The Lord’s recovery is different from today’s Christianity, and it is impossible for there to be reconciliation between the Lord’s recovery of the church and Christianity. This may sound like a strong statement – and it really is a strong statement, but this is the absolute truth.
If the Lord has mercy on us to unveil us and cause us to see the desire of His heart, we will realize that He wants to gain the church, and His purpose is to have the corporate expression of Himself in a group of people that are regenerated, transformed, sanctified, built up, and coordinated on earth.
This group is the church, His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all and in all. However, where is the church today? Do you think that the Lord has His expression in Christianity? Is He expressed in full in the many denominations, free groups, sects, independent churches, and mega-churches today?
Where is the reality of the Body of Christ, and where is the church as God desires to have it in His original intention? Where can we see on earth a group of people who don’t care for a name (be it Baptist, Apostolic, Methodist, Protestant, Lutheran, Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, etc) but for Christ, His purpose, and His heart’s desire?
Who cares for what God cares, and who has the Bible opened and properly interpreted in his hand to see what is the economy of God, and what is the purpose of God?
Where on earth can we see a group of people who are regenerated by God and who meet as brothers in the Lord, members of the Body of Christ, with no system of clergy-laity, and who function as priests in God’s New Testament economy?
Where is that group of people where Christ has the supremacy and the Holy Spirit has the authority to speak and direct? Where is the local expression of the Body of Christ with the principle of, one church in one city, as we see it in the Bible?
Where can we see the fellowship among the churches so that the Lord can blend the saints and build up His Body, as we see in the original condition of the church?
Where can we see a group of people who emphasises the coordination in service in Spirit, where the saints are exhorted to keep the principle of the Body by serving together in coordination – and not everyone going and doing his own work as he feels the Lord calls him to do?
Where can we see the practical service in the church, a service in oneness, in the enjoyment of Christ, for the building up of the Body?
We cannot see these items anywhere in Christianity, but we can see them in the original condition of the church, and we can see them practiced in the Lord’s recovery today.
In a very real sense, the Lord’s recovery is different from today’s Christianity, and even if someone tries to reconcile or “bridge the gap” between the recovery and Christianity, it won’t work, for these two are incompatible and very different.
The Lord’s Recovery is Different from Today’s Christianity, and our History is of Coming out of Christianity
In the Lord’s recovery we are not concerned with knowing the Bible merely in letters; rather, we are here learning about God’s economy and cooperating with Him inwardly and outwardly for His economy to be carried out.
The Lord’s recovery is different from today’s Christianity, from today’s religion, and there’s no way for there to be a reconciliation between the two.
In the Lord’s recovery we repudiate and reject the work done by the natural man, with the natural effort, out of the flesh, and for man’s glory, which Paul calls “wood, grass, and stubble”; we rather treasure a smaller amount of “gold, silver, and precious stones” than anything natural.
What we appreciate in the church life is the Spirit’s work of transformation, the Son’s work of redemption, and the Father’s divine nature, all being wrought into our being.
However, in Christianity the inferior materials for the building are appreciated, praised, exalted, and advertised; if someone is naturally talented, he is “useful to God”, and if someone can speak eloquently he can have his own ministry, no matter whether he daily cooperates with the Lord’s inner working.
The eyes of many of the religious leaders and Bible teachers in Christianity are blind not only with pride for knowing doctrines but with not seeing the economy of God, Christ and the church, as the center of the Bible.
Even if there’s the Bible that is the main topic in Christianity, what people get with the speaking of the word is a lot of mixture.
The Lord Jesus prophesied concerning this in Matt. 13, when He said that a woman took fine flour (the pure word of God) and hid leaven in it, and the result was not the unleavened bread which the Lord desires but a big leavened loaf, pleasant to the taste but with a lot of evil things inside.
The Lord’s recovery is different, distinct, from today’s Christianity; these are two different kinds, and there’s no bridge in between.
The Lord hates what is happening today in Christianity, and He hates the system in Christendom; as a reaction to the degradation of the church, He has raised up His recovery, and between the recover and Christianity there’s a huge gap, a chasm, a separation, even a total separation.
The recovery of the church is for bringing us out of the unscriptural system of clergy-laity, and back to the beginning, for the pure practice of the church life according to the divine revelation (see Rev. 2:6; Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:20-22).
By the Lord’s mercy, we have seen something of God’s purpose, His economy, and the desire of His heart, and we have been captured by a vision of God’s economy; now we cannot but come out of Christianity and come back to the beginning, to what God intended to have in the beginning.
The history among us has been one of coming completely out of Christianity without any compromise (Ezra 1:3-11; 6:3-5; Rev. 18:4). We have heard the Lord’s call, Come out of her, My people!
We have been brought out of the degraded system, to come back – by God’s mercy – to the pure practice of the church life according to the word of God. Now there’s no union with the world, with politics, or with Christendom – we come out completely, and there is no compromise!
Lord Jesus, show us what Your recovery is today, and bring us fully out of anything of Christianity and into the proper practice of the church life according to the pure revelation in Your word! Lord, may we be fully brought out of the unscriptural system of clergy-laity and back to the beginning, back to practicing the church life according to the divine revelation! Show us, Lord, how the Lord’s recovery is different from today’s Christianity, and bring us fully out of Christianity and into Your recovery, back to the beginning, back to Your original intention!
Why there should be No Bridge between the Local Churches and Christianity
We have to admit that, even though the Lord had mercy on us and showed us the vision of His economy, His move, and His heart’s desire, we are still in the process of being recovered back to God’s original intention, back to what was in the beginning.
Since we’re still in the process, we may be exposed that there are still elements of the fallen Christendom in our being, in the way we speak and in the way we meet.
For example, when we come together, we may still expect that someone more mature and more “gifted” would start the meeting, or we may wait until the leading brothers call a hymn. We may not enjoy the Lord every day, and we may not be prepared to share our portion every time we come to the meeting.
There is still so much of the fallen Christianity in us, and the Lord is constantly recovering us back to the beginning, back to His original intention.
However, as we enjoy the Lord, read the Bible, digest and assimilate Christ, experience Christ, are constituted with the word of God and the teaching of the apostles, we realize that there should not be and there cannot be any bridge between the local churches and Christianity.
The local churches are something completely different from fallen Christianity, and we should be what we are without any compromise or pretense, maintaining the gap between us and Christianity (see Rev. 1:11; Gal. 1:4).
Some unlearned or unclear ones among us may have a good heart and desire to build a bridge between the Lord’s recovery and Christianity, but we should realize that any bridge needs to be burned, and there should be a gap between us and Christianity.
Anything that is of compromise or bridging will bring forth a condition of mixture, of un-absoluteness, and of impurity; we are here not for making a compromise but for being the testimony of Jesus as the word of God shows.
The Lord’s call today and throughout the ages is, Come out of her, My people!
Paul testified that he was rescued out of the present evil age, that is, he was rescued out of the Judaistic religion with its ordinances; today we need to testify that we’re being saved from the present evil age, that is, we’re saved from Christianity and its evil system and ordinances.
Christianity as a whole has become something great, with many evil people, practices, teachings, and things inside; there’s no doubt that there are many genuine believers in Christianity, but the system of Christianity is evil in God’s eyes, and it is the present evil age.
We need to have a clear separation, a big gap, with no bridge between us in the local churches and Christianity. We are not here to please man – we want to serve Christ (Gal. 1:10); if we were man-pleasers, we would not suffer persecution as Paul did.
The denominations are after their kind, breeding people after their kind, but we in the local churches want to return to God’s word and be after God’s kind, after the kind of man that God wants us to be in His word.
May the Lord give us a clear and governing view so that we can maintain our pure stand in the Lord’s recovery.
Lord Jesus, give us a clear and governing view so that we can maintain our pure stand in the Lord’s recovery. May we be what we are in You and in the church life without any compromise or pretense. May we burn any bridges between us and Christianity, the present evil age, and may we maintain the gap between us and Christianity. Lord, rescue us fully out of this present evil age, and bring us back to Your original intention. We want to stand in oneness on the local ground, one in You, for You to gain a pure corporate expression in the place You have put us!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Works of Witness Lee, 1973-1974, vol. 1, “The History of the Church and the Local Churches,” chs. 1, 4-5, 9-10, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Recovery of the Church (2017 fall ITERO), week 2, The Original Condition of the Church, the Degradation of the Church, and the Recovery of the Church.
- Hymns on this topic:
# We need to be rescued / Out of the present evil age / By the revelation of God’s Son in us. / To live the Christian life / Is to live the processed Triune God / As the consummated Spirit. / God’s goal is the divine sonship / For His corporate expression / As the household of the faith, / The new creation, and the Israel of God. (Song on, God’s intention)
# First we’re saved from Satan’s tyranny, / And later, we will see, from Christianity. / God is flowing in recovery, / Just open up to Him and see. (Song on, Do you know what you were saved for)
# We’ve seen the vision of Christ and the church. / Reckoned the cost; all things are but loss. / Will pay the price — give all of our lives; / We’re burning bridges, left the world behind. / On God’s economy our hearts are set / We’re living a life… / On God’s economy our hearts are set, / We’ll live a life of no regrets. (Song on living a life of no regrets)
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The Lord’s recovery is for bringing us out of this unscriptural system and back to the beginning of the pure practice of the church life according to the divine revelation.
I am sharing this to help us realize that the history among us has been one of coming completely out of Christianity without compromise. It is a shame that some so-called co-workers among us have tried their best to compromise. They say that between the denominations and the local churches there is a gap, and they consider themselves as the bridge to bridge the gap.
Because of our standing for the pure church life, others have been offended. But what can we do? Paul said in Galatians 1:10, “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a slave of Christ.” If we were men-pleasers, we would not suffer persecution as Paul did. The history of the Lord’s recovery is a history of coming out of and being outside of the present evil age. We have burned the bridges between us and Christianity, but some among us have tried to build a bridge to bring us back. We need to burn all the bridges. There should be no bridge between the local churches and Christianity. Everything should be after its kind. The denominations are after their kind, and the local churches should be after their kind. We should be what we are without compromise or pretense.
We need to maintain such a gap between us and Christianity. The wider this gap is the better because it is a gap between us and the present evil age….Our history is a history outside of the present evil age. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1973-1974, vol. 1, “The History of the Church and the Local Churches,” pp. 110, 94-96)
Praise the Lord for bringing us out of the unscriptural system.Amen
O Lord Jesus..Amen .
AMEN!!! We thank GOD for his loving he renewed our spirit to have a clear vision in his economy
Praise the Lord Jesus Amen
O Lord Jesus..Amen .
In my experience, one of the 2 things that sets us apart from other Christian groups, (that im aware of) is our speaking on the Self (how ugly it is, etc) & the word of the Cross as it applies to us, (the only way to slay the Self is to apply the Cross). I have not heard other Christians talk of these.
In short-Christ is all in the Lord’s recovery for the realisation of God’s eternal purpose and in Christianity there is space for people who do not live Christ, by Christ, through Christ, for Christ and to Christ, and there hardly anyone has interest in God’s things, needs and pleasure.
In my experience the Lord’s Recovery is different from Christianity because we are not depend on human regulations, we are depend on the indwelling spirit within…. and our function comes from our enjoyment and experience in the Lord day by day.
Amen, all saints in the Lord’s recovery are in oneness as one Body of Christ, and function according to its measure, no human regulations but we are regulated by the divine life within.
In my experience the flowing of the Spirit is in the church. There is special blessing when the saints meet in genuiine oneness. In Christianity you find doctrines, philopshy and wordliness. There is no oneness, no flow of the divine life.I thank the Lord for revealing His church to me and God’s New Testament economy which is to experience the Holy Spirit, mingled with my human spirit. Our God is a dispensing God. God’s presence is in the church.
The apostle Paul put it this way, “12 For we do not dare to class or compare ourselves with any of those who commend themselves; but they, measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding.” (2 Corinthians 10:12) And to point out the failings of others without considering what we need to achieve before we are pleasing to the Lord is another form of self-comparison.
The British Brethren made the mistake of substituting Bible knowledge for knowing God and living out His word instead of just knowing it by memorization. They assumed that they were the “Philadelphia Church” and did not seek the Lord as to whether that…See More
Amen, I think there is enough collective experience among the older ones to keep that from happening.
We are those who are remaining here through humility and failure and repentance over and over. Our realization of our true condition before the Lord through his eyes keeps us grateful for His mercy
And is a solid foundation for prayer knowing our total inability to do a single thing of ourselves.
The apostle Paul put it this way, “12 For we do not dare to class or compare ourselves with any of those who commend themselves; but they, measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding.” (2 Corinthians 10:12) And to point out the failings of others without considering what we need to achieve before we are pleasing to the Lord is another form of self-comparison.
The British Brethren made the mistake of substituting Bible knowledge for knowing God and living out His word instead of just knowing it by memorization. They assumed that they were the “Philadelphia Church” and did not seek the Lord as to whether that was actually true. They fell from that status in reality to Laodicea, “Miserable, blind and (without the spirit of love as a covering for what they were in their natural man).” We need to watch that this does not happen to the Lord’s recovery even if it is only in one local church.
Amen, I think there is enough collective experience among the older ones to keep that from happening.
We are those who are remaining here through humility and failure and repentance over and over. Our realization of our true condition before the Lord through his eyes keeps us grateful for His mercy
And is a solid foundation for prayer knowing our total inability to do a single thing of ourselves.
In this portion the disciples wanted to call fire down from heaven on unbelieving and rejecting cities…however, when we speak of a “gap” and “no bridges” between the church life in the Lord’s recovery and Christianity we speak of the Lord’s call in Revelation, where He doesn’t say of Babylon, “Stay there, My people, and try to heal them and fellowship with them”, but He says, Come out of her, My people!
If we really see a vision of the Lord’s recovery and of what the Lord is doing today, we will realize that Christianity as a whole has failed God…and for us to try to reconcile the Lord’s recovery with Christianity is a great mistake. We LOVE all our brothers and sisters in Christianity, and we HATE the system, just as the Lord Himself hates the works of the Nicolaitans….
The Lord Jesus Himself was persecuted and hated by those religious in His time, and He was put to death because of the instigation of the religious leaders in His time. So He chose to be with His disiciples and His loving seekers…. – He still preached the gospel, announced the kingdom, but didn’t seek to “build a bridge” between the kingdom of the heavens and the religious leaders / religion of His time…rather, He changed the age! We pray and believe that the Lord will change the age, and we pray to be His overcomers of today, by His mercy!
Is it possible to pray-read Luke 9:53 – 55 and still
advocate the “burning of bridges” between Christians without a rebuke from the Lord?