THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

The Divine and Eternal Life
Message Three—Knowing the Lord’s Recovery in Life

Scripture Reading: John 1:4; 10:10; 11:25; 14:6; Rom. 8:2, 10-11

I. In order to see life and to know the Lord’s recovery in life, we need to be unveiled—2 Cor. 3:14-17:

A. For centuries the human mind has been in captivity to religious and natural concepts; for this reason, we may read the Bible without seeing what it reveals—v. 15; John 5:39-40.

B. Many in the local churches are still natural in their understanding of spiritual things; they remain under the veil of natural concepts—2 Cor. 3:14.

C. Everyone has four layers of veils: the natural makeup with its ethical element, culture, religion, and the ethics acquired through teaching and training—Rom. 7:21-23; Phil. 3:3-6.

D. We may be veiled by our racial and national character; the various national characters, dispositions, habits, and customs are veils that keep us from seeing the vision concerning life—Phil. 3:3-6.

II. We need to know the Lord’s recovery in life—John 1:4; 1 John 1:1-2:

A. Our eyes must be opened to see that the Lord’s recovery is a recovery back to life—John 1:1, 4; 14:6; 1 John 1:1-2.

B. The purpose of the Lord’s recovery is to bring us back to God Himself as our life—Eph. 4:18; Rom. 5:10; 8:2, 10-11.

C. The Lord’s recovery is absolutely a matter of life—a recovery to bring us back to the Triune God in order to possess, experience, and enjoy Him as life—2 Cor. 13:14.

D. In order to have an adequate vision of the Lord’s recovery, we need to know the recovery in the Triune God—1 John 1:1-2; 2:25; 5:11-13.

III. To know the Lord’s recovery in life is to know the Triune God as life in our experience—John 1:4, 14, 16-17; 10:10; 11:25; 14:6:

A. Life is the Triune God, for the Father is in the Son, and the Son became the Spirit to be our life—1:14; 20:22; 1 Cor. 15:45b:

1. Life is the Triune God Himself coming into us so that we may experience Him, enjoy Him, be one with Him, and express Him—Rom. 8:2, 10-11.

2. Life is a person—the Triune God, who in Christ has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension and has come into us as the life-giving Spirit to be our life and to mingle with us—1 Cor. 15:3-4, 45b; 6:17.

B. Regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation, and glorification are the work of life within us, and this life is the processed Triune God, who became the life-giving Spirit to dwell in our spirit and to be one with us—Rom. 6:19; 8:16, 29-30; 12:2.

C. The records of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, however, overlap; Genesis, speaking of them, considers them as one corporate man:

1. Isaac’s life story began in chapter twenty-one, and Abraham’s life story ended in chapter twenty-five; Jacob’s life story began in chapter twenty-five, and Isaac’s life story ended in chapter thirty-five; Jacob’s life story, supplemented by that of Joseph, ended in chapter fifty; the significance of this overlapping is that, according to the experience of life, these three persons are one man, a corporate man.

2. The God who came to call this corporate person and who dealt with this corporate man was the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; when God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, He said, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”—Exo. 3:6.

3. The respective experiences of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are three aspects of a complete one; as the transfer of race began with Abraham, passed through Isaac, and was completed with Jacob, so their experiences should be considered as one complete experience.

IV. If we see the vision of the churches as the golden lampstands—the embodiment and expression of the Triune God—we will truly know what life is—Rev. 1:12, 20; 2:1:

A. The churches can be golden, having God’s nature, because His life is being worked into the believers through regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation, and glorification; apart from this process, there is no way for the church to be a golden lampstand—John 3:6; Rom. 8:11.

B. The church is the Triune God’s reproduction, not in the Godhead as a deity to be worshipped but in life, nature, and expression—Eph. 4:4-6; Rev. 1:12, 20.

C. Life is not only something in our experiences, such as the law of life, the sense of life, and the fellowship of life, but primarily the Triune God dispensing Himself into us and making us one in Him to be the golden lampstands—2 Cor. 13:14; Rev. 1:4-6, 12, 20.

V. In Genesis 35 there is a crucial and radical turn from the individual experience of God to the corporate experience of God—the experience of God as the God of Bethel—John 14:2-3, 20: Eph. 3:17-21; 4:4-6:

A. In Genesis 35:7 we have a new divine title—El-bethel, God of the house of God:

1. Before this chapter God was the God of individuals—28:13a.

2. Here God is no longer just the God of individuals but El-bethel, the God of a corporate body, the God of the house of God—Psa. 84:1-4, 10.

3. When Jacob reached Bethel, he came to know God as the God of His house.

4. Our God is the God of Bethel, the God of the church—1 Tim. 3:15.

B. Bethel signifies the corporate life, which is the Body of Christ; thus, in calling God the God of Bethel, Jacob advanced from the individual experience to the corporate experience—1 Cor. 12:12.

VI. The Christian life has the individual aspect and the corporate aspect; the individual aspect is for the corporate aspect—we will truly know what life is—John 3:3, 5-6; 17:22-23:

A. Outside the church life, people can be regenerated to receive the divine life, but without the church life, they will not have the abundance of life—1:12-13; 3:3, 5-6, 15-16.

B. We experience life individually, but because our individual experience is for the corporate aspect, we must be in the practical church life in order to have the abundance of life—10:10.

VII. We need to pray that the Lord will show us a clear vision of life so that we may know the Lord’s recovery in life—Col. 1:9; Eph. 1:17:

A. If we see the revelation in the Bible concerning life, we will know what the Lord’s recovery is; we will know that the recovery is not a matter of any kind of activity, movement, or practice, because these things are not the Triune God Himself as life—Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11.

B. If we see life in a practical way, we will be able to discern life and not be misled if some try to lead the church in a wrong direction—Col. 3:4.

C. If we have the vision of the Lord’s recovery in life, no matter what happens, we will be kept in the recovery without any change, distraction, or deviation—Prov. 29:18a; Acts 26:19.

 

Ministry Excerpts:

NEEDING TO KNOW THE LORD’S RECOVERY IN LIFE

Many Christian workers have not seen life; they carry out their particular works without a realization of life. When they preach the gospel, they do not emphasize life. When they teach the Bible, they teach only doctrines and do not seek to minister life to others through their teaching. In the past in China there was a large publishing group in which several denominations participated to release Christian literature in Chinese. Of the many books they published, I did not read or hear of one that ministered life to the readers. Instead, they conveyed only Bible stories, doctrines, and Christian culture. Few Christians in the denominations know or minister life. When I was young, my family met with the Southern Baptists, who are fundamental and have sound teachings, but I never heard anything of life there. All that I heard was like husks and chaff, but there was no grain, no life. They have the term life, and they quote verses that mention life, such as John 10:10 and 14:6. However, they define life in these verses merely as everlasting blessing. In all my years among them I never heard that Christ can be life to us in our daily living or that Christ is the life-giving Spirit.

Life is mysterious and difficult to define and share with others, but our eyes must be opened to see that the Lord’s recovery is a recovery back to life. The Bible establishes the principle that the degradation of Christianity, which began from the last part of the first century, is a deviation from life. The last ministry in the Bible is John’s mending ministry, which uniquely brings the believers back to life. Yet many who read the Gospel of John, the Epistles of John, and Revelation do not realize that the purpose of these writings is to bring us back to life. The deviation of Christianity from life has continued from the New Testament time down to the present.

THE LORD’S RECOVERY BEING A RECOVERY BACK TO LIFE

We need to ask ourselves what we are doing in the local churches. Are we doing an ordinary Christian work? Is our goal merely to have the best doctrines? We need to see that the purpose of the Lord’s recovery is to bring us back to God Himself as our life. I have no interest in anything but life. I have studied the Bible daily for more than fifty years, but I have no interest in mere scriptural knowledge, because it is like chaff. Life is God Himself—the God who created the universe, was incarnated, lived on the earth in humanity for thirty-three and a half years, died on the cross, passed through death and Hades, entered into resurrection, ascended to the heavens as a man, and became the life-giving Spirit to enter into us as our life. Therefore, life implies a great deal. God ordained that His chosen, called, saved, and regenerated people should live this life—the processed God, who is real, practical, available, and even one with us.I am not proud that the Lord has revealed these things to us. Instead, my heart aches for the pitiful situation of millions of Christians today who do not know life. Many even reject, despise, criticize, and try to damage the Lord’s recovery. If our vision is clear, we will not be bothered by such ones but will pity them because they do not know life. We should similarly pity those who have gone out from among us. … I believe that the Lord sovereignly allowed the recent turmoil in the churches in order to give us a negative background that will help us to see what life is. From now on we must have a definite vision concerning life.

We need to pray that the Lord would cause us to see life. Although we may have heard many messages concerning life, it is possible that we may have never seen life. As genuine believers, we have life, but if we have seen life in a practical way, we will be able to discern life and not be misled if some try to lead the church in a wrong direction. No man’s speaking alone can give us a vision or cause us to see life. Our seeing of life depends entirely on the Lord, but we need to have a seeking heart. We must not be content with the situation in Christianity or with our own situation. Our standard must be God Himself, who is our life. If we know God in all the items from creation to our glorification, we know what life is.

LIFE IS GOD HIMSELF COMING INTO US,
SO THAT WE MAY LIVE, EXPERIENCE，
ENJOY AND BE ONE WITH HIM

Life is not miracles. The Lord did not trust those who believed because of miracles. John 2:23-24 says, “When He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed into His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus Himself did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all men.” John is a book of life. Whoever cares for miracles does not know life. John 2 ends with this word about the Lord’s not entrusting Himself to those who believed because of miraculous signs, and chapter 3 begins with the word but, indicating that what follows is different. Verse 1 says, “But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.” Nicodemus came to the Lord not to see miracles but to seek something deeper. Therefore, in chapter 3 the Lord opened Himself to this seeking one regarding regeneration, which is altogether a matter of life (vv. 3, 5). The Gospel of John is the unique Gospel of life. Miracles are what God can do with His power, but life is God Himself coming into us so that we may live, experience, enjoy, and be one with Him.

Seeing such a vision concerning life will make us different. This is what we need. In past turmoils many saints in the local churches were deceived because their vision concerning life was inadequate. If a man does not know what real gold looks like, he can be cheated by someone selling a lesser substitute. If we have a proper and definite vision, a clear view, concerning life, no one will be able to deceive us. For this reason, we all need to pray definite prayers asking the Lord to show us a clear vision of life. Along with such prayer, we also need to study particular verses and books in the Bible. Reading certain ministry books concerning life can also help us. However, studying alone is not adequate to see life—we must have the prayer.

DOCTRINE BECOMING TRUTH,
TRUTH BECOMING LIGHT,
AND LIGHT BECOMING LIFE

Truth is the shining of light, and the divine light is life (John 1:4). This brings us back to life. We may know that life is the Triune God, but we still need the truth, the shining of the Triune God in many aspects, in order to have the riches of life. The shining of the divine light in its many aspects is the riches of life.

We first must have the doctrines in order to have the truth. Thus, Christian workers and the fundamental denominations that lack life are still helpful if they preach correct doctrines, for eventually those doctrines may become the truth. Without the doctrine, the truth cannot come. Many missionaries who went to China taught only doctrines, but without their work many Chinese would have never heard that Jesus is the Savior who died on the cross for sinners. Eventually, some of the Chinese who heard this doctrine realized and received the truth that Jesus was their Savior. Through the doctrines we see the truths. Doctrine becoming truth in us is the shining of light, and the light is life.

We need to know the Lord’s recovery both in life and in truth, which means in the Triune God and in the Bible. For this reason, we need to study the Bible daily, because from the Bible we first receive the doctrines. Through God’s enlightening, the doctrines become truth and the shining of the divine light in us. Then we are joined to the light, and the light becomes life to us. This is what we need.

All the riches of life are in the truth. Every truth is an aspect of the riches of life. In our experience it is first a doctrine; then it becomes a truth, which joins us to the light, and that particular aspect of the light becomes life to us in one of life’s rich aspects. This is difficult to explain and analyze, but our experience confirms it. When we read the Bible, we first get doctrine, then the truth, then light, and finally life. This is the procedure. We cannot have life first. We first learn the doctrine by reading, then we see the truth, then the light shines, then light becomes life, and we receive the riches of life. Often during one time in the Word, we experience all four—doctrine, truth, light, and life. However, it takes a long time to realize some truths. After knowing a doctrine for several years, in one particular time of prayer with the Lord it may become real to us as truth and the shining of light, bringing us the riches of life.

We must know the Lord’s recovery in life and truth. Those who are truly in the Lord’s recovery know God in a living way and know the Bible in the way of light. We have to pray for this to be our experience. The Lord’s recovery is not an activity, movement, or ordinary Christian work but a matter of life and truth in light. We are truly in the Lord’s recovery if we know God and the Bible, have life and truth, and are full of light. Christians who are not genuinely seeking the Lord will not understand what we are doing and teaching in the Lord’s recovery. They may be offended and criticize us. We cannot avoid this, but there are always a few like Nicodemus, who are sincere, hungry, and seeking after the Lord’s heart. The Lord reveals Himself to such ones, and they become part of His recovery. (Basic Principles Concerning the Eldership, ch. 11)

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE CALLED

Three Being One

As you read the book of Genesis, you will notice that the records of Adam, Abel, Enoch, and Noah are quite distinct one from another. The records of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, however, overlap. Genesis, speaking of them, considers them as one corporate man. Isaac’s life story began in chapter twenty-one, and Abraham’s life story ended in chapter twenty-five. Jacob’s life story began in chapter twenty-five, and Isaac’s life story ended in chapter thirty-five. Jacob’s life story, supplemented by that of Joseph, ended in chapter fifty. The significance of this overlapping is that, according to the experience of life, these three persons are one man, a corporate man. When God created mankind, He created man in a corporate way, for Adam was a corporate man (5:2). It is not a small thing to see this. Do not think that, as a called one, you are complete as an individual. None of us is a complete individual unit. We all need one another. You need me and I need you. In like manner, Abraham needed Isaac and Jacob, Isaac needed Abraham and Jacob, and Jacob needed Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph. All of them needed the others in order to have the completion of God’s calling.

The God who came to call this corporate person and who dealt with this corporate man was the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. When God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, He said, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exo. 3:6)

The Respective Experiences of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob Being Three Aspects of a Complete One

As the transfer of race began with Abraham, passed through Isaac, and was completed with Jacob, so their experiences should be considered as one complete experience. It is implied that the three were one. The Triune God considered them as members of a corporate man for His dealings and for Him to be their God in this way. The last thirty-nine and a half chapters of Genesis are a biography of a corporate person composed of three plus one. If we add together all the different aspects of the experiences of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob including Joseph, we see a clear picture of the complete experience of the called ones. (Life-study of Genesis, msg. 38)