Some may wonder how we can be used by the Lord for the spread of the churches. The only way is to consecrate yourself every morning and every evening, day after day. Again and again you need to pray, “Lord Jesus, I consecrate myself to You. I offer myself to You for Your church.” If you do this, the Lord will open the way. Something will happen. The Lord will lead you to someone, or He will lead someone to you. You and that other person will be one, and something will be accomplished. I assure you that something will be worked out. Do not follow the old track, the old religion, and do not follow the free groups. Do not follow any vain talk, vain teachings, or vain messages concerning the church. You must claim something practical and say, “Lord, I hate vain talk. Lord, I want to see a practical church in the place where I am.”
Forty-five years ago I was in a situation where there was no church. Every morning I rose up early, went to the top of a mountain, and prayed to the Lord. No one had taught me to call on His name, but there on the mountain I practiced calling on the Lord. Every morning I cried to the Lord, calling on His name and saying, “Lord, what do You want me to do? Lord, as a young man, I am here and I am ready. I am ready for You, for Your interests, for Your kingdom and for Your move on earth.” I prayed like this for nine months. Eventually, in that city the Lord started the church life, and that church became very prevailing. Because of that church, many churches were raised up in the north, northeast, and northwest of China. Oh, the Lord is able! He can do it! But it all depends on you. Are you willing for this?
You do not need to know much doctrine or be that “spiritual.” Look at Peter, John, and the other early Apostles. Some of them were young fishermen still working with their fathers when the Lord called them. They did not have any college degrees. But the Lord called them and spent three and a half years with them. I have spent a good deal of time to find out how old the Apostles were when the Lord Jesus called them. I am convinced that Peter was not more than twenty-five years old when he was called. He was still a young man when he became an elder in Jerusalem, the first local church. All the elders of that first church were young people. I am assured that none of them was more than thirty. The Lord’s move is always with the young people. The young people will turn the age. David turned his age, and Daniel turned his age. Do not think that you are too young. You do not need a college degree in order to be in the church life. Everything depends upon your heart, upon whether or not you are willing to pay the price. Are you willing to sacrifice? If you are, the Lord will use you. I know what I am talking about. I did not receive a college degree or graduate from a seminary. But a church was raised up.
You do not need graduation; you need consecration. And do not consecrate yourself merely occasionally. It will not work if you consecrate yourself every few years. Rather, you must consecrate yourself day after day, again and again. Consecration is the secret. For the sake of the raising up of churches in Europe, there is an urgent need for consecration. It is by our consecration that the Lord will have a way to raise up more local churches.
If you read Revelation 2 and 3, you will see that again and again the Lord is calling the overcomers. The overcomers according to Revelation 2 and 3 are those who overcome degraded Christianity, those who overcome the present situation of Christianity. In order to overcome the present situation of Christianity, we must answer the Lord’s call and offer ourselves to Him. We must say, “Lord, I know You are moving on. You are for something new, and I am ready to move on with You. Lord, I am one with You for Your move. Lord, have mercy on me, and do not leave me behind. As You are moving on, take me in Your hand and carry me on.” This is the way to pray. The Apostle Peter, a fisherman, did not go to school for several years, graduate, and get ordained. He was a fisherman who gave himself to the Lord. That was sufficient. Young people, you need to give yourselves to the Lord and follow Him in the churches for a few years. At the end of this time, you will be equipped and qualified. This is what the Lord needs today.
In the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3 the crucial matter related to the churches is eating. To those in the church in Ephesus the Lord Jesus said, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7). To those in the church in Pergamos He said, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna” (Rev. 2:17). To those in the church in Laodicea He said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). In the midst of the degradation of Christianity, we must eat Jesus as the tree of life and as the hidden manna, and enjoy Him as a feast. If we do this, we shall grow and be qualified for the Lord’s move on earth today.
In Revelation 2:17 not only did the Lord speak of the hidden manna; He also said that He would give the over-comer a white stone. This stone indicates that those who eat the Lord as the hidden manna will be transformed into a white stone for God’s building. If we eat Jesus daily, we shall be transformed into stones, the material for God’s building.
The building is also referred to in Revelation 3:12, which says, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” In all these verses we see eating, transformation, and building. If we eat Jesus, we shall be transformed and built up.
Along with speaking concerning eating, transformation, and building, in these seven epistles the Lord condemns the teaching of Balaam, the teaching of the Nicolaitans, the teaching of Jezebel, and the teaching of the depths of Satan. Although there are all kinds of teachings in Christianity, the Lord Jesus in these seven epistles condemns the teachings and encourages the believers to eat Him as the tree of life and as the hidden manna and to feast with Him. We also must reject the teachings of Balaam, of the Nicolaitans, of Jezebel, and of the depths of Satan.
Some may argue that the teachings the Lord Jesus commands us to reject are all wrong teachings. That is correct. But are you sure that the teachings you received are correct? How do you know they are? Perhaps you have already been deceived and cheated, although you are entirely innocent. You think that all the teachings you have received are very good. You do not realize that these good teachings have poisoned you. A number of believers could have been good material and could have been used by the Lord for His church. But they have been poisoned, deceived, and distracted from the proper church life by the teachings they received in the past. Take counterfeit money as an example. How do you know that the currency you have is not counterfeit? Do not say that the bills others have are false and that yours are genuine. You may be deceiving yourself. In like manner, do not say that others have received wrong teachings and that the teachings you have received are right. Perhaps you also have taken in some inaccurate teachings. If you are in doubt about the validity of paper money, do not accept any paper money at all. In its place, take only gold. Do not trust in your discernment. Trust in the gold. Do not have an appetite for teachings, for you may not have the discernment to determine which are correct and which are false. No counterfeit money bears a mark saying that it is counterfeit. Rather, every false bill is nearly the same as a genuine one. Therefore, if in doubt, accept only gold.