THE FOUR PART: THE PATHWAY OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY
The Course of the Church
Message Thirteen
The Truths Recovered by the Ministry of Brother Witness Lee (2)
Scripture Reading: Rom. 1:16-17; Gen. 2:9; John 6:35, 51, 57; Eph. 6:17; 1 Cor. 1:2; John 20:22; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2Cor. 3:6, 17; Rom. 5:6, 11; 1 Cor. 6:17; Luke 1:35; Rev. 21:2
I. Concerning salvation—Luke 3:6; Acts 28:28: (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans”, msg. 1)
A. The complete salvation of God is composed of God’s judicial redemption and His organic salvation—Rom. 5:10, 16-17; 8:2: (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “Crystallization-study of the Complete Salvation of God in Romans”, msg. 1)
1. The first section, the section of foundation, is by the redemption of Christ judicially as the initiation and procedure of God’s salvation to satisfy His righteous requirements—Rom. 5:16-17: (2005 MDC, msg. 3)
a. God redeemed us judicially by the blood of Christ on the cross, from our sins, from God’s righteous judgment, wrath, and condemnation, from eternal perdition in the lake of fire, and from the accusation of Satan, God’s enemy—1 Pet. 2:24a; Rom. 2:5-6; 3:19b, 24-25; Rev. 1:5b; 21:8; 12:10-11. (2005 MDC, msg. 3)
b. The judicial aspect of God’s complete salvation, His judicial redemption, was accomplished by Christ in the flesh in His earthly ministry and includes the forgiveness of sins, the washing away of sins, justification by God, reconciliation to God, and positional sanctification unto God—Luke 24:47; Eph. 1:7; Heb. 1:3; Rom. 3:24-25; 5:10a; 1 Cor. 1:2; Heb. 13:12. (2005 MDC, msg. 3)
2. The second section, the section of consummation, is by the life of Christ organically as the completion and purpose of God’s salvation to fulfill His heart’s desire—Rom. 5:10b; 8:2: (2005 MDC, msg. 3)
a. God saves us organically by the life of Christ in the Spirit of life from the indwelling sin, from the condemnation due to the sinful action of the indwelling sin, from the old man, from the natural I, from the self, from the flesh with its passions and its lusts, from worldliness, from tribulations and all kinds of environmental troubles, from spiritual death and weakness, and from the vanity and slavery of corruption—5:10b; 8:2; 7:17-20; 6:6; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; Matt. 16:24; 1 John 2:15-16; Rev. 3:1-2. (2005 MDC, msg. 3)
b. The organic aspect of God’s complete salvation, His organic salvation, is carried out in Christ’s heavenly ministry by Christ as the Spirit with our spirit—Rom. 8:2, 16; Gal. 5:25. (2005 MDC, msg. 3)
B. Furthermore, the intensified work of God’s organic salvation by the intensified Spirit in our spirit, drawn by the Lamb, motivates us to overcome the degradation of the church for the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem—Rev. 4:5; 5:6; 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10; 14:4. (2005 MDC, msg. 3)
II. Concerning life—Psa. 36:9; John 14:6: (Life-study of Genesis, msg. 16)
A. From the very beginning of the Bible we see two lines which begins with the tree of life and continues throughout the Scriptures until it ends at the city of New Jerusalem—Gen. 2:9; Rev. 22:2, 14, 19: (Life-study of Genesis, msg. 16)
1. The tree of life signifies the Triune God in Christ to dispense Himself into His chosen people as life in the form of food—Gen. 2:9. (2013 FTTA-Spring, msg. 3)
2. In the Bible the tree of life always signifies Christ as the embodiment of all the riches of God for our food—Col. 2:9; Gen. 2:9; Rev. 22:2, 14, 19. (2013 FTTA-Spring, msg. 3)
3. In Revelation 2:7 the tree of life signifies the crucified and resurrected Christ, who today is in the church, the consummation of which will be the New Jerusalem, in which the crucified and resurrected Christ will be the tree of life for the nourishment of all God’s redeemed people for eternity—1 Pet. 2:24; John 11:25; Rev. 22:2, 14. (2013 FTTA-Spring, msg. 3)
4. According to the purpose of God, the earth is the center of the universe, the garden of Eden is the center of the earth, and the tree of life is the center of the garden of Eden; hence, the universe is centered on the tree of life—Gen. 2:8-9. (2013 FTTA-Spring, msg. 3)
5. The Gospel of John reveals that Christ is the fulfillment of the figure of the tree of life; if we put together John 1:4 and 15:5, we will realize that Christ, who Himself is life and also a vine tree, is the tree of life. (2013 FTTA-Spring, msg. 3)
6. The enjoyment of the tree of life will be the eternal portion of all God’s redeemed; the tree of life fulfills for eternity what God intended for man from the beginning—Gen. 1:26; 2:9; Rev. 22:1-2. (2013 FTTA-Spring, msg. 3)
B. We need to enjoy Christ by eating and drinking Him—John 6:48, 51: (CWWL, 1966, vol. 2, “The Divine Spirit with the Human Spirit in the Epistles”, ch. 4)
1. God’s economy is that we eat, digest, and assimilate Christ to be constituted with Him—1 Tim. 1:4; John 6:35, 51, 57. (2009 ITERO-F, msg. 4)
2. The Triune God becomes our life and life supply by entering into us organically to be assimilated into the fibers of our spiritual being—Eph. 3:16-17a; 4:23. (2009 ITERO-F, msg. 4)
3. To eat the Lord Jesus is to receive Him into us so that He may be digested and assimilated by the regenerated new man in the way of life; we need to eat, digest, and assimilate Jesus as our spiritual food day by day—John 6:51-57. (2009 ITERO-F, msg. 4)
4. We should not only believe into the Lord Jesus and receive Him but also eat Him, digest Him, and assimilate Him, allowing Him to become the content of our being—3:15-16; 6:51-57. (2009 ITERO-F, msg. 4)
5. As we eat the Lord Jesus, we need to have proper spiritual digestion—Ezek. 2:8-3:3; Jer. 15:16. (2009 ITERO-F, msg. 4)
6. Any believer who receives the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity by eating, digesting, and assimilating the Lord Jesus will live because of Him— John 6:57b. (2009 ITERO-F, msg. 4)
C. Pray-reading the Lord’s word—Eph. 6:17: (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, “Pray-Reading the Word”, ch. 1)
1. “Receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition “; to receive the word of God by means of all prayer is to pray-read—v. 17. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, “Enjoying the Lord in His Word by Pray-Reading for the Building Up of the Church in Oneness”, ch. 5)
2. When we pray-read, there is no need to understand everything we read or to compose a prayer; we should open the Bible, look at the pages, and pray in the spirit—v. 17. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, “Enjoying the Lord in His Word by Pray-Reading for the Building Up of the Church in Oneness”, ch. 5)
3. To pray-read the Word properly, we need the Body; the reason for this is that the Lord as our divine food is for the Body, not just for the individual members; there is some profit to pray-reading for ourselves, but if we pray-read with a group of saints, we will notice the difference—v. 17; Eph. 4:16. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, “Pray-Reading the Word”, ch. 2)
4. As we practice to pray-read corporately, we need to remember four words: quick, short, real and fresh; we should forget about trying to compose a long prayer and simply utter a phrase or a sentence; we should do this in a quick and short way—6:17. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, “Pray-Reading the Word”, ch. 2)
5. We also need to be real; we must not pretend; we should say something in a real way; finally, we need to learn to be fresh; the best way to be fresh is not to pray with our own words but with the words of the Bible—2 Tim. 3:16. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, “Pray-Reading the Word”, ch. 2)
D. We need to call on the name of the Lord: (CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “Fulfilling God’s Purpose by Growing in Life and Functioning in Life to Build up the Church”, ch. 4)
1. Calling on the name of the Lord is not a new practice that began with the New Testament; rather, it began with Enosh, the third generation of mankind, in Gen. 4:26; it was continued by Job, Abraham, Isaac, Moses and the children of Israel, Samson, Samuel, David, the psalmist Asaph (Psa. 80:18), the psalmist Heman, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others, all of whom practiced this in the Old Testament age—Gen. 4:26; 12:8; 26:25; Duet. 4:7; Judg. 15:18; 1 Sam. 12:18; Psa. 14:4; 80:18; 88:9; 99:6; Lam. 3:55. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Acts 2:21, footnote 1)
2. In the New Testament, calling on the name of the Lord was first mentioned by Peter, here, on the day of Pentecost, as the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy; this fulfillment is related to God’s outpouring of the all-inclusive Spirit economically upon His chosen people that they may participate in His New Testament jubilee—Acts 2:21. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Acts 2:21, footnote 1)
3. Calling on the Lord’s name is vitally necessary in order for us, the believers in Christ, to participate in and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ with all He has accomplished, attained, and obtained—1 Cor. 1:2. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Acts 2:21, footnote 1)
4. The early believers practiced this everywhere, and to the unbelievers, especially the persecutors, it became a popular sign of Christ’s believers—v. 2; Rom. 9:14, 21. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Acts 2:21, footnote 1)
5. When Stephen suffered persecution, he practiced this, and his practice surely impressed Saul, one of his persecutors; later, the unbelieving Saul persecuted the callers by taking their calling as a sign; immediately after Saul was caught by the Lord, Ananias, who brought Saul into the fellowship of the Body of Christ, charged him to be baptized, calling on the name of the Lord, to show others that he too had become such a caller—Acts 7:58-60; 22:20; 9:14, 21. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Acts 2:21, footnote 1)
6. By his word to Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:22, Paul indicated that in the early days all the Lord’s seekers practiced such calling; undoubtedly, he was one who practiced this, since he charged his young co-worker Timothy to do this that Timothy might enjoy the Lord as he did. (Holy Bible Recovery Version, Acts 2:21, footnote 1)
E. We need to breathe in the Lord as the holy pneuma, the holy breath, the Holy Spirit—John 1:29; 20:22: (CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 1, “The History of the Church and the Local Churches”, msg. 4)
1. The Gospel of John reveals that Christ became flesh to be the Lamb of God and that in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit; thus, in His resurrection He breathed Himself as the consummated Spirit into the disciples—1:29; 20:22. (2005 ITERO-Fall, msg. 2)
2. It is as the Spirit that He was breathed into His disciples, that He can live in the disciples and they can live by Him and with Him, and that He can abide in them and they can abide in Him—v. 22. (2005 ITERO-Fall, msg. 2)
3. The Lord is the Spirit who gives life, and this Spirit is our breath—2 Cor. 3:6, 17; John 20:22. (2005 ITERO-Fall, msg. 2)
4. Paul’s command to pray without ceasing implies that unceasing prayer is like breathing; to live is to breathe; to breathe spiritually is to call on the Lord’s name; we need to call on the Lord Jesus continually; this is the way to breathe, to pray without ceasing—1 Thes. 5:17; Rom. 10:12-13. (2005 ITERO-Fall, msg. 2)
5. If we would live Christ, we must breathe spiritually, and the way to breathe spiritually is to call on the name of the Lord—Lam. 3:55-56. (2005 ITERO-Fall, msg. 2)
6. The consummated Spirit as the breath is everything to us in living the Christian life; only the breath, the Spirit, can be a Christian and be an overcomer—Gal. 3:2-3, 14; Phil. 1:19; Rev. 2:7. (2005 ITERO-Fall, msg. 2)
F. The eternal life, the life of the Triune God, is dispensed into the tripartite man to save the believers subjectively in this life through regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation, and glorification—Rom. 5:10b; 8:2, 10, 6, 11: (2015 ITERO-Fall, msg. 5)
1. First, this life was the divine life in the Spirit—v. 2. (2015 ITERO-Fall, msg. 5)
2. Second, it became the life in our spirit through regeneration—v. 10. (2015 ITERO-Fall, msg. 5)
3. Then from our spirit it saturates our mind for the transformation of our soul, to which our mind belongs, and becomes the life in our soul—v. 6. (2015 ITERO-Fall, msg. 5)
4. Eventually, it will permeate our body, ultimately issuing in the transfiguration of our body, that is, the redemption of our body—vv. 11, 23; Phil. 3:21. (2015 ITERO-Fall, msg. 5)
5. The history of the entire universe is focused on the Triune God dispensing Himself into His tripartite people and mingling Himself with them to produce the New Jerusalem as His eternal corporate expression—Rev. 21: 11. (1999 WT, msg. 22)
III. Concerning the believers—John 3:15; 1 Cor. 1:21: (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery”, ch. 3)
A. The believers are those who were fallen sinners and who have been saved by the grace of God through their God-given and God-allotted faith, which has brought them into an organic union with the Triune God in Christ—Eph. 2:8; 2 Pet. 1:1. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery”, ch. 3)
1. The believers’ relationship with the Lord is described by the words union, mingling, and incorporation; union is concerning our oneness in life with the Lord, mingling is related to the divine and human natures, and incorporation is persons indwelling one another, coinhering—John 6:56. (2005 MDC, msg. 5)
2. Christ’s resurrection was His transfiguration into the life-giving Spirit Who is the processed and consummated Triune God—1 Cor. 15:45b. (1997 WT, msg. 2)
3. Christ as the life-giving Spirit is in our regenerated spirit; when we believed into Christ, He came into our spirit; we are also joined to Him as the life-giving Spirit and are one spirit with Him—1 Cor. 6:17. (1997 WT, msg. 2)
4. By believing into the Lord, we have an organic union with Him; the union of the life-giving Spirit with our regenerated spirit becomes a mingled spirit—John 3:15-16. (1997 WT, msg. 2)
5. The organic union with the resurrected Christ can only be in our regenerated spirit, because Christ as the life-giving Spirit is now with our spirit—v. 6; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22. (1997 WT, msg. 2)
B. The relationship between God and man in its highest aspect is one of mingling—1 Cor. 6:17; John 14:20: (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, “The Practical Way to Live in the Mingling of God with Man”, ch. 3)
1 The mingling of God and man is an intrinsic union of the elements of divinity and humanity to form one organic entity, yet the elements remain distinct in the union—Luke 1:35. (2007 ITERO-Fall, msg. 3)
2. God’s unique purpose is to mingle Himself with us so that He becomes our life, our nature, and our content, and we become His corporate expression—John 14:20; 15:4-5; Eph. 1:5, 9; 3:11, 16-21; 4:4-6, 16. (2007 ITERO-Fall, msg. 3)
3. The church, as the Body of Christ, is the enlargement of Christ, who is the mingling of God and man—Luke 1:31-35; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16: (2007 ITERO-Fall, msg. 3)
4. The processed and consummated Triune God mingles Himself with His chosen people in their humanity; this mingling is the genuine oneness of the Body of Christ—v. 3; John 17:21-23. (2007 ITERO-Fall, msg. 3)
5. In the mingling of divinity and humanity, we may live a meal-offering church life—1 Cor. 1:2; 5:8. (2007 ITERO-Fall, msg. 3)
6. The New Jerusalem is the mingling of the processed and consummated Triune God with His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, transformed, conformed, and glorified tripartite people; this mingling is the counterpart of Christ, a mutual dwelling place, our eternal destiny, and the ultimate manifestation of the processed and consummated Triune God for His eternal, corporate expression—Rev. 21:2-3, 9-23; 22:17. (2007 ITERO-Fall, msg. 3)
C. Man become God in life and nature but not in Godhead—Gen. 1:26; Rev. 4:3; 21:10-11: (2015 MDC, msg. 2)
1. God’s economy is His intention to dispense Himself in His Divine Trinity into His chosen and redeemed people to be their life and nature so that they may be the same as He is for His corporate expression—1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:3-23. (2015 MDC, msg. 2)
2. God’s good pleasure is to be one with man and to make man the same as He is in life, nature, and expression but not in the Godhead—vv. 5, 9. (2015 MDC, msg. 2)
3. For the accomplishment of His economy, God created us in His own image with the intention that we would become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead—Gen. 1:26; Rev. 4:3; 21:10-11. (2015 MDC, msg. 2)
4. For us to be deified means that we are being constituted with the processed and consummated Triune God so that we may be made God in life, nature, and expression to be His corporate expression for eternity—v. 11. (2000 MDC, msg. 1)
5. God redeemed us for the purpose of making us God in life and nature so that He can have the Body of Christ, which consummates in the New Jerusalem as God’s enlargement and expression for eternity—Eph. 1:7; 4:16; Rev. 21:2. (2015 MDC, msg. 2)
D. The Universal Incorporation of the Consummated Triune God with the Regenerated Believer—John 14:16-20: (2014 TGC, msg. 1)
1. In the resurrection of Christ, all His believers have been brought into the union of life with the processed Triune God and mingled with the consummated God into an incorporation—vv. 16-19. (2014 TGC, msg. 1)
2. God in His Divine Trinity is an incorporation—vv. 10-11. (2014 TGC, msg. 1)
3. The consummated Triune God and the regenerated believers are an incorporation—vv. 16-19. (2014 TGC, msg. 1)
4. The consummated Triune God and the regenerated believers became an incorporation in the resurrection of Christ—v. 20. (2014 TGC, msg. 1)
5. The first aspect of the incorporation of the consummated God with the regenerated believers in resurrection is the house of the Father—v. 2. (2014 TGC, msg. 1)
6. The second aspect of the incorporation of the consummated God with the regenerated believers in resurrection is the true vine of the Son—15:1-8, 16. (2014 TGC, msg. 1)
7. The third aspect of the incorporation of the consummated God with the regenerated believers in resurrection is the new child of the Spirit—16:13-16, 19-22. (2014 TGC, msg. 1)
E. The experience of God’s organic salvation equals reigning in Christ’s life—Rom. 5:17, 21: (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)
1. God’s complete salvation is for us to reign in life by the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness—vv. 17, 21. (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)
2. The experience of God’s organic salvation equals reigning in Christ’s life; How much we are saved in God’s organic salvation determines how much our reigning in life is manifested; our reigning in life is a proof of our experience of God’s organic salvation—vv. 10, 17, 21. (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)
3. We were regenerated with a divine, spiritual, heavenly, kingly, and royal life; this life enthrones us to reign as kings over all things—John 1:12-13; 3:3, 5; Rev. 5:10; Rom. 5:17, 21. (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)
4. To reign in life is to conquer, subdue, and rule over Satan, the world, sin, the flesh, ourselves, and all the environmental circumstances and to subdue all kinds of insubordination—8:2, 35, 37; 5:17-18. (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)
5. There is the need for all the believers who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness to practice the restriction and limitation in the divine life—8:6; Rev. 22:1; John 8:12; Prov. 4:18; Matt. 8:9; 2 Cor. 2:14-15. (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)
6. As those who love the Lord Jesus, we have come under His pleasant rule, where we are restricted in the sweetness of love—Col. 1:12-13. (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)
7. The living and experience portrayed in the revelations in Romans 6-16 are the evidence that we are reigning in life. (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)
8. When we live not by our natural life but by the divine life within us, we are in resurrection; the issue of this is the Body of Christ—Gal. 2:20; Rom. 8:6, 10-11; 12:4-5. (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)
9. The result of reigning in life—that is, living under the ruling of the divine life—is the practice of the Body life in the church life—vv. 4-5; 16:16. (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)
10. The Body life is expressed in the church life; only by living under the ruling of the divine life, that is, by reigning in life, is it possible for us to live the proper church life—14:1-23; 16:1, 4-5, 16. (2010 ICSC, msg. 3)