good to speak about our experience of salvation. For example, you may say, “Thank the Lord! I had been worshipping idols for forty-eight years. One day the brothers and sisters from the church came to knock on my door and spoke to me from The Mystery of Human Life for five minutes. Then I was enlightened. I felt that the Lord Jesus was very good, so I was baptized. In the past after telling a lie, I could still live peacefully, but now if I tell a lie, I feel sorrowful inwardly.” This is a very good testimony of salvation. You do not need to tell the story from your birth or describe many unrelated processes. When we give a testimony, we are often afraid that people may not understand what we are saying, so we try to say more. When we speak for the Lord, we often think that people may not understand, so we want to teach them. However, this is not needed. When we speak in the meetings, we should not speak long. We should not shut our mouths, but neither should we speak without end.
We have all heard the story about D. L. Moody. He was very powerful in the gospel. Some saints who met with him often prayed without end. One time Brother Moody was leading a meeting in which a sister was praying in this way. Finally, he felt that he had waited too long and said to everyone, “Saints, while our dear sister is still praying, let us sing.” We encounter similar situations all the time. Such situations are hard to deal with. Hence, in the meetings we have to avoid being silent while at the same time avoid speaking too long, telling stories, or giving our history. All these practices should be avoided. We should only speak the Lord Jesus and our experience of Him.
Besides speaking for the Lord, we all have to be responsible to bring people to the small group meetings. We should not bring unbelievers. Rather, we should bring those who believe. Today in Taiwan it is convenient to make phone calls to invite people. We do not need to wait until tomorrow to make a phone call. Today after the meeting we can call a saint who was not present. We may share with him the content of our fellowship. We may tell him that the brothers and sisters care for him and that we hope he can come to our small group meeting in two days. Then two days later, we may call him again to remind him in the morning in case he forgot. Then in the evening we may give him a third call, asking if he needs a ride to go to the meeting. This kind of care is very much needed.
We have to realize that nothing we do will be in vain. This is the noblest and the most valuable thing we can do. Preaching the gospel is the most glorious matter in the universe. We are bringing blessing, love, grace, and God’s salvation to people’s homes. Although we are knocking at people’s doors, troubling and bothering them, we are actually giving them grace and the best book among the human race — the Bible. What we are doing is the best.
