Within the past three years, we conducted much research. We know that before the Reformation by Luther, there was only one great unified church, the Catholic Church. By seeing the truth, Luther initiated the Reformation movement. This produced the Protestant churches. Nevertheless, it did not take long for them to fall into a situation of deadness and dryness. Afterwards, in the Catholic Church, a group of lovers and seekers of the Lord including Madame Guyon was raised up. They were the so-called Mystics. Due to the Mystics being too mysterious, Andrew Murray later improved their practice and produced the inner life group. At the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, this group was quite prosperous; many received help from them. Then, after that, there was Mrs. Penn-Lewis who had a particular revelation concerning the death of Christ. Following her, Mr. T. Austin-Sparks, her young co-worker, went further to see the principle of the resurrection life. The revelations seen by these two were historic, but regretfully they died barren. Among the Christians on the earth today, there are not many who know about them. Along the line of the Protestant churches, some who saw the matter of presbytery set up the Presbyterian church; some who saw the matter of baptism by immersion set up the Baptist church. Similarly, many groups were raised up. However, at the end, not one of them had a way to go on. Then the Brethren were raised up; they emphasized very much the expounding of the Bible, and were very prosperous in the last century. However, not much later, they were divided due to different opinions. From then on, they continued to divide, and finally, they reached a “dead end.” Afterwards, there was the Pentecostal movement. Due to their excessive emphasis on the Pentecostal things, eventually they were also declining. God’s economy is all-inclusive; it is not merely a matter of the inner life, nor of a Pentecostal movement. Whoever emphasizes only one aspect will find that their road reaches a “dead end.”
Concerning the situation among us, since the time we left mainland China, I have been presenting to all of you Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. The brothers have all received what I have presented and have obtained much help. Because of these truths, when we went to different places, we were able to raise up local churches. Also, of the churches raised up in the four continents outside of Asia, eighty to ninety percent were raised up due to the help obtained from the publications of the Living Stream Ministry. They have not only received the points of the truth, but have also stood firm. However, they neglected the matter of preaching the gospel. In the first few years of our work in Taiwan, every training emphasized five matters: the Holy Spirit, the gospel, the church, the service, and the truth. Afterwards, although we still had the preaching of the gospel, it was in the old way of inviting people to the meeting hall to listen to the gospel. After a few decades, what we were doing eventually became a routine without any effect. Due to this situation, we were compelled to find another way.
When we came back to the Bible, we found in it the way to visit people by going to their homes. We then began to go out to knock on doors to preach the gospel and baptize people. When we went to knock on doors, as soon as we preached the gospel, within fifteen minutes, people were baptized, having been saved and regenerated. When they first heard this, most people would have questioned it. Therefore, I did a thorough study of this matter at the very beginning. First, Matthew chapter thirteen shows us that when the Lord went out to sow, there were four kinds of situations with different results. With the first kind, the seeds fell along the wayside and were devoured by the birds. This clearly refers to people who have heard the gospel but who are not yet saved or regenerated. With the second kind, the seeds fell on the rocky places where they did not have much earth; after having sprouted, they withered away. This speaks of a person who was regenerated due to the word of the gospel, but not adequately saved in life day by day. With the third kind, the seeds fell on the thorns. This speaks of a person who has been regenerated and saved, and has some growth in life but has not yet grown up. With the fourth kind, the seeds fell on the good earth and gave fruit. This kind of person is not only saved, but also has the growth and maturity in life, and is bearing fruit. Here the Lord did not tell us that the longer you hear the gospel, the more secure and thorough your salvation will be. It is very difficult to say that the salvation of those who heard the gospel and were baptized quickly is not secure.
Acts 16 talks about two cases of salvation. The first case was concerning a woman who was selling purple-dyed goods. She listened and gave heed to the things spoken by Paul. Later, she and her household were saved (vv. 14-15). It does not say how long she listened; but one thing is certain—after hearing the gospel she was baptized that same day. The second case was concerning the salvation of the jailor and his household (vv. 19-34). When Paul and Silas spoke the Lord’s word to the jailor and his whole household, they were immediately baptized that night. In principle, this is the same as when you go out to visit people by knocking on their doors, preach to them The Mystery of Human Life, and then baptize them into the Triune God.
For two thousand years, the various denominations and groups have had different views concerning how a person can become a Christian. However, no one has the assurance to say how long a person has to listen to the gospel before he can be saved. It is very difficult to decide to what extent a person should believe in Jesus before he can be acknowledged as a brother. I am here leading the church, helping the brothers to go out to knock on doors to preach the gospel. I said that as long as a person heard the gospel, believed, repented, confessed his sins, admitted that he was a sinner, called upon the name of the Lord Jesus, and was baptized into Christ, then according to the Bible, he is a saved person (Mark 16:16). This matter is not in your hand or in mine; it is in the Lord’s hand. When the Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah in his chariot, Philip went up to him, and from that portion of the Word, he preached to him Jesus as the gospel. Afterwards, the eunuch himself said, “Look, water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:26-39). This proves that as long as a person hears the gospel and believes, he can be baptized. On the day of Pentecost, there were three thousand people who received the apostles’ word, and they were baptized immediately.
No one has ever been able to say definitely to what extent a person needs to reach in order to be saved. In the same way, no one dares to decide who is a real believer and who is a false believer. This can be likened to people trying to distinguish wheat from tares, which is very difficult unless you wait until the time of harvest. Therefore, God gave the gospel to us, and we simply go to preach it. The Bible says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13). It does not say how long we have to call, or to what degree we have to call. Hence, it is sufficient for us to lead people to call. The Bible says also, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Therefore, we simply need to preach and lead whole families to believe in the Lord. Moreover, we need to baptize people according to what the Bible says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). However, even though we preach the gospel and lead people to call and be baptized within fifteen minutes, we should not do it in a hurry or with compulsion. When we lead people to believe in the Lord, we should do it with assurance and with wisdom.