Witness Lee went to London, England, on July 28, 1958. From August 2 to August 4, he held a three-day conference. On August 5, he went to Copenhagen for a conference for five and a half days.
Brother Lee felt that Honor Oak Road, where Brother Sparks met, was the most spiritual place in England.
The brothers and sisters had quite a solid foundation both in the knowledge of truth and growth in life. But Brother Lee made special mention of how God wants to build up His house in every locality, how every saint should be built up in God’s life and, in turn, manifest some function. The saints built up locally become the practical expression of Christ’s Body, God’s dwelling place on earth, and the spiritual house for all God’s children.
At that time, many brothers and sisters desired to follow Brother Lee’s word. A leading brother in the church in Richmond, near London, was very clear concerning the way of the church ground. He was very willing to work and fight for the Lord concerning this matter, so there seemed to be some hope for the Lord to gain such a testimony in the West.
Conference in Denmark
About 1,000 attended the meetings, which covered the following points: “God’s eternal heart’s desire is to be the life of man and to be mingled with man to gain a practical expression. This mingling becomes a spiritual habitation built up with God and man, a mutual dwelling place of both God and man. What God desires today is to see this kind of God-man mingling in every locality. In this way God can gain His expression, we can get the spiritual feeding, and we can have the chance to serve and be built together.” In a country filled with old, traditional Christianity, such messages seemed to meet the brothers and sisters’ need and quench their thirst.
Many of the attendants from various countries experienced a revival in their Christian lives. |
Many of the attendants from various countries experienced a revival in their Christian lives. They had been longing to know the truth concerning life and concerning the church. After hearing the messages on these matters, people from many places expressed to Brother Lee a willingness to practice what he had shared with them. They hoped that Brother Lee would visit their localities and give further help on how they could follow and serve the Lord in the way of life and the church. After the conference, the fellowship among the brothers and sisters was mostly about the raising up and building up of local churches, the service in coordination among the brothers and sisters to manifest the full measure of their functions, etc. From this, the Lord’s blessing and presence could really be sensed among them.
(top)
Conference in Taipei
After Brother Lee returned to Taiwan, from October 26 to November 4, 1958, a total of ten days, he led the eleventh special training for the entire island of Taiwan. The main topic for the whole training was God’s Building Up. The messages for the ten days were as follows:
Day One—The Mutual Dwelling Place of God and Man.
Day Two—The House of God Built on the Principle of God and Man Mingled Together.
Day Three—Growth Is Building Up.
Day Four—God’s Building Up Is for the Fulfillment of His Eternal Purpose: (1) Expressing His Image through Man, and (2) Dealing with His Enemy through Man.
Day Five—In Order to Be Built Up, We Must Go through the Breaking.
Day Six—Perfecting Is Not Being Built Up.
Day Seven—The Characteristics Present When Building Up Has Taken Place.
Day Eight—How to Be Built Up.
Day Nine—The Dividing Wall.
Day Ten—How to Carry Out God’s Building Up.
After this training, the brothers and sisters all the more treasured God’s desire for building up including the ground of oneness.
They also carried out this matter by raising up local churches in many other localities. They saw that the enemy throughout the ages has tried to damage the church from different angles, trying to divide the church by raising up many denominations. Nevertheless, those who were faithful to God’s desire would come back to God’s original ground. Brothers and sisters need to be built up with those in their locality, accept God’s governmental arrangement, be regulated by God’s local administration, and express their functions through coordination. All the gifted ones should labor for the perfecting of the saints, that each one should stand with his own measure, not replacing one another. All the ministries are for the building up of the church in each locality; the church is not for any ministry. We should have prevailing prayer so that the enemy would not be able to destroy us by his subtle plots.
(top)
