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In this chapter we will fellowship concerning the ground and the coordination of the church and concerning the law of revival. The brothers who visited various places in Southeast Asia observed various problems mainly related to the ground of the church and the coordination in service. The young brothers and sisters who answer the Lord’s call need to have a broad understanding concerning the situation of Christianity and concerning the Lord’s purpose in raising us up. We would like to present a general sketch of the Lord’s purpose. This matter determines whether or not we will take this way in the future.
The difficulties, attacks, and ordeals that we have suffered for the past thirty years in the East were related mainly to the matters of the ground of the church and coordination. It has been forty years since our senior co-worker, Watchman Nee, was raised up by the Lord. Shortly after he began his ministry, he received a vision from the Lord. He gave me this vision. In this regard, I am a person who has received the Lord’s mercy. After my salvation I was drawn by the Lord to love Him and pursue Him; I was willing to forsake everything for Him. However, before I began to fellowship with Brother Nee, I did not have a vision. I simply loved the Lord and felt His presence.
In 1933 I was drawn by the Lord to drop my job. I can testify that I was filled with the Spirit and was able to affect others, but I did not have a vision. Brother Nee gave me a strong confirmation concerning dropping my job. Hence, as soon as I left my job, I had the feeling that I must go to Shanghai and fellowship with Brother Nee.
I left Chefoo and traveled through Tientsin, Beijing, and Nanking. Finally, I arrived in Shanghai in order to fellowship with Brother Nee. The first impression I received was that Christ is everything and that He wants to be our life. Brother Nee opened my eyes to see these truths. I received much help during my first visit to Shanghai. The value of the help Brother Nee gave me can be measured only in eternity. Brother Nee was systematic in the way that he rendered help. By such leading, the Lord revealed Himself to me step by step. I was in Shanghai for less than two months, but I became very clear concerning the vision of Christ being everything and being my life. My visit to Shanghai was at the end of 1933 and the beginning of 1934.
One time I went to Brother Nee’s home, and we sat together and talked. I still remember our talk that day. He said, “Brother, all our spiritual experiences are, objectively speaking, Christ Himself, but subjectively speaking, we experience His death and resurrection.” This word opened up a vision to me. Objectively, Christ is everything, and He is our life. This is a vision; it is theory. Subjectively, we experience His death and resurrection. This is practical. Brother Nee added a few words. He said that everything of the old creation, everything natural, that is, not only the evil things but also the good things, must be terminated on the cross. This is reality. Only in resurrection can we enter into everything that is in Christ and everything that is spiritual. We experience the experiences of Christ. Without Christ, that is, apart from Christ, all that we are and do are not only zero in God’s eyes but also incur His condemnation. No matter how well we serve, everything we do that is outside of Christ is a problem and will be condemned. Everything must be in Christ, and everything must be Christ. He also said that in order for everything to be in Christ and to be Christ, we must experience death and resurrection. Only in death and resurrection can we experience Christ. His words were crucial to me. I am continually understanding and experiencing this fellowship.
From the end of 1933 until 1940 I lived in the vision of Christ being my life and in the experience of Christ’s death and resurrection. In other words, I lived in the vista that Brother Nee opened up to me. During this period of time I also spoke concerning the church, concerning religious organizations, and concerning the center of our worshipping God. Not much of what I spoke during those years is in print. There is only a little booklet entitled The Gleanings from the Genealogy of Christ. The content of this booklet is taken from the beginning of the New Testament. It is to help young believers in their Bible reading.
In 1940, before the Pacific War broke out, I went to Shanghai again in order to fellowship with Brother Nee. In a private time he told me that the blueprint for the building up of the church was in his hands. These few words gave me a deep impression, and I kept asking myself what was the blueprint. During two months of fellowship with Brother Nee he gradually showed me the blueprint.
His words were often concise. One time he said that this blueprint is, first, Christ as everything. The only material for the building up of the church is Christ; hence, Christ is everything. Second, this building is expressed in localities. And third, this building should be carried out in coordination.
In 1940 the church in Shanghai established a deacons’ service, because of the revelation that Brother Nee had related to the administration of a local church. This beginning was for the practice of serving in coordination. Brother Nee set up the deacons’ service, and he led the deacons to serve. He also led the elders in administrating the church. Brother Nee served as a deacon and as an elder, but he did not replace the deacons or the elders; he led them in their service. At that time we had a procedure for receiving the saints, and Brother Nee personally took the lead to care for this matter. He handled the receiving of the saints in order to show the deacons and the elders how to receive the saints. He was clear that in order for us to have the practical building up of the church, he needed to be personally involved, and he needed to lead the elders and deacons by serving together with them. During this time the blueprint was unveiled to me.
In summary, I received two great visions from Brother Nee. First, in 1933 and 1934 I saw that Christ is everything to us and that He is our life. I also saw that in order to experience Christ as everything and as our life, we must experience His death and resurrection. Second, in 1940 I saw the vision of the building up of the church. I returned to northern China in 1940, and from that time onward, the situation in the churches in northern China changed because I practiced the leading I had received. I led the deacons and the elders in their services. I also set up a deacons’ service so that everyone could learn to serve in coordination in order to carry out the building up. I received these matters from Brother Nee.
Furthermore, in my contact with Brother Nee he also showed me two points that require our attention. First, he gave me an outline of the past two thousand years of church history. Through reading spiritual books, biographies, and church history, he had inherited all the positive things received by the church. Brother Nee was very familiar with the crucial points of the messages, publications, biographies, and history of Christianity, including Catholicism. Even the brothers of the Brethren assemblies were not as clear or well versed in matters concerning the Brethren assemblies as Brother Nee.
Brother Nee had a thorough knowledge of the history of the church. He could clearly say when, where, and why a certain event happened. He could even say in which book an event was recorded. We translated several books into Chinese, such as Madame Guyon’s autobiography and Method of Prayer. We also translated the writings of Francois LaCombe. I received this outline of church history during my first trip to Shanghai while I was a guest at his home.
In January 1934 there was a conference in Shanghai. Brother Nee gave many important and precious messages during that conference. One of the messages was entitled What Are We? In one meeting he stood up and asked, “What are we?” Then he gave a lengthy message on church history, covering the time from the apostle John to the present. He spoke concerning most of the spiritual matters and people during this period of two thousand years. He related which spiritual persons came forth during a particular time and what was their spiritual worth. He also told us why we took certain points from a person but rejected other points. The co-workers who were present in that meeting were rather young. His speaking amazed us. This was the way that the Lord used Brother Nee to open the spiritual riches from the past two thousand years of church history in order for us to have a clear outline.
During that time we had many long discussions with Brother Nee. We spent almost every day together, and he repeated many points to us. He said that we are not a denomination among the other denominations, but we do not reject everything in the denominations. For example, he said that we are not Baptists, but we practice baptism by immersion; we are not the Holiness Church, but we pay attention to being holy; and we are not Catholics, but we accept spiritual things from Madame Guyon. Through his fellowship my eyes were opened to the spiritual riches. He also spoke concerning many spiritual people, from Andrew Murray to Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis. Brother Nee explained all the spiritual matters of the past two thousand years, regardless of the sect or group it concerned. This is the first point.
Second, Brother Nee said that we do not have a problem with receiving spiritual riches. However, we were raised up by the Lord in this age not merely to receive and inherit the spiritual riches of the past two thousand years of church history. We were raised up by the Lord to inherit these riches for the church. Brother Nee saw that in God’s intention all the spiritual riches are for the church. He said that in the past, after obtaining a certain experience, some believers adopted it as their own spirituality. For example, although holiness is for the church, holiness believers focus on holiness merely for their own spirituality. These believers seek only their own spirituality. They do not know that spirituality is for the church. Baptism, another example, is for the church. However, the Baptist denomination adopted the truth concerning baptism merely for the salvation of individuals, thereby changing the church into a Baptist Church.
Brother Nee gave numerous examples to show that although in God’s intention spiritual riches are for the church, few believers after the apostles have paid attention to the church. It was not until 1828, when Brother J. N. Darby was raised up by the Lord, that believers saw the church. No one after the apostles surpassed Darby in his gifts. We must thank the Lord for giving such a great gift to the church. Western Christianity greatly appreciates the gift of John Wesley, but J. N. Darby’s gift was greater than that of John Wesley. However, Western Christianity knows only John Wesley, not J. N. Darby.
Our knowledge and emphasis concerning the church should be attributed to the help that we received from J. N. Darby. However, as a result of the subsequent divisions among the Brethren, the truth concerning the church is rather confused in Western Christianity. Hence, Western Christianity hardly touches the matter of the church. Concerning the church, Eastern Christianity is like virgin soil that has not been damaged. We must humbly admit that J. N. Darby was a great servant used by God. However, after receiving help from him, we have gone further, even though we are small servants of the Lord. We have seen that God desires the church in reality. All the spiritual gifts that God has bestowed on the believers during the past two thousand years are for the building up of the church in reality as His corporate vessel to express His Son.
One day in a private conversation, Brother Nee asked me to read the last verse of Ephesians 1. The verse says, “[The church], which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all” (v. 23). He said that the word fullness here is like a foreign word. He said that we should not know the church only as the Body of Christ but that we should know the church also as the fullness of Christ. The church being the fullness of Christ means that the church is the overflow of Christ. He also said that after God created Adam, He caused a woman, Eve, to overflow from Adam. Eve was the fullness of Adam (Gen. 2:21-22). At that time I was already married. Brother Nee told me that he, being single, did not have a fullness, but that I, having a wife, had a fullness. For two thousand years God gave spiritual riches in order to gain a corporate vessel to be His fullness. This fullness pleased God. God desired that His Son would be manifested in this vessel, and this vessel is the expression of Christ.
Brother Nee said that all the sufferings and ordeals that came to us were not because we were wrong. We inherited spiritual things from the believers who have gone before us, and others have welcomed what we gave them. For example, many Chinese Christians had never heard of Madame Guyon or received any spiritual help from her. When we translated her autobiography, other believers were edified. We showed other believers Madame Guyon’s attitude toward life in her forsaking the world and voluntarily choosing the cross, and they received it. We translated Mrs. Hannah Whitall Smith’s writings, as well as the writings of Andrew Murray and Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis. Other believers welcomed the spiritual things from the past generations. In these matters we did not fight, and other believers did not give us any trouble. All our afflictions were due to the truth concerning the church and due to our saying that all the spiritual riches are for the church and are in the church.
The practice of the church depends on the ground and on coordination. Without the ground and without coordination the church cannot exist; it remains abstract. If we do not speak concerning the ground of the church and concerning coordination, the church is merely a term without reality. Both the ground and coordination are practical. In order for the church to be practical, there must be the definite ground of the church and the practical coordination to carry out the service. Without these two items the church would be merely a vision that could not be put into practice. In order for the church to be practical, there must be the practical ground and the practical coordination.
Brother Nee said that all the attacks from outsiders were due to the matter of the ground. If we would give up the ground of the church, the attacks would cease. The ground is the one point in which we cannot be in harmony with the denominations and the other groups in Christianity. If we would give up the ground, we would still be very spiritual, and we would also be able to work with every other Christian. But when we bring up the matter of the ground, other Christians oppose us. These words indicate that our brother’s suffering in China was mainly because of the matter of the ground.
Among the missionary groups that first went to China, three were rather spiritual: China Inland Mission, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and the Baptist denomination. Once, a brother in China Inland Mission asked Brother Nee whether China Inland Mission was a denomination. Brother Nee replied, “If you say that you are not a denomination, I will not argue with you. However, let me ask, what is China Inland Mission? If you say that you are a missionary group, what is the result of your work? We all know that Paul, Timothy, and their companions were sent out to work, and the result of their work was the establishing of churches. They established the church in Corinth and the church in Ephesus. They did not establish Paul’s Missionary Society or Timothy’s Missionary Society. May I ask you, what is the result of China Inland Mission’s work in China? Is it not to establish China Inland Mission in many places? This shows that China Inland Mission is replacing the churches.” Eventually, the brother said that China Inland Mission would gradually hand everything over; it would withdraw and let the local believers form churches. This was the reply by someone in China Inland Mission.
Brother Nee said that for close to a hundred years China Inland Mission had been preaching the gospel in China but that its goal was wrong. It was right to preach the gospel in China, but its goal was wrong. Many of the missionaries who went to China rendered much spiritual help to the believers. The missionaries did a substantial work in spiritual matters, but they were short in the matter of the ground. This shows that the conflicts we had with Christians were centered entirely on the matter of the ground. The sufferings we experienced, as well as the attacks, troubles, and criticisms, were all because of the ground. If we had compromised, even a little, concerning the ground of the church, we would not have had any problems, and we would have been welcomed everywhere.
The first matter concerning the church is the ground, and the second matter is coordination. During the period that I worked together with Brother Nee, he often pointed out that we say that we are meeting in the Lord’s name, taking His way, following Him, and giving up the denominations, but where can we see coordination in the churches? Can we see coordination among the co-workers?
In 1948 we experienced what we called “handing over.” At the end of 1947 several co-workers visited some major cities in Kwangtung and Fukien Provinces. Then we went to Foochow for a three-week conference. Several of us co-workers asked Brother Nee to let us stay with him for two weeks after the conference in order to have some fellowship with him. The other co-workers who attended the conference were supposed to return to their localities after the conference, but after hearing of our request to Brother Nee, they refused to leave, hoping that they would be allowed to participate in the fellowship. Eventually, Brother Nee agreed that they could participate in the fellowship on the condition that they sat behind a screen. Only a few co-workers were allowed to sit face to face with him. Brother Nee asked me to be responsible for this matter.
Those who have fellowshipped with Brother Nee know that he was never the first to raise a question. If someone would sit with him from nine to twelve o’clock, without asking a question, Brother Nee would not say a word. That was what happened in our meeting. He was very patient; he sat without saying a word or asking a question. After a while, since I was the one who initiated the fellowship, I asked, “Brother Nee, recently we traveled through Canton, Hong Kong, Swatow, and several important places in Fukien Province. We feel that the churches in these places are in confusion. What do you think should be done about this situation?”
Based on my question, Brother Nee gave a message concerning our lack of coordination. In essence, he said that all the co-workers feel that they are called by God, that they love the Lord, and that they are taking the way of the church in their service to the Lord. However, everything is being done without any coordination. Hence, the Lord has no way to go on. Brother Nee spoke for at least two hours. His speaking brought tears to our eyes. It was rare for Brother Nee to shed tears before people, but even he wept during that fellowship. Many co-workers, even the most hardhearted, wept.
After Brother Nee spoke, the room was quiet. No one spoke, and no one moved. Among the twenty-some co-workers who were present, an older sister suddenly stood up and said, “This being the case, why don’t we practice it right away?” Immediately, the rest of the co-workers agreed. Then Brother Nee said, “If you want to do it, you must write on a piece of paper that you will hand yourself over and give it to Brother Lee. He will collect the pieces of paper for me.” When we asked Brother Nee the purpose of our handing ourselves over, he said, “By handing yourself over, you indicate that you are willing to accept coordination. Henceforth, you cannot be individualistic. If you want to be individualistic, you can take back your piece of paper. Anyone who hands in a piece of paper must accept coordination.” That was the beginning of “handing over.” The emphasis was not on handing over our possessions but on handing over our person in order to accept coordination.
The church in Shanghai experienced a revival during 1946 and 1947. As a result of this revival, co-workers from various places in China, including the northern and central areas, wanted to come to Shanghai to seek fellowship. We asked Brother Nee to join us for a conference in Shanghai. In one of the meetings he said that handing ourselves over was for coordination. He showed us that the enemy’s attack from outside was due to the matter of the ground and that the internal problems we had with one another were due to the matter of coordination. The enemy wants to remove the ground and destroy the coordination. He has been doing this for two thousand years.
Brother Nee also said that we are not more spiritual than the believers who have gone before us. We are not more spiritual than Madame Guyon, and our speaking concerning our co-death with Christ does not surpass what Mrs. Penn-Lewis taught. But we must see that the Lord has raised us up not for spirituality or for teachings. The Lord has raised us up for the church.
From 1933 to 1934 Brother Nee led me to see Christ and to experience His death and resurrection. In 1940 he showed me the blueprint for the building up of the church. By 1942 I had a deep realization that the spiritual riches of the believers who have gone before us, which we have inherited, are for the building up of the church. In order to experience the building up of the church, we must hold two concrete and practical points: a definite ground and the practical coordination. A person who wants to build a house must not only gather materials; he must also determine where to build the house. This is the matter of the ground. If he gathers materials but does not have a proper site, he cannot build a house. Furthermore, if there is a definite site, but the materials are not built together, there cannot be a house. This is obvious. In order to build a house, we need materials, a definite site, and a practical way to build the materials together.
In 1949 I moved from the mainland to Taiwan. From then until 1957 the work overseas did not experience problems concerning the ground, nor was there anything unpleasant in our coordination. As a result of external influences, beginning in 1957 there arose among the churches in Taiwan a problem concerning the ground as well as concerning coordination. This caused me to go before the Lord to reflect upon all the leading I had received from Brother Nee. I was clear that the confusion was the result of the enemy’s stratagem. The enemy was trying to use every means possible to annul the ground of the church and to bring discord into our coordination. This is the enemy’s scheme. He is not afraid of people becoming spiritual, but he hates to see the church being built up on the proper ground.
The serving saints need a clear vision. I have no intention to dispute or to be resentful. I know what the Lord has commissioned me to do. I also know the commission He gave to Brother Nee in his ministry in China. Furthermore, I know the purpose of my coordination with Brother Nee. These items are for the building up of the church.
Perhaps some of the co-workers rejoice because they have brought people to salvation, but the co-workers do not understand the purpose of coordination. When we do not hinder the coordination, we do not cause any problems, but once we hinder the coordination, we cause problems. Our senior brother was the first to receive from the Lord the blueprint for the building up of the church. When we invite someone to help us build, we are not asking him to help us draw the blueprint or to change the blueprint, because the blueprint is already drawn. We are carrying out the building work according to the blueprint. When we ask someone to help us, we are asking him to carry out the building work according to the blueprint. For example, it is acceptable to hire an expert painter who knows how to do a paint job that will last three to five years. We can also accept the work of a good carpenter, but we cannot accept any complaints about the blueprint or attempts to change the design of the doors and the windows. Whoever comes to help us in the work should help us only on the technical side. He should not change our blueprint.
In 1955 Brother T. Austin-Sparks came to Taiwan, and we welcomed him. However, after he came again in 1957, we could no longer welcome his ministry. During his first visit he helped us with spiritual matters, and we are truly grateful. However, instead of helping us during his second visit, he tried to change our blueprint, especially concerning the ground of the church. We cannot accept that.
We must be clear concerning the areas in which we need help. We are indeed lacking in many spiritual matters, and we need to receive help from others. However, concerning the blueprint for the building up of the church, which is related to the ground of the church and the way of coordination, we do not need to receive help from others. It is regrettable that those who have come to help us have not only offered us help in spiritual matters but have also tried to change our blueprint. For the past three hundred years of church history, none of the believers who could render spiritual help to others have surpassed Madame Guyon. It is an undeniable fact that Madame Guyon has rendered spiritual help to others, but she worshipped before the statue of Mary because she was under the influence of Roman Catholicism. We cannot agree with her in this matter. We have received spiritual help from her, but we cannot accept the way that she took, such as worshipping the statue of Mary and observing mass in the Catholic Church.
We can receive spiritual help from any person and from any group. But we became clear twenty years ago that we cannot allow anyone to change our blueprint concerning the ground of the church and the coordination for the building up of the church. I would emphasize again that in terms of spiritual weight, spiritual stature, and spiritual practices, we need to receive help from others. However, we cannot accept anyone who touches our blueprint; that is, we cannot accept someone who tries to change the way of the church ground and our coordination. Our blueprint is the commission for which the Lord has raised us up in this age.
There have been many spiritual brothers in the history of the church. Andrew Murray is one of them. A number of his books, such as Abide in Christ and The Inner Chamber and the Inner Life, are very popular. These books prove that many believers are pursuing spirituality. If no one was pursuing spirituality, these books would not have any readership or have a large circulation. However, we must ask: where is the church? There is enough of so-called spirituality. In these last days the Lord desires to accomplish His heart’s desire. Even if not all of God’s children are concerned with the matter of the church, He is willing to have a remnant who will fulfill His heart’s desire. His desire is for us to keep the ground in many localities and to have the practical coordination so that He can have a practical expression of the Body of His Son. This is the desire of God’s heart.
The co-workers did not become clear concerning the ground of the church and concerning coordination until the 1950s, even though Brother Nee had given us this blueprint earlier on, and it had enabled us to know our way forward. We welcome anyone who desires to help us in spiritual matters; we acknowledge our lack. However, concerning the blueprint, that is, concerning the ground and concerning coordination, it is unnecessary, even futile, for anyone to try to change us. If Brother T. Austin-Sparks’s second visit had been the same as his first visit, that is, if he had rendered us help only in spiritual matters, I believe that we would have continued to invite him until today because we need the help. However, during his second visit he wanted to change our blueprint; he wanted to change our practice concerning the ground and our coordination. In his private conversation with me, all the disputes were centered on these points. From that time onward, there was a turmoil raging among us.
For many years Brother Nee led us to learn the ground of the church and coordination. In 1939 he returned from Europe and called a conference, in which he spoke on the Body of Christ and the building up of the church. He did not speak concerning the Body in theory but concerning our practice of the Body. Where is such a practice today? In order to have such a practice, there must be a definite ground locally, as well as a practical coordination. Then believers can become a corporate vessel to be the Body of Christ. This is our vision and our goal. This vision has become clearer to us. Problems come because of the ground and coordination. These two items are vital matters. Satan is trying to destroy these two items, and we are contending for them. In recent years we have been attacked because of these two matters. This is a spiritual warfare.
Let us now consider the law of revival. Every feeling that we have from our heart and everything that transpires in our environment are a basis for us to be revived and to enjoy Christ more. Titus 3:5 speaks of “the renewing of the Holy Spirit,” which takes place within us. The Holy Spirit is doing a renewing work in us. To renew is to revive. Hence, the renewing of the Holy Spirit is the reviving of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit within us is to renew us, that is, to revive us, after we are saved. This is what the Holy Spirit is doing in us.
Second Corinthians 4:16 says, “Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” From the context of verses 7 through 9 we can see that the decaying in verse 16 refers to the effect of the environment on us. The treasure in our earthen vessels manifests the excellency of the power of God (v. 7). Hence, we may be cast down, but we are not destroyed (v. 9). All the problems that come upon us destroy our outer man, but they cause our inner man to be renewed day by day. This is revival. The renewing of the Holy Spirit in Titus 3:5 refers to what takes place within us. The decaying of our outer man in 2 Corinthians 4:16 refers to the effect of our environment. The Holy Spirit works within us for our renewing, and the decaying of our outer man through the environment is also for our renewing. This renewing is a revival.
Hence, everything that transpires within us and everything that we encounter in our environment tell us that we need to be renewed. In other words, we need to experience Christ and be revived according to what transpires within us and according to what we encounter in our environment. If we experience or encounter suffering, we should learn to experience Christ as our joy in suffering. If our environment is pressing on us, we should experience Christ as our joy under pressure. This is the way that we follow what the Holy Spirit is doing in us. Through the feelings in our heart and through the circumstances arranged by God in our environment, we experience and gain Christ for us to be renewed and revived.
I hope that we will take this word and put it into practice. The more we practice, the more we will be renewed; that is, we will experience Christ and have His life. This should be our daily and moment-by-moment practice. Every feeling in our heart and everything that transpires in our environment should be the basis for us to experience Christ. Every time that we gain Christ, we are renewed and revived, just as every time we eat or drink we are strengthened and revived. Eating and drinking are the ways that we maintain our physical existence and also grow strong. This principle applies to our spiritual life as well.
