Date: April 12, 1948, 6:30 a.m.Place: Hardoon Road, Shanghai
God's work of recovery began with Martin Luther. From that time God began to have distinct recoveries on the earth. This, of course, does not mean that the recovery began with Luther alone. At the same time that he was raised up, other people saw the same things that he did. He is merely taken as a representative of the recovery in that age. Before his time the truth had become a kind of tradition, the apostolic ministry had become a system of popery, the oneness of the church had become an ecclesiastical ecumenism, and spiritual authority had become political authority. The church was taken captive to Babylon. The prevailing thought at that time was that the church ruled over the world; it declared that the whole world belonged to God. As a result, the Catholic Church brought unconverted people into the church. As long as a person was a Roman citizen, he was automatically a member of the church. Spontaneously, infant baptism came in. Originally, Christians were people who took the voluntary way of poverty. Christians and poor people were always linked together. But when the church opened its door to the world, voluntary poverty was lost, and the church became rich. Under normal circumstances, there should be two kinds of poor people in the church. One kind is those who are naturally poor, and the other kind is those who are voluntarily poor. Today in the church, we have the first kind of poor people. But there is not the second kind of poor people. On the contrary, there are rich people in the church, and the church is filled with affluence. Although many people are rich in material goods, they are poor in faith, and the inward spiritual content among them becomes more and more depleted.
From the time of Clement, the truth became less and less clear. On the one hand, men became more and more capable of analysis and exposition, but at the same time, they lacked life and did not have much grace or righteousness. Even at the time of Augustine, the truth was still unclear. Historically speaking, the church was always on the decline. Eventually, it fell to such a low degree that reactions rose up within the Catholic Church. One of those who reacted was Francis of Assisi. He was dissatisfied with the outward riches of the church. He was originally a rich man, or at least the son of a rich man. Within a few days, he sold everything and gave it to the poor. He began to practice a life of voluntary poverty. However, the things he wrote are unreadable. We may tolerate a line or two of his writings, but by the third line, they are intolerable. Although we cannot tolerate his writings, the practice of voluntary poverty is nevertheless right.
In the church those who receive little should not be in want, and those who receive much should not have an excess (2 Cor. 8:12-15). It is not a sin to receive much, but it is a sin to receive much and to have excess. If a man knows the Lord, he will invest everything in the Lord. If a man says that he loves the Lord, yet will not invest in the Lord, his love is false. The Lord said that we will always have the poor with us (John 12:8). He did not say that we will always have poor brothers with us in the church. Rather, He said that the poor we always have with us. Among the brothers and sisters, it is not difficult to be without want. As long as those who have excess will give it away, poor brothers will not appear among us. The Lord's principle is not to keep, but to give. If we all give, there will not be unnecessary riches in the church. It is abnormal that some people are too rich in the church. All excess riches have to be given away. In the world people throw away their lives in exchange for money, but in the Bible, God wants our lives instead of money. We cannot be a Christian in an uncertain way. Our God is not uncertain; He is very specific. He wants not only our money, but our lives as well.
Later, God raised up Count Zinzendorf of Saxony in Moravia. Originally, he was an aristocrat and a man of learning. For the Lord's sake he set aside his estate to receive all kinds of believers. Through his work, the Moravians were raised up. Many people were sent to foreign lands from this group. The number of those sent out from them exceeds the number sent from any other group and ranks highest in terms of percentage. Then there was Sister Eva, a German. She also took the way of voluntary poverty.
In the last century the Brethren were raised up. They were very strong in the truth. Although they did not like to talk very much about themselves, several dozen of their leaders also sold their possessions at one time to follow the Lord. For a Christian, the question of money must be settled once for all. If it is not settled, the Lord cannot have a way to go on. What is the meaning of degradation in the church? It means that the principle of economy has come into the church. Once the principle of economy comes in, everything will be reckoned according to value, and the Lord will have no way to go on.
In Luther we see the recovery of faith. However, Luther did not recover justification by faith. He only recovered faith; he was not so clear concerning justification. History tells us that he once punished himself in order to be justified. In Rome he once climbed up to a cathedral step by step in order to be justified. Later, he saw that a man is not justified by works, but by faith.
Luther came out of Babylon, but he did not return to Jerusalem. He brought politics into the church and thought that this would help the church. Little did he realize that no political power can help the church. On the contrary, any political power will only damage the church. In the end the national churches were formed. The national churches are partnerships between politicians and believers. One contributed Germany, the other contributed doctrines, and the result was the national church. In Germany the Lutheran Church became the national church. The Lutherans embraced the power of politics because Roman Catholicism was too strong. But by so doing, there was a change of nationality instead of a change of the church. The church was changed from a Roman church to a German church. In England it became the Anglican Church. Every Englishman automatically became a member of the Anglican Church. As soon as a person was born, he was baptized in the church. No question was asked as to whether such a person was regenerated. The only thing that mattered was whether such a person was an Englishman. As long as a person was an Englishman and was born in England, he was a member of the church. Consequently, the tradition of infant baptism by sprinkling became very prevailing.
With the rising up of the national churches, many pure seekers and lovers of the Lord became dissatisfied. They did not want to remain in the national churches. As a result some independent free churches were formed. Soon after the Reformation, there were over two thousand independent churches. In Switzerland alone there were over two hundred such churches. During this period of time the Roman Catholic Church persecuted the Protestant churches, and the Protestant churches in turn persecuted the smaller independent churches. To stop these small churches from being established, the English Parliament even passed a law to unify all the churches in England. However, this produced the so-called Nonconformists. They were faithful lovers of the Lord raised up by Him, who would not cooperate with the national churches. The government persecuted them and ordered them to take jobs five miles away from their former places of occupation. They could not work for the government, and all of them who were government officers were removed from their posts. Those who opposed the law were condemned.
After this, there were the Mennonites, who were the first group of believers to realize the error of a hierarchy. Among them, they recovered the title of "brothers,'' and they addressed each other as brothers. Some of them went to Russia to preach the gospel. In addition, the Baptists were also raised up. They saw the error of infant baptism and taught that a man must first be clear about the truth of baptism before he can be baptized. They were called the Anabaptists, and they were much persecuted at the beginning. These are recoveries of the outward things.
In addition, there was the recovery of the inner life. Madame Guyon, Father Fenelon, and others brought in a recovery of the spiritual condition. These ones are now generally called the mystics. They practiced denying their self, joining themselves with God to oppose their self, giving no excuse to the self, and not asking God to spare His hand on them. In every age we can find followers of their practice. In addition to these, there were also the Pietists and the Quietists.
Later, the Puritans were raised up. Among them, some from Holland and England migrated separately to America. The Mayflower was one of the ships that carried these Puritan immigrants to the new land.
In the last century God began to have a special recovery. First, He recovered the heavenly calling of the church. The church is like the Israelites in the Old Testament. It should not look to earthly blessings at any time. The church is a group of people who have been called by heaven. It is not their aim to reform society. God's people are those who take the heavenly way on earth. They have given up all hope for the world and society. To them, the world is passing away, and everything therein will be judged. The church's view is different from that of the world. What the church expects is heaven, not world reforms. These words are familiar to us today, and we may not feel the power behind these words. But at the beginning, this matter was a tremendous recovery.
Second, the Brethren recovered the oneness of the church. They saw the oneness of the Body of Christ and realized that the church is in a state of ruin today. Expositors such as J. N. Darby and F. W. Grant all agreed that the church is in a state of ruin today.
These recoveries occurred among the Brethren. In addition to them, John Wesley was raised up. He recovered the truth concerning sanctification. A man is not only justified by faith, but is also sanctified by faith. Wesley was indeed a servant of God, a dear brother, and a man greatly used by God. He bore the right testimony, but quoted the wrong verses to prove his message. Although his quotations were wrong, the doctrine he preached was right. For example, he quoted 1 John 1:7 as a reference to sanctification. For this reason, some rejected his teachings altogether. This is to go too far. It is possible for a man to quote the wrong verses. However, if he is the right person and he preaches the right doctrine, the mistake is not fatal even if his quotations are wrong. However, if the quotations are correct but the person is wrong, the problem is much more serious. We would rather see the person right and the quotations wrong than see the quotations right and the person wrong. Although he quoted the wrong verses, God was still able to cause men to be sanctified.
Then there was Robert Pearsall Smith, a porcelain merchant. He was the husband of Mrs. Hannah Whitall Smith, the writer of the book The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. At that time men were not very clear concerning the doctrine of sanctification. He preached that man is not just sanctified by faith, but by consecration as well. Sanctification does not come merely by faith, but by consecration.
In addition to Robert Pearsall Smith, there were others like Evan Hopkins of England and Theodore Monod of France. These ones, together with Smith in America, formed the so-called Keswick movement. In addition there was Andrew Murray, a Dutchman. The raising up of these brothers set the general scene for the recovery. However, their recoveries were not complete. There were still recoveries of other minor points. For example, we have the recovery of the hymns by Frances Ridley Havergal, and some other contributions by other writers.
During the last century, God enlightened men concerning the matter of consecration and its importance through the brothers we have mentioned. However, their revelations were not deep enough. Consecration is not simply a kind of exchange, in which we offer to God all that we have and all that we are, and we take back from Him what He has and what He is. Darby told others that consecration is based on the casting off of the man of flesh and the removal of this man. The goal of the gospel is not only to forgive the sinner's sin, but to crucify the sinner. The gospel saves not merely by forgiving the sinner and delivering him from perdition, but by crucifying the sinner with the Lord. In preaching the gospel, we have to be careful. If we are not careful, we will easily preach the wrong thing. The gospel removes not only the sin in the flesh, but the person of the flesh. What goes to the heavens is the new man, not the fleshly man. All spiritual lessons, including obedience and our service to the Lord, must be practiced in accordance with this principle. Even lessons as spiritual as those taught by Madame Guyon must be pursued according to the principle spoken of by Darby.
Romans 7 says that we are dead to the law. This is why we can be married to Christ. Not only are our sins dead, but we ourselves are dead. If we were not dead, it would be unlawful and adulterous for us to be joined to Christ. If we are dead, we are not our own person any longer, because the cross has removed our own person. Today there is no longer any need for this person to ask for forgiveness. Only a living person needs forgiveness; a dead person does not need forgiveness. The one who was dead in sin is the crucified old man, and the cross has removed this old man already. This was what Darby preached.
After this, we have Mrs. Penn-Lewis, who was raised up to preach the truth concerning the cross. She preached about the cross dealing with the old man. Her understanding was more advanced. Notwithstanding, our understanding of the subject is more clear than that of Mrs. Penn-Lewis.
After Mrs. Penn-Lewis, T. Austin-Sparks saw resurrection. We have been talking about resurrection for years, but we do not know what resurrection really is. Mrs. Penn-Lewis wrote two books about resurrection, but she was not very clear about the subject either. It was not until Brother T. Austin-Sparks wrote about resurrection in 1926 and published what he wrote in The Overcomer magazine that the world knew for the first time what resurrection is. When Miss Barber and I read his writings, we began to pay attention to this matter. Many people talk about resurrection, but they have not presented resurrection to others — the real thing itself. When Brother Austin-Sparks talked about resurrection, light came. He presented the very resurrection itself to others.
What is resurrection? It is life going into death and passing through death. In the process, what succumbs to death dies, and what cannot die comes out of death alive. This coming out of death is resurrection. Resurrection is anything that death cannot swallow up.
Let us go on to one more subject, the kingdom. The kingdom is a common subject, but to merely discuss the term kingdom is useless. The question is whether or not the kingdom as the very thing itself has been realized. When did men begin to see the kingdom? I can say that it was during the Welsh Revival that the kingdom as a real thing was recovered. Between 1901 and 1910 Evan Roberts brought in the Great Welsh Revival. This revival was unprecedented in church history. No other revival could match this one. Its effects cut far and deep. Roberts himself was a coal miner, and he did not receive much education. Yet God greatly used him. At that time he was only in his twenties, a very young man, and he was not eloquent at all in preaching. Yet his spirit was strong. His prayers were so powerful that it was said that God had to answer those prayers. He learned from Mrs. Penn-Lewis and also from J. C. Williams. He did not have much schooling. However, when others came in contact with him, they were saved and brought to their knees. He was not eloquent. During the Welsh Revival, he did not preach many messages. When he did stand up, his speaking lasted only fifteen minutes. Yet even those who dropped by to listen were known to be saved through his words.
Some have said that the Welsh Revival was affected by China, because the revival took place between 1901 and 1910, whereas in 1900 there was the Boxer Rebellion in China. During that rebellion, many Christians were martyred. After the rebellion, between 1901 and 1902, many Christians throughout the world began to pray for God's work. The answer to all those prayers was funneled into one man. Roberts himself was confined to his bed because of illness between 1903 and 1904, and he was not released until 1909. When he finally got up, he began to speak to everyone he met concerning the things he saw. In The Overcomer magazine, it was mentioned that during the meetings others would often ask what he was going to say, and he would also wonder what he was going to say. Yet once his mouth was opened, something came out, and men saw the light.
During the past few years, I have seen a little of what God's kingdom is. God's kingdom is a great matter. Now when I pray, I pray for God's kingdom. God desires that His kingdom come on earth. In order for God's kingdom to come on earth, there is the need for the church's prayer.
What is the kingdom? The kingdom is man gaining ground for God on earth. Where God's kingdom is, there God gains the ground. Today man thinks that the kingdom is a question of history. Actually, the kingdom is a question of geography.
In order to have the kingdom and in order for God to gain the ground, there is the need for warfare. Hence, in order to recover the kingdom, we have to recover spiritual warfare. The truths on spiritual warfare were recovered by Mrs. Penn-Lewis. In her illness she experienced spiritual warfare, and she saw that many people were deceived through their ignorance of spiritual warfare. Later, in collaboration with Evan Roberts, she wrote the book War on the Saints and released the truth concerning spiritual warfare. This light was hidden from man for two thousand years. Through Mrs. Penn-Lewis, it was recovered. Actually, this light is recorded in Ephesians 6, but no one before her had the experience of it.
About 1930 Brother T. Austin-Sparks went on further to see the Body. From that time on, he continued to speak on the Body. He released over five or six hundred pages of messages on this subject. Yet what he released were only teachings; the reality had not yet appeared.
The Lord's church is one Body because it has only one life. This Body comes out of one life. This life is the life of the Lord, which is the life of the Son of God. Since the Body comes out of one life, there is the need for coordination. We are not merely individuals, but we are parts of a whole. We are like the parts of a car; only when we come together can there be the whole car. We all come from one life. We need to realize today that the life we received is a Body life. What we have received individually is a "partial'' life. Hence, we do not receive personal edification and then become coordinated. Rather, in and by coordination we grow up to receive everything. If we see this fact, all those who will be saved after us will immediately see the reality of this fact and enter into it. As soon as they are saved, they will become persons who voluntarily hand themselves over to the Body.
The gospel is not prevailing today because the proper church is not yet manifested. In a proper church, as soon as a person is saved, he hands himself over to the church and sees the Body. Today men do not have a proper consecration after they are saved. As a result, we have to go back and help them to make up their consecration. There is no proper church today. Hence, there is no place where we can show a saved person the normal condition of the church. The hindrance today is with us; we have not provided others with the necessary make-up lessons. If enough brothers and sisters would take the ground of God's absolute salvation, consecrate themselves fully to the Lord after they are saved, and hand themselves over fully, the church would find the power and the authority to testify for the Lord and would bring others to the proper stand from the first day on.
Today the responsibility of the recovery is on our shoulders. All the questions related to the recovery have to do with us. God's work in the world, and in China in particular, depends entirely on us. The responsibility has fallen on us. We have to see that in the Body there is only one life. If we see this, we will see the need for coordination. The problem that exists among the brothers and sisters reflects the problem that exists with us. If we are not the right kind of persons, we will not be able to preach the right kind of gospel. The gospel not only delivers men from sin, the world, and the self; it also delivers men from individualism, from money, and from everything else into the Body.
With each step that the Lord has taken in His recovery, the content of His recovery has become richer and richer. Today it seems as if there is nothing more to be recovered. The recovery has reached the stage of the Body. Perhaps this will be the last recovery. There may be other items of recovery, but as far as we know, when we reach the recovery of the coordination of the Body and the manifestation of authority, we have reached the final recovery.
In order to arrive at this recovery, God requires that there be the manifestation of authority among us. We have to take the way of submission. If we submit, God will take the way of increase among us. The need today is that such a recovery first be realized in us individually. We have to be an all-inclusive person, and we should have all-inclusive experiences. The gospel we preach should be an all-inclusive gospel. When a man receives this gospel, not only are his sins forgiven, but he is brought into the Body. If we do this, in a few years' time the condition of the church will be entirely different. Today the responsibility rests entirely on us.
What we need today is a Body consciousness. The reality of the Body life lies in the Body consciousness. This is something that cannot be copied or imitated. In Kuling one brother asked what his future holds. Once this brother asked this question, his future was finished. In the Body we do not have an individual future; we only have the future of the Body. We would rather be wrong in the Body than be wrong in ourselves. I would rather submit to the Body than seek for my personal future and offend the Body.
Brother David Hsu: How do I know that I will not lead others into mistakes?
Brother Nee: Actually, we are not aware of all the mistakes we make in our own lives. Who is responsible for these mistakes? Of course, we are responsible for them ourselves. Since we make mistakes in any case, I would rather make them in the Body. It is better to make mistakes in the Body than to make them in ourselves. If three, five, thirty, or fifty people know the will of God in the church today, and I do not have the right judgment concerning certain matters or persons, is it not better that I take their judgment than make a judgment myself? In the Body we sometimes become more clear when we do not know something, and we become unclear when we know too much. When a judgment is made by the Body, the responsibility rests on the Body. Sometimes when things happen to us and we are directly involved with them, we become affected by the factors involved and fail to have a clear discernment concerning the matters. But the Body is not affected by personal factors. It is not as easily influenced, and as such, its judgment is more reliable.
If we do not have any spiritual reality with us, these words may sound like Catholic teachings. If we do not have any spiritual reality, Catholicism will indeed come in. But if spiritual reality is with us, we will realize that no matter how good our personal judgments may be, they can never be compared to the judgments of those with spiritual discernment in the Body. We cannot fight against the Body consciousness. Whenever we feel uncomfortable or uneasy, we have to give up and submit ourselves to the Body.
Today we have to learn to submit to God's authority. Everywhere we see man's rebellion. In any kind of human institution, we see rebellion and insubordination. Man wants to be free and independent. He has his own proposals, views, and judgments. But there are no such things in the kingdom of God. In God's kingdom there is only order and submission. There is nothing better in the whole world than submission, and there is nothing more beautiful in the whole world than order. Here we have submission, and we submit one to another. Here we have no arguments, and no one strives to be the greatest. There is only divine order. What a beautiful thing it is when everyone is pursuing after submission!
Allow me to give a little testimony of my own. I began to learn this lesson in 1922. At that time, I was learning in tears. Although the person to whom I had to submit was not necessarily right and although I may have been right instead, I would not have received the discipline of the Body if I had refused to submit. Perhaps at that time, there was not the discipline of the Body yet. But at least, there was the discipline of the Holy Spirit. When I first began to work for the Lord, I was quite young. Another co-worker was five years older than me. At the beginning he was quite zealous, but he did not have much light. However, God gave me a great deal of light. At that time many people exhorted men to believe in Jesus without being able to explain what they said. But I saw more light than others did with regard to the truth of the gospel. At one point over sixty people wanted to be baptized, of whom ninety percent had been saved through me. Since I had brought them to salvation, naturally I should have been the one to baptize them. But the other brother insisted that he baptize them because he was older. The Bible clearly indicates that whoever preaches the gospel also baptizes the ones he preaches to (Acts 8:35-38). I thought that it was quite reasonable for me to baptize them. Later, I went to Miss Barber, but she said that I should let the other brother baptize them. I asked her why, and she told me that the other brother was older than me. Later, I found another brother who was older than the first, and I suggested that the second brother should carry out the baptisms. But Miss Barber insisted that the first one carry out the baptisms. I was quite bothered. She told me that I should not reason, and she said, "Listen! From now on you have to learn to listen to your brother.'' I wondered why I should listen to a brother who was not clear about the truth or the way of God. This went on for three years. Every Sunday I fasted. God was teaching me the lesson of submission. Today I can work together with others because I have learned this lesson.
The Bible contains the centurion's word: "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me'' (Matt. 8:9). This is submission. Brother Witness Lee once said to me, "You are very severe when you speak on the platform, but your speaking is not so severe when you step off the platform.'' Whether I am severe or not, I do feel that a person who will not submit to authority is a wild and disorderly person. Those who live in the church should submit to authority. A person who does not submit to authority may be saved, but he does not act like a regenerated person. Whenever a person is free from any authority, he has no way to go on, and he does not have the reality of the church with him.
With God there is the anointing, and this anointing is poured upon the church. On the one hand, we have to submit to the anointing within us. On the other hand, we have to submit to the anointing in the church.
A Christian is very safe today because there is the protection of the Body for him. A man can be miles off the target if a boundary is not defined for him. Today many truths have been established, and there is no reason for us to stray off any longer. As long as we remain in the Body, the blessings and the anointing are here.
We have to see that the whole problem rests with us today. We have to realize how great our responsibility is. Because of our unfaithfulness, we dare not preach the complete gospel to the sinners. We must be transformed before we can preach a transforming gospel. We must be different before we can preach a different gospel. There must be a recovered person before there can be a recovered gospel. There must be men who are coordinated before there can be the gospel that brings in coordination. If we are not a certain type of person, we can never preach that certain type of gospel. We must be men of Acts 2 before we can preach the gospel of Acts 2. Only then will we produce more men of Acts 2. If your family, career, money, or position is your center, I have nothing to say. But I can tell you that you cannot be a co-worker. Unless we ourselves are the right kind of person, we can never expect others to be the right kind of persons. If we are not absolute, in twenty or thirty years God will raise up men who will be absolute. Whether or not God will find a way in this generation depends on whether there are absolute people in this generation.
In the early churches, although the number of saved ones was not too great, there were men who were on fire. Although many of them did not preach much, what they said at the time of their martyrdom spoke louder than what we preach for a whole lifetime. What is needed today is nothing less than absolute obedience and absolute consecration. These are the things that will bring in the power. In his book The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon described the sufferings of the martyrs. They were persecuted, exiled, and often abused by the Roman soldiers. Yet the more the persecution came, the more people were saved. The question today is how much has the gospel laid hold of us. The more the gospel lays hold of us, the greater the impact of the gospel will be.
Whether or not we can cause the next generation to be a people of Acts 2 depends on how well we perform today. The question is whether or not we are willing to be torn down. The recovery may come to a halt when it comes to us, or it may have a new breakthrough from us. If God gains His way through us, those who are saved after us will not be like the saved ones we see today; a better breed will emerge. What others say and criticize is not important to us. The important thing is the kind of persons we are before God.
Our God is a God who is always going on. The Father works until now, and the Son also works (John 5:17). If we offer up all our time, money, and everything, power will come. At the beginning the Lord demanded that the believers sacrifice their lives to follow Him. The calling today is more serious than it was then. Formerly, we may have exhorted others to believe in the Lord by giving them a pat on the back and saying nice words to them. But today asking others to believe in the Lord is the same as asking for their lives. Formerly, we begged others to believe, as if they were granting us a favor by believing in the Lord. Today the situation has turned. A man must realize that believing in the Lord will cost him his very life. I am afraid that there are not many places on earth where the kind of message we have today is preached.
In order to match God's work, the way before us needs some adjustments. I can mention a few of these. First, there is the need to train people. In training people, we need to pay attention to the vessels themselves. The vessels must be right before the work can be right. Second, we have to strengthen our existing works. Third, we have to learn to judge others and to deal with others. We have to stop those who are too much and strengthen those who are not enough. In the future we will judge the world and the angels (1 Cor. 6:2-3). For this reason, we have to learn to judge today. The first one we have to learn to judge is ourselves. If we do not judge ourselves, our judgment will not be clear. If we ourselves have been dealt with, our judgments will be accurate. Those who are the ministers of the word should especially learn the proper lessons. At the same time, all the brothers and sisters should learn to receive the portion of the ministers of the word.
Fourth, money must have no place in the heart of the co-workers. The co-workers must be delivered from the bondage of money. Any feeling for money in the co-workers must be completely taken away. We hope that the Lord will work to such an extent that we can have all things in common in the church.
Fifth, the local churches should pay much attention to the newly saved ones, to properly equip them and to render them the clear teachings. Two kinds of perfectings are necessary. One is the preaching of the gospel. This must be done year round in all the places. The other is the edification of the new believers. This needs a few dozen topics with which we educate the new believers week after week. These topics are fixed topics; there is no need to devise more advanced topics. The same topics can be used year round. Those who will serve as the speaking vessels need to learn these topics first. They should also know how to use the adequate materials.
Some brothers should remain in a place to wait on the Lord. Some should spend more time traveling to other places, while the rest stay in one place. Everyone should learn to work together as a Body. There should not be a church that is tied to its own "turf,'' one that is closed to outsiders.
There are certain things concerning consecration that are difficult to speak about. According to the Bible, there is no such thing as an unconsecrated saved one. Everyone who is saved is consecrated to the Lord. All the brothers and sisters who have consecrated themselves should move and act together with the co-workers.
The Bible says that the poor we have always with us. It is wrong for us to pile up goods in our houses. The basic principle and requirement of the Scriptures is that we should help the poor. Whether or not a poor person is among us, the Bible requires that we give to him. If we have never remembered the poor, our hearts will not be enlarged. When we give things away, we will learn to have an enlarged heart, and we will develop an enlarged view. Today it is difficult to find people with large hearts and broad views. The Bible teaches us not to be bound by material riches. Every commandment in the Bible is for us to keep. If we fail to keep any one of them, we will suffer loss. It is easy to give to our own brothers, but it is not easy to give to outsiders. Nevertheless, the requirement of the Scriptures is that we remember the poor.
Many brothers and sisters do not realize how the co-workers live. Some co-workers have no fire on their stove for five days in a row. Others do not have money to provide education for their children or adequate support for their family's livelihood.
We should help the brothers and sisters to choose their jobs in a proper way. In this kind of coordination, it is right for some to devote themselves to making money. But the only ones who are qualified to make money are those who are fully consecrated. Only this kind of moneymaking will be of any use. When the Israelites left Egypt, they took all the money with them (Exo. 12:36). When they crossed the Red Sea, the money crossed over with them. Any money that was left in Egypt, regardless of how much, was useless. Only those who have passed through the Red Sea can employ their money to the proper use for the building up of the tabernacle. First, the person himself needs to be delivered. Second, the money has to follow. Third, there is the building up of the tabernacle. Formerly, we did not have the boldness to say this. But now we do. A person must first consecrate himself. If he does not do this, God does not want his money. The sin of the golden calf must first be exposed, and a person must be delivered from such sin before the question of the gold can be settled. The gold went to the calf because man first worshipped idols. The gold should have been given to the tabernacle. But because of idolatry, the gold went to the calf. Hence, the worship of the golden calf was not only a matter of sin, but a loss for the tabernacle. It was the same gold. When it was placed on the golden calf, it was wrong and had to be ground into powder. But when it was placed in the tabernacle, it was right. The same material could be directed toward different objects. One object was an idol. The other object was the tabernacle. In the New Testament covetousness is placed side by side with idolatry. Idolatry is linked to covetousness (Col. 3:5). Where there is deliverance from idolatry, there is deliverance from money.
Today all the co-workers should go on despite all kinds of suffering. However, the rest of the brothers and sisters should also learn to be consecrated. This does not mean that everyone has to be a preacher; it means that everyone has to be a consecrated person. What is needed today are fully consecrated people. Not everyone is a preacher, but everyone should be for God full-time.
As long as there is a group of people who will go on in this way, we will see the emergence of Acts 2 Christians wherever they are. If we are consecrated, God will have a way to go on. If we do not consecrate ourselves, God's word will be jeopardized and depreciated. Acts 2 Christians are those who are at a crossroad. They see exactly the way ahead, and they have the boldness to tell others the right way to go. The more we fear that others will not believe, the more we will beg them to believe. If we have enough deposit within and are clear about the way ahead of us, we will have the assurance to speak. Then others will have the confidence to believe us. Others cannot have faith in us because we do not have faith in the first place. However, if we are clear, others will follow us. If we are not clear, we will surely depreciate and discredit God's word. The issue today is fully with us.
