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There is an important announcement today concerning what the brothers and sisters decided in our prayer meeting yesterday afternoon. In the Bible study meeting of the past month, we did our best to study the truth concerning the church. Therefore, our meetings should have a little change. During the past years and days, the affairs in the meetings were the responsibility of only one or two persons. In the beginning, the workers temporarily took up the responsibility of the affairs in the meetings because they were preaching the gospel and speaking the truth here. Now the time has come for the workers to move to the side and for the local brothers and sisters in the meetings to rise up to bear the responsibility.
According to the teaching of the Bible, the process of establishing a church in every locality is as follows. First, the servants of God, such as the apostles, go out to work. For instance, the apostles went to Ephesus, and they saved some people. The Ephesian believers were the result of their work. After they had worked and some began to meet, they could withdraw. They handed over the management of all the affairs to the elders and deacons of that place. From this we see that the local believers in a place should bear the responsibility of that place. Therefore, we would ask the brothers in Shanghai to rise up to bear the local responsibility.
On behalf of the brothers and sisters co-working here, I would like to make a small announcement to the brothers and sisters who have fellowship with us here. We have been working here for over four years. Many need to know about the nature of our work, the financial expenditures, and the direction of the workers' work. So, I will speak a little today in order that everyone may understand these things.
Before speaking on the nature of the work, please study what the Bible says concerning this matter. We know that according to the Bible, everyone is equal in the meeting. However, in the aspect of work, there is a distinction between the special workers and the common believers. (Nevertheless, this distinction really should not be considered a distinction.) In human organizations, someone may tell you that there are some who hold offices while others are common believers. Is this scriptural? We have to know that according to the Bible, there is a difference between the workers and common believers in the matter of work. This difference is not due to a difference in their persons; it is due to a difference in their work. However, in the meeting, there is not the slightest distinction between anyone. Whether you are a laborer, a merchant, a student, a physician, or one who does the Lord's work, you are a believer and you are the same as all the other believers. Please remember, when the believers are gathered together, whatever class or kind of people they may be, they are all equal and the same. When you see a worker in the meeting, you may think that he is more special than you, as if he has some authority. But I must tell you that in the meeting, there is no difference between him and you. Now I will speak on the meetings and the work separately.
The Lord said to the disciples, "The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant" (Matt. 20:25-26). From this we know that there is never a distinction of classes and offices in the meeting. Nevertheless, there is a distinction in the work. The difference between an evangelist and others is not that he is the Lord's worker while the others are only common believers; the only difference lies in the fact that his work is not the same as that of the others. Furthermore, this kind of distinction is very obvious. All are believers, and all are brothers. Yet some brothers are physicians, some brothers are students, some are servants, and some are merchants. In the same way, some are evangelists. An evangelist is no different from other believers than a doctor or a merchant is different from other believers. There is nothing more to this distinction. In the meeting, everyone is equal as brothers. The only difference is that after he is dismissed, everyone has a different work. The work of evangelism is as unrelated to the church as the work of a merchant. Meeting, remembering the Lord, praying, singing hymns, exercising spiritual gifts, teaching the Word, preaching the message of God, and witnessing are things that every brother in the church possesses and bears in common. Just as conducting a business is not an affair of the church, in the same way evangelism is also not an affair of the church. Regardless of which brother, his position and work (according to his gift) is the same in the church. Paul said that everyone could prophesy. But for the work outside of the church, there is a difference between merchants, physicians, students, and evangelists.
After the meeting is dismissed, everyone begins to do his own work. Some practice medicine, some conduct business, some study, and some preach the gospel. When the time comes for everyone to meet together to worship God, everyone lays down what he ordinarily specializes in and is good at to serve God in one accord and receive edification. There is only the difference between everyone's ordinary work and not a difference between everyone's position during the meeting. This is the teaching of the Bible.
When there is no believer in a locality, God's workers work to lead men to salvation. After some are saved, there is a church in that place. Before the church is fully established, the affairs of the church are temporarily in the hands of the workers. This is according to the Bible. However, having the affairs of a church in the hands of the workers for an extended period of time is something that is not found in the Bible. The workers should not manage a local church. Rather, the workers should manage their own work. When the church is not yet established, they can manage it since it can be considered as their work. Once it is established, however, the responsibility of the church is upon the believers of that locality and no longer on the workers.
We have previously spoken on the difference between the work and the meetings. In the Bible study meeting last November, we spent two evenings to mention the difference between the work and the church. The work is the responsibility of the workers, while the meetings are the responsibility of all the Christians in that locality. The difference between the work and the meetings is the same as the difference between a shop and the church in your locality. I have to ask you, "Who is the `preacher,' in the meeting at Hardoon Road?" You should answer, "No one." This is like someone asking you who is the physician or tailor in the meetings at Hardoon Road; you would answer, "No one." There is no "pastor" in the meeting; there are only brothers and sisters in the meetings. There is no need of workers as such in the meetings just as there is no need of physicians and tailors as such in the meetings. So, if someone asks you who is the "preacher" in the meeting at Hardoon Road, and if you say, "Mr. Nee," I will be the first one to deny this. If I asked the believers at Ephesus, "Who is your apostle at Ephesus?" they would say, "We do not have our own apostle. However, there was an apostle Paul who once spent three years among us." Was there a local apostle in the church at Ephesus? No. Therefore, we also do not have local preachers. If we were to ask the believers at Ephesus, "Do you have pastors?" they would say, "No. However, at times, there are pastors, apostles, and prophets coming to work in our midst."
God gives apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to His universal church. However, the church in a locality does not have apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. These five classes of men are found only in God's work. In God's work there are workers: apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. Yet in the local church, there are no such people. In Roman Catholicism there is a distinction between the priests and the common believers. In Christianity there is a distinction between the pastors and the common believers. This is the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which the Lord hates. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers are God's workers. In the meetings, at the time of remembering the Lord, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers are merely brothers and sisters; they are the same as the rest of the believers. We should not think, "We should not open our mouths to pray and teach in the Lord's Day meeting. It is for the workers to pray and minister the word."
What kind of relationship is there between the workers and the church? Each worker bears his own responsibility to God's work. The workers can help the church and help the believers; the church can also help their work and help them individually, whether in prayer or in material supply. However, their work is their own responsibility, while the affairs of the meetings are the responsibility of the whole body of believers. This is the difference between the work and the church. Just as we cannot say that a brother is the tailor of our church because he is a tailor, we also cannot say that a worker of God is a worker of our church because this worker of God is in our meetings.
Is there any relationship between the workers and the church? There certainly is! A worker bears no special relationship with the church as far as his qualifications as a worker are concerned. Yet a worker can help a church based on his qualification as a brother. Furthermore, since the work that a worker does is specifically for God, the whole church should render special cooperation and special help to the work.
Having said this, to help my co-workers let me mention again the difference between the work and the meetings. We have already seen that there is no distinction of class in the church of God. However, it is different in the work of God. Being in the work is not the same as being in the church where everyone is equal. This is why we see that Timothy, Titus, and Mark worked with Paul; yet at times Paul would send them. In the work of God, we can easily see that Paul bore a little more responsibility than his co-workers. Not only is this true in spiritual work, it is also true in secular work. In a hospital, a shop, or a school, there are those who bear the main responsibilities, and there are those who are the helpers. If everyone bears the same responsibility, there will be great confusion. Nevertheless, we have to say that the work of God as it is currently organized by men, with all of its decorations, elections, and positions, is very different from the biblical practice. According to the Bible, we do not find such things as elections and the titles of "leaders" and "members" even though the ones who are more advanced spiritually will spontaneously bear a little more responsibility.
Consider Mr. Müller, who was perhaps the greatest man of faith in the last century. Some who knew him told us that when he was in the meetings in Bristol, he would purposely sit on the back row during the meetings because he was afraid that people would think only those of his age and spirituality could open their mouth. He wanted to save some opportunity for the young believers to speak. However, we also know that Mr. Müller managed an orphanage. This was a work he did for God. How did he work? He bore the entire responsibility for it. Whether it was building, buying or selling, or other matters, he was the one who bore the entire responsibility. There were a number of brothers and sisters co-working with him, but they all bore only their share of responsibilities. They worked together, but the responsibilities were not the same.
Are there then no specific responsible ones and no specific positions in a local church? There are. Please look at the church in Ephesus. They had elders and deacons. Although they did not have Ephesian apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, they had Ephesian elders and deacons. Every church should have elders and deacons raised up to bear the responsibility of that local church. What do the deacons and elders really do? The deacons only handle the business affairs in the church, while the elders only oversee in a day to day way the condition of the believers' life. During the gathering of the believers, however, the way to speak the word, read the word, sing the hymns, witness, and exercise the spiritual gifts is all according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, as recorded in 1 Corinthians 14. The eldership and deaconry are offices carried out at other times. During the meeting, the matter of the exercise of the gifts is unrelated to the authority of elders and deacons. The responsible ones in a local church are called elders and deacons in the Bible. However, the elders and deacons are not appointed for the meetings. The raising up of a deacon is easy, but the raising up of an elder is difficult. Moreover, we have previously seen that we can have the persons of elders and deacons yet not have the offices of elders and deacons. This point was covered in detail last November while studying the matter of the church. Here we will not repeat it.
According to the Bible, the truth on the church is quite clear and we will now summarize the matter as follows:
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers are gifts and are given to the whole church; they are given by God and are not restricted to one locality. Elders (overseers) and deacons are offices and are for a local church; these are appointed by men and function within a locality.
The elders and deacons attend the meetings solely as brothers. The meetings are not the time for them to exercise their official power. Therefore, one cannot attend the meetings with the qualification of an elder or a deacon. The meeting is the time to exercise the spiritual gifts; whoever has a gift can express God's will according to his gift and by following the leading of the Holy Spirit.
A worker who serves God full-time can only act in the meetings according to the gift he has. His qualification as a worker gives him no special position in the meetings.
In the meetings all the brothers are priests, and all can come before God. There is no distinction of laity and clergy. In the work there are different responsibilities and different positions.
Although the elders and deacons have their respective office, during the meetings they are the same as the other believers. During the meetings the ones who serve God full-time are the same as the other believers. All business affairs related to the church are the responsibility of the deacons. All the affairs related to the church in general are the responsibility of the elders.
Regardless of what a person ordinarily does, he can serve others only according to the gift he has received.
All the believers have to bear the responsibility of witnessing and saving men. However, an evangelist witnesses and saves men as his occupation.
(The Scriptures upon which this is based were previously covered in the Bible study meeting last November.)
In the past years, there has been a little confusion in our receiving of people for the breaking of bread. The reason for this was inconsistency in our procedure. According to the teaching of the Bible, in our bread-breaking meeting we should receive all those who are saved. Although the Bible tells us about the matter of receiving, we have to decide for ourselves as to how we should receive. This is like the Bible telling us that we should meet but not telling us how to arrange the chairs for our meetings. Although God gives us freedom, we have to be careful not to fall into the trap of so many current man-made organizations. The goal of our work should be to obtain the most effective results through the simplest procedures.
What should we do if a born-again brother who has been breaking bread at another locality comes to us and desires to break bread with us? He should have a letter of recommendation from the brothers at his locality. This is the teaching of the Bible. There should be at least two believers from that locality to bear witness by writing a letter of recommendation to the church to prove to us what kind of believer he is. For example, if a brother comes from Amoy and wants to break bread with us, he should have a letter of recommendation from two or three brothers in Amoy that tell us about his condition. Regrettably, such procedures are often neglected, and we cannot impose on others to give us such a letter.
Someone may then be misled to think that those who have not been publicly announced by us cannot break bread with us. This is wrong. An announcement does not have the authority to allow the announced ones to break bread. This is not the teaching of the Bible. Some may say, "Did you not say only those who have been publicly recommended can break bread?" No, it is not true that only those who have been publicly recommended can break bread. Rather, there is the need of two or three brothers or sisters to recommend a person to us by telling us that this brother or sister has really been born again, and that they are now recommending him to break bread with us. Indeed, the most important qualification to break bread is not a matter of announcement or recommendation; it is a matter of whether or not a person has been regenerated. Announcements and recommendations are not the qualification. The qualification is whether or not a person is born again. The only qualification which we insist on is that a person be regenerated. If he is regenerated, we can recommend him to break bread. Therefore, recommendations and announcements do not count. Only regeneration counts.
Some may ask, "I have been born again. Why do you not allow me to break bread?" Brothers and sisters, you need to know the difference between the Body of Christ and the household of God. The members of the Body of Christ are hidden, while the members of the household of God are different; they are open. The affairs within the household of God need to be witnessed by two or three people. It is not enough for you alone to testify that you are born again, because you are only one person; there is the need for two or three other persons to testify before the matter can be settled.
Regarding the doctrinal aspect, I do not wish to say any more. We have thoroughly elaborated on it in our Bible study meetings. Regarding the practical aspect, we already made the decision during yesterday afternoon's prayer meeting. If someone wants to break bread with us, we need to announce it in the Lord's Day's morning meeting like this, "Today Brother So-and-so or Sister So-and-so requests to break bread with us. We will ask those brothers and sisters who know him or her to testify whether he or she is born again." At the end of the meeting, some may inform the responsible brothers and sisters. If you know that a person is regenerated and saved, he can be received into the breaking of bread. If you know that a person is a fornicator, a covetous man, an idolater, a reviler, a drunkard, a rapacious man, or if he is unsaved, he cannot break bread with us. Regarding this matter, it is the duty not only of the responsible brothers and sisters but also of every brother and sister.
If the person who requests to break bread with us does not have a letter of recommendation, and if none among the brothers and sisters in our meetings know about him; then (at least) two of the responsible brothers or sisters should meet with him, fellowship the truth with him, and find out whether or not he is regenerated and whether or not he has accepted the Lord Jesus. Our brothers or sisters will then tell us at the prayer meeting Thursday afternoon whether or not this person is saved and regenerated. If he is saved and regenerated, we can accept him to break bread the following Lord's Day. If this person is not saved and regenerated, we cannot accept him on the Lord's Day. If these two brothers or sisters have doubts and cannot decide, then the person should wait awhile.
Why are two people needed? Because it is easy for one to be mistaken. In the Bible only the testimonies of two people are counted. Also, if there is only one person, and he is very agreeable, he may hastily assume that this person is saved. If there is a second person, he can check the first one and suggest that this person's salvation is not yet reliably demonstrated and that they should wait a while and decide later. One person's testimony may not be reliable. We need two people to testify together; then we can avoid the danger of having unsaved people being mixed in at the Lord's table. It is not enough to take a person's own word that he is regenerated. We still need to examine this person because sometimes such persons may not really be regenerated.
The Lord's table is for the Lord's people. Whoever is born again can break bread. Nevertheless, we need to remember that only those who believe in the Lord and are born again can break bread. Whoever does not believe in the Lord and is not born again must not break bread. Therefore, aside from those who are born again, we do not need to ask others to visit our meetings. Nevertheless, if someone wishes to sit in, we naturally cannot refuse him.
Therefore, I do not think that the Lord wants us to stop people at the door of the meeting hall and ask them if they are born again. This would be confusing and would also create opportunities both for those who are not born again and for those who are born again but have fallen into the six kinds of sins described in 1 Corinthians 5 to sneak into our midst. Since the testimony of one person does not count according to the Bible, the simplest and most effective way is to announce to the congregation one week ahead in the Lord's Day morning meeting that a certain one requests to break bread with us. If there are testimonies from two or three people, we may receive him on the next Lord's Day. If there is no witness who knows him, we may ask two or three brothers to meet with him and talk with him. These two or three brothers will then testify for him in the prayer meeting as to whether or not he is born again. This will decide if we can receive him on the following Lord's Day.
I have one more word to say. Anyone who is born again will not be impatient, annoyed, and will not become unsaved because of the numerous questions. For example, I am Fukienese; regardless of how many times you question me, I am still Fukienese. I will not become a Shanghainese because of your questions. Therefore, whoever is born again is always born again, because whatever is yes is always yes and will stand the testing. Following our announcement and investigation, we can decide what steps to take at the prayer meeting on Thursday afternoon. After we have made the decision, we can announce in the morning meeting on the next Lord's Day whether or not we have received this person.
The meetings in which we break bread to remember the Lord are not times for us to listen to messages. They are actually times for us to praise the Lord and serve Him. The singing of hymns and praying in these meetings should have such as their center. However, there are those who wonder what we are doing and come in to observe us; there are those who bring others in to observe; there are also those who come in by accident. The Bible tells us such situations do exist (cf. 1 Cor. 14:24). Nevertheless, the Bible does not tell us to invite others to come in to observe. Therefore, we can bring in whoever desires to break bread, but there is no need to bring in those who desire to observe.
In our midst there are two categories of brothers and sisters who do not break bread. One category are those who are born again, yet they do not break bread. They know they should break bread, yet they do not break bread with us. They only come to observe or listen to our sharing of God's messages. The other category are those who are not sure of their salvation. If we ask these ones to sit with us, it would be inconvenient, for such mixed seating will cause great difficulties when we are passing the bread and the cup because we do not know whether the person next to us will eat the bread and drink the cup. If we all have to ask our neighbor whether or not he wants to break bread or whether or not he is saved, the meeting will be disturbed and become very noisy. Therefore, the best way is to separate the seating. Such separation of seating is different from the separation of seating in James 2:1-4 since the seats are not separated to differentiate between high and low ranks and rich and poor but only for the sake of facilitating the process of the meeting. Therefore, we specifically reserve the last rows of seats for the brothers and sisters who do not break bread with us. It does not mean that these two rows of seats are bad seats; in reality, all the seats are the same. The rest of the seats towards the center are for brothers and sisters who break bread. We, therefore, ask the brothers and sisters who want to break bread to sit as much toward the center as possible when they come in.
Concerning the brothers and sisters visiting from other localities, we ask our brothers and sister to inform them so that they will not misunderstand our differentiation of seats. Concerning the matter of receiving, we are not broad to the point that we receive anyone who comes in. We are only as broad as God is. Whomever God receives, we also receive.
Concerning financial matters, we have decided in yesterday's prayer meeting to appoint Brother Chang and Brother Yu to manage the finances in the church. These two brothers also have the same feeling as ours. These two will take up the responsibility to manage the income and expenses of the church. As to how the funds should be distributed, any brother or sister can bring this matter up in the prayer meetings. There is another brother, Brother Tu, who is now in Shantung. We hope that he also can assist in the management of the offering on the Lord's Days when he comes.
I want to mention that the funds of the work in Shanghai can be divided into three categories: (1) for the meeting's use, (2) for the work, the books and magazines, and (3) for individual workers. These three categories are independent of each other. The funds from the offering box for the meetings are for the expenses of the meeting hall. If money is marked for the literary work, it will be used to print books, magazines, and tracts. If it is marked for the work, we will consider the needs. Sometimes we will use it on the literary work and sometimes on other individual workers. The work never uses the funds of the meetings. As for the personal expenses of the workers, the Lord touches people to send them funds; these must be marked for their personal use. The money that individual workers receive is the money that has been explicitly marked on a note for their personal use. The funds in these three categories are not mixed with one another. From now on we ask the brothers in the meetings to manage the funds designated for the meetings because the local meetings have been raised up. My co-workers and I will manage the funds designated for the work. There is, of course, no question as to the funds designated for our personal expenses.
Now I want to present our financial condition so that we all can be clear. In this building, the rooms on the floor below are used for the meetings and the rent is paid by the fund from the meetings. The top floor is for myself, and I am personally responsible for the rent. Room No. 250A is rented by Miss Lee, Miss Miao, and Miss Chang. Miss Wang is renting her own place. The Gospel Book Room rents only a small place to store the books. My personal need is supplied by God. The other co-workers also receive their supply from God. We do not need others to bear our burdens. At the present time, the local meetings only pay two or three hundred dollars for rent yearly. When there is an excess, we give the money to other workers or to the work of the Lord. Concerning the literary work, the expenses for the publishing of the gospel tracts, the magazines Notes on Scriptural Messages, The Present Testimony, etc., are borne by myself and a few sisters who co-labor with me; the supply for these expenses comes from God's grace and His mercy, and through our prayers. This matter has no direct connection to you. It is something between us and the Lord. Therefore, we do not need to talk about it. Please pardon us.
Formerly we had some difficulty because the brothers were not clear about the truth of the church. (Please forgive me for saying this.) Therefore, we could only employ some temporary methods. We all met as believers, but there was no one to keep the accounting books. I myself do not know how to keep books. I cannot record clearly what is in and what is out. Therefore, I cannot manage the funds. If I had to keep the books, it would be very difficult for me. The sisters who work with us can no longer do it, and they should not be doing it. Several months ago, I was forced to do the bookkeeping temporarily.
According to the Bible, the offerings made by the believers in the meetings should be used for: (1) the local expenses, for example, rent, etc., (2) the relief of the brothers and sisters who are in poverty and want, and (3) the assistance of the workers and the expenses for the work, as commanded by the Bible. Actually, the workers of a locality should be supported by the believers of that locality. The funds of the meetings should be used in such a manner. The individual believer still has a responsibility towards relieving the poor and assisting the workers and the work. It seems embarrassing for me to make this statement. However, this is the truth; I must talk about it. Formerly the funds of the meetings were not used to assist the workers; they were used for the work in other localities, for example, the work in Kiangsu, England, Palestine, etc. This money was distributed to the workers responsible for the work in different localities, who are in fellowship with us. We need to do our best to supply them. The more we receive, the more we give away; the less we receive, the less we give away.
Now we have two offering boxes, and each box has two partitions. There are two openings on the top of each box. The funds for the church meetings should be put into one opening, and the funds for the work should be put into the other opening. This is necessary because, in the past, some have put funds meant for the work into the box for the meetings. In this way the meetings have taken advantage of the work. Therefore, please remember that if the funds are meant for the meetings, please put them into the opening marked "meetings"; if the funds are meant for the work, put them into the opening marked "work." (These are well-marked on the boxes.) If there is money designated for an individual worker, it should be wrapped up in paper with the name of the worker written on it. Although the boxes are there, the surplus or deficit of the funds for the work is the responsibility of the workers; they are not the responsibility of the brothers and sisters in the meetings.
According to the Bible, we should not accumulate money. Although this is the case, it does not mean we have to spend all of our monthly income in one month. Nevertheless, it is not good to purposely save money for next month. Therefore, every month we should distribute our funds according to what we have. Since the meetings do not use much, what is left can be used in other areas.
In the past, the fund for the meetings was managed by two sisters. Several months ago, it was managed by me. However, I do not know how to manage money. Because I am away much of the time, I privately asked Brother Chang to do the bookkeeping for me. Although the fund for the meetings is not too small, it is not that great either and is just enough for our use. From now on, we workers will no longer bear the burden of managing this fund. The brothers who manage the fund will give a monthly financial report to the church. In the past, it was the workers who managed the money. If there was a shortage, the workers made it up. If there was a surplus, we gave it to others. When there was a shortage, we did not feel good about asking you for money. Now that you are managing the fund, whether there is a lack or surplus, it will all be reported to you without reservation. Although only a few brothers are managing the fund, all of you may make suggestions in the prayer meetings as to how the fund should be spent. If you see a brother or a sister in need, you may also mention it in the prayer meetings. From now on, all the matters concerning the church may be discussed in every Thursday's prayer meeting. Thus, our prayer meetings are not merely prayer meetings; they are also meetings to discuss the affairs of the church. I hope the brothers and sisters will pray and understand the will of God in all things.
Concerning the conference last October, I should have reported to you earlier. However, I took a few days to rest and was delayed until today to inform you of the situation. Thank God, He has already led us through all things! The making of the chairs cost over seven hundred dollars. The expenses for the conference were one thousand five hundred dollars. In total, we spent over two thousand two hundred dollars. Thank God, although we did not ask anyone for a penny directly or indirectly but only asked our Father in heaven, He has supplied all our needs. There were no large individual sums that came in during this conference. The sums were all in the amount of a few dollars to tens of dollars. The largest sum was two hundred thirty-one dollars; the smallest sum was a few dimes. Even so, the Lord has already led us through. We thank God and we also thank you for your help.
From now on, the workers will not be responsible for the meetings of the church. Two or three sisters and myself will manage the affairs of our little bookroom as well as the testimony God gave to us. The workers will manage the work. The affairs of the church should be managed by the believers. I hope that what I have said will make you understand the difference between the church and the work as well as the similarities between the workers and believers. I hope you are all clear about the teaching of the Bible concerning the church.
(1) Last year a book entitled Notes On Scriptural Messages was published. We have no connection with it whatsoever. We had written to them requesting them to change the name of their book so that it would not be confused with Notes on Scriptural Messages which is published by us. Unfortunately, it was too late and cannot be done. However, the titles are a little different.
(2) The book, Consequences, is not published by us. (There are people requesting copies of the book from us. Therefore, we wish to clarify this here.)
(3) Questions on the Gospel is not yet ready to be published. We ask those who requested it to wait patiently.
(4) There are still three sections of The Spiritual Man which need to be revised. Therefore, it will be some time before the book will be republished. However, there are single copies for Sections 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10. Bond paper edition is twenty cents per copy. Newsprint edition is sixteen cents per copy, with fifteen percent for postage. If you want copies of these, write to us, and they will be mailed to you immediately. We will announce when the second edition is ready.
(5) We will announce when we will have new material published. This notice is our reply to those who inquired about this matter; we will not answer their letters individually.
(6) The Christian has long ceased publication, yet there are remaining copies for Issue Nos. 15 through 24 (with Issue Nos. 17 and 20 missing). If you mail us fifty cents for postage, you will receive the above eight copies.
