Tag: the ministry
Some saints, including some leading ones, may have a wrong concept concerning the exercise of authority based on cultural traditions and natural concepts, not the Word of God or the ministry in the Lord’s recovery. Improperly exercising authority misrepresents both the ministry’s teaching and the local churches as a whole. … Continue reading Love—The Basis and Power of Authority
How should a believer evaluate whether the ministry in the Lord’s recovery—that is, the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and their co-workers who have continued to minister on the same line—or any ministry is part of the new covenant ministry revealed in the pages of the New Testament? … Continue reading Genuine Ministers of the New Covenant
When problems arise in the local churches, there is a tendency among some to ask, “If this ministry and the local churches are really a recovery of the Lord, how could such things happen?” To answer this question, we need to consider the record of the New Testament concerning the … Continue reading When Problems Arise in the Local Churches: Avoiding Two Errors
Just as there is a definite distinction between Living Stream Ministry (LSM) and the local churches, there is also an important distinction between LSM and the ministry and the work in the recovery. In a broad sense the Bible uses the word ministry to refer to the service that God’s … Continue reading The Relationship of Living Stream Ministry to the Ministry and the Work
Isaiah 28:13a contains an important principle in knowing the revelation of the Bible. It shows that any truth in the Bible cannot be understood from a single passage. As Witness Lee explained: It is mysterious and very meaningful that God has arranged His Word in this way. Isaiah 28:13 says … Continue reading Being Faithful to Our Brothers’ Complete Ministry Concerning the Practice of the Church (1)
A different teaching has recently been circulated that says that those who function as apostles have no standing to touch the administration of a local church. To buttress that claim the following quote from Brother Witness Lee’s Truth Messages is used: Do apostles have authority? According to my knowledge of … Continue reading Being Faithful to Our Brothers’ Complete Ministry Concerning the Practice of the Church (2)
From time to time a brother will trumpet the misguided notion that saints should read only the Bible, the “pure Word”, “untainted” by anyone’s interpretation. Some have used this notion as a ploy to entice the saints to reject the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee as “man’s interpretation.” … Continue reading Reading Only the “Pure Word” – A Dangerous and Unbiblical Notion
In the New Testament the word for ministry means “service.” The unique New Testament ministry is a service in the form of a stewardship of grace that ministers Christ to people for the accomplishment of His purpose (2 Cor. 4:1, 12; 1 Tim. 1:12; Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:25; 2 Cor. … Continue reading The Relationship between Living Stream Ministry and the Local Churches
For decades some have opposed the teaching of the ministry in the Lord’s recovery over three vital categories of truth—the Triune God, God’s salvation in life, and the ground of the church. Much has been written to correct misrepresentations and to present the truth from the Bible concerning these three … Continue reading Three Foundational Truths and Why They Matter
God has two complementary systems—a system of government and a system of grace— through which He accomplishes His eternal economy. A proper understanding of these two systems and how they interrelate yields great insight into the revelation of the Bible, the ways of God, and the nature of God’s salvation. … Continue reading God’s Government and God’s Grace
From the beginning of the church age reputable Bible teachers have recognized that many portions of the Scriptures, in addition to their literal meaning, also symbolize spiritual truths. Extracting the spiritual meaning from the literal words of the Bible is called allegorizing the Bible. Some people argue that it is … Continue reading Concerning Allegorizing the Bible
Dispensational discipline refers to God’s discipline of His children in the next age. The New Testament shows that God judges His own children (1 Pet. 1:17; 4:17), and the Lord Jesus makes it abundantly clear that His followers will be rewarded or disciplined at His return (Rev. 22:12; Matt. 25:14-30). … Continue reading Dispensational Discipline
Some have accused Witness Lee of teaching that parts of the book of Psalms and the Epistle of James were not divinely inspired. This is a grievous accusation that, if true, constitutes a denial of one of the basic affirmations of Christian orthodoxy: that the Bible is the Word of … Continue reading Psalms, James, and the Divine Inspiration of the Bible
Based on the New Testament, Witness Lee taught that there is only one unique ministry. Some have twisted his teaching to slanderously claim that Witness Lee was referring to his own ministry. This is a gross mischaracterization. The One Ministry of the New Testament The word ministry means “service.” Properly … Continue reading The One Unique New Testament Ministry
Some falsely claim that the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee has replaced the Bible in the local churches. In making this claim, they set the ministry against the Bible, the Word of God, as if these two things are in rivalry with each other. They have created a … Continue reading Does the Ministry Replace the Bible?
Some have asserted that the saints in the Lord’s recovery merely follow men—Brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee—rather than God. This claim denigrates the saints, who are said to exalt Brother Lee above the headship of Christ, and it falsely accuses Brother Lee of seeking a personal following. However, the … Continue reading Following the Vision or Following a Man
The ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee focuses on God’s New Testament economy. This matches the focus of the apostles’ teaching in the New Testament (Acts 2:42; 1 Tim. 1:3-4). God’s purpose in His economy is to produce the Body of Christ through His full salvation, which includes the … Continue reading Our Attitude toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help
The churches in the New Testament were established by and continued in the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42). The apostles’ teaching brought them into the apostles’ fellowship, which was the unique fellowship of the Body of Christ in and with the Triune God (1 Cor. 1:9; 1 John 1:3). Only one … Continue reading Concerning Having One Publication Work
Some on social media have used a short out-of-context excerpt from Witness Lee’s Life-study of First Peter, omitting both context and balance, to support a spurious claim that he denigrates women. These sources begin with a sentence from the middle of a paragraph in his message that says, “Therefore, as … Continue reading Concerning the Ministry’s Attitude toward Sisters
The term the minister of the age in reference to Brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee does not imply that we hold them to be infallible. Rather, it means that we acknowledge them as particular vessels used by the Lord to advance the recovery of the truths in the Bible. … Continue reading The Minister of the Age, Not Infallibility