Because he knew life, the Lord, and the Bible, Brother Nee was clear about the Lord’s move, and he realized that some day the recovery would spread to the Western world. However, because he did not expect it to go to the West soon, he never encouraged the co-workers to go out of China. Also, the situation in China did not encourage us to go abroad because the work in China was full of God’s blessing, and there was much work to do. With one language we were able to serve six hundred million people. From Shanghai, where the largest church was, we supplied five or six hundred local churches throughout China. Therefore, we were fully occupied. We did not have time to consider going abroad. Then, under the Lord’s sovereignty, there was a political change in China. In 1949 all of mainland China was suddenly taken over by the Communists, who would not allow any teachings or groups to exist but communism and the Communist Party. Therefore, the Lord’s move was forced from mainland China to Taiwan, and from Taiwan it eventually spread to the United States.
The crucial point of Brother Nee’s ministry was to minister Christ as life to produce the church, which is the Body and the fullness of Christ expressed in many localities. The subtle strategy of the enemy is to cause Christianity to receive Brother Nee’s ministry concerning life but to reject his ministry concerning the church. The enemy’s subtle work is of three aspects. First, one source has spread a rumor that after the Second World War Brother Nee changed his view concerning the ground of the church and the practicality of the church life. According to this rumor, there is a difference between Watchman Nee’s teaching concerning the church and my teaching. Further Talks on the Church Life was published in 1969 to refute this rumor. This book lists the date, location, and original publication information for each message to prove that Brother Nee never changed his view concerning the ground of the church and the practicality of the church life. This book shows that, if anything, he became stronger.
After Further Talks on the Church Life was published, the source of the rumor changed its approach. In a book entitled Against the Tide, instead of saying that Brother Nee changed, the author says that Brother Nee was wrong in the matter of the church. Those who believe this accept Brother Nee’s ministry related to life but condemn his ministry related to the church. This is the subtle doing of the enemy to dilute this ministry. It is like cutting off the head but keeping the body. The Lord raised up the ministry of Brother Nee for the Lord’s recovery. The main point of his ministry is to recover the church life with Christ as life.
The second aspect of the enemy’s subtle activity is an attitude of compromise among some co-workers. Regrettably, not many of Brother Nee’s co-workers were clear and strong concerning the ground of the church and the practicality of the church life. Some were clear but were not capable or strong to present these things to the saints. Others were clear and capable but maintained a compromising attitude, fearing that they might offend others. They knew the truth and were clear about the ground of the church and the practicality of the church life, but they exercised their mind rather than their spirit to be clever and compromising to avoid offending others. Because Brother Nee’s ministry has been diluted in this way, today it needs to be strengthened and intensified.
The third aspect of the enemy’s strategy is to bring in mixture and confusion through religion. After we had already published many books concerning the church, I was sent by the Lord to the United States, but some co-workers who were afraid of offending others advised me not to use the term the local church. Nevertheless, I sounded the trumpet concerning the ground of locality. However, today the term the local church has become popular in Christianity. Some Pentecostal Christians have adopted the writings of Brother Nee and invented new ways to define the local church. Among Christians in the United States there are at least three or four different ways in which the term the local church is used.
In Matthew 16:18 the Lord promised and prophesied, “I will build My church.” Today religion has permeated every part of the earth. The enemy has utilized the Bible to form many different religions. The Lord has no way to use any of these religions to accomplish His purpose. Although some have been saved in religion, and some have even been helped to improve their daily walk, there is no possibility for the prophecy in Matthew 16:18 to be fulfilled in religion. However, the Lord will not give up. We know that He will build His church because in Revelation 19:7 His wife is ready.
The pure bride will not be the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant denominations, the independent groups, or the charismatic movement. It must be something else, something apart from religion. Thus, there is a need for the Lord to raise up a group to have a new start. He will take the same way that He took when He began His ministry in Galilee—He will gain a group of young people.
We must not become old or out of date in our concepts. A religious mind may disapprove of our way of releasing our spirit in the meetings. However, it is better for a meeting to be living and loud than for it to be dead and silent. Our way of meeting in the Lord’s recovery today is not a matter of formality but of exercising our spirit. The Lord is not only in the heavens but also in our spirit. The Lord said in John 15:4, “Abide in Me and I in you.” Galatians 2:20 says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” Philippians 1:21 says, “To me, to live is Christ.” These words need to be real to us. We should express Christ in the meetings. When we eat, table manners are not as important as taking the food into us. Eating with good manners is good, but manners may prevent us from enjoying the food. The most enjoyable meal is eaten at home without formal table manners. When we come to the church meetings, we come home for a meal. We should care more for eating and enjoyment than for strict order.
According to the Bible, one day the Lord will use Antichrist and the kings under him to terminate religion. Daniel 8, 9, and 11 reveal that at the end of this age Antichrist will be raised up, and he will sign a covenant with the nation of Israel for seven years. After three and a half years, the great tribulation will begin when Antichrist breaks his covenant with the Jews and begins to persecute them. He will cause the offerings to stop and will set himself up as God, putting an image of himself in the temple to be worshipped. That will be the destruction and termination of the Jewish religion. Revelation 17:16 says that when Antichrist breaks the covenant with the nation of Israel, the ten kings under his hand will burn the Catholic Church. According to verse 17, by doing this, they will be fulfilling God’s will.
Religion will be terminated, but the bride will be prepared (21:2). At that time the overcomers, the firstfruits, will be raptured to the air as the bride (14:4, 14-16). We must decide whether we will be part of religion or part of the bride. I believe that today the Lord must do something new and cut off the old current of religion. The young people must prepare themselves to go either to Europe or to the college campuses in the United States. The Lord’s ministry is to minister Christ as life and everything to His believers so that the church would be produced as a living expression of Christ on the earth in many localities. This must be carried out entirely apart from religion. The saints should not be concerned about outward matters such as the eldership, head covering, or foot-washing. We simply need to go on with Christ for the church in a new and living way. This will pave the way for the Lord to come back.