Vessels Useful to the Lord
Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 2:21; Heb. 11:8; Phil. 4:9; 2:12-14
I. It is crucial for anyone who is truly saved, loves the Lord, and desires to serve the Lord all his life to know how to become a useful vessel in the Lord’s hand. There are a few things that such a one should pay attention to and practice every day for his entire life—Josh. 24:15b; 2 Tim. 2:21.
II. If I am a Christian, I must be absolute to serve the Lord, and if I am one who serves the Lord, I must take the way of the church, live a life of faith, and have a spiritual pursuit. We are willing to live a life of faith because we know the object of our faith. We are here to please the Lord—Heb. 11:8; 2 Cor. 5:9:
A. Abraham lived by faith, living the life of the altar and the tent; Abraham’s living by faith is presently being repeated among us—Heb. 11:6; Gen. 12:7-8:
1. All the things we possess must pass through the altar; they are given back to us by the Lord to meet our need in the world.
2. We may use them, but they must not govern us; we can have them and let them go; they can be given, and they can be taken away—this is the principle of the tent life.
3. In order to live by faith, we must first build an altar, signifying that our life on earth is for God, and then pitch a tent, indicating that we do not belong to the world.
B. Paul was such a person, and Aquila and Priscilla were such persons. They were for nothing else. They were just for the Lord. Even whatever they had for their living, that was also for the Lord—Rom. 14:7-8; 16:3-4.
C. Brother Nee was the first one among us to take the full-time way. He lived by faith and he even told his parents not to take care of him. Those of us who went full-time after him followed his pattern—Acts 20:34-35a; Phil. 4:9; 2 Tim. 3:10-11.
D. “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” This is why we have surely seen and experienced some miracles regarding the Lord taking care of our living—Matt. 6:32b-33; John 21:9; 1 Kings 17:15.
III. I would advise you to study hard and endeavor to learn some languages, because one day you all will go to different parts of the world for God to bear witness, to preach the gospel, and to lead people to know God—Phil. 4:9:
A. Generally speaking, if we want to serve the Lord full-time, we should be familiar with at least four languages. You can choose to learn one or two languages besides your mother tongue.
B. I also encourage the Chinese students to diligently study English. English has become the world language. Since those who do not serve the Lord are learning English, we, as the Lord’s workers, have a greater need to know English.
C. I encourage all the young people to learn foreign languages. The young ones need to learn the languages thoroughly, learning the grammar, pronunciation, and composition until they are able to speak fluently, translate, and compose. When they migrate to a country, they should already be able to express themselves clearly.
D. In addition, I would like to ask the young brothers and sisters to put forth an extra effort in studying Greek. This will be a great help in understanding the Bible. Perhaps in the future some of you will labor to study Hebrew, which is a real necessity in studying the Old Testament—2 Tim. 2:15.
IV. “But one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.” To pursue Christ in this way we need to be aggressive and to exercise ourselves very much. No lazy person can be a persecutor of Christ—Phil. 3:12-14; cf. Neh. 2:3, footnote 1:
A. I hope that all you trainees would clearly understand the way we are taking and also aggressively pursue progress in the matter of service—1 Tim. 4:15.
1. We must strive to get into the depths of the Word. You must exert some effort to be solidly equipped in the truth. This is my main burden for you—2 Tim. 3:16-17:
a. Although the Bible does not change, we can advance in our knowledge and study of the Bible and in our interpretation and application of the truth. Today when we come to study the Bible, if we do not know how to use advanced methods to study it, we will fall behind and become out-of-date—2:15.
b. Even if you know the way clearly, you still need to know the truth and enter into the light that the Lord has given to us over the past sixty years; our writings were produced by our standing on the shoulders of many who studied the Bible during the past two thousand years, plus what the Lord has shown us. You need to make an effort to study them in a deeper way—Psa. 119:130; Heb. 5:13-14.
2. The serving ones in the recovery must do is to pursue progress in life— 3:19; John 3:30:
a. This means that you must first endeavor to know the Spirit, Christ, life, the cross, and resurrection—2 Pet. 3:18.
b. Then you should have the practical experience of all these things; as long as you have the heart to do so, it will not be difficult to practice this matter—Phil. 3:10.
3. You need to learn how to conduct yourself, how to do things, and how to work; “If you do not know how to conduct yourself, you will not know how to do things, and if you do not know how to do things, you will not know how to work.”—1 T 4:12:
a. The building up of our human character is the secret; the progress of character training altogether depends on the extent of transformation, and transformation is related to the growth in life, the knowledge of the truth, and the daily filling of the Holy Spirit—Phil. 4:8.
b. In taking care of practical things and working for the Lord, you do not need to get into the particulars. You simply need to grasp the “secret” and pay attention to being efficient.
c. In working for the Lord you need to learn several matters in particular. The first matter is contacting people, the second is ministering the word, and the third is visiting people in their homes or on the campuses. If you learn these few things, you will be quite useful in the Lord’s recovery—Rom.15:16.
4. Do not always expect others to teach you; rather, you need to pursue deeply and diligently on your own. You should not complain about the environment or other matters; rather, you should blame yourself for not laboring enough— 4:12-13.
B. Therefore, you need to take this comprehensive message of mine. Do not wait until someone comes to supervise you. Rather, you need to take the initiative to learn here. If you learn, practice, and endeavor to build yourselves up in all the points that I have mentioned, the Lord will have a way in you—Heb. 12:11; Prov. 4:18.
