As we saw in the previous message, there are at least ten ways to speak to people about the gospel. These are the ways of:
These points are easy if we consider their order. We are sinful, and with sin there is an issue, a consequence, a result. Human life is vain and empty, but we have God, His love, and His Christ. Because of the redemption of Christ through the cross, we have life, which we receive through repentance by faith. The result of repentance by faith is salvation. We need to use these ten points to “attack” people with the gospel; we must be an army to defeat Satan by hitting people’s weak point.
We need to learn these things. It is not too hard; rather, it is easy if we practice. I beg you to practice this. Otherwise, it will be difficult to have the real increase. The gospel must be preached in this way by the living members of the Body. We should not depend much on the so-called great evangelists. We must depend on the members of the Body.
The fruit spoken of by the Lord in John 15, that is brought forth by the branches of the vine, are the souls saved through us. As the branches of the vine, we must bear fruit; that is, we must produce new believers. In a general way we need to abide in Christ to bear fruit. But in a detailed way we need to pray, claim the power from on high, learn to speak to people in a living way, not merely according to our memory, and learn to use the Lord’s word in a living, practical way. Then it will be very easy to bear fruit. We will be the branches bearing fruit all the time. I expect that in one year we will see the number among us increase. Otherwise, there must be something wrong. To be sure, this will mean that we are wrong in certain aspects. To not be fruitful means that we are wrong. May the Lord be merciful to us.
If we take this word merely as a message, it will not and cannot help us much. This is a training to instruct us how to practice. If we do not practice, this word will mean nothing. However, if we do practice it, we will appreciate this training more and more. When many saints in the Far East first came to be trained, they asked me not to be very strict with them, but after ten years they said that I had not been strict enough. I have learned these matters, and in this way I have come to know that we need training. Paul told Timothy, “For bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the present life and of that which is to come” (1 Tim. 4:8). We have to exercise in the spiritual things and learn to practice.
Many Christians today are superstitious, saying, “Everything is all right. The Lord will do it all.” Everything is not all right. We have our part and must take care of our obligation. We need to cooperate with the Lord. The principle of the New Testament is that the Lord never does things by Himself; rather, He always does things with us. He needs the human cooperation. If we do not cooperate, He cannot do what He wants. He said the gospel would be preached to the uttermost part of the earth, but almost two thousand years have passed, and this word is still not fulfilled. Is He not able? He is more than able, but He has delayed for this long because the New Testament principle is that He needs human cooperation. By Himself in His old creation He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, but in His new creation He needs human cooperation. He Himself needed to be incarnated, to put on the human nature. Whatever Christ did, He did it in the principle of incarnation.
The reason the Lord has delayed so long is that it is very hard for Him to have the human cooperation. How much He will do and can do depends on how much cooperation we render to Him. To be sure, if we render Him more and more cooperation, He will do more. Today the secret is not with the Lord; it is with us. We need to bear our responsibility. With Him there is no problem, but we may not be ready. Therefore, we have to practice and give Him the adequate human cooperation. Then He will work.