In the past some dear saints have argued with me about the church. Some said that they were not the church and that we were not the church either. Others said that if we were the church, then they were the church also. Arguments and debates do not bring us anywhere. The more you argue, the more you will find yourself in a maze. How can we tell who is the church and where the church is? There is a basic principle, which is to ask whether we are in a maze or in the vision. If this is the church, then upon entering into it, you will find yourself in the vision. However, if it is not the church, then upon entering into it, you will find yourself in a maze. There is no need for argument. After you come in, simply ask whether you are in a maze or a vision. Are you in the vision under a clear sky with a definite direction, or are you still in a maze? This is the governing principle. The Lord’s recovery is to bring us out of the maze back to the heavenly vision.
Now that we are in the Lord’s recovery, I would like to ask you what you see. If you say that you see Christ and the church, I would reply that this is too general. It takes time to tell people all that we see in the Lord’s recovery. When we are in the vision, everything is clear, and nothing is hidden or veiled. I have been in this country since 1962. Sometimes people have asked me why my messages are never exhausted. They want to know where I get so many things to speak on. All the speaking comes from the vision. Because the vision is inexhaustible, I cannot stop giving messages. The Bible is an open book to me. We are in a vision under a clear sky with the heavenly directory in front of us. Thus, we know where we are going.
The best way to present the vision to others is first to give them a general view, then the details. For example, we may say that we see Christ, the church, and the genuine oneness. Then we would point out that among us there are no issues, choices, or preferences. We may go on to speak of the human spirit and the indwelling of the human spirit by the Holy Spirit, an indwelling that causes these two spirits to work together. We see these two spirits walking, living, fellowshipping, and even talking together. After this, we may point out that we live in the mingled spirit and that the mingled spirit controls and directs us day by day. Furthermore, the mingled spirit sanctifies us, transforms us, and maintains the genuine oneness.
We are not in human society, in a maze, in a legality, or in any issue. We are in the Lord’s recovery. Being in the Lord’s recovery, we have been brought back to the Lord’s vision. The greatest difference between Christianity and the Lord’s recovery is this matter of vision. If we are in the Lord’s recovery, then we are in the vision, but whenever we are out of the vision, we are out of the recovery. Whether or not we are in the Lord’s recovery depends upon whether or not we are in the vision. If we are in the Lord’s recovery, everything is clear.
If we have the vision, we shall have a general view. We shall not see just a few particular things. For example, after I had surgery on my right eye, the retina became detached, although I did not realize it at first. One day as I looked out the window, I saw only half of a car. But when my wife looked out the window, she saw the whole car and said that there must be something wrong with my eye. Although I was still able to see, when I looked at things, it appeared as though everything had been cut in half. Immediately I was taken to the ophthalmologist who told me that the retina had begun to be detached and that it required emergency surgery. Sometimes our spiritual vision is like this. We cannot see the whole situation but only a small part, perhaps just ten percent. When this happens, we need to go to the “eye doctor” in order to have our full vision restored. To repeat, we need to have a vision. If we are in the recovery, we shall be in the vision.
(Basic Training, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee)