In order to apply the cross, we must also know the source of our speech. Is the Lord in our spirit the source of our talk? Are we speaking from the Lord as the source through our spirit, or are we speaking something out of ourselves, out of the flesh or the self? We may speak something very good in a right way, but the source of our speaking may be wrong. The motive is one thing, but we also have to check the source. Our motive may be very pure; there may be nothing wrong with our motive, but what about the source? Are we speaking out of ourselves, or are we speaking something from the Lord in our spirit?
In these messages we have been fellowshipping about loving the Lord, seeking the Lord, and practicing the church life. These are the real lessons for us to learn. Before giving this message, I was very much with the Lord. Apparently I was just doing a few things, such as reading and answering letters and studying the Word. The Lord can testify, however, that I was very much with Him concerning this message. I do not want to be here indoctrinating you with more doctrine. I do not believe this is my responsibility. Rather, I feel the responsibility to have some real fellowship with you. I do not want to waste your time week after week and evening after evening, spending almost three hours in a meeting. I want you to get something real. This may not be a good, formal message, but if you do mean business to seek the Lord and practice the church life, then this is a practical lesson with many practical points. We need to put these things into practice to learn the lessons. Even when we talk with our wife, husband, parents, children, and relatives, we must check our motive and ask if we are speaking something from the Lord’s Spirit or merely from ourselves.
We also have to check our position. Are we in a proper position, appointed and ordained by God to speak a word, or are we speaking out of our own position? Many times we are out of our position. If I stay in a brother’s home, I may see something wrong with his son, but I must realize that I have no position to say anything; I am a guest and not the father. In my own home I have the full position to say something to my children, because I have the position of the father, but in someone else’s home I do not have the position.
God has His sovereign position. In addition, a man has the man’s position, and a woman has the woman’s position. A father has the father’s position, and the children have the children’s position. Moreover, a wife has the wife’s position, and a husband has the husband’s position. The New Testament clearly indicates that we have to learn our position. Consider a building; every piece in it has a position. One piece of wood has a position in one place, and another piece of wood has a position in another place. The window has a position, and the door has a position. In the building of God, do we realize that we have our positions? You have your position, and I have mine. Therefore, I have to speak in my position, and you have to speak in yours. We all must learn our limit, and we must be limited by our position. At times I may not be in a position to say anything.
Whenever we are going to say anything, we have to check our position: Where are we? What is our position? On what ground are we speaking? Do we have the ground to say something? Are we in the right position? I say again, I am not giving you a mere lecture. My burden is to fellowship with you to learn the practical lessons in the house of God.
Do not say to me, “Brother Lee, you are from the Far East. You speak about keeping your position because that is the way of the Chinese.” Forget about this. Even in a so-called American home there is still a certain order. Can a son chastise a father? Would we like to see a son over the father? I have stayed in American homes quite often in the past two and a half years, and I never saw a son be over the father. I appreciate the good order in American homes; in this respect they are no different from the Chinese homes.
I have been in many countries. In 1938 alone I traveled to a number of countries. I never found a country with as good an order as the United States. It is a democratic nation, but it has the best order in the entire world. Everyone keeps the order; if someone does not, he loses his benefit in this country. The more one keeps the order here, the more he is profited, because this is a country of law, and a country of law is a country of order. America is so strong because it has the best order. This means that all the people here keep their position. I do things in my position. I cannot say certain things, because I am not the mayor of this city. Neither am I a police officer, so I do not have the position to criticize the police. America is a democracy, but all the people in a democracy do not have the same position. For people to have the same position is not a real democracy; rather, it is a mess.
In a similar way, we must keep the order and keep our position in order to have a strong church life. Do not be offended by this, and do not interpret it in a wrong way. We simply have to realize that in order to have a proper church life and be built up together, each one of us must learn to keep his position. We are out of position mostly by our speaking. We often speak out of our position. We may not have the position, yet we speak as if we did. This creates many problems, and it causes damage.
Even in our home and family life, we have to check our speaking by the above three things: the motive, the source, and the position. I am happy to hear that many young ones among us will soon be married. Some may ask me to give a word at their wedding. I will say the same thing to all of them: “Learn to speak in a proper way at home. Learn always to speak by checking your motive, the source, and your position. As a husband, you must speak things in the position of the husband, and as a wife, you must speak things in the position of the wife. Keep your position, check your source, and check your motive.” If a couple does this, I can “sign a policy” to guarantee that there will be no problems. However, if they do not learn this one lesson, they will have many troubles after only three months. Learn to talk with your dear wife in a proper way. Then you will save yourself, save your wife, and save your relatives. This is a lesson not only for the church life. If we learn this lesson in the church, it will be a great help for us on any occasion.
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