afterwards an Anglican curate by the name of John N. Darby joined

afterwards an Anglican curate by the name of John N. Darby joined

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latter reforms, which had their focus mainly in the spiritual realm.∗ The most notable of the reform movements that flowered during the eighteenth century was the testimony of "the Philadelphia church," inasmuch as it gathered up all the principal recoveries of the recent past up to that time.

Now let us turn to the nineteenth century. In this period we have an even fuller recovery. First of all, let us review the recovery that has come to be associated with the name of John Nelson Darby.

In 1827 at Dublin, Ireland, a group of believers, among whom were Edward Cronin, Anthony Norris Groves and others, saw that many things in the Church were dead, lifeless and mere rituals. They sought the Lord to show them the Church of God's thought as revealed in the Bible. After much prayer and fellowship they felt they should meet according to the principles given in 1 Corinthians 14. They thus began to break bread in a brother's home. Not long afterwards an Anglican curate by the name of John N. Darby joined them in their meetings and expounded God's word among them. Later on, many well-known Bible expositors began to appear in their midst—men such as William Kelly, C. H. Mackintosh, John Newton, John G. Bellett, and others. Through my own reading of their writings I myself received much light on the oneness of the Body of Christ as well as on the errors of denominationalism. The Church, they argued, should not be organized according to human ideas; she should instead be led directly by the Holy Spirit. Today, as in their day, we witness in the organized Church much of human traditions and ideas and little of the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit. This certainly is not according to God's heart desire. In the will of God the Church ought not to be controlled by men but be governed by the

∗Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that a number of scholars have claimed that the

Wesleyan revival of the eighteenth century did indeed have a significant social impact on British society for good.—Translator

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Holy Spirit. All who belong to the Lord should learn to be led by the Spirit of God instead of following the dictates of men. All these insights were re-discovered by the Brethren, as they later came to be known.

The Brethren made many other discoveries as well. These were such matters as the prophetic interpretations surrounding the coming millennial kingdom, the rapture, the Book of Daniel, the Book of Revelation, and so forth. They were the most forceful interpreters of the typology to be found in the Old Testament. C. H. Mackintosh's Notes on the Pentateuch is considered to be a classic in this area of Biblical inquiry. In fact, the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody highly recommended it. They also clearly distinguished the prophecies in the Scriptures concerning the Jews and those concerning the Church—a great contribution in their day; for it must be noted that a hundred years ago many people tended to mix up these prophecies and thought that all these prophetic words to the Jews were fulfilled in the Church. Yet these Brethren produced many other writings as well.

During this same period, moreover, many spiritual brethren were raised up by God in England. Besides the few just now mentioned above, there were in addition such men of God as Charles Stanley and George Cutting. Cutting was the author of the widely circulated booklet entitled "Safety, Certainty and Enjoyment" which tells people that they may know they are saved. Hence the truth of the gospel had its well-rounded recovery by means of these brethren.

There was also Robert Govett who saw the truth concerning the Believer's Reward. He re-discovered the fact that although people are indeed saved through faith, each believer will receive a reward from God according to his works. Govett saw that to be saved is a matter of life; to be rewarded, on the other hand, is a matter of living. Charles Spurgeon once said that Robert Govett was a century ahead of his time because what he preached was too deep. This same

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Govett was the one who shared two more insights into God's truth: (1) that it is possible for Christians to be excluded from the millennial kingdom, it therefore requiring of believers to be faithful and diligent; and (2) that not all believers will be raptured before the Great Tribulation, meaning that only the overcoming and faithful ones will participate in the kingdom.

Another spiritual brother of some fame was G. H. Pember who wrote a number of books on prophecy. D. M. Panton, Hudson Taylor and many others left us their spiritual writings too. Taylor's Union and Communion revealed a deep experience of Christ. All these people made wonderful re-discoveries and recovered various truths, yet even theirs could not be reckoned as God's central truth. That would have to come later.

In England there was George Mu/ller who was raised up by God for a specific testimony. He learned well in the area of prayer and faith. Mu/ller testified that man could claim God's promises through prayer, and he also demonstrated a life of faith in financial matters.

On the North American continent, the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church sprang up. The most notable leaders in that Church group were A. B. Simpson and A. J. Gordon. They exerted great spiritual influence upon many believers. They announced that Christians should return to the experience of living by faith as had been true in the Apostolic Age of the first century. Such a view was an astounding revelation at that time. Thank God, this truth is generally practiced today here in our midst.

Both Gordon and Simpson also re-discovered the truth of Divine Healing, and there began in their midst the experience of the healing of sicknesses. This news spread quickly, it being advertised by many people and attracting huge crowds. Yet what Simpson and his associates emphasized was not the healing of sickness, but rather the

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overcoming of physical weakness through resurrection life and a triumphing over sickness by knowing Christ as the Mighty Deliverer.

At about the same time another group of people was raised up. Those within this group focused their attention upon the inner life of the Christian. About sixty years ago∗ God apprehended a merchant of chinawares whose name was Pearsall Smith. He uncovered the truth that one is sanctified through consecration. This approach to the subject was quite different from that of Wesley. For the sanctification Smith advocated was to be obtained through consecration by faith whereas the sanctification that Wesley preached was that a perfect life was gradually attained after consecration. Actually, both are true.

Along this same line of the inner life emphasis, there was Mrs. Hannah Whitall Smith (Pearsall Smith's wife) who wrote the classic work entitled The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. There were also Evan Hopkins, Andrew Murray and others who in their lives and writings were the successors, as it were, to the teaching of self-denial as propagated two hundred years earlier by Madame Guyon and others. They began to hold conventions annually in Germany, England and other places. These convocations were the early beginnings of today's famed Keswick Convention. Frequently, one of the principal speakers at this kind of convention was Evan Hopkins. He received help from the two Smiths (Pearsall and Hannah) as well as from Madame Guyon. He exerted a definite positive influence on the contemporary spiritual world of his day.

Charles Trumbull is another instrument of God who should be mentioned. He it was who at the Keswick Conventions of his day had released the truth of the Victorious Life, thus contributing greatly to the recovery of the knowledge and experience of victorious living.

∗Dating back, of course, from 1934, it therefore being in the late nineteenth century.—

Translator

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After Evan Hopkins there arose a sister of spiritual stature by the name of Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis. In her early years she was physically very weak and was often sick in bed. During her illness she read the writings of Madame Guyon, which writings she treated as her "pillow." At first Mrs. Penn-Lewis could not believe that total self-denial, full faith and perfect love as given in these treatises of Madame Guyon were practicable. One day she had a controversy with God, during which she earnestly asked the Lord to cause her to enter into these truths that had been released by Madame Guyon two centuries earlier. The Lord heard her prayer, and from that day onwards Mrs. Penn-Lewis was raised up by God to proclaim the truth of the cross.

Brother Holden of the China Inland Mission came to know the Calvary experience by reading the writings of Mrs. Penn-Lewis. She was truly one who bore the cross. The truth of the cross as lived out in her own personal experience greatly attracted people to seek after it. Through her writings God caused many to know that the cross is the centrality to God's work as well as the foundation of all spiritual things. As Mrs. Penn-Lewis saw it, without the work of the cross, man cannot and will not truly know what is death or what is sin. Many spiritual believers received much help from Mrs. Penn-Lewis and many experienced deliverance through the messages that God used her to give.

We have thus seen—in this all-too-brief survey of the third period in our discussion of Church history—that the re-discovery of God's truths was progressing quite rapidly and much more fully than in the two previous periods. In fact, it could rightly be said that by the end of the nineteenth century almost all the major truths had gradually been recovered.

Let us now look at the fourth and final period—the twentieth century. At very near the beginning of the present century there occurred a major event in modern Church history. Here I have

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reference to the great Welsh Revival of 1904-05 during which the entire population in some places was saved. But added to the widespread proclamation of the gospel, there also appeared many external manifestations reflective of the first Christian Pentecost.

The leader of this Revival was Evan Roberts, a twenty-six-yearold miner, with little education. Yet God called him among the humble and gave him a helper named Hastwell. After Roberts was saved he frequently prayed with great earnestness in the mine. His prayer was but one: "Lord, bend the Church to save the world." The people around him were moved in amazement. Gradually, many joined him in prayer. Soon, the laborers in the entire mine were affected and all gathered to pray. Revival thus broke out and spread over the southern part of the British Isles. From the Welsh revivalists we learn two important truths:

First, that the revival work of the Holy Spirit is invariably brought in by a group of bended and broken people. We have no need to ask God to pour out revival upon us; we need only to ask Him to bend and break us more. And as a consequence, life will spontaneously flow out from us.

Second, here was the beginning of the knowledge concerning the works of the evil spirits. Before that time some might have talked about this subject, but they lacked a thorough knowledge of it. Evan Roberts knew what spiritual warfare is. He alone in his day had a deep understanding of the experience of Ephesians 6. In 1908 while sick in bed, he related his experience on spiritual warfare and evil spirits to Mr. and Mrs. Penn-Lewis. Later on Mrs. Penn-Lewis combined these insights of Evan Roberts with her own experience to write a book entitled War on the Saints which set many deceived believers free. Indeed, within the past few years, the message which has occupied the most attention of spiritual believers has been mainly that of Mrs. Penn-Lewis, which is the truth concerning Spiritual Warfare and the Cross.

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Simultaneously with this Welsh Revival, a new work of God began in Los Angeles, California, in the United States. In 1906 on Azusa Street in Los Angeles, gathered believers from among the black race experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues. Since then, this practice in our own day seems to have become excessive and improper in its expression among many people. We do not deny the place of speaking in tongues and we, too, help people to experience Pentecost. The teaching of Paul, on the one hand, is: "Do all speak with tongues?" (1 Cor. 12.30), and, on the other hand, is: "Forbid not to speak with tongues" (1 Cor. 14.39). The first instruction of Paul here is given to those who would overemphasize tongues, and his second instruction here is aimed at those who would overlook it altogether. As a matter of fact, we should pay attention to both.

These Azusa Street people, and those who followed them, have pointed out that the Old Testament prophecy found in Joel 2 had not been completely fulfilled during the Apostolic Era but would be fulfilled totally in the days of "the latter rain." And this phrase, "latter rain," in its spiritual application has reference to the present time.

Having thus far reviewed the re-discoveries of various truths of God in the centuries past as well as in our own century, we would now inquire into what has been the work of God in China recently. What is God's present work here?

When first saved myself, I heard various doctrines preached by many foreign missionaries. Before 1920 people in China had hardly even heard the gospel message. It was after that year that messages on the new birth, salvation, justification and other aspects of the gospel began to be proclaimed. Before that time many had not known what salvation was. We now have in China about 150 different denominations. God has shown us the error of Church disunity and has enabled us to preach messages on God's salvation

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and so forth. He gradually revealed various truths such as the aforementioned ones of the victory of Christ, the resurrection life, the cross, the Holy Spirit, and many others. We ourselves came to see these truths one after another. And in various other places in China other people also slowly came into an understanding of them. Furthermore, in our conversations with foreign missionaries we soon discovered that these same truths which we had come to know in China were likewise being re-discovered and recovered throughout the West.

We know that God's truths are cumulative, and hence, all these recovered truths of His of which we have been speaking serve as today's foundation. What we currently see are the accumulated revelations of God. And as He has opened our eyes to see this fact, we realize that we ourselves are living today in the current of God's will, a current which proceeds from all the past works of God. In the light of this, let us briefly review our own recent history.

Commencing with 1926, we have been releasing messages on salvation, the church and the cross, all of which we continue bearing witness to. In 1927 we particularly began to stress the subjective work of the cross. We began to see that the cross has its resurrection aspect as well as its death aspect. Formerly we had preached resurrection as an article of our faith and not as our experience. Now, though, we proclaim resurrection as a life principle: it is no longer a mere doctrine, it has become a spiritual reality in our everyday experience. For example, Jesus' parable about the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying so as to bear much fruit is to us today a principle of resurrection. Besides these considerations, later on, God showed us what the Body of Christ is and where its reality is to be found. We came to understand that even as the life of Christ is one, so the Church is one.

I personally received much help from Mrs. Penn Lewis. Brother T. Austin-Sparks of England was greatly helped by her, too. Brother

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Sparks was formerly a Baptist minister in the southeast area of London. The Lord showed him the truths concerning the cross, resurrection, church life, and other things.

We cannot say that these various truths were unknown before, but we do say that they were not as clearly known as they are today. Nevertheless, before the year 1928, we had not touched on the centrality of God's purpose. But in February of that year I began to teach something about God's eternal purpose. During almost the entire period of that month we had our first Victory Conference, which was followed by the second Victory Conference, held during October 8-18, 1931. The messages given in both conferences had been related to the centrality of God's will.

Yet in spite of the above comprehension, it was not until 1934 that we truly understood that the centrality of God is Christ himself. Christ is both the centrality and universality of God. In fact, all the plans of God, we came to learn, center upon Christ. This is the truth which God had caused us to see in those days and which is also the very theme for this third Victory Conference now underway—that of God's overcomers.∗

And it should not be overlooked, incidentally, that the Lord has given much revelation to brother Sparks concerning the truth of God's overcomers. His overcomers are simply a company of believers who represent the whole Church of God and stand as vanguard on the ground of death to self. Their relationship to the Church is similar to the relationship between Zion and Jerusalem. All the demands of God towards Jerusalem fall upon the head of Zion.∗∗

∗See the footnote at the very beginning of this Chapter for information regarding the release

at this Conference of messages on this subject.—Translator ∗∗Zion is one of the hills of Jerusalem, and much identified with the life of David.—

Translator

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And the apprehending of Zion is the apprehending of Jerusalem. And when God lays hold of both Zion and Jerusalem, His heart is satisfied.

We thank God with a full heart for the great helps we have received from all brethren who have preceded us. Yet as Paul once declared: "neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1.12); and hence, we can say that although we have indeed been helped by these brethren, the revelations we have were not received from men. Yes, we have been helped by Luther, Zinzendorf, the Moravian Brethren, the Keswick messages, and so forth. But today we believe that God's goal and end is "Christ all in all." That veteran servant of God, Dr. F. B. Meyer, saw this too. He confessed that being some ninety years old, he could not improve upon this description of it. I personally believe that God has but one work today, which is summed up in the message of Colossians 1.18: that "in all things he [Christ] might have the preeminence." The death, resurrection and ascension of Christ is the foundation. Apart from Him there is no spiritual reality. And such, may I say it, is God's "present truth."

We come back, then, to the question that was originally posed at the beginning of our discussion today, which was: What are we doing here? We would answer people's inquiry with the words of John the Baptist—that we are a voice in the wilderness. Our work is to call God's children to return to the central will of God, which is none else than accepting Christ as the centrality of all things and His death, resurrection and ascension as the foundation of everything. This is in fact the message of Colossians chapters 1 and 3. And in keeping with that message, we recognize that the place of the Church in the New Testament is a lofty and spiritual one. I would repeat what has been said before, that we do indeed thank God for the many helps which the foreign missionaries have over the years given us; nevertheless, God has sovereignly caused us to see today that

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everything must be brought back to the central will of God. Our work today is to return to the ground of the Biblical Church.

So that all the truths of God start with the Church. Paul was first placed in the local church at Antioch before he was ever sent forth to do the apostolic work that God eventually commissioned him to do. Likewise, in our own preaching of God's truths, we, too, take the local church as the starting point for our labors. Such is our work, such is our testimony.

Let us be those who lay stress less on the fragmentary truths. Let us be those who try to help people see the supremacy of Christ in all areas of spiritual life. We are not here to disturb the Church; rather, we are here for the purpose of assisting people to go back to the first work of the apostles. We should be careful in all things, rejecting all which is of men, and pursuing all which is of God.

We thank the Lord for calling us to His glorious will. We need to be humble, subjecting ourselves to God and denying the self. May we see clearly that our work today is not limited merely to saving people and helping them spiritually, as good and as vital as these works are. Our present aim, however, is most high and glorious. Thank God that He has shown us His "present truth." May He be gracious to us that we do not fall behind in this present truth. And may we be watchful lest the flesh infiltrate where it should not and self be enthroned. May God's will be accomplished in us all.

Finally, I would add a few concluding words. Today we have a responsibility in four areas: (1) to preach the gospel to sinners; (2) to recognize spiritual warfare against Satan; (3) to maintain the vision of the Church as we have seen it; and (4) to testify to the fact that Christ must have the preeminence in all things. Today this testimony can also be found in America, England, France, Spain, and even in Africa. But the number of such testimonies is not large and the

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outward appearance is rather poor. Hence, we should pray for all these places.

A Reply to the Brethren Assembly

in London∗

(Explanatory Note from the Magazine Editor: Several years ago, eight believers who traveled from England, the United States and Australia visited us in China and requested to break bread with us. Owing to their being the Lord's, we at once received them just as we always welcome other people coming from the various denominations. Knowing that they belonged to the Exclusive Brethren, we declared that we received them as individual believers and not as representatives of their fellowship. Later on, they asked us to adopt the same exclusive attitude as theirs. We

∗This letter of reply was publicly circulated in the issue of the Correspondence magazine

dated July 1935.

Now in order for the reader to better appreciate the text of this Reply that appears below, it was thought helpful to provide a brief summary of the historical background to the matter. During October to December of 1932, six brothers and two sisters from the Exclusive Brethren group in various parts of the West visited the assembly in Shanghai and elsewhere for fellowship. These eight believers came from England, Australia and the United States. And as a consequence of their lengthy visit, Watchman Nee was invited in the spring of 1933 to visit them in Britain and the United States. Mr. Nee accepted the invitation and traveled overseas. But during his visit abroad he not only had fellowship with these Brethren but also managed to have fellowship with Christians outside their particular circle. This action by brother Nee was deemed by these Exclusive Brethren as having compromised his fellowship with them.

The correspondence which subsequently emerged as a result of the affair continued thereafter over a long period of time. The last reply sent by the brothers representing the brethren who met on Hardoon Road and North Szechuan Road in Shanghai took the form of a lengthy letter dated 2 July 1935, the contents of which now appear in the pages to follow. In essence it was a plea for open fellowship among all the saints everywhere. This, however, was unacceptable to the position taken by these Exclusive Brethren. So that on 30 July of the same year "a meeting of assembly character" was convened in London, at which it was decided to break off fellowship with the brethren in China whom the eight had previously visited. A letter dated 31 August 1935 was accordingly sent to communicate their decision, thus bringing the correspondence on this matter to a close.

It should be added that this Reply is given here with the sole purpose of illustrating the truth concerning fellowship. It is not to be taken as an attack or criticism against any group of God's children. God has had His choicest people among the Exclusive Brethren, and the Church at large has received much help from them.—Translator

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prayed carefully, asking God for clearer light and appropriate words with which to give answer. The following is our reply.∗All who read this document will know what our present belief on fellowship is and how we cannot join ourselves with the Exclusive Brethren. It is our sincere hope that Christians everywhere will not conceive our fellowship to be one comprised of those who have left the sects, but that instead they may know from this document that what we strongly maintain is the fellowship in the Holy Spirit.)

We have received your former letter inquiring about this matter of fellowship. We should have replied earlier, but due to the lack of clearest light from God, we have delayed our frank reply till now. For we dare not act hastily without respect to God's will. Naturally such delay necessitates your love and patience. If we have inconvenienced you due to our delayed answer, we feel regretful and ask your pardon. Furthermore, since February of last year our brother Watchman Nee has been stricken with heart trouble. He has recovered only recently. This is another reason for the delay.

We believe all who are taught of God have no confidence in themselves. The flesh is totally useless even in the matter of knowing the word of God. People may grasp a truth in their mind, yet they remain totally ignorant of that truth as knowing nothing. Only in the Holy Spirit, in life, may we understand spiritual things. We are prone to stand on the revelation and light of other people, thus turning ourselves back to the law. The New Testament age is a spiritual age, therefore people might and ought to be taught inwardly by God and understand the truth inwardly (see Heb. 8). Whatever comes from outside (including the mind) and at the same time does not penetrate deeper in has no spiritual value. It is no different than not knowing at all. This, however, does not mean that we are not willing to be taught

∗Watchman Nee was one of the six signatories to this Reply and the one who contributed

most in formulating it.—Translator

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by our brethren. Yet we deeply feel that unless the Holy Spirit quickens the truth in us, we can do nothing. We would further say that the reason for the deadness and feebleness of the saints today is largely due to their receiving and following the truth with their mind. This is none else but the law. In spite of the exactness of letter, it is absolutely not of the Holy Spirit.

For this reason, we can only wait on God and rely on His Holy Spirit, instead of trusting our own mind. With hearts of thanksgiving, we believe that by His grace He has given us light and utterance. We firmly believe that this light comes from Him, and of this we now therefore wish to share with you. We earnestly pray that this letter comes solely from Him without any mixture of human idea.

(1) God's original thought concerning the Church is that she might be the "residue of Christ" or "the fullness of Christ." According to 1 Corinthians 12.12, the Lord Jesus and the Church are "the Christ" (Darby). The personal Christ and the Church are joined together to be "the corporate Christ." The Church should manifest Christ in her life and testimony. She is to display His life, His victory and His glory. In God's original thought as well as in this age, every child of His in this true Church is to bear witness of His only begotten Son.

(2) Alas, however, the flesh always spoils the things of God. Even before the apostles had passed away, "the ruin of the Church" (externally speaking) had already set in. Though men's sin had been forgiven and they had become children of God, they nonetheless could not manifest Christ, neither could they testify to His life, victory and glory. Only a few could still satisfy God's thought. The vast majority began well, but when they had controversy with God, their life and testimony suffered. Henceforth in the Church there appeared two classes of believers, the overcomers and the overcomed (see Rev. 2,3). The overcomers are not superior to normal Christians,

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but the overcomed are inferior to normal Christians. The overcomers are those who satisfy God's original thought.

(3) As regards the question of fellowship, this presented no problem to the Church during the Pentecost period. For during that time all the believers in the Church were saved sinners and were saints with a testimony (here we are not talking about exceptional cases). Today's difficulty, though, lies in the divorce of these two aspects. Although people are saved, many do not live in the Holy Spirit. Should we maintain absolute, open fellowship with all the children of God regardless of their conditions? or must we restrict our fellowship only to those among the overcomers? Are we to start a popular Christian movement? or should we answer the call to overcome and pursue diligently God's perfect will?

From the seven letters to the seven local churches in Asia Minor found in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, it is evident that the Lord is now calling for overcomers. Though He has not forsaken ordinary Christians, His eyes are nevertheless upon that company of overcomers who will fulfill His original thought.

In view of this, we who gather on the ground of the Church and meet as a local assembly should answer God's heart desire by being a vessel for "the testimony of Jesus." It is not enough simply to be a popular movement among the saved. An assembly ought to be a vessel that witnesses especially to Christ.

The overcomers of the Church are those who in the time of Church declension are able to take up the responsibility which the whole Church ought to bear but has failed to do. They stand before God just as the Church ought to stand. (Compare with the remnants of the former age.) A local assembly today ought to stand on the ground of the Church and possess the nature of this kind of overcomer.

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(4) Does this mean that we should be separated from other children of God? that we should decide who among the believers may or may not have fellowship with us? that we should determine who is an overcomer? or that we should refuse to fellowship with those whom we consider not spiritual enough?

The Scriptures plainly show us that the basis of our receiving one another is "even as Christ also received you" (Rom. 15.7). The reason why we receive anyone is because "God hath received him" (Rom. 14.3). Hence the command of God to us is: "him that is weak in faith receive ye" (Rom. 14.1). This command is explicit, distinctive and irrevocable. It is a sin to refuse acceptance of him whom God has received, however weak or lacking in light he may be.

Nevertheless, this does not imply that the defeated [who are unrepentant] may have fellowship with God and with God's people. Not only the world, the flesh and sin may deprive the Church of its characteristics and hinder its fellowship, even a slight deviation from the will of God and from the leading of the Holy Spirit may cause the believer to lose contact with God. An overcomer must not only be correct in his external position but must also live in the Holy Spirit.

Who among any of us is really worthy to undertake this work of selection—this act of determining who is fit for fellowship? From what we learn in the Bible, our responsibility is to judge only on moral corruption (1 Cor. 5.10-13) or on heresy regarding the Person of Christ (2 John). Difference in interpretation of truth alone must not be the ground of division.

Thus we receive all whom God has received for the sake of Christ.

(5) We need to distinguish the "sin," be it moral or doctrinal, that would or would not hinder fellowship with God. We know for sure that sins such as fornication and not believing that Jesus came in the

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flesh would block fellowship. But sins such as "denominational connection" and apparent errors of interpretation on prophecy do not cut off fellowship with God. This fact you cannot deny: that many who have not yet departed from what you call "evil association" and who, moreover, differ with you in prophetic views have most intimate fellowship with the Lord, even more intimate than we have. This clearly indicates that the so-called "evil association" and "evil doctrine" are not the sins which hinder fellowship. This also proves that he who stands on the correct ground of the Church and truth may not himself necessarily possess a close contact with the Lord. There is one thing far more essential than external ground and mental acceptance of truth, and that is, to live in the Holy Spirit and give no ground to the flesh. This is of the greatest importance.

The fellowship of God's children is in the fellowship of God's Son. It is also in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Whoever lives in the Holy Spirit has fellowship. The flesh has absolutely no place in the Holy Spirit. (It is reasonably permissible in babyhood, but it is totally unacceptable for a believer to remain in babyhood.) Actually the act of receiving or not does not really bring one into or exclude one from the fellowship of Christ. The fact of the matter is: if he is truly in fellowship he is in fellowship, or if he is not truly in fellowship he is therefore not in fellowship. Appearance is of little value here; reality alone counts. The Holy Spirit alone knows who is not rebellious to His authority, does not grieve Him, and who lives in Christ through Him. And hence, the Holy Spirit alone can decide who may or may not have fellowship. We are not qualified to make such a decision.

We firmly trust this is the will of the Lord. We readily acknowledge that we must not receive anyone without judging any manifest sin or heretical doctrine in the person, but as to who may truly have fellowship is up to the Holy Spirit and not up to us. That person must also examine himself, for he himself has the

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responsibility to examine himself in regard to this matter of fellowship. Please see 1 Corinthians 11.27-34.

On the authority of the word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit, we have decided that people would have to be received by us before they could fellowship with us (see Acts 9.26-28; Rom. 14.1-3; 15.7; 16.2; 2 Cor. 3.1, etc.). This, however, does not mean that all who might be received by us may have fellowship. For the person received needs to examine himself before the Lord as to whether he is in fact worthy to fellowship. We can only distinguish who is a child of God and who is a child of the world. But as to selecting among God's children, the Lord has not appointed us as judges.

(6) Consequently, in practice, we feel after one is received he should be told that so far as the local church is concerned we are satisfied, but that his own condition before God is something he himself needs to be responsible for by his examining his own self. For only those who have fellowship with the Lord are qualified to partake in the Lord's Table. At each meeting, this practice and responsibility should be clearly stated so that no one would think because he is not excommunicated he is fit for fellowship.

(7) We are doubtful about your current way of reception. We wonder if this is a practice truly handled by the Holy Spirit or is simply a method received by men? Your custom of receiving may have been a living reality at the beginning, but many years of habitual practice have reduced it to a routine. Our basic question on this is whether it is men who are conducting this matter or whether it is the Holy Spirit who is exercising His authority?

(8) Some may question the safety of receiving people on the basis of their being Christians alone and leaving the responsibility of the

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partaking of the loaf∗ entirely to themselves. Let us be reminded that Christian fellowship is too spiritual a matter to rely upon the protection of human hands. Furthermore, if we are truly spiritual and not mental in our approach, we shall see the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit manifested in power and authority. But if we have only mental, and not experiential, knowledge of the Holy Spirit, confusion will be the natural consequence.

Do we not rely on the guidance and leading of the Holy Spirit in meetings? We give Him boundless position in exercising His sovereignty to choose any vessel He prefers to use, without any human arrangement. Why, then, can we not also trust the Holy Spirit to keep the purity of fellowship at the Lord's Table by His constraining or restraining the saints in the breaking of bread? If we give ground to the Holy Spirit in exercising His sovereignty, we do not need any man-invented method of exclusive reception as a substitute.

At the same time, we think of the distribution of God's workmen. In view of the vast territory of China, some are tempted to stand above all the servants of God and direct their works. How good indeed this is from the human standpoint! For will there not thus be equal distribution without any place having too many or too few workers? Yet however much man may seek the will of God, the Holy Spirit is nonetheless the sole Executor of God's work and He needs no man as His agent.

We must exercise faith to trust in the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit rather than planning to centralize finance. People like to distribute evenly to God's servants, thus no one will receive too much or too little. But where, then, is the sovereignty of the Holy

∗Partaking of the loaf: a term used to denote participation at the Lord's Table or Last Supper

in the local church.—Translator

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Spirit in all this? During the past ten years we have tried diligently to give the Holy Spirit full sovereignty in this matter. We let Him guide the local assemblies as well as individual saints according to His direction. What we see as a result is: "he that gathered much had nothing over; and he that gathered little had no lack" (2 Cor. 8.15). We ought to allow the Holy Spirit to have sovereignty over all things.

No matter how we seek to know His will, we can never be His substitute. We must let the Holy Spirit do whatever He wills. Let us be clear as to whether it is the Holy Spirit who is now exercising His authority or whether we ourselves are trying to guard this fellowship.

(9) The reason for the lack of life in the assemblies today lies just here: the human hand has substituted itself for the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. This, however, was not so in the preceding century. Judging by what we have heard and read, the assemblies in the former days had more life and power. Nor was there present in those earlier days the way of receiving as is known today. For then the Holy Spirit was the sole guide in both works and fellowship. It was due to the failure of men (as in the case of the Bethesda Chapel, in Bristol∗) that human hands began to control this matter of receiving.

Church history shows us that almost all denominations have had their beginnings in revival. The Holy Spirit commences His work through the vessel He has chosen. During the initial stage, people respect the Spirit and let Him have full sway. Thus blessings flow as living waters. Yet in order to preserve such blessings and to maintain

∗In 1848 the church at Bethesda Chapel, Bristol, received two brothers from the meeting in

Plymouth after having examined them and found them free from the error attributed to John Newton. This was considered by some as a failure to judge evil on the premise that association with evil was evil. This controversy over the principle of receiving—whether it is based on individual fitness or on association—eventually split the Brethren Movement into "Exclusive" and "Open."—Translator

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some special truths that were revealed, men invent many rules, systems and organizations instead of maintaining the authority of the Holy Spirit among God's children. As a consequence, at a certain point in time the work of the Holy Spirit comes to an end while system and organization continue on with increasing strength.

(10) We would now make our position crystal clear. We do not stand on an open ground which overlooks matters that might bring reproach to the Lord. No, we absolutely do not take that position. Nor do we stand on the exclusive ground which is according to man's thought and not according to the Holy Spirit. We stand instead on the spiritual exclusive ground which means that we want our fellowship to be wholly in the Holy Spirit without any mixture of the flesh. To enjoy such kind of fellowship as this, the flesh must be thoroughly dealt with by the cross of Christ. For the flesh has absolutely no place in this fellowship. It is not sufficient merely to terminate so-called "evil association." The total life of the flesh must be dealt with. The power of the cross must be experienced by all through the working of the Holy Spirit. Mental knowledge is of little use.

This, then, is our fellowship. Accordingly, we are as open as the early Church that received all Christians, yet we are as exclusive as the Holy Spirit in rejecting all that is of the flesh. Many whom you reckon as in your fellowship are actually not so. Possibly the number of such people far exceeds our expectation. How very sad this is! For many believers, though they have passed your test of strict receiving, do not live in the Holy Spirit. Yet they consider themselves in the fellowship and freely partake of the loaf because they have not manifested sins! We cannot but regard such a standard of fellowship as too low.

The danger of human selection lies in either extending fellowship to the undeserved or refusing fellowship to the deserved. Have not these things happened in your midst? Such difficulties will be

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avoided among us all if we allow the Holy Spirit to make the choice and willingly step aside ourselves by trusting wholly in Him.

(11) This perhaps will conflict with your concept of right and wrong. For according to your view you consider many of God's children to be "wrong," and therefore you will not receive them. Nevertheless we need to learn to respect the Holy Spirit in a meeting. If He will supply and encourage them, even use them, we should do likewise. If the Holy Spirit can forbear certain things, why can we not? In any case, the fact of the matter is that many of God's children who differ with your system and whom you judge as unfit for fellowship are walking with God and maintaining sweet fellowship with the Lord. Does not this clearly indicate to us that fellowship is based on spiritual life and cessation of all fleshly works?

Some may oppose this because of the lack of external uniformity. We should be reminded that the flesh cannot endure outward irregularity. For it delights in orderly appearance. Rigid uniformity (law) is a thing of the flesh. In the New Testament there are letter and law just as in the Old Testament. It is only when we live in spiritual reality and understand all truths in life and not in the mind that we will pay more attention to spiritual reality than to outward appearance.

(12) We recall how the apostle Paul allowed liberty in matters concerning days and food. In our own day we would probably consider these external differences as too weighty in their significance to be given any liberty. If we were to learn that some people in our assembly eat only vegetables and keep the Sabbath, how uncomfortable and anxious we would be. Yet Christian oneness and fellowship is such a deep reality that it cannot be touched by these outward things. Furthermore, the Scriptures do not plainly record that those who preached out of jealousy and strife were ever formally excommunicated (see Phil. 1). And in the case of the failure in responsibility of an assembly to put away the wicked one (1 Cor.

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5.2), neither this man (the wicked one) nor that assembly received any formal dealing except that the apostle exercised the spiritual authority that was given to him (1 Cor. 5.4,5). Even with the antichrists, the pertinent Scripture says that they voluntarily "went out from us" (1 John 2.19); they were not being excommunicated. These cases would teach us that the Lord cares little about external regularity during the time of ruin.

Please recall how the ark had at one time remained in the houses of Abinadab and Obed-edom (2 Sam. 6). What God desires is the full testimony of Christ (the ark), not the ordinance of divine service in the tabernacle. During the revivals of Nehemiah and Ezra, God gave recognition to them in spite of there being many differences between their day and the former days. Moreover, in the earthly days of Christ, we witness a group of people who possessed external exactness; yet Christ deliberately set aside these outward matters in order to lay stress on the more important ones. We believe that in today's apostasy the Lord is leading His people to see the value of spiritual things more than the exactness of outward appearances.

The Pharisees of that earlier time were people who kept the law: "as touching the law, a Pharisee" (Phil. 3.5). In this connection, we would inquire as to what is the ground on which you meet? Do your brethren surpass the rest of Christians in spirituality, in zeal for Christ and in separation from the world, or do you merely stand on a better Church ground than the others? If the characteristic of our lives does not lie in spirituality but only in exactness, then our very best is merely equal in value to the earlier Pharisee movement. How pitiful it is that having received so much light we are not more single-minded in our serving the Lord than people with less light.

(13) We do not despise the least of God's commands. We have no intention of straining out the camel and swallowing the gnat. We grieve for those who neglect the "small things" (Zech. 4.10) due to the dullness of conscience. For both "small things" and great things

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are equally the commands of God. Nevertheless, we also firmly believe that the "weightier matters" (Matt. 23.23) deserve first attention.

Do you realize that you too incur the danger of losing the living waters of the initial blessing and being left with a meeting system just as has happened in the other movements? You too will become a sect if you make external exactness the basis of fellowship instead of maintaining fellowship in the Holy Spirit.

Once several brothers in talking about "the fellowship of the apostles" touched upon the matter of the orthodoxy of fellowship. One brother rightly declared that orthodoxy lies in the Holy Spirit. We all need to see that the orthodoxy of fellowship is decided not by seniority, nor by "scripturalness," but by the full sovereignty of the Holy Spirit.

In order to unify interpretations and practices, you tend to divide God's children. Even the most spiritual among them will be divided into separate groups. We ourselves have no intention to forsake outward things so long as they are witnesses to spiritual reality (and not mere rituals and ceremonies). With instruction and love people can be persuaded to accept these outward things, but they should never be excommunicated for not receiving or having them. Otherwise, we too will become a sect, and death—not life—will prevail in the assembly. Many Church splits can be traced to this very cause.

(14) We need to understand what is "the unity of the Spirit" (Eph. 4.3) before we can know experientially the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. In each and every believer there dwells the Holy Spirit. By adding the Holy Spirit indwelt in one believer to the Holy Spirit indwelt in another believer and so on, we have "the unity of the Spirit." This unity, as the Scriptures tell us, we must diligently keep (Eph. 4.3). But the flesh in us differentiates us one from the other,

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creating among us "strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties" (Gal. 5.20). For us to be able to keep the unity of the Spirit it is necessary for us to know by experience how the flesh is dealt with by the cross. Oneness comes to us when we let the Holy Spirit be Lord in our midst and we all follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We cannot keep that which we do not possess. Unless the fleshly life in all its aspects is dealt with, there is no way to practice the unity of the Spirit. It is futile merely to talk about keeping the unity of the Spirit. If we live in the unity of the Holy Spirit, we will enjoy fully His fellowship. In this particular matter, the root of all evils is that saints today do not know what the crucifying of the flesh is, and consequently they do not know the Holy Spirit. We ask God to grant this revelation to His saints so that the life of the flesh might be judged. May the Lord do a deeper work in us all that we truly know what the flesh is.

(15) Beloved, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is too spiritual a matter for us to guard, because it is indeed beyond our ability. We can only keep our fellowship from wicked ones. The Holy Spirit alone is able to preserve His fellowship. The human hand is totally useless in this matter of keeping the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Unless the Holy Spirit reigns in our lives we shall not enjoy the light and smile of the glorious face of our Lord, no matter how careful we are in outward things. We readily consent to the fact that in a locality where the Holy Spirit does not rule, the moment man's hand withdraws, chaos begins. Hence the fellowship of the assembly must be very spiritual so as to discourage the fleshly. So long as the Holy Spirit is in authority, the fleshly dare not "partake."

Beloved, may we humbly suggest that you carefully and prayerfully consider what we have here laid before you. We believe this that we have written is of God. Are you willing—as though knowing nothing at all—to lay aside your former preconceived thoughts written by you, and at the same time to ask the Lord to

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reveal to you whether or not what we have said is right and according to His will? This is indeed most serious, for the Lord is coming soon. Now is the time for us to make this matter clear before the Lord as eternity draws near.

We thank you for all that you have done for us. May God bless you. We also thank you for your patience in this matter. Once again, we ask your pardon for the late reply if we have inconvenienced you in waiting so long.

Your brothers in the Lord,

Representing the brethren met in Hardoon Road and North Szechuan Road, Shanghai

Concerning Workers∗

One—The Raising Up of Workers

The first matter we wish to inquire into today is how a worker is raised up. Principally we will consider two different situations. The first happens where there is a local assembly. Where this is the situation, any brother who has the burden to work abroad needs to have the consent of all the brethren with whom he meets as well as to bear his personal responsibility before God. This can be likened to a finger of the hand which cannot move individually but must move only with the whole human body. It needs the sanction of the entire body before it can move. Today we see Christ as the Head of the Church, with the Church therefore constituting His body. So wherever there is a local assembly, there is always the need of getting the consent of the brethren. Take, for example, the situation to be found in Acts 13. There we see an assembly of believers situated in Antioch, and so we find that the Holy Spirit sent forth Paul and Barnabas through the local church there.

But where no local assembly exists, the situation is quite different. If there is no local gathering of believers, then a person who desires to go forth to work must bear his own responsibility directly before the Lord because an expression of the Body of Christ is not manifested there. In Acts 11, before the church in Antioch was established, Paul and Barnabas are found bearing responsibility directly before God. But later on, after the local church was formed at Antioch, the Holy Spirit is seen sending out prophets and teachers

∗A talk with co-workers given by the author on 3 January 1934 at Hardoon Road, Shanghai,

China, immediately after the conclusion of the Third Victory Conference. For more about this Conference see the footnote at the beginning of Chapter 5 above.—Translator

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through the local expression of the Body of Christ. For by that time the work of Paul and Barnabas was no longer only a matter before God, it must now also be a matter in the church. There at Antioch the disciples laid hands on them and sent them out. The laying on of hands is for the purpose of showing sympathy and expressing union. Through this laying on of hands in the local assembly at Antioch, all the brethren joined with Paul and Barnabas in their mission. In essence, therefore, the going forth of these two was the going forth of the body of believers there. Yet it must be understood that such laying on of hands at Antioch was something vastly different from the practice we find nowadays called ordination. The latter is a form of human traditions, and is totally foreign to the Scriptures.

The sending out of Paul and Barnabas was for the sake of doing the work the Holy Spirit sent them to do. This was the first missionary work in history. In this sending forth, the Holy Spirit has absolute sovereignty. A local church cannot send out men on its own. The sending out of the local church is the acceding to the movement of the Holy Spirit and the executing of His order.

In Acts 15 we read about another excursion contemplated. In verse 40, however, we notice the separation of the footsteps between Paul and Barnabas. Paul had suggested the journey, but Barnabas had insisted on taking Mark whom Paul deemed to be inappropriate for the task. There thus had arisen a sharp contention. Whereupon Barnabas decided to take Mark with him, but Paul took Silas with him and went a different way. It should be noted, though, that it is recorded in verse 40 that "Paul . . . [was] being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord." Here, then, lies the difference between these two men. Paul was sent forth by the church, but Barnabas was not. Paul was commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord, whereas Barnabas was not. In this conflict, the local expression of the Body of Christ stood on Paul's side. And as a consequence, we shall find that after chapter 15 Barnabas is no longer mentioned in the Acts narrative, thus proving that the Holy

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Spirit recognizes and ratifies the sending of the local expression of the Body of Christ.

In the instance before us now under discussion, we must note that Mark was passive, for he was a young worker under training. Hence his responsibility was not as great as that of Barnabas. Later, however, Mark was restored by God, and was once again brought back to the work by Him. But what about Barnabas? He was gone from the scene and never returned to the work of God. The Book of Acts never mentioned him again thereafter. Now if any of you should be tempted to say, "If others can, why can't I? Since a certain brother has gone to a certain place, why can I not go away, too?", then beware that that other brother of whom you speak is sent out properly in the context of the local church, whereas your going out will be strictly on your own. The difference lies just there. You cannot argue that if God could use him He could use you too. For God could indeed use him because he is sent out in the local body of believers, but He cannot use you. Do not fancy that God cannot lay any of us aside. He most certainly can lay us aside just as He laid aside Barnabas. How very clear and plain is the record found in the Book of Acts. For after this incident, the Holy Spirit ceased to mention Barnabas in the narrative.

A worker may do a work individually, but his movement must be in the church. This was the case at Pentecost: "Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spake forth . . ." (Acts 2.14) The "standing up" here is plural in number in the original Greek, whereas the "lifted up his voice" is in the singular number. Though only one man spoke, the eleven stood behind in support. Let us therefore realize that we too need the support of our brethren when we work.

Here we must learn the lesson of obedience. Both those who send and those who are sent need to learn obedience. Only in the spirit of obedience can people recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit. The

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criterion of any work is not approval but obedience. It is not because you approve of a certain brother that you therefore send him out. Many a time we may not approve the idea of a particular brother but we have to let him go, for the question lies not in approval but in obedience. Only in the obedient can the Holy Spirit find His outlet.

Now as the worker is sent forth he becomes an apostle, for an apostle is merely a sent-out worker. Paul was an apostle. What is the difference between an elder and an apostle? According to the word of God, an elder is immobile whereas an apostle is mobile. An elder is for a specific locality, but an apostle is for the entire Body. Paul was never an elder; he was only an apostle. Peter and John, though, were both elders and apostles. When they were in Jerusalem, they were elders of the church there. Yet besides being elders in Jerusalem, they were also apostles sent abroad. Because they were elders, they had the authority of local supervision. On the other hand, the responsibility of an apostle is to do the work committed to him abroad—he does not have the responsibility of overseeing in his own locality. I trust we are all clear on this distinction. When we talk about eldership we have reference to a locality; when we talk about apostleship we have in mind the whole earth. Yet it is possible for one person to perform both these functions—that is to say, to bear the responsibility of the local oversight as well as to bear the responsibility of the work of a wider sphere. In my own case, for example, my work on the one hand is serving workers at various places and on the other hand bearing responsibility with the other responsible brothers locally in Shanghai.

Two—The Confirmation of Workers

Let us now see who the workers are. How do we confirm a worker?

First, workers must have spiritual gifts. Gifts are of various kinds. Preaching the gospel is one kind, to be a prophet is another, and to be

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a pastor or teacher is still another kind. Different gifts result in different operations. The gift of an evangelist is towards the outsiders; the gift of a teacher is to decide on doctrine; and the gift of a pastor is to shepherd people—nourishing the spiritual life of the believers, causing that life to grow, and helping to solve all kinds of personal problems.

The more a worker is equipped with the above-mentioned gifts the better. A worker must at least possess one gift.

How do we know if a person has any gift? If you have a gift, the brethren who meet with you should be able to bear witness to the fact and confirm it. For this reason, the confirmation of gift is with the local body, which is able to sense it out. Whether your gift is that of an evangelist or that of a teacher, the body will perceive it. Even if you are not fully occupied with the ministry of God's word, you still could possess the above-mentioned gifts and thus do the work accordingly. For these gifts must be possessed by the workers, though they are not exclusively theirs.

Many think that if they are unsuccessful in working at one place they could change to another place and succeed. The fact of the matter is that the problem does not rest on locality. If a person is unable to work in one place, he is equally unable to do so in another. The issue is whether the person has a particular gift. A person not gifted is without gift at any place.

Second, a worker though gifted is nonetheless unable to work if his life is poor. For work depends on not only gift but also grace. It requires sufficient grace more than adequate gift. Although the result of a work is much related to gift, even so, it has more direct connection with the worker himself. Engaging in the same type of work, people with different grace will produce very different results. For the grace upon a person determines the work he accomplishes. It does not mean that the one who is without grace cannot lead others to

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Christ; in fact, he may be quite effective in winning souls since he has the gift of preaching the gospel; but due to the lack of life in him, the more work he does the more destruction he brings in. Today many workers build on the one hand and demolish on the other. The explanation for this lies in the lack of life.

As recorded in Acts 16.2, the brethren reported well of Timothy; and hence we find in verse 3 that Paul took him in the journey. This is the witness of the brethren. Timothy is not only confirmed in one place, he is confirmed by the brethren belonging to two places. If your condition before the Lord is good and you have sufficient grace, the brethren who meet with you shall surely testify concerning you. And not only those who are spiritual, even the not-so-spiritual shall testify for you.

Three—The Relationship and Position of a Worker to the Local

Assembly

According to the Scriptures an assembly should have three kinds of people: (1) those who believe in the Lord are basic to an assembly. Each and every assembly must at least have this kind of people; (2) those who serve in physical things. Theirs is mainly the mundane works such as managing various affairs for the brothers and sisters, together with assisting in the managing of church affairs. This group of people is called "deacons" in the Bible, and include both male and female; and (3) there are several brothers whose work is to be responsible for all the major matters of the assembly such as leading the meeting, deciding on issues, caring for the brethren, and dealing with the outside. This group of people is called "elders" in the Bible.

All three kinds of people should be present in an assembly. Here we include no worker because he has no special position in the local church. Since a worker is not someone special in the assembly, he must belong to one of the three kinds of people just now mentioned. He does not form a fourth kind of person in the local church.

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The relationship among these three kinds of people may be illustrated as follows: Suppose the brethren in a certain locality need to build a meeting place. At the beginning the elders would make the decision on the matter. Then they would notify the brethren and designate various responsibilities to the deacons, who in turn would invite brothers and sisters with related professions to proceed with the job. At the most, the worker might contribute his part to the project; he could never control the whole work. He differs from the other believers only in his being able to bear more of a load. Such is the relationship between the worker and the local church.

As regards the position of what we today call "workers," it is no different from that of the apostles in the early days. They indeed have the work of the apostles today, but they do not have the authority of the apostles. Nonetheless, if a worker receives a special burden or commission from God, the local church should show its sympathy and support the work. We cannot find in the Bible any instance in which the local assembly disapproved of the burden of the apostle or in which the local church controlled the work of the apostle. The work of God would suffer greatly if such were ever the case.

Four—The Relationship between the Older and the Younger

Workers

What is the nature of the relationship between the older and younger workers? According to the Scriptures, the latecomers should submit to the early comers: "the younger be subject unto the elder" (1 Peter 5.5). It is quite evident that Paul led Silas, Timothy, Titus and others. The latter clearly accepted the leading of Paul and also submitted to him.

Today two types of situations are found in the denominations. One extreme is that a worker is totally controlled and bound by the people above him. All decisions are made by human will. The other extreme is that with the so-called free-lance evangelists, they move

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independently and alone, eating their own food and preaching their own gospel, and are under the control and restraint of no one. Neither of these two kinds of people really knows the way of the Lord. For the first kind puts sovereignty into the hands of men. They do not recognize the Lord. The second kind of people holds sovereignty in their own hands and likewise fail to acknowledge the Lord. To place full sovereignty into the hands of the Lord alone, we must break away from both extremes. A worker must not be controlled financially by man nor can he surrender the authority of the Lord to other people.

Acts 8 tells us that Peter and John were sent by the Jerusalem church to preach in Samaria. Their footsteps were constrained by the local church. A worker is one who is under restraint. Many misconstrue a spiritual man to be one without restraint.

As regards the fulfillment of young people, the Bible does not bear any evidence of having offered or promoted the establishment of a theological seminary. Although we find in the Old Testament that some did set up a school for prophets, the fact of the matter is that no recognizable prophet had ever been produced by that school. Studying theology does not make one a worker. The training of a worker comes by way of the path of following and of obedience.

Timothy and Silas followed Paul. The Scriptures provide us with a system of apprenticeship, not a system of scholarship. Unless a young worker learns well in the area of obedience he is not able to learn well in any other area. This is of tremendous importance. Before a young worker becomes useful he must be pressed under the hand of God. Each one who has ever been used of God has gone through strict discipline. This you can readily see, for example, in Paul's letters to Timothy. How very strict were Paul's instructions to this young worker. He was neither casual nor indulgent towards Timothy.

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Five—The Preaching of Young Workers

Many a time today's problem of the church begins with people's desire for more gifts. They assume that they have a certain gift, whereas in actuality they may not possess that particular gift. And so they spoil the work in their hands. They mean well, but they have simply not been given that gift; and hence they are unable to accomplish it. It is just like one who may have the gift of a teacher but he cannot do other works: he can only fulfill his portion of work in deciding on the truth of the Scriptures or maintaining that truth or discovering new truth. As another example, a person with the gift of an evangelist can only do his work of evangelizing: he cannot be a substitute for the teacher in teaching or deciding on truth: he can only fulfill his own part.

The problem today lies in the fact that few if any in the whole world stand in their proper place and are satisfied with their own position. The evangelist wants to be a teacher, and the teacher desires to be an evangelist. Everyone admires being what he is not. What is this? Is it not the manifestation of the flesh, the inclination of the natural man? Yet in the Body of Christ each member has his distinct function. The ear cannot be a substitute for the eye, nor the eye the ear. Even should the ear be located on the eye, the ear still remains an ear, for it cannot see. Here we discern the necessity of standing firmly in one's own position. Each one of us must learn to stand in his own place.

Personally speaking, young workers need not only be subject to the older workers but also to know what is God's appointed place for them. By recognizing your given place you will not fall into the flesh, thus saving the work. Naturally, in the event that a young worker truly has the gift of teaching while the older workers around him lack that gift, then under such circumstances the older workers need to submit to the younger worker and accept his given gift. Nevertheless, each young worker should try to find someone more

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mature from whom he may learn obedience. There must be some older workers to whom he can be subject. Paul told Timothy to "abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them" (2 Tim. 3.14). Timothy needed to find out from whom he had learned. He had to go and find the worker who was ahead of him.

A young worker must learn to accept unreasonable dealings. He should understand what unreasonable submission is. For true submission does not argue: if there be reasoning, then obedience is gone. In the work of God, no one can be independent nor can he escape submission. The young need indeed to be submissive; but then, too, the older is not to be an exception either. We cannot afford to be independent. If God should reveal a new truth to a brother, that brother must go forward in the spirit of mutual submission. He must not take any independent action.

Six—The Faith of the Worker

All workers must have the same faith in the Person and work of Christ. We all need to maintain in our life and work these foundational truths. Should any worker commit error in these basic principles, the elders should stop him from working. Concerning certain cardinal truths, there ought to be proper scriptural interpretations which are commonly accepted. The accurate interpretations of many Biblical passages have already been discovered by others. We need only to receive from them, without our adding on to them. There is a basic principle in studying the Scriptures—which is, to accept God's spoken word in simplicity, without adding on our own idea. As we study the word of God we need to ask of ourselves, "What has God spoken?" and not, "Why does God so speak?" It is not unlike the situation wherein a citizen of a country has no need to ask why there is a certain law—he merely inquires as to what the national law is. We should therefore ask

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"what" and not "why." For our basic attitude towards God's command should not be preeminently a matter of understanding but a matter of obedience.

Due to our different walks before God, different interpretations of the Scriptures arise. Take baptism as an example: Many who were baptized by sprinkling see the teaching of sprinkling in their Bible study. Such teaching is the product of their walk. A person's attitude before God has much to do with his interpretation of God's word. Many come to His word with the hope of finding out some rule which will justify his own walk. Their motive is to transform the word of God to be a law which suits them. And hence, they interpret the Bible for themselves. One who has not been dealt with by the cross is unable to study the Scriptures. He who has gone through the cross may alone read the Bible correctly.

Seven—The Needs of the Workers

Before we look at the needs of the workers, let us mention first this matter of offerings. A Christian's offering is not just for the sake of supporting workers as individual believers but is for the reason of supplying the needs of those who work for the Lord. In other words, it is not because a certain person is a worker that he is therefore being supported. He is supported because he serves the Lord. He as an individual person is one thing, and he who is in the work is another. So long as he works for the Lord, he deserves to be supported. The issue lies not in whether or not he is financially well, but rather whether he is working for the Lord. He who works for the Lord is worthy to be supported. It is similar to the matter of paying a rickshaw coolie, wherein we would never ask whether he is poor or rich. His poverty or abundance has nothing to do with it. It is simply that for his labor he must quite naturally receive his wages. Nobody can say that because a certain worker has money he therefore need not be supported. Not so. Once there was someone who was thinking

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of giving an offering to brother Bright, a co-worker of Dr. Scofield; but then he heard a person beside him say that the Lord could supply brother Bright's need. With the result that he withdrew his offering and left brother Bright in want. Let us see that the offering of a believer is not decided on the basis of the poverty of the worker. If support is given on the basis of poverty, such support is not an offering but is an expression of alms giving.

To present an offering is the least a person who has received grace must do. Without this, he is useless before God. His having received grace ought to produce the result of offering up all he has to the Lord. It is quite irregular for the one who has received grace to withhold offering. This is because as one's heart is touched by God that one's purse will decidedly be offered up. How can a person's heart be touched by God and yet his possessions not be touched? Offering is the clear evidence that our all has been touched by God, and thus there will be love flowing out from us. A person who fails to offer has no outflow of love.

In this world today there are only two gods: the one is Mammon (riches, wealth, possessions, etc.), and the other is the true God. If we do not love God, we must love Mammon. But when we love God, our heart is expanded and we just give. We have a believer in our midst who for twenty years met in a certain church without ever greeting anybody. But then he commenced giving an offering, and immediately his entire being was transformed. Formerly I dared not speak or report on the matter of offerings, but now I have turned myself around on this issue because I realize that this matter of offering up of our substance is a way to receive more grace. The more a person offers up, the more fully he receives of God's grace. And what I have said here today to you workers I say to all local churches.

Now let us see how offerings ought to be managed locally. Out of the offerings received by the assembly, a portion should be taken to

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support workers—both those locally and those abroad. This is for the purpose of expressing fellowship. In Philippians 4 we read how Paul commended the grace the Philippians believers had exhibited in their conduct. For they had continuously had fellowship with the apostle in their financial gift-giving. The situation of the Corinthian believers, though, was just the opposite. Because a problem existed between them and Paul in fellowship, Paul would rather do what he felt compelled to write in 2 Corinthians 11.8 ("I robbed other churches, taking wages of them") rather than be a burden to the Corinthian believers. And why? Because fellowship between them was a problem. But where there is fellowship—as in the case of Paul with the Philippians—there is offering.

Thank God, the brethren in Shanghai have received grace in this matter. You workers abroad, please do not misconstrue that the assembly here is so rich that it always sends out gifts. The reason why it is able to send out gifts is because the workers in Shanghai receive less local support. This constitutes the grace of the assembly here.

In giving personal gifts, it is best if the offerer would first wrap up the offering, put the name of the worker on it, and then cast it into the offering box. The brothers who open the offering box can personally hand over the gift to the designated recipient.

Eight—The Way a Worker Manages Finance

(1) A worker should not let people know that he is poor. For a worker lives by faith, not by philanthropy. It is a shameful thing to let people know about his poverty in order to receive supply. A worker must possess a proper attitude in receiving supplies. He represents God in receiving offerings from a brother. He stands on God's side, and therefore he must not give people a deplorable feeling. When Paul mentioned this matter of finance, the impression

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he gave was honorable and decent. Such is the right attitude each and every worker must have.

(2) Among the workers themselves, whenever there is a surplus in supply, it needs to be distributed. Do not by this action be afraid of being misunderstood as rich and wealthy. Then, too, for your personal family livelihood, some short-term savings is a principle agreeable to the word of God. The Book of Proverbs contains such teaching and exhorts us to do so.

(3) The spending of money should be planned. Many tend to buy unnecessary things when they have excess funds. Such behavior will hinder God's giving. The use of money should be planned according to a budget. The things to be purchased need to be well considered before God. Do not buy carelessly, and do not spend wastefully.

(4) A worker must not fall into debt. A servant of God would rather die than ask for money. If he does not have the faith for his livelihood, then he should seek some other "employment" by which to support himself. If he has faith in God to sustain his living, he will not stretch forth his hand towards man.

Nine—The Principle of Manna

Today Gods wants us to live according to the manna principle, which is this: "he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack" (Ex. 16.18). This is not just the record of the Old Testament. The New Testament, too, teaches this principle (2 Cor. 8.15). Much or little is equally wrong. If in an assembly some brothers have no means to maintain their living, either the church there or some individuals should help them. The local church cannot look upon the plight of unemployed brethren without its helping them the best way it can. This does not, of course, include those who refuse to work. People who are unwilling to work should not be helped; only those who are willing to work ought to be assisted.

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Furthermore, to those brothers who work but earn less than is sufficient for their livelihood, the local church must also render help. In the early Church, this principle was observed by the apostles.

As regards the order of rendering help and assistance, the local assembly must first take care of the brothers and sisters within the local church, and then help the poor outside. If a believer has near relatives who need help, he should help them first before he helps other people.

Do not offer aid casually without careful consideration. A person who is naturally "hand loose" in his giving is not blessed because he gives more. For he who would be "hand loose" is also carelessly loose in other things of God. We need to learn to be responsible offerers and not "hand loosers."

A believer's offering of assistance does not end with his giving out funds. He must in addition live a proper life before God so that his giving will be blessed. Thank God, not all are Lazarus, and not all are the rich man. What God wants is neither a Lazarus nor a rich man, but the offerings of those who live worthily before Him. The flesh commits either one of two sins before the Lord—either exercising "severity to the body" as Paul spoke of in Colossians 2.23, or else exercising overindulgence to the body. What God ordains is neither severity nor indulgence to the body but the living of a godly life before Him. Any surplus funds should be freely distributed.

Ten—Concerning Letters of Recommendation

Finally, let us touch briefly concerning the letter of recommendation. Paul mentioned this matter to the Corinthian believers (see 2 Cor. 3.1). So we see that the New Testament does indeed deal with this subject. When believers travel to new places they have the need of letters of recommendation. Paul in his Epistle reminded the Corinthian believers that he had no need of such a

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letter. This was because he had a relationship with them. So that he is an exception. But for ordinary believers such a letter is essential. For it serves two purposes: (1) in causing you to be known; and (2) in preventing false brethren from coming in. Every letter of recommendation should be signed by three persons to assure its authenticity. Ordinary letters of recommendation are best written by the local elders or responsible brothers. There are at least three different kinds of letters:

(1) To recommend a certain person to partake in the breaking of bread, confirming him to be a brother or sister in the Lord.

(2) To recommend a certain person as one who walks in the same straight path.

(3) To recommend a certain person as not only walking in the same acceptable path but as also having a particular gift, thus providing an opening for ministry.

Upon receipt of a letter of recommendation, the local responsible brothers should acknowledge such letter by writing to the place where the letter originated. For the sake of convenience, such letters of recommendation and their appropriate reply could be prepared and printed beforehand for ready use. When brethren come from abroad or go abroad, let such letters of recommendation be given so as to facilitate the receiving of such at the table of the Lord.

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