The Present State of the Lord’s Testimony (Part 1): From the Plymouth Brethren to Watchman Nee

When we trace the Lord’s testimony or witness or whatever it is, when we get to the Plymouth Brethren, there is a book entitled The Torch of the Testimony by John W. Kennedy. And when that book closes in the year about 1900, the Plymouth Brethren are at one another’s throats, and Bob said it really well. They were standing in line to excommunicate one another and one another’s churches. Now, I’ll tell you something else about the brethren, and that is, if you ever meet with them, it’s still the 1880s. Meet them, sit down with them. They are still talking about that fight, and John Kennedy said that in a book that ends in, let’s say, 1899. I’m telling you, it’s the year 2000, and still, the major thing they talk about is that split. They came to be called the open brothers and the closed brothers, and they’ll draw the line with you as soon as you meet them. Are you open or closed? Until this hour. What else would be said? That’s where the story ends, right there. That’s as far as it gets.  Audience: We cannot go on, based on good days and bad days, but on the basis of being witnesses to the next generation.

Actually, you left out part of that sentence. To be a witness to this and the next generation. Alright, thank you very much. I suppose that pretty well sums it up. Okay. What else? Audience: There’s more courage in dying than fighting, but it has to be courageous dying. There’s more courage in dying than there is in fighting. It’s not a cowardly dying…an excuse dying. This is what I wrestle with whenever I talk about this, and maybe we can get a little light on it today: what is it really? What’s true dying there? What is that like? Alright, is there anything else? Audience: It’s difficult to be crucified and strong at the same time.

Yes, it is extremely difficult to be strong and crucified. That’s a challenge of challenges. And don’t pick your crucifixions. Oh, I like this formula, but I don’t like that one. So, I’ll take this crucifixion, and instead I’ll die to the situation, so I won’t have to, well, you don’t ever say that part, do you? Or any of us? Okay. Every movement since the Moravians has grown without the cross. It has not been there; I don’t care if they preach it. They have not practiced it. And there’s no difference between not practicing it and not preaching it. If you preach it and you don’t practice it, it’s still zero. Okay, is that enough?

If the people in this room don’t go on, I am telling you that the next group that comes up to bat comes up to that testimony is going to fight like devils, and I’ll tell you why. It’s based on what we have paid for and what we’ve got so far. I don’t know of anybody who’s ever going to try to pay that price again. In my lifetime, I have not met that soul, or that people, or even got close to it, or could even be in sight of. We will have to build on the foundation we have right now, because God spoke to Moses and said, “You’re not going to live much longer.” Whatever Moses built on, that’s what God inherited. Whatever Paul built on, that’s what God inherited. What you and I have built on, we’re going to have to build on it, and if there are any cracks in it, we’re going to have to either mend them or not have them. One thing we will not do is be what the brethren are, and we have never been what the brethren are. Now, does that pretty well wrap it up? Because that brings us to where we are right now. I’m going to ask again that when you decide to do this, I don’t care how dark, you’re going to have to learn to eat death and live on it. That’s what you’re going to have to do, because we can’t always be starry-eyed. We’ve got to understand that we are here to exist. Not to be entertained, not to even be spiritual. We’re just digging in our heels and saying, “We’re here.” Until the Lord moves, he blesses us, or if He removes His blessing, we are here till somebody walks through that door and says, “I don’t know who you people are, but tell us your story.” That’s what we will do. We will stay here until someone walks through that door and says, “We want to go on. Tell us your story.” And when you do, tell them to listen to this morning’s message and tonight’s, and I saw someone back there.

Audience: The last two things I wrote down were that we would rather fail at this than succeed at something else. And the other thing is that you pray for a cloud of witnesses more interested in what is going on here.

Okay, it is more important, and it is better to fail here than it is to succeed anywhere else, because God’s got everything else at a dime a dozen. What is God for His testimony? It was never like that. It’s usually small and very hidden, so let’s get ready to fail and eat it for breakfast.

I think I can promise you, if I know something about the ways of God, that someday somebody’s going to walk through that door. He’ll hear what you have to say, and you better be clear about what you say of what you’ve done, and what we are, and what our testimony is to this generation, and to the generation to come, and to this cloud of witness. No. According to Hebrews, there is a cloud of witnesses. I don’t think they are the least bit interested in… YWAM. Well, I don’t think they’re the least bit interested in all those Pentecostal programs on television, etc., etc., etc. No, that cloud of witnesses became who they were by being very similar to what we are, and what others are, and those who have joined that cloud of witnesses were a witness, and we call the Lord forth today and say Lord, witness us, and if we fail, it wasn’t because we didn’t try.

Okay, I think that wraps it up. Now, I want to tell you what the name of this message is: The Present State of the Lord’s Testimony on this earth today, starting with the Plymouth Brethren. I want to apologize to every person in this room, but what I’m about to say, everything I’m about to say…but would you look at my face for a moment, please…and will you look at my head? Would you look at my brow, and the furrows that are there? Will you listen to my voice? If I don’t tell this story, it’ll die with me. Will you please give me the honor I have waited until this day for, with one and a half feet in the grave, before I have ever told this story? Others have told their story before they died. I’m going to tell the story of the present state of the Lord’s testimony in the world today, and it’s not pretty. As far as I’m concerned, the decency of His testimony died with the last Moravian, real Moravian, not the Moravians today, but whenever they died. In other words, I’m saying from about 1900 on, no, from about 1830 on till right now, we haven’t had a testimony worth passing on.

Now, the interesting part of this is that somewhere along here in this story, I get caught up in that story. I’m part of it. Now, to whatever degree is not important; the point is, I’m present in that story, and I have to give my testimony. And your ears are going to rot off before we get through this. Grown men will weep, but it’s nonetheless accurate. Now, here’s the nice thing about it, and that is, the Lord gave me the mind of a historian. Aren’t you glad He didn’t give me the mind of a theologian? Aren’t you glad he didn’t give me the mind of a Bible teacher? All I can do is tell stories so that I will tell a story, and we’ll bring it up to the year 2000. The pages after that are blank. Maybe I should show this chart again. I think this thing cost us $4. That’s because it was run through a color copier, took two pages, and cost $2 each. We have 50 put together charts. If you don’t have one, and you have $4, you are going to pay for that.

Brother John W. Kennedy ended right there. We have added this. I’m going to start telling the story right around 1820. This conference is about this blank space right over here. We’re on the stage. We may be so small in number that you can’t find us on this page, but we’re on it. And the question is: where do we go from here?

Okay, I’m going to read a passage of scripture, and if anybody in this room has ever heard this passage before…Have you ever run across something in the Bible you absolutely never heard of in your life? I never saw this in my life. It is Jeremiah 47:6-7, and these are my feelings about this day right there. This is my text. Oh, sword of the Lord, when will you be at rest again? Go back into your sheath. Rest and be still. But how can that sword be still when the Lord has given it a charge? And although I regret everything I’m going to say, put it in history books.