The proper way for the church to preach the gospel is the way of life and building. We have to abide in Christ, live with Christ, and live out Christ, and we have to be built up together as one in love. Then we will be prevailing in the preaching of the gospel. What then of miracles? This same book shows us where the miracles are in the preaching of the gospel. Verse 23 of chapter two says, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed into His name when they saw the signs which He did.” The miracles seemed to bring many to Christ. Then verses 24 and 25 say, “But Jesus Himself did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” The Lord Jesus would not commit Himself to anyone who came in through the miracles. There is no doubt that the miracles brought a crowd to Jesus, but Jesus did not commit Himself to them.
In the original text of the Scriptures there are no chapters and verses. Therefore, chapter three continues chapter two. Chapter three begins, “But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This one came to Him by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (vv. 1-3). It is not a matter of miracles but a matter of being born again. The Lord Jesus would never commit Himself to anyone who came in through the miracles unless that one was born again. In chapter two a crowd of people, stirred up and convinced by miracles, came to Jesus, but Jesus would not commit Himself to them. Then between chapters two and three there is the big word but. “But” there was a man who came to Him to have personal contact.
Even Nicodemus had the wrong concept. He saw the signs that Jesus did, so he thought Jesus must be someone great, a great rabbi. However, the Lord Jesus pointed him to the way of life, indicating to him that what he needed was not a teacher but One who gives life, not one who does miracles but One who generates people. It is as if Jesus said, “What you need is not teaching or miracles. What you need is the inner life. You need to be born again.”
We must give up our wrong concept from our background and natural understanding. The preaching of the gospel is a part of the church life. We are the members of the Body of Christ. The Body as a whole is the very vessel to contain the Lord and to express Him. The church’s preaching, therefore, must be the issue of the church life. If we all live by Christ and with Christ, spontaneously we are the living and functioning branches of the great vine tree. He is the vine tree, and we-the members of His Body-are the branches. When we abide in Him and let Him abide in us, spontaneously the issue is that we bear fruit. The bearing of fruit by the branches is the outworking of the inner life, the manifestation, the expression, of the inner life. When we abide in the vine and let the vine abide in us, the life of the vine nourishes us, saturates us, and bears fruit through us. The outward fruit-bearing is the work of the inner life. It is something spontaneous in life, not something in activity or in the so-called power and miracles. The bearing of fruit by the branches is not something miraculous. It is the daily life of the branches. The branches simply abide in the vine and let the vine abide in them. They do not have any special or extraordinary feelings. They just live in that way. Then the life of the vine moves, works, saturates, nourishes, and brings forth fruit.
This corresponds with the book of Philippians. In that book we can see that the preaching of the gospel is in the experience of Christ and is the experience of Christ. When the apostle Paul preached the gospel, there were some miracles, but eventually he was brought into the realization that the proper preaching is not a matter of miracles but a matter of life. If the gospel preaching were a matter of miracles, Paul would not have been martyred. However, the Lord would not do anything miraculously to deliver His apostle. He left His apostle in the prison to be martyred without a miracle. The unbelievers might have come to challenge Paul, saying, “Paul, where is your Jesus? If He is able, He should save you. It seems that He is not as powerful as we are. We put you into prison, and He can do nothing to save you.”
Even the Lord Jesus Himself suffered this kind of challenge, yet He would not do anything to save Himself. Let us learn the lesson. The more that people say that we are poor, the more we have to be poor. Any kind of challenge is from the enemy, and we should never take it. The people said, “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” (Matt. 27:40). It is as if the Lord replied, “No. For you there is no other sign but the sign of the prophet Jonah. I have to die, and I have to be buried.” Never be challenged. The Lord Jesus, who was God, was never successfully challenged. The more people challenged Him, the more He was silent. Today the gospel is prevailing through death and resurrection. The Lord did no miracle to deliver the apostle from prison, but there was the mighty, prevailing manifestation of Christ through this apostle. He said, “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:20b-21a). This is the real preaching of the gospel.
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