While things are quiet, there is a danger of losing the testimony. Even our own history in the past years has shown this. Some left—they fell away or were stumbled—but the ones who have remained have gradually become indifferent.
There is the same problem in the Far East. The work, the testimony, started on the China mainland with much zeal. It was spread by the same zeal. But today from my observation of the situation in the Far East, it seems the zeal is diminished. As I told the brothers there, I am very much concerned about this.
The churches of the Lord’s recovery in the United States, even though they are much younger, are also in this danger. With the new churches the problem is not that great, but with the established churches, the danger is surely here.
This lukewarmness will no doubt issue in emptiness. By emptiness we mean a shortage of the experience of Christ. When we are devoid of Christ, we are short of the Spirit and short of life. Actually these three are one, yet we have to make them three items. Without the Spirit, we don’t have the experience of Christ; if we don’t have the experience of Christ, we don’t have much life.
I feel very burdened about the present condition of the Lord’s recovery on this earth. To my observation it seems that not many churches still have zeal. When some of you brothers came into the recovery, you came in with a zeal that was burning. Now your knowledge has increased, your experience has become more than in the past, but your zeal is less than it was when you first came in.
We may have more knowledge, but this does not mean we have more truth. According to the New Testament revelation, truth is the issue of light. What is doctrine? What is truth? Knowledge without light is doctrine. Knowledge full of light is truth. Doctors of theology may have much knowledge of the Bible, but they may not have much light. The Life-studies may be just doctrine to you, or they may be truth. The difference is that when you have the knowledge with light, it is truth. Without the light, it is only doctrine. You can get doctrines without loving the Lord. You may go to a seminary or to a Bible college and gain a lot of knowledge, but you may not receive light because light is the Lord Himself. He never tells us that He is knowledge; He says He is the light (John 8:12) and the truth (John 14:6). If we don’t love the Lord, we may come to the Bible, we may have morning watch, but what we read may be just knowledge without light. If we have the Lord’s presence mingled in our knowledge, then that knowledge is the truth because the Lord’s presence is the light. So you see, we may even lose the truth. No Christ, no light, no spirit, no truth (reality). Then what is there? Emptiness, just emptiness.
We must have a zeal to seek after the Lord. Then the Bible helps, the Life-studies help—help to get not doctrines but the truth, the real knowledge with light. Then we have the truth, the reality. We, the leading ones, should not put too many requirements on the saints. We ourselves have to take the lead. If we don’t take the lead to be zealous after the Lord but expect others to be zealous, whatever we say becomes a doctrine, or a teaching, all with no impact.
Even in the Old Testament we have this verse: “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (Psa. 69:9). The Old Testament prophets, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel were all zealots. If they lost their zeal, they were no longer prophets; the word would not come to them. The word that came to the Old Testament prophets was truth. The fresh word out of their mouths was full of light. The speakings of the prophets were not doctrines without light; their word was full of light. Thus, it became truth.
Most Christians do not differentiate knowledge and doctrine from truth. From the second third of the last century to the first third of this century many Christian books came out with many truths, full of light. It has not been so in the past fifty years. Instead of truth, emptiness has filled the scene. This might possibly be the peril we may fall into.