We do not go out to preach a religion, nor do we go to preach any philosophy or doctrine. We preach Jesus Christ, the living God and Savior. He is the embodiment of the Triune God. He became flesh, passed through human living, and went to the cross to die for our sins, resurrected, and became the life-giving Spirit. He is present everywhere; He goes everywhere; He penetrates everywhere. Wherever a person is, if he is willing to open himself and call on the Lord’s name, the Lord as the Spirit will enter into him like fresh air, causing him to receive Christ Himself.
This is the Christ we preach. We do not preach religion, nor even the so-called biblical truths alone. Rather, we open up the revelations in the Bible to people. Revelation means the raising of the curtain, the opening of the veil, the uncovering of a previously hidden object. For example, if I button up my jacket, you will have no idea what is hidden under it. Then I may unfold the lapels of my jacket; this is to uncover, to unveil, for you to see the tie I have under my jacket. This is to “enlighten all,” as mentioned in Ephesians 3:9. This is the work we do when we go out to visit people—ministering Christ to people and releasing the truth that they may be enlightened and be able to see the mystery which has been hidden in God throughout the ages.
Ephesians 4:11 and 12 continues, “And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” Today in the church there are many such gifts. Some are apostles, some are prophets, some are evangelists, and some are shepherds and teachers. The work they do is to perfect the saints. For instance, a full-time serving one goes out door-knocking to preach the gospel, and after some have been saved, he meets with them in their homes for their perfecting. In this way, they can do the work that we all do, which is to announce Christ, make known the mystery of God, and establish the local churches, that is, building up the Body of Christ.
Furthermore, in 2 Corinthians 4:1 and 2 Paul says, “Therefore, having this ministry as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart; but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth.” This means that as we have received God’s commission and bear God’s entrustment to preach Christ to people and release the truth concerning the mystery of God to them, we need to have a good expression, a proper living, before men. This will cause us to not lose heart but to renounce the shameful, unmentionable, and hidden things and not walk in craftiness. All of us who serve the Lord full-time should be absolutely honest, without the slightest bit of falsehood or deceit. In this way we will be able to manifest the truth of God. This is concerning the proper character that we need.
The point we have been emphasizing is that we all should know that we do not go out merely to be the so-called preachers or evangelists. Rather, we are people who have Christ—and even are filled with Him—in our spirit. We even let our lives be saturated and filled with this living Lord, this pneumatic Christ. It is with such a Lord that we go out to preach the gospel, and we preach not only the truth of the gospel, but all the more we preach this living Christ as the center of the gospel.
Furthermore, we need to see that when we believe in Christ, we do not have a change of religion, whether from Buddhism to Christianity, that is, from one certain religion to another. Converting from one religion to another is not faith in Christ. Rather, we have to open ourselves in our heart and spirit, which is where our real person is, and receive the true and living Savior, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Savior who bled and died for us, and the One who has become the life-giving Spirit. It is such a One that we have to receive into us. How do we receive Him? The way to receive Him is very simple; it does not require us to do anything, and it does not even require deep consideration. Wherever we may be, if we open our whole being and pray to Jesus Christ, He will come into us. Romans 10:13 says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” He is such a living Savior; like fresh air, He is waiting to enter into those who open to Him.
We all know that when a person opens his mouth and takes a deep breath, he can receive an abundance of fresh air. Today we need only to say, “O Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. Thank You, You are not only my Creator, but You also died for me on the cross to become my Redeemer. Lord, I receive You. Please come into me.” Every one of us can try touching the Lord like this. If we faithfully open ourselves in this way, calling on the Lord from the depths of our spirit, we will see that from then on our lives will have a gradual change from our inner heart to our outward behavior. This is not a change as a result of man’s teaching, but it is the Lord in us as the true and living life that causes us to have a change in life through a metabolic process of life. This is a mystery, yet it is clearly revealed in the Bible.
Today all parts of the world lack this truth. Since we are in the Lord’s recovery, we ought to bear this commission and go to all parts of the world to speak and explain to people the mysterious truth concerning this living Jesus. By the Christ who lives in us we release Christ that He may enter into people as fresh air. Thus, people will not only be saved but also love God, and the more they love God, the more they will love one another. This loving of one another will stir up in them a desire to gather together in the Lord’s name. This gathering together is the church. In the beginning they may be few in number, but as long as they continue to come together, like burning coals of fire burning together they will become more and more burning. We all know that if we put some pieces of coal or wood together and kindle them, they will burn one another. This piece burns that piece, and that piece burns this piece; eventually all will be burning. However, a single piece of wood or coal does not burn readily but instead dies out easily. We need to come together as the church called out by God that we may receive grace to be perfected by God and be used by Him to manifest His multifarious wisdom.
This is my parting word to the full-time trainees. May the Lord be with you all, that regardless of which country or place you return to, you will have Christ accompanying you, and you will also have the truth of God filling you within, so that wherever you are, what is expressed in your living and your conduct is not any sinful, corrupted thing, nor yourself, but the living Christ, the shining Christ. May the Lord be with your spirit. Amen.
(A message given in the graduation meeting of the Full-Time Training in Taipei, Taiwan on June 1, 1987)