[Freedom]

I did a text search in the Life-Studies for “one flow” and there is little to be found that was said by WL in effort to support his teaching of “one flow”. He, however, spared no expense in detailing what he thinks the “one flow” means and what it should mean to members. This first excerpt demonstrates the extent to which WL used scripture to support his teaching. Suffice to say, he really didn’t put much effort into it at all:

The basic numbers in New Jerusalem are the numbers twelve and one... There is one God, one city, one throne, one street, one river, and one tree of life... This is not my concept; it is Paul's concept in Ephesians 4:3-6, where he speaks of one Body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father. We have just one God, one throne, one administration, one authority, one flow, one way, and one tree.

Witness Lee, Life-Study of Revelation, Message 66, p. 758

In the LS of Genesis, WL uses himself as an example to demonstrate how LC members should follow his teaching:

ONE FLOW

One day Brother Nee told me that he and the other co-workers were burdened that I move to Shanghai… the Lord showed me from the book of Acts that in His move on earth there is only one flow... The Lord told me that for His move in China there should not be two flows or two origins. I had been burdened for north China… But although I was definitely burdened for north China, Brother Nee and the co-workers felt that I should move to Shanghai, stay there, and work with them. At this time the Lord showed me that I had to get into the one flow that had started from Shanghai…

THE MINISTRY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FLOW

Because I knew I was in the Lord’s flow and that this flow had already started, I also realized that there was a ministry responsible for that flow. As the result of seeing this, I strongly decided to forget all my past learning and experience. The fact that I had been able to conduct a detailed study on Song of Songs indicates that I had some knowledge and that I could do something... Moreover, a church had been established through me. Nevertheless, I realized that the Lord’s flow on the earth must be one, that the flow had already begun, and that there was a ministry carrying on this flow...
…
The Lord is flowing in His move on earth. This flow was not started by you, but by others. Furthermore, there is a ministry responsible for the flow. It is difficult for me to speak about this because now the matter is very much related to me...

Witness Lee, Life-Study of Genesis, Message 88, pp. 1137-1138

So what can we collect from this excerpt? It seems like Lee intended to use himself as an example saying that instead of doing what he wanted, he instead chose to put himself under Nee and to not do anything on his own. I don’t know how much this was really true about WL’s work in China, but it interesting how he called Nee’s work the “one flow”. Obviously this came up later in the U.S. when Lee so presumed to call his work the same thing. In the last paragraph of this excerpt, Lee does just that. He proceeds to liken his own ministry to the “one flow”. He goes as far as to say the following: “this flow was not started by you, but by others”, “there is a ministry responsible for the flow”, “the matter is very much related to me”. I just have to shake my head when I read this. It’s just so obvious what WL’s real intentions were behind a teaching like this. If I might put it frankly, it was just another way that WL sought to spiritualize his control of the churches.

Finally, I want to end with a quote that really makes one wonder if WL even meant what he said in the first place:

In chapter seven the Lord goes somewhat further, saying that anyone who drinks of Him will have the flow of the rivers of water of life. The Lord did not speak of just one flow but of rivers. The unique river of living water is the Holy Spirit.

Witness Lee, Life-Study of John, Message 18 , p. 218