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Date:Tuesday evening, August 30, 1949Place:Canton
Mrs. Weigh: I feel weak physically all the time. This frustrates my spiritual walk. What should I do? How can I know the resurrection power of Christ?
Watchman Nee: Your problem does not lie in your question. You have to realize that the life of Christ which a Christian expresses is not limited by time, environment, or conditions. A healthy person can manifest the life of Christ through his health. A normal person can manifest the life of Christ through his normal condition, and a sick person seriously ill in bed can also manifest the life of Christ through his trying condition. True spirituality is not affected by any kind of condition at all. It is wrong to think that a person only can live a proper spiritual life when everything is in order. If there is no hope, one should not cherish unreal expectations. You do not need to wait for your health to get better to live the life of Christ. A busy mother does not have to wait until all her ten children are grown up before she pursues a spiritual walk. A busy shopkeeper does not have to wait until he is the boss of his business before he can serve God. A single man does not have to wait until he is married to serve the Lord without distraction. By the same token, those who have a wife should not think that it is easier to live the Christian life by being single. Some have good health, yet they do not manifest the life of Christ. This shows that expressing this life does not require a certain, set environment. One can express the life of Christ in strength, in weakness, or in a normal condition. Some people think that they have to wait for the environment to change for the better before they can live a proper spiritual life. This is wrong. This is like those who say that they will believe in Jesus only if their circumstances change for the better. They say they will believe if they sin less or if they become more moral. We would exhort such ones not to wait; they can believe in Jesus in spite of their present condition. Enoch walked with God for three hundred years and begot sons and daughters (Gen. 5:22). The Lord Jesus also told us that those who will be raptured will not be taken at the time they are reading the Bible or praying but while they are in the field and grinding at the mill (Matt. 24:40-41). These verses show us that there is no need to have a new environment or a certain set of conditions to express the life of Christ. We should not cherish false hopes or think that we can live a spiritual life only when our environment is perfect.
Today the Lord is sovereign over our physical condition. Whether our condition is good or bad, His intention is that we express His life through it so that this life will prove to be victorious over everything. The so-called discipline of the Holy Spirit is carried out in this condition. The Lord's intention is that we do our best to express His life in the midst of these very circumstances. You are physically weak and cannot be too active, but you should not be condemned in your conscience. Outward activities can decrease, but your fellowship with the Lord and your contact with Him should not decrease. Your touch with God cannot diminish in any way. If you are so weak that you cannot make it to the meeting, simply stay at home as long as you are clear within that this is right. You must be persuaded and convinced within yourself. Paul said in Ephesians 2 that God has raised us up with Christ and seated us together with Christ in the heavenlies (v. 6). This word means that a believer receives a transcendent life. It would be wonderful if God granted you the grace of a sanguine and healthy body. But if He does not give you a healthy body, and instead leaves you as you are, you should humble yourself before Him. This is the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and it is upon you so that you will learn to express the transcendent life of Christ.
Hebrews 6 says that God's children can have a taste of the power of the age to come (v. 5). Indeed, today we should enjoy God's divine healing. However, we should believe Him even when He does not heal us. The Lord Jesus did not promise to heal Paul's thorn. Instead, He promised him sufficient grace (2 Cor. 12:7-9), which is actually the resurrection power of Christ. One can only experience this sufficient grace when there is a thorn.
Generally speaking, it is easy for a new believer to experience healing through prayer. This is not because his faith is greater than that of more mature ones; it is because the Lord wants him to know Him as Lord. A long-time believer, however, may not receive healing so readily. In fact, often it is very hard for him to receive healing. This does not prove that his faith is small. It merely means that the Lord has a higher standard for him. This is like the experience of leading men to salvation; it is easy for a new believer to witness for the Lord and to bring men to Christ. It is hard for a long-time believer to do the same. Like the disciples, he has to pray earnestly for ten days before he can lead someone to the Lord (Acts 1:14).
In some cases, healing depends on the atmosphere at the time. During a time of revival, outward miracles usually accompany God's presence, and it is easy to experience healing. For example, immediately after Pentecost, Peter and John healed the lame man lying at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful (Acts 3:1-8). Even their shadow became a means of healing to others (5:15-16). However, God's salvation not only heals the body. It mainly heals man's soul and spirit so that he can have a rich entrance into God's kingdom (2 Pet. 1:11). Paul's handkerchiefs and aprons were able to heal people (Acts 19:11-12). Yet when Timothy was sick, Paul did not send his handkerchief or apron to cover Timothy's stomach. On the contrary, he advised Timothy to use regular means (1 Tim. 5:23).
Brother Kaung, is there something that you want to say?
Brother Kaung: I do have something to say. But you do not have to be limited to my question. You can cover as wide a scope as possible in your answer. First, there are many contradictions in my personal life. On the one hand, I do not believe I am very active in my thoughts. On the other hand, I do think quite much. Now I am learning to read the Bible continuously without trying to think too much. Second, I feel that I am not that much on fire for the work.
Watchman Nee: There is a big difference between accepting and not accepting God's breaking. Human power is limited. A man does not have an unlimited capacity to think. Sometimes your thinking can bring you to a dead end; you hit the wall and do not know how to go on. The reason you feel this way is that you have exhausted your mental energy without realizing it. If a man spends too much time on one thing, he will not have time to think about other things. This is the reason we repeatedly emphasize the need for the outer man to be broken.
Often the problem with thoughts is not in the mind but in the heart. This is because the heart controls the mind. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep your heart with all vigilance,/For from it are the issues of life." We can say that our heart represents our very self. A man's thoughts are directed by his heart. When we say that a man has a problem with his thoughts, we are actually saying that he has a problem with his heart. A bad heart is the cause of sickness in the mind. It does not help to deal with the thoughts alone; this will only take care of the symptom. The basic solution is to deal with the root. Once the heart is right before God, the thoughts are right.
At the time of our regeneration, we were given a new heart and a new spirit by God. The new heart gives us a new life and new inclination to serve God. But through neglect, our heart sometimes becomes evil again; it loses its purity before the Lord. Our heart controls our mind. When the heart goes astray, the thoughts follow.
In Matthew 12:34 the Lord Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." Rash words are unhealthy, but in reality it is not the words themselves that are unhealthy; rather, it is the heart that is sick. Some sisters realize that their words are not right; they try to deal with their words. But it is not enough for one to merely hate his or her own words. It is useless to try to deal with words per se. Such a sister must be willing to deal with her heart. Once her heart is dealt with, the problem with her speaking and her words will go away. The same can be said about our thoughts. A little leaf can block the ray of the sun. A little sin can cover up God's light and turn the heart astray. Once the sin of the heart is dealt with, everything will fall into place. The mind is controlled by the heart. It is impossible for the heart to be in one condition and the mind to be thinking about something different.
After one's heart has been dealt with, he has to learn to control his thoughts. A servant of God must have a high power of concentration. He cannot waste his thoughts carelessly. Miss M. E. Barber once said, "When Satan takes over our thought life, he takes over our whole life." There is a limit to the amount of mental energy we can expend. If we allow our thoughts to wander and roam unchecked, we will find that we cannot focus our mind when we are called to serve in prayer. Satan will seize the opportunity to inject fiery darts into our mind through the outward events. We will fall into Satan's hand and be defeated. If our outer man is not broken, we will always react to outward stimuli. We will feel that thoughts are always frustrating us and that we are always being drained away. When we try to serve as a minister of the word, we will find our thoughts failing us. We will fail not because we have too much to say and do not know how to say it. We will fail because our thoughts are too poor. We should not think that our problem is that we are not smart enough. The real reason is that our outer man is not broken and our mind is not under the control of the spirit.
After we bring our thoughts into focus, there is still a need to get into the thoughts of God's Word. The breaking of the outer man enables us not only to focus our thoughts but also to enter into the burden of the Spirit. If we have not touched the burden of the Spirit, all our thoughts summoned together will not qualify us to be used by the Spirit. Once the outer man is broken, there is no more self activity or subjective thoughts. Then we can touch the burden in the Spirit, and the life and power contained in God's Word will flow out through our speaking.
Concerning the second point, that is, spiritual fire, I would like to say this: Fire relates to supply. Individually, it depends on our consecration. Corporately, it depends on fellowship, or the supply in the ministry. If there is no problem with our personal consecration, it may be God's leading that we should seek His supply. Corporately speaking, the matter of fire relates to fellowship. Without fellowship there is no fire. When we are in fellowship, we touch the fire. This is not a matter of gift, but of ministry. Where there is ministry, there is fire. Ministry is corporate. There is more in ministry than in individual pursuits, but we will cover this later. First, consider the individual aspect. Individually, we only need to check our consecration. If there is a problem with our consecration, there is a problem with the spirit. There must be an absolute consecration. Otherwise, there is no fire.
Fire is from the Lord. The Lord casts this fire on earth. This fire is also the gospel. It enables us to serve, to withstand persecution, and even to sacrifice our lives. On the personal side, fire depends absolutely on our consecration. The amount of consecration we offer on the altar determines the intensity of the fire. If consecration is lacking, the fire will not come. Therefore, we cannot hold back anything in our consecration.
Consecration, in turn, comes from light. We consecrate to God according to the light we have received. We can only consecrate according to what we have received, according to what our spiritual eyes can see. The light we see comes from our fellowship with God. Through constant fellowship, God shines on us and grants us revelation. When we are under His shining, we see His demand and consecrate ourselves to Him voluntarily. Then God sends down His fire to take up our consecration. Hence, fire comes from God and is communicated to us through consecration; we do not light the fire ourselves. This is the fire on the altar. Once the sacrifice is on the altar, the fire comes. Consecration is not a one-time act, but a continual act. In the beginning we do not know what we should consecrate. Gradually, we receive more light, and we consecrate more, and our consecration becomes more absolute. The stronger our consecration is, the greater is the fire on the altar. Consecration follows shining. The amount of shining we receive determines the degree of consecration we render. Our consecration must match the light that God has given us.
Individually, when we put everything on the altar, the fire comes. Between the light and the fire, there is the need of consecration. If consecration follows the light, immediately there is fire. The stronger the consecration, the easier it is for the fire to start. Once the fire starts, others will catch it easily. If our next-door neighbor's house is on fire, it is easy for ours to catch fire. This fire will turn even hard wood into hot flames. If a person tries to fan a spark before it develops into a flame, the fire will be killed. However, the more rubbing and friction there is, the easier it is to catch a fire. This is the reason we have to rub each other until we are red-hot. The hotter we become, the more fire there will be. If we are cold, fanning will only quench the fire; it will not build the fire.
No one should seek for fire. As long as we have enough consecration and as long as we have enough friction, we will have the fire. If the spiritual pathway is too easy and relaxed, the fire of the gospel will be extinguished. The more we go on in the spiritual pathway, the more we should not consider ourselves as experienced or matured. If we think that we have consecrated enough, we will quench the fire on the altar. In the Old Testament God commanded that the fire on the altar must not go out day or night (Lev. 6:12-13). The entire life of a Christian, from the time he first believes to the time he goes to the Lord, must be accompanied by fire.
In Mark 8:35 the Lord said, "Whoever will lose his soul-life for My sake and the gospel's...." This is not only for the Lord's sake but also for the gospel's sake. Paul was an apostle who was consecrated for the gospel's sake. He said, "And I do all things for the sake of the gospel that I may become a fellow partaker of it" (1 Cor. 9:23). The more he advanced in his spiritual life and the deeper his life took root, the more the fire of the gospel burned in him. Paul said that he was a called apostle separated unto the gospel of God (Rom. 1:1). The gospel not only includes saving sinners from hell, but every aspect of God's gospel, including salvation, sanctification, justification, the church, etc. The gospel covers a wide scope. Paul said that he was the foremost among sinners, yet he was called to be a pattern to other believers (1 Tim. 1:16). He also said that he was less than the least of all saints, yet he received grace to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel (Eph. 3:8). These verses show us that the Lord has called us for the gospel.
I have to shout aloud that we need to bring in a gospel spirit. This is the only way for the brothers and sisters to go on. Unless we have this spirit, our preaching will be like children playing with toys. In Foochow the fire of the gospel has been ignited. The church not only must preach the gospel but must touch the gospel spirit. In order to touch the gospel spirit, the only way is for us to have a fresh consecration.
The author of the book Seen and Heard, Mr. M'Kendrick, was a miner. He did not even attend an elementary school, but he was a totally consecrated person. Within him was the gospel fire. His heart was filled with a burning zeal for saving souls. Once, while he was on the platform, he could not utter a word. As he looked around at the unsaved people sitting before him, he began to cry, and tears rolled down his cheeks like torrents. In the end he only shouted a word or two. God's Spirit filled the entire congregation. All were convicted of their sin and waywardness. We should not be afraid of shouting. John the Baptist shouted in the Gospels. The Lord Jesus also shouted. The apostles shouted many times in Acts. Although Brother M'Kendrick did not have much education or gift, he had the gospel spirit, and countless numbers of people were saved through him.
A young person may not have the gift of Moody, Finney, or Spurgeon, but he can learn to be a M'Kendrick. A young brother may not necessarily have the gift of the gospel, but he must have the spirit of the gospel. In church history God raises up great evangelists only once in a long while. But every lover of the Lord should and must have a gospel spirit.
On the one hand, we should increase our gospel preaching. On the other hand, we should increase our consecration. Our consecration cannot stop. Once we stop our consecration, the spirit of the gospel will stop. In order to recover the gospel, we have to recover consecration. Both things have to be absolute in us. Our foolishness lies in the misconception that we are behind the early church only in the power of the gospel; actually, our consecration comes far behind the early disciples as well. May the fire of God's gospel continue to burn in us. May it ignite you and me first. May the church not become a hindrance to the world's salvation, but a channel through which the Lord is dispensed to the world.
Brother Weigh, do you have any problem?
Brother Weigh: I have three questions. First, I feel that my spiritual condition does not match what I know, what I teach, or what I have heard. Second, I feel that it is very hard to have some spiritual weight or worth. In the past, I was satisfied as long as I had a work to occupy me or a platform for me to speak. For example, when the church in Hong Kong began to meet in the new building, I was very satisfied. Now I feel that I am not able to meet the demand. Of course, I must admit that Hong Kong is not a place where an ordinary person can work, but I should not live in the realm of my own concepts. Third, I do not feel that I have the ability to take the lead in the work of the entire south China region. It would be better to find some stronger brothers to come and take the lead in the work here.
Watchman Nee: First, let us talk about the work here. Let me point out that while ability has some relationship to work, the correlation is not absolute. The work belongs to God, and God works according to His own principle. His principle is to use whatever is available. In using men, God can only use those who are available, not those who are not available. We should not expect some who are not available to come. If a local church only has blind, lame, and deaf ones, we should be satisfied that such ones would rise up. The Lord has given a gift to every saved person. Even the blind, lame, and deaf have one talent. It is a matter of how to draw out their talents. Perhaps a few people in the church have five talents, but we almost have to wait for a hundred years before we can come across a few of these great gifts. However, if we add five one-talented ones together, we will have the same amount of gift as the five-talented one. Today our job is to stir up all the one-talented ones. We have to draw out everyone's portion.
There are more people here than in northwest China, but geographically, northwest China is much larger, and it is much harder for the saints to take care of the need there. For this reason you should not expect very gifted co-workers to come. You should work as much as you can with the people you have. Basically, you do not need able, strong, and gifted co-workers, but brothers who can lead and get things started. No one should be slothful in zeal. All must work together in one accord in coordination. I have a few suggestions. First, the co-workers should never neglect prayer. Second, they must come together to study the Word. Third, there should be suitable arrangements in the work. Fourth, you must be strict and severe with yourselves in the work. Do not be loose. Once you are loose, others will become loose as well. You have to be relaxed in your person, but strict and serious in your work. This is how you can go on and how you can have enough serving ones to meet the need. The service of the church is a corporate service. No one worker can single-handedly raise up the whole church.
We should not do a work like Christianity, in which one worker is sent to a specific place to work. Some of our co-workers should receive the burden from the Lord to travel and make visits within certain districts. The trouble in the past was that the workers who were visiting were not broad enough in their heart. This is wrong. When we go to a place, our heart should be there inasmuch as our body is there. But there are some co-workers who do not put their heart into where they are. This is one of our problems. We have to correct this. At any rate, the Acts of the Apostles starts from chapter one, not from chapter thirteen. Jerusalem is our proper guideline in the work. We should have a center for our work, and the local ones should rise up to serve.
In order to raise up the one-talented ones, instead of letting their talent remain hidden in the earth, there is the need of perfecting trainings and spiritual education. We need prayer meetings and Bible-study meetings that perfect men. In perfecting the saints, we should not select just the ones who are in high positions, who have money, who have worldly experience, or who are competent in the world. Instead, we should choose those who have spiritual perception, spiritual understanding, and who have made spiritual advancements. Moreover, they have to be consecrated. There is a brother in Shanghai who is not very capable, but he has spiritual perception, and his understanding is perfect. He is actually more qualified than many so-called experienced ones. The way to judge a man is to see if he is consecrated, if he has spiritual perception, and if his heart is perfect. Some are willing to consecrate in this way, but they are not very smart. Among those who meet these qualifications, we have to select a few. We have to work on them particularly. Sometimes we have to work on them together, and sometimes we have to work on them separately. They all must be able to do better than us. It does not matter if they do not do well in the beginning. After a few times they will improve. The fallen mentality thinks that only we ourselves can do a job, but we have to perfect others to do it and help them to do it. Perfect a few, and then charge them to help others to do the same. The four Gospels show us clearly that the Lord did not commit Himself to everyone; He only committed Himself to the twelve disciples. The twelve then committed themselves to the hundred and twenty, who committed themselves to three thousand. First John 1:3 says that the disciples have fellowship with the apostles who have fellowship with the Father and the Son. This is the principle. We have to learn from the example of the Lord Jesus and the apostles.
If there is an agricultural seminar, it is difficult to ask the president of the country to be the chairman. If there is a symposium of doctors, it is difficult to ask the governor of Hong Kong to be the chairman. Even if these dignitaries came, they could only sit in the last row. Likewise, it would be difficult for us to actively participate in a worldly convention. If we join them, we could only be passive spectators. However, in spiritual matters, we cannot deny that we have learned more things than some other brothers and sisters. They may be more capable and experienced than we are, but they have to sit in the back to listen to us. Paul charged Timothy to take the lead in Ephesus, and he reminded him to not let others despise his youth in particular, knowing from which ones he had learned (1 Tim. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:14). We should never measure a man according to worldly standards.
In summary, we have to find men who are perfect in heart and who have spiritual understanding. Do not worry about their age; pay attention to their consecration and spiritual perception. If a man does not have spiritual perception, he is of little use in the work. We can perfect a few people one at a time, or we can gather them together and teach them as a group. Paul not only edified the church; he also raised up a few individuals. He wrote to the church in Corinth, but he also wrote to individuals such as Timothy and Titus. He not only traveled among the churches to teach God's kingdom, but he picked out Titus, Timothy, Philemon, and Onesimus, and he perfected them one by one.
We can gather brothers and sisters in the countryside to Canton and Hong Kong and train them in the fifty-two lessons for new believers. We can do this in two trainings, with each training being two weeks in length. After they are trained, they can be sent back to the countryside to work.
The principle in God's work is to involve ourselves in the work first and then involve others in the same work. If we do not take care of these two steps, we have failed and have come short of God's standard. We cannot say that we have done enough as long as we have worked hard ourselves. We cannot say this. Paul not only worked himself, but he stirred up others to join him in the work. In his Epistles to the Corinthians, we can see that he was pushing others to do the same work. We have to arrange some work for other brothers and sisters to do. We cannot be the only ones who are busy all the time. This approach is ineffective. In a hundred years everyone sitting here will be gone. If no one is perfected to continue our work, what a loss this will be to God! We have to use every means to make others work. We have to learn to take them by the hand in our work. We have to learn to deal with them and gain them. The way is to work, visit, and preach the gospel together with them. We admit that we are all inexperienced in this area. We have to be in fear and trembling, and we have to be very exercised before the Lord.
No one can be careless or loose in perfecting others. We should not think that we know everything. We should not think that we can be a teacher by simply reading textbooks. There was no school for training prophets; all the prophets were raised up by God individually. We can only say that we do not know that much. We are here learning, and we are hoping to bring men to God so that God can have a way in them. We have to be in fear and trembling. We should not order others to do this or that lightly. Instead, we should take the lead to work together with others. It is very presumptuous to think that only we can do something and that no one else can do it. The people that the Lord has given to us are more than what we need. Every one of them is useful. We should not be presumptuous, loose, or careless. However, we should not hesitate to make decisions for fear of making mistakes.
We have covered the matter of leadership before. Leadership does not depend on ability. Rather, it depends on: 1) much prayer and diligent study of the Word, 2) the capacity to perfect others and raise them up, and 3) making everyone useful. The way ahead lies on our shoulders. If we are faithful to the Lord, He will get through in us, and the brothers and sisters will have a way to follow us.
Can we help all the brothers and sisters rise up to serve? If we can, we will not have any problems. Even if we have more people, we can still handle them. Who can withstand the church when the entire Body rises up to serve? Five can chase a hundred, and a hundred can chase ten thousand (Lev. 26:8). If we can raise up all the one-talented ones, we can absorb as many people as are given to us.
Those who are hard and stiff are hard inwardly; outwardly they can be very soft. This is the reason it is not easy to perfect a person. When a person volunteers to serve, he carries with him both his outward and inward attributes. Those who are gifted are usually hard and stiff. We cannot open the door just to outward attributes while ignoring inward attributes. If we do, we will make it hard for others to go on. It takes much work, labor, and prayer to perfect one person.
Brother Weigh's personal problems cannot be dealt with quickly. I would consider it very quick indeed if they are dealt with after five years. It may take eight or ten years for some people. Time is a big factor. We should not think that hearing something and understanding it is the end of the story. We have to ask the Lord for much mercy.
