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Scripture Reading: Luke 14:15-23
The Lord always leads us forward. We hope that the church life will now have a new beginning. In order for the church life to have a new beginning, we need to promote and carry out the small groups. The goal of promoting the small groups is first to bring in new ones, then to recover those who have not been meeting, and lastly to uphold the saints who meet regularly.
According to the Bible, to bring in new ones is to preach the gospel and lead people to the Lord. In promoting the small groups, we first need to encourage the saints to bring in new ones. When we came to Taiwan, we were rather successful in preaching and promoting the gospel. Almost all the saints in the church in Taipei were mobilized to distribute gospel tracts to every door on the street where they lived. As a result, in one week every household in the city of Taipei received a gospel tract.
We printed many gospel banners, such as “God so loved the world” and “Jesus Christ came to the world to save sinners,” and we posted them in streets, alleys, and crossroads and at train stations and bus stops. At that time there were not many high-rise buildings; most buildings were Japanese-style houses. The saints posted banners on both sides of the front door of their house. If someone walked on the street and saw gospel banners posted on the two sides of a front door, he knew that it was the house of a saint.
In addition, we often conducted gospel marches on Lord’s Day afternoons. The saints would walk to Taipei City New Park and preach the gospel in the outdoor amphitheater, which had enough seats to hold about three thousand people. We often filled the seats. After every gospel meeting, we usually received about five hundred names. The next evening the saints would gather together, and the names would be distributed to the saints. Everyone received a burden from the Lord and visited the gospel friends. In this way we contacted over two thousand new ones within a month. One time we baptized seven hundred. Many of those who were newly saved later became elders, deacons, and deaconesses in various localities all over Taiwan.
During those years, the fire of the gospel was indeed burning among us. However, we did not reach the stage of going out and compelling people. In Luke 14:23 the Lord Jesus told us that to go out and bring people in, we even need to go to the roads and hedges and compel people. According to the original Greek, to compel people means to force people. The Lord said, “Go out into the roads and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.” Our burden is to teach you how to compel others. The Lord Jesus spoke of our need to compel others.
In verse 23 the Lord said that we should compel people to come in. Then in verse 26 He said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate.” These two matters spoken of in Luke 14 are quite harsh. First, we have to go out and compel people to believe in the Lord. Second, after they believe, they have to “hate.” Seemingly, this is against what Christianity teaches about being kind, loving, and broad, but this is indeed the Lord’s word. Not only do we have to hate our parents and our wife; we also have to hate our self. The teaching of the Lord Jesus is quite particular. Hymn #664 in the Chinese hymnal says, “Rise up quickly and preach the gospel!” But the Lord’s word goes even further; He wants us to rise up quickly and compel people. The secret to preaching the gospel is to have a zealous heart, to be crazy. A person who is crazy does not care for himself. Forty years ago I was crazy whenever I preached the gospel. However, I was not crazy to the extent of compelling others. For this reason, I feel that I am still indebted to the gospel.
Our main impression concerning the Gospel of Luke is that it is a sweet gospel. It tells us that the Lord Jesus is a good shepherd who is full of compassion. In His tender love He looks for us, He embraces and bears us, and He brings us back to His flock (15:1-7). This Gospel also tells us that the Lord is a good Samaritan. We are wounded and on the verge of death, but He binds our wounds and pours oil and wine on them (10:25-35). However, we never saw the matter that the Lord Jesus wants us to go and compel others, nor did we see that the Lord wants us to hate.
Chapter 19 is another example. Verses 1 through 10 speak of the salvation of a tax collector named Zaccheus. In verse 9 the Lord joyfully said, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Then He said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost” (v. 10). Immediately after that the Lord spoke another parable (vv. 11-27). He compared Himself to a man of noble birth who was going to a distant country to receive a kingdom and to return. This means that He would leave the world, ascend to receive His kingdom, and return. This man called ten of his slaves. Ten is the number of completion and represents all the saved believers. The ten slaves included Zaccheus and even you and me. Each slave was given one mina, which signifies the Lord’s salvation. A mina is a silver coin, and in the Bible silver signifies the redemption of Christ. The one mina signifies the redemption of Christ that we receive and the salvation of Christ that we enjoy.
This parable in the Gospel of Luke is different from that in Matthew 25. The parable in the Gospel of Matthew speaks of one slave receiving five talents, another receiving two talents, and another receiving one talent (v. 15). The talents refer to spiritual gifts. The parable in Luke emphasizes the common salvation given equally to each believer. Paul received one mina, and we each received one mina. We need to use the one mina to do business. The Lord commanded us to make a profit. After we are saved, we need to use this mina to earn ten minas. As soon as we are saved, we need to save ten people. We need to save at least five.
In Luke 19 the Lord did not ask us to use one mina to earn another mina or to earn half a mina. He asked us to use one mina to earn at least five minas (vv. 16, 18). After we earn ten minas, the Lord says, “Well done, good slave. Because you have become faithful in the least, have authority over ten cities” (v. 17). This means that when the Lord returns, we will be co-kings with Him. Each of us has one mina in our hand. Whether we will be able to rule over ten cities in the future does not depend on fate; rather, it depends on whether we do business.
The person who kept the mina in a handkerchief said to the Lord, “Master, behold your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man: you withdraw what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow” (vv. 20-21). This slave represents many Christians who do not preach the gospel. It is not that they do not love the Lord but that they fear the Lord more than they love Him. Therefore, they keep the Lord’s salvation carefully and wrap it in a handkerchief for fear that they will be penalized because they lost it. To them the Lord Jesus is unreasonable and very harsh. This is why they say, “You withdraw what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow” (v. 21).
Do we love the Lord or fear Him? If we truly love the Lord, we would seize the opportunity and utilize our one mina to earn ten minas. If every brother and every sister would lead ten people to salvation, and these ten would each bring in another ten, there would be one hundred newly saved believers. Then each of the one hundred would gain another ten, resulting in one thousand. In this way all the people in Taiwan would be saved in ten years. Whether we reach this goal depends on whether we are willing to carry it out. The only question lies in whether we love the Lord more or fear the Lord more. Sometimes we reluctantly preach the gospel, but inwardly we still feel that the Lord is harsh. Those slaves who do not do business always feel that the master is harsh and that the master wants to withdraw where he did not deposit and reap where he did not sow. They feel that the master is unreasonable and that they are being forced. Actually, this corresponds to compelling people in Luke 14.
Luke 14 speaks of a man who prepared a great dinner. After everything was ready, he invited many to come (vv. 16-17). This represents the gospel. The Lord Jesus was crucified, which means that the fatted calf was slaughtered, and a feast was prepared. Then God sent His slave to invite people to the feast. This refers to three stages of preaching the gospel. In the first stage, those who were invited all made excuses. The first said that he had bought a piece of land and needed to go out and see it (v. 18). The second said that he had bought five yoke of oxen, and he needed to prove them (v. 19). The third said that he had married a wife and therefore could not come (v. 20). The ones who had money, land, oxen, and wives refer to the Jews. Today the Jews in the world refuse the Lord Jesus. God is not pleased when people do not believe in Jesus (v. 21). It is a great insult to God that people do not believe in His Son. As a result of the Jews rejecting the Lord, in A.D. 70 the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and did not leave even one stone upon another. That was a very cruel event in the history of Israel.
In the second stage God sent people to the Gentiles. In the eyes of the Jews, the Gentiles were poor, crippled, blind, and lame (v. 21). Yet God said to invite such people. When I was young, I saw the Western missionaries who came to my hometown. The Chinese people who had knowledge, position, and money entirely ignored them. However, those who were blind, lame, and poor went to them. There was a Western missionary who at that time was over ninety years old and could speak only a few Chinese words. He often stood by the street with a big handful of coins, which attracted many children from the poor families to follow him. As he went along the street, he would scatter his coins. Then when he entered into the chapel, all the poor children swarmed in as well. It could be said that the blind, the lame, and the poor all came. At the time I did not approve of this, but from among those poor children many of their offspring love the Lord, and a number of them became well-known revivalists.
During the eighteenth century, many Western missionaries came to China to preach the gospel. At the time China was against foreigners. As a result, they had many difficult experiences. When the Western missionaries first went to the inland area, the Chinese people regarded them as “foreign devils” and would not rent houses to them, nor would they sell them any food. Some missionaries lived under a bridge or in a local temple. If it was difficult to live in the city, they would move to the countryside. When the village elder would find out, he would ban them. The elder would even order the villagers to beat a gong whenever they saw the missionaries so that everyone could run home and close the door. Then when the Western missionaries entered the village, they could not find anyone. One missionary developed a method to deal with the situation. He took a solid staff with him, and before a villager closed the door, he put his staff inside the door to prevent the door from shutting. Then he squeezed through the gap into the house. In northern China every household had a mill. After entering the house, the missionary went straight to the mill to turn it. He would turn the mill all morning. Even though people in the countryside disliked “foreign devils,” their heart was softened when they saw him working so hard, so they would ask a child to take him some water. The missionary would thank the child, take the water, and continue turning the mill. This touched the people in the house, and they prepared a little food for him. Then they would converse a little, and gradually the gospel had a beginning. This kind of testimony is very touching. Preaching the gospel in those days was extremely difficult. When the Western missionaries began to preach the gospel in China, they never went to the house of a wealthy man. They always went to the homes of the lame, the blind, and the poor.
In the second stage of preaching the gospel, Western missionaries went to the ends of the earth to preach the gospel in all the foreign lands. However, Luke 14 says that when the slave returned and said, “Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room,” the master then said, “Go out into the roads and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled” (vv. 22-23). This is the stage where we are today, the third stage of preaching the gospel. The method of preaching the gospel in the third stage is to compel people. The stage of preaching the gospel to the Jews has been fulfilled; the stage of preaching the gospel to the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame has also been fulfilled. Now we need to go to the roads and the hedges to compel people to come in (v. 23). The roads refer to the main thoroughfares where there is traffic, and the hedges refer to the houses where people dwell. Now when we preach the gospel, we go to the places where there is much traffic and where many people reside. We should compel whomever we come across to come in. This means that whenever we meet someone, we compel him to come in. We are born in the age of compelling people to believe in the gospel.
Taiwan today is very different from the Taiwan of thirty-five years ago. The society of Taiwan at that time was backward, and there were many people who fled from mainland China and did not have homes. As a result, preaching the gospel was very easy. Today, however, Taiwan is developed with high-rise buildings everywhere. If we use the same method of gospel preaching that we used thirty-five years ago, it will not be effective. We need to go to the roads and the hedges, that is, to the places where traffic is convenient and the places where people dwell, to compel them. If we do not compel them, they will not come. Have we compelled our father and mother to believe in Jesus? Have we compelled our own friends to believe in Jesus? We need to know how to compel them. The best way for a daughter to compel her mother to believe in the Lord is to weep. As soon as the daughter weeps, the mother’s heart is moved. After weeping to get her mother saved, she should then go and compel her grandmother. Some brothers preach the gospel with an iron will. They are not afraid of being disliked or of being a nuisance; they compel people insistently. Their compelling causes people not to have a day in peace or a way out, until the person believes in the Lord.
There was a brother in Tsinan, China, who was a janitor in a government office. He put a gospel tract on the desk of his boss daily. This boss would throw the gospel tract on the floor in front of the brother. He then told his boss, “Jesus loves you.” His boss scoffed at these words and said, “Who is Jesus?” In this way they began to converse. Apparently, this may not be forcing others; however, this is to compel others. It is a gentle compelling of others. No matter how opposed his boss was, this brother would not let go. This way of preaching the gospel needs a steadfast character and a fiery zeal for the gospel. No matter how strongly others reject, we must be indomitable.
If we read the Gospel of Luke thoroughly, we will see that the age we are in today is the third stage of preaching the gospel. This stage requires that we go out to the roads and the hedges to compel people. Whomever we come across, we need to compel. We need to think of ways to compel our cousins, classmates, and colleagues until they believe in the Lord. Do not think that this is a small matter; this is the principle of preaching the gospel. In the first portion of Luke 19, Zaccheus obtained salvation and was therefore joyful; however, if he were the evil slave who did not go out and do business, he would lose his reward when the Lord returns. The first part of Luke 19 is a story of salvation, whereas the second part is concerning the reward.
We all are saved and have received one mina. Whether we will rule over ten cities or five cities in the future is a serious matter. In this stage the Lord is harsh. He did not say that it is easy to go out. It is indeed not easy to go out and reap the harvest; however, those who preach the gospel in this stage will receive a reward. It is not easy to lead a person to salvation, because the world is attracting people and daily occupying them. We must use all our strength to compel others. In addition, we should never think that we will quickly lead people to salvation. If we can all practice to preach the gospel in the way of compelling, each one of us will bring at least one person to salvation every year.
Having a close relative who is not saved indicates that we have not devoted our time and energy to compelling people. Never look for an excuse and say that he is too superstitious to believe or that he is too hard. We should counter our excuses by compelling him to believe. Sometimes we can go and weep before our relative, at other times we can beg him, and still at other times we can go to his home and speak incessantly. No one can withstand a persistent person. As long as we are willing to bother him persistently, he will be saved. The gospel preaching in Taiwan must enter into this kind of reality. It is not sufficient for us only to invite people to come and hear the gospel. We must compel them.
According to the parable in Luke 14, we are in the third stage of preaching the gospel; hence, we must compel people to hear the gospel. Our preaching of the gospel should begin from the homes. Every home should preach the gospel. Currently, we have small groups. When several families come together to have a small group meeting, they can bring unbelievers. We should bring our gospel friends, relatives, and friends to the small group and preach the gospel to them. After a period of time, when the small group is strong, we can preach the gospel by the homes.
Moreover, we should promote preaching the gospel in the community. This does not mean that the co-workers go and preach the gospel in the community, or that we invite people from different occupations to the meeting hall to hear the gospel. Rather, the elders and co-workers should receive a burden to encourage the working saints to preach the gospel. We can encourage the saints who are medical doctors, lawyers, legislators, nurses, or policemen to rise up and preach the gospel. The elders and co-workers need to kindle the spirit of the gospel in the saints and raise them up to preach the gospel to their colleagues. For instance, a brother who is a medical doctor can open his home, not to invite his relatives but to invite his colleagues and their families to his home for the gospel. The elders or co-workers also can contact the brothers who are doctors and encourage them to speak the gospel in their private clinics or in the hospitals where they work. Suppose a saint who is a legislator lives in housing appointed by the government, and his neighbors are all legislators. The elders can encourage this saint to open his home to invite his neighbors to hear the gospel. In this way we can gain some legislators and their families. The same principle can be applied to saints in any occupation.
The secret to promoting the gospel in the community lies in the promoters being burning, crazy, and going out to compel others. We shall compel the working saints by dragging them out one by one and bothering them until they cannot sleep peacefully unless they preach the gospel. If we are burning, we will be able to kindle others. It is not easy to make others burning. Therefore, those, especially the full-timers, who go to compel others, must be burning. Then they can go out and compel others. This is our job; every one of us must be burning for the gospel and crazy for the gospel. Since we are Christians and we cannot resign, we must go and compel others to receive the gospel. This is what the Lord has entrusted us with in the third stage of preaching the gospel.
