Brother Nee also helped me by sharing with me about the first twelve years of the history of the Lord's recovery in China. Since I was not absolutely in the recovery during that period of time, he spoke to me in much detail about this history. At that time I did not know why he was doing this. Later I realized that he was laying a good foundation for me and building me up for my service to the Lord in His work.
He also helped me by relating to me the history of the church, from the first century to the present century. My knowledge of the history of the church came mostly from Brother Nee's sharing with me. He presented the history of the church with its direction toward the goal of the Lord's recovery.
Brother Nee also helped me to know the Bible in a living way. The Brethren taught me to know the Bible according to the letter, but Brother Nee helped me to know the Bible in the way of life. Through all the personal times I had with him, he helped me in the above four aspects. I owe Brother Nee so much for all the help he gave me.
In addition to this, Brother Nee brought me into function by giving me the full way to participate in the work. I bore much responsibility in the church in Shanghai, and that gave me the best opportunity to learn. Before he put me into such a position, he tested me, and his way of testing was hidden.
One day he brought a bundle of letters to me, written by different persons with questions for him. These questions were about subjects such as the church, the church's ground, life, and the interpretation of the Bible. He asked me to answer all the questions for him in reply to all those letters. I told Brother Nee that I might not know how to answer some of the questions. He told me to do as much as I could. I eventually found out that this was his test. By having me do that, he found out how much of the truth was in me.
Not too long after my arrival in Shanghai, the brothers asked me to speak to the saints in a conference in the second hall; at that time the church in Shanghai had two halls. Nothing exposes where a person is more than his speaking. When a person speaks, everyone knows where he is. I spoke for seven days. Brother Nee was not there, but he received a report concerning everything that I spoke. That was also a test to me.
Later, I was asked to speak in the first hall, the biggest and primary hall. The church had arranged to have a big gospel-preaching meeting, but no one knew who was going to speak. No doubt, many thought Brother Nee was going to be the speaker. I was delighted and happy to be able to hear a message and learn more about how to preach the gospel. About an hour before the meeting, a small slip of paper was delivered to me from Brother Nee charging me to give a message on the gospel that night. I had no choice but to speak.
That night I gave a message on John 16:8-11. Verse 8 says that when the Spirit comes, "He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment." I told the people that sin, righteousness, and judgment are related to three persons: Adam, Christ, and Satan. Sin entered through Adam (Rom. 5:12), righteousness is the resurrected Christ (John 16:10; 1 Cor. 1:30), and judgment is for Satan (John 16:11). All of us were born of sin in Adam. The only way to be freed from sin is to believe into Christ. When we believe into Him, He is righteousness to us, and we are justified in Him (Rom. 3:24; 4:25). If we do not repent of the sin in Adam and believe into Christ, the Son of God, we will remain in sin and share the judgment of Satan for eternity (Matt. 25:41). These are the main points of the gospel, with which the Spirit convicts the world.
When I gave this message, I did not see Brother Nee in the meeting. Quite a time later, we were taking a walk together, and he said to me that not many people could give such a message on John 16 concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment being related to Adam, Christ, and Satan. He encouraged me to go on in my pursuit of the truth. I was surprised to find out that he knew the content of my message. He told me that while I was speaking, he was standing behind me, behind the back door, listening to me. My preaching that evening in the gospel meeting was another test to me.