GOD’S ECONOMY

SERIES THIRTEEN
GOD’S ECONOMY IN ALL THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

God’s Economy as Revealed in the New Testament

Message One
God’s Economy as Revealed in the New Testament

Scripture Reading: John 1:1, 14; Luke1:35; Matt. 1:18-23; John 19:34; Matt.8:6-8; Acts 1:9-11, 14; 2:4, 41, 46; 6:7; 8:1; 9:34-35; Rev. 21:1-3; 22:1-2

I. The New Testament—the practical fulfillment of God’s eternal economy—John 1:1, 14; 20:22; Acts 13:2; Rom. 8:29; Rev. 21:2:

A. Matthew to John unveils that the Triune God has been processed and consummated to be the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit—Matt. 21:9; Mark 5:30; Luke 8:44; John 20:22:

1. Through His incarnation to become the God-man—Matt. 1:18; John 1:14.

2. Through His human living to live the God-man’s life—Luke 10:34; 2:51.

3. Through His all-inclusive death to redeem His lost creation and to release His divine life—John 20:9; 12:24.

4. Through His resurrection to dispense Himself into His redeemed chosen people as their life and everything—20:22, 31.

B. Acts unveils the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit spreading Himself as the reality of Christ, who is the embodiment of God, for the producing of the churches of God—13:2; 2:46; 6:7.

C. Romans to Revelation unveils the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit building up the churches into the organism of the consummated Triune God as the Body of Christ, by transforming them into the image of Christ as the firstborn Son of God, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal enlargement and expression of the consummated Triune God—Rom. 8:29; Eph. 4:16-17; Rev. 21:2.

II. The New Testament reveals the divine economy concerning Christ and His ministry—Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18-23; John 19:34; Matt. 28:6-8; Acts 1:9-11:

A. The divine economy with Christ as the God-man—Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18-23:

1. Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God became incarnated to be a God-man—John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:26-38; Matt. 1:18-23.

2. John the Baptist came out to testify concerning Christ—3:1-12; John 1:6-8, 15, 19-36.

3. The seekers of Messiah came to Christ and followed Him—1:37-49; Matt. 4:17-24; John 3:1-15.

4. Christ taught the kingdom, proclaimed the gospel, and healed all kinds of diseases, attracting a great crowd to follow Him—Matt. 4:23-25.

5. Christ revealed to His followers the kingdom of the heavens (chs. 5—7), the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens (ch. 13), Christ and the church (16:13-19), the consummation of this age and the second coming of Christ (chs. 24—25), and the mystery of the Divine Trinity in union with the believers of Christ (John 14—17).

B. The divine economy in Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension—19:34; Matt. 28:6-8; Acts 1:9-11:

1. God judged Christ on the cross for the sin of the world and for the sin of the believers, and Christ died an all-inclusive vicarious death—John 1:29; 1 Cor. 15:3; John 19:34, 12:24.

2. The women followers of Christ watched His crucifixion—Matt. 27:55-56.

3. Joseph, one expecting the kingdom of God, and the women followers of Christ buried Christ in an excellent way—Luke 23:50-56, Matt. 27:57-61.

4. The followers of Christ discovered His resurrection and received the revelation that Christ in His humanity was born in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God with His many brothers constituting His Body—28:1-10, John 20:1-18, Acts 13:33, Rom. 8:29, Heb. 2:11-12.

5. Christ in His resurrection taught His eleven apostles concerning the kingdom of God for forty days—Acts 1:3.

6. The disciples of Christ saw His ascension—1:9-11, Luke 24:51.

III. The divine economy in the ministry of the apostles—Acts 1:14, 2:4, 41, 46, 6:7, 8:1, 9:34-35, 13-28:

A. Peter and about one hundred twenty disciples gathered together and prayed in one accord for ten days—1:12-15.

B. The Spirit was poured out upon the one hundred twenty disciples of Christ on the day of Pentecost—2:1-4, 17-18.

C. Peter preached at Pentecost, and three thousand repented, believed, and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and later five thousand—v. 14-41, 4:4.

D. The believers continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers, having all possessions common and increasing with new believers day by day—2:42-47, 4:32-37.

E. The word of God grew, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly—6:7, 12:24, 19:20.

F. The disciples were scattered from Jerusalem to preach the gospel throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria—8:1, 4.

G. The gospel spread under Peter’s ministry—9:32-43.

H. The gospel, through Paul’s ministry, spread to the Gentile world, and many churches were raised up—chs. 13-28.

I. The churches raised up through Paul’s ministry were strengthened and corrected under John’s ministry—15:41, Rev. 1:11.

IV. The ending of the satanic chaos and the consummation of the divine economy—20:9-21:2, 10, 22:1-2:

A. The satanic chaos will end with the termination of the evil Satan, the old creation, and all the negative things in the lake of fire—20:9-21:1, 8, 22:15.

B. The divine economy will be consummated with the processed Triune God, the new creation, and the holy city of living water—chs. 21-22.

Ministry Excerpts:

THE NEW TESTAMENT—THE PRACTICAL FULFILLMENT
OF GOD’S ETERNAL ECONOMY

We have seen that the Old Testament is a figurative portrait of God’s eternal economy. The New Testament is the practical fulfillment of God’s eternal economy. The Old Testament is a portrait, and the New Testament is a fulfillment. A portrait is a picture, a photo. People may say that they have seen someone on a videotape, but actually they have not seen that person. They have seen his photo, his portrait. Later, they may be glad to see the real person whom they saw on the video. The Old Testament is like a video. The New Testament is the real thing. It is not a portrait but a fulfillment. The person in the fulfillment is exactly the same as his photo. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The Triune God’s Revelation and His Move,” ch. 3)

The New Testament revelation, the teaching of the apostles, is concerned with God’s economy. According to 1 Timothy 1:3-4, we may say that God’s economy is the general term for God’s New Testament revelation. Paul says that he left Timothy in Ephesus in order that he might charge certain ones not to teach different things. According to the context, different teachings refer to teachings that are not in line with the economy of God. What certain ones taught, though somewhat based on the New Testament revelation, were genealogies and the law. These were different from God’s economy in faith. They should not have taught things outside of God’s economy. This shows us that God’s economy is the New Testament revelation, the teaching of the apostles. It is uniquely one, perfect, and complete. Nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. Today in the church we should teach only according to the New Testament revelation, which is the apostles’ teaching. Anything less than this is inadequate, and anything more than this is man’s teaching, not the words of God’s economy.

I repeat: The Old Testament speaks with types and prophecies of the things to come in the New Testament. The New Testament is a revelation composed of the speaking of the apostles. Among the apostles, John spoke a great deal, and what he spoke can be considered the beginning and the conclusion; Paul spoke even more, and his speaking may be considered the center and the framework; Peter also spoke, adding something as a supplement. This is the New Testament revelation, unveiled by the teaching of the apostles and composed of words concerning the economy of God. Anything that we speak today—whatever it is—should come out of the apostles’ teaching and concern God’s economy. Beginning with Brother Nee to this day, we have thoroughly covered the economy of God in its entirety and in completeness. We have studied every verse and touched every item from Matthew 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. Thank God that, under His sovereign grace, all these things have been printed. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The Governing and Controlling Vision in the Bible,” ch.1)

Matthew to John

Some Christians would say that, in general, the four Gospels tell us the detailed history of Christ, including His being born of a virgin, His death on the cross, and His resurrection. Others may say that the Gospels reveal Christ in a fourfold way: in Matthew as a king, in Mark as a slave, in Luke as a man, and in John as God. Although this thought is very high, we want to go further to see the central, intrinsic revelation of the four Gospels. This revelation from Matthew to John is that the Triune God has been processed and consummated to be the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. The Triune God has been processed through incarnation, human living, death, and resurrection. He was also consummated to be a life-giving Spirit. At the end of the four Gospels, on the day of His resurrection, He came back to His disciples, breathed into them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). After His resurrection Christ is in us as the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 15:45 Paul says that the last Adam, the embodied God, God embodied in a man, became the life-giving Spirit. Some opposers have argued that this does not mean that Jesus Christ is the Spirit. They said that 1 Corinthians 15:45 says that the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit, not the life-giving Spirit. But whether the article is definite or indefinite does not matter. If I say, “Here is a man,” or, “Here is the man,” a man is still a man. There is no difference. There is not another Spirit who gives life besides the Holy Spirit.

The Triune God has been processed through His incarnation to become the God-man, through His human living to live the God-man’s life, through His all-inclusive death to redeem His lost creation and to release His divine life, and through His resurrection to dispense Himself into His redeemed chosen people as their life and everything. Thus, the processed, consummated Triune God as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit is dispensed into His chosen, redeemed people to be their life and everything. The general teaching in today’s Christianity says only that Christ is the Redeemer, not that Christ is our life and everything.

Acts

Acts unveils the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit spreading Himself as the reality of Christ, who is the embodiment of God, for the producing of the churches of God. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we received Him into us as the Spirit. Actually, that Spirit is Christ, the reality of Christ.

Romans to Revelation

Now we come to the last section of the New Testament, the twenty-two Epistles from Romans to Revelation.

In the four Gospels the church is mentioned only twice, in Matthew 16:18 and 18:17, but the Body of Christ is not mentioned. Acts speaks of the churches but also does not mention the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is mentioned only in the Epistles. Actually, the first twenty-one Epistles unveil the Body of Christ, whereas Revelation reveals the New Jerusalem as the consummation of the Body of Christ. Romans 12:5 is the first verse in the entire New Testament that mentions the Body of Christ. This indicates that all the Epistles are for the Body of Christ. Other Epistles that speak of the Body of Christ are 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians. These four books—Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians—are the master books of the New Testament. If these books were taken away, the New Testament would become empty.

Romans to Revelation unveils the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit building up the churches into the organism of the consummated Triune God as the Body of Christ, by transforming them into the image of Christ as the firstborn Son of God, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal enlargement and expression of the consummated Triune God.

When we tell people what the New Testament unveils, we should tell them what we have spoken of above concerning its three sections as the practical fulfillment of God’s eternal economy. It would be very good if we were able to recite the three definitions of these three sections. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The Triune God’s Revelation and His Move,” ch. 3)

CONCERNING CHRIST AND HIS MINISTRY—THE DIVINE ECONOMY

Concerning Christ and His ministry, the New Testament reveals that there were both the divine economy.

The divine economy, the ministry of Christ, and the New Testament go together. If there were no divine economy, there would have been no ministry of Christ and no New Testament. In the divine economy Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God became incarnated to be a God-man (John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:26-38; Matt. 1:18-23). We all need to see this marvelous fact and praise the Lord for it. John the Baptist came out to testify concerning Christ (Matt. 3:1-12; John 1:6-8, 15, 19-36). In relation to Christ, John was a helper.

We have pointed out that many of the godly people were expecting the coming of the Messiah. According to the New Testament, the seekers of the Messiah came to Christ and followed Him (vv. 37-49; Matt. 4:17-24; John 3:1-15). This also was a matter pertaining to the divine economy. In His ministry Christ taught the kingdom, proclaimed the gospel, and healed all kinds of diseases, attracting a great crowd to follow Him (Matt. 4:23-25). This teaching, proclaiming, and healing were all aspects of the divine economy.

To His followers Christ revealed many wonderful things. In Matthew 5—7 He revealed the kingdom of the heavens; in Matthew 13, the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens; in Matthew 16:13-19, Christ and the church; in Matthew 24—25, the consummation of this age and the second coming of Christ; and in John 14—17, the mystery of the Divine Trinity in union with the believers of Christ. Thus, Christ enabled His followers to see many heavenly mysteries, even to see the mystery of the organic union of the believers with the Triune God. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine economy for the New Creation,” ch. 2)

A God-Man

The New Testament tells us that God as the Word became flesh (John 1:14). This means that God joined Himself to fallen humanity, yet He was without sin. God took a major step to become a man, and this man was wonderful. He was not a common man but a God-man, who lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years and passed through human living. At the end of His human life He went to the cross and died an all-inclusive death to take away all the negative things in the universe, thus clearing up the way for Him to dispense Himself into God’s chosen people. Through His death the divine life within this God-man was released. That released divine life produced many believers, produced the church, which is the Body of Christ. He took the step of incarnation to become a man in the flesh. Through death He took the second step of resurrection to become a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). As the resurrected God-man, He became the Spirit who gives life (2 Cor. 3:6, 17).

This God-man’s name is Jesus. Whenever you say the name Jesus, you have to recall that Jesus was God becoming a man and that He lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years. He lived in Nazareth, a small town despised by people. He lived in a poor family and in a lowly carpenter’s home. It is marvelous that the Creator of the universe, of the heavens and of the earth, lived in a poor carpenter’s home, not as a guest but as a son. He lived there as a carpenter (Mark 6:3), so God in the form of a man did carpentry. Outwardly He had the appearance of a man, but inwardly He was God. This is our Lord Jesus. The unlimited God, the infinite God, was limited and restricted in a little home to be a carpenter. What patience! What suffering! What limitation! What restriction!

We need to see why the Lord Jesus as the very God needed to take these two steps. First, He needed to accomplish redemption, to clear up the universe, to sweep away all the negative things. For this He needed to take the first step, to become a man. If He were not a man, He could not accomplish redemption. Thus, He became a typical man with human blood and flesh (Heb. 2:14). His death on the cross accomplished an all-inclusive redemption to take away all the negative things and clear up the universe for the divine dispensing. He did a marvelous job to take away all the negative things, to sweep away all the hindrances, to make the entire universe so clean and so clear for God to come in to dispense Himself into His chosen people. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy,” ch. 9)

The Divine Economy in Christ’s Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension

Now we need to see the divine economy in Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.

A great part of God’s economy was Christ’s death on the cross. God judged Christ on the cross for the sin of the world and for the sin of the believers (John 1:29; 1 Cor. 15:3). Christ died an all-inclusive vicarious death (John 19:34; 12:24).

The women followers of Christ watched His crucifixion (Matt. 27:55-56). This indicates that in loving the Lord Jesus the sisters are stronger than the brothers and are ahead of the brothers. Whereas Peter and the other disciples forsook the Lord, the women followed Him from Gethsemane and eventually watched His crucifixion.

Joseph, one expecting the kingdom of God, had a high position in society and was a hidden disciple. He and the women followers of Christ buried Christ in an excellent way (Luke 23:50-56; Matt. 27:57-61). Christ was not born in an excellent way, and He did not die in an excellent way. However, His burial was excellent and according to the highest standard.

The followers of Christ discovered His resurrection and received the revelation that Christ in His humanity was born in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God with His many brothers constituting the Body (28:1-10; John 20:1-18; Acts 13:33; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:11-12). This discovery was made not by the brothers but by the sisters, and the revelation was given to them. Then the sisters brought the news to the brothers. The revelation was that the very Christ who was in the flesh was born in His resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God and that all His believers were born at that same time to be the many sons of God and the many brothers of Christ who constitute His Body, the church.

The resurrected Christ said to Mary, “Go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (John 20:17). Concerning the believers being Christ’s brothers, Hebrews 2:11 says, “Both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One, for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brothers.” The next verse, a quotation of Psalm 22:22, goes on to say, “I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the church I will sing hymns of praise to You.” By declaring the Father’s name to His brothers, the Lord Jesus made them the church. This is a great matter in the divine economy.

Acts 1:3 tells us that, as part of the divine economy, Christ in His resurrection taught His eleven apostles concerning the kingdom of God for forty days. According to Acts 1:9-11, the disciples of Christ saw His ascension. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine economy for the New Creation,” ch. 2)

THE DIVINE ECONOMY IN THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLES

The divine economy can also be seen in the ministry of the apostles.

Peter’s Ministry

Peter and about one hundred twenty disciples gathered together and prayed in one accord for ten days (Acts 1:12-15). That one accord was a wonderful thing. It is difficult for believers to pray in one accord even for an hour, much less for ten days. In Acts 1 the disciples were burdened to continue steadfastly with one accord in prayer.

The Spirit was poured out upon the one hundred twenty disciples of Christ on the day of Pentecost (2:1-4, 17-18). That was a great matter. The outpoured Spirit was actually the pneumatic Christ. The pneumatic Christ poured out Himself as the all-inclusive, compound, consummated Spirit upon His disciples so that they could be constituted and built up to be His Body, the organism of the Triune God. Peter preached at Pentecost, and three thousand repented, believed, and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (vv. 14-41). Then the church was established. Later the number of men came to about five thousand (4:4).

The believers continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers (2:42). They had all possessions common and increased with new believers day by day (vv. 43-47; 4:32-37). According to the record in the book of Acts, the word of God grew, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly (6:7; 12:24; 19:20). The disciples were scattered from Jerusalem throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Those who were scattered went throughout the land preaching the gospel (8:1, 4). In Acts 9:32-43 we see that the gospel spread under Peter’s ministry.

Paul’s Ministry

Through Paul’s ministry the gospel spread to the Gentile world, and many churches were raised up (chs. 13—28). The Epistles of 1, 2, and 3 John and the book of Revelation show us that the churches raised up through Paul’s ministry were strengthened and corrected under John’s ministry. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine economy for the New Creation,” chs. 2)

In Acts 20 Paul said that within those three years, he taught publicly and from house to house, did not cease admonishing each one with tears, and did not shrink from declaring to the saints all the counsel of God (vv. 20, 31, 27). The counsel of God, no doubt, refers to the economy of God, the eternal plan of God. Paul taught God’s economy night and day, publicly in the meetings and personally from house to house. Paul did not shrink from telling the saints in Ephesus anything that was profitable to them, which no doubt, included the things in their daily life. Paul had done so much for the church in Ephesus, but years later he was still greatly concerned about the church there. When he was going into Macedonia, he charged Timothy to remain in Ephesus in order that Timothy might charge certain ones not to teach different things. Not many, but certain ones, were teaching different things. This means that even at Paul’s time there were some who were teaching things different from Paul’s teaching. (CWWL, 1989, vol.4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God, ch. 5)

The apostle Paul’s teaching begins from God’s heart, not from man’s fall. His teaching shows us the good pleasure that God has had since eternity past. God’s desire is not merely to save sinners but to impart, to dispense, Himself into us as all our need. His dispensing is not only to heal us but also to make us His organism, His living Body. In eternity past God had the desire to dispense Himself into His chosen people to make them all the Body of His embodiment, Christ. This Body is the very organism of the Head, Christ. Our physical body is an organism to match us and to complete us in order to express us in a full and adequate way. In the same way, the Body of Christ is His completion for His full expression. We need to go to visit people with the gospel in order to carry out God’s economy. God needs people as vessels (Rom. 9:21, 23), as “bottles,” to contain Him as the all-inclusive dose. We go out to visit people with the gospel to gain more bottles for God, and we fill these bottles with God Himself. When I looked at the situation of all the churches in the Lord’s recovery in 1984, I saw that there were very few new bottles. We need to be those who are one with God’s heart to gain some new bottles, some new people, into whom He can dispense Himself. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living In and With the Divine Trinity,” ch. 2)

THE ENDING OF THE SATANIC CHAOS AND
THE CONSUMMATION OF THE DIVINE ECONOMY

Now I would like to give a concluding word regarding the ending of the satanic chaos and the consummation of the divine economy.

The Satanic Chaos ending with the Termination of the Evil Satan,
the Old Creation, and All the Negative things in the Lake of Fire

The satanic chaos will end with the termination of the evil Satan, the old creation, and all the negative things in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:9—21:1, 8; 22:15). The lake of fire will be the universal “trash can,” and all the negative things, which have caused the chaos in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, will be gathered there. The lake of fire, therefore, will be the ending of all the chaos.

Thus far in this chapter we have covered almost the entire New Testament regarding the divine economy and the satanic chaos. We have seen that the ministry both of the Lord Jesus and of the apostles was accompanied by chaos. No other apostle suffered as much as Paul did. He suffered persecution from the Jewish religion and also from the Roman government. Wherever he went, chaos was waiting for him. The last time he went to Jerusalem was for the interest of the church there; he was deeply concerned about the Judaic situation in the church in Jerusalem. After he arrived, he followed the advice of James and the elders to offer sacrifices in the temple. We have pointed out that the Lord did not allow him to complete the ceremony. There was turmoil, and that caused Paul to be put into prison. Although that ended his traveling ministry, it did not end his writing ministry. On the contrary, his writing ministry became higher, deeper, and richer, and the Epistles written from prison have been a great benefit to the believers throughout the centuries. Eventually, the chaos that went along with Paul’s ministry benefited the church.

The principle is the same with the recent turmoil among us in the Lord’s recovery. This chaos has helped the recovery and has stabilized the recovery in this country. Through this turmoil many have been tested, stabilized, and established.

The Divine Economy Being Consummated with the Processed Triune God,
the New Creation, and the Holy City of Living Water

The divine economy will be consummated, not ended, with the processed Triune God, the new creation, and the holy city of living water (chs. 21—22). The holy city of living water is the New Jerusalem, and the New Jerusalem is a composition, a constitution, of the redeeming Triune God with His redeemed tripartite man. He will be our temple where we will worship and where we will have our dwelling, and we will be His tabernacle where He will dwell and where He will enjoy us as His satisfaction. Hence, the New Jerusalem will be a place of mutual dwelling and mutual satisfaction for eternity. I hope that we will all be comforted by this revelation concerning the end of the satanic chaos and the consummation of the divine economy.

We have emphasized the fact that the satanic chaos is in the old creation and that the divine economy is for the new creation. The divine economy is to produce the new creation out of the chaotic old creation. This producing of the new creation will continue until the end of the millennium (ch. 20). That will be the time for the new heaven and the new earth to appear with the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem, the holy city, will be the consummation of the divine economy.

The New Jerusalem will be the enlargement and consummation of today’s church life. We praise the Lord that we are in the church. In the church life we experience the divine economy with the help of the satanic chaos. The satanic chaos helps our Christian life and also our church life.

In the Old Testament, which ends with the expectation of Christ’s coming, Christ is prophesied and promised. He was the expectation of God’s chosen people. In the New Testament Christ has come, and He is coming. Christ’s first coming, or the first part of Christ’s coming, initiated the New Testament economy. His second coming, or the second part of His coming, will consummate the New Testament economy. Between the initiation and the consummation, there is the long period of the church life. The church life is also a part of Christ’s coming. Christ has come, yet His coming is still taking place in the church life. The process of the church life is the process of Christ’s coming.

Today we are experiencing the church life, which is the process of Christ’s coming. Every time a sinner is baptized, that is a further step of Christ’s coming. Likewise, our growth in life is the advancement, the furthering, of His coming. The more we advance, the sooner Christ will come. If we want to hasten Christ’s coming, we need to advance more quickly. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine economy for the New Creation,” chs. 2)