The Vision of the Age, the Ministry of the Age, and the Minister of the Age

[Indiana]

Originally Posted by Indiana

Lifting up a man and a ministry has caused turmoil and division in the churches. They need to back off and be found boasting in the Lord alone. A people rich in a ministry, but poor in Christ will have the man and ministry as their ground of meeting. And will be unable to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace with other believers. The sectarian oneness in the Local Churches is not what pleases God's heart the most. They are not lined up with their own teachings meant to protect them within the sphere of the New Testament oneness of the Body of Christ.

Dear Ron, I want to respond to your conference message in New York which was apparently engendered by someone(s) on the internet you feel are not speaking the truth. Actually, you or some on the internet, such as myself, might be in darkness (as you say), and not realize it. As for me, I like to correct myself, when needed. And, I hope you will be open one day to capitulate to the truths I or others unveil about you or brothers Nee and Lee, and admit that you or they have been wrong.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1s...xpUjhKVUU/view



The blending brothers shared this word and Watchman Nee's fellowship on When We Cannot Follow Those Who Deviate from the Truth

Blending Brothers Teach
We Cannot Follow Those Who Deviate from the Truth

“First, we must be very clear that when a leader violates an essential truth either in teaching or in practice, we cannot follow him. If the path that leader is taking leads us into division from the Body of Christ or from the proper standing of a local church, we cannot go along with him. In some cases, the assertion of authority compromises the standing of a local church, making it instead a local sect. This is because the leaders' claims to authority become the basis of receiving believers into fellowship.

afaithfulword.org/articles/DiscerningAuthority.htm


Afaithfulword.org says, quoting Nee,

“If anyone thinks that he should not be divisive, he should first bear in mind what it means to be divisive. Being divisive means being divided from the Body. The division in 1 Corinthians 12 refers to a division from the Body (v. 25), not a separation from a group which is not according to the Body." The Collected Works of W. Nee, vol. 50, p. 820)

“Thus, to depart from a sect is not an act of rebellion.

“A man can revolt only against a legitimate government; he cannot revolt against a government which is itself not legitimate. It is rebellion to separate oneself from a legitimate government, but it is not rebellion to separate oneself from a government that is not legitimate. (Nee, vol. 50, p. 824)



Are the blending brothers conducting a legitimate church government? Or not? Are they inclusive or exclusive of fellow believers? What does their track record say?


The Ground of Oneness Becomes
the Receiving of and Obedience to Deputy Authority

Introduction

The local churches have long been under the influence of the teaching of deputy authority beginning in China with Watchman Nee. When I first heard the related terms, the oracle of God, the minister of the age, the acting God, the one wise master-builder, the commander-in-chief - terms being applied to Witness Lee in the 1980s – I was in full agreement. I was in one accord with the brothers who were campaigning for the churches to line up with Witness Lee, as a universal leader, as men were swept up in full abandon to him and with strict resolve to follow him in “the Lord’s new move”. This “new move”, though, unwittingly established a new ground for meeting.

Ironically, the blending brothers describe this mutant condition “Some transmute the basis of the oneness of the believers by the assertion of their own authority to the point where the actual ground of oneness becomes acceptance of and obedience to their authority.” (Properly Discerning Spiritual Authority, DCP)

The collaboration of church members to “hand over” themselves to an apostle figure took place earlier in China under the direction of brother Nee, in full-scale manner, as it was later with Witness Lee in Taipei and the US. The church environments at these times became heavily ministry centered and focus on a leader was to the point that coming under his authority and following his leadership was “indispensable” to the oneness; their oneness, which included oneness with a man and a ministry.

A book by Lily Hsu, My Unforgettable Memories of Watchman Nee and the Shanghai Local Church (2013) is a transparent fellowship concerning brother Nee and his influence in the church, most notably the development of his spiritual authority in Shanghai and throughout China. A review of Watchman Nee’s dramatic rise in supremacy helps in understanding Witness Lee’s similar ascent and the path of the blending brothers since, as global leaders of the “local churches”. These movements engaged in by brothers Nee, Lee, and We (blending brothers) were assertive to the point where the actual ground of oneness they established was acceptance of and obedience to their authority. Standing on this narrow ground forfeited the inclusive ground of oneness in the Body and erected a high wall of division instead.


Steve Isitt