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In the previous chapter we considered seven mysteries. Now in this chapter we come to the matter of the divine revelation.
Without revelation, every mystery is a maze. Even human history is a maze. For this reason, scholars, scientists, and religious leaders have continually studied the universe and the human race. Through their study they have discovered many things. Most discoveries and inventions have come by way of inference, by inferring the unknown from the known.
When we were young, we wondered about the meaning of the universe and about the human race. We also questioned the meaning of our life. As the years have passed, these questions have become more and more serious. When I was a teenager, the young people were not as thoughtful as they are today. We were uncomplicated and simply followed the older generation, accepting whatever our parents and teachers told us. During the past fifty years a great change has taken place among the young people. Today they are very thoughtful and questioning. They question the traditions and the old way of life. It was the thoughtfulness of the young people that gave rise to the hippie movement in the 1960s. In their questioning of the traditions, the young people are eager for something new. I sympathize with the young people in this desire. Their desire for something new causes them to make further inferences and discoveries.
Without revelation, the whole universe is a mystery and is filled with mysteries. Furthermore, humanity is a gigantic maze. During the time of Cain and Abel, humanity was not a maze because there had not been any inventions or discoveries. However, throughout the history of mankind there has been one invention and discovery after another. Every discovery and invention has paved a new way. Thus, human society today is a complex crisscross of various ways. For this reason people are easily lost.
Suppose there were just one street in the whole United States. If this were the situation, no one could get lost. Because in the New Jerusalem there will be only one street, no one will be able to get lost in that city. After anyone gets on the street, the street will guide him where he needs to go. How much different is today’s human society! There are many ways not only in science and philosophy but also in religion.
In religion there are many different ways but just one source. Religion is a matter of teaching people according to your belief in God. Without God there can be no religion, because God is the source of religion. For example, Buddhism is not a proper religion. It does not have any God; rather, it teaches people that eventually they can become Buddhas. Because Buddhism is nonsensical and superstitious, it cannot be considered a genuine religion.
What about Taoism and the teachings of Confucius? Developed by thoughtful Chinese, Taoism teaches vanity; it has nothing solid. Not only does Taoism have no God; it has nothing substantial. Hence, it is not a religion. Likewise, the teachings of Confucius should not be regarded as a religion, because Confucius did not teach people to worship God. Confucius did mention God a few times in his writings, calling Him the King of the heavens, or even the heavens. Even though Confucius mentioned God, his teachings are ethical, not religious. Therefore, Buddhism is nonsensical, Taoism is vain, and the teachings of Confucius are ethical. Christianity, coming out of Judaism and including Catholicism and Protestantism, is a genuine religion, for it has the unique God. God is the source of Christianity. Islam is a religion also. The Koran is an imitation of the Bible, particularly of the Old Testament. The Koran even speaks of Jesus, saying that as He was being crucified, He was taken away by angels. Islam’s God is the same as the One revealed in the Old Testament. Thus, God is the source of religion. God is uniquely one. No one can discover or infer the existence of another God. For this reason there is just one source for all religions.
Although Christianity is a typical religion, it also has become a maze. Thus, not only human society is a maze, but even the religion of Christianity is a maze. In Christianity there are many sects, divisions, denominations, and groups. Moreover, there are numerous ways and practices. This is the reason many people have become confused by Christianity. They simply do not know which way to take or which of the so-called churches to attend.
We have pointed out that everything in the universe is a mystery. God, creation, man, Christ, the Spirit, the church, and the future are mysteries. Even we ourselves are mysterious; we cannot fully understand ourselves. Because there are so many mysteries, there are many philosophies, inventions, and discoveries. As we have seen, every discovery, invention, religion, and philosophy is an inference. However, if we have the divine revelation, we do not need inferences.
Suppose I give a bottle of medicine to a chemist. The chemist may analyze the medicine to find out its elements. However, the one who made this medicine knows the formula, and he may say to the chemist, “There is no need for you to study or analyze the medicine. Simply take the formula, which is a revelation of what is contained in the medicine.” We have the divine formula for the whole universe. Thus, there is no need for us to guess, study, or discover. We simply need to see the revelation.
The basic revelation in the Scriptures is that God in eternity past had an eternal purpose to have a church to express Christ so that God Himself might be expressed for eternity through His chosen people. For this purpose He created the universe and, particularly, He created man. For this purpose He accomplished redemption for fallen man and regenerated the redeemed man. For this purpose He imparted Himself in Christ into the reborn believers. For this purpose He sanctifies them, saturates them with His divine element, transforms them into the image of Christ, and glorifies them with His glory. For this purpose He gathers them in localities to be local expressions of the universal church. Both the universal church and the local church are uniquely one. Christ, the very embodiment of God, is the content and reality of the church, and the church is the expression of Christ. Here there is no division but one God, one Christ, one Spirit, and one church, one Body. This is the basic revelation. All the rest of the teachings in the Scriptures are doctrines related directly or indirectly to this basic revelation. If we isolate any of these doctrines from the basic revelation, the isolated doctrine will become an issue. Furthermore, this issue will become a legality that causes division among the believers. That kind of doctrine should not be considered the basic revelation.
Christianity has become a maze because it has deviated from the formula, from the basic divine revelation. Instead of trusting in the revelation, many Christians rely on their study, inferences, and discoveries.
After certain discoveries have been made, Christians have often made issues of them. For example, the Baptist Church has discovered the matter of immersion and has made an issue out of it. The result is that for the Baptists immersion is a matter of legality. This legality causes division. With this insight we can see that every denomination is a legality produced by those who made an issue of a particular discovery. Based upon this principle, we can say that every denomination is a legality and a division. All these divisions were produced by the discovery of certain things in the Bible. We in the Lord’s recovery, however, do not agree with any legality, and we are not making issues of discoveries.
Human society and Christianity have become a maze because both have left the heavenly, divine revelation and turned to study, inventions, and discoveries. An issue has been made out of each discovery, and every issue has become a legality. Take the example of speaking in tongues. Some Christians have made speaking in tongues a legality. Yes, speaking in tongues is mentioned in the Bible, but this does not mean that you should make an issue of it. If you make an issue of speaking in tongues, this issue will become a legality that controls you and governs you. It will affect the destiny of your Christian life and cause you to care primarily for speaking in tongues. In the churches we do not make issues of anything. We practice immersion because it is found in the Bible. However, we do not make immersion a legality. We practice it without making it an issue.
At one time the question of long hair for sisters was made a legality. More than fifty years ago I worked for a company that sold hairnets. For a long time we sold only large hairnets. Suddenly, orders began to come in for small hairnets. I wondered about the reason for this change. Then I learned that American women had begun to wear their hair short. According to the legality that insists that sisters have long hair, sisters with short hair may not be allowed to come to Christian meetings. Those who insist on this legality use 1 Corinthians 11 as their basis. This, however, is not a revelation but a legality made out of a teaching.
Among today’s Christians there is one legality after another. All this legality results in division. The reason for this legality and division is that many have left the heavenly revelation. The Lord’s recovery is to bring us back to the heavenly revelation, to the heavenly formula. Because we have come back to the revelation, in the recovery there is no need for inferences, inventions, or discoveries. We do not need to guess about anything. Instead, we simply need to open our eyes to see the revelation. When we do this, we have the vision. We are not in a maze but on a highway under a clear sky, and we are directed by the heavenly revelation.
In order to see this directing revelation, we need two things. First, we need eyes. Suppose the heavenly revelation is before us, but we do not have the eyes to see it. If this is the situation, nothing will happen. Thank the Lord that we have eyes. Second, we need light. If we are in darkness, we cannot see the heavenly revelation even if we have eyes. In such a case we would have the revelation, the unveiling, but not the vision. In order to have the vision we need the revelation, the eyes, and the light. Praise the Lord that we are not in religion, a maze, or darkness but in a vision!
Consider the example of Saul of Tarsus. Although he was religious and very zealous for God, he was in the complex maze of Judaism. Judaism contained certain things that had been revealed by God, but the Judaizers made issues out of them and caused them to become legalities. Revelation is of God, but legality is always made by man. Because Judaism had become a legality, this legality had become a maze. Those who are in this legality have found themselves in a maze and lost. Often we get lost when we are driving a car, although we are confident that we are right. This was the case of Saul of Tarsus. Although he was lost, he thought he was right. One day on the way to Damascus, he was knocked down by the heavenly vision. From that time onward he was delivered from the religious maze, and he began to travel on the highway of the heavenly vision. Eventually, he could tell King Agrippa, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). This vision had become his directory, the controlling element of his walk on earth.
We need such a heavenly directory today. Today the whole human race and all of Christianity is a maze. All around us is a maze of inventions, discoveries, and philosophies. If we do not have the heavenly vision, it means that we are already lost. All the young people today are lost. They have nothing to direct their lives. They do not know where they are going or what kind of life they should have. Not only the young people but people of all ages are lost in a maze of human inventions, discoveries, and religions. No one knows where he is going. However, we in the Lord’s recovery are not in a maze. I can boast in the Lord that I am not in a maze but on the highway. I have a definite direction, I am under the heavenly directing, and I know where I am going. How about you?
The messages of this basic training are nothing other than the direction of the heavens. In chapter after chapter we shall see aspects of this directing revelation. Under the light of the heavenly vision, everything is clear. Nothing is covered, opaque, or veiled, but although everything has been unveiled, we still need the eyes and the light. When we have the revelation, the eyes, and the light, we can see everything. This is the Lord’s recovery. When you were in Christianity, were you clear about the vision? Please answer this question in a fair, sober, objective, and honest way. When you were in Christianity, were you in the vision with a clear sky and a definite direction, or were you in a maze not knowing where you were going? Here in the Lord’s recovery we are no longer in a maze; we are in the vision. We do not care for issues or legalities; we care only for the vision. Hallelujah, we have the assurance that we are not in a division but in the vision!
In the past some dear saints have argued with me about the church. Some said that they were not the church and that we were not the church either. Others said that if we were the church, then they were the church also. Arguments and debates do not bring us anywhere. The more you argue, the more you will find yourself in a maze. How can we tell who is the church and where the church is? There is a basic principle, which is to ask whether we are in a maze or in the vision. If this is the church, then upon entering into it, you will find yourself in the vision. However, if it is not the church, then upon entering into it, you will find yourself in a maze. There is no need for argument. After you come in, simply ask whether you are in a maze or a vision. Are you in the vision under a clear sky with a definite direction, or are you still in a maze? This is the governing principle. The Lord’s recovery is to bring us out of the maze back to the heavenly vision.
Now that we are in the Lord’s recovery, I would like to ask you what you see. If you say that you see Christ and the church, I would reply that this is too general. It takes time to tell people all that we see in the Lord’s recovery. When we are in the vision, everything is clear, and nothing is hidden or veiled. I have been in this country since 1962. Sometimes people have asked me why my messages are never exhausted. They want to know where I get so many things to speak on. All the speaking comes from the vision. Because the vision is inexhaustible, I cannot stop giving messages. The Bible is an open book to me. We are in a vision under a clear sky with the heavenly directory in front of us. Thus, we know where we are going.
The best way to present the vision to others is first to give them a general view, then the details. For example, we may say that we see Christ, the church, and the genuine oneness. Then we would point out that among us there are no issues, choices, or preferences. We may go on to speak of the human spirit and the indwelling of the human spirit by the Holy Spirit, an indwelling that causes these two spirits to work together. We see these two spirits walking, living, fellowshipping, and even talking together. After this, we may point out that we live in the mingled spirit and that the mingled spirit controls and directs us day by day. Furthermore, the mingled spirit sanctifies us, transforms us, and maintains the genuine oneness.
We are not in human society, in a maze, in a legality, or in any issue. We are in the Lord’s recovery. Being in the Lord’s recovery, we have been brought back to the Lord’s vision. The greatest difference between Christianity and the Lord’s recovery is this matter of vision. If we are in the Lord’s recovery, then we are in the vision, but whenever we are out of the vision, we are out of the recovery. Whether or not we are in the Lord’s recovery depends upon whether or not we are in the vision. If we are in the Lord’s recovery, everything is clear.
If we have the vision, we will have a general view. We will not see just a few particular things. For example, after I had surgery on my right eye, the retina became detached, although I did not realize it at first. One day as I looked out the window, I saw only half of a car. But when my wife looked out the window, she saw the whole car and said that there must be something wrong with my eye. Although I was still able to see, when I looked at things, it appeared as though everything had been cut in half. Immediately I was taken to the ophthalmologist, who told me that the retina had begun to be detached and that it required emergency surgery. Sometimes our spiritual vision is like this. We cannot see the whole situation but only a small part, perhaps just ten percent. When this happens, we need to go to the “eye doctor” in order to have our full vision restored. To repeat, we need to have a vision. If we are in the recovery, we will be in the vision.
If we are in the vision, the Bible will no longer be closed to us. I can testify that in the Lord’s recovery the Bible is an open book, not simply a book of black and white letters. When we are in the vision and open up the Bible, something will be unveiled, shining, and enlightening. Many of us can testify that before we came into the Lord’s recovery, the Bible was a closed book. We read certain portions again and again and again without seeing anything in them. There was no light and no shining until we came into the Lord’s recovery and received a general view. Now when we come to the Bible, there is always something shining, enlightening, and speaking. To us, the Bible is a living book. If the Bible is living, shining, and speaking to you, it is a strong proof that you are in the vision. It indicates that you know what you are doing and where you are going. You are certain of your direction because the heavenly directory is in your hands. You not only have the Bible as a printed book, but the heavenly vision is shining upon you, enlightening you within, and even speaking deeply to your heart and spirit. As a result, nothing remains a mystery.
For us in the Lord’s recovery, nothing is a mystery. Rather, everything is unveiled; everything is a revelation. Before we came into the Lord’s recovery, nearly everything was veiled, but when we turned to the Lord’s recovery, the veil was removed. Now instead of being in a maze, we are in a vision. How glad I am to be in this vision! I am not in the maze of human history, religion, or denominations. I am in the Lord’s recovery with the vision. There is no veiling, but everything is unveiled. Therefore, everything is clear. We are under the clear sky, the heavenly light is shining, and we are on a highway following the heavenly direction. We do not have to wait to be in the New Jerusalem to have just one way, for in the Lord’s recovery today we have the one way. Thus, because we are in the recovery with the one way, the one life, the one river, the one tree, the one throne, and the one God, no one can get lost. Hallelujah, we are not in a maze but in the vision! We are not in human history but in the Lord’s recovery. We are not in religion but in the church under the direction of the heavenly revelation. I believe that a great many of us can testify of this. Are you not in the revelation? Are you not in the vision? Are you not under a clear sky? Are you not following the direction of the heavenly revelation? We all can boldly proclaim, “Hallelujah, we are in the Lord’s recovery, and we are in the vision!” This is a strong confirmation that we know that we are on the right way, that we are not in a maze, and that we are in the heavenly vision.
