Now I want to continue talking about the steps to lead people in the new way. First, you need to lead people to know the Lord Jesus as the Spirit and to call upon His name. When you go out to visit people to preach the gospel, right after getting them saved or in the next visit, you need to lead them to know this Jesus in whom we have believed. When He was on the cross, He was our Savior; now in resurrection He has become a life-giving Spirit to enter into our spirit to be the Spirit of life within us. Therefore, we have to lead the newly saved ones to call on the Lord Jesus from deep within. Upon waking up every morning, they should begin calling on the Lord Jesus. Then, in their daily life, in whatever they are doing, they would continue calling while they are working. This kind of calling on the Lord is like deep breathing which definitely makes us feel very comfortable within.
Second, you need to lead people to confess their sins that they may be filled with the Holy Spirit. We have to lead people to realize that the Spirit of the Lord Jesus cannot tolerate sins. Wherever He is, no sins are allowed. Therefore, we have to lead the new ones to confess their sins; the more they do it and the more thoroughly they do it, the better it is. They need to confess their sins every day even when they do not feel sinful. The more they confess, the more sins they will realize; the more sins they realize, the more they will confess. Eventually they will be filled and taken over within by the Lord.
Third, you need to lead people to learn to speak the Lord. They should first learn to confess the Lord’s name. After they know how to say “Jesus Christ,” they can add a few more words like “Jesus Christ is my Savior.” Then, a few more words can be added, “Jesus Christ is my Savior. This Savior today is the Spirit, and He lives in me to be my life.” This is like a little child learning to speak. Every word is taught by the mother. The mother teaches him every day, and he listens every day. Gradually, he will understand the meaning of the words and will know how to speak. We need to teach the newly saved ones to speak the Lord’s word just as the parents teach their children.
We can also lead people to learn to speak the Lord by the words of the Bible. The Chinese Recovery Version of the New Testament will soon be available. I hope that it can be in each one’s hand. This will definitely be a great help to our learning to speak the Lord. Besides, we can also speak the Lord by means of the hymns. We must realize that the hymns are primarily for speaking, not for singing (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). In our practice of speaking the Lord’s word, the more we speak, the more we are filled with the Spirit. Eventually, there will be a river of living water flowing out of us unceasingly. This is just like what one hymn says, “The Spirit begets the spirit, the spirit worships the Spirit, until I am filled with the Spirit. The Spirit has become the word, full of the riches of life, flowing out rivers of living water” (Chinese Hymns #450). I hope that the brothers and sisters in the Lord’s recovery, as well as the newly saved ones under their leading, will be able to speak the Lord. As soon as they open their mouths, they should be able to speak without ceasing so that thousands of people may believe in the Lord and be saved.
Now I would entreat you, whether or not you agree with the change of system, to accept the fact that the old system is not fruitful. Formerly, for over thirty years we have been in the old system, and the number of people has not increased much, nor the number of churches. The brothers and sisters all loved the Lord and fervently gave themselves, but their service has not had much effect, and the meetings have not had much influence on people. Today the Lord is leading us to take the new way. This requires every one of us to be an overcomer in our daily life and to bear fruit in order to arrive at the increase and spread of the church.
To be an overcomer is not as difficult as you formerly thought. As long as you are saved through calling on the name of the Lord Spirit, and you know that this Lord is now the Spirit, He will live within you. When you commit sins, you must confess your sins and allow His blood to cleanse your sins daily; in this way there will be no barriers between you and Him at any time, and you will walk according to the Spirit. Then you will be an overcomer. Romans is a book on the Christian life, and it emphasizes our walking according to the Spirit (8:4). Are you angry? Are you going to lose your temper? Try simply walking according to the Spirit. If the Spirit is not angry, you will not be angry either. If the Spirit does not lose His temper, you will not lose your temper either. What the Spirit does not do, you will not do either. This is to walk according to the Spirit.
Romans 12:11 says, “Burning in spirit, serving the Lord as a slave.” If you would walk according to the Spirit in every matter, then your spirit will be burning from morning until evening. This is an overcomer. Once your spirit is burning, you will definitely speak the Lord’s word unceasingly. The more you speak, the more you have to speak, and you will keep speaking. You will speak at home, and you will also speak in the group meeting; you will speak in the neighbors’ home, and you will also speak on the bus. If you speak unceasingly in your daily life, you will be an overcomer. Since what is within will be manifested without, this kind of person will spontaneously be full of the Lord’s word when he comes to the meeting.
I feel that in the various meetings of the church, there is no need of definite topics. Formerly with one person speaking and the rest listening, one week the speaker might speak on justification, and another week he might speak on sanctification. When he speaks on justification, he may not necessarily have the reality of being justified; when he speaks on sanctification, he may not necessarily have a sanctified living. Now, we may not be speaking on justification or sanctification, but if we are calling on the Lord’s name every day, walking according to the Spirit, burning in spirit, and speaking the Lord’s word to people, this is the justified behavior and the sanctified living. When we come together, you speak, I speak, and everyone speaks the Lord’s word. Then the meetings will be living, and the church will also be living. This is the way the Lord wants to take today.
A message given by Brother Witness Lee in Taipei on October 29, 1987.