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Date:Monday evening, August 29, 1949Place:Canton
Chou Kang-Yao: I am very conscious of myself when I stand on the platform, and I am not able to overcome this feeling.
Watchman Nee: We have to learn to deny living according to feelings. Our feelings may be right some of the time, but in essence they are deceptive. We should not look for truth among deceptions, because we can never find it. Satan can speak some truths, but we have to reject everything that comes from his mouth because in essence he is a liar. Even when he speaks the truth, he speaks it for the purpose of deceiving others. We have to calm down our feelings completely. This requires the breaking of the outer man.
The spirit is surrounded by the soul, just as a hand is surrounded by a glove. A glove must be empty before a hand can get into it. If a glove has something in it, how can it receive a hand? Similarly, if our mind, emotion, and will are filled with thoughts, feelings, and opinions instead of being empty and available, when the spirit needs to use them, it will find itself bound. Under such circumstances, it is hard to have right judgments.
In order to have right judgments, we need to "let this mind be in [us], which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). This means to have the mind of Christ. We can only improve in judgment when we take the mind of Christ as our own. In order to improve our utterance, we have to be enlightened within. Our inner being has to shine with light. Only then will our judgments be accurate. We treasure accurate judgments, but such judgments come from practice, not from gift.
If the foot is wearing the shoe, the foot will feel very comfortable. But if the shoe is "wearing" the foot, no one can take a step forward. The shoe must fit the foot; no one can trim the foot to fit the shoe. If feelings are improper, the spirit cannot be free, because the spirit will be bound by the feelings. Rather than being directed by the spirit, the soul will be directing the spirit.
Lo Yi-xin: Since the work started in Canton, I have felt quite useless within myself. I cannot do anything, and I do not know how to begin any work. On the one hand, I am afraid of making mistakes. On the other hand, I am afraid of being counted as unfaithful in my responsibility. I feel that I need a mentor, a teacher to guide me. I am willing to learn and follow.
Watchman Nee: Your feelings should be strengthened. Your condition is different from Brother Chou's. He has too many feelings and should learn to deny them. You do not have enough feelings. Although you have some feelings, they are not strong enough. Our feelings should match the light we receive from God. Once we realize that we are truly weak, we will be conscious of our real impotence. If the Lord grants us a little light concerning what we are, we will receive great profit; this profit will be more than what we could learn by ourselves in twenty years.
What we really need is light. If light increases, we will see our weakness in a clearer perspective. We will be humbled to such an extent that no weakness will be a barrier to us. When we have not learned our lessons well enough, our feeling of weakness can be a hindrance to us. But once our weakness breaks out and spreads like leprosy, then we are healed. When our feeling of weakness is light, it is a hindrance to us; we feel that we can still do something and that there is still something about which we can boast. When the feeling of weakness overwhelms us, however, this feeling will no longer constitute a hindrance. God's power is manifested when we are down to our weakest point. Actually, not many people understand Paul's experience in 2 Corinthians 12:9. Psalm 4:1 says, "You made room for me when I was in straits." The feeling of weakness must reach a stringent point before we find "room" being made for us. It takes at least three to five years, perhaps even eight to ten years, before we can understand this. We cannot be impatient. God has to bring us to the valley of weakness before we can be brought to a spacious land.
What is death? It is being weak to the uttermost. We can know about the crucifixion with Christ without knowing the meaning of weakness. In such a case, crucifixion with Christ is merely a doctrine. There is no such thing as knowing death without knowing the meaning of weakness.
You can go on the same way as you have in the past. You do not have to ask the Lord to make you stronger. On the contrary, you should ask the Lord to increase your feeling of weakness so that you can be brought to a spacious place. May God show you not only your powerlessness but His gracious power as well.
James Yen: For the past few months I have not learned anything. My personal walk and my work in the past have been merely a kind of outward pursuit. As our brother pointed out in Kuling, I only have a kind of emotional appreciation; there is no real consecration. When I am not working, I fall into passivity and laziness; but when I work, I am condemned. What is the way to my deliverance?
Watchman Nee: My advice is for you to keep on working, because the more you hold yourself back, the more there will be leaks and holes. The real lessons a person learns do not come from retreats or "spiritual" meditation; a man cannot wait until he has improved before joining the Lord's work. It never works this way. If we want to wait until we have reached a certain standard, we may find that we have less and less in our hands as time goes on. We advance by learning and working from our present position; we do not attain a certain standard and then begin to work. I hope that you can be desperate. Forget about the feeling of condemnation. If you look at yourself you will leak and drift further. You must not wait. Once you wait, you become more lax. You have to gird up yourself. Everyone who was used by God in the past centuries was a strict person. There should not be any lethargy in the Lord's work.
Brother Ke-san is responsible for the work in Foochow. Some do not feel happy about this. They even ask, "Why has he been appointed as a responsible one?" He has his virtues, however. He never stops or rests. He is very strict with himself. While others fall, he remains standing. We all know that his physical health is not good. We may apply the cliché, "He does not have enough food to last another day," to others, but with him we can say, "He does not have enough energy to last another day." He is a man whose energy does not extend beyond the day. He works beyond his own measure; nevertheless, it is because of him that the leadership in the Fukien region has been established in the past year.
Brother Witness is also strict. It is not easy for him to be knocked down. He is willing to pay the price, to be desperate, and to not spare himself. He often says that a man cannot make the excuse that his health is poor. Whatever he wants to do and whatever he says he will do, he always gets done. If one way does not work, he finds another way. He is so desperate that he is not discouraged by anything.
I advise you to learn from these two brothers. Apply yourself to the work in a desperate way. Do not wait. The more you wait, the emptier you will become.
Mrs. Yen: The Lord has opened the way for me to do more visitation recently, but I feel that I do not have any co-worker to coordinate with me. Various limitations in the environment and a sense of inadequacy within have limited me from rendering much practical help to others. When I do not visit, I feel condemned. When I do visit, I feel very weak. Recently, I have seen that I am short of obedience. I love to argue and reason, and every time I argue and reason, I find myself unable to submit.
Watchman Nee: Your condition requires two different dealings. What I mean is this: In conducting your work you have to be strict, but in dealing with your feelings you have to be relaxed. If you become tense in your feelings, you will bring suffering to yourself. If this frigidity is pushed to the extreme, no one will be able to touch you. When a rubber band is not fully stretched, there is room for more stretching, and it does not give any noise when plucked. If it is fully stretched, however, it will make a sharp noise the minute it is touched. No one will be able to stretch it further; it will break immediately.
Since the Kuling training, it has become manifest that you are a person who reacts quickly. You have to learn to trust in God and believe in Him. When something happens, do not be anxious. Do not worry too much and do not consider too much. You also must help Brother Yen be more strict in the work and less tense in feelings. When feelings become too tense, our endurance goes down, and our capacity for more burden is reduced.
What is endurance? In the world endurance is expressed in an inward stiffness and outward stoicism toward the slightest stretching. But true endurance leaves more ground for inward stretching by men or by the environment. If you are too full of your own feelings, you will not have room to accommodate others. You have wasted too much of your feelings on yourself and have left nothing for others. If you can be more reserved in your feelings and do not use them all up, you will find it easy to endure.
James Yen: Can a person receive God's word and at the same time promises from Satan?
Watchman Nee: Even when we have God's word and promises, we cannot say immediately that this is God's speaking. We have to learn to continually touch God's speaking. Every time we gain some experience, we learn something and acquire some spiritual feeling. Every experience will increase our spiritual perception and make us more accurate in touching God's word.
Only those whose outer man is broken can touch divine things accurately. If the outer man is not broken, a person cannot be entrusted with spiritual things. The outer man is always a frustration. All problems hinge on an unbroken outer man.
A man of prayer seeks God's will, is broken in the outer man, and is reliable in his spiritual perception. The trouble with us is that we have our outer man — our thoughts, emotion, and will. The spirit does not have a body of its own; it does not have a mind, emotion, and will of its own. When it needs to express itself, it does not have a mind, an emotion, or physical strength of its own. The spirit depends on the mind, emotion, and will of the outer man to express itself. Hence, the spirit is restricted by the outer man. Our spirit cannot be released apart from the outer man. The trouble often is that our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. In order for the spirit to come out freely, the outer man must be in subjection. The outer man must cooperate with the spirit in this way. Otherwise, when the spirit calls for the emotion, the latter may spin around in its own orbit and not respond to the spirit. The breaking of the outer man is a fundamental experience of a servant of God. We have to see God's revelation and receive His shining. When the outer man is broken, the spirit will no longer suffer any frustration. Many people speak many words in their prayers, but their understanding falls far short of T. Austin Sparks's prompt answer: "Everything depends on the breaking of the outer man."
In Matthew 17, the disciples asked the Lord why they could not cast out the demon. They could not understand why the Lord was able to do this in an instant. The Lord answered, saying, "This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (vv. 19, 21). Yet the Lord did not have to fast and pray; He cast the demon out right away. He could do this because His outer man was broken already.
During one visit with Miss Barber, I heard a loud noise coming from downstairs. It interrupted our fellowship. Miss Barber asked me to listen to the noise and the desperate cry. She asked if I knew what it was all about. I said that it sounded like someone praying. She laughed and said, "There is no need to spend so much energy to force God to do something. What is the use of outward commotion when the inner being is not touched at all?"
Fasting prayer is a means through which the outer man is put to rest. If the outer man is broken, there is no need of fasting prayer. This prayer merely removes the frustration that is associated with the outer man so that the inner man can be released. Fasting prayer is like crossing the Jordan. Even when water has flooded both banks of the river, we can still ask God to part the water and open up a way (Josh. 3:14-16). If the outer man is broken, there is no need to go through many steps for the inner man to be released.
Question: Can a man know if he has any amount of brokenness? Is the extent of brokenness the same eventually for every person?
Watchman Nee: Brokenness is a fundamental experience for everyone, but it is also a progressive experience. There is always a line that we can trace in this process. The main thing in this process is shining and revelation from God. When God in His mercy shines on us and reveals Himself to us, we will know. Is the extent of breaking the same eventually in everyone? Of course not! The amount of breaking mainly depends on the lessons each person has learned before the Lord. On the one hand, the breaking of the outer man depends on our consecration. On the other hand, it depends on the amount of work God has done in us. We must give ourselves to learn the lessons before we can have the proper experience. Only those who learn their lessons are able to render help to others.
Miss Lin Wei-shi: In the past I had many things to say when I prayed. Now I have very little to say. I am confused about God's will. My work supplies little life to others. I find it difficult to stop, yet I find myself too weak to work.
Watchman Nee: There are several steps towards knowing God's will. At the beginning of the Christian life, when a man seeks to know God's will, he may have a strong consciousness that God's will is this or that, but this is not altogether reliable. In the second step, God breaks down this so-called consciousness of God's will so that he begins to learn to trust by a faith that is independent of his own feelings. He has the faith that he is always in God's hand and that he will not be wrong under God's keeping power. He does not have to struggle to avoid making mistakes. If God is the preserving One in him, he will be right whether or not he feels that he is right. No matter how he turns, he can never depart from God's will. He is free from his own feelings, but there is still a long way to go. In our experience we should not be as foolish as a mule, but we should be like a maidservant looking at the hand of her mistress. Yet there are times when we have to go on like a mule. We have to exercise our faith at such times. The reins are in God's hand; He will check us and guide us. We cannot move by ourselves; we have to trust in the Lord all the time. We believe that we are in God's hand. If God does not allow it, we will never take the wrong path.
When a man learns to fly a plane, he must follow instructions blindly. If the instructor tells him to go up, he goes up. If the instructor tells him to turn left, he turns left. If the instructor tells him to turn one degree to the right, he turns one degree to the right. The instructor sees everything and knows how to fly. The student only needs to trust and obey. When he steps off the plane, he may say to himself with sweat on his brow, "I could have spared myself the suspense if I had made these judgments myself." But even if he knows the instructions, he still has to be fully at home with all the parts and instruments before he can fly the plane according to his own sight. Before that happens, he can only trust his instructor.
We have to learn to trust in the Holy Spirit's restraint. God can never be wrong. We may think that God is wrong in putting us in a certain environment, but eventually we will see that nothing is wrong. As long as life is released, nothing can be wrong. Any kind of environment can release God's life. This was Paul's experience. Whether he was in prison in Rome or in dire circumstances like those described in 2 Corinthians 11, he could equally claim that the Lord's grace was sufficient for him (12:9). Christ was manifested in him, whether through life or through death (Phil. 1:20).
Miss Lei: In the past I felt powerful when I spoke for the Lord, but now I do not feel that I have anything within me. I feel weak, and I do not have much to say when I pray.
Watchman Nee: This is not a problem. You only need faith. I believe you are very clear within that you do not have a problem in reality. You are merely going through a transition. Having nothing to say in your prayer may mean that you do not need to say much. Perhaps you only need more faith. You feel weak as if you are nothing. Perhaps God is reminding you that you need more faith. This faith will enable you to pray less strenuously.
A Christian should not be bound by his own feelings. He may feel that he does not fare better by praying and that he does not fare worse by not praying. Actually, prayer makes a great deal of difference. When a man knows God more, he will ignore finicky and fleeting feelings. We are communicating with the eternal God. We should not care for fleeting feelings. The facts are objective, while our subjective experience can be wrong. For example, every day we see the sun rising from the east and setting in the west. Actually, the sun never rises from the east or sets in the west. It is our subjective perception that tells us this. If we do not believe in the objective facts and pay attention only to the subjective experiences, we cannot be Christians at all.
If a scientist only pays attention to what he sees and ignores the facts behind a phenomenon, he is not qualified to be a scientist. The same can be said of a Christian. A Christian has to learn to constantly free himself from subjective feelings throughout his life. He should only believe in objective facts. We have to know that the objective things that our spirit touches are real, while the subjective feelings may not be real. We have to know facts and should not be led away by feelings. What is contained in Christ's salvation are facts. If we follow our feelings, we will find the way long and tortuous. We may search for years and still not find the way. If we do not see the facts, it will be hard for us to get out of this rut.
We have to realize that the objective facts do not change, but our feelings change. Christ's salvation ushers us into a life in Christ, a life of objective realities. Humanly speaking, the feelings that we possess seem very reliable, but they change; they are not really reliable. We need the spirit, and we need faith. These two things interact with objective facts. Through faith and by the spirit, we touch objective facts and thus are not easily shaken. This requires the breaking of the outer man. If the outer man is not broken, it will be easy for us to live in our feelings and hard for us to find rest.
Let me give you a simple illustration. Suppose I have a need, and I want a brother to help me. To solicit his help, I first try to offer him something as an "incentive," using financial support by deceit as an enticement. I may "feel" that there is nothing wrong in this, but such a "feeling" is altogether wrong. As soon as I touch my conscience, I will know that I am wrong. The conscience is a function of the spirit, and the spirit touches objective facts. The facts are in Christ, in the Bible, in the Holy Spirit, and in God's word. Truth is not in feelings. If I am wrong, I am wrong, whether or not I feel that I am wrong. It is wrong to judge things by what we feel.
Our rights and wrongs are found in the Bible. Our life and walk are based on the Holy Spirit. Our history and facts are rooted in Christ. We have to learn to touch these things. With many things, it is not a matter of good or bad, but of being in the Holy Spirit. A good thing is not necessarily life unless it is done in the Holy Spirit. What use is something if it is not done in the Holy Spirit? Without the Spirit, the result is only death. Whether or not something is good should be judged by God's Word. We should ask whether it is according to God's Word instead of whether it satisfies our reasoning. As soon as we live in our reason, we quench all expressions of life.
The extent to which a person lives in spiritual reality is inversely proportional to the extent to which he lives in his feelings. The more we live in spiritual reality, the more we will be free from living by our feelings. There is no need to analyze too much whether or not we are living in spiritual reality or in our feelings. As a rule of thumb, we should ignore our feelings altogether when we are not clear.
On our part, we should not live by our feelings. On God's part, He will break our outer man. All feelings and deception come from the outer man. As soon as the outer man is broken, these deceptions no longer frustrate our inner man, because the inner man is able to take care of itself.
The fundamental lesson we have to learn is to not listen to the outward feelings, but to simply live in the Holy Spirit and in the facts. We should say "Amen" to whatever the Bible says about our life in Christ. Believe that it is true. I may be in Hong Kong physically, but I should have the sense that I am living in the heavens. I only know Ephesians 2, which says that we are raised up together with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenlies (v. 6). I do not trust in my feelings. I reject my feelings. If we persist in this for three or five years, our feelings will wither and fade away. Once these feelings subside, the facts will gain ground. The more we ignore our feelings, the less momentum they have and the less they can assert themselves. The more we pay attention to our feelings, however, the more we will be beaten down. We should not pay attention to these feelings. We should only lay hold of the facts. In conclusion, your question is a big one. It is not easy for you to ask, and it is not easy for me to answer.
Lo Yi-xin: If a Christian is put in a painless environment and still feels pain, is this pain just his feeling?
Watchman Nee: Since the Bible says that a Christian should rejoice always, we should learn to not have any painful feelings. We should be free from painful feelings. It is not a matter of whether or not the environment is painful. It is a matter of God's Word. Whatever God's Word says, we should be. His Word says that we should be anxious for nothing and that the Lord is near. Even if the environment is painful, we should still rejoice.
Sister Tseng Wen Su-chi: It is easier to neglect personal prayer than corporate prayer. What should we do?
Watchman Nee: We cannot skip personal prayer just because it is easy to do so. We should still have private, individual prayers. As for corporate prayers, I hope that the co-workers can come together to pray once a day. They should also come together to read the Word.
Question: In my work, I find that there often is the need but that I lack boldness. What is the root of my problem?
Watchman Nee: Whether or not our work is a success or a failure depends on whether we bring a proper atmosphere to a place or whether the atmosphere in a place affects us. The church in Canton has its own atmosphere. The church in Hong Kong also has its own atmosphere. When we move from Hong Kong to Canton, do we allow the Canton atmosphere to get into us, or do we bring our atmosphere to the church? This is not a performance. We are not drumming up a certain kind of atmosphere purposely. Such promotion is false. Yet at the same time, we cannot passively allow the local atmosphere to affect us. Otherwise, we will be subdued. We have to carry a spirit of freedom with us wherever we go, yet we should not pretend or perform.
The human body needs fresh air in order to live and move freely. Spiritually speaking, we also need fresh air to feel free and refreshed. Whenever I go to a new place, I always check the spiritual "air" in that place. I try to find out whether the atmosphere is fresh and living. In order to have fresh "air," we have to learn to not offend the Holy Spirit. We must also learn to not offend the atmosphere that is brought in by Him. It is a serious thing to offend the Spirit or the atmosphere brought in by Him.
We may find that a place has some needs, but feel weak and unable to do anything about them. As a result, the Holy Spirit will not have a spiritual atmosphere in which to release Himself, and this will cause the "air" in that place to be contaminated. If we ignore our feeling of weakness, the Holy Spirit will secure a proper spiritual atmosphere to release Himself. When the atmosphere is right, it is easy to work. Therefore, the first thing we should do when we get to a place is to bring in a proper atmosphere, an atmosphere of the Spirit. Then we can work freely. Let me repeat, however: This is not a performance.
The first thing we should do when we get to a new place is to ignite the fire of the gospel. We must be armed with a gospel spirit. These things are greatly related to the spiritual atmosphere of a place. In the gospel meetings in Hankow, we had six to eight hundred attendants every day. Brother Lan Tsi-yi reported that as soon as a person stepped into the meeting, he felt a different atmosphere; it was totally different from the world. Many people were subdued the very first day. They confessed their sins with weeping and pleaded for salvation on their knees. We must have a gospel spirit before we can light the gospel fire, but there must be a proper atmosphere before we can light the fire. If the atmosphere is wrong, it is hard to ignite the fire. Our efforts only add to the weight of the burden. We have to ask God again and again to show us if we have offended the atmosphere of the Holy Spirit in any matter. Whether or not we can ignite the gospel fire is a serious matter; it is a test from the Lord. This test will show us that nothing can be done in a casual way. Before we do anything, we must first ask whether or not we have offended the Spirit's atmosphere.
Let me give another illustration. In one gospel conference, a brother was the song leader during the second meeting. He did not sing well, and the songs were out of tune. Yet the atmosphere of the meeting was wonderful, and dozens and even hundreds of people confessed their sins. On the sixth day the brothers decided to ask this brother to take over the whole meeting. This time it was a failure. He offered a long prayer, and he conducted the singing himself. Afterwards he gave a long message. In the end he sang, gave the altar call, and invited the new ones to write down their names. The result was a fiasco. One brother reported later that only fifteen minutes of the entire meeting had a right spiritual atmosphere.
We must never say or do anything that offends the spiritual atmosphere. When I first was saved, I conducted a ten-day gospel campaign with some co-workers of mine. I learned many things from that campaign. There were many good confessions from many sinners. Even four beggars were saved in a genuine way.
Not only do we need the atmosphere of the Holy Spirit in our gospel preaching; we need it in maintaining the church and the work. There is much to learn in this area.
Miss Betteridge: I have an inward burden to work for the Lord, but I am overwhelmed by the environment. I do not have a co-worker to work together with me, and I cannot find anyone that can pray with me in one accord. As a result, I have become cold and dead.
Watchman Nee: The few of you in Hong Kong bear a great responsibility. I would like to mention one thing about the meetings in Manila, Singapore, and Hong Kong: The atmosphere in these places is wrong. It has never been right. The meeting in Amoy is a little better. Sometimes the atmosphere is right, and sometimes it is wrong. Whenever I passed through the above three places, the atmosphere always was wrong. The co-workers in Hong Kong have to bear the responsibility for turning around the atmosphere. In Hong Kong the atmosphere makes everything cheap; no one pays much attention to spiritual things. A spiritual thing may be very precious in another place, but in Hong Kong, it becomes cheap. This despising attitude gives me a serious doubt as to your knowledge of the spiritual atmosphere among you.
What is an atmosphere? One sister came to Kuling last year. This year she came again. She said, "I feel that God is very near to me in Kuling. The spiritual things are very weighty and precious here. But once I return to my own locality, I no longer feel that God is so near to me, and the spiritual things are not as precious. Since I am back in Kuling, I sense the nearness of God and the seriousness of spiritual things once more." Brother Kaung is here. Please forgive me for saying a frank word. The work in all of south China is somewhat frivolous. Man's natural tendency is to be frivolous. For this reason you should not be loose. You should not do anything to encourage others in the direction of frivolity. If you cannot do this, you will find as you work in Southeast Asia and in Hong Kong that you may serve others with a bowl of bitter herbs, but they will not feel that they are bitter at all. They may even think that you are serving them a dessert. If a man is not serious about spiritual things, he will destroy what you have built up the minute you leave the place.
One Shanghai brother returned from Hong Kong to Shanghai and said, "Our brothers in Hong Kong are somewhat like members of the YMCA." This may be too much, but it does speak somewhat of the tendency of that place. We are Christians in Christ, and we have to maintain our distinctive characteristics; we must not pick up the local flavor. Rather, we have to overcome it. We have to take the strict way. We should not make others feel that we are basically the same as them. We have a few brothers here who are very good brothers. As long as we can bring them into a proper spiritual atmosphere, all problems will be solved. In order to have a spiritual atmosphere, we have to bear a heavy responsibility. The co-workers must come together to pray at least two or three times a day. We should not be loose. Study the Word together in one accord. If the fellowship among the brothers is lacking, we cannot expect the ministry of the word to be strong.
In conclusion, the basic need of the work in Hong Kong is for the co-workers to come together more to pray and to study the Word. Next, they need to produce men and perfect them. In addition to the regular church meetings, we have to pick out three to five relatively mature ones among the brothers and sisters. Every week we have to be with them for three to five times to cultivate and perfect them. We have to spend the time to perfect them one by one. This means that, in addition to the church meetings, we have to produce men to do the same things that we are doing. The Lord Jesus is our good pattern. He did not set up any church Himself; He only produced twelve men, and then later seventy others, to do the work of preaching. Eventually, one hundred twenty people were perfected. These ones brought in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in one accord at Pentecost. The church was produced, and in a short time, three thousand and then five thousand more were gained.
In perfecting others we have to pay attention to sanctifying ourselves. In three months' time we will see that all the ones we are perfecting will be just like us.
Whatever our work may be, the same requirement applies to the person doing the work. We have to be strict and disciplined. This is the only way we can produce anything. We have to be strict in everything. Otherwise, there will be no hope for our future. The book of Matthew has twenty-eight chapters which basically speak of how to be a disciple. We have to do our best to learn to be a disciple.
Visitation is an important work. In visiting others, we should not talk about our family affairs, much less the family affairs of those we are visiting. It may not be that damaging if they bring up such things and we merely listen. But if we talk about such things, this will not bring in any profit, either to us or to them. We are not making visitations like social workers in the YMCA. We visit men as servants of the Lord. We should not speak about worldly things, but instead, we should give them spiritual food. Perhaps we should sit down to read the Word with them or pray with them. After I was saved, a brother frequently came to see me. Every time he came he read a chapter of the Bible with me, and then he gave me a word of encouragement and exhortation. This stirred up my interest for the Word. If anyone is hurt by anything, we can do our best to render him some help, but we should avoid social visitations. The church is a place with enough gossip already. If we add more, we will easily ruin its spiritual life.
In visiting others, we should never try to answer their spiritual questions too quickly. The purpose of visitation is not to solve spiritual problems. Do not go with the intention of expounding the Bible. If you are not sure of certain things, just say in a simple way that you do not know. You should ask the others to go to the Lord more and seek light and revelation. Give them a spiritual touch.
It is better to visit in coordination with a few. If we cannot find a partner, we can still go alone, but we have to be on the alert that we are bringing men to the Lord all the time.
