Search
By the Lord’s mercy I was saved before I was twenty years old. After I was saved, I really loved the Lord, and I especially loved His Word, to such an extent that the Bible never left my hands. However, I had no place to meet because there was no meeting that could help me. Later, I met with a Brethren assembly and felt that it was not bad, because they devoted themselves exclusively to expounding the Bible. I was very interested in this, so I followed them in their constant study. In those days, because I loved the Lord, it seemed that there was so much energy within me. Yet there was no outlet. At that time there was not the practical service. Nevertheless, every week I attended five meetings regularly and was not stopped by wind or rain. Sometimes it was very cold and snowing heavily, but I went to the meetings as usual. On one hand, such an experience was truly enjoyable. On the other hand, I did not have the slightest opportunity to function, nor was I involved in any service.
Thus, when I look back on my past experience, I have the deep realization that if a person is saved and loves the Lord but does not have the place or opportunity to serve the Lord and to function, then he will feel depressed and miserable. I believe that we have all had this experience. Although we may have shared something in the meetings, the more we continued with simply sharing, the more it seemed that all we could do was just this little bit, and inwardly we always felt unfulfilled and dissatisfied.
In John 4 the disciples went to buy food, and the Lord Jesus sat alone beside a well. Eventually, He led a Samaritan woman to salvation. When the disciples returned, they said, “Rabbi, eat.” The Lord said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” The disciples were surprised and said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” The Lord answered them, saying, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work” (vv. 31-34). I believe that many of us have a feeling of this kind: We go to meeting after meeting, listening to message after message, yet we feel as if a bowl of rice has been set before us, but we have not eaten any of it. It was not until twenty years ago, when the Lord led us to begin the practice of pray-reading and to have the saints share at the end of the meetings, that we were able to have some enjoyment. At that time the brothers and sisters felt it was truly enjoyable to stand up to share, and they would race to be the first. Gradually, however, we have been losing this taste.
I believe that most of us in the churches love the Lord, but we always feel as if something is missing. In our church life it seems as if there is a hole that we are unable to fill up. If I asked whether or not you love the Lord, you would all certainly say that you do love Him. However, if I asked if you feel satisfied, I am afraid you would all say that despite the fact that you meet frequently, have heard many messages, and share or testify regularly, you are still not satisfied inwardly. It seems that there is so much energy within you, but there is no place in which you can use it, and there is so much vitality, but there is no outlet for it. You have no way to describe or explain these feelings. Now the church is changing the system to take the new way particularly for the sake of affording a way for that strong, inward impulse of love for the Lord to come out and so that we can be satisfied daily.
Whoever has experienced this can testify that it is not good enough just to stand by and watch others go out door-knocking, visiting people, and leading them to be saved and baptized. Once you have led someone to be saved and baptized, however, you will jump for joy and be very satisfied. There is a sister in the church in Anaheim who is more than seventy years old. After hearing about the practice of door-knocking, she tried it once and immediately gained one person for baptism. As a result, she has become “addicted” and feels as if she is floating on air. Whenever she meets people, she does not speak about anything else but how satisfied she is that she has gained a person through door-knocking.
Two weeks ago, an elder who came from a certain locality in America heard the messages about door-knocking and went out to knock on doors for two days; however, he did not gain a single person. Inwardly, he could not take it, and he went to the Lord to ask for the reason. Surprisingly, as soon as he prayed, he felt that he had to immediately make a thorough confession of his sins. So he did just that; he made a thorough confession of his sins. Afterward, he went out door-knocking and gained two people. Now he also has become “addicted” and does not plan to return to America. He wants to stay to continue door-knocking.
Prayer along with a thorough confession of sins is a crucial point. Door-knocking is not a light matter. If you want to be effective, you must confess your sins. You should not do this in a superficial way; rather, you must thoroughly and completely confess your sins and totally empty yourselves so that you may be filled with the Holy Spirit. In this way your going out for door-knocking will certainly be effective.
There are two hundred fifty trainees from overseas, one hundred eighteen of whom have requested to stay in Taiwan. They cannot bear the thought of leaving so many whom they have gained through door-knocking and who need care. In one time of fellowship with the elders, a leading brother from America testified that he had attended a few home meetings since coming here and felt that they were very good. Now he does not feel satisfied unless he goes to a home meeting every evening. For this reason I exhort all the elders and co-workers to taste this heavenly flavor first, to take the lead to go out door-knocking, and to attend the home meetings.
Furthermore, this new way is very effective. Not only are people gained quickly, but many of them also have a strong testimony. An eighty-six-year-old sister who was newly saved through door-knocking is very thankful that some of the trainees brought the gospel to her. In order to show her appreciation, she has given many snacks to the training center. Some other trainees knocked on a door last week and led the father of that household to salvation. When they went back this week, the son also received the Lord, and the father baptized him. There have also been cases in which the husband is saved one week and baptizes his wife the next week. Moreover, after this last conference meeting, one of the saints from America got lost and asked a policeman for help. All the way to the stadium he preached the gospel to that policeman. After arriving there, the policeman went in with him and was baptized. He also promised to have a meeting in his home. Such testimonies are very encouraging.
There was another sister who went out door-knocking for four days without gaining anyone, but she still went out patiently on the fifth day. On this day she gained a person who was baptized through her door-knocking. In a short time she gradually brought the five members of that family to be saved and baptized. Among these five was one young person who came to see her this afternoon, expressing a desire to attend the full-time training. There is not just one testimony like this; there are many. The young people whom these trainees have brought to the Lord are also willing to be like the trainees and to do what they do. This is a very sweet matter.
I believe that we all love the Lord and have inwardly aspired to serve the Lord. Now there is a way set before us through which we can realize our aspiration. Perhaps we will not all be full-timers, but we all can be door-knockers. This does not demand a great deal from us. We just need to be willing to go out for the Lord to knock on doors for two or three hours every week. There are one hundred sixty-eight hours in a week, and we need to consecrate only two or three hours, so this price is not too high. Do not think that we are so busy that we do not have time to spare. Actually, we usually do things however we want and do not keep track of our time. For example, we read the newspapers as we like, chat with people as we please, and can be on the phone for a long time without feeling that our conversation is too long and without getting tired. It is only when we come to serve the Lord that we calculate the time carefully. This is the stratagem of the enemy.
This is why we must change our concept and act contrary to our natural disposition to force ourselves to set aside two or three hours a week for door-knocking, despite wind or rain. We should go out door-knocking week after week without ceasing. This is not at all a matter of whether or not we have time; rather, it is a matter of whether or not we are willing. If we are willing and if we care for this matter, then we will certainly have time to do it. Everyone likes to be free. Anything that one must do week after week becomes a burden. Even cleaning the house is like this. It takes ten minutes at the most to dust a table and no more than twenty or thirty minutes to vacuum the floor, but we may feel it is a burden to dust even weekly, much less daily. If there is no regulation and we are free to do whatever we like — making phone calls, reading newspapers, and going window-shopping as we please, not having to do a single thing that we dislike — then we will not feel that anything is a burden. This is the condition of our natural man, so we truly need a strong turn. If we can all exercise to turn to our spirit and do things according to the feeling in our spirit, we will discover that going out door-knocking really is an opportunity given by the Lord for us to take a deep breath to fill up the empty hole within us.
The Lord has shown us that the church today is walking on an extraordinary, new way. Since it is an extraordinary way as well as a new way, much learning is needed for its practice. It is just like any technology, invention, or product of this modern age, which requires serious training with practice before it can be used correctly. Take transportation, for example; it takes about one hundred days to walk from the east coast of America to the west coast. Everyone can walk, so learning is not required. As long as a person walks, he will arrive some day. However, if he wants to arrive more quickly, he must drive a car, and that takes much learning.
Likewise, when we bring up the matter of door-knocking, everybody knows how to do it. However, learning is necessary to do it correctly. Therefore, we will form teams by combining the regular saints and the trainees. In doing this we hope that the saints will learn from those who have already been trained. Door-knocking can be successful only if we are willing to humble ourselves and learn from others. It is a big mistake if we think that because we are older, it is easy for us to learn the new way by simply listening to a little explanation. Door-knocking involves many details; hence, we need to practice with the experienced ones so that by our personal experience we may learn the secret. In this way we will soon taste the sweetness.
Many saved ones can testify that after they were baptized, they were really joyful. This corresponds with what the Bible says. Acts 8 says that when the Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah 53, Philip was led by the Holy Spirit to approach his chariot and ask him, “Do you really know the things that you are reading?” He said, “How could I unless someone guides me?” Then he invited Philip to come into his chariot and explain it to him (Acts 8:27-31). They had not gone very far, and perhaps because Philip had talked to him about the matter of baptism, when the eunuch saw some water beside the road, he said, “Look, water. What prevents me from being baptized?” (v. 36). Philip did not delay either, and he immediately baptized the eunuch. The Holy Spirit does things in a marvelous way; as soon as the eunuch came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit caught Philip away, not leaving him with the eunuch. Still, the eunuch went on his way rejoicing (v. 39).
According to our old way of doing things, whenever we spoke of preaching the gospel, we first had to go out and invite people to come and hear the gospel. Then when they came, we were busy turning the pages of the Bible for them and helping them to listen to the message. After someone believed, we still did not let him get baptized immediately. First he had to attend four meetings on the truth of the gospel. Then we had to visit him in his home, and finally he had to have an interview for baptism. If the result of the interview was that he was unclear about the gospel truth, then he could not be baptized and had to wait for the next interview. He could be baptized only when he was clear about the gospel truth. Many times people were hindered from being saved because of such a delay.
The examples given to us in the Bible are not at all like this. In Acts 8 Philip preached the gospel to the eunuch, and in a very short time, perhaps only fifteen minutes, he baptized him. When Philip explained the passage in Isaiah, “As a sheep He was led to slaughter,” he preached Jesus as the gospel through it. Immediately, when the eunuch saw some water, he wanted to be baptized. Therefore, Philip said, “If you believe from all your heart, you will be saved.” The eunuch answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (vv. 30-37). Philip baptized him immediately.
According to our concept, after baptism there needs to be some edification of the new believers; otherwise, the new ones will not be able to stand firm. But after the eunuch was baptized, the Holy Spirit immediately caught Philip away without giving the eunuch the slightest chance to receive any edification. In the end the eunuch returned to Ethiopia, which is a Gentile nation even today. This life pulse of the church has continued without break until this present day. Therefore, I exhort the elderly brothers and sisters to give up the old methods and learn this new way. It is like a military academy; the military teaching and training of forty or fifty years ago are useless today because everything has changed. This is why we say, “The new way gains new ones, and the new ones walk in the new way.” We must be a new man — new both inwardly and outwardly — in order to be able to walk in the new way. We should not begin to walk in the new way and yet inwardly still be filled with the old things.
I want especially to mention the booklet called The Mystery of Human Life. When we go out door-knocking, we must take this booklet in addition to the Bible. After two years of use, it has been translated into all the languages spoken in the countries where there are churches in the Lord’s recovery. This booklet speaks of the four keys for opening up the mystery of human life. We need only to learn how to speak according to this booklet, and we will obtain the secret. Whoever has the experience of going out door-knocking can testify that the more they speak according to the words in this booklet, the easier it is to bring people to be saved.
It used to be that baptizing people was not to be done carelessly; rather, baptism had to be carried out by the elders. However, sometimes when a person had to wait, he would wait so long that he disappeared. In the northern Chinese dialect we have a very interesting expression called huo ho, which means “optimum cooking temperature.” This Chinese expression means that when we do something, we must seize the best opportunity. We may compare this to a housewife who heats the oil in the wok to just the right temperature and prepares to stir-fry some vegetables but delays for three minutes in order to answer the phone; as a result, the vegetables do not taste as good as they should. In the same way we should lead a person to baptism once he believes in the Lord. If there is a waiting period, then his baptism may be frustrated. The Bible says to believe and be baptized (Mark 16:16). It is a spontaneous matter to baptize someone immediately after he has believed.
I was the one who designed and taught our previous way of practice, including the interview for baptism and the procedure for baptism, so I am the one best qualified to overthrow it, and I should overthrow it. In the past we rode in oxcarts, so I certainly had to teach you how to ride in an oxcart. Now we have changed our mode of transportation to the automobile, so we should not do things in the same way as when we used carts. Rather, we should learn the new way; we should learn to drive an automobile. We should not think of driving oxen while riding in an automobile even though we are accustomed to driving oxen. In the past when the women sewed or embroidered, they did it all stitch by stitch. Now they have sewing machines, but they may think that the clothes they make do not look nice enough. Actually, the problem is that they are not attentive enough when using the sewing machine. If we are really willing to humble ourselves and diligently learn anew, rejecting our old habits and customs, then we will certainly do things faster and better.
It is very hard to change one’s concept. I myself have been making the turn for five years. From 1980 to 1984 I was constantly studying why in the Lord’s recovery we would preach the gospel and labor hard every year, but our numbers would not increase. It was not only like this in Taiwan; it was also the same in the United States. This question pressed me until I had no other way but to return to the Bible and spend time studying it diligently. In the end the Lord showed me the concept of the “home.” According to the revelation of the Bible, God Himself came down from heaven to be incarnated and at His own discretion went from one home to another to seek sinners. The Lord Himself went to the home of Zaccheus. He also made a special trip to seek the sinful woman by the well in Samaria. The New Testament shows clearly that the home is the center and that the gospel is a matter of being delivered to the home and not a matter of inviting people to come and listen. If today God were to invite us to where He sits in the heavens, we would never find a way to get there. Instead, He came down and brought the gospel to us, making it so available for us. Because we have acted against this principle, we have not had the Lord’s blessing for a long time.
When I saw this clearly, I made a thorough repentance to the Lord. Thirty years ago when I was still living in Taiwan, I saw people riding bicycles with a sign that said Delivering Shots to Your Home. This meant that a person did not have to go to the doctor’s clinic, but the doctor would come to the person’s home and give him the shot. Now America has home-delivery services for food, which makes it very helpful for business. If you make it convenient for people, they will welcome you. In the same way, if our hope is that the Lord’s recovery will increase and spread, then we must change our concept. Instead of inviting people to come and hear the gospel, we should deliver the gospel to their homes. This will help us to increase.
There is a practical and detailed way to do anything, and as long as we copy it exactly, studying and practicing according to the pattern, we will be able to do the thing in the right way. Before we go out door-knocking, we must dress properly. Our appearance should not be too conservative, nor should it be too modern and stylish. Rather, it should be neat and proper, serious and appropriate. Even our hair must be brushed and tidy. If we do this, people will open their doors to us. Suppose three people are in a group to go out door-knocking; one is an American hippie with long hair and an unkempt beard, another one is a Taiwanese hoodlum with shoes but no socks, and the third one is a Hong Kong gangster holding a cigarette in his mouth and wearing a pair of dark glasses. When these three persons go out door-knocking, people will certainly be frightened and think that they are there to rob them or to do some other evil thing; they would definitely not open the door to them. But if the same three persons go out door-knocking with a clean and neat appearance, wearing proper clothing and walking in a proper way, then people will certainly open their doors and welcome them.
Practicing to build up a proper, neat character is the topic of a required course in our full-time training. The trainees are required to go to bed early and to get up early. Every morning they have to straighten their rooms and have morning watch; then they go out jogging for bodily exercise. Once, the training center asked all the trainees to put their shoes outside their bedroom doors before they went to sleep. The seven hundred fifty trainees fearfully did as they were told. After the trainees had gone to sleep, the trainers came and polished their shoes until they were bright and shiny. The next morning after rising, the trainees saw that all their shoes were black and shiny; they were both touched and ashamed. Because of this kind of training, the character of the trainees has been gradually built up to the extent that they can gain others as soon as they go out. Therefore, if we want to participate in the hosts of Calvary to go out door-knocking to gain people, the first thing we must do is have a proper appearance.
Next, our attitude must be one of humility and courtesy. We need to be humble and courteous to people, especially in our speech. Therefore, the training also teaches us how to speak properly. Do not think that the training only teaches the skill of door-knocking. The training is mainly for teaching us what to say and what to do when preaching the gospel so that people will be open to receive. Thus, the first requirement is a neat appearance, and the second is an attitude of humility and courtesy. These two things are outward matters.
Concerning the inward matters, the intrinsic thing is that when we go out door-knocking, we must pray first, and we must pray thoroughly, confessing our sins, repenting, and being filled by the Lord. If we are not filled with the Lord inwardly but have only given ourselves a proper outward appearance, then we are simply actors putting on a show with stage makeup, and what we do is not of any value. Therefore, we must have thorough prayer and be filled with the Lord inwardly; then we must have a proper outward appearance before we will be ready to go out door-knocking.
Moreover, we must learn how to coordinate together. We should never choose the ones with whom we coordinate. When the training or the church assigns the teams, we should not choose to be with the people we like. Usually when we go out door-knocking, there are three people to a team with one elderly person, one middle-aged person, and one young person. The function of the elderly person is not to speak but to knock on the doors. This is very valuable. After the door has been opened, the young saint should open his mouth and introduce himself. After getting inside the door, the elderly saint is responsible for standing to the side to nod and smile in support, while the young brothers and sisters are responsible for explaining the truth. This seems to be the opposite of the worldly way, but it is very effective.
If a person gets saved and wants to be baptized, it is best for the elderly brother to pray and do the baptizing because he is weightier and more experienced. People will feel more at peace receiving it from him. But if there is an elderly sister present, she should help prepare the water and the clothing and just assist on the sidelines during the baptism. We must pay attention to all these little points. We should never think that it is all right to ignore them. They can have a great influence on what we are doing.
When the working saints go out door-knocking, they should mainly learn to speak. Do not speak your own words. Speak what the training teaches you to speak. Therefore, you must pay particular attention to the preaching and speaking of the trainees in order to learn from them. Furthermore, you should coordinate together to go into the houses and to sit with people while they are listening, praying, and being baptized. Learn a few times, and you will do well in the end.
In conclusion, for many years in the church life we have been loving the Lord, attending meetings, serving in various areas, reading the Bible, and praying, but within us there has always been a feeling that something is lacking. Now with the practice of the new way, we have been given the opportunity and the way to serve that can fill up our inward lack. Therefore, we must seize this opportunity. Second, the new way is focused on the individual homes, and its practice has four definite steps. The first step is to go out door-knocking and to baptize people; the second step is to establish a home meeting immediately in the new ones’ homes; the third step is to teach the truth in the homes to build up the new ones in the habits of reading the Bible and prayer. In this way they will not repeat our mistake of listening to others give messages for thirty years without being edified or understanding the truth. On the other hand, we need teachers to teach the new ones and to help them to properly use the lesson books. These teachers, however, should not teach according to their own opinions. Instead, they should teach in a living, interesting, and weighty manner in order to supply the new ones. The fourth step is to bring the new ones into the knowledge and living of the practical church life. In the end they will not just be baptized; they will learn the truth in their homes to be supplied and grow in life. They will also live in the practical church life and coordinate together in the service.
At present, we already have more than one thousand home meetings. Although many of us have picked up the burden to become door-knockers, we should not go to the homes of the new ones to “lead” a home meeting. Instead, we should go to meet together with the new ones and teach them to do what we do. This is the only way for us to continue increasing and spreading.
The Bible clearly reveals that God’s economy has the home as its focus. The controlling vision of our change of system is to take the focus off the meetings and place it onto the homes. Our hope is not that the new ones would be saved and immediately come to the meetings. We also do not want to continue building meeting halls in every place. Once there is a meeting hall, then an organization might be produced, and it may gradually turn into a situation in which one person speaks and everyone else listens. This would be going back to a condition under the influence of Christianity’s old way. If there are no meeting halls but only home meetings, it will be easy for everyone to function. However, we cannot have the church life only in the homes. There is still a need for all the saints to be connected and joined together (Eph. 4:16). Thus, we are still researching into a properly balanced way. I ask you all to pray for this matter and to do your best to cooperate in thoroughly changing from the old way to the new way. This will not only give the saints the opportunity and way to function, but also it will bring in the real multiplication and increase to carry out God’s economy.
