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Scripture Reading: Col. 4:3; 2 Thes. 3:1; Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20; Rev. 19:11-16; 1:2, 9
VIII. The word of God increasing, multiplying, and prevailing:
А. Praying for the opening and spreading of the word of God — Col. 4:3; 2 Thes. 3:1.
B. The word of God increasing and propagating — Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20.
C. The word of God prevailing — Rev. 19:11-16.
IX. The word of God being parallel with the testimony of Jesus — 1:2, 9:
А. Speaking the word of God being to testify how the person, living, and work of Jesus Christ is the testimony of God.
B. Enduring tribulation for the word of God to gain the kingdom — v. 9.
In this chapter we come to the point of the word of God increasing, multiplying, and prevailing. First, we need to pray for the word of God, asking God to open a door for His word. The churches on the whole island of Taiwan really need to receive this burden and pray for this matter. Not only do the unbelievers need a door to be opened among them; even many Christians in the denominations, especially those in the Catholic Church, need God to open a door among them because they themselves have closed the door. Because they lack enlightenment, they have fallen into darkness, thinking that they already know the truth but not actually understanding it. Today the Lord has opened His Word not for us only but for all the Christians, even for the people of the whole world. We need to pray, “Lord, open the door for us.” Paul asks the believers to pray “that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ” (Col. 4:3).
Second, Paul says, “Pray concerning us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified” (2 Thes. 3:1). Running is a matter of the way. Once the door is opened, there is still the need to have a way. Ordinarily, people walk on the way first and then go through the door. But according to the Bible, we first must go through the door, and then we can walk on the way (Matt. 7:14). As soon as the door is opened, the way is wide open to let the word of God run and be glorified.
Acts 12:24 says, “The word of God grew and multiplied.” This growth and multiplication of the word took place in three stages in the book of Acts. The first stage was during the ministry of Peter. During this time, Acts 6:7 says that “the word of God grew.” The second stage was at the time when Peter’s ministry was coming to an end. Although Peter was put into prison, God released him from that prison, and as a result, “the word of God grew and multiplied” (12:24). The last stage was in Paul’s ministry. While Paul was in Ephesus, he prevailed greatly in the struggle for the truth. Therefore, Acts 19:20 says, “Thus, the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.”
In Revelation 19 the Lord Jesus coming down out of heaven appears as a general fighting a battle. He is riding on a white horse, and His name is called “the Word of God” (vv. 11, 13). The word of God that we speak today is the Lord Jesus. Eventually, as we continue to speak, our speaking will cause the Lord Jesus to come forth. When the Lord comes, He comes as a warrior, a general. On His garment and on His thigh the name “King of kings and Lord of lords” is written (v. 16). He is fighting for His kingdom.
Today our speaking for the Lord is our testifying for the Lord. The Lord’s testimony and the word of God cannot be separated. The word of God speaks concerning the Lord, that is, concerning the Lord’s person, living, and work. However, many Christians today cannot speak concerning the person of the Lord. They cannot speak concerning the fact that the Lord was God in eternity past and that He was then conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary and was born of Mary, having both the divine element and the human element. These two elements were mingled together to become one person. Therefore, Christ’s person is both God and man; He is the God-man. Most Christians cannot speak a word like this.
Although today we have the Life-study messages, when we speak for the Lord, it is difficult for us to give an adequate presentation. We are like a person who tries to draw a tiger, but his drawing looks like a dog. Therefore, we need much exercise. There is a northern Chinese proverb which says that people may cook with Beijing rice and white flour, yet the outcome depends on the skill of the cook. Beijing rice is the best rice. Because it was served to the emperor, it was therefore called Beijing rice. White flour is also the best flour. The meaning of this proverb is that two people may use Beijing rice and white flour, but when one cooks it, it is so tasty, yet when the other cooks it, it is burned. Therefore, we need to be diligent to exercise ourselves in speaking for the Lord.
We will soon begin to write Truth Lessons. They will probably be divided into six levels, with each level having fifty-two topics. On the Lord’s Day we will gather together those who have been saved this year and last year, and teach them the lessons in the first level. This will be the first-level meeting. At this point we have not yet determined who among those saved for more than two years should attend the meetings for the second, third, and following levels.
When we begin to practice this, we will probably combine the second level with the first, the fourth level with the third, and the sixth level with the fifth. At the beginning we will have only these three levels. After two to three years, we will have six levels going on simultaneously. In this way the ushers in the meeting halls will be very busy. For example, in hall one in the church in Taipei, each person will be given a name tag. As soon as someone enters the hall, an usher will say, “The first-level class is on the second floor, and the second-level class is on the third floor.” The classes will be divided in this way. We will no longer meet according to our former way, which was like all of the members of a family, from the little child to the grandfather, eating from one big pot. The result of our eating in that way was that after a while, many stopped coming to the meetings.
We all know that we baptize many people every year, but not many of them remain. If you allow a little child to eat only from the big pot and do not feed him with milk, how can he live? Therefore, we need to greatly reconsider our way. We all need to put out a great effort, for it is not a simple matter to change our way.
The church in Taipei is a big church. On the membership record there are over ten thousand members. But those who regularly attend the meetings number less than four thousand, which, roughly speaking, is one-third of the total. There are another two-thirds who do not come to the meetings. We have the first name, last name, and telephone number of all those on record. But up to the present time we have not done well in the matter of visiting the saints.
Many Americans dare not have too many children. After having two children, they do not have any more so as to not invite more trouble for themselves and their children. But in preaching the gospel, we cannot be like this. In the United States it is not a simple thing for an upper-class family to have a child. They have to prepare much for the child, unlike some poorer families who may crowd the entire family into three rooms. The upper-class families provide one room and one bed for each child. They bring them up properly, teach them properly, and care for them properly. From an economic point of view, this is very logical. But from the standpoint of the gospel, this practice is against God’s will. Rather, the higher birth rate of the poorer people is very much according to the Scripture. However, it is wrong to neither feed the children nor teach them properly. In the same way, if we produce new believers, yet eventually we do not feed or teach them properly, this is not right.
Therefore, we need to change our system. But I am not certain as to when we will be able to change the system and when we will finish compiling Truth Lessons. I have released so many messages, but now there is a need to select portions from these materials and to teach them properly in six levels. All those who are saved want to know the truth, but if they cannot understand the truth lessons, after a few times they will not want to come. Therefore, we should present the lessons to them well. The more they understand, the tastier the lessons will become. This will attract them, and they will also bring others with them.
We need to pray concerning this matter. In the future many brothers and sisters will be needed to teach the truth lessons, because we will not teach them in a big meeting for everyone, but the meetings will be divided into levels. Perhaps there will be at least three classes on the Lord’s Day morning: one class from 8:00 A.M. to 9:30 A.M., another class from 9:30 A.M. to 11:00 A.M., and another class from 11:00 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. Probably there will need to be one class in the afternoon and another class in the evening. This will be a schedule of five classes on the Lord’s Day, with each class being divided into three levels. Therefore, as soon as we begin this practice, the task of teaching the truth lessons will be a very heavy burden. Furthermore, in the long run, after we have taught these six levels, what will we do for the seventh level?
Some among us have been meeting with us for thirty-six years. If we had been meeting according to all these levels, how many times would they have been through the levels? All these are problems to be dealt with in the future. The older ones who have heard the messages for more than thirty years will not want to listen to the beginners’ lessons. As soon as they hear that we are covering the beginners’ lessons, they may say, “Forget it! I shall stay home and rest.” Similarly, the newly saved ones, if they are not able to understand after having listened to the messages a few times, may also say, “I do not want to go.” As a result, only the angels will come. Therefore, I hope that all of us will be diligent. Although we do not have any formal theology, the truth lessons are our theology. Although the lessons have not been written, the material is more than abundant.
We have said that everyone needs to speak the word of God. How can we speak? We must pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and we must experience life. Then what kind of word should we speak? We need to speak the word of grace, the word of the truth, the word of the gospel, the word of life, the healthy word, the edifying word, the good word, the word of righteousness, the word of knowledge, and the word of wisdom. We must speak at least these ten kinds of words.
However, we must not only speak; we must also read. If we only speak, we will eventually run out of words and have nothing more to say. Therefore, we need to read the Bible. I often thank God for the Bible. If there were only the Holy Spirit on the earth today, and if there were no Bible, men would be in total darkness and confusion. But we praise the Lord that there is the Bible. It is no wonder that all those who loved the Lord in the past generations treasured the Bible. The Bible has been translated into many languages. Nearly every written language has its version of the Bible. This is the Lord’s doing because the Bible is so important.
However, merely to have the Bible in our hands is not sufficient; we still need to read, study, and get into it. We cannot read it in a superficial way; we need to read and get into it deeply. Therefore, I will also give you some principles on how to read the Bible. First, we must interpret it according to the literal meaning; then we must pray-read it with our spirit, entering into it to eat it and to drink it. We must also breathe in the spirit and the life that are in it, going beyond the words and phrases to explore its depths and to receive life and revelation. We must also take care of the context, and we must use the entire Bible to interpret the Bible.
Finally, we need to realize that we are not the first ones to read the Bible, but we are the followers of those who have gone before us. There are many who have walked this way. What they have practiced can benefit us. The wisest way is to learn from the past experiences of others and to see what others have said. A person may not know whether certain goods, in themselves, are inferior or superior, but when he compares one kind of goods with another, by comparison the superior ones are manifested. Therefore, we need to learn from the theologians and theological books of the past. But when we do our research, we must have the Brethren theology as the foundation of our understanding of the Bible, and we must match it with the line of the inner life. We must absolutely accept the Calvinist view of predestination, and we also need to know that the Arminian doctrine of human responsibility is absolutely not according to the Bible and cannot be accepted. Finally, we need to have the truth of the kingdom to balance us. We must not take those verses that warn of receiving punishment or reward in the coming kingdom and say that they mean that those who have been saved can still go to hell and perish. This is wrong.
There are five warnings in the book of Hebrews. If we read these five warnings superficially, they seem to say that it is possible for a believer to perish again. For example, the first warning, in 2:3, says, “How shall we escape if we have neglected so great a salvation?” Many preachers use this verse to preach the gospel. They say, “This ‘so great a salvation’ is the salvation of the cross, the salvation of Jesus’ death for you. If I preach this to you, and you neglect it, how can you escape? You will surely be judged and go to hell.” To borrow this verse in this way may be acceptable, but strictly speaking, it is not the meaning of the words here.
Hebrews 1 says that Jesus is God, the Creator, the Son of God, the effulgence of God’s glory, and the impress of God’s substance (vv. 2-3, 6, 8). It also says that He has passed through death and resurrection and has become the firstborn Son of God (vv. 5-6). Then chapter 2 says that this One is not only God but also a man (vv. 5-9). He became flesh, taking on a body of flesh and blood. He then died on the cross and did away with sin and Satan (v. 14). Then He resurrected from the dead, producing His brothers, who are the church (vv. 12, 17a). He also ascended to the height and was crowned with glory and honor (v. 9). Now He is sitting in the heavens, and He will come again, bringing all those who believe in Him into glory (v. 10). How great a salvation this is!
This word of such a great salvation was not spoken to sinners but to those Hebrew believers who had believed and were saved. Since they had been saved, they should have come out of Judaism. But they were influenced by Judaism and desired to return to it again. To return to Judaism was to forsake this Christ, who is such a God-man. He is God, having so many aspects according to Hebrews 1, and He is also a man, having so many aspects according to Hebrews 2. This warning was written to ask the Hebrew believers, “How can you forsake such a wonderful One? How can you neglect so great a salvation? If you neglect such a Christ and return to Judaism, how can you escape? God will surely punish you for this.”
Although Judaism was originally set up by God, it became a traditional religion that forsook God. How can we say this? Was not the Lord Jesus God? He became flesh and came to dwell among the Jews. But Judaism rejected Him and finally cast Him outside the city of Jerusalem, to the hill of Golgotha, to be nailed to the cross. Thus Judaism totally rejected God.
God Himself passed through many processes. He was incarnated, passed through human living, died, resurrected, and released His life, completely accomplishing His redemptive work. He not only did away with the negative things, but He also released the life within Him in order to enter into man, thus causing man to be regenerated and become a new creation. This is the beginning of God’s salvation. This God-man redeemed us and gave us so great a salvation. We should not leave Him and go back to Judaism; this would be a sin. This is a proper interpretation of this verse, showing that we should not take verses like this out of context.
The second warning begins in chapter 3 of Hebrews (v. 7—4:13). This chapter says that we have a great Apostle, the Savior, Jesus. He is superior to Moses and to Joshua. He desires to bring us into the coming rest that God has ordained, and that rest is the kingdom. When the millennial kingdom comes, we who are following the Lord will all enter into rest. Today we are like the Israelites in the wilderness. It was Joshua who brought them across the river Jordan to enter the land of Canaan as their rest. However, that was only a type. Joshua is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek word Jesus. Today our Joshua is Jesus, who is bringing us through today’s wilderness. One day when He comes again, He will set up His kingdom, and He will bring us into the kingdom to be kings in the kingdom with Him. Then we will enjoy the rest. While they journeyed, many Israelites fell in the wilderness and thus were not able to enter into the rest of Canaan. Therefore, we also need to be careful. We can see that many Christians today are falling. Therefore, there is such a warning not to come short of the promised rest.
Following these two warnings, there are three more warnings in the book of Hebrews. These are described in a very detailed way in the Life-study of Hebrews. When you read it, you will be clear concerning these warnings. We thank and praise the Lord that we are all rising up to speak. If all the saints in Taipei and all the saints in Taiwan continue to speak, eventually there will have to be a result. The word of God will grow and prevail. We need to speak until the Lord Jesus comes again.
