THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Full Ministry of Christ in the Stage of Intensification
Message Three—The Consummation of The New Jerusalem
Scripture Reading: Rev. 21:2; 22:1-2; 1 Cor. 3:12-13; 2 Cor. 3:18; Col. 1:10-11; Eph. 4:11-12
I. According to the entire revelation of the New Testament, the unique goal of the Christian work should be the New Jerusalem, which is the ultimate goal of God’s eternal economy—Rev. 21:2, 10:
A. The Triune God who passed through all the processes, the all-inclusive Christ who was incarnated to die and resurrect, and the life-giving Spirit who was consummated to indwell us all take the New Jerusalem as Their eternal goal—Gen. 1:26; John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 21:2, 10.
B. The Father as the fountain, the Son as the spring, and the Spirit as the flowing river all take the New Jerusalem as Their eternal goal—John 4:14b.
C. The degradation of the church is mainly due to the fact that nearly all the Christian workers are distracted to take many things other than the New Jerusalem as their goal—1 Cor. 3:10.
D. Hence, under the degradation of the church, to be overcomers answering the Lord’s call we need to overcome not only the negative things but even more the positive things which replace the New Jerusalem as the goal—2 Cor. 4:5; 10:16; 11:4.
E. An overcomer’s goal should be uniquely and ultimately the goal of God’s eternal economy, that is, the New Jerusalem—Rev. 2:7; 3:12.
II. The New Jerusalem is the Triune God, the Divine Trinity, as three basic factors, wrought into and structured together with His redeemed to be a miraculous structure of treasure as the conclusion of the whole Bible—Rev. 21:12-13, 16, 18-25; 22:3, 5:
A. The first main aspect of the New Jerusalem is seen in its structure with its base signified by the gold as the Father’s nature, its gates signified by the pearls as the issue of the Son’s redeeming death and life-dispensing resurrection, and its wall signified by the precious stones as the consummation of the Spirit’s transforming work—21:12-13, 18-21.
B. The second main aspect of the New Jerusalem is seen in its furnishings with the reigning center of the Father signified by the throne, the abiding place of the Son signified by the temple, and the enlightening and shining light of the Spirit signified by the oil in the lamp—22:1; 21:16, 22-25; 22:3, 5.
C. The third main aspect of the New Jerusalem is seen in its supply being the flow of the Divine Trinity; its base and source for the flow is the Father signified by the street, its flow is the Spirit signified by the river of water of life, and the element of its flow is the Son signified by the tree of life—vv. 1-2.
D. Thus, the entire constitution of the New Jerusalem is the processed and consummated Triune God built with His regenerated, transformed, and glorified elect in His Divine Trinity in a threefold way—cf. Eph. 4:4-6.
III. As co-workers and elders, we must have the realization that we are working with God to carry out His divine building in three aspects— the church, the Body of Christ, and the New Jerusalem—1 Cor. 3:9, 12a, 15:
A. We must establish and shepherd the churches by the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the life-giving Spirit, with His organic salvation—2 Cor. 3:3, 6.
B. We must build and constitute the Body of Christ by Christ as the sevenfold intensified Spirit with His sevenfold intensified organic salvation—Rev. 1:4; 3:1; 5:6.
C. We must adorn and consummate the New Jerusalem with God the Father as its golden base, God the Son as its pearl gates, and God the Spirit for the wall of precious stones, by drinking the Spirit, the flowing Triune God, as the river of water of life and eating Christ, the overcoming Lion-Lamb, as the tree of life with His rich and fresh supply—John 4:14:
1. The New Jerusalem needs not only to be consummated but also adorned; she is “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”—Rev. 21:2, 18-21.
2. We need to adorn the divine building by coordinating with the trans-forming Spirit to minister the Triune God into others, perfecting them with the attributes of the Triune God so that these divine attributes become their human virtues for the building up of the Body of Christ—2 Cor. 3:18; S. S. 1:10-11; Eph. 4:11-12.
D. Even today the New Jerusalem is still under construction; we are building up the Body of Christ for the building of the New Jerusalem—Eph. 4:12:
1. We are working together with God to build up the New Jerusalem; the Lord’s concern is to gain the New Jerusalem through the precursor of the organic Body of Christ produced in the churches.
2. As we grow in the divine life and minister the Triune God to others for their growth in the divine life, we are building up the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem—Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:16.
IV. What is crucial with our building work is “of what sort it is”—1 Cor. 3:13:
A. If we build upon the foundation with gold (God the Father in His divine nature), silver (God the Son in His judicial redemption), and precious stones (God the Spirit in His transforming work), we will receive a reward—vv. 12a, 14.
B. If we build upon the foundation with wood (the human nature), grass (man in the flesh), and stubble (lifelessness), we will suffer loss; our work will be consumed, but we ourselves will be saved, yet so as through fire—vv. 12b, 15.
V. “In the past there was a large frame in my study in which these words were written: ‘…he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire’ (1 Cor. 3:15). If you build the temple of God with gold, silver, and precious stones, you will receive a reward. However, if you build with wood, grass, and stubble, your work will be consumed, but you yourself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Whenever we touch the eternal goal of God, the New Jerusalem, we need to be very pure; we must not be careless” (How to Be a Co-worker and an Elder and How to Fulfill Their Obligations, pp. 89-90).
Ministry Excerpts:
TEN GREAT THINGS ACCOMPLISHED BY CHRIST
IN HIS FULL MINISTRY IN THREE STAGES
It is not enough merely to know Christ; we still need to experience and enjoy Him that we may gain Him. To experience, enjoy, and gain Him is not that simple. We can do this only by being in the full ministry of Christ in His three divine and mystical stages as explained in the first three chapters of this book. Actually, what are the things accomplished by Christ in His full ministry in three stages? Simply speaking, in the first stage, the stage of His incarnation, He accomplished four great things. First, He brought God into man; second, He united and mingled God with man; third, He expressed God in His humanity and lived out God’s attributes in His human living as His human virtues; and fourth, He accomplished His judicial redemption.
In the second stage of His ministry, the stage of His inclusion, Christ accomplished three great things. First, He was begotten as God’s firstborn Son; second, He became the life-giving Spirit; and third, He regenerated the believers for His Body. These three things seem to be simple, but their details are quite complicated. This is similar to our body, which seems simple but is very complicated when it is analyzed and tested in the laboratory.
In the third stage of His ministry, the stage of His intensification, Christ is accomplishing three great things. First, He is intensifying His organic salvation; second, He is producing His overcomers; and third, He is consummating the New Jerusalem. Hence, in summary, in the three stages of His full ministry, Christ accomplishes ten great things. The New Testament simply deals with these ten things. This is the new language expressing a new culture in the Lord’s recovery that has never been seen in Christianity.
IN THE THIRD STAGE, THE STAGE OF HIS INTENSIFICATION,
FROM THE DEGRADATION OF THE CHURCH TO
THE CONSUMMATION OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
To Intensify His Organic Salvation
The first thing which Christ is doing in the third stage of His intensification is to intensify His organic salvation. The organic salvation, carried out by Him as the pneumatic Christ in the second stage of His inclusion, is already adequately strong. In the stage of His intensification, however, He intensifies His organic salvation sevenfold.
For His ministry in the stage of His inclusion, Christ became the life-giving Spirit, the pneumatic Christ, to carry out His organic salvation for the producing of the church and the building up of His Body to consummate the New Jerusalem. However, on the way of His ministry in the stage of His inclusion, before He had attained His purpose, the church became degraded; such degradation frustrates the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy. Hence, Christ as the one life-giving Spirit was intensified sevenfold to become the seven Spirits of God (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6; 3:1).
To Produce the Overcomers
The second thing which Christ is doing in the third stage of His intensification is to produce the overcomers. By ourselves we cannot become overcomers. Overcomers are produced, not worked out. They are produced by Christ in the third stage of His intensification.
To Consummate the New Jerusalem
The third thing which Christ is doing in the third stage of His intensification is to consummate the New Jerusalem. According to the entire revelation of the New Testament, the unique goal of the Christian work should be the New Jerusalem, which is the ultimate goal of God’s eternal economy. Some preach the gospel with the goal of winning souls. Others establish seminaries with the goal of teaching theology. Still others pursue spirituality with the goal of living a spiritual life. Also, there are others whose goal is to pursue holiness.
In the Lord’s recovery, what is our goal? Is it to be people who are holy? Today among Christians in general, nearly no one has a proper goal. They pursue being spiritual, being holy, preaching the gospel to win souls, and establishing seminaries to teach theology and the Bible, yet hardly anyone can say that they are doing these things with the goal of consummating the New Jerusalem. They have all missed the proper goal.
THE NEW JERUSALEM BEING THE CORPORATE GOD
Due to the degradation of the church, nearly all the believers in Christ have become defeated in their old man by Satan, sin, the world, and their flesh. Hence, there is the need to have the overcomers. Today, very few believers are not defeated in their old man by Satan, sin, the world, and their flesh. The majority have been defeated and have become defeated believers. Look at today’s Catholicism and Protestantism, in the midst of which are thousands and thousands of believers, but where are the overcomers? There are hardly any. The United States as the top country of Christianity today has the greatest number of Christians. However, generally speaking, according to the contents of people’s conversation and the manner of their dressing and adornment in their workplace, there is simply no way to tell which ones are Christians. Many saints have told me that in their workplace, when people return to work on Monday after the weekend, the contents of their conversation are too filthy for one to hear. How can one possibly tell who are the genuine Christians?
Just as the Bible begins with God, so it ends with God. In the beginning He is a simple God, a God who is triune; at the end a city appears, and that is the corporate God. The New Jerusalem is God’s enlargement and expansion, God’s expression in eternity, which is the corporate God. Those who participate in the New Jerusalem are all God’s children, God’s kind, God’s species. Today my descendants total only about forty. However, God’s children are innumerable. Consider how many are in the New Jerusalem! They all are gods; they all belong to God’s species. Hence, the New Jerusalem is the corporate God.
OUR GOAL BEING FOR THE CONSUMMATION OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
In spite of the fact that the holy Word contains such a clear revelation, most readers of the Bible disregard the New Jerusalem. Some say that the New Jerusalem is “heaven,” where Christians will go after their death and where there are the golden street, pearl gates, and jasper wall. Others say that since Revelation is a mysterious book, no one can understand what the New Jerusalem is, so there is no need to pay any attention to it. They feel that since you are not a theologian, you do not have to study it. Today, the majority of Christians disregard the New Jerusalem, the tree of life, and the river of water of life. Instead, they take many other good things as replacements of the New Jerusalem. But the Lord’s recovery is not like that. Today we establish the churches, edify the saints, practice the vital groups, and visit people by door-knocking, but our aim, our goal, is for the consummation of the New Jerusalem.
OVERCOMING THE POSITIVE THINGS WHICH REPLACE
THE NEW JERUSALEM AS THE GOAL
The degradation of the church is mainly due to the fact that nearly all Christian workers have been distracted to take many things other than the New Jerusalem as their goal. Hence, under the degradation of the church, to be overcomers answering the Lord’s call, we need to overcome not only the negative things but even more the positive things which replace the New Jerusalem as the goal. We do not want a kind of gospel preaching that is merely for soul-winning. The goal of our preaching the gospel must be the New Jerusalem.
This is why I said that you should not trust in big gospel campaigns. That is not the Lord’s way. In creation, in nature, God’s ordination for man’s multiplication is not by having several hundred births in one delivery nor by having twelve deliveries in one year, but by one delivery with nine months’ time, and, in general, one birth in each delivery. This is the law ordained by God. Genesis 1 says that God created man, blessed man, and told man to be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth (v. 28). But God’s way is to do it slowly. It is by one birth at a time, with only one pregnancy a year, and with each pregnancy lasting nine months before delivery. In this way, after six thousand years, the earth is replenished with human beings. Therefore, we need to preach the gospel according to the principle ordained by God. Do not believe in holding big meetings to preach the gospel; that will not be effective. We have already learned the lesson. Perhaps some will say, “Brother Lee, over forty years ago, didn’t you hold big meetings to preach the gospel?” Yes, but I had prepared people to follow up. After the big gospel meetings, I gave all the lists of names to the brothers and sisters for them to visit one by one. Hence, we should no longer have big meetings; we need to practice the vital groups and go out to visit people, one by one, by knocking on their doors. Suppose your church has only two hundred fifty people and all of them practice the vital groups; then by each one begetting one, the next year you will have five hundred. Suppose the Lord’s recovery has two hundred fifty thousand members throughout the earth and all practice the vital groups. After one year there will be five hundred thousand and after another year, one million. Apparently, it is slow; actually, it is very fast. The proper way is to practice the vital groups. There is no need to establish seminaries or hold big meetings.
LEADING PEOPLE TOWARD THE NEW JERUSALEM
To be overcomers we should take the goal of God’s eternal economy, the New Jerusalem, as our unique and ultimate goal. We all need to remember this goal. Our goal is not to help people to be spiritual or to be holy. Rather, we are leading people toward the New Jerusalem to consummate the New Jerusalem. How do we do this? It is by drinking the Spirit and eating Christ for us to receive His rich and fresh supply. Thus, we adorn and consummate the New Jerusalem with God the Father as its golden base, God the Son as its pearl gates, and God the Spirit for its wall of precious stones. It is not according to your will, nor by using your way, nor with you as the element and essence. Rather, it is with God as the essence, Christ as the element, and the Spirit as the way. We need to daily drink the flowing God, the Spirit, as our river of water of life; we need to eat the overcoming Lion-Lamb as the tree of life to be our fresh and rich supply; and we need to take the Triune God as the essence, the element, and the way to build and consummate the New Jerusalem. This is the consummation of the full ministry of Christ. (How to Be a Co-worker and an Elder and How to Fulfill Their Obligations, msg. 3)