PRODUCING A HARVEST BY PREACHING THE GOSPEL IN LIFE
The new ones who come in will bring in more new ones. The situation with the old members is too settled. Consider the fruit trees. It is not the old branches that bear the fruit; it is the new branches. This is why growers cut off the old branches; it is to produce new branches. With the new branches there is more possibility of bearing fruit. If the new ones bring in more new ones, the work of preaching will always be spreading. Then we will have a farm and a garden, something we have grown, and it will constantly produce. It is in this way, the way of the church preaching the gospel, that people will be brought in. Then after they are brought in, they will do the same thing we do in the same way. I am happy for our small start. I cannot predict how far this will go, but a living grain of wheat that falls into the earth reproduces thirty, sixty, or a hundred grains. Then the second harvest will be bigger, and the third harvest will be even bigger.
On the one hand, the responsible brothers and sisters may ask you to coordinate with certain ones, but on the other hand, there is no need for you to wait. Do not say you have not been assigned yet. Forget about this. If you have some relatives, you may right away ask another brother to help you work on them. Do not make anything a legality. There is only one legality, that is, to save people. As long as we are living here for the Lord to subdue the enemy and plunder his goods for the Lord, we are right, and we will receive the blessing.
The primary matter is not preaching; it is the building up. The primary issue of preaching the gospel is the building up of the Body; the secondary issue is the preaching itself. It is in this way that we will be built up as a building and in the Spirit be formed as an army to fight the battle. The Lord has given us a small but living start. We will see harvest after harvest; we will see many times of producing. This is a matter of life. It is not merely an activity or a movement. Rather, it is something living.
TAKING THE POWER FROM ON HIGH ON THE STANDING OF THE BODY
In order to be prevailing, each one of us must deal with the Lord and be dealt with by Him. You must have a thorough dealing with the Lord to consecrate yourselves once again and to claim the Lord’s richness and fullness. Day by day, whenever you contact people, you have to say, “Lord, I am a member standing on the ground of the Body.” You must not only claim the power from on high but take it. There is no need merely to claim it. Take it! It is yours. Hold it, and share in it. Every day when you are going out to contact people, have this kind of prevailing prayer. There is no need to pray behind closed doors. While you are on your way driving, you can say, “Lord, I am going out as a member on the ground of the Body. I take the power from on high by faith.” The Lord always honors faith. The more you do not have any evidence, yet still believe, the more the Lord will honor you and honor your faith. You will see the blessing of power in the result, and even you yourselves will be surprised. You will hardly be able to believe what happens.
We all have to learn to live, work, and act in faith. Before you believe, however, you have to be dealt with. Your conscience has to be cleansed and purged. You have to deal with the Lord and be dealt with by Him. If there is something accusing your conscience, faith will not work. Learn this lesson. Put all these things into practice, and you will see the results. This will produce more and more fruit.
(Preaching the Gospel in the Way of Life, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee)
