Without the Bible, human society would be in total darkness. Although the Bible is available to everyone today, regrettably, not many Christians apply the Bible in a practical way to their daily living. If we, the children of God, apply the holy word of our heavenly Father practically to our daily living, we will witness the transformation of our life, and we will influence our family, friends, neighbors, and relatives. This is to hold forth the word of life (Phil. 2:16). To be luminaries shining over the darkness by holding forth the word of life is the best way to preach the gospel (vv. 15-16). In this way we may bring one person to the Lord every year. Those around us will spontaneously no longer be in darkness but will be under our shining and thereby see the way that leads to salvation and to God. It is in this way that we can live a life of testimony.
Christianity has many organizations and activities, but not many Christians daily eat the word of God. In the Lord’s recovery we have no organizations or activities; rather, we have only the living Christ. We eat His word, take Him in, live Him, grow Him, and produce Him. In this way we are luminaries shining over those around us. This depends on our coming to the holy Word every morning and throughout the day. In the morning we need to come to the Word to be nourished by pray-reading. Later in the day we can read three or four chapters. By reading three chapters in the Old Testament and one chapter in the New Testament each day, we can read the whole Bible once a year. If we continue for several years in this way, reading through the Bible once a year and pray-reading verse after verse, we will be spiritually healthy, receiving the nourishing and killing element in the Word.
In the past fifteen years we have been ministering mainly concerning Christ, the human spirit, the experience of life, and the ground of the church. In the local churches in the United States these four things have been built up as four pillars. Most of the saints are very strong and clear concerning these matters. Regrettably, however, we have not adequately stressed the matter of truth. Hence, in our building we are lacking the pillar of the truth. Because of this lack of the truth, in recent years several corrupting things have crept into the churches from God’s enemy. In the absense of the light of the truth, certain things have crept in. For instance, a brother declared that he is the leader in the Lord’s recovery. This exposes a terrible lack of the truth. In His New Testament economy God does not allow any kind of human leadership among His people, because He has given the headship and lordship uniquely to Christ His Son. To call someone other than Christ the leader leads to a hierarchy, which insults the headship of Christ. If in the past years the pillar of the truth had been built up in the churches, all the saints would know that among the Lord’s people today there is no organization and therefore no official leadership. We all would refute anyone who dares to say that he is the leader. We would be not a people under darkness but a people under the light and full of the truth. We would know that in the Lord’s recovery there is no organization and that no one sent by God would say that he is the leader.
The United States is a strong nation mainly because it has a strong constitution and because the people of this country uphold the Constitution. Even the president must follow the Constitution. Likewise, a strong local church is one in which all the saints uphold the truth. This should be the condition and the situation of every local church. Every brother and sister in the church should know the truth that in the church we practice neither autocracy nor democracy but the headship of Christ. We need to know and practice this truth.
I encourage all the saints to make a vow before God: “Lord, from today I will be a person of the Bible. I will study and pray-read the Bible. I will pick up the truths from all the doctrines.” Only in this way can we grow in life, the church be built up, the kingdom of God be established on the earth, and we be matured so that the bride will be prepared and the Lord Jesus Christ can come back.
As we saw in the previous chapter, truth is not doctrine. In the Bible there are many doctrines, and there is also the truth. Doctrine is merely teaching in letters, but the truth is Christ. For instance, there is the doctrine of holiness in the Bible. We may find a number of doctrinal definitions and explanations of holiness. However, the reality, the truth, of holiness is Christ. John 1:17 says, “The law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.” Christ is the truth; He is the reality of every positive thing. Holiness may be only a doctrine to us, or it may be a truth to us. Perhaps we hold the doctrine of holiness, knowing that holiness is God’s holy nature and that to be made holy is to be sanctified by having God’s nature wrought into us. It is possible for us to know this doctrine yet have no holiness. If this is the case, we have the doctrine, but we do not have the truth, the reality. The way to obtain the reality is not by merely reading, knowing, or listening to a message but by opening our being and contacting the reality of holiness, which is Christ. When we open our being and exercise our spirit to contact the living Lord, His holy nature will be infused into our being. Then we will have the truth, the reality, of holiness.
Thousands of missionaries went to China in the nineteenth century to preach the gospel, but very few preached the truth of salvation. My mother was a third-generation Christian. As a girl, she was sent to study at a Southern Baptist mission school. She was baptized there, and she was fully for Christianity. She taught her children Bible stories. Every Sunday she prepared herself and charged all her children to go to the Southern Baptist morning service. However, she was not saved. She received the doctrine of salvation, but she never touched the truth of salvation. My whole family was in Christianity and knew much doctrine, but not one was saved until one day my second sister contacted the Lord and was saved. Then she prayed for me, and I was saved at nineteen years of age. My salvation caused me to love the Bible, and my youngest brother was influenced by me to read the English Bible, which caused him to be saved. My mother witnessed a great change in us, and she was impressed in a positive way, but she was still not saved until seven years later when the Lord raised up a local church in my hometown. Through the meetings my mother received the truth of salvation and was saved. This illustrates the difference between the truth and doctrine.
We can find doctrines in the Bible, but we should not forget that within the doctrines is the truth. We should not be satisfied with the knowledge of a doctrine until we touch the truth in it. We can learn the doctrine by reading, but to touch the truth we must exercise our spirit to contact the living Lord, who is now the life-giving Spirit within us. As we have pointed out, the Spirit and the Bible are the two “wires” through which God, Christ, and life are transmitted into our being. When we exercise our spirit to touch the Spirit by pray-reading the Word, we receive the truth. It is in this way that the churches will be built up with life and according to the truth. As a result, even the youngest among us will have adequate experience of life and knowledge of the truth. No heresy will be able to creep into the church, because all the saints will be healthy, strong, and infused with the truth. This is the proper way to build up the churches in the Lord’s recovery.
Question: When I pray, I close my eyes and focus inwardly until I feel that I contact the Lord and sense the Lord’s presence. Is this the best way?
Answer: A number of saints practice this, but it is a difficult way. Instead of waiting until we have some feeling from within, we should begin by speaking. This is the easiest way. Whenever we are going to contact the Lord, we should not be quiet and wait for a feeling. The best way to contact the Lord, even before we kneel, sit, or open the Bible, is to speak something simple, such as, “O Lord. Praise You, Lord.”
A Christian should be a speaking person, speaking not only to people and to God but also to angels, demons, and even the atmosphere. When we come into the meeting, if we do not speak but only sit there, the atmosphere will be full of death. However, if everyone speaks, our speaking will bring in life and repel all the distractions. The best and easiest way to contact the Lord is to speak. We should not wait; we should immediately and spontaneously speak. We can praise the Lord, thank the Lord, or worship Him. We can speak anything, as long as we speak from our spirit to the Lord. After speaking only two or three sentences in this way, our speaking will usher us into the presence of God.
Question: I have trouble coming to the Word in a regular way every day. What is the secret to be able to do this?
Answer: No matter how busy a person is, he always finds time to eat, because he realizes that eating is a necessity of life. Therefore, doing something regularly depends upon our realization. For all Christians, coming to the Word is a necessity of life, but many do not realize it. Because we now realize that this is a life necessity, we need to pray, “Lord, help me to read Your Word two or three times every day.” We should try to make this practice legal for ourselves by pray-reading a few verses in the morning, perhaps spending ten minutes to read a chapter after lunch, and then reading a few more chapters in the afternoon or evening. Such daily practices depend on our realization. Anyone who realizes that this is a life necessity will be able to practice it. Eventually, we will become accustomed to doing this. Then we will have an appetite for it and will feel that something is lacking if we do not do it. It will become our habit, and we will be healthy. We will see our Christian life transformed. Reading, studying, and eating the words of the Bible are life necessities. We need to trust in the Lord to be able to practice this.