We need to see what the elements in the word are. When we eat food, we spontaneously take in the vitamins that are in the food. The natural “antibiotics” in our food kill the negative germs within us. Our food also contains nourishing elements, which supply the exact needs of our body. Our energy and strength come from these nourishing elements. After entering into our body, our food is processed through metabolism, which includes catabolism, a breaking down, and anabolism, a building up. Catabolism is destructive and is therefore a killing. Anabolism is constructive. Daily receiving the word produces in us a spiritual metabolism, which on one hand destroys the negative elements and on the other hand builds us up spiritually. We all need such a metabolism to grow in the Christian life.
The Bible contains many histories, prophecies, parables, types, and exhortations. These may be likened to different dishes, but they are not the basic elements. The basic elements in a sandwich are flour, meat, and vegetables. These same three elements may be used to prepare many different dishes, such as Chinese dumplings and Italian spaghetti. These dishes differ only in form; in essence they are the same. The word of the Bible is also composed of three basic elements—Christ, His death, and His resurrection. Every time we come to the Bible, we receive these three elements. Whether we read histories, parables, prophecies, exhortations, psalms, or proverbs, we receive Christ, His death, and His resurrection.
Christ is the nourishing element in the word. In Christ there is the killing of His death, which may be likened to catabolism. Christ’s death destroys our self, flesh, lusts, selfishness, and natural concepts and emotions. Every day we need to be under this destruction. Every portion of the Bible conveys the killing of Christ’s death to deal with our natural life. This killing is the effectiveness of the death of Christ, which has been compounded in Christ. The killing element of Christ’s death is typified by the salt in the meal offering described in Leviticus 2. The frankincense in the meal offering signifies Christ’s resurrection. In the meal offering there is no honey, which typifies natural affection. The fine flour in the meal offering signifies Christ Himself with His fine humanity. In every portion in the Bible the basic elements are Christ, the killing of His death, and the power of His resurrection. The killing of Christ’s death and the building up of His resurrection received through the word produce in us a healthy spiritual metabolism. This is the way to grow.
The experience of the all-inclusive Christ as our portion and the transmission of Christ through the word and the Spirit are the way of life ordained by God in His economy. However, God’s enemy has brought in many other things to replace these simple life matters among Christians. For instance, many activities have come in. Even Bible reading becomes an activity if we set aside only one or two weeks per year to study the Bible. Our physical eating is not an occasional activity or organized movement but a daily life necessity. Eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping are not special activities but legalities, or necessities, of our daily living. Reading the Bible is our spiritual eating.
Preaching the gospel also should not become an activity that is different from our daily living. The proper gospel preaching is our daily living. We need to live the gospel. According to God’s economy, gospel preaching is fruit-bearing (John 15:1-17). As branches of Christ the vine, we do not need any activity, movement, schedule, or plan. We will spontaneously produce fruit if we daily live and grow Christ. Fruit is the spontaneous outflow of the inner life. It is not an activity but a living. Many whom we contact in our daily life observe how we live. If we live Christ, some may outwardly despise us, but deep within they will know that we are a proper person. If our living is a shining testimony of Jesus, when a family member, neighbor, colleague, or classmate goes through a difficult situation, he or she may remember us and invite us for a visit. When we go, we may only need to speak a few words to lead the person to pray to receive the Lord. To bear fruit in this way is possible for every believer, and this way is more effective than large gospel meetings. If an ordinary believer simply lives Christ, many of the ones he or she knows will eventually turn to the Lord. Those we gain for the Lord in this way will be remaining fruit. This way is easy, normal, and spontaneous. The crucial point is that we all need to live Christ.
Living Christ to spontaneously bear fruit is the way of the Lord’s recovery, for this is what was practiced in the beginning of the church life in Acts. The hundred and twenty in Acts 1:15 did not have a schedule. They were praying together (v. 14) when the Spirit was suddenly poured out on the day of Pentecost (2:1-4). The early believers did not have a plan to go to Samaria in chapter 8; only Philip was led to go there (vv. 4-5). In chapter 13 the brothers in Antioch did not have a plan to go to Europe. Verse 2 says, “As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Barnabas and Saul were called and sent (v. 3), but they did not plan where they would go. Then in Act 16 Paul was at the western tip of Asia Minor. After being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to go in two other directions, Paul saw a vision of a man entreating him to come over into Macedonia, which was across the Aegean Sea in Europe (vv. 6-10). There was no plan or schedule; there was only the living of Christ.
When we see that living Christ is the proper way to preach the gospel, we will not use any gimmicks. If we are faithful to live Christ, those we know will gradually turn to the Lord. When gimmicks come into our gospel preaching, the result is different opinions, concepts, and eventually disputation. There is no positive result. This is absolutely wrong. We need to drop the gimmicks and come back to God’s way of life by living Christ.
The proper way for the churches to spread is also a matter of life. After a church grows normally for a few years, a small group of saints may spontaneously move to a nearby city and raise up a church there. Those who know the truth and have the necessary measure of life will spontaneously take the lead in the new church. To be equipped for this purpose, some of the young brothers should spend more time in the Word and learn the truths while they are growing and living Christ. The churches can continue to spread in this way year after year, growing and spreading to nearby cities. Spreading in this way is spontaneous and simple. Eventually, there will be several local churches in an area, all living Christ, loving and helping one another, and fellowshipping all the time, yet without human control, hierarchy, organization, or maneuvering. What a wonderful situation!
The churches should never be controlled like the branches of a corporation. To organizationally transfer saints to different localities is altogether against the truth and against the principle of the Body. The church is an organism, which cannot be rearranged like an organization. We do not need to try to maneuver saints to unify the churches or make every church the same. We should accept all the churches as they are. The local churches may be likened to families. Unlike the branch offices of some corporations, every family is different. The members of one family may be highly intelligent; the members of another family may not be as intelligent. Nevertheless, both are genuine families. What is important in a family, as in a local church, is not outward qualifications or gifts but love, life, and harmony. Transferring members between two different families to try to balance the situation will only damage both families. The local churches should be left to grow without human interference. In the Lord’s recovery there is no unification, competition, or rivalry, but only harmony, love, and fellowship.
If we see this principle, we will drop our concepts and care only for Christ as life. Any migration should be based on the Lord’s leading, not on human planning or activity. We only need to live Christ, fellowship with Him, and follow His leading. Then we will be like our father Abraham, who “went out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb. 11:8). He simply followed the presence of the Lord. Today we should be the same, having no plan, schedule, expectation, or outward goal. Living Christ in a peaceful way in our daily life is our living testimony of the Lord Jesus and is the proper church life. If all the saints practice this, the churches will spontaneously have the proper increase and then spreading. This way is full of life, harmony, and testimony.
We are nonsectarian, general, inclusive, and open to fellowship with all genuine believers. However, we should not have the intention to gain Christians from other groups. Instead, we should live Christ and pray daily for the Lord to lead us to those who need salvation. As we share with those whom the Lord brings to us, some will turn to the Lord and be brought into the church life. When we contact other Christians, according to the Lord’s leading within, we should simply fellowship with them, ministering Christ to them and receiving their Christ. Other Christians should have a clear impression that we are not sectarian or for building up our own work; they should sense only that we live Christ and love all the believers. Whether they would turn the way of the Lord’s recovery is altogether in the Lord’s hand.
We need to drop our concepts, activities, aggressiveness, and passivity and simply live Christ, pray, and fellowship together. Wherever we are, we should come together as the church, the local expression of Christ. Wherever we go, we should meet with the saints in that place as the Lord’s testimony. Christ is everything in the Lord’s recovery. There are no organizations, ways, gimmicks, or activities. We must keep this principle. We also need to spend time in the Word, learn the truth, and teach, edify, and shepherd others. This is the proper way.