In the entire Bible there is not another verse like 2 Timothy 3:16. Verses 15 through 17 say, “From a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” The apostle Paul wrote these words purposefully to indicate that when the church is in degradation, whoever desires to be a man of God, a godly man, must take care of the Scriptures. We need to know the Bible from our youth. The way to conduct ourselves in the church is by taking care of the Scriptures. I hope that an atmosphere of loving the Bible will be built up in the Lord’s recovery. Everyone in the Lord’s recovery should be a Bible lover, always eating, reading, and studying the word of God in the Bible.
The way to conduct ourselves in the church life is to know the Bible to the extent that others would call us a “Bible man.” If we do not know the Bible, we will not know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God. If possible, we should read three chapters of the Old Testament and one chapter of the New Testament every day. In this way we can easily read the whole Bible once a year. This is not difficult. We need to build up such a good habit in order to be a godly person.
If some young brothers come to my home one day and see that I read many secular magazines and newspapers, they will not think that I am godly. They may think instead that I am worldly and perhaps that I am fleshly. Whether or not we read the newspaper should not be a legal matter, but it is a spiritual fact that if we spend too much time reading worldly publications, we may be led into the indulgence of lust. Rather than spending much time reading worldly publications, we should redeem the time by reading the word of our Father.
The way to conduct ourselves in the church is by becoming someone who loves the Word of God. We should not make the excuse that we were not born with the kind of disposition necessary to be such a person. We have all been reborn with the same life, the life of God. Therefore, we all can study the Bible daily and diligently. We should try to read through the Bible once a year. Furthermore, we should spend at least ten minutes every morning to pray-read two or three verses. The more we pray-read, the more nourishment we receive. We need to eat the word every day to receive the nourishment and become constituted with the truth of the Bible. If we practice this, we will always impress others with godliness, and this will be a glory to God. If this is our daily testimony and this governs our walk in the church life, we will know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God. By reading the Bible day after day, we will accumulate much knowledge of the Bible. Based on this knowledge of God’s Word, we will know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God. We need to spend time before the Lord to consider the principles we have seen that should govern our conduct in the church. We need to pray about these principles and by the Lord’s grace put them all into practice.
The Lord’s recovery will spread not in the way of a movement but in the way of life. As we all grow in life, the churches will increase and spontaneously spread to other cities. Wherever the churches spread, there is the need of some to bear responsibility. For this reason, many saints, especially the young ones, need to spend time to study the Word of God, to be saturated and thoroughly constituted with the Word of God. Then they will be prepared to teach the Word of God. According to the New Testament, teaching is the proper shepherding, for Ephesians 4:11 lists shepherds and teachers as one class of gifted person. If we do not know how to teach, we cannot shepherd. Shepherding is based on teaching. Furthermore, 1 Timothy 5:17 reveals that teaching is the main function of the elders. In order to be qualified as an elder to bear responsibility in a local church, we must be able to teach (3:2). If we can teach, we will be able to shepherd. Therefore, if the young ones study God’s Word to be thoroughly saturated and constituted with the Word in the coming years, many of them will be good teachers. Then they will spontaneously become good shepherds and elders. This is the way that the leadership is prepared for the spread of the churches.
Suppose the young people in a locality come together only to have a good time, playing the guitar, singing hymns, and releasing their spirit, but they do not spend time in the Word of God and are not exercised in the spiritual experiences. Several years may pass, yet nothing will be built up. Such a situation would be worse than the situation in denominational Christianity, for Christianity at least has seminaries to train some leaders. To only have a good time is a waste of time. We need to come to the church meetings to learn something, to be built up, and to be trained. This is worthwhile. We should mean business in the church life. The Lord’s testimony is the most important thing in our life today. Therefore, we need to spend our time, our energy, and even our being to be constituted for the Lord’s recovery.
I encourage all the saints to spend a solid time to enter into the solid things. We should not relax or only seek to have a good time. The church life is not for a good time; it is for something solid. We need to pick up this burden and go to the Lord. We should not use the excuse that we are weak. We are all weak, but He who is in us is strong. We do not have the energy in ourselves, but His grace is sufficient for us (2 Cor. 12:9). We all need to look to the Lord for His grace that we may come up to His standard. I hope that all the saints will legally spend time in the Word of God. If we all practice this, the church life will be healthy, strong, rich, and genuinely living. We all need to honor the headship of Christ, bear the truth, exercise ourselves unto godliness, take care of the healthy teaching, and study the Word. By spending time in the Word, we will be filled with the knowledge of the divine Word and will know how to conduct ourselves in the house of God.