(5)Now I will mention several outward matters. For example, head covering is definitely in the Bible. Today the church must be absolutely in favor of head covering. But if some brothers have not seen it, we have to take the attitude of Romans 14 and wait for them to see it, because we must receive those whom the Lord receives. Although they do not see it, we hope they will see it in the future. The church can only stand on the positive side of what is in the Bible, not on the negative side. If some have not seen the matter of head covering, the church can only say that they will be received in spite of their weak faith. If a sister covers her head and the church does not receive her, she will feel that the church is not hers and she will leave. Then we will force a head-covering sect to be brought forth. If we stand in the position of not favoring head covering and do not allow the sisters to cover their heads, we are not a church. Receiving the saints is not based on whether or not sisters cover their heads. If the brothers’ receiving is based upon head covering rather than Christ’s receiving, the sisters who cover their heads will think that this church is not theirs. Therefore, we clearly must see that we have to stand on the side of what is in the Bible. If there are some who are unable to come up to this, we must also forbear them.

(6)The matter of laying on of hands is also found in the Bible. Some brothers are not able to go on with this matter, and we should not insist that they do. However, if we do not practice what is in the Bible, some brothers will leave us. Those who oppose the laying on of hands are a sect, a sect of “the non-laying on of hands.” If we want to stand in the position of the church, we must accept whatever is in the Word of God.

(7)Baptism is argued about the most. Why has there been so much argument about this matter over the last several hundred years? This is because some have brought things from Roman Catholicism into Protestantism. Since Roman Catholicism sprinkled water on people’s heads, many Protestant churches did the same. Originally, both sides probably exercised some forebearance and went through much discussion. But in the end each went its own way. With any command of the Bible, whenever the church does not stand on the positive side to maintain what is in the Bible, a sect is created.

(8)Concerning the matter of breaking of bread, the Bible speaks of remembering the Lord on the first day of every week. If certain churches do not practice this according to the Bible, those who want to remember the Lord this way can only leave.

(9)Foot-washing is also in the Bible. Some radically oppose this matter and bring it to nothing by their teaching. Consequently, those who want to obey the Lord’s command in foot-washing leave.

(10)Among God’s children, some stress teaching, others stress deeper life, and still others stress gospel preaching. Brothers who are zealous in preaching the gospel often look down upon those who stress the deeper life, and brothers who stress the deeper life often look down upon those who preach the gospel. When you look down upon me and I look down upon you, divisions immediately appear.

(11)I will give another example. Some brothers emphasize preaching by inspiration. Of course, this is very rare. They preach by the inspiration that comes from spiritual gifts. This is very good. This is the kind of prophesying spoken of in 1 Corinthians 14. These brothers are not in favor of expounding the Bible. But is this not in the Bible? In the Bible there are those who preach the gospel and those who teach. If some brothers disapprove of expounding the Bible, those who study the Bible will find it unbearable. Those who are teachers will leave. But if the church only believes in teaching by expounding the Scriptures, those who believe in inspiration will not be able to tolerate it. Then divisions will result.

The entire difficulty is that we are too small! Our heart is not broad enough before the Lord, and our person is not big enough. “I want this, and I do not want that; the church must be managed according to my idea.” Please remember, the church is managed according to the Lord’s will, not according to our ideas, because we are too small. There are always some brothers better than us in certain aspects; we cannot say that we are superior to all the brothers. There are always some brothers and sisters who are above us in certain points. We cannot run ahead of them all. We must learn to receive the good points of all the brothers because only the Lord is equivalent to a church. Only when the whole church is added up will it equal one Lord. Even if we have received special mercy of the Lord, we can only equal a portion; we cannot equal all the brothers. If we equal two or twenty brothers, that is the Lord’s mercy. But if we think we equal the whole church, what kind of pride is this? How can we make every brother like us? If every brother and sister is like us, the church has no future. Surely, many brothers and sisters are ahead of us in many areas. The church is one-sided when it pays attention only to one thing. When we emphasize one thing, another brother emphasizes another thing, and someone else emphasizes yet another-this means development for the whole church. But as soon as we place ourselves before the church, the church is finished. I can acknowledge that you are better than many brothers, but you can never equal all the brothers. It is the Lord Himself who equals the whole church, not us. Even the youngest brother may notice what we fail to notice. The good point of some brothers is love, but this is not true of all the brothers. If we see this, the church can grow in a balanced way.

(12)If a certain church wants to observe “Christmas,” those who serve God faithfully have to go another way; there is absolutely no “Christmas” or “Easter” in the Bible. If the church wants to observe these occasions, we can immediately conclude that the church is not going on properly. There are many other things that are not found in the Bible such as the idols of Roman Catholicism. If we yield to these, trouble will definitely come.
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