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Discussion Forum : Articles and Sermons : T.Austin-Sparks (TAS) and Witness Lee (WL) - a short story - by Herald Hsu, student of Watchman Nee

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Graftedbranc
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Joined: 2005/11/8
Posts: 619


 Re: somenhow repeated

Please see above post.

 2006/4/13 13:11Profile
Graftedbranc
Member



Joined: 2005/11/8
Posts: 619


 Re:

Quote:
This is precisely the problem here: it is the work of one man. It is confirmed here by one of the member of this sect.



Actually the work in the Lord's recovery today is the work primarily of two men built upon the sholders of countless others who have gone before including the reformers, the inner life teachers, the brethren, the keswick speakers and teachers, believers such as Hudson Taylor who wrote one work on the Song of Songs, Jessie Penn Lewis, Andrew Murray and countless others.

But one might also say that the reformation was primarily the work of one man, Martin Luther, and 9/10 of the New Testament is written by one man, Paul.

I am not sure where in the 20th century we got this idea that truth is the product of a multiplicity of ideas from a multiplicity of different sources and for anyone to claim to know anything for sure is regarded as presumptious.

According to the Bible, truth is the product of the Spirit of God enlightining his believers from the scriptures which are the inspired Word of God and the only authority for faith and practice.

And throughout history, God has chosen to reveal, enlighten, and expound this truth contained in the scriptures through His servants who have given themselves fully to him, have born the cross, have lived a crucified life and manifested and pressed on to know the Living Christ.

I appreciate the below post. To assault the charecter of one whom you disagree with is low tactic and evades the issue which is always what is taught and how it squares up with the revelation of the Bible.

To impose one's preconcieved ideas, to run with hearsay and accusations of those who may oppose a certian truth or ministry without considering it or the person in light of scripture is not a good practice.

One also might observe that this concept of multiplicity of ideas is the product of the condition of the church today which is anything but manifesting the oneness of the Spirit and the unity of the Faith. In fact, what we have today is a very low state of affairs in the church and all who have any enlightment in the scriptures and know Christ genuinly from whatever background they are found will be the first to say that today's Christianity has little or nothing to do with the Divine revelaiton in the New Testament.

That God whould choose to go to another continant which is not steeped in hundreds of years of tradition, to begin a fresh work from the ground up in virgin soil, to produce a return and recovery of many aspects of the faith that have been held down, set aside, replaced, and neglected by tradition, human philosophy, modern psycology, and all the other things mixed in with the Bible, is not mystery.

And that He would choose to mature this work through persecutions, sufferings, set backs, martyrdom, and much opposition, then bring it to the west for the benefit of all believers is not at all a fanciful concept. And the fact that it is not embraced and recieved by the established religious systems is not in anywise a testimony agaist it, but rather the same thing which has always transpired throughout the ages.

God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God has chosen the things which are not that he might nulify the things that are.

IN the days of Christ's ministry in the flesh, religion had been totally overtaken by tradition and the word of God set aside by the traditions and teachings of men. It was this system the Lord came into and this system which ultimatly crucified the Lord of Glory.

And this has been the pattern in the church age since the beginning. Tradition overtaking and replacing the reality of Christ and the things revealed in scriptures and then suppressing, opposing, and persecuting those who return to the scriptures, to Christ, and to the Spirit's work within them.

A study of church history will show that any movement of God in every age was opposed and condemned not by the world, but by the established religious system and those who maintained it.

And what do they say? Who is this man? From where did he get this "wisdom". Who is he to stand against the traditions of the church, the great councils, the popes, the great system we have established?

And those who followed the vision of these men and stood with them were always persecuted, always accused by the establishment, by the religious leaders, and called divisive, cultic, and what have you.

The fact that there are genuine heretical sects in the world has caused a "witch hunt" mentality among some and who accuse as heretical any group of believers who deviate from the status quo.

And lets face it, some just get offended at the idea that any particular man might have grace to see something they don't. That God would raise up men after His own heart, who are faithful to Him and His revealtion, who don't bow to criticism, opposition, and tradition, but stand. And some are just proud and it irks them that any man would have anything they don't.

One person I spoke with who was exceedingly opposed to the Lord's recovery, the teaching of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee said to me, "Why whould God bypass all the great theological institutions in America and bring anything to us through a little Chinese man from the far east? He was offended at the very idea that God would choose someone "Chinese" over a great, educated american with creditials, etc.

But God has chosen the weak things, the foolish things, the things that are not that He might shame the wise. It is exactly God's way. It is in direct keeping with His revealtion of Himeself in scripture and the way He has worked in all of church history.

Rather than seeing the body of Christ, that not all are eyes, and not all are mouths, but all are members with different functions, they regard others who might see what they don't with suspision. And instead of seeking the Lord to receive from the Lord what they might from and through His vessels, as the Bereans who 'searched the scriptures to see if these things be so", they rather condemn and oppose them and attack them.

But the Bible says, God gave gifts to men, He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelist for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry. These men are gifts to the church, taken captive by Christ, and given back to the church for her perfecting. They are joints of the rich supply. And God has chosen to work this way, It is the teaching of scripture and we ignore His supply to our own impoverishment.

I have read and enjoyed many sermons of T. Austin Sparks and see in him a man who was greatly used by the Lord and also one in whom Watchman Nee found a kindred spirit and great fellowship and mutual respect.

Yet we see that they did not see eye to eye on the matter of the ground of the church. Those who remained in the recovery begun in China, following Nee's imprisonment maintained this ground and Sparks parted from them.

But as history can testify to, the Lord's Presence did not depart from His recovery. And today there is reality and the genuine Presence of the Spirit of Christ among the Saints who continue to meet on the local ground.

The churches are not perfect. And they have not been without their problems, but so it can be seen in the New Testament regarding the local churches at that time. That is why most of the New Testament epistles are written. But nevertheless, the Lord is Present and in the midst of His church and walks among the golden Lampstands.

Graftedbranch

 2006/4/13 13:11Profile





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