Scripture Reading: Acts 2:42; Heb. 1:1-2; 1 Tim. 6:3; Matt. 28:19-20; John 16:12-15; Col. 1:25-26; Rev. 22:18-19; Col. 2:2-3, 9; Eph. 3:3-11; 5:32; Rom. 1:1-4; Jude 3; 1 Tim. 1:19; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 2 John 9-11; Gal. 1:7-9; Eph. 4:14
I. The entire teaching of the New Testament:
А. God’s speaking in the Son to His New Testament people — Heb. 1:1-2:
1. The direct teaching of the Lord Jesus in the four Gospels:
а. The healthy words — 1 Tim. 6:3a.
b. Spoken to His first group of disciples and to be taught to all His disciples — Matt. 28:19-20.
2. The teaching of the Spirit of truth — John 16:12-15:
а. The teaching according to godliness — 1 Tim. 6:3b.
b. Through the apostles:
1) Through Peter and Paul in Acts, including their words, their works, and their way of working.
2) Through Paul in his fourteen Epistles, from Romans to Hebrews.
3) Through James in his Epistle.
4) Through Peter in his two Epistles.
5) Through Jude in his Epistle.
6) Through John in his three Epistles and Revelation.
B. Completed through Paul and John — Col. 1:25-26; Rev. 22:18-19.
II. The unique divine revelation of God’s New Testament economy:
А. Concerning the mystery of God — Christ — Col. 2:2-3, 9.
B. Concerning the mystery of Christ — the church — Eph. 3:3-11.
C. Concerning the great mystery — Christ and the church — 5:32.
III. The contents of the full gospel of God — Rom. 1:1-4.
IV. The constitution of the Christian faith — Jude 3; 1 Tim. 1:19; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7.
V. Any teaching different from this unique revelation not allowed by the apostles — 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 2 John 9-11.
VI. Any other belief besides this unique faith not allowed by the apostles — Gal. 1:7-9.
VII. All teachings different from the unique revelation of God’s New Testament economy being considered by the apostles as winds of teaching — Eph. 4:14:
А. In the sleight of men’s cheating.
B. In the craftiness of men’s deception.
C. With a view to inducing men into the satanic system of error.
D. Carrying the saints away from the central lane of the divine revelation with the intention of frustrating and even tearing down the building up of the Body of Christ.
E. Causing the little children to be tossed by waves and thereby to suffer uneasiness in the church life.
In this book we will fellowship concerning two basic, crucial, vital, and living matters in the New Testament: the apostles’ teaching and the New Testament leadership. These two matters in the New Testament are very crucial. We need the apostles’ teaching, and we also need the proper leadership. To annul these two matters is to annul the New Testament. The riches of Christ are conveyed in the teaching of the apostles and in the New Testament leadership.
The apostles’ teaching is the entire teaching of the New Testament from the first to the last page. It is not merely a part of the New Testament. All twenty-seven books of the New Testament are the apostles’ teaching.
The entire teaching of the New Testament, which is the apostles’ teaching, is God’s speaking, God’s oracle, in the Son to His New Testament people (Heb. 1:1-2). Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “God, having spoken of old in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets, Has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son.” In the New Testament God only speaks in one person, the Son. It may seem that God spoke in the Son, Jesus Christ, only in the four Gospels and that in Acts and the Epistles God spoke in Peter, Paul, James, John, and Jude. However, we should not consider that Peter, Paul, James, John, and Jude are separate from the Son of God. They are members of the corporate Son of God (1 Cor. 12:27). In Acts 9 when Saul of Tarsus was persecuting the followers of Jesus, he did not realize that he was persecuting Jesus. Saul thought that he was persecuting only Stephen and the other believers. On his way to Damascus, however, Jesus appeared to him. Acts 9:4-5 says, “He fell on the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? And he said, Who are You, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus, whom you persecute.” This was not simply the individual Jesus, who is Christ. This was the enlarged, corporate Christ, and Stephen, Peter, and all His followers were His members. The entire New Testament is the speaking of God in the Son, regardless of whom He spoke through, because the speakers in the New Testament spoke as the members of Christ.
Even today God is still speaking in the enlarged, corporate Son. When we speak as the members of Christ, our speaking becomes His speaking. Every time before I speak in a meeting, I like to offer a prayer: “Lord, be one spirit with me that I may be one spirit with You. Lord, speak in my speaking, making my speaking Yours.” This kind of prayer makes a difference in the speaking. When I speak in this way, I do not merely speak in myself; I speak in the Son.
God’s speaking in the Son to His New Testament people was, first, the direct teaching of the Lord Jesus in the four Gospels. These direct teachings of the Lord Jesus are the healthy words (1 Tim. 6:3a). They were spoken to His first group of disciples and were to be taught to all His disciples (Matt. 28:19-20). The Lord charged His first group of disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 to disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the Triune God, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (v. 20a).
God’s speaking in the Son is also the teaching of the Spirit of truth (John 16:12-15). In John 16:12-13 the Lord told the disciples, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but what He hears He will speak; and He will declare to you the things that are coming.” What the Spirit spoke through the New Testament writers was the speaking of Jesus.
The teaching of the Spirit of truth is the teaching according to godliness (1 Tim. 6:3b). Godliness is not merely piety but the living that is the expression of God, the manifestation of God in the flesh. The teaching and speaking of the Spirit according to godliness is through the apostles. This teaching was first through Peter and Paul in Acts, including their words, their works, and their way of working. The words, works, and way of working of Peter and Paul in Acts were the Spirit’s speaking. This teaching was next through Paul in his fourteen Epistles, from Romans to Hebrews. Without the fourteen Epistles of Paul, there would be a gap in the New Testament that could not be bridged. The teaching of the Spirit of truth was next through James in his Epistle, Peter in his two Epistles, Jude in his Epistle, and John in his three Epistles and Revelation.
The arrangement of the books of the Bible was under the inspiration and sovereign control of the Spirit. After the Acts are the fourteen Epistles of Paul, followed by the short books of James, Peter, John, and Jude, and the book of Revelation. Paul’s speaking is lengthy, but the speaking of James, Peter, Jude, and John in their Epistles is shorter. The difference in the lengths of the Epistles may be compared to our functioning in the meetings. We all should speak, but sometimes our speaking should be short. The church needs the short speakings. However, some have to speak for a longer time. The longer speakings of Paul and John unveil to us the mystery of our mystical union with Christ. These two writers speak many times of our being in Christ and His being in us. The Gospel of John often uses the phrases into Him and into Me (7:5, 31, 38-39, 48). John 14:20 says, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” Paul also says many times that we are in Christ and that Christ is in us (Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20).
God’s speaking in the teaching of the New Testament was completed through Paul and John (Col. 1:25-26; Rev. 22:18-19). The word of God as the revealed mystery was completed by Paul’s writings. Colossians 1:25-26 says, “Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship of God, which was given to me for you, to complete the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations but now has been manifested to His saints.” The entire New Testament was completed by John’s writings. Revelation 22:18-19 says, “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this scroll; and if anyone takes away from the words of the scroll of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and out of the holy city, which are written in this scroll.” No other book in the Bible says this. Only the last book of John declares that his writing is the completion of the entire New Testament revelation.
The entire teaching of the New Testament, the teaching of the apostles, is the unique, divine revelation of God’s New Testament economy. This revelation is concerning the mystery of God — Christ (Col. 2:2-3, 9), the mystery of Christ — the church (Eph. 3:3-11), and the great mystery — Christ and the church (5:32). These three items comprise God’s New Testament economy. Items such as baptism by water, speaking in tongues, head covering, and foot-washing are not the focus of the economy of God. These items are in the Bible, but they are not the crucial parts of God’s economy. The crucial constituents of God’s economy are Christ as the mystery of God, the church as the mystery of Christ, and Christ and the church as the great mystery in the universe. The entire New Testament is a unique, divine revelation concerning mainly three persons or items: the Triune God, the all-inclusive Christ, and the church as the organism of the Triune God, the organic Body of Christ. These three are crucial, vital, and basic. Whether or not our speaking is according to the New Testament economy can be measured by its relationship to these three items.
The apostles’ teaching, the entire teaching of the New Testament, the unique, divine revelation of God’s New Testament economy, is the contents of the full gospel of God (Rom. 1:1-4). The gospel of God mentioned in Romans 1:1-4 is the full gospel of God, comprising not merely a part of the New Testament but the entire New Testament.
The apostles’ teaching is the constitution of the Christian faith (Jude 3; 1 Tim. 1:19; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7). The Christian faith refers to our belief. Our belief, our faith, our creed, is a great matter. It is the entire New Testament. Our creed is a long one. It starts from the beginning of Matthew and continues to the end of Revelation. This creed is our belief, and our belief is the Christian faith.
Any teaching different from this unique revelation is not allowed by the apostles (1 Tim. 1:3-4; 2 John 9-11). In 1 Timothy 1:3 Paul tells Timothy, “Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things.” The different teachings included things from the Old Testament, yet they were different from God’s New Testament economy, God’s New Testament dispensation. Such teachings were not allowed by the apostles. The apostles were strict in this matter. Second John 9-11 says, “Everyone who goes beyond and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God...If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not say to him, Rejoice! For he who says to him, Rejoice, shares in his evil works.” John warns us not to say anything to such a one but to stay away from him. Some may feel that they are not able to be so strict. However, even one who claims to be a Christian but teaches differently from the apostles’ teaching, the New Testament teaching, the unique revelation of God’s New Testament economy, is an evildoer, and we should not greet him. To teach differently is not a small matter. It is a direct work of Satan.
Any other belief besides this unique faith is not allowed by the apostles (Gal. 1:7-9). Galatians 1:8 says, “If even we or an angel out of heaven should announce to you a gospel beyond that which we have announced to you, let him be accursed.” Paul teaches us in Romans 12:14 to bless and not curse those who persecute us, but here Paul tells us that some people are to be accursed. The apostles were very strict in their teaching, that is, in the New Testament teaching, the contents of the full gospel of God and the constitution of our Christian faith.
All teachings different from the unique revelation of God’s New Testament economy were considered by the apostles as winds of teaching (Eph. 4:14). In this regard the apostles were very strict. These winds of teaching are in the sleight of men’s cheating. The Greek word for sleight refers to the playing of dice in gambling. The different teachings are like the playing of dice for the purpose of cheating us. This sleight is in the craftiness of men’s deception. The differing teachings are a deception, cheating, and falsehood. They are with a view to inducing men into the satanic system of error. Behind men’s sleight, men’s craftiness, in teaching things different from the New Testament economy, is the satanic system. Satan has a system, and if it were possible, he would induce all Christians into it. The goal, the aim, the purpose, of his system is to carry the saints away from the central lane of the divine revelation with the intention of frustrating and even tearing down the building up of the Body of Christ. Some winds of teaching do not appear to be evil. However, the factor of evil is there to induce the saints into the satanic system of error, to frustrate them from building up the Body of Christ, and even to tear down the building up of the Body of Christ. The winds of teaching also cause the little children to be tossed by waves and thereby to suffer uneasiness in the church life.
There is a good test for discerning the winds of teaching. Certain teachings cause us to be cold and even deadened. After listening to such a teaching, we are deadened within. A certain teaching may also take away our morale for following the Lord, caring for His interest, and loving the church and the Lord’s recovery. If any teaching, regardless of how good or scriptural it may appear to be, has any of these negative effects, this is strong evidence that this teaching is a wind that will blow us away from the central lane of God’s New Testament economy. Many of us have suffered the blowing of the winds of teaching. We may have had the morale to follow the Lord, to love the church, to love the Lord’s recovery, and to love the Bible, but after listening to such a teaching for half an hour, the morale was gone, and we were deadened.
If the teachings differing from the unique revelation of God’s New Testament economy did not appear to be good, no one would accept them. Teachings may be compared to seafood, but according to the typology in Leviticus, certain foods from the sea are unclean. Leviticus 11:10-11 tells us that aquatic animals without fins and scales are unclean. The guarantee of cleanness is in the fins and scales. The “fins” and “scales” of the New Testament teaching are the Triune God, the all-inclusive Christ, and the church as the organic Body of Christ. By these we can measure others’ teachings. If a teaching is not related to these three items, it does not have “fins” and “scales.” Regardless of how good such a teaching may appear to be, for safety’s sake we should not take it.
The New Testament contains only twenty-seven books, but within it there are many facts. One might emphasize a particular point, such as speaking in tongues in 1 Corinthians 14, claiming that it too is a part of the New Testament teaching. Although such a teaching may seem scriptural, it may not have “fins” and “scales.” We must learn to have discernment in our “eating,” in our receiving of teachings. We must not receive any teaching so easily. Those who bring the winds of teaching often appear to be very loving, apparently showing care and concern for us. However, we should not quickly receive their word. We must consider whether their teaching has “fins” and “scales.”
The apostles’ teaching, the New Testament teaching, is very crucial. Whenever we hear something differing from the apostles’ teaching, we should not be bothered or affected. We should simply come back to the apostles’ teaching. However, if we are not able to properly discern a teaching, we should fellowship with certain saints to receive some help. In God’s New Testament economy there is only one kind of teaching revealed and recognized by God — the teaching of the apostles. We need to continue steadfastly in this teaching (Acts 2:42).
