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Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 3:9; Titus 1:1-2, 9-11
In previous chapters we have seen the qualifications of the elders. In this chapter we will consider the need for the elders to renew their vision of the Lord’s recovery. We will not cover all the details of the vision but will focus on our need to have our vision refreshed and made clear.
First Timothy 3:9 says, “Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.” Titus 1:1-2 says, “Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God’s chosen ones and the full knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the times of the ages.” Verses 9 through 11 say, “Holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles, that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose. For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who overthrow whole households, teaching things for the sake of base gain.” In order to have a clear view of the Lord’s recovery, we must understand the terms the mystery of the faith; the faith of God’s chosen ones; the full knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness; the hope of eternal life; and the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles. If we review the details of these great items, our vision of the Lord’s recovery will be refreshed.
As elders, we need to fellowship with one another and contact the Lord in prayer concerning the vision of the Lord’s recovery in order to fully realize what the Lord is doing among us. Otherwise, as the years go by, we may gradually lose our vision and begin to go on in a routine way. We may begin to think of the local churches as an ordinary Christian work and feel that our duty is only to come to the meetings and take care of the practical matters of the church. If this is our case, we will lose the impact. The Lord’s recovery requires our full effort. It should be our cause. Because of the great number of Christians on the earth today, some may think that being a Christian is a common thing. However, to be a Christian is a great thing. It requires much exercise, and to be in the Lord’s recovery requires even more exercise. Therefore, we need to pray that we may see the vision of the Lord’s recovery in a fresh way.
We must first see the eternal purpose of God. Although we may say that we have known this for years, our view needs to be refreshed. Second, we need to know why God is triune and why He created the universe. Then we must see why God came into man and made Himself one with man — we need to get into the depths of incarnation. We also have to consider why God lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years as a man. This is not a small thing, but it has become common to many Christians. It is a shame to understand the four Gospels merely as a story. We need a vision concerning God’s living on the earth as a God-man. We also need a clear view of Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, including their meaning, accomplishment, and application to us. After His ascension the transfigured Christ descended as the life-giving Spirit. These are all items of Christ as the mystery of God.
As a result of Christ’s processes, the church was produced. We also must see what the church is. This includes many items. The church is the assembly of God’s called-out ones, the Body of Christ, the new man, the kingdom of God, the house of God, the bride of Christ, a warrior, a lampstand, and the testimony of Jesus. We need to get into all the meanings and implications of each of these items. We also need to see the universal and local aspects of the church, the various functions and services in the church, and the oneness, nature, position, life, reality, essence, and unique ground of the church. All these must be fresh and refreshing to us not only for ourselves but also so that we can help others.
We must spend time in these things until they become our burden and cause. Our purpose is not merely to preach the gospel and save the sinners, nor is it only to gather the saints in meetings to worship God, teach, and shepherd the saints. We must have the view of God’s eternal purpose, which includes Christ’s processes and His coming again as the life-giving Spirit to produce the church. Christ is the mystery of God, and as His corporate increase, the church is also a mystery — the mystery of Christ. The manifestation of God in the flesh, which is the mystery of godliness, has two steps: the first step is the individual incarnation of Christ, and the second step is the corporate manifestation of God in the church. We have to see all these things.
In addition to these aspects of Christ and the church, we also need to see the practical Christian life, including regeneration, clearance of the past, consecration, discerning the spirit from the soul, the anointing, the law of life, the sense of life, the fellowship of life, dispositional sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification. These experiences are for our participation in the processes of Christ and the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.
It would take many messages to cover all these matters, yet all the elders should have a clear and fresh view of them. Such a view will refresh us and be our cause. The first aspect of our cause includes all the items from God’s eternal purpose to the establishment of the local churches; the second aspect includes all the experiences of the Christian life from regeneration to glorification.
The elders must get into all these things and know them thoroughly so that they can hold the mystery of the faith. Each of these points is a mystery, and together they are the mystery of the faith. Even creation is a mystery. Scientists do not know the meaning of the universe. It is a mystery to them, but we know. Similarly, Christ’s processes and the experiences of the Christian life are mysteries. These are the basic items of the mystery of our faith. The elders must know these items just as all people must know basic mathematics in order to carry out crucial tasks in their daily lives.
The elders must also be apt to teach (1 Tim. 3:2). When we begin to shepherd a brother, we may quickly discern that his need is basic knowledge of some item of the truth. If this is the case, we need to meet regularly with him for several weeks to teach him concerning the truth. This way is not too slow, nor is it a small thing. As the years go by, there will be a glorious result of such labor. Any time we spend teaching the saints concerning the mystery of the faith is not a waste.
The elders need to know the items of the mystery of the faith to the extent that they can teach them to others. Then they will be apt to teach. Not every elder needs to give messages in large meetings, but every elder must be able to teach the basic items of the truth to individual saints. All the items mentioned in this chapter are basic factors of our Christian life. We should not be content with our situation simply because we see more than other Christians. We need to come back to God’s full revelation and renew our vision in order to see all these things.
The real function of the elders is to teach, and teaching is the way to shepherd. When we visit the saints to shepherd them, we must be prepared to teach them. Our teaching should not be doctrinal theology or simple Bible stories but the items of the mystery of the faith that we have covered. Sometimes the best way to teach a brother concerning a certain point is not in a meeting but by repeated personal contact over several weeks. In this way the point will not only be taught to him but also wrought into him.
We should not think that this kind of labor is slow, for it is the way to shepherd the saints in life. The Lord’s way is the way of growth by life. Paul writes, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6). This is a matter of life. Paul also says, “You are God’s cultivated land” (v. 9). The local churches are fields for God to grow Christ. The way of life is not fast, but eventually we will see that it is not slow. When we have tried to be fast in the past, we have only been delayed, distracted, and defeated. If we are faithful to the way of the Lord’s recovery, we will gain the increase. If we deviate from this way, there will be no increase in the long run. The lessons of the past should be sufficient to teach us that we must take the way of life.
The elders need to pray for a vision of the Lord’s heart’s desire, eternal plan, and accomplishments in time, such as creation, incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. They also need to pray for an understanding of why He came again as the life-giving Spirit and how and why the church was produced. Finally, they need to ask the Lord for a realization of why we are regenerated, sanctified, transformed, conformed, and glorified. We need to pray about these things, learn them, and repeat them in the presence of the Lord until they are wrought into us. This is the way for every elder to be strengthened and enabled to teach. The teaching of the elders is a matter not of skill or technique but of having a clear view of what God wants, a clear vision of the Lord’s recovery.
We have not seen this vision if we consider the Lord’s recovery to be an ordinary Christian work. The Lord’s recovery is absolutely different; it is something from deep in the heart of God and revealed in His Word. Our understanding and exposition of the Bible are different from traditional theology because we care for God’s heart’s desire, whereas traditional theology cares for religious teachings. God has shown us His heart’s desire. We all must see this vision. When we see it, it will make us absolutely different. If we see the vision of God’s heart’s desire, we will never leave the Lord’s recovery. If we do not see the vision, we will stay in the local churches as long as we feel that the meetings and the saints are good, but we may leave as soon as any suffering comes. Some have left the way of the Lord’s recovery because of unfulfilled ambition to be an elder. Our vision should cause us to realize that whether or not we are an elder, this is the Lord’s recovery.
A clear vision will safeguard us. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.” Paul says, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). We must be a people with a vision. This vision should continually govern us and be our cause. Our vision, which is the mystery of the faith, comprises Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ. We should never think that we know this mystery sufficiently. We need to continually review God’s full revelation in order to see this vision afresh. In every locality the elders should meet regularly to pray and fellowship about the vision and study the Bible and the ministry books to refresh their seeing of the vision.
The truths that we have seen in the Lord’s recovery, especially regarding the church, will be rejected and opposed by organized Christianity. In this sense, it is a suffering to be in the Lord’s recovery. If we were not for the Lord’s recovery, it would be easy to please others. Because we cannot compromise concerning the mystery of the faith in the Lord’s recovery, we face opposition. The elders need to know all the contents of the mystery of the faith, how to teach in order to care for the saints in the Lord’s recovery, and how to teach in order to convict the opposers. Therefore, we need a thorough review of the vision of the Lord’s recovery. For this we need to study the Bible concerning the mystery of the faith, and we need to receive help from the ministry books.
