The genuine service
Date:Evening, February 25, 1950 Place:Jordan Road, Hong Kong Speakers:Watchman Nee, Witness Lee Scripture Reading:Eph. 4:11-12, 16
Maintaining a fresh consecration
Watchman Nee:These are sobering days. Some of you have handed yourselves over to the Lord and are willing to rise up to serve Him. You might have struggled a little at the beginning. During your struggle you might have experienced pain and sadness, but once you offered yourself, you were filled with joy. I can sense your feeling. Many people have filled out a consecration slip and indicated a willingness to offer all, including future, career, time, and body to the Lord. But today I want to ask a question: Is your feeling different today from when you handed yourself over to the Lord ten or twenty days ago? It seems as if your feeling tonight is not as strong as it was a few days ago. Whenever we slip back in our consecration, we slip back in our Christian life. Every day we have to ask ourselves, “Am I still fresh? Am I still shining inwardly?” The Christian life is like polishing shoes; they must be polished again and again to maintain a shine. If we feel that we are no longer shining inwardly, we have to ask the Lord if something is wrong with us. We have to find out why we have lost the heavenly taste. We must learn to maintain a fresh consecration all the time.
In the Old Testament, the fire in the outer court was lighted only once. After that it needed wood and sacrifice daily to keep the fire burning day and night (Lev. 6:12). The fire could only be lighted once. One does not wait until the fire goes out to light it again. The fire on the altar is an unceasing fire. In order to keep it burning, there must be sacrifices every day. In the New Testament we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1). In order to keep the fire burning, we need to offer ourselves up continually as a sacrifice. A living sacrifice means that we offer ourselves to God as a sacrifice while we are living. If there is sin, reservation, or staleness in us, or if we forego our consecration, the divine fire on the altar will stop. If we do not do anything that hurts ourselves, if we will not inflict pain on our feelings, love, will, ambition, human aspirations, desires, and hopes, we have stopped offering ourselves as a living sacrifice. If we have never hurt ourselves once, we can claim that we are filled with joy, but this joy will be unreliable. Once we offer up everything as an offering, we have sacrificed ourselves. We will suffer loss, pain, and wounds, but God will gain something. Therefore, if you feel that your joy in the last few days has waned, you can try giving away some of your cherished items again. When you give them away with one hand, you may be filled with pain and hurt, but you will receive joy with the other hand. It seems as if you are acting against yourself, but this is the only way to ensure that your joy remains.
Please forgive me for saying this: The joy in some people’s face changes all the time, but when others make a decision, they never change back. If our consecration does not change, our joy will not change. Those whose joy has changed have changed their consecration. If we want to maintain and even deepen our joy, we need a constant consecration. A Christian’s face is a window. From this window we see his consecration. It is one thing to fill out a consecration slip. It is another thing to draw a sword to kill. We admit that we are too slow in reviewing and processing your consecration. The brothers and sisters who are responsible for this work are not experienced enough. But what we have offered to the Lord belongs to Him forever. We cannot regret and try to take it back. We must never eat what we have vomited. Otherwise, we will lose the blessing of the Lord which we are entitled to receive from Him.
Oneness and coordination being the issue of the life within
Witness Lee: A few days ago we fellowshipped about answering the demand of Christ within us. This is the genuine service of the church. Our service in coordination is not something artificial. Many people talk about the teaching of oneness. When I hear it, my spirit feels uncomfortable. Many people are not clear about oneness. The principle of oneness is actually the same as the principle of coordination. First, we have to understand that the oneness of the church is not something manmade. If I am not one with a few brothers, I cannot be exhorted to be one with doctrines. If oneness can be achieved by exhortation, this oneness is false and artificial. We may pass on some doctrines to the brothers, telling them that we are all for the Lord, for the saints, and for the church, and as such we should drop our opinions. The brothers may say, “Okay, this word has convinced us. We give up. We are willing to be one.” This is still human oneness; it is not the oneness that issues from life. But if we sense a spontaneous demand within us, and we willingly allow the life within us to flow out, we will have the genuine oneness. The genuine oneness of the church is the coming forth of Christ within each one of us. When this outflow of Christ is added together, we have the oneness. If none of us answers the demand of the Holy Spirit within us, we do not have the oneness. Only as Christ comes forth from all the saints is there the genuine oneness.
The coordination in the church is not a kind of piling together but the result of us handing ourselves over willingly to the Lord and serving and working together under the sovereign arrangement of the Holy Spirit. If we call three or five brothers and sisters together and assign them some service, this is merely a kind of organization; it is not genuine coordination. Coordination is having the grace to bring out the Christ in Brother Chang and the Christ in Brother Lee and then serving together. If we harbor a sin, if we have some worldly cravings or carnal objects that we have not given up, or if we still jealously guard our self, ideas, inclinations, and concepts from His dealing even though they were touched by the Spirit, we may say that we are one with the brothers and sisters, but in reality we cannot be joined to another lover of the Lord. This is because this lover of the Lord has forsaken the world, rejected sin, and dealt with the self, but we have not. We must realize that outward oneness is manmade and false.
Let me repeat: The coordination of the Body is not organizational; it is something that issues from the life within. For the past few days I have had a heavy burden within me, hoping that Brother Nee would say a word concerning coordination. However, Brother Nee has asked me to speak. I can only obey. I feel that there is one thing which I have not yet been able to release. This cannot be covered in one or two words.
What the Lord has done through Brother Nee in Hong Kong is a great thing, an unprecedented thing. This is something that the Lord has done; it is not something that man’s exhortation can achieve. Some have handed over their possessions. Others have forsaken the world and handed over their future, their career, their body, and their time. For this I truly worship the Lord. I am afraid, however, that some will think that this handing over is a procedure to get into the coordination. Actually, by handing ourselves over, we open a way for Christ to flow out of us. Coordination is when the spirit within all of us is released. Coordination is an event in our spirit; it liberates the life that lies within our spirit. I would ask the saints in Hong Kong, as well as the responsible brothers, to give me the liberty to say a word. I feel that you have paid too much attention to the practical affairs and have neglected the spirit. I dare not say that you have ignored it, but at least you have neglected it. All of you have handed yourselves over. But your spirits have not been handed over yet. Hence, you are still not in the coordination. The church is the Christ within every Christian being added together. Church service is the Christ within everyone being released. When the life of Christ comes forth from the brothers and sisters, we have coordination.
When we were in Foochow, twenty to thirty workers handed over not only their material possessions, but their work as well. Once they handed themselves over in this way, they were able to coordinate together. As long as we hold on to anything, whatever it may be, we cannot coordinate, and there is no oneness or one accord. Oneness, one accord, and coordination are nothing but the coming forth of the Christ within us. If the life of Christ in the believers in Hong Kong cannot come forth, nothing will happen even if the gospel teams parade through the street with bullhorns and even if we make all kinds of arrangements for visitation and service. I hope that the saints here in Hong Kong can be taught by God in this particular point.
The church in Taipei registered itself as “Christian Assembly Hall” with the government because of political expediency. Later some people came from Shanghai and used the same name. They even imitated our gospel teams, and they practiced head covering as well. They can be exactly the same as we are in everything, but the release of the Holy Spirit is not something that one can contend for. Our service to the Lord depends on whether or not the Spirit has a free way through us. All outward imitation and mimicking are artificial; they are not the genuine service of the church. The church’s service in coordination depends entirely on the release of the Holy Spirit from within us; it has nothing to do with how closely we can imitate one another. The problems of the churches and the co-workers cannot be solved any other way. They can only be solved in the Body, in the Holy Spirit, and in life. When Christ within us is released, life flows and problems go away.
If all the brothers and sisters can be one and if they remain in harmony and in coordination, there will be power in the church service. If a man works much, yet does not sense the Holy Spirit’s operation within him, this is like eating food that contains no vitamins at all. We may hold tightly on to anything in our hands or in our hearts. It may not be money. It may be the work, our view, or our feeling. As long as there is something that we will not let go of, some area where we refuse to be dealt with in, it is impossible to have power or to coordinate with others. Coordination is not outward activity. This standard is too low. Coordination is absolutely not for taking care of outward works. It is for spiritual building up. It is something that issues from the life within. In order to serve in coordination, the life within us has to come out.
The practice of coordination
How can we be coordinated? Ephesians 4:15b says that we have to be joined to the Head Christ in all things. This includes our fellowship with Him. We have to ask ourselves all the time: Do we have a constant sweet fellowship with Christ? We should not only ask if our conscience is at peace, but ask whether or not we have fellowship with Christ. Peace in the conscience only fulfills a negative requirement. On the positive side, we have to have fellowship with the Head. Many times we have not committed any sin and there is no condemnation in our conscience. Yet inwardly we are depressed; there is no way for us to have fellowship with Christ. Perhaps there are some hindrances between us and Him. In order to have fellowship with Christ, we need to have clearances and dealings. When every member is joined to the Head Christ, the whole Body will be fitly framed together in Him. This means after we have fellowship with Christ, we must still ask ourselves whether or not we are fitly framed together with the brothers and sisters. On the one hand, coordination depends on our fellowship with Christ the Head and, on the other hand, with our relationship to the brothers and sisters.
Today there are many saved Christians, but there are not too many who have fellowship with Christ. There are less who are joined to the brothers and sisters in their fellowship with Christ. A man may not err that much in his outward conduct, but fellowship with the Lord is a very sensitive and tender thing. As long as there is a little isolation, fellowship will stop. A worker can lose his fellowship with God just because he has held on to his work. This is a terrible thing. It is possible for us to lose God’s fellowship yet still be successful in our outward work. It is possible for us to have God’s blessing yet be void of the fellowship of life. If we have fallen into this condition, our outward contact with the brothers and sisters will be nothing but human endeavor. If the life within us is released and we have fellowship with the brothers and sisters, spontaneously there will be the coordination. Coordination is a matter of fellowshipping with the Head and being properly joined to the brothers and sisters. Our spiritual sense within, our fellowship with the Lord, and our relationship with the other members have to be strengthened and sustained.
The standard of service being one’s spiritual capacity
The extent to which we can say that a service in the church is right or wrong and the seriousness to which such mistakes should be viewed is judged purely by the amount of spiritual capacity we possess. For example, when the floor is dirty, we must not only deal with the person who is cleaning the floor but also with the spiritual principle. Usually when we encounter such a situation there are two ways to deal with it. The first is to deal with the ones who are responsible for the cleaning. Is this the right way to deal with it? All the brothers are clear that this is not enough. The second way is to deal with the spiritual principle. In the church it is more important to deal with things according to spiritual principles. The goal is that the one responsible for the floor would touch the Lord. It is useless to rebuke him so that he mops and cleans the floor but does not have any spiritual fellowship with the Lord or find any spiritual supply.
As the brothers and sisters are cleaning the floor, they should pray that the Lord would sanctify the spots where they are cleaning. They should pray that those who stand on it would fear the Lord, that an unbeliever would believe in the Lord, and that he would realize that he is standing on sanctified ground. If the brothers and sisters do this, an outward thing will be made to carry spiritual weight. Church service is not merely outward activities; it is for Christ to flow out of us through the Holy Spirit. This matter alone shows us the high standard Christ puts upon church service.
Suppose we have fellowship with the Head in the morning. By two o’clock in the afternoon, Christ may have a new demand within us. If we argue with Him and do not yield to this new demand, we will lose our intimate fellowship with the Head. When we come at four o’clock in the afternoon to clean the floor, we will not have any fellowship with the Lord, and our cleaning will be like the cleaning of any ordinary person. If a church only pays attention to outward activities, and is slow, dull, and dim in spiritual feelings, it will not carry much spiritual weight. Our service must be a service in the Holy Spirit. Although we can have many activities outwardly, the life of Christ within us must come forth. If we can do this, the church will be established in a real and genuine way, and we will see the building up of the Body of Christ.
Being delivered from human artificial service
Watchman Nee: During the past few days Brother Lee has been urging me to speak, but I do not know what kind of thoughts are within him. Today I feel to say something. Please forgive me for saying a frank word to you. For the past ten days at least, I have been in a quandary. This is not a matter of whether or not the brothers and sisters have handed themselves over. I feel that a basic problem is still unresolved in all those who have handed themselves over. We can even pinpoint the problem: Too much of our service is human and artificial; it does not have its source in the life within us.
I have been speaking for the Lord for about thirty years. I know that no sinner can be saved without confessing his sins. Similarly, I can say that no Christian can know the reality of the church without making confession for his artificial and human service in the church. There were three brothers (a co-worker, a brother, and a leading one) who were dissatisfied with the church in Hong Kong. They often criticized many things in front of me. I am not saying that the critical ones are right. But if we do not let go of one or two things and if we would not deal with them, our service and coordination are equally wrong. Unless we deal with these basic issues, our coordination and service will be nothing but an outward show.
Suppose I make a model of a bee out of wax. It may look exactly like a real bee, but even a child can tell that it is not a real bee. A real bee has life. In the coming days, what we need is not to make a bigger wax bee but to have some real bees. We should not think that we can justify ourselves once we have handed ourselves over. It is true that our sins are to be condemned, but our righteousness is equally ragged before God. George Whitefield said once that even our tears of repentance need the washing of the blood. It is not just our evils that must be condemned and dealt with. What little bit of good that we possess must be destroyed also. We should not think that we have the real thing as long as we have the proper, outward appearance.
I beg you to believe that we know what is artificial service and what is genuine service of the Holy Spirit. I had no thought of saying such a word, but during the past few months, I have felt that many of the services in the church are artificial and manmade; they are void of any spiritual touch. Many people are paying too much attention to activities. They do not have a basic understanding of service, yet they come to serve. It seems as if all of us have become wax bee makers. I am not saying that we have a problem with our behavior. This is a matter of nature. The issue is whether something is human or spiritual.
I have been waiting for one kind of prayer, but I have not heard it during these days. We must all admit that many of the past messages were wax-like, and the services were wax-like. Many of the services and the coordination were false. In the world we can be false about anything because the flesh has a place in the world. But in the church there should not be any falsehood. We can be false in a very honest way. During the past few days, I have felt extremely terrible about many things. I read your consecration slips over ten times. On top of the pile are those from the co-workers and the responsible ones. Following these are the slips from all the brothers and sisters. Every time I look at them, I ask myself whether or not they handed themselves over because of the urging of the Spirit or because they were going along with some outward activities. No dealing in the course of the remission of sin is glorious. Similarly, no service of the flesh is to be boasted of. Let me repeat: This is not a matter of changing any methods but a matter of the very nature of things. I ask that the brothers and sisters not care so much for their “face”; they should go to the Lord for shining and dealing. On the one hand, I am very happy that the brothers and sisters have handed themselves over. On the other hand, I feel sad that they are not able to differentiate real things from false things. I hope that in these days you will learn to have the genuine service, that is, service that issues from the Holy Spirit within.
A prayer
Weigh Kwang-hsi: Lord, we admit that we are not qualified to take the lead among the brothers and sisters. We cannot meet their needs, much less Your demands. In the past we had many thoughts and concepts which we deemed right and good. We ask that You forgive us. We admit that our consecration is behind that of many brothers and sisters, and the dealings that we have received are much less than what they have learned. We need Your special mercy. Lord, we are no better than the other brothers and sisters. We admit that we have made the ground useless (Luke 13:7). It is a small thing that we have offended You personally, but, Lord, we have offended the church, the Body of Christ. This is too serious. We have been appointed as the responsible ones. The burden is too heavy. We truly need Your sufficient grace and Your empowering.
Lord, we do not know where our confession should begin. We ask Your light to shine on what we have confessed and on what we are too slow to understand and confess. Forgive us for all these things. We ask that You accept anything in our service that is from You. We are willing to tear down all wood, grass, and stubble in our services. We want to have services that are gold, silver, and precious stones. We admit that there was no release of the spirit and of life in our services in the past. We admit that we did many things, but we forgot that we were serving You. We have done much, but we have not learned the lessons of service. Gracious Lord, be merciful to us!
Lord, we believe that since You have begun this good work, You will finish it. Today You have spoken through Your two servants. This is Your grace and great mercy to the church in Hong Kong. It is also Your mercy and grace that You have given us a spirit of repentance tonight. Your servants have not held back one thing that they should speak. It is Your great grace that they have not withheld their speaking from us. If Your servants were to become silent, we would be like dead persons. Since You have spoken, fulfill Your word. May our prayer tonight count towards Your plan of the ages. Grant us a fresh turn, a new beginning in the church in Hong Kong tonight.
May You work on us anew. We all give ourselves to You in a fresh way as a living sacrifice. Lord, although we are the overseers, we need Your mercy more than the other brothers and sisters. Your servants have spoken strong words, and this is a sign of Your love to Your church. Lord, even our repentance needs the cleansing of Your blood. We need more revelation and shining to expose our corruption and natural constitution. May our service and coordination in the church issue from the spirit, and may they bear the element of life. May You be fully satisfied. Amen!