Our truth has been rich and high, and the light has been clear and bright in a way that is beyond comparison. However, before October 1984 our numbers were not increasing, and our fruit was not remaining. At that time, when we finished the life-study of the New Testament, we decided to go to Taiwan to research the reasons for this. As a result of this research, we have seen the line of gospel preaching in the Bible.
Most Christians feel that to speak about preaching the gospel is a common thing. Who does not know about preaching the gospel? Apparently, as long as someone knows how to speak, he knows how to preach the gospel. However, we all can testify that it is not effective to depend on only one person to preach. With only one person speaking and all the others listening again and again, there is not much remaining fruit. At this time the Lord is opening our eyes to show us a line that we have neglected, which is to “go” (Matt. 28:19) and to meet “from house to house” (Acts 2:46; 5:42).
In the past we had the rich truth, the high gospel, but the result of our going out to gain people was not satisfactory. This was because we did not go in the right way, and we did not pay attention to meeting in the homes. Therefore, there was not much result. In the Bible we see the importance of the homes. In the Old Testament there were the houses of Israel in which the Passover was held, the house of Joshua, the whole house of Rahab the harlot, the house of Jacob, and the house of David (Exo. 12:3-4; Josh. 24:15; 6:17; Exo. 19:3; Psa. 114:1; Zech. 12:7-8, 10; 13:1). In the New Testament there is the house of Zaccheus, the house of Simon the Pharisee, the house of Stephanas, the house of Lydia, and the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark (Luke 19:5, 9; 7:36; 1 Cor. 1:16; 16:15; Acts 16:40; 12:12). Because of this, we know that we must go to people’s houses.
The first one in the universe who came to man was God Himself. Although God created man, this man fell. The first couple, Adam and Eve, fell together. They were so frightened that they hid among the trees and made aprons out of fig leaves, avoiding the face of God. God came to the garden of Eden, walked in the garden, and cried to Adam, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). In other words, God said to Adam, “Do not avoid Me. I have come to save you.” This is the same as the Lord’s words in the New Testament: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). God was the first one to visit man and seek man. Not only did God Himself come, but He came with the gospel, telling Adam and Eve that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). God has come and brought to us the true gospel.
Four thousand years after Adam, God Himself came to be a man. The infinite God became a finite man. Philippians 2:6 says that He existed “in the form of God.” This phrase denotes Christ’s existence from the beginning. He existed in the form of God from the beginning, but He laid aside His original form and entered into the form of a man, being in the likeness of man and the same as man. Therefore, He is able to touch the heart of man.
God’s coming to be a man, Jesus, was not like that of a stage performer, who comes merely as an act. Rather, He was in the womb of Mary, remaining there for nine months. After being born, according to the human manner He lived in the home of a poor carpenter in Nazareth for thirty years. We cannot imagine what kind of living that was. After thirty years, He began to carry out His ministry, like the Old Testament priests who needed to reach the age of thirty in order to be qualified to serve God. During that period of time, as Philippians 2:8 says, He was found in fashion as a man. Luke 19:10 says, “The Son of Man has come”; it does not say, “The Son of God has come” or “God has come.” What did the Son of Man come to accomplish? He came “to seek and to save that which is lost.”
Luke 10:1 says, “Now after these things, the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to come.” Being in the flesh, the Lord could not go to every place at once. Therefore, He sent seventy others to go to the places to which He wanted to go. In the same way, when we go door-knocking today, every house that we visit is a place to which the Lord wants to go. The Lord has become the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of power, and the Spirit of authority, but if such a Spirit were to knock on doors Himself, He would frighten people. Therefore, He must be in us, put us on, and send us out.
What do we go out to do? We go out to seek and to save that which is lost. These lost ones were chosen and predestinated by God before the foundation of the world. Those who are chosen and predestinated are the sons of peace (v. 6). All those who have knocked on doors have experienced this. Sometimes when you have knocked on someone’s door, you may have felt that this person is not a son of peace, but after a few minutes you became clear that he indeed is a son of peace. Our going is to seek out the sons of peace. The Lord said to the disciples whom He sent, “Go; behold, I send you as lambs in the midst of wolves” (v. 3). Although the Lord sent the disciples as lambs in the midst of wolves, there were sons of peace among the wolves. Today He wants us to go to gain the sons of peace.
The desire of the Lord is for man to be saved. When He was on earth, He sent people out. After He departed from the world in His ascension, He said to His disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and disciple all the nations” (Matt. 28:18-19). This indicates that the Lord wants the disciples to go and seek out the sons of peace so that they may be regenerated and enter into the kingdom of the heavens. Those people were originally the people of Satan’s kingdom, but through our seeking and preaching they are regenerated and become the people of God’s kingdom. To find people in this way is to bring back the sons of peace.
On the other hand, this shows us that God does not want us to give messages in a big congregation, nor does He want us to ask people to come to hear messages. Rather, God wants us to go out. What shall we go out to do? We should go out to visit people. This is what the Lord Jesus did as the Son of Man, seeking and saving that which was lost. In the same way, our going door-knocking is to visit people in order to seek and to save that which is lost. Moreover, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples that when they entered someone’s house, they should not say anything at first except, “Peace to this house” (Luke 10:5). When we were in Shanghai, we had two gospel tracts entitled “Where Are You?” and “Peace Be to You.” The first time we went to visit people, we gave them “Where Are You?” Then the next time we went to visit them, we gave them “Peace Be to You.” “Peace be to you” indicates that we are seeking the sons of peace. If someone is worthy to have peace, he is a son of peace, and peace will rest upon him. But if he is not worthy, the peace will return to us. Therefore, we should simply go.
We go out to seek the sons of peace because the Lord Himself wants us to go. He said that if people receive us, they receive Him (v. 16). We are representing the Lord when we go. Therefore, our going must be the Lord going with us and our going with the Lord. It is not that we go on our own to the place we choose. Our going is actually the Lord going with us to the place He wants to go. Therefore, we must be one with the Lord. We must be those who abide in the Lord and who let the Lord abide in us.