God used persecution to force the saints to migrate. They could not stay; they were compelled to leave. At that time thousands of people were constantly going out. But Paul still found thousands of believers in the church upon his return to Jerusalem. When he came back to Jerusalem and went to see James and all the elders, he was told of many thousands of Jews there who had believed (Acts 21:20). Wheat that is harvested this year will grow again next year. We must leave the ground we have occupied in order to allow others to become Christians. We should not remain stationary all the time. The number of Christians going out is indicative of increase in the same proportion. Staying all the time in one place will not cause our numbers to increase. The disciples in Jerusalem continued to go out to preach the gospel, yet the Bible says that there were thousands of Jewish believers when Paul returned to Jerusalem. God’s way is to send people out group by group like scattered seeds.
Before God we need to see clearly these three principles before we can engage in so-called missionary work.
When I was in London, I once told Mr. Austin-Sparks that our work in China is different from their work-we must take care of the gospel first. Since there are so many Christians in all parts of London, it seems as if the whole country is Christian. But in China, we must work according to the primitive pattern of first preaching the gospel. It seems that the work our brother is doing in London is only a work of ministry. As for us, we must preach the gospel.
Therefore, brothers, we must never be slack regarding these three points. During the many years of the Sino- Japanese War, we encountered numerous difficulties. Through these difficulties we learned these things. For many of us, at least half of our time is gone. The remaining half must be spent in taking a straight course. We should never walk as in the past. I believe (this is my personal feeling) that this light is sufficiently clear. For two thousand years the church has tried to make Jerusalem fit into the whole picture, but it has never been made to fit correctly. Today we are able to make it fit correctly and even clearly. This matter is now as clear as the truth we saw in Hankow concerning the locality of the church.
To us, it is clear that the churches are local, and it is clear that the work is regional. For this reason our work needs to be on the right track. If we still think that a worker should handle a locality, we will reach an impasse. Unless this matter is dealt with, the work can never go on. The old way will not work. For example, if the old way were right, then we would not have enough co-workers to take care of the more than one hundred meetings in the P‘ing Yang region, even if we sent them all. We would not have enough co-workers for the Wenchow region. We would need the sisters to be pastors. Following this way, we would never be able to meet the needs.
We must see that the work has its region and its center. All matters pertaining to the localities can be placed in the hands of the local churches. The workers always go out to work. After a short while they return to Jerusalem. Then they move out again and return again to Jerusalem. For this reason, it is good to maintain a strong testimony in Jerusalem. It is an easy task for the twelve apostles to maintain the ministry of the word in Jerusalem, but it would be too difficult for them to maintain this ministry throughout Samaria and all Judea.
Therefore, before God we need to have much prayer and clear light concerning which locality can be used as the center for the work in a region. It has to be a place where a group of co-workers, both brothers and sisters, may dwell together and establish a center. It should also be the place where they serve as members of the local church to maintain the local testimony. By going out and coming back, the ministry of the word in that locality is properly maintained.
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