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In Acts 1:8 the Lord Jesus said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Apart from all the foregoing chapters on the Spirit, we would not be able to understand what it means to be a witness to the Lord. To be a witness to the Lord is to be a person wholly saturated with the life-giving Spirit, a person inwardly filled by the life-giving Spirit and totally immersed into the Spirit. Both within and without, there is the life-giving Spirit. We have seen clearly that in God’s dispensation the Lord Jesus Christ today is the life-giving Spirit. When we are filled with Him and immersed into Him, we are one with Him and thereby we are His witnesses. All the saints in the Lord’s recovery should be such witnesses. Being a witness does not depend on what you say or do; it depends upon your being a person filled with Christ, immersed into Christ, and fully saturated and permeated with the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. If you are like this, then your being will be a witness to the Lord Jesus. What you are will be the witness.
In Acts 1:8 the word witnesses is different from the word testimony used elsewhere. A witness denotes a person, whereas a testimony denotes that which this person bears. First we are the witness; then we bear the testimony. According to the book of Revelation, the saints, the believers, are the testimony of Jesus, and the testimony of Jesus is, collectively, the church. In Revelation the seven lampstands signify the seven churches (1:20). These seven lampstands signify that the churches on earth today are the testimony of Jesus. In eternity the New Jerusalem will be the testimony of Jesus. Collectively and corporately, the churches are the testimony of Jesus, but individually each of us is a witness to Jesus. Every one of us must be a witness to Jesus, a person saturated with Christ, immersed into Christ, and permeated with Christ. Whatever we are, within and without, must be Christ. This is a witness. Then when we come together, we shall be a corporate testimony, for we shall all bear the same thing. This is the testimony of Jesus.
In today’s Christianity there is very little witness or testimony. We see many Christians but not many witnesses. Instead of the testimony of Jesus, in Christianity there is merely a religion. But every saint in the churches in the Lord’s recovery must be a living witness, filled with Christ, saturated with Christ, and immersed into Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit. If we are like this, then we shall immediately become the testimony of Jesus whenever we come together.
For the sake of such a testimony of Jesus, we all must have an uplifted daily life. Our daily life among our neighbors, classmates, relatives, and friends must be outstanding. Matthew 5 through 7, the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens, reveals that the standard of the living of the kingdom people is very high. In our daily walk we must have excellency. This excellency will surprise people, causing them to admire our daily living. It will also be quite convincing. This is the basic factor in our testimony. If we would be real witnesses to Jesus, our daily walk must reach such a standard. This, however, is not a matter of outward behavior; it is a matter of living out Christ. Paul says, “To me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). It is not simply a matter of doing good or of behaving well. Much more, it is the living out of Christ to express Christ. If we do not have such an uplifted daily walk, we are a failure in the Lord’s recovery. We are defeated, and in a sense, the Lord is defeated also. Of course, the Lord cannot actually be defeated, but due to our failure, the enemy may think that the Lord has been defeated. What a shame for those in the Lord’s recovery to fall below the standard in their daily walk!
Along with an uplifted daily life we must have church meetings that are living. We do not want “services” like those in Christianity. Rather, we want living meetings, meetings that are rich, fresh, and high. Having such meetings depends upon all of us. We all, great and small, old and young, need to daily experience Christ. We must exercise our spirit to experience Him. In other words, we must continually exercise ourselves unto godliness in order to experience Christ in every respect. This is what we call laboring on Christ. Christ is the good land producing a variety of riches, but we need to labor on Him. If we labor on Christ, we shall eventually have a harvest of Christ. Then when we come to the meetings, we shall come with the surplus of Christ and offer this surplus to God. This is the exhibition of Christ. You exhibit a portion of Christ, and I offer another portion of Christ. If we all bring a surplus of Christ, our meetings will be an exhibition of the riches of Christ. Our spirit will be very living, the testimonies will be fresh, and the atmosphere will be uplifted to the heavens. Such a meeting is a shame to the enemy. In this kind of meeting all death is swallowed up, the Lord is expressed, the Father is glorified, and we are nourished. Eventually, through such meetings, the church is built up. Meetings of this kind are not only nourishing to us but also very convincing to the newcomers. They are inspiring, unveiling, and enlightening. Those who attend such meetings will be thoroughly saturated with Christ, darkness and death will be swallowed up, weakness will vanish, the problems will be solved, all needs will be met, and the newcomers will receive benefit. This kind of meeting is the testimony of Jesus.
In every locality the church must also take up the burden to care for the young people, especially for the unmarried brothers and sisters. It is necessary to have many brothers’ houses and sisters’ houses in order to have the best communal life. Even the families should have much contact, communication, and fellowship with each other. We must give a strong testimony to society that the church life is the best communal life. In His creation of man, God put in man the desire for a social life. Human beings simply cannot live without being social. We cannot bear to live without society. Suppose you lived in a large mansion on a mountaintop far removed from society, and you stayed there for a while without a telephone and without seeing anyone. You would soon realize that that mansion was in fact a terrible prison. This proves that everyone needs society. Due to the fall, sin has come in, and Satan is now here to occupy human society and make it sinful. Therefore, today’s society is corrupt. The nightclubs and parties are filled with corruption. For this reason, the word social does not have a positive connotation. Nevertheless, human beings need to socialize, and we, the believers in Christ, need a pure society. The church life is the highest social life. This is why we can say that the church life is wonderful. Here we have not only God but also other people. We enjoy God, and we enjoy the other people who are the members of Christ. The more fellowship, contact, and communication we have with one another, the better. This will become a testimony to the unbelievers, and our neighbors will say, “These people have the best communal life, the best social life.”
Three things will attract people to the church: our daily walk, the rich meetings, and the proper communal life. I believe that these three things will bring in the increase. The increase should come in this way, rather than by the means of preaching. (However, this does not mean that we should not preach; we must preach a great deal.) We must have a daily walk that is uplifted; meetings that are high, living, and rich; and a communal life that is pure, yet full of enjoyment. This will attract our relatives, friends, neighbors, and classmates into the church life. I hope that all the churches with all the saints will devote their attention to these three things.
In addition to these matters, there is the need for us all to be trained to present the truths. We all must learn the things related to the Lord’s recovery in such a way that we shall be able to present them to others. In other words, we must learn how to present what we are enjoying in the Lord’s recovery. For example, many Christians do not know what the church is. Some think a chapel, cathedral, or bungalow with a high tower is a church. On Sunday mornings many speak of going to church. Others refer to their church as the church on a particular street, indicating thereby that they do not know what the church really is. Therefore, we ourselves must know what the church is and then learn how to present to others the truth in a pleasant, convincing, and attractive manner. Whenever we are asked anything, we must be ready to answer. First Peter 3:15 says that we must be “always ready for a defense to everyone who asks of you an account concerning the hope which is in you.” Suppose someone asks you who the pastor of the church in Anaheim is, and you answer, “Every one of us is a pastor!” That would not be a proper answer, for it would cause others to think that you are not willing to talk to them. Even a simple question such as this is not easy to answer. In order to answer such a question properly, we must exercise both our spirit and our mind.
We need to learn how to present things to people in a pleasant way, in a way that is convincing, subduing, and captivating. Whenever people ask us a question, that is an opportunity to catch them. To do this, we must learn how to share with them in a complete way. If someone asks you what it means to turn to the spirit, that is an excellent opportunity to capture him by sharing something with him. We all must learn to do this. At present most of us are not strong in this matter. Hence, we need to speak convincingly when others ask us questions. Take every question as an opportunity to catch a fish. But this requires a great deal of training. About thirty years ago I spent much time in this kind of training in the church in my hometown, and it worked very well.
Suppose someone asks you a difficult or nonsensical question. Do not reply in an offensive manner. Rather, answer in a way that will calm down the other party. This is the way to catch people. It is possible to talk to people for hours without touching the thing about which they have inquired. Do not be bothered if they ask nonsensical questions, but use the opportunity to inject something positive into them. Do not let them go until they have received a good injection. Some Christians may ask why our meetings are so loud. Do not say, “We are all excited because Jesus is our enjoyment. We all eat Jesus. Eating Jesus is the way!” Some of our young people have answered in just this way. Instead of responding in this manner, answer in a way to soften the one who has asked the question. As you talk with him, give him an injection. Whether he agrees or disagrees, the injection will get into him.
Our locality is our fishing pond, and every day we are surrounded by fish. For this reason, I am burdened that all the churches train the saints to present what we are enjoying. If, when you are asked a question, you always say, “I don’t know,” you are not useful. It is not an easy thing to say, “I don’t know.” Many of us cannot say these words, will not say them, or do not know how to say them. We must learn the right time to say, “I don’t know.” Then these words will be useful.
Now we come to the matter of gaining the young people. Every church must go to the young people. In any field the future is with the young people. If an industry or a school does not gain young people, that industry or school has no future. This generation is the generation of the young people. However, this does not mean that we do not appreciate the older ones.
There are three reasons why we must go to the young people. The first reason is that the young people are not occupied. It is best to contact young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty. During these years they begin to understand things, but they are not occupied. Therefore, we must seize the opportunity to gain the high-school students and the freshmen in college. When many young people turn eighteen, they are eager to leave home. This is the right time to gain them for the Lord’s recovery.
The second reason for going to the young people is the fact that so many young people are gathered in the schools. No other age is gathered together like this. Because the young people are gathered in the schools, it is easy to contact them. In order to catch fish, you must go where the fish are.
The third reason is that it is easy for the young people, especially those at the end of their teenage years, to have a change in their mind, that is, it is easy for them to repent. (To repent means to have a change of mind.) If you present something solid, worthwhile, and interesting to young people, they will take it.
For these three reasons, every local church must work on the campuses. Those who engage in this campus work should be young, the younger the better. It is difficult for someone more than twenty-seven years of age to talk to a person seventeen years of age. It is better that we work with those in our own age group. If I went to work on the campuses, no young people would want to talk to me, because I am an old person. But if I were a young person, it would be very easy for other young people to talk to me. Therefore, we should not send the older ones to work on the campuses.
However, the older ones, those over twenty-seven, should not think that there is nothing for them to do or that they should retire. An army has more personnel than just the young soldiers. The entire church is a fighting body. But this does not mean that everyone must go to the frontier to fight. Rather, we should send the young ones to the frontier and let the others work in the background. For example, the older ones can spend much time in prayer. But if we asked the young people to stay behind and pray, it would be very difficult for them. It would be like interrupting a basketball game and asking the players to pray. Because their heart and interest are in playing basketball, the players would find this very difficult. Even while they are praying, they would be eager to dribble the ball. Instead of asking the young people to stop and pray, we should pray for them. We need both a playing team and a praying team. The young people should be the playing team, and the older ones should be the praying team. But we are all one Body. If you ask me to stay home to pray, I will be very happy. For me to pray at home is enjoyable.
On the one hand, the freshmen in college are eager to leave home; on the other hand, as they live in the dormitories at school, they are often lonely and homesick. This provides an excellent opportunity to invite them into our homes. The young people in the church can invite others to the homes of the middle-aged ones and of the young couples. All these homes need to be open and ready to receive the young people. When they come in, serve them something to eat and drink. This will touch their heart. In preaching the gospel we do not need any gimmicks. We should simply pray, preach the word, and open our homes. It is difficult for the young people both to go to the campuses and to prepare their homes to receive others. We need the youngest ones to go to the campuses, the oldest ones to pray, and the middle-aged ones to prepare their homes. Day and night the homes need to be ready.
September is a golden time to catch the freshmen. Every September we should be able to catch a good number. This does not mean that we do not preach the gospel to others. Our daily walk, our meetings, and our communal life are all a type of gospel preaching. Wherever we live, we influence the community. But we must purposely form teams to go to the campuses to reach the young people. If we do this with much prayer, a good number will be brought in. Let September be the time to make contact and October the month to reap. During these months, concentrate your time and labor on reaping a new crop of freshmen. First you reap them, then you build them up. After that, you may use them to gain their classmates or roommates. We need to do the same thing year after year. I believe that each time we do this, more freshmen will be reaped. Do not miss this opportunity. We must pray and seize this golden opportunity. If we gain the freshmen, then through them we shall gain some of their parents. It seems that when young people reach the age of nineteen or twenty, they will not listen to their parents, but their parents will listen to them.
From the time the Lord’s recovery came to this country, there has been opposition against it. The Lord’s recovery, of course, is a testimony, but religion does not feel positively about this testimony. Satan, the devil, is behind this opposition, for he knows that the recovery will defeat him and bring the Lord Jesus back. Hence, through the years the opposition has followed us wherever we have gone. According to the book of Acts, it was the same with the apostles. Wherever the apostles went, the opposition was there. Some of the opposers even followed the apostles.
In the midst of this opposition, we must not be passive. We should be not only active but even aggressive. However, we do not want to fight with others or be angry with anyone. Whenever you meet an opposer, take that as an opportunity to work on him. If that opposer says something negative, do not argue with him. Instead, be patient and pleasant, and take down all the negative points he speaks to you. Then, ask for his name, address, and telephone number and let him know that you would like to study the points and talk with him again.
When anyone comes to you with a negative, opposing attitude, do not touch the points he raises right away, because at that time the opposer is on fire. If you touch the points of opposition, you will be burned. Instead of touching the points, slow down, cool down, and prepare the way for a second contact. Do not be in a rush to solve all the problems. The more you attempt to solve the problems, the more trouble you will cause. After you have taken down all the points, pray about them and see if you have the answers for them. If not, fellowship with other brothers and sisters. In this way you will find the answer and learn something yourself. Then try to have another time with the opposing one. But do not tell him you have all the answers. Rather, in a gradual way, item by item, solve his problems by injecting something into him. Human beings are human beings. By God’s creation, every human being has a conscience and a sense of fairness. If you are genuine, honest, faithful, and nice, the other party will appreciate you. If you present matters solidly, rightly, and fairly, the opposer’s sense of fairness will confirm what you say, and something will get into him. But do not expect immediate results. A fisherman must be patient. Hasty fishermen catch nothing; they only frighten the fish.
Even from the opposition we should be able to gain some increase. Do you not believe that you can bring in one opposer yearly? This means, of course, that we must labor. If we do not labor, we shall not bring in anything, even if we wait until eternity. Some of you may feel that you have no contacts, but you may know some opposers. The opposers are the best contacts. There is no need for you to go to them for they will come to you. All the opposers are like fish who come to a fisherman and say, “Here I am, ready to be hooked.” But you may not believe that the opposers can be hooked. Because you may think that they are enemies and attackers, you may not appreciate them. I beg you to change your concept and begin to appreciate every opposer. When an opposer comes to you, you should say inwardly, “Praise the Lord, a good fish has come.” But do not try to hook him right away. Rather, in wisdom, bind the opposer secretly. Hold on to a secret line that will not let him go. The problems he raises are the bait. The more questions he asks and the more problems he raises, the more free bait you will have. Take the problems and questions home, cook the bait, and bring it back to the fish the second time. Then the fish will swallow it. But still do not hook him too quickly. If you do so, you will lose him. Actually, you do not need to hook him, for he will be happy to swallow the hook. And when he gets hooked, he will be glad. I hope that a year from now many of us will be able to praise the Lord that we have caught an opposer. If we all do this, the opposers will be terrified and say, “Don’t touch those people.”
Do not think that I am too idealistic. This has actually happened in Fullerton, a city near Anaheim. The brothers and sisters there have gained the victory by taking down the questions raised by the opposers, by studying them, and by going back to talk to them. The truth is the truth. We have the case, and the truth is on our side. Thus, we are not afraid to be opposed. If we have real gold, we should not be afraid for that gold to be tested. The more the gold is tested, the more its golden nature is manifest.
We need to practice all the points covered in this chapter. If we practice them, we shall gain a good increase.
