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Scripture Reading: John 16:12-13, 15; Matt. 28:20; Acts 2:42; 2 Cor. 4:1; Eph. 4:4
There are four levels in God’s New Testament economy. As we all know, the Bible has two sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament the first aspect of God’s economy is the law, which is the main body of the Old Testament. Next are the prophets and then the people of God. The Old Testament, generally speaking, is composed of the law, the prophets, and the people of God. In the New Testament, God’s economy is the teaching of the apostles. In the Old Testament Moses brought the law, and the people listened to the law. In the New Testament there is not one Moses but many apostles bringing in the teaching of the apostles. In addition, there are the saints. Moses stayed on Mount Sinai for forty days and nights and received God’s law. The apostles were with the Lord Jesus for three and a half years and received the teaching of the New Testament economy. But they were only at the initial stage. It was not the stage of completion.
What completed the teaching of the New Testament economy was not the presence of the Lord Jesus but the presence of the Spirit. The Lord said plainly in John 16, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality” (vv. 12-13). The disciples did not understand it then, since the Spirit of reality had not yet come. Not until the Spirit’s presence came did the disciples enter into all reality.
In addition, in the same chapter the Lord showed us a little clue that the Spirit of reality whom the disciples were to receive was to be the Son who received all that the Father had (v. 15). All that the Son has is to the Spirit, and all that the Spirit receives is opened up and disclosed to us. All that the Father has is to the Son, all that the Son has is received by the Spirit, and all that the Spirit receives is all that the Triune God is. Furthermore, the Spirit also opens up and discloses to us all that the Triune God is. This is the truth that the Spirit reveals to us when the Spirit of reality comes. Its content is the Triune God, who has passed through all the processes to be wrought into those who believe in Him, to make them sons of God and the members of Christ so that they may be constituted the Body of Christ.
Hymns, #501 says,
This stanza expresses what the Lord told the disciples while He was on the earth in John 16. Not until the Spirit of reality came could these mysteries be revealed to them.
The New Testament shows us that these mysteries were mainly revealed to the apostle Paul. Hence, he says he had received from God a ministry and a commission, that is, to complete the word of God (Col. 1:25b). The teaching of the apostles started in the Gospels and was developed in Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation. In other words, the teaching of the apostles is the entire New Testament. There is only one law in the Old Testament—the law of Moses; there is only one teaching in the New Testament—the teaching of the apostles.
This teaching started when the Lord Jesus brought up the twelve disciples. Hence, we often see the Lord teaching the disciples in the Gospels. Then in Matthew 28, after the Lord resurrected, He charged the disciples to preach the gospel and to disciple the nations, baptizing them into the Triune God, and “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Then He said, “I am with you all the days” (v. 20). Therefore, the teaching of the apostles started with the Lord Jesus’ teaching to the disciples, especially to the twelve apostles, and ended with the revelation that John received on the island of Patmos. Consequently, Revelation says that the revelation of God’s New Testament has been completed, and none is able to add to nor take away from it (22:18-19). Revelation 22 is a closing word. The teaching of God’s New Testament economy starts from the Gospel of Matthew through the Gospel of John and continues through Revelation; the whole teaching has already been revealed completely.
For us to preach the teaching of the apostles today is to preach what the Lord Jesus preached, what the apostles preached, and what Paul and John preached. It violates the teaching of the apostles if we preach anything else. For instance, if someone says that there will be no end to heaven and earth, that they will remain forever, we should find proof in the Bible and tell him that the Bible says there will be an end to heaven and earth. It says in the Gospel of Matthew, “Until heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one serif shall by no means pass away from the law until all come to pass” (5:18). Also, Hebrews says, “They will perish, but You remain” (1:11a). Whatever we preach must all be in accordance with the teaching of the apostles.
Some, such as the Mormons, preach heresies, which are different from the teaching of the apostles. In the future as we go through the whole island to evangelize Taiwan, we will probably meet such preachers. Hence, we need to study them also so that we can expose them. In God’s economy the teaching of the apostles has been completed. None can add to or subtract from it. This is the foundation of God’s New Testament economy. In the Old Testament the foundation is the law of God. In the New Testament the first layer of the foundation is the teaching of the apostles.
The term the teaching of the apostles appears once in the New Testament as a whole phrase and in many places in fragments. Acts 2:42 says, “They continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles.” This is the foundation of the Lord’s recovery. It is like the Constitution: although it has many articles, it still is only one constitution. God’s Old Testament economy has only one law; God’s New Testament economy has also only one teaching of the apostles. This is the foundation of God’s move and also the foundation of our service.
The church started to digress from the teaching of the apostles from the beginning of the second century. We can find some clues of this in Revelation. Besides the teaching of the apostles, there were the teachings of the Nicolaitans (2:15), of Balaam (v. 14), as well as that of Jezebel (v. 20). The teaching of the Nicolaitans is the teaching of clergy and laity, which is outside of the teaching of the apostles. The entire Christianity today, with the exception of the Lord’s recovery, has the teaching of the Nicolaitans, that is, the teaching of clergy and laity. Consequently, Christianity has become a religious organization. Even some of the brothers and sisters among us are not clear enough concerning this, bringing in the worldly concept that there is a difference in rank between the elders and the saints. This shows us that this religious concept is in our blood. Today’s Christianity has deviated from the teaching of the apostles. The most obvious deviation is that they have received the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
In this chapter we shall see that only the teaching of the apostles can stand in God’s New Testament economy, and it will stand unto eternity. We must remember that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. The law as the main body of the Old Testament was supplemented by the prophets. The main body of the New Testament is the apostles, and the prophets also serve as a supplement. The principle in both is the same. This is the first level of the meaning of God’s New Testament economy.
The second level of the meaning of God’s New Testament economy is the ministry of the New Testament. Second Corinthians 4:1 says, “Therefore having this ministry as we have been shown mercy.” The Old Testament ministry is one of death and condemnation since the Old Testament brings in condemnation and kills (Rom. 5:13, 18, 20-21). The ministry of the teaching of the apostles brings in justification and gives life (v. 18). What we all have received is this unique ministry.
In Ephesians 4:11-12 Paul says that different gifted persons perfect the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ. This is the third level of meaning.
The Body of Christ is universal, and the churches are expressed in different localities. This is the fourth level of meaning.
Today in the Lord’s recovery our way, our service, our work, and our meetings are all based on these four levels. Furthermore, there is one teaching of the apostles, one ministry of the New Testament, one Body of Christ, and one church. This is the oneness of the four levels. Ephesians 4:4 says that the Body is one. Revelation 1 proves that the church in a locality is also one (v. 11); in each of the seven cities there was only one church (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). We in the Lord’s recovery today need to realize and be clear about this. If today we want to serve the Lord for our entire life, we need to serve in the teaching of the apostles, the New Testament ministry, the Body of Christ, and the churches of God.
The New Testament ministry is building the church of God and the local churches, that is, the Body of Christ today. Therefore, our work is the work of the New Testament ministry. We are not like some Christians who just do odd jobs. The work of the New Testament ministry is the building up of the Body of Christ according to the teaching of the apostles. Therefore, we need to see that our service is in the oneness of the four levels—in the local churches, in the Body of Christ, in the New Testament ministry, and in the teaching of the apostles. Hence, our service cannot be two. It has to be one. The work we do is also one and cannot be more than one.
If tens of thousands of saints in six continents are all doing the one work, who then is taking the lead? It is very mysterious to say that Christ is taking the lead. In practice, the real leader is the teaching of the apostles. We all must serve according to, follow, and be based on the teaching of the apostles.
Hymns, #824 says,
As far as the church being the gathering of the called ones is concerned, there should not be distinctions in who is on top and who is below, or who is high or who is low. But as far as the church being the Lord’s Body is concerned, there is the difference between large and small members. One sees this in the human body where the shoulder is larger than the hand.
Today in the local church we may not be too clear ourselves about what position we should take or what function we should have. But in the Body we become very clear: the hand knows where the foot is, and the nose also knows where the mouth is. Sometimes we may be the running feet. Other times we may be the working hand. Yet at another time we may be the listening ear. Although our eyes may see clearly what others’ functions should be, we ourselves are often not too clear about ourselves. For instance, the sisters who live together in a “kingdom house” may not be too clear about whether they are older or younger than the others. You will be clear when you look at someone else. You know whether she is older or younger than you. It is best that we do not know too clearly. Whoever is older, I should accept her words. Whoever is younger, I should care for her. We need not ask ourselves whether we are hands or feet. Just as in a hospital, the treatment of ears, nose, and throat all belong to one department. As another illustration, take eight brothers and sisters in one family. You may not be clear about your rank among them, but you know who is the oldest, who is the second oldest, and who is the youngest brother. Do not care which position you are in. If someone is older than I, I would receive supply from him; if he is younger than I, I would care for and guide him. This is what we need to see and learn.
As young people serving the Lord from your youth, you must learn the lesson never to have any ambition to be a leader in God’s house. There is an organic arrangement in the Body of Christ. You can see this from our human body. The ears are not for themselves when they grow on the sides of the head, neither are the eyes for themselves when they are in the eye sockets. God’s creation is so organic and so wonderful. Although the eyes are in a high position, they are lower than the eyebrows. This is not for the eyes to decide. It is altogether an organic story, a story of the life in the body.
According to the New Testament, the disciples all wanted to be great. When the Lord Jesus told the disciples that He would be handed over to man’s hands and be killed, not only were the disciples not able to hear it, but on the way they were even disputing who should be great and who should sit on the Lord’s right hand and left hand. Not until the Lord Jesus had been crucified did they stop disputing (Matt. 20:17-26). Surely, we should love the Lord. But it is a terrible thing to have the ambition to be a leader and a head in the Lord’s recovery. You should do your best to function as a member in the position that is organically arranged for you in the Lord’s Body.
We need to learn to have no opinion in the Lord’s service and work. For example, we all are now here being trained, and of course, we go out in the evenings to knock on doors to preach the gospel. If one day you return to your local church, and you push the preaching of the gospel by door-knocking without caring for the feelings of the brothers and sisters, I am afraid that you might cause problems. Therefore, when you return, it would be best for you to say, “Thank the Lord. The Lord has given me grace that I always have the burden to preach the gospel.” To say “gospel preaching” will not cause opinions; for you to say “door-knocking” probably will. Once opinions come, regulations and methods will also come, and in the end the church will suffer loss. Hence, if you go back to your local church, and there are brothers and sisters who do not agree with door-knocking, you should not argue, nor should you shout slogans. Rather, you should still go to visit gospel friends and to preach the gospel. In this way the gospel will still go out. So you see that if a thing is spoken inappropriately and understood improperly, it will cause opinions. Therefore, learn not to cause opinions.
Besides this, learn not to seek credit for the things you have done. Do not always seek to have a good record or to show that you have some merit. Also, learn not to envy, learn to be glad to see others succeed, be glad to see others do better and more than you, and be glad to help others succeed. These are all lessons that we must learn.
No matter where we go, we must remember that there is no such thing as position in the Lord’s church. In one sense each member in the Body has its own position. Yet it is not what the world realizes as position. When Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, he said, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus..., and Timothy the brother” (1:1). In 1 Timothy he said, “To Timothy, genuine child in faith” (1:2). Paul did not exalt himself, thinking that he had a certain status in writing to Timothy. Although they had a great difference in age, and Paul indeed could be a teacher to Timothy, Paul still deemed Timothy a brother. In the church there is no office and no position. These must be dropped and forgotten. In addition, in the Lord’s recovery, we do not just do our own work. We must see that we all are doing the same work.
Every point mentioned above is very important to those who are taking the way of serving the Lord. Because of these problems, factions and strivings develop among Christians against one another. If we want to avoid these, we need to realize the four levels of meaning of God’s economy according to this chapter: the teaching of the apostles, the ministry of the New Testament, the Body of Christ, and the local churches. In addition, we must learn in the service not to desire leadership, to have opinions, to envy, to credit ourselves, or to have our own work. If we do this, we will be blessed in the Lord’s recovery and will be perfected.
