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To accomplish anything, we need the proper weapons. We likewise need the skill and also a strategy. In a war the first thing you need is the weapons. Then you must also learn the skill of how to use the weapons. Last, you need the best strategy. If you have these three things, you surely will win the war. In the book of Acts you could see these three things. We must consider what the weapons are in Acts. Most of us consider that in this book the Spirit is the main emphasis. However, the word, either logos or rhema, is mentioned seventy-eight times in this book, whereas the Spirit, referring to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, is used less than sixty times. In addition, Acts does not say that the Spirit grew and multiplied. Instead, it says that “the word of God grew and multiplied” (12:24; cf. 6:7; 19:20). It would be good to get into all these verses concerning the word in Acts.
The word is very significant. Today the entire human race is altogether carried on by the spoken and written word. If you took the written word away, what kind of society would there be? Newspapers are everywhere, as are every kind of book, magazine, or other printed media, full of the written word. God also does everything by speaking. He does everything by His word. In Acts, the apostles preached the word and spoke the word.
It would be helpful to briefly examine the history of Christian work in relation to the Word of God. In the United States and Canada among the Protestants, the Baptists have the highest membership with over twenty-five million. The Methodists rank second, with close to thirteen million. In their early days the Methodists used the Bible very much. Of course, in this they followed John Wesley. John Wesley’s most prevailing contemporary was George Whitefield, who was more powerful than John Wesley. Whitefield did two things — he prayed and he studied the Bible. He read the Greek text of the New Testament thoroughly on his knees, word by word. Furthermore, he did it by praying. Although he did not have the term pray-reading, he practiced this very much. One account in his writing tells us that on a certain day, after he had been praying on a mountain for quite a long time, he came down and found a large crowd waiting for him. When he began to speak to them, the entire content of his speaking was nothing but the Bible. In this way his speaking was powerful. This is a fact of history. George Whitefield never spoke in tongues, yet he was powerful. No one can deny history.
Likewise, no one can deny the history of the saints who practiced the inner life. The history of these saints began with the mystics in the 1600s, right after the Reformation. This was a reaction to the Reformation, which had become dead. The Lord raised up this reaction within the Catholic Church under the seeking saints, such as Father Fenelon, Brother Lawrence, and eventually Madame Guyon. If you read church history, you would realize that they were powerful. We were very much influenced and helped by them. For this reason we translated their books almost fifty years ago. In them there is no word at all, not even a hint, that they cared for the so-called baptism in the Holy Ghost, yet they were very powerful.
Following this, William Law was raised up. History tells us that there were two William Laws, although he was actually one person. The first William Law was a person of dead letters who studied theology. However, at a certain point he received something, which was the real experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, although not in the way practiced by today’s Pentecostalism. From that time he became another person, the William Law of the Spirit. He realized that what the mystics experienced was very much needed and a great help to all the Christians. Therefore, he put the mystics’ writings into a more practical form. That became a great help to the Christians in the past.
After this, Andrew Murray put what William Law wrote into practice. No one can deny that while Andrew Murray was working in South Africa, at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, he was very prevailing. One of his most prevailing books is The Spirit of Christ. I would encourage you to read that book, especially chapter 5 entitled “The Spirit of the Glorified Jesus.” His other most prevailing book is his Holy of Holies, an exposition on Hebrews.
Following Andrew Murray, the Lord raised up Jessie Penn-Lewis, who received her help from Andrew Murray. The writings of Mrs. Penn-Lewis were altogether on the subjective death of Christ. Eventually, her writings ushered her readers to the Spirit. Through her writings you may touch the Spirit in a very practical and prevailing way. I hope that you could get a copy of her paper The Overcomer, in particular, the issues published in 1913 and 1914. Her writings were prevailing, and her speaking was likewise prevailing and powerful. Yet, she was strongly and absolutely against the practice of Pentecostalism. Her book War on the Saints attacks the practices of Pentecostalism. In Brother Nee’s three-volume book The Spiritual Man, the chapter on spiritual warfare draws freely from Mrs. Penn-Lewis’s work. Brother Nee said clearly that the three volumes were not purely his writing. When he put out those three volumes, he included a long preface, giving a record of the books and pages from which he collected others’ writings. The greater part of the works from which he drew was from Mrs. Penn-Lewis, especially the portion on spiritual warfare.
Mrs. Penn-Lewis associated herself with the leader of the Welsh revival, Evan Roberts. The revival of Wales (1904-1906) was prevailing to such an extent that if you had desired to preach the gospel, you could have found almost no one who had not yet been saved there. Evan Roberts, a coal miner and an unlearned man, and his sister were used by the Lord to bring in that revival, the most prevailing revival in this century. In that revival there was no tongue-speaking. Roberts saw much demonic activity at that time, and he learned something concerning spiritual warfare. He passed on all his experiences to Mrs. Penn-Lewis. Mr. and Mrs. Penn-Lewis both became very close friends of Evan Roberts, and Mrs. Penn-Lewis put all his experiences during the Welsh revival into writing. Not only did Evan Roberts become quite prevailing, but also Mrs. Penn-Lewis’s writings became very prevailing. However, they both were entirely against Pentecostalism.
Mrs. Penn-Lewis considered the practices of Pentecostalism to be related to the latent power of the soul, related to the demons. Brother Nee translated her material concerning the latent power of the soul into Chinese and added to it. He realized that what those Pentecostalists experienced in the principle of the latent power of the soul corresponded with the practice of some of the ancient Chinese, who by this power were able to contact the demons. One of the elders in Taiwan, before he was saved, was one of the top experts in practicing the latent power of the soul. While remaining in one city, he was able by the power of the soul to visit another city. He also had supernatural visions. He related to us in detail many of his experiences.
T. Austin-Sparks was a young co-worker of Jessie Penn-Lewis. As a young man, he was a modernistic pastor. He heard Mrs. Penn-Lewis’s preaching and was saved. After his conversion he became a learner under Mrs. Penn-Lewis. Even up until now, in the past two centuries no writings on the inner life have ever reached such a high level as those of T Austin-Sparks. Although I am honest to say this, I was entirely not in agreement with him concerning the church life. We had over thirty long talks together. He came to visit us in Taiwan twice, and I returned the visit by staying with him for four weeks. He brought me to his retreat in Scotland, where we stayed together for one week, having private talks every day concerning one thing — the practice of the church life. Although we could not agree, I do admit that his writing on the inner life was excellent. However, my point is that this brother was altogether against Pentecostalism.
In 1955 we invited Brother T. Austin-Sparks to come to us in Taiwan. Many of the saints became excited, for they expected to receive great help for the inner life from him. Some of these excited ones held their own meetings, apart from the church meetings. On one afternoon in the third hall, a brother who was a professor received “the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” He became crazy with this experience. Although he did not speak in tongues, he began to speak by walking around the hall, speaking continually for three hours. All the attendants became excited. This exercised quite an influence upon others. A small number among us who spoke in tongues also became excited over this. That was their opportunity to be released. However, when T. Austin-Sparks arrived and came to know of this, he charged those saints to stop that activity. He was very strong. That shocked the excited ones, who then ceased their activity. Later they all admired the messages he gave.
I am trying to be fair, and I am trying to help you to be fair. The church has a long history of twenty centuries. It was only in the last part of its history, since the middle of the last century, that Pentecostalism was raised up. In the period of eighteen and a half centuries before that time, the church already had a long history. Even in these last one and a half centuries many wonderful things have happened in the church besides Pentecostalism. I cannot go along with Pentecostalism because those who practice this make the Pentecostal things everything. How could the Pentecostals annul everything else and make Pentecostalism to be “the thing”? They claim that tongue-speaking is the unique sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Who can go along with this? Many throughout history have experienced the Lord and become prevailing apart from the Pentecostal things. I myself was saved in February of 1925. I was fully converted and changed. I gave up the world and have never gone back for sixty years. Likewise, the mystics, such as William Law, Andrew Murray, Mrs. Penn-Lewis, and T. Austin-Sparks, experienced the Lord and became the top among the inner-life people. Many of the Brethren teachers, such as John Nelson Darby, C. H. Mackintosh, and William Kelly, produced writings not only full of knowledge but full of power and full of life. No one can deny this. Just one hundred thirty years ago, around 1850, the Brethren movement became so prevailing throughout Europe and reached even to Central America. D. M. Panton said that the Brethren movement was much stronger than the Reformation. The only difference was that the Reformation widely propagated itself, while the Brethren movement sought to conceal itself. They became so powerful by speaking and teaching the Word. They swept through all of England. We cannot deny the facts.
At this time also there were great Bible expositors such as G. Campbell Morgan, A. J. Gordon, and S. D. Gordon. When G. Campbell Morgan held a Bible-study meeting in London, the hall was crowded night after night. That was really powerful. In those meetings there was no speaking in tongues, even though speaking in tongues had already begun in England. Charles Spurgeon, the great evangelist in England, and Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, and Jonathan Edwards in America are among the other giants in church history who never practiced the Pentecostal things.
If you studied history, you would find out that they were powerful. They all were powerful in the Word. D. L. Moody said that if his entire library were to be burned, and his Bible and C. H. Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch were to remain, that would be sufficient. D. L. Moody’s messages were mostly based on the Brethren teaching. Dr. C. I. Scofield brought the Brethren teachings into American theology. He put out his Scofield Reference Bible, based upon the Brethren teachings, that nearly dominated American fundamental Christianity for some years. Moody Bible Institute still carries Dr. Scofield’s Bible correspondence course. There has been a strong history in the church concerning the Word. Whoever is skillful in using the Word of God is powerful, and their work remains because it is built up with the solid Word.
A third big Protestant denomination today is the Church of Christ. Today it is bigger than either the Presbyterian or the Episcopalian denominations. Thirty years ago an American missionary of the Church of Christ who went to Taiwan told me that there were about one million in that denomination. Within thirty years their numbers have at least tripled. The Church of Christ’s teachings concerning the church are very similar to ours. However, we cannot go along with their teaching of baptismal regeneration. Although this is a matter merely of doctrinal debate, their insistence on receiving only those who are baptized by them is serious and very sectarian. However, they have become powerful and are very dogmatic in their teaching. The members of the Church of Christ are trained with their teachings. They surely know their points of doctrine, and their teachings are very logical. Therefore, those teachings have caught the higher-class people because logical people like to know doctrines. Only doctrines can convince logical people. The Pentecostals who go to the campus today get little fruit. No scientific student of today would listen to these Pentecostal things. However, if you go there with the higher gospel, you will catch many.
The Church of Christ members are trained by their church to be their representatives. Once as I was speaking in Texas on the Spirit, a woman from the Church of Christ stood up to question me concerning water baptism and to educate me with her Church of Christ doctrine. It is a shame that we have been here for twenty-three years and have given so many messages, but there are so few representatives of the church. Even the elders may have difficulty in speaking concerning the Divine Trinity, a major point of the truth. Some of you have received all the messages and have attended the trainings. However, the trainings may have been like a cloud through which you passed for ten days, receiving little of a permanent deposit. Afterward you may have bought the messages, but perhaps you have never read them. They may simply be on your shelves. How many of the elders could give a message on the Triune God dispensing Himself into the tripartite man from Romans 8? Could you debate with others concerning this? We have many treasures but few salesmen. On the campuses the Church of Christ is prevailing, not in holding meetings but in catching four or five and forming a small group to study the Bible.
We must have a change. Our weapons are the best, but our skill is not up to the standard of our weapons. Likewise, we do not have the proper strategy. We have to change our strategy to fight the battle and learn the top skills to use our top weapons. If you dear saints would be faithful to the Lord’s up-to-date move by developing the skill to use the top weapons, the Word revealed to us, and by taking the top strategy, within a quarter century we will gain all of America. Not only will you go out to speak, but you will produce many speakers. I hope that the gospel team would produce many new teachers. Those who are converted will be the same as you are after two years. They will speak the high word, the high gospel, the high truth. This will be warmly welcomed by the highly educated people. The truths taught by you will remain solidly as a rock for the seeking Christians to work on, to live on, and to stand upon.
In the Acts the Spirit was working, but the Spirit worked only through the word. The word is the wire of the divine electricity, and the Spirit is the electricity. Actually, the word is the Spirit. The disciples preached the word, they spoke the word, they did everything with the word, and eventually Acts says that the word grew and multiplied. I hope that after twenty years all the deep truths, which are covered in our printed pages, will grow and multiply. This is why I feel very sorrowful that some of you would pick up something else besides the rich word to bring into the Lord’s recovery as a part of the Lord’s recovery. This is a real distraction and a frustration.
I would beg all the leading ones to get themselves into these deeper truths. By this you will become teachers and will be able to teach every saint in your locality to speak the same thing. Forget about being a leader. Forget about maintaining a little empire for your leadership. Do not do this. Just do one thing — get yourselves into the deeper truths. Then you must teach, in the big meetings and in the small meetings. Help all the saints to experience the same thing. This is what the Lord is depending upon today. Without this, the Lord could not have the victory. Be fully assured that if we would do this, the Holy Spirit would surely agree. He would honor this. If you would like to receive more of the Spirit, do this. You do not need to fast, to pray for the baptism of the Spirit, or to speak in tongues. Forget about these things. Simply go out to speak the high word from the Bible, and the Spirit will honor your speaking. Eventually, the word spoken by you will become the Spirit. You will get the Spirit, and others will get Him too. I know what I am speaking about. This is the real power.
For quite a long time I have been considering how to use the Life-studies. The Life-studies were written to convey the life supply and to release some basic truths. Also, they were put out to help the young saints to know the Bible. Many verses are covered with many points. Eventually, the Life-studies become a mine with many treasures. Therefore, it is hard for people to use the Life-studies. They do not know what to choose. If you would take care of every message with every paragraph and line, it would take you much time. It is likewise hard to use the messages in the meetings. Eventually, I believe that the Lord has given us the best way, that is, to pick up the crucial points of the truth (see Elders’ Training, Book 6: The Crucial Points of Truth in Paul’s Epistles, chapter 1).
In this chapter I have a burden to share with you the principles of studying and understanding the Bible. The Bible has been in man’s hands for at least eighteen or nineteen centuries. There have been many expositors and teachers who defined and taught the Bible. By reading many of their writings from many sources, we were helped very much to be balanced. The best way to understand the Bible is to pick up the Brethren theology. Today there are at least four different theologies — secular theology, Reformed theology, fundamental theology, and Brethren theology. Among these, the Brethren theology is the best. In this country the two top seminaries are Dallas Theological Seminary and Moody Bible Institute. These two use the top theology, being based mostly upon Brethren theology. When Dr. Scofield was working in Dallas, he was very close to Dallas Theological Seminary, and his writings nearly dominate the theology of Dallas Theological Seminary. Scofield’s reference Bible was mainly based upon Brethren theology. Likewise, D. L. Moody was absolutely in the line of the Brethren teachings.
The first good point of Brethren theology is that it opens up the entire Bible in a general way. In his Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, Darby opened up the Bible not only in a general way but with so many basic principles. For example, in the Psalms he points out some principles, from which I received great help in studying the Psalms.
Second, the Brethren opened up the types. Typology was a favorite of the Brethren teachers. I also received much help from them in this matter. In our Life-study of Exodus the speaking concerning the types is mostly based upon the Brethren teaching, of course with much more development on my part. Third, the Brethren opened up the prophecies. It was they who pointed out that to understand the prophecies in the Bible you must take care of two things: the great image in Daniel 2, which governs the Gentile world from Babylon up to the ten kingdoms under the upcoming Antichrist, and the seventy weeks in Daniel 9. These two items are the governing, basic principles in understanding and explaining the prophecies. G. H. Pember, Robert Govett, and D. M. Panton all followed this principle. Fourth, the Brethren opened up the Bible in dispensations. It was they who began to see God’s economy, although they did not use this word. They taught that there are seven dispensations. However, they preferred to say that there are four — the dispensation of the patriarchs, that is, the dispensation before the law; the dispensation after the law (Rom. 5:14); the dispensation of grace (v. 15); and the dispensation of the coming kingdom. Reformed theology denies the matter of the dispensations, but the Brethren teaching stresses this quite much.
The Brethren also opened up the matter of the Divine Trinity. They taught very much concerning the Trinity and Christ’s Person. No theology teaches so much concerning the Trinity and Christology as Brethren theology. Last, the Brethren opened up much of the truth concerning the church. Nearly all the other theologies do not touch the church. Only the Brethren touch the church to such a great degree. These are the six main items of Brethren theology, and we have been very much influenced by them. We honor and regard Brethren theology as the top theology. If one would read our messages with the proper understanding, he would realize that our teaching is based upon and constituted with the Brethren theology.
However, to only have a proper knowledge of Brethren theology would leave us imbalanced. Therefore, we also need the inner-life teachings starting from the mystics through William Law, Andrew Murray, Mrs. Penn-Lewis, T. Austin-Sparks, and so many others, including some of the top speakers of the Keswick Convention. You must have an adequate knowledge of these two kinds of teachings, the Brethren teachings and the inner-life teachings. If you do not have this, you are not qualified to know the Bible properly. The problem with the Brethren is that they were short of the inner life. On the other hand, Andrew Murray, a top inner-life teacher, was short of the Brethren theology. His writings are correct in the experiences but often quite wrong in the usage of Bible verses. We have learned these things, and this has become a balance and a warning to us.
Today in the northern United States Reformed theology is very prevailing. Reformed theology is renowned for their stance on God’s eternal selection and predestination. It is Calvinism that affirms that if you are saved, you are saved forever, because God has selected and predestinated you for eternal salvation. However, Calvinism neglects man’s responsibility. Because of this, Arminianism sprang up in opposition, stating that even though you have been saved, you may still perish. They are strong on the side of man’s responsibility, but they use the verses wrongly. All the verses they quote to show that a man can perish after being saved do not refer to eternal perdition but to the dispensational punishment of the kingdom. This matter of the kingdom has never been seen, either by the Calvinists or by the Arminians. This was seen, however, by Mr. Govett and Mr. Panton, who helped to develop the proper teachings. G. H. Lang, a Brethren teacher, also took the same line.
Now there is the line of Calvinism, the line of Arminianism, and the line of the kingdom. We take the latter line, for without this there is no reconciliation between God’s selection and man’s responsibility. It is absolutely right that God has chosen us and even predestinated us for eternal salvation. After we have been saved, however, we need to bear an amount of responsibility by His sufficient grace and by our cooperation with Him through the enjoyment of His grace. If not, we will become a failure. To become a failure does not mean that we will perish. However, we have been strongly warned, mostly by the word of the Lord Jesus and by Paul’s teaching as well, that there will be an age, the kingdom age, which will be a reward to the faithful ones and a punishment to the unfaithful ones. This matter of punishment is presented especially in Hebrews. In Hebrews there are five warnings, each related to the dispensational punishment of the kingdom (2:1-4; 3:7—4:13; 5:11—6:20; 10:19-39; 12:1-29). The Arminians wrongly apply these warnings to eternal perdition. The two extreme schools of Calvinism and Arminianism can never be reconciled. However, when we consider the dispensational punishment of the kingdom, everything becomes clear; the pieces of the puzzle come together to give us a clear view of the entire situation.
You must learn Brethren theology, you must learn the inner-life teachings, and you must know where Calvinism and Reformed theology stand. Likewise, you must know where the school of Arminianism stands. Between Calvinism and Arminianism there is the kingdom teaching concerning the reward to the faithful ones and the punishment, or discipline, for the unfaithful ones. After you pick up these five things, you will become qualified and very much equipped to understand the Bible. I assure you that you could never go astray. This vision will govern your interpretation of every verse of the Bible. All the notes I wrote on the twenty-seven books of the New Testament were written under the governing of these five things. Although my teachings could be wrong in some small points, they are quite safe.
Over fifty years ago when I was in Shanghai, I saw a paper put out by the Seventh-day Adventists in which they said that the United States would be one of the ten kingdoms under Antichrist. Their interpretation was wild, without restriction, because they had no vision. However, if you have these five things as the governing principles for your interpretation of the Bible, you will be safe. I would pass this on to you, especially to the young ones. Pick up the principles to learn how to interpret the Bible and study typology and prophecy.
