FIRST HANDING OVER OURSELVES
AND THEN OUR MONEY
What we want is first you, and then yours. I am a priest, and I live for God. We care only for the fact of handing ourselves over and not for argument. We are not here for money; we are here to help others to hand themselves over. If a man does not hand himself over, it is meaningless to receive a few dollars from him; it is better to return such money back to him. God would not be pleased with such money. In God’s eyes, money is not the main problem. A man hands over his money because he has first handed over himself. You as a person are more important than your money. When a person comes, what he has will come along with him. It is difficult to say this kind of thing to all the brothers and sisters in general.
If you do not want to hand yourselves over, I will not say such words. But if you have handed yourselves over and I have handed myself over, then we can say such words. What we were not able to say among the co-workers for the past twenty years, we can say today. Today we are standing on the same ground, and we are working and serving together. We are all the same, and we are all serving God together.
We have to look to the Lord to bring all the saints in Shanghai into this practice. Otherwise, our words here for the last few days will result only in a few more consecrations. In another five days, things will all cool down again. This is indeed a serious matter. If we can bring the brothers and sisters into this practice, many tremendous things will follow.
PAYING A SERIOUS PRICE,
AND COORDINATING TOGETHER
In all the past years, all of us have suffered so many dealings, made so many sacrifices, borne so much hardship, and paid so much price. But today, the Lord is asking us to pay a higher price. Only by paying a serious price can we obtain serious results. The Lord has no intention that the co-workers be the only ones to go through dealings and that the other brothers and sisters be exempt from dealings. It is difficult for the co-workers to be coordinated together. It is likewise difficult for the working brothers and sisters to be coordinated together. When two or three brothers go into business together, they invariably say at the beginning that they are doing this to glorify the Lord. But in the end, many times the result is a shame to the Lord. However, if you hand yourselves over today, things will be different. This is not just a combination of capital, but a coordination of the persons. Here, one person can bring forth results a thousandfold, and two persons can bring forth results ten thousandfold. If the brothers will be faithful to the Lord in their jobs and if they are coordinated together, there will be the blessings. With such a purpose, center, ground, and goal, we can bring in the Lord’s blessing. When there is any hardship, we try to solve it in coordination. When the co-workers are not coordinated, they can do their own isolated works. But when they are coordinated together, there will be no more room for individual freedom. The same principle applies to those brothers and sisters who are holding jobs.
Personally, I am most reluctant to do such things. But looking ahead, the Lord has His works. For this reason, we have to take upon us this inconvenience and to have such a beginning. The co-workers and the responsible brothers should not try to avoid such an inconvenience. When we are doing our isolated works, we can be very comfortable. But in order for the Lord to have a way, we must be coordinated together. In the coordination, we have to accept all the inconveniences. If we do not do this, it will be difficult for the Lord to have a way among us.
During the past four evenings, my words have been coming out like water gushing out from an open tap. Once the tap is turned to open, there is no more thought of turning it to closed again. We do not know how far this water will carry us. It is not an easy thing for me to speak about these four topics. To speak about them is more difficult than to speak about forty other topics.
In 1942, we prayed much for the Lord to have a way among us. I do not know how much we had prayed. However, although we prayed so much, every time we felt that something was blocking. Because of that something, we did not get through. Now, we have broken through the small circle. We will see if we can break through the larger circle.
(Messages Given During the Resumption of Watchman Nee's Ministry (2 volume set), Chapter 54, by Watchman Nee/Witness Lee)
