AS CONSECRATED ONES, LIVING FULLY FOR GOD
There are certain things concerning consecration that are difficult to speak about. According to the Bible, there is no such thing as an unconsecrated saved one. Everyone who is saved is consecrated to the Lord. All the brothers and sisters who have consecrated themselves should move and act together with the co-workers.
The Bible says that the poor we have always with us. It is wrong for us to pile up goods in our houses. The basic principle and requirement of the Scriptures is that we should help the poor. Whether or not a poor person is one among us, the Bible requires that we give to him. If you have never remembered the poor, your heart will not be enlarged. When you give things away, you will learn to have an enlarged heart, and you will develop an enlarged view. Today it is difficult to find people with large hearts and broad views. The Bible teaches us not to be bound by material riches. Every commandment in the Bible is there for us to keep. If we fail to keep any one of them, we will suffer loss. It is easy to give to our own brothers, but it is not easy to give to outsiders. Nevertheless, the requirement of the Scriptures is that we remember the poor.
Many brothers and sisters do not realize how the co-workers live. Some co-workers have no fire on their stove five days in a row. Others do not have money to provide education for their children or adequate support for their family’s livelihood.
We should help the brothers and sisters to choose their jobs in a proper way. In this kind of coordination, it is right for some to devote themselves to making money. But who should be the ones to make money? Only those who are fully consecrated are qualified to make money. Only this kind of money-making will be of any use. When the Israelites left Egypt, they took all the money with them (Exo. 12:36). When they crossed the Red Sea, the money crossed over with them. Any money that was left in Egypt, regardless of how much it was, was useless. Only those who have passed the Red Sea can employ their money to the proper use for the building up of the tabernacle. What is needed first is for the person himself to be delivered. Second, the money has to follow. Then third, there is the building up of the tabernacle. Formerly, we did not have the boldness to say this. But now we do. A person must first consecrate himself. If he does not do this, God will not want his money. The sin of the golden calf must first be exposed, and a person must first be delivered from such sin, before the question of the gold can be settled. It was because man had first worshipped idols that the gold went to the calf. The gold should have been given to the tabernacle. But because of idolatry, the gold went to the calf. Hence, the worship of the golden calf was not only a matter of sin, but a loss for the tabernacle. It was the same gold. But when it was placed on the golden calf, it was wrong, and it had to be ground into powder. On the contrary, when it was placed in the tabernacle, it was right. The same material could be directed toward different objects. One object was the idol. The other object was the tabernacle. In the New Testament, covetousness is placed side by side with idolatry. Idolatry is linked to covetousness (Col. 3:5). Where there is deliverance from idolatry, there is deliverance from money.
Today, all the co-workers should go on despite all kinds of sufferings. However, the rest of the brothers and sisters should also learn to be consecrated ones. This does not mean that everyone has to be a preacher. However, it means that everyone has to be a consecrated person. What is needed today are fully consecrated people. Not everyone is a preacher, but everyone should be for God full-time.
As long as there is a group of people who will go on in this way, wherever they may be, we will see the emergence of Acts 2 Christians. If we are consecrated, God will have a way to go on. If we do not consecrate ourselves, God’s word will be jeopardized and will be depreciated. Acts 2 Christians are those who are at a crossroad; they see exactly the way ahead, and they have the boldness to tell others the right way to go. The more we fear that others will not believe, the more we will beg others to believe. But if we have enough deposit within us and we are clear about the way ahead of us, we will have the assurance to speak, and others will have the confidence to believe us. The reason others cannot have faith in us is that we do not have faith in the first place. However, if we are clear, others will follow us. If we ourselves are not clear, we will surely depreciate and discredit God’s word. The issue today is fully with us.
(Messages Given During the Resumption of Watchman Nee's Ministry (2 volume set), Chapter 43, by Watchman Nee/Witness Lee)
