Before I speak, let us turn to a few passages in the Bible.
The first passage is 1 John 1:1.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life
(and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us);
that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us:
yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
And these things we write, that our joy may be made full.
Let us also turn to Acts 20:25.
And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, shall see my face no more.
Wherefore I testify unto you this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
For I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly, and from house to house.
Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.
I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock;
and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears.
Let us read Acts 20:32 again.
And now I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified.
Finally, let us turn to Revelation 3:7.
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and none shall shut, and that shutteth, and none openeth:
I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut, that thou hast a little power, and didst keep My word, and didst not deny My name.
Because thou didst keep the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.
Let us read Revelation 3:10 again.
Because thou didst keep the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.
It is very rare for me to speak from the pulpit before so many brothers and sisters. Yet I have once stood before a much larger crowd, at a time when the persecution was much more severe than this. So perhaps some would say, “This person has seen a large crowd.”
Perhaps some brothers and sisters may wonder: there are special speakers at the conference, so how is it that there is someone we have never met before? I have spoken with many brothers and sisters who have come here not only once or twice, but many times. But this is my first time in the United States.
When I came to the United States, I truly felt like someone from a village entering a great city. Until 1996, I was still in mainland China. Therefore, there are many things here that I have not yet learned.
But from what I have experienced during these days, I truly know that the brothers and sisters here have received much word from the Lord.
The theme of this year’s conference is “The Head and the Body: Christ and the Church.” Brother Chan is speaking on the Head, and Brother Kong is speaking on the Body. As for me, I did not know what I should share.
Brother Kong told me beforehand, “Do not be concerned about that. We give you freedom to speak on whatever you like. You do not have to be too mindful of the theme of the Head and the Body.”
Because I have known Brother Kong for a long time, perhaps he was concerned that I might be afraid when I stood at the pulpit. So he told me not to be afraid, but simply to speak freely.
Therefore, I will share with the brothers and sisters according to what I have experienced.
I have read a book written by Brother Chan. It said that whenever the people met in Jerusalem, they could not come empty-handed before God.
So, brothers and sisters, when you come here to worship, you cannot come empty-handed. I believe you cannot merely bring your ears to the conference. You must come with your heart, and we must give our hearts to God.
What have I brought with me? I have simply brought some things from home.
Brothers and sisters, you must realize that all spiritual teaching has one principle. Yet the experience of that principle is manifested in many different ways.
For instance, if I were to ask, “How are you saved? How are you born again?” there is only one truth concerning this.
To be born again, you must first be enlightened by the Holy Spirit so that you see yourself as a sinner. You must see sin, judgment, and righteousness.
Then the Holy Spirit reveals to you that the One who was crucified is Christ, and that He has risen from the dead. If you believe in Him, not only will your sins be forgiven, but you will also receive a new life.
There is only one principle in this matter. If you remove any part of it, salvation is not possible.
But if each one of you were to come and testify how you were saved, I believe no two persons would have exactly the same experience.
Brother Kong wrote a book concerning the gospel. The principle of salvation is the same, but how each one of us was saved is different and unique.
Many people testify how they were saved, and we may mistakenly think that if someone else wants to be saved, he must be saved in exactly the same way as we were. But that is not so.
In some respects, my background was similar to Brother Kong’s. My great-grandfather was among the first to be saved when Hudson Taylor came to mainland China to preach the gospel.
I am not bringing glory to myself. Truly, God blessed my great-grandfather. He was a farmer and was not educated.
He read the Gospel according to Matthew, chapters 5, 6, and 7, and lived according to what he read. He had a good testimony, especially when he was about to pass away.
Because he was a farmer, he was healthy. Yet one day the Lord told him, “Tomorrow I will receive you.”
Like Jacob, who commanded his household to put away their idols before meeting God, my great-grandfather prepared himself. The next day he put on white clothing and sat with his family.
He said to them, “You must fear God. You must not depart from Him.”
He was not ill at all. He simply sat there, and the Lord received him home. That was how he was taken home. I have never seen such a glorious departure.
My grandfather was a pastor in a church in mainland China, and my father was also a member of the church in China. I attended Sunday school when I was very young.
From a young age, I learned that Jesus Christ saves us and cleanses us with His precious blood. I could even repeat these things. But I was afraid when someone asked me, “Are you born again?”
I believed in Jesus, but I did not understand what it meant to be born again. What kind of matter was that?
If you are not born again, your natural life cannot truly be changed, even if you are surrounded by religion.
One day, while my whole family had gone out, I was alone at home. The accuser put a thought into my mind.
He said, in effect, “You only have what you learned from Sunday school. What use is that? In the place where your grandmother keeps incense, there are coins. There are some copper coins there.”
When I heard this thought from the accuser, I agreed with him. I went into my grandmother’s room to look for copper coins. I was disappointed because there were no copper coins, but there were three silver coins.
At that time, my conscience was not yet very sensitive. I thought the silver coins were too large, but then the thought came: “A silver coin is better than a copper coin.” So I took one.
After I had taken it, I did not know what to do with it. I exchanged it at a store across the street for smaller silver coins and copper coins.
I spent the money little by little. Since I had exchanged the silver coin for many copper coins, I thought that if I took a few at a time, perhaps no one would discover it.
But because there had originally been only three silver coins, if one was missing, it would easily be noticed. My third elder brother became suspicious because I had entered through a window instead of through the door.
It became difficult for me to spend the money. When my mother returned home, my grandmother told her what had happened.
My family was very strict. If you were disciplined, there would be physical discipline. And if someone stole, that was considered a very serious matter.
One day my mother called, “Fourth child, come here. I have something to ask you.” When she called me, I knew in my heart that it concerned this matter.
As I went to my mother, the one who had sent me the thought to steal came to me again. Though I could not see him, I knew it was him.
He said, “Number four, do not be afraid. You have already spent all the money you stole, and no one has caught you. As long as you deny it firmly, even if they beat you to death, they can do nothing against you.”
I agreed with that thought. I determined that no matter what happened—even if they beat me to death—I would not confess.
My mother asked, “Child, is it you who did this?” I immediately said, “No.”
In fact, she had not even told me what she was asking about. But I was so determined to deny it that I had already exposed myself. I clenched my teeth and prepared myself to be beaten.
My mother said, “Child, if you confess that you have done it, I will not hold it against you. I will not scold you or beat you.” But because I had accepted the thought not to confess, I said, “No, no, no. It was not me.”
Then she said, “Fine. If it was not you, you may go back.” She did not ask me about it again, but I knew that she was sorrowful.
She thought that I was normally a good child. I attended Sunday school faithfully. I did not quarrel with others or fight with others. Why, then, would I do such a thing? Even if I had done it, she would have forgiven me if I had confessed. But because I would not confess, she had no way with me.
This happened when I was in elementary school. My mother did not ask me again, and I did not steal again.
Later, in high school, I was in a church school. I was afraid to attend gospel meetings because whenever I did, the matter of that stolen money would rise up in my conscience again.
After high school I entered college. By then, I was no longer in a church school. It was a dangerous time, and it was very possible that I might have gone down a path of rebellion against the Lord.
But in 1936, Brother Sung came to Hangzhou. Although I could speak to others about the gospel, when I heard Brother Sung preach, there was something very special.
He spoke about the prodigal son. He spoke about the Lord Jesus carrying the cross to Calvary.
He described how the Lord was crucified upon the cross, and how others mocked Him: “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.”
The Lord Jesus was crucified for our sake. He did not care for His own shame. He bore shame for us. He was sinless.
Then the message came to me: “For your own sins, are you still concerned about saving face? You will not confess. When will you surrender to God?”
That was when the Holy Spirit worked. My heart was deeply convicted. I had indeed sinned, and I asked myself why I had refused to confess.
After the gospel meeting, I returned to my school. Outside the school was a large courtyard.
The work of the Holy Spirit was wonderful. When I could bear it no longer, I went into that courtyard, bowed down, and confessed myself to God.
The words that kept ringing in my ears were what Brother Sung had preached: that sin must depart and the living water must enter.
At that time, I did not see merely the one sin of stealing. I saw many, many sins. Let me tell you: it was not merely the sins that I had committed, but sin itself.
I confessed my sins one by one. I poured them out before God, and I continued to weep.
At that time, I was not thinking about saving face, even though students were walking through the courtyard. Two female students walked by and saw me crying so sorrowfully. They wondered whether someone in my family had passed away.
I continued to confess until there was nothing left but peace in my heart. Then I said to my heavenly Father, “Now I am Your child.”
Then I understood what it meant to be born again. After that, I said, “Now I am a child of God.”
The next thing I did was write home and confess that I had stolen the money when I was young.
I was afraid that after I told them, I would have no face and nowhere to hide. But in fact, it was the opposite.
When my mother received the letter, she was extremely joyful. Why? Because she knew that her child had truly accepted the Lord.
In fact, long before I confessed, they already knew that I had stolen it. But I would not confess with my mouth. So it was not strange to them that I had done it; they rejoiced because I had confessed it.
Afterward, there was a change in my life. Before that, I loved to read novels. Many people thought I needed glasses because I studied hard and read many textbooks, but that was not the reason.
In middle school, the student who had stayed in my room before me had discovered that a little window by the bed could be opened. The light from the streetlamp outside would shine on a book.
The curfew was at 9:30, when the lights were turned off and everyone was supposed to sleep. But with that little window open, I could read novels all night. That was how I became near-sighted.
A person may grow up in a Christian family and inherit religious traditions, yet there may be no change in his life. Therefore, we must ask, “Are you born again?”
You cannot say, “My father believes, my grandfather believes, and therefore I am a Christian.” What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
If you are truly born again, there will be a change in your life. After that change, I no longer read those novels.
I set a rule for myself: each day I must read at least five chapters of the Bible, pray, and worship on Sundays.
Now, when I think about it, was reading only five chapters a day too little? Why did I determine to read five chapters a day? It was because my mother praised another brother who had read through the Old and New Testaments five times. So I wanted to exceed that.
After I believed in the Lord, I had a sense of the Body. What was that feeling? I knew that I was a child of God, and that all who were truly born again were my brothers and sisters.
This is truly the consciousness of the Body.
The Scriptures tell us that Jesus is the Word.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
All things were made through Him; and without Him was not anything made that hath been made.
In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.
This Word is the Word of life.
After the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem, they were sent to the ends of the earth to declare this Word of life.
The Word of life brings forth life. Why are we able to be born again? Peter tells us that we have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed, through the living and abiding Word of God.
All flesh is as grass,
and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass.
The grass withereth, and the flower falleth away:
but the word of the Lord abideth for ever.
And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you.
This Word of life is the means by which we are saved. Therefore, when we preach the gospel, we must preach this Word of life.
The experiences of those who are saved differ. I can tell you the time, day, and circumstances in which I was saved. Others may say, “I know that I am truly saved because I have life,” but they may not know the exact day. Nevertheless, all who have believed in the Lord have been saved through the same life.
Yesterday, or perhaps the day before, Brother Eric asked me why I did not share about how I came to know my wife. We were speaking privately.
When believers speak about such things, the question often comes up: “How did you come to know her?” We were college students, though not at the same school. At first, she did not believe in the Lord.
She was from Canton, but she went far away to attend college in Sichuan. When she arrived, she felt like a person who was deaf and mute because no one there could understand Cantonese.
She arrived a month late for the school year. At first, the school would not accept her. She was happy simply to have finally found the school, but she did not understand that they were telling her she could not attend.
Others translated for her: “You cannot go to class because you are already one month late.” She became very angry and said, “I came from so far away, and now you will not let me attend?”
The school said, “All right. We will let you try for one month. If you are able to continue after that month, you may remain. Otherwise, you must go home.”
God arranged that many of her fellow students were Christians.
Because she could not understand the teacher’s dialect, she could not take notes. Her fellow students lent her their notes, preached the gospel to her, and gradually taught her to speak Mandarin.
When they preached the gospel to her, she would not accept it. She said that Christians did good deeds, but she considered their faith in heaven, hell, and other matters to be superstition.
There were six people in her dormitory, and five of them were Christians. They worshiped together.
They invited her to a gospel meeting. After she heard, she still said, “No, I do not believe.” She said that Christians could follow good moral practices, but she could not accept what they preached.
Truly, each person’s salvation is different. This shows the unlimited working of the Holy Spirit.
One day, the five Christian sisters dressed properly and prepared to go out. She asked them, “Where are you going?” They said, “You cannot come with us tonight.”
She asked, “Why not? Why can I not come?” The more they said that she could not come, the more she insisted that she must go.
Finally, one sister said, “All right, you may come with us. But you must sit there and not touch anything. There is one thing especially that you must not touch.”
You already know where they were going. They were going to break bread. Because she was not yet a believer, she could not partake of the bread and the cup. But she insisted on going.
They allowed her to come, but they explained that because she was still an unbeliever, there was one thing she could not touch. She said, “Fine, but I must go.”
Later she testified that, after entering that bread-breaking meeting, while the brothers and sisters were giving thanks, praising, and worshiping God, the Holy Spirit worked upon her.
She had never confessed anything before. But under the work of the Holy Spirit, she confessed that she was truly a sinner, and she continued to weep.
She used her handkerchief to wipe away her tears, but eventually she had no more handkerchiefs left. That was the day she was saved.
Have you heard of someone being saved not in a gospel meeting but in a bread-breaking meeting? We must realize that the work of the Holy Spirit is unlimited.
Many times we say that what we are doing has become a habit or a routine. But the Holy Spirit has no limitation.
Many regard the church as something that consists of a routine, a form, or certain traditions. They think that if these traditions are absent, then there is no church.
In China, believers could not even carry a Bible with them. If a Bible was discovered, it would be taken away. Some church buildings became factories.
Did that mean that the church had truly disappeared? We might think, “There are no Bibles, no church buildings, and no places for worship. How then can we preach the gospel?”
Yet when different methods were used to destroy the church, none succeeded. In fact, more Christians were raised up. This is truly amazing.
I was a doctor in remote mountainous regions of China. In those places, there was almost no communication with the outside world. There was certainly no email, and I received no news from elsewhere.
One day, while I was reading Ezekiel 37, I read about the valley of dry bones.
Son of man, can these bones live?
And I answered, O Lord God, Thou knowest.
Then the wind came. The bones came together, bone to its bone. Tendons and flesh came upon them, and they stood up as a great army.
God revealed to me in that remote region that this was the situation in China. God was able to do such a work.
It is not by strength or by human power, but by the Spirit of God.
Sometimes it is because of man that the mighty hand of God is not manifested.
Consider the time of the Judges and the calling of Gideon. The Lord said, “The Lord is with thee.” Gideon replied, “If the Lord is with us, why then is all this befallen us? Where are all His wondrous works?”
Many Christians fall into a condition in which the work of God no longer seems able to be manifested. Then they say, “The miracle-working power of God is no longer here. It has passed away.”
They say that miracles and revelation were needed only in the early stages of the church. But when did they become unnecessary?
When Christianity became joined to the Roman Empire under Constantine, traditions and outward forms entered in. Christianity was imposed by force, but there was no reality.
The working of the Holy Spirit has never ceased. It has never diminished. The Spirit is the same today as He was in the past.
Why is His work not manifested today? It is because men have departed from the Lord, and the matters of the world have entered into the church.
During my time in China, the Lord opened my eyes to see the reality of the church.
The reality of the church is those who have been saved by the Lord.
Stephen said that God does not dwell in temples made with hands. God dwells in us. The Body is the temple of God.
Whether God’s presence is experienced among us depends on whether we have room in our hearts to receive Him. If we receive Him, He is with us. If we reject Him, then, because of His love for us, His discipline comes.
What, then, should the tradition or outward form of the church be? This is a problem that exists today.
Just as salvation has one principle but many individual experiences, so there are basic principles for gathering and worshiping, while the outward expressions may differ.
I know that many brothers and sisters here have more spiritual knowledge than I do. If I speak wrongly, you may correct me. But this is how I feel we should gather.
The first principle is that we gather in the name of our Lord. We must gather under the name of the Lord. We have no other name.
The second principle is that God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
These two principles cannot be changed.
You cannot establish worship apart from the name of the Lord. Nor can you insist upon a fixed outward form, saying that worship must always be conducted in one particular way. Our worship must be in spirit and truth.
What, then, is the way? I believe we must be led by the Holy Spirit.
This is how we worshiped in the churches in China. The conditions in China did not allow us to have one fixed method.
When brothers and sisters who share the same zeal and purpose gather together, it is difficult to describe exactly how they gather. Often they fear that someone outside may see them and take them away.
Many gatherings begin with prayer. Bible studies are held even when there are few or no Bibles. Prayer meetings are not restricted to a certain hour; they may be in the daytime, at noon, or at night.
You may lock me up, but you cannot stop me from praying.
God desires that we worship Him in spirit and truth. Yet many times we are constrained by outward conditions.
For example, when we pray, must we always speak aloud? If we pray silently, is it still prayer? And if we do not close our eyes, is that acceptable?
Where does the Bible say that people must close their eyes when they pray? Our Lord Jesus looked toward heaven when He prayed. Therefore, He was not always praying with His eyes closed.
There was a brother in prison who was handcuffed. They beat and tortured him. One thing they required of him was that he must not close his eyes. Whenever he closed his eyes, they beat him, saying, “You want to pray now.”
He said, “If I do not pray, how can I be strengthened to endure?” But they replied, “If you close your eyes, we will beat you.”
Finally, someone asked him, “Why do you have to close your eyes in order to pray? Who told you that you must close your eyes to pray?”
He realized that this was merely a habit that had confined him. He remembered that the Lord Jesus looked toward heaven when He prayed.
So he no longer needed to close his eyes. He looked toward heaven and prayed as the Lord Jesus prayed. He could not pray aloud, but he began to smile.
Then he began to laugh. His captors thought they had beaten him so severely that he had lost his mind. Therefore, they let him go.
Many times in worship there are only two principles that we must remember: we gather under the Lord’s name, and we worship Him in spirit and truth.
How do we have fellowship with one another? It is by the Word of life.
We have the same life, and therefore we can have the same fellowship.
I am not opposing the use of a pulpit. But what I am saying is that when we worship God, we must not be confined by the letter or by a fixed outward method. We must allow the Holy Spirit to work freely.
How do we draw nearer to the Lord? There may be many living expressions of that fellowship.
When we speak of the Word of life, we must realize that life is living. Brothers and sisters, the same life that is in all of us is manifested differently in each person.
Each one has his own expression and style, but even though the styles differ, they have one source.
I believe that what we need to grasp today is the true reality.
What is the reality of the church? The reality of the church is that those who are saved by the Lord Jesus gather together under the Lord’s name and have fellowship with one another in spirit and truth.
Many times we quickly place limitations upon the work of the Holy Spirit.
When brothers and sisters do not have genuine fellowship with one another, it is often not because fellowship is impossible, but because they are confined by outward matters.
In mainland China, large conferences may require believers to gather in large registered churches; otherwise, they must remain in small homes.
When I look at new believers, sometimes no one has taught them how to worship, yet they find many ways to worship God. It is very fresh.
Today, we may prefer a large building and a certain arrangement. If others make a small change, we may think something is wrong.
Once we were breaking bread in my house in Canton. A brother from Lanzhou said to us, “When you break bread, that is the body of our Lord and His cup, yet you are just sitting there.”
He said, “Even if you do not kneel before the bread and cup, you must at least stand. If you merely sit, it is not proper enough.”
Brothers and sisters, how should we regard this? If I went to worship with them and they knelt before the table, I would do the same with them. But if they insist that everyone must kneel, we must ask whether there is such teaching in the Bible.
The Lord’s Supper was connected with the Passover feast. When people partake of a feast, do they normally kneel?
There are many matters that we must consider carefully before the Lord. But there is one thing we must not neglect.
If we are to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit and receive light from His Word, we must spend much time drawing near to the Lord.
There is a great crisis in the church today: we have come greatly short in prayer.
We may gain something of the Lord in a conference like this, but if we are truly to gain the Lord, we must spend quiet time behind closed doors in prayer before Him.
We may have good minds and receive much knowledge at a conference, but true revelation comes through the Holy Spirit.
If you are to receive revelation from God, the way is through prayer.
Prayer brings revival. Prayer brought forth Pentecost.
First there is prayer, and then there is preaching. We must be fervent in prayer.
Each one of us must have time to come before the Lord. Many of us are lazy, and we cannot continue in that way.
If we do not spend sufficient time before the Lord in prayer, it is difficult for us to have true revelation.
Some may think they are very spiritual. They may say, “Christ and I have never broken fellowship. Therefore, I do not need to set aside a certain time for prayer.”
Is that true?
If you abide in the Lord, and the Lord abides in you, and you have continual fellowship, why should you still set aside a definite time to pray?
There is one way to determine whether this thought is right or wrong: look at Christ, our only Teacher.
Did Jesus Christ live that way? No one was as close to the Father as our Lord Jesus was. He spoke nothing from Himself. Except when He bore our sins and the Father turned away from Him, there was never a moment when He was not close to the Father.
Yet we see our Lord Jesus praying in the morning, praying at night, and sometimes praying throughout the whole night.
Therefore, we must pray. If we do not pray, that is not right.
Today we will share on the Word of life.
If the Lord is willing, tomorrow we will share on the word of His grace. Finally, we will share on the word of patience.
But in fact, these are all one. There is only one Lord and one Spirit.
We speak of the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, but in reality it is one Spirit. We speak of the word of grace and the word of patience, but it is the same Word.
I only desire to share with the brothers and sisters according to what I understand. I will end here today.
Lord, we truly feel that we have come very short. We have a very shallow understanding of You.
We have come to know too little of Your glory and riches.
You have already given us the Word of life.
But we pray that this Word of life may grow to maturity within us.
Lord, through the fellowship of many brothers and sisters, may we pray and wait upon You. Give us and reveal to us what we need.
May our hearts return to You.
Lord, have mercy upon us. Forgive our shortcomings.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.