Defense and Confirmation of the Truth

But a

slave of the Lord

ought not to contend but be gentle toward all,

apt to teach,

bearing with wrong; In meekness

correcting those who oppose,

if perhaps God may give them repentance unto the

full knowledge of the truth. 

2 Timothy 2:24-25

As a slave of the Lord, I must always be prepared and equipped with the word of God not merely for nourishment and life supply but also for defense and confirmation of the truth. Satan, the father of lies, has done his best to impute evil thoughts and lies concerning the saints so as to bring enmity between them. To some extent, he has been successful, but ultimately he is the defeated foe. The Lord only uses him (Satan) as an ugly tool to perfect the saints of the living God. I have very much been helped in my searching and seeking for the truth when I heard of the accusations against Brother Watchman Nee and Brother Witness Lee, for in my attempt and effort to verify the accusations I discovered the riches of the revelations of the word that God has bestowed upon these two servants of God. Thereby, I became a direct beneficiary of the false propaganda spread by the enemy. What was intended for bad turned out to be very good for me. 

And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night. Revelations 12:9, 10

This time in my visit to some of the prominent Christan leaders in Hyderabad, I encountered such situations in which I had to boldly proclaim the truth. Perhaps, defending and confirming the truth. Some experiences are here below:

Hebron Fellowship of Brother Bakht Singh is one of the biggest Christian congregations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They love Brother Watchman Nee’s books so much, but completely reject Brother Witness Lee for reasons they themselves cannot define succinctly. The Lord burdened me to fellowship with the top leader at their campus in Hyderabad on the 8th and also with the Bookroom Manager on the 9th of May. Initially, I was rejected but I requested the brothers to hear me out first by at least introducing the Holy Bible Recovery Version which they eventually agreed. And upon proper introduction of the ministry and clarification of their misunderstandings, the Lord came in and settled the matter at least in their thoughts face to face. Later, whatever mindset they hold, they are accountable to the Lord. I have done my part to let them know at least the bare minimum fact. After a brotherly fellowship, presenting the truth, declaring the fact and history of false accusations and CRI’s research findings, they became sober and accepted the ministry finally. In fact, the top leader prayed and blessed me, and the bookroom manager, while praying, confessed and repented his misconception about Brother Witness Lee.

OM (Operation Mobilization) Books is a fully integrated publisher, distributor and retailer of Christian resources in South-East Asia. It is also the largest chain of Christian bookstores in India. They have been accepting Brother Watchman Nee’s books but not Brother Witness Lee’s based on rumors and negative feedback from certain people. The Lord burdened us to fellowship with the Director at their campus in Hyderabad on the 9th of May and also with the Purchase Manager. After about two hours of brotherly fellowship, presenting the truth, declaring the fact and history of false accusations, and CRI’s research findings, the Director understood the matter and requested us to provide the ministry books catalog in all the languages to place an order for their books stores all over India.

Meeting with a Brother: A very prominent Christian leader who loves Brother Watchman Nee’s books and is taking the stand as the “local church in Siddipet” has much to say against Brother Witness Lee as some of his “disciples” have taken the way of the Lord’s recovery a few years ago. Besides, he has heard many rumors and false public accusations against the “Local Church of Witness Lee” from his theologian friend and a famous Telugu Christian preacher.

Listen, Discern, Clarify, Testify, and Not Justify: When we first met on the 13th of May, he brought out all the accusations and negative points about the Lord’s recovery. We patiently listened to all that he had to say. Then, we clarified his misunderstandings of Brother Witness Lee’s teachings and his relationship with Brother Watchman Nee. We testified of the positive testimonies of how we came into the Lord’s recovery. Without justifying ourselves, we simply testified of our experiences and the spiritual help we received through Brother Witness Lee’s ministry despite the many oppositions we ourselves faced.

Dispensing Life through the Ministry of the Word: After a brotherly fellowship and presenting the truth, he changed his attitude towards the ministry and especially Brother Witness Lee. Surprisingly, he invited us to share our testimonies and also to minister the word of God on the following Lord’s Day in his congregation, which we did with much prayer and release of our spirit. Along with our testimonies, we ministered on the vision of Christ and the church Saul saw in Acts 9. Through fellowship and the dispensing of life through the word, he opened up to us and received all the ministry books in Telugu.

Having met with all these dear brothers, I pray that the Lord would put His enemy to open shame and turn the work of His lies for the propagation of the truth. I do believe, the Lord has been working in the hearts and minds of all these dear brothers so that they become channels of blessing for many seekers to have access to the truth concerning God's eternal purpose.

Lord,  open all the channels for the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom through the ministry of the word!