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Scripture Reading: 1 Thes. 2:7-8, 11; Matt. 4:19; John 21:15 S. S. 1:7-8
In the previous chapter we stressed the need to go to the Lord, deal with Him, and receive light from Him to be exposed. Many Christians hope that a light from heaven will shine on them as it did on Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:3). However, there has never been another Saul in history. We should not expect that one day the Lord will have mercy and shine His light on us in this way. The proper way to receive enlightenment is to deal with the light that we already have. We already have a certain amount of light, whether or not we are willing to obey it.
As proper persons, we rise up in the morning at the right time, make our bed, wash, dress, and have breakfast, and after breakfast we arrange our affairs. To behave in this way is to not be sloppy. Because of our fallen nature, however, almost every Christian is sloppy in his spiritual life. This is because no one exercises control over us. In our schooling, we have a teacher, professor, or at least a grading system to exercise control over us. Similarly, many who are sloppy in other things are not sloppy on their job because their desire not to lose their job controls them. In the spiritual life, however, no one exercises control over us in this way. The church cannot “fire” a brother for being sloppy. Therefore, we need the training. The training is not merely the teaching of the Bible or of skills for the church. The training is simply a spiritual discipline that builds us up to discipline ourselves. As seeking ones of the Lord, we must learn to discipline ourselves. Many housewives know how to keep their house clean. If they mean business as a housekeeper, they will not ignore a piece of wastepaper when they see it but will throw it into the wastepaper basket. Even a small piece of wastepaper not picked up is a proof that someone is a sloppy housekeeper. We need to discipline ourselves in the Christian life in the same way. We should not tolerate having any matters that remain undealt with.
Some may say that they do not know how to receive light from the Lord. In actuality, we already have the light. If we see a “piece of wastepaper” in our being, this indicates that we have some light. However, we may not care for the light, and we may not want to be exposed. We may see many things that need to be dealt with, but we may not care to deal with them. Rather, we may claim that we do not have the light and do not know what to do. We do know what to do, but if we do not deal with what we see, we will not receive further light. Light brings in more light (Psa. 36:9). This applies even to physical things. If a good housekeeper cleans her furniture thoroughly, her eyes will be exercised to see dust that others cannot see. On the other hand, if we never clean our furniture in a thorough way, we will lose the ability to see the dust. The difference is a matter not of light but of sight. We may all be under the same light, but our sight is different. Proper sight depends much upon the exercise of our sight. Recently, I lost my sight, but this was remedied by surgery on my retina. After my surgery, due to the shortage of the exercise of my eyes, my vision remained poor. As I began to exercise my eyes more, my sight gradually increased. Strictly speaking, this improvement was due not to healing but to exercise.
It is not true that we, as persons saved, regenerated, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, have no light, and it is also not true that we have no sight. We do have light and sight, but we may not exercise our sight to see, and we may not care for what we see. By the Lord’s mercy, we may need to go to the Lord one night and say, “Lord, I will not go to sleep or do anything else. I will simply remain in Your presence until everything is cleared up, and there is no further speaking from my conscience.” We do not necessarily need to say, “Lord, shine upon me.” The Lord is already shining. To pray for light may simply be an excuse. We should not excuse ourselves. Rather, we should say, “Lord, I am sloppy in this matter that You have shown me. O Lord, forgive me.” Following this, we can confess a second matter and ask for forgiveness and cleansing of that filthiness with the Lord’s precious blood (1 John 1:9). Then we can go on to further matters. The more we go on, the more light we will receive; the more sight we exercise, the more things we will see. We will remain very busy in our prayer. We may think that there are too many things to deal with, but the Lord may say that there are more to come. Perhaps after fifteen minutes we will fall to the floor repenting and weeping. If we obey a small light, that light will bring in further light, and if we obey the further light, it will bring in even greater light.
Do not wait for enlightenment. We are already in the light and under the light. This is the meaning of going to the Lord to deal thoroughly with Him. We should not say that we do not know how to clean our room or where to start. We should simply clean the spot on which we are standing. After we clean the first spot, we will see a second spot, and after we clean the second spot, right away we will see a third one. The more thoroughly we clean, the more we will see the need of cleaning. Eventually, we may need to come back to the same spot to clean it again. We thought it was clean the first time, but when we come back to it, we will see that the first cleansing was not thorough. Regrettably, though, we are too sloppy. We have listened to many messages, we appreciated them, and we said Amen. Now the light has already begun to shine on us all, and we are under the Lord’s enlightenment. We simply need to obey the light, exercise our sight, and have a thorough dealing in the presence of the Lord.
As we pointed out in the previous chapter, the church service is not mainly for doing things but for taking care of persons. Our present training is not to build up our skill to be a leader, to usher, or to arrange chairs. I have no intention to carry out this kind of training. Chair arranging is not for chair arranging itself, and ushering is not for ushering itself. If we do a good job merely in the practical matters but do not take care of anyone, we are a failure. This is the way of a worldly corporation. Whatever we do in the church life is for the care of persons. It is easy to do practical things, but to take care of persons is much more difficult. If a sister asks us to clean her house, we may do it in half a day, but if she asks us to take care of her children, we would certainly refuse, because to do that is not “in our blood.” Before a young sister is married, it may be very difficult to regulate her. After she is married and has children, however, there is no need to regulate her. Her children become very skillful regulators, and she is willing to be regulated. Previously she may have refused to do dirty jobs, but now she will happily do the dirtiest job. This is because she now has a mother’s “blood.” She does it because she loves her children.
First Thessalonians 2:7 says, “We were gentle in your midst, as a nursing mother would cherish her own children.” To cherish is not merely to do a job or to carry out a business; it is to care for a living person. Verse 11 says, “Just as you know how we were to each one of you, as a father to his own children, exhorting you and consoling you and testifying.” Paul nourished the Thessalonians as a mother and exhorted them as a father. The apostle was not a businessman or a schoolmaster. He was a nourishing mother and an exhorting father. He had an interest in people. If we do not have an interest in people, we are finished with the church service; we are not qualified to serve. We should not say that only the apostle Paul could be like this. What the apostle did is an example for all the believers. We are not apostles, but we should still be nursing mothers. Even the brothers must nourish others as a mother, and the sisters should exhort others as a father. This does not depend on our being male or a female; it depends on the kind of heart we have. A sister can have the heart of a father, and a brother can have the heart of a mother.
This passage shows what the apostle Paul was in the Lord’s service. He did not consider himself to be a great man. He considered himself as a small nursing mother and an exhorting, consoling father. His heart was the heart of a mother and of a father (2 Cor. 12:14-15). The heart of a mother is altogether for the care of her children, and the heart of a father is for their upbringing. Even if a mother keeps her house clean and in order, she will condemn herself if she neglects her children. To care for her children is of the first importance; to clean the house is the last. In the church service we should all have such a heart. Strictly speaking, we do not care for keeping the chairs. We care for keeping the persons. The keeping of chairs will not enter into the New Jerusalem, but the keeping of persons will go on forever.
I am afraid that too many of us in the church service care only for the practical service, not for the persons. We need the Lord’s mercy to properly exercise our heart. This is a great test to us. Some of us were born in such a way that we do not care for anyone. This is according to our natural disposition. Hallelujah, we have been reborn in another way! We have been reborn, not into a natural family but into the church. This is another birth with another disposition that is absolutely different. The disposition of our new birth is one that sacrifices our self, our soul, and even our lives for the care of others.
In the latter part of the nineteenth and the first part of the twentieth centuries, a number of missions sent missionaries into the field. Most of the missions tested their new applicants, but not in the way of testing only their knowledge of the Bible. Hudson Taylor was the founder of the China Inland Mission, one of the greatest mission works. One day he made an appointment for a young applicant to come for an interview. When the applicant arrived, Taylor asked him to wait for another twenty minutes. Then at the end of the twenty minutes, he sent word to the applicant to wait for another twenty minutes. At this point, the young applicant was a little offended, but since he still desired to get into this mission, he exercised his patience. A third time and a fourth time, Taylor asked the young man to wait for yet another twenty minutes. After the fourth delay, the young man was unable to tolerate it, and he walked out. Taylor said that it was right for him to leave. If he would go to China, he would have to wait many times longer for one person to be saved.
Missions such as these were the Lord’s work at that time to send His gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. When I was a small boy, I observed the situation of the missionaries. Those dear saints were very much disciplined by the Lord to have a heart for the heathen peoples, and it was through them — not through their preaching or teaching but through what they were — that many were saved. It is difficult to imagine what manner of patience, endurance, and attitude they expressed to those unbelieving heathen. This touched the conscience of the people, and it opened the door of the gospel.
The ancient and great country of China was extremely conservative at that time. The Boxer Movement of 1900 intended to kill the Westerners in China and all the Chinese Christians who followed the “Western religion.” However, the people respected a certain older Presbyterian missionary named Mr. Corbett. Mr. Corbett could not speak eloquently, but he had a heart to love the people. He loved everyone, and he gave whatever he had to them. Eventually, everyone came to know that this was an American who was for everyone but himself. Therefore, even the Boxers proclaimed a slogan: “Kill all the Westerners and their followers, except Mr. Corbett.”
The American Presbyterian mission came to my province in China around the middle of the 1800s. The leaders of the villages gave the order that whoever saw a foreigner approaching should sound a gong for warning. All the streets would clear, the doors would close, and no one would come out. Because of this, one American missionary would hide next to a door. After several hours when the people inside would open the door to look outside, he would place a stick in the door, and then he would insert his foot. Although the people inside resisted, he was eventually able to enter. According to ancient Chinese custom, every home had a corner for grinding grain. People would mostly use mules to do the grinding, but if mules were not available, they would have to use manpower. When the missionary entered into the yard, the family would come to beat him and chase him out. However, he would find the grinding stone and begin to grind the grain for them. This changed the atmosphere. The family would go away to do other things, leaving the “foreign devil” to do the grinding. After several hours the mother would send one of the boys to take him a cup of water. It was in this way that the heart of that family was touched and the door of the gospel was opened to them. What a burden this missionary bore, and what an interest he had in people! Those who were saved through this kind of endurance were never able to forget it, and they took the same way to preach to others. This was the way that opened the doors in China.
From this account we can see what touches people’s heart and what kind of burden we need to bear. Today we are not in the ancient, exclusive, conservative China. We are in America, a modern country. However, this modern country has its modern demons to keep people away from the Lord. To be sure, we need to pray for people, but there is also the need for genuine care for their souls. If we have the heart to care, we will have a way. Love can do everything; there is nothing impossible with love (1 Cor. 13:7). If we have an intensified burden and care for people, there will be a way to express this care.
We have tried many ways to gain the increase, but little has worked. Recently, we changed from preaching the gospel in the meeting every week so that the saints could do the preaching in their homes. However, almost no saints opened their home for the gospel. This caused me to have much concern before the Lord. There is no way that works if we do not have a care for and interest in people. However, if we do have a care and interest, the care itself will open up a way. We should not say that we have no way or that no one will accept the gospel. Even the closed doors of China were eventually opened, and thousands were saved. The work in China was very difficult at the beginning. At first, when one missionary went to visit the villages, no one would open the door. The children would even throw stones and mud at him. Still, he would not run away. He would stop, turn around, and say, “Thank you. That is enough.” The love and endurance that this brother had for the sake of the people eventually touched their heart. The way of the gospel in every Chinese village was difficult. If we had thought that there was no need to go to places like that, then we would have had no way there.
If we had a burden, a care, and an interest for people, we could have brought in a hundred people in the last few months. Because some said that it was too difficult for the saints to bring people to the gospel meeting, we tried letting the saints preach in their homes. Eventually, however, there was no preaching in the homes. It is not that we are short of ways; it is that we are short of heart.
When the missionaries came to my province, the clans in each village would not allow anyone to rent a house to the “foreign devils.” Because of this, some of the missionaries were forced to live under bridges and underpasses. In addition, no one was allowed to sell them food. It seems that they had no way to live, but the Lord had a way. One family of missionaries who lived in an underpass observed a peddler of soybean cakes who passed by early each morning. One morning while the peddler left his cakes unattended, the missionary took a piece and put some money in its place, several times more than what the cake was worth. When the peddler returned, he found that a piece was gone but that the money had been left in its place. This went on morning after morning for a long time. Finally, the peddler waited to see who was buying his cakes. He and the missionary made contact, and the peddler was saved. Under no situation should we say that there is no way. It altogether depends upon the kind of heart we have. In principle, the situation in the United States, the most modern nation on the earth, is the same today as it was in old China. The devil at that time was the ancient serpent, but today he is more modern. The same serpent uses different ways to keep people from the Lord. Therefore, we need a praying spirit and a heart to love and care for people. If we have this kind of heart and an intensified care for people, the way will be opened.
After being in this country for over fourteen years, I have observed that many brothers are desirous for the eldership. In their consideration, the only way for them to be useful is to be an elder. They think that if they cannot be an elder, at least they must be a leader of a service group. Even the sisters desire to be leading ones among the other sisters. I have prayed concerning this situation with a great feeling of shame. In the church there should be no such ambition. We need to forget about titles and position. To be useful is not only to be in the eldership; to be useful is to pick up a burden for souls. A certain older brother who is now with the Lord was a good example to us. He was neither an elder, a co-worker, or any kind of leader, but he was used much by the Lord. He had a heart for the young people, the new ones, and the new beginners. Almost every new one was invited to dinner by him. If we would all be like this, the church life will be marvelous.
The United States was built up not by its presidents but by the people, those who built up their own families in the proper way. To be sure, we need good leaders in the church life, but even more, we need every saint to be built up. Each one should say, “I love my Master, I love my wife, and I love my children. I will not go out free. I will carry out the proper service in the church. I do not care whether the meetings are high or low, living or dead, rich or poor, or hot or cold. I simply have a burden to care for at least four younger ones all year round. I love the Lord, I have a heart for the unbelievers, and I love my younger brothers and sisters.”
Without being conscious of it, we have drifted into a lukewarm situation. At the present time we are drifting backward. Some have said that our meetings are too formal, but it is we ourselves who have become formal. Regardless of the way we take in the church meetings, we need to be living in our Christian life. To be the same as we were last week, last month, and even last year is the real “formality.” There is no need to consider the condition of the meetings; what about our own living? A strong church can be living even without formal meetings, but it seems that now we have meetings without being living. The proper church life is twenty-five percent a matter of the meetings and seventy-five percent a matter of our living, but we have turned it around to be less than twenty-five percent a matter of our living. If we did not have the meetings, there would be no church life left.
We need the Lord’s mercy. According to our numbers, we have enough saints to begin a new church in a nearby city. Because of our shortage in life, however, we dare not do this. The Lord can testify how much I have prayed. In my prayer I have thanked the Lord for all those who have been brought into His recovery. However, many dear ones who have been in the church life for a certain time are disappointed regarding their usefulness. Some even think that they cannot be useful unless they are elders or leaders in the practical service. Let us forget about the eldership and pick up a genuine heart to love the sinners and a genuine burden to take care of the younger ones. If we have a will to do this, we will surely be able. If we will all be like the older brother who had no position but always cared for the younger ones, our whole church life will be revolutionized. We must have a change. Our success depends not on our knowledge, way, or skill but on our heart. We need to pray for this and take this word for ourselves.
Having a burden to care for others requires us to have a change in our disposition. Too many of us still hold on to our natural disposition. We do not contact people and invite them to our homes because they are not the same as we are. Since we are the only ones who match our disposition, we only “invite” ourselves. However, all nursing mothers are forced by their children to change their ways. A certain proverb says, “No mother can change her children, but all the children can change the mother.” However, some mothers who can be changed by their children resist being changed by others in the church life. The first time the Lord met Peter and Andrew, He told them, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). From that time on, their business was no longer fish; it was men. After the Lord was resurrected, He came back to Peter and said, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?...Feed My lambs” (John 21:15). The Lord made the disciples fishers of men and feeders of lambs. This is to bear a burden to care for people. In Song of Songs the Lord’s seeker asked Him, “Tell me, you whom my soul loves, Where do you pasture your flock? / Where do you make it lie down at noon?” The Lord answered, “If you yourself do not know, / You fairest among women, / Go forth on the footsteps of the flock, / And pasture your young goats / By the shepherds’ tents” (1:7-8). While we are seeking after the Lord, He will still remind us to follow the church and take care of the “young goats.” We should not be a seeker of the Lord without any “young goats.” Too many of us do not have younger ones under our care in the church life. This is a great shortcoming, and we must look to the Lord for the remedy.
No one should take the excuse that he is not gifted. Although no woman is gifted to be a mother, as a female she is qualified to be a mother. As long as we are Christians, we all have a talent. In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, the Lord said that there are three kinds of slaves — one with five talents, one with two, and one with one. The least number of talents is one. We have at least one talent, and we need to use it. Everyone can take care of three or four younger Christians. This word is not a rebuke; it is the speaking of the truth. Since you love the Lord and His recovery, I would beg you to bring this matter to the Lord and pray for the burden. All our other concepts and dissenting thoughts are of no value. We should let the elders bear their responsibility and take the lead, and we should simply follow. What we need to do is pick up the burden to care for the younger ones, to feed the lambs in the Lord’s recovery. The Lord’s recovery is not the recovery of the elders; it is the recovery of all the saints. If all the saints function in this way, we do not need to worry about how good and capable the elders are.
According to our disposition, we like to contact people who match our taste. However, in order to invite people and care for them, we should not have a particular taste. We must receive the believers because the Lord has received them (Rom. 14:1-3). This requires us to deal much with our natural disposition. Our disposition must be touched. This is not merely a change of our behavior; this kind of change is short-lived. Rather, we need the Lord to touch our disposition. Some of us are too quick, and some of us are too slow. Some are too strict, and some are too loose. If we mean business to love the Lord and be for His recovery, we must first have a heart for the unbelievers. We should pray, “Lord, if I cannot bring one sinner to You in one year, I simply cannot go on. Lord, I am desperate. You need to give me at least one sinner.” Second, we must care for the young ones, and if there are no young ones, we can still fellowship with the other saints for mutual care. In order to have this kind of heart and burden, we desperately need our disposition to be changed.
The greatest hindrance to our usefulness is our disposition. We need to let the Lord touch our disposition, and we need to deny it. Practically speaking, to deny the self is simply to deny the disposition (Matt. 16:24). We are useless and out of function mainly due to our disposition. If we deny our disposition, we will become very useful. We may be very accustomed to our disposition and have no consciousness of it. In the church life there are many kinds of dispositions. Someone may never do anything unless the elders ask him to. He may take the excuse that he does not want to act independently, but deep in his heart he actually desires the honor of being asked by the elders. This is a shame, not an honor. In the heavenly account this may be a debit instead of a credit. Romans 14:10 says that we must give an account to the Lord at the judgment seat. The Lord will ask us to show Him the credits in our account, but when we show Him something, He may say, “No, this is a debit. You did this only to gain respect and honor.”
Others, however, are at the other extreme. They will do many things as long as the elders do not touch them, but as soon as the elders touch them, they will stop. They will not do something simply because the elders asked them to. They ask, “Why must I be asked by the elders? Do I not have the right to do things? Do I not have a spirit?” Everyone has his excuses. Even bank robbers claim that because the government is not fair, it is right to balance the wealth in society by robbery. With the Lord and in the church life, however, there are no excuses. Every excuse, regardless of how reasonable and fair it seems, will only cause a debit. We must be burdened for people, not caring for any excuse. Whether someone praises us or condemns us, we should have no feeling. We care only to bear people as our burden. Let others gain glory, honor, and respect. We care only for people.
Brother Nee once told us that if we do not keep the proper spiritual principles, our prayers will not be answered. The law in the spiritual realm is that we must care for people. If we do not care for people, our prayers for increase cannot be answered. If we pick up a heart to care for the unbelievers, the Lord will honor that care, and the increase will come. Likewise, if we pick up a burden to care for the other saints, the Lord will honor this care also. We all need to go to the Lord and ask Him to burden us. We should not care about our age or any position in the church. We do not even like to use the word position with respect to the church life. We simply need to be useful, and this usefulness is altogether in our care for people, not in doing things. To do things successfully in the affairs of the church does not mean much. The basic need in the church service is to care for people.
We have many lessons to learn. If a brother has a problem, we need to pray for him and seek the Lord for a timely word to speak to him. We need a word in season to sustain him, not gossip or vain talk. In order to have such a word, we need the tongue of the instructed, the tongue of the one dealt with by the Lord (Isa. 50:4). If we have been dealt with by the Lord, we will have a tongue that can offer a word to rescue others and sustain the weary ones. This all depends on how much we have been disciplined. Such a tongue is not that of a teacher, a professor, or a learned one but of the instructed, the taught one, the one who has been disciplined by the Lord. Only those who listen to the Lord can speak a word in season to others. This is why, in type, the slave who chose not to go out freely was brought to the doorpost so that the master could bore his ear through with an awl (Exo. 21:5-6). In order to be a good slave, our position must be at the post, listening to the Master’s voice. We need an opened ear, an ear that has been bored through; then we can have a proper word to speak. Even according to the physical law, one who cannot hear cannot speak well. The proper speaking comes from the proper hearing. If we do not listen to the Lord in His dealings with us, it will be difficult for us to speak a timely word to sustain the weary ones.
