Hsiaoshan County, Chekiang Province
these people anymore. We feel that we bear a great responsibility for the church. We are not strong enough. A doctor (the so-called workers) can write the wrong prescription, but the pharmacist (the responsible brothers) cannot give someone the wrong medicine. This responsibility is so great! We really feel that we cannot bear it. We have already stopped the Lord's Day message. May the Lord grace all His children so that the church would learn to preach the gospel. We are temporarily doing some work to prepare the way while we are waiting for God to send His servants to Lan-chou to begin working. There are now more than fifty brothers and sisters in Lan-chou who come to the meetings regularly. Your brothers, Huang Nai-yang, Si Lu-chen, Ku Zhong-yin Mailing Address: 3 Park Road, Lan-chou, Kansu
1. A Simple Map of the Churches in the Kansu-Sinkiang Region 2. Table of Churches, Responsible Brothers, and Scattered Saints in the Kansu-Sinkiang Region 3. Diagram of the Churches in the Xisha Region of Xiaoshan, Chekiang 4. Table of the Condition of the Christian Assemblies in the Hsisha Region of Hsiaoshan County, Chekiang Province ADDRESSES AND REMARKS The Assembly in Ningwei, c/o Taichanghua Company, Yuzhiatan, Xiaoshan: This was originally a China Inland Mission Church started in 1935. In December of the same year, the brothers came out of the denomination. Then Brother Philip Luan came to preach the gospel for three days, and the meetings officially began. The table began in July of the following year. The Assembly in Yinxia, c/o Chen Xian zhong, Post Office Agent, Kanshan Lower Street, Xiaoshan: This assembly began in 1937. They originally met with Ningwei, but because it was too far (more than twenty li), they began meeting and having the table in Brother Chen Bao-chu's home. A three-room meeting hall was built in 1940, and the meetings officially started in the same year. The Assembly in Sungxiayuan, c/o Taichanghua Company, Yuzhaitan, Xiaoshan: This assembly began in 1942. They used to meet with Ningwei but later met separately because it was too far to travel to Ningwei (five li). They built a fourroom house in this locality and began meeting in May of the same year. The table was established in July. The Assembly in Ailientang, address same as above: They used to meet with Ningwei, but because the latter was too far away (more than five li), they built a
four-room house in 1945. They began meeting and set up the table here in February 1946. The Assembly in Jianjiaoyuan, address same as above: They used to meet with Ningwei, but because the latter was too far away (more than five li), they built a six-room building and began prayer meetings in February 1947. The table began in July of that year. Sixingyi Ferry Port, address same as above: In 1946, a flood left sand deposits in Toupeng Village, Dungsha. The inhabitants of the region around Toupeng Village and Sixing Village moved as pioneers to this area. The meetings were held in Brother Chen Da-liang's home. The table was started in the fall of the same year. The Assembly in Yingshangwei, c/o Mr. Yu Lian-de, c/o Renshantou Post Office, Xiaoshan: They used to meet with Yingxia, but because there were too many people meeting in a small place, they built a six-room house here and began both the meetings and the table in the spring of 1948. THE MINISTERS NATURE: To show the way to serve, to help the serving ones and the churches in the different localities go on, and to solve problems related to the ministry. FREQUENCY: Beginning next year, we will publish irregularly. PRICES: Beginning next year, we will have no set price. Please send as much as you like. We will gladly receive whatever you send. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Beginning next year, we will only send one subscription per person. If you are a new subscriber, you must send us your order personally. We are limiting subscriptions to one per person. We apologize for not being able to send extra copies for you to give away. ATTENTION: 1) When subscribing, please write neatly and make sure the address is clear. 2) When changing your address, your name must be the same as when you first subscribed. It is best if you can also send us the code number from the wrapper of your copy. WIRING MONEY: Please wire money to Gospel Book Room Shipping Department, 18 Lane 240 Tong Ren Road (23) Shanghai. If you are wiring money through the post office, you will need to write our branch name. Please mark it: Jingan Temple. PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENTS 1) Some churches in certain localities have asked us to send a number of copies to them (without listing the names and addresses of individual brothers and sisters). If you want to receive the same number of copies next year, please send
the names and addresses of those brothers and sisters that we may file them individually. 2) It takes much time to answer letters. When we feel that certain letters do not need an answer, we will not answer them. Please forgive us for this. 3) Each issue is sent out as they are available. Later subscribers will only be sent issues left in stock. 4) The mail routes are erratic in certain localities. We will send out all that we are able to send. For those places that cannot receive our mail, we will send out the subscriptions whenever the routes become available again. GOSPEL HYMNALS Our first printing is sold out. Those whose orders came too late must wait until the next reprint. Because labor and material costs have risen, each hymnal in the second printing will temporarily cost five gold yen. (Those who paid in October will be charged the same price as the first printing.) Gospel Book Room P. O. Box 5008, Shanghai November 11, 1948
ISSUE NO. 4 April 5, 1950 SPECIAL GRACE AND RESERVE GRACE A Talk by Watchman Nee Question:What is the cause of poverty in the life of a Christian? How can a Christian have a reserve before God? Answer:In Revelation 3 the Lord said, "You are...poor" (v. 17). These words were addressed by Him to the church in Laodicea. This poverty implies that nothing had been laid up in store. It implies not merely a momentary lack but a continuous lack. A FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM Many brothers and sisters have a fundamental problem: They are maintained by the experience of special grace. This is a serious problem. They are dependent on temporary supplies of grace; they do not have the revelation which they saw "thirteen years ago." We have said before that God's work in our lives is wholly a work of grace. If He removed His grace from us, our lives would be an utter void. This is a fact which we need to recognize. Nevertheless, it is also a fact that God does not want to see His children to be devoid of any deposit of grace. He does
not want them to be dependent on interventions of special grace in order to be kept in His will. It is not well-pleasing to Him if His children live from hand to mouth on special grace. He desires us to have a rich deposit of grace. Many people have no such deposit. Consequently, the Lord told us to fast and pray. In Matthew 17:21 the Lord said that some demons could only be cast out by prayer and fasting. He told the disciples that they needed to have special prayer and fasting, without which they would not have the needed power. Christians whose loins are not girded, who are unrestrained, and whose spirits are wild have no choice but to live by special dispensations of grace. If we have just come to the Lord, it is understandable if we live by special grace; but if we are still dependent on such grace after we have believed in the Lord for a year or two, this indicates a state of poverty and sickness. This poverty is the result of living by special grace without having any extra or reserve grace. What is wealth? Wealth is the reverse of poverty. Being spiritually wealthy means to have a reserve of grace before God and not to rely on special grace. Poverty is banished by the surplus of grace within. PAUL HAVING RESERVE GRACE The other day a few of us talked together about Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians. For my part I believe that the greatest revelation of life in the entire New Testament is in the Epistles to the Corinthians. First and 2 Corinthians have their place; they are the only two Epistles that show us the man Paul. In his letter to the Romans he unfolds the matter of salvation in a profound way, and in his letter to the Ephesians he brings forth the deepest revelation. All of these things are from God. However, if we want to know Paul the person, we have to come to 1 and 2 Corinthians. Only these two books give us a clear understanding of Paul; they open up his very own person to us. Many people cannot minister the word of God apart from inspiration. If at any given time they have no fresh inspiration, their words stop. The source of their ministry of the word is their inspiration. It is a fact that we need inspiration if we are to have a ministry; there is nothing wrong about this. Please bear in mind the fact, however, that inspiration is not given to us in a stream of unbroken continuity. Even in the case of the first twelve apostles and in the case of such a person as Paul, inspiration was not continuous. In one instance he said, "I have no commandment of the Lord" (1 Cor. 7:25a). He did not have a word from the Lord; the Lord did not say anything. The Lord did not say it; he said it. In other
words, he did not have revelation, spiritual inspiration, or any fresh word from the Lord. But there is something amazing here. Paul said, "But I give my opinion as one who has been shown mercy by the Lord to be faithful [or honest]" (v. 25b). Paul was expressing his own judgment. What a terrific thing to do. Over the past nearly two thousand years, theologians have been afraid to touch these utterances of Paul, but Paul knew what he was saying. When he was without immediate inspiration, he was still able to speak. To speak without inspiration would be presumption on the part of others. Others have no word when they have no inspiration because they do not have extra reserves of grace. God only gives them enough grace for today. This kind of person does not have a word when they do not have immediate inspiration because they rely on special grace to meet the present need. Without special grace, they have nothing to say. Here, however, we have a man who had a word without immediate inspiration. Paul's word was God's word. The Holy Spirit chose the word and put it into the Bible; we believe this was God's arrangement. Paul repeated several times that it was his word, not the Lord's. When he spoke, however, he indicated that the word did not seem to be his word, and he concluded with this remark: "I think that I also have the Spirit of God" (v. 40). It is very precious. He was unconsciously moved by the Holy Spirit. Some people are always ready to affirm that the Spirit is moving them. I am afraid that the very fact of their experience of immediate inspiration from the Holy Spirit betrays their shortage of a reserve. It is better to be moved by the Holy Spirit with no consciousness of the fact. Shallow people often doubt that they have not been moved by the Holy Spirit, while those with reserves doubt that they have indeed been moved, asking, "How can I say this is not the Lord's word? This is the Lord's word." We find a basic principle here. Paul had something other than immediate inspiration. He had a deposit apart from immediate inspiration. He had this deposit because for many years he had followed the Lord; he had been restricted; he had avoided sin and failure. For years he had learned to fear the Lord. Over these years, things were collecting within him. Although he did not have any immediate inspiration, he still had things to say. These were his reserve, or in other words, his riches. No other Epistles unveil the person of Paul to us as his letters to the Corinthians. He tells us that he is only expressing his own judgment; he has no specific
inspiration from the Lord. Yet we discover that what he uttered is actually a revelation to the church. Here is a man speaking his own words, and they are recorded in the Bible as the word of God. This touches the highest peak of the New Testament, where a man has been edified, carved, purified, and constituted by God to such an extent that his word becomes God's word. This is wealth. And this is an inward reserve which is the result of God's many years of work on Paul. Special grace cannot bring one to this peak.
THE NEED TO BE WEALTHY WITH RESERVE GRACE It is a great grief to me that I frequently meet brothers and sisters who are so dependent on special grace that between the periodic help these experiences bring, their words and state of mind lapse into that of a non-Christian. What a poverty-stricken state this reveals! Once this kind of person lacks an incoming supply, he is empty. I readily acknowledge that we all would be utterly destitute if God's grace were removed from us; but it is also true that something of God's grace can be constituted into our very being. God's reserve deposit in man is also a fact. Some people live from hand to mouth, spending whatever comes in to meet their expenses of the moment. They cannot withstand trials. What are trials? Trials are times when it seems that God does not care for us, listen to us, or fellowship with us. Madame Guyon understood trials best. Spiritual trials are times when it seems that God has covered His face and shut His mouth, when it seems that He will not answer or make a sound, when it seems He is so quiet that there is no God in heaven at all. These times of trial immediately separate those with reserves from those with none. A poor person lives by the joy of prayer and sustains his living through the freshness of the Lord's table. Whenever he does not have these, he fails for the week because he cannot go on, and he stumbles. Many people rely on special grace for their entire life and for all aspects of their living; they do not have reserves. Some people, such as Madame Guyon, go through trials for months at a time. During the trials the entire world may appear so confusing that it seems as if there is no God. A person with inward reserves of grace will be manifested by such a time. He will pass the test. He has something inside that is sufficient. This something is called wealth. This is the wealth that the Lord spoke of to the church in Laodicea (Rev. 3:18a).
In summary, poverty is a lack of reserves; wealth is having reserves. We mean, of course, spiritual reserves. HOW TO HAVE A WEALTH OF RESERVES Time Is an Essential Factor How can we be inwardly wealthy with reserves? This is a question of fundamental importance. Permit me to say a very straight word to the younger brothers. No matter who you are, none of you are really wealthy. Perhaps you think you have become rich. But accumulating wealth requires time. Those who have spent time before God might have some riches. Those who have not spent time without a doubt are poor. It is impossible for young people to be wealthy. Time is an important factor. Formerly we were of the opinion that some of the young people were ahead of the older ones in basic spiritual matters. When we recently touched some deeper matters in Foochow, we discovered that many of the finest young brothers were unable to grasp the most practical matters. I appeal to you young ones to check how much you have accumulated in spiritual reserves. I am afraid you only have the tiniest of reserves. Do not be proud. Being proud is sheerest folly. You must realize that a long course still lies before you. You must be constituted with and established by the Holy Spirit in this course day by day. Time is a matter of primary importance. No one can skip over this consideration.
Experiences Are an Essential Factor Second, we must go through various experiences. Many people have spent much time before God, but they have not passed through many experiences before God. If one wants to become rich, he must spend time before God, and he must pass through many experiences before God. The experiences one has to go through are the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Some people have been Christians for eight or ten years, but it seems as if the Holy Spirit is very lenient with them. It seems that He does not discipline them or even pay attention to them. It is as if the Holy Spirit does not want to concern Himself with their affairs. Other people, however, are taken in hand and not let off; they are severely disciplined by the Holy Spirit. It does not seem to matter what some people do, because the Holy Spirit does not speak to them through their situations or their consciences. Their situations do not give them much trouble, nor do their consciences. Even though these people have the benefit of the passage of much time, they do not learn much from God because they are not restricted, carved,
hindered, and chastised enough. Therefore, they are not rich before God. For this reason, let us not be dismayed by the difficulties we face before God. Every one of these situations adds to our wealth. The fewer problems we have, the less we will have in reserve, and the fewer words we will be able to share with others. No one can have a word without experience. Our wealth in the Word and our service to God's children are in proportion to the experiences we go through. Our supply comes through the lessons we have learned before God. This is not something that doctrines can give to us; nor is it something that commentaries on the Bible can give to us. It is something we learn when the Holy Spirit leads us in our daily walk. Therefore, I hope that we will not be slack in our daily experience in learning to follow God. In all the disappointment and disillusionment we face, let us recognize the Lord's severe dealings with us. Let us bow before Him in gratitude and worship Him, acknowledging that His purpose in all these things is to enrich us and to lead us to abundance. A certain brother thought that he was quite strong in faith until he fell ill. Then he began to learn the real meaning of faith. If we have never been poor, we do not know how to look to the Lord. If we have never been ill, we do not know faith. If we have never had problems, we do not know true worship. If we are without experiences and have not learned anything, we are poor. Anyone who tries to avoid difficulties is a poor person. Everyone who asks for easy circumstances is poor. If we want progress, we must ask for some situations to pass through. The more we want to learn, the more we must experience. Our hope, our faith, and our submission all come into these different situations to edify us and bring us through. If we have one more situation added outwardly, we will have one more item of spiritual wealth added inwardly. We must realize that every situation we encounter is for teaching us something, no matter how hard it is for our flesh or how much we dislike it. We must bow our head and say, "This is a chance, a once-in-a-lifetime chance, a hard-to-come-by opportunity! Lord, I thank You!" There are many people around us who are Christians, but some seem to be protected from trials. This kind of brother or sister has a very peaceful, quiet life, but we immediately sense that the faith, hope, and reliance of these saints are very small and poor. Therefore, I hope you will listen to my frank words. When you encounter trials, you should lift up your head and praise the Lord, saying, "Lord, You are creating another opportunity within me for me to gain some riches. Everything is working
together for good. You are going to produce something in me that others do not have so that I can supply the church." Brothers, do not be deceived into thinking that you will be able to preach by dint of much study. A man can deliver a message, but he does not necessarily have a rich spirit. A man can improve his preaching and increase the abundance of his words, but this does not make him wealthy in his spirit. Being full of meaningful utterance and being full of the Spirit are two entirely different matters. God is not treating us wrongly when He gives us more trials and difficulties; He is actually treating us very well. He has selected us and has granted us favor by providing us this big opportunity. We must look for this. If we have the light, we should always consider one matter: How many experiences have we passed through before the Lord? Do we have any reserves? It does not matter how proud we are; our pride is worthless. If we have something inwardly, we have it; if we do not, we do not. The more we want to deceive others, the more they will know us. The prouder we are and the more we try to put on a good front, the more we will expose ourselves. Once we open our mouth, we expose ourselves. We should not presume that we can deceive others when our skin feels like Esau but our voice sounds like Jacob. The amount of our spiritual wealth is based on the amount of experiences we have passed through.
The Need for Finality Third, finality is essential. It is not enough to go through many experiences. If we have spent the required amount of time and passed through the necessary experiences, we must ask if there has been a result. This can still be a problem. We must reach a place of finality. In carrying out a chemistry experiment in school, there is a principle: "Carry it to its finality." This means we must persist with the experiment until we get a result. Many times things are done but not thoroughly. If the work is not done thoroughly, it is useless. Everything must be thorough. The Bible makes it abundantly plain that when God deals with a person, He does not let go easily; He does things thoroughly. It does not matter whether cattle are stolen, sheep and servants are burned, the house falls down, or the children die. It does not matter whether there are sores on the body. The lips and tongue must submit and the mouth must be pressed to the dust (see Job 1:6—2:10; 42:1-6). Such a day must come. The Epistle of James uses the word end in 5:11, saying, "...his end from the Lord." Here we see that it is not a matter of the frequency of
our trials but a matter of God reaching His end through the trials. Job's sons died. How many sons do we have that we can allow them to die? One person does not have that many sons to lose. This is a very serious matter. Job received a very heavy dealing, but he was still poor. We should not think that God can give us unlimited trials. There was a sister whose husband died, and she was a widow. However, she was very loose in spiritual matters. After she finished giving a testimony one day, I was very bothered inwardly. I spoke very frankly to her and said, "Your attitude is wrong. It is a serious matter that God took your husband away, but you have not learned the lesson! A person does not have that many husbands to lose." Many people want to go up to Kuling Mountain, but we should not think that Kuling is a nice place to go. Kuling is a place of heartless judgment. Your "cow and sheep" can be stolen, your "houses" can collapse, and your "sons" can die, but the matter still may not come to an end. Your entire body can be "covered with boils," but the matter still may not come to an end. This is the meaning of having no finality. A person must pass through many experiences, but there are only a limited number of situations he can go through. If a person does not learn the lessons from what he passes through, he cannot reach the end from the Lord. This means that the Lord will not attain His goal. Please remember that if the Lord does not gain anything, we will not have much reserve. If this is our case, we are just wasting the days, the dealings, the trials, and the discipline! This is a fearful matter. Many people go through dealings, but they become broken, useless vessels when they come out of them. This is like the potter's shop spoken of in Jeremiah 18:4. The floor is covered with vessels that did not turn out properly. Even though the vessels can claim that they have been put into the fire, they remain broken on the floor. Therefore, our hope is not only that we would spend sufficient time before the Lord and pass through enough experiences, but also that we would become vessels unto glory after we pass through these experiences. Job did not just pass through experiences. One day God saw that a point of finality had come. There was a new constitution in him; he had changed. This is a matter of fundamental importance. It is not a matter of receiving more life, but a matter of constituting the human life with the divine life. I will make a statement that I fear is often misunderstood by people: The old man cannot be changed. It is a fact that God has crucified the old man, and it is also a fact that God has put a new life within us. If God took this life away, the old man would still be the old man. However, the Bible also says that man can be
changed and that the mind can be renewed and transformed (Rom. 12:2). Please remember that it is not merely the new life within us that makes us different from others; we become different from others by the working of this new life within us. When we live with someone for a long time, we begin to resemble that person. When we live together with God for a long time, it is really strange if we do not change in the slightest. Since the Holy Spirit lives in us, there must be something that we have learned of Him that makes us like Him. This is renewing and transformation. Therefore, we hope to learn our lessons, and we hope to arrive at a finality. Hopefully, the time we spend before God and the lessons we have learned before Him will have an end. The Lord put His Spirit inside us to enable us to learn the lessons and reach an end. Only then will the Lord be able to use us to supply others. We cannot obtain this from reading or from listening to Paul; it only comes from learning Christ (Eph. 4:20). We do not do things merely because the Bible says so. We do them because we have learned them for ourselves. We must have this quality before we can serve God and before our words can supply others. Light Is Also Necessary The last thing needed is light. A person who is rich is one who receives much light. We must not just learn the lessons; the Lord must also enlighten us in spirit so that we see what we are learning. We do not merely know that something has happened. What has happened must be molded into a teaching in us. This is the only way we will be able to turn our experience into words to supply others. The situation does not just happen to us. We are able to take what we have learned and supply it to others. When the light comes, we can speak, and our words will supply others. God often deals with us, but we do not know it. Sometimes, however, we know. This knowing makes the dealing more effective in reaching its end. We can believe and obey because of the enlightenment. Therefore, we can quicken the end of the dealing. Fruit is brought forth, and this fruit is ripened. This is man's end before God. This kind of enlightenment is the eyesalve spoken of in Revelation 3:18. It enables one to see and to shine.
ENLIGHTENMENT BEING DIFFERENT FROM INSPIRATION Question:Is the enlightenment which you speak of different from inspiration?
Answer:Yes, it is different. This light comes through revelation; it is an inward light. The basic problem with the inward being is the matter of obedience. CONCERNING THE DISCIPLINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Question:When a situation comes to us, we should submit as quickly as possible, but does this kind of swift submission depend on swiftly acknowledging that this situation is from the Lord? Answer:Yes, that is true, but it is important for us to understand the meaning of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. The discipline of the Holy Spirit means that when the Holy Spirit is operating in our outward circumstances to bring us to a particular goal, He is also making an inward demand on us. This operation is called the discipline of the Holy Spirit. If we do not obey, it will not serve His purpose immediately. But even if we do not submit, He will bring us to the point of obedience. A day will definitely come when He will make us submissive. The discipline of the Holy Spirit often brings about our submission. This is not to say that we have the will to submit in ourselves, but we are brought to the point where we obey spontaneously. Brothers and sisters who have believed in the Lord for many years can look back on their lives and count many times when the Lord spoke to them and they obeyed. The Lord spoke again, and they obeyed again. We can all say this. If we look back and think, we can identify many times when the Lord spoke and we had no intention to obey. Yet, in the end we obeyed. This is the result of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we actually set our mind on disobeying, yet mysteriously, after two or three years of confusion, our resistance fades away, and the disobedience is no longer there. This is the result of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. When we submit by ourselves, the job is done soon. But thank God, even when we have no heart to submit, and there is no faith, we can still be brought to the point of submission. This is a result of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. I often consider the discipline of the Holy Spirit to be a measure whereby He fills up our own lack of submission. There are two aspects of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. The first is to cause us to submit. God arranges our environment and calls us to submission. The second is the discipline of the Holy Spirit in taking over our submission. We do not have any intention of submitting, but the Holy Spirit works on us to the extent that we submit nevertheless. There was a brother who loved money very much. The Holy Spirit disciplined him many times, but he still loved money. During the past three or four years, many
things came across his way which made him very angry. Today, however, unconsciously he no longer loves money. He has asked, "Must my love for money be given up in a spirit of obedience? What if I give it up in a spirit of disobedience?" I have answered that as long as he has given up his love for money, it is all right. Many times we want to submit quickly, and we ask God to give us grace that we might submit. This is very good. This will cause us to go through less chastisement; it can save us some dealings. We can reach the other side more quickly. But even if we are not that cooperative, He will bring us through according to His good timing as long as we give Him the time. This is the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the inward working of the Holy Spirit is precious, and the outward working of the Holy Spirit through our environment is also very precious. Question:How can we obey more quickly? Answer:Sometimes God's Holy Spirit works in us inwardly through His operation; sometimes He works on us through the passage of time. When the Holy Spirit of God moves within us, obedience is instant. But God does not only work through His Holy Spirit within men; He also works in men through the outward discipline of the Holy Spirit. This is not immediate. It is a day-by-day process. He continues this work until one day we are both willing and changed. This takes time however. When we ask God to give us submission, there are two kinds of answers to this prayer: inward operation, which is instant, and outward environment, which takes time. Thus, we are able to submit either through enlightenment or through discipline. The day will come when the church will reach full maturity as depicted in Ephesians 4. Then the church will be without spot or wrinkle or any such things, as mentioned in Ephesians 5. Here are two sides to the work: John wept when he saw that no one was worthy to open the scroll (Rev. 5:4). I do not think that we are like John, but readers of the Bible become very worried about Ephesians 4 and 5. It seems as if it is easier to consider stars like figs and hailstones that weigh a talent falling to the earth than it is to think of the church maturing and arriving at the full stature of Christ, no longer having spots or wrinkles or any such things. It worries them to think that the church has to be so holy that it becomes absolutely irreproachable, being able to present itself for open scrutiny and not be found with any flaw or criticism. We see, however, that the Holy Spirit not only works inwardly but also disciplines outwardly to bring us to the point of being irreproachable. How real is the discipline of the Holy Spirit! We struggle to
deal with many things, but many things are dealt with unconsciously. Our Lord has arranged all kinds of things for us; He has planned our future. This is truly the Christian gospel! It is marvelous to realize that Christians have the discipline of the Holy Spirit.—Watchman Nee Recorded by Tao January 20, 1950
THE WAY OF MIGRATION Seven or eight years ago, God released messages about "migration" through His servant. Although some brothers and sisters have already migrated from Northern China to the Northwest, most still do not pay much attention to what migration really is. Two or three years ago, God's servants reminded us again. The eyes of a few more brothers and sisters were opened, but the practice seemed to be far away in the unforeseeable future! Thank God that in the winter of the year before last, He began a migration from eastern Chekiang. Last winter, He also began the migration from Shanghai. Even to this day, there are still migrations going on. All the brothers and sisters who take the way of migration sell their possessions, leave their homeland, and move to farming communities where they do not know anyone. What is the purpose of this? While one intention surely is to engage in rural production, the real goal is to share the benefit of the gospel with others. We see more and more clearly that we must migrate if we want to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. If we want to be released from the bondage of the world, if we do not want to struggle with the world, we must migrate. Furthermore, if we want to really prove our love and willingness to suffer for the Lord and give up everything to follow Him, we must take the way of migration. Migration is God's heart's desire. It is God's call and our response. When God created man, He wanted man to fill the entire earth (Gen. 1:28). After the fall, man built cities on earth and even the tower of Babel. Then God called Abraham and told him to leave his country, relatives, and father's house to go to the place which the Lord would show him (12:1). We see two signs in the life of Abraham: an altar and a tent. This means that he lived a life of consecration and the life of a sojourner. His desire was to live absolutely for the Lord. His living did not take root in this world. As descendants of Abraham, there is no doubt that we should follow in his footsteps.
In the New Testament the Lord commands us to go into all the world and to preach the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15). He said, "You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and...unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). If this were just for the twelve apostles, the seventy-two disciples, or even the one hundred twenty, how could they complete this commission? Therefore, all of God's children must have a burden and be willing to "go" in response to the call to "proclaim the gospel to all the creation." It is true that our hearts are for "Jerusalem" because it has a spiritual church, life-giving messages, and sweet fellowship. But if we continue to live in Jerusalem and forget God's intention, persecution will come as that recorded in Acts 8, and it will scatter the disciples abroad. It was through such persecution that the gospel went out. The gospel has been in China for about one hundred years now, but it is only somewhat manifested in the few provinces along the coast. There is still a large area where no one has preached the gospel. There are still so many people who have never heard the gospel. The reason for this is that we are not willing to answer God's call to leave our homeland and families and go to the inland and the frontier lands. How easy it is for us to fall into Lot's failure! (See Gen. 13:6-13). When we settle down in a place and establish roots, we lose the life of the tent. We forget that we are sojourners on the earth. We neglect the warning that woe will come to all those who are dwelling on the face of the whole earth (Luke 21:35; Rev. 8:13). We are like those who are spoken of in Deuteronomy 32. The baby eagles do not want to leave their nests; they desire a peaceful life. God, however, has to accomplish His goal. To accomplish His heart's desire, He shakes the "nests" with His hand and forces us to leave the places we love (v. 11). May we have the inward sense to understand God's heart's desire and meet His demands. Even if we do not have a sense and understanding, we should be like the ignorant eagles; we should wake up when God's hand rocks the nests. We should answer His call and take the way of migration. Only migration will spread the gospel. Only migration will cause us to forsake the world. Migration is the one way to express our consecration and true love for the Lord. Over the past few years, five or six hundred brothers and sisters in the North, in Shanghai, and in Xiao and Shao county in eastern Chekiang have answered God's call to give their all for the gospel. They have migrated to the Northwest and Kiangsi. We can truly testify that God is with those who have