Maturity in Life, Being Constituted with the Word, Being Perfected through Training, and Being at Peace through Faith

God wanted to dispense His life into us, but to do this He had to take the way of the cross; He had to pass through death and resurrect from death, and only then was He able to dispense this life into us who believe. This is the way of the cross—a grain of wheat that does not fall into the ground and die abides alone, but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. The Lord Jesus is that one divine grain of wheat who passed through the way of the cross, passed through death, and resurrected from death to become the life-giving Spirit; and through the life-giving Spirit He dispenses this life into us. How do we obtain this life? Through faith! When we believe in Him, we obtain Him; this faith causes us to contact the life of God, and the life of God is dispensed into us. Being at peace through faith, we gradually grow until we reach the stage of maturity. Oh, when we have this realization, then while we are still living, we should come well to read the Lord's word. The Lord's word has the spirit and has life. It is not enough merely to call on the Lord's name; we still need to spend much more effort on the Lord's word.

We tend to lay more emphasis on our service, so in the church life, whether or not you love the Lord is seen in whether or not you serve; we may not necessarily be that touched by the Lord's word, but as to serving or not serving, we feel that this can please the Lord. Yet what truly brings us God's blessing is that we spend effort on His word. I have always felt that what I lack the most is spending effort on the Lord's word—I read a little and then fall asleep, I read a little and then break off. When I have this experience, before the Lord there is a delight: while the Lord still grants me a breath, I should come well to spend effort on the Lord's word. So, brothers and sisters, your coming to attend the middle-aged training is indeed a special blessing that God has given us. Apart from the middle-aged training one may not necessarily be able to spend the effort, but coming into the middle-aged training, there are many companions pursuing together, there is the pursuit in the Lord's word, and there is the mutual stirring up, which causes us to receive more of the dispensing of the divine life. We hope that the brothers and sisters who come to attend this training must surely have a clear vision—here we let the Lord's word saturate us, and here, through the two short semesters, we change the habits of our living so that we have a thirst for the Lord's word, are more saturated in the Lord's word, and let the Lord's word be constituted into us; and that constitution is an expression.

The trainees of the middle-aged training come from everywhere, and because of such a blending we are able to have coordination and building up with the many members; this also is what God wants. We have nothing to boast of, and we should never feel that we are stronger than others in any aspect; we truly empty ourselves through the training and give the Lord more opportunities to work on us. We must have a willing heart; as long as we are willing, the Lord has a way in us. As we pursue together, most people have this feeling: How is this book to be read? I have never read so many books. We have to attend classes today; what shall we do? I have never written so much homework; when I was a student I never did things this way; but now coming to the middle-aged training is something I chose myself, so I must rely on the Lord's grace and press on; relying on the Lord's grace, I must exercise; relying on the Lord's grace, I must go out. It is not a competition, but a matter of letting the Lord find a way out in us. If you are not a trainee, you would not dare to go out to knock on doors; but here, because knocking on doors is a class, we go out! Gradually you become bold, gradually you experience God's grace, you dare to preach the gospel to others, and you dare to rise up to prophesy—these are all the perfecting that the training affords us. I also hope that within this very short time we will be able to have more knowledge of one another. We are together members of the Body of Christ, and within the Body we want to enjoy the riches of the Body. We do not admire others' gifts; rather, we are willing to be more open to the brothers and sisters, to have more blending, and to draw on the riches in others, so that these riches all become ours, and God can be glorified in us. Thank and praise the Lord!

I was saved by grace in 1961, saved when I was eleven years old; this year I am sixty-nine, and I have walked the Lord's way for nearly sixty years, with no regret. Although I too am unworthy, I have no regret in walking the Lord's way. It was the Lord's mercy; I laid down my job to serve full-time, and that has been more than thirty years. People consider us very strange: How could you become a pastor? It seems to be something people look down upon. At that time I said I was living quite well; although I had passed through so much suffering, it did not cause us to stumble; rather, through my own process, it caused us to depend on the Lord more, and there was nothing to be afraid of. When I was young, in the process of growing up, I was a healthy child, a representative of the whole school. I have twin younger brothers, Wu Xinghua (吳興華) and Wu Fuhua (吳復華); they were the champions of the twins' group, and I was the champion of the individual group, so I often boasted about my good health. But before long, in my thirties, I had a stroke; once I had a stroke I discovered that man truly has nothing to boast of—the part you think is your strongest is actually, if not for the Lord's mercy, unable to withstand a single blow. Once you have a stroke, everything is finished. Thank and praise the Lord! I did not fall through the stroke; I recovered quickly. I have had three strokes; few people can survive three strokes. Do you think I look like someone who has had strokes? I am still doing quite well. Therefore we need to trust in the Lord more; man amounts to nothing—if there were no Lord, truly, man amounts to nothing. I have many schoolmates; some have been quite successful in their careers, but by this age there is nothing to boast of, and everyone is talking about how their physical strength is not sufficient and how their days are few. They look at me and feel it very strange: "You are still quite joyful; when you encounter major things, you still thank the Lord?" I say, "Yes, we thank the Lord." What else should I say? So it is truly good to believe in the Lord; it causes us to be aligned with the Lord, and we believe more and more. Amen!

(Fellowship at the Spring 2019 Commencement of the Middle-Aged Training)