LESSONS ON THE GOD-ORDAINED WAY

Lesson Twenty-Five

The Building Up and the Practice of the Truth Education

Scripture Reading:

Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Titus 1:9 Holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles, that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose.

2 Tim. 3:14-15 But you, continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from which ones you have learned them. And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Col. 4:16 And when this letter is read among you, cause that it be read in the church of the Laodiceans also, and that you also read the one from Laodicea.

2 Tim. 1:13 Hold a pattern of the healthy words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

1 Tim. 4:6 If you lay these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed.

I. The saints in the Lord’s recovery need to receive the solid education in the New Testament ministry—2 Tim 3:14-15; Titus 1:9:

A. The way to practice the God-ordained way is preaching the gospel, building up the small group meetings, and teaching the truth—Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:46; 2 Tim. 3:14-15.

B. Needing to know the truth systematically—Col. 1:9-10; Eph. 4:13; Luke 12:42.

C. Needing to have an education of the truth on various levels—Heb. 5:13-14.

II. Three crucial elements in the change of the system—Acts 2:42; 20:20; Eph. 5:27; Col 4:16:

A. The first crucial element—building up the home meeting—Acts 2:42,46.

B. The second crucial element—teaching the truth lessons—Acts 20:20.

C. The third crucial element—having the Lord’s Word as the center of the meeting—Col. 4:16; 1 Thes. 5:27.

III. Studying the translated and interpreted publications being the best way to learn the divine truth—Luke 24:25-27, Eph. 1:17, 2 Tim. 1:13:

A. The Recovery Version of the Bible with the notes and the Life-study messages open up the entire Bible in a general way:

1. The Recovery Version of the Bible and the Life-Study Messages have opened up the mine of the Holy Scriptures; We must enter into the open mine to dig out the treasures through much labor.

2. We should use the Recovery Version with the notes and the Life-study messages as a textbook:

a. If you merely read the Life-study messages (like reading newspapers), you will only receive a temporary nourishment and the inspiration you receive is like vapor in the air.

b. When what we read becomes a truth in our being, through the enlightening of the heavenly light, it becomes our continual and long-term nourishment.

c. The only way for the truth to get into us is through our mentality; if you do not understand the truth, it cannot get into you—Matt. 13:19, 23; Luke 24:45; Eph. 1:18.

B. Entering into the Crystallization-study messages, which will lead us into the depth and crystals of the Holy Scriptures, and will reveal to us the intrinsic essence of the divine revelation item by item.

C. Studying the messages on the high peak of the divine revelation released between 1994 and 1997, and learning to speak the high peak of the truth according to the new culture and new language in the divine and mystical realm.

D. The way to be constituted with the truth.

1. Picking up and realizing the crucial points of the truth from what we read.

2. Having a “bird’s-eye view” over a message, a chapter, or over a portion of the Word.

IV. The leading ones should lead, encourage, remind, and even charge the saints to seek the truth every day—1 Tim. 4:6; Col. 1:29:
A. Trying your best to stir up an atmosphere and to create a hunger and thirst in the saints after the Lord’s truth.

A. As parents always charge their children to eat proper food, we also should try our best to not only demand but also charge them to eat the food of the divine truth in the Holy Scripture properly—Col. 1:29.

B. In teaching others:

1. We need to know the truth thoroughly.

2. When we teach, make it simple, concise and clear—2 Tim. 2:15.

3. Transmitting and dispensing the spirit and life—1 Tim. 4:6.

4. Taking the Lead to learn and to read.

5. Releasing the spirit.

 

Excerpts from the ministry:

THE SAINTS IN THE LORD’S RECOVERY NEED
TO RECEIVE THE SOLID EDUCATION IN
THE NEW TESTAMENT MINISTRY

Thus far, we have seen that to carry out this New Testament ministry we must first get into this ministry. After getting into it, we must have some proper way or the best way to help the saints in the recovery to get solidly educated in this New Testament ministry. …I feel that it is crucial for us to find out what the best way is to help the saints in each local church to get into the same things which we ourselves have gotten into. …Based upon our experience over the years, we must admit that in the matter of educating the saints we have not been very successful. …A good number of saints have been meeting with us year after year, yet if you check with them today, you would discover that not much intrinsic element of the divine revelation has been really wrought and constituted into their being. Not only in the matter of life but even more in the matter of the truth not much intrinsic element has been wrought into the saints. I am really concerned that not many among us can present particular truths in an adequate way.

We must, by the Lord’s grace, keep our meetings so living and so full of nourishment. But still, we must carry out the saints’ education in the basic truths. Then all the saints who have been meeting in the Lord’s recovery with us for many years will get the adequate, solid, and basic education of the New Testament economy. Eventually, they will have the New Testament ministry to minister these truths to the unbelievers, to the believers who do not meet with us, and also to minister life to all the people. …We need a new start. After three years of meeting with us, the saints should have received some solid education of the New Testament ministry. (Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, pp. 87-88, 98-99)

The Way to Practice the God-ordained Way Is Preaching
the Gospel, Building Up the Small Group Meetings,
and Teaching the Truth

Our present practice is to spread the gospel, build up the small groups, and teach the truth. If you can do these three things, the church will surely be strong; it will surely multiply and spread. Our failure in the past was due to the lack of these three things. We only trusted in the big meetings, and the result was a downward slide. Today we are not dropping the big meetings. Rather, we are practicing and building up these three things in addition to the big meetings. If we practice them, the church will multiply. This requires every elder to do his best to work in a disciplined and serious way. Simply giving verbal consent will not work.

The way to take care of the dormant saints is to compile a list of names and pass it on to the serving ones in all the districts, charging them to visit these ones in a suitable way. They may not be able to visit them every day, but they can at least invite them for a meal once a month. I believe if they will do this continuously for half a year, the dormant ones will be recovered. Human hearts are made of flesh; they are soft. Everyone has feelings, and everyone knows who is really helping him. At the beginning this may require some labor, and it may not show results right away, but after half a year or a year, the results will be obvious. In the past we wanted quick and big results, but we ended up dropping everything. The only thing that was left was a façade. Today we do not want to have a façade. We want to gain people. (The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 18)

Needing to Know the Truth Systematically

Because truth is not only a matter of the truth itself but also a matter of life, it has two aspects. Truth is not only for our utterance; it is also for the opening of our mind. To others, truth is an expression of something passing through us, but to us truth is an opening. If there were no truth, how could we know Christ? If there were no truth, how could our understanding be opened, therefore making it possible for us to experience Christ? Without the truth, how could we understand Christ as the mystery of God? Without the truth, how could we experience Christ as wisdom and power from God to us? Without the truth, we would have no way to know and experience Christ practically.

We all know that we are very rich in truth; however, the degree or level of our knowledge of the truth is not very high. In most people’s eyes we have a rich spiritual heritage because we have the publications, the conferences, and the trainings, all of which impart a great deal of knowledge to us. However, we have not helped the saints to learn the truth in a systematic way. We are always asking “famous speakers” to give “lectures” to the saints, but we have never set up a course of instruction and invited some teachers to teach the saints truth lessons in a systematic way.

Consider today’s educational system as an example. When a child reaches the age of four or five, he goes to kindergarten to learn some basic knowledge so that he may formally go to the regular school. When he is six years old, he begins to learn the lessons in the first grade, then second grade, third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, and sixth grade, until he graduates from elementary school. Then he can take courses in junior high school. If there were no such system of going to classes but only lectures given by famous guest speakers, then after listening for eight, nine, or even ten years, the children would not even be able to pass the entrance exam to middle school because they would not have the specific, orderly, and thorough knowledge of the contents of what they heard. (Speaking for God, pp. 97-98)

Needing to Have an Education of the Truth on Various Levels

If we want everyone to function by preaching the truth for this kind of multiplication, then we must provide them an education on various levels. Only in this way can we raise up those who can preach the truth. Then in the Lord’s Day morning meetings there will be no fear of having no one to give a message for the ministry of the word. If the elders take the lead to preach the Lord’s word, then the saints will have a pattern to follow. When the saints see such a pattern, they will also go out to speak to others. Once this kind of atmosphere is started, the result will be that all the saints will be able to preach the Lord’s word to those who are outside the church. Whether by proclaiming Christ, by expounding the Holy Scriptures, or by releasing the truth, after three to five years, their preaching will be able to cover all the districts in their locality. This is the Lord’s way.

What we have fellowshipped should not be made into rules and regulations to be observed accordingly one by one. What we hope is that you would all bring this fellowship back with you for study and that you would pray much. If someone, after his study and prayer, can find a better way before the Lord, that would be wonderful. In principle, we need to help the saints by every means so that they all can understand the truth. God desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. Not only so, we also need to help the saints so that they all could go forth and be prophets speaking for the Lord. (Speaking for God, pp. 101-102)

THREE CRUCIAL ELEMENTS IN THE CHANGE OF THE SYSTEM

I wanted to have a brand new start with the view that the Lord would have a definite model for His entire recovery, a model that would satisfy His heart’s desire. As soon as I arrived in Taiwan, I initiated a thorough change.

The First Crucial Element in the Change—
Building Up the Home Meetings

Simply put––the first and foremost thing in our new start is to build up the home meetings in every believer’s home. This is not a matter of choice. As long as a person is a believer, even if he is the weakest, coldest, and most indifferent, backslidden person, he is our brother in the Lord. As such, we have to make the utmost effort to build up a meeting in his home. I said right from the beginning that the small group is the foundation for the building up of the church. I also told you that such a small group must be built upon the foundation of the home meetings.

The Second Crucial Element in the Change—
Teaching the Truth Lessons

In the new leading of the Lord, the first thing to do is to build up everything related to the church in the homes and not in the meeting halls. We should no longer depend on the big meetings but should depend, fully on knocking on people’s doors and visiting them one by one. Second, we feel deeply that God’s desire is to raise up a group of people who are full of life and truth. They should be rich in life and clear in the truth. Paul said that God desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). For this reason, we published the Truth Lessons. We anticipate that these lessons will comprise four levels, with four volumes in each level. These are systematic lessons drawn from light that the Lord has given us, and they are put together in a proper way and according to the proper light. We are paying much attention to this work.

The Third Crucial Element in the Change—
Having the Lord’s Word As the Center of the Meetings

Besides these things, the most important thing is to read the Lord’s word every day. Through this we enjoy Him and keep His word. We also have to break bread to remember Him on the day of His resurrection. This renders Him the true remembrance and affords us the solid feeding. In addition, every week we should gather together to pray. Through such prayer we cooperate with God’s move. These two kinds of meetings can be carried out in the districts or in the small groups, or they can be carried out when the whole church comes together. The first Lord’s Day of every month, all the saints in a particular hall should gather together for the Lord’s table meeting. For the other Lord’s Days they can meet in districts. The same principle applies to the prayer meetings.

In all our meetings, we should emphasize the Lord’s word. During the bread-breaking meeting, we can choose some practical, concise, and meaty portions for everyone to pray-read and enjoy. We can then share and testify concerning these portions. This will satisfy the Lord and minister to our needs. For the prayer meeting, we can choose some messages on service that open to everyone the basic spiritual principles of service. As for the home meetings, besides the fellowship, prayer, hymns, and greetings, there should be some short messages for edification. This will help to raise up the new believers. We do not like to see people come to our meetings without getting to know something about God’s word or without God’s word being ministered to them. We hope that in every meeting some word from the Lord is released and ministered to the brothers and sisters. If we nourish the saints with these three kinds of messages in the bread-breaking meetings, the prayer meetings, and the home meetings, and if we teach the saints through the Truth Lessons in a systematic, solid, and educational way, the saints will be helped and perfected. (The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 7, pp. 8-13)

In teaching, you have to help the saints to focus on the main points. Take John 3:16 as an example. It says that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. You have to learn to bring out the word gave; that is a main point. Lead the saints to emphasize the word gave. Repeat that word. Learn to point out the main points. You do not have to spend much time to explain them. The saints will realize by your hints what the main points are. We have to see that our exposition does not carry much weight. The most effective way is to bring out the Lord’s word and have everyone pray-read it, directing everyone to the main points. In this way, you will provide everyone with the opportunity to function. No one will stand idle. In order to achieve this, you need to continually lead the brothers and sisters to practice this in the meetings. I believe that in less than six months the church in Taipei will produce a model for others to follow. (The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 10-11)

STUDYING THE DIVINE TRUTH

Some of you have considered the Lord’s recovery lightly. You never got into the Recovery Version and have never read more than fifty Life-study messages, though about twelve hundred Life-study messages have been published. …Some of you have been in the recovery for years and yet you have never gotten into the intrinsic element of the Lord’s recovery. We must consider that what the Lord has shown us over the years is not that shallow. (Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, p. 97)

The Recovery Version of the Bible with the Notes
and the Life-study Messages Open Up
the Entire Bible in a General Way

We Must Enter into the Open Mine to Dig out
the Treasures through Much Labor

Christians today are shallow because they would not pay the price to labor adequately. These riches are all here in the Bible, just like gold in a mine, but nearly no one would labor to dig them out. Just to buy a few pieces of gold is not our job. Our job is to dig the gold mine. We are to do the mining work. This is the Lord’s recovery. I hope, brothers, that in your localities you would not repeat the old things. We should learn to go on, to learn the things in the heavenlies, and to learn to speak these higher and deeper things. (Elders’ Training Book 5, Fellowship Concerning the Lord’s Up-to-date Move, p. 57)

At present, the best way to gain the knowledge of God’s New Testament economy is to use the Recovery Version with the notes and the Life-study messages. Do not think that my intention in saying this is to promote my materials. I am simply telling you honestly what is the best way to be constituted of the New Testament truths. (Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, pp. 135-136)

Use the Recovery Version with the Notes
and the Life-study Messages As a Textbook

The Life-studies do not replace the Bible. Rather, they open the Bible, expound the Bible, and release the unsearchable riches in the Bible. (The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, p. 26)

I have made an attempt to open every book of the New Testament to you, but I have left the further digging to you. I have only “opened up the mine,” and I have not dug that much. …Once the mine has been opened and the treasure is exposed, it is easy for someone to dig out the treasures. The intention and the goal of our publishing of Life-study messages is to open up the mine for you to go in and dig. (Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, pp. 92-93)

The Truth Becomes Our Continual and Long-term Nourishment

If you merely read the Life-studies, you will only receive a temporary nourishment. That will only become a kind of inspiration to you. An inspiration is like a vapor in the air. When what we read becomes a truth in our being, this nourishment remains forever. What I have received is not all the time inspiration, like a vapor. What I have received from the Lord is always the solid truth, so it remains in me, nourishing me all the time. You must have the truth. The only way for the truth to get into you is through your mentality. Then it remains in your memory. If you do not understand, the truth cannot get into you. The truth gets into you through your mentality, your understanding. Also, if the truth gets into your memory, it becomes a constant and long term nourishment. Then you have an accumulation of the truth, and you are a person continually under the constant nourishment. You will then know how to present the truth to others, not merely to inspire them or to stir them up, but to make them solid and constituted with the truth. (Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, p. 94)

There are a great many facts in the Bible. However, it is not adequate merely to read about these facts. By reading you receive doctrine, information, or news. Along with this, you need the heavenly light to shine upon the facts. When the light shines, the doctrine is immediately changed into truth. In this way, you realize the real thing, the reality. Therefore, to know the truth we first need the facts and then the light that televises the vision of the facts into our being.

The Spirit of reality is the heavenly electricity by which spiritual things are televised into our being. The Bible also says that the Word is truth (John 17:17). All the spiritual facts are contained in the Word and conveyed by it. …However, without the enlightenment from the divine electricity, these facts are mere doctrines. But when the Spirit shines upon these facts recorded and conveyed in the Bible, they become truth, reality. (Truth Messages, pp. 19-20)

Learn the New Language to Speak the New Culture

Some co-workers and elders often would say to me, “I don’t dare to speak about these high truths because the believers whom I am serving cannot understand them according to their present spiritual condition.” My reply is: “It is not that they cannot understand, but it is that you cannot speak clearly.” It is only after we have known, experienced, and gained Christ that we can speak to others, according to the new language in the Lord’s recovery, concerning this Christ whom we have gained. We must learn to use the new language to speak the new culture in the divine and mystical realm. Then people will listen to us with great pleasure and will definitely understand the things we speak. It is only by this way that we are qualified to be co-workers and elders. Otherwise, we are outdated in the Lord’s move in the present age. (How to Be a Co-worker and an Elder and How to Fulfill Their Obligations, pp. 16-17)

The Way to Be Constituted with the Truth

Picking Up and Realizing the Crucial Points
of the Truth from What We Read

According to my experience and observation, we must first pick up the crucial points of the truth…There is no basic truth that can stand by itself as a single all-inclusive point. The truth is mainly composed with many points. For instance, consider the great truth of salvation. This one item contains many, many points. We must pick up these points and get ourselves into them.

Even a Life-study message cannot stand on one point alone. It is at least composed with a few points. If you want to get into a Life-study message, you must first read it in a general way. By reading it in a general way you will be able to realize that some points are more crucial than others. You must, first of all, pick up the crucial points and get into them.

Even to study the Life-study messages and the notes is not so easy. Sometimes it took me more than an entire day to compose just one crucial phrase in the notes of the Recovery Version. This does not mean that I was sitting at a desk for twenty-four hours working on this phrase. But while I was doing things throughout the day, my heart and my mind were considering that phrase.

It is easy to read two or three lines of the notes of the Recovery Version without realizing that in these lines there are some crucial points which took me one week to express and compose. Therefore, to read the Bible and to read a proper interpretation of the Bible is not so easy.

I found out that a number of brothers and sisters read the Life-study messages as they would read a newspaper. We must realize that there are also some newly composed phrases in the Life-study messages. The expression may be common, but what is conveyed in the expression is not so common.

Sometimes you need to dwell on one point for two days. Even to pick up one point of the truth is not a rough, light, easy, or quick matter. Many times when the brothers and sisters read the Life-study messages they do not practice this principle to learn how to pick up the crucial points. (Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, pp. 7-11)

Having a “Bird’s-eye View” over a Message,
a Chapter, or over a Portion of the Word

Second, after picking up the crucial points, we must put these points together. In order to have a “bird’s-eye view” over a message, a chapter, or over a portion of the Word, we must learn how to put the points together to make a section. For example, there may be twenty-five points in a certain chapter of the Bible, but you must learn how to section this chapter. This chapter may not be a single section, but it may be composed of five sections. Not knowing how to section a chapter is like writing without punctuation, without spaces between sentences, and even the more without spaces between words. If there is no space between words and sentences, it is hard to understand what is being said… If we do not know how to section a chapter, we cannot know or understand it.

Many of us who read the Bible and the Life-studies pick up some points but we do not relate any of these points to other points. You may have the realization that the first seven points of a chapter are the components of one section. Sectioning a chapter in this way gives you a clear view, a bird’s-eye view, of the entire chapter. Then this bird’s-eye view gives you more light through the points you have picked up. First you pick up the main points and after sectioning these points you have a bird’s-eye view. When you look at all the sections, this will increase your light and increase your vision. This makes the entire chapter more meaningful. This is not an easy task. This requires you to become conversed with all the verses and crucial points.

The notes are very crucial, but I doubt that many of you realize that some of the outlines are more crucial than the notes. I would not say that the cross-references are crucial. I would only say that they are helpful. First, in reading the Recovery Version you must learn of the outline. The outline is the first crucial item. I could write a note on any verse of the Bible within one day, but I cannot finish the writing of the outline of a book like Romans within one day. When you outline the book of Romans, its entire sixteen chapters must be in front of you.

You may say that this is hard, but I do not think so. This, however, takes time. You should not read the Bible and the Life-studies in the old way. Whenever you pick up the Bible or the Life-study of any book of the Bible, you must read them in this way. You must pick up the single, crucial points and have an outline of a certain chapter or a certain section. Then you must progress to have an outline of the entire book. After finishing a book you should not go ahead. You must go back to make an outline of this book. Try to do this. This is the basic way for you to carry out the ministry.

I want to present to you the proper way of how to carry out the ministry. The truths must be constituted into your being. Then you can carry out the ministry. (Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, pp. 14-18)

THE LEADING ONES SHOULD LEAD, ENCOURAGE, REMIND,
EVEN CHARGE THE SAINTS TO SEEK THE TRUTH

Trying Your Best to Stir up an Atmosphere and Create
a Hunger and Thirst in the Saints for the Lord’s Truth

We must do our best to get ourselves into these truths and to get these truths constituted into our being. This cannot be done within a short time, but this must be our practice. I also am burdened that all the leading ones, either the elders or the serving ones taking some kind of lead, should have a real burden to pray for the saints in your locality that the Lord may stir up their interest, their seeking heart, and their spirit to seek after the Lord in His truth. The truth is nowhere but in the Bible, yet the Bible needs an opener. We need to lead the saints into the real, right, and proper realization of the need of the Bible and also of the help of the Life-study messages and the Recovery Version.

We should help the saints to build up a practice or a habit that every day they would spend at least thirty minutes in the Word. …They should study every day either three times of ten minutes each or one time of thirty minutes. We should charge them to pray-read two or three verses of this book every day. …They also need the help of the notes and the Life-study messages to enter into the truth. The saints need to take this way every day to get into the truth. After one year of studying the Bible in this way, there will be a solid change in the saints’ home life, private life, and church life. …We may think this is too slow, but even if it took us ten years to finish the entire New Testament that would be wonderful.…It is not a matter of quantity but a matter of endurance. You must endure this kind of Bible study. I think we need to remind them week after week, and sometimes the elders need to give the saints some direction, some encouragement, and some incentive. (Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, pp. 108-109)

As Parents Always Charge Their Children to Eat Proper Food, We Also Should
Try Our Best to not Only Demand but Also Charge Them
to Eat the Food of the Divine Truth in the Holy Scripture Properly

Many of you leading ones have never encouraged the saints …to get into the truths in the way of using the Life-studies. You leave the matter of the saints’ getting into the Life-studies altogether up to them. You do not seem to care whether this is a dying matter or a living matter. This way of getting into the truth has become an orphan with no father and no mother, with no fostering. This has been the situation, and in some of the local churches, your problems all have been due to this one thing. …If your family does not have the proper diet, be prepared for disease, sickness, and trouble. Do not try to solve the problems by any other way. They will not work. The only way that works is to come back to the proper diet, to feed your family with the proper food.

The church in your locality is your family. …You must come back to the proper diet and charge your children to take the proper diet. Do not only ask them, but charge them. All the mothers in a family charge their little ones to eat properly.

Therefore, as leading brothers try your best in your locality to stir up an atmosphere and to create a hunger and thirst in the saints after the Lord’s truth. Tell them that the truth is in the unique holy Word and that the best help to usher them into the Word is the Recovery Version with the notes and all the Life-studies. Of course, we should not practice anything legal. We should not make these things a legal matter that the saints are required to do. However, if the saints do love the Lord’s recovery, they must get themselves fed all the time with the healthy food that they may be strong. As a result of eating a proper, regular diet, the saints will be strong and the Lord will have a strong testimony. (Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, pp. 110-111)

In Teaching Others

We Need to Know the Truth Thoroughly

First and foremost we need to know the truth ourselves. This is similar to teaching mathematics. If our mathematics is not good, it will be very difficult to teach others. The truth that we mention is mainly the truth concerning the church. We have to teach people that they may have a thorough understanding of the church. (Bearing Fruit that Remains, Vol. 1 (Chinese), p. 115)

When We Teach, Make It Simple, Concise and Clear

When we teach people, we have to try to make everything simple. This is similar to a basketball coach who drills the players on basic movements till they are dexterous. Then when they are playing a match, it is not necessary that they be rigid but rather be flexible in their application of the basic movements. The goal is just to throw the ball into the hoop. I hope that we all understand these two aspects. On the one hand, we have to be equipped with the truth; on the other hand, we have to be concise and simple to present the truth to new believers in a clear way. (Bearing Fruit that Remains, Vol.1 (Chinese), p. 115)

Transmitting and Dispensing the Spirit and life

One point needs special attention: In selecting the reading mate¬rial, we should precede each portion with a few crucial verses. Every time we meet together, we should first have the attendees read through the verses. This will plant the Lord’s word into man’s heart. His word is living, operative, and full of power. We hope that those who come to the meeting will receive nourishment and truth and will testify that we are here for the spreading of the gospel and the presenting of the truth. (The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 10)

Both spirit and life are in the truth. The reality of the truth is spirit and life. Thus, the genuine teaching of the truth is first, to transmit and dispense the spirit and life in the truth. For this reason, we must be one who lives in spirit and life.

Taking the Lead to Learn and Read

Second, the curriculum itself is a series of messages, and there is no need for the teachers to explain anything or add notes. The material by itself is rich and clear. What the teachers have to do is to take the lead to learn together. If the teachers take the lead to learn the line, the main focus, the general outline, the big points and the small items of the curriculum, read them out one by one, and read them into people, then it will be their supply.

Releasing the Spirit

Third, the teachers’ spirit has to be released, and they should not be shy or cowardly. Only when your spirit comes out can it stir up the saints’ spirit. Then everyone will be sobered to practice seriously and receive the transmission. (The Vision and Specific Steps for the Practice of the New Way (Chinese), pp. 331-332)

References: Elders’ Training Book 3, The Way to Carry Out the Vision, chs. 1, 9-10, 12; The Vision and Specific Steps for the Practice of the New Way (Chinese), chs. 4, 11, 15; Speaking for God, ch. 6; Elders’ Training Book 5, Fellowship Concerning the Lord’s Up-to-date Move, ch. 3; The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, ch. 2; Truth Messages, ch. 2; How to be an Elder and How to Fulfill Their Obligations, ch. 1; Vital Groups, ch. 16; Bearing Fruit that Remains, Vol. 1 (Chinese), ch. 8; The Ministry Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1; Vol. 3, No. 4, 7.