Only when we are with the Lord and live with the Lord can we bear fruit with Him. The way branches bear fruit is by remaining with the tree and living with the tree. In the past we pursued to be spiritual, holy, and victorious, and many times we seemed to be quite spiritual, holy, and victorious, yet we did not bear fruit. Therefore, there are some problems with this kind of pursuit. As some saints have testified, if we go out to knock on doors but do not see anyone saved, this is a sign, an indication, that we have a problem either with God or with man. We must repent and confess our sins quickly. If we confess our sins, the next time we go door-knocking, we will have fruit immediately. Therefore, we must be fully joined to the Lord as one, practically living in Him and letting Him live in us. When we two—He and we, we and He—become one, our going out will be His going out. When we arrive at this stage, we will experience being full of authority.
In the past when we preached the gospel in our traditional way, we did not have this experience. As a result, not many people were saved. This was because we did not abide in Him. Our abiding in the Lord and going door-knocking to visit people is the Lord Jesus’ seeking and saving that which is lost. It is not we who go door-knocking, but Jesus Christ who abides in us goes door-knocking in order to seek and to save that which is lost. Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Did Paul live Christ so that he might be spiritual, holy, and victorious? No, he lived Christ so that he might bear fruit. This is the meaning of 1 Timothy 1:15, which says, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Since Paul lived Christ, he was the same as Christ in the matter of saving sinners.
I hope that we all would see that in order to be truly spiritual, holy, and victorious, we must abide in the Lord and also let Him abide in us. Whether or not we abide in the Lord is fully indicated by whether or not we bear fruit. If we do not bear fruit, this proves that we have not been abiding in the Lord and that there are some problems in our organic union with Him. This can be likened to the circulation of electricity in our homes. The electric current is cut off wherever there is insulation. Although the power station is functioning and the electric lamps are in place, if the supply of electricity is blocked, the lamps will not shine. Similarly, if we do not abide in the Lord, although outwardly we may still go to the meetings and keep ourselves from sin, we are insulated within and cut off from the Lord. This is why the Lord said, “He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This means that if we are apart from the Lord, we cannot bear fruit.
Every one of us is a branch of Christ and should bear fruit. If we do not bear fruit, we should realize that there is a problem. If we have lived our Christian life for decades yet in all those years have not borne any fruit, this indicates that we have had certain problems all along. Whether or not we are spiritual can be determined by whether or not we bear fruit. If we are not spiritual, it will be hard for us to gain people through door-knocking. Do not think that knocking on doors to visit people is an easy matter. Those with experience know that it is not easy. However, if we are willing to pray seriously and properly join ourselves to the Lord, immediately there will be the results. The supply of “electricity” will come again. Although the flow of “electricity” has been cut off, it will now be recovered, and our contacting people will spontaneously be effective.
I am afraid that many of us have been living a life of not bearing fruit. This should not be the case. Frankly speaking, preaching the gospel to bring people to salvation is not as difficult as it was before; now the way is much easier. Recently two sisters from Denmark and Germany testified that they preached the gospel to the owner of a restaurant in Yang Ming Shan, and he immediately believed into the Lord Jesus. This shows us that gradually the earth will be filled with Christians. We do not have to expend all our effort to invite people to love feasts to hear the gospel, as we did in the past. Many whom we invited did not come even after ten invitations, and eventually they became annoyed with us. It was hard to save anyone in the way we took in the past. However, it is much easier now to get someone saved.
Whether or not the preaching of the gospel is easy altogether depends on what kind of people we are. If we are the proper kind of people, it will be easy; if we are not, then preaching will not be easy. If someone is untrained as a cook, he will not have the skill or the boldness to kill a chicken even if he is given the right kind of knife. He is not the right kind of person to do that job. If someone is trained, however, he can do the job without much effort. When we are trained to preach the gospel, our rate of success is very high. Within only three days some of the saints have baptized more than seventy people. This was easy for them, but it is not always easy for others. Whether or not it is easy altogether depends on what kind of people we are. If we are the right kind of people, it is easy, but if we are not, it is difficult.
We must be trained to be experts in preaching the gospel and in bringing people to salvation so that we can bring whomever we meet to salvation. Never say that it is very easy. Perhaps when other people go out, they are able to bring whomever they meet to baptism. However, when we go out, we may not able to do it. Satan has his authority in man. If we do not pray thoroughly, Satan will not let go. When we tell someone that he should be baptized, he may be unwilling and not consent. This is because Satan will not let go of him. Only when we pray thoroughly will we have the power. This thorough prayer is like the work of a surgeon. Before performing surgery on a patient, a doctor must first sterilize everything to kill the germs. Only when everything is sterilized completely can the surgery begin. In principle, this is the kind of person we must be. One who knocks on doors and brings people to salvation is one who is truly spiritual, holy, and victorious. This is a test of whether or not we are spiritual, victorious, and holy. If it is not easy for us to bring people to salvation, this proves that we are not truly spiritual, holy, and victorious. The matter of fruit-bearing is a very good test of our spirituality.
We must set a goal for our fruit-bearing. Then, according to the goal, we should stretch forth with our full strength and pray before the Lord. I believe that the Lord will surely listen to our prayer. A young sister testified that originally she had decided to gain ten people, but eventually she gained only eight. In general we may feel that this was good enough. However, she felt that it was not right and that she must have some problems. When she went home, she prayed and confessed her sins before the Lord. After confessing her sins, she even prayed, “Lord, tomorrow You have to add four more to me to complement the two I yet lack.” Such a prayer pleases God. In addition to prayer, whether or not our estimate and goal can be attained depends entirely on whether we endeavor. If we endeavor, they can surely be attained; if we do not endeavor, they certainly cannot be attained. Our estimate and goal can never be attained if we are loose. In the matter of door-knocking and visiting, we should stretch forth with our full strength.
This is the principle according to which God wanted Gideon to test the three hundred men (Judg. 7:2-8). Among the children of Israel there were many who wanted to fight against the enemy, but God told Gideon that the people were too many and that only three hundred would be sufficient. But how should they be selected? There was a very good way, which was to observe the manner in which they drank water. Some people came to the water and bowed down on their knees to drink it. God told Gideon that he should not accept these; they cared too much for the drinking of water. He could take only those who lapped the water with their tongue. Their heart was not on drinking the water; it was desperate to go out to fight against the Midianites and cast them out. This illustrates that once we set our goal, we cannot be loose. Not only do we need to pray more, but we also need to be more in one accord. Everything has to be intensified. In this way we will certainly be weighty. Once we are weighty and girded up, our goal will be attained.
The new way of going out to knock on doors, bring people to salvation, and baptize them is not an easy one. Rather, it is the secret of the saints’ being spiritual, holy, and victorious. Taking this way will make the church holy and sanctified before the Lord, and the saints will be built up together. In the past we listened to many messages concerning being built up, but the result was still that everyone built up his own matters. No one was attuned to another one. As a result there was not much reality of the building or any great result in our work. Now we have this proper way. Therefore, we should “go” in one accord, knocking on doors, visiting people, bringing them to salvation, actively taking care of home meetings, building ourselves up, and being built up with the saints.
We all must have a thorough dealing with the Lord and be thoroughly cleansed to be without any problems so that He can pass through our inward being. We and He, He and we, must have the unhindered relationship of the “power station” and the “lamps,” in which we are fully connected and the “electricity” freely flows. This matters not only for our bearing fruit; it matters even more for our progress in the spiritual life.
(A message given on February 24, 1987 in Taipei, Taiwan)