Four Keys to the Spread in Europe: Living Migration, the God-ordained Way, the High Gospel, and a Living Testimony

Today’s Main Verses for Pray-reading

Living migration—going in teams and being rooted in Europe

Acts 8:4

Those therefore who were scattered went throughout the land announcing the word as the gospel.

Acts 18:2–3

He remained with them and worked; for they were tentmakers by trade.

Acts 1:8

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you … unto the uttermost part of the earth.

The God-ordained way—everyone functioning for the organic spread

Acts 5:42

Every day … from house to house, they did not cease teaching and announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ.

John 15:16

I chose you, and I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain.

Ephesians 4:16

Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply … causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

The high gospel and deeper truths—working Christ into people

Colossians 1:28

Announcing Him … that we may present every man full-grown in Christ.

Ephesians 3:8

To announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.

2 Timothy 2:2

Commit these things to faithful men, who will be competent to teach others also.

A living testimony—living under the cross and in resurrection, in one accord

Galatians 2:20

I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.

John 13:35

By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

1 Timothy 3:16

Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, / Justified in the Spirit.

Today’s Prayer Burden

There are four keys to the spread in Europe: first, to be rooted there through migration in teams of vital companions; second, to spread organically by the God-ordained way, with every member functioning; third, to preach the high gospel and teach the deeper truths, working Christ and the truth into people; and fourth, to live under the cross and in resurrection, becoming a living testimony of Christ and the church in one accord.

Today’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, rekindle in us the burden for Europe! May Your testimony be planted there, not through employment or a movement, but through living migration. Lord, gain a group of saints who are absolutely consecrated to You and clearly led by You. May they go in teams with vital companions through employment, business, or study, and may vital families become rooted in the localities. May they go not merely to work for a time, but to live for You; not merely to bring people to meetings, but to bring the church life among people. Make each home an outlet for the gospel, a station for shepherding, and a practical expression of the building up of the Body!

Lord, cause us to receive Brother Lee’s fellowship in 1991: “We must practice every aspect of the God-ordained way. Then we will be qualified to go to Europe.” Save us from bringing the old way to Europe! You have prepared Europe, and You have prepared the God-ordained way. May we first enter fully into the new way and then bring it to Europe. We do not rely on a platform, an organization, or a few people laboring; rather, everyone functions to contact, cherish, nourish, and perfect people one by one. Lord, enable us to preach the high gospel and teach the deeper truths of God’s economy. May we not merely speak these things to people, but work Christ into them and constitute them with the truth, until those we contact become living members, faithful fellow workers, and those who can continue to shepherd and perfect others!

Lord Jesus, may what we bring to Europe be not merely a new way or a set of high-peak truths, but a company of people who live Christ! Keep us daily under the cross and in resurrection, denying the self and living by the Spirit. Bring us into one accord not only in the truth but also in our living, actions, shepherding, and spreading. May the people in Europe not only hear of Christ but see Him in our living; may they not merely know the doctrine of the church but touch the reality of the Body of Christ in our homes, vital groups, and mutual love. May this living testimony take root locality by locality, reproduce household by household, and be replicated generation by generation, until the Body is organically built up in Europe and the Bride is prepared for Your return. Amen.

Fellowship

Not through employment or a movement, but through migration

We need to see how to spread the Lord’s recovery in the European countries. We should go to Europe neither through employment nor through a movement, but through migration.

Europe has changed and is seeking new things; we should go there fully in the new way, without any tradition

Europe has changed, and the people there are seeking new things. Therefore, we should go there fully in the new way, without bringing any tradition. Recently I considered why, during the seven and a half years since 1984, we have passed through so much opposition, persecution, and even betrayal. I believe I have received the answer.

During these seven and a half years the Lord prepared us with a new way for Europe’s new need

Before 1984, we could not go to Europe in practice with anything new. We could only bring the old, traditional way of meeting and serving. In recent years I have released many messages concerning the God-ordained way. Thus, while the Lord was preparing Europe, He used the same period—the past seven and a half years—to prepare us in the way of meeting and serving revealed in the New Testament.

We should not bring our old “philosophy” and old way there

Because of the recent changes in Europe, the people there have been prepared to receive new things. We should not bring our old “philosophy” and our old way there. In the previous chapter I entreated everyone to change in our “philosophy.” The young people there do not want any old elements of Christianity; they want something new.

We must bring the Lord’s new way; we go there through migration

We must bring the Lord’s new way, the God-ordained way, to Europe. We should go there not through employment or a movement, but through migration. We will be warmly welcomed because the people there are ready to receive new things.

Some migrate there for employment or business and serve the Lord

Some can migrate there for employment or business and serve the Lord. A brother reported that one of the best trades for the American brothers in Eastern Europe is renovating old houses, because many houses there are in poor condition and need repair.

Some migrate there to study and serve the Lord

Some can migrate there to study and serve the Lord. I would suggest that some go as “professional students.” Those who go to study should plan to remain in school for the Lord’s work on the campuses; the longer they remain, the better, so they can spend time contacting students for the Lord’s interest. I hope many young people among us will go to European universities as professional students to teach the divine truths. It is glorious and worthwhile to contact other students daily with the Lord’s truth. I believe some who study in Europe can bear new fruit month by month, like the tree of life.

Everyone should receive a burden and clear leading from the Lord

All who go to Europe should receive a burden from the Lord and obtain clear leading from Him.

Go in teams of at least four, including a married couple between thirty and fifty

We are burdened that at least four saints go as a team, including a married couple between thirty and fifty years old, so that the meetings can begin in their home. Each team going to Europe should include a couple, who may have several children. This family will be the center of the team. We will do our best to help them find a home near a university or college. The home should be large enough to receive two or three guests and to provide temporary lodging for migrating saints until they are properly settled. New contacts can be brought to this home for fellowship. This is our way.

Live under the cross and in resurrection

Now we come to the way of living, working, serving, and meeting. First, we must live under the cross and in resurrection. To live in resurrection is to live in the Spirit of Christ, who is the reality of Christ’s resurrection. To live under the cross is to experience Christ’s death, being joined to Him in His Spirit, denying ourselves and our flesh, and rejecting the world and its influence.

Contact people by preaching the high gospel, teaching deeper truths, and testifying of our Christian experience

We also need to labor by contacting people through preaching the high gospel, teaching the deeper truths, and testifying of our Christian experience. We should practice contacting people one by one, rather than trying to preach to a crowd. We may speak to fifty people at one time and gain none of them. The most effective way is to contact people one by one.

Change to the scriptural and elevated way of evangelism

We should completely abandon the old, traditional, natural way of preaching the gospel and change to the scriptural, elevated way of evangelism. Even the way mathematics is taught has changed greatly from years ago. To teach the truth properly, we need to qualify ourselves. We may feel that qualification takes a long time, but it does not need to take as long as we think.

The clergy-laity system leaves people untrained to function as living members of the Body

We need to be equipped to teach the deeper truths of God’s economy to the people in Europe. Most people in Christianity do not know the high gospel or the deeper truths. Moreover, because of the clergy-laity system, they have never been trained to function as living members of the Body of Christ. We need to change our way. The clergy-laity system offends the Lord because it nullifies the usefulness of the members of Christ. The Lord wants every member of the Body of Christ to work and function.

To oppose the God-ordained way is to oppose the Lord

The traditional Christian way of one speaking while the rest listen kills the members of the Body of Christ. All the saints can speak for the Lord. To oppose the God-ordained way is to oppose the Lord. The clergy-laity system nullifies the ability, capacity, gift, and function of the saints. When we go to Europe, we must forget the way of one person speaking to a congregation. Instead, we should spend time contacting people one by one. Then we can bring those we have helped to the homes of saints near the campuses and naturally nourish them, keeping the Lord’s charge to shepherd His lambs. I would ask the leading ones to consider their situation: perhaps we have managed the churches for years with few results. Should we change our way?

Serve in spirit according to the divine revelation

We also need to serve in spirit according to the divine revelation. In the past, did we serve in spirit according to the Bible? Surely the Spirit would not lead us to serve according to the old, traditional, unscriptural way of meeting and serving. We must change our way and have a new way of meeting and serving. Human culture changes and advances with time, and people must change to live in that culture. To say that we need to change does not mean that we should follow the world or be conformed to it.

We must practice every aspect of the God-ordained way to be qualified to go to Europe

We must practice every aspect of the God-ordained way. Then we will be qualified to go to Europe. Europe has changed and is still changing. The people there reject old things, yet they are willing to know the things of God revealed in the Bible; they do not want empty religion. This is why we must learn to supply Christ to people according to the God-ordained way revealed in the New Testament.

Practice the one accord

Finally, nothing is more crucial, important, or precious than keeping the oneness and practicing the one accord. We must do our best continually to keep the oneness and practice the one accord, learning to coordinate with others instead of insisting on our own way. We should not be “back-seat drivers” in the church life, full of opinions. This does not mean that we should abandon discernment. When we work alone, we may use the best way; when we are with others, we should learn to use their way.

We also need to learn to teach the divine truth according to the central line of God’s New Testament economy. I served the Lord with Brother Nee for eighteen years. We taught Christ and the church according to the central line of God’s economy, and we never had any difference between us. In our teaching we always practiced the one accord.

Open to the Lord and receive this fellowship to become a living testimony to the people in Europe

If we are open to the Lord and receive the fellowship in this book, I believe we will be blessed, enjoy the Lord to the uttermost, and become a living testimony to the people in Europe. (Witness Lee, The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move, ch. 4, 1991.)