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Cutting Straight the Word of the Truth on “Hastening the Lord’s Return”

Is House-to-House Lord’s Table Meeting the Optimum Way of Hastening the Lord’s Return?

In a recent meeting of the co-workers and elders with Brother Liu Chi-cheng, a certain worker was admonished for saying that the “way” she is promoting is the best, because Brother Lee had warned and taught explicitly against promoting anyone’s way or practice as the best:

“Do not say your way or what you do is better, even if your way is the best. I do not mean that you should not do things better…. This does not mean that you should not practice something better. Try to do something better as long as your doing does not damage the testimony of the Body. Your way might be improved, advanced, and better than all the other ways, yet you do not need to designate it as better, and you do not need to sell, promote, or talk about it. This always causes trouble. Do not say your way is improved and advanced. Do not say that others have deviated in a certain matter and that now you have an improved way. This kind of thing stirs troubling questions.” (W. Lee, Elders’ Training, Book 4: Other Crucial Matters Concerning the Practice of the Lord’s Recovery, Chapter 5, p. 62 , LSM)

Although the worker vehemently denied that she ever made such a claim, the truth cannot be denied because such an assertion can be seen from the title alone of her article “An Exhortation and Entreaty for the Experience and Enjoyment of the Optimum Means of Hastening the Lord’s Return” openly published in Volume 23 Issue No. 5 of the New Man, the Work’s newsletter which she misused to air her personal and independent views, and promote her own style of house to house breaking of bread.

Saying that something is “optimum” is equivalent to saying that it is the “best”. According to her article, the “optimum means” of hastening the Lord’s return is “the practice of house-to-house Lord’s table meeting”. Even assuming that her “way” is the optimum or best, the very act of promoting it runs counter to Brother Lee’s exhortation. Because the worker did not take heed to Brother Lee’s words, much disharmony has been caused.

Regarding the practice itself, is “house-to-house Lord’s table meeting” indeed “the optimum means” to hasten the Lord’s return according to the Scriptures? Has Brother Nee or Brother Lee ever taught that the practice she is promoting is the best? Have they ever alluded to “house-to-house Lord’s table meeting” as the way to hasten the Lord’s return at all?

From the Scriptures, neither the Lord Himself nor any of the apostles ever taught that practicing “house-to-house Lord’s table meeting” is the best way to hasten the Lord’s return. There are many passages concerning the Lord’s return in the Bible, but not one relates to bread-breaking from house to house.

Both brothers Nee and Lee spoke much concerning the Lord’s return. They also spoke concerning meeting from house to house. But neither brother, while recognizing the importance of meetings from house to house to be as important as the larger gathering of the saints, made it the centerpiece of their balanced ministry. The correlation between the Lord’s return and breaking bread from house to house was never an item together in the ministry.

In following the ministry, it is essential for us to delve into the writings of brothers Nee and Lee so that we can receive the healthy words. Their teachings concerning the Lord’s return are both enlightening and nourishing, and it benefits us to revisit the points they taught by which we may prepare in order to hasten the Lord’s return. Let us look at these in a nutshell:

1. We hasten the Lord’s return by seeking after the kingdom through our growth in life. The speed of His coming depends upon the speed of our growth.
2. We hasten the Lord’s return by the growing of Christ within us. The growing of Christ within us is the coming of His kingdom.
3. We hasten the Lord’s return by our gospel-preaching and our growth in life. The more we advance, the sooner Christ will come.
4. We hasten the Lord’s return by becoming mature in life. The Lord is waiting with longsuffering for us to be matured in life. Only our maturity can hasten the Lord’s coming.
5. We hasten the Lord’s return by the ripening of the harvest. Like a farmer, the Lord is waiting for the crop growing in the field to ripen. When the harvest in the field is ripe, He will come back.
6. We hasten the Lord’s return by our full cooperation for the inward operation of His growth process in us.
7. We hasten the Lord’s return by being godly and having the reality of godliness. The more godliness we can express, the more we will hasten the Lord's coming.
8. We hasten the Lord’s return by living under the rule and exercise of the reality of the kingdom. Our living will hasten the coming of the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.
9. We hasten the Lord’s return by being diligent in preparing ourselves to meet the Lord. We should also minister life to others so that they may grow and be prepared.
10. We hasten the Lord’s return by preaching the gospel through doo-knocking. It is not until the environment is well prepared that He will come back.
11. We hasten the Lord’s return by growing through the experience of Christ. Wherever we may be we shall function properly, and the Body will grow. It will hasten the coming back of the Lord Jesus.
12. We hasten the Lord’s return by being the overcomers in the army of the Lord. We can hasten the Lord’s coming and the closing of this age by being the overcomers.
13. We hasten the Lord’s return by being a faithful and competent teacher. Those who have received the riches of the Lord’s recovery should commit these things to others. This would hasten the time of His glorious appearing.
14. We hasten the Lord’s return by standing firm for the full knowledge of the truth. We need to sound the trumpet that those who seek the Lord Jesus may come together as a living Body of Christ to fulfill God’s purpose and to hasten the coming of the Lord.
15. We hasten the Lord’s return by being fitted and knit together. We adorn the Bride to hasten and receive the Lord’s coming by the building up of the Body of Christ through the members’ growth in life.
16. We hasten the Lord’s return by living under God’s heavenly rule, loving the Lord’s appearing, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom to participate in the kingdom’s manifestation. When we live in the kingdom’s reality by allowing Christ as the life-giving Spirit to rule within us, we will hasten the coming of the Lord in the kingdom’s manifestation.
17. We hasten the Lord’s return by being revived every morning. This type of exercise will prepare us for the kingdom as well as hasten the coming of the kingdom.
18. We hasten the Lord’s return by preaching and teaching the truth. If we all become good preachers and teachers, the Lord will have a way to hasten His coming back.
19. We hasten the Lord’s return by living a healthy life. We want to live healthily so that the truth of the Lord would be sent through us to every part of the world and prevailing in every place.
20. We hasten the Lord’s return by being fully saturated and fully gained through the divine dispensing of the Triune God.
21. We hasten the Lord’s return by praying for the Lord’s will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth. We pray to hasten the manifestation of His will.
22. We hasten and prepare for Christ’s return by being built up in this age.
23. We prepare an excellent way for the Lord to return by building up the church.
24. We bring back the Lord by being transformed and built together as His Bride.

From the summary of excerpts cited above, we find the clear exhortations of brothers Nee and Lee regarding the various means by which we could and should hasten the Lord’s return. All of them pertain to our living, our service, and our constitution; none of them refers to any practice of meeting, for it is not the meeting but the readiness of our being and the built up Body which would hasten the Lord’s return. Hence, for one to say that a certain way of meeting is the means, even the optimum means, to hasten the Lord’s return would be stretching the Word far beyond its context and certainly not according to the leading of the ministry. While the goal of such a worker may be to encourage, entreat, provoke or incite with a view of gaining an increase for the Body, the truth should not be sacrificed, and any work or practice by any co-worker should be answerable to the Body and take the Body as its governing principle.

While undoubtedly, the practice of “house-to-house breaking of bread” is in the Word, the Scripture is silent as to its attendant details. Not the Lord, or the apostles, or brothers Nee and Lee ever taught that it is the “optimum means of hastening the Lord’s return.” Moreover, such a practice was never legalistic. To take a descriptive practice in the Bible and turn it into a teaching is patently wrong. To stake a claim that such a practice is the best way to hasten the Lord’s coming without basis in the Word is to twist or deform the Holy Scriptures. Furthermore, to thrust as a yoke on the churches something which is not in the central lane of God’s New Testament economy as unveiled to us by the ministry creates problems and results in division. It behooves us to steer clear of anything with a semblance to such eccentricity. We must always bear in mind that different teachings bring in different practices that result in division.

Brother Lee warned us very clearly:

"Do not try to convince others that your way is the best. This is similar to item number five which says not to say that your way is the right way. Sometimes certain ones not only said that their way was the right or the best way, but tried to convince others of this. This spontaneously and immediately caused a turmoil. This turmoil damaged them, damaged others, and eventually damaged the Lord’s recovery. I believe that we all love the Lord, and that we all love the Lord’s recovery…. This is the conclusion of my fellowship on these principles. Do not do anything or say anything that would damage the Lord’s recovery.” (W. Lee, Elders’ Training, Book 4: Other Crucial Matters Concerning the Practice of the Lord’s Recovery, Chapter 5, p. 69, LSM)

May the enlightening words of our brothers inspire us to love the Lord more and to love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8), earnestly awaiting His return (Phil. 3:20; 1 Thes. 1:10). Under the shining of His light, may the Lord lead us to live, walk, and serve in a manner through which we could hasten His return. While living in a holy and godly manner, we are expecting, awaiting, and hastening the coming of that very day (2 Pet. 3:12 fn 1).

Under the same light, with a humble spirit may we be reminded and warned against promoting our own way, labeling it as the best, and trying to convince others to practice the same, for to do this produces problems and results to turmoil that damages the oneness and one accord among the churches in the Lord’s recovery. Our work and labor is to build up the Body of Christ, not to tear down. May the Lord have mercy on us that anything we do or say would be for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the unique ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20)

Excerpts from the Ministry

Hastening of the Lord’s Return

By Seeking After the Kingdom through Our Growth in Life

“Now let us read 2 Peter 3:11-12: ‘Since all these things are to be thus dissolved, what kind of person ought you to be in holy manner of life and godliness, expecting and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements, burning with intense heat, are to be melted away?’ The more we seek after the kingdom by growing in life, the more we hasten the coming of the day of the Lord. Surely the speed of His coming depends upon the speed of our growth; it depends upon our seeking. If we don't seek, and we don't grow, His coming is delayed. We may pray for the Lord to come quickly, but He may say to us, ‘Grow quickly.’ There is no problem from His side; the problem is on our side. Surely the Lord Jesus would be happy if we would grow quickly.” (W. Lee, The Kingdom, Chapter 50, Section 3, LSM)

By the Growing of Christ within Us

“In order to have the coming of the kingdom, Christ must be growing within us all the time. The growing of Christ within us is the coming of the kingdom. It is good to pray, ‘Thy kingdom come,’ but it is more practical to pray, ‘Lord, grow within me.’ ‘Thy kingdom come’ may be no more than a religious formula. Although this prayer has been repeated by millions of Christians for more than 1900 years, still the kingdom has not come. It is not difficult for the Lord to answer that prayer, but it is difficult for us to allow Him to grow within us. The coming of the kingdom is the growing of Christ within us. By being poor in our spirit and pure in our heart, we can give the Lord the ground to grow within us, and this growth will be the real coming of the kingdom. The more quickly we allow Him to grow in us, the more we hasten the coming of the kingdom.” (W. Lee, The Kingdom, Chapter 6, Section 2, LSM)

By Our Gospel-Preaching and Our Growth in Life

“Today we are experiencing the church life, which is the process of Christ's coming. Every time a sinner is baptized, that is a further step of Christ's coming. Likewise, our growth in life is the advancement, the furthering, of His coming. The more we advance, the sooner Christ will come. If we want to hasten Christ's coming, we need to advance more quickly.” (W. Lee, The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation, Chapter 2, Section 14, LSM)

By Becoming Mature in Life

“In 5:7 James uses the illustration of a farmer awaiting with longsuffering the precious fruit of the earth. We have seen that the Lord Jesus is actually the real Farmer, the unique Farmer. As we are awaiting His coming, He, as the real Farmer, is awaiting our maturity. We may pray, ‘Lord, come back quickly.’ However, He may say, ‘My children, mature quicker. While you are awaiting My coming back, I am awaiting your maturity. Do you know why it has been nearly two thousand years and I have not yet come back? The reason is that My people are not yet matured. Only your maturity can hasten My coming back. You exercise your longsuffering, and I exercise My longsuffering.’” (W. Lee, Life-Study of James, Chapter 11, Section 2, LSM)

By the Ripening of the Harvest

“The illustration of the farmer in 5:7 implies that the farmer is waiting for the crop growing in the field to ripen. According to Revelation 14, the Lord is also waiting for the harvest to be ripe. When the harvest in the field is ripe, He will come back. This harvest will be the issue, the outcome, of the Lord’s sowing of Himself as a seed. This was accomplished during the Lord’s first coming, and it is described in Matthew 13. We need to realize that it is the ripening of the harvest that will hasten the Lord’s coming back.” (W. Lee, Life-Study of James, Chapter 11, Section 2, LSM)

By Our Full Cooperation for the Inward Operation of His Growth Process in Us

“We must give the Lord our full cooperation for the inward operation of His growth process in us so that we may hasten His coming—Gal. 1:15-16a; 2:20; 4:19; Rev. 19:7; 2 Pet. 3:11-12; cf. Luke 12:32.” (W. Lee, Crystallization-study of the Gospel of Mark, Outline 6, LSM)

By Being Godly and Having the Reality of Godliness

“May the Lord be gracious to grant us the growth in life for His coming back. Our growth in life will speed His coming back. How quickly He comes back depends on our growth. How can we hasten His coming? By being godly and having the reality of godliness. The proper godliness is just the development of the inner life. The more we develop something in our inner life, the more we are godly. The more godliness we can express, the more we will hasten the Lord's coming.” (W. Lee, The Kingdom, Chapter 10, LSM)

By Living Under the Rule and Exercise of the Reality of the Kingdom

“When we as Christians are truly under the rule, the exercise, of the reality of the kingdom, we will be a group of people who will hasten the coming of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:12). This means that our living will hasten the coming of the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. The Lord taught the disciples to pray for the coming of the kingdom (Matt. 6:10). We must pray for the kingdom to come and must live in the reality of the kingdom until the earth is fully recovered for God’s will in the coming kingdom age.” (W. Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the Heavens, Chapter 5, Section 3, LSM)

By Being Diligent in Preparing Ourselves to Meet the Lord

“My point here is that we should not be bothered or surprised by any delay concerning the Lord’s coming. Do not blame the Lord and say, ‘Lord, You said in Revelation 22 that You were coming quickly. Why, then, has it been so long?’ Instead of blaming the Lord for delaying His coming, we should be diligent to prepare ourselves to meet Him. We should also minister life to others so that they may grow and be prepared. This is the only way to hasten the Lord’s coming back.” (W. Lee, Life-Study of 2 Peter, Chapter 11, Section 3, LSM)

By Preaching the Gospel through Door-Knocking

“Having the gospel preached to the whole earth indeed makes us excited, but it also means that we must experience much hardship and suffering, such as not being able to eat and to sleep well. However, there will be sweetness in bitterness, and bitterness in sweetness, and at the end of the bitterness, the sweetest part will come—the coming of our Lord. The Lord's coming requires our hastening. If we do not hasten His coming, He will not come back. In order to hasten His coming, we have to prepare the environment on the earth. It is not until the environment is well prepared that He will come back…. Therefore, do not worry. Simply take courage until one day all the doors on the earth will be visited by knocking.” (W. Lee, Bearing Remaining Fruit, Chapter 18, LSM)

By Growing and Functioning through the Experience of Christ

“We praise the Lord for opening His Word to us. We thank Him for showing us that the vital need is for Christ to be wrought into our being. The more we are saturated with Christ, the more we become in reality parts of the Body with a particular measure of function. Then wherever we may be we shall function properly, and the Body will grow. This will cause Satan, the enemy of God, to tremble. It will also hasten the coming back of the Lord Jesus.” (W. Lee, Life-Study of Ephesians, Chapter 93, Section 1, LSM)

By Being the Overcomers in the Army of the Lamb

“They will also be the army of the Lamb (Rev. 17:14; 19:14). According to Joel 3:11, they will come as the mighty ones with Christ to defeat Antichrist and his armies (Rev. 19:19-21) to close the great tribulation and the present age. We should not be those who love this age, because we need to become the ones to close it. The overcomers will come with Christ to close this present, evil, and ugly age. We can hasten the Lord’s coming and the closing of this age by being the overcomers to stand against the tide and the trend of the entire situation and environment on this earth.” (W. Lee, The Overcomers, Chapter 6, Section 7, LSM)

By Being A Faithful and Competent Teacher

“Paul realized that Timothy had received a good deposit, that he had been taught and nourished with the riches of grace. Therefore, he charged Timothy to commit these things to others who would be faithful and competent to carry on the same ministry. This indicates that more than one person is needed to carry on the riches of God’s New Testament economy. My hope is that through all these Life-study Messages thousands of saints in the Lord’s recovery will receive a good deposit of the riches of grace concerning God’s New Testament economy. Then those who have received these riches will be able to commit these things to others. Imagine what the situation would be if the Lord had ten thousand saints filled with His good deposit, spreading the riches of His economy throughout the earth. No doubt, this would hasten the time of His glorious appearing.” (W. Lee, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Chapter 15, Section 1, LSM)

By Standing Firm for the Full Knowledge of the Truth

“Our burden is not simply to oppose superficiality, hypocrisy, and superstition. It is to minister Christ and the church for the fulfillment of God’s economy. God our Father certainly has an eternal purpose to fulfill. But Satan has come in with many distractions and falsehoods. Our burden must be to minister the all-inclusive Christ and the church as the Body of Christ to those who love God and seek Christ. We need to help all those who pursue the Lord to come to the full knowledge of the truth. We need to sound the trumpet that those who seek the Lord Jesus may come together as a living Body of Christ to fulfill God’s purpose and to hasten the coming of the Lord. Concerning this, we all must be desperate and give ourselves to prayer. On the one hand, we like to maintain a peaceful situation with others. On the other hand, for the sake of God’s purpose, we must stand firm for the full knowledge of God’s truth and fight the good fight against the evil powers of darkness.” (W. Lee, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Chapter 22, Section 3, LSM)

By Being Fitted and Knit Together, Adorning the Bride to Hasten and Receive the Lord’s Coming in the Building Up of the Body of Christ Through the Members’ Growth in Life

“Once you are perfected, you should turn around to perfect other brothers and sisters in the same way by speaking to them on a one-to-one basis. If every one of our co-workers and elders faithfully fulfills their function in this way, each can help at least five to six others. As you lead these along month after month and year after year, an atmosphere will be developed among us in which every brother and sister will be perfected and will in turn perfect others. In this way, the Body of Christ will be built up through the members’ growth in life, and Ephesians chapter four and 1 Corinthians chapter fourteen will be realized among us. Only by this way can the bride be adorned and prepared to hasten and receive the Lord’s coming. This is the Lord’s eternal purpose. Surely He will accomplish this. May every one of us receive this serious commission from the Lord to labor diligently and to strive in oneness that the will of the Lord may be accomplished.” (W. Lee, A Timely Trumpeting and the Present Need, Chapter 3, Section 7, LSM)

By Living under God’s Heavenly Rule, Loving the Lord’s Appearing, and Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom to Participate in the Kingdom’s Manifestation

“When we live in the kingdom’s reality by allowing Christ as the life-giving Spirit to rule within us, we will hasten the coming of the Lord in the kingdom’s manifestation—Matt. 6:10; 2 Pet. 3:12.” (W. Lee, Crystallization-Study Outlines—Gospel of Matthew (2), Chapter 1, Section 12, LSM)

By Being Revived Every Morning

“We should exercise to be in the reality of the kingdom every day throughout the day so that we will be the ones to bring in the manifestation of the kingdom. The simple way to accomplish this is to get revived every morning by calling on His name and contacting Him through pray-reading two or three verses. We can overcome by pray-reading throughout the day. This type of exercise will prepare us for the kingdom as well as hasten the coming of the kingdom.” (W. Lee, Lesson Book, Level 6: The Bible—The Word of God, Chapter 9, Section 4, LSM)

By Preaching and Teaching the Truth

“If we all become good preachers and teachers, the Lord will have a way to hasten His coming back. Today’s situation does not allow the Lord to come back, for nothing is ready for His coming. Therefore, we need to be faithful to follow the Lord’s steps in the matters of preaching the gospel and teaching the truth. He was a good preacher and a good teacher, and we must learn of Him also to be good preachers and teachers. Concerning this matter, I am especially hopeful that the young people will be faithful to the Lord in His recovery. Young people, there is a long way ahead of you. I urge you to be faithful in the Lord’s recovery to preach the gospel and teach the truth.” (W. Lee, Life-Study of Mark, Chapter 5, Section 3, LSM)

By Living a Healthy Life

“We do not have a financial problem in our present situation, especially in Taiwan. However, we should not eat, drink, and enjoy anything as we like simply because we are wealthy. This is to commit gradual suicide. I hope that we could live to be eighty or ninety, even to over a hundred, so that we might be able to see the fulfillment of all that we have fellowshipped today. I wish to live on this earth and witness with my own eyes the truth of the Lord not only being printed into books through our hands, but also being sent through us to every part of the world and prevailing in every place. I absolutely believe that this will hasten the Lord’s return because it is through this that the Lord will prepare His bride. I hope that we all can see the manifestation of such a situation.” (W. Lee, The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity, Chapter 12, Section 4, LSM)

By Being Fully Saturated and Fully Gained through the Divine Dispensing

“Lord, we ask You to look at the situation on this earth! Destroy the power of darkness so that You can carry out the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity in all the places. May all those who call on Your name be not only saved but also fully saturated and fully gained through the divine dispensing of the Triune God, and may this hasten Your coming back. Lord, we worship You and give all the glory and honor to You. We acknowledge You as the Head, both of the church and of all things. We call upon heaven and earth to testify to the fact that You have a recovery on this earth and that there are some who have placed themselves on the altar to satisfy Your heart. Lord, move freely without any hindrance. Amen!” (W. Lee, Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord's Recovery, Book 1: The Vision and Definite Steps for the Practice of the New Way, Chapter 17, Section 1, LSM)

By Praying for the Lord’s Will be Done on Earth

“God's will is never hindered in heaven. His will is frustrated from being executed on earth because the earth has been corrupted by Satan. It has been usurped by God's enemy. However, when the kingdom comes, the earth will be completely recovered, and God's will and desire will be executed on the earth as it is in heaven. Satan will be bound in the abyss (Rev. 20:3; cf. Luke 8:31, Dan. 10:13) and will no longer be able to frustrate God's will. Today the Lord wants men to pray for this and to hasten the manifestation of His will.” (W. Nee, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, (Set 2) Vol. 44: Conferences, Messages, and Fellowship (4), Chapter 3, Section 3, LSM)

By Being Built Up in This Age for the Lord’s Return

“According to verses 1 through 16 [of Ephesians 4], the building is something that is accomplished today on this earth. Unless this goal is realized on the earth, the Lord Jesus will not be able to come back. There is the real need of the building up. Wait and see—if not the whole Body, at least a small number, a remnant, a part of the Body, will be recovered for the building up. This recovery will be a preparation for Christ’s return.” (W. Lee, The Vision, Practice, and Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, Chapter 6, Section 5, LSM)

By Building Up the Church to Prepare an Excellent Way for the Lord’s Return

“The Lord of the harvest cannot return when there is nothing to reap. This matter involves the rapture of the believers and the maturity of life. If the church aggressively pursues the building up, the believers will mature sooner, and the Lord of the harvest can return to reap the harvest…. Now is the time when we urgently need the building. Since we are attending to the Lord’s work, in everything we do, whether in the administration of the church, the ministry of the word, or visiting the saints, we should hold on to the principle that our work should result in the building up of the believers. We should be able to build the believers up one by one into the Body of Christ, into a corporate vessel of God on earth…. We are being built up in our coordination with others, and we are learning how to administrate and help others. We will learn to make up the lack in some and remove the excess from others, or add to those who have little function and help those who already function to develop in their function even more. We will also learn to help others to coordinate so that there will be no spiritual individuals who manifest their function individualistically. Instead, all the believers should be joined together to manifest their function in coordination. By doing this, we will prepare an excellent way for the Lord to return.” W. Lee, The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word, Chapter 12, Section 5, LSM)

By Being Transformed and Built Together as His Bride

“Luke 21:24 has now been fully accomplished. But how can the Lord come back? If we read the entire New Testament, we will realize that there must be a group of people on this earth who have been regenerated, transformed, built up together, and prepared as His Bride for Him to come back as the Bridegroom. The Lord is returning to judge the earth, but this is not His goal. The main purpose of the Lord’s return is for His Bride (Rev. 19:7-9). To judge the earth is on the negative side, but to come for His Bride is positive…. I do believe that henceforth the Lord is going to do a quick work to prepare a group of people by transforming them and building them together to be prepared as His Bride…. The Lord is going to raise up a small number to take the standing of the overcomers to go along with Him. These will be the representatives of His Body, and their standing will be sufficient to bring the Lord back.” (W. Lee, Practical Expression of the church, Chapter 22, LSM)

(December 10, 2009)