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In this chapter we want to fellowship more concerning how to carry out the God-ordained way. First, I want to point out some crucial items of revelation that were released in the summer training of 1987.
In the summer training of 1987, I shared nineteen messages, which are contained in the book entitled The God-ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy. A number of these messages are crucial in revelation. The first chapter of this book concerns the divine economy. In that chapter there is one point that I never released in the previous years of my ministry. That point is concerning the completion of Christ. The record of the completion of Christ is in the four Gospels. Then in the Acts, this completed Christ was propagated. God’s Christ is eternally perfect, but such an eternally perfect Christ needed to be completed. Today our Savior is the completed Christ. He has been completed in incarnation, in human living, in crucifixion, in resurrection, in becoming the essential Spirit of life, in ascension, and in becoming the economical Spirit of power.
I also consider the last three chapters of this book to be very critical. These three chapters are entitled “The Apostles’ Teaching and Fellowship,” “The New Testament Ministry and Ministers,” and “The Leadership in the New Testament Ministry and among the New Testament Ministers.” According to the New Testament record, the leadership is in the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42). In 1 Timothy 1:3-4 Paul exhorted Timothy to remain in Ephesus in order that he might charge certain ones not to teach different things from God’s economy. First Timothy shows us that there was some leadership that charged people to teach the proper thing. This shows that the proper leadership is in the apostles’ teaching.
In this chapter I would like to fellowship concerning the application of the God-ordained way, the biblical way, the new way. To know this way outwardly is not that difficult, but to apply the biblical way to meet and to serve is not so simple. This biblical way includes four things: (1) the preaching of the gospel by visiting people to get people saved for Christ (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15); (2) having home meetings set up in the new ones’ homes for nourishing and cherishing them so that they may grow in life (John 21:15; 1 Pet. 2:2); (3) having group meetings to group the new ones together for perfecting (Heb. 10:24-25; Eph. 4:12-13); and (4) prophesying, speaking for the Lord and speaking forth the Lord, in the church meetings for the building up of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 14:1, 3-5, 12, 23-24, 31, 39a). None of these four items is easy. Even the first step of visiting people to get them saved is not easy.
To visit people for the preaching of the gospel, we must be revived persons. We must be stirred up in our spirit. We must be praying persons who pray ourselves into our spirit. Then when we are in the light, we can make a thorough confession of all our sinfulness, defects, and failures. For the entire day we have to walk in the spirit, and we have to live Christ. We also must learn to speak Christ all day long to anybody. Then this will qualify us to be the right persons to go out not merely with a doctrinal gospel but with the living person of Christ.
The Lord said that all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth; then He charged the disciples to go and disciple the nations (Matt. 28:18-19). This is to go with the Christ who has all the authority. We must be filled with the Spirit so that we can speak at any time with boldness. That boldness is a strong sign that we are experiencing the outpoured Spirit.
In order to be prevailing in the gospel, we must be people who live a revived life, an overcoming life. As regenerated persons, we need to be filled with the Spirit inwardly and outwardly. Then when we go to visit people, we go with Christ as the Spirit. Christ is not only our power but also our authority. When we speak to people, Christ speaks in our speaking. When we are filled with the Spirit, we have the boldness and the utterance. We can speak the same word in two ways. One way is by ourselves. The other way is to speak with Christ. This makes a great difference.
Some saints have asked how a person could be regenerated within fifteen minutes. But I would ask how much time is needed for a person to be regenerated. Many years ago there was a Norwegian missionary in China who was very powerful and prevailing in preaching regeneration. Many people were regenerated through her preaching. After her message she would go to the entrance to meet people as they left and check with them one by one as to whether or not they had been regenerated. Even many pastors at that time were not regenerated.
Once, she was preaching in a certain denomination where the pastor was an unregenerated opium smuggler. After her message she greeted this pastor at the entrance and asked him whether or not he had been regenerated. He said that he had, but this missionary replied that by the tone of his voice and by the expression on his face, she knew that he had not truly been regenerated. He was insulted by having such a word spoken to him in the presence of the members of his congregation. When he went back home, filled with hatred for this Norwegian missionary, he plotted to kill her. As he was making his evil plans, the Holy Spirit said to him, “See how evil you are!” The Holy Spirit worked upon him; he repented with tears and even rolled on the floor as he made his confession to the Lord.
His experience and the experience of many others, in accordance with the truth of the Scriptures, show that regeneration is instantaneous. But to help people experience regeneration, we need the Spirit. If we go out by ourselves and in ourselves, we may talk fluently to someone for a long time with no result. People may be convinced by us and still not be regenerated. We need to get ourselves prepared with the infilling and outpouring of the Spirit. When we go in this way, others will be regenerated. Whether or not others get regenerated depends upon what kind of persons we are when we go out.
To take an easy way in the Lord’s present move does not work. Even the first item, the preaching of the gospel, is not an easy thing. It requires us to live a victorious life. By what way can we live such a life? There is no other way except by contacting the Lord. First, we must enjoy Him every morning. We have to spend a little time every morning to be with the Lord, to enjoy the Lord. Living a revived life enables us to bring others to the Lord so that they can be regenerated.
Many years ago, the inner-life people made being regenerated too difficult. Regeneration is instantaneous. D. L. Moody said that regeneration is the biggest miracle. It is a great miracle that a sinner can be made a son of God in an instant. Regeneration and being filled with the Spirit essentially and economically are very normal, but they are also miraculous to the uttermost. They are miraculous normalities. In the winter training of 1987 I gave a message on the miraculous normality in God’s New Testament economy (see ch. 13 of The Scriptural Way to Meet and to Serve for the Building Up of the Body of Christ). Whatever has been bequeathed to us in God’s New Testament economy is very normal in our experience. This is because everything is ready. The very Christ has been completed. Now He is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b), and He is everywhere. He is even in our mouth and in our heart (Rom. 10:8 and footnote, Recovery Version). We just need to call, “O Lord Jesus,” and we get Him.
We may not have much time in the morning, but at least we can set apart ten minutes to spend with the Lord. We can spend these ten minutes to say, “O Lord Jesus,” and we can turn to His Word to enjoy Him. The heavenly manna has been made available to us, and we just need to take it. The leading ones in the churches must learn and be burdened to be revived by the Lord every morning, and they have to help the other brothers and sisters to practice this. Whoever practices this will become living and even victorious. They will be eager to speak Christ to their relatives, acquaintances, colleagues, and classmates. They will also anticipate meeting in the evening with their family and with other Christians. When they meet, they will have something to say. They will have something living to render to the meeting. The key point is that we need to have a revived life, a victorious life.
It is not just a matter of changing our way outwardly to the new way. This is like changing the coffin of a dead body. The new way is to raise up the dead ones to be the living ones. The new way is altogether not a formal thing. This is why visiting people requires us to pay a big price. We have to lose our face and sacrifice our time. We have to suffer people’s rejection of us. I hope that all the saints can be brought into the top way of preaching the gospel, the way of visiting people. No other way is as effective or as prevailing.
We also need to endeavor to set up home meetings with the newly saved ones. This requires much labor. The home meetings test us to the uttermost. What we are, how much we have, and how much we can do will be tested by the home meetings. Having home meetings is not a simple matter of reading a few verses from the Bible or a passage from the Life-studies or Life Lessons with the new ones. The success of the home meetings depends upon who we are. Can we enliven people? This depends upon what kind of persons we are with the Lord. The new way is not just a way. It is actually a proper life, a revived life. The new way requires us to have a permanent revival day by day.
The new ones should also be grouped together for group meetings. In the old way of having group meetings, the attendants merely took turns reading through something from the Word and the ministry. Many became disappointed and dropped this kind of meeting. One brother told us that a certain denomination broke up into small groups, and this brother’s father was assigned to be a leader of a certain group. When these ones came together in the group, however, everyone was quiet. No one would speak. Eventually, the pastor of this denomination gave up these small groups, thinking that they did not work. It is easy for everyone to attend a so-called Sunday service to listen to a pastor speak, but it is difficult to practice group meetings in which all the attendants function organically.
This shows that practicing the church life is not simply a matter of changing our way. It is a matter of changing our life. We must be persons who are really living in our spirit, walking in Christ, and living Him. Some may feel that this is too demanding, but the things of life are demanding. God can do so much for us, but He cannot eat, drink, or breathe for us. We have to exercise to eat, drink, and breathe. We must help the saints realize that they need to exercise to be brought into the enjoyment of the Lord. They have to contact Him.
The Lord is rich to all who call upon Him (Rom. 10:12). This does not mean that the Lord is rich to everyone. He is rich to that one who calls upon Him. The first thing that we should do in the morning is to enjoy Him. Then we should enjoy Him continually throughout the entire day. The Lord is real, true, and faithful. He never fails anyone who seeks after Him, who calls on Him. We must help ourselves and help the saints to contact the Lord, to call on Him. This will change our lives. This will make us powerful to touch people. When revived people come together to meet as a group, they will all have something to say. They will have a group meeting that is living, fresh, and new.
The new ones also need to be brought into the full realization of the proper church life. We must labor to bring the new ones into the larger meetings of the church and help them to know the church as the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:22b-23). Eventually, the new ones need to be led into prophesying in the church meetings for the building up of the Body of Christ.
To try to bring the church into the practice of the biblical way too quickly will not work. I spent three years in Taipei to help the church there make the transition into the God-ordained way. During this time they maintained the Lord’s Day morning message meeting because the saints had to be adequately prepared to meet in another way. Time was needed to bring them up to the proper standard. I used the illustration of some people who need to be brought down from the fifth floor of a building. You cannot ask them to jump down. If they do, they will die. You have to do something to help them walk down from the fifth floor to the first floor. We need to gradually and positively bring the saints into the God-ordained way of meeting, with all speaking in mutuality, for the building up of the church.
Brother Nee spoke twice concerning the church meetings in mutuality. One portion is in The Normal Christian Church Life (see ch. 9). The messages in this book were first given in 1937. The other portion concerning the God-ordained way to meet is in Church Affairs (see ch. 4). The messages in this book were given in 1948. In Church Affairs there are three crucial points concerning the Lord’s Day morning message meeting. The first is that the Lord’s Day morning message meeting with one person speaking and the rest listening is according to “the customs of the nations.” This is referred to in the Old Testament and includes idol worship (2 Kings 17:8, NASB). Second, Brother Nee said that this kind of meeting was altogether a waste. Third, he said that such a meeting was not worthwhile to maintain.
Brother Nee saw this many years ago, and I was there when he released this word. He told us that this way of meeting was a very strong habit that was hard to remove. He said that we all had to push together until this unscriptural way was pushed aside. He pointed out, though, that it is difficult to get something to replace the Lord’s Day morning message meeting. This may be likened to endeavoring to change from an old way of cooking to a new way. If no one knows how to cook in the new way, the old way of cooking cannot be stopped suddenly. Otherwise, everyone will starve. For this reason I did not agree that we would completely stop the Lord’s Day morning message meeting in Taipei. We did this when the saints were prepared for it. I am sharing this to help us realize that we should not take the God-ordained way so easily and so fast.
If we mean business with the Lord for His recovery, we have to remember that the God-ordained way to meet is a crucial item that has not yet been recovered. First Corinthians 14:26 says, “What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” Where can we see that this verse has been fulfilled? Even with the Brethren, a century ago, this was not fully recovered. Where can we see the fulfillment of Hebrews 10:25, which says, “Not abandoning our own assembling together, as the custom with some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more as you see the day drawing near”? These two verses are the Lord’s words in His holy revelation. In Matthew 24:35 the Lord said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall by no means pass away.” Whatever the Lord has spoken, sooner or later, will be fulfilled. I have the full assurance that the Lord’s words in 1 Corinthians 14:26 and Hebrews 10:25 will be fulfilled. If He does not do it in our time, He will do it in the future.
God promised Adam that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15), and He waited four thousand years to fulfill this promise. About two thousand years after this promise to Adam, God promised Abraham that through his seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed (22:18). The birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of these two promises. He was the Triune God incarnated. He came to fulfill His promise. Thus far, He has been waiting for almost two thousand years for the complete fulfillment of all of His words in the New Testament. To the Lord, however, a thousand years are like one day (2 Pet. 3:8).
Since the time of Martin Luther, the Lord has brought His people through many recoveries. According to my knowledge, the experience of 1 Corinthians 14:26 and Hebrews 10:25 may be one of the final things that need to be recovered. Brother Nee stressed this so much, but he did not have the opportunity to see this come to pass. He shared his burden concerning the church meeting of mutuality first in 1937 and a second time in 1948. In the following year, 1949, mainland China was lost to the Communists. In 1952 he was put into prison by them, so there was no opportunity for him to see the Lord’s recovery of 1 Corinthians 14:26. I feel that I owe him something. Even for his sake, I need to labor to see this truth, which he stressed so much, realized among us.
I have been serving the Lord in His ministry for exactly fifty-five years. I began to practice the church life in my home in 1932. By 1984, fifty-two years later, I realized that I must do something for the Lord to see the churches brought into His ordained way. I have a burden to carry this out at any risk. I have not been attacked by the enemy at any time in my entire life as I have at this time, but by His mercy I am standing here. I only care for God’s burden. Whether I could see His present burden come to pass or not, only He knows. I care for only one thing — I have to finish my course; I have to discharge my burden.
The recovery of 1 Corinthians 14:26 and Hebrews 10:25 is a great thing. I care only for this burden. If I could not speak to all the saints on this earth, at least I could speak to a part of them. I must discharge my burden. I desire to sacrifice everything for this burden, even my life. I do not care for my life. I care only for this burden. There is a Chinese proverb that says, “I will do it to the uttermost until I die.” This is my feeling.
If we have the burden to take this way, we should simply do it ourselves. We should not criticize others or look down on others who do not take this way. On the other hand, those who do not feel to take this way should not criticize those who do. We all are saints in the Lord’s recovery. From the very beginning of my fellowship concerning the new way, I did not expect all the saints in the churches to pick up the burden to preach the gospel by visiting people. But if we mean business with the Lord, we must try our best to build up in the church a habit of going out to reach people, a habit of preaching the gospel by visiting people. I hope that all the churches would endeavor to pick up this burden to build up such a habit. It would be wonderful if one-fourth of the saints could be raised up to carry out this burden. Then we will gain a consistent yearly increase.
We must help the saints to be revived. By 1984 my feeling was that all the churches had become somewhat dormant. We lost our impact and our morale. What we had by 1984 was a routine way to meet, a routine way to work, and a routine way to speak. We were practicing the church life in a routine way. Where was the living burden? Where was the burning among us? It was lost.
We need to pick up the burden to practice the church life according to the God-ordained way, but I also advise all the churches not to do this in a fast way. I want to encourage us, though, to endeavor to enter into the reality of the Lord’s biblical way. We must get ourselves revived to live a victorious life, and we need to help the saints to live the same life.
I hope that we could all be in one accord for the Lord’s present move. We cannot organize the one accord. The one accord comes out of our spirit. We must endeavor to do everything we can to keep the one accord among us for the sake of the Lord’s recovery. We should not do anything that would damage this one accord. We must be one with the church where we are according to what the church there feels it must practice presently. We must go on gradually and positively with the Lord until we fully enter into the reality of His ordained way.
I would again like to remind us that we must live a revived life. We must live a victorious life. We must learn to do things, not according to our preference but according to the spirit. In the spirit we love one another, sympathize with one another, and forgive one another. In this way the one accord can be produced and maintained among us.
