GOING DIRECTLY TO THE LORD
The tragic history of Christianity must not be repeated among us. We must not insult the Lord and offend Him by not caring for His leading. We do not agree with any manmade decision. Everyone in the Lord’s recovery must go directly to the Lord and pray. If anyone asked me where he should go, I would give him just one word—pray. Pray until you are clear, and then go. Do not ask me or anyone else what you should do. None of us is the Lord. Only Jesus Christ is the Lord. I cannot speak on His behalf and tell you where you should go. You must inquire of Him, "Lord, where should I go?" If you do not get the Lord’s leading, do not go to others and ask them to tell you what you should do.
BEING ASSURED OF THE LORD’S SENDING
Do not say, as if it were a mere slogan, "I am following the flow." The real flow is the Lord Himself. How wrong it is to stir up a movement! That is an insult to the Lord. It is an offense to Him. There must never be a movement among us in the Lord’s recovery. Do not use the word "flow" as a cloak to disguise a movement. When some of you speak of the flow, you actually mean a movement. To create a movement and then to encourage others to follow it is to make a tremendous mistake. Again I say, concerning any move you make in the Lord’s recovery, you must go directly to the Lord Himself and pray. I long to see that after some months of prayer, spontaneously, without a discussion or a conference, a number will be burdened to go to Phoenix and others to certain other places. If the angels ask why you have come there, you will then be able to say, "Angels, don’t you know that the Lord has sent me here?" You will have authority. But if you say that a certain brother has sent you there, that will mean nothing. It will have no weight whatever. What any man says about where you should go means nothing. You must have the assurance that the Lord is sending you. And do not say, "I have come here because I followed the flow." Perhaps after a year you will regret that you followed the so-called flow, for you never had any assurance from the Lord. You must be able to say, "I am here because the Lord sent me here. He asked me to come to this place and He wanted me here." We all must be clear concerning the Lord’s leading to this extent. None of us should give any instructions to others or make decisions for others.
Now is the time for us to have a genuine turn before the Lord. You must say, "Lord, we don’t want to offend You or insult You. We want to honor You by waiting on You for Your leading." This is the Lord’s recovery, not a repetition of the pitiful history of Christianity. Do not take orders from anyone and do not give orders to anyone. Go to the Lord and pray. This is the proper way.
(The Spirit and the Body, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)
