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Human beings are limited. In particular, they are limited in how much they can work. Hence, it is God’s ordination that human beings have relaxation and rest. This also applies to young people and their studies. We should help young people understand that spending a great amount of time to study does not necessarily increase one’s learning. Whether a person learns depends on whether he studies diligently. When a young person makes a schedule of his activities, he must include some time for relaxation. Often those who regularly attend the meetings succeed in their studies because the meetings become their relaxation. In every school curriculum there is time allotted for physical education, which is a kind of relaxation. By including relaxation in his schedule, a student will be able to study effectively.
A school cannot confine its students to a classroom, requiring them to study twenty-four hours a day. The young people must understand that spending a large amount of time studying does not necessarily mean that they will study effectively. If the students make proper use of the meeting time, by considering it as a time of enjoyment and relaxation, their schoolwork will not be negatively affected. There have been many brothers and sisters who loved the Lord and who were also diligent students. They were good students, and they did not let their studies affect their attending the meetings. We must help the young saints in this matter so that they do not think that in order to be good students they must spend all their time studying. Studying until four or five o’clock in the morning will not make them good students. Such a schedule would make them useless the next day because, as human beings, our energy is limited. Human beings must work during the day and sleep at night, and we must have appropriate relaxation.
A student must be focused when he studies. Some students are capable, and a few are gifted, but all students must learn to focus. They should not depend on cramming in order to succeed. We should help the young people understand that their whole being should be focused on their studies. Then at an appropriate time, they should sleep and have some physical exercise and some enjoyment. Our enjoyment should not be going to movies but attending meetings. The meetings should be the enjoyment and relaxation of a Christian. Our young people will be greatly benefited if we can help them in this way to change their concept.
Some brothers say that the work must focus on a “nucleus” of committed saints. However, a co-worker who truly knows how to work will work in a way to enliven every saint. We must spend less time holding meetings to make decisions. In particular, the time for the elders’ meeting should be reduced, and it should be held less frequently. The elders should spend more time working with the saints. Every elder should visit the saints. Even if we have different ways to visit the saints, as long as it is living, it is good. There is no need to insist on uniformity.
It is important that we work until a person is enlivened. We should even let the junior high students hold their own meetings. A junior high brother may have many meetings in his school. Perhaps a young person would gather five or six friends and have a meeting and then gather five or six more for another meeting. Eventually, there may be four to five meetings in his junior high school so that many are led to salvation. This will increase his interest and burden to serve. There should be no set pattern for these meetings.
Furthermore, we should not be deterred by difficulties. In Matthew 25:24 the Lord is portrayed as a hard man, reaping where he did not sow, and gathering where he did not winnow. To reap where one did not sow indicates that the environment is not easy. There is no work that is without difficulty. However, we do not fear the difficult environment because the more difficult the environment, the more effective the work. Do not be subdued by the environment or look at difficulties in the environment. No matter how high a mountain is, it will be leveled. If a surface needs to be elevated, it will be filled in, and if a road needs to be made straight, it will be straightened. In short, nothing is too difficult. Every difficult situation can be conquered. We need such a spirit for the work. Especially those who are involved with the young people’s work need such a spirit, because the young ones can be very active.
During our first few years in the United States, we noticed that many American families brought their whole family, young and old, to the meetings. The families would all sit together in the meetings. The Americans considered this to be pious. The American mothers were strict disciplinarians and taught their children to be obedient. Hence, even though many children were present, there was little noise in the meeting. Later we found out that two hours was too long for the children to sit in a meeting. This made them resentful when they became older. As a result, we let the adults meet while some young people took care of the children. In other words, a children’s meeting was held concurrently with the meeting for the adults. When the parents came for a meeting, they would hand their children over to the serving ones. Thus, a child was in the hands of serving ones until he turned twelve years old. When he started junior high school, he was encouraged to attend the meeting for the adults.
According to this example, we should spend time to study our situation and find a proper way to do the work. A difficult environment does not mean that there is no way to work. It may not be bad to focus on a “nucleus,” but it is not appropriate to depend on this. If we continually have elders’ meetings and nucleus meetings but are unable to enliven all the saints, we will achieve nothing. Therefore, we must put our time and energy into the service. It is sufficient to have a brief meeting when a need arises. We must try our best to put our time and energy into the work, not into meetings related to the work.
We must do a living work, and we must live in the spirit and in life. This should not be merely a saying among us; it should be the way that we work. We must live in the spirit and experience the life within us. No matter how busy we are, we must remember to live in the spirit. Our activities do not ensure that our work will issue in life. In order for our service to issue in life, it must be in the spirit and in life. No matter how busy we are, we must not be disconnected from the spirit of life within us. We must maintain the inner sense of life. Ever since I began serving the Lord, I have not had much idle time in the work; rather, the more I work, the more work there is. Especially since the work in the United States opened up, the need in the work has continued to increase. Even thirty serving ones may not be able to cover all the needs. The more we work in the spirit, the more we are blessed by the Lord and the more work we will have.
By the Lord’s mercy, none of my messages, especially those given in the United States, are old; instead, every message is new. There is a brother among us who has been listening to messages since we began in China. When I went to the United States, he thought that I would present the messages we gave in China. Therefore, in order to coordinate with me, he prepared many books concerning edification of new believers and basic practices of a Christian. However, the messages that I released in the United States were entirely new, but they were not without a foundation. The messages that I gave last year were concerning the seven Spirits. Those messages were new.
In the summer of 1969 several small local churches near Cleveland gathered together and held a conference. One day as I stood up to speak during that conference, the inspiration concerning the seven Spirits came to me, so I released messages on the seven Spirits. The saints who attended that conference, most of whom were Americans, felt that those messages on the seven Spirits were unprecedented, fresh, and living. From that time onward, I have released more messages concerning the seven Spirits.
Spiritual work is not a matter of methods. The fellowship in the churches has been to encourage the saints to read spiritual books. However, the emphasis in most of the fellowship has been on how to promote and how to organize study groups. These methods are not useful, because the saints do not feel the need to read spiritual books.
When I was saved, there was no church in my locality, and there was no one to help me. I did not know which spiritual books were better, and I did not know where to buy them. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit operated within me and caused me to search everywhere for spiritual books. When I found a spiritual book, I read it immediately even if I had to stay up the whole night. I devoured and digested every book. At that time no one encouraged me, but I had a strong desire for spiritual books. Hence, leading the saints to read spiritual books is not a matter of outward methods. We must produce a need, a desire, in the saints’ spirit for spiritual books.
None of our books are difficult to read or understand. Hence, even a newly saved junior high student can read and understand them. Furthermore, the style of our publications was decided upon by Brother Nee. Our style of writing is not only easy to understand but also clear in meaning; it is able to touch people. If we change the way we write our publications, we will lose the touching power. The style we use causes people to feel that what they are reading is supplying them. This can be likened to a person eating food. Although he does not focus on the plate, the food is presented to him on a plate. The Lord gave us this style, we have used it for decades, and its influence is not superficial. Furthermore, spiritual matters should not be classified as either deep or shallow. We may consider the truths that a new believer can comprehend to be shallow, but the apostle Paul would understand these truths in a deep and profound way. Hence, whether a spiritual book is “shallow” or “deep” does not matter. This applies to the Bible. It is hard to say that one book of the Bible is deep and that another is shallow.
The preciousness of Andrew Murray’s The Spirit of Christ lies in its being very practical, not merely doctrinal. This book is concerning the Lord Christ as the Spirit and our spirit. Brother Nee admired this book. More than thirty years ago, he told me that if someone could translate this book into Chinese, he would be willing to cover the cost for printing. In 1950 when we met in Hong Kong, he said this again. For this reason, when we began to put out The Ministry of the Word magazine in 1951, we translated this book. Some believers criticized our translation and said that it was difficult to read, even though the translation matched the original text. Any attempt to change the translation would involve changing the meaning of the content. The vocabulary and the phrases used by the author are understandable, being neither too difficult nor too deep. The sentence structure and the expressions are somewhat deep and mysterious because the content of the book relates to the things of the Spirit, which are fine and detailed. Therefore, the author could not rely on simple words alone to convey them.
We are the ones who will suffer loss if we think that this book is too difficult to read and therefore do not read it. We need to read this book at least three times. The longer sentences can even be read five times. We must make an effort to read this book. Whether or not this book is deep depends on our spiritual hunger. Nothing is too deep for those who genuinely pursue life. We must not use methods to promote reading our publications. We must do a living work.
Similarly, the young people’s work is not about a method but about a living work. Those who desire to carry out a work at a school must first enliven a saint who is either a teacher or a student in the school. Teachers can be a help to the young people’s work, but they are not the basic components for the work. The young people’s work must be done by the young people. They must preach the gospel in their schools. The young brothers and sisters in a school are the basic components of the work in their school. The co-workers must work until the young saints are enlivened so that they can do the gospel work in their schools. The young saints need to be living, and they need to have a burden. The co-workers must enliven the young saints, not with methods but with the Spirit. Only the Spirit can enliven the saints so that they become burning and burdened for other people. When the young saints are burdened, the co-workers can perfect them in the gospel. If the saints are able to apply what they learn, they will be open to the co-worker and trust him.
When the young people preach the gospel, they may encounter difficulties. If the serving ones can give them suitable advice, the young people will trust the serving ones. The serving ones must not be careless in giving advice. The advice that the co-workers give enables the young people to do the gospel work. The more the young people work, the more interested and burdened they become. Soon they will bear the burden for their school. This is not a method but a work to enliven a person so that he is living and burning. The work we did in the past succeeded only if we promoted it. If we did not promote it, the work would come to a standstill. Such a work was based on a method. A work that is based on life is different. Even if it is not promoted, it continues, because life is living and multiplies. We must learn to do a living work. All the churches should learn this kind of work.
Exercising our spirit by calling on the Lord’s name, singing prayerfully, and pray-reading were given to us by the Lord, and they make it easy for us to release our spirit. Our urgent need is first to have healthy words to supply the church. Second, we all need genuine growth in life. In particular, the elders should grow in life so that they may supply life to the saints so that the saints also can grow in life. Third, the co-workers, elders, and serving ones must rise up in the matter of shepherding. This is one thing that we really lack. Because of our lack in shepherding, many have been baptized, but few have remained. This lack cannot be remedied by my speaking. It is the responsibility of the co-workers, elders, and serving ones. We must seek the Lord concerning how to make shepherding practical and prevailing among us.
All the elders should promote shepherding, and even the co-workers should consider how to bring the saints who meet regularly into shepherding and visiting. In Taipei there are twenty-five hundred saints who meet regularly. All these saints should visit and shepherd other saints. They should be coordinated together as a corporate body to carry out the visitation. They can pursue the Word and grow in life, and at the same time they can bear the responsibility of shepherding and feeding. This is the way to recover many saints and supply new ones. Furthermore, if this is our practice, the new ones will have the same practice.
Healthy words, growth in life, and adequate shepherding are the urgent need in all the churches. The churches have an adequate practice of meeting, releasing the spirit, and blending. The present issue is how to enrich the content of the church life. In order for our church life to have content, we need three things: healthy words, growth in life, and shepherding. As we shepherd the saints, the number in the meetings will increase spontaneously. As we pursue healthy words and the growth in life, the content of the meetings will become richer. From this time forward, the elders and serving ones in every local church must spend adequate time to be filled with healthy words. Do not depend on the full-time co-workers, considering them to be the suppliers of the word. This concept has to change. The elders and the responsible saints are also suppliers of the word. First Corinthians 14:31 says that we “can all prophesy one by one.” We must practice speaking healthy words.
The books published by The Gospel Book Room, The Ministry of the Word magazine, and other publications that we have translated are up to date with this burden. As long as we are willing to spend time to digest these books, we will produce “milk” and become “nursing mothers” to feed the saints. Then healthy words will not be lacking among us, and we will grow in life. We may also use books concerning crucial truths in the Bible, edification of new believers, and basic training. But we need to use them in a living way.
