Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ
You are correct about why I cited that verse, Indiana. Asking brothers to review their actions or teachings in light of scripture is certainly not rendering evil.
Neither was I suggesting any course of action regarding your web sites or participation on this forum (your writings have helped many!) ... just a verse that helped me emotionally give the situation up to the Lord .
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http://www.lsmradio.com/audio/stm-mp3/acts/acts_37.mp3
This morning I listened to this 25 minute LSM radio tape on the book of Acts and the transfer from the Old Testament dispensation of the law to the New Testament age of grace; and then the transfer from Peter's ministry with the spread of the gospel as a "fisher of men", to Paul's ministry as a "chosen vessel", a container, for dispensing the riches of Christ into the believers for the building up of church, the Body of Christ.
So good! But we must consider more than the truth of the word of God, and look at the actuality also.
www.lordsrecovery.us
Before that short tape, I read about Witness Lee's problem he ran into with T. A. Sparks as they appreciated each others' view of Christ immensely but were not able to agree on the ground of the church. (Col. Life Study 16) When they focused on Christ they were one.
"My experience with Brother T. Austin-Sparks illustrates how persistently some avoid the church matter. At our invitation, he came to Taiwan in 1955. We had a wonderful time together as he ministered on Christ. He could clearly echo what we had seen about Christ. In 1957 he came to Taiwan a second time. On this visit he touched the church ground, the standing of the church, in a negative way. In 1958 I accepted his invitation to visit him in England. During the days we were together, we had many long conversations about the church. However, he could not change my mind, and I could not change his concept. He tried his best to avoid the subject of the church, but my concept was that we must labor for the building up of the churches. His intention was to convince us that we should give up the ground of the church. But I pointed out to him that it was impossible for us to have the church practically without the ground of the church. Brother Sparks tried to assure me that he was not opposed to the church. He went on to tell me that during the early years of his ministry, he was invited to speak in Edinburgh. When he spoke about Christ, the meeting hall was crowded, and the audience was responsive. But when he spoke about the church, the number of people decreased. This caused him to feel that it was not profitable for him to speak on the church.
I went on to ask Brother Sparks how we could practice the principles we both had seen concerning the Lord’s Body. He admitted that these principles could not be put into practice in the denominations. But he would not admit that they could be put into practice only on the proper ground of the church. Instead, he emphasized the fact that the church can be produced only by much prayer and through the Spirit. Then I said to him, “Do you think that so many churches on the island of Taiwan did not all come into existence by prayer and through the Spirit?” I asked him what a group of saints should do after they had prayed regarding the church. Still he would not admit that they should take the standing of the church on the ground of oneness. He simply said that they needed to be assured that any move they made was of the Spirit. This was the conclusion of our conversation about the church.
I tried my best to convince him concerning the church, and he tried his best to avoid the church. Eventually, neither of us would change our position."