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Scripture Reading: 1 John 2:13-17; Phil. 1:19-21a; Eph. 4:12, 16; 2 Tim. 4:7-8, 18b
I. God’s need in His economy today:
А. The young and the middle-aged saints — 1 John 2:13-17:
1. Those believers who are grown-up in God’s life.
2. Having overcome the evil one.
3. Being strong.
4. Having the word of God abiding within.
5. Not loving the world nor the things in the world.
6. Doing the will of God.
B. The saints who are the fathers — vv. 13-14:
1. Those believers who are mature in God’s life.
2. Knowing the Christ who was before all things, who also is the Word of life who was there from the beginning — 1:1.
3. Continuing to know this eternal Christ by the inner life until maturity.
C. The Lord’s achievement in grace:
1. In time and place.
2. In circumstances.
3. In grace.
4. In the church.
II. In the past there being many men and few opportunities, whereas now, there being many opportunities and few men:
А. The meetings and the service in the past not affording enough opportunity for the saints to serve:
1. On the one hand, helping people to be regenerated and to grow.
2. On the other hand, taking away peoples’ opportunity to serve the Lord.
B. The meetings and the service today creating unlimited opportunities for the saints to serve:
1. Opportunity abounding everywhere, from preaching the gospel by visitation, through the home meetings, to the small group meetings and the district meetings.
2. Affording the saints the chance to let out a breath of life, which is their desire to serve the Lord.
III. Meeting the Lord’s present need:
А. By recalling the past experiences and vision.
B. By responding to the Lord’s attraction and calling.
C. By renewing the former commitment and consecration.
D. By setting aside one’s time and specifically budgeting one’s daily life.
E. By fulfilling all the needs in the new way:
1. Visiting people to preach the gospel and to gain new ones.
2. Regularly and consistently helping the new ones in the home meetings.
3. Diligently learning to help the small group meetings.
4. Seriously pursuing functioning and prophesying in the district meetings.
IV. A glorious living and a glorious goal:
А. Living — to live Christ — Phil. 1:19-21a.
B. Goal — to build up the Body of Christ — Eph. 4:12, 16.
C. Result — to receive the reward in the kingdom — 2 Tim. 4:7-8, 18b.
In this training for the working saints, I have a heavy burden. There are many things I want to say to you. In this chapter we want to consider the relationship between the working saints and the new way in the Lord’s recovery. Recently, I heard a saying that the working saints are the backbone of the church. I feel that this description is most appropriate. The working saints are the backbone of the church. When a man has trouble with his backbone, his whole body is in trouble. The older folks are especially careful to protect their backbones. The backbone is a very important part of a man’s body. In the same way the working saints are very important in the new way in the Lord’s recovery.
God’s economy is to dispense Himself into His created and chosen people that they may be regenerated to become His children and the members of Christ through transformation, conformation, and eventually glorification. When these ones come together, they constitute the Body of Christ to express the Triune God in eternity. Strictly speaking, the Lord’s recovery is simply God’s economy. This new way in the recovery is simply a way to practice God’s economy. Hence, the new way is not merely a matter of preaching the gospel and bringing sinners to believe in the Lord and be saved. That is only the initial stage. The new way is to carry out God’s economy all the way from God’s dispensing to His expression.
This way is a way of labor, striving, and struggle. I myself deeply feel that my experience during the past three and a half years has been one of laboring and striving. It is not a simple matter to bring a large church like the church in Taipei to the proper track of the new way. But tonight from the depths of my heart I do thank God for His grace. We should all bow down our heads and worship Him. The church in Taipei is now on the right track. The attendance at tonight’s meeting is a proof that we are all on the right track. What we need in the Lord’s recovery now are the young and the middle-aged saints.
The first qualification of being a young or middle-aged saint is to grow up in the life of God. After three and a half years of experimenting, we have found out that after a person is baptized, we need to spend at least five to six months to feed him before he can become stable and somewhat free from the infant stage. You who are sitting here tonight have to admit that you have grown up in the life of God. How much more we should grow is a different question; nevertheless, you have all grown.
The evil one refers to something pernicious, harmfully evil, affecting and influencing others to be evil and vicious; it is personified. This personified one is Satan, the devil, in whom the whole world lies (1 John 5:19). To overcome the evil one is a characteristic of a grown-up and strong saint (2:14b). He is nourished, strengthened, and maintained by the word of God. This word abides and operates in him to oppose Satan, the world, and all the lusts thereof.
The third qualification of being a young or middle-aged saint is to be strong (v. 14b). Because these saints are strong, they can overcome the evil one.
The saints are strong because the word of God is abiding in them (v. 14b). When a man has an empty stomach and is hungry, he will surely be weak; there is no possibility that he will be strong. But if he eats, his strength will return, and he will be strong. For you to be strong today, you need to be fed with the word of God. Without the word of God, it is impossible for a person to be strong.
In order to occupy man, Satan uses religion, culture, commerce, entertainment, and other things to put man under a system. These things become a world system that is opposed to God. This whole satanic system lies in the evil one. Not loving the world is the ground to overcome the evil one. If we love the world a little, we will give ground for the evil one to defeat and capture us (v. 15).
Not only do we have to reject the world and the things in the world on the negative side, but on the positive side, we have to do, or practice, the will of God (v. 17). We are not practicing the will of God like someone practicing law. To us, the will of God should be a great thing that we practice all the time. In order for us to practice the will of God today, we have to practice the new way.
The present need in God’s economy is not only of the young and the middle-aged saints but also of the saints who are the fathers as well. In the church in Taipei there are many young and middle-aged saints. There are also many saints who are the fathers.
The saints who are the fathers are those who are mature in life. They are the ones who have known Him who is from the beginning (v. 13). He who is from the beginning signifies the eternal Christ who was there before creation. The mark of a mature, experienced father is to know such an eternal Christ in the way of life. Christ is God. Only to say that He is God, however, does not convey our enjoyment of Him. We have to say that He is Christ. The word Christ signifies His being our Savior, His death on the cross for us, His resurrection, His becoming the life-giving Spirit, and His entering into us with all His elements to become our enjoyment. What the fathers know is such an eternal Christ.
The saints who are the fathers know the Christ who was before all things, who also is the Word of life who was there from the beginning (v. 13; 1:1). This Word was with God in eternity past before the foundation of the world; He also was God (John 1:1). In time He became flesh. Life is in Him. This Word is the divine person of Christ Himself. He is God’s definition, explanation, and expression. Life is in Him, and He is even life itself.
First John 2:13 says, “Fathers,...you know Him who is from the beginning.” The Greek verb known is in the perfect tense. It indicates that the condition is continuing. The fathers already know this enjoyable Christ by the inner life. Now they are continuing to know Him. This knowing is not once for all. Rather, it is a continuous knowing that reaches maturity.
Both the young and the middle-aged saints, as well as the saints who are the fathers, are what they are today because of the achievement of the Lord’s grace. The Lord’s gracious achievement is manifested in the time, the place, and the circumstances where we are. It is also manifested in the grace we have experienced and in the church life we have been put into. You can imagine that if you had not been born in this age and in this place, with the Lord’s special provision in the environment, you might not have been saved. Our salvation is truly of the sovereignty of God. When I was young, I often worshipped the Lord for my salvation. He caused me to be born in the province of Shantung in China in the twentieth century. That was a place that the Western missionaries frequently visited. My mother was a third-generation Christian church member. I was even put into a Christian school. For every one of these points, I thank the Lord.
It is not uncommon for a person to be weak after he is saved. But in His recovery the Lord is especially gracious among us. The words released are rich, and the truth shines brightly. In addition, the church is like an orchard where life grows. The brothers and sisters are like fruit trees, growing day by day in this orchard. Some have been in this orchard from the time they were in the children’s meeting. They have grown from being toddlers to become the elders serving in the church. Hence, in time, in place, in circumstance, in grace, and in the church, the grace of the Lord has nurtured and perfected us. Today the church is full of young and middle-aged saints and has many fathers also. God’s present need is for these two groups. If they are present, the new way will succeed. Without them the new way will have problems. I do not say that it will fail, for God cannot fail. If He cannot get through in you, He will get through in someone else. Sooner or later He will get through.
Three and a half years ago there were those who wanted to serve in the church in Taipei, but the opportunities were few. Now the opportunities are too many. However, there are few who serve. At present there are approximately ten thousand saints who monthly attend the home meetings, small group meetings, and district meetings. In addition to this group there are about ten thousand dormant ones. Furthermore, since we began in 1986 to preach the gospel by knocking on doors, there are twenty-five thousand others who have not yet been brought in. If we add these dormant ones and the ones who have not yet been brought in, there are thirty-five thousand who need care. Who is going to care for them? In addition to the needs of these people, the home meetings, the small group meetings, the district meetings, and all the other meetings have their doors wide open. The opportunities are there waiting. Hence, now there are many opportunities and few men.
The meetings and services in the past did not create enough opportunities for the saints to serve. In the past, on the one hand, we brought people to be regenerated and to grow. On the other hand, we took away their opportunity to serve. Today everywhere abounds with opportunity, from preaching the gospel by visitation, through the home meetings, to the small group meetings and the district meetings. At the same time the Lord’s grace is waiting there. If you do not know how to take care of a home meeting or a small group meeting, the church has the direction, and everyone can learn together. In the district meetings everyone can prophesy, speaking the Lord’s word and speaking for the Lord. Even if you say that you cannot do it, there is grace waiting for you to learn and to pick it up. Recently, many brothers and sisters who have been saved for only half a year have been standing up to prophesy in the meetings. The words they release are very fresh. This is a good sign. At present, opportunity to serve abounds everywhere.
The practice of the new way also affords the saints a chance to let out a breath of life, which is their desire to serve the Lord. When I was young, it was difficult to find an opportunity to serve. I attended worship services from my youth until I was twenty-six years old. During that time, no one ever asked me to pray, and I never dared to pray. When I was twenty-six, I attended a Bible study meeting. An older brother there who knew me realized that I loved the Lord. During one of the meetings, he called my name and asked me to offer a prayer. On the one hand, I was afraid. On the other hand, I felt privileged. Every one of us who is saved and loves the Lord has a desire to serve the Lord. There is a breath that we are ready to let out. Now the practice of the new way enables us to let out this breath of desire for serving the Lord.
In order to meet the Lord’s present need, we must first recall our past experiences and vision. I believe that all of you have had some experiences and some vision in the past. Now we have to recall them. Second, we have to respond to the Lord’s attraction and calling. The fact that you are here today proves that the Lord has attracted you from within. In this attraction there is a calling that calls us to meet the need of the Lord in the new way today. Third, we have to renew our past commitment and consecration. In the past many of us have had a heart for the Lord and have consecrated ourselves to the Lord. Now we need to have these renewed. Fourth, we need to set aside some time and specifically budget our lives. We have to set down some guidelines for our lives. In our daily lives we should set aside some time for the service of the Lord. Fifth, we have to meet the different needs of the saints. There are the following four needs:
(1) We must visit people to preach the gospel and to gain new ones. The practice of knocking on doors to visit people for the preaching of the gospel is absolutely correct. It should not be stopped. The only problem is that in the past few years we have knocked on too many doors and have saved too many people. We need a time of digestion.
(2) We must regularly and consistently help the new ones in the home meetings. To help the new ones to have home meetings is a work that needs to be done regularly. We should visit them at least once a week.
(3) We must diligently learn to help the small group meetings. All who have worked in the communities know that it is not easy to conduct a home meeting or a small group meeting. Especially the young saints, whose experience in the human life is not rich, find it hard to help others when family and marriage problems are involved. We have to learn all these things. For this purpose the church also should give training of all kinds.
(4) We must pursue seriously functioning and prophesying in the district meetings. This also requires a lot of learning. Now that we have the New Testament Recovery Version, it should help us somewhat in prophesying. For example, in the Recovery Version there is a footnote on John 3:16 for the word world. One day I came across this footnote and was very much impressed by it. This footnote describes man from his fall, with the poison of the serpent injected into him, until the New Jerusalem, where he becomes God’s eternal expression. You should first study such a footnote at home and digest it a little. Then practice speaking it. In this way you will be able to function and to prophesy when you come to the meetings.
Our life is to live Christ. Our goal is the building up of the Body of Christ. The result is the reward in the kingdom. This is the glorious life and the glorious goal for those saints who practice the new way.
