Search
Scripture Reading: Matt. 13:19; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:3; Eph. 4:14; 2 Tim. 2:18; Acts 8:3; 1 Cor. 1:10-11; Phil. 1:15-18; 3:2
I. The intrinsic factor of the winds of teaching:
А. The winds of teaching:
1. The winds:
а. The devilish blowings of the evil one — Matt. 13:19.
b. Bringing storms into the church.
2. The blowing teachings:
а. Different from the New Testament teaching concerning the economy of God for the building up of the unique and organic Body of Christ — 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:3.
b. Like the teachings of Judaism, Gnosticism, etc., in the ancient times, and like the teaching of the absolute autonomy of a local church, of no delegated authority, of democracy instead of theocracy, of no spiritual father, etc., in the present time.
B. The intrinsic factor of such blowing teachings:
1. The sleight of men — man’s subtle ways of cheating.
2. That is, the craftiness of men with a view to a system of error — man’s plotted deception to induce people into the satanic system of error — Eph. 4:14.
II. The purpose of the winds of teaching:
А. The evil purpose of the enemy Satan versus the eternal economy of God.
B. To overthrow the faith of some believers — 2 Tim. 2:18.
C. To devastate the church life — Acts 8:3.
D. To frustrate the building up of the organic Body of Christ.
E. To tear down the building up of the organic Body of Christ.
F. To divide the members of the organic Body of Christ — causing endless divisions (sects) in hatred and jealousy, instead of keeping the unique oneness of the Body of Christ in love and kindness — 1 Cor. 1:10-11.
Prayer: Lord, how we thank You that You have brought us through the past four meetings. Our trust is still in You. We do not have any trust in ourselves. Lord, our trust is in Your blessing. Without Your blessing, we cannot do anything. Lord, cover us, cleanse us, and forgive us of all our sinfulness. Be with us. Grant us Your rich anointing with Your holy ointment. We need this. We need Your presence. We need Your up-to-date speaking. We need Your speaking in our speaking. Lord, vindicate Your recovery. We want to be one with You, in one spirit with You. Lord, defeat the enemy and gain the victory for Your kingdom and for Your spreading. Gain the victory in the preaching of the gospel, in the home meetings, in the perfecting of the saints, and in the prophesying for the organic building up of Your Body. Lord, while we are fighting for Your kingdom, we could never forget our enemy who is Your enemy. We accuse him before Your throne of authority. Lord, we ask You to defeat him and shame him to the uttermost. May all the glory be Yours, and may all the blessings be upon us. Thank You. Amen.
In the previous chapters we have covered four intrinsic matters of the church. In this chapter we come to another intrinsic matter, which is negative — the intrinsic factor of the winds of teaching for their purpose. The four previous chapters on the positive intrinsic matters of the church may be considered as fellowship related to the “day.” The fellowship in this chapter may be considered as something related to the “night.” According to God’s creation, there is both day and night; there is morning and evening. We need the day, and we also need the night. During the night, there are the moon and the stars. The moon typifies the church (S. S. 6:10), and the stars typify the saints (Dan. 12:3; Matt. 5:14; Phil. 2:15). The moon and the stars shine during the night. For our shining, we need the night. Of course, we also need the day, in which Christ shines as the sun (Mal. 4:2; Luke 1:78-79). Christ shines in the day, but He is reflected in the night by the moon, the church, and He shines in the night through the stars, the saints. In the night the church and the saints are shining. In this chapter we will fellowship about something in the “night,” but this fellowship will be under the shining light of the church and of the saints, the moon and the stars.
Now that we have seen the intrinsic essence, intrinsic growth, intrinsic building up, and intrinsic fellowship of the church, we need to see the intrinsic factor of the winds of teaching for their purpose. An intrinsic factor is a hidden factor. It is a factor that is not apparent. To see this intrinsic factor, we need a proper and sharp understanding that can penetrate into the whole situation. Every wind of teaching apparently is very good. If it were not good in appearance, no one would accept it. However, within the winds of teaching, intrinsically, is something different that is not good.
Ephesians 4:14 says, “That we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error.” In the sleight of men is in apposition to in craftiness, which is “with a view to a system of error.” The sleight in this verse is of men, and the system of error is of Satan. Man has the sleight, the craftiness, but man is not able to have a system in the universe. Satan is the one who is able to have a system of error. Man’s sleight, man’s craftiness, is related to the satanic system of error.
Ephesians 4:14 may be considered as the conclusion of the history of Christianity. Christianity is full of the sleight, the craftiness, of men. The word for sleight in Greek signifies the cheating of dice players. A crafty gambler knows how to play dice in order to cheat his opponent. The sleight of men is a cheating method. This method of cheating is crafty, so it becomes craftiness. The sleight of men implies the cheating and deception of men. The history of Christianity shows us that there can be cheating and deception in a so-called Christian teaching.
We need to see what the winds of teaching are. These winds are the devilish blowings of the evil one. In Matthew 13:19 the Lord said, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand, the evil one comes and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart.” The evil one is Satan (1 John 5:19). Satan, the evil one, is also the one who sowed the tares, the false believers, amidst the true ones (Matt. 13:25, 38-39). The tares resemble the wheat, and it is impossible to discern the difference between them until the fruit is produced at the time of their maturity. The fruit of the wheat is golden yellow, but the fruit of the tares is black. The sowing of the tares, who are the sons of the evil one (v. 38), was the work of Satan, the evil one. His evil purpose in doing this was to corrupt God’s children, who are the wheat.
The devilish blowings of the evil one bring storms into the church. I have been in the church life for about sixty years, and I have seen many such storms. I was with Brother Nee in the work for eighteen years, and during that period of time, there were three or four storms, which was about one storm every five years. I came out of mainland China to Taiwan in 1949, and eventually I came to the United States in 1962. In these past forty years we have had a storm about every twelve years. A storm is created by winds and waves. Ephesians 4:14 talks about being tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching. When the wind comes, the waves follow. The wind plus the waves equals a storm. From my years of experience, I realize that we do not need to feel threatened by a storm. No storm comes and stays forever. The storm comes, and the storm goes.
The teachings that become winds are the “blowing teachings.” These teachings are different from the New Testament teaching concerning the economy of God for the building up of the unique and organic Body of Christ (1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:3). First Timothy 1:3-4 says, “Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God’s economy, which is in faith.” Ephesus was the place where Paul stayed purposely for three years. In Acts 20 Paul said that within those three years, he taught publicly and from house to house, did not cease admonishing each one with tears, and did not shrink from declaring to the saints all the counsel of God (vv. 20, 31, 27). The counsel of God, no doubt, refers to the economy of God, the eternal plan of God. Paul taught God’s economy night and day, publicly in the meetings and personally from house to house. Paul did not shrink from telling the saints in Ephesus anything that was profitable to them, which no doubt, included the things in their daily life. Paul had done so much for the church in Ephesus, but years later he was still greatly concerned about the church there. When he was going into Macedonia, he charged Timothy to remain in Ephesus in order that Timothy might charge certain ones not to teach different things. Not many, but certain ones, were teaching different things. This means that even at Paul’s time there were some who were teaching things different from Paul’s teaching.
God’s economy is mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:4. The word economy is the anglicized form of the Greek word oikonomia. Oikonomia is composed of two Greek words: oikos meaning “house” and nomos meaning “law.” Therefore, oikonomia is “the law of the house, the regulation of the family, or the household administration.” God has a great, universal house, and God has His law, His regulation, His administration concerning His house. This household administration is God’s economy. God’s economy, which is in faith, carries out the dispensing of God Himself. God in His Divine Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — is for the dispensing of Himself into His believers. God’s economy is God’s household administration for dispensing Himself into His chosen people. This is the central lane of the New Testament teaching.
The New Testament teaches how the Triune God was incarnated to be a man. This God-man lived a holy life, a righteous life, a bright life, a life of light. He lived such a life for thirty-three and a half years. After He finished such a testimony in His human living, He died on the cross an all-inclusive death. His death solved all the problems in the universe related to God and us. After coming out of death, He entered into another stage, the stage of resurrection. In resurrection He was begotten to be God’s firstborn Son, the Firstborn among many brothers (Acts 13:33; Rom. 8:29). In resurrection He also became a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b), imparting Himself into us, His believers, to be our life, making us the sons of God. Before His resurrection, God had only one Son, His only begotten Son. But in resurrection God gained many sons who are the many brothers of the firstborn Son, Christ.
As we have seen in chapter 3, these sons were brought by the Son to the Father, and offered to the Father as a corporate present (Psa. 68:18; Eph. 4:8). Then God the Father in His economy returned this present to the Son as gifts. Then the Son gave these gifts to His Body for its building up (vv. 11-12). It is wonderful that all of us believers are gifts to function in the Body of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ. We are gifts to the Body of Christ and are working for the Body of Christ that the Body of Christ may grow, may increase, may be built up, to arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. When we arrive at this state, the bride will be prepared, and the Bridegroom, Christ, will come to have His wedding. I am hoping and expecting to be a part of that bride, to be ready for the marriage of the Lamb, the universal Bridegroom (Rev. 19:7-9). As the gifts who were given by the Son from the Father to the churches, we are working and preparing for this coming wedding.
The entire twenty-seven books of the New Testament stress one thing: God’s New Testament economy, the contents of which is the Triune God passing through the processes of incarnation, human living, an all-inclusive death, and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit and to produce the Body of Christ, which is to be expressed in many localities as the local churches. This is God’s economy, and we should not teach anything other than this. We need to teach God’s economy in an intrinsic way. Then we will speak the same thing that the New Testament speaks. To teach anything other than God’s economy is to teach something different from what the New Testament teaches. We need to keep ourselves in the central lane of God’s New Testament economy. Then we will not be involved in or influenced by the different teachings, the blowing teachings.
The blowing teachings are like the teachings of Judaism, Gnosticism, etc., in the ancient times, and like the teaching of the absolute autonomy of a local church, of no delegated authority, of democracy instead of theocracy, of no spiritual father, etc., in the present time. The Judaizers in Paul’s day propagated Judaism, and they also preached the gospel. Philippians 1:15-18 records that these ones preached the gospel in rivalry with and in jealousy of Paul. In 3:2 Paul calls them the unclean dogs, the evil workers, and the contemptible concision. Concision, meaning “mutilation,” is a term of contempt for circumcision. Henry Alford points out in his commentary on Philippians that the dogs, evil workers, and concision referred to in Philippians 3 are those who preached the gospel in rivalry with Paul, referred to in chapter 1. These ones preached the gospel, but actually they were evil workers. The teaching of these Judaizers was a wind that would “blow away” some of the saints from the central lane of Christ and the church. Also at Paul’s time there were the Gnostics, who preached their form of Greek wisdom. They also taught differently from Paul’s teaching focused on God’s New Testament economy in order to frustrate the building up of the organic Body of Christ.
Today there are also teachings that are winds to carry us away from God’s central purpose. We have pointed out that the teaching concerning the absolute autonomy of a local church has been creeping into the Lord’s recovery. A book by G. H. Lang entitled The Churches of God was promoted by some brothers. In this book Lang talks about the autonomy of the local church. The teaching of autonomy ruined the Brethren assemblies. Within a short period of time the Brethren became divided into many divisions. In one locality the Brethren would have five separate, autonomous assemblies. I know of one Brethren assembly that was split over whether to use a piano or an organ in their meetings. Because of this disagreement, they divided into two assemblies. One assembly used the piano, and the other assembly used the organ.
In 1933 Brother Nee was invited to visit the Brethren in England. Then he went to the United States and Canada to visit the Brethren there. When he returned from his trip, he reported to us how the Brethren assemblies were divided. He told us that their situation was one of confusion. Even in one city there could be many Brethren assemblies. This caused Brother Nee to study the Bible again to find out the boundary of a local assembly, a local church. In 1934 he published a book entitled The Assembly Life. In that book of four chapters he tells us that the boundary and the jurisdiction of a local assembly, a local church, are the boundary of the city in which it is. Three years later, in 1937, Brother Nee saw and shared more concerning the ground of the church. This truth is in The Normal Christian Church Life. In this book he points out that because the boundary of a local church is the boundary of the city in which the church is, the ground on which a local church can be built up, based on the unique oneness of the Body of Christ, is also the city in which the church is. To teach that the local churches are absolutely autonomous is to divide the Body of Christ.
Another wind of teaching in the present day is the teaching of no delegated authority. Some say that there is no authority appointed by God to represent God on the earth. But the Bible tells us clearly that the husband is the head of the wife (Eph. 5:23) and that the head of the woman is the man (1 Cor. 11:3). The Bible also indicates clearly that the parents are the delegated authority of God over their children (Eph. 6:1-3; Col. 3:20). Romans 13 tells us that human governments are God’s delegated authorities to rule over the earth.
Consider what marriage life would be like if the husband were not the head. What if there were no government in a city or a country? There would be a situation of anarchy and lawlessness. If there were no police in a major city, that city would be full of disorder, chaos, and uncontrolled crime. The husband as the head of the wife is the delegated authority of God for the family, the parents are the delegated authorities for their children, and the governments are delegated authorities that God uses to rule the earth. These governmental authorities work so that we can minister Christ to one another and preach the gospel in a peaceful, orderly, lawful environment. The teaching of no delegated authority is not found in the Bible.
There is also delegated authority in the Body of Christ. The New Testament shows us clearly that in the local church there must be a government with elders appointed by apostles (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). The Bible tells us that the elders are the leading ones (Rom. 12:8). If we would maintain a good order in the house of God, we must have the leading ones, and according to Hebrews 13:17, all the saints should obey them and submit to them. This is necessary for the building up of the church.
The apostles appoint elders in the churches they raise up (Acts 14:23), and the elders still have to receive the instructions and leading from the apostles (1 Tim. 3:14-15; Titus 1:5-9; Acts 20:17-18a, 28-32, 35), although the responsibility for the care and the leading of the church is entrusted to the elders. Not only do the apostles have the duty and authority to appoint elders, they also have the duty and authority to remove them. Paul says to Timothy, “Against an elder do not receive an accusation, except based upon two or three witnesses. Those ones who sin reprove before all that the rest also may have fear” (1 Tim. 5:19-20). This indicates that after an apostle has chosen and appointed men to be elders, he still has the authority to deal with them. This brief fellowship should help us to see that the teaching of no delegated authority is a wind of teaching to frustrate and tear down the organic building up of the Body of Christ.
Another wind of teaching today is the teaching of democracy instead of theocracy. God’s administration is neither by autocracy nor by democracy but by theocracy. Theocracy is government by God with God’s authority. The nation of Israel in the Old Testament was a theocracy. God exercised His administration through the priests by means of the Urim and the Thummim on the breastplate (Exo. 28:30; Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21; Deut. 33:8; 1 Sam. 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65). This was God’s government in typology. In the New Testament, in the church, there should also be theocracy. Today the Urim and the Thummim in reality are within us. The reality of the Urim and the Thummim is the Triune God as Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit in us. Today we manage the churches according to the leading of the Spirit within us. This is our Urim and Thummim today.
It is all right for the people of the world to want democracy. Humanly speaking, democracy is a wonderful form of government. However, it is a shame to have democracy in the church. This means that anyone can speak anything they please. A local church that practices democracy is like the church in Laodicea (Rev. 3:14). Laodicea in Greek means “the opinion of the people.” The church in Laodicea typifies the church in degradation. The “germs” of democracy have come into some of the churches. This teaching of democracy in the church is a wind of teaching, a devilish blowing of the evil one.
The intention behind the winds of teaching today is twofold: (1) to put down the Lord’s present ministry in His recovery; and (2) to oppose the new way, the God-ordained way, which is the scriptural way to meet and to serve for the building up of the Body of Christ. If the God-ordained way and the Lord’s present ministry were taken away from us, what would we have left?
Some have said, “We don’t need the Life-studies or the footnotes of the Recovery Version. We can read the pure Word of God.” We absolutely need the pure Word of God, but we also need the proper exposition of the Word. How could we have understood the book of Leviticus without the proper exposition? We could read Leviticus again and again without understanding much of it. Peter’s vision in Acts 10 was an expounding of Leviticus. Paul also expounded the book of Leviticus in Hebrews. Throughout the centuries of church history, certain brothers have been raised up to expound Leviticus. Today we are “standing on their shoulders” to inherit all their findings and understanding. By the Lord’s mercy, standing upon their shoulders, we have also seen something further. What we have seen is in today’s Life-study of Leviticus. To say that we do not need such an exposition of the holy Word is a strong wind of teaching blowing the saints away from the central lane of God’s economy.
Another wind of teaching today is the teaching that there is no spiritual father. Some have indicated that Paul should not have said in 1 Corinthians 4:15, “Though you have ten thousand guides in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” To indicate this way, that Paul should not have said that he was the Corinthians’ spiritual father, is to overthrow the authority of the Bible.
With the winds of teaching there is talk about the Bible and about spiritual things, but what is the intrinsic factor of such teaching? In 1933 a brother among us received a note from Brother Watchman Nee that said, “Do the right thing in the right way with the right spirit.” This word became a wonderful saying to me. I need to remember all the time to do the right thing in the right way with the right spirit. The things that are being done today related to these winds of teaching are not the right thing, they are not done in the right way, and they are not done in the right spirit. What is being done is wrong, the way is wrong, and the spirit in which it is done is even more wrong. What is being spoken in the winds of teaching are either entire lies or half-truths, which are also lies. Half-truths and innuendos are more evil than a straight lie. The intrinsic factor of such blowing teachings is the sleight of men — man’s subtle ways of cheating. The sleight of men is the craftiness of men with a view to a system of error — man’s plotted deception to induce people into the satanic system of error (Eph. 4:14). The system of error is of the enemy, Satan.
Now we need to go on to see the purpose of the winds of teaching. The purpose of the winds of teaching is the evil purpose of the enemy Satan, which is versus the eternal economy of God. Their purpose is to overthrow the faith of some believers. Some of the saints’ faith has been overthrown by the winds of teaching. They may not oppose the Lord’s recovery, but they have lost their faith in the Lord’s recovery. They are neutral. They do not come to the meetings regularly, and they are not so concerned about the Lord’s interest as they once were. They have been spoiled.
The purpose of the winds of teaching is to devastate the church life (Acts 8:3). This is what Saul of Tarsus did before he became Paul the apostle. Also, the purpose of the winds of teaching is to frustrate the building up of the organic Body of Christ, to tear down the building up of the organic Body of Christ, and to divide the members of the organic Body of Christ — causing endless divisions (sects) in hatred and jealousy, instead of keeping the unique oneness of the Body of Christ in love and kindness (1 Cor. 1:10-11). According to our past history, the instigators of any storm in the recovery all became very divisive. They even divide among themselves. Their division is endless. There is no love or kindness with them. What they do is full of hatred and jealousy.
Now we have seen the purpose of the winds of teaching and their intrinsic factor, which is the sleight of men in craftiness with a view to bring people, to usher people, into a satanic system of error. Those who get brought into Satan’s system of error are finished with the building up of the Body of Christ in the central lane of God’s New Testament economy.
I am so thankful to the Lord that the majority of the saints in the churches have the proper discernment. They will not be shaken, tossed about, or carried away. Thank the Lord that we are still here in the advance of His recovery today.
