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In the earlier chapters we have seen what the New Testament ministry is and what the vision in the Lord’s recovery is. This is why we must see how to carry out the vision. To carry out the vision we need to be constituted with the New Testament ministry. The New Testament ministry must be our constitution. As long as you can teach something different from the New Testament ministry, this indicates that you have never been constituted with it. From my youth as a Chinese child, I have been constituted with the Chinese language. In one meeting I intended to speak English, but unintentionally Chinese words came out of my mouth. This is because I have merely learned English, but Chinese is my constitution. Whatever you have been constituted with will come out sooner or later. The Lord’s recovery has never been constituted into your being. If it were, you could never teach anything different. This is just like a person’s native language being constituted into his being. What he is constituted with, he speaks. This is why I am burdened. We need to see where we are and what the Lord really wants us to be in His recovery.
Since the first century, many of God’s chosen people came into the New Testament ministry, and many left. Who would have ever thought that Barnabas would leave? He was wonderful, and he was the one who brought in Saul of Tarsus, who was a great apostle (Acts 9:27; 11:25-26). Barnabas initiated Saul, and then he left (15:38-39). Peter was also in danger of leaving the New Testament ministry. Even before Peter shrunk back from eating with Gentile believers out of fear of those of the circumcision (Gal. 2:11-14), he was on the border of the New Testament ministry in Acts 10. Through his three and a half years with the Lord during His earthly ministry and through Pentecost, Peter got into the New Testament ministry in full. He was the central figure of the New Testament ministry in Acts 2—5, but in Acts 10 he was on the border, even “on the fringe of the roof.” He was on the verge of falling away from the New Testament ministry. The Lord was merciful because He had to use Peter. The Lord came to him in the Old Testament way of a vision to move him from the “fringe of the roof” of the New Testament to the center. Thus, he was preserved.
We also have seen that there was a problem with James in Jerusalem and that Peter was influenced. Galatians 2 shows us that Peter had fallen away from the truth of the New Testament ministry, so Paul rebuked him. This is because the New Testament ministry was not that thoroughly instituted into Peter as it was into Paul. Paul received a kind of constitution so that his entire being was for the New Testament ministry. We may not preach differently, but some of us may have a little doubt about the recovery. Even that little doubt is an indication that the institution of the New Testament economy into you may not be that thorough. In other words, you may still not be thoroughly constituted with God’s New Testament ministry.
I saw much opposition to the Lord’s recovery for twenty years in mainland China. Later, I was sent out from Taiwan to Southeast Asia and then to the United States. I personally have confronted opposition even from saints among us. Over the years, though, I must testify that I have never had a bit of doubt about the Lord’s recovery. Before I came out of mainland China, the New Testament ministry had been thoroughly constituted into my being. I know many doctrines, but I cannot teach those doctrines. My person has become a constitution of the New Testament ministry. Whenever you ask me to speak and wherever you ask me to speak, whether it is at a wedding, at your dining table, to your family, to the old, to the young, to the brothers, or to the sisters, what I can speak and what I will speak is the New Testament ministry. How do we carry out this ministry? We need to be a person constituted with God’s New Testament ministry. If you mean business with the Lord and if you love the Lord for His recovery and you love His recovery for Himself, you must get yourself constituted with this New Testament ministry.
Our constitution should not be something gilded. It must be something inwrought into our being. The great Babylon is gilded with gold (Rev. 17:4), but the lampstand is golden by its intrinsic essence. It is golden intrinsically, basically, and essentially. With many of us, our being golden is somewhat by gilding. Something that is gilded with gold cannot pass the test of “scratching.” A little scratch exposes the real nature of the thing. If we are really gold, “scratching” will expose that we are gold. Even if someone were to “break us up” and “grind us into powder,” it would show that we are not only golden but gold. If our intrinsic nature is golden, we can stand any kind of test. The Lord’s recovery does not treasure any gilded thing. We treasure the basic things, the intrinsic things, the essential things.
Please do not think that I am encouraging you or charging you to learn the Life-studies. The Lord Jesus indicated in John 6 that His word is the bread of life (vv. 48, 63). To receive bread is not to learn about it but to eat it. To eat something means to receive it into your organic body. The food that you have received into your stomach becomes your blood, cells, fiber, and tissue. It becomes you. Merely to learn the messages does not mean much. You must take in the word and let the word be organically assimilated into your entire being. Then when you speak and when you give messages in the principle of the teachings conveyed in the Life-study messages, you will not merely speak from the printed page. You will speak out of your “fiber.” Then your speaking will stir up much interest, and the impact will be there. This is not eloquence. Eloquence means nothing. You must become constituted with the New Testament ministry.
Some condemn us and slander us by saying that we take the Life-study messages more than the Bible and even as the Bible because we use them so much. We must ask, though, which students of the Bible and which teachers of the Bible have never used commentaries, expositions, or other books. Commentaries and expositions are not for the purpose of replacing the Bible but for the purpose of opening up the Bible, which is somewhat hard for us to enter in. Because we need the help of reference books, this does not mean that we replace the Bible with reference books. Those of us who have read the Life-study messages can testify that these Life-studies with the Recovery Version and all the footnotes open the Bible to us whenever we touch them. The Life-studies and the Recovery Version not only convey the nourishment to us, but they become an opener.
After reading some of the Life-study messages on Romans 8, for example, I think we can testify that Romans has been opened to us. For years I have been a very devoted seeker of biblical truth. Romans 8 was seemingly opened to me before 1954, but I did not realize that it was still concealed to me. I did not see that Romans 8 actually is a revelation of the processed Triune God dispensing Himself into the tripartite man. Without such an unveiling, you cannot enter into Romans 8. We must see that the processed Triune God is dispensing Himself into His redeemed, tripartite man, making this man a man of life — first his spirit is life (v. 10), then his mind becomes life (v. 6), and finally, life is given to his mortal body (v. 11). Until you have seen such a vision, you could never enter into Romans 8. Without such a vision Romans 8 is concealed and closed to you. Once you have received such a vision, however, you will receive not only nourishment but enlightenment. You receive the key that opens Romans 8. This is not replacing the Bible. This is not replacing Romans 8 with the Life-study messages, but this is to get the help from the Life-study messages to enter into Romans 8.
Many commentaries and expositions have been written on the book of Romans. Not one, however, according to my knowledge, has ever pointed out that Romans is composed of four sections — from justification to sanctification to the Body of Christ and finally to the local churches. No other commentary has said that the book of Romans ends with the local churches. This, however, is the fact. If you read the book of Romans by yourself without any help, I am afraid that you will not see that this book ends with the local churches and that the revelation in this book intends to bring you from a sinner to a son of God and a member of Christ to the local churches. We need this vision today. We can understand such a vision with the help of some proper, advanced expositions like the footnotes of the Recovery Version and the Life-study messages. If the Recovery Version, the footnotes, the outlines, the cross references, and the messages were Brother Nee’s writings, I would spend day after day to go out and promote them. Because they are my writings, I am restricted in what I would say. To a certain extent, however, I have become “a fool” to promote my own writings (2 Cor. 11:1; 12:11). I have received many letters of appreciation from the saints, thanking me for the help they have received. Recently, one sister said that she wanted to write and tell me how much the Life-studies have helped her. She said that she received the help from reading the Life-studies when she was in a desperate situation. She had no way out, but when she read the Life-studies, she received the help.
We need to get into all these precious gifts that the Lord has given to us in the past sixty years. To get into these things we must practice what was fellowshipped in the last two chapters. All of you should be encouraged not to be contented with what you already know, but you need to go further to develop more and more. We should all be those driving forward and not backward. To drive forward, however, we need regulations. We are restricted as to where we can drive, by the highway itself. Also, on the highway are white lines that indicate to us that we need to be restricted in our driving on the highway. Otherwise, you will kill yourself. I have opened the door for you all to “sail on” and develop. Without restriction, however, you will drive yourself into “the Pacific Ocean.” It is possible that your driving could kill others, but you yourself could be saved. You may say that you are okay, but others were killed. Morally speaking, you are held responsible. In like manner, in our development of the truth, we must develop the truth based upon what we have seen. What we have seen is a foundation and “the shoulders” for us to stand on. To go further in developing the truth you must have some regulating rules and principles.
When I lived in Shanghai, there was a Seventh-day Adventist denomination there. They once published a big paper with a lot of prophecies. One of these prophecies said that America was one of the ten kingdoms of the coming Roman Empire. This is an example of expounding the Bible without regulations. The traffic on the earth must be regulated, and even the air traffic has its regulations; otherwise, many lives would be lost. In like manner, to interpret typology, prophecy, or any portion of the Bible, there are basic rules and principles to follow.
Some have interpreted the land of Canaan, the good land, as a type of heaven and the Jordan River as a type of death. Many hymnals mention the Jordan River. I still remember a hymn that referred to the cold wave in the Jordan River, which we have to pass through to get to heaven, the good land. When I was a young man, I received this interpretation with no peace. I received it because everyone believed it was true, and I thought it was probably right. It seemed all right to say that after death we go to heaven, so the good land of Canaan must be a type of heaven. Later, however, I was told that if the land of Canaan were a type of heaven, heaven would be a terrible place, full of Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, full of enemies (Exo. 3:8), and full of giants (Num. 13:32-33). In our hymnal we have one thousand eighty hymns. Approximately two hundred of these hymns were written by us, and the others were selected from other sources. A number of these hymns ended with the thought of crossing the river to enter heaven. This was very popular in the last century. This is why we changed the endings of these hymns. Because the statute of limitation on these hymns was over and they were in the public domain, we had the liberty to change them so that they would be according to the truth.
Another interpretation of the significance of the good land of Canaan came from the inner-life writings. They said that Canaan is not a type of heaven, because there is no war in heaven. Therefore, there are no Canaanites in heaven. They said that Canaan typifies the battlefield in the spiritual warfare where the overcoming saints fight the battle. Temporarily, I felt that this was right, but eventually, I discovered that this interpretation does not fit with the children of Israel being a type of God’s people in God’s economy.
When I came to Taiwan in 1949, I was clear after much consideration that Canaan is not a type of heaven. I was also somewhat clear that Canaan cannot be a type of the battlefield of the spiritual warfare. I was seeking very honestly to know what the significance of the good land of Canaan is in typology. I believe that eventually the Lord showed me, especially in the year 1959. It was then that I had a thorough study of the Pentateuch with the saints in Taiwan. At that time I was made clear that Canaan is a type of the all-inclusive Christ for God’s people’s enjoyment. This interpretation is based upon the history of the children of Israel. They were slaves in Egypt who were redeemed. God’s judgment passed over them, and they enjoyed the saving of the nourishing and redeeming lamb. The lamb was their enjoyment. By eating the lamb, which was the beginning of their redeemed life, they were energized to cross the Red Sea to journey to God’s destination. On the way in the wilderness they received the manna every day as a further nourishment. From the wilderness they entered into the good land, and Joshua tells us that after they entered into the good land, the manna ceased, and they began to enjoy the produce of the good land (5:12). Therefore, the good land must typify the rich, all-inclusive enjoyment of Christ to God’s people.
From 1959 I began to minister boldly that Canaan is a type of Christ in an all-inclusive way for God’s people’s enjoyment. After I came to the United States in 1962, I gave a series of messages in the first conference in the United States on the all-inclusive Christ, based upon Deuteronomy 8:7-10. These messages were a great opener, which not only opened others’ eyes but also opened my eyes. This is why I tell you not to follow the expositions, commentaries, and interpretations in a blind way. You need to pick up some principles to govern the interpretation of the types in the Old Testament, such as the historical events and geographical places. The basic principle is Christ being the enjoyment of God’s people. Egypt typifies a land of slavery. There was no enjoyment for God’s people until the redemption of God came in. Then God’s redeemed people began to enjoy not merely God’s blessing but the very Redeemer who is Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be their enjoyment. At the beginning of their journey they enjoyed Christ not only as the redeeming Lamb but also as the nourishing Lamb. Then they took their journey and on the way they enjoyed Christ again as the heavenly manna in the wilderness, as their daily portion. When they entered into the good land, they immediately enjoyed the produce of the good land. Here is a principle that governs our interpretation of all the historical events and of all the geographical places in the type of the children of Israel.
From the Reformation to the present time many different “truths” have been recovered in the Lord’s recovery. Actually, their recoveries were not recoveries of truth but of doctrine. The presbytery is not a truth but a doctrine. Baptism by immersion is not a truth but a doctrine. In the seventeenth century in northern Europe, certain ones began to see that all Christians are brothers. Eventually, in the eighteenth century the Moravian brothers under the leadership of Zinzendorf began to practice the church life as brothers. Even the brotherhood, though, is not a truth but a doctrine. Even the teaching concerning holiness and sanctification is not a truth but a doctrine. This doctrine talks about outward things. To be sanctified is to be sinless and not to be worldly. As I have mentioned already, all these doctrines became different teachings, different ministries, which issued in sects.
From the Reformation to the present time different theologies have been taught. Today there is the Catholic theology, and with the Protestants is Reformed theology. Another theology may be called dispensational theology. According to Reformed theology, the Old Testament and the New Testament are the same with no difference. This is like making a person’s face flat with no distinctions for the eyes, nose, mouth, or ears. The teaching of Reformed theology is wrong. Another kind of theology is what I call secular theology, which is taught in the secular universities as a department for the learning of human culture. In human culture there is a section of religion, including a section of Christian religion. People study this kind of theology in a secular way. At some of these secular universities, the students learn theology just like people learn art in the school of art. We should not follow either the Reformed theology or the secular theology.
The word dispensation, biblically speaking, was rightly understood by the school of dispensational theology. They say that God has different ways of dealing with man from Adam to the end of the millennium. Scofield took the lead to say that in God’s dealing with the human race He has seven arrangements. He said this because this word dispensation is a translation of the Greek word oikonomia, which means a kind of household management, arrangement, or administration. The dispensational theologians understood this word rightly in saying that in God’s dealing with the human race there are seven arrangements from Adam to the end of the millennium. These dispensations are the dispensations of innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law, grace, and the kingdom. Some of the stricter Brethren teachers, though, say that according to Romans 5:14 there should be just four main dispensations. This verse has in it the phrase from Adam until Moses. The dispensation before law is, as Romans 5:14 says, from Adam to Moses. The dispensation of law is from Moses to Christ’s first coming. Then the dispensation of grace is from His first coming to His second coming. Finally, the fourth dispensation is the dispensation of the kingdom. This is more scriptural. The word dispensation was rightly understood by these Brethren teachers, but their understanding of the significance of God’s dispensation was very short. They only saw that the dispensations were God’s arrangements for Him to carry out His purpose. They did not see that God’s dispensation, God’s arrangement, or the arrangement of His divine administration, has a purpose. His purpose is to dispense Himself into His chosen and redeemed people. This purpose has been nearly fully missed by the dispensational theologians, and they are the good theologians.
The shortcoming of the dispensational teachings has never been pointed out as it is today. We have the boldness and the light to say this because through the past forty years the Lord has shown us the New Testament economy plus the New Testament ministry. Based upon this, we have the light, the boldness, and the assurance to say that the dispensational teachings are right but missing the goal. God did have four main dispensations, but these dispensations are for one unique purpose — to dispense Himself into His chosen people as everything. This is why I had the burden in May of 1983 in Stuttgart to minister on this one thing — to show that the dispensations have a purpose, a goal, and a central view to dispense God Himself into His chosen people. These messages have been published in a book entitled The Diving Dispensing of the Divine Trinity. I hope that you would spend some time to read these messages again by picking up the crucial points. If you read them again in the way that I presented to you in the previous two chapters, you will see something crucial. You will see that God’s dispensations are for His dispensing. Dispensation means “household arrangement,” but dispensing means to pass out, to distribute, the processed Triune God as life and as the life supply, to be our spiritual, heavenly, and divine supply.
In the Old Testament, Joseph distributed the rich food of Pharaoh to the hungry, famished ones. As a New Testament Joseph, Paul took the lead to do this, and we are his followers to pass out the processed Triune God as the very divine food to feed all the hungry people of the earth. This is the governing principle. I was strongly taught by the Brethren that to interpret the entire Bible you need to take care of the dispensations. However, to merely take care of the dispensations is not adequate. You must take care of the dispensing of the dispensations. This must be and is the basic, great principle to govern our interpretation of the Bible. When you young brothers, standing on our shoulders, go on to develop the truth, you must be ruled by this principle — the principle of the divine dispensing in God’s dispensations.
