THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
Truth
Message Four—The Central Line of the Bible
Scripture Reading: Ezek. 28:13; Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 12:12-13; Eph. 1:22-23; 1 Tim. 1:4; Rev. 21:2-3
I. The Word of God can be compared to a jigsaw puzzle; originally, all the pieces of a puzzle are scattered, and the picture they represent is not clear; someone needs to spend the time to pick up piece after piece, consider them carefully, and fit them together—Isa. 28:13:
A. After all the pieces are put together, a full picture emerges; it is mysterious and very meaningful that God has arranged His Word in this way; Isaiah 28:13 says that God’s word is “rule upon rule, rule upon rule; / Line upon line, line upon line; / Here a little, there a little.”
B. We must spend time to consider each verse and learn what other verses it is related to; the word conveys a clear picture to us.
II. The divine revelation in the Bible advances continually; God does not reveal anything fully in just one book of the Bible; the divine revelation advances from one stage to another stage, from one level to another level, from one point to another point; only when we reach the last chapter of the Bible do we have a complete view of God’s revelation—Gen. 2:7-14, 18-24; Rev. 21:1-22:2:
A. The entire Old Testament, are a revelation of God Himself, and the four Gospels are a revelation of Christ; the Acts and the Epistles, which mainly are a revelation of Christ as the Spirit; following this, the church is revealed; thus, there are four main sections of the divine revelation in the Bible: the section of God, the section of Christ, the section of the Spirit, and the section of the church—Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 12:12-13; Eph. 1:23.
B. God is embodied in Christ, Christ is realized and experienced as the Spirit who imparts life to us, and the Spirit issues in the churches; when we experience and realize Christ as the life-giving Spirit, the issue is the church life—Col. 2:9; Rom. 8:9-11; Acts 1:8; 2:41; Rom. 14:17.
III. We need a Bird’s-Eye View of a Chapter, of a Book, and of the Entire Bible—2 Tim. 1:13; Eph. 3:4:
A. To become rich, we need to pick up the points, we need to have a bird’s-eye view of a chapter or of a section, and we also need a bird’s-eye view of the entire book.
B. We need to progress from the single items of the truth to knowing the outline of a section or of a chapter; from this we need to see the outline or the bird’s-eye view of an entire book.
C. Finally, from the outline of a book we must have a bird’s-eye view of the entire sixty-six books of the Bible; when you reach this point, a good foundation will have been laid with all the basic principles.
IV. Identifying the central and peripheral in the Bible; some things in the Bible can be compared to the roots of a tree and others to the leaves; a tree has roots and a trunk, but it also has branches and leaves—1 Tim. 1:4; Col. 3:4; Gen. 2:9; Rev. 21:2-3:
A. The central matter in the bible—God in the son coming to be life to man—Col. 3:4; Gen. 2:9.
B. Four Peripheral matters in the bible:
1. The first category—consolation in sufferings; God’s central goal is not to heal our sicknesses or to remove our sufferings; His central goal is to enter into us to be our life; because we have sufferings, sicknesses, He comforts and heals by the promises.
2. The second category—building up morality; when God enters into man to be His life, He cannot allow man to remain an evil person; as a vessel, man must be upright and proper in order to match God so that God can become his life; for this reason, the Bible speaks much concerning morality; these things are absolutely not the center of the Bible.
3. The third category—guidance for human living; how should we live as human beings on earth? How should we handle human relationships? How should we behave as parents and as children? How should we relate to our spouse? How do we make friends? Things like these peripheral matters, like skin and feathers.
4. The fourth category—religious zeal; every Christian has a zeal to serve God, to be dedicated to Him, to love Him, and to be faithful to Him; these are not bad things; they are all good, but they are religious concepts; they are peripheral matters that have nothing to do with the central point of the Bible.
V. The central line of the divine revelation of the entire Holy Scriptures—1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10; 3:9, 16-17a; Rev. 21:2-3:
A. The Word of God—John 1:1; 1 John 1:1:
1. While in this universe God is the primary thing, it is the Word of God that tells us about God.
2. In order to know the living Christ, we must have the written Word—John 5:39; Luke 24:27.
3. John 1 stresses the relationship between God and His Word.
4. We must stress the preeminence of the Word of God and make it the basis of all our understanding of the truth—Acts 17:11.
B. The Triune God—Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14:
1. He is self-existing and ever-existing—Exo. 3:14.
2. He is eternally one God—Psa. 86:10; Isa. 45:5; 1 Cor. 8:4; 1 Tim. 2:5.
3. He is eternally three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—Matt. 28:19.
4. The Three are never separate in being or action, but mutually coinhere and mutually indwell one another—John 10:38; 14:10-11; 17:21.
5. We must get fully into the Triune God, both in our understanding and in our experience of Him—2 Cor. 13:14.
C. The economy of God—1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10; 3:9:
1. God’s economy is His arrangement to fulfill His purpose.
2. His economy is according to His heart’s desire.
3. The economy of God takes the all-inclusive Christ as its center.
D. The all-inclusive Christ—John 1:1, 14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17:
1. He is the Christ of the four Gospels, God become flesh—John 1:1, 14.
2. He became the life-giving Spirit of the Epistles; hence, He is the pneumatic Christ—1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17-18.
3. His full ministry is in three stages: incarnation, inclusion, and intensification.
E. The life-giving Spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b; Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4:
1. The Spirit is Christ’s realization; hence, He is called the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ—Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:9-11; Phil. 1:19.
2. The Spirit of Christ brings forth the Body of Christ—Eph. 4:4; 1 Cor. 12:13.
F. The Body of Christ—Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16:
1. The twenty-two books from Romans through Revelation (all can be considered Epistles) are concerned with the pneumatic Christ as the life-giving Spirit for His reproduction, the Body of Christ.
2. In God’s economy Christ is the center, the Body is the line, and the New Jerusalem is the goal.
3. The all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit has been intensified as the sevenfold intensified Spirit to counteract the degradation of the church for the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem—Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6.
G. The New Jerusalem—Rev. 21:2:
1. The New Jerusalem is the eternal goal of God’s economy.
2. The New Jerusalem is the aggregate of all the visions and revelations of the Bible.
3. The New Jerusalem is the organism of the Triune God, an organic constitution of the processed and consummated Triune God and the regenerated, transformed, and glorified elect.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE WORD OF GOD CAN BE COMPARED TO A JIGSAW PUZZLE
The Word of God can be compared to a jigsaw puzzle. Originally, all the pieces of a puzzle are scattered, and the picture they represent is not clear. Someone needs to spend the time to pick up piece after piece, consider them carefully, and fit them together. After all the pieces are put together, a full picture emerges. lt is mysterious and very meaningful that God has arranged His Word in this way. Isaiah 28:13 says that God’s word is “rule upon rule, rule upon rule; / Line upon line, line upon line; / Here a little, there a little.” God’s intention is that we not take His Word in a light way. We must spend time to consider each verse and learn what other verses it is related to. If we consider each verse by itself, God’s Word remains a puzzle to us, but after we fit the verses together, the word conveys a clear picture to us. (CWWL, 1971, vol. 3, “Being Saved in Christ’s Life and Walking According to the Spirit for the Building Up of the Body of Christ”, ch. 3)
THE PROGRESS OF THE DIVINE REVELATION IN THE SCRIPTURE
We shall approach the local churches by the way of considering the progress of the divine revelation in the Scripture. The divine revelation in the Bible begins with God and consummates with the local churches. The first two chapters of Genesis, along with the entire Old Testament, are a revelation of God Himself, and the four Gospels are a revelation of Christ. This fact reveals the progress in the divine revelation from God to Christ. Following the four Gospels, we have the Acts and the Epistles, which mainly are a revelation of Christ as the Spirit. Hence, the revelation of the Spirit is the continuation of the divine revelation in the Bible. Following this, the church is revealed. Thus, there are four main sections of the divine revelation in the Bible: the section of God, the section of Christ, the section of the Spirit, and the section of the church.
Today, we in the Lord’s recovery have the whole Bible: the Old Testament, the Gospels, the Acts, the Epistles, and the Revelation. I was with the Brethren Assembly for seven and a half years. During that time, we devoted considerable attention to the books of Daniel and Revelation. However, most of what I heard concerning Revelation was about the beasts and the ten horns. I had no impression that in the book of Revelation there were the local churches. I did not even hear much about the New Jerusalem. I was only told that it was a city in heaven with heavenly mansions, that its street was paved with gold, and that its doors were made of pearls. Praise the Lord that today our book of Revelation is not like this! In our book of Revelation, there are the local churches with the Son of Man in the midst, and there is the New Jerusalem with Christ as its centrality and universality.
Concerning God
Let us now consider the progress of the divine revelation in the Scriptures in more detail. Firstly, God reveals Himself to us (Gen. 1:1). In Genesis 1:26 God is revealed as Elohim, a Hebrew word meaning “the mighty One.” The English word God is the translation of the Hebrew word Elohim. Following this, in Genesis 2:7 God is revealed as Jehovah, which means, “I am that I am.” God is the great I Am, the ever-existing One. As the ever-existing One, He is the reality of every positive thing. This name, Jehovah, denotes God in His relationship with man. Concerning His creation, God is revealed as Elohim; concerning His relationship with man, He is revealed as Jehovah. Jehovah is the Old Testament form of the name Jesus, and Jesus is the New Testament form of Jehovah. In other words, in the Old Testament Jesus was called Jehovah, and in the New Testament Jehovah is called Jesus. The entire Old Testament, which comprises thirty-nine books, is mainly a revelation of the two divine titles, Elohim and Jehovah.
Concerning Christ
The second step in the progress of the divine revelation is the revelation concerning Christ (Matt. 1:1). At a certain time, God was incarnated as a man called Jesus Christ. Thus, following the Old Testament, we have the four Gospels which reveal a wonderful Person named Jesus Christ. The name Jesus mainly means the Savior (Matt. 1:21), and the title Christ mainly means the anointed One (Matt. 16:16). Jesus is not only our Savior but also God’s anointed One or, using today’s term, God’s appointed One. God has appointed Him to carry out His eternal economy. He is not only Jesus to save us, but also Christ to carry out God’s eternal plan.
In order for Christ to carry out God’s eternal plan, He needs the church. And to produce the church there is the need of two things—redemption and the imparting of life. After redeeming the fallen, created man, Christ had to impart life into the redeemed ones. For this, there is the need of the Spirit of life, the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, following the four Gospels, we have redemption and the imparting of life in the Acts and the Epistles. In these books, the blood of Christ is frequently mentioned. Along with the blood, we have the Spirit. Blood is for redemption, and the Spirit is for the imparting of life. After being redeemed and regenerated, we become the living members of the Body of Christ, the church. As the church, the Body is the means by which Christ carries out God’s eternal economy. By this we see that in God’s economy the church is a very crucial matter. Without it, Christ cannot accomplish anything. If He would carry out God’s eternal plan, He must have the church.
Concerning the Spirit
God is revealed as Elohim and as Jehovah, and Christ is revealed as Jesus and as Christ. The revelation concerning the Spirit, however, is not simple (Matt.28:19); rather, it is a mystery. Few Christians have ever fought for the revelation of God, and not many have fought for the revelation of Christ. But when we come to the matter of the Spirit, there is much argument because the revelation of the Spirit is a mystery. The Spirit is mysterious because it is related to life. There are many aspects of the revelation of the Spirit: the Spirit of truth or reality (John 14:16-17), the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2), the Spirit of power (Luke 24:49), the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9), the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9), the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7), the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19), the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32), and the seven Spirits (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6).
Concerning the Church
Now we come to the last section of the divine revelation, the revelation concerning the church. It is difficult to know the church because Satan, the subtle enemy, is not willing for Christians to see what the real church is.
The Universal Church
The church as the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13) is universally one (Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4-6). Christ as the unique Head has one unique Body which is constituted with all His genuine believers.
The Local Churches
The universal church as the Body of Christ is expressed through the local churches. The local churches, as the expressions of the one Body of Christ (Rev. 1:12, 20), are locally one (Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rom. 16:1; 1 Cor. 1:2). Revelation 1:4 says, “John to the seven churches which are in Asia.” Asia was a province of the ancient Roman Empire in which were the seven cities mentioned in 1:11. The seven churches were in those seven cities respectively, not all in one city. This book does not deal with the one universal church but with the local churches in many cities. The church is firstly revealed as universal in Matthew 16:18 and then as local in Matthew 18:17. In Acts the church was practiced in the way of local churches, such as the church at Jerusalem (8:1), the church at Antioch (13:1), the church at Ephesus (20:17), and the churches in the provinces of Syria and Cilicia (15:41). Except for a few written to some individuals, all the Epistles were written to the local churches. Not one was written to the universal church. Without the local churches there is no practicality and actuality of the universal church. The universal church is realized in the local churches. Knowing the church universally must be consummated in knowing the church locally. It is a great advance for us to know and practice the local churches. Concerning the church, the book of Revelation is in the advanced stage, for it is written to local churches. If we would know this book, we must advance from the understanding of the universal church to the realization and practice of the local churches. Only those who are in the local churches are rightly positioned with the right angle and the proper perspective to see the visions in this book.
God’s revelation began with God Himself and continued with Christ and the Spirit until it reached its goal in the local churches. Without the local churches, we do not have the goal of the divine revelation. Here the shortage among the Jews, many Christians, and even many so-called spiritual people becomes evident. The Jews have God, most Christians have God and Christ, and the improved Christians also have the Spirit, but very few Christians have the proper church life in the local churches. Today, in the local churches, we have God, Christ, the Spirit, and the church.
The issue of the progress of the manifestation of God is the church. God is embodied in Christ, Christ is realized and experienced as the Spirit who imparts life to us, and the Spirit issues in the churches. When we experience and realize Christ as the life-giving Spirit, the issue is the church life. The church is the Body, the fullness of Christ. The progress of this revelation is God, Christ, the Spirit, the church, and the local churches. This is the revelation of God in His Holy Word. In this, we can see how God is realized by us and how He is actually expressed and manifested. (Life-study of Revelation, msg. 7)
IDENTIFYING THE CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL MATTERS IN THE BIBLE
The Bible Having Central as Well as Peripheral Matters
In the Bible there are central matters and there are peripheral matters. In other words, some things in the Bible can be compared to the roots of a tree and others to the leaves. A tree has roots and a trunk, but it also has branches and leaves. There is a basic difference between the roots and the trunk, and the branches and the leaves. We can also use the example of a cooked chicken, which has meat as well as skin. If the feathers are not thoroughly plucked before cooking, there may even be feathers. The central matter of a cooked chicken is the meat, and the peripheral matters are the skin and feathers. Similarly, there are central matters in the Bible as well as peripheral matters. May we all bear this distinction in mind.
The Central Matter in the Bible—God in the Son Coming to Be Life to Man
What is the central matter, the root and trunk, of the Bible, and what are the peripheral matters, the branches and the leaves? In the previous chapter we pointed out that the central matter, the root and foundation, of the Bible is God in the Son coming to be life to man. This simple word speaks of the very essence of the Bible. The subject of the Bible is God becoming life to man in the person of His Son. God is embodied in His Son, and He has given His Son to man. As soon as man receives God’s Son, the Holy Spirit enters into man to become life to man. God becomes life to man by becoming man’s food. When man receives Him as food and digests Him, He becomes every element within man. By living according to this life and by this life, man lives before God. This is the root, the foundation and central matter, of the Bible. (How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God, ch. 18)