[NeitherFirstnorLast]

Originally Posted by Albert Zehr

"I cried out, "Oh Lord, You and You alone are the only true and unquestionable reality in my life. I am willing to subject everything else to objective and sober discernment. Only after this could I love and appreciate Witness Lee and his teachings while objectively discerning his strengths and weaknesses and allowing them to be balanced by the Word and the teachings of other Godly leaders...."

I appreciate what Albert shared here with Steve in his letter (above), but I am convicted that he has not yet understood exactly what Witness Lee was teaching; because this quote closes with the interpolation that Witness Lee was a "Godly leader". I don't believe Lee was, at all. Let me explain....

This morning we closed our worship with this passage in 2nd Corinthians 12:7-9 "Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."

I have read this passage many times, and often speculated on the nature of the "thorn in the flesh", the "messenger of Satan" that God gave to torment Paul... but in that speculation I missed the real message entirely.

Man, in his fleshly nature, is prone to exalt himself. Even in things that seem good to boast about. The Pharisees wore long tassels, and prayed loudly in the streets and on the street corners for other men to hear. They loved to sit in Moses seat and to wear wide phylacteries that men would speak good of them. In so doing, they received their reward in full, Christ said (see Matthew 6:1-5). On the other hand, were they to humble themselves, the power of Christ would dwell in them. Of course, as they did not humble themselves, but were proud and haughty, God resisted them. The Pharisees committed the unforgiveable sin (blaspheming against the Holy Spirit), and were damned.

I am prone to Pharisaical boasting, and I don't say that to try to make myself equal to Paul in any way save one: Like Paul, I am a sinner still in need of a Saviour, prone to doing what I hate and not doing what I want to do (which I want to do only because of His regenerating work in my heart). Friends, only by the grace of God am I saved; only by His grace.

It is because I feared boasting that I took the name "NeitherFirstnorLast" here on this forum. The Lord convicted me, long before I found this Forum, not to use my real name lest I become puffed up with pride, should He choose to bless others with something that He has called me to write. "NeitherFirstnorLast" - not the greatest, not the least, not anything particularly noteworthy at all. Just a slave (Dulos) of Jesus Christ. I need to remind myself of that more regularly than I usually care to admit.... it's really something I struggle with all the time, Lord have mercy.... But Witness Lee didn't struggle against such things.

Have you ever considered why a man named Lǐ Chángshòu would choose to give himself a new name? For that matter, why did Watchman Nee (Ní Shu-tsu) "Henry Nee" take a new name? Or Faithful Luke, or any of the other co-workers of Nee? Why take such grandiose names? What was the purpose? Does it not seem clear from reading the Bible that names are special to God? He named Adam, He gave Abram and Sarai new names, He gave Jacob a new name, He gave Simon and Saul new names, He sent angels to tell Elizabeth and Mary and Joseph what names to give their sons... He promises us a new name, one day... one that only we will know. Names are not given lightly by God. Should they be taken lightly by men? The names these men chose were names designed to uplift them in the eyes of others... and it worked, didn't it? In Nee's case too, it worked. Both men have been uplifted by those who followed them. If they were Henry and George, or some such - if they had the ordinary Chinese names they were given, would their names still be so highly praised? I wonder. I wonder.

Lee can't be both a "Godly Leader" and a man who sought to draw men after himself (see Acts 20:30). He can't preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and also preach a different (higher, in his words) gospel. He can't be like Paul and be "determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified" (1st Corinthians 2:2) and yet preach so little of the crucifixion that even the cross has no place in LC meetings. He can't be a "Godly Leader" if his leadership stumbled so many, both within and without his movement. All the evidence points to one fact and one fact alone: Lee was a false teacher, a false prophet, and 'learning' from him, even when his words are taken with the words of others, is dangerous. The bible is clear about this, false teachers are not to be entertained. Their doctrines are not to be divided, good from bad - a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Please Steve, it's time to realize just how dangerous Lee's teachings are... and not just to others, to you. To you, brother. Run from false teachers, Steve. May I share this message with you?

Run from False Teachers