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If we read the New Testament carefully, we will see that what the New Testament reveals and pays attention to is summed up in three matters: truth, life, and the gospel. Truth is for life, and life is for the gospel. Truth comes first, then life, and then the gospel. However, in our concept and even in our practice of the church life, we unconsciously place the gospel in a low position. We may think that expounding mysterious truths is something high and profound, whereas we often regard the gospel as something ordinary and low. For example, when a church decides to preach the gospel, the elders may say, “Let the young people do it.” This demonstrates that they do not consider the gospel to be an important matter.
If someone can minister life to us in a rich way, we regard him highly, yet I am afraid that for the past several decades few among us have been desirous of producing results in the gospel. We would rather pursue truth or life. Both are considered to be of nearly equal importance among us. Some may regard life more than truth, and others may regard truth more than life, but very few regard the gospel more than life or truth.
The apostles’ record in the Gospels places an equal importance on truth, life, and the gospel. Although the gospel is listed last, it is neither for life nor for truth; rather, truth and life are for the gospel. Without truth, there is no life; without life, there is no gospel because the gospel is a matter of fruit-bearing. The gospel depends not only on preaching and teaching but also on a fruit-bearing life as seen in John 15. Among the four Gospels the Gospel of John is the only book that does not conclude with the Lord Jesus saying that we need to preach the gospel to the nations or that we need to proclaim to the nations repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Rather, in chapter 15 the Lord said, “I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit” (v. 16). Here the Lord Jesus does not exhort us to preach the gospel but to bear fruit. Actually, fruit-bearing is the genuine gospel preaching. Without fruit-bearing, our gospel preaching equals zero.
The experience of the saints and the church in the past two thousand years proves that since the passing of the apostles, there has never been a similar group of people who twined together the three cords of truth, life, and the gospel. The Bible says that when three cords are twined together, they are strong and reliable (Eccl. 4:12). Regrettably, within the past two thousand years we cannot find a single group of people, apart from the apostles, that blended together truth, life, and the gospel.
The ten centuries, between A.D. 500 and 1500, that preceded the Reformation, which was initiated by Martin Luther, are known as the Dark Ages. This was the time when the Roman Catholic Church flourished. By A.D. 600 the papal system was fully recognized by the churches in both the West and the East. Then for nearly ten centuries the Roman Catholic Church dominated the Western church. This lasted until the Reformation.
During these ten centuries some pursued the Lord, but for the most part, they remained hidden and unknown in history. Eventually E. H. Broadbent, a historian among the Brethren, discovered them and researched their hidden history, finding that there were hidden overcomers throughout these ten centuries. He said that there are two lines in church history: an outward history and a hidden history. The hidden Christians, however, are small in number. Even if we try to more fully investigate their history, we will not be able to find out much; however, we can see that the flow of the Holy Spirit was with a small number of hidden overcomers. They were not visible on the surface of history. Only the activities of the Catholic Church are visible. After the Reformation many groups were raised up. They were released from the Catholic Church and were no longer restricted, bound, or controlled by her. As a result, they began to develop on their own.
In preaching the truth of justification by faith, Luther was truly a hero; he testified of this truth and did not fear death. However, when he faced the matter of the church, he was weak and powerless; eventually, he was protected by a German prince. Out of his weakness the so-called state churches were born. The first Protestant state church was the Lutheran Church in Germany. It is still the principal state church of Germany. German citizens are required to pay a church tax. To be exempted from paying the church tax, one has to obtain permission by filing a special application, stating the reasons. Since Germany has a state church, German citizens are members and must pay a church tax.
Following Germany, England established a state church. Today the Queen of England is the head of the Church of England. Every British citizen, even if he is not of British descent, can become a member of the Anglican Church upon obtaining British citizenship. One after another the state churches continued to appear in many northern European countries. Today Denmark and Sweden both have state churches. This is certainly not according to the Bible. During the period of time following the Reformation, there have been two principal state churches: the Lutheran Church and the Anglican Church, or the Church of England, both of which are very similar in practice to the Roman Catholic Church. Like the Roman Catholic Church, many of their practices are not in accordance with the Bible.
Gradually, a number of Christian groups were raised up. One of the first among these groups was the Baptist denomination, a group very much inclined toward the truth. Although Luther had recovered the truth of justification by faith, the brothers in the Baptist Church felt that this was merely a beginning and were not satisfied; therefore, they advanced further to recover the truth of baptism by immersion. They then established the Baptist Church, claiming that baptism by immersion was an exceedingly great truth. This is the origin of the Baptist Church. Furthermore, another group of brothers realized that the church must be administrated by a presbytery, a group of elders, appointed by God. These brothers founded the Presbyterian Church under the administration of a presbytery. Later, the Holiness Church came into existence; this group preceded a group led by John Wesley. First there was the establishment of state churches and then the formation of private churches. This situation is similar to people establishing schools, some being public and some being private.
After the private churches, a number of brothers appeared and grew in number until the appearance of the Moravian Brethren. This was their most flourishing time. These brothers had all been under persecution from the state churches. Germany, in particular, persecuted those in the private churches and prevented them from gaining a foothold in northern Europe. In Saxony, in the south of Germany, a brother named Zinzendorf opened up his estate and took in many believers. These brothers brought in a revival. Together, they made progress in the practice of the church life but did not fully recover the practice of the church life. This great revival occurred in approximately 1730. Later, most of the Moravian Brethren immigrated to North America, the newly discovered continent, and spread the Lord’s testimony there.
A century later, the Brethren, a well-known group that included brothers such as John Nelson Darby, were raised up. They advanced much further than those in the past and came close to a full recovery in regard to the practicality of the church, the testimony and truth of the church, and the practice of the church life. However, we should not regard them too highly because they did not achieve a complete recovery. Later, the Brethren were divided into many sects.
This history shows how complicated the present situation of the church has become. There are not only state churches and private churches, but out of the private churches, prevailing groups of brothers were raised up. These brothers were of two different stages: an early stage including the Moravian Brethren and a latter stage involving the British Brethren.
In addition to state churches, private churches, and the two stages of the Brethren, a few further situations emerged. The first situation to emerge was that of the mystics. The mystics were in the Roman Catholic Church and were a reaction to the Reformation, which Luther initiated against the Catholic Church. Some believers who experienced the Reformation eventually felt a great sense of emptiness, corresponding to the Lord’s word to the church in Sardis: “You have a name that you are living, and yet you are dead...for I have found none of your works completed before My God” (Rev. 3:1-2). As a result, those who loved and pursued the Lord in the Catholic Church rose up to pursue the inner life and forsook the outward forms. Although they knew the errors of the Catholic Church, they were still completely submissive to it. When persecuted by the Catholic Church, they submitted to and acknowledged the authority of the pope. Madame Guyon, one of the mystics, had deep experiences of the inner life. However, her autobiography shows that she also prayed before the statue of the child Jesus. It is difficult for us to imagine this, yet it shows her weakness. The matter of the inner life developed out of the mystics’ experience. These inner-life believers made adjustments to matters in mysticism, making mysticism more practical.
The first bridge in this development was William Law, a British brother. Many people respected the inner-life believers and received help from them. Andrew Murray and Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis were the most well-known of the inner-life believers. Later, there was Brother T. Austin-Sparks. We had contact with Brother T. Austin-Sparks and observed his condition. After the passing away of Brother T. Austin-Sparks, the inner-life movement ceased to exist and came to a complete end. Both the mystics and the inner-life movement have come to an end.
Regarding the inner-life movement, there was a side branch, that is, the renowned Keswick Convention, held in England. Although those involved in the Keswick Convention apparently belonged to the inner-life group, they are not as orthodox; rather, they are a side branch. This group of believers received considerable attention in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. Those with some attainment in truth and life were invited to speak at the convention, and as a result, this group was prevailing for a period of time. When I first came to America, more than twenty years ago, this group of believers was still well known and had branch meetings in various places within the United States. In the past twenty years, however, according to our observation, they have been gradually vanishing.
This fellowship enables us to draw the conclusion that the Bible reveals that truth, life, and the gospel are a threefold cord; truth is for life, and life is for fruit-bearing, for the gospel. The proper condition is to have all three in proper relationship to one another; nevertheless, after the passing of the apostles, the church became desolate. Hence, the matters of truth, life, and the gospel were thoroughly obscured. The truth became unclear, the matter of life became blurry, and the matter of the gospel became indistinct. Later, the Roman Catholic Church further caused the situation to become even more unclear. Eventually, God came in to begin His work of recovery. From that time onward, He has been doing His recovery work, little by little.
We are preceded by all those previously mentioned. As those who come later, we are able to read history. Being able to read history is our greatest privilege. If we had been born in the era of the Three Kingdoms in Chinese history, we would have lived our whole life in ignorance. Now, because we have been born many centuries after the time of the Three Kingdoms, our eyes are clear, and we are able to scrutinize everything done by people in the past centuries. We can analyze the historical figures one by one and can clearly distinguish the good and the evil. Later, those who come after us will judge us. Our history will be written based upon how we live in ordinary times; we are accountable to history. What people say about us today, whether good or bad, may not be reliable; we need to wait for history to evaluate us.
Under the Lord’s sovereign arrangement, I was born into organized Christianity. I followed my mother to meet in the Baptist Church, but I was sprinkled in the Church of Christ in China. After I was saved, I loved the truth, the Bible, and I began to pursue the Lord. Whether in China, Europe, or America, everyone knew that the Brethren were famous for their knowledge of the Bible. Since I wanted to study the truth seriously, I found a Brethren assembly in Chefoo that was five minutes from where I lived.
No one came to knock on my door; it was I who intruded into the meetings of the Brethren assembly. This was because those in the Brethren assembly never went out to find people; even if they were home and someone knocked on their door, they would not want to open the door. According to my memory, during the seven and a half years that I spent with them, I never saw another person intrude into their meetings as I did. They did not go out to invite people, and they would ignore those who came to knock on their door. They certainly expounded the truth, but their practice was to wait for people to come voluntarily to them.
During the seven and a half years that I met with them, I saw fewer than twenty people baptized there; I was one of them. Not long after I began to meet with them, they began to notice me, a young person, and investigated my background thoroughly, but none of them came to fellowship with me or contact me. For at least five years, beginning in 1925, I listened to their sermons. One day they said that they were going to baptize people in the sea, but they still did not pay attention to me. I simply decided on my own to be baptized, so I brought some clothes and went with them. Of course, when they saw me, they were happy and baptized me. This was the condition of the Brethren at that time. I am sharing this so that we will all be on the alert. I am afraid that we also may be entering into this kind of condition. We must be careful regarding this matter.
Out of my desire for the truth and my study and pursuit of the truth, I came into contact with Brother Nee’s books and eventually joined Brother Nee in Shanghai. When the Sino-Japanese War began, I went north to bring my family out, but I fell into the hands of the Japanese and was not able to come out. In the meantime, Brother Nee withdrew with the national government to Chungking, which was far from the war front. Since we had no way to contact one another, I stayed in Chefoo. The church in Chefoo was gradually revived. In 1940 we began to speak of one matter — the church’s preaching of the gospel. This was a new thing. The expression the church’s preaching of the gospel had never been heard before. From 1932 to 1940, we had never seen more than fifteen people baptized at one time, and we considered it wonderful if ten people were baptized at the same time. However, if I remember correctly, thirty-seven were baptized the first time we, as the church, preached the gospel. Not only so, we later baptized one hundred on the same day.
Our gospel meetings during the Chinese New Year were called “the church’s preaching of the gospel.” At this time the whole church was energized to preach the gospel. The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year Festival, is the celebration that the Chinese enjoy the most; it is the greatest feast of the year and lasts for almost a week. People did not have to work for a week; instead, they ate, drank, played, made merry, and watched operas all day long. The food they ate during the celebration was not freshly prepared but had all been prepared a month in advance, and there were all varieties of food. In northern China there was no need to use refrigerators because many families had cellars, in which they stored and froze the food that they had prepared. Whenever they needed food, they would take it from the cellars. This festival was a great opportunity to preach the gospel extensively because people were not occupied with anything else. At that time all the saints, whether brothers or sisters, whether young or old, were mobilized and went out in groups to preach the gospel.
To preach the gospel, we asked the brothers and sisters to first invite their relatives, such as their uncles and aunts, to their house for a few days during the New Year’s celebration. Furthermore, in the homes of the saints there was a slogan: “Not celebrating the New Year, only preaching the gospel.” Celebrating the new year was a great thing; the preparation of food alone required a tremendous amount of time. Since our purpose was not to celebrate the New Year, we did not have to purchase anything pertaining to the festival; this saved us a great deal of time and money. For New Year’s Eve, which was supposed to be a time of great merriment to the northern Chinese, we announced that it would be a night for fasting and praying. The whole church fasted and prayed specifically for the gospel. Although we ourselves fasted, we still prepared food for our friends and relatives who stayed with us. Then on New Year’s Day we had a gospel meeting in the morning and a second gospel meeting in the afternoon; there was no meeting in the evening. We met in this way for four consecutive days. After each meeting the adults would contact the newcomers, and the children handed them prayer mats. Whenever the children saw that someone was ready to kneel down and pray, they would immediately pass a prayer mat to that person.
The church preached the gospel in this way for a year, and as a result, people were baptized continually over a period of about six months. Approximately one hundred people were baptized in each of the first three to four months, and about twenty to thirty were baptized in each of the last three to four months. This had never happened before. This kind of gospel preaching resulted in a breakthrough in the number of people baptized. Hence, according to our observation, regardless of how much people pay attention to truth and life, if they neglect the gospel, they will not have any spiritual descendants. History also confirms this point. For example, the Brethren paid much attention to the truth, but because they did not pay attention to the gospel, they have few spiritual descendants today. In my youth I pursued and loved the truth and appreciated the Brethren’s teaching of the truth; they were especially good at expounding the types and prophecies. To this day I am still grateful to the Brethren teachers because their expositions have been a great help to me. When I was with them, however, I did not see their weak point. It was not until I saw the matter of the gospel that I realized that the way the Brethren take does not work and is not right.
The Brethren assembly in my hometown of Chefoo had a history of over sixty years. The leading brother was an elderly brother from England, by the name of Mr. Burnet. He taught and preached personally because he was the only one who had been taught directly by Benjamin Newton. At that time I was twenty, and he was over sixty; he did all the preaching. He expounded the truth clearly and thoroughly in Chinese, and everyone who heard him was impressed. Brother Wang Ming-tao, who was raised up by the Lord in Beijing, was also helped by him. Brother Wang originally was not clear regarding several matters of the truth. For example, he believed in observing the Sabbath, not the Lord’s Day. He later came to Chefoo and met Mr. Burnet. After having some fellowship with this elderly brother for a period of time, his concept concerning the Sabbath was adjusted.
This indicates that Mr. Burnet was a lighthouse of the truth in northern China. Although the denominations did not like him, all those who pursued the truth appreciated him. The Brethren, however, emphasized the truth too much and neglected all other matters. Even though they had been in Chefoo for several decades, they did not raise up another local assembly. In terms of numbers, they had at most two hundred people on the Lord’s Day and less than one hundred on other days. I later realized that this is not the right way. No matter how strong their truth was, there was still a great lack because they did not preach the gospel. At that time they strongly condemned the Presbyterian Church; nevertheless, the Presbyterian Church had many more gospel activities than the Brethren. The Presbyterian Church was always active in the gospel, whether by visiting the villages or spreading the gospel within the community. This was the situation at that time.
At that time the Pentecostal movement also came to China and became prevailing in the north. After this “wind” blew into China, it was difficult not to be influenced by it. Hence, a few of our brothers had contact with them and observed their situation. The first to contact them was Brother Philip Luan. He was originally a member of the Far East Missionary Society, which was founded by the husband of the sister who wrote Streams in the Dessert. Brother Luan was from the northeast; it was there that he contacted the Far East Missionary Society and became a member. Later, he came into our midst. He was the first to have contact with the Pentecostal movement. Later, more of us began to have personal contact with the people in that movement; we can say that it is from them that we learned of the Pentecostal movement.
I was born into organized Christianity, and I was edified by the Brethren in the aspect of the truth. I was helped the most by the inner-life believers in regard to the aspect of life. In addition, I had contact with the Pentecostal movement. All three groups were unable to agree with one another. The Brethren did not agree with Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis; hence, although they appreciated Brother Nee’s writings, when they discovered that he quoted part of Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis’s writings in The Spiritual Man, they were no longer interested in his books. From this we see that those who focus on the truth tend to ignore life, whereas those who focus on life tend to despise the truth, saying that the truth is merely dead letters.
One of the famous brothers among the inner-life believers was Andrew Murray. He could be considered one of its founders. Sometimes he would quote the wrong verses or expound the verses inaccurately. Although his experience was correct and his facts were also correct, he often quoted wrong verse references. Based on this, the Brethren said that Andrew Murray knew neither the Bible nor the truth. Those who study the truth always accuse one another and cannot tolerate one another. This incompatible situation often exists between those who emphasize truth and those who emphasize life.
If we pay attention only to truth but neglect to preach the gospel, we will not have offspring; similarly, if we pay attention only to life but do not preach the gospel, we will not have a continuation. Later, evangelicals, including the charismatic movement, appeared. A Chinese evangelist called John Sung was quite famous among the Western missionaries. When he preached the gospel, there were often several thousand people listening to him, and people were saved by the hundreds. However, his gospel had neither truth nor life. For instance, to illustrate the effectiveness of “the precious blood washing one’s heart,” he would cite the story of the woman with a flow of blood; this is altogether unscriptural. Hence, not much was left after his passing. This demonstrates that without truth and life our gospel preaching does not last. Truth, life, and the gospel must be twined together as a threefold cord; only then will our gospel preaching produce lasting results.
