VISITING PEOPLE WITH THE HIGH GOSPEL
It is new for us to go out to visit people with the gospel. The way that we knock on people’s doors in the community is new. The Mormons knock on doors, but they bring their heresy with them. What can they give people? They have no truth, no life, and no light. But we visit people with truth, life, and light. The booklet entitled The Mystery of Human Life is full of truth, life, and light. The high gospel in this booklet can reach the thoughtful people.
Most of the Chinese people are very logical and philosophical. We have found that the truth in the The Mystery of Human Life can reach these people. Confucius taught about human life, but he did not give the answer to the meaning of human life. Human life is a mystery. The answer to the meaning of human life is not in any philosophical book; it is in the Holy Bible.
One of the first things The Mystery of Human Life speaks of is that man was created by God according to God’s image to receive God and contain God. The three circles representing the spirit, soul, and body are also in this booklet. It says that God desires to come into man’s spirit and that man’s spirit is for him to contain God. Thousands have been brought to the Lord through this small booklet.
Immediately after the new ones are baptized, home meetings should be set up in their home. Following the preaching of the gospel to lead them to believe and be baptized, we must teach them the truth and help them to grow in life. We must minister Christ to them.
Today in the local churches, by the Lord’s mercy, we have the high gospel and much truth and life. Regretfully, however, we have been limited by our unscriptural practice. We have much cargo of truth and life, but we do not have the adequate way to spread it. This is because in the past we took the wrong way, the easy way. In some respects we have been drifting back to the practice of Christianity, leaving our cargo in storage. Since 1974 we have published many books, but these books mostly remain on our bookshelves. We do not use them. By October of 1984, I was clear that our practice had to be revolutionized. The Lord has given us many truths and much life, but not many would go out to spread these truths and to minister the very Christ as life to others.
We have to take the way which is on the Lord’s heart. We must follow Him. He did not remain in the heavens, but He came down to visit man. He visited Zaccheus in his home (Luke 19:5-7). He went to visit the Samaritan woman (John 4:4-7). The Lord carried out His ministry all the time by visiting people. He visited Martha and Mary’s home (Luke 10:38-39) and the house of Simon the leper (Matt. 26:6). He charged His disciples to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all the creation (Mark 16:15). He also charged them to go and disciple the nations (Matt. 28:19). In Acts 1:8 He told them that they would be His witnesses starting from Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, and then to the uttermost part of the earth.
(Elders' Training, Book 09: The Eldership and the God-Ordained Way (1), Chapter 2, by Witness Lee)
