When we receive the dealings, we are receiving the breaking by the cross. At the same time the cross breaks us, it brings in the Spirit who is life (2 Cor. 4:11). Hence, the fruit-bearing in life comes from the breaking by the cross. Not only do you have to study the Bible, study the Life-study Messages, and pursue life; you must also continually consecrate yourself, pray, and receive dealings so that you will receive the Spirit through the breaking of the cross. If you do not do this, your study of the Bible will not have much light. Only when you allow the Spirit to have the ground in you will your reading of the Lord’s Word, through the mingling together of your spirit with it, give true benefits to you. The reason for this is that the prerequisite for having the Lord’s word is to have the Lord’s Spirit. The way to have the Spirit is through the breaking of the cross. In smooth circumstances, there is usually no breaking of the cross. But in trying circumstances, provided that you take these environmental dealings willingly, you are, in the Lord’s word, bearing the cross (Matt. 10:38). As such, you will receive the Spirit.
Actually, the dealing of the cross is not that man would suffer. Rather, it is to kill man. The dealing of the cross is to put man to death. This is absolutely different from the Chinese ethical teaching of patience and forbearance. The Lord wants us to accept death. In adverse circumstances, we must learn to die. If we are willing to die, we will receive the rich Spirit (2 Cor. 4:10). The Spirit within us is a preparation for the reception of the word. The Spirit and word are actually one.
In this way, all of you will have the experiences of life. You will have the Lord, and you will have the consecration, the prayers, and the environmental dealings. By then, it will be no problem for you to spread the gospel in the villages. Paul exhorted the Philippians in chapter two of his Epistle, “Do all things without murmurings and reasonings” (v. 14). To be without murmurings and reasonings is something that cannot be acted out. If you have the experience of the cross, the Spirit, and the word, you will have the capital. These things will become your life, power, and authority. In this way, you will be able to minister life and to dispense Christ into others as their life element. This is fruit-bearing. In the places where you will spread the work, as soon as you contact people and open your mouth, Christ will come out. The Spirit and the word will also come out, and your experience of the Lord will come out together with them.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:15, “For though you have ten thousand guides in Christ, yet not many fathers.” A guide is one who gives teachings and instructions to the children under his care, while a father is one who dispenses his life to his children. Paul was a spiritual father. Through the gospel he begat the Corinthians in Christ, dispensing into them the life of God that they might become the children of God and the members of Christ. Physically speaking, an old man can no longer beget children because his power of reproduction has ceased. I hope that you are not an old man spiritually. An old Christian can only give a few messages, exhort people to join Christianity, and be a religious man. I hope that in your contact with people, after one or two encounters, you will be able to dispense Christ into them and to produce in them the seed, which is Christ in man as life. This is to beget someone and to dispense life into the begotten children. This is not a movement in work but a result of activity in life. It is the injection of the “Christ-germ” into man.
Most people think that to prepare for the gospel outreach there is the need for more prayer, more reading of the Bible, and more willingness to suffer. But these kinds of teachings are too shallow. According to my experience and observation, the matter has to be presented in a more detailed way. You have to continually consecrate yourselves, continually pray, and continually receive the dealings in the environment. The dealing of the cross brings in the Spirit. When the Spirit touches the word, the two will be mingled as one. The word is like sugar, and the Spirit is like water. When the two meet, the sugar will be dissolved into a sugar solution. When we read the Bible or spiritual books, it should be like sugar touching water. If there is the lack of the Spirit, there will be the lack of the dissolving element for the Lord’s word. If you have the Spirit and can dissolve the Lord’s word, your going out to dispense life to others will result in fruit-bearing.
The second verse that I will give to you is Galatians 4:19: “My children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you.” Paul compared himself to a travailing mother. After he preached the gospel to the Galatians the first time, they deviated from Paul’s gospel. As a result, he had to travail again until Christ was formed in them. When you go out to bear fruit, you are producing spiritual descendants and raising up children in the gospel. The most important thing to remember is to have the Lord, the experience of the cross, the Spirit, and the word.
(The above message was given by Brother Witness Lee in Taipei on October 20, 1988.)
Home | First | Prev | Next