(The following message was given by Watchman Nee in Kuling in 1948 as part of the “New Believers” series. It was published by the Kuling Book Room as the third message in a 1949 edition but was later excluded from the final published version of the series. In order to understand this message in the proper light and in the context of Watchman Nee’s ministry during this period, the reader should also refer to Volume 57 of The Collected Works, The Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry.)
The first thing we should realize concerning a new believer selling all to take the Lord’s way is that the church must first take the lead to do this. Otherwise, we will only be speaking in vain. Whether or not a new believer gets through in this matter depends on the condition of the church. If the church is not a consecrated church, it would be useless to speak of consecration to others. If the church is not separated from the world, it would be useless to speak about baptism or separation from the world. If the brothers and sisters in a church do not have the practice of selling their all, it would be useless to speak to new ones about selling their all. God’s children must stand on the ground of what they preach before they can lead new believers to the same ground. I am not saying that God will not do a special work to raise up new brothers and sisters to take this way. But it is not easy for new ones to take this way. Some must first set the example by taking this stand. Others can then deal with the issue easily. If everyone casts every consideration aside and gives his all, we can expect new ones to cast every consideration aside and give their all. If we do not do this, it will be hard for the new ones to do it. A locality must be assured that its believers are very much strengthened before it can expect this practice to be accepted smoothly. If the brothers and sisters are not that strong, this practice cannot be implemented.
Let us begin with the story of the young ruler in Luke 18. The young ruler was a very moral person. He was quite virtuous as far as his conduct before God was concerned. He had kept all the commandments, and he respected the Lord Jesus very much. This is why he addressed the Lord as “Good Teacher” (v. 18). The Lord Jesus was quite kind to him; He was even moved with love for him (Mark 10:21). He knew that it was not easy to gain such a person.
Yet the Lord laid down a requirement. If a man wants to serve Him or follow Him, he has to be perfect. Notice the Lord’s word: “If you want to be perfect,” “one thing you lack” (Matt. 19:21; Mark 10:21). In other words, the Lord told him that in order to follow Him, a man has to follow Him absolutely all the way; he cannot lack one thing. He cannot take care of ninety-nine things but leave one thing untouched for himself. Those who do this cannot follow the Lord. The Lord demands that when we come to Him, everything belonging to us has to come to Him as well. The Lord requires that we be perfect; He wants us to follow Him absolutely. Anything short of this will not do.
The young ruler had kept the commandments from his youth. He feared God. Yet the Lord said that even a person such as he lacked one thing, without which he could not go on. This one thing was to sell all his possessions, to give to the poor, and then to follow the Lord. This was the only way for him to go on.