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Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:12; Matt. 16:18; Rev. 5:6b; Rom. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Acts 5:42; John 21:15; Eph. 4:12; 1 Cor. 14:1, 3-5, 12, 23-26, 31; John 15:1, 5, 8a; Eph. 3:19; John 3:29-30; Rev. 19:7-8; 22:17; 21:1-2, 9b-10; Luke 19:12, 15a; Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45; Rev. 11:15
I. Our God is living — 1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:12.
II. Our Lord is moving — Matt. 16:18.
III. The Spirit is working — Rev. 5:6b.
IV. What is the Lord’s move today?
А. To recover the New Testament priesthood of the gospel — Rom. 15:16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9.
B. To recover the home meetings for feeding the new believers — Acts 5:42; John 21:15.
C. To recover the perfecting of the saints for the work of the New Testament ministry — Eph. 4:12.
D. To recover prophesying for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ — 1 Cor. 14:1, 3-5, 12, 23-26, 31.
VI. The direction of the Lord’s move:
А. To build up the organic Body of Christ as the organism of the processed and dispensing God in His Divine Trinity for His full expression — Eph. 4:12; John 15:1, 5, 8a; Eph. 3:19.
B. To prepare the bride as the counterpart of the Bridegroom for the eternal marriage of the redeeming God with His redeemed — John 3:29-30; Rev. 19:7-8; 22:17; 21:1-2, 9b-10.
C. To bring in the kingdom of God as the spreading of the divine life for God’s eternal administration in the fulfillment of His eternal economy — Luke 19:12, 15a; Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45; Rev. 11:15.
Since October 1984 I have been burdened to study the need in the Lord’s recovery according to the situation that was present among us at that time. Thank the Lord that He has given me the environment, the time, the energy, and everything that was needed for me to remain in that study for these five years. And I thank Him even more that through this long period of study the Lord has shown me the God-ordained way to serve and work for Him, as revealed in the New Testament. This implies also the scriptural way to preach the gospel and to meet as Christians, as the children of God. This kind of realization has surely made me clear about the direction of the Lord’s move today on the earth.
Concerning the direction of the Lord’s move today, I fully believe that our God is living (1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:12), that our Lord is moving (Matt. 16:18), and that the Spirit is working (Rev. 5:6b). Since our God is living, our Lord is moving, and the Spirit is working, our Triune God must still be carrying out His unique work for the accomplishing of His eternal economy, just as He has worked for this in the past ages and centuries. Now we need to find out what our living, moving, and working God is doing today on the earth. What is He carrying out today on the earth to complete His work for His eternal economy, that is, to build up the organic Body of His Christ? We all need to know what the Lord’s move is today.
The Lord’s move today is to recover the God-ordained way revealed in the New Testament in four steps:
(1) To recover the New Testament priesthood of the gospel.
This is not merely to preach the gospel but to handle the gospel as a priest, as Paul did (Rom. 15:16). Peter in his first Epistle, in 2:5 and 9, also refers to this. He says that we are being built up into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God and that as such a priesthood we should tell out the virtues of God, who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. To tell out the virtues of God, who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, is to preach the gospel, telling people how God has saved us out of darkness into His marvelous light through His virtues, such as His mercy, His grace, His forgiveness, His washing away of our sins, His justification, and His regeneration. To offer up spiritual sacrifices to God is to bring the saved sinners as sacrifices for us to offer to our God. In the Old Testament what was offered were the types of Christ, but today what should be offered are the saved ones, who have become the members of Christ. The priests in the Old Testament offered types of Christ Himself, but today we offer saved sinners as parts of the Body of Christ. Thus, in Romans 12:1 Paul says that we need to present our bodies to God as living sacrifices. We do not go out merely to win souls. We do not go out only to save sinners. We go out to fulfill our New Testament priesthood. When we go out, we should have the realization that we are priests, priests of the gospel. This matter must be recovered.
(2) To recover the home meetings for feeding the new believers.
In John 21:15 the Lord Jesus charged Peter to feed His lambs, the new believers. The new believers need to feed on the milk of the word in order that they may grow (1 Pet. 2:2). After we have brought some to the Lord and have baptized them into the Triune God, we should go back as a nursing mother (1 Thes. 2:7) to feed them in their homes continually for a period of a few months. We did not take care of this properly and adequately in the past. This must be recovered in the Lord’s recovery for His move today. We need to encourage all the saints to feed the new believers, the Lord’s lambs, by having meetings in their homes.
(3) To recover the perfecting of the saints for the work of the New Testament ministry.
The gifted persons must perfect the saints, as Ephesians 4:11-12 unveils to us. This kind of perfecting work should be done in group meetings. This kind of meeting is mentioned in Hebrews 10:24-25. In such a meeting, we should consider one another and incite one another to love and good works. We should also exhort one another. It would be difficult to consider others, to incite others, and to exhort others in a big meeting. This must be done in group meetings like those mentioned in Hebrews 10:24-25.
(4) To recover the prophesying for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
The last crucial matter that the Lord is recovering today is the prophesying by all the saints, mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14. Brother Watchman Nee saw this matter more than fifty years ago, and he spoke of this in his book The Normal Christian Church Life. Later, in the book Church Affairs Brother Nee said that the practice in Christianity of holding a “service” on Sunday morning, with one man speaking and all the rest sitting and listening, is not according to the Bible but according to the custom of the nations. Thus, there is the definite need to recover the prophesying for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14.
For years I did not know what it means to prophesy. The Pentecostals believe that to prophesy is to predict that some event, such as an earthquake or the Lord’s second coming, is imminent and then to conclude with, “Thus saith the Lord.” However, this is altogether the Old Testament way. In the New Testament no apostle or prophet said, “Thus saith the Lord” at the end of his speaking. Rather, in 1 Corinthians 7:25 Paul says, “I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion,” and in verse 40 he says, “I think that I also have the Spirit of God.” Today 1 Corinthians 7 is recognized as a part of the divine revelation. Such a divine revelation was revealed through Paul’s opinion. Paul was not spiritual in the way that today’s Pentecostals are spiritual.
After reading the Bible again and again, I eventually understood that to prophesy, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14, does not mean to predict. It means to speak something concerning the Lord and even to speak the Lord forth. This is the correct denotation. In verse 3 of that chapter we are told that to prophesy is to speak to men building up and encouragement and consolation. We all can speak to one another in this way. In order to prophesy we do not need to wait for a great outpouring of the Spirit. First Corinthians 14:31 says clearly that we can all prophesy one by one, and verse 24 of the same chapter says that we all have the responsibility to speak. But today in the Lord’s recovery, only a few speak.
The Lord’s move today has a direction. The direction of the Lord’s move today is:
(1) To build up the organic Body of Christ as the organism of the processed and dispensing God in His Divine Trinity for His full expression.
The direction of the Lord’s move today is, first, to build up His organic Body (Eph. 4:12), a Body full of Himself and built up with Himself (Col. 3:11) as the life-giving Spirit, who is the essence, the element, and the reality of the church as the organic Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4a). Such a Body becomes the organism of the processed Triune God (John 15:1, 5, 8a), who is dispensing Himself in His Divine Trinity (2 Cor. 13:14) to saturate the Body of Christ organically that it might be His full expression in the universe (Eph. 3:19).
(2) To prepare the bride as the counterpart of the Bridegroom for the eternal marriage of the redeeming God with His redeemed.
The direction of the Lord’s move today is, second, to prepare His bride, the church, as His (the Bridegroom’s) counterpart (John 3:29-30) for the eternal marriage (Rev. 19:7-8), the universal marriage, of the redeeming God with His redeemed people (Rev. 22:17; 21:1-2, 9b-10). This universal marriage is typified by the union of the people of Israel with their redeeming God (Isa. 54:5; Hosea 2:19) and is clearly revealed in the New Testament (Eph. 5:25-27, 32).
(3) To bring in the kingdom of God as the spreading of the divine life for God’s eternal administration in the fulfillment of His eternal economy.
The direction of the Lord’s move today is, third, to bring in the kingdom of God as the spreading of the divine life, which is Christ. The kingdom of God is actually Christ Himself as the seed of life sown into His believers in the church age (Luke 17:21; Mark 4:3, 8, 26) and spreading in His increasing (John 3:30) to be the enlarged, upcoming kingdom of God, which He will bring in at His coming back (Luke 19:12, 15a; Rev. 11:15). This is signified by the stone (Christ) that became a great mountain (the kingdom in the millennium), as revealed in Daniel 2:34-35. This upcoming, enlarged kingdom of God will be God’s universal government in the new heaven and new earth for God’s eternal administration in the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy in Christ as God’s ultimately consummated household administration in eternity.
Both God and Christ are aspiring to see the Body of Christ built up, to see the bride prepared, and to see the kingdom brought in, that Christ may have a Body, that Christ may have His bride, and that God may have a kingdom on the earth for His eternal economy. There is no other way to accomplish this but the God-ordained way.
This is my burden, this is my desire, and this is what I am promoting. I hope that you all will pick up this burden and this desire and endeavor to practice the God-ordained way.
