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The saints need to see the basic point that the church is Christ Himself, that is, Christ Himself in the saints. Even though this is a very basic matter, the church is a great subject. We must look to the Lord for His mercy to see that the church is nothing other than Christ. Anything that does not match Christ is not the church. This may cause some people to ask, “What is Christ?” Christ is God becoming flesh, and God becoming flesh means that God is mingled with man.
God established a special law in the universe when He created everything: each is “according to their kind” (Gen. 1:11-12, 21, 24-26). God does not mix two things of different kinds together; He wants everything to be according to its kind. However, God also has a great intention to mingle Himself with man; God wants to mingle divinity with humanity in order to make them one. The issue of such a mingling contains both the element of man and the element of God. Both God and man are included in this mingling.
In God’s salvation the one goal that He wants to attain, the one matter that He wants to accomplish, and the one result that He wants to produce in the universe are to mingle the divine and human natures into one. Apart from this mingling, God does not allow different things to mingle and become one. The mystery of salvation hinges upon God and man becoming one. The center of salvation depends upon God working Himself into man and mingling man with Him. Regrettably, many saints do not see this matter, but if we take this matter away from God’s salvation, there would be no more salvation. If we take away the joining of God and man, the mingling of God Himself with man, there would be no salvation. The mystery of God’s salvation, the center of salvation, the mystery of life, and the mystery of union all hinge upon this: God entering into man and mingling Himself with man so that the two become one.
The first step of the mingling of God with man was in one person, that is, in Jesus the Nazarene, and this One is Christ. Christ is God becoming flesh, the mingling of God with man. When Jesus was on the earth, it would have been correct to say that He was a man, but it would also have been correct to say that He was God (John 1:1, 14). He is God and man mingled together. After the death and resurrection of Christ, this principle in Christ was expanded through the enlargement of the mingling of God and man. All the saved ones are His expansion and enlargement.
Through the death and resurrection of Christ, God in the Holy Spirit has entered into thousands, even millions, of people and has mingled Himself with them. The result of this mingling is an enlarged Christ. This enlarged Christ is a mysterious Christ, a corporate Christ. When God was incarnated in Bethlehem, the result of the mingling of God with man was small and individual. But through the death and resurrection of Christ, God in the Holy Spirit has entered into millions of people and has mingled Himself with them. The result of this mingling is an enlarged Christ, a universal Christ, a mysterious Christ. This Christ is the church, which is also called the Body of Christ. The church is the enlarged Christ, and this enlarged Christ is the same as Christ.
After we receive this word, we must apply it. For example, a person studying mathematics may understand theories of mathematics, but he still needs to solve math problems and apply the theories practically. All the serving brothers in the church should pay attention to how much our service contains the element of man and how much it contains the element of God. When we serve in our locality, we are often required to lead the saints to serve together, and sometimes we also make arrangements for the brothers who function as deacons. We should make these arrangements according to the mingling of God and man in us. Making practical arrangements should not come out of the human element of a certain brother but out of the mingling of God and man.
If we can sense only our self when we are doing things, it is not the church. The church is an entity composed of the mingling of God with man, an organism made up of the mingling of God with man. If we are acting without God, it is not the church. The church is an entity composed of the mingling of God with man. The nature of the church is God mingled with man; she is the mingling of God with man.
Today the situation in Christianity is very chaotic. Everyone says that he is right, and it seems as if it is quite difficult to judge who is right and who is wrong. However, if we have spiritual insight and knowledge, we will know what the church is. Everything has a nature, and its nature determines what it is. If we paint two chairs using gold paint, some people may think that the chairs are made of gold because they look only at the outward color. However, the final determination depends upon the nature of the two chairs. Today if some people put up a sign that indicates they are the church, it does not necessarily mean that they are the church. If someone contacts them, he will know whether they are actually a sect, because a sect will have a special belief, special name, or special fellowship.
We should not judge based on outward appearances without considering the inward nature. Therefore, regardless of where we are, we need to ask ourselves whether the nature of our church is the mingling of God with man or merely the element of our self. If all we have is our self, it lacks the nature of the church, and it is not the church. A cup of tea is the mingling of tea and water. If a cup of water has only the color of tea without the taste of tea, it is not a cup of tea. The church is the mingling of God with man; the church is Christ, the Body of Christ, and the fullness of Christ. The portion overflowing out from Christ is the church; the church is Christ Himself.
Whenever we have some activities in the church, regardless of whether it involves a decision, an arrangement, or a suggestion, we should always remember that God must be mingled with us, that we must be mingled with God, and that we must submit to God. We may make an arrangement, but we should be able to say, “I am mingled with God, and I live in God.” We need to pray first and ask, “O Lord, does this matter please You? Is this how You want to decide things? Is this how You want to arrange things? Is this what You want to do?” We need to continually touch the sense of the Lord’s presence within, and we need to put all our views, opinions, plans, and ideas under His feet, under the Lord Himself, and submit to His light. We should not choose according to ourselves; instead, we should choose what God chooses, suggest what God suggests, and decide what God decides. Then we will be able to see brothers moving on the earth according to the mingling of God and man.
If God finds a person on the earth and mingles Himself with him, such a one is surely in God’s move. Such a move becomes the move of the church. This is a very crucial and advanced point: the church is Christ — the mingling of God with man.
The church is the mingling of God with man, but a great principle in this mingling is man’s subjection to God. The mingling of God with man involves man’s subjection to God, not God’s subjection to man. Quite often people ask, “Why are men and women not equal in the church?” An older sister once questioned me, “Why does God want the sisters to be subject to the brothers?” So I asked her, “Why is your eye placed under your eyebrow?” She replied, “Forget it; you always win.” The relationship between a husband and a wife is an exact description of the relationship between Christ and the church. A wife’s subjection to her husband signifies the church’s subjection to Christ.
Ephesians 5:31 says, “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.” Since the wife and the husband become one, who is the head? If there are two heads on the same body, this would be monstrous. In a wedding the bride generally covers her head with a veil. Why does the bridegroom not cover his head? When two people are married, one person’s head should be covered because there can be only one head for the couple, each of whom previously had their own head. When a couple is married, they declare to the universe that the two have become one; that is, they have one head. Nevertheless, we must ask the married brothers who have some experience in their married life whether their marriage has two heads or one. In the saints’ homes we often see many heads; consequently, there are many problems. Having more than one head makes our living a very complicated matter.
We need to ask ourselves whether there are two heads or one in our married life. I am afraid that some will say that they have at least one and a half heads in their married life, with one head being the brother’s and the half head being the sister’s. The sisters need to cover their “half head” so that they do not nullify the meaning of head covering.
The universe has laws. It is a marvelous thing that in every place and throughout all time, brides have covered their heads during a wedding. According to God’s light, when two people are married, the two become one. There is only one head, not two. In order for there to be one head, the second head needs to be covered. This is a picture of Christ and the church becoming one. When two become one flesh, one head needs to be covered. The church is not the head; rather, Christ is the Head of the church. Christ is the Head of the church, and the church is His Body. Just as the church is subject to Christ, a wife should be subject to her husband. The two become one. Hence, in order for God and man to be mingled together as one, man needs to obey God and be subject to Him.
Some may ask, “If a wife is subject to her husband, does she become a person without any consciousness? Is she like a chair that has no feelings about where it is placed and how it is used?” This is not a reasonable thought, because sisters have a mind, emotion, and will. Being subject to her husband does not mean that a sister no longer uses her mind, emotion, and will; rather, it means that she accepts God’s will, God’s view, and is subject to God. As God moves within, her will submits to God’s will and her mind accepts God’s thought. She does not care for herself. This can be compared to the Chinese proverb that says, “A husband sings, and the wife follows.”
We need to be subject to God, but this does not mean that we do not have any consciousness, choice, preference, or thought. In a strong and spiritual church the believers are full of choices, preferences, and thoughts; however, their choices are God’s choices, their preferences are God’s preferences, and their ideas are God’s ideas. Outwardly it may seem as if only the church is moving, but actually God is mingled with the church and moving in the church. As far as such Christians are concerned, God is mingled with them in their living and moving. Their move is the move of God with man; the two have become one. Therefore, as far as the church is concerned, she is truly both man and God. No matter how we look at her, there is a special flavor of both God and man. We always should remember this point.
If we go to a certain place and discover a group of zealous Christians, we should not praise them quickly, saying, “All the churches should have this kind of zeal; this is the proper condition of the church.” We should not react quickly. Instead, we should ask, “Is this zeal only of man, or has it been stirred up by God’s love in them?” These are two different sources. Some expressions of zeal come solely from man, but other expressions come from man’s love for God and from his subjection under God’s hand, which are the result of God’s operation in man. The two expressions are different; one comes from man’s zeal, the other from the mingling of God with man. The former is not of the church, but the latter is of the church. This is a great matter and crucial principle. We must keep this principle.
If we want to know whether a church in a locality is the church, we must hold on to the principle that the church is the mingling of God with man and that the move of the church is the move of the mingling of God with man. It is not a simple and easy matter to make a judgment based on this principle, and if we are careless, we can easily make mistakes. We should take this as a basic principle but not make any judgment according to this principle in a loose and careless way.
If a group calls itself the church, its inward condition, activities, and everything about it must be according to the Bible. According to the Bible, a local church should not have a special name, a special belief, or a special fellowship. Regrettably, most Christian groups today cannot pass these three tests as a filter.
First, almost every group has a name. We know that the moon is the moon; we do not need to add a special name to it. Similarly, the church is the church; she does not need another name. If people ask us what church we are from, we should tell them that we are in the church. If we reply, “I am from the Church Assembly Hall,” it will puzzle people and cause them to wonder exactly what the Church Assembly Hall is. We need to see that the church is one. The name of the church is simply the church; other than this, the church has no other name.
We need to see that “Church Assembly Hall” is not our name; it refers to the place where we meet. For example, the house where Mr. Chang lives is called “Chang’s residence.” This refers only to a place. We do not use “Church Assembly Hall” as our name, but government regulations require us to register a name. Thus, we are forced to use this. We do not have a choice, but we do not designate ourselves by this.
We do not want to use a name, because the church is simply the church; she cannot have any other name. If someone puts a sign in front of Mr. Chang’s house, saying, “Chang’s Residence,” it would not be a problem, and it would be all right if there were no sign. However, it would be very strange if someone puts up a sign that says, “Wang-Chang’s Residence” or “Liu-Chang’s Residence.” We should never call ourselves Church Assembly Hall, because that is not our name; it is only where we meet. Furthermore, we are not members of any particular church; we are members of the Body of Christ.
God does not want believers to say, “I am of Paul,” “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas.” He reproves all these things (cf. 1 Cor. 1:12). God is not pleased with any special name. God does not approve of this. We are gathered into the Lord’s name (Matt. 18:20); we are saved because we believe into the Lord’s name. The place where Jehovah establishes His name is the center of the gathering of God’s children. The matter of a name is a great thing in the universe. We should not have any name other than the Lord’s name. There should not be a Lutheran Church, Wesleyan Church, Anglican Church, Presbyterian Church, or other type of “Church,” because none of these names are according to the Bible.
We should never let the enemy deceive us and think that the matter of name is unimportant. If Mrs. Hwang is called “Mrs. Chang,” her husband would be furious because such a thing is not acceptable. Just as we cannot give someone a name in a careless way, we cannot name the church in a careless way; God does not permit this. Those who really know the church and the truth concerning the church would never dare to give a name to Christians. The apostles were on the earth several decades after the Lord’s death and resurrection, and many of them were greatly used by the Lord. However, if we read church history, we will realize that none of them ever put a name on the church. They did not dare to carelessly give a name to the Body of Christ; it is absolutely forbidden because it is not according to the Bible.
Not only is a special name a serious matter but so are the matters of a special belief or a special fellowship. These three tests are completely according to the view of the Bible. Thus, if we want to know whether a church is on the position and ground of the church, we should place every situation under the light of the Bible and measure each one with the Bible. Furthermore, we should never compromise or accommodate in our measuring.
About four or five years ago I met a brother who is the most compromising and accommodating person I know. If a four-foot-tall person was walking beside him, he would squat down to walk with him. Only if a person was seven feet tall would he be unable to accommodate him. After several years this brother’s greatest improvement was realizing that he should not compromise. We need to see that compromising is man’s way of neutralizing things; man always likes to neutralize the truth. God’s truth is absolute; if it is yes, it is yes, and if no, no. It should never be neutralized. Every compromise is a neutralization. Man thinks that it does not matter very much if the church has a name and that we do not need to be so particular as long as we are zealous for the Lord. This is wrong because the truth should never be compromised; the truth is always absolute.
Those who like to compromise are usually not very absolute. Those who like to compromise may have been touched by God, but they do not want to be absolute. An absolute person never compromises. It will be easy for us to compromise with others and not be absolute if we dismiss God’s inward touching and are unwilling to obey and deal with Him.
If a church does not have any special name, special belief, or special fellowship and has passed all three tests of the Bible, we still need to investigate further to see if it is full of Christ and the element of Christ. This is the second filter.
The first filter is the Bible, and the second filter is Christ. When the saints gather together, do they have more of the element of man or more of the element of Christ? Do they take man as the head or Christ as the Head? A Christian group may not have a special name, special belief, or special fellowship, but if they have too much of the element of man, they are merely an independent group in their locality. They may say that their group does not have a special name, special belief, or special fellowship, but they may also not have any genuine fellowship in the life of Christ with other members of the Body of Christ. They can be independent in a locality. If a Christian group has more of the element of man than the element of Christ, this certainly will be their situation. This is a fixed principle.
The saints in a certain church may not have a special name, special belief, or special fellowship, but certain people may have a special position, which nullifies the position of Christ. Consequently, the church will be full of independent opinions and doctrines. In contrast, if we learn to reject our self and allow Christ to have the position as Lord, we will desire fellowship with saints in other localities. This is a certain fact. The more a person lives in the self, the more he feels there is no need to fellowship with others. However, the more a person lives in Christ, the more he feels a need to fellowship with others. This is true both of individuals and of churches.
If a church seems to be according to the Bible outwardly, but the saints do not like to fellowship with Christians in other localities, this shows that they have more of the element of man than of Christ. The more a church is in Christ, the more the saints in that church are eager to receive fellowship from others. Whenever we are secluded and try to serve God by ourselves, we should remember that we are being independent and sectarian. Thus, we need to filter the condition of the church with Christ.
We have told the co-workers many times that we would not allow man to have the top position among us even if it meant stopping our work and shutting everything down. Everything must come from the amount of Christ we have within. We should allow only Christ to pass through us; we should never allow anything of man to pass through us. Only those who have received more of the element of Christ, who have known, experienced, and gained more of Christ, and who are filled with Christ have the ability to bear responsibility. Such a person spontaneously manifests his position. People in the world look to ones who have wealth, education, and social status; however, we do not have such things in the church. Among us, we do not distinguish people by wealth, position, or fame. Among us, we have only Christians, and we have only Christ as everything. What is a Christian? A Christian is one who is full of Christ. This is the church. The church is not like human society. People in society determine a person’s position based upon human observations, human desires, and human views, but the only factor for such a determination in the church is Christ.
If we want to determine whether a group is the church, the Bible is the first filter, and Christ is the second. Furthermore, we also need the filter of the Holy Spirit. Some people may ask, “Is Christ not the Holy Spirit? Why do we need the filter of the Holy Spirit?” We need to realize that Christ is the life of the church, but the Holy Spirit is the move and operation of the church, both of which involve the authority of the church. The outward appearance of the church is based on the Bible, the content of the church is Christ, and the move of the church is the Holy Spirit. The church must not be only scriptural and full of Christ. It must also be completely spiritual and under the Holy Spirit’s ruling, the Holy Spirit’s moving, and the Holy Spirit’s operation. The Holy Spirit must be everything in her.
A local church may be according to the Bible outwardly and have some measure of Christ inwardly, but when it actually moves and operates, man is ruling over it. This is very different from the Holy Spirit’s ruling. We emphasize Christ in the aspect of the life and nature of the church, but there is also the aspect of authority in the church, which is an aspect of the Holy Spirit’s move and operation. The nature of a local church may be Christ, but her move is often not of the Holy Spirit. Instead, her move, administration, and authority may be according to man’s hand, not God’s hand. Therefore, the Bible, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are three essential matters to the church.
These three filters or safeguards lead us to conclude that human views, ideas, opinions, manipulations, abilities, and everything worldly must be stopped because they are of no benefit in the church. In order for the church to be scriptural, human views, manipulation, abilities, and worldly methods must be stopped. Then the Holy Spirit will have a free rein to exercise His authority.
I want to ask the responsible brothers in each locality whether they lead the saints to serve by the Spirit or by their own methods and manipulation. Human manipulation must not be present in the church. Nevertheless, even those whom we think are spiritual can be manipulative. For example, a certain brother may be causing much trouble for the responsible brothers in a church. As a consequence, they may feel that one of them should visit him. After discussing this matter, they realize that he will be happy if a certain responsible brother visits him, but he will be unhappy if a different brother visits him. Therefore, they decide to send the brother who will make him happy. Some may think that this is wise, but actually it is not; it is human manipulation.
What does it mean for the responsible brothers to allow the Holy Spirit to operate? It means that the responsible brothers should bring the difficulties they encounter to the Lord and say, “O Lord, this is Your church, and this difficulty is Your difficulty. How do You want us to deal with this problem and solve this problem?” They should bring everything under God’s mighty hand and see how God would lead them. They should not involve their views, thoughts, and human manipulation. There is a great difference between these two ways of dealing with difficulties.
A local church once had to provide hospitality for many saints, and they felt that the burden was quite heavy. So the responsible brothers came together to discuss the situation, and they expressed some hope that the elders would contact and fellowship this burden with some of the wealthier saints. When I heard this, I said, “I beg you to accept what I say. No one should contact anybody concerning the expense for this hospitality. At the most, you should make an announcement.” I stopped the brothers’ discussion to show them that contacting different ones in this way is human manipulation. At the very most, we can make an announcement to let the saints know about this matter, but we should allow the Holy Spirit to rule in this matter. Perhaps this local church was according to the Bible outwardly and full of Christ inwardly, but in the matter of material offerings, it did not pass through the filter because the brothers did not allow the Holy Spirit to rule in the church; instead, they tried to use human hands to accomplish things. This is not according to the nature of the church.
The church is an organic entity of God mingled with man, of man completely submitting to God, living completely in God, and moving fully with God. Hence, all the things of man, including his opinions, views, ideas, and methods, should not be in the church. In the church everything that is of man and the world should be stopped.
The Lord has been very merciful to us because He has shown us what the church is and how to use the Bible, Christ, and the Holy Spirit to consider the nature of the church. If we apply all these filters and a church passes through them all, we should bow our heads and say, “Lord, here is Your Body, Your dwelling place, and a place where You can rule.” Otherwise, we should submit ourselves to the Lord and ask Him to forgive us and to rescue us from human methods and manipulation and from worldly views.
We need to look at the condition of each local church, placing all the problems of the churches before the Lord and studying them together. This will help us to discover difficulties in each locality and among the serving ones. In order to see the difficulties and shortages, we must look at these crucial matters in each locality. We also need to look at the difficulties brought into the church service by individuals.
Concerning our service in the church, we must pay attention to the following four matters. First, we should not neglect the gospel. Second, we must strengthen the perfecting work in the truth and in our knowledge of the truth. Third, we must experience life. Once a person is saved and brought into the church, we should immediately help him to know the truth and experience life. Fourth, we need to help him also to learn to serve. These are four necessary matters.
Some churches are not so strong, rich, or capable, and they cannot take care of these four matters at the same time. For example, when a local church is first established, it mainly emphasizes the preaching of the gospel. Helping the saints in the matters of knowing the truth, experiencing life, and learning to serve may also be considered, but the primary emphasis is on preaching the gospel. During the past few years the saints in the church in Taipei placed more emphasis on preaching the gospel, but now they are paying more attention to pursuing life. Strictly speaking, it is best when we emphasize these four matters at the same time.
Under normal circumstances, after the church emphasizes the preaching of the gospel, the saints should be led to study the Word, to perfect the new believers, to pursue life, and to enter into the church service. Sometimes the church is short-handed and cannot take care of everything, but we still should not emphasize only one thing, such as preaching the gospel, and neglect the matters of truth, life, and service. This is not so good and proper. Even if we are not so strong or rich, we should learn to help and lead the saints in each aspect. Let us consider the church in Taipei as an example. Last year, much emphasis was placed on pursuing life. However, we should not think that we can neglect the gospel because we are emphasizing the pursuit of life. Although we may not be able to focus on all four things at the same time, we still need to do our best to take care of every aspect, making some effort to seek the Lord’s leading and to make practical decisions.
If the church decides to preach the gospel, the saints should study how to preach the gospel and how to lead people to receive the Lord. They should pay attention to whom they are preaching the gospel. For example, preaching the gospel among the family, at the campus or factory, and among the young people all need to be studied and considered. Only after studying and seeking can we know to whom we should preach and how we should preach. At the same time, we need to study how to coordinate the brothers and sisters together. For example, who should lead the singing, who should give the message in a gospel meeting, how should we prepare gospel tracts, and who should take care of transportation to and from the gospel meeting? We need to consider these matters.
When the church wants to preach the gospel, we cannot expect people to come if we peacefully sleep at home and then suddenly rise up and shout some slogans. We must consider everything in detail and adequately prepare everything in order to be on track and to produce results. We must carefully study which gospel tracts to use and which hymns to sing. This is the meaning of doing the Lord’s work. We must be like this in the work of the gospel, and we must also be like this in the perfecting of the saints in the truth. We must take one step at a time in order to help the saints to know the basic truths, and then little by little we must take the saints deeper and deeper into the truth, just like a curriculum in school.
It is not possible to preach any truth without some preparation, nor will we develop this ability by peacefully sleeping at home. We can release a truth only after studying the Word, collecting spiritual books, and logically organizing our thoughts to determine the sections. This requires much labor.
Once I was fellowshipping with a brother concerning the matter of service, and I told him, “There must be some procedures in the service of your locality. You should not be like the Chinese proverb that says, ‘Bandage the head only when it hurts, and bandage the foot only when it hurts.’” This will not work. We should serve as if we are doctors. When a patient comes to us, we should conduct a diagnosis by examining his whole body and then treat his illness step by step. At the same time, we should estimate how long it will take to treat the illness. Similarly, when people set up a school, they must have some procedures, whether it is a secondary school or a university. When we manage the church, we should be like a careful, methodical gardener. Even when we invite people to eat a meal, there should be a particular order in our serving of food. We must be like this even more in the Lord’s work.
No worker should sleep peacefully at home every day; a good worker and a good responsible one must be a person who studies every day. Once a brother came to Taipei and, after observing us, said, “Every time I come, I see some change in your way.” In doing the Lord’s work and in serving the Lord, we must have an attitude to study and improve. If we do not practice this and only copy others, our work will not be effective. We can take other people’s work as a reference, but their work cannot replace our own labor.
In the spring of 1934, when I began to learn to do the Lord’s work, several other brothers also began serving the Lord. None of us slept peacefully at home; instead, we tried our best to study and labor every day. If anyone working for the Lord is able to sleep peacefully every day, he will be useless, and there will be a big loss to the Lord’s work.
We all need to see the importance of these four things: the gospel, truth, life, and service. This word is not for any particular church. Every church should study these matters so that it will be on track in preaching the gospel, in perfecting the saints in the truth, in advancing in the experience of life, and in serving. Through the preaching of the gospel in the church in Taipei, people have been brought into the church in groups of three to five hundred. However, we still need to learn more about how to lead and strengthen the saints in truth, life, and service. Every item of the gospel, truth, life, and service is crucial, and every item needs to be carried out. If we can carry out these four crucial matters, then the church will have a firm foundation after four or five years. No matter where we go in the future, we should do more than simply preach the gospel. We should also have a firm foundation in the truth and in the pursuit of life. Then spontaneously our service will be weighty. We need to bring these four items back to our locality and try our best to practice and carry them out. We should have the attitude of a climber who tirelessly advances up a mountain, and we should not sleep peacefully and be at ease. Finally, we should ignore every difficulty and press on fearlessly.
In addition to the previous four points, we need to pay attention to cultivating the talents of the saints. Concerning this, we need to pay attention first to the young people, and among the young people, we should concentrate on the students. If the work in a locality cannot gain the students who are there, then their work is a failure, and this kind of failure means that there is no future. We do not despise older people, but if a church has only older people, something is missing. If we look at society, we can see that any work or business must pay attention to the young people in order to have a future. After hearing this word, please do not feel that this is unfair and wonder why the future of the church depends on the young people. In the church life the function of the young people is very different from the function of children and older people.
Teenagers are still quite young, and older people are often forgetful. If the older saints in the church can pass on the lessons they have learned in the Lord throughout the years to the younger saints, regardless of whether it is a burden for the gospel, knowledge of the truth, or a portion in the service, this would be wonderful. In this way the older saints can rest and sleep in peace, the young people can function appropriately in the church, and the teenagers and children can grow up healthily in the church. On the one hand, we need to advance faithfully in the gospel, the truth, life, and service so that we can maintain and solidify the condition of the church, but on the other hand, we must cultivate and gain the talents.
Moreover, we should give the middle-aged saints and those in other age groups particular leading and perfecting. This does not mean that we are ignoring certain ones and paying more attention to others. However, the future of the church and the Lord’s work must have a way to go on. Some may say, “Because God is not a respecter of persons, we should treat old and young people alike. Even if a person is talented, God may not use him.” I do not want to argue in response to such a word, but we should ask the Lord to open our eyes to see His needs and to see what is fitting according to our portion. If we do not see this, it will be difficult for us to help the people around us. If we do not exercise any discernment in helping others and use the same way regardless of whether one is old or young, there will not be much future in our work, because we will not be able to produce useful ones or cultivate a useful second generation in our service.
From the account of the Epistles in the New Testament, it is doubtful that Paul taught Timothy and Titus in the same way that he taught other brothers and sisters. Even when the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He treated the disciples differently from the way He treated others who served Him. The Lord served the multitude by preaching the word to them. However, the Lord brought His followers to a high mountain, a special place, where He could bring them on in order for them to meet His need one day. It was the one hundred and twenty disciples who were able to meet the Lord’s need at the beginning of the church age in the New Testament (Acts 1:15). We need to learn how to lead the work into the future and not merely watch others doing things.
In the matter of cultivating talents, we need to exercise discernment in our work. Some work is more general, and some work is more specific. Sometimes when the Lord was on the earth, He would speak to thousands or even tens of thousands of people, but eventually the Lord brought only a few people to the high mountain with Him, and only three people saw the Lord’s transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-2). No matter where we work, however, we should not have any preferences. If we must make choices, we should not base them on our feelings; instead, we should base them on a person’s function before the Lord and how much the Lord can have a way in him. We may need to pay special attention to the condition of some saints, even allowing some to stay in the same condition for the moment. Even within a garden there is some differentiation. Some flowers grow on the edge of the garden, and some flowers grow in the middle. This is absolutely not a matter of despising certain ones or even esteeming others more highly; we must be able to give the saints nutrients based on the needs of their particular function.
We should not leave any work to its own fate. Instead, we must work by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit needs our cooperation. Every worker, every elder or responsible brother, and even more, everyone who loves and pursues the Lord must learn this. As we lead the saints in the church, we should lead them according to their condition before the Lord, and we should be balanced in every aspect. In this way our work will become effective. If we do not study, we will not know how to handle anything. Every fisherman studies the best way to catch fish; it requires much learning and studying.
When we work, we should even study our contacts. For example, we need to study the kind of people we can gain and the kind of results we can produce. We will become effective in our work only when we produce some useful ones. If we pay attention only to quantity, the results of our work will not be very useful. Thus, in the service of all the churches, we must advance in the four points that we spoke of earlier. We need to pay attention also to the matter of talents. If a person has the portion of an elder, we should train him; if a person has the portion of a deacon, we should diligently help him as well. Then in our work we will not only have many who are saved but also many who can serve. Furthermore, we will cultivate some useful ones, such as elders and deacons. We need to learn these things.
We cannot leave these things to work themselves out when we do the Lord’s work. I hope we would all pray for these matters. The basic reason for the lack of useful people in the church life is that we have not learned enough and also that we have not taught others enough. Many people have been saved, and the work has been raised up, but we do not have workers. This shows that we must catch up; we all need to learn. After we have learned some lessons, we need to teach what we have learned to the brothers and sisters so that they can teach others when they go to different places (2 Tim. 2:2). In this way we can produce useful people. Eventually, everyone will be able to do the work.
Concerning the problem of individuals, let us use Brother A and Brother B as an example. When Brother A does something, he focuses and concentrates on it; however, when Brother B does something, he often considers many different things. It is very interesting that the Lord often places these kinds of brothers together. Although Brother A concentrates on what he is doing, he does not have much consideration; consequently, he is fast. In contrast, Brother B is slower because he has more consideration. Such a situation causes each to learn a different lesson.
Since Brother B takes a long time to decide, this is a great hindrance. Therefore, he must learn some lessons. This does not mean that he should not have any consideration; instead, he must be quicker in his consideration and be willing to sacrifice and pay the price. If both the kingdom of the heavens and the lake of fire are before us, we should not have to think about the choice. If we want to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, we should forget about the lake of fire immediately. If we take the time to think about it, we may be too late. In some matters we need to be simple and determined. Before the Lord, we must learn to exercise our judgment properly, quickly, and promptly. This does not mean that we should not think when we work; rather, we need to learn how to discern what is more important and what is less important, and we need to learn to make sacrifices.
We need to give much consideration to the matter of cultivating talents. Today if we put all our effort into small things, we may reap some benefit; however, we should focus more of our time on cultivating the talents. This means that we need to make some sacrifices, because we cannot possibly do everything. If we want to do the Lord’s work, we must weigh the importance of each matter. If the Lord wants us to go east, we must go east. At such a moment we should not even look to the west, no matter how important it may seem. When we are clear about what is more important and what the Lord wants us to do, we need to drop everything else. We must learn to give up some things and to sacrifice. If we cannot drop certain things and stop working for the Lord, we cannot take up other things and truly work for the Lord.
When we meet a certain brother and say, “Brother, this is a very important work,” he may reply, “Yes, but we cannot neglect that work.” Or when we say, “We should take care of this person,” he may reply, “Yes, but we should also take care of that person.” It seems as if he cannot make a decision and does not have a definite goal. He considers every person about the same and all work as being equally important. However, those who are more experienced can quickly pinpoint a goal in an accurate and strong way and then act accordingly. I hope that we can all learn these matters.
