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Scripture Reading: John 1:1, 14; Rev. 21:1-3; 22:1-2, 16-21
In dealing with humankind, God deals with only two races. These are the Adamic race, the race created by God, and the Abrahamic race, the race chosen by God. The first ten and a half chapters of Genesis are concerned with the Adamic race, the created race. This race failed God to the uttermost at Babel, where, in union with Satan to frustrate the divine economy, they rebelled against God, exalted themselves, and worshipped idols. Then God came in to select a person by the name of Abraham and decided to make his descendants a new race, the chosen race. The entire Bible from the second half of Genesis 11 to the end of the New Testament is occupied with this elect race.
With both the created race and the chosen race, God suffered a loss. The Adamic race failed Him, and the Abrahamic race also failed Him. As we read through the Old Testament to the end, we see that the children of Israel, the race of Abraham, utterly failed God. Nevertheless, the Old Testament ends not with disappointment but with expectation, for the godly ones among the chosen race were eagerly expecting the Messiah and were looking forward to receiving him. Thus, the Old Testament ends with the expectation that the Messiah, the unique one, would come.
Whereas the Old Testament ends with an expectation, the New Testament begins with a genealogy. Matthew 1:1 says, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Verse 2 goes on to say that Abraham begot Isaac, that Isaac begot Jacob, and that Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. This genealogy continues until it arrives at a unique person: the One who in the Old Testament is called Messiah and in the New Testament is called Christ. Verse 17 concludes, “Thus all the generations...until the Christ.” All the generations of the Abrahamic race were directed to Christ and brought in Christ. Christ is the goal, the consummation, the conclusion, the completion, and the perfection of all the generations; as such, He fulfills their prophecies, solves their problems, and meets their needs. When Christ comes, light, life, salvation, satisfaction, healing, freedom, rest, comfort, peace, and joy all come with Him. From this point on, the whole New Testament is a full expounding of this wonderful Christ, who is everything to us. Hallelujah, Christ has come!
At the beginning of the New Testament, we have a new race with a new center, and this center is Christ. With Him we have the divine economy, the divine dispensing, and the unsearchable riches (Eph. 3:8). When Christ comes, all manner of positive things come with Him. The list of these things is endless.
The list of what came with Christ even includes us who believe in Christ, for as believers we are descendants of Abraham. When God selected Abraham, He decided to give him two kinds of descendants—the physical descendants and the spiritual descendants. Abraham’s physical descendants are the physical Israel, and his spiritual descendants are the spiritual Israel. The New Testament deals mainly not with the physical Israel but with the spiritual Israel. In order that we may have full confidence concerning this, let us now consider some verses from the book of Galatians.
Galatians 3:8 says, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles out of faith, announced the gospel beforehand to Abraham: ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’” Here Paul does not say that God would justify the Jews; he says that God would justify the Gentiles. But then he tells us that the gospel was announced not to the Gentiles but to Abraham. God announced to Abraham the gospel concerning the Gentiles. This indicates that the Gentiles would be included among the spiritual descendants of Abraham.
Verse 9 continues, “So then they who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” Today we are of faith, and we are blessed with believing Abraham because we are his spiritual descendants.
In verses 13 and 14 Paul goes on to say, “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree’; in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” What is the blessing that God promised to Abraham? It is the Spirit, the consummated Triune God. The consummated Triune God as the all-inclusive Spirit is the blessing of the gospel preached to us.
Now let us consider verses 27 through 29. These verses say, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there cannot be slave nor free man, there cannot be male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are of Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.” Abraham has only one seed, Christ (v. 16). Hence, to be Abraham’s seed we must be of Christ, be a part of Christ. Because we are one with Christ, we too are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise, inheriting God’s promised blessing, which is the all-inclusive Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God. Thus, through faith we, the believers, are Abraham’s seed. This means that our race has been changed from the Adamic race to the Abrahamic race. Now we, all the believers in Christ—white, black, yellow, brown, and red—are of the same race, the Abrahamic race.
We have a further confirmation of this in Galatians 6. Verse 10 says, “So then, as we have the opportunity, let us do what is good toward all, but especially toward those of the household of the faith.” Who are those of the household of the faith? They are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, including all the believing Jews and believing Gentiles. No matter what our color may be, we all have faith, and we all are members of the household of the faith, members of the same family. All the believers in Christ together constitute a universal household, the great family of God.
Whereas in verse 10 we have the household of the faith, in verses 15 and 16 we have the new creation and the Israel of God. “Neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation is what matters. And as many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, even upon the Israel of God.” The household of the faith is the new creation, and the new creation is the Israel of God. This means that these three terms—household of the faith, new creation, and Israel of God—are synonyms. As real Jews, as Abraham’s spiritual descendants, we are first the household of the faith. Second, we are a new creation. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17a). Finally, we are the Israel of God. Everyone who believes in Christ is a member of the household of the faith, a new creation, and a part of the Israel of God. What a wonderful people we are in Christ!
On the one hand, we are a new creation; on the other hand, we are still troubled by chaos. Sometimes we may wonder why God does not simply eliminate the satanic chaos. The infinite, eternal God accomplished the miracle of becoming incarnated; He remained in Mary’s womb for nine months, and then He was born to be the God-man. Since He could do such a miracle, why did He not destroy those who opposed Him when He was on earth? Not long after the Lord Jesus was born, Herod tried to kill Him. Why did God not immediately do away with Herod? Eventually, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians conspired to kill Him. Why did God not remove all of them? In other words, why did God not rid the earth of chaos? In our opinion, God should come in to clear away all the satanic chaos. We may say to Him, “Lord, why is the chaos still here? Why do You not take it away? If You would eliminate the chaos, a lot of time would be saved, and there would be no more problems.” Probably we all have had this kind of thought.
Today we still experience chaos in our family life. In the morning we may have a pleasant time with the Lord enjoying the divine economy. However, not long afterward we may be troubled by our spouse or by one of our children. Suddenly, instead of economy there is chaos.
We have chaos not only in our family life but even in the church life. Some might say that the church life is a paradise. Yes, in a sense the church life may be a kind of paradise, but this does not mean that there will never be turmoil in the church. In the thirty years that the Lord’s recovery has been in the United States, we have seen turmoil after turmoil, chaos after chaos. When there is turmoil in the church life, we may be bothered and ask, “Is this the church life? Is this the recovery? What is the difference between this and the denominations?” In order that we all may be comforted, I am burdened to point out the record in the Bible of the satanic chaos in the old creation and the divine economy for the new creation.
I also have been bothered by the turmoil, but one day the Lord showed me from the New Testament how much the Lord Jesus Himself was troubled by chaos. When He was a baby, Herod tried to kill Him. But the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, telling him to take the child and His mother and flee into Egypt (Matt. 2:13). Later, Joseph was instructed in a dream to return to the land of Israel and to settle in the city of Nazareth (vv. 19-23). God did not clear away all the chaos.
Although God sent His recovery to this country, He has not removed the chaos. On the contrary, we have been troubled by chaos both from the outside and from the inside. Certain opposers on the outside wrote evil books to slander and defame us. Certain of those who were once on the inside have caused turmoil, saying falsely that, since 1984, the recovery has changed in nature. One person even went so far as to say that the training in Taipei should be dismantled. Others have accused me of no longer caring for life but only for numbers. These accusations were made by those who were formerly on the inside, including some who had been intimately related to me and who had been under my training for twenty-five years. Such accusations and the turmoil caused by them are surely something chaotic.
During the years I was with Brother Nee, there was chaos again and again. I observed that the chaos came in cycles. Every eight or ten years was a cycle. Since I was Brother Nee’s helper, the chaos was directed not at me but at him. He was the “umbrella” upon which the “rain” would fall, and I was under him. After I was sent out of mainland China, to some extent I became the umbrella, and throughout the years the rain has been falling on me. However, I can testify that actually the chaos does not hurt us or damage us. On the contrary, the chaos helps the recovery. For this reason, even in the midst of the chaos, I am comforted, I praise the Lord, and I rejoice in Him.
The New Testament is full not only of the divine economy but also of the satanic chaos. Let us now consider the record in the New Testament concerning the divine economy and the satanic chaos. After this, we will see the ending of the satanic chaos and the consummation of the divine economy.
Concerning Christ and His ministry, the New Testament reveals that there were both the divine economy and the satanic chaos.
The divine economy, the ministry of Christ, and the New Testament go together. If there were no divine economy, there would have been no ministry of Christ and no New Testament.
In the divine economy Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God became incarnated to be a God-man (John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:26-38; Matt. 1:18-23). We all need to see this marvelous fact and praise the Lord for it.
John the Baptist came out to testify concerning Christ (Matt. 3:1-12; John 1:6-8, 15, 19-36). In relation to Christ, John was a helper.
We have pointed out that many of the godly people were expecting the coming of the Messiah. According to the New Testament, the seekers of the Messiah came to Christ and followed Him (vv. 37-49; Matt. 4:17-24; John 3:1-15). This also was a matter pertaining to the divine economy.
In His ministry Christ taught the kingdom, proclaimed the gospel, and healed all kinds of diseases, attracting a great crowd to follow Him (Matt. 4:23-25). This teaching, proclaiming, and healing were all aspects of the divine economy.
To His followers Christ revealed many wonderful things. In Matthew 5—7 He revealed the kingdom of the heavens; in Matthew 13, the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens; in Matthew 16:13-19, Christ and the church; in Matthew 24—25, the consummation of this age and the second coming of Christ; and in John 14—17, the mystery of the Divine Trinity in union with the believers of Christ. Thus, Christ enabled His followers to see many heavenly mysteries, even to see the mystery of the organic union of the believers with the Triune God.
All these wonderful things in the divine economy were accompanied by something evil, the satanic chaos.
According to Matthew 2:1-22 Herod sought to kill Christ in His babyhood.
As Christ was carrying out His ministry in the divine economy, the Pharisees criticized and blasphemed Him (9:10-13, 33-34; 12:22-35).
The people of Israel rejected Christ and His teaching (11:20-24; 13:53-58).
The Pharisees and Sadducees tempted Christ and instructed people with teachings of leaven (16:1-12). For this reason He said to His disciples, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (v. 6), and eventually they understood that by leaven He meant the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (v. 12).
Satan moved in Peter to frustrate Christ from carrying out His crucifixion (vv. 21-26). When the Lord Jesus revealed to His disciples that He would be crucified, Peter, showing his love for the Lord, “took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You!” (v. 22). When Peter said this, the Lord Jesus turned and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men” (v. 23). Apparently Peter was being very loving toward the Lord; actually he was motivated by Satan. This means that even Peter’s love for the Lord Jesus was instigated by Satan.
The followers of Christ contended with one another to be great (Luke 22:24; Matt. 20:21-27). While the Lord Jesus was expecting soon to be crucified, His followers were fighting with one another about who would be first among them. They had heard many things about the heavenly kingdom, but instead of caring about those things, they cared about being great. Their contending with one another to be great must have been instigated by Satan.
One of Christ’s followers, Judas, betrayed Christ (Luke 22:21-23, 47-48). Another of His followers, Peter, denied Him three times under Satan’s sifting (vv. 31-34, 54-62). Eventually, the rest, as sheep, were scattered (Matt. 26:31), and the Lord Jesus was left alone.
The Jews collaborated with the Roman government to sentence Christ to death and crucify Him (Luke 23:1-43). That certainly was something of the satanic chaos, but eventually the outcome of that chaos was something very good.
Now we need to see the divine economy in Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
A great part of God’s economy was Christ’s death on the cross. God judged Christ on the cross for the sin of the world and for the sin of the believers (John 1:29; 1 Cor. 15:3). Christ died an all-inclusive vicarious death (John 19:34; 12:24).
The women followers of Christ watched His crucifixion (Matt. 27:55-56). This indicates that in loving the Lord Jesus the sisters are stronger than the brothers and are ahead of the brothers. Whereas Peter and the other disciples forsook the Lord, the women followed Him from Gethsemane and eventually watched His crucifixion.
Joseph, one expecting the kingdom of God, had a high position in society and was a hidden disciple. He and the women followers of Christ buried Christ in an excellent way (Luke 23:50-56; Matt. 27:57-61). Christ was not born in an excellent way, and He did not die in an excellent way. However, His burial was excellent and according to the highest standard.
The followers of Christ discovered His resurrection and received the revelation that Christ in His humanity was born in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God with His many brothers constituting the Body (28:1-10; John 20:1-18; Acts 13:33; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:11-12). This discovery was made not by the brothers but by the sisters, and the revelation was given to them. Then the sisters brought the news to the brothers. The revelation was that the very Christ who was in the flesh was born in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God and that all His believers were born at that same time to be the many sons of God and the many brothers of Christ who constitute His Body, the church.
The resurrected Christ said to Mary, “Go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (John 20:17). Concerning the believers being Christ’s brothers, Hebrews 2:11 says, “Both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers.” The next verse, a quotation of Psalm 22:22, goes on to say, “I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the church I will sing hymns of praise to You.” By declaring the Father’s name to His brothers, the Lord Jesus made them the church. This is a great matter in the divine economy.
Acts 1:3 tells us that, as part of the divine economy, Christ in His resurrection taught His eleven apostles concerning the kingdom of God for forty days.
According to Acts 1:9-11, the disciples of Christ saw His ascension.
The resurrection of Christ was accompanied by the chaos with the chief priests, the Pharisees, and the elders. In this situation also, God did not remove the chaos but allowed it to remain.
On the day after Christ’s crucifixion, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate and asked him to give orders for the grave to be secured until the third day (Matt. 27:62-64). Pilate told them to take a guard and to make the tomb secure. Then they went and secured the grave, sealing the stone (vv. 65-66). Nevertheless, on the third day Christ came forth from the grave in resurrection.
After the Lord Jesus was resurrected, the chief priests and the elders bribed the guarding soldiers to say that while they were sleeping in the night, the disciples of Jesus stole His body away (28:11-15). This lie caused confusion. On the one hand, the disciples said that Christ was resurrected. On the other hand, the bribed soldiers said that Jesus’ body had been stolen by His disciples. This caused the Jewish society to be confused. Whose word would the people believe—the word of the disciples or the word of the soldiers? They, of course, believed the soldiers’ word, and that annulled the news of Christ’s resurrection. This surely was another aspect of the satanic chaos.
The divine economy can also be seen in the ministry of the apostles.
Peter and about one hundred twenty disciples gathered together and prayed in one accord for ten days (Acts 1:12-15). That one accord was a wonderful thing. It is difficult for believers to pray in one accord even for an hour, much less for ten days. In Acts 1 the disciples were burdened to continue steadfastly with one accord in prayer.
The Spirit was poured out upon the one hundred twenty disciples of Christ on the day of Pentecost (2:1-4, 17-18). That was a great matter. The outpoured Spirit was actually the pneumatic Christ. The pneumatic Christ poured out Himself as the all-inclusive, compound, consummated Spirit upon His disciples so that they could be constituted and built up to be His Body, the organism of the Triune God.
Peter preached at Pentecost, and three thousand repented, believed, and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (vv. 14-41). Then the church was established. Later the number of men came to about five thousand (4:4).
The believers continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers (2:42). They had all possessions common and increased with new believers day by day (vv. 43-47; 4:32-37).
According to the record in the book of Acts, the word of God grew, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly (6:7; 12:24; 19:20).
The disciples were scattered from Jerusalem throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Those who were scattered went throughout the land preaching the gospel (8:1, 4).
In Acts 9:32-43 we see that the gospel spread under Peter’s ministry.
Through Paul’s ministry the gospel spread to the Gentile world, and many churches were raised up (chs. 13—28).
The Epistles of 1, 2, and 3 John and the book of Revelation show us that the churches raised up through Paul’s ministry were strengthened and corrected under John’s ministry.
Again the satanic chaos was unavoidable and went along with the divine economy in the ministry of the apostles. This chaos includes twenty-six items.
The Jewish religion and the Roman government persecuted the apostles and the church (Acts 4:1-3, 5-6; 7:57—8:3; 12:1-4; 16:22-24). Religion and politics often collaborate to persecute and damage the Lord’s interest on earth.
In Acts 5:1-11 Ananias, a brother, and his wife Sapphira deceived the Spirit and were punished to death in the presence of the church. That surely was something of chaos.
The Jews rejected the apostles’ preaching and persecuted the apostles (13:45-46, 50; 14:2, 5, 19; 17:13; 18:12-13; 19:9; 20:3; 21:27-36). The Jews pursued the apostles in order to persecute them.
The Judaizers stressed circumcision among the believers (11:1-3; 15:1-2). That was something quite negative.
Peter and Barnabas became weak in keeping the truth of the gospel (Gal. 2:11-14). They became hypocritical and were rebuked by Paul.
In Acts 15:36-39 Barnabas separated himself and his work from Paul. That terminated Barnabas’ glorious ministry. For this reason, in the remaining chapters of Acts, although there is a long record of the glorious activity of Paul, there is not a word of glory concerning the activity of Barnabas. He was out of the flow of the Spirit. Barnabas is mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, but he is not mentioned with any record of glory.
The church in Corinth had divisions, fornication, and lawsuits (1 Cor. 1:10-13; 11:18-19; 5:1; 6:1, 6-8). They also questioned the apostleship of Paul (9:1-3) and even accused Paul of being crafty, saying that through Titus he took advantage of them by guile (2 Cor. 12:16-18). In principle, the situation is the same today.
The Jewish preachers, the Judaizers, preached the gospel in rivalry with Paul (Phil. 1:15-17). From this we see that there can be rivalry even in the preaching of the gospel.
Philippians 3:2 and Galatians 2:4 reveal that the Judaizers, as dogs, evil workers, the concision, and false brothers, stole into the churches to cause trouble.
Gnostics, people of Greek philosophy, came in to carry the believers off through their philosophy according to the tradition of men and the elements of the world and not according to Christ (Col. 2:8). The activity of the Gnostics caused much dissension.
The teaching of different things other than God’s economy in faith was carried on (1 Tim. 1:3-4). Both at Paul’s time and today, there are different teachings, teachings other than the divine economy taught by Paul.
The winds of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness, invaded the churches (Eph. 4:14). We know what the winds of teaching are, for we have seen them and experienced them.
In Romans 16:17 Paul says, “I exhort you, brothers, to mark those who make divisions and causes of stumbling contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and turn away from them.” This indicates that division-makers had risen up.
In Titus 3:10 Paul says, “A factious man, after a first and second admonition, refuse.” This tells us that factious (sectarian) men existed in the churches. Such sectarian men cause divisions by forming parties in the church according to their own opinions.
The two sister co-workers, Euodias and Syntyche, were in discord (Phil. 4:2-3a). It is easy for sisters to be in discord.
James and the elders in Jerusalem exhorted Paul to keep the ordinances of the Jewish law (Acts 21:18-26). It is hard to believe that the leading elders in Jerusalem exhorted Paul to go back to the temple and, under the priests in Judaism, to keep the ordinance of their law. But this is what they did, and Paul followed their exhortation. However, the Lord did not allow Paul to complete the ceremony. On the last day of the ceremony, there was a turmoil, and Paul was put into prison. Eventually, Paul was transferred to a prison in Rome. He was released, but within a year he was arrested again and martyred.
What would you say about Paul’s situation? Some might say that Paul made a mistake and was not faithful in his ministry, and that was the reason he was put into prison and was eventually brought to Rome to be judged directly by Caesar. No doubt, in Acts 21 there was great chaos. However, without this chaos we would not have the books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus. Deep truths concerning the church life, the Christian life, and God’s economy with the divine dispensing are in these books. If these books were not in the New Testament, there would be a great lack. While Paul was in prison, he wrote Epistles that are filled with wonderful, high revelation. This indicates that the chaos eventually enabled something most excellent to be produced. Furthermore, Paul’s martyrdom has been an encouragement to saints throughout the centuries. Thus, what the enemy did in that chaotic situation became a profit to God’s interests.
Some, as Hymenaeus and Alexander, thrust away faith and a good conscience and became shipwrecked regarding the faith (1 Tim. 1:19-20 cf. 4:1-2). Hymenaeus and Alexander must have been leading ones, prominent ones in the churches, yet they had a very serious change.
All the believers in Asia turned away from Paul’s ministry. The word all in 2 Timothy 1:15 indicates what the situation was in a general way. It does not mean that everyone in Asia forsook Paul’s ministry. Generally speaking, the saints and the churches in Asia forsook Paul’s ministry. The New Testament indicates that this was the reason the churches in Asia became degraded.
Some, as Hymenaeus and Philetus, misaimed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection had already taken place (2:17-18). To misaim here is to miss the mark, to swerve, to deviate. Saying that the resurrection had already taken place was a serious heresy that denied the divine power in life (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16; Rev. 20:4, 6).
Demas, a co-worker of Paul, loved the present age and abandoned the apostle Paul (2 Tim. 4:10a). Today certain co-workers have left us. Even at Paul’s time such a thing happened when Demas abandoned Paul.
Alexander the coppersmith, an opposer and an attacker of the apostle Paul, did many evil things to him (vv. 14-15). Alexander once might have been very close to Paul but later hated him and became his enemy.
In Paul’s first defense no one was with him to support him, but all abandoned him, leaving him alone (vv. 16-17).
Some went beyond and did not abide in the teaching of Christ (2 John 9-11). This means that certain ones did not abide in the teaching concerning Christ’s person and redemptive work. Such ones were heretics, and John told us to quarantine them and not to invite them into our homes or to greet them.
Diotrephes, who was very ambitious, loved to be first in the church and did not receive the apostles (3 John 9-10). This shows how serious the chaos had become.
Some went in the way of Cain, rushed out in the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the rebellion of Korah (Jude 11-13). The stories concerning Cain, Balaam, and Korah were repeated in the church life, and this repetition brought chaos into the church.
Among the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the first one lost her first love toward the Lord (2:4); the third one fell into the world where Satan’s throne is, held the teaching of Balaam involved with idolatry and fornication, and held also the teaching of the Nicolaitans related to hierarchy (vv. 13-15); the fourth one had the teaching of Jezebel involved with fornication, idolatry, and the deep things of Satan (vv. 20, 24a); the fifth one was living in name, yet she was dead, with nothing perfect before God (3:1-2); and the last one, in Laodicea, was lukewarm, boasting in her “riches,” but not realizing her wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked condition, with the Lord Christ standing outside and knocking at her door (vv. 14-17, 20).
Thus far in this chapter we have covered almost the entire New Testament regarding the divine economy and the satanic chaos. We have seen that the ministry both of the Lord Jesus and of the apostles was accompanied by chaos. No other apostle suffered as much as Paul did. He suffered persecution from the Jewish religion and also from the Roman government. Wherever he went, chaos was waiting for him. The last time he went to Jerusalem was for the interest of the church there; he was deeply concerned about the Judaic situation in the church in Jerusalem. After he arrived, he followed the advice of James and the elders to offer sacrifices in the temple. We have pointed out that the Lord did not allow him to complete the ceremony. There was turmoil, and that caused Paul to be put into prison. Although that ended his traveling ministry, it did not end his writing ministry. On the contrary, his writing ministry became higher, deeper, and richer, and the Epistles written from prison have been a great benefit to the believers throughout the centuries. Eventually, the chaos that went along with Paul’s ministry benefited the church.
The principle is the same with the recent turmoil among us in the Lord’s recovery. This chaos has helped the recovery and has stabilized the recovery in this country. Through this turmoil many have been tested, stabilized, and established.
Now I would like to give a concluding word regarding the ending of the satanic chaos and the consummation of the divine economy.
The satanic chaos will end with the termination of the evil Satan, the old creation, and all the negative things in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:9—21:1, 8; 22:15). The lake of fire will be the universal “trash can,” and all the negative things, which have caused the chaos in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, will be gathered there. The lake of fire, therefore, will be the ending of all the chaos.
The divine economy will be consummated, not ended, with the processed Triune God, the new creation, and the holy city of living water (chs. 21—22). The holy city of living water is the New Jerusalem, and the New Jerusalem is a composition, a constitution, of the redeeming Triune God with His redeemed tripartite man. He will be our temple where we will worship and where we will have our dwelling, and we will be His tabernacle where He will dwell and where He will enjoy us as His satisfaction. Hence, the New Jerusalem will be a place of mutual dwelling and mutual satisfaction for eternity. I hope that we will all be comforted by this revelation concerning the end of the satanic chaos and the consummation of the divine economy.
We have emphasized the fact that the satanic chaos is in the old creation and that the divine economy is for the new creation. The divine economy is to produce the new creation out of the chaotic old creation. This producing of the new creation will continue until the end of the millennium (ch. 20). That will be the time for the new heaven and the new earth to appear with the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem, the holy city, will be the consummation of the divine economy.
The New Jerusalem will be the enlargement and consummation of today’s church life. We praise the Lord that we are in the church. In the church life we experience the divine economy with the help of the satanic chaos. The satanic chaos helps our Christian life and also our church life.
In the Old Testament, which ends with the expectation of Christ’s coming, Christ is prophesied and promised. He was the expectation of God’s chosen people. In the New Testament Christ has come, and He is coming. Christ’s first coming, or the first part of Christ’s coming, initiated the New Testament economy. His second coming, or the second part of His coming, will consummate the New Testament economy. Between the initiation and the consummation, there is the long period of the church life. The church life is also a part of Christ’s coming. Christ has come, yet His coming is still taking place in the church life. The process of the church life is the process of Christ’s coming.
Today we are experiencing the church life, which is the process of Christ’s coming. Every time a sinner is baptized, that is a further step of Christ’s coming. Likewise, our growth in life is the advancement, the furthering, of His coming. The more we advance, the sooner Christ will come. If we want to hasten Christ’s coming, we need to advance more quickly.
As we are in the church life as the process of Christ’s coming, we should not be troubled by any kind of chaos. We should not be bothered or disappointed by chaos, because chaos actually helps us. Every kind of chaos is a help to God’s chosen people and to Christ’s Body, the organism of the Triune God.
