Those who are God’s deputy authorities should possess a third qualification-they must have a constant and intimate fellowship with the Lord. There must not only be a communion, but a communication. Some are loaded with opinions throughout the day. These ones must learn to give up their opinions. Every time one has an opinion, he has to bring it to the Lord and find out if such an opinion is of the flesh or of God. In this way God will gradually reveal His heart’s desire to him. This is the basic need. The fundamental problem with many people is that they open their mouth without ever approaching God. They express their opinions loosely and speak for the Lord carelessly because they are far from God. The easier it is for a person to mention God’s name, the more it proves that he is far from God. Only those who are near to God have a fear of Him, and only these ones can feel the repugnancy of wild opinions. For example, many villagers here in Kuling are lumbermen. They can freely criticize the government and the leaders of our country. But in Nanking or Chungking (capitals in China) one does not hear criticism from the people. Even though people here speak of the president freely, if he came to Kuling, everyone would address him as “Sir” or “Mr. President” in a respectful way. No one would dare address him disrespectfully. In the same way, only those who are near to God have a fear of and respect for Him. They would not dare walk loosely or speak in the Lord’s name.
We must realize that fellowship is a basic qualification for being an authority. The more we come to the Lord and draw near to Him, the more we become conscious of our mistakes. We will see that many of the actions that we previously considered as right were actually wrong. The more we know God, the more things will appear different to us. There were things which we were so sure of ten or twenty years ago. What is our view of them now? Many times you may say to yourself, “Why was I so blind? Why was I so confident and so sure that I was right?” The same thing that seemed right before may be shown to be totally wrong today. Once you have met God face to face, you will no longer be so sure in your speaking, you will no longer be so self-confident, and you will begin to be afraid of making mistakes. If the things we were so sure of in the past can be found to be wrong today, what will happen to the things that we are so sure of today? Hence, if we are persons who are in constant fellowship with the Lord, we will never open our mouths rashly. The less a person knows himself, the more he will boast about what he knows. Loose speaking is a proof that one is far from God.
The fear of the Lord is not an outward performance. Only those who constantly come near to God can fear God. However, a wild person who has no control over himself is far from God. As soon as the queen of Sheba saw Solomon, there was no more spirit in her (1 Kings 10:4-5). But today something more than Solomon is here (Matt. 12:42). When we go before the Lord, there should be “no more spirit” in us; we should not dare speak His name lightly or open our mouth rashly. We should be like a servant waiting at the door, telling God that we know nothing. May the Lord deliver us from the sickness of speaking what we do not understand and making judgments on what we do not know. Sometimes we have to take action immediately, yet we are not a person in constant fellowship with God, and we make decisions in the spur of the moment. This is a big problem in many people. No problem is more serious than that of a servant of God speaking rashly when he is unsure of God’s will. It is indeed a big problem for a man to make judgments about a matter before he is even clear of anything before the Lord; such a one is never clear, yet he is ever speaking. We can be clear about God’s will only when we live before Him and draw near to Him all the time.
The Lord Jesus said, “The Son can do nothing from Himself except what He sees the Father doing, for whatever that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19). He also said, “I can do nothing from Myself; as I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me” (v. 30). We have to learn to hear, to understand, and to see. All these abilities are derived from an intimate fellowship with the Lord. Only those who are living in the presence of God can listen, understand, and see. Only those who have learned the lessons can know God’s will, and only as they live in God’s presence can they speak to the brothers and sisters. When problems arise among the saints or in the church, these ones will know what to do. Unless a person practices this, he will be taking the name of the Lord in vain.
Please give me the liberty to say a frank word. The problem with many of God’s servants today is that they are too bold, or to put it in a stronger way, they are too reckless. They have never learned to listen to God’s word, and they have never seen any revelation or understood God’s will, yet they have the audacity to speak for God! Let me ask you: What kind of authority do you have in speaking? Who has given you authority? What makes you different from the other brothers and sisters? If you do not have the assurance that what you speak is God’s word, what authority do you hold? If I brought you and someone who has a dispute with you to the Lord, would you have the confidence to say that everything you have said was of the Lord? If God acknowledges your words, it would be all right. But if God does not acknowledge your words, what authority would you really have? You must remember that authority is deputized to you; it is not intrinsically yours. If you are not representing God’s authority, what right do you have to speak or work?
All of God’s deputy authorities must live before God and learn to fellowship with Him. You must be dealt with by Him, and there must be scars upon your body. When you speak to the saints or in the church, you must not insert your self into your speaking but must have the assurance that there is authority behind your words. Never be deceived to think that you have any authority in yourself. Never think that any authority has its source in you. You must forever remember that God is the only One who has the authority, and no one else. The Bible says clearly that all authority is of God.
If there is any authority in me today, such authority comes from God. I am only the channel through which authority flows. Other than this distinction, I am the same as everyone else; I am no different from the most foolish man. What sets me apart from others and gives me the authority is God, not anything in myself. Therefore, we have to learn to fear God and to fellowship with Him. This is not a light matter. We should tell the Lord, “I am no different from all the other brothers and sisters.” If God has arranged for us to bear some authority and learn to be a deputy authority, we have to learn to live before Him and have constant fellowship with Him. We have to ask Him to show us His heart’s desire. Only when we see something before God can we minister it to the brothers and sisters, and only then are we qualified to be a deputy authority.
Why do we use the word communication in discussing fellowship with God? It is because fellowship is not something that we can take care of once for all before the Lord; it requires that we live in the Lord’s presence continually. Communication is a lifelong exercise. We can learn some basic lessons once for all. But living in the presence of the Lord is a continual matter. Once we move away from God, authority becomes perverted, and the flavor changes. Hence, we have to live before the Lord continually and fear Him all the time. We should always bear in mind that we should be those who have passed through God’s judgment. Since God wants to use us, we must live in His presence all the time.
The above three items are the basic qualifications of a deputy authority. Authority is of God, and we are merely His deputies. All authority belongs to God. Therefore, man cannot be subjective and must deny himself. This is why we need to live moment by moment in fellowship with Him. Since authority belongs to God, we have no authority of our own. We are merely representatives. Authority does not belong to me; therefore, I cannot be subjective. I must live in fellowship. Once fellowship is cut off, authority is gone. Those who are in authority are placed in an awkward position-they cannot quit and they cannot relax. How very different this is from human concepts. No one who truly knows God would like to be an authority. To be a deputy authority is a great matter; it is a serious thing.
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