I. THE FULL GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEAVENLY VISION

In the first chapter of this book, Witness Lee emphasizes the need for Christians to see the vision contained in scripture of the Christ as the Spirit and of the local churches. He exhorts the believers to pray to the Lord as the source of this heavenly vision, concerning His practical expression, the local church.

Do not follow the trend of today’s Christianity. Rather, forget about it. We have a new, heavenly trend. In Revelation we have the seven local churches. If you will pray-read all these verses [Matthew 16:18; Acts 26:18; Gal. 1:11-16; Eph. 3:8] and live in them and witness according to them, the issue will be the local churches. In the local churches we have the practical church life. The enemy, Satan, hates the Spirit because the Spirit is the reality of Christ. Today, Christ is realized as the Spirit, but some are fighting against this, saying that it is heresy to teach that Christ is the Spirit. Moreover, Satan also hates the local church and causes some to rise up against it. Most Christians only care for the universal church. But to have only the universal church is to have a vanity fair. While most Christians care for the universal church, they insist on perpetuating the denominations and free groups. Due to this, there is no local church. Instead, there is the vanity fair of the so-called universal church and all the denominations and groups. Where is the church? It can only exist when the saints realize that all Christians in a particular locality must be one. This is the local church.

Are you young people burning today? If you are, then I challenge you to pray with all these verses. If you pray, something will come out, and you will see the vision of the full gospel and become a witness of what you see of the Lord to today’s young generation. (11)