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Scripture Reading: Matt. 28:19; Acts 4:31; Rom. 10:13; Mark 16:16a
Starting from October of 1984, the Lord has led us anew to have a change in Taipei. This does not mean that the truth among us has changed; the truth will never change. This change is rather a renewing of our way of serving, functioning, and meeting. From many perspectives we have studied and observed the church history of the twentieth century to see how the saints on this earth have served, functioned, and met. We did this to find the proper way that is according to the Lord’s leading in the present age with regard to the meetings and service.
We have spent much time and energy to bring in such a change because we saw that even though the truth in the Lord’s recovery is rich, bright, and high, the increase in the number of saints among us has been very slow and low. We have studied the rates of increase of all the Christian groups as well as other major religious groups in human society, observing how they propagate. This is not to say that we intend to imitate them. Rather, we did this for comparison and reference. The thing that made us feel most ashamed is that among the five major religions, the one that has had the highest rate of propagation in the last few centuries is Islam. Their increase is measured not by percentage but rather by multiples. The rate of increase of Christians, however, has been extremely low.
I came to start the work in the United States in 1962. In the summer of 1964 a brother who was a worker in the Southern Baptist denomination showed us their statistics. The report indicated that in 1964 the Southern Baptist denomination had eleven million members. In 1985 their number increased by another three million, bringing the total to fourteen million. From the numerical point of view, this is very impressive. However, considering that this took place within twenty-two years, the rate of increase is only about one and a half percent, not even two percent. This shows that their rate of increase is very low, and the spread is very slow. The rate of increase and spread of Christianity’s largest group—the Catholic Church—is also very low. Because of this, we felt even more that there is the need to study the situation.
The strange thing is that the two great heretical groups within Christianity, the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, have had the fastest increase and spread within the past one hundred years. We have examined the publications of Mormonism and have found their literature heretical. They say that Jesus Christ was born of Mary and Adam. What other heresy can be greater than this? They acknowledge Jesus Christ, they also refer to the Bible, and they speak about the Holy Spirit. They explain the former rain and the latter rain in the Old Testament book of Joel by saying that the Holy Spirit descending on the day of Pentecost is the former rain, while the Holy Spirit descending in the future is the latter rain. Therefore, they call themselves the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” However, they say in blasphemy that the one in whom they believe and whom they preach was born of Mary and Adam.
Recently, when I went to the mountains to rest, I contacted a real estate agent there who was an upright man and also a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. One day he came to my resting place for a special visit. During the course of our conversation I found out that he is a zealous person who always sets aside two days out of the week for the purpose of door-knocking. When we came to some theological issues, I asked him, “Who is this Jesus Christ whom you worship and serve? Is He God?” He answered, “Jesus Christ is not the eternal God, who has no beginning and no ending. Since Jesus Christ has a beginning, He is not the eternal God but the archangel Michael.” Right away, I opened up Romans 9:5 to show him that Jesus Christ “is God over all, blessed forever.” After he read it, he said that the punctuation marks in this verse are wrong. I said, “That is your way of taking it out of context. This verse in Greek clearly indicates that Jesus Christ is God, who is over all and blessed forever.” I say this to let you see that these two groups are heretical, but they are the fastest growing groups among all the groups in Christianity. They have the highest rate of increase of members. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves why it seems that we cannot spread out even though the truth is rich, the light is clear, and the vision is high among us in the Lord’s recovery.
When I started laboring in Taiwan in 1949, I made a decision that we should propagate the gospel in an aggressive way. What we did in Taipei is an example. We divided each district according to different streets and lanes. The brothers and sisters would claim a portion until each street and lane were claimed. The saints went from house to house to pass out gospel tracts until they covered all of Taipei. At the same time, we posted gospel banners such as “God loves the world” and “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” on the big streets, small lanes, intersections, bus stops, and the doors of the houses of the brothers and sisters. There was also a gospel team that went out to proclaim the gospel in the evenings in the middle of the week. On the Lord’s Day different teams took their route into the New Park. Every Lord’s Day afternoon the three thousand seats at the amphitheater in the New Park were filled. We were able to bring back four hundred gospel name cards. The next night we distributed the cards to the brothers and sisters so that they could right away go door-knocking and visiting. Because of this, a great number of people were saved. Not only did we do this in Taipei, but other localities also practiced this. Therefore, when the work began in Taiwan, there were only three to five hundred people, but in five or six years the number increased one hundredfold, reaching forty to fifty thousand people. From this we also learned a lesson, realizing that we cannot only pray without taking any action. Prayer is first, but following the prayer there should be action. Only in this way can the Lord bless us.
In 1957 when we invited Brother T. Austin-Sparks to come and visit us, a small distraction ensued, causing the one accord among us to be damaged. From that time on, the increase of the Lord’s recovery has been going downhill. When I left the country and stayed overseas for more than twenty years, the number almost did not increase at all, because there was the lack of proper action. We studied this segment of our history, and after making comparisons we felt that we needed to restore a proper action. In Matthew 28:18-19 the Lord Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore.” The Lord already has the authority, but if we do not go, it is impossible to have the increase. This shows us that on the Lord’s side He has the authority, the power, but on our side we need to cooperate, to take action.
Starting from October of 1984, we studied this matter in Taipei, and we started to experiment. I also told the brothers and sisters that from that day on, all our meetings, services, and activities would have to be changed thoroughly. We needed to put aside what we had from the past. We thank and praise the Lord that up to the first half of this year, our experiment has proved to be correct and totally practical. In this chapter I first want to fellowship a result that came out of our experiment: We should go door-knocking and preach the gospel from house to house in the communities and on the college campuses, not to people we are familiar with but by knocking on “strange” doors. Due to the influence of our backgrounds and past experiences, we have always felt that we would be turned down if we knock on a stranger’s door. However, our experiment has proved that as long as we are willing to knock, the door will open. Therefore, with this kind of situation we have to learn how to visit by door-knocking.
It is true that in cooperating with prayer, we should take action and go out to visit by door-knocking. However, your person is crucial when it comes to door-knocking. Due to our persons, your visiting may be one way, and my visiting may be another way; if the president were to visit people, he would do it in yet another way. Therefore, there have to be some requirements for visitation by door-knocking. First, you must be one who loves and seeks the Lord. Second, you must be one who pursues the truth and is learned in the truth. Third, you must be one who grows in life and is being transformed day by day. Fourth, you must be one who deals often with sins, prays before the Lord, and is always filled by the Holy Spirit. Fifth, you must be one who has had a change in character because of the life that is within you. In order to go out visiting people by door-knocking, you need to be equipped with these fundamental requirements.
Using a colloquial expression, we may describe the shortcoming of the Chinese as being loose and sloppy. In the spring of this year, there were over one hundred college graduates who joined the full-time training in Taipei. I have had two classes with them every week. Once I said to them, “Your hair is not properly combed; it looks so messy. Will people listen to you when you go and preach the gospel to them? Look at yourselves. Your ties do not match in color, your shirts are not coordinated, your socks look even worse, and who knows how long it has been since you last polished your shoes. If this is the way you look, when you stand there giving a message or sit there to preach the gospel to others, who will listen to you? A Chinese proverb says, ‘Words from a man of lowly position carry little weight.’ This means that if you are a light person, your speaking will be light as well. When people see that you do not look like a proper person yet you are trying to preach the gospel to them to get them saved, they may think that you should be saved first before you come and get them saved.” Thank and praise the Lord that after I said that, the next time I went to the class, I saw that the brothers had combed their hair neatly, and the sisters had changed their clothes. They all dressed properly and suitably, and their shoes were brightly polished.
If you truly love the Lord, desire the truth, pursue the growth in life, frequently confess your sins, receive dealings before the Lord, and are being filled with the Holy Spirit, you will be improved in your character. If you have a good character when you go out to visit people, they will give you a certain amount of respect from the moment they open the door. But when you go to knock on doors, if your hair is messy, your tie is crooked and does not match your clothes, and your shoes are not polished, then people may open the door to let you in, and they may ask you to sit down, but the more they observe you, the more they will feel that you are not proper. After being examined by them for a few minutes, you will be too embarrassed to speak, and you will lose your standing. Therefore, for us to propagate and for the number of people to increase, we need to be thoroughly changed and equipped anew.
When we go door-knocking in the community and on the campuses, we must know how to do it. First of all, every time before we go out, we must have adequate and thorough prayer until we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Once we turn to our spirit and pray to the Lord, our inner being will be enlightened. We will sense many things that are improper, as though we have come to a mirror and seen our real situation. At that time we have to confess our sins, the more the better. This will cause us to deal with our sins. When we have nothing more to confess, the Holy Spirit will fill us. When all our trespasses and sins have been emptied out, the Holy Spirit will fill our entire being. Then we will have the boldness to go door-knocking.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is like breathing. Breathing is a continual matter. If we hold our breath for three minutes, we will die. Hence, every time we go to visit people, we first have to pray earnestly. Even though we prayed yesterday, we have to pray again for our going out today and come before the Lord for His shining. In our daily walk in the world we are always being defiled; thus, we need to be cleansed again and again. This may be likened to washing our hands. Although I do not usually do the cleaning at home and try my best not to touch anything dirty, I still have to wash my hands seven to eight times a day. In the same way, no matter how thoroughly you prayed and confessed to the Lord yesterday, you still have to pray thoroughly today before you go out to visit people and bring the Lord to them. You cannot omit this time of prayer. You must pay the price for this. If you are serious in this matter, you will realize that it is not enough to spend merely three to five minutes to pray.
It is an unalterable law that to pray until we are filled with the Holy Spirit requires us to be enlightened and to confess our sins. The more silent we are before the Lord and the more we are open to Him, the more sense we will have within. That sense is the Lord’s speaking to us; it is the Lord’s shining. The Lord speaks to us by the sense that we have. As this sense becomes clearer and clearer and the Lord’s shining becomes brighter and brighter, we will see our mistakes. We need to confess our sins one by one and deal with them as we sense the Lord’s shining. The Lord may shine on you to show you that your anger at your wife this morning was not right. After confessing this to the Lord, He may say, “Now that you have confessed your sin to Me, you need to go to your wife to apologize.” This puts you in a difficult position. If you stop here and do not go and apologize, you will be finished. In this condition you will not be effective in your door-knocking. Amazingly, if you do go and apologize and come again before the Lord, you will immediately be filled with the Holy Spirit. You will feel the “wind” of the Spirit passing through you. Then your going out to knock on doors will go well.
This is not a coincidence; rather, this is a spiritual law. If you have some knots within you that you cannot be freed from, how are you going to free others? If you yourself are not saved, how are you going to save others? In other words, we need to let the Lord first save us to the uttermost until we are freed; then when we go out door-knocking, we can save others. We might be able to pretend in other matters, but we cannot pretend in this matter. One can tell by looking at the fruit. I hope that we will be seriously exercised in this matter before the Lord.
To pray, to confess our sins, to deal with our sins, and subsequently to be filled with the Holy Spirit will result in boldness and confidence. If you go out door-knocking but have not prayed, your legs will be shaking, and you will not have power in your speaking. However, through prayer, confessing of sins, and being filled with the Holy Spirit, not only will you have the boldness when door-knocking, but you will also have the confidence that the person you are visiting will be saved. If you have not been filled with the Holy Spirit, you might not be able to speak even a word out of your mouth. Once you are filled with the Holy Spirit though, not only will you have the power for speaking, but you also can determine whether or not he will be saved. If you say that he will be saved, he will be saved; if you say that he will not be saved and that he needs to wait awhile, then he will not be saved. This is the effectiveness of prayer, confessing of sins, and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
When you go door-knocking, you have to pay attention to your attitude. You should never be reckless or hasty. Rather, you should be modest, courteous, gentle, respectful, dignified, and weighty. Moreover, when you speak, you should learn to be concise instead of being wordy and to be affectionate instead of being cold. If you are too wordy and mechanical, people may close their door immediately or find an excuse to reject you. Thus, you have to exercise to speak straightforwardly, directly, affectionately, and politely. If they answer, “I do not have time,” you should not give up. Instead, you should say, “It will take you just one minute.” Eventually, the person may be saved and baptized because of this one-minute gospel preaching. It is because we have had this kind of experience that we practice the “one-minute gospel.”
Even if you have learned all the truths, a person whom you visit by knocking on his door will not be able to discern that. However, if you take out a book and open it to read with him, his attitude will instantly become more respectful. This also was one of the results of our experiment in Taipei. Anything that is printed in a volume or published as a book is something that is not common. Words that are trivial will not be printed in a book. It does not matter who the person is or how high his speaking skill is, no one can speak as neatly and concisely as a book. The words used in our books have been considered over and over again during the course of writing. Therefore, the wording and the phrasing are clearer and more concise. One co-worker told me, “I found out that while door-knocking, especially on the college campuses, it is useless to speak our own words. The more efficient way is to read our publications. Sometimes I simply open up the Recovery Version and ask the person to read a paragraph of a footnote, and he gets saved.” This brother also uses the Life-studies from time to time. He simply opens them for the person to read a section, and the person gets saved. The words of the footnotes in our Recovery Version are refined and pure, and they are also the crucial truths. Some of the sections in our Life-studies are also very important. We need to learn to use these.
The booklet The Mystery of Human Life has also been greatly used by the Lord in this year. I believe that the total print quantity of this booklet in all the localities is about one million copies. Hence, we also have to learn to use this booklet. While using it, do not be wordy; furthermore, the shorter the time you take, the better. First, you should memorize the four main sections. The first section is on God’s creation, the second section is on man’s fall, the third section is on Christ’s redemption, and the fourth section is on God’s dispensing. While you are reading with someone, do not read from the beginning to the end in a dead and rigid way. You need to learn to follow the Spirit’s leading within you. When you sense that you need to read a certain section, then turn to that section and read it. Do not read too much; if you read too much, you will lose the Lord in the reading. A salesperson once told me that the technique to making sales is not to speak too much. Just speak a few sentences that are clear and concise, and then draw the person to say, “Very good.” Once you hear this word, you should immediately say, “Very good; please buy one!” and take out your order book. Because he has already said it is good, he will be reluctant to refuse.
A brother once testified that the person he visited said that his speaking was very good. I instructed those present that this was the right moment to “tie the knot” and lead that person to pray. If that person would pray, he would believe and receive the Lord, and then the brother should baptize him. However, if he would not grasp the opportunity but would continue to talk, the opportunity may slip away, and he would not be able to “close the deal.” However, some brothers present said, “We are afraid that this is too fast; we are still strangers to one another.” Such a consideration means that it is not the new one who is not willing to pray, but it is you who are not willing to pray. It is not that he is not willing to lose his face, but it is you who are not willing to lose your face in leading the prayer. I am speaking these things from my experience. It was the same with me in the past. When I went to lead someone to the Lord, often at the critical juncture I did not have the boldness to lead him to pray. Instead, I kept thinking that it might be too early and that I should not take the opportunity. Once I lost the opportunity, though, I may have lost it for my whole life; I may never have had the opportunity to see him again.
Brother Nee once told us that gospel preachers have to be thick-skinned. Those who are thin-skinned cannot lead people to salvation. Perhaps some brothers and sisters would say, “If this is the case, then since I am such a thin-skinned person, I may as well forget about going out to knock on doors.” You may do so as long as you have the peace, but everyone else will still continue to knock on doors. In the past, when I saw strangers, I would start sweating, and my face would turn red. Every time my mother wanted to invite people to our home, I would be the first one to object because I did not like to meet strangers, and I disliked even more going to other people’s homes. Therefore, when I had to preach the gospel to others and lead them to pray at the end, I could not relax my face or open my mouth. Later, the Lord arranged the environment and forced me into a situation in which I had to stand and speak from the platform. It does not matter if you are thin-skinned; as long as you are willing to practice, willing to go visit by door-knocking, slowly you will have the boldness. On the other hand, while you are door-knocking, you must learn the technique of grasping the opportunity to lead a person to believe and pray. Immediately after he prays, you should show him Romans 10:13, which says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Then say to him, “My friend, congratulations! You are saved!” The next thing is to lead him to be baptized.
Before October of 1984, I did not thoroughly study the Bible regarding the most appropriate way of baptism. Christianity has unceasingly debated the two ways of baptism—baptism by immersion or baptism by sprinkling. Baptism by immersion is to put the entire person into the water, whereas baptism by sprinkling is merely to drop some water on the person. The Bible speaks only about the need for baptism, but it does not emphasize the method of baptism. After one and a half years of door-knocking, our study has shown us that the important matter is not how we baptize people but how to baptize people at the opportune time. Sometimes the person we visit has already believed and received the Lord; he has already prayed to be saved. In this case we must baptize him immediately. If we insist on a method, such as bringing him to the meeting hall’s baptistery to be baptized, then before we reach the meeting hall, he probably will have changed his mind and made up excuses to not be baptized. There have been times when some people already had arrived at the meeting hall to be baptized; however, when they were about to change their clothes, they rejected the idea and ran away. Therefore, you have to carry out the baptism while “the iron is still hot.” Once you see the opportunity, you should grasp it and baptize people. There are many new and modern apartment buildings in Taipei where there is a big bathtub in the bathroom, and the temperature of the water is easily managed to be hot or cold. As long as there is the opportunity for baptism, the sisters can go fill the tub with water while others are praying. Then after the prayer, the brothers can baptize the person. Sometimes the bathtub is big enough for only the lower part of the body to be baptized. In that case we can pour water on the upper part. This kind of baptism by half immersion and half pouring is also convenient. Hence, do not pay attention to the form but rather to the Spirit.
Beginning from this August, the saints who are coming to join the full-time training in Taipei will include almost five hundred from Taiwan, close to one hundred fifty from America, twenty or more from Europe, and a few from South America and Africa. Thus, the number of trainees will be well over six hundred fifty. Including twenty to thirty language class teachers, the total will be over seven hundred. This time the training has one regulation, that is, that the trainees have to go out and visit people two mornings a week and also visit the community and college campuses every afternoon and in the evenings when there are no scheduled meetings. Each of the seven hundred trainees should baptize at least one person per week. In this way two thousand eight hundred people will be baptized in just a few weeks. I hope that from now on, not only the full-time trainees but also each elder and co-worker will practice door-knocking and visiting people. This is the first item that we should practice. Maybe we cannot go out to knock on doors every day, but one thing we can do is spend two to three hours each week for door-knocking. We should visit not only those whom we know but also those whom we do not know. We should knock on all the doors in the district in which we live. Do not worry or be anxious. As long as we are willing to do it, we will be successful.
The result of our study and experiment this year in Taipei has proved that the new way is surely the God-ordained way. First, we discovered that many high-rise and apartment managers are brothers who have not been meeting with us regularly. When we enter into a high-rise building or an apartment, we have to go through the manager to get his permission. If the manager is not a Christian, once he hears that you have come to preach the gospel, he may have a long face and ask you to leave, not welcoming you or paying attention to you. However, the Lord has confirmed His new way. When many of the managers heard that we were preaching the gospel, they immediately welcomed us and said, “Thank the Lord, I also am a brother. I just have not been coming to the meetings.” In this way, not only was the door opened, but he was also invisibly stirred up and recovered.
Second, in the recent twenty to thirty years, there have been a great number of people who were baptized in Taipei. Even though we have used computers to study the statistics, we still cannot determine exactly how many there have been. The number is close to one hundred thousand. Many among them were not meeting with us for a long time, but they were discovered again through the house-to-house visitation. They all welcomed us to come to their homes to start a home meeting. Third, we have also knocked on the doors of many believers who are in the denominations. They also love the Lord and pursue the Lord. Because of their desire for the truth, they were attracted by our practice of the new way, and they turned to the Lord’s recovery. Fourth, many unbelievers believed and were baptized. These results are of many aspects, yet they are linked together and closely interrelated. They all have had a great effect on the increase and spread of the Lord’s recovery. Therefore, according to the result of the study, we were able to draw a conclusion: The new way is surely the best way ordained by God. There is no better way than this.
We also have become clear that when we go out to knock on doors, we should bring not only the booklet The Mystery of Human Life but also some other books, such as the Life-studies and the Recovery Version of the New Testament. As to which books to bring with you, you first need to pray. If you walk according to the spirit, you will realize that in your door-knocking you will often meet someone who is very pursuing. At this time you may ask him to read a section of the footnotes in the Recovery Version or give him some literature. In this way, not only do we preach the gospel, but we also use the opportunity to preach and spread the truth. Recently, some serving ones from the ministry office went out for fellowship and were resting in the mountains. While they were singing hymns and praying, an old retired woman who lived across the street heard them and came over to see them. She was happy to be gathered together with the Lord’s believers. She was also a believer who loved the Lord and was attending the Southern Baptist denomination. The sisters read to her a portion of the footnote concerning the five women in Jesus Christ’s genealogy in Matthew 1. After she listened, she said, “This book is wonderful. Where can I buy it?” The sisters then gave one to her. She was so happy and immediately said, “I will prepare a breakfast tomorrow; let us eat together.” The next day after they ate breakfast, right before they were about to leave, she said, “I am the owner of this house. From now on, whenever you want to come to the mountain, please give me a call. I will welcome your visitation.” This proves that the new way is truly the best way. Not only can it send out the gospel to save people, turn people back to the Lord, or search out the backsliding saints, but it can also send out the truths.
I hope that the saints in the Lord’s recovery will all accept the God-ordained new way. Perhaps you have just been newly saved, or perhaps you have been saved for a long while but have never been taught in this way. In any case, you all must admit that the most joyful thing on earth is to lead people to salvation. Luke 15 tells us that when a sinner repents, there is joy in heaven (v. 7). The Father also is happy (vv. 23-24, 32). Seriously speaking, there is no other thing that profits human society more than the preaching of the gospel. Whether in America or in Taiwan, the need of the whole society is the gospel. Because Taiwan has widespread wealth and much indulgence in pleasures, sins have multiplied. It is even more so in America; there is danger everywhere because sinful things abound. How can the Lord bless in this kind of sinful condition? The Christians are the most blessed people because they have received the redemption of the Lord Jesus by faith to enjoy His salvation. Christians are happiest when they preach the gospel to lead people to salvation, which even causes society to be blessed.
We also hope that in the Lord’s recovery there will be one full-timer out of every twenty people. Taipei is practicing this arrangement. There already are one thousand young people who have received this burden. We hope that the number could increase to two thousand five hundred. In this way in just one year, we will be able to gospelize the whole of Taiwan. There are schools and communities everywhere in America, so there is a greater need of full-timers to go out and work for the Lord. However, this move of gospelization is not only the full-timers’ responsibility; it is also the responsibility of every saint. Therefore, every saint should set aside at least two to three hours a week to go out to visit people. We will definitely see the fruit after a long period of practice.
On the other hand, in order to produce more full-timers, there is the need for more financial offerings. If there will indeed be two thousand five hundred full-timers in Taiwan, the churches’ expenditures will be huge. Hence, we each need to give a portion, putting forth not only our shoulders but also our material possessions. In Luke 16:9 the Lord Jesus said, “I say to you, Make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles.” You may forget what you offered in this age, but this amount is remembered in heaven. Even in eternity those who have received help through your giving will never forget what you spent on them. They will do their best to repay you. This is the most blessed thing. This is not to say that we should pawn all our belongings or sell all our possessions in order to have something to offer to the Lord. Rather, we need to give what we can according to what the Lord has given to each of us. Material things will eventually be consumed. Moreover, they can be used only in this age; they will never follow you or be there to welcome you in the eternal age. However, if you save up money for the purpose of the gospel, those people who are saved by it will welcome you in eternity. What a wise way of doing things!
If we all have such a heart, the Lord’s move will be blessed, our number will increase, and the spread will accelerate!
