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The Lord has really opened up His Word to us since 1920 mainly through Brother Watchman Nee. According to what the Lord has shown us through His holy Word, I would say that the Lord’s testimony in the New Testament age is Christ as the all-inclusive One. He is not only the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9) but also a man as the Head of the old creation (Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:15b). As the One who accomplished redemption for our salvation, He is the Redeemer (John 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:18-19), and He is also the Savior (Luke 2:11; John 4:42). Through His death in the flesh and resurrection in the Spirit, He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). In resurrection He became the Head of God’s new creation. He was the Head of the old creation of God. As the resurrected Christ, He has produced the church and has become the Head of the church as His Body (Col. 1:18). He is now on the throne, crowned and enthroned as the Christ and the Lord of all (Acts 2:36; 10:36). He is coming back as the Bridegroom to the church (John 3:29; Rev. 19:7), as the Judge to the world (2 Tim. 4:1), and as the very Savior to God’s chosen people, Israel (Rom. 11:26). Then He will be the King of the entire universe in the millennium (Rev. 20:6; 19:16). By this we can see that Christ is all-inclusive.
God’s intention is to work this Christ into His chosen people (Gal. 1:16a; 2:20a; 4:19) to make them His new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15) and give them the divine sonship (Eph. 1:5; Gal. 3:26), making them regenerated (John 3:6) and transformed (2 Cor. 3:18) members of Christ’s Body (1 Cor. 12:27). This Body is the church in this age (Eph. 1:22-23a) and on this earth to be expressed in cities as local churches (Rev. 1:11) without organization and without the nature of the old creation. The resurrected Christ is its constitution (Col. 3:11; 1 Cor. 12:12). This is what the Lord has shown us throughout the past years.
By His mercy the Lord opened our eyes to see such a vision. When we compared Christendom with what we had seen of the Lord’s vision, we saw a great discrepancy, a great difference. We saw three categories of things that were altogether not scriptural and not according to the vision the Lord had shown us from His holy Word.
The first discrepancy we saw was the matter of division. What the Lord had shown us in this vision from His holy Word was one unique people chosen by the one unique God and saved, regenerated, to be the one unique Body of Christ as the unique church of God. When we looked at Christendom, however, we saw division after division in nearly every city. Sometimes we even saw divisions on the same streets. One certain street became a so-called church market. This shocked us when we compared what we had seen with the actual situation. We were young people who were purely seeking the Lord Himself according to His Holy Scriptures, and this shocked us.
Based upon this, we also saw another matter in Christendom that we could not find in the Bible — organization. In the Bible there is no human organization. As the chosen people of God, we all have been reborn of God to have His divine sonship. Then we become the organic Body of Christ. The Body is organic and is altogether an organism, not an organization. How could the organic Body be something organized? We were bothered when we compared this to the revelation that we had seen. The organizations of Christianity were the second category of things that we surely could not agree with according to the vision we had received.
A third item that did not match the vision we have seen from the Scriptures was the matter of traditions. By the Lord’s mercy the Lord caught us when we were students. We loved the Lord, and we loved the Bible. We dove into the Bible, and within a few years the Lord gave us a clear vision. Then when we turned to look at Christianity, we saw divisions, organizations, and traditions. We heard a little concerning the name of Jesus Christ the Son of God, and we heard a little of the shallow gospel. We hardly heard any truth, but we saw many traditions. This was the reason the Lord did something to raise us up so that we might stand up to begin something outside the divisions and without organization and unscriptural traditions.
We then began to meet so purely and so bravely according to the Bible. This was the start. We did not know much, but we saw divisions, organizations, and traditions in Christianity, which we could not follow according to the pure Word of God. We loved the Lord, and we loved His Word. We wanted to give our life to Him. Our first love was the Lord and His truth. This was our beginning. Then the Lord brought us into contact with some top missionaries. Through them we were brought into the Christian books, including the classical books, church history, and biographies from the second century until that time. All these writings further confirmed us.
From the very beginning we realized that despite the divisions, organizations, and traditions, there were a great number of genuine Christians scattered in these divisions. We saw that the Lord’s Body comprises all these genuine believers. Even in the Catholic Church we saw a number of genuine believers, and we also considered them as members of the church and as our dear brothers and sisters. On the one hand, we began to meet by ourselves, and we fully realized that the dear, genuine believers who were scattered in the Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations were our brothers. We recognized them and we loved them. We realized that the Lord’s Body as the church of God did not only comprise us but also all the genuine believers, of which we were a small part. On the other hand, we also realized that they were not remaining in the proper church life. At the beginning, we did not see the genuine ground of the church, but we still realized that many of our dear brothers did not remain in the proper church life. They had been scattered into divisions in their organizations with all the traditions.
At this juncture the Lord showed us the type in the Old Testament of the children of Israel being scattered to Syria, to Egypt, and to Babylon. When God came in to call them back to His chosen land, very few responded. The majority remained in their captivity. We realized from the Old Testament that these ones who were turned to build up the destroyed temple were the remnant of God’s people. The majority of the children of Israel remained in the heathen land; only a small number, a remnant, came back to God’s chosen land.
We understood this type, and we considered ourselves as the fulfillment of that type. We were the remnant of God’s people who had come back to His original intention while so many genuine believers had been scattered and still remained in their captivity. We love our brothers and desire that they would come this way. In the same way, in the Old Testament the returned remnant loved those who still remained in their captivity. They expected that many who were in captivity would come back to join them for God’s testimony. These returned ones immediately began to build the temple. The size of this temple was not as great as the original one, yet in principle it was the same and was considered as God’s testimony. God honored what they did because He was with them and His glory was there.
This vision and understanding strengthened our faith. We believed that, even though we were very small, we were the recovered testimony of God. This testimony is God’s dwelling place filled with His glory. We had the assurance that God’s glory was with us. I hope we can see that even by that time we brothers were clear concerning our attitude toward the Christians who did not meet with us. We realized that all of them were members of the Body of Christ. We loved them, yet they were scattered and still remained in their captivity. We not only loved them but also expected that they would come to join us to bear God’s testimony.
This is the second point of our attitude toward other Christians. The first point is that we have seen God’s vision, and by God’s vision we realized the real condition of today’s Christendom. Based upon this vision we practiced bearing God’s testimony as the returned remnant.
Undoubtedly, God had given His truths to us. In expounding any verse, we would go back directly to the Greek text. We did not study Greek, yet we had dictionaries, lexicons, and concordances to help us. Brother Nee took the lead to say that since the Lord had given us the truths in this age, we must go out and send this truth to the denominations. I was the one who probably did this work the most. I was sent out to travel from province to province and to city after city in north China. Wherever I went, I was warmly welcomed because I presented the truth, which they mostly had never heard before. The result that I saw, however, was not encouraging. This was like bringing the water out of a deep well and pouring it upon the earth. The earth became wet for maybe one day, and then the next day all the water went back to the same place from where it was brought up.
Due to the Japanese invasion of China, many of us were scattered, and I realized that that work was not so profitable to the Lord’s recovery. Therefore, I changed my concept, and I did not go out but stayed in my hometown of Chefoo for approximately five years, from 1938 through 1943. This issued in a revival breaking out in Chefoo. Through all these experiences we have learned much. Due to the political situation after the war, I could not stay in the North, so the brothers asked me to go to the South to stay with them in Nanking and in Shanghai. In Shanghai I met Brother Nee again and presented all that I had experienced and had seen to him, including the things concerning the practical church life. He absolutely confirmed the things that I fellowshipped with him.
Because of such a successful practice of the church life in Chefoo and in Shanghai, I was fully occupied. I was in Shanghai less than two and a half years from the end of 1946 to the beginning of 1949. I mainly stayed in Shanghai and spent part of my time in Nanking. I was so occupied that I did not have any time to do any other work. I did not have the time to have any more contact with other Christians who did not meet with us. I was fully occupied with the preaching of the gospel, the teaching of the Bible, the edifying of the saints, and the building up of the church. In those two and a half years I was absolutely in the eldership, even though I was not an elder. Even though I did not do everything myself, I also took care of the business affairs. I was fully occupied.
Then the political situation changed, and that forced us to leave mainland China and go to Taiwan. When we arrived in Taiwan, we began a work that was very much blessed by the Lord, so, again I was more than occupied. Quite often I also went to the Philippines from Taiwan. I spent approximately two-thirds of my time in Taiwan and the rest of my time in the Philippines. From 1950 I began to publish the Chinese magazine The Ministry of the Word. This magazine has continued to be published up to the present time. In those early days I myself composed the articles or rewrote the messages I gave to place in this magazine. I also received a little help from the brothers to write some articles on church history and some gospel messages. This shows again that I was fully occupied.
This does not mean that I had no intention of going out to contact Christians; I just did not have the time. Once, there was a ladies’ prayer meeting in Taipei. Most of those ladies were wives of the high officials in the government. The leader of this group was the wife of the president. I was invited to speak to this group twice. In their prayer they cried to the Lord sincerely. They confessed their sins, they asked for the Lord’s mercy, and they prayed for the island of Taiwan. After their prayer I spoke to them. Due to the fact that I was so busy, this was one of the few times that I went to speak to a group of Christians who did not meet with us. Even this, however, shows strongly that we did not cut ourselves off from other Christians, nor did we cut them off.
Some people may ask, “Why wouldn’t you be one with them?” Actually, however, we are really one with them in Christ. Because of the divisions, organizations, and traditions, we have no way to be practically one with them. Also, because we have seen the vision of the type in the Old Testament concerning the remnant of God’s people bearing God’s testimony, we cannot go back to captivity in order to join our dear brothers who are still there in captivity. What we can do and what we expect is that many of the Lord’s children will take His Word, leave their captivity, and come back to join us. Then we will rejoice with them. This is our standing, this is our situation, and this is our attitude.
We do not deny that there are thousands and thousands of genuine believers scattered among all the denominations; we love them, and we would like to share all the truths that we have received from the Lord with them, if they would be open. While I was traveling in northern China in 1937, all the denominations were open to me. The China Inland Mission churches were especially open. I had my first study of the book of Hebrews with them based upon Andrew Murray’s book The Holy of Holies. I was also welcome among the Presbyterians, the Southern Baptists, and the Episcopalians. They were all open to me. Even today I am occupied greatly with the ministry for the churches. However, if the denominations would open to me, I would spare some time to go and share with them the truths that the Lord has revealed to us. We are not sectarian or narrow-minded, but regretfully, they would not open to us.
We surely recognize that all the genuine believers are our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Also, we fully admit that we are not the only members of the Body of Christ. We are just a small part, just as the returned captives in the Old Testament were just a small remnant of all the chosen people of God. In addition, we are open to all the dear Christians. If time allowed and if they were open to us, I would take the lead to go and share the truth with them. We do love all the Lord’s children and like to share with them all the truths that we have received of the Lord and that we have experienced and enjoyed.
Some may ask, “Why don’t you invite others to come to your meetings to speak?” We did this in the past. One particular brother shared my training for a number of weeks. I asked him to speak every day. This shows that we are open to others. Also, on the island of Taiwan I wrote a letter of invitation to T. Austin-Sparks in London, and he came to visit us twice. We stopped inviting him, however, because in his second visit he tried to tear down the ground of our work, which is the unique ground of the oneness of the church practice.
Our attitude is that we are open to all the saints. We do not consider that we only are the members of the Body of Christ. The most we consider is that we are members of the Body of Christ who have come back to the original, unique ground of oneness and who are standing here as God’s remnant. The difference between other Christians and us is that they still remain there in their captivity, while we have come back to the proper, unique ground of oneness. We are open to all the believers, but we would not take the place of captivity where they remain. We could not join them in that place, because it is a place of captivity, full of divisions, organizations, and traditions.
During these last twenty years, the Lord has established His recovery in the United States. The Lord has been continually speaking to us, especially by opening up the New Testament to us, book after book. We must bear the responsibility to spread all these treasures that the Lord has shown us from His holy Word. We need to spread these treasures by preaching the gospel to the unsaved, teaching the truths to the saved ones, and ministering life to the seeking ones. All the saints who have returned to the proper and unique ground of oneness must bear this responsibility. This is why we must train the saints with the precious truths we have received from the Lord so that each one may be qualified and enabled to spread these truths by preaching the gospel, teaching the truth, and ministering life to people. We not only love the Christians outside of us, but we also love all human beings. The Lord loves the world, and we need to be the same. We love the world by preaching the gospel to them, and we love our fellow Christians, even though they are not with us, by teaching the truth and by ministering life to them.
We all need to have a clear view concerning the Lord’s practice in His recovery. Then we can have a proper attitude. We should never be sectarian, and we should always be open to all people. We should not only be open to all the Christians but also be open to all the unbelievers. Because we have received the Lord’s mercy and we are now a people bearing God’s testimony in His truth and in His life, we must learn to be open at all times to every Christian, teaching the truth and ministering the life supply to them. When you meet other Christians, do not be bothered that they are Christians in the divisions. Do not change your attitude, but still be open to them. Present the truth and minister life to them. Try not to consider, think, or feel that they are different from the saints who are with us, because they also are our fellow believers in Christ.
Finally, we should never try to proselytize Christians from the divisions. We must always do our best, on the other hand, to preach the gospel, teach the truth, and minister life. Let other Christians have their own choice regarding the matter of the church. The Lord’s testimony does not depend upon a big number but upon the reality of His life. Even though we may have a small number, if we live the reality of the life of Christ, this is the testimony of Jesus. Even if we had twenty million saints among us, without the reality of the life of Christ, there would be no testimony; this does not mean anything. This is why I feel that we should not pay that much attention to the numerical increase. I believe that if we really live a life of Christ as our reality, the increase will come. We should live such a testimony. Then all the churches over the whole earth will bear the same testimony and will carry the same New Testament ministry to establish the same New Testament church as the Body of Christ. Then wherever people go, they will see the same thing. They will see different peoples, different races, different ranks, and different societies meeting together, bearing the same testimony, and always speaking the same thing. They will see people speaking the same thing in many different languages and bearing the genuine testimony of Jesus. Even though we may have a small number, this is still something prevailing in the eyes of God.
I hope this fellowship helps us to have a proper spirit and to hold a right attitude toward all our fellow believers. We must learn to love them and even to love every man. Our practice should be that we love our neighbors, our schoolmates, our colleagues, and all our friends.
When other Christians ask us where we fellowship, we should not pretend to be someone else. We should be frank and tell them what we are. Whether they would continue to be open to us or whether they would be closed to us is up to them. Regardless of their reaction, we still would love them and not argue with them. We must bear our responsibility. We must learn how to preach the gospel, present the truth, or minister life to them. If we would do these three things, the ones around us will receive something. We do not need to defend ourselves against negative speaking. It is better from the very beginning to let people know that you are meeting in a local church that is very much helped by the ministry of Witness Lee. If they would respond to you with something negative, do not argue with them. You need to present them a clear view of a biblical truth that the Lord has shown us. Maybe you would share John 3:14 with them. You might tell them that the Lord Jesus applied the type of the bronze serpent to Himself, showing that when He was in the flesh, He was in “the likeness of the flesh of sin” (Rom. 8:3), which likeness was the form of the bronze serpent. Tell them that when Christ, our Redeemer, was on the cross, He was lifted up like the bronze serpent in the wilderness. Your presentation of this biblical truth will shock them. If you presented the truth in this way to your colleague every day, he would be subdued and enlightened. Eventually, he would be fully opened to the ministry you receive because he would realize that the truth is there.
This is one of the main factors why I called this urgent training. The ones who bear the responsibility of the churches must realize that we have to change our way in order to bring the saints fully into the truths of God’s New Testament economy. If we train the saints, they will be enabled to preach the gospel, teach the truth, and minister life. We do not need to remain in our old practice where people meet with us for a number of years and still have not been perfected to minister to others. They may appreciate the meetings and the ministry, but they still are not able to present the truth. May the Lord bring all the saints in all the churches fully into the truth, and may all the saints in the Lord’s recovery be those who are enabled and skilled to preach the gospel, teach the truth, and minister life for the carrying out of God’s New Testament economy unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
