Search
Scripture Reading: Psa. 1:3; Rev. 22:2; Eph. 5:15-17
In John 15:5 the Lord spoke of a law for the increase and propagation of the church, saying, “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit.” He is the vine, and we are His branches. He and we are a great vine in the universe. A fruit tree bears fruit according to a law of life; it does not bear fruit because someone prays for three days or because God performs a miracle that results in the sudden appearance of clusters of fruit. Rather, a fruit tree grows leaves at a set time, sprouts buds at a set time, blossoms at a set time, and finally bears fruit at a set time. This is according to a law of life.
Matthew 28:19 speaks of our going and discipling all the nations, Mark 16:15 speaks of our going into all the world and proclaiming the gospel to all the creation, and Luke 24:47 speaks of our proclaiming repentance for forgiveness of sins in His name to all the nations. However, John 15:16 speaks of our going forth and bearing fruit. These charges from the Lord show that leading people to salvation through the preaching of the gospel is not merely an outward activity; it is related also to life, showing that the increase and propagation of the church comes out of the operation of the law of life.
The propagation of humanity is continuous and always increasing. This propagation is according to a law, not according to signs and wonders. Even the birth of the Lord Jesus was not accomplished through signs and wonders. He was not conceived of the Holy Spirit one day and born of Mary the next day. If this had happened, it would have been a miracle. Instead, the Lord was conceived in Mary’s womb and born nine months later according to the law of human life in God’s creation. Even His growth was based on the law of our human life. Even though He is omnipotent, He was not born the day after He was conceived, nor did He grow up the next day and begin to minister the following day. The Bible does not associate such signs and wonders with His human life. Instead, it shows the birth and growth of Jesus according to the law of human life: The Lord was born from His mother’s womb after nine months, and He grew gradually. In His growth there were years as a child, years as a teenager, and years as a young adult. He did not begin His work until He was thirty years old. When we understand the significance of the law of life, we will realize that the increase and propagation that we are speaking of involve more than merely being stirred up to gain fifty thousand people in a short period of time. We must follow the law of life in John 15. It is very natural for a fruit tree to bear fruit in its season according to the inner law of life. This is a matter of life.
According to John 15, Christ and the church are the universal vine. This vine is the organism of the Triune God. The Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — is this vine. Ephesians 4:4-6 shows that the Spirit, the Lord, and God are all mingled in the Body of Christ, which is the universal vine as the organism of the Triune God. As branches of this vine, the believers have an organic union with the Triune God.
The union that we have with God is an organic union. A table is not organic, because it is made with pieces of lifeless wood that are joined together by tenons, nails, and glue. In contrast, the human body is an organism that is joined together with living limbs and organs. The union of the human body is organic in nature. Even though a dentist can make a set of dentures, every person’s first teeth are the issue of the growth of life. Life implies growth, because growth is the spontaneous issue of a living organism.
Our union with the Lord Jesus is a union with the Triune God, because the Lord Jesus is the embodiment of the Triune God; in Him the Triune God is realized. When we believed into the Lord, we entered into Him and were organically joined to Him (1 Cor. 6:17). The branches that are joined to a tree are not nailed to it; rather, they grow out of the tree. When a branch is grafted into a tree, it grows because the life within the branch is connected to the life within the tree; the growth of a grafted branch is the result of an organic union. Similarly, the union that we have with the Lord is an organic union.
In order to enjoy our organic union with the Lord, we need to abide in the Son. We can abide in the Son because we are one spirit with Him. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” When we are one spirit with the Lord, we partake of His position and authority. Ephesians 2:5-6 tells us that we were made alive together with Christ, raised up together with Him, and even seated together with Him in the heavenlies. Because we are in an organic union with Him, He and we, we and He, are joined as one in both position and authority. The Lord has been given all authority in heaven and on earth so that we could go and disciple all the nations (Matt. 28:18-19). In our going, His authority is our authority, and His heavenly position is our position. When we go forth to preach the gospel, we need the faith and realization that we are in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus and that we have His authority, because we are organically joined to Him.
When we abide in the Son, we absorb the Father’s cultivation of the Son. In John 15:1 the Lord spoke of the Father as the husbandman. Husbandman means “cultivator of the soil, land-worker, farmer.” When we abide in the Son, we absorb the Son, who was cultivated by God the Father so that He could work Himself with all His riches into the vine, enabling us to partake of all the riches of the Father’s divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). This is a matter in the spirit. We have to learn to abide in the Lord every day. As we abide in Him, we absorb the riches of God’s cultivation by partaking of the divine nature.
When we abide in the Son, we experience the Spirit as the realization of the Son (John 14:17, 19; 15:26). The Lord Jesus is realized as the Spirit so that He can become the reality in us. Today the Lord Jesus is in us as the Spirit, and this Spirit is the realization of the Lord Jesus. When we pray, we have the assurance that He is operating in our spirit. When we lack strength, He operates in our spirit to become our strength. This is the Spirit becoming the realization of the Lord. We do not have holiness, but when we turn to the Lord and pray to Him, the Spirit operates in our spirit to work the Lord with His holy nature into us. Consequently, Christ becomes our holiness through the Spirit. The Spirit is the realization of Christ in our life and experience. Hence, when we abide in the Lord, we experience the Spirit.
Furthermore, the Spirit is also the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) in those who believe in the Lord. He is the essence of life in us. We have a spiritual essence in us, and this essence is the Triune God. Today the Triune God is our essence, and the indwelling Spirit of life causes the Triune God to be realized in our experience.
According to John 15, we need to bear fruit. When we bear fruit, the church increases. Fruit-bearing is according to a law; it does not depend on our feelings or on a miraculous response to prayer. Fruit is borne according to a law that is assisted by fertilization, watering, and pruning. If there is too much fertilizer, a fruit tree will die, but if there is not enough fertilizer, the tree will not grow robustly. Similarly, if there is too much water, the tree will be damaged, but if there is not enough water, the tree will dry up and die. Thus, we need to pay particular attention to the environment for cultivation, which also includes factors such as sunlight and air. If all these factors work together properly, a tree will begin to bear fruit that will fully ripen in due time.
Today we are branches of the true vine, the Lord, and we have made a vow before the Lord to lead people to salvation. Nevertheless, we must realize that the way to lead people to salvation is not merely to lead them to believe and be baptized; it also involves infusing them with the riches that we have received and experienced through the Spirit so that the divine life can grow in them. In the past we have neglected the law of fruit-bearing, and we were unfruitful.
The law of fruit-bearing involves abiding in the Lord and being in union with the Triune God. Bearing fruit comes out of the law of life, not out of miracles. The law of life, which is the law of fruit-bearing, involves four points: First, we should abide in the Lord, just as the branches abide in the vine, to absorb the life supply of the Lord. Second, we should abide in the Lord to absorb the supply of God the Father as our source of nutrients and the supply of the Holy Spirit as our source of watering and refreshing. Third, we should abide in the Lord to absorb the supply of God as our light and the Spirit as our air. We must receive a supply from God as our nutrients, water, light, and air so that the life within us can grow and bear fruit according to its law. Finally, we need to abide in the Lord and live in the church as the garden of God so that we can be nurtured and protected. We need to live in the church, just as a vine has to remain in the garden, in order to receive protection and care. If a vine is moved to the roadside, it will be trampled to death by traffic. Leaving the church is like leaving the garden that protects and shelters us from loss and damage. When we remain in God’s garden, that is, the church, we are preserved. Under these conditions we will bear new fruit according to the law of life.
In the past you may not have heard that the increase of the church requires planning. However, the Bible shows that God’s work, including creation, redemption, the establishment in His new creation, and the building of the New Jerusalem, are all according to a plan. For example, Ephesians 1:4-5 speaks of God’s will and of His choosing and predestinating of us according to His will. Our salvation was not an accidental occurrence; we were saved according to God’s wise plan, which He carried out with much consideration and prudence (v. 8). People move from place to place, and when they move, they often come in contact with Christians who preach the gospel to them. They may ignore the word of the gospel, but then they may find that their new neighbors are also Christians. Their salvation may seem to be a coincidence, but there are no coincidences with God. We were chosen and predestinated by God for salvation. This indicates that God is a planning God.
The preparation of a plan requires consideration prior to taking action. Planning is essential for businessmen, who must consider such things as the amount of money that is available for expenses and investment, the skill level of the company’s manpower, and the amount of other resources that are needed to be profitable. Although these considerations are common in business planning, very few people apply planning to matters related to spirituality, to the church, and to the growth in life.
God has an eternal plan. Based on His plan, He created the heavens, the earth, and the things in the heavens and on the earth according to a schedule. The increase and spread of the church not only require a plan but also a schedule to carry out the plan. Ephesians 5:15-17 confirms this point, saying, “Walk, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” In between the matter of being wise and understanding the will of the Lord, Paul speaks of redeeming the time.
Redemption is related to recovering things that are lost, and in God’s eyes, people lose time every day. If a person is not saved, does not love the Lord, does not walk in the will of God, and does not bear fruit according to God’s will, in God’s eyes the time of his life has been wasted. A believer, however, can redeem the time by being “filled in spirit” (v. 18). When we walk according to the Spirit and fellowship with the Lord, we do not lose time; instead, we redeem it.
In order to bear fruit for the Lord, we must have a schedule so that our time is redeemed, not wasted. Without a schedule for our daily living, much of our day will be wasted. For example, when we wake up at six o’clock on Saturday morning, we may feel that it is too early to get up and decide to sleep a little longer. It may be seven o’clock when we are stirred from our sleep again, but because our back is sore, we decide that more sleep is needed. When eight o’clock arrives, we may decide to rest even more since we do not have to go to work on Saturday. Finally, at nine o’clock we decide to get out of bed but only to drink some water, eat some breakfast, and read the newspaper. By the time we are finished with our breakfast activities, it may be close to the time for a noon nap, which will take up even more of our day.
In contrast, the schedule of a student often prevents him from wasting too much time. Since his classes start every morning at eight o’clock, he will use an alarm clock in order to not miss the bus that takes him to school. Even if the alarm clock goes off several times before he gets up, he knows that he cannot continually reset the alarm if he expects to get to school on time. A student needs a schedule because time and buses do not wait for anyone. If a student comes to the bus stop thirty seconds after its scheduled stop, he will miss the bus. In order to graduate, he needs to redeem the time, arriving at school on time and attending his required courses, day after day, week after week, month after month, and semester after semester.
By applying a schedule of work and rest to an educational plan, a student can complete elementary school in six years, junior high in another three years, high school in three more years, and graduate from college in another four years. If a person works and rests according to a schedule, he can graduate from college even if he is not able to make the highest grades. However, without a plan and schedule, it would be difficult for a student with weak academic skills to graduate. It is difficult to accomplish anything without a schedule. A schedule is the best means to redeem the time.
Many people are restricted by a schedule when they are in school, but after they graduate, it seems as if they “graduate” from the practice of using a schedule. It is good, therefore, that work also follows a schedule. When we go to work in society, we must follow a schedule. If we are late to work every day, we will be dismissed, and if we want a good job evaluation, we have no choice but to follow a schedule. A person who does not follow a schedule will do poorly in school and probably will be unsuccessful in his career as well.
We have all been saved, but we may never have heard a message about the need for a schedule in spiritual matters. When I was young, I heard many messages on redeeming the time, and I was taught by the Brethren to redeem the time. However, they did not touch the practical point about the need for a schedule for the sake of our spiritual life. It is rare to find anyone who makes a schedule related to his spiritual life. Even if we cannot keep the schedule that we make, it is still good to make a schedule.
A schedule is very important to me. Yesterday morning I woke up at half past three and began to meditate over the contents of this conference. Then I rose up at five o’clock and wrote outlines for two messages in preparation for today. This morning I woke up at four o’clock in the morning and started to consider the work ahead of me. Nevertheless, I restrained myself from rising up too early in order to not overexert myself physically. I rose at six o’clock and quickly completed two outlines for today with the help of an assistant, and I changed the two outlines that I wrote yesterday. If I did not have a schedule, I would never have been able to complete the outlines for these meetings.
All the brothers and sisters in Taipei should make a schedule based on a plan in order to have a new beginning in the church life. Starting from the Lord’s Day, we should have a plan for what we need to do every day. We should pray much while making this schedule, because our schedule has to be complete and balanced. Although we must schedule time for morning revival, prayer, and visiting the saints, our schedules will vary based on our individual circumstances.
When considering morning revival, for example, we should not think that we need to set aside an hour and a half in order to be “spiritual.” Practically speaking, morning revival should be twenty minutes at the most, including ten minutes for reading the Word and ten minutes for prayer. If this is too difficult, we can begin with five minutes for reading the Word and five minutes for prayer. After six months the time can be increased to seven and a half minutes for reading the Word and prayer, and by the end of the year our morning revival can be twenty minutes. In this way, steady progress can be made.
Some localities have a corporate morning revival that is one hour long. However, very few saints can come to a morning revival that lasts one hour. If the majority of the saints are not able to make this time, it is not wise to schedule such a time. Since most people cannot walk on a tightrope, it is not prudent to ask everyone to walk on a tightrope. Hence, the church should not set up or suggest a schedule that most saints cannot meet. A schedule must be appropriate to one’s ability. The church in Taipei has asked the saints to schedule ten minutes in the morning for morning revival; this is reasonable. It is useless to set up a schedule that only a few can keep.
The schedule of the meetings of the church should also be considered. In addition to the bread-breaking meeting on the Lord’s Day and the prayer meeting, there are other meetings during the week. When we set a schedule, we must set a suitable schedule. We should not be impulsive and go to meetings when we feel good, but stay at home when we feel cold toward the Lord. We should not be so variable, because this will keep us from advancing in spiritual matters.
The number of meetings a believer should attend must be based on practical daily circumstances. For example, a single sister, who has recently graduated from college and who works only forty hours a week, will have more time at her disposal. In addition to the regular meetings of the church, she can go to one or two additional meetings. This is because her circumstances allow her to attend all the meetings of the church. After this sister is married, she will have a husband and a house that require some attention, and soon she will probably also have children. When she has a house, a husband, and several children to care for, she will not be able to maintain the meeting schedule that she had when she was a single sister. If she tries, her family will suffer. For example, who will take care of her children if her husband must work and she is at a meeting? All these factors must be taken into consideration. If her husband is a brother in the Lord, then the sister should fellowship with him about her meeting schedule. At the same time, the church should also consider the needs of the saints. It might have been possible for a sister to attend every meeting when she was not married, but after marriage and children this is not possible. However, she should not stop meeting altogether, because this would be like having no church life. Rather, she should carefully choose the meetings that she can go to based on her circumstances. At the same time, she should remember her vow before the Lord to bear fruit every year. Bearing fruit requires time, and even though she has a husband and children, she should set aside some time during the week to pray for others and to do some gospel work such as writing letters, sending books, or visiting others. She should do these things even if she has to give up one meeting. This is the principle of setting up a schedule.
In order for the church to increase and spread, there must be a plan. The plan for a church should be based on the condition of the believers’ spiritual life, the social conditions in the church’s locality, and the relationship between the believers and those in various social classes. The church in a locality must set a rate for increase at the beginning of each year. This rate can be ten percent, twenty percent, fifty percent, or even one hundred percent. For the past twenty years we have suffered a loss because we have conducted business without a plan (Luke 19:13). It is as though we have labored aimlessly for more than twenty years. As a result, our time has been wasted, and the Lord’s work has been delayed. From now on, a church must make a plan at the beginning of each year.
The church in Taipei has made a plan for a one hundred percent rate of increase. Of the five thousand five hundred people currently in the church in Taipei, three thousand five hundred regularly attend the meetings, and one thousand five hundred are willing to make a plan. It will not be difficult for each of these one thousand five hundred to lead one person to salvation each year. But it will not be easy to achieve a one hundred percent increase based on the total number of saints in the church. However, as long as the plan of the church is carried out properly, it will be possible to reach this goal.
The church in Taipei has been divided up into three hundred fifty small groups that have already started to meet. The small groups are like an “all-inclusive dose” that solves every problem and heals every sickness. We have not increased, because we have neglected the practice of the small groups. Many other problems are related to our lack in the practice of the small groups. Now we must focus our attention on the small groups. As we begin to pay attention to the small groups, our sicknesses will be healed. Therefore, we should not be anxious about our plan, because the small groups will have a great impact on our increase and spread. Even now we can see some impact through the recovery of three to four hundred saints in just the past six to seven weeks. We should not relax because of this success; instead, all the co-workers, elders, and saints should be even more diligent to work on the small groups so that the small groups can be established.
We need to focus on a few matters concerning our plan for district meeting halls. First, the rate of increase set by the whole church must be accepted by those in the district meeting halls. If the church decides on a one hundred percent increase, no one should throw cold water on the idea and propose a fifty percent increase instead. We must learn to accept the plan set by the church. Second, the plan set by the church must be carried out and accomplished by those in every district meeting hall. The plan must be accepted and carried out with diligent effort. Third, the plans of the saints must be monitored and promoted on a monthly basis in the district meeting halls. A good company reviews its accounting figures monthly in order to see if it is meeting its annual goals. If a plan is not working, a company will make adjustments in order to achieve its goals. Similarly, we should not wait until the end of the year to review our progress. We must pay close attention to this every month in order to promote the plans of the saints.
The most important plan is the daily plan for each believer. Please accept our suggestions, and work out a schedule for a personal plan according to the simple ways listed below.
First, develop a plan based on the number of your family members, friends, neighbors, and other acquaintances. If you know a hundred people, it is not appropriate to plan to lead only one person to salvation. However, it may be difficult to lead four people to salvation if you know only two people. Your plan should be based on the number of people you know. If you know a hundred people, you can plan to lead at least four people to salvation this year.
Second, you should make a list of those whom you plan to lead to salvation. Then you can seek the Lord’s leading as to whom you should labor on first, and you can begin to pray over each name. Making a list is very helpful especially in the matter of prayer. Prayers for others cannot be general; you must name them in prayer one by one. You should be careful not to labor on too many people at the same time. Focus on eight to ten people, praying specifically for them by name.
Third, you should regularly contact the people on your list by phone calls, letters, and invitations. Give them Bibles, spiritual books, and gospel tracts. You should not be zealous for a month but then do nothing in the following months. If you try to do something every day, you will become exhausted. It is better to be regular, doing something once a week or even once every other week.
Fourth, you should allocate your time daily, weekly, and monthly according to the needs of your family and work responsibilities. In any case, an appropriate amount of time should be set aside specifically to contact people to preach the gospel.
Fifth, according to the allocation of time, you must faithfully carry out your schedule, week after week, month after month, expecting a harvest every season. Based on our experience, it is best to set aside at least one hour every week in order to contact people to preach the gospel.
You have to labor on these matters over the long term; nothing will be accomplished overnight. You may not see any results in the first few months, but if you continue month after month, you will see results gradually. If we practice this, everyone will be able to lead at least one person to salvation in a year. Only a person who is unwilling will be unable to lead at least one person to salvation in a year.
These are suggestions. May we work on them seriously and not treat them as if they are too difficult. Some people may think that this is difficult, because many saints have not led anyone to salvation, even though the church has been preaching the gospel for over thirty years. However, the past is the past, and beginning this year we can practice according to a schedule. In our daily life and church life we must set aside time specifically for preaching the gospel.
To summarize, you should make a list of names, using a special notebook that contains a detailed record of your friends, neighbors, and acquaintances. Then examine it carefully, and select a few names to focus on this year. Then under the Lord’s leading, labor on them, pray for them, regularly call them, write to them, invite them to dinner, and visit them. Continually contact them, giving them spiritual books, Bibles, and gospel tracts. Whenever there is a gospel meeting of the church or any gospel activity in your small group, invite them to attend. If everyone does this for the long term, there will be fruit in its season. This is a law.
If you do these things, you will lead people to salvation time and time again, just as a tree planted beside streams of water will yield its fruit in its season (Psa. 1:3), according to the law of life. When the operation of the law of life is coordinated with the arrangement of the outward environment, including such things as the number and places for various meetings, there will be spiritual progress. These two matters go hand in hand, and we should study them well.
I hope that we will have a new beginning this year. I believe that after six months we will see some practical results, and at the end of the year we will be strengthened by the realization that this way is both workable and under the Lord’s blessing.
