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When Paul met the Lord on his way to Damascus, the Lord said to him, “I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister and a witness both of the things in which you have seen Me and of the things in which I will appear to you” (Acts 26:16). Two “things” are mentioned in this verse: the things in which Paul had seen the Lord and the things in which the Lord was to appear to Paul. It is not easy to see the content of these two “things” from reading Acts alone. In Paul’s Epistles, however, it is easier to see that the things in which he had seen Christ are related to Christ Himself and that the things in which the Lord would later appear to him are related to the church. Paul’s main testimony was of Christ and the church.
In Colossians we see the things of Christ, and in Ephesians we see the things of the church. In Colossians 2:2 Paul speaks of “the mystery of God, Christ.” The things concerning Christ are related to the mystery of God. God is a mystery, and no one can know or understand Him. Although God is a mystery, Christ is the story of this mystery. Christ is God’s story; God’s details are revealed through Christ. This is the reason that Colossians speaks of Christ as the mystery of God. In Ephesians 3:4-6 Paul speaks of the church as “the mystery of Christ.” The story and details of God are revealed through Christ, and the story and details of Christ are revealed through the church. Hence, these two books reveal two mysteries — the mystery of God and the mystery of Christ. The mystery of God is Christ; the mystery of Christ is the church. We have spoken of these mysteries for more than twenty years here in Taiwan, and we have published numerous messages related to them in The Ministry of the Word magazine.
However, I must mention something. Although we have been speaking on these matters for many years, it seems as if the co-workers’ messages and work and the results of their work are not related to the speaking of the ministry concerning Christ and the church. The messages of the ministry and the work of the co-workers seem to be unconnected and even far removed from each other. This shows that we have not entered into the vision of the mystery of God and the mystery of Christ; this vision does not control our work. Although we have heard messages and read books related to these two mysteries, our actual work is quite removed from the central vision of Christ and the church. We must bow our heads to admit that we have not entered into this vision even though we have heard these terms. This vision does not control us.
Christians are in a pitiful condition because for centuries they have not let the Lord bring them into this vision. The speaking in the denominations today shows that Christians are far removed from this vision in their actual living. They do not even know how to speak of this vision in a clear and definite way. Any speaking related to Christ and the church is mixed with human, cultural, moral, and religious concepts. Although this is the condition of Christianity today, we are not completely removed from this condition either. In our messages we still combine verses and excerpts from the ministry books with our cultural, moral, and religious concepts. Those who speak among us do not have a clear sky, and those who hear do not have a strong discernment. Consequently, everyone is unclear about this vision. The work of the co-workers is equally unclear; it is as if blue is not blue, green is not green, black is not black, and white is not white. There are no clear boundaries. Such a mixed and unclear condition makes it difficult for God to bless us; this is the reason that we do not have much fruit in various localities.
According to the situation in all the local churches, we need to be thoroughly trained. Training can be likened to a doctor speaking to his patient. It is the responsibility of a doctor to speak truthful words, not pleasing words; however, truthful words are often bitter and hard to take. We need to be calm and ask ourselves before the Lord about the testimony of the churches in Southeast Asia. There have been churches in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand for three to four decades, but no one can say that he is satisfied with the number of saints and the number of churches. We should bow our heads and admit that our vision is not clear or strong. Speaking more accurately, we are lacking in vision. Likewise, we do not have a strong vision in our work; therefore, we do not have much fruit.
According to our God-created human nature, every man has an inclination and a desire to accomplish something. Regardless of one’s profession, everyone has a goal. Even bandits have a goal. Having a vision and a goal is essential to achieving anything. It is difficult for others to regard an unaccomplished person with much seriousness. Man was created by God, and in his created human nature, there is an inclination to pursue toward a goal. Our work, however, is like a rudderless ship that is in the hands of captains who do not have a compass; consequently, we are drifting. This is a true portrayal of our work. Our work has no goal, and our messages have no set direction; we speak as we please on one thing today and on another thing next week. In the end neither the leading ones nor the saints know where we are going. Truthfully, this is a deplorable situation.
Recently, some saints from the churches in Manila, Singapore, and Hong Kong visited a district for the bread-breaking meeting. As soon as the bread and the cup were passed, a responsible brother stood up and said, “I thank and praise the Lord for the brothers visiting today. Let us hear some fellowship from them.” As soon as he said this, the ship was handed over to others. This shows that the responsible brother was steering the ship without a compass. During a recent Lord’s Day meeting, a responsible brother saw me and said, “Thank the Lord, Brother Lee is here today; we have hope.” I responded, saying, “I will not speak. You are steering the ship here and doing a good job. If you hand the ship over to me just because I am here, there will be no direction.” Sometimes we hand the ship over to others, and we do not even know when they have run it aground. This damages the purpose of the meeting and accomplishes nothing. A directionless meeting can be likened to hot and sour soup that is neither hot nor sour. Who would want such a tasteless soup? The believers who come to such a meeting will feel cheated and will never come back again. If our meetings accomplish nothing and have no goal, no vision, no revelation, and no spirit, people will have no desire to come back.
The co-workers must prostrate themselves before the Lord and endeavor to accomplish something definite. The New Jerusalem has a wall that is one hundred forty-four cubits high (Rev. 21:17); it has definite boundaries and specifications. Yet we have created an atmosphere of indifference toward our messages, our work, and our meetings. Even more grievous, some co-workers are defiled by sin, yet they feel nothing. Others sin again and again, yet they are not dealt with properly. Such co-workers should leave, and the other co-workers should be rebuked for being indifferent to sin. This is not a proper condition.
During a recent service meeting of the church in Taipei, a brother from another locality sat in the back of the room and stood up to speak three times. It was a meeting for the brothers and sisters from the various districts in Taipei, but this brother joined the meeting and openly expressed his opinions. This was a grave mistake that shows that we do not take the church and the Lord’s work seriously. How can we expect the Lord’s blessing in such a condition? The Lord’s blessings are like rain. Although rain comes from heaven, there must be the proper vessels to receive it. If our special service meetings are not proper, there is little doubt that our work and our meetings will be lacking in definite accomplishments. Many of us have consecrated ourselves to serve full time, even abandoning our futures, but we are actually forsaking our consecration when we work without a vision and a goal.
We must see that the mystery of God is Christ and that the mystery of Christ is the church. We have been speaking about the mystery of God and the mystery of Christ for many years. However, I have not seen the co-workers in the Far East take the vision of the mystery of God and the mystery of Christ seriously. If I give a message in the United States, the brothers and sisters will focus on it for a long time, but it seems as if there is an indifferent attitude here. It is as if we can take it or leave it. God’s blessing depends on our cooperation, and the extent of our cooperation determines the extent of God’s blessing. If we have an indifferent attitude toward God’s blessings, we will not succeed in anything we do. Everything we do must matter and must yield results.
We need to pray that the Lord would grant us to see the vision of the mystery of God and the mystery of Christ. The mystery of God is the story of the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Christ, the Son, is also the Father and the Spirit (Isa. 9:6; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). As the source, God is the Father. As the expression, God is the Son, and as the realization, application, and entering into man, God is the Spirit. Christ is the mystery of God; He is everything — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — to work Himself as the mystical One, the wonderful One, and the rich One into us. The focus of our work must be to go to the churches and to work this matter into the brothers and sisters so that they may see that the Triune God wants to work Himself into us. We must speak this regardless of our capability so that the brothers and sisters in every locality can see that the Triune God — the Father as the source, the Son as the expression, and the Spirit as the realization — wants to work Himself into us. We must give messages on this topic every week for a whole year. Furthermore, we must speak livingly and thoroughly until the saints are touched inwardly. After we speak on the mystery of God, we must speak on the mystery of Christ, the church. We need to speak message after message about the human spirit being a vessel to contact God, to contain God, to digest God, and out from which God can spread into every part of our being. We should list all the verses on the human spirit in the New Testament and focus on them verse by verse, speaking continually for a year or two until the saints are ushered into the spirit. The brothers in Hong Kong have done this to some extent over the years, but strictly speaking, I have not seen co-workers elsewhere who are speaking and doing the same thing.
In our work, giving messages is like teaching in school, but we are grossly unprepared. When it is “class time,” we do not know whether we are teaching literature, history, or geography. I do not know what people have learned over the years from meeting with us. In such a condition, how can our work be blessed? How can seeking ones come? The condition of the co-workers and our overall situation is one of indifference. Forgive me for saying this, but our condition in principle is the same as that of Christianity. We lift up the banner of Jesus Christ, but we are wholly indifferent and do not know what we are doing. The co-workers, the elders, and even the responsible ones in the districts are indifferent; everyone is indifferent.
There was once a brother named John Sung who, from the standpoint of the truth, did not preach the gospel so accurately. However, he had one goal — to speak until people repented, until people were convicted in their conscience and confessed even with tears and much weeping. He would speak twice a day for two hours each time to impart a sense of sin into people so that they would repent. His messages were actually not fully according to the truth, but he had a goal and a direction. Hence, he was fruitful.
In Philippians 3:14 Paul says, “I pursue toward the goal.” This indicates that Paul had a vision. In verses 5 and 6 Paul describes himself as being “of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to the righteousness which is in the law, become blameless.” At one time Paul was more religious than all the other religionists. Nevertheless, he counted all these things as loss so that he could pursue toward the goal of living Christ. If we look at the entire Epistle to the Philippians, we will see that Paul’s goal was the Christ who lives in us. Paul also warned the Philippians to “beware of the dogs,” who were injecting them with their religious poison (v. 2). These “dogs” were in contrast to “the ones who serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh” (v. 3). We must never be caught by any religion; we must regard religion as refuse (v. 8). Paul regarded all the religionists as biting dogs; we must fear them and beware of them, on the one hand, and pursue Christ, on the other hand. If we apply this principle to ourselves, we may discover that the routine things we do in our service may have been affected by religion. For example, even though we may have a morning watch, we may not be in Christ. We must beware of religion because it is possible that even we can become “religious dogs.” We must thus flee from our religion. Only a vision can truly touch other people’s feelings; religious or natural messages mean nothing.
If we see the vision, we will be delivered from our natural views and understandings even in our reading of the Bible. I was recently at a bread-breaking meeting where a sister fellowshipped about 1 John 3:1, which says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” When she spoke of the Father’s love, her speaking was based on a natural understanding. She understood the literal significance of the verse but not its inner revelation. The verse indeed says that God loves us and that we should be called children of God, but the emphasis is on God’s being in us today as our life, our fellowship, and our anointing. His nature has become our nature, His fellowship of life has become our fellowship of life, and He is the inward anointing that is constantly anointing us. It is easy to read the Bible literally, but it is another matter to see the deeper points. When, for example, the Lord Jesus referred to God as “the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Mark 12:26), He was talking to the Sadducees about resurrection. Although the word resurrection is not used in this verse, the Lord used the name the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob to reveal the matter of resurrection. This is vision.
Our meetings and our work in the church are not weighty, because of our lack of vision. If a school is run in a weighty manner, good students will come. If we rely only on zeal, we will produce something that is lacking in vision, light, and revelation, and people will not remain. This is our problem.
Although some brothers have seen some revelation, their looseness damages their speaking. For example, a brother once said, “After the breath of life was breathed into man in Genesis 2:7, man received God’s element, God’s life.” His speaking was about life, but it was loose and not according to the truth. When God breathed into man the breath of life, man did not receive God’s element, God’s life; instead, he became only a living soul. Thus, he still needed to be put in front of the tree of life to take in God as life (vv. 7-9). We must be careful and not speak about things concerning which we do not have the full assurance. In order to be an expert in anything, we must be disciplined and focused. Once we are loose, there are no standards or guidelines. Whether in our work or in our reading of the Bible, many of us are quite loose because we start but never finish. This is sufficient proof of our looseness in the Lord’s work and in our leading the church. In order to release the Lord’s word with proper utterance, we must be focused and disciplined.
Many people have a problem related to looseness and a lack of focus, but we should not serve the Lord in such a way. When we release the truth, there must be an introduction and a conclusion. If we are loose, we will speak in a light way. In order to release the truth, however, we must be serious. We must address every matter seriously, even our own personal matters. If some co-workers are working in Thailand for three years, they should either not mention the mystery of God at all or take it so seriously that all the saints in Thailand would know the mystery of God. Even though we have all heard and seen a little of the vision that God has given us throughout the ages, we have not taken it seriously. As a result, we can do only a little here and a little there in our work.
The Ministry of the Word began to be published in 1951, three years after we arrived in Taiwan. In the twenty-plus years since then, more suppliers of the word should have been raised up. But after more than twenty years, we do not see many who can supply the word that the Lord has given to us. God is the source of the supply of the word, and we should enter into the supply that He has provided. In my work in mainland China, I was very much aware that the supply of the word was not with me but with Brother Nee. I gave myself fully to be in the supply of his ministry. Today we should immerse ourselves in the supply of the word; if we do, there will be no lack.
The churches in the United States serve the saints by bringing them into this supply of the word. When some of the local leading ones felt that they had something, I did not compel them to receive from this supply. I am not afraid of letting people compare the goods, even though I realize that some do not have an “eye” for the goods. After several years of doing things themselves, the eyes of these brothers were opened, and they acknowledged their need. This is a strength of the American saints — they are very straightforward. Once they see a lack, they are willing to receive from others. Once they saw that others had gold and that they themselves had only brass, they dropped their things and followed absolutely. This is part of their character. The character of the Chinese is not as strict, and it tolerates procrastination. This is harmful.
Nevertheless, we believe that the Lord is not without hope today. We must prostrate ourselves before the Lord and have a thorough turn in order for the Lord’s vision to become our goal. We need to devote ourselves to this vision and cling to it as a matter of life and death. This will be a source of hope among us. If we are not disciplined in this way, I absolutely believe that the Lord will not have a way to go on with us.
We must worship the Lord for one thing: According to our observation of history and the condition of Christianity today, we can say that God has revealed His intention to us. Hence, we have indeed received a vision. I was saved at a very young age, and I pursued much and tried my best to buy spiritual books to read. I was familiar with all the famous Christian figures in the East and in the West. However, when I compared these books with the messages that the Lord was releasing through Brother Nee, I saw clearly what was superior and what was inferior. A comparison of goods is never a problem unless a person is unable to recognize the superior quality of the goods. When I read Brother Nee’s messages, I firmly believed that the Lord’s way and the Lord’s vision were with him. From that day I resolved to follow the Lord according to what I saw, and to this day I have no regrets.
When the Lord brought me overseas, I still had hope that others could be raised up to speak of this vision. However, more than twenty years have passed, and no other ministry of the word has been raised up by the Lord in the East or in the West. In the United Kingdom there was once a considerable release of spiritual riches, but its present cannot compare with its past. In the United States the content of many so-called Christian magazines is quite mixed. Therefore, we can only bow and worship God for His vision among us. As a result of this, once the Lord’s testimony reached the United States, it attracted many people; among these are brothers and sisters who were pastors, missionaries, and seminary graduates.
Recently, a pair of sibling brothers began to meet with us. The older brother was a traveling preacher, and the younger brother accompanied him as the choir leader. During one of their travels, they invited an American preacher to speak, and this preacher spoke entirely from the book The Economy of God. This preacher openly acknowledged that his speaking was based on this book. When the two brothers took him to the airport, the preacher gave them The Economy of God and The All-inclusive Christ. The brothers took the books home, read them, and realized that the preacher’s speaking was truly taken from these books. Shortly thereafter, the two brothers began to meet with us, even though the preacher did not take this way. When these two brothers later shared their testimony with the preacher, he said that this ministry was the highest ministry on the earth.
This shows that the Lord’s recovery is not a matter of doctrine but of vision. Today there is no book in Christianity that speaks clearly concerning the mystery of God and the mystery of Christ. It is a great mercy that the Lord has shown us so much. Consequently, we must not take for granted what the Lord has shown us of Christ being the mystery of God and the church being the mystery of Christ. These two mysteries are the story of the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. I hope that we would spend considerable time and energy to pursue and pray about this matter in order to know Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ. We must open our spirit and enter into this vision. The Lord is not after holiness, spirituality, or victory. The Lord wants to bring us into this vision so that we may see that the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — is the all-inclusive Spirit who has entered into us to be our everything. We are the mystery of Christ, the church, because He is in us. The all-inclusive Spirit is mingled with our human spirit; hence, we must live in this Spirit.
The history of the Lord’s recovery, the history of the church, involves two spirits — the divine Spirit and the human spirit — being mingled as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). The all-inclusive divine Spirit has been mingled with our human spirit. Never in history has this vision been revealed so clearly. Although the saints among us seemingly understand this, they do not care much for it. It is as if they have been given a treasure but are willing to put it aside in a corner while they care for other things in their living and work. We have neglected this treasure, and thus, we have lost the goal and the blessing.
The burden of this chapter is to call us to return to this treasure. Nothing is more precious than this treasure. I am not boasting, but for over fifty years I have been studying in this field. I have studied and handled truths concerning holiness, sanctification, and the bearing of the cross. These are not wrong, but they are not up to date. The matter of the all-inclusive Spirit was not so clear thirty years ago. If we neglect the Spirit today and go back to care for sanctification, victory, spirituality, and the cross, we are going backward. We must see that the Spirit, this treasure, as revealed by God to us in His word, is all-inclusive. By living in this Spirit, there is sanctification; by living in this Spirit, there is victory; by living in this Spirit, there is the cross. If we are in the Spirit, even our flesh is dealt with; everything is supplied by living in the Spirit.
The brothers in the Far East should have paid attention to this ten years ago, but they did not, and the blessing has been leaking away. Even though they have begun to pay more attention in the recent years through the influence of the American brothers, it is still not enough. The elders and co-workers should treasure this vision, enter into this vision, and live in this vision so that the riches may flow out of them to others.
I pray for this and hope that our eyes would be opened to see that throughout the ages God has desired to work the mystery of the Triune God into us. This mystery can be expressed with one word — Spirit. The all-inclusive Spirit is the totality of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Within this Spirit there is redemption, divinity, humanity, sanctification, and all the spiritual riches. Paul says that he was charged “to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel” (Eph. 3:8). These riches are the all-inclusive Spirit. This Spirit has entered into our spirit, regenerated our spirit, and lives in our spirit to be our life and person in order to transform our whole being. We must live in this Spirit.
We must see that the all-inclusive Spirit is in our spirit to be everything to us; therefore, we must live in this Spirit. We should not merely release our spirit loudly but also see this vision and live in it. Even if we have seen this vision, it is easy for us to become loose and careless. It is possible to see something but not be focused and disciplined. We do not need to discuss whether our methods are right or wrong; rather, we must focus on seeing this Spirit and letting Him be real in our experience. We must speak this in every message and live in it. Then we will have results.
A so-called co-worker among us once condemned me severely. He said that I was keeping the churches in the Far East in my “controlling hands.” But I must ask the responsible brothers from the various localities, “What have I controlled?” The ministry is not a matter of control but of vision. The vision is in this ministry; the church is blessed when it follows this vision, and there is no blessing when it does not follow this vision. The real question is not even related to the matter of control; it is a matter of whether we are willing to follow the vision that the Lord has shown us. We must follow the vision. Rather than following any person, we must ask where the vision is, and then we should follow it.
Our God is living and true (1 Thes. 1:9), and He is working. Since He must be speaking today, would He give different directions through two or three people simultaneously? I do not believe that God would be so foolish. The Bible shows that God’s direction came through Moses and later through David. Even in the New Testament, God’s direction was according to the vision given to Paul. God does not speak different things through different people at the same time; this would be chaotic. Furthermore, the world has become smaller. With the convenience of transportation and advanced communications, it is easy for something to spread from one place to another. The churches in America are blessed because the more the brothers in the various localities move forward, the more open and the brighter their eyes become. Hence, they are resolved to follow this vision. They firmly believe that this is the only way, the only vision, and they take care of it in a serious, disciplined, and careful manner in order to receive the Lord’s blessing.
We all know our situation here. There was a turmoil more than ten years ago, but the situation is stable now. We know the way and the vision, but we are loose and unfocused. We lack discipline and focus, and we are somewhat indifferent. We must all see this vision, and we must be focused after seeing the vision. If we are focused like the churches in America, the blessing will come.
During our first fifteen years on the island of Taiwan, the elders and co-workers moved forward in one accord. The condition then was the same as it is in America today. In fact, it was even higher. However, the Lord’s testimony has been in the United States for only a little more than a decade, and there are now approximately six thousand who are taking this way. Of this number, one to two thousand are functioning and absolute for this way. They firmly believe in this way, and they are serious about taking this way. Their family life and personal life are for this way. Even though the opposers here have left, and the situation has become more stable in recent years, those who have remained seem to be looser. It is as if we have reached the bottom and cannot go any lower.
It is the Lord’s mercy to show us our need to be more focused and disciplined in relation to Christ being the mystery of God and the church being the mystery of Christ. These two mysteries are two sides of one mystery, which is altogether related to our mingled spirit. The mingling of the divine Spirit with our human spirit is the mystery. We must live in this spirit. Furthermore, we must be focused in our service, in our meetings, and even more, in our church life. May the Lord bless us.
