The Differences Between Speaking the Words and Doctrines and the Truth Reality (Excerpt 65)
Some leaders and workers can’t see practical problems that exist in the church. While at a gathering, they feel like they have nothing worthwhile to say, so they just force themselves to offer up some words and doctrines. They know perfectly well that what they are saying is mere doctrine, but they say it anyway. In the end, even they feel that their words are insipid, and their brothers and sisters don’t find it edifying either. If you’re unaware of this problem, but just stubbornly go on saying such things, then the Holy Spirit isn’t working, and there’s no benefit to people. If you have not experienced the truth, yet you still want to speak about it, then no matter what you say, you will not be able to penetrate through to the truth; anything you say further will just be words and doctrines. You may think that they are somewhat enlightened, but they are just doctrines; they are not the truth reality. No matter how hard they try, anyone listening will not be able to grasp anything real from them. While listening, they might feel that what you say is quite correct, but afterward, they will forget it completely. If you do not talk about your actual states, then you will not be able to touch people’s hearts, and people won’t remember it after they hear it. It has nothing constructive to offer. When you encounter a situation like this, you should be aware that what you’re saying isn’t practical; it’ll be no good for anyone if you go on talking like that, and it’ll be even more awkward if someone raises a question that you can’t answer. You should stop right away and let other people fellowship—that would be the wise choice. When you’re in an assembly and know something about a particular issue, you can offer some practical stuff about it. It may be a bit superficial, but everyone will understand it. If you always want to speak in a deeper way to impress people and you can never seem to get it across, then you should just drop it. Everything you say from then on will be empty doctrine; you should let someone else go before you continue fellowshipping. If you feel that what you understand is doctrine and saying it won’t be constructive, the Holy Spirit won’t work when you speak in such an instance. If you force yourself to speak, you could end up with absurdities and deviations, and you could lead people astray. Most people have such poor foundations and poor caliber that they can’t take in deeper things in a short time or easily remember them. With things that are distorted, regulatory, and doctrinal, on the other hand, they’re quite quick on the uptake. This is wicked of them, isn’t it? So, you must stick to principles when you fellowship on the truth and speak on whatever you understand. There is vanity in people’s hearts, and sometimes, when their vanity takes the reins, they insist on speaking, even when they know that what they’re saying is doctrine. They think, “My brothers and sisters may not be able to tell. I’m going to ignore all of that for the sake of my reputation. Keeping up appearances is what matters right now.” Isn’t this an attempt to fool people? This is disloyal to God! If it’s someone who has any sense, they’ll feel remorseful and that they should stop speaking. They’ll feel that they should change the subject and fellowship on something they have experience with, or maybe their understanding and knowledge of the truth. However much someone understands, that’s how much they should say. There’s a limit to the practical things someone can say, however much talking they do. Without experience, your imaginings and your thinking are just theory, just things of human notions. Words that are the truth require genuine experience to understand, and no one can completely comprehend the essence of the truth without experience, much less completely explain the state of experiencing a truth. You have to have some experience of the truth to have something practical to say. It doesn’t happen without experience. And even if you have the experience, still, you have it in a limited way. There are certain, limited states you can speak on, but beyond those, you have nothing to offer. Fellowship in an assembly should always revolve around one or two subjects. You’ll have gained quite a lot if you manage to make them clearer in fellowship. Don’t get caught up trying to say more things or grander things—no one can get anything across that way, and there’s no benefit to anyone. Assemblies are about taking turns to speak, and as long as the content is practical, people stand to benefit from it. Stop going around thinking that one person can fellowship all of the truth clearly on their own; that’s impossible. Sometimes you might think that you’re communicating in a very practical manner, but your brothers and sisters still do not really understand. This is because your state is your state, and the states of your brothers and sisters are not necessarily exactly the same as your own. In addition, you might have some experience with this subject, but your brothers and sisters might not, so they feel that what you’re talking about doesn’t apply to them. What should you do when you encounter this sort of situation? You should ask them some questions to get a bearing on their conditions. Ask them what they will do when this subject comes up, and how they should practice in line with the truth. By fellowshipping in this manner for a while, a path forward will open up. In this way, you can lead people onto the proper topic at hand, and if you keep fellowshipping, you will achieve results.
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