Search
Prayer: Lord, we confess that we are still corrupt; hence, we need the cleansing of Your precious blood. Lord, thank You that Your blood always cleanses us. By this precious blood we are kept in the Holy of Holies to fellowship with You. Lord, we are all willing to open to You; we pray that You would bring us into Yourself so that we may behold Your glorious face in the Holy of Holies. Visit us and touch our deepest part so that every one of us will bow our heads and worship You.
Lord, remove our defilement, our prejudices, and our traditional ways of thinking. Have mercy on us so that the veils on our hearts may fall away. Lord, open the heavens to us in these days. Be open to us, and may Your Word also be open to us. Open our spirit, and give us a clear mind to understand Your word and see Your move.
We pray that You would visit all the dear saints. You are the God who gains the victory over all men; You are the Lord of all men. O Lord Jesus, You are so rich to each of us; Your grace and riches are available to those who seek after You. Whoever calls upon Your name will enjoy You. Visit us now. We pray for all who seek after You. We look to You for Your blessing; make this moment a moment of blessing. Lord, we come before You and gather around Your Word. We really want to know You and Your way; may You clearly shine on us and guide us. In the name of the Lord we pray. Amen.
In this chapter we will begin to fellowship about specific practices related to the increase and spread of the church. The burden in these messages is mainly related to the increase and spread of the church. The matter of increase is related to a church locally, whereas the matter of spread involves the church’s spreading out. The churches on earth should increase, and the church on the earth should spread.
In the Chinese Union Version translation, Acts 1:8 says, “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you,...you shall be My testimony...unto the uttermost part of the earth.” However, in Greek this verse does not speak about being the Lord’s testimony; rather, it speaks about being the Lord’s witnesses. There is a big difference between these two. In the translation of the Bible, many versions often make the mistake of overemphasizing tone and style while overlooking the meaning of the words in the original text. However, the Bible was written not as a book of literature but as a book of revelation.
The apostle Paul came from Tarsus, a large city well known for its learning, and he was trained at the feet of Gamaliel, a teacher of the law honored by all the people (5:34; 22:3). All the readers of the New Testament acknowledge Paul’s writing skill. However, he did not sacrifice spiritual meaning for the sake of literary considerations. We are preparing a new translation of the Bible based on this principle. We may not have the highest literary attainments, but we will express the original meaning of the words in the New Testament to the best of our efforts.
In Acts 1:8 the word witnesses is the best translation of the word in the original text. This word literally means “martyrs.” This word does not refer to an objective testimony but to a group of persons who are martyrs. A martyr is a witness. God’s divine truth in the New Testament was written originally in Greek. In our translation of the Recovery Version of the New Testament, we always try to follow the sense of the meaning in the original text. This is because we are trying to convey the divine truth of God.
The subject of Acts is “The Propagation of the Resurrected Christ in His Ascension, by the Spirit, through the Disciples, for the Producing of the Churches — the Kingdom of God.” In brief, the book of Acts speaks of “the propagation of the resurrected Christ.” This propagation involves the reproduction of Christ or, using printing terminology, the reprinting of Christ. In printing, there is always an original version that is printed in mass quantities. Every printed copy is the same as the original version; it is a reprint, a reproduction, of the original. This is the meaning of propagation.
In John 12:24 the Lord Jesus said that when a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it bears much fruit. In the propagation of many grains, every kernel of grain is the same as the original planted grain. The many grains are the propagation and increase of the original one grain. In the Gospels we can see such a wonderful One. He lived on the earth and then passed through death and resurrection. In His resurrection as the Spirit of life, He entered into those who believed into Him, and in His ascension He poured the economical Spirit upon His believing disciples. As a result, these disciples not only had Him within them as life but also upon them as power. As such, they were His propagation, His many grains.
As the propagation of the Lord Jesus, these disciples needed to propagate as well. On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with eleven disciples and gave a message, and as a result, three thousand people were led to salvation. These three thousand people were a mass propagation. This may be likened to a grain of wheat being planted and bearing thirty grains, which in turn are planted and produce a hundred grains each. Thus, all three thousand grains are the propagation of one initial grain.
Throughout the book of Acts there is a continual propagation. Chapter 1 speaks of the preparation for the propagation, and from chapter 2 onward there is a propagation that continues through the last chapter. Bible scholars and readers acknowledge that the book of Acts does not have an ending; it is continuing even now. If there were a written record of the continuing acts of the propagating disciples, we might have twenty-eight thousand chapters. Christ’s propagation has never ceased, even though the record in Acts goes only to around A.D. 66. Christ’s propagation did not stop with Paul. It went west from Asia Minor to Europe, south to Africa, and east to India. According to historical accounts, many believe that the apostle Thomas brought this propagation to India. When Columbus sailed west and discovered a new continent, this propagation came from Europe to America. Today the propagation of Christ has been extended throughout the earth.
In recent days methods of transportation and new ways of video and audio transmission are continually being improved, making the world seem smaller and smaller and more convenient for Christ’s propagation. Consider the work of the Lord’s recovery: A message given in a meeting can reach every continent on the earth in less than a week through video and sound recordings. In less than a month the messages can be translated into different languages and printed as books. All this is for Christ’s propagation.
Acts is specifically on Christ’s propagation; this propagation produces the churches. The churches are not only Christ’s propagation but also God’s kingdom. Therefore, Christ’s propagation, the churches, and the kingdom of God are synonymous. Christ’s propagation is Christ’s increase; it is also the spread of Christ. Christ not only propagates; He spreads to the four corners of the earth. This increase and spread are the church, and the church is God’s kingdom on earth today. The entire content of Acts is focused on the propagation, increase, and spread of Christ, which produce churches on earth in locality after locality, and these churches are the kingdom of God.
God created a man, who became old, and He also prepared a man, who became new. In man’s eyes there have been thousands upon thousands of people after Adam, including Abel, Seth, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. In God’s eyes, however, there have been only two men throughout the history of man: Adam is the first man, and Christ is the second man. First Corinthians 15:45 and 47 speak of the first man, Adam, who is out of the earth, and the second man, Christ, who is out of heaven. Christ is called the last Adam. Other than these two, there is no third man. Every man after Adam but before Christ is part of the first man, Adam. Any man who has been born after Christ but who has not believed into Christ is also only a part of the first man, Adam. Only those who have been born after Christ and who have believed in the Lord are part of the second man, Christ. Those who have believed in the Lord and who are saved have been transferred into Christ.
Every believer is both in Adam and in Christ. From the standpoint of our experience, we can also be in the self. For example, when a brother prays in the morning, he can be in Christ, but if his prayer is interrupted by his wife, he can easily find himself in Adam. If he draws from his cultural upbringing to control his temper, he will be in the self. At first he is in Christ; as soon as he is interrupted by his wife, he is in Adam; and once he draws upon his cultural upbringing to control his temper, he is in the self. This is our experience. I have been saved for sixty years, but I have not completely put off Adam.
Acts 17:26 says that God “made from one every nation of men.” This means that God created one man; He did not create two men, much less billions of men. Rather, He created Adam, blessed him, and told him to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28). This speaks of the propagation of Adam. Propagation is a natural law of God for men. Once a person is married, there will be propagation. When I was saved sixty years ago, I was not married, but after being married, more than thirty people have been propagated through my children and grandchildren. All these people are “citizens” in my “kingdom”; they are my propagation.
Today Adam has been propagated to become a great kingdom; all the people living in the world are citizens of his kingdom. This truly is a fulfillment of God’s words concerning being fruitful and multiplying and filling the earth. Many families in China take pride in the fact that multiple generations live as a big family in the same house, but strictly speaking, the only big family is Adam’s family. From Adam to Jesus there are seventy-seven generations, and from Jesus until now there have been many more generations. This propagation is tremendous.
To be fruitful and multiply is to propagate, to increase; to fill the earth is to spread. Increasing and spreading correspond with human history. For example, the Chinese race moved from the Middle East eastward, passed the Pamirs, and reached China. The Bible tells us that Adam was created in the region of Mesopotamia, which is in close geographic proximity to Europe, Asia, and Africa. From Mesopotamia, mankind spread eastward to Asia, southward to Africa, and westward to Europe. Mankind increased and then spread in four directions to fill the earth. When Columbus discovered the Americas, the whole globe became the territory for the increase and spread of the first man, Adam, through his descendants.
The first man, Adam, is a type of the second man, Christ. The propagation of Christ began in Jerusalem, which is also a place where Europe, Asia, and Africa meet. In Acts 1:8 the Lord said to the disciples, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The Lord’s witnesses are His propagation. Every believer of Christ is a witness of Christ, and every witness is Christ’s propagation, just as every grain of wheat is the propagation of the original grain.
Spiritually speaking, every believer should be a witness, having the spirit of a martyr, not loving the world, and being able to sacrifice his life for the Lord. If we are willing to die for Christ, forsake the world, and not care for anything, we will be the Lord’s witnesses and His propagation. In this way Christ will increase.
Nevertheless, it is not enough for Christ merely to increase; there is a need for Him to spread. The Lord wanted the disciples to increase in Jerusalem, but He wanted them also to spread to Judea, to Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. Paul mentioned that he not only wanted to go to Rome but also to Spain (Rom. 15:28-29). At that time Spain was equivalent to “the uttermost part of the earth.” By the time Columbus discovered the new continent, the uttermost part of the earth to the west was not Spain but the west coast of the United States. Although the Lord did not tell the disciples that the earth is round, He wisely charged them to spread to the “uttermost part of the earth,” which means that the gospel has to be preached throughout the entire known world.
History tells us that mankind has progressively filled the earth through the footsteps of Christians preaching the gospel. The growth and development of politics, military affairs, culture, and trade all reflect the influence of Christian “footsteps.” The preaching of the gospel by Christians to the uttermost part of the earth has resulted in the map of the world being continually redrawn. Christians sailed from Spain to the east coast of America, and from there they spread to the west coast. Eventually, the spread of mankind has circumscribed the globe.
Throughout subsequent generations Christians have circled the globe many times in order to carry out the Lord’s commission concerning “unto the uttermost part of the earth.” In light of the Lord’s charge to increase and spread, we are negligent in responding to His commission because we are so set and settled. Hence, I have no burden to give you some teachings; I only want to fellowship about our way of practice. From the day that God created man, He had no plans for us to stay in one place permanently. Even I travel back and forth across the Pacific Ocean because of the Lord’s commission.
Since God “made from one every nation of men” (Acts 17:26) and told man to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28), men must move in order to fill the earth. Fill in Hebrew means “occupy to the full.” God views the earth as being empty unless man occupies and fills up its space. Today there are twenty million people on the little island of Taiwan; it is being “occupied to the full.” If we lift up our eyes and see, we have to admit that even though the population of the world is great, there are many places that are still empty. For example, I once traveled by car from Los Angeles to Texas. Along the way we saw unlimited stretches of land with very few towns; it was mostly unoccupied land. It is a pity that nations in the world pass laws to restrict immigration. Although this may frustrate God’s “policy,” He is still the sovereign Lord. Jesus is the Ruler of the kings on earth, and several presidents of the United States have amended immigration laws to allow, for example, more Chinese to immigrate to the United States.
The God whom we serve is truly the Ruler of the heavens and earth. I believe that one day every piece of unoccupied land will be filled with men. We should not worry about there being too many people. If every country would open up, there would be no sense of being overcrowded. The United States is very big, but the empty land in Brazil is even larger than the empty land in the United States; there are many more trees than people living along the Amazon. The Lord will eventually have a way to cause Adam’s race to fill the whole earth.
God’s word stands firm in heaven forever (Psa. 119:89); this fact is beyond argument. No other book in this world tells us that men should be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth; only God’s Word tells us this. After He created man, He simply said, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28). These words describe six thousand years of human history. More than eighty years ago I was born in Tunghsiang, in a village of not more than ninety families, in Penglai County of the province of Shantung. Never in my dreams did I think that I would come to the United States with my family. This was not of me; it was God who blew a great wind. God said that men should be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth; no one can change God’s word.
Everything of the old creation is a type of the new creation. Just as the propagation of Adam was fruitful and filled the earth, the propagation of Christ should also be fruitful and fill the earth by increasing and spreading to every place. Sometimes Christians sigh when they compare the number of people in the world with the number of believers, but we should not be disappointed. Eventually, the believers of the Lord will prevail. In the future the Lord will definitely open up the United States and Brazil, and eventually, He will come Himself to take over the world. He will judge those who should be judged. At that time the earth will be His, and His propagation will fill the earth.
When I began to serve the Lord, I worked in Chefoo and then went to Shanghai, the largest city in China. In May 1949 there was a strong wind from the Lord to go to Taiwan. When I looked at the outward conditions then, I did not know why the Lord sent me to Taiwan. Later I felt that I should travel by train south to Kaohsiung, stopping at stations along the way to visit the scattered saints. I went to Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung and saw that there was a group of brothers in each place. This showed me the need of the work in Taiwan. When I returned to Taipei, I fellowshipped with the brothers, and we decided to start the work on August 1.
At that time there were at most three to five hundred saints on the whole island, most of whom were from China and had been scattered throughout the island. By 1956 this number increased to thirty-five to forty thousand, and close to half of these met in the church in Taipei. Every brother and sister would complete an information card when they were baptized. According to these cards, there were between fifteen and seventeen thousand saints in the church in Taipei in 1956. The number of people increased very quickly; it was truly the Lord’s mercy and grace.
Later, because of frustrations and disruptions, our increase almost stopped from 1956 to 1984. According to our record, in 1956 there were approximately three thousand people participating regularly in the church life. Today, after almost thirty years, there are about five thousand five hundred saints participating regularly in the church life with about three thousand five hundred in the meetings. Looking at these figures, there has not been much increase in the past thirty years. There has also not been much spread. In 1956 there were fifty local churches; today there are eighty or more local churches. Only thirty or more churches have been added, and some of the larger cities still do not have a church. Of the saints who went abroad, only a few spread to the United States, and even fewer spread to other countries.
We must use the Lord’s word, especially the book of Acts, to check our condition. The Lord Jesus started to minister when He was thirty years old. Three and a half years later He was crucified, and then He resurrected and ascended to the heavens. The events over the next approximately thirty years are recorded in the book of Acts. During these years the church increased rapidly and spread immensely even in a time when it was not convenient to travel from one place to another. Nearly two thousand years ago there were no steamships or trains, much less cars or airplanes. Nevertheless, in such old and backward conditions the church spread from Jerusalem to Spain, which was the uttermost part of the earth at that time, in less than thirty years. Today it is very convenient to travel from one place to another, not only from one place to another within Taiwan but also to other countries. Despite these advantages, generally speaking, the Lord’s recovery in Taiwan has remained stagnant for a quarter of a century; this is the heavy burden within me.
I hope that we all could be quiet before the Lord and reconsider our pathway and future. We have been saved, and to us the prospect of seeing the Lord in the future is very good. However, we must ask whether the Lord has a similar feeling when there is such a need for the increase and spread of the church. Consider the seven hundred million people in India who are in a desolate condition. Some English missionaries went there in the past, but not many people are willing to go there now to preach the gospel. Honestly speaking, we should send saints from Taiwan to India and Burma [Myanmar].
Recently, a local church has been raised up in southern India by a secondary school teacher who met with us for a year when he was in the United States. Subsequently, he received a burden and returned to India to establish churches there. At the same time a church has been raised up in northern Burma, and it has been in contact with the church in Bangkok, Thailand. There is a great need in these places. We could not meet the need even if we sent three hundred saints to work in India and another hundred to work in Burma. The Arabic-speaking world is also desolate; we need to receive a burden from the Lord to spread there.
The Lord’s will is not for us to stay in Taiwan to be in a life of ease and comfort, to receive blessings, to be cultivated in the truth, to grow in life, to be spiritual, and then to see Him when He returns. This may be very good for us, but this will not satisfy the Lord. Before focusing on preaching the gospel to the uttermost part of the earth, we need to consider Taiwan. Over the past twenty or more years, a church should have been established in every town on the island of Taiwan. Nevertheless, this is not a reality. Today on the island of Taiwan the worship of idols is still prevailing, whereas the gospel of the Lord is not. We have no way to gospelize Taiwan, not to mention truthizing it, because there has not been enough propagation and increase. It takes just four and a half hours to travel by train from Taipei to Kaohsiung. The distance between them is so short, and transportation is so convenient. In addition, many places are densely populated, and it is easy to contact people. However, we do not have much propagation and increase; we have failed the Lord and His gospel. Although there are more than five thousand saints who regularly attend the meetings in the church in Taipei, who love the Lord, and who offer much in the way of material offerings, there has been little spread. It is inexcusable that we are taking care of local needs only.
According to the history of the past two to three hundred years, one out of every twenty believers can be sent out for the gospel, while the remaining nineteen are responsible for supplying his material needs. If the condition of the church is very good, one out of every ten can be sent out. Recently, the elders in the churches in California met and fellowshipped; they considered that, since there are fifteen hundred saints there, one hundred fifty saints should migrate to other places and that it would be best if they could support themselves financially. According to the principle of one out of every twenty, the church in Taipei, which has five thousand saints, should send out two hundred fifty saints. If each of the remaining saints would offer five percent of their income to supply the daily needs of those who are sent out for the gospel, there would be more than enough to meet the needs.
Perhaps you never had the thought that the church in Taipei should send people abroad to preach the gospel. On August 1, 1949, we formally started the work here. At that time the meeting hall was very small, and we erected a shed outside. When we preached the gospel, there were so many people that there were not enough seats. So we bought some long wooden boards, placed some bricks on the ground, and put the boards on top for people to sit on. Even under these circumstances, we were able to lead quite a number of people to salvation. The church in Taipei has a history of over thirty-five years. It is really inexcusable for a church with such a long history to fail to send out one worker because it only cares to receive blessings for itself.
In the past the shortcoming of the church in Taipei could be seen in its meetings that would drag and often lack much content in terms of life and truth. At the last Lord’s Day meeting, however, all the prayers, testimonies, and fellowship were quite good. This proves that something has been wrought and constituted into the saints. Even the elderly saints who stood up to speak used precise words and cited proper references. Their speaking was weighty and full of life and truth. I am very happy about this. However, I am also sighing because we are not going out; we are not spreading. This is our present shortcoming. We have been richly endowed in that we have all the aspects of a good environment — public security, transportation, industry, agriculture, commerce, and education. We also have many spiritual riches. How long should we enjoy all these things before we are willing to go out?
Therefore, I would ask you to dream about this. Consider whether you should go abroad, perhaps to India, Burma, South America, or Africa. Even if your thoughts do not include places abroad, you should remember that there are three hundred eighteen towns in Taiwan but only eighty local churches. There is no church in three-quarters of the towns in Taiwan. God says that the earth needs to be filled, so we should fill every town in Taiwan. We have cared for ourselves but not for the Lord’s testimony outside our locality; this is our greatest shortcoming. Furthermore, we have not multiplied much. In the first seven years the rate of increase of the church in Taipei was at least forty percent a year, but the annual rate of increase for the past twenty years is less than three percent.
The Lord’s recovery among us emphasizes two things: knowing the truth and growing in life. However, we must realize that knowing the truth and growing in life are not for truth and life themselves but for the increase and spread of the church. Today we pay attention to the church only in the matters of knowing the truth and growing in life; we do not pay attention to the increase and spread of the church. Therefore, we have to study the book of Acts to check our condition, because the contents of this book concern the propagation, increase, and spread of the church. In reality, the increase and spread of the church are the increase and spread of Christ, because the church is Christ (1 Cor. 12:12).
The book of Acts provides us with a good pattern; it speaks of the propagation of the resurrected Christ in His ascension through the multiplication of His witnesses that reaches the uttermost part of the earth. In 1:8 the Lord said clearly to His disciples, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” To be the Lord’s witnesses is actually to be the Lord’s propagation. This propagation needs to reach to the uttermost part of the earth. At this moment we do not need to talk about the uttermost part of the earth, because even India, Burma, and the Arabic-speaking countries, which are quite close to us, all need the Lord’s propagation to reach them.
The spread of the Lord’s propagation to the uttermost part of the earth is carried out through the economical Spirit, whom the Lord poured out upon His Body in His ascension (2:4, 17, 41, 47; 4:4, 31; 5:14; 6:7). Many Bible readers pay attention only to the receiving of power in the first part of Acts 1:8, but they overlook the part concerning being His witnesses. This part is related to being the Lord’s propagation unto the uttermost part of the earth. The economical Spirit of power is not for our personal living and enjoyment but for God’s economy. It is only when we enter into God’s economy by going out to work for His economy that we can enjoy the economical Spirit. Therefore, if we continue to live a set and settled life, it will not be very easy to experience the outpouring of the economical Spirit. I absolutely believe that if some are willing to receive a burden to spread the Lord’s propagation as His martyrs and witnesses, they will surely experience the economical Spirit being poured out upon them so that they can testify for the Lord.
The spread of the Lord’s propagation involves the believers meeting and announcing the gospel from house to house (5:42). Therefore, we must set up small groups. The gospel should be preached in every house.
The spread of the Lord’s propagation also depends upon the apostles’ prayer and the ministry of the word (6:4). Although we pay considerable attention to truth and life, the responsible brothers and full-timers do not pray enough, and the words that are spoken are not rich enough. On the day of Pentecost three thousand people believed in the Lord and were saved because there was much prayer and the ministry of the word by the apostles.
The spread of the Lord’s propagation also occurs through the scattering and moving of the believers (8:1, 4). This is migration. It is not easy for people to move. Therefore, Acts 8 says that God raised up persecution in Jerusalem so that almost all the believers in Jerusalem were scattered to other places; only the apostles remained in Jerusalem. When the believers were scattered to other places, they brought the gospel with them.
The spread of the Lord’s propagation was furthered by the traveling and preaching of the evangelists (vv. 5, 12, 26-30, 39-40). When Philip went out to preach the gospel, the Lord’s angel was with him, and the Lord’s Spirit was also with him. The Lord’s angel guided him, and the Lord’s Spirit spoke to him. Through this, the gospel spread greatly.
The spread of the Lord’s propagation involves the preaching of the believers (9:19-22, 28-29). Acts 9 records that right after Saul of Tarsus was saved, he started to preach that Jesus was the Christ. This is a good pattern to the believers. Saul was appointed as an apostle by God thirteen years after his salvation, but prior to this appointment he was a believer and a pattern to the believers. According to 1 Timothy 1:15-16, he considered himself the foremost of sinners, but he also recognized that the Lord had saved him to make him a pattern to the believers. Paul’s pattern shows that once a person is saved, he should immediately preach Jesus to others; that is, he should speak of the One in whom he did not believe, whom he opposed, and whom he even slandered.
The spread of the Lord’s propagation is carried out through the traveling and preaching of the apostles (Acts 8:14, 25; 9:31-32). Although the apostles remained in Jerusalem, Peter, John, and others were sent out, and they traveled around without settling down in a particular place. Today many of our co-workers do not want to move once they have gone to a particular place. However, Peter still looked for opportunities to travel and to preach even though he bore important responsibilities in Jerusalem.
The spread of the Lord’s propagation was advanced by the specific sending of the apostles for the work, as recorded in Acts 13:2-3. When some prophets and teachers were praying and fasting in the church in Antioch, the Holy Spirit told them to set apart Barnabas and Saul and to send them out to do a specific work. Surely, this was not an easy thing to do at that time, but they went out boldly to preach. They first went to the synagogues of the Jews to speak to the Jews (v. 5; 14:1; 17:1-2), but later they turned to the Gentiles (13:46-48). This was not permitted by the customs and practices of the Jews, but the apostles went against their traditions and preached the gospel to the Gentiles.
To further the spread of His propagation and because of the faithfulness of the apostles, God caused signs and wonders to accompany them (2:43; 5:12, 15-16; 13:12; 19:11-12). We should be able to experience this. Those who go out from among us should have this same spirit of faith. This is not a matter of seeking for signs and wonders; rather, we should believe that signs and wonders from God will accompany us when necessary. Today signs and wonders do occur, but such signs and wonders are not the focus of our work; neither should we feel compelled to pretend or promote the false manifestation of such things, which is common in the Pentecostal movement. We do not have to pretend. Rather, we need to believe that our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth; He has died on the cross for our sins. Today in resurrection He is able not only to cure sinners but also to cure those who are sick. We should have this kind of faith, and we should go out to work with the same faith.
The spread of the Lord’s propagation is also accomplished through the preaching of the apostles. The apostles preached mainly three points. First, they preached the resurrected Christ in ascension (1:22; 2:24, 32-33; 3:15; 4:10-11; 5:30-32; 13:30; 17:31). In Acts the apostles said repeatedly that they preached Jesus, the One who was killed by men but was raised from the dead by God, and that they were witnesses of His resurrection. The One they preached was the resurrected Jesus. Their working and preaching were a proof of Jesus’ resurrection; they were able to boldly preach that Jesus was resurrected because He was living inside them.
Second, the apostles preached the kingdom of God — the church (8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). The kingdom of God is not a visible material kingdom but a kingdom of the divine life. This is Christ as life being spread to the believers, forming a realm in which God reigns in life. The apostles, especially Paul, repeatedly preached this item as the gospel, and at the same time they used this to exhort, encourage, and comfort the believers.
Third, the apostles preached the word concerning repentance, forgiveness of sins, and life (5:31; 13:38-39; 11:18). They spoke of man’s sins and of the need to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus so that these sins would be forgiven and so that man might receive eternal life.
We must learn from the teaching of the Bible to pay attention not only to the knowledge of the truth and growth in life but also to the increase and spread of the church. The increase and spread of the church are the goal of our knowing the truth and growing in life.
To keep the apostles’ teachings is to know the truth.
Believers should not only know the truth but also pursue the growth in life. To depend on the word of God’s grace is to have the real growth in life through knowing the truth and by the grace of God.
The apostles gave us a very good pattern. On one hand, they went out to work to establish churches, and on the other hand, they wrote letters, or Epistles, to the churches that they had raised up. Since they could not continually work in any one place, the Epistles were a means of teaching and nurturing the believers in every place. To teach is a matter of truth; to nurture is a matter of life.
There are several categories of Epistles written by the apostles. At the time of Paul’s second ministry journey, in Acts 18:5 when Silas and Timothy came from Thessalonica to Corinth to see him, he wrote 1 Thessalonians. Not long after, he wrote 2 Thessalonians.
During Paul’s second ministry journey, he also wrote the book of Galatians while he was in Corinth (cf. Acts 18:1-11; 16:6). This book is important because the believers in the churches in Galatia were unclear concerning the truth and misunderstood matters concerning life. Thus, Paul wrote the book of Galatians to render the proper teaching to the Galatian believers and to nurture them in the matter of life.
At the time of Paul’s third ministry journey, he wrote 1 Corinthians while he was in Ephesus (Acts 19:22). Today 1 Corinthians is a tremendous help to us in the matters concerning truth and life. Later in this ministry journey Paul reached Macedonia, where he wrote 2 Corinthians.
When Paul stayed in Corinth during his third ministry journey (Acts 20:3), he also wrote the book of Romans. According to the record in Acts, Paul was very busy, and there were many burdens upon him. Amidst his busy work, however, he was able to take care of the churches that he could not visit by writing Epistles to teach and nurture them.
During his first imprisonment in Rome, Paul wrote four Epistles — Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon. After being released, he wrote 1 Timothy, Titus, and Hebrews. These are all Epistles of considerable importance. During his second imprisonment, he wrote 2 Timothy. After writing 2 Timothy, he was ready to be martyred.
Acts shows that there was much spreading in the early church, but in this spreading, the apostles did not forget the teaching of the truth and the nurturing in life. Regrettably, it seems that today we take care of only truth and life; we have not paid much attention to the increase and spread. Therefore, we need to be adjusted.
If we emphasize the increase and spread of the church but disregard the believers’ knowledge of the truth and growth in life, the result will be a great shortage. The general practice of Christianity is to care only for spreading and evangelizing but not for truth, much less for life; this results in a great shortage.
Nevertheless, if we emphasize only the believers’ knowledge of the truth and growth in life but neglect the increase and spread of the church, we will greatly restrict the Lord. This word of balance should be applied to us. We have had a peaceful time here in Taiwan for over twenty years. In the first seven years of the Lord’s recovery here, there were only four hundred saints, and there was insufficient coordination. Yet we all were in one accord, and there was a great deal of increase and spread. In contrast, we have reached tens of thousands of people, and our coordination is getting better, but we do not have much increase, not to mention much spread. This is really inexcusable. We must admit that we have greatly restricted the Lord.
We must be balanced. Surely, we have to pay attention to the knowledge of the truth and growth in life. At the same time, we need to realize that truth and life are for the increase and spread of the church. I hope that through this fellowship we will all turn. We need to know the truth more and to grow in life more. At the same time, we should also not neglect the increase and spread of the church.
In the past we promised and vowed that we would lead a person to the Lord each year. If we are faithful to the Lord, our number will certainly double in a year. If we spend time to recover the dormant ones, I believe that the number will double yet again. In this matter we need to be adjusted. I hope that during this period of time the Spirit of the Lord can operate among us in many ways so that there will be people who can receive the burden to go abroad to be the Lord’s witnesses for the Lord’s propagation to spread to the uttermost part of the earth.
