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Scripture Reading: Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8
Even though I have been in America, for the past five years my heart has been in Taiwan. I have been observing and continually seeking in which direction the Lord desires for us to move. The Lord’s recovery has been in Taiwan for thirty-six years. During the first twelve years, I spent seven to eight months a year in Taiwan and the rest of the time in Southeast Asia. During those years many full-time serving ones were produced, and the number of saints on the island grew to almost forty thousand. At that time we increased by leaps and bounds. Twenty years later, however, the number of saints in Taiwan has not increased but has decreased. It seems as though the Lord’s recovery in Taiwan is grinding to a halt.
Even though the saints continue to love the Lord and zealously preach the gospel so that new ones are regularly baptized, few new ones have remained. The churches in Taiwan have a more solid foundation, and the saints have progressed in knowing the truth and growing in life. However, if we look at the numbers, we see that there is hardly any multiplication or increase. We must be burdened to find out why the Lord’s work on the island of Taiwan has not advanced. We must identify what has caused the Lord’s work to stop or, rather, to hibernate.
I have been observing this matter for the past five years, and up until last October I had not come to a conclusion. However, as soon as I finished writing the notes of the Life-study of the New Testament, I became very clear. I put my pen down and said, “I am going back to Taiwan.” It seems as though my age would not allow me to do so, but because of the burden in me, I came back so that together with the brothers we could move forward with the work in Taiwan.
Last October, when we held a conference entitled The All-inclusiveness and Unlimitedness of Christ, we spoke of Christ’s multiplication and increase. These two words, multiplication and increase, express my burden for Taiwan. The churches on the island of Taiwan have been under the Lord’s blessing since 1949. We have witnessed His blessing for the past thirty-six years. The whole world is amazed at Taiwan’s prosperity and progress. Security is good, the transportation system is developed, education is available to all, and the economy is booming. Furthermore, instead of the government restricting the church from preaching the gospel, it grants the church many favors to preach the gospel. Because of these five points, we do not have any excuse, nor can we evade our responsibility. We must not say that the gospel cannot be spread throughout all of Taiwan. We need to seize this opportunity to spread the Lord’s work in Taiwan. Taiwan is not large. The freeway from Keelung in the north to Kaohsiung in the south is a little more than four hundred kilometers. We have a rich spiritual possession, together with security, transportation, education, a good economy, and favors from the government, so we have no excuse for not spreading the gospel throughout Taiwan.
Two hundred years ago, when transportation was not so developed, the Western missionaries went from Europe and America to China to preach the gospel. It took them half a year to travel by boat. For six months they suffered severe seasickness, and some died shortly after they arrived in China. Those who survived the journey established schools to produce qualified teachers. This was a preparation for the preaching of the gospel to the local people. In this way, after only two hundred years the Western missionaries preached the gospel throughout the two major countries in Asia — China and India. Besides this, the missionaries translated the Bible into the local languages of some of the other countries in Asia. They also undertook such a difficult task for the Lord’s work in Africa. Even though the circumstances were difficult, it took them less than two centuries to spread the gospel throughout the whole world.
We have been here for over thirty-six years. When I left Taiwan, there were dozens of churches and thousands of saints meeting regularly. However, we have been here for more than a quarter century, and yet we have not spread the gospel throughout this island. All the saints who love the Lord should repent and ask for the Lord’s mercy.
I returned to Taipei with a heavy burden. Therefore, in the first message of the conference last October, I spoke of the unlimitedness of Christ. Christ’s multiplication is unlimited, and His increase is also unlimited. Contrary to this fact, however, we have entered into a state of hibernation. This is unacceptable. I remember the first time I went to Kaohsiung in 1949. There were one hundred people in the meeting. That was thirty-six years ago. If we use one hundred as a base number and if the rate of annual increase is ten percent, we would have about three thousand people meeting in Kaohsiung today. However, the regular attendance in Kaohsiung is less than fifteen hundred. There are more than three hundred towns and villages in Taiwan. There are not more than fifteen churches in the great plain from Chiayi to Tainan. From the viewpoint of statistics, we owe the Lord very much.
For many years all the churches have been stable, without any turmoil, problems, heretical teachings, or disputes. We worship the Lord for this. However, we cannot say that we have satisfied the Lord’s heart. The Lord charged us to go and disciple all the nations (Matt. 28:19). He also said, “You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We have not even taken the gospel to the area surrounding Kaohsiung, not to speak of the uttermost part of the earth. We all need to bring this matter before the Lord. We must see that the Lord does not desire something outward; the Lord desires souls. The church in Kaohsiung has been stable for over thirty years. It would not be too much for there to be eighteen thousand saints meeting in Kaohsiung today. Neither would it be too much for there to be thirty to forty churches that were established by the saints sent out from Kaohsiung.
During the past thirty years, no less than five to six thousand people were baptized in the church in Kaohsiung. We took the time and made the effort to preach the gospel to them, bring them to salvation, and baptize them. But today more than three thousand of them are lost. We have an obligation to find them and recover them. I am speaking these words in every place, not only here. I am speaking the same thing in every locality. The churches have not fulfilled this obligation. Recently I visited a church in Taichung County that has the names and addresses of more than two hundred saints on their list, but only forty saints are in the meetings. This locality has a beautiful meeting hall with a nice office building in the front, but who is in the meetings? I exhorted the saints to promote the small groups and have love feasts in order to focus on recovering the two hundred dormant saints. If they are willing to practice this, within a year one hundred dormant saints will be recovered.
The saints who meet regularly should set aside at least one day a week to look for the saints who have not been meeting for a long time. If a dormant brother is available only during the table meeting, we should sacrifice the table meeting to go and be with him. If we are willing to sacrifice even the meetings to be with the dormant saints, in two or three months they will be recovered. Some brothers or sisters may say, “We have suffered a great deal because of the dormant saints. We have begged them and visited them. Week after week the more we begged, the harder their hearts became. You told us that the Lord’s work is like a farmer working the soil and that if the soil cannot take a seed, we should move to a location that is more receptive to the seed.” Even though this word is true, I would still ask you to go back to visit these ones. Then you will see barren ground turning into fertile land.
We have not yet spread the gospel throughout the entire island. Although we put much effort into bringing people in, we did not uphold them or keep them, nor did we take the time to search for those who were lost. We will not be able to give any excuses for this to the Lord. This is not according to the Lord’s heart’s desire. The Lord treasures the one lost sheep more than the ninety-nine (Luke 15:7). Moreover, the Lord said that when a lost sheep is found, the angels in heaven rejoice. This is not a small thing. It is good that there are saints who are faithful to come to the meetings, but it is also our responsibility to consider the thousands of souls who are perishing and the thousands of brothers and sisters who are still wandering.
We will now consider the support for the full-timers. In the Old Testament one tribe among the twelve tribes of Israel served full time. This means that eleven tribes supported the livelihood of the tribe of Levi. In Acts 1 one hundred twenty saints were gathered together. Among the one hundred twenty, twelve apostles served full time. One-tenth of the saints served full time; therefore, nine persons supported the livelihood of one. Church history shows that when various mission groups sent missionaries from Europe and America to Africa and Asia to preach the gospel, one out of every twenty believers was sent out as a missionary. I paid a special visit to one of those groups. Their chapel was old, and the furniture and chairs were clean but well-worn. Those believers told me that every penny they had was saved to send missionaries overseas to preach the gospel.
Does the Lord want a beautiful meeting hall, or does He want ten full-timers to go out and serve Him? A beautiful meeting hall cannot be brought into the kingdom. Only people’s souls can be brought into the kingdom. If there are fifteen hundred saints meeting regularly in the church in Kaohsiung and twenty saints support one full-timer, the church in Kaohsiung would have seventy-five full-timers. However, there are only a dozen full-timers there. We owe the Lord sixty full-timers. I would like to ask the saints where we can find these sixty persons? I hope the young brothers and sisters would reply, “Find them among us.”
There are more than four thousand saints meeting regularly in the church in Taipei. If one out of every twenty saints would serve full time, the church in Taipei owes the Lord another one hundred full-timers, not including the one hundred who already serve full time. In order to evangelize Taiwan in five years, we must produce five hundred full-timers every year, beginning from this year. The Lord sent me to remind you to pay your debt. Our burden in the Lord’s recovery is to spread the gospel so that the gospel would multiply and increase in this age. For this we must produce full-timers. It should not be a difficult thing for one out of every twenty saints to come forth and serve full time or for nineteen saints to support one full-timer. If we do not practice this, the Lord cannot have an outlet in Taiwan. Who will evangelize Taiwan? Will angels do it? Even if the angels are happy to do it, it is not their privilege. The Lord has entrusted us with the position and the privilege to preach the gospel.
If one out of every twenty saints would serve full time, what would the other nineteen do? The full-timers cannot live on air; therefore, the other nineteen saints should bear the burden first to pray for them, that is, to match them in prayer. Furthermore, these nineteen saints should try their best to give financially. Suppose there are seventy-five full-timers, and every full-timer needs ten thousand New Taiwan dollars a month. We would need seven hundred fifty thousand New Taiwan dollars every month, or a total of nine million a year. [Editor’s note: ten thousand New Taiwan dollars is equivalent to three hundred thirty U.S. dollars; for seventy-five full-timers, there is a need for roughly twenty-five thousand U.S. dollars a month, or three hundred thousand a year.] For this reason, whenever we spend money, we need to consider how to meet this need. Paul loved the Corinthians and was willing to spend his money and his energy for their souls. He says, “I will most gladly spend and be utterly spent on behalf of your souls” (2 Cor. 12:15). According to the original Greek text, be utterly spent refers to his person. For the sake of others’ souls, Paul not only spent his money but also spent his entire person.
If we want the Lord to have an outlet and for the gospel to spread, every brother and sister should have the attitude of spending their money, energy, and person for the sake of the gospel. I have been serving full time in the Lord’s recovery for over fifty years. During the Sino-Japanese War, when I was recuperating from a sickness, my family sometimes went to the beach to pick up driftwood because we were short of cooking fuel. We also lived on soybean cakes. That was a very difficult time for us. Perhaps the parents of our young saints would oppose their children serving full time. However, we must remember what the Lord said concerning using unrighteous mammon to make friends while the mammon is still useful (Luke 16:9). We need to use unrighteous mammon to preach the gospel and bring people to salvation. Those who are saved due to our money are the friends whom we have made with our unrighteous mammon. When unrighteous mammon fails, all these friends will welcome us into the eternal tabernacles (v. 9).
We should never be wasteful. For our daily life, it is sufficient to have clothing and food. We should save money for those who go out for the Lord’s work under difficult circumstances. Do not think that I have an easy life because my work is successful and the saints take good care of me. I have testified to you that when I began to serve the Lord, I was determined that if I drank mountain water and ate tree roots, or even if I starved, I would not complain. May the Lord’s precious blood cover me. Until today I have not forgotten my co-workers. The Lord is true, and His Word is reliable. If we can be saved by believing into the reliable Word of the Lord, then the portion where the Lord said that He would settle accounts with us when He returns is also reliable. We must keep in mind His word of warning.
The Lord has blessed our country, and our income has increased. However, as we are enjoying the riches, we should never forget the source. Do not forget that all the blessings we have are from the Lord. If a dollar is enough for me to purchase what I need for myself, I will not spend a dollar and twenty cents. I would rather save the twenty cents for the gospel. When we build a meeting hall, we should consider how best to use the money. If we can meet the construction need with five hundred thousand dollars, we should never use five hundred twenty thousand. We should save the twenty thousand for sending out full-timers. The Lord never intended that we spend a large sum to build a meeting hall. Instead, the Lord wants us to go out and gain people. We would rather have a simple meeting hall, which can shield us from the wind and the rain, than be short in sending out full-timers. The Lord is pleased when we save money in order to send out full-timers. We should not only consider our current situation; we should also consider our future.
In order to produce full-timers continually, we also need to have a training. Most of the saints will not be able to work for the Lord immediately after they set their heart to serve full time. We hope that every full-timer would receive two terms of training. Each term would last for four months, so they would receive eight months of training in a year. We have to arrange room and board for these ones. This is a great burden. Whenever I consider the work ahead of us, I feel that the burden is too heavy. We have a long distance to travel, and the burden is heavy. I hope that all the saints will waste themselves in this matter.
On the one hand, we hope that all the parents will encourage their children to serve full time; on the other hand, we hope that all the saints in the churches will give their best for the spread of the gospel. It is a shameful thing for a church to construct a luxurious meeting hall. We should give our money and send out full-timers. I believe that we all love the Lord. Our love for the Lord is expressed by our pouring out the ointment upon the Lord rather than on other people. Even the two lepta that the widow gave were remembered by the Lord (Mark 12:42). I hope that when the sisters buy groceries, they will calculate a little. Whenever there is a way to save ten dollars, they should do so for the gospel. In every aspect of our daily living — what we eat, what we wear, where we live, and how we travel — we should save money for the Lord. This is the only way for us to go forward. There is no other way.
Whether we are able to climb up this slope depends on how much effort we exert. We cannot continue to hibernate. In order to evangelize Taiwan in five years, we need to produce five hundred full-timers every year. Who will answer this call? Should I bear this burden alone, or should all the co-workers bear it together? If I am to bear the burden alone, how can I support twenty-five hundred people? Hence, the co-workers should give themselves for the Lord’s sake by offering up whatever they can to bear this burden.
Furthermore, it is necessary to have a big meeting hall where all the saints can come together to be supplied and to be perfected, but the big meetings should be only forty percent of the church life. The other sixty percent should be spent in small groups. The small groups can bring in people, recover the dormant saints, and uphold the saints. We cannot rely solely on the elders or a few responsible brothers. Instead, we must all participate. Every small group should take care of itself, and the members in the small groups should have mutual care for one another. The saints must change their view concerning the church life, from stressing the big meetings to emphasizing the small groups. We should give the big meetings only forty percent of our time, and the rest of our time should be given to the small groups. If we continue to pay attention to the big meetings and neglect the small groups, we will never build up the church in our locality in a solid way. We must build up the small groups and diligently take care of the brothers and sisters in the small groups. All the co-workers and elders should diligently build up the small groups in each locality.
We need to be impressed that we are not here to do another work in Christianity. We are in the Lord’s recovery and for the Lord’s recovery. Our first responsibility is to spread the gospel. This is an obligation from which we cannot escape. Furthermore, we need to support the livelihood of the full-timers so that they can go out and spread the gospel. This requires that all the saints save money because we love the Lord. Then our money can be given to save people’s souls. In addition, we must learn to bring the saints into the truth and to progress in learning the truth.
I truly look to the Lord that you can all receive this word and that you can put your spirit, your prayer, and your shoulders under the Ark to bear this testimony together with me. I believe that if we are faithful in this matter, the Lord will bless us.
