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Scripture Reading: Luke 19:9; Acts 10:22-24; 16:13-15, 29-34; 18:8; Rom. 16:3-5; 1 Cor. 1:16; 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philem. 2; Heb. 11:7; 2 Pet. 2:5
When we speak about the furtherance of the new way for the Lord’s recovery, we mean that the only goal of our practicing the new way is to promote the Lord’s recovery.
What is known as the Lord’s recovery began at the latest in the Reformation, which took place in the sixteenth century through Martin Luther. Actually, before that time, even in the years A.D. 200 through 300, the Lord’s recovery was already in existence. During that time there were small groups of people, one after another, who saw that the church of their day had become deformed. Thus, they had a strong burden and hope in the depths of their heart and spirit to bring the church back to its earliest condition. This was the beginning of the recovery. Throughout the ages this flow of recovery has not stopped. At the beginning of this century the flow turned from the West and went to China. In 1922 the first church in the Lord’s recovery in China was started in Foochow, which was Brother Nee’s hometown. It has been sixty-four years since that time, and in all those years the Lord moved in many ways in His recovery while simultaneously releasing much truth and light.
Like the other works of the Lord, His recovery is carried out through His word and follows His word, which is the truth. According to church history, the most important accomplishment of the saints who had begun to pay attention to the Lord’s recovery in the second and third centuries was the recovery of the truth, the Lord’s word. When the Lord raised up the recovery among us in China, we did not do anything apart from this matter. We just sought to know the truth and to understand the Lord’s speaking. The Bible clearly shows us that God’s work is accomplished through His speaking. As soon as He speaks, His move is brought in. Without His speaking, He does not move. Not only is the work of the new creation carried out in this way; even the work of the old creation — the creation of the heavens, the earth, and all things — was accomplished through God’s speaking. The New Testament tells us that all creation came into being, or was produced, through God’s word (Heb. 1:2-3; John 1:3; 2 Pet. 3:5). God’s word is the truth. This is a very important matter.
The primary leading one of the Lord’s recovery in China was Brother Watchman Nee, who had the notable characteristic of being able to see the light of the truth and to recover the way of truth. From that time on, the Lord has never stopped recovering the light of the truth among us. Later, I was sent out from mainland China, and it can be said that the recovery of the Lord’s truth has been even stronger than before. In these past twenty years, especially after the spread of the Lord’s recovery to the West, the Lord’s light and truth have been pouring out like a waterfall. The books we publish are far richer in content and greater in number than ever before. For this reason much of the Lord’s move has been brought forth.
The Lord’s move does not depend merely on the truth; it depends even more on the vitality of the truth, which is life. In the Lord’s move, if there is only the truth yet the people themselves are deadened and not living, then everything is still empty. Hence, whenever the Lord reveals and releases the truth, action will follow, and the vitality within the action is life. We can all see one fact: on the one hand, we must confess that we are feeble and small, short of knowledge, and weak in the testimony we live out; yet, on the other hand, we see that if we compare the Lord’s recovery of the light of the truth and the condition of life among us with what is found among the majority of today’s Christians, we can only bow our heads to worship and thank the Lord that due to His great mercy we have truly advanced in the matters of truth and life.
For the past twenty years my work has been carried out mainly in the West, and most of my writings have been in English. The most up-to-date vision has recently been published in the book God’s New Testament Economy. That book consists of forty-four chapters, of which the last nineteen chapters deal exclusively with the New Jerusalem. We can now say that the New Jerusalem is the greatest, most consummate truth in the Bible. Furthermore, not long ago we published seven new books. Among them, three speak mainly about the way of promoting the Lord’s recovery, while the other four are a collection of messages I gave over the past twenty years in America. Although it has been almost a quarter of a century, those messages are still fresh, living, and full of supply. This is the sweet, wonderful grace bestowed on us by the Lord.
In summary, we can say that the truth among us today is unprecedented in richness. Comparatively speaking, we are at a high point in the matter of life. However, we still have a great lack because after sixty-four years the number of people in the Lord’s recovery is not very large. By His mercy, from the time the Lord’s recovery began in China until 1949 when we left the mainland, there were gatherings in the Lord’s recovery in all thirty-five provinces, but the number of people was not so great. After coming to Taiwan, we labored industriously for twelve years. From 1960 to 1962, when the Lord brought us to the Western world, the work of the Lord’s recovery also entered into the English-speaking world. Through the convenient geographical position of the United States and the widespread use of the English language, in more than twenty years the Lord’s recovery has spread from the United States to the other four major continents. Originally, the recovery was confined to Asia. Then it went to North America, and from there it has spread to South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia.
According to the calculation we made a few years ago, there are more than six hundred churches on the six major continents of the globe. This number is not small, but it is not large either. With respect to the number in the meetings, it is still too small; on average, each locality has only two hundred people in the meetings. Thus, the total number of people in all the churches is about one hundred twenty thousand. A great part of these people are in Taiwan, because Taiwan alone has more than forty thousand, or one-third of the entire number. In the other localities most of the meetings have fifty to sixty people, others have twenty to thirty, and still others have about one hundred. There are not many localities that have reached two hundred or more. This is a great lack in the Lord’s recovery today, and it is something that we pay particular attention to in the move of the Lord’s recovery in the new way.
In the last sixty years the truth in the Lord’s recovery has not been lacking, and even though our life has not been quite so rich, it is still adequate. There is only one matter that has really become a problem — the matter of increase and spread. According to the truth that the Lord has shown us and according to the life that He has given to us, our increase and spread are too poor. This is especially true of the ten years from 1974 to 1984, when our average worldwide rate of increase was less than two percent. It is for this reason that I have been pressed and burdened to the extent that I can no longer bear it.
Therefore, in 1984, apparently through my own decision but actually under the Lord’s leading, I returned to Taiwan. I felt that the situation could not continue in this way. I saw clearly that the truth among us cannot be changed, and the life we have cannot be shaken, but the way we work must be changed in order to keep up with the need. It is true that no one can change the globe, because it was created by God. Man’s standard of living on the globe, however, has been improving throughout the ages. One hundred years ago it took at least six months to sail from the west coast of America to the east coast of China, but today the methods of transportation have improved so much that one round-trip flight in an airplane takes only one day. This does not mean that the globe has changed or shrunk; rather, it means that methods of transportation have greatly improved, making travel more convenient.
Furthermore, the development of the television, telephone, and other telecommunication technologies has increased the spread of news. To prepare for the full-time training, nearly every day we have to make long-distance phone calls, and the calls are quite numerous. It is not like when I first went to America; back then I had to think carefully about what I would say before calling because I did not dare to waste a second. Now we have approximately seven hundred full-time trainees in the training center. They sleep, eat, and meet there without any problems. This is not a small matter. Just the matters of cooking three meals a day and arranging the sleeping quarters require our painstaking preparation, almost all of which has been accomplished entirely by fellowshipping on the telephone. This shows us that the globe has not changed, but the activities, the means of transportation, and the technologies of communication on the globe have been improved again and again. The messages we release here in Taipei can be heard simultaneously by telephone in numerous places in America.
This is why we must have a change in the system. In the recent ten years I have been continuously and tirelessly exhorting the young co-workers in Taiwan, telling them that they must make a change. Almost every time they went to America, I mentioned this matter to them. I told them that Taiwan has been reformed and is still improving in business, industry, education, and all other aspects, but in our church life we have made no reforms or improvements. Take the Gospel Book Room as an example. The packaging of other bookstores has improved and changed for the better, but in our bookroom we have been doing things in the same way that we did thirty years ago without making a single change. I certainly never imagined that in the end I would have to return to Taiwan to lead all the churches to have a change.
I was very busy with my work in the United States and was bearing a heavy burden with no possibility of leaving, but in 1984, when I finished writing the footnotes to the book of Acts in the New Testament, I told myself that I would return to Taiwan. The saints in America can all testify that when I returned this time, it was not an easy thing. I put aside all my work in Anaheim and completely devoted my heart to Taiwan. My burden was to bring the Lord’s recovery into a change of system here in Taiwan. We cannot change the Lord’s recovery itself, nor can we change the truth and life, but surely we must change the rate of increase in the churches. I hope that in the matter of changing the system, Taiwan can become the “fellowship center” for the entire globe.
I have been speaking for the Lord for more than fifty years, but I never used the term push, because I believed that it signified human effort. Now, however, I have changed, and I intend to use this word a lot. All the full-timers are my helpers to help me push the elders and the church in Taipei. The church in Taipei is like an old car that cannot be pulled or pushed, so I need these more than seven hundred full-timers to push together with me. In saying this word I might greatly offend the elders in Taipei, but my intention is good and proper. We have changed neither the truth nor the life. Rather, we still highly regard them as much as in the past. We are only changing our ways of working by correcting our errors and making improvements. If pushing does not work, then we will have to “stir” and “incite.” Pushing is for something moveable, stirring is for something living, and inciting is for something weak. If the church in Taipei still would not move, I will have to ask these more than seven hundred full-timers to help me pick it up and carry it on our shoulders.
We are all one family. I am like the eldest in this family, and when I see the second, third, and even fourth generations among you being raised up, I am full of emotion in my heart. Especially among the elders, there are many who are only a little over thirty years old, of whom I feel very proud. However, if you do not move, cold water will be poured upon my pride. I am not blaming you. I am only blaming the fact that we have waited so long to change the system, because as early as 1974 I should have promoted this change. Even though it is now ten years too late, I believe that the Lord will give me a period of time for us to have a success. My wife is very concerned about my physical health and hopes that this time while I am here, I can work less and rest more. But I am only concerned about one thing — changing the system. We absolutely must change the system.
The focus of the change in system is the household. In the New Testament we see many sweet households, such as the household of Caesar (Phil. 4:22), the household of Cornelius (Acts 10:22-24), the household of Lydia, a seller of purple-dyed goods (16:13-15), and the household of the jailer whose name is unknown (vv. 29-34). There was also the household of Stephanas (1 Cor. 1:16) and the household of Crispus (Acts 18:8). In addition, there were houses in which the meetings were held, such as Aquila and Prisca’s house (Rom. 16:3-5; 1 Cor. 16:19), the house of Nymphas (Col. 4:15), and the house of Philemon (Philem. 1-2). These examples clearly show us that the unit of God’s salvation and service is the household.
Even in the Old Testament, in the two great types of salvation, the household is the unit of salvation. The first is the type of the flood, in which the eight members of the house of Noah entered into the ark and were thus saved from God’s judgment on the world (Gen. 7:1; Heb. 11:7; 2 Pet. 2:5). The second is the type of the passover, in which each Israelite household took a lamb, killed it, put the blood on the doorposts and the lintel of the house, and ate the flesh of the lamb. It was not a lamb for each person but a lamb for each household as a unit (Exo. 12:3-8). In the past we have ignored these clear truths of the Bible; we were influenced by Christianity and were distracted and carried away.
From the beginning of the Lord’s recovery in China, Brother Nee pointed out that the church needs to be built up with the household as a unit. I received this matter from him and brought the practice to Taiwan. In addition, I introduced the practice of the “groups.” However, in 1984 when I returned to Taiwan, these two practices were almost non-existent. We were under the influence of the nations and were following their customs (2 Kings 17:33) to walk in the way of the denominations in Christianity by copying their practice of big meetings, in which one man speaks while all the rest listen. This practice brings forth the “clergy” and the “laity,” which prevents the functioning of the saints. Seeing this, I want to bring out a specific way for our practice at this crucial time.
Out of every twenty saints meeting in the Lord’s recovery, there should be one full-time serving one. Although I cannot say that this is a revelation from the Lord, I feel very clear inwardly that this is an excellent way. I also trumpeted this call very clearly in the United States, hoping that all the more than six hundred churches on the six major continents would be able to do this. This is the first principle for carrying out our change of system: that one out of twenty of the saints would be full time.
Some news has come in from two local churches. One locality, which has one hundred eighty in the meetings, is willing to produce nine full-timers, and the other locality, which has eighty in the meetings, will produce four full-timers. Now the church in Taipei, which has four thousand people regularly attending the meetings, has produced two hundred full-timers. This altogether corresponds to the principle of one out of twenty. I am very happy about this.
The second principle is that out of every four saints there should be one who goes out door-knocking. This does not refer to the door-knocking that is to be carried out by the full-timers; rather, this means that in the seven days of one week, one out of every four saints should set aside two hours to go out door-knocking. This does not require you to do a lot; you need to go only once a week. However, you must be persistent in this and do it every week. Unless you or a family member is ill and needs to rest or be cared for, you all should keep this principle and practice going out door-knocking for two hours every week.
Luke 9 says that when the Lord was calling people to follow Him, someone said to Him, “Lord, permit me to go first and bury my father.” The Lord said, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and announce the kingdom of God everywhere.” Another one said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say farewell to those in my house.” The Lord said, “No one who puts his hand on the plow and looks behind is fit for the kingdom of God” (vv. 59-62). According to this portion of the Word, we can also say that no matter what happens in our homes, we should always adhere to the principle of spending two hours a week to go out door-knocking. There are no excuses; nothing is so important that it can keep us from going out. No matter how busy we are, we must go out for two hours a week. There are fifty-two weeks a year, and as long as we are able to go, then we should practice this principle every week without fail.
I am speaking this word not to the full-timers but to all the saints. We all have a desire to serve the Lord because we love Him. Now the Lord wants us to set apart two hours a week for Him, so how can we say that He is asking too much? There are one hundred sixty-eight hours in a week, and two hours is only about one percent. If we really love Him, how can we refuse? If we cannot do even this much, how can we be excused? Regardless of who you are or how busy you are, you should give the Lord two hours every week to do nothing else but go out door-knocking.
Now I have no desire to speak any doctrines. I just want to promote the new way for the Lord’s recovery. The first point of the new way is that of the saints who regularly meet, one in twenty should be a full-timer, and the second point is that one in four should go out door-knocking for two hours every week. If a local church would be willing to practice these two principles, it will certainly be greatly blessed.
The full-timers should also go out door-knocking from Monday through Saturday for at least two or three hours a day. If a full-time serving one would be willing to do this, I believe that every week he would gain and baptize at least one person. In this way he would gain about fifty people in a year. At this rate the church in Taipei with its two hundred full-timers would gain ten thousand people in one year.
I hope that we all would be able to hear and receive this word. The two hundred full-timers supported by four thousand people should spend every day studying the truth, serving the church, and caring for the saints. In addition, they should set aside two or three hours every day to go out door-knocking, and each of these two hundred should be able to gain about fifty people a year. This means that these two hundred would bring in ten thousand people through door-knocking. This truly is a profitable matter.
This is the conclusion we drew from our practical research. If the Lord allows it, the Chinese Recovery Version of the New Testament will be finished next year, and then I will go to every continent to speak the same thing. On the one hand, I hate that I am so old now that I am not qualified to be a soldier, and on the other hand, I am certainly bearing too many burdens. Otherwise, I would definitely go out door-knocking every day.
We must be clear, however, that when the church is about to move ahead, we cannot avoid having some who will blow cold wind or pour cold water on us because they think that it is of no use to gain new ones. They say that when you have many births, the number of deaths increases also. Therefore, they believe it is better to give birth to just a few and save the trouble. Actually, even if we take away the percentage of those who are lost, dragging, or unreliable, we will still be able to gain some reliable and remaining fruit as our increase, our multiplication.
More than sixty years ago Brother Nee and I often told the saints that we should double our number every year. After coming to Taiwan, I said the same thing — that we should double our number every year — whenever I mentioned the matter of increase. By 1984 when I returned to fellowship about the new way and to practice the change of system, I mentioned this matter again. This time it was in a public stadium, and you all stood up and responded to my fellowship, promising to bring one person to salvation every year and saying that the church membership would double. Today, two years later, what is the result? You have not saved many because you have not had an effective way. You have expended much time and energy, but your efforts have been wasted. This time I would like to fellowship with you a specific way for our practice. If you are willing to do things in this way, we will definitely be able to double our numbers in one year. Furthermore, it will be with remaining, reliable fruit. If this is the case, it will take only four years for four thousand to increase to sixty-four thousand. How could we not be excited about this?
To use a common saying, if we are not willing to make this kind of “business deal,” we are really foolish. According to the Lord’s word, if we reject this kind of fellowship, when we meet the Lord, we will not be able to give an account before Him (Matt. 25:14-30). We are accountable not to men but to the Lord. This is not a loose or careless word. This is the Lord’s word, which will be fulfilled at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10). Today among us the truth is clear and rich, and the leading of the Holy Spirit is definite and trustworthy. We certainly must not be slow to respond or hesitant to make a move. An increase at the rate of doubling the number every year is something without precedent in the history of Christianity. This matter alone is worthwhile for us to give our whole strength and expend our entire being.
I suggested to all the elders in Taipei that they should pass on this burden to all the saints and ask every one of them to write a consecration slip at the table meeting on the Lord’s Day. Whoever has a heart to love the Lord should consecrate themselves especially to go out door-knocking every week for two hours. Beginning next week I will train these consecrated ones, stir up the fire of their love, give them a definite way to practice, and teach them how to go out door-knocking.
In the first term of the full-time training, there were seven hundred attendants. According to my observation, the trainees have already learned the first step of how to knock on doors and lead people to believe and be baptized. But after these people are saved, there are three more steps that we need to get into in a deeper way. The second step is that we must go to people’s homes after they have been baptized to continue meeting with them. We must have meetings in their homes. The third step is that after we have set up a meeting in their homes, we must teach them the truth and help them to grow in life. This is not very easy to do. The fourth step is that while we are teaching people the truth and helping them to grow in life, we must help them to have the full knowledge concerning the church and to live in the practical church life.
In this term of training we have already baptized 4,800 people. Of these people, 2,600 are reliable, and we have established 1,000 home meetings. After a month, when the training is over, how will the church in Taipei care for these 2,600 people and these 1,000 home meetings? This is a pressing problem for us to resolve. For this, the church in Taipei must raise up at least 1,000 people who will go out to visit these new ones and care for them in the home meetings. This is a matter that cannot be delayed, and I hope that the elders will pick up a great burden and pray much for this and that the saints will also receive this fellowship.
There is one point about which we must be clear. Although you have turned in your consecration slips expressing a desire to go out door-knocking for two hours every week, it still must be approved by the elders. If some of you are not chosen, you should not be disappointed. You can still continue to pray and contribute your money and strength to support and supply this move. As to who should go out door-knocking every week and who should stay home to support by praying and making monetary contributions, this matter will be decided by the elders. We will be responsible for training the consecrated ones. Later, they will all come to the training center to be blended together and to coordinate together for visiting and caring for new ones or for continuing to go out door-knocking in order to gain more people. This is a definite and practical way that I hope you will carry out steadfastly.
I believe that none of the saints who love the Lord and are for His recovery would disagree, nor should any disagree, with this fellowship. We have neither changed the truth nor negated the life. Rather, we have just had a new breakthrough with regard to the way of preaching the gospel, releasing the truth, and leading others to follow the Lord and come into the church life. We should make progress in this matter. In the world today, no matter what field you are in, the practical methods are constantly being reformed and improved. This is true even in the field of education. Therefore, we definitely must not cling to the old ways. Because Taiwan keeps updating its concepts, every aspect of society is able to prosper. I hope that we also would be able to make changes and be renewed in order that the numbers in the churches could grow and increase.
In order to practice this new way, we must be in one accord. The way has been clearly set forth before our eyes; if we continue to loosely express our opinions at will, we will make a mess of the whole situation. Changing the system is necessary, and our way of practice is excellent. All that is needed is for us to carry it out in one accord. The saints who meet regularly must produce one full-timer for every twenty saints to go out door-knocking every day. They must also produce one door-knocker for every four saints to go out door-knocking for two hours every week without fail. The elders should encourage and stir up the saints to consecrate themselves. Then the saints should receive training, be put into groups, and go out to knock on doors and care for others. If the churches cooperate in this way, I believe that the increase in the churches will ensure for us a great future.
