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Scripture Reading: Matt. 16:18; Ezek. 47:1-12; Eph. 2:21-22; 3:17a; Phil. 2:13; Matt. 7:21-24; Rev. 21:2
This stream is also the stream of God’s work. Where the stream flows, there is the work of God. This is clear in the book of Acts, a book which speaks to us of the work of God. What is that kind of work that is the work of God? It is a work in the stream of living water. Where the stream of living water flows, there is the work of God. God works along the flowing of the stream of the divine life. If you consider the whole record of the book of Acts, you will see the picture quite clearly. On the day of Pentecost this stream of divine life flowed out of God Himself in Christ with ruling power from the throne. It began to flow from Jerusalem. From there it flowed to Antioch, and then from Antioch it turned to the west; it flowed to Asia, and through Asia it flowed to Macedonia, to Europe. Here is a picture of the flowing of the stream of divine life, and with the flowing of this stream is the work of God. By flowing God works; by flowing God preaches His gospel; by flowing God brings people to be saved. There is a stream that we could call the stream, or the current, of the work. Where it flows, there is the work of God.
This stream has flowed back to the Western world as a supply to His Body. We look to the Lord that it will be increasing in this country and even to all parts of the world. May we remember this in our prayers, and may we be ready to go along with the Lord so that this stream may have a free way to flow without any hindrance in us. We must be faithful to the flowing of this stream of the divine life, of the fellowship of the Body, of the testimony of the Lord Jesus, and of the work of God.
The flowing of the divine life, which started on the day of Pentecost and has been flowing throughout all generations to this very day, is only one stream. Wherever it goes, wherever it flows, it is not many streams; it is only one. Read the book of Acts, and you will see that there is one stream, one current. This stream started from Jerusalem and flowed to Antioch, and from Antioch it turned to Asia and was flowing there. Then one day the Lord wanted the stream to strike forth into Europe, to Macedonia, but the apostle who was working in the flowing of the stream was not clear about it. Eventually, however, he became clear that the flowing was striking forth from Asia to Europe, and he had to go along with it. It is a familiar story. From Macedonia the stream went in its path to Corinth, to Rome, to Spain, and to all parts of Europe. History tells us that from Europe it flowed to the west, to America, and from the west it flowed to the east and to the south. In reading the history of the church we find that this flowing stream has never been stopped, and we notice that everywhere that this stream flowed, it was just one. It was one in Jerusalem, one to Antioch, one to Asia, one to Europe, and one everywhere it has flowed. Please be clear that there have never been two streams. There is only one stream, and you have to keep yourself in this one stream. (The Divine Stream, pp. 6-7, 8, 12-13)
The present problem among us came out of something that was hidden in the past. One of these hidden things was the intention to do an extra work in the unique work of the Lord’s recovery. In the recovery there is a definite work that is for the building up of the local churches unto the building up of the universal Body of Christ. This is the work. But among us, there was a case of someone who wanted to do an extra work within the work. This person would not leave the recovery or give up the church life. Instead, he insisted on having a particular work of his own, by his own effort, within the recovery. This was a divisive factor. (Elders’ Training, Book 10: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (2), pp. 18-19)
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All the co-workers in all the regions should do the same one work universally for the unique Body. We should do only one work. There should not be several works in the Lord’s recovery. In the past there were several works in the recovery. This is still lingering among us. There is the risk and the danger that these different works will issue in divisions. We have to consider our present situation so that we can eliminate the number of works. The work should be just one. Even Paul and Peter did not carry out two works. Even though they worked in different regions, they had only one work to build up the Body of Christ. (Elders’ Training, Book 11: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (3), pp. 118-119)
The starting point of the work in Antioch was the sending forth of two or three men. However, if workers are sent out by the work, the question of organization may come in. During our gathering this time, brothers from different localities have come on their own accord. Such a kind of gathering is not a product of organization, teachings, or doctrines. It is a product of the Body’s need. There is only one Body. What is manifested in all the places is the same life. This life is the reality of the Body. The work is produced out of this reality. This is the Lord’s standard. If we compare our work with the Lord’s standard, we will see that we have surely come short. The Lord has shown us today that individual works can never come up to the standard of the Body. If we do not see this, insisting instead on our individual works, we will face a stone wall. All works that are not the issue of the Body life will sooner or later hit a stone wall. The Lord will lead us to the point where we have to take the way of the Body. He will lead us to the point where we will not be able to go on or even to live if we do not take the way of the Body. If a man falls into the river, surely he will cry out for help. In the same way, the Lord will force us to cry out for help to be rescued out of our individual works. This is the starting point of the work. The starting point of the work is the oneness of the Body. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 57, pp. 74-75)
Anyone who has a vision today can be clear at a glance that neither Brother Nee nor I carried out our own personal work; our work is the work of the Lord’s recovery for the building of the Body of Christ. I say this with the hope that you will be influenced by me. I was greatly influenced by Brother Nee, and I hope that you will also be influenced by him.
If we all do the work of the Lord’s recovery, there will be the one Body. If only three or five people who are of the same mind go out to work in a small region, the outcome is not oneness or one accord; rather, that outcome creates division. This is the very reason for the turmoil in recent years.
If we look back, what did Brother Nee accomplish, and what have I accomplished? All that we have done is left here for the Lord to show grace to His children; the work that we have done is the Lord’s recovery. I hope that we all can see this. We must see the Body of Christ and be very clear concerning this vision. This vision must become our governing and controlling vision. We must do the work of the Lord’s recovery under this vision. The work of the Lord’s recovery is the work of His economy, the work of the Body of Christ. (The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible, pp. 32, 33)
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The church is the life of the Body in miniature; the ministry is the functioning of the Body in service; the work is the reaching out of the Body in growth. Neither church, ministry, nor work can exist as a thing by itself. Each has to derive its existence from, find its place in, and work for the good of the Body. All three are from the Body, in the Body, and for the Body. If this principle of relatedness to the Body and interrelatedness among its members is not recognized, there can be no church, no ministry, and no work. The importance of this principle cannot be over-emphasized, for without it everything is man-made, not God-created. The basic principle of the ministry is the Body. The basic principle of the work is the Body. The basic principle of the churches is the Body. The Body is the governing law of the life and work of the children of God today. (The Normal Christian Church Life, pp. 187-188)
Now we go on to see the reality of the Body of Christ. The reality of the Body of Christ is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the resurrection. Brother Nee made a statement, saying that “the Holy Spirit is the reality of resurrection; without the Holy Spirit, there is no resurrection.” In John 11:25 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” He is not only the life but also the resurrection. However, most of us can understand that the Spirit is life, but we cannot comprehend that the Spirit is resurrection. The Lord Jesus said that He is the resurrection. What is this resurrection? This resurrection is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God. The work of the Triune God in us is to produce the Body of Christ, the reality of which is the Spirit, the pneumatic Christ. This Spirit as the consummated Triune God, the resurrection, works in us. When we have the pneumatic Christ, the consummated Triune God, the resurrection, we are practically the Body of Christ. (The High Peak of the Vision and the Reality of the Body of Christ, p. 43)
“Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields; / Let us lodge in the villages” (S. S. 7:11). This reveals that she wants to carry out with her Beloved the work that is for the entire world by sojourning from one place to another. This indicates that she is not sectarian. In the Lord’s work it is not easy to keep our work open, to not keep our work “in our pocket.” We must learn to keep the work open, so that others can come to sojourn there and we can go to sojourn elsewhere. This is to keep one work in one Body. (Life-study of Song of Songs, p. 59)
Today we have to see what God’s work is, and we have to know what is God’s central work in man. We must be led to see the way to receive God’s life. After we receive this life, we should know how to live in this life, so that God can have a way among us. This is God’s central work...What we need today is not peripheral works but God’s central work. (Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, vol. 1, pp. 151-152)
Ephesians 3:19 speaks of the fullness of God. This fullness is the content. God’s intention is to fill us with this content. Verse 20 shows us how God accomplishes this, that is, how He fills us with His fullness. The main work of God today is to work Himself into man. Unless our living, our walk, and our work are linked up with God’s center, they will all pass away. Even the so-called blessings and peace will pass away. The only thing that will remain is God’s work within us. I know that many will think that I am saying the wrong thing, and I know that many will misunderstand my words. But if a man loves the Lord with a pure heart, he will see the revelation.
Everything that does not belong to God Himself, even if it has been created by Him, will all pass away. The heavens, the earth, and all things, even we ourselves, will all pass away, because the heavens, the earth, and all things, including ourselves, are not God Himself. That is why they will all pass away. No matter how good you are, and how nice and how clean you look, all these things will pass away. Of course, humanly speaking, it is always better to do good than to do evil. But the good and evil that come from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are the same before God. Everything that is not of God will pass away. The Chinese have a saying: “Humility brings profit, while arrogance brings loss.” But both of these things will also pass away. Today we are not evaluating matters from a temporary point of view. Rather, we are evaluating matters from an eternal point of view. Many things may appear to be good in time, but they cannot endure for eternity. Good is something that exists in time; it cannot be brought into eternity. To do good is the goal of those in the world, but a Christian’s goal belongs to eternity. In eternity, there are only things that belong to God. Only God’s things are eternal. It is true that God’s things pass through time, yet they proceed from eternity and extend through eternity. Everything that God accomplishes in time and in the world is for the accomplishment of His eternal purpose, which is to work Himself into man. Only when God is worked into man can God’s eternal purpose be fulfilled. God passes through time in order that He can work Himself into man, that is, in order for Him to mingle Himself into man. (Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, vol. 1, pp. 125-126)
In the church the most important thing is the person. The importance of the person far exceeds that of any work. In the world it is just the opposite; there, the work is more important than the person. But for us the person is more important. Time stands between the two eternities; both creation and redemption are within the span of time. During the span of time, God does many works. God’s main goal, however, is not the works but to gain persons through the works. God does not work for the sake of working, but for the sake of gaining men through His works. God is not here merely to accomplish a work but to use His work to gain some people. Hence, our views have to be changed. (Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, vol. 1, p. 189)
The service of the elders has to do with the person of the elder. It does not depend on the method but on the person. In the New Testament it is very difficult to find out what is the method or way to serve. Some places seem to speak about the method or the way, but actually the emphasis is still the person himself. The person is the way, and the person is the Lord’s work. If God does not gain a person, He will have no work, and He will have no way. A way is a course that a person takes. If God does not gain man, He will have no course to take. Man thinks that the most important thing to do is to find a good way. However, God’s work does not involve giving us the ways but is a matter of gaining the persons. If God can gain two or three brothers here, He will have a way. Even if I present to you the best way to be an elder, it will be useless if the person is wrong. We, the person, should be gained by God. We have to learn to be the proper person more than to learn to do the proper things. It is meaningless for things to be done properly without the person being a proper one. What you are is what you do. You cannot serve God beyond what you are as a person. Hudson Taylor said in his book Union and Communion that what we are is more important than what we do. This word left a deep impression on me. We should know how to help the brothers and sisters properly. (Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, vol. 1, pp. 59-60)
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We have to remember all the time that the need today is for God to work Himself into us rather than for us to work for God. All those who will only work for God without allowing God to work in them will eventually be rejected. Only those who allow God to work in them through various circumstances, people, matters, and events will be blessed by Him. (Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, vol. 1, p. 111)
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To love the Lord Jesus does not mean to work for Him. Working for Him means nothing to the Lord Jesus. If you do not believe this today, some day you will believe it. But that day will be too late. It is not that we work for Him but that He works on us. We must not be merely His workers but His work (Eph. 2:10). We must take in the Lord so that He may perfume us and transform us. Then we will progress from one figure to another and will arrive at the stage of the palanquin and the crown. But we still need to go on to the garden and the city. May the Lord be merciful to us and take us all the way! Life and building are the two main items of the Lord’s recovery. This is why we must attain to the garden and the city. (Life and Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs, pp. 85-86)
I do not believe that there is anything that is more real than the things in the spiritual realm. A person cannot cheat God. He cannot cheat himself, and he cannot cheat the saints. In two years’ time, you will see the effect of my words today. The kind of person you are determines the kind of children you produce. Those who love the world will produce Christians who love the world. Those brothers and sisters who seek after modern fashions, if they can bring others to salvation at all, will bring in ones who are flippant and shallow. Those who have a hot temper will surely bring in Christians with a bad temper. A good tree produces good fruit, and a corrupt tree produces evil fruit (Matt. 7:17-18). The kind of person we are determines the kind of fruit we produce. (Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, vol. 1, pp. 62-63)
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Brother Watchman Nee used to tell us that some people build up twelve inches by what they do but tear down fourteen inches by what they are. This means that they tear down more than they build up. Hence, it is better for them not to do anything. We may build up a certain amount by our Bible doctrine and knowledge, but we will damage more than we build up because of our shortage of the humanity of Jesus. In the church life we need the humanity of Jesus much more than the gifts, the so-called baptism, or the knowledge of the Bible. (Christ as the Reality, p. 108)
According to the entire revelation of the New Testament, the unique goal of the Christian work should be the New Jerusalem, which is the ultimate goal of God’s eternal economy.
The degradation of the church is mainly due to the fact that nearly all the Christian workers are distracted to take many things other than the New Jerusalem as their goal.
Hence, under the degradation of the church, to be an overcomer answering the Lord’s call needs us to overcome not only the negative things but even more the positive things that replace the New Jerusalem as the goal.
An overcomer’s goal should be uniquely and ultimately the goal of God’s eternal economy, that is, the New Jerusalem. (The Vital Groups, p. 131)
The following is Brother Lee’s fellowship given on April 6, 1997:
The co-workers must see that we should do only one work, which is to make God’s chosen people regenerated ones, sanctified ones, renewed ones—the new man—transformed ones, conformed ones—those conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God—and glorified ones. All those who will be in the New Jerusalem are this kind of people.
Specifically, God proceeds step by step to make a chosen one of God a person who is regenerated, sanctified, renewed, transformed, conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God, and even glorified by God. In this way, we go up level by level until we reach the highest point, where we become the same. There is no more flesh and no more natural being. All are in the spirit. All are the kingdom of the heavens, and all are beings of the New Jerusalem. This is the highest point. If you understand this, you can explain it to the brothers and sisters, and you can ask them to speak the same. (The Ministry, vol. 1, no. 1, October 1997, p. 49)
