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I want to fellowship with you concerning the inclusiveness of the new way. This has been the burden within me for a long time. From the first day I mentioned the need to change the system and take the new way, I heard that a very small number of saints among us had different opinions, especially after we had the gospel preaching by visiting people. From that time I was prepared to find an opportunity to present to everyone a complete picture of the inclusiveness of the new way in its entirety.
We already tried this new way over fifty years ago, but it did not succeed. In 1933, when I went to Shanghai for the first time, I was brought to the work center to work together with the brothers. At that time we had already encountered this problem of the change of the system that is being spoken of today. We were considering how to eliminate the meeting with one speaking and the rest listening and to change to all the saints going out to preach the gospel. Eventually, after much effort we could not find a workable way. In 1937 Brother Watchman Nee released a series of messages concerning rethinking our work. He emphatically said that the Lord’s Day message meeting was a waste and that this meeting was following the customs of the nations; it was not worth maintaining. In the book Church Affairs he mentioned this matter again in 1948, and the words he used were much stronger than those spoken eleven years earlier. For thirty-six years, from 1949, when I was sent to Taiwan to spread the Lord’s work overseas, until 1984, when I returned to Taiwan, this matter of changing the system has been an unresolved problem in our midst.
Within that period, from the time of Brother Nee’s imprisonment in 1952 until his death in prison in 1972, we cannot say that he had any work; also, we had no way to correspond with him. By the Lord’s mercy I simply had to coordinate with the brothers and sisters to spread the work of the Lord’s recovery overseas. In the areas from Taiwan to Southeast Asia, and from Southeast Asia to Japan, I spent over ten years’ effort. After that, most of my time was spent in the Western world in developing the work in America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. In the last approximately twenty years, we have established over six hundred churches. Including the development in Asia, there are over nine hundred churches on the whole earth at the present time.
Three years ago I was alerted by the practical situations. I discovered that although the Lord’s recovery had spread to the six major continents, no matter which place it had spread to, that place soon became stagnant. Nearly every place was like this. The situation that bothered me the most was that of the United States. From 1962 to 1984, twenty-two years altogether, I was there carrying out the work personally. I traveled from the south to the north, from the East Coast to the West Coast, to the extent that today there is a church in the Lord’s recovery in nearly all the big cities. There are altogether about one hundred churches; the number is not too small. However, regarding the increase in number, we have nothing to boast about. In the first ten years there was still a twenty to thirty percent increase rate, but in the last ten years the average increase rate was only three percent. One of the areas that burdened me most heavily was Orange County, California, where I live. From the time we moved there in 1974 until 1984, ten years altogether, the number has not increased.
However, you need to understand that in the last ten years, I spent half a year’s time each year (three months in the first half of the year and three months in the second half) in writing, composing the footnotes of the New Testament, and also revising the translated text of the English version of the Bible. Besides these, there were the semiannual trainings held to expound the New Testament book by book, resulting in the Life-study messages of the Bible. These trainings occupied at least two-thirds of my time. The time that was left was limited; hence, I had no way to take care of the needs in the various local churches. In 1984, after I had completed the footnotes of all the books of the New Testament, I decided to come back to Taipei. As soon as I came back, I mentioned this important issue of changing the system. At that time I said that we started this change of the system on a trial basis, and we did not need others’ criticism or adjustment. We ourselves knew how to adjust as we went on. While I was learning the way of the recovery from Brother Watchman Nee, I acquired the skill of making adjustments. Because this new way has never been taken by anyone, we may be considered as pioneers. Hence, everything requires study and improvement.
When we began to take this way, we were not quite sure of the way of doing things; however, we have seen quite clearly the principle and the emphasis. I held on to one thing: the principle cannot be changed, and the emphasis cannot be shifted; the truth is forever the truth. My principle and emphasis are Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. Although my voice for changing the system and walking the new way was very high and strong, I walked very firmly in a stable way. I walked slowly, step by step, according to my evaluation of the church’s situation and the pace of the brothers. I was like a cook, busy working in the kitchen every day, preparing to put forth a feast. Therefore, I hope that no one will be anxious. You cannot require that we succeed within three years in this change of the system, which has not been successfully accomplished within the last fifty years. You need to wait patiently and broaden your view. You also need to listen accurately and should not assume that your understanding is the same as what I spoke. I found that the people outside the training were not clear or misunderstood or had too many opinions concerning the change of the system. Even with those who were in the training, there were areas where they did not listen accurately or understand adequately. They may have listened correctly and understood rightly, but when they went out to speak, they did not speak accurately. Therefore, now I feel compelled to present the inclusiveness of the new way in its entirety so that you can have a complete view.
We should realize that the Lord’s recovery is to recover Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. Christ is the embodiment and expression of the Triune God; He is the all-inclusive God-man. Concerning this point, Hymns, #501 has given a simple, clear, and appropriate description. The Spirit is the ultimate expression of the Triune God. The theology in Christianity has separated God into three persons: the Father being one person, the Son being one person, and the Spirit being another person. But we see from the Bible that Christ is the embodiment of God and is not separate from the Father. He Himself said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Then, again, He said, “You, Father, are in Me and I in You” (17:21). The Bible also says that the Holy Spirit is the reality of the Son (14:17-20; 1 John 5:6). Hence, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one. This Triune God has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection from the dead, and He has become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Therefore, now the Lord is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). At the end of the Bible it says, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come!” (Rev. 22:17). The Spirit here is the ultimate expression of the processed Triune God. Moreover, life is simply Christ, and life is also the Spirit. In John 14 Christ said, “I am...the life” (v. 6). This Christ who is life, having passed through the processes to become the life-giving Spirit, entered into us to be the life that we enjoy. Romans 8:2 speaks of “the Spirit of life.” This term joins life together with the Spirit, which indicates that everything related to life is contained within the Spirit. Life belongs to the Spirit, and the Spirit is of life. These two are one in reality. Hence, Christ is the Spirit, and the Spirit is life. The Spirit entering into us is the Triune God being our eternal and incorruptible life. When this life is gained by us, the result is the producing of the church, and the ultimate consummation of the church is the New Jerusalem. The sixty-six books of the entire Bible begin with God, the Triune God, and consummate in the New Jerusalem. And the New Jerusalem is the ultimate manifestation of the mingling of the processed Triune God with the redeemed and transformed tripartite man.
This is our vision, and it is the objective truth in the Lord’s recovery. I have released over two thousand messages concerning Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. These messages have also been published as books. I hope that the younger generation and the newcomers to the Lord’s recovery would spend time to study these messages.
We have already covered the new way in the objective aspect of the truth. Concerning the subjective aspect of practice, the first item is preaching the gospel. Every saved one is willing to preach the gospel. Among us we paid attention to this matter from the very beginning. However, in the recent ten years, from 1975 to 1984, we cannot deny that the effect of our gospel preaching was not that great. We in the Lord’s recovery must bear this responsibility.
In 1949 the Lord’s recovery went overseas. Under my leadership the recovery first reached Taiwan, then Southeast Asia, then Japan, and finally the Western world. I personally experienced and witnessed the spread of the Lord’s recovery. By 1975, within twenty-six years, the number had increased considerably. Just take Taiwan as an example: the number increased from four or five hundred to over forty thousand. It was exactly a one hundredfold increase. But in the ten-year period from 1975 to 1984, there was nearly no increase; the number was at a standstill. I started working in the United States in 1962. After thirteen years the number had increased from one or two hundred to over ten thousand. Although the increase cannot be considered rapid, it was still somewhat comforting. However, in the last ten years the number has hardly increased. It was first the situation of Taiwan, then that of the United States, which burdened me very much. Concerning Canada, the brothers there have worked for nearly twenty years, but the number now is still not quite one thousand. Regarding Europe, there were originally only a few people. After 1971 some brothers went there, and the door of the Lord’s recovery was opened. In 1984, of the number in all of Europe, Germany had the greatest number, followed by Switzerland and England. Then there were other countries including France, Italy, and Denmark. The total number did not exceed eight hundred. Concerning Australia and New Zealand, I went there in 1971. By 1984 the total number of the two places was not more than three hundred. Speaking of Africa, as early as 1971 the brothers there had very good fellowship with us, and they began to have a testimony of the Lord in Ghana. Up until now they have already spread to five or six other countries in Africa. The total number exceeds one thousand, but it is still not very satisfactory. In South America only Brazil had some increase. Up until 1984 the number was not more than two thousand people. In Central and South America, a total of more than twenty countries, the number still did not exceed ten thousand.
I place this matter before you: if you had a genuine concern and foresight for the interest of the Lord’s recovery, how would you feel? When I saw this situation in 1984, I was already eighty years old. I believe that I had received the Lord’s special grace and mercy, that I had already reached the age of a strong person, as spoken of in the Bible (Psa. 90:10). You may say that what I have now is an extra life given to me by the Lord. When I was contemplating the Lord’s recovery on the earth, besides not knowing how to give account when I meet the Lord, I even felt that I could not give account to my former co-worker Brother Nee when I meet him. He had brought us this way and had rendered me the greatest help and a considerable commission. We had worked for so many years, yet in spite of the fact that there are churches in the six major continents, we are at a standstill as far as increase is concerned. How can this not distress me? It does not make me happy to consider the United States; to think of Taiwan, my heart breaks. I had labored here for over ten years and had accumulated quite a spiritual heritage for so many who love the Lord, yet after you have worked here for twenty more years, you have come to such a result. When I returned three years ago, I came with an aching heart. And as I considered North America, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia, they were not an encouragement to me. I do not feel that there is anything to be proud of at all; rather, I feel that the time is late, and my remaining years are few. We co-workers in every locality should all prostrate ourselves before the Lord, confess our uselessness, and also ask the Lord for His mercy.
I am one who is bearing a heavy burden and one who speaks honestly and means business. I am not elevating myself, nor am I proud. I am not deceiving myself. According to my knowledge, just in the Philippines and Singapore there are some large congregations other than ours. In Seoul, Korea, alone there is a congregation with a membership of a few hundred thousand. Although we have churches all over the different continents and countries, as far as the number is concerned, we have hardly anything worth talking about. Therefore, when I returned in 1984 to change the system, the main message was on the increase and spread of the church. This started the practice of gospel preaching by door-knocking.
Within the past three years, we conducted much research. We know that before the Reformation by Luther there was only one great unified church, the Catholic Church. By seeing the truth, Luther initiated the Reformation movement. This produced the Protestant churches. Nevertheless, it did not take long for them to fall into a situation of deadness and dryness. Afterward, in the Catholic Church, a group of lovers and seekers of the Lord including Madame Guyon was raised up. They were the so-called mystics. Due to the mystics being too mysterious, Andrew Murray later improved their practice and produced the inner-life group. At the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, this group was quite prosperous; many received help from them. Then after that there was Mrs. Penn-Lewis, who had a particular revelation concerning the death of Christ. Following her, Mr. T. Austin-Sparks, her young co-worker, went further to see the principle of the resurrection life. The revelations seen by these two were historic, but regretfully they died barren. Among the Christians on the earth today, there are not many who know about them. Along the line of the Protestant churches, some who saw the matter of presbytery set up the Presbyterian Church; some who saw the matter of baptism by immersion set up the Baptist Church. Similarly, many groups were raised up. However, at the end not one of them had a way to go on. Then the Brethren were raised up; they emphasized very much the expounding of the Bible and were very prosperous in the last century. However, not much later they were divided due to different opinions. From then on they continued to divide, and finally, they reached a dead end. Afterward, there was the Pentecostal movement. Due to their excessive emphasis on the Pentecostal things, eventually they were also declining. God’s economy is all-inclusive; it is not merely a matter of the inner life nor of a Pentecostal movement. Whoever emphasizes only one aspect will find that their road reaches a dead end.
Concerning the situation among us, since the time we left mainland China, I have been presenting to all of you Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. The brothers have all received what I have presented and have obtained much help. Because of these truths, when we went to different places, we were able to raise up local churches. Also, of the churches raised up in the five major continents outside of Asia, eighty to ninety percent were raised up due to the help obtained from the publications of the Living Stream Ministry. They have not only received the points of the truth but have also stood firm. However, they neglected the matter of preaching the gospel. In the first few years of our work in Taiwan, every training emphasized five matters: the Holy Spirit, the gospel, the church, the service, and the truth. Afterward, although we still had the preaching of the gospel, it was in the old way of inviting people to the meeting hall to listen to the gospel. After a few decades what we were doing eventually became a routine without any effect. Due to this situation, we were compelled to find another way.
When we came back to the Bible, we found in it the way to visit people by going to their homes. We then began to go out to knock on doors to preach the gospel and baptize people. When we went to knock on doors, as soon as we preached the gospel, within fifteen minutes, people were baptized, having been saved and regenerated. When others first heard this, most would have questioned it. Therefore, I did a thorough study of this matter at the very beginning. First, Matthew 13 shows us that when the Lord went out to sow, there were four kinds of situations with different results. With the first kind, the seeds fell beside the way and were devoured by the birds. This clearly refers to people who have heard the gospel but who are not yet saved or regenerated. With the second kind, the seeds fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much earth; after having sprouted, they withered away. This speaks of a person who was regenerated due to the word of the gospel but not adequately saved in life day by day. With the third kind, the seeds fell on the thorns. This speaks of a person who has been regenerated and saved and has some growth in life but has not yet grown up. With the fourth kind, the seeds fell on the good earth and yielded fruit. This kind of person is not only saved but also has the growth and maturity in life and is bearing fruit. Here the Lord did not tell us that the longer you hear the gospel, the more secure and thorough your salvation will be. It is very difficult to say that the salvation of those who heard the gospel and were baptized quickly is not secure.
Acts 16 talks about two cases of salvation. The first case is concerning a woman who was selling purple-dyed goods. She listened and gave heed to the things spoken by Paul. Later, she and her household were saved (vv. 14-15). It does not say how long she listened, but one thing is certain—after hearing the gospel, she was baptized that same day. The second case is concerning the salvation of the jailer and his household (vv. 19-34). When Paul and Silas spoke the Lord’s word to the jailer and his whole household, they were immediately baptized that night. In principle, this is the same as when you go out to visit people by knocking on their doors, preach to them The Mystery of Human Life, and then baptize them into the Triune God.
For two thousand years the various denominations and groups have had different views concerning how a person can become a Christian. However, no one has the assurance to say how long a person has to listen to the gospel before he can be saved. It is very difficult to decide to what extent a person should believe in Jesus before he can be acknowledged as a brother. I am here leading the church, helping the brothers to go out to knock on doors to preach the gospel. I said that as long as a person heard the gospel, believed, repented, confessed his sins, admitted that he was a sinner, called upon the name of the Lord Jesus, and was baptized into Christ, then according to the Bible, he is a saved person (Mark 16:16). This matter is not in your hand or in mine; it is in the Lord’s hand. When the Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah in his chariot, Philip went up to him, and from that portion of the Word, he preached Jesus as the gospel to him. Afterward, the eunuch himself said, “Look, water. What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:26-39). This proves that as long as a person hears the gospel and believes, he can be baptized. On the day of Pentecost there were three thousand people who received the apostles’ word, and they were baptized immediately.
No one has ever been able to say definitely to what extent a person needs to reach in order to be saved. In the same way, no one dares to decide who is a real believer and who is a false believer. This can be likened to people trying to distinguish wheat from tares, which is very difficult unless you wait until the time of harvest. Therefore, God gave the gospel to us, and we simply go to preach it. The Bible says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13). It does not say how long we have to call, or to what degree we have to call. Hence, it is sufficient for us to lead people to call. The Bible says also, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Therefore, we simply need to preach and lead whole families to believe in the Lord. Moreover, we need to baptize people according to what the Bible says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). However, even though we preach the gospel and lead people to call and be baptized within fifteen minutes, we should not do it in a hurry or with compulsion. When we lead people to believe in the Lord, we should do it with assurance and with wisdom.
Visiting people’s homes by door-knocking for preaching the gospel is our first step. Immediately following that is the establishing of home meetings. Your baptizing a person equals giving him birth. You have the responsibility to feed him and take care of him; otherwise, it will be very easy for him to have an early death. Therefore, you need to set up a home meeting immediately in the new believer’s home. In order to establish home meetings, you need to start first with your own home to have home meetings with your own wife or husband and children to live a normal church life. In this way you can lead the newly saved ones to have home meetings and to live a normal church life.
Following that, you need to practice speaking to one another and listening to one another in the meetings. Regardless of whether they are large meetings or small meetings, we need to stay away from the habit of one speaking and the rest listening. We must overthrow this tradition of Christianity and change to speaking to one another and listening to one another. In order to achieve this, we need to endeavor together and have a spiritual and victorious living daily. We need to live in spirit every day and fellowship with the Lord moment by moment, in order to be filled with the Spirit inwardly and outwardly. By this we can go to the new ones’ homes to lead them to enjoy the Lord together. Therefore, to live a spiritual and victorious life is very necessary. Anyone who does not live a spiritual and victorious life is through with his church life and service.
Up to this point, you can realize that the new way is not merely knocking on doors for preaching the gospel, nor does it stop at building up home meetings. The new way further requires us to be living persons who can speak and also listen. Hence, we all need to have a spiritual and victorious living, live in spirit moment by moment, walk according to the Spirit, and be burning in spirit. Eventually, all these are not for ourselves but for the establishing of the local churches for the building up of the Body of Christ, which is the universal church. This is the practice of the new way in the subjective aspect. This begins with the dispensing of the Triune God into people that they may receive Him, call upon His name, and be baptized into His name. It continues with the feeding and caring for people and the establishing of home meetings in their homes to eventually build up the local churches.
May we all see that the new way is the way of the Lord’s recovery. The new way is inclusive. It starts with knocking on doors for preaching the gospel to dispense the Triune God into people; then it continues with establishing home meetings in the believers’ homes, with speaking to one another and listening to one another, for the building up of the local churches. When we are building the local churches in this way, we are building up the Body of Christ, the universal church. I hope that you all can listen to this word completely, thoroughly, and comprehensively. When you return to your respective localities to speak, you must also speak completely, thoroughly, and comprehensively. May the Lord have mercy on us!
