Message One God Fulfilling His Eternal Economy through the Overcomers

THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

The Overcomers

Message One
God Fulfilling His Eternal Economy through the Overcomers

Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:9; 12:7; Exo. 3:8a; Matt. 31:4; John. 3:16; 1 Cor. 1:9; John. 15:2a; Rev. 5:6; Phil. 1:19b; Eph. 1:23; 3:19b; 4:12-13; Rev. 20:4, 6; Matt. 25:21, 23

I. The Bible is a book written by God Himself, and He is the living and moving God; He has His heart’s desire and His own purpose, so in eternity past He made an economy to do something for Himself—1 Tim. 3:16; Eph. 1:5, 10.

II. If we read the sixty-six books of the Bible thoroughly under God’s enlightenment, we can see clearly that God’s move on this earth for the accomplishment of His eternal economy has only four steps—Gen. 2:9; 12:7; Exo. 3:8a; Matt. 21:43; John 3:16; 1 Cor. 1:9; Rev. 5:6; Phil. 1:19b:

A. God’s move on the earth for the accomplishment of His eternal economy was first through the Adamic race—Gen. 2:19:

1. God’s move through the Adamic race was with the tree of life as the center and the goal; this tree is actually a sign of God Himself as our life.

2. God’s intention was to be taken by man as life; He created man and put man in front of the tree of life, indicating that it was good for man to take and eat.

3. Man’s failure was that he was distracted from God’s ordained line of life (Gen. 3:24) to another line, signified by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; because of man’s failure, he became not merely sinful or worldly but flesh—3:24, 6:3a.

4. The final outcome was that God destroyed the fallen race; God could not get through with Adam and his descendants, so He went to another race.

B. With the Abrahamic race, God took the good land as the center and the goal; from Genesis 12 to the end of Malachi, the center and the goal are the good land; the good land is a complete and full type of the all-inclusive Christ—12:7, Exo. 3:8a:

1. God’s intention with the Abrahamic race was for them to take, possess, and enjoy the good land as a full type of Christ before Christ came to be a man.

2. The descendants of Abraham also failed; they did not enter into God’s goal—the good land; Israel also failed by not taking and possessing the good land by destroying the Canaanites; they did not remain in the enjoyment of the good land by walking with God—Num. 14; Josh. 13:1-7; Judg. 2:11-15.

3. Eventually, Israel was given up by God; the Lord told them that they would be given up and that He would turn His kingdom from Israel to the church—Matt. 21:43.

C. God could not get through with the Abrahamic race, so He turned to the church—Matt. 21:43; John. 3:16; 1 Cor. 1:9:

1. The unique Christ is the center and goal of God’s move through the church—John 3:16; 1 Cor. 1:9.

2. The church failed because it was distracted from the enjoyment of Christ; the church failed to the extent that it has become mixed Christianity—Gal. 1:6; 4:9; Matt. 13:33; Col. 2:20-21.

3. God’s judgment on the fallen and deformed church is to let the overcomers rise up—Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21.

a. God’s move through the Adamic race, through the Abrahamic race, and then through the church there was a failure.

b. God’s judgment, however, was for the purpose of raising up the overcomers; this is why there is the last book of the Bible—Revelation:

(1) At the close of each of the seven epistles to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the Head, Christ, sounded out His call for the overcomers; He repeats this call seven times—2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21.

(2) The book of Revelation is a book concerning the overcomers; we need to pay full attention to the Lord’s calling for the overcomers.

D. God’s move on the earth for the accomplishment of His economy is ultimately through the overcomers—Rev. 5:6, Phil. 1:19b:

1. God moves through the overcomers to accomplish His economy with the pneumatic Christ as the center and the goal—Rev. 5:6; Phil. 1:19b:

2. The term the pneumatic Christ means that in the last step of God’s move, Christ was made the all-inclusive Spirit:

a. Revelation 5:6 reveals that the sevenfold-intensified Spirit is the eyes of Christ; this makes Christ the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the consummated and compound, all-inclusive Spirit.

b. Philippians 1:19b speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ; the Spirit of Jesus Christ is Christ Himself, and this pneumatic Christ has the bountiful supply.

3. He is all-inclusive; He is rich; He is bountiful in His supply; and this is the very Christ in this age of the overcomers.

III. We are in the church, but we are in the age of the overcomers; in order to be an overcomer, we need to know the seven basic items of God’s recovery—2 Cor. 13:14, Col. 1:12, Phil. 1:19, John 6:57; Eph. 4:12; Rev. 1:11; 4:3:

A. The first crucial point of the major items of the Lord’s recovery is the participation in the processed Triune God—2 Cor. 13:14.

B. The second crucial point of the major items of the Lord’s recovery is the rich enjoyment of the all-inclusive and all-extensive Christ—Col. 1:12.

C. The full experience of the consummated compound Spirit—John 7:39; Phil. 1:19; Exo.30:23-25.

D. The overcomers are also here for the recovery of the absolute living by the eternal life—John. 6:57:

1. We Christians possess the human life and the divine life; the problem is the life by which we live.

2. We have to learn to do something higher than ethical conduct, we should live by the divine life.

E. We are here for the building up of the Body of Christ; the building up of the local churches should be for the building up of the Body of Christ—Eph. 4:12.

F. The Bible, the New Testament, shows us clearly that every city should have only one church, just like a husband should have only one wife—Rev. 1:11; Acts 8:1; 13:1.

G. The final crucial point of the major items of the Lord’s recovery is the keeping of the oneness of the Body of Christ—Eph. 4:3.

IV. In the age of the overcomers, God’s intention is to consummate the building up of the Body of Christ—vv. 12-13:

A. The overcomers of the Lord should pay full attention to the building up of the Body of Christ.

B. An overcomer must be one who overcomes the divisions.

C. We are building up the Body of Christ to usher in, to bring in, the New Jerusalem—Rev. 2:7b; 3:12.

 

Ministry Excerpts:

GOD’S MOVE ON THE EARTH FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT
OF HIS ETERNAL ECONOMY

The Bible is a book written by God Himself, and He is the living and moving God. He has His heart’s desire and His own purpose, so in eternity past He made an economy to do something for Himself. If we read the sixty-six books of the Bible thoroughly under God’s enlightenment, we can see clearly that God’s move on this earth for the accomplishment of His eternal economy has only four steps. His move is first, through the Adamic race; second, through the Abrahamic race; third, through the church; and fourth, through the overcomers. My heavy burden is not with the first three steps, but with the last one. All of the following messages will be concerning this last step, the step of God’s move through the overcomers.

Through the Adamic Race

God’s move on the earth for the accomplishment of His eternal economy was first through the Adamic race.

With the Tree of Life as the Center and the Goal

God’s move through the Adamic race was with the tree of life as the center and the goal (Gen. 2:9). In every step of God’s move on this earth, there is a definite center and goal. In the first step, the tree of life is the center and goal. This tree is actually a sign of God Himself as our life.

God’s Intention

Being Taken by Man as Life

God’s intention was to be taken by man as life. He created man and put man in front of the tree of life, indicating that it was good for man to take and eat (Gen. 2:9). Then man could have God as his life.

Being One with Man in an Organic Union

God wanted to be one with man in an organic union. We may say that we are one with a certain person, but we cannot have an organic union with him. God wanted to be one with man in a particular way, in the way of an organic union.

Having a Body in Humanity as the Corporate Expression of the Triune God

God’s intention was to have a Body in humanity to be the corporate expression of the Triune God (Eph. 1:23). From the very first page of the Bible, God revealed Himself as theTriune God, and He needs a Body as a corporate expression to manifest Him.

Man’s Failure

Being Distracted from God’s Ordained Line of Life

Man’s failure was that he was distracted from God’s ordained line of life (Gen. 3:24) to another line, signified by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There were two trees signifying two sources, two lines, and two centers with two goals.

Becoming Flesh

Because of man’s failure, he became not merely sinful or worldly but flesh (Gen. 6:3a).

God’s Judgment

After man’s failure, God’s judgment came in.

God judged the fallen race firstly by water, by the flood, at Noah’s time (Gen. 6:17), and then by fire from heaven to burn Sodom and Gomorrah (19:24-25).

The final outcome was that God destroyed the fallen race. God could not get through with Adam and his descendants, so He went to another race.

Through the Abrahamic Race

With the Good Land as the Center and the Goal

With the Abrahamic race, God took the good land as the center and the goal (Gen. 12:7; Exo. 3:8a). From Genesis 12 to the end of Malachi, the center and the goal are the good land. The good land is a complete and full type of the all-inclusive Christ.

God’s Intention

Having a People on the Earth to Be One with Him

God’s intention was to have a people on the earth to be one with Him.

Carrying Out His Economy That Christ Might Be
Brought into Humanity through Incarnation

God wanted a people to be one with Him to carry out His economy that Christ might be brought into humanity through incarnation. If there had not been such a land called the good land where God’s people could have lived, Christ could not have come into humanity through incarnation. For Him to come into humanity, He needed a people, and for these people to live, there was also the need of the land.

Taking, Possessing, and Enjoying the Good Land as a Full Type of Christ

God’s intention with the Abrahamic race was for them to take, possess, and enjoy the good land as a full type of Christ before Christ came to be a man.

Israel’s Failure

Not Entering into God’s Goal—the Good Land

The descendants of Abraham also failed. First, they did not enter into God’s goal—the good land (Num. 14). The good land was before them, and they could have entered into it, but they would not. This shows that Christ is ready for people to enter into Him, but today very few people would enter into Christ.

Not Taking and Possessing the Good Land by Destroying the Canaanites

Israel also failed by not taking and possessing the good land by destroying the Canaanites (Josh. 13:1-7). Many persons, matters, and things on this earth are frustrating people from taking Christ. This is typified by the seven tribes of the Canaanites occupying the good land to frustrate Israel from taking it. The Israelites should have been bold to trust in God to destroy all those Canaanites, but they failed.

Not Remaining in the Enjoyment of the Good Land by Walking with God

Eventually, the Israelites under Joshua’s leadership entered the good land, but they did not remain in the enjoyment of the good land by walking with God (Judg. 2:11-15). The historical books of the Old Testament, from Joshua to Esther, give us the details of how to enter into the good land, how to take it, how to possess it, and how to remain in it. The book of Ruth shows us that Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, swerved out from the good land to Moab. He swerved out of the enjoyment of the good land and was punished by God with death to himself and his two sons. Then Naomi rose up to return. This shows that today many Christians came into Christ and stayed in Christ for a while, but then they swerved from Christ.

God’s Judgment

God judged them firstly by making them wander in the wilderness for forty years. During that time the first generation of those who came out of Egypt died, and they were strewn along in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:5).

Eventually, the children of Israel entered the good land, but they did not dispossess the entire land. They did not utterly destroy the Canaanites, and the remaining Canaanites eventually became a big problem to them. Quite often they were oppressed by these Canaanites.

God also judged them by allowing them to be captured and subdued by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.

God’s further judgment on Israel was for them to be scattered to the nations throughout the world.

Eventually, Israel was given up by God. The Lord told them that they would be given up and that He would turn His kingdom from Israel to the church (Matt. 21:43).

Being given up by God, Israel was thus kept away from the enjoyment of the good land. All the historical books of the Old Testament are a record in detail of how we can take Christ, possess Christ, and remain in the enjoyment of Christ as the good land. The New Testament does not show us so many details concerning the enjoyment of Christ as the Old Testament does in type.

Through the Church

God could not get through with the Abrahamic race, so He turned to the church.

With the Unique Christ as the Center and the Goal

The unique Christ is the center and goal of God’s move through the church (John 3:16; 1 Cor. 1:9).

God’s Intention

Bringing Forth the Church as the Body of Christ
for the Corporate Expression of the Processed Triune God

God’s intention is to bring forth the church as the Body of Christ for the corporate expression of the processed Triune God (Eph. 1:23; 3:19b).

For the Consummation of the New Jerusalem

The church’s building up is to complete, to consummate, the building of the New Jerusalem. As we are building up the church, we are moving toward a goal, and that goal is the New Jerusalem.

The Church’s Failure

Being Distracted from the Enjoyment of Christ

The church failed because it was distracted from the enjoyment of Christ (Gal. 1:6; 4:9). Today’s Christianity does not even have the term the enjoyment of Christ. Many are fundamental Christians, yet they do not know at all what it is to enjoy Christ.

Becoming Mixed Christianity

The church failed to the extent that it has become mixed Christianity (Matt. 13:33; Col. 2:20-21). The Lord Jesus prophesied in Matthew 13:33 that this would happen. In this verse He spoke of a woman putting leaven into fine flour. The fine flour of the meal offering signifies Christ as food for both God and man, but Christianity has mixed leaven with the fine flour. The leaven includes sin, the world, the flesh, Satan, and all the fallen, negative things.

Christianity surely is a mixture. They have the Bible; they have the name of God; they have Christ; and they preach the fundamental gospel that Christ died on the cross for our sins. But there are many unscriptural things, pagan practices, heretical doctrines, and evil matters mixed with the teachings of Christ to leaven the whole content of Christianity. Today’s Christianity is an impure mixture. One of the biggest mixtures is the denominations. The standing of all the denominations is condemned and rejected by God (see 1 Cor. 1:12-13 and note 121; Rev. 3:8 and note 83—Recovery Version).

God’s Judgment

God’s judgment is His condemnation on the fallen church. The New Testament is full of God’s rebuking of the degraded church.

God’s judgment is also His cutting the deformed church off from the enjoyment of Christ (John 15:2a). Today’s Christianity has not remained in the original form of the church, so it is deformed. Among the seven churches mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3, one was Laodicea. The Lord Jesus was not in that Laodicean church. He was outside knocking at its door (Rev. 3:20). That means the church in degradation is cut off from the enjoyment of Christ.

God’s judgment on the fallen and deformed church is to let the overcomers rise up. In God’s move through the Adamic race, through the Abrahamic race, and then through the church there was a failure. God’s judgment, however, was for the purpose of raising up the overcomers. This is why there is the last book of the Bible—Revelation. In the book of Revelation there is the unique call of the Head, Christ, to His believers for them to be His overcomers. At the close of each of the seven epistles to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the Head, Christ, sounded out His call for the overcomers. He repeats this call seven times (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21). The book of Revelation is not a book merely to tell us about the beasts or about the three and a half years of the great tribulation. The book of Revelation is a book concerning the overcomers. We need to pay full attention to the Lord’s calling for the overcomers.

Through the Overcomers

God’s move on the earth for the accomplishment of His economy is ultimately through the overcomers. This message is on the vital groups and the overcomers. The vital groups should be composed of people who are overcomers.

God moves through the overcomers to accomplish His economy with the pneumatic Christ as the center and the goal (Rev. 5:6; Phil. 1:19b). The term the pneumatic Christ means that in the last step of God’s move, Christ was made the all-inclusive Spirit. Revelation 5:6 reveals that the sevenfold-intensified Spirit is the eyes of Christ. A person’s eyes are one with him, and he is mainly expressed through his eyes. Christ is fully expressed by His seven eyes, and His seven eyes are the sevenfold-intensified Spirit. This makes Christ the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the consummated and compound, all-inclusive Spirit. Philippians 1:19b speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus Christ is Christ Himself, and this pneumatic Christ has the bountiful supply. He is all-inclusive; He is rich; He is bountiful in His supply; and this is the very Christ in this age of the overcomers.

KNOWING THE SEVEN BASIC ITEMS OF GOD’S RECOVERY

We need to realize what age we are in. We are not just in the church age. We are in the church, but we are in the age of the overcomers. In order to be an overcomer, we need to know the seven basic items of God’s recovery. God made Christ the pneumatic Christ as the center and the goal in the recovery of seven things.

The Participation in the Processed Triune God

The first crucial point of the major items of the Lord’s recovery is the participation in the processed Triune God. We need to participate in, to partake of, to enjoy, the very Triune God who has gone through the processes of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. These are the processes of the Triune God, and today we enjoy Him according to what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 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.” Not just the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, but the love, the grace, and the fellowship are with us. He is love, He became grace, and He is grace to us through the fellowship of the Spirit. These are His processes. Today we are enjoying, participating in, and partaking of such a Triune God.

The Rich Enjoyment of the All-inclusive and All-extensive Christ

The second crucial point of the major items of the Lord’s recovery is the rich enjoyment of the all-inclusive and all-extensive Christ.

The Full Experience of the Consummated Compound Spirit

Today Christians know the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, but very few know that the Spirit of God today is the consummated compound Spirit.

The Absolute Living by the Eternal Life

The overcomers are also here for the recovery of the absolute living by the eternal life. We Christians possess the human life and the divine life. The problem is the life by which we live. We should live by the divine life, but instead we live by our human life much of the time. When the sisters go shopping, is that by the divine life? Is the way that we comb our hair by the divine life? Do the elders practice their eldership by the human life or by God’s divine life? If the elders practiced their eldership even fifty percent by the divine life, this would be wonderful. I am always checking in my home, in dealing with my wife, in contacting my grandchildren, and in contacting the saints—is this by the divine life or just by my life?

We have to learn to do something higher than ethical conduct, such as not losing our temper by the exercise of our patience. Some old people have learned how to be patient. It is not so easy for them to lose their temper, but this is not by the divine life. Instead, we should exercise our spirit to restrain our temper by the divine life. We should live by the divine life. With the divine life, there is no loss of temper.

We may behave ourselves when we are in the meeting, but this may be merely according to our carefulness and not by the divine life. I say this because after the meeting many people become careless in the way that they talk and act. This is why we need the absolute living by the eternal life.

The Building Up of the Body of Christ

We are not here for our education or for doing a job to make a living. We are not even here for the building up of “our” church. We are here for the building up of the Body of Christ. Many of the elders are selfish for their own church, but they may not be burdened for the building up of the Body of Christ. If we are building up the church in Anaheim, it should be for the building up of the Body of Christ. The building up of the local churches should be for the building up of the Body of Christ.

The Practice of the Churches on the Local Ground

The Bible, the New Testament, shows us clearly that every city should have only one church, just like a husband should have only one wife (Rev. 1:11; Acts 8:1; 13:1). But today look at the situation. In all the cities, there is a “church market.” In the recent turmoil, the divisive ones did not care for the seriousness of the division which they have made. There should be “one city, one church; one husband, one wife.” If we have more than one church in a city, we commit spiritual fornication.

The Keeping of the Oneness of the Body of Christ

The final crucial point of the major items of the Lord’s recovery is the keeping of the oneness of the Body of Christ. The dissenters in the recent turmoil have abandoned this truth. Even if their accusations were true, this could not be a standing for them to make division. This could not justify their divisive action. Regardless of the situation, a husband should not divorce his wife. Even separation is wrong. We must be diligent to keep the oneness of the Body of Christ.

GOD’S INTENTION

Consummating the Building Up of the Body of Christ

In the age of the overcomers, God’s intention is to consummate the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12-13). The overcomers of the Lord should pay full attention to the building up of the Body of Christ. Christians are divided today because they do not care for the building up of the Body of Christ; they care only for their own small piece of work. If we are going to build up our local church only, we surely cannot be the overcomers.

An overcomer must be one who overcomes the divisions. To be divisive is easy. If two parties do not like each other, it is easy for them to meet in separate places. But to stay together for many years is difficult. To divorce is easy; to separate is easy; but to stay together for a continuous marriage life is not that easy. This is what it means to keep the oneness. You may be very nice to a certain leading brother, but if he would speak to you in a frank way, you might be offended. You would not leave the church life, but you would not speak to this leading brother either. This is a kind of concealed, hidden, division. To keep the oneness, you need to overcome all of the negative things.

Ushering in the New Jerusalem

We are building up the Body of Christ to usher in, to bring in, the New Jerusalem (Rev. 2:7b; 3:12). (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups”, An Introductory Word)