Question: In the last chapter of Brother Nee's book Further Talks on the Church Life, he talks about the work, even the centers of the work. How does that kind of work arise scripturally? Is that something that should arise from the churches?

Answer: The so-called work according to the New Testament teaching and according to our experience has two aspects. One aspect is the work of a local church. A local church should do a work to preach the gospel in order to gain new ones, take care of the young ones, feed them and perfect them, and build them up that they may speak for the Lord. We may consider these four things as a part of the work of the church. A local church should work to carry out these four steps. The work has another aspect, which is the work of the gifted persons such as the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers (Eph. 4:11-12). These are the gifted persons like Paul and Barnabas. They did do a work. Eventually, these two aspects of the work have the same contents. These contents include preaching the gospel to save sinners, feeding the young ones, perfecting the saints, and helping the believers to speak for the Lord. Both the church and the gifted persons do the same work. As long as there is a church, there should be such a work. When a church is raised up, it should do the work of preaching the gospel, feeding the young ones, perfecting the saints, and helping the saints to speak for the Lord. Then, as to the aspect of the gifted persons, it all depends upon their being raised up. The book of Acts records that Paul and Barnabas were not only believers but gifted persons. They were meeting in the church at Antioch (13:1). One day the Lord charged them to go out to do a work. They had the burden to go out to do a work to preach the gospel to get people saved and set up churches. That kind of work should not be initiated by any church. It should be initiated only by the gifted persons. In other words, the church should not send out gifted persons to carry out a work. Once some gifted persons pick up the burden to go out to do a work by preaching the gospel and setting up churches, this becomes the work of the gifted persons. Then, once the churches are set up, the churches should bear the burden to do the same thing. Then that is a part of the church's work.

When I came to the United States, I was not sent by any church. I was working there in the Far East to help so many churches. One day I did pick up the burden to come to this country to bring the Lord's recovery here. That is my work. That is not the work of any church. When the churches, in turn, were raised up in the United States, they also did the same work. That is the work of the churches. The contents are the same as the work done by the gifted persons. Eventually, the gifted persons according to Ephesians 4 should perfect the saints in the localities to do the same kind of work that they themselves do. Eventually, both the work and the church, the gifted persons and the perfected members of the church, are doing the same work to build up the Body of Christ.

Brothers and sisters, not one place is not good for us to labor. Everywhere is good. When I came to this country, it was a waste. Apparently there was nowhere for me to work. When I came, I took some time to visit the Pentecostal people. I attended their meetings and did whatever they did. Eventually, they condemned me and said that I was too wise because I came to them in their way but people eventually followed me. I said that I do not bear the responsibility for people following me because I came with something of the Lord. When others see something better of the Lord, they just follow it. We must go back to take the way that our local church is taking. While we are serving there, we can continue to preach the gospel. At the same time, we pick up some "diamonds" and "jade" to show them.