Read and pray: “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order the things that remain and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you” (Titus 1:5)
In this chapter, we will speak about the kind of testimony the Lord wants us to bear in the present age. No matter how much we talk about it, we still need vision and revelation regarding these things in order to gain a true perspective.
At the beginning of the work in the East, God gave us the realization that the condition of institutionalized Christianity was not right. Since then, we have had questions and doubts concerning contemporary Christianity. These doubts led us to examine the true condition of Christianity and to study the Word of God.
We discovered that many practices in Christianity were not according to the Bible. So we abandoned them, and for each point that we abandoned, we sought to return to the way it was in the beginning according to the Bible. This period could be called “the initial stage of the restoration.”
At first, we did not experience an instant restoration on many points; rather, it was a point-by-point restoration. During the early years, many aspects were restored. Some began as early as 1922, but we consider that the official beginning of the restoration was in 1924. The initial stage of the restoration concluded in 1934.
When the foundation of the church was restored, the restoration reached the end of its initial stage. In 1925, we were convinced that the church should not be divided into factions. There is only one church, and it must exist as a unit. It is a sin for the church to be divided into different denominations. We were able to say something concerning the truth regarding sectarianism, but we did not yet have a clear definition of what a faction is.
It was between 1928 and 1931 that we were able to define sectarianism. We knew that if a church had a particular name, a particular fellowship, and a particular belief, it constituted a faction. However, we still did not have clarity about the foundation of the church.
Although we understood that the church is one and should not be divided into factions, and although we knew the meaning of sectarianism, it was not until 1934 that the light concerning the expression of the church in a city was clearly and precisely released among all the saints with us. Many of us, however, had already received this clarity by 1932.
In the first edition of the book "The Orthodoxy of the Church", Brother Nee clearly stated that during a trip to Europe and the United States in 1933, he encountered some good groups of the Open Brethren. He also came into contact with very respected spiritual saints and attended their meetings. It was at that time that he met Brother T. Austin-Sparks for the first time.
Brother Nee undertook this journey after being invited by a group of the Open Brethren in London. However, he informed them that his fellowship with them did not mean that he would join the assembly of the Open Brethren. Thus, he was not limited to them during his stay in England. He met with others besides the Open Brethren who knew the Lord and had fellowship with them.
He refers to this in "The Orthodoxy of the Church". During this overseas journey, Brother Nee visited many places. Some had the condition of Philadelphia, as they manifested the signs of revival prophesied by the Lord in the seven epistles in Revelation. Others were like Laodicea. Since some places had fallen into sin, others had a condition of revival, and others were divided repeatedly, it was impossible to make a general statement about their condition. After observing these different situations, particularly the divisions, Brother Nee began to question the foundations of the divisions among the Brethren.
He studied and examined all the matters related to the church in the Bible. After this study, he clearly understood from the Word of God that there is only one church in the whole universe, but when it is expressed, it is expressed city by city. In other words, there is only one expression of the church in each city. The repeated divisions among the Brethren led Brother Nee to study and receive light from the Word of God.
He saw that the church can only be distinguished by locality. The church in Corinth and the one in Ephesus were distinct churches. The church in Ephesus and the one in Jerusalem were also distinct. Moreover, in Jerusalem, there could not be two or more churches. Likewise, in Ephesus, there could not be two or more churches. Brother Nee understood this from the Word of God.
Enjoy more: Hymn 387
“The Church—Her Building”
No comments:
Post a Comment