The Way to Practice the Lord's Present Move

CHAPTER SEVEN
BE WATCHFUL IN LIFE
Scripture Reading: Matt. 24:39-44; 25:1-13

THE RECOVERY OF THE LOST TRUTHS

In this chapter I am burdened to have more fellowship concerning being filled with the Spirit
inwardly and outwardly. Many Christians have taught concerning the believers having the
fullness of the Spirit, yet hardly any teachers have referred this matter to Matthew 25. The reason
for this is that the truths unveiled in the entire book of Matthew, which is a revelation of the
gospel of the kingdom of the heavens, have been lost and even missed by most Christians. Some
may quote portions of Matthew referring to the virgins son being called Emmanuel and given
the name Jesus (1:23, 25), to being pure in heart (5:8) and poor in spirit (5:3), which to them is to
be humble, and concerning coming to the Lord for Him to give us rest (11:28). Others may even
refer to Matthew 28:19, being baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
to argue concerning how to baptize people. Actually, though, what this gospel reveals has been
lost. The reason why we call our version of the New Testament the Recovery Version is because
this refers to the recovery of the lost truths. If you spent one day to study the book of Matthew
with all the notes in the Recovery Version, you would realize that the lost truths in Matthew are
recovered there.

DEGRADATION
LOSING WHATEVER GOD HAS REVEALED
CONCERNING HIS NEW TESTAMENT ECONOMY
Many of us would claim that we are in the recovery, but in what kind of recovery? Are we just in
the recovery of the ground of the church or of meeting in the name of the Lord Jesus? The entire
situation of todays Christianity is in degradation. Many of us who say we are in the Lords
recovery, even the ones saved among us who were never in Christianity and still remain with us,
are in the degraded situation. If some Christians are asked what it means to be saved, they might
answer that it means to believe in Jesus and to have your sins forgiven that you might go to
heaven one day. Even some among us would say this. This kind of saying is a strong sign of the
degradation of todays Christianity. Many of us have never been in Christianity, but we are in the
degradation of Christianity. Do not think that degraded Christianity does not include you. It does
not mean that because you are meeting in the recovery, you are not in that degradation.
Christianity denotes a general situation of Christians, and since the end of the first century this
situation has become and still is altogether a degraded situation.

What does it mean to be degraded? To be degraded is to lose whatever God has revealed
concerning His New Testament economy. Whoever has become a Christian and yet has not come
up to the level of Gods New Testament economy is in this degradation regardless of where they
meet. I am quite concerned that even a good number among us are also in that degradation
because we are not up to this level. To merely be saved with your sins forgiven to have a right to
go to heaven is a salvation in the degradation of Christianity. This is not a salvation up to the
level of Gods New Testament economy. This is why I have sounded the call to rise up. Before
rising up you have to wake up. Do not remain in a drowsy, stupefied condition. Today the poor
preaching of the gospel in the degradation of Christianity is a kind of stupefying gospel. They
preach the gospel to save people, but their kind of preaching is a stupefying. This is why I
proposed that we have some bumper stickers that say Christ will come to settle accounts with
you (Matt. 25:19). This statement is versus todays stupefied situation.
Our present situation in the Lords recovery, especially in the past few years, has been and
probably still is a kind of drowsy, stupefied situation. I hope that we could pay our full attention
to the two portions of the Word in the Scripture reading spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself. These
two portions of the Word are actually two aspects of one matter, the matter of the Lords coming
back. The Lord told us that He would come quickly (Rev. 22:20), but one may think His coming
has been slow because it has been nearly two thousand years since His ascension. But do not
forget that to Him one thousand years are just one day (2 Pet. 3:8).

THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECIES

WARNING US CONCERNING THE LORDS COMING
I was confirmed concerning the assurance of His coming back by my study of prophecies and
their fulfillment. I studied the Bible when I was young by studying its prophecies, and I was
taught mostly by the Brethren teachers, who have been famous and still are in the Biblical study
of types and prophecies. I also studied a number of others writings concerning prophecy.
Through my study I was deeply impressed with one thingthe Bible in its prophecies and all the
prophetic writings stressed the reformation of the nation of Israel (see Matt. 24:32 and notes).
The Israelites had lost their country, their fatherland, and they all had been scattered on the earth.
I wondered how Israel could ever be reformed as a nation when they had lost their homeland for
over twenty-five centuries. According to my concept at that time, for such a thing to happen
seemed impossible. I began to watch over the world situation related to this matter since 1925. I
had the habit of always reading the first page of the newspaper every day, if possible, concerning
international affairs. I remember reading the front page of the largest newspaper in Shanghai one
day in 1948. The headlines said that the nation of Israel had been reformed! The newspaper told
the account of how the United Nations recognized the reformed nation of Israel. The returned
Israelites fighting away the Egyptians was a fulfillment of Exodus 23:28 which says that the
Lord would send hornets before the Israelites to drive out the enemies from the good land. This
was a great surprise to me. I worshipped the Lord that in His sovereignty He had reformed a
nation for His people.
Although the nation of Israel had been reformed, Jerusalem had not yet been returned to Israel.
In 1967 I had surgery done in San Francisco and was in the hospital for seven days. Within those

seven days, I read in the newspaper that Jerusalem had been returned to Israel. One scene on the
television showed many Arabs throwing away their new guns and only one Israeli soldier
chasing them. The fulfillment of these prophecies should warn us that the Lord is coming.
BEING WATCHFUL FOR THE LORDS COMING

Matthew 24:39 says, And they did not know until the flood came and took all away; so also
shall the coming (Gk. parousia) of the Son of Man be. The Lords coming is His parousia or
presence which will be a period of time. Verses 40-42 continue, Then shall two men be in the
field; one is taken, and one is left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one
is left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes. Both watch
therefore and your Lord prove that the two men and two women in verses 40 and 41 are saved
believers. The Lord would not charge unsaved people to watch, nor is He the Lord of the
unsaved. Verse 43 says, But know this, that if the householder knew in what watch the thief was
coming, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
Householder refers to the believer, and house to the believers conduct and work which he
has built up in his Christian life. The believers need to be watchful concerning their conduct and
work. Verse 44 says, Therefore, you also, be ready, for the Son of Man comes in an hour that
you think not.
This portion of the Word, Matthew 24:39-44, is on our being watchful for the Lords coming.
The two men or two women in 24:40-41 are the living saints because they are still working in the
field and grinding at the mill. A minority of the Lords saints will be living at His coming back,
while the majority represented by the ten virgins (25:1), will have died before the Lords coming.
Ten is the major part of twelve (Gen. 42:3-4; 1 Kings 11:30-31; Matt. 20:24), and two is the
remnant of twelve.
THE TEN VIRGINS

Matthew 25:1-13 addresses what will happen to the majority of the believers who will have died
before the Lords coming. Ten represents the majority of the believers through all the generations
who became drowsy and slept (25:5). Becoming drowsy signifies becoming sick (Acts 9:37; 1
Cor. 11:30) and slept signifies died (1 Thes. 4:13-16; John 11:11-13). While the Lord delays
His coming back, the majority of the believers firstly become sick and then die.
Verses 1 and 2 say, Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be likened to ten virgins, who took
their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were foolish, and five were
prudent. The foolish ones are mentioned first because the warning here is focused on them. This
parable is a warning to the foolish and unready believers. Verses 3 and 4 say, For the foolish,
when they took their lamps, did not take oil with them; but the prudent took oil in their vessels
with their lamps. Oil signifies the Spirit of God (Isa. 61:1; Heb. 1:9). Lamps signify the spirit of
the believers (Prov. 20:27), which contains the Spirit of God as the oil (Rom. 8:16). Proverbs

20:27 says that the spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah. Within the lamp, our regenerated spirit,
is the oil, the Holy Spirit. Man is a vessel made for God (Rom. 9:21, 23-24), and mans
personality is in his soul. Hence, vessels here signify the soul of the believers.
We have the Holy Spirit in our regenerated spirit, but there is a question as to whether or not we
have an extra portion of the Holy Spirit in our soul, saturating our being. The problem was not
with the lamps of the virgins. Even the lamps of the five foolish virgins were burning. The fact
that their lamps were going out (v. 8) proves that their lamps were lighted, having oil in them,
but not having an adequate supply. They did not have the extra portion of the oil in their vessels.
Verse 5 says, Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. While
Christ has been delaying His coming back, millions of believers and lovers of Christ became sick
and died. Verses 6 and 7 continue, But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Go
forth to meet him! Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. Midnight signifies
the darkest time of this dark age (night) close to the morning. That will be the end of this age, the
time of the great tribulation. Cry signifies the voice of the archangel (1 Thes. 4:16). All the
dead believers arose, which signifies resurrection from the dead, and trimmed their lamps, which
signifies their dealing with their testimony in life. After resurrection our life for the Lords
testimony still needs to be dealt with if it is not perfect before we die.
Verse 8 says, And the foolish said to the prudent, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are
going out. After resurrection, the foolish believers discovered that they were short of the Spirit
of God and needed the fullness of the Spirit of God. They are saved believers and their spirits are
burning, but they do not have much oil. They do not have an extra portion of the Spirit in their
vessel, in their soul, their being. Then they begged the wise ones to help by giving them some
oil. But the prudent answered, saying, Lest there be not enough for us and for you, go rather to
those who sell and buy for yourselves (v. 9). We should not forget that this conversation takes
place after all the believers have been resurrected. After many believers have been resurrected,
they will discover that they are short of the Spirit. They were short of the Spirit all the time
during their life, but they were befuddled and stupefied. When they are resurrected, they will
discover their shortage, but then it will be too late. They have to go and buy for themselves.
To buy means to pay the price. We have to pay the price for the filling of the Spirit in our soul.
This filling of the Spirit is not free. The price involves items such as giving up the world, dealing
with self, loving the Lord above all, and counting all things loss for Christ. This is why I said that
we need to wake up that we may rise up! But to wake up and rise up requires the paying of a
price. You have to drop your love of the world and so many worldly things.
As the foolish virgins were going away to buy, the bridegroom came (v. 10). First, all the dead
saints are resurrected and then Christ comes. When He comes, the foolish ones are going to buy
the extra portion of the oil. Christ comes and those who were ready went in with him to the

marriage feast, and the door was shut (v. 10). Went in here means to be raptured into the
marriage feast with the Bridegroom, Christ.
Verse 11 says, And later the rest of the virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us! This
is the later rapture of the resurrected believers. All the dead believers will be resurrected at the
same time, but the ready ones will be raptured first. Then the unready ones will be raptured later.
By the time the unready ones are raptured, the door (not the door of salvation) to enter into the
enjoyment of the Lords marriage feast was shut. The foolish virgins came also, saying, Lord,
Lord, open to us! But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you (vv. 11-12).
Not know means not to recognize, not to approve (see note 121 in Matthew 25Recovery
Version). The Lord never recognized or approved the foolish virgins for participation in the
marriage feast because they were late in paying the price for the fullness of the Spirit. Finally
verse 13 says, Watch therefore, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
Christians have taught a lot concerning the fullness of the Spirit, but according to my knowledge
no one has ever referred this matter to the extra portion of the oil in the vessel in Matthew 25.
This is the extra portion of the Holy Spirit in your human being. You have the Holy Spirit in your
regenerated spirit so you are a son of God. Yet after having the Spirit in your spirit, you need to
pay the price for the further filling of the Spirit, for the extra portion of the Holy Spirit.
WATCHING BY BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

By reading the context of Matthew 25:1-13, we can see that to be watchful is to be filled with the
Holy Spirit. If we are not being filled all day long, we are not being watchful. This is serious. I
feel that now the Lord is working among us and taking a new step to move among us. We call
this the present-day move of the Lord, but we have to realize that this is the recovery. As saved
believers, we should be people who are watching all the time by being filled with the Spirit.
Every day our lamp is burning and every day our soul, our being, is filled with the extra portion
of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit is the saturating Spirit, which we need to allow to saturate our
entire being from within our spirit to reach and even to penetrate our soul. Then we are surely
watchful persons, getting ourselves ready for His coming back. We Christians have two kinds of
statuses before the Lordwe are virgins in life and we are slaves for our service to the Lord. We
must be watchful in life and faithful in service to be ready at our Lords return.
If we do mean business with the Lords present-day move, we must be filled with the Spirit every
morning of every day. We need to confess our sins, but we also need to pay the price. The Spirit
who came into our spirit was given freely, but the saturating Spirit to fill our entire being,
especially our soul, is not free. It is something that you have to pay the price for, that you have to
buy. When we as sinners repented and confessed our sins and believed in the Lord Jesus, we
immediately got regenerated and the Spirit was given to us freely. But daily we need His filling,
His saturating, from our spirit to penetrate our soul. We need to pay the price. We love ourselves

so much, and we love to sleep so much in the morning. Many of us love our beds more than the
Lord. In our daily life we may love a lot of things. Even though these things may not be sinful,
yet they are replacements of the Lord. We may not give our first love to Him but to many other
things. Now we have to drop all these other things, which means we have to pay the price to get
ourselves ready.
GETTING OURSELVES READY BEFORE WE DIE

We have seen that the two men and two women in Matthew 24 signify the saints who are living
at the Lords coming back, while the ten virgins signify the majority who are dead. None of us
can be sure when the Lord will come back. Neither can any of us be sure when we will die.
There is a possibility for anyone of us to have a car accident. I pray frequently, especially during
conference and training times, for the Lord to protect the saints from any accidents, but who can
say when we will go to be with the Lord. We are not sure when He will come back. Neither can
we be sure when we will go. Suppose that you go without being ready. Do you think everything
will be okay? It will be okay temporarily because you will go to Paradise in Hades to rest. But
when He comes back, you will be troubled. You will rise up and look at yourself and realize that
the light of your lamp is not so bright. Your lamp will be going out due to the lack of oil in your
vessel. If you do not get yourself ready before you die, you will be troubled at His coming back.
This is not my teaching, but this is the word out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Himself. Surely
we believe all the words He says to us. These two portions of the Word we are considering are
very serious. This is why the entire situation today of Christianity is in degradation, and this
degradation could include us. We may be in the degradation. We may be stupefied. We may have
been drugged. We may not be so sober in our understanding. We may be living in such a way
every day. If we love anything, we get it. We may do what we want to do and spend an entire day
without prayer. We may always say we will pray tomorrow, but when tomorrow comes, we still
do not pray. This is degradation. If the truths delivered in the Lords recovery are always
bothering you, this is a strong indication that you are in the degradation of todays Christianity. If
you were not in the degradation of todays Christianity, no truth would bother you. The truth
would make you happy. Your response to the truths would be Hallelujah, Im for that and Im in
that.
NOT TAKING ANY EXCUSES

I have been praying for the churches and I am very much concerned for your spiritual situation.
My main burden presently is to release all the truth into writing, so most of my time is occupied;
otherwise, I would visit many of the churches. Your condition is a bothering to me because many
of you are under a kind of befuddled situation, which means you are in the degradation of todays
Christianity. Do not take any excuse. Do not say that because the church life is not so strong, you
cannot be strong. You will not be able to use this as an excuse when He comes back. He only
cares for whether you are ready or not. No doubt, your lamp is burning because you have been

saved, but is there an extra portion of oil in your vessel, your soul, your being? Has your being
been saturated with the Spirit? The age is dark, Christianity is befuddled, and even the church
life may be somewhat down. All this, however, cannot be an excuse. The Lord will still check
with you concerning yourself. Are you living? Are you being filled? Are you watching all day?
Are you praying? Are you getting into His Word every day and remaining in fellowship with
Him? You may say you are tired and that you do not have the time, but you may have a lot of
time to make phone calls and to gossip. Why would you not spend ten minutes for prayer? You
may talk on the telephone for over an hour and yet not have five minutes for prayer.
SPENDING TIME TO DIVE INTO THE TRUTH

By His mercy, especially over the last ten years, I have been releasing all the high, deeper truths
concerning the New Testament economy of God. According to my realization, though, all these
rich truths mostly are only on our bookshelves. How many among us have spent that much time
to dive into these truths? Even though all the notes in the Recovery Version were written by me, I
study them again. I like to get into the notes. Early in the morning and any available time I have,
I spend time to read the notes. I have recently enjoyed note 174 in Matthew 1 which says,
Matthew comes forward and down to Christ. All the generations were directed to Christ and
brought forth Christ. Christ is the goal, the consummation, the conclusion, the completion, and
the perfection of all the generations, fulfilling their prophecies, solving their problems, and
meeting their needs. When Christ comes, light, life, salvation, satisfaction, healing, freedom, rest,
comfort, peace, and joy, all come with Him. From this point on, the whole New Testament is a
full expounding of this wonderful Christ, who is everything to us. Hallelujah, Christ has come!
If this were not printed in the Recovery Version, I could never imagine that it was written by me.
I enjoy this note. Some of you can talk on the phone for twenty minutes. Could you not spend
two minutes in the morning to read such a note? Just by reading such a note you will get
nourished.
OUR REAL SITUATION

Our real situation is that we are under a kind of befuddling, a kind of stupefying. Actually, many
of us are in the degradation of todays Christianity. Are we watchful? Are we on the alert for His
coming? I do not know when He will come, nor do I know when death will come to me. It may
be tomorrow morning. Only the Lord knows. There could be an illness, an earthquake, a car
accident, or other calamity that could take our lives. Are you ready? If you are not ready, suppose
that you go. You will rest in Paradise in Hades temporarily. You will still rise up to meet Him. By
that time you have to look at the situation of your lamp. Will you have sufficient oil to fill your
lamp to keep it burning? You may discover that you are short of the extra portion of the Spirit.
I feel now is not the time for me to release more high truths. I have done enough of that already.
My burden is to get your attention to rise up, to be always watchful to get yourself filled with the
Spirit and with the high truths that could always wake you up. These truths are missed in todays

Christianity and I do not have a strong assurance that these truths have all been recovered with
all of you. I am a little concerned that even with you these truths are not only missed but buried.
Many of you have never gotten into all the truths you have heard in the past five years. I am
concerned that the truth concerning Gods New Testament economy is only on your bookshelves
but not really constituted into you. Many of us are like other Christians. They are in degradation;
you are too. What is the difference? Does meeting on the proper ground mean that you are in the
recovery? Apparently you are. Actually you are not.
By His mercy I have been speaking to many of you for years. I feel burdened and I do have a
serious and loving concern for all of you. You spend time after time to meet for ministry
meetings and in your locality in the church meetings, yet have you been watchful? Are you still
watching? Did you watch yesterday and today? If you pass every day without any watchfulness,
do you think you will be okay when Christ returns? You may use others as your excuses. You
may say that you are not watchful because of others. You may talk about the elders and about the
condition of the churches, but what about yourself? It is no wonder that the final book of the
Bible, Revelation, is a book sounding out a call to the overcomers (2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12,
20-21). We all have to overcome the present degraded situation among Christians, which
includes us. Therefore, I say againwake up and rise up!
Every morning we need a time to be with the Lord. We need to pray, Lord, I take You as my sin
offering and trespass offering. I am so thankful to You that Your precious blood still washes me
this morning. Lord, I need to be filled up with Yourself, with the all-inclusive Spirit within and
without. I need You! I need Your saturation! I need Your soaking! Could you not pray in this
way every morning for a short time? Have you been doing this? This is a serious matter. This is
why I have said that for now I would stop delivering more deeper truths. We need some kind of a
sounding to wake us up that we may be overcomers to overcome the present situation not only in
Christianity but even in the recovery. We have to overcome the present situation of the Lords
recovery. I do not care whether you are an elder, a co-worker, old and experienced, or young and
inexperienced. All that matters is one thingare you watching today? We do not have yesterday
or tomorrow. We Christians only have today. Every day is a today to us. Are you watching today?
A CLEAR WARNING TO ALL THE BELIEVERS

Whether you will be living at the Lords coming back or dead, the principle is the same. Among
the living ones some will be taken and some will be left to pass through the great tribulation.
Among the dead believers, some will be raptured first. Those who will be raptured later will
suffer something. I believe that to buy the oil today is much cheaper than paying the price in the
next age. Have you ever realized that according to Matthew 25 after resurrection some believers
will get into the tribulation? The wise virgins told the foolish ones to go to those who sell and
buy for themselves (v. 9). Those who sell must be the two witnesses during the great
tribulation, the two olive trees and the two sons of oil (Rev. 11:3-4 and notes; Zech. 4:11-14).

The foolish virgins will have to go to the oil sellers, the two witnesses, in the great tribulation.
Today it is easy for you to get the extra portion of the Holy Spirit, but you may not do it. You
may be in an idle situation day after day. To get our soul, our being, saturated and filled with the
Spirit cannot be accomplished in one day. It is a lifelong matter.
We need to read the parable of the ten virgins again carefully according to the view of our
present fellowship and with the help of the notes in the Recovery Version. When the foolish ones
go to buy the oil, that will be a hard thing to do. While they go to buy, Christ comes, and the
ready ones will be raptured. This is the Lords word. This is not just a prophecy but a clear
warning to all believers. As the virgins are we being watchful in our spiritual life?
BEING WATCHFUL EVERY DAY
AND ALL DAY BEFORE HIM

All of us need to make a living. In Matthew 24 the two men are working in the field and the two
women are grinding at the mill. They are working for their livelihood, but while they are
working they should not forget about their spiritual situation. You have to make a living, but
even the early raptured ones were watchful to make themselves ready while they were making a
living. At the unknown parousia (coming) of the Lord these ready ones will be raptured first and
they will enter into the enjoyment of the marriage feast of the Lamb, but the unready ones will
miss it. I believe they will have bought the oil, which was good for them to be raptured, but it
will not be good for them to enter into the enjoyment of the marriage feast because it will be too
late. I hope that we can read these two portions of the Word in the Scripture reading again so that
we may clearly see how the Lord desires for us to be in the right position of being watchful every
day and all day before Him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BE FAITHFUL IN SERVICE
Scripture Reading: Matt. 24:45-51; 25:14-30
THE EXTRA PORTION OF THE SPIRIT IN OUR SOUL

In the last chapter we covered the matter of our being watchful in the spiritual life so that we
may have an extra portion of oil. This extra portion of oil is not in the lamp but in the vessel, and
is not concerning the Spirit in our regenerated spirit, which is the lamp of Jehovah, but
concerning the Spirit of God in our soul, our entire being. The word soul in the Bible has several
denotations. One of the denotations is our being (cf. Gen. 2:7; Exo. 1:5; Acts 2:41). Every soul is
a person, and every person is a being. The soul refers to our being, to our person. Our being, our
person was made by God as His vessel. Romans 9:21-23 tells us that we human beings were
made by God as His vessels to contain Him. Therefore, in the parable of the ten virgins in
Matthew 25:1-13 what is covered and what is stressed is the extra portion of the Holy Spirit in

our soul, the saturation of our entire being with the Spirit. This is the need of all Christians, yet
this is the thing that is neglected by Christians. Today not many of us are paying attention to this
saturating Spirit, moving from our spirit into our soul, even into our entire being, so that we may
have not only the oil in our spirit but also an extra portion of this oil to saturate our entire being.
Since I came to this country in 1962, I have spoken many messages on the matter of
transformation. I have stressed very much that transformation could only be possible by our
being saturated by the Spirit of God. Second Corinthians 3:18 says that we all beholding and
reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit. The Lord Jesus is for our redemption; the Lord
Spirit is for our transformation. To be transformed is to be saturated by the Spirit. To speak of an
extra portion of oil in our soul to saturate our entire being is another way to express the
transformation by the Spirit. You may say we are to be transformed by the Spirit, or that we are
to have an extra portion of the Holy Spirit in our soul that our being might be saturated. These
two expressions indicate the same thing.
Christian preachers and teachers may stress that wives must submit themselves to their husbands,
husbands must love their wives, children must love their parents, and that fathers must not
provoke their children. However, it is difficult to find one who stresses that you need to be filled
in your spirit that you may have a flow out of your spirit to have an extra portion of the Spirit in
your soul. If you are filled in this way, then your love, your submission, your obedience, and
your care for your children will all be a spontaneous flow out of the saturating Spirit. Since I
came to this country, it has been hard for you to hear me telling the wives how to be subject to
their husbands. My stress has always been on transformation. Even now I need more
transformation. Do not think that I do not need it. As long as I have breath, I shall still need
transformation. You also need this every day. Transformation is just like breathing. Breathing can
never be terminated. Once you terminate my breathing I will be through. Therefore, we have to
stress this matter. Every day in the morning you must go to the Lord, saying, Lord, thank You
that I am here. Fill me up. Saturate me. Soak me. I want to be soaked in You and with You. We
need such a prayer. It is not too much to have this kind of prayer three times a day. I advise the
young people to have this prayer ten times daily. The more we pray this way the better. People
may teach you that you should not eat so much, but no one has ever taught you not to breathe too
much. Your breathing should not be reduced. Rather, you had better exercise to have more
breathing, and to breathe deeply. To pray in this way is to gain the oil in your vessel.
THE LORDS COMMISSION AND THE LORDS GIFTS

The two portions of the Word listed in the Scripture reading relate to being faithful in the Lords
service. However, there is a difference in these portions. Both are on the faithfulness toward the
Lord in His service, but the first portion in Matthew 24:45-51 is on the faithfulness in the Lords
commission. In this portion we are told that the Lord committed something to His slaves, His

servants. That committal is a commission given by the Lord to all of us. The Lords commission
is His charge to us to minister the life supply to His household.
In the second section, Matthew 25:14-30, faithfulness is not in the Lords commission but in His
gifts. Whenever the Lord would give us a commission, at the same time He would always give us
gifts. Without gifts being given by Him to us, how could we carry out His commission? To carry
out His commission, to take care of His household, we need His gifts. Both of these portions are
on the faithfulness in the Lords service, but one is in His commission and the other is in the gifts
He has given us.
I would advise you all to be faithful in the Lords service. Every believer, old and young, great
and small, would consider that John 3:16 is the word of the Lord, but we must consider Matthew
24 and 25 in the same way. These chapters are the word of the Lord, but we did not hear much
speaking and teaching about this portion. It is easy to receive John 3:16; it seems that there is no
obligation or requirement in this verse. But here in Matthew 24 and 25, especially in these two
portions concerning being faithful in service, this is not the case. No doubt, the talent has been
given to us. That was something free. However, all the other items in these two portions are
requirements and demands, demanding your watchfulness and demanding your faithfulness.
Furthermore, the word in John 3:16 is short, and many of us can recite it. However, the word in
these portions regarding our faithfulness is rather long, altogether twenty-four verses. Could you
recite these two portions? When the Lord spoke concerning Gods love in giving His Son for our
salvation in His divine life, He seemed to indicate that this was very simple, speaking only a few
verses. But when the Lord touched these two matterswatchfulness in life and faithfulness in
serviceHe knew that He was touching some of the things which are not so easy for us to get
into. Therefore, He gave twenty-four verses concerning faithfulness in our service to the Lord. If
the Lord spoke more about a matter, this indicates that this matter is more important. Therefore,
we have not only to recognize these portions of the Lords word, but also to regard them as
something not so simple. We must spend some time to get into this. With John 3:16 we will have
no problem, but with these words in these two portions we have to be careful.
A SOBER WARNING

In these two chapters we have two things to take care ofour watchfulness in life and our
faithfulness in service. The watchfulness in life has very much to do with our being raptured on
time, with our receiving the permission to enter into the Lords wedding feast (Matt. 22:2; Rev.
19:9). This wedding feast refers to the one thousand years of Gods kingdom on this earth. The
one thousand year kingdom will be the wedding day in which we will have the wedding feast
with the Lord (2 Pet. 3:8). Whether or not you will be on time to be admitted into that wedding
feast depends upon your care today concerning the extra portion of oil in your being. Therefore,
you have to pay your full attention to this. This is a great matter.

I have been practicing this watchfulness throughout the years, but I am also human. Occasionally
I became negligent. I was just a little slothful about one or two days, sometimes perhaps five to
six days. Then I woke up, telling myself that I was neglecting my obligation, and that I had to
take care of the oil, of an extra portion in my vessel, in my soul. Concerning faithfulness it is the
same. I love the Lord, and I love to serve the Lord. To teach or to minister His Word to people is
really my hobby, yet we all are human. Sometimes I became tired and desired to have a few
days of vacation. I wanted to stay away from this ministry of the Word, and I was advised to do
so by some dear ones, even by my family. But every time I took their advice to take a vacation, I
began to regret, realizing that I had to serve so I could make more profit.
In this parable of the talents the Lord said clearly that after a long time the lord of those slaves
comes and settles accounts with them (Matt. 25:19). He will come back to settle accounts with
you. The five-talented one came to report that he made another five talents. This is to use the
Lords gifts in full. The second one with two talents gave the same report, and they both received
a reward. To these two faithful ones the Lord said the same thing: Well done, good and faithful
slave; you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of
your lord (25:21, 23). The last one, who was not faithful, lost what he had and was also put into
the outer darkness (25:28-30).
Beginning in 1930 I began to teach these things, to minister this kind of word. My Christian
friends and Christian relatives came to me, trying their best to argue with me. They asked,
Could a saved one be cast into the outer darkness? I said, Dear ones, it is not I who say this.
Read Matthew 25:30. Whose word is this? This is the Lords word. Then they argued with me,
asking, What is this darkness? I said, I have never been there. I do not know, but one thing I
can tell you is that it is not a good place; I would not like to go there. If you are cast into that
darkness you will not be rejoicing, but weeping, and gnashing your teeth. Do you want to go to a
place where you will be weeping and gnashing your teeth?"
This word was clearly spoken by the Lord Jesus, and it was sovereignly recorded in the Bible.
Can you deny that this is the Lords word? Can you say that this unfaithful servant is a false
believer? This is what Dr. C. I. Scofield taught, and the Brethren did the same thing. This is not a
false believer, that is, a tare (Matt. 13:24-30), for the Lord gave him the talents. The Lord will
settle accounts with him not on this earth but at His judgment seat in the air (2 Cor. 5:10). All
those who will be judged there will be real believers. How could a false believer be raptured to
the air and go to the judgment seat of Christ to be judged by the Lord? It is impossible. In
chapter thirteen of Matthew the Lord said, Allow both to grow together until the harvest, and in
the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather first the tares and bind them into bundles
to burn them up, but the wheat bring together into My barn (v. 30). When the Lord comes, He
will send the angels to bind the tares, the false believers, and cast them into the lake of fire (vv.
40-42). How could there be a false believer who was not bound by the angels but rather raptured

to the air to meet the Lord, even at His judgment seat. It is altogether not logical. Because this
slave is not faithful, is he a false one? Unfaithfulness does not indicate falsehood.
All those who questioned me about this matter got convinced; eventually most of them had no
way to argue with me. However some still said, Anyhow, I do not believe that a believer shall
be cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. I said,
Friends, whether you believe or you do not believe, this is the Lords warning. Do consider
this. Paul in his teaching to the Hebrews called this kind of teaching the word of righteousness
(Heb. 5:13). The Lord is not sloppy, nor is He unjust. He is strict and just. Surely He saved you,
but after this He gave you the Bible with much advice and many warnings. You have to take the
advice, and you have to take all these warnings. Just go along with Him according to His word. I
am telling you the truth: I am not sure whether I will successfully pass through the judgment
seat. I hope that I would, but that remains to be seen. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:5, Therefore
do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who shall both bring to light the
hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then there will be
praise to each one from God (cf. Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10).
If we mean business with the Lord that He is real, that He is living, and His word is altogether
trustworthy, we have to be sober. We have to be sober to rise up, learning to be watchful in life,
daily seeking the extra portion of the oil to saturate our entire being that we may be ready in life
to be raptured at any time. Then we will not miss the chance to enter into the wedding feast, the
thousand year joyful kingdom. Secondly, we all have to be ever faithful in our service.
Otherwise, we will not only miss the entrance into the wedding feast, but we will also lose our
right to enjoy the Lords joy in His coming kingdom. Watchfulness in life relates very much to
our rapture, and faithfulness in service relates to our entrance into the Lords joy to participate in
His coming kingdom.
D. M. Panton, who taught concerning the kingdom reward, said that many Christian teachers are
giving tickets for the entrance into the kingdom. However, if you bring such a ticket to the
entrance of the kingdom, you will discover that your ticket will not be honored. Do not be
cheated. This is the Lords clear word to us. I would like to advise you, to have a loving
fellowship with you, and even to warn you that we all have to be watchful in life and faithful in
service.
MINISTERING FOOD AT THE APPOINTED TIME

Now we need to fellowship concerning our practice of being faithful in service. In what way
should we be faithful in the service? What shall we do? First, in Matthew 24:45-51 we are told
clearly that the Lord commissioned us to take care of His household. His household refers to the
believers (Eph. 2:19), who are the church (1 Tim. 3:15). The church today is the Lords house
and also the Lords household, what we refer to as the folks. We are His house, and at the same

time we are His folks. The Lord charged us, commissioned us, to minister something to His
household, that is, to the believers in the church.
According to verse 45 what we minister is food. Verse 45 says, Who then is the faithful and
prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the appointed
time. At the appointed time we have to minister food, the life supply, to the Lords people. Do
not say that others have a gift of teaching to teach you the Word of God and minister spiritual
food to you, but that you do not have such a gift. There is not such a thought here. All the Lords
servants received the gift for their commission.
In the second section in 25:14-30, the Lord says that He is as a master going into another
country, who delivered his possessions to his servants (v. 14). In the next verse he gave talents to
the servants. Possessions and talents are the items of this parable. His possessions signify the
church (Eph. 1:18) with all the believers, who are His household (Matt. 24:45). The church with
the believers is a real inheritance, a possession of the Lord. Talents in this parable signify
spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:4; 1 Pet. 4:10; 2 Tim. 1:6). Verse 14 says, For it is as a man
who, going into another country, called his own slaves and delivered to them his possessions.
Verse 15 continues, And to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one. The reader
of these verses may think that the five talents refer back to possessions. Possessions are the
Lords church, His believers, and talents are the gifts. The Lord not only gave the possessions,
but He also gave the talents. Has the Lord not given you the church with so many believers? The
Bible does not refer to the church of the apostles, the church of the elders, the church of the
prophets or the church of the evangelists. The New Testament rather speaks of the church of God
(Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 1:2), the church of Christ (Rom. 16:16), and the church of the saints (1 Cor.
14:33). The church is the possession of all the saints, the believers.
The Lord, before going to the heavens, delivered to us His church with all the believers. If He
had only given to us the talent to minister the life supply, then to whom would we minister?
However, He gave us two categories of things: one is His possessions, the other is the talents.
Today we have the church with all the believers as the possession, the portion to us, to which we
can give something, and we have the talents as the spiritual gifts. You cannot say you are not
gifted. Actually, you are much gifted. For this reason I have always encouraged you to function.
Some may consider this to be merely my practice. They may say that in all of Christianity they
only saw the practice of good preachers speaking to a crowd. They never saw a meeting with so
many standing up to speak. Some have even called this a popcorn meeting. One after another
stands up like popcorn popping. It is very good to have a popcorn meeting. This is altogether
what we expect to have. This is not my teaching; this is the Bibles teaching (1 Cor. 14:24, 26,
29-32). We all have to learn to function. This is the reason that even in a ministry meeting, I
always like to leave half an hour for you to pop up. Do not just be stuck to your chair. It seems
as if there is a strong glue to keep many of you stuck to the chair. You have to jump up to say
something. For you to speak is to minister food to the Lords household at the appointed time.

Whoever serves food knows the appointed time. If you are serving food every day, you have to
make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. To prepare a cup of coffee and buy a doughnut for breakfast is
the lazy way. If we are like this in the spiritual realm, we will be poor servants to minister the life
supply to the masters folks at the appointed time. The appointed time in the morning is
breakfast. Also, good wives prepare the best sandwiches for their husbands to bring to the office
for lunch at the appointed time and are accustomed to preparing a big dinner for their family.
In like manner, whenever we meet together, this is one of the appointed times for you to minister
the proper food to the Lords folks. Suppose, however, that I was sloppy, not reading the Word. If
I did not labor adequately in the Word and came to speak to you, I would just be ministering to
you a cup of coffee and some doughnuts. To cook a nourishing, good breakfast, requires your
diligence. According to the context of this parable, the faithful one is the diligent one. Faithful
here equals diligence, and slothful equals lazy. We must be diligent in seeking the Word that we
could prepare to serve good food when we come to the meeting. The eating time is the appointed
time, and the meeting time is the appointed time. We have the appointed time on the Lords Day
morning, on the Lords Day evening, Tuesday evening, and Friday evening. The meeting times
are the appointed times when we all have to minister some portion of the life supply to our folks,
to our fellow believers, to our possessions.
The Lord has given us the church as the object for us to serve, and He has also given us the
ability, the skill, the gift, to care for our obligation. We may also enlarge the interpretation of the
term possessions. Do you not believe that all the sinners belong to the Lord? All the sinners
belong to the Lord; they are all the Lords possessions, and the Lord has given them to us. The
translators of the Recovery Version were very careful in their translation of this portion. In verse
14 the possessions are delivered, and in verse 15 the gifts are given. The Lord did not give us the
church with the believers; the Lord delivered these to us. In the same sense the Lord has
delivered all the sinners to us. The possessions not only denote the church with the believers as
the Lords possessions, but also all the sinners. The Lord has surely delivered to us the church
with all the believers and all the sinners that we may take care of them for His sake.
To care for them is simply to feed them, to minister food to them. To the sinners the proper food
we minister is the gospel of Christ. The nurses in the hospitals know that they must serve the
patients with different meals. Different food is ministered to different patients to meet their
specific needs. It is the same with us. The entire earth is a hospital, full of sickness and full of all
kinds of sick people. Even the church in a good sense is also a hospital, full of sick people.
Therefore, we have to minister different words to them at the appointed time. The Lords
possessions are always around you. The believers, the churches, and even the more all the
sinners are around you. It is your duty, your obligation, to minister food to them. If they are
sinners, you have to minister the gospel of grace to them as the food they need. If they are
believers sick of something, then you need to minister some word from the Bible that suits their
condition, either to nourish them, to heal them, to strengthen them, or to wake them up. To do

this is to be a faithful and prudent slave, ministering the proper food to the Lords possessions,
which are all kinds of persons, at the appointed time. When you enter into your office, you must
realize that this is one of the appointed times to minister the proper food of the gospel to the
unbelieving ones. When you go to school, even if you are not going there to teach but to attend
classes, all the classmates around you are the Lords possessions delivered to you that you may
take the opportunity, the appointed time, to minister the gospel to them.
MAKING A PROFIT
IN THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL

In the first of these two portions of Scripture, the Lord spoke of food, related to our service.
However, in the second portion, the parable, the Lord spoke of profit in business. We all have to
make a profit. As a servant commissioned by the Lord to take care of His household, we need to
serve food, but as a slave in the parable of Matthew 25:14-30, we need to make a profit. The
more you preach the gospel, the more you have the feeling that you have more talent. As I am
speaking, I feel my talent is increasing. The more I minister something to you, the more profit I
make; it increases my talent.
Each one of us will have no excuse at the judgment seat of Christ. Every day is an appointed
time for us to minister the proper food to anyone, and every day is a proper time for us to make
some profit. For this reason I have been declaring, Rise up, and wake up! We all have to rise
up and wake up to be diligent, to be faithful, to be prudent and not foolish, to minister the proper
food to the needy ones at the appointed time, and also to use our talent or talents. Perhaps you
only have one talent; actually most of the believers only have one talent. The danger is not with
the ones who have five talents or two talents. The danger is always with the one-talented ones,
who are always thinking, I do not have much gift; what I have is just a little; whether I function
or not means nothing. Actually, it means much.
Since October of 1984 when I went to Taipei, I did many things at a risk. My burden was to stir
up the saints to adequately care for their obligation in the matter of preaching the gospel. In 1985
the church in Taipei baptized over five thousand people. Recently they began to have a gospelpreaching practice. The gospel teams going out to the nearby villages baptized thirteen hundred
new believers in less than two weeks. They went to the villages, baptized people, cast out
demons, and healed the sick.
In a training of one hundred thirty young full-timers who had the burden to go to the villages, I
told them that they must exercise in faith to cast out demons when they went to preach the gospel
to the sinners (Luke 10:17; Matt. 10:1). According to the New Testament you do not need to wait
to be asked to cast out demons. The demons are devilish, something satanic, and we must cast
out anything of the Devil for Gods kingdom. Whenever there is a case of demon possession, you
have to cast out the demons. However, whenever there are any sick ones, do not go right away to

heal them; you have to be asked. To cast out demons you do not need to be asked, but to heal the
sick you have to be asked. When they ask you, you may do it. A little over one month after this
time they went out to practice the preaching of the gospel with the casting out of the demons and
healing of the sick. It really worked. I told them not to promote healing as the Pentecostals do. If
you are going to promote this, eventually you will be pretending that you can heal people. When
you are asked to heal the sick, just do it according to the Bible by faith. Whether the sick one will
be healed or not, leave this matter to the hands of the Lord. Just act according to His Word. I am
so happy to hear the news that they did this!
On one occasion the brothers went to a little mountain to pray. One of the villagers learned that
there was a group of Christians there, and he went to join them. He asked the brothers if they
were Christians. They told him they were and that they were preaching the gospel. He said that
he was a Baptist, yet he had been sick for a few years, and asked if the brothers laid their hands
on people and prayed for the sick. When the brothers replied that they did, he asked if they
would lay their hands upon him and pray for him. The brothers agreed, and the man was healed.
He was so joyful and full of praise. No doubt, this kind of person would always attract his
relatives and friends. There was a revival in the villages. There was also the casting out of the
demons there. However, the brothers and sisters were charged not to boast of these things and not
to promote them; our boast is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we must promote the gospel.
Although the brothers and sisters went out for less than two weeks, they baptized thirteen
hundred people. Furthermore, they expect to baptize many more before the completion of their
gospel preaching.
On the one hand, those dear ones in Taiwan were making a profit. On the other hand, they were
feeding the hungry sinners in the villages with the food of the gospel. Many were fed and
became satisfied and so joyful. Their joy spontaneously became a testimony in those villages. To
some degree it might not be so easy in the cities with educated people because the educated
people are not so simple as the villagers. However, please do not think that those people in the
villages in Taiwan are uneducated; they all have a certain amount of education. In the cities, in
the schools and offices, we still have a great possibility to feed people with the food of the
gospel. It all depends upon our faithfulness. We must be faithful. Deducting all the holidays and
weekends, there are still over two hundred days in a year in which you go to your place of
business or to school. Every day is an appointed time for you to minister the food of the gospel to
your contacts. Do you not believe that within one year you will gain one person?
Apparently it has been very difficult to gain a new person. We have been cheated; we have been
made disappointed. We do not have the faith, the morale, the impact with the full assurance, that
we will gain someone. You had better quietly consider why, within one year of at least two
hundred working days, you could not gain one. It is not logical. There has been no increase
because you became disappointed.

All the believers should be the fishers of men (Matt. 4:19). Sometimes at the schools the fish will
jump not only at your feet, but also into your bosom. However, you may not have wanted that.
How can you get a fish if you have no intention to get one? You may prefer to keep the fish
away. This is the real case, and this is the reason why I am fellowshipping with you in this way.
You need to make some profit. You need to gain some oil.
A WORD OF SUPPLY AND A WORD OF WARNING

Who knows that the Lord will not come back soon? Recently, the destruction of the space shuttle
Challenger attracted the attention of the whole nation. I felt sorry for the ones who died in it and
sorry for our country. Would that not be a warning to us, though? Who among us can know when
will be the appointed time for us to die? We should take this as a warning. If a real Christian dies
without the adequate supply of oil in his vessel, his soul, and if he has not made much profit for
the Lord, he will regret in the next age that he had wasted his time. I believe some of those who
love the Lord were warned through this incident. We do not know, as the Lord said in Matthew
24:36, the hour or the day of His coming back. We do not even know the hour, the time, or the
day of the month of our death. Our life is so fragile (Psa. 39:4). With a little accident we might
be killed.
As we read these portions concerning the watchfulness in life and concerning the faithfulness in
service we should be warned. We must be enlightened that to have an extra portion of the oil, the
Spirit, in our whole being, is not as simple as getting saved. We can be saved and regenerated
instantly. To have the Holy Spirit come into our spirit is simple, but to have an extra portion of
the Holy Spirit to fill you up, to saturate your entire being, takes much time. This is clearly
indicated in the New Testament. To bear a child requires nine months. However, to grow up to be
a full-grown person requires at least eighteen to twenty-one years. In the Bible the required age
for entrance into the Lords service as an apprentice is twenty-five years (Num. 8:24); the full,
legal age for the priest is thirty years (Num. 4:3). To prepare an extra portion of the Spirit to fill
your being, that is, to have the full growth, requires time. I dare not to say that I am fully grown.
However, I do believe that in the Lords hand there might be a record that says I have grown
much. Yet, I still need some more growth. Consider your situation related to the growth in life
and related to the profit for the Lord. My burden, and my hearts desire is to pass this fellowship
on to you.
At this time, rise up and wake up to seek after the extra portion of the oil daily, and do some
business with the talent you have received of the Lord to make a profit. If you do not, you will
suffer. This suffering will not be immediately after you die; the suffering will be at His coming
back. All the dead saints will resurrect to be raptured with the living ones to the air to meet the
Lord and to stand before His judgment seat. Then He will settle accounts with you. You must
keep a good account. We all know that to keep a good account is not a one day matter; it is a
lifelong matter. You all must have some profit accumulated, a deposit built up.

This word in the plain speaking in 24:45-51 and in the parable in 25:14-30 is altogether
adequate. We will have no excuse. Therefore, please rise up, wake up, and do not take any
excuse. The one-talented one argued with the Lord, taking to Him a very good excuse, saying,
Lord, I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where
you did not scatter (Matt. 25:24). The Lord admitted that was true, but said, Evil and slothful
slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter. You ought
therefore to have deposited my silver with the bankers, and when I came I would have recovered
what is mine with interest (Matt. 25:26-27). The word of the one-talented slave condemned him.
Actually, we have no excuse at all. May this portion of the Word give us a word of supply and a
word of warning.