THE FOURTH PART: THE PATHWAY OF LORD’S RECOVERY
The Course of the Church
Message Four—The Beginning of the Lord’s Recovery in China
Scripture Reading: Rev. 1—3; Eph. 1:23; John 4:24; Col. 3:4
I. The Lord was forced to go to the virgin soil of China because the long history of traditional Christianity in Europe and America had spoiled those places for the proper practice of the church life; because China was pagan and heathen, it was unspoiled, virgin soil for the practice of the church life: (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
A. Brother Nee was saved in 1920, and two years later he saw the light concerning the problem of denominations and the proper practice of the church life; he started a meeting at a sister’s home in his hometown of Foochow, and that was the beginning of the church life in China. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
B. At nineteen years of age, Watchman Nee was the first native Chinese to start a meeting in a believer’s home without a pastor or anything of denominational Christianity; this group simply met in the name of the Lord Jesus and according to the Bible. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
C. Among this group there were seven or eight young people who were co-workers, including Brother Nee; one was especially gifted in preaching the gospel; he was becoming popular as a traveling evangelist, when a brother from the Christian and Missionary Alliance proposed to him that he should be formally ordained so that various denominations would open their doors to him. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
D. The others meeting with Brother Nee agreed with the ordination of this brother; they had cut off the old current, but religion came in through a gifted one who was seeking popularity; when Brother Nee refused to agree with this brother’s ordination, the other members signed a paper to excommunicate Brother Nee. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
E. Thus, religion crept in to spoil the first attempt to practice the church life in China. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
F. In those times Brother Nee was learning the lesson of the cross—not to fight for himself and not even to vindicate himself; he moved away to a suburb of Foochow, and from 1925 to 1927 he used his time to publish twenty-four issues of a magazine called The Christian in which he expounded the first three chapters of Revelation. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
G. That magazine grew to a monthly distribution of ten thousand, and I [Witness Lee] became familiar with Brother Nee by subscribing to it; I began to write to Brother Nee in 1925, and he answered me; through this correspondence we came to know each other. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
H. In those twenty-four issues, he thoroughly exposed denominational Christianity, explaining the meaning of the works and teaching of the Nicolaitans (2:6, 15). Throughout China hundreds of young people were enlightened and raised up to follow the Lord through reading The Christian. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
I. In 1926 Brother Nee received a burden to move to Shanghai, and the church life there began by 1927; about five years later, in 1932, the Lord touched me, and a church was raised up in my hometown of Chefoo; that was the first church in north China; from 1932 to 1934 small groups were raised up in many places through Brother Nee’s publications. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
J. A large number of believers left the denominations, but few were clear about the proper practice of the church life; many of the groups that were raised up met in a way that was still influenced by the denominational background; religious concepts were brought into the new start. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
K. In 1933 I dropped my job and went to Shanghai to meet with Brother Nee, and he asked me to stay there; at that time the sisters were not allowed to pray or testify in the meetings; that was something of religion that had crept in from the Brethren background. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
L. Brother Nee and some of the other leading ones felt that this restriction was not good or profitable and caused the church to be like a half-paralyzed body; therefore, Brother Nee fellowshipped with the brothers concerning the need to release the sisters to function. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
M. However, he could not get through, because most of the other leading ones would not agree; when I came to Shanghai, Brother Nee said to me, “Brother Lee, we have to pray for a problem that we have here. In our meetings the sisters are silent. This is a loss.” We prayed steadfastly, and eventually the dissenting ones reluctantly agreed to release the sisters. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
N. In 1934 the sisters began to pray in the meetings, but they were not allowed to give testimonies; There was still some religion there; gradually, many began to feel that there was a loss, because many sisters have good testimonies; after much consideration, we made a decision that based upon 1 Timothy 2:12, the sisters should not teach, but they could give personal testimonies; we took this stand to give the sisters the liberty to testify. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
O. This history shows that religion is in our blood; it is not easy to be completely rid of religion; apparently, we had cut off the old current, but religion still crept in. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
II. Year after year Brother Nee saw more light and helped us to see the light as well: (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
A. In the early years under the leadership of Brother Nee, we studied the Bible, church history, all the major spiritual writings, and many biographies of spiritual giants from the early church fathers down to the present century. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
B. Therefore, although we did not come to the Western world, we contacted Western Christianity by reading the histories, biographies, and all the main writings. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
C. We decided that if any practice or teaching was not according to the Bible, we would not take it; at that time we were not clear that the main thing is not to be scriptural but to be in the spirit; gradually, the Lord adjusted us from stressing doctrines to stressing the spirit; before Brother Nee’s arrest and imprisonment he had begun to emphasize that we must be in the spirit. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
D. Throughout the years of Brother Nee’s ministry, there were at least three or four times when he saw a further revelation concerning the church. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
E. Looking back, we can see that the revelation was completed just before he was imprisoned; because I was with him for many years, I not only read his writings, but I also had many talks with him; I knew what was within him. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
F. The central, crucial point of Brother Nee’s ministry was twofold—Christ as life and everything to us to produce the church, and the church as the Body, the fullness, of Christ to be expressed in many localities—Col. 3:4; Eph. 1:23. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
G. Because he knew life, the Lord, and the Bible, Brother Nee was clear about the Lord’s move, and he realized that some day the recovery would spread to the Western world. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)
H. Then, under the Lord’s sovereignty, there was a political change in China; in 1949 all of mainland China was suddenly taken over by the Communists, who would not allow any teachings or groups to exist but communism and the Communist Party; therefore, the Lord’s move was forced from mainland China to Taiwan, and from Taiwan it eventually spread to the United States. (The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age, msg. 4)