The administration of the church and the ministry of the word, week 9, chapter 14, Friday

THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CHURCH

AND THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

THE RESTORATION OF THE GROUND OF THE CHURCH

WEEK 9 – FRIDAY

Bible Reading: Col. 1:15–20; Heb. 1:1–3

Read and pray: “making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth in Him.” (Eph. 1:9–10)

THE CONFIRMATION OF THE GROUND OF THE CHURCH

The letter I sent to Brother Hsieh Tien En was my first article published by Brother Nee’s evangelical publishing house [Gospel Book Room]. I labored much in writing this article, and although it was a letter, it was like a small book in its content. Many points in the letter were related to denominations. It defined denomination and the meaning of denominationalism.

At that time, I was not personally clear regarding the ground of the church. I knew what unity meant and what a denomination was, so I was able to write about these other matters. However, I did not know the ground of the church. The other co-workers were also unclear. Only Brother Nee had clarity.

Around one hundred and twenty brothers from northern China attended the January conference. This important meeting was a turning point in the church’s advance. It also influenced me personally. From that fellowship we saw the sin of sectarianism and the need for the oneness of the church. Therefore, some co-workers were burdened concerning this matter and determined to take this way.

After the conference, I returned by boat to northern China. Many who attended the conference remained in Shanghai and asked Brother Nee to hold Bible study meetings to help them learn how to meet. This was important because meetings were beginning to appear whose participants had come out of denominations and sects. However, they did not know how to meet. Brother Nee agreed, and the manuscripts were later edited and published as the book The Assembly Life.

I was not present in those meetings because I had already returned to northern China. When I came back to Shanghai four months later, I heard about the Bible studies, but I did not see the notes. It was only after Brother Nee had finished editing the manuscripts that he gave them to me and asked me to write a preface. I read the messages carefully and understood the content of the entire Bible study.

Since then, I have been deeply impressed that the expression of the church is local. However, the term “expression” was not used at that time. We began using the word “expression” in 1950 in Taiwan when we defined the boundary of a local church. It was also around that time, in 1934, that we began to share concerning the matter of locality, and the light on this matter was confirmed. When the light on locality was confirmed, the ground of the church was also confirmed among us.

At the January conference, Brother Nee gave very clear messages concerning Christ as the centrality of God, and he was very clear concerning the ground of the church. As a result, the year 1934 was a milestone in the Lord’s recovery, and we entered into another stage.

We saw that Christ as the centrality and universality of God was the content of the church, and outwardly, the church should take the ground of locality. After that, Brother Nee was no longer the only one who had clarity concerning all these matters; we, his co-workers, also had the same clarity.

Enjoy more: Hymn 232