When I was with Brother Nee, I never behaved, acted, worked, preached, taught, or spoke in any way that could be taken by the enemy to create trouble. Please be clear that what I am saying does not mean that I was one hundred percent in oneness in every doctrine with Brother Nee. For example, my interpretation of the two witnesses in Revelation 11 even today is different from that of Brother Nee. I believe Brother Nee was influenced by Pember, Govett, and Panton, all of whom interpreted the two witnesses as Enoch and Elijah, based on the statement in Hebrews 9:27 that a person can only die once. Enoch and Elijah were the only two persons who did not die; therefore, it was interpreted to mean that they were preserved by God in order that they could be the two witnesses in Revelation 11 who would be killed there.
Although I never told anyone, from the first day I heard this interpretation, I felt strongly that it was not accurate. In the first place, God has a testimony in the Old Testament that is constituted of the law and the prophets, the law represented by Moses and the prophets represented by Elijah. Therefore, in the New Testament, even according to the Jewish way, the Rabbinical way, the Old Testament was called the law and the prophets even by the Lord Jesus Himself. In Revelation 11 the two witnesses stand before the Lord, and they bear a testimony. In this universe we see these witnesses standing before the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration— Moses and Elijah.
In addition, if we say that man could only die once, based on Hebrews 9:27, we need to account for the case of Lazarus. He died once, and he was resurrected. Then he died a second time. There is also the case of the son of the widow in Nain (Luke 7:11-15). He died and was being carried in a coffin when the Lord Jesus came and raised him up. He was resurrected, but he surely died again. In the Scriptures a number of persons died twice (1 Kings 17:17, 22; 2 Kings 4:32-35; 13:21; Matt. 9:24-25; 11:5; Acts 9:40; 20:10).
Surely you can realize that I was not following Brother Nee blindly. I have given you a little hint that I did not necessarily agree with Brother Nee in every point of doctrine. You would have to agree that my so-called dissenting point is logical and scriptural. The major points concerning the two witnesses were covered in message twenty-seven of the Life-study of Revelation, pages 317 through 325. Those points are very basic. Fact is fact, and the truth is the truth. However, I do not care for such things as whether the two witnesses are Elijah and Moses, or Elijah and Enoch. My one concern is for God’s economy, for Christ and the church. Never have I found a person who surpassed Brother Watchman Nee in the matters of Christ and the church. For this reason, I placed myself one hundred percent at his feet to follow him. Actually, in following him it was the Lord’s economy that I was following.
My point, dear saints, is that we are not here for doctrines, but we are here for God’s economy. For me to speak concerning these doctrinal points today does not cause any damage at all to Brother Nee’s ministry. However, if I had said something concerning these matters while he was living and I was working with him there, there would immediately have been division. For this reason, I did not preach anything that Brother Nee did not preach, and I did not teach anything that he had not touched.
I do not feel at all ashamed to say that whatever I taught and whatever I preached was Brother Nee’s. It is glorious that there was such a man on this earth who was worthwhile for me to follow. Nevertheless, I fully realized that Brother Watchman Nee was a man. If any knew his shortcomings and his weaknesses, I must be one of them. I treasure what the Lord is doing in using him to fulfill His purpose to the uttermost. I have no interest in doing a light work according to the religious practices of today. I consecrated myself and my future for God’s unique purpose on this earth. I saw this purpose in Brother Nee, I was for this, and I sacrificed everything for this. Therefore, I would not say a word, and I would not do anything at all to damage this purpose. I saw that he was one used by God for God’s purpose.
We should not forget the account of the rebellion of Miriam and Aaron (Num. 12:1-15). Surely they saw Moses’ weakness. There is no question that Moses married an Ethiopian woman. However, when Miriam rebelled, she became leprous. She did not receive a reward; she had leprosy. This did not mean that Moses was not wrong. The point is that all of us need to be very careful. It is my practice to exercise care with all of you, and I do not believe that I have done anything to damage your being used in the hand of the Lord. Even the more, I have exercised care to help you be perfected that you may be used in the hand of the Lord. It is not at all a small thing to say a word or to do something to affect the Lord’s recovery in a negative way.
I have always realized that it is a very serious matter even to affect the Lord’s recovery a little bit, no need to say to damage it. I have been with one brother for over twenty-two years. I am very frank with him, and we are very close. Nevertheless, I have the assurance that even this brother cannot say that I have been so free to say anything to him about any brother that was not so positive. This does not mean that I have been blind, that I have been dumb, or that I have no feeling, just like a piece of marble. Rather, if you have feeling, I do believe at least I have it too. Yet I have never talked, and I have never said anything, because I am not here for that. Over fifty-five years ago I gave myself to the Lord, I came to this country, and I am still laboring day and night through all the hardships, absolutely for the Lord’s recovery. I long to see all of you completed and perfected in the hand of the Lord that He may use you and that His recovery could be carried on in a prosperous way.
We are not here to repeat the history of Christianity or to do a religious work. We are here for the Lord’s recovery. I am not speaking something to threaten any one of you. The Lord knows. I am burdened to speak the fact, the truth, and to open up the real situation to you with the real peril. We are here, dear brothers, and we need to learn of the Lord concerning His economy, even as Paul said, with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). From the four cases we have considered, you could see the hints concerning all the things that caused trouble in the Lord’s move. Not one of the four persons we have considered—John the Baptist, Barnabas, Peter, Apollos—is a negative person, nor even someone who is superficial. They were very solid, right, good, moral, spiritual persons with weight. All of them were solid and weighty, yet in certain crucial points they were not careful; they did not carry on their ministry with adequate consideration of the real situation in the Lord’s move. If Apollos had given thorough consideration to the whole situation, surely he would have realized that he must be the same as Paul, one with Paul in the same atmosphere, color, and flavor. That situation caused Paul to be embarrassed to the uttermost and, in a sense, to make a fool of himself in order to vindicate himself (1 Cor. 1:13; 9:1). It was not the opposers, the criticizers, who created the trouble and embarrassed Paul, but such dear ones as Apollos and Peter.
How much we all need to treasure this opportunity to see these crucial matters. We all need to have a clear sky with a crystal-clear view that we may know what it is we are in and that we may have a clear view of the real situation.