The Whole Life of a Full-time Serving One

The Whole Life of a Full-time Serving One

I. Foreword—the real meaning of being full-time:

A. Presenting our bodies a living sacrifice:

Romans 12:1 says, “I beg you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God, which is your most reasonable service.” Actually, for one to present his body to God is to go full-time. If you do not go full-time, how could your body be free to be presented to God as a living sacrifice? Our entire being is contained in our body, and our body is confined in our time. Therefore, the body is the center of these two things, the center of our being and the center of our time. The being is what we are, and the time is where we exist. We can change the places where we live, but we cannot move ourselves out of time. You always remain in time. To present your body to God means you give yourself to God. This is to be full-time. We Christians should all be full-timers. We have to give ourselves to Him. We do not give ourselves to anything else, only to our saving God. (Elders’ Training, Book 08: The Life-Pulse of the Lord’s Present Move, ch. 7)

B. The real meaning of being full-time is to live to Him:

The real meaning of being full-time is to live to Him. To go full-time does not mean to drop your job and become a preacher. It does not mean that you give up your business and become one who preaches the gospel or who labors in the word all the time. A full-timer is one who lives to the Lord. Who should be such a one? Every believer, without one exception. As long as you are a believer, you have to realize you should be one living to Him. We have to live to Him because He is ours and we are His. To live to Him is based upon the fact that we are His. Not only is He ours, but we also are His. (Elders’ Training, Book 08: The Life-Pulse of the Lord’s Present Move, ch. 8)

II. The basic principles for the full-time serving ones:

A. Personal aspect:

1. We need to realize that all have been called to serve the Lord:

We need to realize that as members of Christ’s Body and priests in God’s house, we exist for the Lord’s service. Before the Lord our primary responsibility is not to make a living, to engage in business or to pursue our education but to serve the Lord. Of course, the young saints must study, and as a rule the older ones must work in order to make a living. Yet as priests of God and members of Christ, we must realize that we have been called, even “drafted,” into the Lord’s service. We do not need to wait for the Lord to call us to serve Him. The Lord has already called and enlisted us into His service. Regardless of whether we study or work, our real profession is not to be a student or a businessman; our “profession” is to be serving priests in God’s house and functioning members in Christ’s Body.

2. We must take care of what the Lord has committed to us:

In considering our service to the Lord, we must consider how much the Lord has committed to us. If we are faithful to the Lord and have received a commission from Him that is so great that we have no time to do anything else, there is nothing else we can do but serve full time. If this is our situation, we must forget about all other things and place ourselves in the Lord’s hands. We should not consider whether we will be rich or poor, satisfied or hungry our only consideration should be to take care of the work that the Lord has committed to us.

3. Exercising faith:

If we are clear that the Lord has commissioned us with a burden must care for His commission more than we care for our livelihood. If we care for our living and neglect the Lord’s commission we are not faithful to the Lord. If we are faithful to the Lord’s commission, we will exercise our faith. This faith is not something of ourselves. To exercise faith is to exercise our spirit and our heart to trust in the Lord. (2 Cor. 4:13; Prov. 3:5)

4. Being willing to suffer:

Those who have a heart to serve the Lord must be willing to be poor and willing to suffer. We should not be deceived, thinking that if we serve the Lord, He will give us riches.

We need to have a living faith, believing that if we mean business with the Lord and go on by following Him, regardless of how difficult the situation may be and how poor we may be, the Lord will bring us through. I can testify that this is true. The narrow way is the Lord’s way. We should not be afraid to take this way.

5. Being willing to sacrifice:

If we intend to take the Lord’s way, we must always be willing to sacrifice. It may seem that sacrifice is the same as suffering. However, the two are different. Suffering refers to the affliction brought about by things that are outside our control. We have no choice but to endure suffering. Sacrifice, however, is something that is within our control. Sacrifice is voluntary. In order to serve the Lord either full time or part time, we need to sacrifice.

6. Having a proper attitude concerning our livelihood:

In these last days the Lord’s intention is to recover two main things: Christ as life and the church as His expression. In order to recover these two things, the Lord needs to recover the proper way of living among the saints. The book of Acts records the proper living of the Lord’s people, a living that overcomes the bondage of earthly possessions (2:45; 3:6; 4:34, 37). At the time of Pentecost the disciples lived in a way that was entirely different from the rest of the human race. They were not concerned for their livelihood, nor were they afraid of being poor. The disciples cared only for the Lord and His interests. As those who are seeking the Lord’s leading in this age, we too need to be ready to go on regardless of what standard of living the Lord affords us.

7. Having no position in the full-time service:

When we have learned all the lessons in the foregoing six points, we will know the Lord’s leading concerning our function in His Body and our service in His house. In addition, we need to realize that our serving the Lord full time makes no difference before the Lord with respect to our position in the Body of Christ. Neither should it make any difference to us. We are simply brothers and sisters and members of the Body. Those who serve the Lord full time should not view themselves as being anything other than ordinary saints and members. Furthermore, they should not be under the impression that because they are full-time serving ones, they are co-workers. Whether a brother or sister has a job or whether he or she serves full time is a personal matter according to the Lord’s leading and has nothing to do with having a position or a title of any kind. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 3: “The Oneness of the Body and the Service in the Church Life”, ch. 10)

B. Corporate aspect：

1. Holding the ground and maintaining the testimony:

The sphere of the church is a locality, and the sphere of the work is a region. A church is local. That is why we have the church in Ephesus, the church in Colossae, and the church in Corinth. But the work is more than local. The book of Acts shows us that the first group of workers went from Jerusalem to Samaria, and then to all the other places. These workers were not limited to the locality of Jerusalem, but they were limited to the region of Judea. Hence, this shows us that their work was regional.

Under normal circumstances, though the regions are different, there is still a oneness between the regions. When the relationship is normal, all the works in the different regions maintain the one fellowship. Jerusalem is one with Antioch. Although they belong to different regions, they still have fellowship before the Lord.

If Nanking develops a problem with Shanghai, that is, if the church in Nanking is at odds with the church in Shanghai, you can only say that they are maintaining a local testimony; they have not maintained God’s testimony on earth. We must not only maintain a local testimony; we must also maintain God’s testimony on earth.

2. Knowing the Body and submitting to the authorities

God wants our self to be broken. Individualism must go, and we cannot act according to our own will; our outward shell must be broken. The Body is a matter of consciousness. God has to bring a man to the point where he realizes that he is the church. This is what we mean by the Body consciousness. (CWWN, vol. 57: “The Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry”, ch. 31)

III. Serving in the church a foundation with two aspects:

A. Being trained in the truth and being cultivated in life:

What I hope to see, on the one hand, is that you would be trained in the truth, and on the other hand, that you would be cultivated in life. You must be firmly established in the truth. Every day you must read the Bible for the nourishment of your spiritual life. Pray-read two or three verses every morning, eating the Lord’s word and enjoying Him properly. This will supply your need for the day. In addition to this, you have to study the Bible every day and dive into the depths of every book. Do not read over them lightly; pursue them seriously. At the same time, you have to speed-read three chapters of the Old Testament and one chapter of the New Testament every day. You must be trained in these three areas. This will become your capital in your future Christian life, work, and service. In addition to these, you have to grow in life. In this way, spontaneously, you will have a way to serve the Lord. (The Vision of the Divine Dispensing and Guidelines for the Practice of the New Way, ch. 8)

B. Lessons of life are for the building up of the church:

As believers who know the church, we meet together with the building up of the church as our goal. Our spiritual pursuit and our willingness to learn the lessons of life are not for our personal gain but for the church. We are not for our own spirituality; we are for the building up of the church.

Then we will be open to coordination, which is the building up of the church. Coordination is not a matter of organization according to human will but a matter of the growth and expression of life. It is a practical matter because when we coordinate, we know the order in the Body, and we know our place. This means that we know God’s arrangement; we know the place that God has arranged for us, His order in the Body, and the deputy authority in the church. (The Sufficiency, Pursuit, and Learning of the Lord’s Serving Ones, ch.7)

IV. The road map of the service for a full-time serving one all his life (take the service of Levites in different stages and ages as the background)：

Num. 8:23-26 Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, This is what applies to the Levites:  From twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to perform the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting. And from the age of fifty years they shall retire from the service in the work and shall serve no more. But they may minister to their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to keep the charge, but they themselves shall do no service. Thus you shall do with the Levites concerning their charges.

A. Beginning stage ( the first three years for oversea propagation):

Num. 8:24 footnote 1:

According to 4:3, a Levite had to be thirty years old to be qualified to carry out the service in the tabernacle. Based on this verse, at the age of twenty-five a Levite must have begun a five-year period of apprenticeship, in which he was trained to minister in the tabernacle. Every aspect of the service in the tabernacle had to be exact; no mistakes were tolerated. Therefore, those who served in and around the tabernacle had to be trained to do things accurately. After a Levite had completed his five-year apprenticeship, he was qualified, at the age of thirty, to serve in the tabernacle.

1. Before married:

a. Being aggressive:

In Vessels Useful to the Lord, Brother Lee said: I have a considerable amount of human experience, and I realize that all humans tend to be easygoing. However, you should not be loose in any way during your first five years of full-time service because these are the most crucial years of your service. You must lay hold of these five years. What matters is not what you do but how much you learn.(Vessels Useful to the Lord, ch. 1)

I encourage you to exercise your spirit and to exercise a strong will to be aggressive in your service to the Lord. Otherwise, after serving full time for six months, you will be useless. (The Proper Aggressiveness of the Lord’s Serving Ones, ch. 8)

b. The importance of marriage in our service：

There are three basic elements of a Christian marriage. First, there is mutual help; second, there is the prevention of sin; and third, there is the joint inheritance of grace of two persons in the presence of God.

God’s purpose is to have a husband and a wife, who will mutually help each other. Thus, He called Adam’s wife a help meet. Help meet in Hebrew means someone who is meet to help. Here we find that God wants man to live in a corporate way, to have mutual fellowship, and to render mutual help. This is God’s purpose.

Marriage can prevent sin. This is why Paul said that men should have their own wives and women should have their own husbands. This is to prevent the sin of fornication.

In his first Epistle, Peter said that the wives are “fellow heirs of the grace of life” (3:7). In other words, God delights to see husbands and wives serving Him together. God delighted to see Aquila and Prisca serving Him. He delighted to see Peter and his wife, Judah and his wife, serving Him together. (CWWN, Vol. 49: Messages for Building Up New Believers (2), ch. 13,)

2. After marriage:

Marriage is a blessing from God; it is also the beginning of human happiness. At the same time, you have to remember that marriage is also the beginning of relaxation for many people. For this reason, you have to have the proper attitude before and after marriage. You should have only one aim for getting married—to serve together with your spouse, which is always better than serving alone.…After you are married, you always experience a psychological change. Once you are married, there is a pit right next to your house; you have to prepare for days of danger. During the first two or three months, do your best to control your mind; do not allow it to become loose. After the first two or three months, the danger is less acute. You must always maintain your balance psychologically. You have to learn to control yourself in your psychology. (CWWN, Vol. 61: Matured Leadings in the Lord’s Recovery (1), ch. 15)

a. Learning the truth:

Nothing is too difficult for someone who sets his heart to do it. There is nothing that you cannot do; it all depends upon whether or not you put your heart into it. If you put your heart into something, you can do it. This is what we mean when we say, “Where there is a will, there is a way.” The problem is that by nature man loves ease and hates work. Laziness is second nature to man. I am very concerned about this matter. I have a considerable amount of human experience, and I realize that all humans tend to be easygoing. However, you should not be loose in any way during your first five years of full-time service because these are the most crucial years of your service. You must lay hold of these five years. What matters is not what you do but how much you learn. The most important thing is to learn the truth and the experiences of life. You need to try to advance as quickly as possible in these two matters. (Vessels Useful to the Lord, ch. 1)

b. Learning how to serve:

1) the primary matter in learning how to serve is to speaking for the Lord:

Regarding the changing of the system, the matter that I feel most heavily burdened about within is the weakness of the ministry of the word in the meetings. At the present time the new way has proven to be the right way both in the East and in the West. However, all the situations and conditions that were manifested during the experimental period have shown us that the speaking of the word in the various meetings is very weak. We are not asking that the speaking be extraordinary but that it would at least be able to meet the need. Presently, our speaking is not ideal and does not meet the need. In other words, we are like a team that cannot take the field to compete because we are not up to the standard. I have always been heavily burdened concerning the ministry of the word, and I have been forced to carefully consider before the Lord how to deal with it.

2) Serving in the new way ordained by God:

If you are willing to spend five years to attend as many church meetings as possible and to learn to serve, using half of every day to learn the truth and the other half to work, then the future of the Lord’s recovery will definitely be bright. There are many ways by which we can work. We can work by contacting the members in a small group or the saints attending the meeting. It is not necessary for others to give you a charge and a commission. Rather, you should already have this view that your work is to happily and voluntarily contact others and then to fellowship with them in a normal way by either inviting them for a meal or visiting them in their homes to cherish and help them. If you would do this for months and even years, the result would be inestimable. (Vessels Useful to the Lord, ch.2)

3) Learning language (the primary burden in the first year of oversea propagation)

Work, learn, and study at the same time. Moreover, you also need to exert an effort to learn several languages. In order to work for the Lord, you must be able to cut straight the word of the truth. You have to get into the depths of the truth to study it. However, if you are not fluent in certain languages, you will have no way to get into the depths of the truth. If you were illiterate, you would be unable to read anything, not to mention the Bible, and would naturally be unable to study the truth. Today it is very common for people to communicate with others all over the world. The environment around the whole world is one of openness and circulation. English is the international language and the one that is most commonly spoken. A great number of spiritual books and magazines have been made available to the public in English. If you want to serve the Lord, it is not sufficient to be skillful only in your own native language. You must also understand English, which is the most widely used language. The text of the New Testament was originally written in Greek. Since the source of the truth lies in the New Testament, you must also learn Greek. At least you have to learn the Greek alphabet, be familiar with Greek grammar, and be able to use reference books. As you are working for the Lord, you have to speak for Him. Speaking is intimately related to language. Your manner of speaking exposes how much you have studied. Therefore, you need to read many books and endeavor to learn some languages. I regret that I did not learn enough. If I were still your age, I would learn at least ten more languages. I truly hope that you would work, learn, and study at the same time. You should get a good dictionary and reference book and seriously study them every day. Do not study too many things at once. Simply spend your time and energy in an earnest way on a few of them. In the winter of 1932, I began learning to use the Interlinear Greek-English New Testament. The copy I used then is still in my possession. I hope that you would all do the same, studying in a serious way and making your time in the Full-Time Training worthwhile and meaningful. Otherwise, you will be wasting your time in the training. (Vessels Useful to the Lord, ch.5）

B. Progressing stage:

1. Stepping forward in service—building up and strengthening the testimony:

Numbers 4:3 says, “From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the military service, to do the work in the tent of meeting” (Heb.). When the tabernacle was set up, those in this age group maintained it. When the children of Israel were traveling, those in this group also carried the various parts of the tabernacle and its utensils. Hence, those between the ages of twenty and thirty were the fighting ones, and those between the ages of thirty and fifty were the ones to maintain and carry the tabernacle.

Applying this type to today’s situation, we see that the young people are on the frontier fighting, but the older ones are at home maintaining the testimony. Maintaining the Lord’s testimony is more important than fighting. If there is no testimony, the young people are fighting in vain. Therefore, let us rise up and keep the testimony. Then the warfare in which the young people are engaged will be meaningful. The testimony today is the church. The middle-aged brothers and sisters must be those who set up the testimony, maintain it, and carry it from place to place. What a responsibility this is! (All Ages for the Lord’s Testimony, ch.1)

2. We must not consider our full-time service to the Lord to be a form of employment:

About our service, we must not consider our full-time service to the Lord to be a form of employment. There are two ways by which we may know whether our service has become a job. If our service is merely a way to make a living, it has become a job; and if we do not have a burden, our service has become a job. As serving ones, we should care for our burden and forget our livelihood. This is the way to maintain our position of being called. (The Service for Building Up the House of God, ch.5-6)

C. Full-grown stage:

The word in vv. 25-26 concerning the retiring of the Levites indicates that what they had gained in experience through the twenty-five years of their service was still needed after the age of fifty. Because God is serious about the laws governing the tabernacle, the offerings, and the Levitical work, there was the need of some experienced ones to instruct God’s people, especially the young ones, so that they would not become careless and unconsciously offend God in their service. The same need exists regarding the service in the church. (Num. 8:25, footnote 1)

1. Shepherding with bountiful life:

Although the elder brother Lin had experienced many afflictions all his life, he, by the grace of God, had been brought through one by one. These afflictions made his life richer and maturer; so he had more abundant life to supply people. In his late years, his life arrived at the abundance. Many brothers and sisters can testified from their depths that they would receive help and supply in contact with him even when he didn’t spoke. A grateful brother wrote, “ We, the people who are always around him, often benefit a lot from the flowing of his rich life！”

2. Perfecting young people:

The best way for us to serve the Lord in the church is this way. The first week that you come to serve the Lord, you may take care of seventy percent of the things, and the others take care of thirty percent. The next week, you take sixty-five percent, and the others thirty-five percent. The third week, you may take sixty, and the others, forty. With you the percentage is always being reduced, and with the others it is always being increased.

From another angle, the first week that you come, only five percent of the saints are serving with you. After one week, there are eight percent, then twelve, twenty, and eventually, maybe after one year, one hundred percent. The percentage of the work in your hands is always being reduced, yet the number of the people serving with you is always increasing. After maybe one or two years, the service will be absolutely out of your hands and one hundred percent in the hands of all the brothers and sisters. The number of the serving ones will be increased from just a handful to more than a hundred. This is the right way.

If you take this way, you will learn to be limited, to be broken, and to submit yourself to others. If you do not serve the Lord with others, you will never know yourself, but when you serve with others, you will be exposed how “good” you really are. In this kind of service there are many lessons for you to learn. (Basic Principles for the Service in the Church Life, ch.3)

3. The crisis we may have during elderly age:

Those who serve the Lord must learn the lesson of not remaining in oldness. Oldness includes many items. In fact, whatever is not of the Lord is old. Not remaining in oldness means that we do not remain in anything apart from the Lord, regardless of whether it is good or bad. We want nothing apart from the Lord. As long as we hold on to something other than the Lord, we are in oldness. We should not consider this to be an insignificant matter. In our natural man there are many hidden elements of oldness. We all remain in oldness. The elderly saints are not the only ones who can be in oldness; even two-year-old children can be in oldness. Everything apart from the Lord is old. Everything apart from the Lord is rubbish and must be thrown away. Even our former understanding of the Bible is old. If we insist on keeping our former understanding of the Bible, we will remain in oldness, and God’s light cannot enter into our being. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 3: The Future of the Lord’s Recovery and the Building Up of the Organic Service, ch. 15)

V. Warning to the full-timers:

A. Seven kinds of fear of the serving ones:

1. Fear of the lack of money

2. Fear of the environment

3. Fear of suffering

4. Fear of offending people

5. Fear of losing position

6. Fear of rebellion

7. Fear of others being raised up

B. Two kinds of greed of the serving ones

1. Mammonism

2. Lechery

VI. The Inheritance of the Pattern (1)—co-workers

A. Closely following the stream of the Holy Spirit, walking in the path that inherited from the father of our faith throughout generations, leaving a marvelous pattern for the next generation:

Heb.11 says that some of the people in the Bible made a good testimony of faith then they become the way of the age of God’s move. In 20 Century，God began recovery  his move in China and the elder brother Lin Zilong made a good testimony for the Lord in this move.  He witnessed the great grace and life of God in him, in China, even in the whole earth with his hundred years of life.

First, the personal experiences of elder brother Lin followed the Lord faithfully and served the Lord made a good testimony for the Lord, and became a pattern for future generations. He followed his father elder brother Lin Shaoliang into the Lord’s recovery from his youth and never turned away for eighty years. He was perfected by the ministry of brother Nee first and then he followed the ministry of brother Lee faithfully. Many local churches has been raised up through his service, his work not only throughout Fujian Province but also affect all parts of China. Although many trials, he could stand faithfully, among those experiences, Although suffered several times in prison and after a long day, he made a sweet testimony for the Lord in prison, the “Hymns by Brother Lin” which he had written in prison has become the comfort for the  million believers in suffering.

Secondly, the hundred years the elder brother had taken just caught the Lord recovered His move. Brother Lin’s life made a good testimony for the Lord’s move on earth and the spiritual history of the Lord in this age. The Lord’s recovery began in Fuzhou in the twenties, then it throughout China soon, even flow to the six continents overseas from the fifty’s. From first to last, the elder brother Lin have been there all the time. No matter the great revival at the end of the forty’s, the flowing of the Holy Spirit of the eighties, the elder brother Lin has engaged in personally. We can say that the history of the elder brother Lin is the history of the Lord’s recovery. His testimony is not only his personal history but also the testimony of the Lord’s recovery .The Lord’s recovery blossom everywhere in China and more vigorous development and bright future on the whole earth and the road taken by the elder brother Lin just as the way of the righteous, the light of early morning. His testimony not only said his personal victory but also said the victory of the Lord’s recovery.

Thirdly, the Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the revelation of the truth and the recovery of the practice of the vision, and in many times of the recovery of the truth and the practice, the elder brother Lin always got in there. From the recovery of the ground of the church in the thirty’s until the move of work which is handed out in the forty’s, the practice of the NEW WAY in the eighty’s, the leading of seven times a year in the nineties, the elder brother Lin always handsome first into the implementation. So the testimony of the elder brother Lin is the testimony of the revelation and the practice of the Lord’s recovery. The Lord’s move on earth from the Old Testament to the New Testament , from one generation to another, comes down in one line, and the Lord’s witness just as the ancestors of faith in Heb.11 is also the inheritance of the past dynasties revelation and practice of the Lord. Heb.12 said that the witness like the clouds that surround us. We believe that the testimony of the elder brother Lin must have one portion of the clouds. The testimony of brother Lin is that, closely following the stream of the Holy Spirit, walking in the path that inherited from the father of our faith throughout generations, leaving a marvelous pattern for the next generation. Brother Lin became a wonderful testimony in personal way, a wonderful testimony of the history of Lord’s recovery, and a wonderful testimony of the revelation and practice. Hebrew chapter twelve says that we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us The Bible says the witness, from the same root as the Hebrew word for martyr, it means that the living witness is the same with the martyr who is dead. We can say that the one who has gone is the dead witness and the one who is still kept is a living martyr.  I wish we all can be these people. (Brother Andrew Yu, in January 3, 2016, the United States Anaheim)

B. Die in the battlefield rather than die in the sickbed

Die in the battlefield rather than die in the sickbed. This can be seen he is a man who risked his own necks for Lord’s interests. He was injured in Philippines for thirty years had three tackles in his later years, and the Lord to cure cancer, and he still fear before entering. He exhorted us to pay attention to the cooperate’ six same thing: the same spirit, the same soul, the same prayer, the same work, the same labor, the same building. also pay attention to the six No: no afraid of bitter, no afraid of difficult, no say poor, no solicit contributions, no afraid of death, no take care of life. This words is his precious experience in his whole lifetime

C. Laboring faithfully, lowering his shoulders to bear the burden, and serving diligently:

Brother Zhanxiang Liu was a humble person, laboring diligently to serve, visiting saints from house to house, and lowering his shoulders to bear the burden. He had the human virtues of Jesus of Nazarene. In the early years, the co-workers’ living was rather difficult, yet Brother Liu actively served without any complaints or murmurings. He was very absolute and actively followed the leadership of the leading brothers, never speaking the remarks of criticism or negative comments, which gives saints and their children a very good example.  (The testimony of Brother Zhidong Xu for Brother Zhanxiang Liu when he served in Hualien and Taitung)

VII. The Inheritance of the Pattern (2)—Brother Witness Lee

A. For the joy of living Christ—he cared for nothing:

“O the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothing. But a living Christ in glory, and being careful for nothing but His interests down here.” This is the bold proclamation of life uttered by J.N. Darby in his old age after serving the Lord all his life and experiencing countless shame and honor; this is also our dear Brother Lee’s favorite word in his later years.

After Brother Lee got saved, by the Lord’s mercy, he began his life of God-man living and service. No matter in mainland China in his early years or later in Taiwan and U.S., he had always been aggressive and faithful to what God had committed to him. In 1962 he, over fifty, was led by the Lord to begin the work in U.S., and through this the Lord’s recovery was brought from the east to the west. In 1974 he sensed the necessity of the life-study of the Bible and then in his seventy began the two trainings of life-study of the Bible in winner and summer annually in Anaheim. Twenty-three years later, in the summer of 1995, he finished the entire life-study of the Holy Scriptures.

During those years, in the fall of 1984, after finishing the trainings on the life-study of the New Testament, he, in the advanced age of 80, resolutely and determinedly went back to Taiwan to lead the churches to practice the new way ordained by God for the propagation and increase of the Lord on the whole earth. At that time the turmoil was unceasing outwardly and the situation was bothersome inwardly; however, regardless of all these frustrations, he positively strode forward toward the fixed goal. What he set in his heart and concerned about urgently, was only the interest of the ascended and glorified Christ on earth. He was truly an excellent pattern who loved Christ, was captured by Christ, and cared for nothing but to please the Lord.

Because of his faithfulness and labor, the Lord’s recovery had more than 2,000 churches around the globe in all the six continents in the next ten years, and even the Lord’s golden lampstands were raised up in Russia of the far north. This issued from the foreknowledge and profound view of our brother and his burden within him which he never ceased and never gave up. More than once he told elders and co-workers, “I will do it to the uttermost until I die.” For the Lord’s interest on earth he exhausted all his strength.

B. For the release of the high peak truth—he moved forward faithfully and undauntedly:

In February, 1994, Brother Lee wrote a hymn in revelation for the Chinese New Year’s conference—“What miracle! What mystery!” In the conference he released the messages of “God became man to make man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead.” Since then the Lord’s recovery had entered a new age, not only arriving at the high peak of propagation, but even more arriving at the high peak of truth. Just when the church was moving forward actively between this two high peaks, the subtle Satan, however, gave our brother a thorn in the flesh that he suffered unprecedented attacks.

However, the brother said in a letter of thanksgiving and fellowship which he wrote later, “By the abundant mercy and sufficient grace of the Lord, I have still survived for more than one year as the slave of His and yours to supply deeper truth to you.… If the Lord grants me strength and time, I am willing to continue to serve and speak for Him in the coming days.”(The letter on March 22th, 1997) What Satan did just helped our brother advance more with faithfulness and undauntedness.

C. For the perfecting of the saints—he did his uttermost:

What Brother Lee had lived was the God-man living. He diligently labored, pure and genuine; he never worked alone, neither did he choose the coordinating ones. While he was leading the translation of the Chinese recovery version of the New Testament in Taipei, he tirelessly perfected a group of young and immature saints to do the work that he was doing. Every morning he prayed with them and led them back to the spirit to see that they themselves were “wrong” persons, so that they might know only the Creator would never be wrong in the universe. Thus he taught them to learn to depend on and look to the Lord who gives wisdom and revelation that they dare not to live and work by themselves but by the living Lord within them.

When the full-time training began in Taipei, he himself daily spent more than ten working hours to lead the trainees to train their character, to know the truth, to learn to work, and to experience the life with all his heart and with all his strength. For the many new believers he even personally composed Life Lessons and Truth Lessons. During those years in Taiwan, he endeavored his all and even neglected his sleep and meals; on the one hand, he finished the translation of the Chinese Recovery Version of the New Testament, and on the other hand, through the practice of the new way ordained by God, he led the churches to start a new situation that the Lord’s economy might have a way to be consummated.

D. For the manifestation of the God-man living—he practiced what he preached:

In July, 1996, he had a sincere conversation with the serving ones in the Living Ministry in Anaheim, U.S. He said that since he began to preach about God-man and the living of overcomers, he had often repented to the Lord that he had not lived this kind of living faithfully and absolutely in the presence of God. He stressed once again that the Lord’s recovery was the recovery of the divine life, not only recovering the truth, but even more recovering the living that was brought in by the truth. Therefore, he prayed that may all the saints in the Lord’s recovery could live what they preached in their living.

He even said that unless we let others see our God-man living and receive the truth of God-man, his heart would not be happy. He sincerely hoped that life would increase among us that others might see a group of people who love Christ, love one another, serve together, and live another life in the divine and mystical realm on earth to express God corporately.

E. For the filling up on his part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ—he died to himself:

The Lord Jesus is the first God-man, living on earth not by His human life but by His divine life, and always living under the shadow of the cross. The whole life of Brother Lee was the very living out of the God-man living. He often testified that many times in his daily life, when he wanted to say something to others, once there was forbiddance in the spirit, he would immediately stop. He was a man walking according to the spirit.

In work he even more learned to fully deny himself. During those years of co-working with Brother Nee, Brother Nee sought his opinions, “Brother Witness, what is your view concerning this matter?” Usually he said, “Brother Nee, whatever you say, I will do; I have no opinion.” So in a word concerning how he served under Brother Nee’s ministry, Brother Lee said, “Afterwards, we worked together for eighteen years, but he would not ask me anything because he knew that it was useless to ask, since I would do whatever he said. I behaved like this not only with Brother Nee but also with the other co-workers. I would always do according to whatever they would say.” (The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible, ch. 5)

In 1952 the Lord’s ministry turned to Brother Lee, and then he became the target for the enemy’ attack. Wave after wave’s opposition and time after time’s rebellion repeatedly went at our brother; however, he never reacted according to his natural constitution. He often said that if the work was not from the Lord, it should be torn down; if it was of the Lord, it will be vindicated by the Lord, and many will receive the help. Facts proved that because our brother lived under the shadow of the cross, every attack raised by the enemy, however, caused the Lord’s life to have a way out more and caused the Lord’s recovery to be purified more.

In October, 1996, when the churches all over the earth, under the leading of the ministry, just started to fully bring in the reality of the universal incorporation of the Body of Christ and flourishing progress with vitality, Satan also worked to the uttermost; he expanded the thorn on our brother’s flesh so seriously as to endanger his health. Our brother was clear in his heart that this was a tough battle in which the enemy would not be willing to let go easily; however, he still bravely died to himself, on the one hand, receiving treatment, and one the other hand, continuing his ministry as usual. He even humbly regarded this thorn as the limitation given by the Lord to him in order that he might not be lifted up. The history would witnessed that the moment when our brother suffered the most, was the most crucial moment for the church life in transition to the God-ordained way. He said, “I am willing to have nothing and be nothing, but honor the sovereign authority of our dear Lord. I fully submit to His sovereign will and desire to see His purpose to be accomplished.” (The letter on March 22th, 1997)

F. For the manifestation of the God-man living—he manifested Christ:

The brother quoted once again Paul’s word and said, “I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God which is with me.” Our brother deeply knew that this was not he, but the grace of God which was with him. Christ lived within him that he might live Christ for His magnification through the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ in all his living and work.

In March, 1997, due to the situation that he was in illness and his health cannot afford him to work, he temporally put down his work that had never left his hands and began to concentrate on recuperation. During this period, he did not change his characteristic of God-man living; regardless of the suffering of the human shell, he still carried out his daily routines, regularly as always. Every day he got up on time and was dressed neatly; at meal time he sit up before the table as usual, enjoying the food prepared by Sister Lee. He was unceasingly joined to his beloved Lord through prayer, calling, and singing; what he lived out from his eroded and damaged flesh that seemed incurable was the very glory of the divine life of the Triune God. All those who came near to him and accompanied him for care could testified that his life and behavior, which could not be influenced by the illness, was truly the manifestation of the gloried and beautiful God-man in the divine and mystical realm. He magnified Christ!

G. For the work of the Body of Christ—he blended with people:

Brother Lee was raised by the Lord in his early years and soon he established a work in northern China. However, after his contact with Brother Nee, he clearly saw that there was only one flow in the Lord’s work on earth, that is, to build up the unique Body of Christ. Therefore he determinedly put down his work in the north and migrated to Shanghai to live and work with Brother Nee. From then on he had been living in the light of the Body, never doing his own work but the unique work of the Lord; he always blended and coordinated with brothers to perfect the saints to build up the Body of Christ.

Taking the Body of Christ as the way and the New Jerusalem as the goal which is fully accomplished by the life-giving Spirit is the characteristic of the ministry of Brother Lee. Thus, not only can the testimony of the churches in the Lord’s recovery be propagated to every continent on the earth, but also the mutual recommendations and greetings among the churches and saints have become the general practice. The fellowship of the universal Body of Christ and the reality of the Body life has moved a further step toward the accomplishment of the eternal economy of God. In that letter of thanksgiving and fellowship written by Brother Lee, he said, “The Lord has shown me that He has prepared many brothers who will serve as fellow slaves with me in a blended way. I feel that this is the Lord’s sovereign provision for His Body and the up-to-date way to fulfill His ministry.” Our brother had been serving in the blending of the Body all his life; as a result, he had perfected a group of serving ones in blending, bringing the churches into the reality of the universal Body in blending. How glorious and wonderful is this！

H. For the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy—he fully sacrificed himself:

On May 30th, 1997, he was hospitalized due to prostate cancer and its complication. He had been a slave all his life to the Lord and His Body. Finally, he fully submitted to the Lord’s will and testified, through singing for the all-sufficient grace of the Lord, how God had shepherded him all his life with miracles of love (Hymns #671). All the short prayers uttered by him in illness expressed his ever fresh love to the Lord and the thanks for all God’s faithful caring.

On his desk was written: In nothing I will be put to shame (Phil. 1:20). Truly he had not been put to shame in anything. In February, 1997, in his last conference, he released the messages concerning reigning in life. He truly lived out the overcoming life of Christ and reigned together with Christ. When he approached his end, all people around him admired his peace while passing away and his smile of an angel. He faced death with smile and subdued him.

Our dear Brother Witness Lee had been labored selflessly all his life, pouring out all his being for the Lord’s recovery. His last proclamation to the world and to his beloved Lord was: Sacrifice. He was an excellent pattern in the Lord’s recovery; his whole life had made a wonderful interpretation and testimony for the divine truths released by him.

Appendix:

The whole life of Brother Witness Lee was just like what is said in Proverbs 4:18, “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day.”

Witness Lee was born in 1905 in Shandong province of northern China. He was saved in April of 1925.

In October of 1933, Witness Lee met Watchman Nee in Shanghai, and was perfected by Him in many aspects. Then he began to see from the Lord that there should be only one flow for Lord’s work on the earth. After he was invited by Watchman Nee to move to Shanghai and work together with brothers there, he just went back to northern China for simply managing some affairs in February of 1934 and immediately move to Shanghai from Chefoo and started his service as Watchman Nee’s co-worker.

At the occasion of political changes in mainland China in 1949, he was sent to Taiwan by Watchman Nee in great trust and formally began the work there in August 1st 1949 in Taipei. Within five to six years, the number of the saints increased hundredfold to 40000 to 50000.

In 1962 Witness Lee felt led of the Lord to start the work in United States, and at the end of the same year he released the message of all-inclusive Christ in English in the conference which was held in Los Angeles and formally brought the work of Lord’s recovery to English speaking world.

In 1974 at the grand old age of 74, Witness Lee started the great conferences concerning the Life Study of the Bible twice a year and opened the Holy Bible to the children of God chapter by chapter.

In the early 1980s, Witness Lee was used by the Lord to release the revelation concerning the divine dispensing of the divine Trinity and unfolded the vision of God’s economy.

In the autumn of 1984, Witness Lee felt the stagnation of the churches in Lord’s recovery. Then he moved back to Taiwan to seek the new way of the Lord which is called God-ordained way for meeting and serving.

In the spring of 1994, Witness Lee saw the highest peak of the divine revelation, that is “God became man so that man can become God”.

At his old age, Witness Lee didn’t decline but shined brighter and brighter like the light of dawn. He always lived before the Lord and under the shadow of the cross, buffeted his body and made it his slave, and he was always willing to be limited in every small matters. It was this kind of experience of the breaking and declining of the outer man that kept his spirit always fresh, strong and active.

Witness Lee had said:” I am the student of the Holy Bible, I should be limited by Lord’s word.” By being limited in Lord’s word, he was kept to long for and open to the Lord continuously so that he could still receive revelation and light from God’s word even at his old age and reached the highest peak of his ministry at the end of his life.

VIII. Conclusion:

Let me love and not be respected

Let me love and not be respected;

Let me serve and not be rewarded;

Let me labor and not be remembered;

Let me suffer and not be regarded.

Tis the pouring, not the drinking;

Tis the breaking, not the keeping—

A life suff’ring to seek others’ blessing,

A life loving and true comfort giving.

Not expecting pity or concern,

Not accepting solace or praise;

Even lonely, even forgotten;

Even wordless, even forsaken.

Tears and blood for the righteous crown

My price shall be; losing all,

My cost for a faithful pilgrim’s life.

Twas the life, O Lord, that You chose to live

In those days when on earth You walked,

Gladly suff’ring all injuries and loss

So that all might draw near and repose.

I cannot see how much farther I shall go;

Still I press on, knowing there is no return.

Let me follow Your pattern, so perfect and true,

Bearing all gratefully without complaint.

In this time of trial, O my Lord,

I pray that You would wipe my hidden tears away;

Let me learn, O Lord, You are my reward;

Let me be others’ blessing all my days.