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Scripture Reading: Matt. 12:28-29; 28:18-19; Rom. 10:6-9, 13; 1 Cor. 12:3
Matthew 12:28 and 29 say, “If I, by the Spirit of God, cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter into the house of the strong man and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will thoroughly plunder his house.” Verses 18 and 19 of chapter 28 say, “Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We need to read the word therefore strongly. Therefore refers to the fact that all authority has been given to Christ. For this cause, “therefore,” we must go to disciple all the nations, to make all the nations disciples.
Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is to confess not only Jesus but the Lord Jesus. The mouth has to confess the Lord Jesus; it must pronounce “Lord.” I have found that especially in the Western world, both in Europe and America, when people pray, they do not use the title Lord very much. Mostly they pray saying only, “Jesus.” This is not a proper way. Whenever we say “Jesus,” it is better that we add the title Lord, “Lord Jesus.” The mouth confesses the Lord Jesus, and the heart believes in the fact that God has raised up Jesus. If we do these two things, we will be saved. Then verse 13 says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This is to call not only the name of Jesus but the name of “the Lord.”
First Corinthians 12:3 says, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, Jesus is accursed; and no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” Here again, this verse stresses our saying that Jesus is the Lord. As long as a person says that Jesus is the Lord, that is a proof that the Holy Spirit is working within him. We have to help people to realize that Jesus is the Lord, and we have to help them to exercise their mouth by exercising their heart to say that Jesus is the Lord and to call Jesus the Lord.
We all have to realize that to preach the gospel is not merely to preach or to teach; it is to fight the battle. Matthew 12 tells us that in order to preach the gospel we have to bind the strong man. Satan is the strong man, the one who usurps all people. The whole world is now under darkness and the usurping hand of Satan. To preach the gospel to bring someone to the Lord is to plunder some goods out of the usurping hand of Satan. Therefore, we have to pray to bind the strong man Satan. For this we need not only power but also authority. We can illustrate the difference between power and authority with a policeman. Cars on the street have power, but a policeman has authority. No matter how powerful a car is, when a policeman gives an order, he has the authority over the car.
Christ said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and disciple all the nations” (Matt. 28:18-19). When we go to preach the gospel, we must not only seek power from on high, but we must learn to exercise the authority of the headship and lordship of Christ. A policeman may be smaller than we are, but he has the authority because there is a government behind him. Because we cannot go against the government, we cannot go against a policeman. I have learned that in this country all the drivers are afraid of policemen. This does not mean that the policemen have the power; it means that they have the authority. Many cars on the street are powerful, but when a policeman gives the signal, everyone has to stop. Authority is over power. Are we going out to preach the gospel only with power? We also have to learn to exercise authority. We are the Body of the Head, and we are under the headship, so we have the Head as the “government” backing us. We have a strong backing, that is, the Head.
I have the burden that we would realize what our ground is to preach the gospel. It is not merely the ground that we love sinners or that we feel that there is the need for materials for the building up of the church. All these are good, but they are not adequate. We have to take the ground that Christ has ascended to the heavens. He has been enthroned, and all authority both in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. He is the Head, and He is the Lord. We are under His headship and under His lordship. Moreover, we are the members of His Body. It is on this ground that we are sent out. In actuality, we do not take the initiative; we are the sent ones. The Lord said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore.” We simply take the order. We are the policemen sent by the government. If we realize this, then when we go out to touch people by our preaching, we will have the assurance, the confidence, that the authority is with us.
Recently, there has been a real flow and a burden among us for the gospel, and some people already have been saved. However, I sense that we are still short of something. We are short of the realization that we have to take the ground of authority. Satan is the illegal usurper. We have to announce this, and we have to proclaim this. We have to tell the whole universe that Jesus is the proper Lord, the legal Owner of this universe. Today Jesus is on the throne. He is legally entitled by God as the Lord. He has received an authority that is absolutely unique both in heaven and on earth, and He has passed this authority on to us because we are His members, we are identified with Him, and we are one with Him as the Head. It is on this standing, in such a position, and taking such a ground that we go out. This is something different from mere power. When a policeman comes to us, he does not come only with power; he comes with authority. There is something great behind him. We cannot go against him because he has the authority. If our realization is to such an extent, we will have the faith and assurance that a person will be saved, and he will be plundered out of the hand of the enemy. Let us learn this.
Recently, the brothers and sisters have learned how to take the standing that they have been baptized with the power from on high. We have this standing because we are the members of the Body, and the Body already has been baptized. This is a reality among us in these days. However, I would point out to you something more. We have to realize that the Body of Christ has not only been baptized with the power but also entitled with the authority of Christ. We have the authority. All these matters require us to exercise our faith to realize that they are items in the will, the testament. Now we are simply discovering what the items of the will are. We have had this will for many years, yet so many items are still not clear to us. Now we are discovering all the items. In this will we have not only an item telling us that power is ours but also an item telling us that authority is ours. When we go out, we need to have this assurance, this realization. We are sent from the heavenly government, which is much greater than Washington, D.C. We are sent ones, sent from the heavenly Jerusalem. The Lord’s headship is much greater than the headship of the president of the United States. In the past have you ever had such a realization when going out to contact people? We all have to realize that this is not a doctrine. We have to receive this by believing.
Now we have heard that in this will, this testament, there is an item which says that Christ the Head, the Lord, has been entitled with the authority both in heaven and on earth, and He has passed on this authority to His Body. It is on this standing with such a realization that we go out, not merely to preach the gospel but to pass on orders. This is the order of the heavenly Washington, D.C. We have to give this order not only to humans but also to the demons and to the strong man, saying, “I come here in the name not only of Jesus but of the Lord Jesus. He is the Lord today. Satan, you have to take the order!” This is different from merely exercising power. This changes darkness into light and night into day. This even changes hell into heaven. There is no need for us to speak too much. We simply pass on the order. For a policeman to give a ticket does not require much work; he simply writes the ticket, and people have to take it and pay the fine. We must learn to exercise our faith as the “policemen” acting with authority.
We must learn these matters from the very beginning of our preaching of the gospel. If the Lord is willing, we will advance step by step. This is why I am speaking these things. I am truly burdened for this. I have the burden to pass on as much as I can, as much as I have learned about all the matters of the Lord’s service. In our preaching there is the need that we all realize that we can exercise authority. I know what I am speaking about. Twenty years ago I did much preaching. Whenever I preached, I took the standing that I was a sent one, sent not only by the “lowly Jesus” but by the Lord Jesus. I could say, “I am a sent one in this universe, and I come with authority. Maybe you do not know this, but the devil who is in you knows. He knows that now here is one with the authority to deal with him.” I could say to the devil, “Yes, I am your authority. You have to take my order. Leave this man and get out.”
This makes a difference. Many times when I stood up on the platform, I dared not to stand up in the realization that I could speak something. Rather, I stood in the realization that I am a sent one passing on the orders. Learn to exercise your faith in this way. Do not pay attention to feelings or to manifestations. To pay our attention to feelings and manifestations proves that we have an evil heart of unbelief. We have the will, the testament. Is this not good enough? If this is good enough, then there is no need to have a feeling, and there is no need to seek the manifestations. Simply take it and believe. The manifestations are in the hand of the Lord. We will see many wonderful things, but we should never pay attention to those things. The more we pay attention to those things, the more we will frustrate and be frustrated. As I pointed out in the previous chapter, the people sojourning in the outer court had many signs as manifestations, but those who served in the Holy of Holies had no signs. Rather, they had the shekinah glory of the Lord. That was a matter of faith. Always keep the principle of working, walking, and doing things in faith, not by sight. Take the item in the will that Christ has been entitled and that we are authorized. Now we go out on this standing.
I have noticed that the attitude of policemen in this country is always good. I have been in this country at least twice before, and now I have been here for more than three years. I never saw a policeman in this country who was not humble, polite, meek, and lovely. However, behind this loveliness there is the authority. We should exercise the Lord’s authority to deal with the demons, not with people. Rather, we have to exercise love, humility, kindness, and loveliness to deal with people. In our heart and in our realization we do say, “I am here with authority,” but in our attitude with people we have to be very nice. We should not say to them, “I am one sent from the heavenly Jerusalem.” This is wrong. The humbler, the nicer, and the kinder we are, the better.
To the devil and the demons we are not polite; we are very strong. However, to people we have to be kind. If we are too strong toward people, we will be utilized by the enemy. We must learn the subtle wiles of the enemy and learn how to deal with the situation. We should be strong with the enemy but kind with people.
Romans 10:6 through 8 says, “The righteousness which is out of faith speaks in this way, ‘Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven?’ that is, to bring Christ down; or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of the faith which we proclaim.” Verses 6 and 7 speak of Christ, but in verse 8 the subject changes to “the word.” The word that we preach is the word in the preacher’s mouth, but here it says that the word that we preach is in the mouth of the listener, and not only in his mouth but also in his heart. What is this word? Is this merely a doctrine? We have to realize that the word mentioned here is the very Spirit. If we compare this verse to John 6:63, we can see that the word that the Lord speaks is spirit and life. If the word spoken by the Lord were not spirit, how could it enter into the heart of the listeners? This is the reason that while we are preaching the word in a living way, this living word becomes the Spirit in the hearts of the listeners. We can never separate the Lord’s word from the Spirit. The Spirit and the word are always two in one. While we are speaking the word, the Holy Spirit mingles Himself with the word. Then when the word arrives in the hearts of the listeners, it becomes the living Spirit. If we read these few verses in Romans 10 again and again, we will realize that the word mentioned in verse 8 is not a doctrine but is something living. In the previous verses it refers to Christ, but all of a sudden in this verse it changes from Christ to the word.
Therefore, when we go to preach, we need to teach people a little, but we should not do too much teaching. We must not have the feeling that we are going to teach people. Rather, we need to have the assurance that the Lord is with us, and His living Spirit is mingled with our word. When we speak, we need the living faith that our word is a word full of the Spirit. For this reason, we have to learn not to speak the teaching of religion. We must learn to speak something about Christ, the living One. We are not ministering mere doctrines as a religion; we are ministering the living Christ to people. Of course, there is no need to declare to people that we are doing this, but we have to do it in a proper way, learning the proper way to speak. Regardless of which way we contact people, the goal, the aim, is to minister Christ to them, to bring them to realize that what they need is Christ Himself, the living One.
According to Romans 10:6 through 8, while we are preaching Christ, this kind of preaching becomes the living Spirit. We have to tell people that Christ today is all-inclusive. God is in Him, and man is in Him. We should not be afraid that they cannot understand this. Sometimes they can understand it better than we do. Recently, some brothers went out to preach the gospel, telling people about the Body of Christ, God’s economy, and the spirit, soul, and body. Those whom they spoke to were able to receive it. This is our gospel. We must have the assurance that we are ministering Christ to people, and this Christ whom we minister to others is the all-inclusive One. Not only is He the Savior and the Redeemer, but He is also the Head, the Lord, and the One on the throne with glory and authority.
In a living way we must tell people about Christ. We should not preach the old gospel. If we preach a living Christ, the Holy Spirit will honor our preaching, and the word that we speak will become the Spirit and life to others. Our word will become the word in their heart and in their mouth. Then we can point out to them that Christ is now in their heart and in their mouth because today Christ is in the Spirit and He is the Spirit. We may give them the illustration of electricity and radio waves. When the word is spoken at the radio station, it becomes radio waves that bring the word to every part of the earth. In this sense it becomes a living word. We may tell people, “Now I am speaking in the Spirit, and the Spirit is like electricity. My word is in the Spirit, so it is in you, in your heart, as the living Spirit who also is Christ. What you need now is simply to believe in Him and say to Him, ‘Lord Jesus.’ If you will open your mouth to call Jesus the Lord, you will be saved.” Then we can read them 1 Corinthians 12:3, which says, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God says, Jesus is accursed; and no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” If a person says, “O Lord Jesus!” this means that the Holy Spirit is moving within him.
There is no need to go out to teach people. We simply should go to make people genuine Christians in this way. We can do it very quickly. In one minute a person can be converted. We can say, “I am speaking for Christ, and I am speaking in Christ. Now Christ is in you. Would you say, ‘Lord Jesus’?” If the person does this, he will be saved. This depends on the faith that we exercise. If we go to a person and exercise our faith to such an extent, the Holy Spirit will honor it. Then we will see a real conversion, a real change in life in this man. There will be a real moving within him. That is the start of the work of the Holy Spirit. He will love the Lord, he will love the Scriptures, he will love to contact genuine Christians, and he will love to come to the meetings. This will prove that he has been saved. That he does not know much doctrine does not mean anything. We should not give him too much doctrine. Rather, we should help him in a living way.
Moreover, we should try not to argue with people, saying, “Sir, do you believe there is a God?” This opens the door for the enemy to come in to argue. It opens the door for argument and closes the door for believing. There is the fact, so there is no need to argue. There is God; there is no doubt about this. Whether or not someone acknowledges that there is a God, everyone believes deep within that there is a God. Therefore, we should simply speak something in a living way about Christ. Just a few words are sufficient. Then the person we speak with will pray, “O Lord Jesus.” That is good enough. Once a person calls Jesus the Lord, he is saved. We should simply tell people to call Him the Lord.
We should also help the person to realize that Christ is everywhere. Christ is omnipresent, because He is in the Spirit and He is the Spirit today. He is like electricity and like the air. Wherever we are, electricity is there and the air is there. The way to receive Him is simply by saying “Lord Jesus.” Whenever a person opens his or her mouth to say, “Lord Jesus,” we have to say, “Hallelujah, praise the Lord! Here is a soul gained through me.”
As a second step, we must tell this person that we are sinful and that we have to confess our sins. Then he will say, “Lord Jesus, I am sinful,” and we can help him to see that all his sins were put on Jesus when He was crucified. We can give him the gospel in this way. Many times we have to give someone the gospel after he calls on the Lord Jesus. This can be compared to bringing him to America and then showing him the things in America. We need not tell him the things about America while he is still outside of it. We can bring him to America and say, “Look, here is Los Angeles; you are right here.” We must bring him into Christ and then tell him the things in Christ. Brothers, go and try to do this. These are some shortcuts for the preaching of the gospel.
Preaching the gospel is truly a matter of faith. Many times people say that we need love for sinners. There is no doubt that we need love and a real concern for sinners, but going out to preach the gospel is mainly a matter of faith. First, we have to believe whatever is spoken in the Word. If we do not believe, if we have even a little bit of doubt about the Scriptures, we lose the ground of faith, and the enemy, the devil and the demons, will know. Therefore, we have to exercise our faith, telling the Lord and telling the whole universe, “I believe in Jesus. I believe in the Triune God, and I believe in every word of the Scriptures.” We have to exercise our faith to tell the enemy that we believe all the words in the Scriptures, so we are going out to preach the gospel with assurance, confidence, and authority.
We have to exercise in this way. We cannot be indifferent when we preach. When a policeman comes to us, he comes with a definite purpose. We must learn to exercise faith to believe that we have been saved, we have ascended to the heavens, and we have been entitled with all that Christ has attained and obtained. We have to exercise faith to such an extent that we can preach the gospel in a prevailing way. We must not pay attention to any feeling. Even if feelings do come, we have to tell the enemy, “I do not accept these feelings. I do not care what kind of feeling I have. As long as I have the will, the testament, in my hand, that is good enough. I believe in this will, and I believe in this work. I do not need any kind of manifestation, and I do not need any kind of feeling.” Then we will see that the Holy Spirit honors us.
We must exercise the faith that anyone we touch will be saved. The evil one within us always causes us to doubt and ask how this can be. We must not try to figure it out by ourselves; rather, we have to exercise faith. If we do not believe that a person we touch can be saved, he will not be saved. The principle is that what is accomplished is according to our faith: “According to your faith, let it be done to you” (Matt. 9:29). We have to learn the lesson to exercise faith.
In order to exercise faith we have to be dealt with by the Lord. We have to be cleansed and have everything cleared up. If something within condemns us, we have to confess it and deal with it. If our conscience has some kind of accusation, our faith will be gone. We cannot take an indifferent attitude. We must take a positive attitude in faith, but this requires that we have everything cleared up and that we be cleansed. We have to confess and apply the blood for cleansing for whatever condemns us within. We should go to the Lord again and again to get ourselves cleansed and to make ourselves right with the Lord. Then we will have a pure conscience, a good conscience, a genuine conscience without any kind of offense. We can stand before the whole universe and tell the enemy, “Now my conscience is cleared up. I have no condemnation. I am void of any kind of offense, without accusation.” If we are unable to work out certain matters, we should simply tell the Lord, “I am willing to do it, Lord, but I cannot. Cover me in this respect with Your precious blood.” This will make us right with the Lord so that we will have boldness within.
Not only must we be right with the Lord, but when we go to preach the gospel, we have to get ourselves right with the Body and with all the members. If there is something between us and the brothers, that will be a real hindrance, so we have to deal with that hindrance and get right with the brothers. If we are not right with the brothers, we will lose the ground. The enemy, the devil, will laugh at us. This is the reality in the spiritual world. The enemy knows whether or not we are right with God, right with the Body, and right with the members of the Body. We cannot fool him. If we are not right in some matter with any member of the Body, then when we go out to preach the gospel, the evil one will always hit this weak point. We will not have the assurance, because there is a weak point. Therefore, we have to get right with God, with the Body, and with all the members. Then we can say, “I am a person in this universe who is one hundred percent right with God under the blood, and I am a member of the Body of Christ who is one hundred percent right with all the members. I have no problem with any member.” Then we will have assurance.
When we say that we have to pray much for the gospel preaching, we mean that by praying we are dealt with by the Lord very much. It is easy for sinners to be saved, but it is not as easy for us to be dealt with thoroughly. We have to be dealt with thoroughly by the Lord. Then we will be on the right ground. Learn to exercise your faith, and learn to be dealt with thoroughly. Then you will have the authority. I do not pay much attention to the result of the preaching of the gospel, but I pay my attention to the learning of the brothers. I am still watching to see how much the brothers and sisters are learning. This is the real building up. Some may say, “We are still not built up, so we cannot go to preach.” If this is so, then they must be built up by being dealt with. We have to be dealt with to get right with God, with the Body, and with every member.
We have to learn the lessons. By the grace of the Lord, we are now under the learning process. I have seen and I still am seeing that all the brothers and the sisters are so willing to learn the lessons. Do not pay attention to the result. Do not be bothered by the numbers. We must be assured that a good number of people will be brought in. There is no doubt about that. The thing I am concerned for is that the brothers and sisters would learn and be built up. I am concerned for how much we have learned, that is, how much we are being dealt with thoroughly by the Lord. To have this experience is wonderful. After the preaching of the gospel, we will see a glorious building up among us, plus some souls will be brought in among us; the result will be a positive gain. The main thing is the learning of the brothers and sisters. Before the preaching we may see weaknesses and problems, but after the preaching we wish to see that many dear brothers and sisters have been dealt with by the Lord. I believe that after we preach the gospel, many praises will go to the Lord, saying, “Lord, we thank You not only for the preaching, not only for the sinners being brought to Your Body, but for us, that we ourselves have learned so much, that we have been dealt with so much, that we have been built up so much, and that we have learned to know the spiritual world and all the devilish wiles.”
In the future we will have more effectual preaching of the gospel. We will have the furtherance of the gospel, not only in this city but to other districts and even to other nations. After being trained in the military service, it is easy to be formed into an army. We also will learn the lessons and be trained; then it will be easy for us to be an army. If the Lord can have a prevailing expression of His church, the gospel will be very prevailing. It depends on the expression. Therefore, do not pay attention to the result, but pay attention to yourself.
Do not think that it is good enough simply to bring people to be saved and to bring them to the church. Rather, that is only the delivery of the child. Mothers know that after a child is delivered, they will have many troubles. This is the main reason that mothers do not like to have many children; two or three are good enough. Nevertheless, in the church we need more deliveries, the more the better. We have to learn how to bear the responsibility, how to take care of the difficulties, and many other necessary matters. After the preaching of the gospel, we will be very busy. We are expecting many deliveries, so we see that we will have to take care of many things. For this reason, after our preaching of the gospel, we should invite all the brothers and sisters and all those who hear the gospel to come together for follow-up meetings. Moreover, we hope on the following Lord’s Day to have baptisms. As long as people are clear about their salvation, we have to baptize them right away. We have to learn how to take care of our responsibility. We have to learn much in this regard in order to help the new converts to go on. This is a tremendous responsibility, and many things are involved with it. Praise the Lord, these matters will afford us the best opportunity to learn and be trained in a practical way! May the Lord be merciful to us.
