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Prayer: O Lord, we rely on Your blood to cleanse us so that we can live in fellowship with You. Lord, we need Your cleansing, Your mercy, and much more, Your grace. You know our situation, You know our burden, and You also know that in the matter of establishing the small groups, we are still unclear. O Lord, we want You to speak to us; show us the way in Your heart. When we gather together to fellowship, we pray that You would tell us Your way. We truly need this. Lord, we know the need for the small groups, but we do not know how to strengthen them and how to improve their effectiveness so that the small group meetings would be rich in content.
O Lord, visit us. We wait on You. We have been walking on this way for nearly thirty years, but our condition cannot satisfy You. Even we are not satisfied. Lord, we humble ourselves before You and seek Your way. We pray that You would guide us so that Your light would shine within us and that You would operate in many ways among us. Lord, You are the One who holds the seven stars and who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. Search us with Your eyes that are like a flame of fire, and grant us Your heavenly transfusion.
O Lord, transfuse Your feelings and thoughts into us so that we can truly experience being one with You in the heavens, entering into Your fellowship, and knowing Your heart’s desire. We truly do not want to do a work that pleases only us. We want You to have a way on the earth to fulfill Your unfulfilled desire. Lord, we want to satisfy You; we want to satisfy God’s will. We pray that You would visit us. We wait on You. We do not want You to leave us to find another group of people. We also do not want to waste any time.
O Lord, have Your way in us. Your recovery has been among us for over sixty years and has spread to many places. This is Your recovery. Lord Jesus, remember that we are a group of weak people. Visit us so that we would be enlightened inwardly, so that we could touch You, and so that we could be touched by You. Anoint us, shine on us, and enlighten our inner eyes so that we are clear and know Your way.
Our practice in the past thirty years has not been correct, because the results are not satisfactory. We have not found a way for people who are newly saved to remain in the church life, pursue the truth, and grow in life to become a living testimony. This condition has not been realized.
We have come to a critical point where it will be difficult to go forward unless we find a way. We should not foolishly and carelessly allow another year to pass. We are like a boat that must be rowed against the current; if we are not going forward, we are going backward. The whole world and even the entire religious world, including Christianity, are dragging us backward. Our way has been a way of struggle over the past sixty years. On one hand, there is rest in the Lord. On the other hand, every step on our way is difficult, and every step is a struggle. Paul’s word in Acts 14:22 confirms this: “Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” I worked with Brother Nee for many years. There was hardly a day when he had peace; he was always struggling. I have been in the United States for twenty-two years. On one hand, there was the Lord’s blessing, but on the other hand, there was fighting every day. Nearly every time when I pray, I say, “O Lord, remember that we are on the battlefield.” Every day is a battle. Whenever we make a little move and whenever we release a little light, some in Christianity rise up to oppose us.
If we did not have the Lord’s light and the reality of His words, we would not be able to stand. However, the truth is the truth, and because it is the truth, it will prevail eventually. Even if people do not want to hear the truth, we will stand on the side of the truth. This is a warfare. During the past twenty years in Taiwan, we lacked this fighting spirit; we lacked an advancing spirit. We only maintained our situation. This is inadequate, and this is not the way. Even more, this way will not satisfy God’s desire.
In order for the church to be built up, we need to preach the gospel, retain the people who have been brought in through the preaching of the gospel, and find the saints who have been lost, that is, recover the dormant saints. If we are not able to do these three things, we are speaking only empty words.
In the elders’ meetings we suggested that the brothers find out how many people have stopped meeting and the reasons for their not coming to the meetings: Are they too busy? Have they gone back to the world? Have they fallen into sinful things? Although we have repeatedly suggested doing this, no one has carried it out. Therefore, many years have passed with us maintaining only our current situation. We may bring in one hundred people, but not even eight or ten will remain. We continue to preach the gospel, baptize people, and labor, but there have been no results, and no one has tried to find out the reasons for this. This is not right.
The co-workers and elders should really consider why we have not been able to keep the people whom we have saved and baptized. A routine way of meeting in which one person speaks and everyone else listens is a danger signal. We do not want this situation to drag on; we do not want to work in vain. This is not only the co-workers’ and elders’ responsibility; it is also all our responsibility.
I am saying these words as though I were a watchman sounding the night watches. We need to wake up. We have been the testimony of the Lord’s recovery in Taiwan for thirty-six years, and the Lord has blessed us abundantly. We have a considerable number of people; we cannot say that we do not have rich assets. However, even though it is so easy to travel around this little island, we have not preached the gospel to everyone here. We have come short of the Lord’s calling, and we are indebted to the people who live here. We should have a feeling that we owe the gospel to the people in Taiwan.
The aggressive spirit of the missionaries from the West who went to China to preach the gospel in the early days was a thousand times stronger than ours. By going to China, they opened the almost unbreakable door of an old-fashioned and conservative people. Their stories are deeply moving. It is a pity that we lack this spirit today. We preach the gospel as if we were sitting on a sedan chair. Although we are good soldiers, we are fighting from a sedan chair. Hence, the gospel has not been spread, and we cannot give an adequate answer to the Lord or fulfill our indebtedness to the inhabitants of this island.
We also do not have an adequate answer to the Lord regarding our care for those to whom we have preached the gospel and brought to salvation. Hundreds and thousands of people have been lost in this way. We have no answer for this. Some people say, “We do not know how to do it.” This should not be an excuse. Who knows how to do this by birth? No one knows how to do this by birth. This is a matter of learning, not of birth. Other than the Lord Jesus, no one knows how to do this by birth. I am willing to devote my whole being to this task until I go to be with the Lord. As long as I can still breathe, I will not let the work of the Lord collapse.
We need to be awakened. If we continue in this way, we will fall short of our own consecration. We have given up our future and separated ourselves from the world; therefore, we should not fail in the matter of our own consecration. We do not love the world. Rather, we love the Lord, we love His church, we love His recovery, we love His work, and we willingly offer ourselves. The Lord wants a living recovery. However, when we look at our condition and at the situation of Christianity and the Catholic Church, can we say that the Lord is satisfied? This truly pains my heart.
After the Reformation brought in by Martin Luther in the sixteenth century, the mystics emphasized spiritual growth, and the leading figure was Madame Guyon. However, the mystics did not have any offspring, any continuation. History tells us that the mystics and those who followed their way did not have any continuation. Today no Christians follow the mystics. Despite their good points, the mystics lasted for only one generation. Although the mystics emphasized bearing the cross and loudly declared the slogan, “God gives us the cross, and the cross gives us God,” they did not have any continuation. The mystics originated from the Catholic Church. Later in the Protestant church William Law made the teachings of mysticism more practical, and he was followed by Andrew Murray, Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis, and T. Austin-Sparks, but in the end nothing was achieved.
The way of having gospel revivals also does not work. When John Sung, a great Chinese evangelist, rose up and preached the gospel, thousands of people were saved. But in the end all these people just “disappeared.” Evan Roberts, the leading figure in the Welsh Revival, also preached the gospel very effectively. However, those who were saved could hardly be found in the end. The direction of our current leading is not a sudden decision; it has been carefully studied. According to Philippians 1, Paul actively advanced in the gospel (vv. 3-18) and lived Christ (vv. 19-26). This means that actively advancing in the gospel must be balanced by magnifying Christ. Similarly, living Christ must be balanced by actively advancing in the gospel.
Philippians not only talks about Christ, but it also talks about experiencing Christ. Nevertheless, in the first chapter this Epistle speaks about actively advancing in the gospel. Verses 4 and 5 say, “Always in my every petition on behalf of you all, making my petition with joy, for your fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now.” In verse 12 Paul says, “I want you to know, brothers, that the things concerning me have turned out rather to the advancement of the gospel.” In order to experience Christ, there is a need for the active advancement of the gospel as the foundation.
We are short of this vision. We think that it is sufficient just to help others to grow in life and that the active advancement of the gospel is a minor matter. This is a big mistake. We have deviated from the right path. History has proven that the mystics, who started their practices more than three hundred years ago, had no successive generations. Today in the United States there are many translated works in Christian bookstores, and the most popular ones are those that expound the Bible. However, there are no translated works of the mystics, because no one buys them. We need a broad and balanced view and a comprehensive and multifaceted view. We must emphasize the truth, we must grow in life, we must preach the gospel, and even more, we must build up the church.
We should not give people an impression that we are “dragging” them to meet with us but not willing to take care of them. We should give people the impression that we give the gospel to unbelievers, speak truth to the believers, and supply life to those who are seeking. Then we can let them choose the path that they would take in the future. If we gospelize Taiwan in five years, perhaps as many as one or two million people would be saved, and from among these saved ones, perhaps fifty to sixty thousand would take the way of the church. This would be a good testimony.
When we came to Taiwan, we told the brothers that we should not talk about the matter of the church first or “drag” so-called churchgoers to come. We relied only on the extensive preaching of the gospel. In the beginning we never mentioned the matter of the church; we only preached the gospel and released the truth. We printed gospel tracts equal to the number of people living in Taipei and distributed them from house to house. We put a gospel tract in every mailbox of every door on every street. We also sent gospel teams to preach in the parks. We did this for two to three years, and thousands of people were saved.
In May 1957 I called a conference in Taipei and talked about the testimony and ground of the church. I wanted everyone to see that the Lord’s recovery is not narrow or a sect. At that time we preached the gospel to sinners, released the truth to believers, and supplied life to those who pursued the Lord. Then we let them choose their path, just as we took the path to be faithful for this one testimony according to the light that we had seen. However, we have deviated gradually from what we have seen and from how we were led.
We must return to the proper path, beginning with preaching the gospel extensively. Whether people come and meet with us is a secondary matter; we simply need to preach the gospel in a proper way. If hundreds and thousands of people are saved, surely some will come to our meetings. Those who come must be supported and retained with care. We have a responsibility to raise up those who have been born to us. Without raising them up, we will be unable to account for them. We must bear them up with all our strength. If they are lost, we have to rely on the Lord’s grace to recover them.
Regarding the matter of knowing the truth, the condition of the brothers and sisters is not satisfactory. Comparatively speaking, the brothers and sisters among us know the truth better than other Christians. However, in reality, there is not much constitution with the truth. Our shortage is exposed easily after we speak just a few words. Even though we have released much truth, not much is presented by the saints in the meetings. For example, many people consider the Life-study volumes as reference books. They can pick up a certain point in the Life-studies to speak in the meetings, but they have not digested and assimilated the truth properly.
Although we value the Life-studies and use them to progress in our knowledge of the truth, we are still, generally speaking, a long way behind. We cannot say that we are from an “educated family.” In the small group meetings and the bread-breaking meetings, it is not easy to hear the truth, and a “scholarly flavor” is mostly absent. In an educated family the members are nurtured and edified by books to the extent that their speaking contains the scent of books. Only such a group of people will be considered as being from an educated family. If we are soaked in the Life-studies and speak the riches from the Life-studies when we come to the meetings, it will be said that we know the truth.
In the beginning of Acts three thousand people were saved. Big meetings were held in the temple, and small meetings were held in homes. This is God’s original work. No one can improve on God’s work. However, His work begins to degrade when it is handed over to man. Therefore, man’s work needs to be uplifted and improved constantly. Presently, the church in Taipei cannot move forward because the small groups are not strong. We have much experience, and we know that if we do not work on the small groups, we will not have a way. Therefore, we need to study how the small group meetings can be rich, strong, and vital with a high standard. We must work this out. The big meetings alone cannot support and retain people because the meetings fall short in life and truth. Thus, the testimony of the church is short of the Lord’s standard.
The elders and co-workers must labor together in order to work this out. History proves that the way to benefit people and build up the church is to rely on the Spirit and the Word. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s Spirit, and the Word is the words in the Bible, the truth in the Bible. We need both the Spirit and the Word. Strengthening a meeting is altogether a matter of the Spirit and the Word. The charismatic movement emphasizes the Spirit but not the Word; thus, there is confusion. The Brethren emphasize the Word but not the Spirit; thus, there is death and oldness. We must learn lessons from both groups. We need the Spirit, and we also need the living Word, not dead letters.
In order to build the church, the big meetings can bring people in, but then we need to hand them over to the small groups. The small groups should be responsible for supporting, retaining, cultivating, and edifying people. The big meetings and the small group meetings are like two wings of an airplane; both are indispensable. However, the principle of the Spirit and the Word applies to both meetings. A big meeting is a matter of the Spirit and the Word, and a small group meeting is also a matter of the Spirit and the Word.
The elders and co-workers should work to strengthen the content of the meetings. The speaking in the big meetings needs to be strengthened, and the speaking in the small group meetings also needs to be strengthened. We need some to truly endeavor in this matter. In particular, the brothers who frequently minister the word in the meetings should endeavor to get into the Word. They should not be casual about this. We should not think that we can speak for the Lord simply because we have read the Life-studies two to three times and memorized the outlines. This is merely the completion of a task. In order to speak for the Lord, we must put forth a strong effort. In order to learn Chinese calligraphy, for example, a strong effort must be put forward. Speaking for the Lord and releasing the word of the Lord are not simple matters. We need to endeavor.
In addition, we should not appoint leaders in the small groups. Once we appoint leaders, we damage the entire situation because the problem of rank arises. Some brothers speak of needing courage when they go to the elders’ room and knock on the door. This is an indication that either there is a display of status by the elders that causes people to think this way or that the saints have a wrong concept about the elders. As servants in the house of God, the elders should only serve the saints. The elders are not masters of the saints or superior to the saints. There is authority in the church, even authority that rests upon the elders, but the elders themselves are not the authority (1 Pet. 5:3). In Matthew 20:26 the Lord said, “Whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant.” Thus, something is not right if a brother needs great courage in order to speak to an elder.
I hope that all the elders would put themselves in the position of a servant among the brothers and sisters. The saints are children in God’s house, and the elders are servants in God’s house. The elders have to serve the saints, not frighten them. Moreover, we cannot find any hint in the New Testament of God appointing someone as a leader. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He chose and appointed twelve apostles, but there was no chief apostle among them. In the church in Jerusalem seven persons took care of the need for serving tables (Acts 6:1-6), but no one was above the others. In contrast, God raised up many apostles. Although some people may think that Paul was the chief apostle, God did not have this intention. Consequently, the appointment of “leaders” often produces negative results.
There was once a sister who loved the Lord very much, but she could not be appointed as a responsible person in the home meetings. She was very bothered by this and stopped coming to the meetings. She was bothered that other sisters, whom she felt were less mature than her, had become responsible persons in the home meetings. She was seemingly the most qualified, but she was not appointed. Consequently, she left the Lord’s recovery. Although this sister surely needed to learn some lessons, the appointment of responsible persons in the home meetings damages people. Therefore, we should not appoint leaders for the small group meetings. We should let the Lord raise up members in each small group, people who are steady members. This should not be according to our own arrangement.
We know of many ways to strengthen those who release messages in the big meetings, but we really do not know how to strengthen those who supply the word in the small group meetings. We cannot appoint leaders. We cannot even appoint a brother to be a core member of a small group, because then he will naturally think that he is the leader. Therefore, we cannot touch the small groups in this way.
However, whether we are preaching the gospel or meeting in small groups, we need the supply of the word. We should supply the word by helping the saints use the Life-studies in a proper way. This may not be the ideal way, but it is the safest way, the normal way. This does not mean that the saints should pay attention only to the Life-studies rather than the Bible. The Life-studies are not books that should be used independent of the Bible; they should help us get into the Bible. For some the Bible is too high to reach, but the Life-studies are like a ladder that enables us to reach it. This is the importance and function of the Life-studies. The purpose of using the Life-studies is to help us use the Bible and to whet our appetite for the Bible.
Most of the churches in the West use the truth that we release; many places follow absolutely the messages of the ministry of the word. These churches have truly been blessed by the Lord. When the truth is released according to the Life-studies in a faithful, wholehearted, and diligent manner, there are many blessings. However, if one uses the Life-studies merely as reference books and adds gimmicks to his speaking, he will not receive much blessing.
In Acts 2, Peter preached the gospel, and about three thousand people were saved. Immediately, they began to meet from house to house. In their meetings they continued in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles (vv. 41-42, 46). They did not speak other things; they spoke what the apostles spoke. If they had changed Peter’s speaking with the use of gimmicks, the positive situation in chapter 2 would not have been realized. We are not saying that speaking other things is not permitted but rather that not speaking other things is an indication of the leading of the Holy Spirit. We have no intention to force anyone to use the Life-studies. We just want to show everyone a way to be equipped with the truth. When a person’s eyes have been opened, and he really sees the content of the truth, he will treasure the Life-studies.
When I met Brother Nee, I stopped everything that I was doing. Wherever I went, I spoke only Brother Nee’s messages. Many people are not willing to speak what others have spoken; they want to have their own flavor and use gimmicks. Our experience in Taiwan has proven that those who follow this path do not have positive results. In contrast, those who follow the Bible and present the messages that we released without making changes are blessed in every respect.
I am like a foolish person commending myself, but I have no other choice. If another person’s invention is useful, we should use it without needing our own “inventions.” Nevertheless, we should not be proud if others use our inventions. In the Lord’s recovery we should continue steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles (v. 42). There is no need to teach “different things” (1 Tim. 1:3).
We should speak only God’s New Testament economy, that is, “God’s economy, which is in faith” (v. 4). In order to strengthen our speaking, we must be clear about the central line in the Bible. The Life-studies stress this point very much. If we do not grasp the central line, we will speak about many other things in the Bible. The central thought of Acts is the resurrected Christ who breathed Himself as the essential Spirit into those who believed in Him. Then He ascended to the heavens to pour Himself out as the economical Spirit to motivate the believers to propagate Himself. Later, the practices of Judaism entered the scene, opposing the positive developments in chapters 4 through 8 and becoming even more subtle in chapters 15 through 20. These infiltrated the church and created a mixture. If we want to touch Acts, we must emphasize this line; otherwise, our study will miss the essential point and not be helpful.
Big meetings should sound the trumpet to the entire church, establishing the foundation of the word, which is the foundation of God’s New Testament economy. This is the greatest deficiency in the big meetings today. If big meetings can lay a firm foundation, the small groups will be able to follow, and there will not be any problem. If this is not the case, everyone will have an opinion about what the small groups should read and speak about, and there will be no direction. Then we will deviate from the central line of God’s economy.
When we worked here more than thirty years ago, we were greatly blessed, and many people were brought into the church. However, even though the work has been placed upon us, we still do not know how to hit the mark. Some who have worked with me for over ten years still use gimmicks to supply the word. They have not seen God’s New Testament economy. What a pity! No matter how much people have opposed me, I have never changed my tone in the past thirty years. I speak the same truth from beginning to end. According to God’s New Testament economy, the Triune God dispenses Himself into His chosen and redeemed people to make them the Body of Christ to be His expression. I hope that all of us, especially the co-workers and those who release the word, would grasp this central line. Do not use gimmicks. We need to supply this content again and again to others; this is what the Lord wishes to recover on the earth today.
Whether or not the content of a big meeting or a small group meeting is rich and strong depends on the words that we supply and how we supply them. If we want to build up the church, we must supply the word properly. In particular, the co-workers, elders, and brothers who fulfill the ministry of the word must spend time and put forth a strong effort in the word of the Lord and in the truth.
