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Scripture Reading: Rom. 1:14-15; 1 Cor. 9:16, 19, 22; Eph. 1:3-5; 3:7-8; Acts 20:17-21, 24; 2 Cor. 11:28
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we will never forget that we are small and fragile people. We can do nothing, we have nothing, and we are nothing. We look to You and rely on You. We depend on You for our life and breath. Thank You for saving and separating us from this evil and adulterous generation and for entrusting us with Your great and blessed commission. We are gathering here to listen to Your speaking. May You dispense Yourself into us through Your word because Your very self is what we need. May You also testify in our speaking that we are one spirit with You and that You are one spirit with us. May we hear not man’s speaking but Your speaking, and may You shepherd us in Your speaking.
Lord Jesus, we know that the journey set before us is difficult, so we can only look to You. Apart from You, we can do nothing; but in You, we can do all things. Lord, grant us this kind of faith. Cause us to be open to You, and cause us also to be open to one another so that there would be no hindrance in this fellowship. May You remove all the coverings and shadows and grant us a clear sky so that every one of us would be transparent inwardly and be as bright as the river of water of life in the New Jerusalem. Lord, we realize deeply that You are our Forerunner; You have already trodden the path that You are about to take us on, and You have already accomplished all things. Although we are laboring, we also have rest; although we are journeying, we also enjoy You. Lord, thank You for being with us every day. For this we worship You. Amen.
In the previous chapter I spoke about many practical matters. Although those points are fragmentary, you will face them when you go out for the spread of the gospel. In the coming two months before you go to the villages, you need much prayer concerning these matters. Some sisters are worried about the issue of safety. I would ask you not to be worried and look to the Lord. In the 1930s there was a British brother who reminded his son every morning that it was the grace of God, not his own ability, that kept him from car accidents every day. We need to be reminded that the grace of God is with us. Calamities and evil things happen every day, and it is not safe even in Taipei. It is not safe to walk on the road, and it is not safe to walk on a staircase. We should rely only on the Lord Jesus. Hymns, #473 says that a person who lives for God “draws in peace each breath, / In Christ he finds his home.” I often travel by plane, but I do not feel that I am in a plane; rather, I feel that I am in Christ. Christ alone is my rest, and He alone is my safety; He is the refuge. No matter where we go, we are safe if we have Him; we are in danger if we are without Him.
The apostle Paul is a pattern to all who have a burden to preach the gospel. In 1 Timothy he speaks of being the foremost sinner (1:15), saying, “Because of this I was shown mercy, that in me, the foremost, Jesus Christ might display all His long-suffering for a pattern to those who are to believe on Him unto eternal life” (v. 16). Paul’s word concerning being a pattern indicates that his experiences should be our experiences. Almost all the verses in the Scripture Reading at the beginning of this chapter are Paul’s speaking concerning himself. Sometimes we are too humble and keep silent about the lessons that we have learned before the Lord or the grace that we have received. Sixty years ago I attended Brethren meetings frequently, and I was taught that we should never mention ourselves when we preach the gospel because we should not preach ourselves but only Christ Jesus. This is true, but when I read the New Testament, I find that Paul spoke about himself quite much. In 2 Corinthians it seems as if almost every chapter and every verse is about Paul. Hence, Brother Nee called this book the autobiography of Paul.
In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul speaks concerning many things that he encountered (vv. 23-27), then in verse 28 he says, “Apart from the things which have not been mentioned, there is this: the crowd of cares pressing upon me daily, the anxious concern for all the churches.” He seemed to be saying, “There is too much to say about the sufferings, calamities, and evils that have befallen me. But apart from these, there is another matter that I am anxiously concerned about — the church.” What afflicts a person the most is an anxious concern. The anxious concern for all the churches was pressing upon Paul daily. Today some people are not clear concerning the truth. They claim that after an apostle establishes a church and appoints elders, he should have nothing to do with that church. This statement is altogether in darkness. Even if all the churches did not want Paul’s care, Paul would still be daily and anxiously concerned about the things of all the churches. If the saints in a certain locality would say, “Thank you, Paul. The church here has been established, and you have appointed the elders. We can say goodbye to you,” Paul would say, “I cannot say goodbye to you. My eyes will follow you daily; even if my eyes cannot see you, my heart will still be concerned about you.”
No one nurtures a child for half a month and then says, “From now on I am going to let you go. Let us say goodbye.” So long as both are alive, no mother would say goodbye to her child. Even if a child leaves his parents to go to another place, the parents would still think of him daily. Paul not only physically bore the burden of all the churches; he was also concerned about all the churches in his heart. When we go out to spread the gospel, we begin by preaching the gospel; when a church is established in a certain locality, we need a daily concern for that church.
Everyone who has a burden to preach the gospel needs to see the twofold motive, or the twofold burden, for preaching the gospel. One aspect relates to man’s side, and the other aspect, to God’s side. One aspect speaks from the earth, and the other, from heaven; one aspect speaks in time, and the other, from eternity.
Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 9 show that the first aspect of the motive for preaching the gospel is on man’s side. In Romans 1:14 Paul says, “I am debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to foolish.” When we were translating this verse, we felt that Paul was too long-winded. Hence, we wanted to simplify the translation: “I am debtor to Greeks, barbarians, wise, and foolish.” But as we considered Paul’s thinking, we decided to keep the original utterance because Paul’s intention was to emphasize that he was a debtor to us no matter which kind of person we are, whether Greek, barbarian, wise, or foolish. Paul was “an apostle of the Gentiles” (11:13); thus, he considered himself to be a debtor to all the Gentiles, even to us. According to this principle, although you are still young, you are heavily indebted. By receiving the burden to gospelize Taiwan, you are a debtor to the whole of Taiwan. Even if you save hundreds and thousands of people in the villages, you will still be indebted. This is your motive for preaching the gospel.
Paul not only says that he is a debtor, but in verse 15 of chapter 1 he also says, “So, for my part, I am ready to announce the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” He was very bold in saying this. He was seemingly saying, “I am ready, and the only reason that I have not yet come is because of Satan’s hindrance. Also you have not prayed adequately; if you would pray adequately so that there is no hindrance, I could come.” On Paul’s part there was no problem; he was ready. When Paul said that he was ready, the journey to Rome was long, and transportation was not convenient. Today, even though your journey to the villages is short and transportation is convenient, how is your heart? I hope that all of you can also say, “For my part, I am ready.” This should be your attitude in going to the villages. You should be able to testify to the universe, “For my part, I am ready!” This is the motive for preaching the gospel on man’s side as revealed in Romans 1.
In 1 Corinthians 9:16 and 19 Paul says, “If I preach the gospel, I have no boast, for necessity is laid upon me; for woe to me if I do not preach the gospel...For though I am free from all, I have enslaved myself to all that I might gain the more.” On the one hand, Paul seemed to have been enslaved by God to preach the gospel; on the other hand, he was willing to be a slave to all men for the sake of the gospel even though he was a free man. The grace of God operated in him and made him willing to enslave himself to all men that he might gain the more. Paul’s desire was to save more people; saving two is better than saving one. How could he save more? He said, “To the weak I became weak that I might gain the weak. To all men I have become all things that I might by all means save some” (v. 22). To the refined, Paul could become refined; to the lowly he could become lowly; to the strong he could become strong; to the weak he could also become weak; his purpose was simply to gain more people. Your intention in going to the villages should also be to gain more people. Whether the day is sunny or rainy and whether the road is muddy or smooth, you should have no complaints. If people welcome me, I would go; if people complain about me, I would still go. I do not know anything else. I know only one thing — to gain more people.
You need to have a proper evaluation: there is no profession in the world that can compare with what you are about to do. If you earn one billion U.S. dollars, can that money be exchanged for one soul? If a soul and one billion U.S. dollars were placed before you today, which one would you take? I hope that you would not be deceived to exchange a soul for one billion U.S. dollars; such a transaction is of no value at all. You are all young people, and your parents may expect you to continue your education and gain a few Ph.D.’s; they will advise you not to give up your bright future for the sake of preaching the gospel. Stanza 3 of Hymns, #473 says, “Arise! The holy bargain strike — / The fragment for the whole.” I hope that you would calculate the difference between one billion U.S. dollars and one soul. Which one is the “fragment” and which one is the “whole” to you? To me, one billion U.S. dollars is a “fragment,” and the soul is the “whole.” I am willing to sacrifice one billion U.S. dollars in order to gain one soul.
I absolutely believe that Paul was an extremely talented and well-educated person; this can be seen from the Epistles that he wrote. But he said that all things, not just one billion dollars, were refuse (Phil. 3:8), having no value at all. The things that you can gain from the world are just as worthless as one billion dollars when compared to a man’s soul. Moreover, today you are seeking to gain not just one soul but hundreds of souls. If you consecrate your whole life to the Lord and gain two hundred souls by the time you meet the Lord, the value of this cannot be compared with anything in the world. I would ask you to make your own assessment: do you want the world or the souls of men?
In Romans 1 Paul says that he was a debtor to all men, and in 1 Corinthians 9 he says that he was willing to sacrifice himself to be a slave to all men in order to repay the debt of the gospel. In a very real sense, when you preach the gospel, you are not only repaying your debt but even more gaining people as treasures to be material for building up the New Jerusalem. When the New Jerusalem descends from heaven, perhaps we will say to the Lord, “Some of the building material in this city was saved by me.” Would this not be wonderful? Hence, we should have a far-sighted view, not merely looking at the things that are before our eyes but looking into the future. This is the first aspect of the motive for preaching the gospel.
The book of Ephesians shows the second aspect of the motive for preaching the gospel; this is from God’s side, from heaven, and from eternity. It is relatively easy to understand the motive on man’s side. I grew up in Christianity, and all the messages I heard were from this aspect, but I never heard anyone speak of the motive for preaching the gospel from God’s side. The book of Ephesians speaks of the motive from God’s side. This book speaks of the gospel, not from the viewpoint of man’s sins but from the viewpoint of God in heaven. Verse 4 of chapter 1 says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Before the heavens and earth came into being, God had already chosen us.
When you go to preach the gospel in the villages, you can preach from man’s side, telling people that you have come to repay your debt of the gospel; you can also preach from God’s side, telling people the great news that God chose them before He created the heavens and the earth. God not only chose them, but He also predestinated them unto sonship (v. 5). Predestination is to mark out, just as a person marks out a few apples from among a pile of apples when he goes to a market. You can tell people, “Even before Adam, our first forefather, was created, God had already predestinated you and marked you out; you should not belittle yourself, because God has already put a mark on you. Today God has sent me to bring you back to Himself.” Preaching the gospel in this way is high.
In chapter 3 Paul speaks of “the operation of His power” (v. 7). The ministry of the gospel is too great; it was not something that could be borne by Paul himself; rather, it was the issue of the operation of God’s power in Paul. This power is the resurrection power (Phil. 3:10), which is greater than the power that God used in creating the universe. For a person to be saved is not a small thing; it is the issue of the operation of God’s resurrection power. To man, the most powerful thing in the universe is death. When death comes upon a man, even if all power were given to him, he would still be unable to resist death. When death comes, no one can resist it. Only the Lord has overcome death and risen from death. Ephesians 1 speaks of the surpassing greatness of this power, “which He caused to operate in Christ in raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies” (v. 20). This power is too great. It not only caused Christ to resurrect from the dead but also caused Him to ascend to the highest place in the universe and to sit at the right hand of God. This power even “subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church” (v. 22). This surpassing power enables us to be saved.
What is the purpose of being saved by God’s surpassing power? It is much more than the superficial and inaccurate understanding that believing in Jesus is for a person to have peace in this life and to “go to heaven” after he dies. Rather, God’s surpassing power is for us to receive the unsearchable riches of Christ. In verse 7 of chapter 3 Paul speaks of the operation of God’s power, and verse 8 speaks of announcing the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul not only preached that Christ died for men to be their Savior, but he also preached that Christ was resurrected from the dead for men to be justified to receive the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel. This is much higher than the general concept of many Christians.
The motive and burden of the gospel not only have an aspect of man but also an aspect of God, not only an aspect of the earth but also an aspect of heaven, and not only an aspect of today but also an aspect of eternity. I hope that when you go out to preach the gospel, you would not only understand these two aspects but would also receive this twofold burden as a motivation to preach the gospel.
Not long from now you will be spreading the gospel in various places. I would ask: What will you do when you go to these places? You should bring the unsearchable riches of Christ to people. Perhaps you will say, “Brother Lee, according to what you have said, we would not be qualified to go even after ten more terms of training, because Christ is too rich, and we have not yet studied thoroughly and do not know much about the riches of Christ.” I would say that at least you can preach that Christ is God. When you preach the gospel, you should tell people, “All the gods in the temple are not God. You bought a statue of a god for six hundred dollars. How can you believe in such a cheap god? A piece of good jade costs at least three thousand dollars. You only spent six hundred dollars and bought a god; your god is not valuable. But the God that we preach is a priceless treasure.” Although you have only received four terms of training, you can at least speak this. Then you should say, “My God is much richer than a cheap god; He is the true God. If you believe, you need to call upon His name. He is rich to all who call upon Him.” Then you can say, “Here is water. What prevents you from being baptized? Go to be baptized.” Even if you can say only this much, it will be enough for people to be baptized.
You cannot regard The Mystery of Human Life as a cure-all, as if merely having a copy of The Mystery of Human Life is sufficient. This booklet is very good for door-knocking, but if you only know The Mystery of Human Life, you will probably run out of words after conversing with people for a while. If you say, “The God whom we share with you is rich,” you must be able to tell them in what way He is rich. The riches of Christ are so unsearchable that even in eternity they will not be fully told. Therefore, you must learn to know the riches of Christ and also exercise wisdom to know how to speak when preaching the gospel.
I was born into a Christian family, but I was not saved until I was nineteen years old, because the gospel I had heard did not attract me. It was not until I was nineteen years old that I heard a powerful gospel message through which I was immediately saved. Hence, when you go to various places, do not preach the superficial and inaccurate gospel that Christians generally preach, saying that man is sinful and has no peace in this life and will go to hell after death, and that man must repent and believe in the Lord so that he will have peace and joy and go to heaven after death. This is nearly the same as the thought of Buddhism, and people are tired of hearing this kind of common talk. You need to have a vision of the gospel from God’s perspective and tell people that God chose them in eternity past to enjoy the riches of Christ.
The riches of Christ are unsearchable. He is both God and man. When He was on earth, He proclaimed that He is the light of the world (John 8:12), the resurrection, the life (11:25), the way, the reality (14:6), and so forth. The Chinese highly esteem Confucius, but not once did Confucius speak like the Lord Jesus, who said, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (8:12). Neither did Socrates nor Sakyamuni speak such a word. Only the God whom we preach could speak such a word; He is light, and He is love (1 John 1:5; 4:16). When you go to preach the gospel, do not fear that you do not know how to speak or that you will have nothing to say. Our God is too rich and will surely attract people. When you go out, you will be displaying many “jewels,” showing forth Christ’s treasures everywhere and drawing people’s admiration spontaneously. It is even better that all these treasures are free; no one needs to worry about being unable to buy them. We need to learn to preach the gospel in this way. We are not despising Christianity, but we are truly grieved that the gospel that most people preach in traditional Christianity is low and shallow; it can be said that they have presented a cheap Lord. Christ is not so ordinary or superficial. Paul speaks of “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:8). He considered it an excellent thing just to know Christ Jesus, let alone actually gain Him. We all need to know the riches of Christ and learn to preach the riches of Christ.
When you preach the gospel in the villages, you must bear in mind the twofold motive and burden of the gospel. On man’s side, you are indebted to the gospel; on God’s side, God has already chosen certain people, but He needs you to seek out those whom He has chosen. In Luke 10 the Lord sent out seventy disciples from house to house to find sons of peace (vv. 1-6). You all have had this kind of experience: you knock on a door, and a “tiger” comes out; you knock on the next door, and a “lion” comes out; and you knock on another door, and a “snake” comes out. However, as you continue to knock, you will eventually knock on the door of a son of peace who will be saved inexplicably. You are going out to find sons of peace. Do not preach the gospel too shallowly. In the Bible there is no thought of going to heaven and hell. You need to bring out the riches of Christ for people to see so that by God’s mercy they can enter into Christ to enjoy His riches.
I absolutely believe that through your time in the training — daily attending classes, reading the Bible, praying, fellowshipping, and pursuing the Life-studies — you have become different from what you were before. Hence, when you contact people, there is no need to deliberately think of a topic to speak about; you have been equipped, and you can share the riches of Christ with others anytime.
After preaching the gospel, the church can be established. This is a cause for rejoicing. Paul said that he served in Ephesus for three years “with all humility and tears,” teaching the saints “publicly and from house to house” (Acts 20:19-20). Christianity has a wrong concept that preaching and teaching can be conducted only in large gatherings and in public. But it was not so with Paul. “Publicly” is in a public place before many people; “from house to house” is to visit people in their homes. Paul taught the saints not only in large gatherings but also by visiting them from house to house.
Today you need to recover “from house to house.” When you preach the gospel in the villages, you should not only gather people to meet in the meeting hall; you must visit people in their homes. Once a person is saved, you must immediately set up a home meeting with him. This is “from house to house.” Following the home meetings, you need to bring people to the group meetings. It is not too difficult to bring a person to be saved, but it is not easy to nourish and teach him after he is saved. The steps of begetting, nourishing, and teaching cannot rely solely on the ways of traditional Christianity, that is, gathering everyone on the Lord’s Day in a big meeting hall to listen to a message and then dismissing them afterward. This is not the way. You must visit the homes one by one. You must find ways to have personal contact with them.
Sometimes the brothers and sisters will come to your home, but that is not sufficient; you must go to their homes. Without going to a person’s home, you will not know his real condition. Only when you go to a person’s home can you realize his real need and nourish him accordingly. You should also invite people for meals to have some fellowship. It is not necessary to prepare a feast; a simple meal will do. To invite people to eat and converse is probably more effective than giving them ten messages. Nevertheless, this still cannot replace visiting them in their homes. When you go to a person’s home and see his family situation and how he interacts and talks with his family, you will know his real need. This will bring in the proper nourishing.
Nourishing includes teaching. Ephesians 4:11 links shepherds and teachers, showing that nourishing and teaching are not two matters but one. To be a shepherd is to be a teacher, and to be a teacher is also to be a shepherd. If you do not know how to teach, you do not know how to shepherd; if you do not know how to shepherd, you do not know how to teach. All brothers and sisters need to learn to shepherd and also learn to teach. Going to the countryside is not merely for the preaching of the gospel. After preaching the gospel for two to three weeks, a church will appear. Once a church is established, there is the need for nourishing and teaching.
Paul said, “I consider my life of no account as if precious to myself, in order that I may finish my course and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus to solemnly testify of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Paul’s course was to preach the gospel, to establish churches, and to nourish and shepherd people; his determination was to finish this course until the end. You also should have such a determination. You should not say that it is good enough that you consecrated yourselves when you were in college, joined the training after graduating from college, and participated in the spread of the gospel in the villages for half a year. Instead, you should have a determination: “If the Lord does not bring me anywhere else, I will remain in this locality for the spread until the end.”
Do not worry about your marriage, your future family, or your future living; neither consider how you will support yourself when you are old. When I was young, I had many plans, but looking back, I see that everything that I have passed through has been beyond my youthful expectations. I never had a thought that I would be speaking in this way to you today. Toward the end of the Sino-Japanese War, when victory in China was in sight, I began to formulate many plans. I told the brothers that with the war ending soon in victory, we should deploy our manpower and the wealth of northwest China to actively develop and promote the gospel work in northwest China. I was full of ideas and had many plans. However, to this day I have never even been to northwest China. My going to the United States was also beyond my expectation.
The life that we should live is a life of faith. Christians do not have yesterday or tomorrow; Christians have only today. This is not the same as the worldly saying, “Enjoy things while you can”; it means that you should grasp every opportunity there is today. What you should care about is how many souls you can save today. You may save a person at five o’clock in the afternoon, but you still need to consider whether you can save another person in the evening. This should be your heart. Do not fear that you will have no food; the Lord will surely take care of your food. Furthermore, you also have the support of the churches. All the churches are in one accord in offering for the gospel. Hence, you need only to go, be anxious in nothing, and give your all to preach the gospel.
Do not be anxious about yourself, but the anxious concern for all the churches should press upon you daily (2 Cor. 11:28). No mother will forget a child whom she has borne and nourished; it should be the same with you toward the new brothers and sisters. From the first day you baptize a person, you should be concerned about him and never forget him. Do not spend time considering when you will be married; rather, consider the persons who are newly baptized and keep them in your heart. The Lord’s word is trustworthy. He said, “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matt. 6:32). Your heavenly Father knows all the things that you need; you do not need to be anxious.
Finally, I would give you a verse: “I exhort Euodias, and I exhort Syntyche, to think the same thing in the Lord” (Phil. 4:2). You must always bear in mind the problem with Euodias and Syntyche of not thinking the same thing. When you go to the villages for the spread of the gospel, do not be opinionated in anything. In this way the Lord’s blessing will come upon you. Even if you can do all the things fellowshipped in this chapter, all the blessings will leak away if you make the mistake of Euodias and Syntyche. Whether you have the Lord’s blessings when you go to the villages to spread the gospel depends on whether you think the same thing in the Lord. If you can, you will succeed; if you cannot, you will fail. You will not only fail, but your life of service to the Lord will be greatly shortened. If you cannot get along with others, very soon you will quit, and your previous work will be wasted, and not only will your labor be wasted, but our labor on you will also be wasted. All will be destroyed by not being in one accord. Therefore, I plead with you, just as Paul exhorted Euodias and Syntyche, to learn this one thing: to think the same thing in the Lord.
