The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity

The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity, Chap 12, Section 5 of 5

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Our living on the earth is entirely for the Lord. We should not be thinking about trying to significantly raise the quality and standard of our living. Rather, we should live a normal and proper life, being regulated in our daily activities at home, including our eating. When we need to spend, we would spend wisely; when we need to eat, we would eat properly. On the one hand, we should never sacrifice our health for the sake of saving money, for this would be an offense to the Lord. On the other hand, we should not waste even one penny. For the necessities of living, we should spend on the crucial things we need according to the rules of health, eating nutritious food and using suitable things, but we should not spend money for any unnecessary things. Using myself as an example, I still have a suit that I have had for eighteen years and a pair of shoes that I bought in England in 1958, both of which I am still wearing today. We must learn to spend within the appropriate bounds.

What I have said is not a small thing. Rather, this is for the building up of our proper living. Please remember that one day we all will stand before the judgment seat of the Lord to give an account of everything. We will have to explain to Him concerning how we spoke, how we spent our money, and how we dealt with others. This should serve as a reminder to us that if we really intend to be His witnesses, we should not just speak in a vain way. Rather, we should exercise our conscience so that we will be able to testify for ourselves that we are absolutely walking according to the spirit and doing everything before the Lord.

Therefore, I hope that we would all remember these few matters and apply them in our daily life, practicing every single item. We should not just talk and then not practice. We are different from Christianity. Not only do we acknowledge the truth and endeavor to [464] be built up in the truth so that we have both depth and height, but we should also be right and proper in our practical living. I am convinced that if we practice all these things, we will be those whom the Lord desires and who can be used by Him to send His truth to the whole world so that the gospel of the kingdom might be spread to the whole inhabited earth (Matt. 24:14) for the discipling of all the nations (28:19).

 

The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity, Chap 12, Section 4 of 5

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Finally, for the sake of our physical health, we should not quarrel with people. More cells in your body are killed when you quarrel, argue, or get angry than when you catch a cold. Therefore, remember that you should not get angry about anything or with anyone; in particular, husbands and wives should not be angry with each other. By the Lord’s grace you should receive this kind of exhortation so that you might prolong your days on earth and be more useful in the Lord’s hand.

LEARNING TO SPEND MONEY PROPERLY

Finally, we have to learn how to spend our money properly. When I was young, I read an article written by Benjamin Franklin of the United States in which he said that making money is easy and that spending money is hard. At first I did not agree with what he said because I believed that it is very hard to make money but not very hard to spend money. However, after reading through the article, I was deeply touched and greatly benefited. The article says that if a person does not spend his money properly, he will buy himself disaster. Very few people, however, know how to spend their money rightly.

Concerning the matter of financial support for the carrying out of the entire move of the Lord here, the need is extremely great. For example, the needs include the producing of one thousand full-timers, the propagation to the towns and villages, and the building of a big meeting hall. I have told all of you that we are all in the same boat. We must be in one accord and offer as much as we can. Although the full-timers are the object of church support, they should still try their best to be frugal. I have exhorted the elders to do their [461] best to provide adequate care to the full-timers by finding out clearly about their family background, their personal situation, and their health condition. In the same way I exhort all of you who are full-timers to open up and have fellowship with the elders if you have received too little; on the other hand, if you have received too much, you should learn to give some away to care for the need of the churches and the saints.

Let me give you a little personal testimony. We all know that the Lord is our riches, yet we also love money. In January of 1937, together with some co-workers from the northern part of China, I went to Shanghai to attend Brother Nee’s conference in which he released the messages, Concerning Our Missions (later republished as The Normal Christian Church Life). After the conference I was invited to visit Hangchow and Nanching. While I was holding a conference in Nanching, a brother from Hankow who was attending the conference received a telegram asking him to go home immediately because his wife was seriously ill. Upon hearing the news I was burdened in my spirit to give him some money. However, inwardly I was unwilling to do it. I said to myself as well as to the Lord, “Before I return to Tientsin, I still have to go to Tsinan, Tsingtao, and Chefoo. The money that I have is just enough to cover my traveling expenses. Thus, if I give away some of my money, I will have a lack. Then what shall I do?” Furthermore, I considered the fact that I had neglected the care for my wife and my three children since I had been away from home for several months. I was really in a dilemma.

The Lord, however, would not let me go. Finally, when that brother was about to board the car for departure, I gave him three-quarters of the money that I had with me. As soon as I gave away the money, I was relaxed and happy, feeling relieved in my spirit. However, I was still concerned about my own immediate expenditures. Then something wonderful happened; right after I saw that brother off, I went back to my lodging place and locked the door. As I was about to retire for the night, suddenly there was a brother knocking on my door. Right away I knew within that it was the Lord’s provision. After opening the door, I received an amount that was five or six times more than what I had given away. At that moment I had a real sense of shame and felt that I had really offended the Lord.

That was just the story on my side. Simultaneously, something wonderful happened in my home in Tientsin. During my absence [462] my wife and our three children were so impoverished that they were about to run out of food. Since we had learned not to reveal our need, my wife asked the three children to kneel down beside the bed with her, and they prayed to the Lord, telling Him that they would be running out of food the next day. The Lord is truly living and worthy of our trust. Just as she was rising up after she had finished praying and was going to put the children to bed, an elderly sister came. That elderly sister had not had any previous contact with my wife and had not been attending the meetings regularly. Furthermore, she was a Cantonese and spoke only Cantonese, of which my wife could not understand a word. Being very wealthy, she came to my home by car. Upon entering my home, she said a few sentences to my wife, which meant, “This is what the Lord has prepared for you.” Then she went away, leaving behind a large amount of money. My wife said to my children immediately, “Look at this. We just prayed, and the Lord sent an elderly sister to give us something right away.” Later that elderly sister told us that on that night she was reminded of my wife and our three children and suddenly felt so troubled within. Then the Lord said to her, “Send them some money quickly.” She asked, “Would it be all right if I go tomorrow?” The Lord said, “No! Go quickly right away.”

Brothers and sisters, this is truly my testimony. I was in one kind of situation while I was traveling, and my family was in another situation at home. The Lord took care of all of us. Therefore, we should not worry about our future. Rather, we should believe that we are in His hands and that He will take care of us and sustain us in a practical way. If the support you receive from the church is scanty, do not complain, but rather look to the Lord. If the support is plentiful, do not waste it all, but always save some for the Lord’s use. When I was in Shanghai, Sister Ruth Lee told me personally that when she and her co-workers were going to take the streetcar, they would count the cost and try to save as much as they could. Sometimes they would rather walk and save the few copper coins for the Lord. I also learned such a lesson. For example, whenever I wrote a letter, I would use an aerogram in order to save a dime or a few pennies. This was the kind of living that the co-workers at that time learned to live. We all need to learn such a lesson.

We should not fear that the Lord will neglect us. Until today I have been receiving more than ten thousand U.S. dollars from the [463] Lord yearly. However, I still try to be as frugal as possible in my living so that I can have more to give away. Sometimes I take care of some needy saints, especially the Chinese co-workers, and sometimes I take care of the needs of the churches for building meeting halls in different places. Therefore, we should not have the notion that since the Lord has given us so much, we are free to spend it all. No! Even if the Lord gives us much more than we need, it is still the Lord’s money. Even though the money is in our hands, still it is the Lord’s money. Therefore, we have to learn to spend it carefully, trying our best to save as much as possible for the Lord’s use.

 

The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity, Chap 12, Section 3 of 5

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We must see that God is one, the Lord is one, Christ is one, redemption is one, salvation is one, the church is one, the work is one, and the testimony is one. Wherever we go, all these items are one. Those who cause trouble are those who think that they are capable of doing something and who try to accomplish something. Here I want to exhort all of you solemnly that you should never do such a thing. We have to realize that there is only one recovery. If we want to do something different, we are finished. I am not here boasting of my age, but I have traveled throughout the six major continents of the earth and have established numerous churches through the ministry that the Lord has given to me. My secret is that I have never been detached from the church. I am not able to accomplish so much by myself. If I were to be separated from the church, I would not be able to establish even three churches, let alone three hundred churches. Therefore, we all have to learn to labor in the church and to work with others.

LIVING A HEALTHY LIFE

Seventh, we need to learn to live a healthy life. Let me give a brief testimony. In my youth I never received guidance on how to live a proper everyday life at home, or on how to eat properly. I never knew what health and nutrition meant. Moreover, due to my hard-working disposition, I frequently went beyond what I could bear. Eventually, in 1943 when I was almost forty years old, I already had a serious stomach ulcer due to my excessive labor. After that, I became seriously ill with tuberculosis. I had ruined my body to such an extent.

As soon as I was sick with tuberculosis, I knew that I needed an extended period of recuperation without disturbance, or else I would die very soon. At that time it was common in China for people to eventually die due to inadequate rest. Therefore, I made a painful decision to put aside all my work and responsibility. After two and a half years of quiet rest, I was fully restored in my body, and in 1946 I was able to stand up and minister again. From that time until now, [458] I have been laboring continually for over forty years without having had any serious illness again.

During the period of my recuperation, I was under the supervision and care of some of the saints from Chefoo who were nurses and doctors. It was through their teaching that I learned a great deal about health. Since then, I have been living according to the knowledge of personal health that I had learned. This is why until today I am still healthy and strong and able to minister here.

I will mention a few simple points here, hoping that all of us will be sure to remember them. While I have not been strictly abiding by all these points in all these forty years, I have been practicing them most of the time, so even until today I am still very healthy. First of all, you should pay attention to your diet. Do not eat or drink carelessly. You should absolutely avoid fatty meat and red meat. Do not say, “I love pork leg with all its fat, so I eat a lot.” If you indulge in eating unhealthy food, you are committing gradual suicide. According to my experience, among the different kinds of meat, fish is the best, chicken is next, and then lamb and beef; it is better to avoid pork because it does more harm than good. The Bible can never be wrong. Leviticus prohibits the eating of pork (11:7) because it has no profit. Moreover, try your best to avoid any food that is deep-fried. If you have to eat some, try your best to remove the skin and eat only the meat. Some people especially love to eat the skin of fried chicken. By so doing, they are cutting short their life expectancy. Third, do not eat too many sweet things. Fourth, avoid eating any heavily seasoned food. Salted food is the worst. While you are still young, learn to eat food without grease and heavy seasoning, and over a period of time you will be accustomed to it.

Furthermore, while you should avoid overeating, you should not allow your stomach to be empty. Do not think that because you are still young, you are strong enough to hold yourself up. Eventually, you will fall sick. I am really concerned for a certain brother who loves the Lord. He has been laboring for the Lord faithfully, but because he is overly fatigued, the level of his white blood cells has gone up too high. Now he is in the hospital getting emergency care. Of course, I believe that the Lord will heal him, and we should also pray for him. I mention this as a warning to all of you. Do not think that since you are still young and have inexhaustible energy, you can [459] use it excessively all the time. We must always remember that we are limited.

In addition, be sure to drink sufficient water—at least twelve big glasses every day. Water is for the cleansing of our whole system; taking plenty of fluid keeps our system cleansed all the time. A study that was done in America on the young soldiers who were killed in the Vietnam War found that more than one-third of them had blood vessels that were blocked. This indicates that they did not eat properly and had taken in too much fat so that even in their twenties and thirties they already had the problem of clogged blood vessels. American foods are very nutritious, yet the probability of Americans having high blood pressure, heart disease, and strokes is also quite high. We should take this as a warning. Therefore, it is good to drink some water after each meal.

In addition, you must have at least half an hour of exercise every day. Any kind of exercise will do. You may practice shadowboxing, or you may jog or walk. Furthermore, there is no need to be so regimented; just let your body move around a little bit. After a meal, spend ten minutes to walk. Walking is in fact the best exercise. I spend at least half an hour walking every day. Whenever I feel uncomfortable, I stand up and take a walk, and after fifteen minutes of walking, I feel comfortable again.

In 1948 after Brother Nee resumed his ministry, he gave us some statistics. He said that due to the lack of knowledge about nutrition and due also to the poor living situation, out of the more than twenty co-workers who died at that time, only one was killed by the Communist Party, whereas ninety percent of the rest died of tuberculosis. Brother Nee said that it was for this reason that he went into the pharmaceutical business, for which he was condemned and opposed so much that he had to stop his ministry. He said that if it was wrong for him to go into business, he was forced to do so because he was just like a widow forced to remarry for the survival of her children. He went into business because he could not bear to see the co-workers dying one by one of malnutrition. As he spoke this word, everyone in the meeting, including himself, wept. Before that time I had never seen Brother Nee shedding tears. In fact, that was the only time I ever saw him weeping. At that time I was sitting beside him, and I also wept.

We do not have a financial problem in our present situation, [460] especially in Taiwan. However, we should not eat, drink, and enjoy anything as we like simply because we are wealthy. This is to commit gradual suicide. I hope that we could live to be eighty or ninety, even to over a hundred, so that we might be able to see the fulfillment of all that we have fellowshipped today. I wish to live on this earth and witness with my own eyes the truth of the Lord not only being printed into books through our hands but also being sent through us to every part of the world and prevailing in every place. I absolutely believe that this will hasten the Lord’s return because it is through this that the Lord will prepare His bride. I hope that we all can see the manifestation of such a situation.

 

The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity, Chap 12, Section 2 of 5

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LEARNING LANGUAGES

We may have growth in life, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, fellowship with the Lord without any barrier, a good character, and constitution with truth; however, if we do not have a good command of language, this will be a shortcoming. When I say that we must have a good command of language, I am referring not only to foreign languages but also to our mother tongue. If we intend to speak for the Lord but do not have an adequate vocabulary, even if we have a great deal of knowledge within us, we will not be able to adequately express any of it. If this is the case, then everything that we have learned will be in vain. We often hear people say, “I know a lot, but I do not know how to say it. I really understand this matter, but I do not know how to explain it.” It is useless to say this. If you do not know how to say what you know, then whatever you say will be in vain, and even if you try to say something it will be as if you have not said anything. For this reason we must have much learning with regard to language. The first thing we have to learn is our mother tongue. The Chinese people constitute one-fourth of the world’s population, so we must have a good command of the Chinese language in order that we may be able to speak for the Lord.

Second, since we have a desire to know the Bible, we must go back to the original language. Therefore, we have to study Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written. We should at least be able to recognize the Greek alphabet, learn some basic grammar, learn to use Greek dictionaries, and read the interlinear Greek-English Bible. In this way, once we read a Greek word, we will recognize it and know how to study it. This will help us in the study of the truth. This is not very difficult, so I hope that we all can learn Greek at least to this extent.

Third, we have to learn English well, since it is today’s international language. Wherever we go, it may be all right if we do not know other languages, but if we do not know English, it will be very difficult for us to get around. Even if we go to regions like India, Burma, and Africa, as long as we can speak a little English, we will be able to travel anywhere freely. Therefore, once we know English, [455] we will be able to travel throughout the world. We can be sure that in the future many will be sent to the various parts of the world. Moreover, since Taiwan is a center and base of the Lord’s recovery, many saints from different countries all over the world will come to visit. Therefore, we need to learn English all the more.

Furthermore, we have to seek the Lord’s leading to learn an extra language, such as Spanish, French, or German. Any additional equipping will give the Lord an additional way in us. Generally speaking, if we want to serve the Lord full time, we should be familiar with at least four languages.

I predict that in no more than six or seven years, many of our young full-timers will be sent forth, unless they do not have the burden, the environment does not allow it, or they do not have the leading in their spirit. I really hope that the Lord will enable us to carry out our plan so that within ten years all of Taiwan will be gospelized and will even more be saturated with the truth and the church. The degree of saturation, however, will depend on the number of people who labor. The more laborers, the greater the intensity of saturation will be. Not to mention other places, the communities in Taiwan alone will require the labor of several hundred people. Suppose that right now we had five hundred full-timers who were devoted to laboring in the communities in Taipei. I believe that they would be able to lead three or five thousand people to salvation in a month. If we have five hundred full-timers coordinating with approximately one thousand eight hundred working saints or elderly saints to knock on doors every day, just consider how great the impact would be!

If there is no longer the need to take care of the towns and villages, all the full-timers can stay in Taipei to labor in the communities. If we did this, I believe that within a year we might be able to bring in ten thousand people. However, we cannot do this, because it is against the principle of the Bible. The book of Acts shows us that when the number of saved ones in Jerusalem increased, they should have spread out for propagation. However, because they failed to do so, God had to raise up persecution to force them out. We should not wait until God drives us out; rather, we should take the initiative to cooperate with God. In five or six years, when a church has been raised up in every town and when almost every city or village has been evangelized, we should all go abroad. By that time, all [456] the full-time serving ones will have gained a thorough knowledge of the truth, will have become experienced in the work, and will be able to meet the need in the matter of language. Therefore, they will be able to go abroad immediately for the Lord’s work.

Today scattered throughout the six major continents there are more than six hundred churches who are waiting. Our going there will simply be a reaction or a response. These churches will welcome us very much. Do not think that there is not any need in America. This is not true. There is a need for us to go even to America. Once we go, we will bring in a kind of mutual flow between us. Then America will be stirred up. The circulation of blood is essential to the health of our body. This is the Lord’s ordination. At Paul’s time, people could communicate and fellowship with one another only through sailboats or the Roman highways. Today we are in the age of the “Global Village.” The whole world is just a big village. We can communicate conveniently through airplanes, telephones, telegrams, computers, television, and radio broadcasts. Thus, we must seize the opportunity to have more fellowship with one another.

Thank the Lord that He has given us three great resources: first, the rich truths; second, the churches scattered all over the globe; and third, a stable political situation, a prosperous economy, and an advanced educational system, which enables us to produce a group of young full-time serving ones. Today on this small island of Taiwan twenty million people are gathered here. They are all of high quality and are just like fish for us to catch. Recently, with only a few days of labor we were able to gain more than two hundred people. The educational foundation is the source of this. Moreover, the prosperity of Taiwan’s economy makes it possible to meet the needs of the full-timers. All these situations are the Lord’s doing. Hence, we all have to grasp the opportunity to equip ourselves.

LEARNING TO KNOW THE CHURCH

Sixth, we must learn to know the church. Everything we do should be for the church and by the church; we should never be detached from the church. Furthermore, we should be protected, restricted, and led by the church, which includes all the brothers and sisters. In other words, we must learn not to act independently but to coordinate with the brothers and sisters. Coordination is a matter of the church. Even if someone were an all-powerful “giant” [457] who was able to do everything, he still could not be separated from the church. I have been serving the Lord for many years, but to this day I have never been detached from the church. Instead, I always do everything with the church. I would not do anything apart from the church.

 

The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity, Chap 12, Section 1 of 5

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CHAPTER TWELVE

BECOMING A USEFUL VESSEL IN THE LORD’S HAND
(2)

Besides pursuing the growth in life and being equipped in the truth, as mentioned in the preceding chapter, we also need to build up several other things if we want to be useful vessels in the Lord’s hand.

BUILDING UP OUR CHRISTIAN LIVING

Third, we must develop a habit and build up a life of praying every day, fellowshipping with the Lord all the time, confessing our sins to the Lord constantly, and enjoying the infilling of the Holy Spirit at every moment. We must build up these things in our Christian life. Prayer is a daily necessity; it should not be skipped even for one day. This refers not to prayers in the meetings but to prayers in private. Every day we must pray, fellowship with the Lord, and confess our sins, not allowing any barrier to remain between us and the Lord. If we have a negative feeling toward someone who coordinates or serves with us, we do not need to disclose it to him lest we give the devil an opportunity to damage the work. We should, however, still go to the Lord to deal with this matter, saying, “Lord, I have a bad feeling toward him. I am tired of him and do not approve of what he says. Please forgive me and transform me.”

In hospitals, doctors and nurses contact all kinds of patients every day and are contaminated by different kinds of germs. The best way for them to be protected is by continually washing their hands. Every time after they contact a patient, they wash their hands so that no germs remain on them. Our confession and repentance must be like this. In addition, we need to fellowship with the Lord and receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit constantly. We should not analyze too much in our mind, but we should just practice this every day. [452]

BUILDING UP OUR CHRISTIAN CHARACTER

Fourth, a person who serves the Lord should not be light in speech or loose in behavior. We need to cultivate our human character and disposition in order to build up our Christian character. Do not be frivolous or loose but instead be grave and dignified. This is not simply to give ourselves an air of solemnity but to be sober as is fitting for Christians. The sisters, in particular, should conduct themselves with gravity. It is an unchanging principle that there should be a distinction between males and females. Women should not have any casual physical contact with men, talk with them in a frivolous way, or be so loose as to hold hands with them or put their arm around their shoulders. Sisters, if you do any of these things, you depreciate yourselves. Of course, you may not have any intention to do anything evil, but others will despise your behavior. Similarly, the brothers should not be playful or light. Instead, you should be grave and proper. This is to build up your character. Do not open your mouth if there is no need for you to say anything. If you do say something, however, you should mean what you say. If you say something wrong, confess it right away. Moreover, whenever you say something, you should keep your word. Do everything properly and seriously. If you have an appointment with someone, you should be on time. You should also do whatever you have promised others that you will do, even if it causes you to suffer a loss. If we build up this kind of character, surely we will be weighty.

Two people can do the same thing, but the weightiness of the action does not depend on the action itself but on the person who is doing it. Therefore, we need to build up our character. This includes our clothing and adornment. The sisters like to adorn their face and hair. The way you comb your hair and present your face reveals what kind of person you are; it depicts your character to the uttermost. Of course, there are no outward laws telling us what to do. I believe, however, that we all understand what Paul meant when he said, “That women adorn themselves in proper clothing with modesty and sobriety” (1 Tim. 2:9). Although it is hard to say what kind of clothing is “proper,” all people who are upright, not only Christians but even non-Christians, know the kind of clothing that is considered proper. Even non-Christians, if they are upright, know that clothes that expose the chest and arms are improper and inappropriate. [453]

The purpose of clothing is not only to protect us from the cold, but even more to cover our body. The reason that human beings need to wear clothing is because man sinned and as a result gained a sense of shame toward his nakedness. Originally, man did not have to wear clothes because he did not have sin or know sin and thus did not have the sense of shame. But since the day that sin entered into man due to the fall, man began to have a sense of shame. Thus, man started to feel that it was wrong to be naked and that he needed to be covered. Hence, clothing in the Bible is not primarily for protecting us from the cold but for covering our body to remove our shame of nakedness. Today, however, the clothes that are in fashion all violate this principle. People think that the more they expose their body, the better. Therefore, nearly all the clothes that are in style are against the principle of morality. There are two ways that the human body can be exposed: one way is to be completely naked and without the covering of any clothes; another way is to be clothed in a way that exposes the shape of one’s body. Both are against the biblical principle.

For this reason we should not find it strange that since the ancient times, people who fear God, whether Jews or Arabs, Catholics or Episcopalians, males or females, priests or nuns, all wear clothes that completely cover their body. This does not mean that all of our clothing has to be old-fashioned and peculiar. Nonetheless, according to the principle, first, we should cover our body; second, we should not overexpose our figure. This matter has very much to do with our character, our personality, our gravity, and our dignity. We must not forget that we are doing the King’s business. We are just like the imperial officials and special envoys. Therefore, when we go to visit people, we must dress properly so that when people look at our clothing and our manner, they cannot but welcome and respect us. Hence, we must cultivate and build up this matter.

The effectiveness of our work and the weightiness of our words all depend on the way we dress ourselves. The Chinese have a saying: “Words from a person of little significance carry little weight.” How then can we be people who are weighty instead of being people of little significance? It all depends upon our character, our speech, our appearance, and our clothing and adornment. Suppose we were to wear a strange garment that is very colorful with two red stripes in the front and two yellow stripes on the shoulders. When people [454] see us, surely they will say that we are probably circus performers. How can they believe that we are preaching Jesus and teaching the truth?

The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity, Chap 11, Section 3 of 3

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The reason we initiated the lawsuit was to fight for the reputation of the Lord’s recovery. The changes made by the slanderers turned our teaching into the heresy of modalism. I have said repeatedly that we are not modalists. Although we say that the Son is the Father (Isa. 9:6) and that the Son became the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b), this is the teaching concerning the Trinity, not the teaching of modalism. In America, some teach modalism while others teach tritheism. But the Lord’s recovery is very balanced; we advocate neither modalism nor tritheism but emphasize the Trinity and speak in great detail about the essential Trinity and the economical Trinity. This may be quite new to the average theologian and professor in seminaries in America. In order to get a deeper understanding of this truth, some young brothers purposely have dived into all the theology from the age of the church fathers to the present time and found out all the truths related to the Divine Trinity. [448]

Christianity has already been on the earth for two thousand years. Perhaps one day many of our young people will go to the West, especially to America, for propagation. We know that in America there is a lot of trouble when it comes to truth. It is a place where truth easily gives rise to debate. Therefore, every one of us has to study the truth in depth so that when the time comes, we can show our real aptitude.

First Being Equipped with the Truth

In order to go forth to work for the Lord, first we must equip ourselves that we may be enriched in the knowledge of the truth. If we do this, whenever we speak, we will be able to present the truth clearly and reasonably, and those who hear us will also be convinced. The present world has been polluted by Christianity for more than one thousand years, so the truth of God has no way to spread. Therefore, today we all have to receive the commission to spread the truth throughout the world. This is not an easy thing. It is not like in the past when the Western missionaries came to China. At that time the Chinese people were like blank sheets of paper toward Christianity. The missionaries just hired some poor or low-class people by giving them candy or money. They asked them to cook meals or sweep the floor for them, and then they preached a little sermon to them. But today we cannot do that when we go to South America, Europe, or Africa. Because all these places have already been fully polluted by Christianity, when we go, we must be familiar with the truth and have much learning in the matter of service so that we may be able to meet the need.

As those who serve the Lord, we must be equipped in these two matters: the growth in life and the familiarity with the truth. Therefore, we should be diligent not only in reading the Bible but also in reading the spiritual books. We have to spend time to study every page of every book that has been published from the time of Brother Nee until this day. We have to try our best to make good use of our time, reading a little bit even after every meal. We have to practice this to the extent that we have a book in hand all the time. Even before bedtime we should study a little more.

If we are willing to spend all our effort, all our heart, and all our time to study the truth, we will be able to lay a very good foundation within two years. In addition, we should learn to serve. Young [449] people have to be trained, either for two years or for four years. During this training period, other than all the required courses, all the spiritual publications must be considered extracurricular reading and be studied with diligence. It is a great loss to miss even one of them. This will help you to be equipped in the truth so that when you go out to preach, you will be very fluent in speaking and able to speak without any difficulty at all. Do not learn the truth only on the surface; rather, learn it to the extent that you not only know how to speak the truth but also how to speak it with great skill.

In order to be familiar with the truth, we must read the Bible thoroughly and read many spiritual books. It is neither a boast nor a deception to say that all the books in the Lord’s recovery are the extracts of the truths in Christianity. They are the crystallization of the study of the Bible and the spiritual life-experiences of Christians throughout the last two thousand years. Hence, we should endeavor to enter into all these spiritual riches and not waste our time or money on other unnecessary pursuits. We should save all our time and money in order to spend them on studying the Bible and spiritual books. In this way, after a few years of study we will have a thorough grasp of the truth.

To meet the great need of the Lord’s recovery all over the earth, we must cooperate with the Lord’s move by observing the outward situation on the one hand and being led by the Lord within on the other. Prior to this, however, we have to be equipped with the truth. This is a very crucial matter.

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After the establishment of the state churches, Luther still did not leave the practice of the Catholic Church in the matter of baptism by sprinkling. Soon afterward, however, some of the Lord’s lovers who emerged from northern Europe studied the Scriptures and saw the truth of baptism. Eventually, the Baptist Church was formed. Since its formation, it has evolved into many different denominations today in Europe and America. The strongest group was originally called the Anabaptists, out of which came the British Baptists. John Bunyan, the author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, was an important figure in the British Baptist Church. Later the so-called Baptist Church reached America and was divided into the Northern Baptist Church and the Southern Baptist Church. Today the Southern Baptist denomination has thirteen million believers. The Baptists in Taiwan are also generally affiliated with the Southern Baptists.

In the 1700s John Wesley, his younger brother Charles Wesley, and George Whitefield were among a small group of young men who were outstanding students at Oxford University. They loved the Lord very much, read the Bible diligently, and determined to behave very properly and to strictly adhere to rules of love, honesty, and faith in God. Based upon these rules they formed a society, which later developed into the Methodist denomination. This denomination puts a strong emphasis on methods of behavior and pays much attention to conduct and morality.

Today these four major denominations, the Episcopalians, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists, along with some other smaller [445] denominations and free groups, are the main constituents of fundamental Christianity. All these groups believe in the basic items of Fundamentalism. Nevertheless, many of the people in these groups do not have an accurate understanding of the divinity of the Lord Jesus. Instead of saying boldly and directly that the Lord Jesus is God, they say that He is the Son of God. To them there is still a distinction between “the Son of God” and “God.” Of course, this involves the truth of the Divine Trinity.

The Error of Reformed Theology

Of all the different schools of fundamental theology, Reformed theology, which is related to Luther and Calvin, is the worst. Although Reformed theologians acknowledge the four major aspects of fundamentalist truths, the views of many of these theologians are altogether in error. Many say that there is no such thing as a millennial kingdom. They think that it is wrong to say that the millennial kingdom will begin when the Lord Jesus comes back. Instead, they believe that beginning with the spreading of the gospel through the apostles’ preaching of the gospel and truth, human society has been gradually reformed. As a result, human society will eventually become a utopia, a world of bliss. This kind of teaching was quite prevailing in the nineteenth century. At that time Darby took the lead among the Brethren to refute it. Thus, Brethren teaching is in conflict with Reformed theology.

Many Bible scholars in Europe and America acknowledge that Brethren theology is the top fundamental theology with the most fundamental truths. These are the very truths that we have received. Reformed theology asserts that human society will be reformed and eventually become a utopia through the spreading of the gospel and the teaching of the truth, and then the Lord will come back. They do not acknowledge that the believers have two natures, the new nature and the old nature, an old man and a new man, within them. They think that the new man comes out of the improvement of the old man. This way of thinking, eventually leads to not believing in regeneration. Thus, over the years the gap between Reformed theology and Fundamentalism has become greater and greater.

Although this school of thought was very popular in the nineteenth century, the belief in a so-called utopia was almost completely demolished by the war in Europe that lasted for four years beginning [446] in 1914. From that time onward, this school of thought has declined and, for the most part, been replaced by the study of biblical prophecies concerning the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Nevertheless, despite its decline in Europe, this school of thought still gradually spread to America, especially in the area around Chicago.

Of the two books that attacked and slandered the Lord’s recovery in the worst way, one was written by someone who is of the school of Reformed theology. The two groups that published these two books were originally one group. After the original group divided into two, one group remained in fundamental theology, not in the high-class fundamental theology but in Reformed theology. It was this group that put out The God-Men to oppose the Lord’s recovery. The other group did not agree to remain in fundamental theology, so they had another start and founded the Evangelical Orthodox Church. They appointed themselves “bishops” and purchased “bishops’ robes.” This second group put out The Mindbenders to oppose the Lord’s recovery.

Fighting the Good Fight of the Truth

We should be orthodox genuinely, not only in relation to the fundamental truths but also in the matter of life. We absolutely believe in the matter of regeneration and confess that Christians have two natures—the nature of the new man and the nature of the old man. This is the orthodox truth concerning life. In the matter of truth we have received a great deal of help from the Brethren—in particular, concerning the interpretation of prophecies. G. H. Pember, Robert Govett, and D. M. Panton were very thorough and precise in their studies, always interpreting the Bible according to the accurate meaning of the words. Hardly any mistakes can be found in their works. Based on their interpretations, and standing on their shoulders, we have examined and pursued the truth and have gone on to see deeper things.

On the final day of depositions for the lawsuit against the book The Mindbenders, its chief editor and those involved in its publication all capitulated. They had no way to continue debating with the Lord’s recovery. Since they could not understand what we were saying, they had no way to fight the battle. In the book The Four Major Steps of Christ, I refer to the three successive steps taken by the Triune God in His work and in His move. This refers to something [447] economical, something related to His move. Yet the author of The Mindbenders wrongly accused me of saying that there are three successive steps taken by God in His existence. What they did was very subtle.

In terms of the existence of God, we use the term coexistence. In God’s existence, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit coexist in the way of coinhering. This is according to the Lord Jesus’ speaking: “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me” (John 14:10), “I and the Father who sent Me” (8:16), and “I am not alone, because the Father is with Me” (16:32). We also said clearly that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit coexisted in the Old Testament. In terms of God’s move, the Old Testament age was the age of the Father. Nevertheless, the Son and the Spirit were also there. In terms of God’s move, it was the Son who moved and was processed. Yet when the Son moved, the Father was with Him. At the same time the Spirit was also present as the essence within Him and the power upon Him. It was by the Spirit that He cast out demons and preached the gospel. Thus, all three were there. In the Epistles it is the age of the Spirit, and it is the Spirit who is moving. Yet when the Spirit moves, He moves as the realization of Christ, and He also moves with the Father. Hence, in terms of Their existence and essence, regardless of which age it is, the three of the Divine Trinity always take the way of coexistence and coinherence. In terms of Their move, however, They are in succession: first the Father, then the Son, and then the Spirit.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

BECOMING A USEFUL VESSEL IN THE LORD’S HAND
(1)

It is crucial for anyone who is truly saved, loves the Lord, and desires to serve the Lord all his life to know how to become a useful vessel in the Lord’s hand. There are a few things that such a one should pay attention to and practice every day for his entire life.

PURSUING THE GROWTH IN LIFE

First of all, we have to pursue the growth in life. Both our salvation and our growth hinge on life. Similarly, being useful in the Lord’s hand also hinges on life. Being able to render help to others depends on life, and being fruitful in gospel preaching also depends on life. Take our knocking on doors house by house as an example. We can see that whether or not it is effective hinges entirely on life. It is one thing for a sloppily dressed person to go door-knocking; it is another thing for a well-mannered person to do it. It would be a tremendous thing if the president of a nation were to go door-knocking. Therefore, the value of the same thing varies according to the person who does it. If the apostle Paul were preaching the gospel of forgiveness here today, it would be very weighty. If we were to do it, however, the result would be very different because we are not as advanced in life as Paul was. Therefore, we must pay attention to the pursuit of life and seek to grow in life.

We all know that the growth in life of all living things in nature, such as flowers, grass, trees, and all kinds of animals, is a moment-by-moment and day-by-day matter. The blood circulation in our body, which is the basis of our growth, is continuous and exceedingly fast. Once, there was a brother in the church who was a doctor and who opened a gospel clinic next to hall three in Taipei. He was greatly used by the Lord to lead many to salvation. He told me that even before a person finishes speaking a sentence, his blood has already circulated one time throughout his whole body. A person grows in life day by day, and even when he reaches one hundred years old, [442] he will still be growing. The Bible tells us that the life span of all the patriarchs was very long. For instance, Adam lived to nine hundred thirty years of age. Moreover, the entire time that he was alive, he was growing. Hence, the first thing that you must pay attention to is life. In all the books published by us, the matter spoken of and stressed the most is life. You must spend time to study two of these books, namely, The Knowledge of Life and The Experience of Life.

BEING EQUIPPED IN THE TRUTH

Second, according to the Bible, truth goes together with life. Truth is the word of God. It is not our words but the word of the Bible. In John 17 the Lord Jesus prayed to the Father, saying, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (v. 17). The Bible is an extraordinary book. The Four Books and Five Classics, written by the ancient Chinese sages, may be considered the highest books aside from the Bible in terms of human ethics and morality. According to my evaluation, the philosophies of other countries, such as Egypt, Babylon, and ancient Greece, are inferior when compared with the classical writings of Chinese Confucianism. Even so, the Four Books and Five Classics are not the truth. In this universe only the word of God is truth. For this reason we should never stop pursuing God’s word. Our pursuit should be a daily matter. I dare not say that it is a moment-by-moment pursuit, but at least it must be a day-by-day pursuit. You need to pursue the truth every day in order to gain the knowledge of the truth.

The Defects and Influence of Christianity

Christianity has two big defects: first, a negligence with regard to life, and second, a shortage of truth. Christianity in its entirety is a religion with only a limited amount of truth. Those who are known as the fundamentalists have four characteristics: first, they have deep faith in the Bible, believing the literal meaning of the words; second, they believe in the existence of God; third, they believe in the divinity of the Lord Jesus; and fourth, they believe that the death of the Lord Jesus was not merely the death of a martyr but was for redemption. Anyone who lacks any of these four points cannot be considered a fundamentalist. The four major fundamentalist denominations are the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, and the Episcopalians. The Episcopalian Church, which is the state church of England, is also [443] called the Anglican Church. Its rituals and organization closely resemble those of the Catholic Church.

The Mistake of the Catholic Church

With regard to the fundamental faith, even the Catholic Church may be considered fundamental because she also believes in the Bible as the word of God, in the existence of God, in the divinity of the Lord Jesus, and in the redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus. However, she has mixed a large amount of leaven into the three measures of meal, as mentioned in Matthew 13. In that chapter the meal signifies the fundamental truths. Three measures is the amount required for a full meal (Gen. 18:6), signifying that the Catholic Church does not deny any of the fundamental truths but rather acknowledges them all. To this day she is still like this and boasts in this. Nonetheless, she does not know how much leaven, heresies, she has mixed into the three measures of meal. The leavening has been so thorough that even the Lord Jesus said that “the whole was leavened” (Matt. 13:33). She has mixed leaven into all the fundamental truths. I have met many Germans whose specialty is chemistry. They all say that once the meal is leavened, there is no way to remove the leaven from it.

A Brief History of Fundamentalism

Like the Catholic Church, the half-Catholic Episcopalian Church acknowledges the authority of the Bible, the existence of God, the divinity of Christ as the Son of God, and the death of the Lord Jesus for our redemption by the shedding of His blood. However, for the most part the Episcopalians do not see the truths in the Scriptures related to life. Among them, some theologians might have studied this matter a little, but as a whole they do not pay much attention to it. John Nelson Darby, whom we have always respected, was originally a priest in the Anglican Church. After seeing much light at the age of twenty-five, he became one of the founders of the recovery that took place among the Brethren.

The inception of the Presbyterian churches and the Baptist churches was related to the Reformation led by Martin Luther. During the Reformation, Luther was constantly being threatened by the Catholic Church, and his life was always in danger. As a result, he was weakened. At that time the Catholic Church’s power was extremely great, and the pope’s political authority was greater than that of any [444] of the monarchs. Eventually, some Germanic princes were disgusted with this, so they joined together to fight against the Catholic Church in order to protect Luther, their fellow countryman. Because of their protection, Luther compromised and went along with their action. In the end, the Lutheran denomination, formed by the followers of Luther, became the state church. Later, one after another, the countries in Northern Europe followed suit, resulting in the formation of state churches in countries such as Denmark and Sweden. Until today many German citizens pay a church tax, and the government participates in the administration of the church. In the same way, at his birth every Englishman becomes not only a subject of Great Britain but also a member of the Anglican Church. Hence, due to the mixture of politics and religion, the situation of the state churches is very confusing and has a strong political flavor.

 

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In the Service

In your coordination with the brothers and sisters who work with you, you should also exercise faith and not have your own choice. You should not say, “I prefer to coordinate and serve with Brother So-and-so.” I can tell you that very often the companion you choose will end up hating you. Today you love him, but he will hate you in the future. It is really strange that none of the companions you choose will work. Therefore, in the matter of coordination you need to learn to leave it in the Lord’s hand and trust in the Lord. Take myself as an example. In these many years of serving the Lord I have not chosen any particular person to be my co-worker, nor have I selected any particular one to receive my training. I do not make my own choice as to whom I would work with, nor do I make my own choice as to whom I would train. Throughout all these years the Lord has been arranging everything for me; I just learn to trust in Him and to exercise faith rather than struggling by myself or having my own demands, choices, inclinations, and preferences. Of course, we should also not have any anxiety or worry, but we should believe that whenever we have a particular need, God knows about it. This is faith.

THE EXERCISE AND LEARNING NEEDED 
FOR ENDURING SUFFERINGS

Another thing that all of God’s serving ones should learn is to exercise to endure sufferings. This is also a most necessary item of the Christian character. This does not mean that we should create or seek out sufferings for ourselves; rather, it means that we should learn to suffer. What is a suffering? Anything that is not according to our desire is a suffering to us. As a northerner, I grew up eating food made from wheat and seldom ate rice. In the fall of 1934 I was invited to work in Pingyang, Wenchow, where it was impossible to buy authentic northern steamed bread, even with gold. At that time I had indigestion due to a serious stomach ulcer. This kind of illness is very sensitive to the fall weather. After I arrived in Pingyang, the saints served me rice every day. The strangest thing was that the rice that the southerners cooked was dry and hard, unlike the rice that the northerners cooked, which was sticky. Even before I ate the rice, I was scared just to look at it, and I wondered how I would be able to [426] digest it. During that time I gave messages two or three times a day, in addition to service meetings. Eventually, I had indigestion due to the half-cooked rice, and my body was weakened.

When the saints saw this, they took extra efforts to find someone to make steamed bread for me. At that time I had been eating steamed bread for thirty years, so the first day that I saw the smooth, shining surface of the bread that they brought me, I knew that the inside was still raw and not thoroughly leavened. I dared not say anything because it would have been improper to do so. When the saints served the bread, I just ate it. They said that the bread was the best local bread because it was made by the only person who knew how to make that kind of bread. I just had to eat it. This is what it means to suffer.

Brother Watchman Nee had a similar story. He was a southerner. He began to labor for the Lord in 1921 around the age of twenty. One time he was invited to work in Hsuchow, in Anhwei Province, north of the Yangtze River. The northerners did not have regular beds. They slept on brick beds warmed by a fire underneath. In order to provide hospitality for Brother Nee, the saints borrowed a bed that had a framework of metal strips without any bedding except a bed sheet. They told Brother Nee, “We borrowed this bed especially for you.” Thus, Brother Nee slept on a bed of metal strips, something he had never before experienced.

When we go forth to work for the Lord, we have to learn to commit ourselves to the circumstances. We cannot expect the circumstances to always be accommodating to us and working for us. This is impossible. Some of you will go to different towns and villages for propagation. You do not know what kind of circumstances you will be in, what kind of things you will encounter, and how much financial support you will receive. Everything is an unknown. Therefore, you need to live by faith and learn to suffer. You should arm yourselves with a mind to suffer so that you can be a good soldier of Christ. Peter also exhorts us to follow the Lord with the mind of Christ, a mind to suffer (1 Pet. 4:1). When a real soldier goes to fight at the frontline, the environment is beyond his control. Therefore, he has to get ready in ordinary times by exercising to endure sufferings.

We said earlier that anything that is not according to our desire is a suffering. For example, we may be afraid that others will snore, [427] yet it may happen that the one who sleeps on the same bunk bed with us snores terribly. We should not say that we cannot take it. Instead, we have to exercise. If we have such a mind, it will take us only a week’s exercise to be able to fall asleep. If we do not pay attention to a certain thing, we will not suffer because of it, but once we direct our attention to it, we will suffer. Hence, to learn to suffer is to learn not to be mindful of anything.

That time while I was eating the uncooked steamed bread, I was really not able to eat it, but I remembered that the Lord had said, “Into whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you” (Luke 10:8). So I prayed, “Lord, You said that we should eat what is set before us; now they have set before me something raw, so I should eat it raw.” Eventually, I ate it. Thank and praise the Lord that my stomach problem was not worsened, although I indeed became thinner. A month later Brother Nee had a conference in Hangchow, so I finished my work and rushed to that conference. When I arrived there the next day, he was speaking on the podium. Once he saw me, he said, “Alas! Brother Witness is as thin as a stick!” Afterward in the next meeting, he shared in the message that co-workers who go out to labor for the Lord should learn to suffer hardships.

We must learn to endure hardships if we intend to work for the Lord. We should not forget that as soldiers we must be ready to go to war, not to attend a feast. As a result, we need to get ourselves prepared. When we go out to spread the gospel, we have to prepare to go to the battlefield to suffer. We have to pave the way for ourselves in every matter. We need to take care of our living quarters and find a way to prepare our meals. In dealing with gospel friends or brothers and sisters we must learn to relate to them on their level. All these things require us to exercise faith and to learn to suffer.

 

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In Bodily Illnesses

First, we must learn to exercise faith when we are sick. This does not mean that we are superstitious. When we are sick, we still have to see a doctor and take medicine. This is a two-sided matter. For example, every day God sustains us not by signs and wonders but through a normal diet. We should not think that since we trust in God, we can survive without eating, just like the Lord Jesus did when He was tempted by Satan for forty days. This is superstition. [422] On the other hand, we should not think that as long as we eat, we will be healthy and strong and will live long. In fact, even if we eat properly, we may still get sick, even with some fatal illness. Therefore, we must trust in God.

For this reason, even if we have only a cold, we still have to learn to trust in God’s healing. We should not seek miracles but should see a doctor and take medicine while also trusting in God. This is not an easy thing. With some, once they go to a doctor and take medicine, they give up their trust in God. With others, once they believe in God, they become superstitious and would never go to see a doctor. Both are too much.

When Brother Watchman Nee was young, Sister M. E. Barber was the person who gave him the most help. She never went to see a doctor or took medicine in her whole life, so she lived to only around sixty years of age. Even Paul told Timothy, “No longer drink water only, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (1 Tim. 5:23). We cannot say that Paul had little faith. I feel that M. E. Barber was a little bit too much. Otherwise, she could have lived longer and could have been more useful in the Lord’s hand. Therefore, for our benefit and the Lord’s, we must learn this matter of exercising faith.

In Material Supply

We must learn to exercise faith especially in the matter of material supply. It is true that the church and the saints will follow the Lord’s leading to supply us in love; nevertheless, we still have to learn to trust in God. Consider Paul’s case. On the one hand, he trusted in God, and God really supplied him. When he was in Thessalonica, the church in Philippi sent people “once and again” to supply his need (Phil. 4:16). When he was working in Corinth, the brothers who came from Macedonia filled up his lack (2 Cor. 11:9). Yet on the other hand, when he was in Corinth, he worked with his own hands as a tentmaker (Acts 18:3; 1 Cor. 4:12). Moreover, he told the elders in the church in Ephesus, “You yourselves know that these hands have ministered to my needs and to those who are with me” (Acts 20:34). Here we see a two-sided principle: on the one hand, Paul trusted in and received God’s supply; on the other hand, he worked with his own hands to meet the needs of himself and his companions. He did not refuse the supply from the saints even though he [423] made tents, nor did he give up his occupation even though he trusted in God completely. This is different from the way of Christianity. Therefore, whether we work by “making tents” to make money for our livelihood or we serve full time and receive the supply from the church and the saints, we have to learn to trust in God, believing that everything is planned by Him and trusting absolutely in His sovereign provision.

Second Corinthians 5:7 tells us that we walk not by appearance or sight but by faith. This is to say that everything is by faith. We should not complain, saying, “Since I have been serving full time, there has been very little supply.” We should not have such murmuring. Whether we receive much support or little support, we have to trust in God. This does not mean, however, that we simply trust in God and stop relying on the love and care of the church and the saints, even to the extent that when someone sends a monetary gift, we return the whole amount. If this is the case, God will not supply us any longer, and there will not be any more manna descending. The saints supply you because they love you, but if you think that they give because they look down on you and therefore you would rather starve than accept their offering, you are too proud. If you are this way, God will let you starve. Since you would not accept anything from others, God would not give you anything either. This is true. So we have to see this two-sided principle.

You should not murmur, saying that since your minimum living expenses require hundreds of dollars and you have received only a few dollars or even less for support (only enough to buy something to drink to quench your thirst), you might as well give that money to someone else. If you have such an attitude, God sees this clearly and may allow you to continue receiving an amount that is only enough to buy something to drink. Therefore, we should learn to have faith and not to murmur, trusting in the Lord’s sovereignty and believing that we are in His hands and are living for Him.

Stanza 1 of the Chinese version of Hymns, #473 says, “When one refuses all earthly bribe / And comes to live for God, / The boundless riches he receives / Are indescribable.” It is said that the writer of this hymn is Catherine Booth-Clibborn, the daughter of the founder of the Salvation Army. After singing this hymn, we should not say, “Where are the ‘boundless riches’? This hymn should say ‘limited riches.’ What good is it to have one dollar? This is not enough even [424] to pay for a bus ticket. A gift of a thousand dollars would be more acceptable.” I believe that the author of this hymn might have often received a supply of only several British pence, yet she still had such great faith. Therefore, we must learn to have faith. Do not be proud and say, “I will not rely on the church or on the saints; I will learn to depend on God.” To depend on God in the matter of material supply is very practical, because God is truly trustworthy. However, you should act properly and maintain a proper attitude. This requires much learning.

In the Environment

We should exercise faith not only in dealing with our bodily illnesses and for meeting our material needs but also for dealing with our environment in our service to the Lord. Our environment is changeable and complicated. Regardless of whether or not we are Christians, we cannot live alone, apart from human society. We have relatives, neighbors, and friends, who all are a part of our environment. Suppose that the Lord would exercise His sovereignty and allow our neighbors to be either crazy people or activists, the children in the neighborhood to always quarrel and be very noisy, and the couples to fight continuously. If this were the case, how could we have peace? If we were to move to another location, the environment might be even worse. Sometimes when we hire a nanny to take care of our children, she turns out to be a poor nanny. Then when we change to another one, the new one turns out to be even worse. There is a Chinese colloquial saying: “A soldier goes, and a sentry comes”; this means that when the military man leaves, he is replaced by a policeman. Regardless of how hard you try, you simply cannot find a good nanny. It seems that all you can find are strange or peculiar ones. This is very interesting.

Actually, in all these situations we have to see the Lord’s sovereign authority behind the scene. Instead of blaming the environment, we should believe in God and learn to trust in God’s arrangement. On the one hand, we need to believe in God, while on the other hand, we need to deal with the environment by faith. We should not argue or complain. For example, when you get on an airplane, do not fight for a good seat. You need to trust in God and learn to rely on Him in both great things and small things. This is the lesson that we must learn. [425]