HOW TO CONTACT PEOPLE (3)
We have seen that in all our contact with people, we must cherish them with the goal of nourishing them with the unsearchable riches of Christ. We ourselves must be constituted with the riches of Christ revealed in the Bible if we are going to dispense these riches into others.
The Bible was first written, then translated, and finally interpreted and explained. According to our old way, many of us have been listening to messages interpreting the Bible for years, but when we go to contact people, we still do not know what to say. This is why I have shared that we need to follow the pattern of the saints in Taiwan to practice PSRP—pray-reading, studying, reciting, and prophesying. All of this requires time. Pray-reading cannot be done lightly. Then we need to study the truths word by word, term by term, and phrase by phrase. For instance, John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then verse 14 says that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality. Many read these verses without understanding them. This is why we need the word to be interpreted to us.
Acts 8 gives us a very good example of this. The Ethiopian eunuch whom Philip contacted was reading from Isaiah, and Philip asked him, “Do you really know the things that you are reading?” The eunuch responded, “How could I unless someone guides me?” ( vv. 30-31 ). Philip interpreted the word to this eunuch, and he believed in the Lord and was baptized ( vv. 35-38 ). Some people have said that all we need is the “pure Word,” but how can we understand it? Acts 8 shows that we need the Word interpreted to us.
Our study equips us to interpret the Word to others. By my study of the Word throughout the years, I saw that grace is God gained and enjoyed by us, and reality is God realized by us. We have to gain Him, receive Him, and enjoy Him as grace. Then we have to realize Him as the reality. Although points like this have been made clear in our Life-study of the Bible, we may not pay attention to them to study them. In order to be constituted with the truth, we need to pray-read and then study. Pray-reading verses such as John 1:1 and 14 lays a good foundation. Then we can study the crucial points of these verses with the help of the Life-studies. With this help we can find out what grace and reality are. We have to study the truths word by word, term by term, and phrase by phrase. Spontaneously, we will be able to recite what we have pray-read and studied. In addition to our personal study, we also need to study with others. This kind of study cannot be carried out in big meetings. It can be carried out mutually in vital group meetings of six to not more than ten saints. (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups”, ch. 16, pp. 184-188)
The church in Zamboanga 