Believing That the Power from on High
Is upon the Body, of Which We Are Members
In this will there is an item that says that Christ has poured down His Spirit upon the Body. He has already accomplished the baptism of the Spirit upon the Body. Now we have become members of the Body. As long as we are identified with the Body, what has been accomplished upon the Body is our portion already. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was accomplished upon the Body nearly two thousand years ago. This is already accomplished. Today we have to exercise our faith to take it. If we do not believe this, we cannot be powerful and prevailing to preach the gospel.
Besides the bearing away of our sins, the forgiveness of sins, and the remissions of sins, there is another item in this will telling us that Christ has ascended to the throne and poured out the Spirit upon His Body. Today the power from on high is on the Body, and we have been baptized into the Body. We are identified with the Body, we are a part of the Body, so we have the ground, the right, the entitlement, to claim, take, and share this portion. However, we may not believe it. We may doubt it a little. When we do not believe it, we do not have the power to preach the first item of the will, concerning redemption, because the enemy who occupies the sinners still occupies us. If we still do not believe the Word in a full way, how can we help people to believe something in the will? We have to know the subtlety of the enemy. If we are going to preach any item from this will, we have to believe all the items in it. If we believe every item mentioned in this will, have no doubt, and do not care about our feeling, then when we come to someone, we have the impact, because Satan has been chased away from us.
When I was young, I was helped by the Lord to believe in Him, His Word, and His accomplished facts in this way. Then I did the work of preaching. Many times, though, when I was telling people they had to believe that the Lord Jesus died for them, within me was the accusation that I did not believe that the Lord Jesus has baptized the church. I could not fool the enemy. The evil spirit is very alert. If we have such a weakness, he will always hit this weakness. Therefore, we have to deal with this matter. If we are going to preach any item of this will, we have to believe all the items of this will.
Here we have a vital matter, that is, that we have to believe that the power from on high has been put on the Body and that now we are a part, a member, of the Body. We have to believe in this, take this ground, and not pay attention to the feeling, the manifestation. If we pay attention to the feeling, this means that unbelief and disbelief are within us. That is evil. On the other hand, of course, we should not be sloppy or slothful. We have to exercise our spirit, even exercise our will in the spirit, to believe what we are told in this will. This kind of believing, this kind of faith, honors the Giver of the will. We have to exercise our spirit and our will to take the word and reject our feeling. Even if a feeling comes to us, we reject it. We do not care about that feeling, and we can tell the enemy, “I do not care even a little about feeling. If I do not have even a little feeling, I still have the full assurance that the baptism of the Spirit is mine, because it is accomplished on the Body, and I am identified with the Body.” If we do this, we will see the result. However, there is no need to pay attention even to the result. Rather, we must learn to walk in faith, to act in faith in the Holy of Holies, “in the dark,” without any natural light but with the divine light in our spirit. Learn to exercise your faith in this way.
HOW TO HELP PEOPLE TO BE SAVED
Now we come to a very important point—how to help people to be saved. We cannot save people, but we can help people to be saved. Only the Lord Himself can save people, but we can help people to receive the Lord, to accept the Lord and accept salvation. It is needless to say that we must have a real love and concern toward the sinners; if we do not have love and concern for sinners, our work is over. Suppose then, that we do have this love and this concern, and we pray for sinners and exercise our faith to participate in the power from on high, not paying attention to our feeling. Then we have to learn some techniques of how to help people.
Not Being Tempted to Make People Clear
but Rather Leading Them to Pray
First, we should not talk too much to the sinners, the unbelievers. We should speak with them in a very brief way. In addition, we should not try to make them clear. Many times the more people are clear, the more they will not believe. Many times we are tempted to think that if we can make someone clear, he surely will believe. Rather, the more we make someone clear, the more he will not believe. Keep this principle: Do not try to make people clear. If we try to make people clear, we are doing the work of Satan, as he did in the garden when he said of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, “In the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened” (Gen. 3:5). He told Eve that she would be clear and would know many things. Immediately after Eve took that fruit, her eyes were really opened. Before this time Adam and Eve were not clear about their nakedness, but by taking that fruit, their eyes were opened, they realized they were naked, and trouble came. Do not believe that if we make people clear, they will believe. Rather, everyone who is saved is someone who is not clear. We believe “foolishly.”
Someone may ask, “How can people believe without being clear?” This is a secret. They simply have to believe. When someone is favored by the Lord, he has to believe, whether or not he is clear. Many times we are not clear, but we still say, “I do not know why, but I have to believe.” People may say that this is superstitious, but if so, I like to be “superstitious,” the more the better. When I was young, my friends and many people came to tell me that I was just a fool. However, I told them, “I like to be a fool, the more the better. I cannot tell you what it is, but something is within me.” Therefore, do not try and do not be tempted to make people clear. Simply talk with them in a brief way. After talking with them, right away ask them to pray. To pray is to “sign the deal.” A good salesman never talks too much; if he talks too much, he will lose the deal. Simply ask them to pray.
(Preaching the Gospel in the Way of Life, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee)
