Turning this Age - the christian blog

The Will of God - One Person

2010-12-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

What is the meaning of the universe? Why do stars, planets, heavens, earth, seas, abyss exist? These kind of questions were asked by mankind perhaps for every generations of human. Some come up with their scientific theory. Some come up with their philosophy theory. But, what does bible say about it?

Rev 4:11 You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for You have created all things, and because of Your will they were, and were created.

This verse tell us that all thing were created because of God’s will. The reason why we live, why we exist, why the sun is there above our head, is His will. His will is what God intends, what God wants. what God want to achieve. There is something is His heart that cause Him to create all things. There is something that He wants. The question arise, what does God want? What does God intends to achieve? What is His Will?

Paul in the books of Colossians tell us

Col 1:9 Therefore we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease praying and asking on your behalf that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Paul eagerly prayed on our behalf so that we may be filled with the full knowledge of His will, with the knowledge of what His desire.This knowledge is not a part knowledge, but full knowledge. And this is the knowledge of His will, the reason why everything is created. Paul is such a one who know the knowledge of His will, otherwise it is not possible for him to pray and ask on our behalf for something he does not know. Paul knew what God’s will is, he knew why everything was created, he knew why God had to become man, he know why Christ had to die. He know His will, and he prayed that we may know God’s will as well. And this will of God is revealed on this letter he wrote to Colossians.

On the letter to Ephesus Paul wrote:

Eph 5:16-17 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

He exhorted the saints in Ephesus to understand what the will of the Lord is. Before he said this word, he charged them to redeem the time, not wasting the time. This shows the reason why they waste most of their time. The reason is that they did not understand the will of the Lord. If we do not understand the will of the Lord, surely we will waste our time. Understanding the will of God is the prerequisite to redeem the time. Thus, what is the will God?

In Col 1:9 Paul speak concerning the full knowledge of His will. The will of God he mentioned is not His will in small matters, rather this is the eternal will of God, the great will of God. The will of God here is not His will in our job, in our education, in our marriage, but this is the eternal will of God, His heart desire from eternity, His economy. With this great will of God we need to be filled, even fully. To have the full knowledge of God’s will is to have the revelation of God’s plan so that we may know what God plans to do in the universe.

Colossians is a book concerning the will of God. We can see the eternal will of God in Col 1:15-18

Col 1:15-18 Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation, Because in Him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and unto Him. And He is before all things, and all things cohere in Him; And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things;

The eternal will of God is one Person. God’s will is in this Person only. God wants to have One Person. God intends to have this One person magnified. He needs to have this Person as the firstborn of all creation, the firstborn Son of God, the Head of the Body, centrality and universality in God’s economy, everything in the divine economy. This Person is Christ, in Him all things created, in Him the universe created.

The will of God is in Christ, concentrated in Christ, and for Christ; Christ is everything in the will of God. After knowing this, then we can have second question. What is God’s will in us in related to His eternal will? What should we do for the sake of His will? What kind of clothes we buy for the sake of His will? Whom should we marry for the sake of His economy? What kind of job we take? How we maintain our health for His sake? The sequence of knowing is very important, otherwise our prayer will be self-centered, asking what is God’s will to meet my will. If we do not know His economy, we will get lost in our self-personal universe. And, we will waste most of our time.

Knowing God’s eternal economy is not merely mental understanding, but this is spiritual understanding, subjective knowing from within, deep realization of His economy. This requires prayers and revelation from the Lord in order to come to full knowledge of His will.

Back to the first question. What is the meaning of the universe? Why do all things exist? All things exist because He wants to have Christ as everything. The sun above our head exists because He wants to have Christ as the Head of the Body. Man was created to enjoy and to be filled with God. We were born so that Christ can be wrought into us. We were living so that Christ can become our life, our living, and eventually our everything, and we become nothing. This is God’s economy. This is God’s will. This is the meaning why you live and exist in this universe !!

Church is absolutely Organic

2010-08-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

The burden of these messages is to point out that the church is absolutely organic. We need to see that the church as the Body of Christ is altogether organic, absolutely of life, with nothing organizational. The Body of Christ is the organism of the Triune God. The Triune God has an organism. An organism and an organization are entirely different. To illustrate this difference, we may compare a living person to a wooden stand. The wooden stand is without life, while a living person is full of life. The wooden stand is an organization of pieces of wood put together, but a living person has many members which are joined together organically. A person is a living, moving, functioning organism, unlike a robot, which is an organization of inorganic parts. The church is not an organization without life, but an organism with life.

One of the most damaging things to the church is organization. History tells us that nothing kills, damages, and annuls the reality of the church as much as organization does. Some may think that the appointment of the elders is something organizational. They may feel that an appointment is always something organizational. We must realize, however, that the elders are appointed according to the manifestation of the measure of their growth in the divine life. To appoint a principal of a school or a manager in a corporation is not according to life. This kind of appointment is organizational. But in the Lord’s recovery, according to the New Testament, the appointment of the elders is absolutely according to the growth in life. If a brother does not have the adequate growth in life, he cannot be an elder. According to their physical life, older people are elders. Their age comes from their growth in their physical life. Their being elders is an organic matter. In like manner, the elders in the churches are appointed according to the manifestation of the measure of their growth in the divine life. The appointment of the elders is altogether organic, having nothing to do with organization.

To even mention the word organization concerning the church and the church life is wrong. The church and the church life are not in the field of organization. The Apostle Paul told us that the church is God’s farm (1 Cor. 3:9). Anything that grows on a farm does not belong to an organization. Rice or wheat cannot be organized by a farmer to grow in a certain way. A farmer plants the seed and then waters what he has planted. His work on the farm is something of life. Planting and watering are matters of life. Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God made to grow” (1 Cor. 3:6). The church as God’s farm, God’s cultivated land, is something totally of life, having nothing to do with organization. Paul also tells us that the church is God’s building (3:9). A physical building is something of organization because it is composed of lifeless materials. But the church as God’s building is not a lifeless building. It is a building full of life. The divine life is the basic and unique factor of all the building materials of this spiritual building, God’s house. God’s house is an organic matter.

(Witness Lee, "Organism of the Triune God in the Organic Union of His Divine Trinity, The", LSM)

What is Regeneration ?

2010-01-07T18:04:00.001-08:00

In regeneration the Spirit of God regenerates us in our spirit with the divine life. Regeneration is not an outward matter. It is not “to mend one’s ways and turn over a new leaf” as people generally say; nor is it, as the Chinese say, that “everything in the past died yesterday and everything henceforth is born today.” That is the common Chinese saying, not the biblical revelation. The reality of regeneration is related to the two spirits. One is the divine Spirit of God, the life-giving Spirit, the pneumatic Christ; the other is our created human spirit. On the day we received the Lord with repentance by believing into His name, He as the divine Spirit came into our spirit to enliven it; thus, we were regenerated in our created spirit. This is the real meaning of regeneration. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6). The Spirit begetting the spirit is the reality of regeneration. Our spirit has been regenerated and made alive; hence, we are a group of regenerated ones.

Regeneration is our being born of God as God’s species (John 1:13), that is, that we may be of the same kind as God. Such a concept is exceedingly great, high, and profound. In the beginning, we human beings were created according to the image of God and were of God’s kind. Yet we did not have God’s life or His divine nature. However, when our spirit was made alive by His Spirit through regeneration, we were born to be children of God. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name.” God’s children are God’s species. Goats beget goats, cows beget cows, and humans beget humans; likewise, God begets gods. We who have been born of God are God’s species. We do not share in the divine Godhead, but we have God’s life and nature. The heart’s desire and good pleasure of God are to have a group of people who are exactly like Him, having His nature and His life to be His expression. This is why we need regeneration. We need to be regenerated not because we have sins but because God’s desire is that we have His life and be exactly like Him.

Furthermore, regeneration means that, in addition to our natural life, we have the divine, eternal life of God (John 3:16, 36a) as the basis and means of our spiritual life and living. Regeneration is not that we may improve our behavior, that we may have religious zeal and live a devout life, or that we may pay attention to ethics and morality. Rather, regeneration is for us to have God’s eternal life in addition to our natural life; this is to have the uncreated life, which is God Himself, in addition to our original, created life. This divine, eternal life becomes the basis and means of our living. What God desires today is for all of our living to be based on this life and by this life.

The church is Organism, not Organization

2009-07-20T23:43:00.000-07:00

Through the twenty centuries of church history the matter of how the church should be organized has been a continual problem. The church does not consist of only one or two persons. On the day of Pentecost alone three thousand were saved and brought into the church (v. 41). Not long after, five thousand more were saved (4:4). It would be difficult even to know how to bring together only these eight thousand people. Eventually, there was not only a church in Jerusalem, but there were also churches in Samaria, Antioch, Asia Minor, and Europe. Furthermore, in the church there were not only believers but also apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers (Eph. 4:11). There were also elders, deacons, and deaconesses. All these believers, churches, gifts, and serving ones had to be arranged, or organized, in some way.

Actually, according to God’s New Testament economy, there should not be any organization in the church. The church is not an organization but an organism. A desk, which is an organization, consists of many pieces fitted together without any life. However, our physical body, which is an organism, was not organized but was born and grew into its present form. An organism with its many organic parts is altogether a matter of life. The word organic means “of or related to life.” An organism is an entity entirely of life. Nothing in our body is produced by organization. In contrast, in an organization nothing is living; every piece is dead. Everything in an organization is a human work arranged by human hands.

Today’s Christianity is altogether an organization. Positions and offices in many denominations are decided by elections. Pastors today are often hired and fired. However, nothing in an organic body can be elected, hired, or fired. Our arms are not placed on our bodies by an election, nor can an old or weak arm be hired or fired. Elections, hiring, and firing are inorganic tools of human organization. There should be no elections, hiring, or firing in the church, because the church is altogether an organism. However, today’s Christianity is full of elections, hiring, and firing because it is an organization.

The church is an organism, not an organization, yet there is surely the need of some arrangement among thousands of people who come together in various cities as local churches. Finding this arrangement and the proper way for all the affairs of the church to be carried out is a great problem. Most seminaries have a course concerning the organization of the church, but the concept of organization related to the church cannot be found in the New Testament. We need to see the basic principle that any kind of organization leads to a hierarchy and that any kind of hierarchy is an insult to the headship of Christ.

To work for the Lord, we should not rely on organization; once there is an arrangement and organization, our work will be similar to a worldly enterprise that first establishes a small unit and then develops into a bigger organization. This is how a general leads an army. First, he trains the soldiers; then he forms them into a corps or division. Although such an arrangement is not altogether useless in the Lord’s work, if our work relies entirely on organization, it will become like degraded Christianity. Organization is not a sign of advance but of becoming fallen. If the church is established by organization, it is merely an organization, not the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is an organism. It can be compared to the human body. In the operation of the human body, although there is a certain amount of organization, it is linked to the body organically. For example, although dentures can be inserted into our mouth, they are merely an organization; they may be in the right position and have the proper function, but they do not have an organic relation with the body.

Lord Jesus is not a religion

2009-07-12T14:41:00.001-07:00

The Lord Jesus is not a religion or a set of forms, regulations, or teachings. He is a living Person whom we may contact day by day. As the all-inclusive Spirit indwelling our spirit, He is real and available. Hour by hour and even moment by moment, we should exercise our spirit to contact Him in an intimate way. We need to develop the habit of calling on the Lord’s name at all times and in all places. If we build up this practice, we shall be able to say, “O Lord Jesus, Your name is the sweetest name on earth.”

As we contact the Lord and call on His name, we must walk with Him, live by Him, and do everything according to the index of His eyes. The index denotes the area of the face around the eyes, the look as being the index of the inward thoughts and feelings to signify the presentation of the whole person. According to 2 Corinthians 2:10, Paul lived in the person, the index, of Christ. He did everything according to the expression conveyed through the index of the Lord’s eyes. We also should live according to this index of Christ. However, this is possible only when we are in His presence. If we are away from Him or if there is something between us and Him, we cannot live according to the index of His eyes. For example, a good wife will carefully watch the index of her husband’s eyes and live according to it. This is the way we should live in relation to the Lord. Everything we say or do should be in the index of the eyes of the Lord Jesus. As I am speaking to a brother, I should speak according to the indicators of the Lord’s index.

It is possible for us all to experience this. We can live in such intimate contact with the Lord Jesus that in every detail of our daily life we can behave according to the index of the Lord’s eyes. As I am about to put on a particular tie, I spontaneously know whether or not the Lord likes that tie. If He approves of it, I shall put it on. But if it displeases Him, I will gladly get rid of it. Oh, how sweet it is to live in the index of the eyes of Christ!

Romans 8:4 says, “That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to flesh, but according to spirit.” There is not the definite article here before the word “spirit,” which makes it difficult to decide whether it is our human spirit or the Holy Spirit. Therefore it must be the mingled spirit, the Holy Spirit and our spirit mingled as one. So now we must walk according to this mingled spirit, which simply means to walk according to the living Christ as the Spirit who indwells our spirit. Here there is the real fulfillment of the law. Whatever the law requires we will spontaneously fulfill, not by ourselves, but through Christ, the Spirit moving in our spirit.

This shows us how to take Christ as our person, which is to walk and live according to the mingled spirit. Day by day we should not have our being according to teaching, feelings, concepts, or circumstances, but according to the mingled spirit. Praise the Lord that we do have a spirit and that Christ as the life-giving Spirit is indwelling our spirit to make these two spirits one. Now we must walk according to this mingled spirit, and to walk according to this spirit is to take Christ as our person. The wording is different, but the fact is the same. To practically take Christ as our person is to have our being wholly according to the spirit.

In the entire Bible, especially in the New Testament, there is not one verse which tells us that we must walk according to Bible teaching. This does not mean that I am against the Bible. I am absolutely for the Bible, but our walk should not be something according to the outward teachings of the Bible; it must be according to a living person. If we walk only according to the teaching of the Bible, we will get into trouble. This is because there are many things that the Bible does not mention. It never tells us how long or short to cut our hair; nor does it say whether we should smoke or not. If you read the Bible two-hundred times, you will not find one verse about smoking. If the Lord meant for us to walk according to the Bible, the Bible would need to have thousands of pages! It would be difficult for us to carry such a book! But praise the Lord, it is so simple. We simply must learn to walk according to the mingled spirit.

God's Way

2009-06-22T16:57:00.000-07:00

In verse 30 Paul continues, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things of my weakness.”

In ancient times as well as today, there was the concept that a person who is blessed of God should not have suffering. Paul’s adversaries thought that if Paul were truly of God, God would bless him and he would not suffer. They regarded Paul’s suffering as a sign that he was not of God or was not under God’s blessing. Paul’s concept was different. Here Paul seems to be saying to the Judaizers, “If you were truly of God, God would allow you to suffer a great deal. A genuine minister of Christ is one who suffers.” Many Christians today have the concept that if a person is rich, prosperous, and flourishing, he is a faithful servant of God and is blessed by Him. They also have the concept that those who must endure suffering and hardship are not under the blessing of God.

In verses 31 through 33 Paul concludes, “The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus, the governor under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes to seize me, and I was lowered in a basket through a window, through the wall, and escaped his hands.” If you had been Paul, would you not have felt ashamed to escape in this way? Some may ask, “Why was it necessary for an ambassador of Christ to escape in a basket? Why did he not claim the victory of Jesus and the headship of the King of kings over this ethnarch? There is no need for you to escape in a basket through a window. This man cannot be God’s chosen one, for God does not bless him.”

We need to understand why Paul wrote these verses in the way he did. Humanly speaking, Paul had no glory or honor. Moreover, his way of speaking in this chapter seems to be foolish. Paul was in a very difficult environment. He suffered a great deal, and he was even short of food. It seems that God was not with him and did not honor him. Where are the miracles promised in Mark 16? It seems that the Lord did not supply Paul. He even allowed him to be shipwrecked and to spend a day and a night afloat at sea. Why did Paul emphasize things that are neither honorable nor glorious? Paul’s way is the divine way. In contrast, the concept of many Christians is versus God’s way. What Paul writes in this chapter certainly corresponds to the life of the Lord Jesus. When He was on earth, the Lord suffered affliction. Even though He was the Son of God, His life was not a life of prosperity or outward blessing. Apparently, the Lord Jesus was not blessed by God. When He was crucified, the Jews mocked Him and said that if He were of God, God would deliver Him from the cross. But instead of sending angels to rescue the Lord Jesus, God allowed Him to die on the cross. In principle, Paul’s experience was the same.

By writing this chapter in the way he did, Paul made it clear not only to the believers at Corinth, but to all believers in Christ throughout the centuries, what God’s way is. God’s way is seen in the genuine apostles, in the genuine ministers of the new covenant, not in the so-called super-apostles. Those false apostles may be prosperous and flourishing, and they may have no need to escape in a basket. But the real apostles experience adversity and suffering because the entire earth is opposed to God’s economy. Moreover, this present age is not the time for us to prosper and flourish. Rather, it is a time for us to suffer for the sake of the Body of Christ. In the words of Colossians 1:24, we are filling up what is lacking of the sufferings of Christ for the sake of His Body, the church.

On the cross the Lord Jesus suffered for our redemption. But during His life on earth, He suffered for the building up of the Body. We cannot participate in the sufferings of Christ for redemption. It would be blasphemy to say that we can participate in such sufferings. However, we must share in Christ’s sufferings for His Body. This means that we must follow His way, the narrow way. We must walk in His footsteps and bear the cross. The Lord Jesus lived a life of suffering, and we must do the same. This is to fill up what is lacking of the sufferings of Christ for the building up of the church, His Body.

What is the Truth ?

2009-06-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

Nineteen hundred years ago, Pilate asked, "What is truth?" (John 18:38). Many people have also asked this question. We cannot explain the biblical meaning of truth according to our concept. We have to consider what truth is according to God's Word.

The word truth in Greek means "absolute reality." Hence, truth is not a theory but a reality. We do not know the theory behind many real things, yet we can touch the fact and the reality of them.

The Lord Jesus said, "I am...the reality" (John 14:6). The truth mentioned in the Bible refers to nothing other than the reality. What is reality? It is what we really are before God as a result of the Lord Jesus' accomplished work. This is truth, and this is reality. The Lord Jesus has shed His blood to redeem all those who belong to Him. This is a fact. Because of Him, I am a redeemed person before the Lord. This is the truth. The truth is what I am as a result of the facts accomplished in the Lord Jesus. I can only have the truth through the work that the Lord Jesus has accomplished. If the Lord Jesus had not worked, I would not have any truth or any reality before the Lord. I was a dead man and a sinner before God; I did not have any standing or anything before Him. But now, thank the Lord, through the work of the Lord Jesus, I have the reality before God; I have gained something solid and real. This real and solid thing is the fact that I am now a redeemed person. We must remember that the truth mentioned in the Bible is not doctrines preached on a platform, but a fact before the Lord. A doctrine is man's explanation of something, while the truth is what we have become in the eyes of God through the accomplishments of the Lord Jesus. Through the work of the Lord Jesus, God has made me another person. This is a truth; it is a reality. We must remember that in God's eyes, the work of Jesus Christ is finished. The truth is what we have become as a result of this work. Truth is Christ; it is the Lord Jesus Himself because all the realities are in Christ. All the facts that we have been speaking of are in Christ. We can say that two plus two equalling four is a truth, but it is not the truth that we are speaking of here. The truth that we are speaking of here is just Christ Himself.

The Mistery of Human Life

2009-05-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

The Mystery of Human Life


Have you ever wondered why you are living in this world and what the purpose of your life is? There are six keys that unlock this mystery. 1. God's Plan God desires to express Himself through man (Rom. 8:29). For this purpose, He created man in His own image (Gen. 1:26). Just as a glove is made in the image of a hand to contain a hand, so also man is made in the image of God to contain God. By receiving God as his content, man can express God (2 Cor. 4:7). 2. Man To fulfill His plan, God made man as a vessel (Rom. 9:21-24). This vessel has three parts: body, soul, and spirit (I Thes. 5:23). The body contacts and receives the things of the physical realm. The soul. the mental faculty, contacts and receives the things of the psychological realm. And the human spirit, the innermost part of man, was made to contact and receive God Himself (John 4:24). Man was created not merely to contain food in his stomach, or to contain knowledge in his mind, but to contain God in his spirit (Eph. 5:18). 3. Man's Fall But before man could receive God as life into his spirit, sin entered into him (Rom. 5:12). Sin deadened his spirit (Eph. 2:1), made him an enemy of God in his mind (Col. 1:21), and transmuted his body into sinful flesh (Gen. 6:3; Rom. 6:12). Thus, sin damaged all three parts of man, alienating him from God. In this condition, man could not receive God. 4. Christ's Redemption for God's Dispensing Nevertheless, man's fall did not deter God from fulfilling His original plan. In order to accomplish His plan, God first became a man called Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14). Then Christ died on the cross to redeem man (Eph. 1:7), thus taking away his sin (John 1:29) and bringing him back to God (Eph. 2:13). Finally, in resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) so that He could dispense His unsearchably rich life into man's spirit (John 20:22; 3:6). 5. Man's Regeneration Since Christ has become the life giving Spirit, man can now receive God's life into his spirit. The Bible calls this regeneration (1 Pet. 1:3; John 3:3). To receive this life, man needs to repent to God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21; 16:31). To be regenerated, simply come to the Lord with an open and honest heart and say to Him: Lord Jesus, I am a sinner I need You. Thank You for dying for tire. Lord Jesus, forgive me. Cleanse me from all my sins. I believe You rose from the dead. I receive You right now as my Savior and life. Come into me! Fill me with Your life! Lord Jesus, I give myself to You for Your purpose. 6. God's Full Salvation After regeneration, a believer needs to be baptized (Mark 16:16). Then God begins the lifelong process of gradually spreading Himself as life from the believer's spirit into his soul (Eph. 3:17). This process, called transformation (Rom. 12:2), requires human cooperation (Phil. 2:12). The believer cooperates by allowing the Lord to spread into his soul until all his desires, thoughts, and decisions become one with those of Christ. Finally, at Christ's return, God will fully saturate the believer's body with His life. This is called glorification (Phil. 3:21). Thus, instead of being empty and damaged in each part, this man is filled and saturated with the life of God. This is God's full salvation! Such a man now expresses God, fulfilling God's plan!

The Ground and the Course of the Church

2009-05-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

We have already seen what the church is in its proper and normal sense. Now we must see that the believers should be in the church after they are saved. Today’s Protestantism and Catholicism have altogether become deformed. After two thousand years, the church has become degraded and deformed; it has lost its proper and normal condition and is in a state of great confusion. The condition of the church today is different from that at the time when it first appeared. In today’s Christianity, there is not one locality with one church but one locality with one hundred “churches” like a “church market.” This situation is typified by the history of the children of Israel in the Old Testament. In the beginning the Israelites were one nation, but they were divided because of degradation. Eventually, they were carried away to Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon. Likewise, the church today has also been divided because of degradation. Who is the proper church? The proper church in God’s eyes is a group of people who stand on the proper ground and are according to God’s heart.

After the captivity of Israel, there were only the children of Israel but not the nation of Israel. When the seventy years had been fulfilled, God commanded the children of Israel to return from the land of captivity to form a nation again. However, not all of them obeyed God’s command to return. The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther tell us that only a small number of the children of Israel returned to rebuild the holy temple and the holy city. At that time there were still many Israelites in Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon. Therefore, at that time there were several groups of the children of Israel. Then, in God’s eyes, which group was the nation of Israel? It was the group that returned to Israel. Because the returned people had the holy temple and the holy city and were in the holy land, they were the nation of Israel. Those who did not return were not. Those who did not return may have been angry, questioning how they could not be the nation of Israel, since they also were descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the same manner, those in the Christian denominations today may also question why they are not the church, since they are Christians.

It is true that the ones who did not return were all Israelites and were descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and that they gathered together in different places. However, they stubbornly remained in Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon, in the lands of captivity, and would not obey God’s calling to pay the price to return to the holy land for the worship of God. Hence, they were in desolation and became deformed. Before their deformation, they were the proper Israelites, but after their deformation, they became scattered and divided. Although they were still Israelites, they had left the ground of oneness and were no longer the nation of Israel. After the expiration of the captivity, God commanded all the children of Israel to return to the proper ground, the ground of oneness, that is, Jerusalem. Thus, they should not have still remained in Assyria or Egypt, much less in Babylon, a place which was condemned by God. Even if they returned to Bethany, it was still not good enough; they had to go on to Jerusalem. In God’s eyes, the Israelites who did not return to Jerusalem were not the nation of Israel. Likewise, in God’s eyes, Christians who do not return to the proper ground to worship God are not the church in practicality.

The Jews today are an illustration of this situation. At present there are about fourteen million Jews on the whole earth. The nation of Israel, however, is in the land of Palestine. There are only three and a half million Jews in Palestine, yet in New York alone there are over three million Jews, and in addition, there are over seven million Jews elsewhere. Which of them, then, is the nation of Israel? The Jews in New York may be very willing to contribute and donate to help build up Israel’s national defense and economic development, but they are still not the nation of Israel. To be the nation of Israel or be a part of the nation of Israel, one must return to the land of Israel and fulfill his obligations as a citizen of Israel by paying taxes and serving in the military. Herein is the difference; many Israelites gathering together are not necessarily the nation of Israel. Only the Israelites who are on the proper ground are the nation of Israel. Likewise, many Christians meeting together may not be the church; only those who stand on the unique ground ordained by God are the church. This is a very clear illustration.

At first the church was composed of all Christians. However, the church became desolated and was divided in captivity. Revelation 17 and 18 refer to Babylon the Great. Bible teachers acknowledge that Babylon the Great in chapter seventeen refers to the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Church is the great religious Babylon that carried God’s people into captivity. In Revelation, Babylon is a great harlot who brought forth many daughters (17:5). The Protestant churches broke away from the Catholic Church in name to become many sects, yet in principle, most of them did not break away from the teaching, practices, and traditions of the Catholic Church. Thus, they became her many daughters. Christianity today has carried Christians away from the normal and proper condition of the church and eventually has caused them to be scattered. This is the fulfillment of the type of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.

In their captivity some Christians saw God’s revelation and knew that they ought to return from the land of their captivity. However, some only saw the need to return, yet did not see the proper ground to which they should return. As a result, they stopped halfway and became what Brother Nee called the “halfway cabins.” Thank the Lord that we have come back to the proper ground. Today we are those who have returned from the land of captivity. We are not in the Catholic Church, nor in the denominations, nor in a “halfway cabin,” but on the proper ground.

In the ancient time, all the children of Israel knew that they had to return, but only a small number of them returned. Today it is the same. Only we, a few people, have returned. Hence, the proper, normal church today is not the Catholic Church, nor the different Christian denominations and groups, but the few of us who have returned. The saved believers in the Catholic Church and in the different Christian denominations and groups are also components of the church, but they are not the church in practicality. This is similar to the situation of the Israelites in different places. As Israelites, they ought to be the components of the nation of Israel. Nevertheless, because they have not returned to the nation of Israel, they have no share in the formation of the nation of Israel. Today, the majority of Christians are scattered in the Catholic Church and in different Christian denominations and groups. As genuine Christians, they are components of the church, yet they are separated from the church and have no share in the church. Therefore, in the eyes of God, they are not the church, just as the children of Israel who are scattered everywhere are not the nation of Israel.

Only the returned Israelites were the nation of Israel. This is because they returned to Jerusalem to recover the proper worship to God and rebuild the temple and the city. As a result, God could also return to Zion (Zech. 8:3), and the glory of God could again be expressed through them. In figure, today, only we who have come out of the Catholic Church and the different Christian denominations and groups are the church. This is because we have separated ourselves from human opinions and organization and have returned to the original ground of the church, the ground of one locality with one church, to meet and worship in spirit as a testimony of the Lord (John 4:24). Therefore, every saved believer should come to the normal church instead of remaining in deformed Christianity.

What is Lord's Recovery ?

2009-05-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

No one will see this unique God's work, unless we drop all our concept and turn our heart fully to the Lord. Whenever our heart turn to the Lord, the veil is taken.

You might have ever heard or read the terms recovery and the Lord's recovery. These refer to a very basic and wonderful truth concerning God's work. When we read the Bible, particularly the New Testament, we see many marvelous truths and practices, which seem to belong to the early church only. For example, all the believers were called saints in the New Testament (Acts 9:41; 26:10; Rom. 15:26), but today few believers consider themselves as saints. This is a small truth that was lost, but a very rich truth that can profit us greatly if it is recovered among us. The Corinthian believers had perhaps the gravest problems of any that the apostle Paul addressed, yet he did not fail to call them saints (1 Cor 1:2). Regardless of their disposition and behavior, Paul knew that their position and standing before God was always that of sanctified ones -saints 0 who were being transformed to ultimately match Him in life and nature. How helpful this is to us and how uplifting to our daily Christian life if we know that we are the saints of God, who are being changed into His likeness !

There are many major truths and crucial practices that need to be recovered by the saints. In the history of the church, the Lord has used a number of great believers to recover such critical items as justification by faith (Martin Luther), the eternal security of our salvation (John Calvin), the brotherhood and church life among the believers (Count Zinzendorf), the inner life of the saints (Madame Guyon and many other), the study of the Bible according to types, shadows, and the practical oneness of the church (Watchman Nee). In our own time we have been helped so much buy Witness Lee to see the recovery of the practical Body life and God's full and organic salvation.

As we consider God's work throughout the centuries, we can easily see that it is a progressive work to recover all the rich truths and crucial practices that He once delivered to the apostles. Almost all was lost very early on, if not in the understanding of the believers, at least in their full experience, but God has been working to recover each and every item of precious truth and practice. This has been not only a work among the saints but a work on the saints. Today we are at the end of that work of recovery, and our understanding and experience certainly benefits from what the Lord had done thus far. Now, because we are blessed so richly by His past work of recovery and because we enjoy His ongoing work of recovery among us, we can say that we ourselves are His recovery. Praise the Lord for the Lord's recovery.

Established in the Present Truth

2009-05-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

1 Pet 1:12 Therefore I will be ready always to remind you concerning these things, even though you know them and have been established in the present truth.

The “present truth” can also be rendered the “up-to-date truth.” What is the up-to-date truth? Actually, all the truths are in the Bible; there is not one truth that is not in the Bible. Although they are all in the Bible, through man’s foolishness, unfaithfulness, negligence, and disobedience many of the truths were lost and hidden from man. The truths were there, but man did not see them or touch them. Not until the fullness of time did God release certain truths during particular periods of time and cause them to be revealed once more.

These freshly revealed truths are not God’s new inventions. Rather, they are man’s new discoveries. There is no need for invention, but there is the need for discovery. In past generations God revealed different truths. During certain periods of time, He caused men to discover these specific truths. We can see this clearly from the history of the church.

Take, for example, the raising up of Martin Luther in the sixteenth century. God opened his eyes to see the matter of justification by faith. He was a vessel raised up by God to unveil the truth of justification by faith. This does not mean that before Luther there was no such thing as justification by faith. The fact already existed before Luther’s time. Luther was merely the one who realized this truth in a stronger way; he was particularly outstanding in this truth. For this reason, this truth became the “present truth” in that age.

Every worker of the Lord should inquire before God as to what the present truth is. We need to ask: “God, what is the present truth?” Although there are many major and crucial truths in the Bible, what we need to know is God’s present truth. Not only do we need to know the general truths, we must also be clear about God’s present truth.

Let us consider Luther’s Reformation. When Luther was raised up by God, he saw the light and proposed that man go back to the truth in the book of Romans. The best thing about him was his recovery of the truth of justification by faith. This is Luther’s particular recovery. Of course, God did not recover all the truths through Luther. Luther recovered only the truth concerning justification by faith. He did not make complete changes with regard to the church. For example, he still recognized the state church and approved of the church being part of the state. He did not receive light regarding this point. For this reason, not long after, the Lutheran denomination became the state religion of Germany. Luther himself once said that the church should not be controlled by the state. Yet he considered administrative questions transitional, temporal, and of the outer court, and not matters that belong to the Holy Place. Therefore, he was not thorough in this matter. God allowed the question of church administration to be left unsolved at Luther’s time. Although this matter was not successfully recovered, the truth of justification by faith was definitely recovered. God dug up this buried truth from all the traditions, human opinions, and creeds and caused this truth to be known and preached once more. If a person were born in that age, what he should have done was preach this truth and exhort others concerning this truth. If he did not do this, he should not be considered a faithful worker of God in that age.

(Watchman Nee, "What Are We?")

What is Local Church?

2009-05-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

The proper ground for the building of the church is the ground of locality. When the church spread to Korea, it first came to Seoul. The church is now being built in Seoul. Thus, the city of Seoul has become its ground.

In the Bible the church does not bear any particular name. In this respect, the church is like the moon. The moon does not have a particular name; its name is simply the moon. We do not name the moon the American moon, the Chinese moon, the Korean moon, or the German moon. There is only one moon, not many moons. However, we may speak of the moon in Seoul, the moon in Osaka, or the moon in Shanghai. This does not denote many moons, but one moon appearing in different cities.

Rev 1:11 Saying, What you see write in a scroll and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.

The city is the ground on which the church is built. Therefore, taking the city as the ground, we may denote the church according to the city (Rev. 1:11). For example, you may say that you are a member of the church in Seoul. Since my wife and I live in Anaheim, California, we are members of the church in Anaheim. Many of the saints attending this conference came from different cities. We use the names of these cities to denote the different local churches. Because of this, we may say that there are many churches. But actually, the many local churches are simply the one universal church appearing in many cities.

When the one moon is seen in Seoul, it is the moon in Seoul. When it appears in New York, it is the moon in New York. There is only one moon. The moon in America is the moon in Korea, and the moon in Korea is the moon in China. There is only one moon, but this one moon appears in different cities. Therefore, it is correct to speak of the moon in a certain city. It is the same with the church.

We may say that there are many churches, yet the many churches are still just one church. Are we all in different churches, or are we in just one church? The proper answer is that, locally speaking, we are in many churches, but, universally speaking, we are all in one church. Are you in the local churches, or are you in the universal church? It is wise to answer, “I am in the universal church by being in a local church.’’ We are not in the Roman Church, the British Church, the American Church, or the Korean Church; we are in the universal church by being in the local churches. Since we are now in the city of Seoul, we should say that we are in the universal church by being in the church in Seoul. Although my wife and I reside in Anaheim, we should remember that during our stay with the saints in Seoul, we are not in the church in Anaheim, but in the church in Seoul.

Now let me ask, of what church are you a member? The best answer is that you are a member of the universal church which Jesus Christ is building, by being a member of a proper local church. While we are in Seoul, we are members of the universal church by being members of the church in Seoul. This is the proper practice of the church. We are members of the universal church by being members of one of the local churches. As long as we are members of a proper local church, we are members of the churches universally.

Titus 1:5 For this cause I left you in Crete, that you might set in order the things which I have begun that remain and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you:

Acts 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church and had prayed withfastings, they committed them to the Lord into whom they had believed.

Paul directed Titus to appoint elders in every city. Acts mention about apostles appointed elders in every church. It means that one city, one church.

The ground of the church in Seoul is the city of Seoul. Therefore, in one city there can be only one church (Titus 1:5; cf. Acts 14:23). Furthermore, the city can never be divided; a city always remains one city. Thus, the ground of locality is permanently one. Just as the city cannot be divided, the church ground can never be divided. Since we do not have two cities in Seoul, we do not have two churches in Seoul. In Seoul there is only one city; hence, in Seoul there is only one church. This unique ground keeps the church in oneness.

Today, in a given city there may be many so-called churches. This may be likened to one city having many city halls. If a particular city has more than one city hall, this would mean that city is divided. In any city there is only one city hall. This preserves the oneness of the city. A local church is built on the ground of its locality. This unique ground may be termed the ground of locality. The ground of locality is a protection which ensures that a church in a particular locality will always be preserved in oneness. This is the local church.

The Gospel in book of Acts

2009-05-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

The gospel preached in Acts is the complete gospel.

++ Christ as the gospel of Jesus (5:24)

Acts 5:24 Now when they heard these words, both the captain of the temple and the chief priests were utterly perplexed concerning them as to what this would come to.

++ Word as the gospel (8:4)

Acts 8:4 Those therefore who were scattered went throughout the land announcing the word as the gospel.

++ Gospel of the kingdom of God (v. 12)

Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip, who announced the gospel of the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

++ Gospel of the name of Jesus Christ (v. 12)

++ Gospel of peace (10:36)

Acts 10:36 The word which He sent to the sons of Israel in announcing the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ (this One is Lord of all)

++ Lord Jesus as the gospel (8:35; 11:20)

Acts 11:20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and spoke also to the Greeks, announcing the Lord Jesus as the gospel.

++ Gospel of the promise made to the fathers (13:32)

Acts 13:32 And we announce to you the gospel of the promise made to the fathers,

++ Jesus and the resurrection as the gospel (17:18)

Acts 17:18 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also confronted him. And some said, What would this babbler wish to say? And others, He seems to be an announcer of foreign deities, because he was announcing Jesus and the resurrection as the gospel.

++ Gospel of the grace of God (20:24)

Acts 20:24 But I consider my life of no account as if precious to myself, in order that I may finish my course and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus to solemnly testify of the gospel of the grace of God.

The conversion of Saul shows that the name of Jesus itself is an adequate gospel. In our gospel preaching, we should proclaim both the person of Christ and the work of Christ.

The gospel preached by Peter comprises the divine blessings not only of forgiveness (5:31; 10:43) and salvation (2:21; 4:12) but also of the Spirit (2:38) and life. Forgiveness deals with people's sins, and life, with people's death (John 5:24; 1 John 3:14; 2 Cor. 5:4).

In Athens Paul "was announcing Jesus and resurrection as the gospel" (Acts 17:18). Paul's preaching was a strong indication that he had been constituted with all-inclusive Jesus Christ and His resurrection (Phil. 3:10). Whether or not we have power in preaching, we need to be constituted with the all-inclusive Christ, as Paul was (1 Cor. 2:2, 4-5)

His Ways vs. His Acts

2009-04-29T22:51:00.000-07:00

Psalms 103:7 He made His ways known to Moses;

His acts, to the children of Israel.

To the experienced ones, such as Moses, God makes His ways known, and to the younger ones, to the children, He makes His acts knows. Both God's ways and God's acts are benefits to us.

Heb 10:3 Therefore I was displeased with this generation, and I said, They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways;

God's ways are different from His acts. His acts are His activities; His ways are the principles by which He acts. The children of Israel knew only His acts, but Moses knew His ways (Psa. 103:7).

May the Lord grant us to know His way, not only His acts.

(footnote of both verses, Recovery Version Bible)

Spiritual Incest

2009-04-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

Gen. 19:30-38 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters with him, for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. And the firstborn said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man on the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine; and let us lie with him, that we may preserve alive seed from out father. And they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.....Thus both the daugthers of Lot became pregnant by their father. And the firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

Having been drugged with the wicked current of the evil world, Lot's daughters had lost their sense of morality. Desiring to have seed regardless of the means, they bore sons out of their father by incest, thus breaking the governing principle ordained by God. In principle, to use any kind of sinful or worldly methods to secure increase for our success in the Christian work is to break God's governing principle and thus to commit spiritual incest (cf. Matt. 7:21-23). The seed produced by incest became a great damage to the people of God through fornication (Num. 25:1-5; Rev. 2:14).

It is possible for God's people to be drugged with the wicked current of the evil world and care only for success, not for the means; they may care for soul-winning but not for the proper way of doint it. Some groups use rock music, dancing, drama, games, and Christmas to satisfy their desire of securing the increase; in the eyes of God this is spiritual incest, which brings forth "Moabites" and Ammonites" (cf. Ezek. 25:3, 8).

God rejected the Moabites and the Ammonites (v.38) with a holy and divine hatred, commanding His people not to "seek peace with them nor prosperity with them all your days forever" and forbidding an Ammonite or a Moabite to enter the congregation of Jehovah, "even to the tenth generation...forever" (Deut. 23:3-6; cf. Matt. 1:5 and note 3).

Ishmael, brought forth by fleshly effort, was rejected by God (21:10-12). Moab and Ben-ammi, brough forth by incest, were a shame in history. Only Issac, brought forth by God's grace, was used to fulfill God's purpose.

Our spiritual activities must be the doing of the Father's will; if we do things without this assurance, we break the governing principle and commit spiritual incest, being workers of lawlessness (Matt. 7:21-23).

In order to bear fruit we should live by Christ, live out Christ, pray, and help people to receive the living word of God so that they might be reborn; this is the way to bring forth the proper fruit to be the "Isaac" for the fulfilling of God's purpose (Gal. 4:28).

Full Salvation of the Triune God

2009-04-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

We are of three parts: spirit, soul, and body (see notes 235 in 1 Thes. 5 and 122 in Heb. 4). When Adam fell, all three parts of man was affected. Body and fallen soul become flesh, and human spirit became dead. God is doing His salvation step by step, beginning from the inner part to the outer, that is from human's spirit to the soul and end with the body. Let's take a look this Full salvation of God.

In Old Testament we have this picture. The deliverance of Israel from Egypt into the good land is a picture of this stages of God's salvation. We have three places that Israel must passed: Egypt, wilderness, and good land. Those three places refers to our three human parts.

First stage - Salvation of our spirit

Our spirit was saved through regeneration (John 3:5-6).

John 3:5-6 Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

What we experienced: This stage is composed of redemption, sanctification (positional—v. 2; 1 Cor. 6:11), justification, reconciliation, and regeneration.

What God did: In this stage God justified us through the redemption of Christ (Rom. 3:24-26) and regenerated us in our spirit with His life by His Spirit (John 3:3-6); thus we received God’s eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9) and His eternal life (John 3:15) and became His children (1:12-13), who shall not perish forever (10:28-29).

When we experienced: This stage happened when we received the Lord Jesus and being regenerated in our spirit.

Saved from what: This initial salvation has saved us from God’s condemnation and from eternal perdition—3:18, 16.

John 3:16 For God so aloved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him would not perish

How: This salvation is Free and once in our life.

John 10:28 And I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.

Old Testament's figure: Deliverance of Israel from Egypt by applying blood of the Lamb, and passing through the baptism of the red sea.

Second stage - Salvation of our soul

What we experienced: This stage is composed of freedom from sin, sanctification (mainly dispositional—Rom. 6:19, 22), growth in life, transformation, building up, and maturing.

What God did: In this stage God is freeing us from the dominion of indwelling sin—the law of sin and of death—by the law of the Spirit of life, through the subjective working of the effectiveness of the death of Christ in us (vv. 6-7; 7:16-20; 8:2); sanctifying us by His Holy Spirit (15:16) with His holy nature, through His discipline (Heb. 12:10) and His judgment in His own house (1 Pet. 4:17); causing us to grow in His life (1 Cor. 3:6-7); transforming us by renewing the inward parts of our soul by the life-giving Spirit (2 Cor. 3:6, 17-18; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23) through the working of all things (Rom. 8:28); building us together into a spiritual house for His dwelling (1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:22); and maturing us in His life (Rev. 14:15) for the completion of His full salvation.

When we experienced: Our soul is being saved (transformed) day by day during our life. We need to work on this kind of salvation.

Phil 2:12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

1 Pet 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We will receive this full salvation of our soul at the end of our faith. The full salvation of our soul will be the full enjoyment of the Lord at age of coming Kingdom.

Saved from what: In this way we are being delivered from the power of sin, the world, the flesh, self, the soul (the natural life), and individualism into maturity in the divine life for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.

How: This salvation is by our work and we have to do this salvation day by day.

Our soul will be saved through sufferings into the full enjoyment of the Lord at His revelation, His coming back. For this we must deny our soul, our soulish life, with all its pleasures in this age, that we may gain it in the enjoyment of the Lord in the coming age (Matt. 10:37-39; 16:24-27; Luke 17:30-33; John 12:25). At the Lord's revelation, through His judgment seat, some believers will enter into the joy of the Lord (Matt. 25:21, 23; 24:45-46) and some will suffer in weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 25:30; 24:51). To enter into the Lord's joy is the salvation of our souls (Heb. 10:39 and note 3). This salvation is more precious than the salvation of the body, which the children of Israel expect to receive.

Matt 10:39 He who finds his soul-life shall lose it, and he who loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.

Matt 16:25 For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.

Luke 17:33 Whoever seeks to preserve his soul-life will lose it, and whoever loses it will preserve it alive.

John 12:25 He who loves his soul-life loses it; and he who hates his soul-life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life.

Old testament's figure: God dealt with Israel for forty years in wilderness. The way for God dealt them is by changing their food. They must work day by day collecting manna and worked on it for their food, thus changing their inner constitution. The end of their faithful work is the good land, which is their goal.

Third stage - Salvation of our body

Rom. 8:23 And not only so, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan in ourselves, eagerly awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body

What we experienced: This stage is composed of the redemption (transfiguration) of our body, conformity to the Lord, glorification, the inheritance of God’s kingdom, participation in Christ’s kingship, and the topmost enjoyment of the Lord.

What God did: In this stage God will redeem our fallen and corrupted body (Rom. 8:23) by transfiguring it into the body of Christ’s glory (Phil. 3:21); conform us to the glorious image of His firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29), making us wholly and absolutely like Him in our regenerated spirit, transformed soul, and transfigured body; and glorify us (v. 30), immersing us in His

glory (Heb. 2:10) that we may enter into His heavenly kingdom (2 Tim. 4:18; 2 Pet. 1:11), into which He has called us (1 Thes. 2:12), and inherit it as the topmost portion of His blessing (James 2:5; Gal. 5:21)—even that we may reign with Christ as His co-kings, participating in His kingship over the nations (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26-27; 12:5) and sharing His royal, kingly joy in His divine government (Matt. 25:21, 23).

When we experienced: after receiving the salvation of our soul

How: in the twinkling of an eye

1 Cor 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

Our body will be saved, redeemed, through the coming transfiguration (Phil. 3:21; Rom. 8:23).

What is the Human Spirit ?

2009-04-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

“There is a spirit in man” (Job 32:8), and this human spirit is man’s key to experiencing Christ. The Lord Jesus said that God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit (John 4:24), that is, in the human spirit. If we must worship God in spirit, it is important for every believer to understand what the human spirit is.

Over the centuries, there has been confusion concerning man’s inward parts. Some Bible teachers argue that the spirit is no different from the soul. For our experience of Christ, to say this may be comparable to the dangerous endeavor of having cardiac surgery performed by a doctor that believes there is no difference between the heart and the liver.

First Thessalonians 5:23 clearly tells us man is made of three parts: body, soul, and spirit.

Hebrews 4:12 says that “the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

This shows us that the spirit and the soul are not the same thing and can be divided.We need the living word of God to help us know the distinction between our soul and our spirit. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, it is our human spirit that is born of the divine Spirit, regenerating us with the eternal life of God (John 3:6). So the apostle Paul says that the Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16). In Ephesians, Paul speaks of the human spirit in a crucial way in every chapter (1:17; 2:22; 3:5; 4:23; 5:18; and 6:18). Paul also told Timothy that the Lord’s dwelling place is in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). In the book of Revelation the apostle John saw four major visions and to see each one, he was “in spirit” (1:10; 4:2; 17:3; and 21:10).

So what does it mean to be in spirit? We all understand that to exercise our physical body is to engage in physical exercise such as walking or running. To exercise our soul, which is composed of our mind, emotion, and will, is to think, consider, use our emotions, or make decisions. We exercise our spirit when we contact God by prayer and when we come to the Word of God in a prayerful way (Eph. 6:17-18). We also exercise our spirit when we keep our conscience, which is a part of our spirit, without offense toward God and man (Acts 24:16). There are other references in the Bible to the human spirit—too many to mention here. It is vital, however, for all believers to see that the key to experiencing Christ is our human spirit indwelt by the Spirit. As believers, we are even joined to the Lord as “one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). We can experience Christ by exercising our spirit to contact Him by prayer and in His Word and by maintaining a clear conscience.

What is 'good things' in New Testament ?

2009-04-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

All things here are including all persons, all matters, and all things.

God the Father answers when the Spirit intercedes for us, and He arranges our circumstances, causing all things to work together for good to us.

According to the context, the good here is not related to physical persons, matters, or things. It refers to our gaining more of Christ, to our having Him wrought into our being, that we may be transformed metabolically and may eventually be conformed to His image, the image of the Son of God (v. 29), that is, that we may be brought into the full sonship. This is according to the purposeful determination in God's plan. This is God's purpose to produce many brothers of His firstborn Son.

Let us see another 'good things' that Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples.

Matt 7:11 If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in the heavens give good things to those who ask Him!

Luke 11:13 If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

The parallel verse of Matthew 7:11 is Luke 11:13, it is the Holy Spirit instead of good things, because Luke emphasizes the blessing of the gospel, the center of which is the Spirit (Gal. 3:8, 14). Since Matthew stresses the kingdom of the heavens, good things should refer to the blessings of the reality of the kingdom, as revealed in chs. 5--7, blessings to be given as gifts to the kingdom people.

(footnote of Rom 8:28, Luke 11:13 - Recovery Version Bible)

What is the blessing of Abraham?

2009-04-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

Galatians 3:14 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.

The blessing promised by God to Abraham (Gen. 12:3) for all the nations of the earth. The promise was fulfilled, and the blessing has come to the nations in Christ through His redemption by the cross.

This verse indicates that the Spirit is the blessing that God promised to Abraham for all the nations and that has been received by the believers through faith in Christ. The Spirit is the compound Spirit, as mentioned in note 52 and actually is God Himself processed in His Trinity through incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and descension that we may receive Him as our life and our everything. This is the focus of the gospel of God.

The physical aspect of the blessing that God promised to Abraham was the good land (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 26:3-4), which was a type of the all-inclusive Christ (see Col. 1:12 and note 2). Since Christ is eventually realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17), the blessing of the promised Spirit corresponds with the blessing of the land promised to Abraham. Actually, the Spirit as the realization of Christ in our experience is the good land as the source of God's bountiful supply for us to enjoy.

In the gospel we have received not only the blessing of forgiveness, washing, and cleansing; even more, we have received the greatest blessing, which is the Triune God — the Father, Son, and Spirit — as the processed, all-inclusive life-giving Spirit dwelling in us in a most subjective way for our enjoyment. Oh, what a blessing that we can enjoy such an all-inclusive One as our daily portion!

(footnote of Galatian 3:14 - Recovery Version Bible)

Book of Acts: The Propagation of Resurrected Christ to produce Churches, the Kingdom of God

2009-04-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

Christ had two ministries. We need to see these two ministries of Christ. The first ministry is initiated by His conception in incarnation two thousand years ago. This earthly ministry of Christ was carries out for 33 and half years to accomplish the redemption of sin, and to prepare second ministry by His resurrection. Second ministry is initiated by His ascension with the purpose to propagate the ressurected Christ to produce the churches, which is the kingdom of God. Christ's second ministry is still being carried out today by Christ in heaven through group of witnesses by the Spirit.

Christ's Activity in His Ascension

The propagation of the resurrected Christ is carried out by Christ in His ascension. The fact that Christ is now in ascension means not only that He is in the heavens; it also means that He has power and authority. In His ascension Christ has all the power and all the authority in the universe. with such authority and power in His ascension the Lord is very active. What is He doing? The Lord, as the ascended One, is carrying out His universal and eternal propagation.

Producing the Churches - The Kingdom of God

The propagation of the resurrected Christ in His ascension produces the churches. The churches are the produce of Christ’s propagation. The church is not only the composed of people who believe into Jesus, but church is the duplication of Christ Himself.

The churches produced by the resurrected Christ in His ascension are the kingdom of God. The churches actually are the kingdom of God. In Acts the kingdom of God is first mentioned in 1:3, and then in a number of other verses (8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31).

The churches produced by Christ’s propagation are the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a sphere of life produced by the propagation of Christ. Actually the kingdom is the expansion of this resurrected, propagating One. The resurrected Christ, who is propagating Himself in His ascension, by the Spirit, and through the disciples, is the reality of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is His expansion.

We may use the kingdom of man, the human kingdom, for an illustration of the kingdom of God as the expansion of Christ. In the beginning, there was just one man, Adam. Then Adam began to expand, to increase. The kingdom of man was a couple, and then this couple brought forth children. In this way the kingdom of man expanded from one man to a family. Now the entire human race is part of the kingdom of man. The kingdom of man is simply mankind as the expansion of the man, Adam. From this we see that the kingdom of man is man’s expansion.

What is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is the expansion of God, whose embodiment is Christ. This expansion of Christ is the churches. The churches are the expansion of Christ as the One who came to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom of God. This is revealed in the four Gospels. In the Gospels Christ was the seed of the kingdom. In the book of Acts we have the propagation of this seed to produce the churches as the kingdom of God.

Teaching and Fellowship of the Apostles

2009-04-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

The Teaching of the Apostles

The teaching of the apostles is the unique and healthy teaching of God's eternal economy. It is the entire teaching of the New Testament as God's speaking in the Son to His New Testament people.

God's speaking is in the Son. First, God spoke in the Son as a man in the four Gospels. Second, God spoke in the Son as the Spirit through the apostles in Acts and twenty one Epistles. And third, God spoke in the Son as the seven Spirits through the apostle John in Revelation.

The teaching of the apostles is the teaching of the full ministry of Christ in His three divine and mystical stages:

1. The stage of incarnation is for Christ to bring God into man, to unite and mingle God with man, to express God in humanity. and to accomplish His judicial redemption.

2. The stage of inclusion is for Christ to be begotten as God's firstborn Son, to become the life-giving Spirit, and to regenerate the believers for His Body.

3. The stage of intensification is for Christ to intensify His organic salvation, to produce the overcomers, and to consumate the New Jerusalem.

We must be those who are holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles. The churches were established according to the apostles' teaching and followed their teaching. We must speak the things that are fitting to the healthy teaching of the apostles, the teaching of God's economy. If we speak the things other than the apostles'teaching, that means we are speaking different teachings.

Different teaching are the major source of the church's decline, degradation, and deterioration. These teachings crept in because the churches turned away from Paul's teaching. This different teaching separate us from the genuine appreciation, love, and enjoyment of the precious person of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as our life and our everything.

The Lord appreciated the church in Philadelphia because they kept the word, which means that they did not turn away from the healthy teaching of God's economy, the teaching of the apostles.

Fellowship of the apostles is the unique and universal fellowship of the Body of Christ - the reality of living in the Body of Christ.

What is fellowship? The fellowship is the flow of the eternal life within all the believers, who have received and possess the divine life.

2 Cor. 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

1 Cor 1:9 God is faithful, through whom you were bcalled into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The initial experience of the apostles was the vertical fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. The apostles have vertical fellowship, means that the apostles receive the eternal life from the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard we report also to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Then, the apostles reported the eternal life to all the believers. This reporting of eternal life is the teaching of the apostles. This reporting is actually dispensing of eternal life from the apostles to all believers. This dispensing of eternal life among the believers is the horizontal aspect of the divine fellowship. And, this divine fellowship comes from reporting of eternal life.

Teaching creates fellowship, and fellowship comes from teaching. The believers needs to receive the teaching of the apostles, in order to be in the fellowship of the apostles. To be in the reality of living in the Body of Christ, we have to listen to the teaching of the apostles. This teaching creates fellowship of the Body of Christ.

1 Cor. 4:17 Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church.

The practical way to live in the Body of Christ is by following closely the teaching of the apostles, and while at the same time having a realization that God is still speaking to us in the Son through the apostles.

Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The Passover

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1 Cor 5:7 Purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened; for our Passover, Christ, also has been sacrificed.

This indicates that the apostle considered the believers God's chosen people, who have had their Passover, as typified by the one in Exo. 12. In this Passover, Christ is not only the Passover lamb but also the entire Passover. To be our Passover, He was sacrificed on the cross that we might be redeemed and reconciled to God. Thus, we may enjoy Him as a feast before God. In this feast no leaven is allowed to be present. Sin and the redeeming Christ cannot go together.

There is no record in the Bible that shows Christians should celebrate the day of Easter. And also, there is no record in the Bible that shows Jesus commanded all His believers to celebrate Easter.

But, there is one time when Jesus charged His disciples to remember Him.

1 Cor 11:24-26 And having given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, which is given for you; this do unto the remembrance of Me. Similarly also the cup after they had dined, saying, This cup is the new covenant established in My blood; this do, as often as you drink it, unto the remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you declare the Lord's death until He comes.

We have to remember Him through breaking the bread and drinking the cup on Lord's Day. Celebrating Christmas and Easter is a Pagan worship celebration, it totally has nothing to do with Christ, our Lamb of Passover and our Passover.

Happy enjoying Christ, as Passover, everyday !

Put the ashes toward the East !

2009-04-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

Leviticus 6:9-10 Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, and shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar and place them beside the altar.

Leviticus 1:16 He is to remove the crop with its contents and throw it to the east side of the altar, where the ashes are

The keyword in both verses above are the ashes. After priest has sacrifice the burnt offering, he should place the ashes beside the altar, that is toward the east. It has a significant meaning.

I quote footnote of Recovery Version: Ashes indicate the result of Christ’s death, which bring us to an end, to ashes (Gal 2:20a). The putting of the ashes beside the altar toward the east, the side of the sunrise, is an allusion to resurrection. In relation to the burn offering, the ashes are not the end, for Christ’s death brings in resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5; 2 Cor. 4:10-12; Phil. 3:10-11). God has a high regard for these ashes, for eventually the ashes will become the New Jerusalem. Our being reduced to ashes brings us into the transformation of the Triune God (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). In resurrection we as ashes are transformed to become precious materials - gold, pearl, and precious stones - for the building of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:28-21).

I saw many dear ones who love the Lord, they got burned by their situation, job, problems, friends, and they become ashes. Some of them I know personally. Some of them are also serving the Lord fulltime, and the Lord uses every situation to “burn” them. He would not stop burning them, until they become ashes. Eventually these ashes will be put into resurrection of Christ, then eventually they will be precious materials for the building of New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ.

The Teaching of the Apostles

2009-03-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

The teaching of the apostles is the unique and healthy teaching of God's eternal economy. It is the entire teaching of the New Testament as God's speaking tin the Son to His New Testament people.

The teaching of the apostles is the teaching of the full ministry of Christ in His three divine and mystical stages:

1. The stage of incarnation is for Christ to bring God into man, to unite and mingle God with man, to express God in humanity. and to accomplish His judicial redemption.
2. The stage of inclusion is for Christ to be begotten as God's firstborn Son, to become the life-giving Spirit, and to regenerate the believers for His Body.
3. The stage of intensification is for Christ to intensify His organic salvation, to produce the overcomers, and to consumate the New Jerusalem.

Does the Old Testament have something part of apostles' teaching? The Old Testament is in the part of the unique teaching as long as it is interpreted under the light of New Testament ministry. This principle is applied by apostle Paul in his writing. In Christianity today, there are so many Old Testament's teaching preached without the light of New Testament, hence it results in confusion and sometimes destruction, i.e the teaching of prosperity.

We must be those who are holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles. The churches were established according to the apostles' teaching and followed their teaching. We must speak the things that are fitting to the healthy teaching of the apostles, the teaching of God's economy. If we speak the things other than the apostles' teaching, that means we are speaking different teachings.

The Lord appreciated the church in Philadelphia because they kept the word, which means that they did not turn away from the healthy teaching of God's economy, the teaching of the apostles.

The Intrinsic Significance of Book of Acts

2009-03-03T17:36:00.000-08:00

We need to see the intrinsic significance of the Book of Acts. The book of Acts tells acts of apostles history of local churches and. Yes, the apostles did perform miracles but this is not the focus of this book. Let us see this intrinsic significance.

Book without Ending

The Acts of Apostles is a book without an ending; this book is still being continued, because Acts is a record of the work of God, who is always advancing and never stops. We are still in part of this book. We are writing chapter 29 of this book.

Continuation of Lord Jesus

The Lord brought the disciples with Him into death and resurrection, which means that they passed through the same processes through which the Lord Jesus passed.

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him

Eph 2:5-6 Even we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ ... And raised us up together with Him and seated us together with Him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.

Lord Jesus was replacing the disciples with Himself and made them His reproduction. They became His increase, development, enlargement, and continuation- the church as His extension in time and His spread in space.

Four Gospels is the biography of individual Christ, but

Acts is the biography of corporate Christ.

Physically, Christ today is in the heavens, but He is also on earth today. He had worked His earthly ministry two thousands years ago, but now He is still working on His heavenly ministry through His church as the His Body. Where is Christ today? Christ today is in the heaven, but He is also on earth. He, as Head, is in the heaven and He, as the Body, is on earth.

In book of Acts We see witness

The apostles and disciples were Lord's witnessess. To be a witness requires experiences of seeing and enjoyment concernig the Lord or spiritual things; it is different from merely teaching.

A witness is a reproduction. They are not merely seeing the living, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, but also they are becoming Christ and experiencing the same processes through which Christ has gone. They are not only talking about resurrection, but also they are testifying the resurrection within them. Man can hear what death, resurrection, and ascension from apostles teaching, but at the same time, they are seeing death, resurrection, and ascension in the apostles. This is what the meaning of becoming witness.

Religion has nothing to do with book of Acts. Religion has no place in the Body of Christ. We become his witnesses not by human's teaching and improvement, but by experiencing death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. We become His witnesses, not only by knowing the meaning of resurrection, but by experiencing the resurrection.

Scriptural Facts concerning Triune God

2009-02-27T17:33:00.000-08:00

1. God is uniquely One

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Isaiah 44:6 "This is what the Lord says-- Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.

1 Cor. 8:4 We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one.

1 Cor. 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father

2. God is Triune

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Gen. 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

Matt. 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

2 Cor. 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

3. All three are God

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1 Pet. 1:2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father

Heb. 1:8 But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.

Acts 5:3-4 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."

4. All three are eternal

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Isa. 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Heb. 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

5. All three exist at the same time

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Matt. 3:16-17 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

6. All three are one

================

John 10:30 I and the Father are one.

John 14:8-11 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

2 Cor. 2:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit,

7. All Three are in us

==================

Gal. 4:6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

Eph. 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Rom. 8:10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

John 14:17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Our Belief in Lord's Recovery

2009-02-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

1. We believe that the Holy Bible is the complete divine revelation verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit.

2. We believe that God is the only one Triune God-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-co-existing equally from eternity to eternity.

3. We believe that the Son of God, even God Himself, became incarnated to be a man by the name of Jesus, born of the virgin Mary, that He might be our Redeemer and Savior.
4. We believe that Jesus, a genuine man, lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years to make God the Father known to men.
5. We believe that Jesus, the Christ anointed by God with His Holy Spirit, died on the cross for our sins and shed His blood for the accomplishment of our redemption.
6. We believe that Jesus Christ, after being buried for three days, resurrected from the dead physically and spiritually and that, in resurrection, He has become the life-giving Spirit to impart Himself into us as our life and our everything.
7. We believe that after His resurrection Christ ascended to the heavens and that God has made Him the Lord of all.
8. We believe that after His ascension Christ poured down the Spirit of God to baptize His chosen members into one Body and that the Spirit of God, who is also the Spirit of Christ, is moving on this earth today to convict sinners, to regenerate God's chosen people, to dwell in the members of Christ for their growth in life, and to build up the Body of Christ for His full expression.
9. We believe that at the end of this age Christ will come back to take up His members, to judge the world, to take possession of the earth, and to establish His eternal kingdom.
10. We believe that the overcoming saints will reign with Christ in the millennium and that all the believers in Christ will participate in the divine blessings in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity.

The Meaning of "eternal Life" in the Bible

2009-02-18T13:49:00.000-08:00

For years I did not understand the meaning of ‘eternal life’ in the bible. I always tell the people that they are going to live eternally in heaven whenever they Lord Jesus. I thought eternal life is a life that we are waiting to receive in the future. This concept I hold for long time until the Lord brought me to His recovery, then I started to understand. It shocked me after knowing for most of Christians do not know this richest meaning of life. Many times I tried and even struggled to tell my friends about this, yet they still were not able understand. I gave up, i just tell the Lord to give them such a revelation to know this. This understanding became a heavenly vision for me, to control and measure everything in my daily life. I will not be unfaithful to this heavenly vision.

I bought a ministry book in year 2000. Now, I read that book again, and find portion that explain about life. Read carefully, and prayed the Lord give this revelation, so that we can preach this richest blessing.

==================================

"Many Christians do not understand what life is, nor do they know what resurrection is, nor can they tell the difference between life and resurrection. The Bible tells us that life is God Himself. God is life. The Lord Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly” (John 10:10). For people to have life is for the to have God. John 1:1 through 4 says, “In the beginning was the Word…the Word was God….All things came into being through Him….In Him was life.” Therefore, life is God Himself living in His believers.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” Many Christians often talk about having “everlasting life”. This term is very misleading. According to their understanding, to have everlasting life is to never die but to enjoy blessings forever. There is a great discrepancy between this understanding and the meaning of this term in its original language. In reality, eternal life is God Himself. That God causes everyone who believe into Him to have eternal life means that God enters into His believer to be their life.

Before a person believes in the Lord, he does not have God in him as life. However, after he believes in the Lord, even without hearing any message concerning God living in him or having anyone tell him about this, he realizes from his experience that at the time he confessed, repented, called upon the Lord Jesus, and received Him with his heart as his Savious, the Lord Jesus came into him and is living in him. Each one of us who is regenerated has such an experience. To be sure, when we repented, confessed, believed in the Lord Jesus, and called upon His name, we received the life-giving Spirit, who is God Himself living in us.

Christ is this life-giving Spirit. He has entered into us to be our life. He is the Word who was in the beginning, the God who became man, and the last Adam. He passed through death and resurrection and has become the life-gicing Spirit as the consummation of this process. Hence, in this life-giving Spirit there are the Word, God, man, death, and resurrection. This is truly rich and wonderful. This is the Christ who is our life and the God whom we worship. (The Wonderful Being of Christ, p 31) "

==================================

This is God’s desire, He wants to impart His life, Himself, to tripartite man. Bible use the word “born again” to express this life impartation. Eternal life is not a life which we will receive in heaven. Eternal life has come two thousand years ago, in Bethlehem. Eternal life lived a human life for 30 and a half years, and died on the cross, yet after three days this eternal life resurrected and become 'eternal-life'-giving Spirit. Every human being who call on the name of this man Jesus, they will receive the eternal life, which is Jesus himself. They receive another life, in addition to their own human life. They become sons of God, whilst at same time they are sons of man. This is the meaning of eternal life.

What is Resurrection ?

2009-02-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes into Me, even if he should die, shall live;

When this God-man was on the earth, did He have the element of resurrection in Him? This is a big question in theology. Did the Lord’s resurrection life and power exist before His resurrection or after His resurrection? What is the basis of resurrection? Resurrection is according to life and comes from life. For instance, before a flower seed is planted into the soil, there is life within the seed, but does it have the element of resurrection within? Strictly speaking, it does not yet have the element of resurrection within.

Before the Lord’s resurrection He had the resurrection life and power within Him, but He had not yet accomplished the matter of resurrection. In John 11:25 He said, “I am the resurrection.” This is what the Lord said before His crucifixion and death, but immediately He continued by saying, “[I am] the life.” Then in chapter twelve He said that unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit (v. 24). Had the Lord been resurrected at that time? The resurrection life was in the “grain of wheat,” but the fact of resurrection had not yet been accomplished. It is not until the seed is planted into the ground and grows out from the ground that resurrection is accomplished. This is the expression of life, and the expression of life is resurrection.

From this we see what life and resurrection are. Before the seed is planted into the ground, it has the life of resurrection, but it does not have the resurrection of life. It is only after the seed is planted into the ground and grows out that it has both the life of resurrection and the resurrection of life.

What is resurrection ? Resurrection is coming out of life and according to life, it is no just merely occasion, it is intrinsic power which surpasses death.

Acts - a book without an ending

2009-02-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

Acts 28:30-31 And he remained two whole years in his own rented dwelling and welcomed all those who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unhindered.

The book of Acts does not have an ending. After chapter twenty-eight, many of God's vessels are still carrying on with His work. His work is continuing and has not stopped. Everything was not over after Paul worked in Rome for two years. Paul lived in Rome and was later martyred. None of these things are recorded in the book of Acts. Peter, Paul, and John are three important persons, yet none of their endings were recorded. How can we say that the book of Acts has ended? God's testimony can never be finished. We could say the same thing even if there was a twenty-ninth chapter, or a thirtieth chapter, or even a hundredth chapter. If one wanted to write more, new things could always be added. This is why Acts stops at chapter twenty-eight. Although the written record no longer continued, God's works has been going on. The work in the first century was not the peak. For four thousand years, God has been working, His work will go on until the kingdom and even until the new heaven and the new earth. God is always advancing; He never stops. Now, We are writing chapter 29 of Acts.

Elijah and Elisha

2009-02-12T21:41:00.000-08:00

2 Kings 2:1 And when Jehovah was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

Elijah is a type of the Old Testament age with the Old Testament economy, and Elisha is a type of the New Testament age with the New Testament economy. The age was changed by passing through four places - Gilgal, bethel, Jericho, and the river Jordan (vv. 1-8).

1. Gilgal
Gilgal was a place where God's people were circumcised to deal with their flesh (Josh 5:2-9).

2. Bethel
Bethel is the place to give up the world and turn to God absolutely, taking God as everything (Gen. 12:8);

3. Jericho
Jericho, the first city that Joshua and the people of Israel had to defeat when they entered into the food land, signifies the head of Gods' enemy, Satan (Josh. 6:2-27);

4. River Jordan
and the river Jordan, where the New Testament baptism began, signifies death (Matt 3:5-6 and not 6). To cross the river Jordan, Elijah struck the water with his mantle, which typifies the outpoured Spirit, the Spirit of power (v. 8). The Spirit of power dealt with the river of death so that the way was opened for Elijah and Elisha to cross over.

All this signifies that in order for the age to be changed from the Old Testament to the New testament in our experience, we must deal with our flesh (Gal 5:24), give up the world and turn to God (1 John 2:15-17), defeat Satan (Rev. 12:11), and pass through death (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal 2:20).

(footnote 2 Kings 2:1 of Bible recovery version)

Which Religion Is Right?

2009-02-10T21:02:00.000-08:00

There are many religions in the world. Nearly every religion claims that it is the only right religion. It is very confusing to people who are looking for the truth or are looking for God. Who should they listen to? Who has the right answer? Which religion is right? Or are they all right? Are they all good, since they basically teach people to be good? Are they all wrong? Let us consider these questions.

The word "religion" in the Bible means "ceremonial service and worship to God." This is generally the primary definition found in dictionaries. But today this word may be used to refer to any set of beliefs, whether or not this set of beliefs includes service and worship to God. This is the secondary definition according to dictionaries.

Most Religions Teach People to be Good

Man wants to be good because he was created in God's image with an inward desire to be good, as God is good. Man also wants to worship and serve God because man was created with a spirit within him that is for contacting God; this gives him a desire to seek after God. Wherever you go on the earth, you will always find people worshipping something, whether it be the true God or many false, man-made gods. You can never find any animal worshipping anything, because only man has a spirit that causes an inner seeking to know and worship God. Not having God living inside of him, man still wants to express God. Not knowing God and His intention, man nonetheless wants to worship and serve someone. It is this inner seeking that gives rise to religion.

Most religions, whether they are according to the primary or the secondary definition, mainly teach people to be good by trying to activate the good nature that is within them. Generally, they teach people to love, to help and not hurt others, to do good deeds, etc. They may even teach various methods of achieving these objectives. Most of these teachings and methods are moral and ethical. At the same time they teach their people to ask God for help. They also promise that God will reward their people if they do well. But there has been a big problem concerning religion - neither the teachers nor the followers can live according to their standards. Although there is a willingness to follow them, there is a lack of ability to do so. This is because sin dwells in the flesh of man, preventing man from living according to such standards. The sinful nature, expressed in selfishness, strife, jealousy, etc., always overtakes man, causing man to fail. Many get frustrated and either look for another religion, form their own new religion, or give up on religion altogether. Religious man is incapable of being absolutely good, and his worship and service can never satisfy God.

All Religions View God Differently

Religions have all different views concerning God and different approaches to God. Most of the time these views and approaches are not according to the revelation of God in His word. Some have the true God, yet their worship and service are not according to His desire. Some have false gods, so it does not matter what rituals they have - they will never arrive at the true God. Each religion describes its "God" or gods as the right one(s), and they are all different. By logic, either they are all false or only one is true. Some people say that they believe God is this way or that way, but God does not change according to people's beliefs. People cannot create their own God according to their concepts. People need to find out who God is and what He wants with man. It is a tragedy that many people give their entire life to false gods. They will end up getting nothing. We must find the one and only true God and establish our relationship with Him.

Simple Descriptions of Some Larger Religions

According to the primary definition, there are mainly two religions - Judiasm and Christianity which includes Catholicism and Protestantism with its myriad of denominations. Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are considered deviants from Christianity. They are considered heretical by Christians.

Although Judaism teaches people to worship the true God, it is not a religion set up by God. The Jews did receive their original revelations from God through Abraham and Moses, but they formed a religion around Moses' five books of law and developed many traditions. By the time God Himself came as Jesus, they were already so far away from God that they could not recognize Him. They used the law to persecute Him and eventually killed Him.

Christianity is also not a religion set up by God. Although it had its beginning with Christ who was God, it also has deviated from the main line of what God wanted to do. It still has the name of Jesus and the Bible and talks about the death of Christ for man's sin. However, it has degraded so much that it is of little value and usefulness to God.

Man Was Created to be Full of God

The Bible tells us that there is only one God who created the heaven, the earth, and man. His intention in creating man is to coinhere with man. In other words, He wants to live in man so that man may live in Him. He wants to be organically one with man. He created man in His image so that man may have His life to be His expression. Man was to love as God loves and live righteously as God is righteous. God also wanted man to have His authority to rule for Him, to keep a good order on the earth, and to defeat His enemy Satan. Man failed God by receiving Satan into him. Thus, man was ruined for God's original intention.

God's Way to Bring Man Back, Apart from Any Religion

Religion can never fulfill God's intention for man, but God, being eager to bring man back to His intention, became a man Himself. Firstly, He showed man how God could live in man and man in God. His living was that of a man coinhering with God. He expressed all that God is, and He was without sin. Secondly, He died for sinful man so that man would not have to die. Thirdly, He resurrected to be life to all those who would believe and receive Him so that He could live in them. Receiving Christ in such a way restores man to God's original intention. Man may receive God for God to live in him and he in God. Then when man lives, God is living in and through him. This is the greatest wonder in the universe.

All Religions Fail God's Purpose

If you see God's intention, then you will see that no religion understands this, and all are doomed to fail. Man on his own cannot love or be righteous as God can love and be righteous. No teaching, method, nor practice can help man make it. Only Jesus Christ made it because He is God incarnate. He is now available to live in you so that He may make it again in you. Then you will be enabled to have the highest standard of morality, as Jesus Christ did, and to express God on earth to fulfill His intention and satisfy His heart's desire. What you need is not any religion but the living Christ entering into you and living in you and you in Him. What you need is Jesus. Say, "Lord Jesus, I need You. I do not need religion. I do not need to try harder. I need You to be my life. Lord, come into me to live in me."

Bible Verses for Your Reading:

Zechariah 12:1 The LORD, which stretches forth the heaven, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.

Haggai 2:7 And the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory.

Romans 2:21 You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself?

Romans 7:18, 20 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but to work out the good is not. But if what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that work it out but sin that dwells in me.

John 17:3 That they may know You, the only true God, and Him whom You have sent, Jesus Christ.

Acts 7:2 The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia.

Acts 7:30 An Angel appeared to him[Moses].

Mark 7:6, 8 This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart stays far away from Me; While leaving the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men.

Acts 3:15 And the Author of life you killed.

2 Timothy 1:15 All who are in Asia turned away from me.

2 Timothy 3:1, 5 But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. Having an outward form of godliness, though denying its power; from these also turn away.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created.

John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

John 14:23 My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.

1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion... over all the earth.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.

John 1:1, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh.

John 6:57 As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father.

Colossians 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

1 Timothy 3:16 Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.

Hebrews 4:15 One who has been tempted in all respects like us, yet without sin.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also has suffered once for sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God.

1 Peter 1:3 Has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.

Colossians 2:6 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him,

I will speak what Jehovah says to me

2009-02-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

1 Kings 22:14 And Micaiah said, As Jehovah lives, that which Jehovah says to me. that will I speak.

This verse was part of Bible-study portion with my companion on last Thursday. It clearly shows us a God-man pattern which we can see from Micaiah. He definitely stood apart from other prophets, who spoke all good things concerning Israel, which is actually a lip-service to please the king. Other prophets at that time played politics in front of the king, they are not willing to say something bad to king, even though Jehovah told them to do so.

Micaiah did two things that please Jehovah. Those two things are the patterns we should follow today.

1. Micaiah hear what Jehovah says to him.
2. Micaiah spoke what Jehovah told him to speak.

Concerning the hearing, the lesson we have learned is that we must listen to what God had said. We should not add or removing any single word out of God's word.

Concerning the speaking, we must speak only the worf of God. We should not add our thinking, out presumptuos, our concept, other that God's thought.

The situation today is worse. Instead of speaking word of God, many God's people are speaking philosophy concerning God. Sometimes philosophy is better in our ears, they are great in our mind, but actually they are dead, if we compare to the living word of God. The worst thing is, they do not listen to God's word, and they pretend to speak word of God.

We should be careful not to fall into those categories, as the prophets in Israel had fallen into this unpleasing act. We must listen to the word of God carefully, and speak only the word of God.

Two Aspect of Prayer

2009-02-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

There are two aspects of prayer.

Mat 14:23 He went up to the mountain privately to pray. And when night fell, He was there alone.

Heb 7:25 Hence also He is able to save the uttermost those who come forward to God through Him, since He lives always to intercede for them.

The first aspect is the prayer of fellowship. This is a prayer where we must spend time with Father privately, alone. This prayer is prayer to be infused by God, to let God infuse His divine elements, so that we can shine forth God, glow with Him, and flow out God. We can see the pattern from Jesus prayer to the Father on the mountain, where he spent time privately to have face to face communication with Father, even after night fell. Another pattern is Moses, when he went up to the top of the mountain and stayed there with Jehovah for forty days. There is no record what happened there with Moses and God for these forty days. But, after forty days, we know that Moses was shining with God’s light. God transfused Himself into Moses until Moses began to shine with Him.

The highest profession on earth is to spend time being infused with God that we may shine forth God. If we would shine forth God, we need to spend time with Him, being infused with His divine elements, not to do something but to have Him transfused into our being.

The second aspect is the prayer of interceding. This is a prayer where we recite God’s heart to Him. God is not pleased to carry out His divine administration only by Himself, he needs His people to pray His heart to Him. Abraham is a pattern of this kind of prayer. When God met Abraham, Abraham asked God 5 times to save Lot from Sodom. Actually, God’s heart is to save Lot, but He need a man on earth to pray his heart to Him, and He found Abraham, who is His companion. At the end, God finished the conversation, it proves that this conversation is from God’s side.

Prayer of fellowship should be the initiation before we step forward to prayer of intercession. We must pray until we touch God’s heart, then we can pray what is in God’s heart. Most of us pray directly to intercession, and we fall into the prayer of themselves. We pray according to their heart, their desire, even their lust. Why? because there is no intimacy between us and God. Actually, nothing wrong about this. What we do is better, than we never pray at all.

We should be clear about this, we need to spend our time in private contacting God, know Him closer, know His heart, then we can step forward to pray according His heart. These are for carrying out His divine administration.

What is God's Blessing ?

2009-02-05T17:51:00.000-08:00

“God bless America.” In these past weeks and months, we’ve heard, spoken, written, and prayed this well-known phrase so often. As we consider the great tragedy and loss, the upheaval and change, inflicted on this country on September 11, we surely feel the need for God to bless us, both individually and as a people. But we need to ask, in what way does God want to bless us? What is the significance of God’s blessing according to the New Testament?

God's Blessing in New Testament
In the Greek language, the word blessing means good speech, fine speaking, good utterance.Whenever we read the words “blessed be” in the Bible, that is God’s well speaking
of us, His good, fine speaking to us. When God speaks to us, He blesses us. Furthermore, Ephesians 1 tells us specifically what these blessings of God are. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.” If we read on in chapter one, we find that verses 4-14 speak of these very blessings:

1. God chose us in Christ (v.4); He predestinated us unto sonship (v. 5)
2. He redeemed us through Christ’s blood (v.7)
3. He designated us as God’s inheritance (v. 11)
4. He sealed us with the Holy Spirit who is the pledge, a guarantee of God as our inheritance (vv. 13-14)!

These things may not fit into our traditional understanding of blessing. However, this is what the New Testament reveals as God’s blessing.

Physical and Spiritual Blessing
According to verse 3, all the blessings in verses 4-14 are spiritual, in the heavenlies, and in Christ. In the Old Testament, God blessed His people, the children of Israel, with many physical and earthly blessings. Today we may ask God to bless us with riches, health, wisdom, or a peaceful living situation, for which Paul told us to pray (1 Tim 2:1-3). We may also think that God’s
blessing America would mean that we would have a strengthened economy, security against opposition, and love for our fellow man. These are not bad things, and God may give us these things. However, the New Testament shows us that this is not God’s main focus. Today in the New Testament age, God wants to bless us not merely with outward physical blessings. Our Father God wants to bless us with blessings that are in the heavenlies, that is, heavenly in nature, and spiritual, all of which are in Christ. Hallelujah, in eternity He chose us, He predestinated us, He redeemed us, He designated us, He sealed us, and gave us His Spirit as our pledge.

Why does God desire to bless us?
God is a God of purpose (v. 9), and He blesses us with the purpose of His heart in view. If we read to the end of chapter one, we see the issue of all God’s blessings to us is that we become the church, Christ’s Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all (vv. 22-23), for the expression of our Triune God in this universe. This is to the praise of His glory (v. 14).When God blesses us, it is for His praise and His glory. What a mercy that we are truly under God’s blessing! May God bless America and the entire earth with these heavenly and spiritual blessings in Christ.

Who is Lucifer ?

2009-02-04T23:40:00.000-08:00

His name
Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O Daystar, son of dawn! How you have been hewn down to earth, You who made nations fall prostrate.

The Latin Vulgate translates, Lucifer.
This refers to Satan, who, as the Daystar, son of the dawn was one of the earliest angels (the sons of God - Job 38:7, cf. Job 1:6) created by God at the "dawn" of the universe.
His status
He was appointed by God to be the head of all angels (Ezek. 28:14; Jude 9) and later became Satan, the adversary of God, after he rebelled against God.

Ezek. 28:14 you were the anointed cherub who covered the Ark;

Jude 9 But Michael, the archangel, when he contended with the devil and disputed concerning the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a reviling judgement against him but said, The Lord rebuke you.

His rebellion
Ezek. 28:17 your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness.

Because of his rebellion, Lucifer as Satan was judged by God (vv. 12-15; Ezek. 28:16-19; Luke 10:18).
Satan's rebellion against God is revealed in vv.13-14 and in Ezek. 28:15-18. Satan's heart was lifted up because of his beauty, and he corrupted his wisdom by reason of his brightness (Ezek. 28:17). In his arrogance Satan declared five times, "I will...," indicating that his intention in his rebellion was to overthrow God's authority and to exalt himslef to be equal with God. Satan's ambition for position became the motivation os all the rebellions recorded in Scriptures (gen. 11:4; Num. 12:1-2; 16:1-3; 2 Sam. 15-20; etc.) Because of his, rebellion Satan became God's adversary, God's enemy (Zach. 3:1-2; Rev. 12:9a; 20:2a)

His possesion
Luke 4:6 and the devil said to Him, To You I will give all this authority and their glory, because to me it has been delivered, and to whomever I want I give it.

This must have occurred in the preadamic age. The devil's word here indicates that when God anointed the archangel to be the head of the preadamic age (Ezek. 28:13-14), the authority and glory of the kingdom of the earth must have been given to him. The Lord's word in John 12:31 confirms this. After he rebelled against God and became God's enemy, Satan, he was judged by God (Isa. 14:12-15), but the full execution of God's judgment upon him will not be completed until the end of the millennium (Rev. 20:7-10). Hence, until that time he has authority over the kingdoms of the earth. He tempted the Lord Jesus by offering this authority and its glory to Him. His evil offer was rejected by God's Christ, but it will be accepted by the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness (2 Thes. 2:3-4), at the end of this age (Rev. 13:4) for the executing of Satan's evil strategy against God. Only by Christ, who lives in us, can we reject the evil tempter.

His Kingdom
In vv. 12-15 Isaiah identifies Lucifer with Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon (v.4), thus regarding Nebuchadnezzar as a figure of Satan (cf. Ezek. 28:12). This unveils Satan's kingdom of darkness behind the nations (Eph. 6:12b; cd. Dan. 10:13, 20) and his oneness with the rulers of the nations.

Eph 6:12 For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.

His Destiny
Ezek 28:17 I cast you to the ground
Luke 10:18 And He said to them, I was watching Satan fall like lightning out of heaven.

At the time of his rebellion against God, before the creation of man, Satan was judged and sentenced to be cast into Sheol (Hades), to the recesses (the deepest part) of the pit (Isa. 14:15; Ezek. 28:17). Then God began to execute the sentence He had imposed on him. He has executed, and will execute, this sentence on different occasions and to different degrees, such as through the seventy disciples in this chapter, through Christ on the cross (Heb. 2:14; John 12:31), through the man-child and Michael before the great tribulation, when Satan will be cast down to the earth (Rev. 12:5, 7-10, 13), and through the angel before the millennium, when Satan will be cast into the abyss, the bottomless pit (Rev. 20:1-3). Finally, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire to suffer the punishment of eternal fire after the millennium (Rev. 20:10) for eternity.

(source: footnote of Bible Recovery Version)

What is Death ?

2009-02-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

History of death
The word 'die' appear in the Bible for the first time in Genesis 2:17.

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

The word die in Gen 2:17 refers not to the death of man's body but to the deadening of man's spirit (Eph. 2:1), which leads ultimately to the death of man's entire being - spirit, soul, and body (Heb. 9:27; Rev. 20:14). This deadness of our spirit pervaded our entire being and caused us to lose the function that enables us to contact God.

Source of Death, where is death ?
In his epistle, Paul also refer the living person as dead. This signifies that death is not come when man's body dies, but death had come since the first man (adam) took the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Since man's spirit has been deadened by sin, eventually the body will die as well.

Eph. 2:1 And you, though dead in your offenses and sins,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death,

Death comes from sin and is its result. The death mentioned here, however, is not only physical death and eternal death, but the death in which man is entangled daily.
Death is the ultimate result of man's fall. Man's spirit was deadened first, and eventually his body also died. Death and sin cannot be separated; where one is, the other will be found. Furthermore, death is not only a physical suffering in the future; it is something is which man is involved daily.

Eph. 5:12 Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin, death; and thus death passed on to all men because all have sinned.

Conclusion
What is death? Death is simply everything other the tree of life. Everything that is not God, is death. If you don't have God in your spirit, you are dead, regardless how active and living you are. The only way to have God in your spirit, is by calling on the name of Lord Jesus.

Heaven - Big Leaven in Christianity

2009-02-02T13:36:00.001-08:00

God’s eternal purpose is His plan and arrangement to dispense Himself in His Divine Trinity into His chosen, redeemed, and regenerated tripartite people to be their life, their life supply, and their everything in order to make them His corporate expression. This corporate expression is the church as the Body of Christ, which consummates in the New Jerusalem. Apart from this purpose, the universe has no meaning and the Christian life has no purpose or goal.

The Lord’s parable in Matthew 13:33 indicates that virtually every aspect of the divine truth in the Scriptures has been leavened. Sadly, this is true also of the divine revelation concerning the Father’s house and the new Jerusalem. The leaven of natural concepts and pagan notions has been added to the fine flour of God’s economy unfolded in the Gospel of John, resulting in the doctrine that the Father's house in John 14 is a heavenly mansion, a magnificent eternal dwelling in heaven. Likewise, religious leaven has been added to the revelatory sign of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21-22, issuing in the teaching that the New Jerusalem is a literal, golden city with huge pearl gates. The prevalence of such ideas indicates that the ultimate consummation of the divine revelation in the holy Scriptures has been leavened and thus has been changed in its essence and element to produce something distorted and false. Because the truth concerning the house in John 14 and city in Revelation 21-22 has been leavened, vast numbers of believers have been misled and frustrated in their study of the Word and pursuit of the Lord.

The mistaken view regarding heaven as the goal of Christian life has resulted in serious misunderstanding concerning the nature and purpose of the Christian life. Furthermore, erroneous teachings regarding the consummation of God’s economy in His salvation have made it difficult for believers to know what God’s economy is. Only when God’s economy is faithfully ministered and the leaven of heaven is thoroughly purged out will God’s people know why they were created, redeemed, and regenerated, and only then will they understand God’s goal in His dealings with them. God’s people deserve the opportunity to reconsider traditional teachings in light of the Word of God and to be recovered to the divine truth and experience of the Father’s house and the New Jerusalem.

The traditional teaching that the Father’s house in John 14 is a heavenly mansion is incompatible with the basic thought of the Gospel of John. This basic thought is that through Christ’s incarnation God has been brought into humanity and that through Christ’s death and resurrection humanity has been brought into God for the building up of a mutual abode for the Triune God and His chosen, redeemed, and regenerated people. If we understand this basic thought in the Gospel of John, we will realize that the Father’s house in the chapter fourteen cannot possibly be a house in heaven with many mansions. On the contrary, the Father’s house is the church, the house of the living God, in which all the believers have a place. The Lord Jesus went through death and resurrection and then came as the Spirit of reality in order to bring us into our prepared place in the church, the Body of Christ, the Father’s house.

The Father’s house consummates in the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is not a literal, golden city with pearl gates. Contrary to the speculations of some Bible teachers, neither is the New Jerusalem a satellite city floating in space from which we may commute to earth. Such fanciful notions as an insult to God and to His revelation. Moreover, since the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, it should not be considered a synonym of heaven. If we understand Revelation 21 and 22 in light of Revelation 1:1, where we are told that the ultimate revelations was made known by signs - symbols with spiritual significance - we will see that the New Jerusalem is a sign, the last and greatest sign in the Scriptures. The New Jerusalem, the ultimate consummation of God’s economy, is a sign of the union, mingling, and incorporation of the processed and consummated Triune God and the redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified believers in Christ as one organic entity, a divine-human corporate person. This corporate person is an eternal mutual abode, with the redeeming God as the temple for His redeemed and God’s redeemed as the tabernacle for the redeeming God. This corporate person is also a universal couple - The Spirit and the bride - consisting of the Lamb God as the Husband and God’s redeemed as the bride, the Lamb’s wife. God’s goal in His salvation, therefore, is the church as the Father’s house consummating in the New Jerusalem as a corporate person. This is the unleavened truth concerning the consummation of God’s eternal economy.

Why did Jehovah allow Israel killing nations in ancient time?

2009-02-02T00:04:00.000-08:00

Deut 7:1-2 “When Jehovah your God brings you into the land which you are about to enter to possess, and clears away many nations from before you - the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you. And Jehovah your God delivers them up before you and you defeat them, you shall utterly destroy them;”

It has been difficult to answer why God allowed ancient people of Israel to murder other nations, which apparently create controversy in term of the Law they had, which said ‘you shall not kill’. This matter had been an continuous attack to Bible, giving an incertitude idea to the Bible as divine book. If God is love, Should He not command His people to murder ? There must be some reasons why God approve this 'crime'.
Recovery version footnote regarding destroying nations on Deut 7:2: "According to the divine thought, the nations in the land of Canaan had to be exterminated because they were devilish and mingled with demons (9:4-5; 18:9-14; cf. 1 Cor. 10:20-21). See note 33(1) in Num. 13″

Why did Bible say the nations in the Land of Canaan were devilish and mingled with demons? What had they been doing? Let’s see what is written in 9:4-5, and 18:9-14.

Deut. 9:4-5 “After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Deut 18:9-14 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.”

We need to see Paul's word to Corinthians regarding the Gentiles.

1 Cor. 10:20-21 “but that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons “.

According to Paul the nations living in the land of Canaan, were doing evil things, thus driving Jehovah to command Israel for annihilating them. Now, what nations were they? We can see Number 13:33, and it’s footnote.

Num 13:33 “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

footnote regarding Nephilim says “See note 4(1) in Gen. 6. Because the Nephilim, a mixture of fallen angels and fallen man, dwelt in the land of Canaan, God commanded the children of Israel to take over this land and to destroy every living being there so that the human race could be cleared up (Deut. 7:1-2).”

Let’s check what Genesis 6:4 says about Nephilim.

Gen. 6:4 “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days–and also afterward–when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”

let’s read footnote regarding Nephilim: “Or, giants. The word means the fallen ones. The illegal marriage between fallen angels and the human race produced Nephilim, giants, ‘the mighty men who were of old the men of renown’. God sent the flood to exterminate Noah’s generation because that generation had become impure. For the sake of the fulfillment of His purpose, God could not allow such a human race to exist.”

When Nephilim appeared in Noah’s time, ther were being exterminated by God through flood. Then, when they reappeared in time of Israel, this fallen giants were exterminated by God through God’s chosen people, Israel. Hence, killing the nations by Israel was legitimate in order to exterminate the fallen generation of mankind. This act is justifiable only on ancient time, not on present time though..

Now, arise several questions, why did these giants appear again after the flood?.. and … does marriage between angel and man happen in the present time?

Introduction to book Deuteronomy

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History of Deuteronomy: What, When, to whom, what for
Deuteronomy is a concluding word of the law and gives an all-inclusive conclusion to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, which were written by Moses. Deuteronomy means second law and thus signifies a re-speaking, a repeated speaking, of the divine law. The law was given through Moses the first time when he was eighty (Exo. 7:7). Forty years later, after the first generations, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, had died out, the law was spoken again to the children of Israel, this time to the second generation, the generation that was ready to enter into the good land and possess it. Most of that generation had not been present to hear the giving of the Ten Commandments, the statutes, and ordinances at Mount Sinai. Therefore, God burdened Moses to re-speak, to rehearse, the law. This re-speaking was a renewed training given to the new generation of the children of Israel after their long wandering, to prepare them into the good land promised by God and inherit it as their possession.

What this book talks about
In this book, as in the entire Bible, God is manifested, man is exposed, and Christ is unveiled. This book speaks of God as a God of love, righteousness, faithfulness, and blessing that man may know God’s heart and God’s government and may love God, trust in God, fear God, subject himself to God’s ruling, mind the tender feelings of God, and live in the presence of God that he may be qualified to inherit the promised land. Furthermore, it exposes man, showing that in himself man is a failure, absolutely unable to fulfill the requirements of the holy, righteous, and faithful God, so that man may know his real condition and have no confidence in himself but put his trust in god, the One who is faithful (7:9).

Finally, this book unveils Christ in three aspects:

1. as the unique Prophet of God, as the divine oracle (18:15-19).
2. as the all-inclusive good land, the goal, the aim, prepared for us by God (8:7-10; Col 1:12; Phil 3:7-15)
3. as the word of God (8:3; 30:11-14; John 1:1; 1 John 1:1) that we may receive Him as our life and our life supply and thus have the strength and ability to reach Him as the God-appointed goal.

According to the Pattern God has shown on the Mount

2009-01-31T20:34:00.000-08:00

The most important thing in our spiritual work is a knowledge of the "pattern on the mount." In our spiritual work, many things are important, and if we come short in any of them, our work will lose its spiritual usefulness and not please God. Of these important items, the most crucial one is "the pattern on the mount." The pattern on the mount is God's plan. If we do not understand God's plan, it will be impossible for us to do God's work.

The book of Hebrews tells us that the tabernacle was made according to God's revealed pattern. Before Moses built the tabernacle, he remained on the mountain forty days and nights, in order to give God time to show him the pattern and method of construction for the heavenly tabernacle. There were prescribed patterns for everything from the Holy Place to the altar, including the material and color of each layer of the tabernacle's covering. Nothing was left to random design; there were prescribed plans and standards for everything. The altar, laver, table, lampstand, incense altar, ark, and everything else were made according to God's prescribed pattern, which even specified the kind of metal or wood to be used and their measurements and colors. Nothing was left to Moses' design.

God's building of the church is the same as His building of the tabernacle; He works according to a prescribed plan. No matter how great or how small a matter is, God has an ordained way. Moses was not responsible for the design of the pattern of the tabernacle; he was only responsible for carrying out the pattern according to instructions he received on the mount. The glory of a servant of Christ does not lie in his ability to come up with new designs for God but in his faithfulness in carrying out the will of God as he understands it. Understanding God's plan and working according to His plan are the glory of a servant of Christ.

A sister who has been serving the Lord for many years once said that man does not have any liberty at all in the work of God. When Moses built the tabernacle, he did not have the liberty to determine whether gold or silver should be used for even the smallest nail; everything had to be done according to God's instruction.

Moses was a meek person (Num. 12:3). What does it mean to be meek? It means to be pliable and yielding. He did what God wanted him to do. God prescribed the materials, colors, designs, and measurements, and Moses carried out the work according to God's instruction. He did everything according to God's command and did nothing according to his own will. This was Moses' meekness.

Moses' building of the tabernacle gives us much spiritual light. It shows us the proper standing of a servant of God in spiritual work. God prescribed everything concerning the tabernacle; He did not leave one single feature or small detail for Moses to design. God did not allow Moses to propose anything. He told Moses not only the general features of the tabernacle but the details as well. Not only were the patterns, materials, colors, and measurements of every item determined by God, but even the way they were to be made was determined by God. It was not enough for Moses to make them according to God's prescribed measurements and pattern; he even had to make them according to God's prescribed procedure. For example, the veils had to be made not only of fine linen but of fine linen that was twined. The lampstand had to be made not only of gold but of one piece of gold of beaten work. God did not leave any room for Moses to make any proposals. He knew what He wanted. He did not need man to be His counselor, and He would not allow His servants to follow their own ideas in carrying out His work.

The greatest blessing a servant of Christ can possibly have is to receive God's instruction on the mount, to know the kind of work God has assigned for him, and to know the prescribed pattern concerning the work. Servants of Christ, are you coming to God to ask for your assigned work? Are you coming to God for His instruction as to the time and method of your work? Or are you conducting your work according to human reasonings, plans, schemes, and decisions? Many people think that God has no detailed prescriptions concerning His work and that many things are left to their own design. They have not seen that they are but a servant in God's work, and they can only do as they are told. They forget the words: "Whatever He says to you, do" (John 2:5). They forget that they are but a member in the Body of Christ and that they have to hold the Head (Col. 2:19) and be under the direct control of the Head. They presume that God needs their fleshly life and natural strength to fill up the lack of His plan. May God show us that Christ is the absolute Master in God's work. Everything related to God's work must first pass His authorization. The power of Christ's servants and the fruitfulness in their spiritual service can only be secured and manifested through singleness in pursuit of God's will and adherence to His plan. Otherwise, a worker's work may appear exciting, and the outward accomplishments may be great, but before the judgment seat of the Lord, all of these works will be shown by the trying fire to be nothing but wood, grass, and stubble.

(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 2) Vol. 38: General Messages (2))