THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews
Message One—God’s Speaking in the Son
Scripture Reading: Heb. 1:1-2a; Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20
I. Our God is the revealed God because He has revealed Himself in His speaking—Heb.1:1-2a:
A. In the Lord’s recovery today there is the multiplication and abundance of God’s word—Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20:
1. God is speaking day after day and meeting after meeting—Lev. 1:1.
2. God’s speaking to us proves that we are under His blessing—cf. 1 Sam. 3:1, 10, 21.
3. The life of the believers hinges totally upon the Lord’s speaking—Heb. 1:3; Matt. 17:5; Rev. 2:7a; S.S. 8:13; Heb. 5:13-14.
4. The living God imparts and infuses Himself into us by speaking—2 Tim. 3:16-17; Ezek. 37:4-6:
a. When God speaks, the light shines, bringing us understanding, vision, knowledge, wisdom, and utterance; when God’s word is opened or unfolded to us, it gives us light, shining inwardly over our heart and our spirit to impart wisdom and revelation to us—Psa. 119:105, 130.
b. When God speaks, life is imparted, and this life includes all the divine attributes and human virtues of Christ—John 6:63; 1:1, 4.
c. When God speaks, power is transmitted, and this is the growing and reproducing power of life—Mark 4:14, 26.
B. The whole universe came into being by God’s speaking—Rom. 4:17, Heb. 11:3, Psa. 33:9.
1. The universe has been framed by the word of God—Heb. 11:3.
2. “He spoke, and it was; / He commanded, and it stood”—Psa. 33:9.
3. He “calls the things not being as being”—Rom. 4:17:
a. This is God’s mighty power of creation.
b. As the creating God, He needs no material to work with; He can create something out of nothing simply by speaking.
4. In creation all things came into being through Him as the Word (John 1:1-3); thus, “the invisible things of Him, both His eternal power and divine characteristics, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being perceived by the things made, so that they would be without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).
5. The universe, framed by the word of God, is the manifestation of God’s glory, speaking forth Christ as the true God—Psa. 19:1-2; cf. Acts 14:15-17; 17:23-31:
a. The greatness of the universe manifests the greatness of God.
b. The wonder of the universe manifests how wonderful God is.
c. The brightness of the universe declares that God is a God of light.
d. The beauty of the universe and its beautiful details are manifestations of God’s beauty.
e. The lovingkindness of God is seen by His arrangement and preparation of the universe for mankind and by His provision for man’s every need.
f. The greatness, wonder, brightness, and beauty of the universe manifest that God is a God of wisdom.
C. In salvation we are saved through His word—John 5:24; Rom. 10:8, 17.
D. It is through His word that His authority with power is exercised—Matt. 8:8-9.
E. It is by His word that His healing power is realized—John 4:50-51.
F. In the Old Testament, God spoke in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets, in men borne by His Spirit—2 Pet. 1:21.
G. In the New Testament, God speaks in the Son, in the person of the Son:
1. This person was firstly individual and then became corporate.
2. God today speaks in a person, and this person has been increased to be a corporate person, including all the apostles and all the members of this person’s Body—1 Cor. 14:4b, 31.
E. The essence of the Epistle to the Hebrews is God’s speaking in the Son:
1. God speaks in the Son, the Son speaks as the Spirit to the churches, and ultimately the Spirit speaks with the church—Rev. 2:7a; 22:17.
2. It is altogether by this speaking story that God is brought into man and man is-brought into God.
II. The apostles’ teaching, the unique teaching of God’s New Testament economy, is God’s speaking in the Son-the entire speaking of God in the New Testament concerning the full ministry of Christ in three stages—Acts 2:42; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:3; Heb. 1:1-2a:
A. First, God spoke in the Son as a man in the four Gospels, revealing the stage of Christ in incarnation—John 14:10; 5:24; 16:12; 10:30:
1. To bring the infinite God into the finite man—1 Tim. 6:16; Heb. 1:8-12.
2. To unite and mingle the Triune God with the tripartite man—John 14:10-11; Lev. 2:4-5.
3. To express in His humanity the bountiful God in His rich attributes through His aromatic virtues—Eph. 3:19; 1 John 1:5.
4. To accomplish His all-inclusive judicial redemption—Rom. 1:17a; 3:21-26.
B. Second, God spoke in the Son as the Spirit through the apostles in Acts and the twenty-one Epistles (Romans through Jude), revealing the stage of Christ in inclusion—John 16:12-15; Matt. 28:19-20; Heb. 2:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:15-16; Col. 1:25-27:
1. To be begotten as God’s firstborn Son—Rom. 1:4; Heb. 1:6.
2. To become the life-giving Spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b.
3. To regenerate the believers for His Body—1 Peter. 1:3; 1 Cor. 12:13.
C. Third, God spoke in the Son as the seven Spirits through the apostle John in Revelation, revealing the stage of Christ in intensification:
1. To intensify His organic salvation—Rev. 5:6.
2. To produce the overcomers—Rev. 2—3.
3. To consummate the New Jerusalem—Rev. 21—22.
D. The proper ministry is the ministry according to the apostles’ teaching, the teaching of God’s New Testament economy, for the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem.
Ministry Excerpts:
God is mysterious. He is altogether a mystery. But this mystery has been revealed by God’s speaking. Without the divine speaking, God would remain forever unknowable. But our God no longer is mysterious. He is not a mystery, but a story. The story of God is absolutely a matter of speaking. God has a history, and His history is a speaking story. We can tell the story of God. The story of God is a matter of continual speaking; it is a speaking history.
Firstly, God spoke through some people who were chosen and moved by Him. He spoke in various ways through Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. After Abraham, God spoke through Moses and many other chosen ones— priests, kings, and prophets. Everyone who spoke for God, whether he was a king or a prophet, was motivated by God’s Spirit. Therefore, the history of God is a history of speaking.
After God spoke through so many different kinds of people, through high and low, educated and uneducated, kings and shepherds, His speaking was still insufficient. Regardless of how much these people were used to speak for God, their speaking was not adequate. God had to speak by Himself directly. So He came in the person of the Son. Hebrews 1:2 says that God has spoken to us in the Son. According to the Recovery Version of Hebrews, in 1:1 there is a definite article before the word prophets. However, in 1:2 the definite article before Son is in italics, indicating that this word is not in the Greek text, but that it is necessary for the sake of English idiom. In the English language it is difficult to say, “God spoke to us in Son.” Some of the better versions say, “God has spoken to us in the person of the Son.” Even the Amplified Version uses the phrase in the person of a Son. This means God Himself speaks in the person of the Son. Formerly He spoke through the prophets; now He speaks in the Son. We must see that the Son is different from all the prophets. All of the prophets were men used by God to speak for Him, but the Son is God Himself speaking. Verse 2 says that God has spoken to us in the Son, and verse 8 tells us that the Son is God. This indicates that God speaks in Himself. In verse 2 it seems that God and the Son are two, for it says that God spoke in the Son. But in verse 8 it is evident that the Son and God are one, for the Son is addressed, “O God.” To say that God has spoken in the Son means that God speaks in Himself.
In the four gospels the Son came. He came to speak God, not only with clear words, but also with what He was and what He did. He is altogether the Word of God and the speaking of God. Sometimes He spoke with words and other times He spoke with actions. All that He was and all that He did spoke God. “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). The Son is the Word, the speaking, the expression, and the definition of God. When the Son speaks, His word is the Spirit (John 6:63). Eventually, to the churches, He is the speaking Spirit. At the beginning of each of the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3, the Son speaks, but at the end of each epistle, it is the Spirit speaking to the churches. God speaks in the Son, and when the Son speaks to the churches, He is the speaking Spirit. By His speaking the churches will become one with Him. At the end of Revelation the Spirit and the church speak as one (Rev. 22:17). God speaks in the Son, the Son becomes the speaking Spirit, and the speaking Spirit is one with the church speaking for God. This is the speaking history of our God, a history that is a speaking story.
This speaking story is recorded in the Bible. The entire Bible is a history of God. As we have seen, this history is a speaking story. When God created all things, He did so by speaking. When He contacted humanity in the Old Testament times, He did it by speaking in the prophets. When He came to mankind in the New Testament age, He spoke in the Son, in the Person of the Son as His Word. How does He come into the churches today? By speaking as the speaking Spirit. By speaking as the Spirit, He makes Himself one with the churches. Eventually, this speaking story not only consists of Himself, but also of all the churches. Meeting after meeting, the church life is a speaking story. We are a speaking people. By this speaking God is transfused into people. By this speaking so many human beings are being infused and saturated with the divine element. This is the church life. This is God speaking. The book of Hebrews is a book of God’s speaking. The essence of the letter to the Hebrews is God speaking in the Son. God speaks in the Son, the Son speaks as the Spirit to the churches, and ultimately the Spirit speaks with the church. It is altogether by this speaking story that God is brought into man and man is brought into God. God and man, man and God, become one. This is the wonderful church life. (Life-Study of Hebrews, msg. 3)
THE APOSTLES’ TEACHING—
THE ENTIRE SPEAKING OF GOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
God has spoken, and today God still speaks. There are many matters in God’s speaking. Today God speaks to us in the Son. God’s speaking in the New Testament is in the way of incarnation. The Lord Jesus’ speaking was God’s speaking in the Son as the man in the four Gospels (John 14:10; 5:24; Matt. 28:19-20). From Acts to Revelation (John 16:12-15; Rev. 2:1, 7; 1 Cor. 4:17b; 7:17b; 2 Pet. 3:15-16; Rev. 1:1-2). While God was speaking in the Son, one day the Son told His disciples, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall disclose it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He receives of Mine and shall disclose it to you” (John 16:12-15). It is as though the Lord Jesus was saying, “When the Spirit of reality comes, He will bring you into all the reality. Yet even He Himself will not speak anything of Himself. He will receive from Me, and then He will disclose to you whatever He receives of Me.” This means that after the four Gospels, there would be God’s further speaking. The teaching of the apostles is the entire speaking of God in the New Testament, first in the Son as a man, then in the Son as the Spirit through the apostles. In the New Testament God cannot depart from the principle of incarnation. He must speak through man. In the four Gospels the man was Jesus. In the succeeding twenty-three books, the men were the apostles. Today we are the men. God speaks in the principle of incarnation. (The Apostles’ Teaching, msg. 1)
THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES—
THE CONSTITUTION OF GOD’S NEW TESTAMENT KINGDOM
The Church Must Hold It and Be Under It Absolutely
In the Old Testament, the law could be considered as the written constitution of God’s people. In the New Testament what replaced the law for God’s administration among His people? We know that Christ replaced the law, but we are referring to the aspect and sense of replacing the law in God’s administration. In the New Testament, the teaching of the apostles replaced the law. Acts 2:42 says, “And they were continuing steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles.” Immediately after the three thousand were saved on the day of Pentecost, they began to continue steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles. In the Old Testament kingdom of God, the constitution was the law, and in the New Testament kingdom of God, the constitution is the teaching of the apostles.
The teaching of the apostles is the complete New Testament. It comprises firstly the teaching of the Lord Jesus in the four Gospels. The first group of apostles were charged by the Lord Jesus to teach the new believers what the Lord had taught them. This is clearly recorded in Matthew 28:19-20. The teaching of the apostles also includes what is recorded in the Acts, the Epistles, and the book of Revelation. At the conclusion of the book of Revelation, John tells us that no one should add anything or take away anything from the divine revelation (Rev. 22:18-19). This means that with the book of Revelation, the teaching of the apostles has been completed. From that time onward, no one is allowed to add or deduct anything. If you add something, you will suffer the plagues; and if you deduct something, you will suffer the loss of the divine blessing. The entire New Testament, which is the complete teaching of the apostles, must be considered as the constitution of God’s New Testament kingdom. (Elders’ Training, Book 9: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (1), ch. 4)
Any Teaching That Was Different from the Apostles’ Teaching Being
Not Allowed by the Apostles
Any teaching different from this unique revelation is not allowed by the apostles (1 Tim. 1:3-4; 2 John 9-11). In 1 Timothy 1:3 Paul told Timothy, “Even as I urged you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach differently.” The different teachings included things from the Old Testament, yet they were different from God’s New Testament economy, God’s New Testament dispensation. Such teachings were not allowed by the apostles. The apostles were strict in this matter. Second John 9-11 says, “Everyone who goes beyond and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God….If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not say to him, Rejoice! For he who says to him, Rejoice, shares in his evil works.” (The Apostles’ Teaching and the New Testament Leadership, ch. 1)
That the Church Is Blessed Being Because the Church Continues Steadfastly
in the Apostles’ Teaching and Fellowship
In 2 Timothy 1:15 Paul says, “…all who are in Asia turned away from me.” Asia was a province of the Roman Empire in Asia Minor, far away from Rome where Paul, who was in prison, was writing his Epistle to Timothy. When Paul said that all who were in Asia turned away from him, this does not indicate that they turned away from the person of Paul because the person of Paul was far away from them. This verse indicates that they all turned away from Paul’s ministry. Among the churches in Asia was the church in Ephesus, which was fully established by Paul’s ministry as recorded in Acts 19. They received the gospel, the teaching, the edification, and the establishment from the ministry of the Apostle Paul. But by the time Paul was imprisoned in Rome, they had all turned away from this ministry.
The Lord highly appraised them and even appreciated them because they kept the word (3:8). [That means] one church was unique, and was highly appraised by the Lord—the church in Philadelphia. They did not turn away from the apostles’ proper teaching. Although they were weak, the Lord still appraised them highly, telling them that they had a little power and that they had kept the word.
To turn away from the proper teaching is a terrible thing that will result in degradation and in picking up other teachings. I say this as a warning to those dear ones who would not take the new way. To reject the proper revelation, the proper teaching, of the leaders among you is a dangerous thing. You will open the door for other teachings to come in and suffer degradation. I hope that all [of] the church people in the recovery would not be followers of those in Asia who turned way from Paul’s ministry. Rather, I hope we would follow the pattern of the church in Philadelphia—keeping the Lord’s word even though we only have a little strength. Let us keep the word of the Lord, which is to remain in the teachings of the apostle, to remain in the healthy words. To remain in the unique revelation from the Lord with the proper leadership. Then we are safe. (Elders’ Training, Book 7: One Accord for the Lord’s Move, pp. 128-130)