THE SPIRIT’S ENTERING
Second, in the Gospels the Lord paid attention to the matter of our heart, but in Acts and the Epistles, the Lord touches the matter of our spirit. This has a twofold meaning. On the one hand, the Spirit of God enters into us to fill us, and on the other hand, we enter into the Holy Spirit to know the spiritual things and to have the spiritual seeing, revelation, and understanding.
This point is more advanced than the preceding one. It is not sufficient merely to have love. If we only have love we may still be empty within because we may not have the entering of the Spirit into us. If we do not enter into the Holy Spirit, we will not have adequate knowledge. Our understanding of spiritual matters and things will be very superficial and limited, and we will not be deeply rooted spiritually. This requires much prayer. May the Lord bring us into the Holy Spirit that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit and be opened in spirit, not only hearing the doctrines but also seeing the light, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and entering into the spiritual reality.
RECEIVING THE GIFTS AND THE CALLING
Third, we need to receive the gifts and the calling. What is a gift? A gift is a spiritual ability. For example, perhaps some saints do not know how to preach the word, so they ask the Lord for the gift of preaching. Perhaps others do not know how to preach the gospel, so they ask the Lord for the gift of preaching the gospel. Still others may not know how to lead people, so they may ask the Lord for the gift of leading. Moreover, some among us should rise up and ask for gifts that are easier to obtain: the gifts of healing and casting out of demons. When we preach the gospel, sometimes we may find that many people are very superstitious. Therefore, we cannot preach the gospel to them by speaking only. We need to pray and ask God for the gifts—the gifts of healing and casting out of demons. We need to have such boldness. I hope that each one of us would receive some spiritual gifts. Some could cast out demons, some could heal diseases, some could preach the word, some could edify the churches, some could preach the gospel, some could administrate the church, and some could minister to the saints. May the Lord give these gifts to His church in many ways.
The calling is related to the gifts. I hope that the saints would answer the Lord’s calling to set aside their time and everything else for the Lord to serve as workers, elders, or deacons. This is a glorious matter.
SPREADING THE WORK AND ESTABLISHING THE CHURCHES
The fourth item is the spreading of the work and the establishing of the churches. The preceding three items are for this goal. We look to the Lord that He would raise up many saints to answer His calling for the work of spreading the gospel. We hope that by the end of this year the Lord will add ten more places, such as Hualien, Su-ao, Miaoli, Panchiao, Chutung, and Changhua, that would have the Lord’s table. This is our primary goal. Second, we hope to have churches in all the counties and cities. Third, we hope to have churches in all the towns and villages. Then the gospel will reach the local people, and the Lord will be widely preached among them. This is our long-term goal.
May we all see that there is no other place and no other age that needs the gospel more than this place and age in which we are now. We thank the Lord that He has given us a stable society and environment that are convenient for the preaching of the gospel. If we do not make good use of this time to work for the Lord, we will truly let the Lord down. We look to the Lord for the burden of prayer that we may overcome everything and that we may receive power from on high and thus allow the gospel of the Lord to go forth from our midst.
(The Crucified Christ, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee)
