In the first of these two portions of Scripture, the Lord spoke of food, related to our service. However, in the second portion, the parable, the Lord spoke of profit in business. We all have to make a profit. As a servant commissioned by the Lord to take care of His household, we need to serve food, but as a slave in the parable of Matthew 25:14-30, we need to make a profit. The more you preach the gospel, the more you have the feeling that you have more talent. As I am speaking, I feel my talent is increasing. The more I minister something to you, the more profit I make; it increases my talent.
Each one of us will have no excuse at the judgment seat of Christ. Every day is an appointed time for us to minister the proper food to anyone, and every day is a proper time for us to make some profit. For this reason I have been declaring, “Rise up, and wake up!” We all have to rise up and wake up to be diligent, to be faithful, to be prudent and not foolish, to minister the proper food to the needy ones at the appointed time, and also to use our talent or talents. Perhaps you only have one talent; actually most of the believers only have one talent. The danger is not with the ones who have five talents or two talents. The danger is always with the one-talented ones, who are always thinking, “I do not have much gift; what I have is just a little; whether I function or not means nothing.” Actually, it means much.
Since October of 1984 when I went to Taipei, I did many things at a risk. My burden was to stir up the saints to adequately care for their obligation in the matter of preaching the gospel. In 1985 the church in Taipei baptized over five thousand people. Recently they began to have a gospel-preaching practice. The gospel teams going out to the nearby villages baptized thirteen hundred new believers in less than two weeks. They went to the villages, baptized people, cast out demons, and healed the sick.
In a training of one hundred thirty young full-timers who had the burden to go to the villages, I told them that they must exercise in faith to cast out demons when they went to preach the gospel to the sinners (Luke 10:17; Matt. 10:1). According to the New Testament you do not need to wait to be asked to cast out demons. The demons are devilish, something satanic, and we must cast out anything of the Devil for God’s kingdom. Whenever there is a case of demon possession, you have to cast out the demons. However, whenever there are any sick ones, do not go right away to heal them; you have to be asked. To cast out demons you do not need to be asked, but to heal the sick you have to be asked. When they ask you, you may do it. A little over one month after this time they went out to practice the preaching of the gospel with the casting out of the demons and healing of the sick. It really worked. I told them not to promote healing as the Pentecostals do. If you are going to promote this, eventually you will be pretending that you can heal people. When you are asked to heal the sick, just do it according to the Bible by faith. Whether the sick one will be healed or not, leave this matter to the hands of the Lord. Just act according to His Word. I am so happy to hear the news that they did this!
On one occasion the brothers went to a little mountain to pray. One of the villagers learned that there was a group of Christians there, and he went to join them. He asked the brothers if they were Christians. They told him they were and that they were preaching the gospel. He said that he was a Baptist, yet he had been sick for a few years, and asked if the brothers laid their hands on people and prayed for the sick. When the brothers replied that they did, he asked if they would lay their hands upon him and pray for him. The brothers agreed, and the man was healed. He was so joyful and full of praise. No doubt, this kind of person would always attract his relatives and friends. There was a revival in the villages. There was also the casting out of the demons there. However, the brothers and sisters were charged not to boast of these things and not to promote them; our boast is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we must promote the gospel. Although the brothers and sisters went out for less than two weeks, they baptized thirteen hundred people. Furthermore, they expect to baptize many more before the completion of their gospel preaching.
On the one hand, those dear ones in Taiwan were making a profit. On the other hand, they were feeding the hungry sinners in the villages with the food of the gospel. Many were fed and became satisfied and so joyful. Their joy spontaneously became a testimony in those villages. To some degree it might not be so easy in the cities with educated people because the educated people are not so simple as the villagers. However, please do not think that those people in the villages in Taiwan are uneducated; they all have a certain amount of education. In the cities, in the schools and offices, we still have a great possibility to feed people with the food of the gospel. It all depends upon our faithfulness. We must be faithful. Deducting all the holidays and weekends, there are still over two hundred days in a year in which you go to your place of business or to school. Every day is an appointed time for you to minister the food of the gospel to your contacts. Do you not believe that within one year you will gain one person?
Apparently it has been very difficult to gain a new person. We have been cheated; we have been made disappointed. We do not have the faith, the morale, the impact with the full assurance, that we will gain someone. You had better quietly consider why, within one year of at least two hundred working days, you could not gain one. It is not logical. There has been no increase because you became disappointed.
All the believers should be the fishers of men (Matt. 4:19). Sometimes at the schools the fish will jump not only at your feet, but also into your bosom. However, you may not have wanted that. How can you get a fish if you have no intention to get one? You may prefer to keep the fish away. This is the real case, and this is the reason why I am fellowshipping with you in this way. You need to make some profit. You need to gain some oil.