Lord, when the Father ne’er was known

Christ had two becomings. As God He became flesh, and as flesh He became the life-giving Spirit. From 1933 until 1963 I had the burden to come to the United States particularly to tell the Christians here that the very Christ in whom they believe is the Spirit today. When we were compiling our hymnal in 1963, I could not find any collection of hymns in Christianity that included songs about Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, I decided to write some hymns on this matter. Today a number of our hymns written by Brother Nee and by me speak of the Lord being the Spirit (see Hymns, #489-493, 539). The chorus to Hymns, #539 says, "a Lord, Thou art the Spirit! / How dear and near to me! / How I admire Thy marvelous / Availability!" Another short chorus says,

Now Christ is the life-giving Spirit;
Now Christ is the Spirit today.
Now Christ is the life-giving Spirit;
So turn to your spirit and say—
O Lord, Amen,
O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!

Today under the influence of the creeds, the speaking in Christianity concerning the Divine Trinity either leans toward tritheism or is very close to tritheism. There is a brother who worked with Brother Nee and me for over twenty years when we were in mainland China. In 1934 when the publication of The Christian was resumed and I was charged by Brother Nee to bear the editing responsibility, this co-worker also contributed articles to the magazine. However, in 1958 he condemned me, saying that I teach heresy when I say that "the Son is called the Father and that the Son is the Spirit." One of our senior co-workers went to have a talk with him, telling him that if this were a heresy, then it did not start with me but with Brother Nee, who had written a hymn with these lines: "Thou, Lord, the Father once wast called, / But now the Holy Spirit art" (Hymns, #490, stanza 5). That brother's reply was that Brother Nee could also be wrong. I felt then that that brother was not only short in his knowledge of the Bible but also inconsistent in his words and actions.

Isaiah 9: 6 says, "A child is born to us, / A Son is given to us... / And His name will be called... / Mighty God,/ Eternal Father." This verse clearly says that the child born to us and the Son given to us is called Mighty God and Eternal Father. Child refers to Jesus, who was born in the manger, and He is called the mighty God. Son refers to the Son of God, and He is called the eternal Father. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, "The Lord is the Spirit," The Lord refers to the Lord Jesus; hence, the Lord Jesus is the Spirit. Based on these verses, the Son is the Father, and the Lord is the Spirit. Since the Bible states this quite clearly, how can this be heresy? Concerning the Son being the Father and the Lord being the Spirit, Watchman Nee spoke in this way much earlier than I did. He even wrote a hymn that says, "Thou, Lord, the Father once wast called,/ But now the Holy Spirit art" (Hymns, #490). I am only following Brother Nee when I make the same statement.

Brother Watchman Nee also spoke of the Son being the Father and the Lord being the Spirit. He often said that when the Son walked on the earth, He was the Lord, but when He enters into us, it is as the Spirit. Brother Nee even wrote a hymn that says, "Thou, Lord, the Father once wast called, / But now the Holy Spirit art" (Hymns, #490). The brother who has condemned me claims that he has followed Brother Nee for many years, but he never raised any objection to Brother Nee's teaching. When he condemns me of heresy, even though I am speaking the same thing that Brother Nee presented, it only causes people to wonder about ulterior motives.

As a new believer, I was taught by the Brethren that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are separate persons. In 1933, not long after I began to labor with Brother Watchman Nee, we invited a traveling Chinese preacher to speak at our meeting in Shanghai. This brother was reputedly the most spiritual preacher among those working with the China Inland Mission. While speaking in our meeting he said, "Do not think that Christ is separate from the Spirit. They are one. Christ is the Spirit." To this, Brother Nee said a loud Amen. This surprised me since he did not normally do this. After the meeting I spoke to him, and he told me, ((We have to accept this word. When Christ was on the cross, He was only Christ. Now He is the Spirit within us." Brother Nee spoke more about Christ being the Spirit at other times.

Hymns, #489 concerns our experience of Christ as the Spirit. Stanza 5 of Hymns, #490 says, "Thou, Lord, the Father once wast called, / But now the Holy Spirit art; / The Spirit is Thine other form, / Thyself to dwell within our heart."

Furthermore, Christianity only speaks of Christ as the Savior, but it does not point out that Christ is the life-giving Spirit. Even though Andrew Murray spoke of this matter in his books, Christianity has not paid attention to it. It is only in the last twenty years that the Lord has clearly shown us in His Word that He, as the last Adam, became a life-giving Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not merely a power; the Holy Spirit is Christ. Brother Nee composed a hymn that says, "Thou, Lord, the Father once wast called,/ But now the Holy Spirit art" (Hymns, #490, stanza 5). For more than ten years I have had a heavy burden within to tell people about 1 Corinthians 15:45, which says, "The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit," and also about 2 Corinthians 3:17, which says, "The Lord is the Spirit." To my surprise, when I have spoken of these matters according to the Scriptures, I have been condemned as a heretic.

It is impossible for us to take the way of Christianity, because we have seen the complete truth in the Bible. Some condemn me and say that I speak heresy concerning the Triune God. However, the truth that we teach regarding the Triune God is absolutely according to the Bible. Brother Nee wrote some hymns on the Triune God. One says, "Thou, Lord, the Father once wast called, / But now the Holy Spirit art" (Hymns, #490, stanza 5). This clearly shows the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the Trinity. One of the leading ones opposing me was a co-worker of Brother Nee. He even published a biography of Brother Nee in Hong Kong during Brother Nee's imprisonment. He was the first to accuse me of speaking heresy. He also condemned us for speaking of Christ as the Firstborn of all creation. I published a message specifically on Christ as the Firstborn of all creation in 1952 (see chapter 3 of Christ and the Cross). I believe that this brother read that message, but he did not say anything at that time. In 1954 he invited me to Hong Kong to give a conference on the person of Christ. After I finished giving one of the messages, he prayed a long prayer to strengthen my message. Prior to this, Brother Nee had given a message on Christ being the Firstborn of all creation in a conference in Shanghai in 1934. Brother Nee asked me to polish his message and print it in its entirety in The Present Testimony. The publication clearly states that the message was spoken by Brother Nee and recorded by me (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 11, p. 781). The message I published in 1952 was based on Brother Nee's message in 1934 and further strengthened it.

We have spoken the truth concerning Christ being the Spirit in many messages. I am happy to hear the saints at the Lord's table praise the Lord for becoming the life-giving Spirit. This shows that we have received the spiritual education of this divine truth. In our hymnal, there are also a number of hymns which speak of Christ being the Spirit (Hymns, #490, 491, 493, 539).

There are others who accuse us of teaching modalism. They saw Brother Nee's hymn that says, "Thou, Lord, the Father once wast called, / But now the Holy Spirit art; / The Spirit is Thine other form, / Thyself to dwell within our heart" (Hymns, #490, stanza 5) and said that this is modalism. They also focused on an analogy that I gave, where I said that watermelon, a watermelon slice, and watermelon juice are like the "watermelon trinity." They said that the analogy was an example of modalism. The key proponent of modalism wa Sabellius. In church history Sabellianism is another name for modalism. Sabellius said that in the Old Testament God was the Father, but in the New Testament in the Gospels, the Son came, and the Father ceased to exist. In other words, in the Gospels the Father became the Son. During this period, only the Son existed; the Father no longer existed. In Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation, the Spirit came, and the Son ceased to exist. The Son became the Spirit. During this time, only the Spirit existed; both the Father and the Son ceased to exist. For this reason there are three modes of God: the mode of the Father, the mode of the Son, and the mode of the Spirit. These three modes are not simultaneous but appear consecutively one after another. When the second came, the first passed away, and when the third came, the second was over. This is a great heresy.

In the Lord's recovery we believe that God is the three-one God who has passed through various processes to be consummated. This has not been spoken by Catholicism and Protestantism. Even some co-workers among us avoided speaking this in the past. In 1963 one co-worker saw a hymn that I wrote concerning Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit, and he urged me to not speak this. He said, "Brother Lee, 1 Corinthians 15:45 indeed says that the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit, but if you speak this today, people in Christianity will not receive it, and it will only stir up opposition." I said, "Brother, I truly have no choice. If you ask me not to speak this, I have nothing to speak. I am persuaded that God sent me to the United States specifically to speak this. You can avoid speaking this, but since you admit that 1 Corinthians 15:45 says it is so, you must let me speak it." One of Brother Nee's hymns also says, "Thou, Lord, the Father once wast called, / But now the Holy Spirit art" (Hymns, #490). The Thou in the lyrics points to the Lord Jesus. Brother Nee not only said that the Lord is the Spirit, but he even wrote a few hymns to specifically address this truth (Hymns, #489-492), and no one criticized or spoke against it.