THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

The Divine Economy

Message Six
Being Overcomers to Carry Out God’s Eternal Economy

Scripture Reading: Matt. 6:6, 19-20; 13:43; 16:18; 14:22-23; 24:14; 26:7; Rev. 8:3-6; 19:7-9, 1 Cor. 16:1-2

I. The fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy concerning the building up of His church, the preparation of His bride, will bring Him back; now is the time for the Lord to fulfill His prophecy through the overcomers, who cooperate and coordinate with Christ in His heavenly ministry for His up-to-date and ultimate move—Matt. 16:18; Rev. 19:7-9; Matt. 24:14.

A. God’s ultimate move is to carry out His economy concerning Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ—Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4-6:

1. God’s ultimate move to fulfill His eternal intention is to have Christ as life in us, flowing in us, saturating and permeating us, and making us fit to be built up into His Body for His expression—Col. 3:4; Eph. 3:16; 4:16.

2. Three items have been recovered—the preaching of the gospel, the teaching of the Bible truths, and the scriptural way of meeting; now this final matter of God’s ultimate move must be our concern, which is to gain a people who have Christ as their life and live Him so that Christ will have His Body; in our locality this Body will be expressed as a golden lampstand; this is the preparation of the bride—Rom. 12:4-5; Rev. 2:1; 19:7; Col. 3:4; Phil. 1:21a..

B. The Lord’s recovery is for the preparation of the bride of Christ, who is composed of all His overcomers—19:7-9; cf. Gen. 2:22; Matt. 16:18:

1. All the overcomers will be the New Jerusalem as the bride of Christ for one thousand years in its initial and fresh stage—Rev. 19:7.

2. Eventually, all the believers will join the overcomers to consummate and complete the New Jerusalem in full as the wife of Christ in the new heaven and new earth for eternity—21:2, 9-11.

II. To be the Lord’s overcomers, we must love the Lord and grasp the opportunity to love Him—26:6-13:

A. To love the Lord with our best requires that we take time to behold Him, listen to His word, and receive a revelation concerning Him; the overcomers have the highest revelation of Christ and offer themselves willingly to the Lord in the splendor of their consecration—vv. 6-13; Psa. 110:3.

B. Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His word; having heard and received the Lord’s word and revelation concerning His death, Mary looked for the opportunity to anoint Him before He died—Luke 10:38-42; Matt. 26:1-2, 12; cf. 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19.

C. The Lord prefers His saved ones who love Him to listen to Him (Luke 10:39) that they may know His desire, rather than do things for Him without knowing His will—cf. 1 Sam. 15:22; Eccl. 5:1.

III. For God’s ultimate move, we must be one with the interceding Christ, the praying Christ, by cooperating with Him in the two aspects of prayer: the prayer of fellowship with Him to be infused with Him and the prayer of interceding with Him to carry out His divine administration—Rev. 8:3-6:

A. Our prayer of fellowship with God causes us to be infused with God so that we can glow with God, shine forth God, and flow out God; we must learn from the Lord’s pattern to be a man of prayer—Matt. 14:22-23:

1. The Lord Jesus told us that when we pray, we should shut our door privately and pray secretly to the Father who sees in secret; in this personal time we can come to Him to eat Him, drink Him, and enjoy Him—Matt. 6:6; John 6:57; Isa. 55:1-2; cf. 57:20 and footnote 1.

2. The highest profession on earth is to spend time being infused with God that we may shine forth God; the most prevailing need among Christians today is to spend a certain amount of time every day in the presence of the Lord to receive His word by means of all prayer—2 Cor. 3:16—4:1; Exo. 33:11a; Eph. 6:17-18.

B. Our prayer of intercession follows the foundation of our prayer of fellowship with God; we need to be one with the interceding Christ, typified by the incense altar in the tabernacle, as the center of the execution of God’s government on earth—Exo. 30:1-10; Heb. 7:25; Rev. 8:3-6:

1. The prayer offered at the incense altar, a prayer that is offered in Christ and with Christ as the incense, governs God’s dispensing of grace and motivates the execution of the divine administration; hence, this prayer governs the universe—Exo. 30:1-10.

2. Intercessory prayer is not prayer for ourselves but prayer for the carrying out of the divine administration, for the dispensing of God’s supplying grace, and for the churches and the saints; such a prayer is a fragrant incense to God—it fulfills His purpose, satisfies His desire, and delights His heart—v. 7; Rev. 8:3-4.

IV. For God’s ultimate move, we must give our material possessions in secret for the sowing and spreading of Christ as the seed of life, the reality of the gospel of the kingdom, giving our material supply to the church of God, to the needy saints of God, to the full-time servants of God, and to the poor people in the love of God and with the kindness of God for the gospel of God—Luke 6:37-38; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Matt. 6:1-4, 19-20; 19:21; Acts 11:29; Rom. 15:26; Phil. 1:5; 4:16-17; 3 John 5-8:

A. Those who have been benefited in the Lord and have been saved by our proper use of money as prudent stewards in our giving to the Lord for the furtherance of His kingdom gospel will welcome us into the eternal tabernacles in the coming age of the kingdom—Luke 16:1-13.

B. “We believers at least should give one-tenth of our income to the Lord in the principle of the Old Testament. Five percent of our income should be given to support full-time workers” (The Way to Practice the Lord’s Present Move, p. 75)—cf. Neh. 13:10-14.

V. For God’s ultimate move, we must preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to the whole inhabited earth, both to the unbelievers for their conversion to Christ and to the believers for their growth in Christ, by announcing the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel and by prophesying for the building up of the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God—Matt. 24:14; Rom. 1:1; Eph. 3:8; 1 Cor. 3:6; 14:4b, 31. 

Ministry Excerpts:

THE LORD FULFILLING HIS PROPHECY
TO BUILD UP THE CHURCH

The Lord will fulfill His prophecy to build up the church, and there is no possibility for Him to do this with all the Christians today. But there is the principle of recovery with a small number, and the Lord is going to accomplish this recovery. It is clear that the Lord has chosen the United States as the base for His recovery. From here He will spread His recovery to Europe, the Middle East, and other continents. This means that the recovery may eventually go back to the city of Jerusalem. The building up of the church started from Jerusalem, and it has been taking place throughout the world. Eventually, it may return to Jerusalem.

If we are faithful to cooperate with the Lord, He will finish His recovery of the building up of the church to fulfill His prophecy. That will be the time for Him to come back. All that we are, all that we have, and all that we can do must be put on the altar of the Lord’s recovery so that we can be built up together with others. Our cooperation with the Lord for His move is not in a loose or light way. It must be in the way of life. We will be built up, trained, and then sent. Then the whole earth will be taken for the Lord’s purpose. (CWWL, 1972, vol. 3, “The Greatest Prophecy in the Bible and Its Fulfillment,” ch. 2)

God’s Ultimate Move

If you read church history and the biographies of spiritual men of the past, you will see that three things have been accomplished. The gospel is being preached, the Bible is being taught for the edification of the saints, and the scriptural way of meeting is being practiced. Even though there is much confusion and mixture throughout Christianity, these things at least are known and followed in some measure. However, the very kernel of the Bible, the focus of God’s economy, has been neglected throughout the centuries.

The Bible teaching of the Brethren is the best, and they meet according to the Bible. And Brother Nee’s book The Normal Christian Church Life makes the matter of how to meet even clearer than the Brethren teachings. The Brethren preach the gospel, as do the other evangelicals. These three things are not sufficient, however. The apostle Paul’s completing ministry is missing. There is the need to have Christ as our life, as the real contents of the church. The reality of the church is more than a meeting of the saints. It is not merely a collection of seeking saints. It is Christ realized, experienced, enjoyed, lived out, and expressed. A people in this experience are the reality of the Body of Christ. They are a golden lampstand.

As He prepared the Roman Empire, Germany, and Great Britain in times gone by, so He has prepared the United States. For what purpose? It was not merely for the preaching of the gospel, the teaching of the truth, and the scriptural way of meeting. These things have been practiced for centuries. Yes, we must continue these practices. We must preach the gospel adequately. We must teach the Bible and seek to bring others to the full knowledge of the truth; for this we need to respect and know God’s Word. We must also come together according to the Bible to have a proper church life.

These three things, however, are not sufficient. We must be for the central vision of God’s economy. We must live Christ, be filled with Him, and have Him as our daily living and as the practical, actual contents of the church life so that we may be His living Body to express Him. Then every local church will be a golden lampstand, and the bride will be prepared for the Bridegroom. (CWWL, 1981, vol. 1, “The World Situation and God’s Move,” ch. 2)

The Bible clearly tells us what God’s ultimate move is. God’s ultimate move is to have Christ as the mystery of God enter into us as our life. Then we become His living members and together form His Body, which is the very fullness of the One who fills all in all. We do not understand this in an adequate way, but this is what is in the Bible. This is Paul’s completing ministry, telling us that Christ is God’s mystery and Christ has become our life; that we are the church, which is Christ’s mystery (Eph. 3:4-6); that the church is the Body. No other writer of the Bible besides Paul tells us that the church is the Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1981, vol. 1, “The World Situation and God’s Move,” ch. 5)

God Wanting Us to Have Christ as Life to Us
and Making Us Fit to Be Built up into His Body for His Expression

God wants us to have Christ as life to us, flowing in us, saturating and permeating us, transforming us, conforming us, and making us fit to be built up into His Body for His expression. Today, at the end of the twentieth century, this is what our God is after. Here is where our focus also should be. Three items have already been recovered: the preaching of the gospel, the teaching of Bible truths, and the scriptural way of meeting. Now this final matter must be our concern.

Gaining a People Who Have Christ as Their Life

What is God’s ultimate move? It is to gain a people who have Christ as their life. We must live Him. We must not have just a doctrine but a real life in our daily living. It must be our experience that Christ is the flowing life within us. As He saturates and permeates us, He supplies us with all His elements. Incarnation, humanity, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection—all these are carried out within us in this permeation. While His life is saturating us, it kills the negative things within us and supplies us with the divine element. We need to know this not just in a doctrinal way but as a reality in our experience. Then we need to know how to be transformed and how to grow into maturity. Furthermore, we must know by experience what it is to be built up, in order that Christ may have a Body.

God is not primarily after gospel preaching or Bible teaching or scriptural meetings. He wants Christ as the embodiment of God to become your life and wants you as a member of Christ to become a part of His Body. Then Christ will have His Body. Then in every locality the Body will be expressed as a golden lampstand. This is the preparation of the bride. Revelation 19:7 is yet to be fulfilled. It is when “His wife has made herself ready” that “the marriage of the Lamb has come.”

Even if our gospel preaching is adequate, our Bible teaching accurate, and our meetings scriptural, we still need to ask ourselves: Do we have the ultimate move of God among us?

There must be a good number, not just a few, who truly know how wonderful a person Christ is. He must be our life, and we must live Him. We must be filled and permeated and saturated with Him. Our entire being must be infused with His feelings, His thoughts, and whatever He is. We must grow in life by being transformed little by little by His flowing life within us. Then we can be built up with our fellow believers. In our locality there will be a lampstand. The bride will be prepared for Him to come back. It is this that the Lord is after today. I call it the fourth step.

For the first step, the spread of the gospel, God prepared the Roman Empire. For the second step, the return to the Bible, God prepared Germany. For the third step, the recovery of the gospel, the teaching of the Bible, and the proper meetings—God in the last two centuries used Great Britain. Finally, for the fourth step God has prepared the United States. All the big points of human history match God’s move on the earth. Actually, all the major events of human history were prepared by God for His move on this earth. (CWWL, 1981, vol. 1, “The World Situation and God’s Move,” ch. 4)

The Primary Work of the Lord in His Recovery
Being to Prepare His Bride

There is no doubt that Revelation 19 will be completely fulfilled. Furthermore, we believe that the process of fulfillment is taking place today. Since Jerusalem has been restored to the nation of Israel, the coming back of the Lord Jesus should not be far off. The Bride, however, cannot be prepared quickly. This preparation is a gradual work that takes place over a period of time. Certainly the Lord must be doing a work on earth to prepare His Bride. Where is this work being carried out? With whom is it taking place? Some may say that the work of preparing the Bride is among the spiritual ones in Catholicism, the denominations, and the independent groups. According to this view, Christ will gather together all these spiritual ones and form them into His Bride at the time of His coming. However, this is not the Lord’s way. He is not coming to collect those who will constitute the Bride; He is coming to present to Himself the Bride who has already been prepared. This preparation, I believe, involves the work of building corporately. Those who make up the Bride must not only be mature in life; they must also be built together as the one Bride. Therefore, I firmly believe that the Lord is preparing His Bride among those in His recovery.

I am burdened that we would all realize that the Lord’s recovery is not another Christian movement or an ordinary Christian work. The work in the recovery is the Lord’s genuine work to prepare His Bride. I believe that in the years to come, more of those who seek the Lord faithfully will turn to the way of His recovery. They will realize that nowhere else do they have the inward confirmation. When we turned to the way of the Lord’s recovery, we had the sense deep within that the Lord had put His seal on the way we are taking. The primary work of the Lord in His recovery is not to preach the gospel throughout the earth; it is to prepare His Bride.

The Lord’s intention is not to revive Christianity as a whole. In His recovery, He is calling out a remnant of those who love Him and who are faithful to Him. He is sending out the call to overcome the degradation of Christianity so that a number of those who seek Him may be prepared as His Bride. In this matter, the Lord is moving on, and we are going on with Him. What a privilege to be alive in this age! (Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 95)

LOVING THE LORD

The first thing we must do is love the Lord.…All of us must love the Lord. I have traveled to many places on this earth, and I have observed that every Christian has something within him that is calling and even demanding that he love the Lord. Each of us has such a sense within—something urging and demanding that we love the Lord. We must take care of this feeling and respond to this inner voice. We need to answer this call and tell the Lord, “Lord, I must love You, and I do love You, but my love for You is very small. Cause me to love You more.” We all must pray to the Lord concerning our love for Him.

Consecrating Ourselves to Him

In addition to loving the Lord, we must consecrate ourselves to Him. At least once in our life we must consecrate ourselves to the Lord in a definite way. We all must pass through this crisis. If we have never consecrated ourselves to the Lord in a definite way, we must do so now. We must go to the Lord and tell Him, “Lord, I have been bought by You. You have purchased me with Your precious blood, and I have been ransomed and redeemed by You. Lord, I am Yours. I belong to You, so I hand myself over to You. Because I love You, I offer myself to You.” Many of us may have done this before, but if some years have passed since the last time we consecrated ourselves to the Lord, then we must do it again; we must renew our consecration. After we have consecrated ourselves to the Lord, He will have the ground to operate in us. The Lord will have the ground within us, and He will begin to move and speak in us. In addition, we will have the ground to contact the Lord and to enter into fellowship with Him.

Reading and Praying the Word in Spirit

In addition to loving the Lord and consecrating ourselves to Him, we must spend time in His Word. Every morning we must open His Word. We do not need to read too much; we should simply open the Word and read it with our heart and our spirit. We may know how to read the Word with our mind, and we may even know how to read the Word with our heart, but do we know how to read the Word with our spirit? Second Corinthians 3:17 states that the Lord is the Spirit, and John 6:63 reveals that the Lord’s words are spirit. To read the Word with our spirit means that when we come to the Word, we need to contact it with the innermost part of our being. We must contact the Word with the deepest part of our being, and we must not merely understand the Word but sense the Word. We must not only understand the Word with our mind and love it with our heart; we must also sense it with our spirit. There is a great difference between reading the Word and reading the newspaper. To read the newspaper, we only need to use our eyes to see the words and our mind to understand them. To properly read the Word, however, requires something more. To properly read the Word we also need to use our heart to love the Word and our spirit to contact and sense the Word. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 4, “Contacting the Lord, Being Filled in Spirit, and Having Proper Christian Meetings for the Accomplishment of God’s Eternal Purpose,” ch. 2)

Serving the Lord according to
His Desire and Preference

Immediately after the parable of the good Samaritan Luke puts the record of the Man-Savior being received by Martha at Bethany (10:38-42). What is the connection between these two cases? The connection is that after we have been saved through realizing the Savior’s compassion and love, we should serve Him. In other words, saved ones should be serving ones. In order to be saved we need to realize the Savior’s compassion and love. In order to serve Him, we need to know His desire and preference. We should not serve the Lord according to our opinion, concept, or understanding. Instead, we should serve Him according to His desire and preference.

Listening to the Lord’s Word
and Knowing His Desire

Do you think that when the Lord came into Martha’s home in Bethany His desire was to be served with material things? To be sure, it was not His desire to be served with food. On the contrary, His desire was that His saved ones would listen to Him in order to know what was on His heart. The Lord did not care about eating; He wanted those who loved Him to be silent, to sit with Him, to listen to Him, and to concentrate on His speaking. In this way they would know His desire and preference.

In 10:39 Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His word. Later, she prepared ointment to anoint Him before His death. How did Mary know to do this? I believe she came to know this through listening to the Savior’s speaking. By sitting at the Savior’s feet and listening to His word, she came to know His desire and preference.

The most precious thing to Him is not that you work for Him or try to do things for Him. What is most precious to Him is that you sit with Him and silently listen to His word. If you sit with the Lord and listen to His word, you will know His desire and preference. (Life-study of Luke, msg. 26)

BEING ONE WITH HIM AT THE INCENSE ALTAR
BY OUR PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

Thousands and thousands of prayers are offered to God by Christians, but there is very little execution of God’s purpose. Christians pray again and again, yet there is very little dispensing of the supplying grace of God. Today we need to learn to pray in such a way as to motivate the throne of grace to dispense God’s life supply as grace to all the needy ones. We need to learn how to pray to motivate the throne of authority to execute the divine administration. If we have this view concerning prayer, our prayer life will be revolutionized. May we all see this view and experience such a revolution.

We all need to put these truths into practice. It may help us to pray more if we realize that we do not need to pray in a formal way; we do not need to offer natural, religious prayers. On the contrary, at the incense altar we should become intercessors. All day long we need to intercede for others and for the Lord’s interests. As we pray in this way, we know that we are truly one with the Lord. By our prayers of intercession we are one with Him at the incense altar. This kind of prayer is a fragrant incense to God. This prayer fulfills God’s purpose, satisfies His hunger, and delights His heart. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 419)

A person who is used by the Lord must be a person of prayer. The apostles said that they would “continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). To carry out the ministry of the word is to work for the Lord and to be used by Him. Prayer enables a person to work for the Lord and to be used by Him. The apostles could be used by the Lord because they continued steadfastly in prayer. A person who neglects prayer cannot be used by the Lord. In terms of function, the two aspects of prayer are fellowship and inquiring.

Prayer for Fellowship with God

The first function of prayer is to use our spirit to fellowship with God, that is, to contact and absorb God with our spirit. Our fellowship with God gives Him the opportunity to reveal Himself in us and to transfuse Himself into us so that our mind, emotion, and will are gradually mingled with Him. In this way God can reveal His intention to us so that we may understand His will. Furthermore, while God operates within us, He exposes and deals with our weaknesses, mistakes, and shortcomings. Hence, the first aspect of prayer is to fellowship with God by contacting Him and by letting Him mingle with us and clear up our problems.

Such deep and quiet fellowship enables the Lord to reach every part of our being so that we are subdued, broken, purified, occupied, and possessed by Him. It is during such a time of prayer that the Lord can mingle with us in a deep and thorough way. This is how we pray ourselves into the Lord, absorb Him, fellowship with Him, and are mingled with Him. This is when the Lord touches our mind, emotion, and will, and we are subdued, purified, broken, occupied, and possessed by Him. Furthermore, we are mingled with the Lord, His will is revealed in us, and He can then anoint us with a burden for His work.

The result of our being filled and saturated with God is that the river of water of life can freely flow out of us. Therefore, prayer causes us to be used by God. Prayer causes us to flow out the divine life into others, that is, to impart God into others. This is what it means to be used by God. Every believer who desires to be used by God should learn to pray in such a way. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 3, “Fellowshipping with the Lord for the Mingling of God with Man,” msg. 1)

Being with the Father Privately
on the Mountain in Prayer

After performing the miracle, the Lord went up to the mountain privately to pray (Matt. 14:23; cf. Luke 6:12).

The Lord did not remain in the issue of the miracle with the crowds but went away from them to be with the Father privately on the mountain in prayer. If we go to a certain place and have a great success, would we leave right away, or would we remain in this big success to enjoy it? We need to see and follow the pattern of the Lord Jesus. He did not remain in the issue of the great miracle that He performed. Instead, He went up to the mountain privately to pray. The word privately is very meaningful. This means He did not let the people know that He was going to pray. Otherwise, they would have followed Him. He went away from them to be with the Father privately in prayer. I like these three phrases: to be with the Father, on the mountain, and in prayer. We should learn from the Lord’s pattern here by exercising to be with Him on the mountain in prayer. His looking up to heaven means that He had no trust in Himself. His going up to the mountain means that He wanted to be with the Father in prayer.

Needing to Enter into Our Private Room
and Shut Our Door and Pray
to the Father Who Sees in Secret

To pray with others is good, but often we need to pray by ourselves. When we pray with others, we cannot enjoy the Lord as deeply as when we pray to the Lord privately. Even the Lord Jesus told us that when we pray we should enter into our private room and shut our door and pray to the Father who sees in secret (Matt. 6:6). Then we have the sensation of how intimate He is to us and how close we are to Him. We have to learn to leave the crowds, our family, our friends, and the saints in the church to go to a higher level on a “high mountain.” We have to go higher, far away from the earthly things on a lower level. We need to get to a higher level, separated from the crowd, to be with the Father privately and secretly to have intimate fellowship with Him. This is the significance of being on the mountain in prayer. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” msg. 14)

Prayer for Inquiring

The above points are concerning prayer to fellowship with God. This is the foundation of prayer. After a good foundation has been laid, we can enter into the second aspect of prayer—prayer for inquiring. This aspect of prayer includes inquiring concerning the Lord’s work and concerning our personal needs. We will speak concerning inquiring for the Lord’s work.

Being Initiated by God

The foundation of our prayer is to enter into fellowship with God, that is, to enter into God. Then our prayer is initiated by God, not by us. He gives us the burdens to pray. It is not that we ask God to accomplish something; rather, it is God asking us to petition on His behalf concerning the matter. Matthew 6 shows that genuine prayer is to pray on behalf of God. During the first segment of our prayer we enter into the presence of God and fellowship with Him. At this time God will anoint us with His burden for the work and reveal His intention to us. We can then petition according to God’s will and His burden for the work. These matters are not concerning ourselves but concerning God. Therefore, we are praying on behalf of God, not on behalf of ourselves. This aspect of prayer is initiated by God; it is not initiated by us. Genuine prayer is not for ourselves. Genuine prayer is for God and is initiated by God. When the Lord taught the disciples how to pray, He said, “You then pray in this way” (v. 9). This is the Lord’s initiating and proposing. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 3, “Fellowshipping with the Lord for the Mingling of God with Man,” msg. 1)

This Prayer Governing the Universe

In Exodus the incense altar is revealed after the tabernacle and its furniture and the equipping of the priesthood are revealed. This indicates that the priestly service begins at the incense altar, at the place where prayers of intercession are offered to God (Luke 1:10). The incense altar is the place from which the activities at all the other places in the tabernacle are motivated. It is not merely one item on the passageway through the tabernacle. Rather, it can be compared to a motor that causes everything to operate. Hence, in our experience of the tabernacle (see note Heb. 9:43), the incense altar stands by itself as a turning point. It makes all the aspects of the tabernacle and the outer court effective in our experience. The prayer of intercession also motivates others to come to Christ at the altar of burnt offering, at the laver, at the table, at the lampstand, and at the Ark in the Holy of Holies. According to Rev. 8:3, the incense altar is directly in front of the throne of God’s authority, which is also the throne of grace (see note Rev. 4:22). The prayer offered at the incense altar, a prayer that is offered in Christ and with Christ as the incense (see note Exo. 30:71), governs God’s dispensing of grace and motivates the execution of the divine administration. Hence, this prayer governs the universe. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Exo. 30:1, footnote 2)

The Proper Prayer Life Being a Life of Praying
for Others, of Interceding for Them

As those who are seeking the Lord, we in the recovery both individually and corporately must learn one thing — to pray. We need a praying life. The real praying life is always a life of interceding. Genuine prayer is not mainly to pray for ourselves; it is continually to pray for others. Praying for ourselves is not intercession. But to pray for others is to intercede for them. Thus, prayer for others is intercession.

The proper prayer life is a life of praying for others, of interceding for them. We need to pray for the churches throughout the earth and for all the saints. We need to pray for the older ones, the younger ones, and the opposers. Day by day we need to pray not mainly for ourselves, but for others. We need such an interceding life. The intercession offered at the incense altar should daily be increasing. (Life-study of Exodus, msg. 148)

USING OUR MONEY
TO BENEFIT OTHERS

I mention this to point out that we need to take the opportunity to use our money prudently to benefit others. Try to use your money to benefit others so that when it is out of use, others will do something for you.

In 16:9 the Lord says, “Make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles.” This indicates that those who have been benefited by our proper use of money will welcome us into the eternal tabernacles. This will be in the coming age of the kingdom. When the Lord Jesus comes back and we are received into His kingdom, some of us will have a number of people welcoming us. Who will be these welcomers? They will be those who have received benefit in this age by our prudent use of money.

Let me give a simple illustration of this. Suppose you use an amount of your money to publish gospel tracts for the purpose of bringing people to the Lord. Those who have been benefited by this use of your money will welcome you in the future. They may say, “Brother, we want you to realize that we were saved through one of the tracts paid for by you.” This is an example of being welcomed into eternal habitations by those who have shared the benefit of our prudence. (Life-study of Luke, msg. 36)

Bringing the Whole Tithe to the Storehouse
in Order for There to Be Food in God’s House

Malachi 3:10 speaks concerning our need to bring the whole tithe, that is, the portion that God is due, the portion that we owe Him, to the storehouse in order for there to be food in His house. We need to give God all that He is due so that He may have something to eat and enjoy. If we truly practice bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse, we will prove God and see how He will care for us, bless us, and be our enjoyment. God will become our blessing. (CWWL, 1966, vol. 3, “The Revelation of Christ as the Reality of the Church,” msg. 1)

Being Faithful to Live for God’s Administration
in Caring for Money and Material Matters

Throughout the years, we in the Lord’s recovery have been hearing His Word and have been built up in the riches of Christ. We have surely been nourished by the divine Word. Now if we all would be faithful to live for God’s administration in caring for money and material matters, there would be no financial needs in the recovery. For example, certainly we can exercise our spirit and our will to save a small amount of money each week, perhaps just two dollars and fifty cents, and give this to the Lord for His move on earth. One day, instead of having our lunch at a restaurant, we may eat a simple meal prepared at home. Then the money saved could be given to the Lord. Imagine what the situation would be if we all were faithful to do something like this week by week! (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 69)

The Fellowship for the Furtherance of the Gospel

Philippians 4:15-16 says, “You yourselves also know, Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I went out from Macedonia, no church had fellowship with me in the account of giving and receiving except you only; for even in Thessalonica you sent both once and again to my need.” What kind of sweet feeling the apostle expressed here! He says that this was “a sweet-smelling savor, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God” (v. 18). Paul did not seek a gift from them (v. 17), but what they gave became a sweet-smelling savor for Paul to put on the altar for them. It was not merely something to support him, but it became something increasing to their account. There is an account in the heavenly bank, in which we may have credit or debit. It is a low practice to give merely ten percent. God is not a beggar; do not treat Him as one. You should honor Him as the very bountiful Giver who affords you all the riches. All your riches come from Him. It was and still is up to Him whether you will be rich or not. It is not according to your plan of what you should do and have. You must simply labor day and night. He then will follow your labor to bless you, not for your enterprise but for the spreading of His kingdom.

Charge the dear saints that besides their regular giving to the Lord through the church, they should give an additional five percent of their income every month. Do not do it once a year. It is better to separate the amount for each month into four equal portions and put one portion every Lord’s Day into the offering box. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 1, “Elders’ Training, Book 8: The Life Pulse of the Lord’s Present Move,” ch. 9)

THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
BEING PREACHED IN THE WHOLE INHABITED EARTH
FOR A TESTIMONY TO ALL THE NATIONS

The way to bring others out of the world and into the kingdom of the heavens is not by today’s superficial gospel but by the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations” (Matt. 24:14). The gospel of the kingdom includes not only forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47) and the impartation of life (John 20:31) but also the kingdom of the heavens with the power of the coming age (Heb. 6:5) to cast out demons and heal diseases (Isa. 35:5-6; Matt. 10:1). Both forgiveness of sins and the imparting of life are for the kingdom.

The Emphasis of the Gospel of the Kingdom
Being on the Heavenly Ruling of God
and the Authority of the Lord

The gospel of the kingdom, which also includes the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24), not only brings people into God’s salvation but also into the kingdom of the heavens (Rev. 1:9). The emphasis of the gospel of grace is on forgiveness of sin, God’s redemption, and eternal life, whereas the emphasis of the gospel of the kingdom is on the heavenly ruling of God and the authority of the Lord.

Bringing This Gospel to All the Inhabited Earth

The New Testament speaks of the gospel of life, the gospel of grace, and the gospel of salvation. However, all these are different aspects of the kingdom. The kingdom is the center, the hub, and all the other items may be considered the spokes, which are centered on the hub. The gospel of life is for the kingdom, the gospel of salvation is for the kingdom, and the gospel of forgiveness is for the kingdom. All these different aspects of the gospel are for the kingdom. The kingdom is the real gospel. We may think that the gospel is the gospel and that the kingdom is something else. This concept is wrong. The kingdom is the gospel. If we do not know the kingdom, we do not know the gospel in a full way. If we want to know the gospel in a full way, we must realize that the kingdom is the all-inclusive gospel. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end of this age comes. The inhabited earth means every place inhabited by man. I believe that the churches in the Lord’s recovery will bear the burden to bring this gospel to all the inhabited earth. The gospel of grace has been preached in every continent but not the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of grace is the lower gospel, but the gospel of the kingdom is the higher gospel. This higher gospel must be brought to every continent through the churches in the Lord’s recovery. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 107)