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Scripture Reading: John 17:21; Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 1:10, 12-13a; Titus 3:10; Eph. 2:22; 4:16; 1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:11-12; 2:7; 22:17a
We have to realize that our history is not that of an organization or of a movement. It is a history of the Lord’s recovery. A recovery is the restoration or return to a normal condition after degradation, damage, or loss. The Lord’s recovery brings us back to the beginning to have the proper church life. In the early days of the Lord’s recovery in China, the Lord showed us the wrongdoings of Christendom, on the negative side, and the church, on the positive side.
It has been very difficult for us to fully come out of the old and unscriptural practices and concepts in Christendom. Christendom has been on earth for hundreds of years. It bears the name of Christ, it holds the Holy Scriptures, and it preaches the Lord Jesus as the Savior. These three items are positive, but Christendom is a mixture of these positive things with things other than Christ.
According to the book of Revelation, Christendom is the great harlot and is called “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (17:5). This evil woman is seen holding “a golden cup full of abominations and the unclean things of her fornication” (v. 4). In typology gold signifies something divine, something of God. This means that the apostate church has something of God in outward appearance, but within her golden cup are idolatry, pagan practices, and satanic things in a heretical, religious relationship. Christendom holds something divine, but there is a devilish element within it.
This was predicted by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 13. In this chapter the Lord said, “The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened” (v. 33). Meal for making the meal offering signifies Christ as food to both God and man. Leaven in the Scriptures signifies evil things (1 Cor. 5:6, 8) and evil doctrines (Matt. 16:6, 11-12). Fallen, degraded Christendom is a mixture of leaven with fine flour.
Christendom has a devilish element, but it still holds something divine. It holds a golden cup, but within the cup are abominations and unclean things related to spiritual fornication. The golden cup is the outward appearance, but the inward reality is abominable. It is easy for people to realize the outward appearance, but it is difficult to realize the inward reality. The appearance is divine, but the reality is devilish. Because Christendom is a mixture, when one gets the fine flour, he also gets the leaven because these two have become one. This is why it has been difficult for us to fully come out of Christendom.
Although I had contact with Brother Nee’s ministry in 1925, I did not come into the Lord’s recovery in a full way until 1932. Since that time I have seen the recovery passing through a process of coming out of Christendom. Even today we have not come out of Christendom in a thorough way. We still have something of Christendom within us, even unconsciously. When we come to a meeting, we may expect a good speaker to speak to us. In nature, this is the element and cause of fallen Christendom. This is the evil element of Nicolaitanism, the clergy-laity system, which the Lord hates (Rev. 2:6). Why do we not come to the meetings prepared to minister something? We may say that we are weak, but we are strong in expecting to listen to a good message. We may dislike going to a meeting where there is not a good speaker. This is the subtle element of the clergy-laity system still remaining within us.
The Lord’s recovery is for bringing us out of this unscriptural system and back to the beginning of the pure practice of the church life according to the divine revelation. In the beginning the saints were focused on the divine Spirit mingled with their human spirit — the mingled spirit (Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 8:4). The saints, the chosen ones, the saved ones, were in the spirit enjoying Christ, experiencing Christ, and expressing Christ in a corporate way. That was the church life in the beginning. In this proper church life, there were no religion, no outward regulations, no rituals, and no vain doctrines or teachings. The saints were exercised to be in the spirit to enjoy Christ, to experience Christ, and to express and speak Christ in a corporate way.
Through all the years of the history of the local churches, the Lord has been recovering us little by little. The progress of this recovery has been somewhat hindered, though, because of our dullness. Today we are still somewhat under the “drugging” influence of Christendom. The Lord’s recovery is to bring us up out of a fallen situation. It is easy to be down, but to be brought up is difficult. To be brought up is a struggle. The Lord in His recovery is bringing us up and up to His divine standard. The more we are brought up, the simpler we become. The more we are brought up, the more we become nothing.
In books such as Romans and Ephesians, there are many teachings, but in Revelation, there is just the Spirit — the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God (1:4; 4:5; 5:6) and the human spirit (1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10). John was in spirit, and he saw the golden lampstands — one lampstand for one city (1:10-12). He did not see thousands of believers. He saw only one lampstand for one city. This is so simple. The many believers in a city should be just one lampstand in one accord, without disputation, different opinions, or different concepts and divisions. Thank the Lord that we are here today standing in oneness, but in our hearts we may still hold on to something of ourselves and something other than Christ. In God’s eyes, a local church must be so simple. It should be a lampstand of pure gold without mixture — so simple, single, and pure.
To each of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the Lord says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). This is so simple — the Spirit speaks to the churches. Eventually, the entire Bible consummates with the Spirit and the bride (Rev. 22:17a). By God’s work throughout the ages, all the saints and the Spirit speak the same thing. All the many saints are one bride. Are we one bride today? In a sense we are, but we may still be holding on to our concepts and opinions that damage the one accord. We are still in a situation in which we need the Lord’s rescue, the Lord’s recovery. I am afraid that a number of us are still under the negative influence of Christendom. We all have to realize that today the Lord is going on and on to fully recover us and bring us fully out of Christendom. The Lord desires something fully in the spirit.
The book of Revelation is a book of the Spirit and the bride. The church is something absolutely in the Spirit. We need to turn to our spirit and stay in our spirit. In the spirit we are one. Nothing is as important or as strategic in the New Testament as the oneness of the believers. The Lord Jesus prayed that we all would be one (John 17:21). Some maintain that they want to be scriptural, but in their exercise to be scriptural, they divide the saints. Nothing is more unscriptural than to divide the saints. It is better to have a whole man who is dirty, than a clean, dismembered arm of a man. The arm being clean may be likened to being “scriptural.” Although the arm is clean, it is apart from the body and divided from the body. Some use scriptural things with an intention to divide the saints, but division is the most unscriptural thing.
Our need today is to be in the Spirit and in the Body, in the Spirit and in the oneness. We should care only for being in the Spirit and in the Body. This is what the Lord has been doing among us and with us throughout our history. Year after year the Lord has been gaining something because we are becoming clearer that the Lord’s desire is absolutely a matter of our being in the Spirit and in the Body.
In the previous chapter I shared that I was called by the Lord to serve Him in a full way on the day that I was saved. I gave up my job to serve Him full time in 1933. Brother Nee wrote me a short note to strongly confirm my decision. After I gave up my job, I went to Shanghai and stayed with Brother Nee as his guest for about four months. During that time, I spent many hours with him in personal fellowship. He talked to me and helped me mainly in four things.
First, he helped me to know the Lord’s life. Before I went to stay with him, I loved the Lord and had learned a lot about the Bible, but my knowledge was mostly according to the letter. I was not that clear about Christ as life. When I contacted him, my eyes were opened to see life. When we came together, there was no form or rule to our conversation. His conversation with me was very free, and he would cover many different subjects. I considered myself as a learner, so I would always give him all the time to speak.
One day we were together, and Brother Nee was sitting in a rocking chair. While he was rocking back and forth, he suddenly asked me, “Witness, what is patience?” His question puzzled me because it seemed too simple. I knew that his question was more meaningful than it appeared, so I did not know how to answer. He asked me this question again. Then I said that patience is a kind of endurance by which one endures suffering, persecution, and ill-treatment from others. He said that this was not patience. Then I asked him to tell me what patience is. He answered, “Patience is Christ.” That sounded like a foreign language to me. I had never heard someone say that patience is Christ.
I asked Brother Nee to explain what he meant. But he would only say repeatedly, “Patience is Christ.” I was very puzzled and bothered because I did not know what he meant. He just repeated again and again that patience is Christ. Eventually, I had to go back for dinner to the guesthouse where I was staying. When I returned, I did not eat well, because I did not have the heart to eat. Then I went to my room. I knelt down and asked the Lord to tell me what Brother Nee meant by saying that patience is Christ. Eventually, during that time, the Lord opened my eyes to see that Christ is my patience. The real patience is not our behavior. The real patience is Christ living Himself out of us. This was a great help to me.
Brother Nee also helped me by sharing with me about the first twelve years of the history of the Lord’s recovery in China. Since I was not absolutely in the recovery during that period of time, he spoke to me in much detail about this history. At that time I did not know why he was doing this. Later, I realized that he was laying a good foundation for me and building me up for my service to the Lord in His work.
He also helped me by relating to me the history of the church, from the first century to the present century. My knowledge of the history of the church came mostly from Brother Nee’s sharing with me. He presented the history of the church with its direction toward the goal of the Lord’s recovery.
Brother Nee also helped me to know the Bible in a living way. The Brethren taught me to know the Bible according to the letter, but Brother Nee helped me to know the Bible in the way of life. Through all the personal times I had with him, he helped me in the above four aspects. I owe Brother Nee so much for all the help he gave me.
In addition to this, Brother Nee brought me into function by giving me the full way to participate in the work. I bore much responsibility in the church in Shanghai, and that gave me the best opportunity to learn. Before he put me into such a position, he tested me, and his way of testing was hidden.
One day he brought a bundle of letters to me, written by different persons with questions for him. These questions were about subjects such as the church, the church’s ground, life, and the interpretation of the Bible. He asked me to answer all the questions for him in reply to all those letters. I told Brother Nee that I might not know how to answer some of the questions. He told me to do as much as I could. I eventually found out that this was his test. By having me do that, he found out how much of the truth was in me.
Not too long after my arrival in Shanghai, the brothers asked me to speak to the saints in a conference in the second hall; at that time the church in Shanghai had two halls. Nothing exposes where a person is more than his speaking. When a person speaks, everyone knows where he is. I spoke for seven days. Brother Nee was not there, but he received a report concerning everything that I spoke. That was also a test to me.
Later, I was asked to speak in the first hall, the biggest and primary hall. The church had arranged to have a big gospel-preaching meeting, but no one knew who was going to speak. No doubt, many thought Brother Nee was going to be the speaker. I was delighted and happy to be able to hear a message and learn more about how to preach the gospel. About an hour before the meeting, a small slip of paper was delivered to me from Brother Nee charging me to give a message on the gospel that night. I had no choice but to speak.
That night I gave a message on John 16:8-11. Verse 8 says that when the Spirit comes, “He will convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment.” I told the people that sin, righteousness, and judgment are related to three persons: Adam, Christ, and Satan. Sin entered through Adam (Rom. 5:12), righteousness is the resurrected Christ (John 16:10; 1 Cor. 1:30), and judgment is for Satan (John 16:11). All of us were born of sin in Adam. The only way to be freed from sin is to believe into Christ. When we believe into Him, He is righteousness to us, and we are justified in Him (Rom. 3:24; 4:25). If we do not repent of the sin in Adam and believe into Christ, the Son of God, we will remain in sin and share the judgment of Satan for eternity (Matt. 25:41). These are the main points of the gospel, with which the Spirit convicts the world.
When I gave this message, I did not see Brother Nee in the meeting. Quite a time later, we were taking a walk together, and he said to me that not many people could give such a message on John 16 concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment being related to Adam, Christ, and Satan. He encouraged me to go on in my pursuit of the truth. I was surprised to find out that he knew the content of my message. He told me that while I was speaking, he was standing behind me, behind the back door, listening to me. My preaching that evening in the gospel meeting was another test to me.
Later, Brother Nee made arrangements for me to edit The Christian, a magazine for young believers, whereas he would edit The Present Testimony, a deeper magazine on the spiritual principles of life. At that time he also decided to publish a paper containing church news. That paper was called The News of the Churches. He charged me to take care of that paper. He also put me into a position of bearing the full responsibility for the ministry in the regular meetings of the church in Shanghai. This was because his health was not good, and he had to rest much of the time. He spoke mostly in the conference meetings.
In 1934, after I had been in Shanghai close to four months, Brother Nee said to me, “Witness, we co-workers feel that you have to move your family to Shanghai so that we can work together. Bring this matter to the Lord, and see how the Lord will lead you.” I took his word and brought this matter to the Lord. Then I saw that in the book of Acts there was only one flow, one current. It started from the throne of grace and went to Jerusalem. From Jerusalem this flow proceeded to Samaria and then to Antioch. From Antioch it turned westward to Asia Minor and Europe. The book of Acts shows that there was only one current of the Lord’s move on earth. There is no record of any work that was outside of this current. When Barnabas separated himself from Paul (15:39-41), there was no more record of his work in Acts. After this incident he no longer appears in the divine narration in Acts of the Lord’s move in God’s New Testament economy.
The Lord impressed me that the current, the flow, of the Lord’s work in China should be one. If the Lord was to do something in the north, I would have to jump into the flow at Shanghai in the south. Then eventually the flow would proceed to the north from Shanghai. Based on this revelation, I made the decision to go to Shanghai to work with Brother Nee.
After he had a conference with us on the overcoming life of Christ, under his leadership, a decision was made that we co-workers had to go out to the major cities to spread the Lord’s recovery. I was assigned to go to the north to work in Tientsin and Peking. I went to work there in 1936, while Brother Nee remained in Shanghai.
While I was working in northern China, I received a cable from Brother Nee, asking me to come to an urgent conference with all the co-workers. In this conference in January 1937, he released the messages that are now contained in The Normal Christian Church Life. One day during this conference, he was ill, so he charged me to give his message on Acts 13. He gave me all the points, and I wrote them down. I did my best to share in this meeting, but I did it in an inadequate way.
Later, the decision was made by the work for me to travel throughout the provinces of northern China to teach, if possible, in all the denominations. We felt that since the Lord had given us so much light, we should pass on this light to the denominations. I did much traveling until the Japanese army invaded China. At that time many of the co-workers went to the interior of China, and I joined them. It was there that Brother Nee released the messages on the normal Christian church life a second time. The first conference was not so adequate. In this conference he succeeded in releasing his entire burden.
At that time my family was still in northern China, so I had to return. Because of the invasion of the Japanese army, I could not leave my hometown. Thus, Brother Nee and I were separated for a time. I stayed in northern China, and most of the co-workers remained in the interior. Through my experiences in traveling and speaking to many denominations, I realized that there was very little result. That caused me to make a decision not to travel anymore. Instead, I would stay in Chefoo to build up the church there.
In 1938 Brother Nee went to England and stayed there for one and a half years. He was also invited to visit some of the Scandinavian countries. He returned to Shanghai in 1939. That summer he had a conference on the Body of Christ. I received a cable from him asking me to attend this conference. I brought four young co-workers with me to this conference in August 1939. Through this conference we received a vision of the Body of Christ.
In 1940 he began to have a series of trainings. During that time he also had a conference in Shanghai about every two months. Furthermore, he spoke every Wednesday evening concerning the Body of Christ and God’s eternal purpose. At that time I saw the blueprint of the practicality of the church life. I took this blueprint back with me to Chefoo, and for about two years we practiced what Brother Nee had seen. This brought in a great revival.
Meanwhile, there was a big turmoil in Shanghai in 1942, forcing Brother Nee to stop his ministry. This rebellious turmoil and the persecution of the Japanese army caused the church in Shanghai to close down. While the church in Shanghai was passing through this turmoil, there was a revival in Chefoo with the practicality of the church life.
Later, I was put into prison by the Japanese army for one month. After I was released from prison, I became sick with tuberculosis on the lungs. The Lord brought me through this illness within two and a half years, and after the war I was invited to come to Shanghai in 1946. It was there that Brother Nee and I met together again. We had been away from each other for more than six years. Because we had not had any correspondence during that time, I was concerned about whether what we had practiced in northern China was right. I presented everything that we had practiced in those years to Brother Nee, and he encouraged me to bring the same practice to the other churches.
I began to minister in Shanghai again, and there was a revival there in 1947. Through this revival, as I have pointed out previously, Brother Nee’s ministry was recovered. When his ministry was recovered, there was an even bigger, broader revival among us. Eventually, about eighty to one hundred saints attended a six-month training with him in 1948. After that period of training, the trainees went to many cities, spreading the revival throughout China.
In November 1948 Brother Nee had an urgent conference with us, the co-workers around him in Shanghai, to fellowship concerning the work. We needed the Lord’s leading as to where we should stay in the coming days for the Lord’s work. At the beginning of that conference, he said that he and the other co-workers had to ask me to go out of the country, and that all the others needed to bring this matter to the Lord and see how the Lord would lead each one of them.
By February 1949 Brother Nee had a second conference with the co-workers to decide that I, Brother Lee, had to go out of the country and that he and the other co-workers should stay. Two months later from his training center, he sent me a cable, telling me to come to him and to hand over all the responsibility to the local leading ones in Shanghai. I went to him and stayed for a few days, and then I was sent to Taiwan. That was in 1949 and was the last time I left mainland China.
Then in 1950 Brother Nee came out of mainland China to Hong Kong and asked me to go there to meet with him. I went and stayed with him for one and a half months. I told him how the Lord had blessed the work in Taiwan and how within about one year, our number had increased nearly thirty times. Brother Nee confirmed that I should go back and stay in Taiwan. While I was with him in Hong Kong, he told me that his burden for China was so heavy and that there were many churches still on the mainland that needed help.
While Brother Nee was in Hong Kong, the church there was revived. This brought in a new start in the church life in Hong Kong. He charged me to lay the foundation of the church service there in Hong Kong for the church’s building up. He also made an arrangement for the publication work. The publications were always under his oversight. When he and I were in Hong Kong, he made the decision that there should be a bookroom in Taipei and a bookroom in Hong Kong to publish all his books. He himself would oversee the bookroom in Shanghai. He charged me to take care of the bookroom in Taipei, and he arranged for Brother K. H. Weigh to take care of the bookroom in Hong Kong. He said that all the books could be reprinted and that all three bookrooms would have a common copyright. Thus, we began to reprint all his books for the need in all the places outside of mainland China.
My time in Hong Kong with Brother Nee was the last contact I had with him. From that time we only received news about him in an indirect way through his wife. His wife, Charity, went to the Lord on November 7, 1971 in Shanghai. Brother Nee went to the Lord on May 30, 1972, while he was still imprisoned.
This brief history shows how the Lord has moved among us. We need to continue to pray for the Lord’s move and for the Lord’s recovery on earth in this present time.
