God’s word is also the power of the gospel. God’s word needs us to speak it forth. However, if we have not learned to properly study the word of God, we will have no way to speak it. Fifty-five years ago I was called by the Lord. I had the burden to minister the word for the Lord. However, as soon as I opened my mouth, I felt my lack of words. I could speak no more than two sentences. I could only say that it is wonderful to believe in Jesus; I did not know what else to say. This forced me to diligently read through the Bible. I read more and more, and as a result I have a more thorough understanding of the word, and I also have more to speak.
The publications in the Lord’s recovery today are not poor as were publications sixty years ago. Moreover, they have already been translated into many different languages. There are enough messages for you to read for many years. Therefore, you cannot make the excuse that you do not understand or do not know how to speak. If you want to understand, you need to go read. Once you read, you have to speak; and the more you speak, the clearer it will be. Every time I have released a message, it has been the case that the more I spoke, the clearer it got. It is the same with writing the footnotes of the Recovery Version; the more I write, the more light I receive. As spirit and life, the Lord’s word is power. The Bible says that no word from God shall be void of power (Luke 1:37 ASV), and those who hear the word of the Lord will live (John 5:25). When you preach the gospel, you have to preach the Lord’s word. You cannot merely tell people that it is wonderful to believe in Jesus and that our church is very good. The more you say that, the less interested they will be. You have to give the Lord’s word to them to convince them. Therefore, you have to learn to speak the Lord’s word.
The Lord has truly given us great mercy by unveiling His word completely to us and allowing us to publish what we have seen so that we can study it. Therefore, today the Spirit is here, and the word is also here. We need to pray with the Spirit, and we also need to preach the word. If we continue to pray with the Spirit and preach the word, we will become “crazy.” Reading books on philosophy can never cause us to be crazy; but as soon as we read God’s word, we will become crazy from within. I have read the writings of Confucius, and I did not become crazy. While reading the Lord’s word, however, I often have become abundantly excited with an indescribable joy. This is because there is no spirit in Confucius’s books, but there is spirit in the Lord’s word. The Lord said that the words which He has spoken to us are spirit and are life (John 6:63). If we do not read the Lord’s word, His word will be stationary, not “moving” or “jumping.” However, as soon as we read the Lord’s word, it will start to move within us, causing us to start moving as well.
There was a co-worker among us named Luan Hong-bin, who was from Manchuria. Formerly he was involved in politics and therefore greatly despised and opposed Christianity. He thought that only those Chinese who could not support themselves would turn to a Western religion for help and that any Chinese with integrity would not believe it. One day while he was on a hill, he entered into a temple and saw an open Bible on the table of sacrifice. Even though he did not like Christianity, he was still curious to find out what the Bible says. He looked, and it was open to Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man / Who does not walk / In the counsel of the wicked, / Nor stand on the path of sinners, / Nor sit in the seat of mockers” (v. 1). He thought this was interesting, so he read on. Eventually, he was captured by the Lord’s word. He rolled on the floor, cried in confession, repented, and was saved. Later on, he became a good co-worker and changed his name to Philip Luan. One time when I was in Brother Nee’s training in Shanghai, I stayed in the same room with him, and he told me this story in person.
There is another story that I can never forget. There was once an American who went to Africa on business. He saw a local African sitting beneath a tree reading the Bible. This American man thought of himself as one who was modern and understood science, so he despised religion and considered it superstition. He said to the man in a disdaining tone, “Do you still read the Bible?” The man answered and said, “Sir, if I had not been reading the Bible and if the words of the Bible had not entered into me, I would have eaten you, and you would right now be in my stomach.” This illustrates the power of the Bible.
I studied the matter of speaking in tongues fifty years ago, and I also joined that kind of activity for more than a year. Later, I did not speak in tongues anymore, and I advised others not to practice this. After a few years, when I was in my hometown, Chefoo, not far from the meeting hall there was a Pentecostal church. The responsible brother there had a good relationship with me. One day that brother came to visit me. He wanted me to speak in tongues again, to be in the same flow with him. I asked him to sit down, and with a very serious tone, I said to him, “Brother, I do not speak in tongues now, and I will not take that way of practice. Today I will speak to you openly. Is your preaching more powerful, or is mine? We have been working here for many years. Who is making the greater profit? Is it you or I? The more you preach, the fewer people you have there. The more I preach, the more people we have here. Where is your power?” He said, “Brother Lee, if you put it this way, I have nothing to say. I admit I have not been as successful you. Yet I have to speak in tongues because if I do not speak in tongues, I have no power.” I then said, “If this is the case, then go and speak in tongues. The more you speak, the less powerful you will be. However, I will not speak in tongues, and the more I will not speak, the more powerful I will become.”
I spoke such words not only to this person but also to others. Later on I also spoke the same words in Taiwan and in America. Sometimes I would say, “You speak in tongues, but where is the fruit of your work? Where is the effectiveness of your work? I dare not say that I have much fruit for my work, but my fruit is at least more than yours. Therefore, speaking in tongues does not work. I do not speak a single phrase of tongues, but I have gained a great number of people.” At the end, many who spoke in tongues all had to concede defeat. The secret of my work is not in speaking in tongues but in praying with the Spirit and preaching the word.