Ⅳ
The Lord’s recovery brings us back to the unique ministry of the New Testament; this ministry (2 Cor. 3:18; 4:1) has the following characteristics:
A
It ministers the healthy teaching of God’s economy and wars the good warfare against the different and strange teachings of the dissenters with the strange fire of man’s natural enthusiasm, natural affection, natural strength, and natural ability—1 Tim. 1:3-4, 18; Heb. 13:9; 2 Tim. 2:1-15; Lev. 10:1-11.
B
It produces the local churches as the golden lampstands to be the testimony of Jesus with the same essence, appearance, and expression, and it builds up the one Body of Christ by the one Spirit, perfecting all of us into the oneness of the Triune God—Rev. 1:10-13, 20; John 17:23; Eph. 4:1-4, 11-13; Zech. 4:6.
C
It prepares the overcomers to be Christ’s bride, His “queen,” in Himself as the “royal abode” and in the local churches as the “palaces of ivory” to consummate in the New Jerusalem as the “King’s palace”; it betroths us to Christ, stirring up our love for Him in the simplicity and the purity toward Christ, to make us His queen—Psa. 45:1-15; Rev. 21:2, 9-10; 2 Cor. 11:2-3.
D
It strengthens us to follow Christ in the fellowship of His sufferings on the pathway to glory, the way of the cross, for the manifestation and multiplication of life—John 12:24-26; Col. 1:24; 2 Cor. 4:10-11, 16-18; 11:23-33.
E
It dispenses Christ as grace, truth, life, and the Spirit into us for our revelation of Christ, our enjoyment of Christ, and our growth in life that we may be saved in life to reign in life—1:12, 24; Phil. 1:25; Rom. 5:10, 17.
F
It sanctifies us through the word of the truth and the washing of the water in the word; it also shepherds us with the cherishing and nourishing presence of the pneumatic Christ—John 17:17; Eph. 5:26, 29-30; Rev. 1:12-13.
G
It tears down hierarchy and blends us into one, making us all brothers of Christ, slaves of Christ, and members of Christ to be the one Body of Christ in reality; it also tears down the high places and exalts Christ alone to make Christ everything in the church—Matt. 23:8-12; 1 Cor. 12:24; Deut. 12:1-3; 2 Cor. 4:5; 10:3-5; Col. 3:10-11.
H
It brings all of us into function to practice the God-ordained way and leads us to follow the Lamb wherever He may go for the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth—Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 4:11-12; Rev. 14:4; Matt. 24:14.
I
It brings us into a new revival of living out the New Jerusalem and working out the New Jerusalem to gain the reality of the Body of Christ as the highest peak in God’s economy—2 Cor. 3:6, 8-9; 5:18-20; Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 4:4-6, 16.
Morning Nourishment
2 Cor. 4:1 Therefore having this ministry as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart.11:2-3 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your thoughts would be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity toward Christ.
Paul’s word in [2 Corinthians 11:2]…touches our heart in a deep way and stirs up our love for the Lord Jesus…. After reading a portion of a life-study message, you once again begin to feel that as the Bridegroom the Lord Jesus is lovely and precious. Spontaneously you say, “O Lord Jesus, dear Bridegroom, I love You. Lord, thank You for Your word, for Your ministry, and for Your recovery.”…The genuine ministry stirs up our love for the Lord Jesus as our Bridegroom.
We need to see from 11:2 that we have been betrothed to one husband in order to be presented as a pure virgin to Christ. Therefore, we should say, “Our dear Lord Jesus is our unique Husband, and I am part of His virgin. I don’t care for doctrine or theology. I care only for the ministry that ministers Christ to me. He is the pleasant and dear One whom I love.”
In chapter 11 Paul… reminds the believers at Corinth that he has engaged them to one Husband, not to present them as students of theology, but to present them as a pure virgin to Christ. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 462-463)
Today’s Reading
Whenever there is the preaching of the genuine gospel and the real Jesus with a sincere spirit, the Lord Jesus will be ministered to others so that they may appreciate Him, love Him, follow Him, and take Him as everything. Throughout the centuries, many have preached from the Bible and taught the Bible, but their preaching and teaching nevertheless distracted the believers from the precious Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In principle, such ones distract the believers in the same way as that taken by the serpent in Genesis 3. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 467-468)Psalm 45:8b says, “From palaces of ivory, harpstrings have made You glad.” In this verse palaces signify local churches; ivory signifies the resurrection life of Christ (John 19:36); and harpstrings signify praises. The local churches, which are beautiful in the eyes of the Lord and which are His expression, are built with the resurrection life of Christ, and from the local churches are the praises that make Him glad. As we praise the Lord, we need to appreciate what He is in His virtues and what He has done to produce the church to be His expression. In a very real sense, Christ’s garments, His virtues, have produced the church as His expression, and both His garments and the church are full of sweetness.
[In Psalm 45] the king typifies Christ, …the queen typifies the church, and…those around the queen typify the believers. In type, this queen is not a single, individual person—she is corporate…. The believers are both the constituents of the queen and the honorable and beautiful women.
The situation is the same in Revelation 19:7 and 9a. Verse 7 says, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” This verse speaks of the wife of the Lamb. However, verse 9a says, “Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb.” This verse speaks of those who are invited to the Lamb’s marriage dinner…. The wife, the bride of Christ, here is not the church but the overcomers…. The guests also are the overcomers. This means that, on the one hand, the overcomers are the bride and that, on the other hand, they are the guests…. The bride of Christ, therefore, is actually the group of overcomers. (Life-study of the Psalms, pp. 256, 260)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 3, “Truth Messages,” ch. 4; CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 1: The Ministry of the New Testament,” ch. 1