Page 138 - The Christian Life and the Church Life_Government of God

The Recovery of the Church as the Israel of God 137

You are going to take this into you, you are going to let the Lord work in you,
and when we come together, we are all going to say afresh, “Praise the Lord!”
We are kings-to-be, so let us receive training as kings-to-be.
Our Destiny Being to Be Sons of God Expressing God and Also Kings
Reigning in the Kingdom of God
Our destiny is to be sons of God expressing God, and also kings reigning
in the kingdom of God. Our destiny is not our present situation.
As the Sons of God, the New Creation, Our Needing to Be Loving, Joyful,
Peaceful, Faithful, and Meek

As the sons of God, the new creation, we need to be loving, joyful,
peaceful, faithful, and meek – the fruit of the Spirit. The first fruit of the
Spirit is love, and the second is joy. I was so thankful that our Brother Albert
mentioned that letter that Brother Nee wrote which was found, where he said
“I maintain my joy,” and how that comforted Brother Lee. Prior to those
twenty years, Brother Nee was suffering endlessly in so many ways. He
almost died at an early age. Then with ill health, he was imprisoned like that
for twenty years. A brother, now in Anaheim (he wasn’t a brother when he
entered prison), who was sharing a room, or a cell, with Brother Nee, was
brought to the Lord. When Brother Nee was so weak he could not walk to
the cafeteria for food, his roommate asked, “May I bring the food for Mr.
Nee?” The guard said, “No, we do not serve them like that; he can come
himself.” The other brother brought his own food back, half of it, and gave
it to Brother Nee. When Brother Nee heard that his [Brother Nee’s] wife had
passed away, he longed, almost pleaded, “Just give me a few days to be at
her funeral,” they would not let him. He went through all this, physically, and
suffering in the soul, but his testimony is “I have maintained my joy” because
during those twenty years he lived under the direct rule of God, under the
government of God. It may take eternity to make known how he prayed and
how he touched life and told us regarding the ministry of life.
If someone touches life in a new way, as a member of the Body, that life
just immediately flows into the Body. He does not have to do anything or say
anything. How much we owe, for the life released through him, yet, Brother
Nee was not a hero. Surely, Brother Lee, Sister Lee, and others, prayed and
prayed earnestly, faithfully, because he is a member of the Body. While he