Scripture Reading: Gen. 6:5-22; Phil. 2:12-13
Ⅰ
The ark is a type of Christ, not only the individual Christ but also the corporate Christ, the church, which is the Body of Christ and the new man—1 Pet. 3:20-21; Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 2:15-16; Col. 3:10-11:
A
By building the ark and entering into it, Noah was not only saved from God's judgment on the evil generation through the flood but was also separated from that generation and ushered into a new age—Gen. 6:5-22.
B
Likewise, by building the church and entering into the church life, we will be saved from God's judgment on today's evil generation through the great tribulation and will be separated from that generation to be ushered into a new age, the age of the millennium—Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 21:36; Rev. 3:10.
Ⅱ
The ark which Noah built signifies the practical and present Christ as God's salvation; thus, to build up the ark is to build up Christ in our experience, which is to work out our own salvation for the building up of the Body of Christ, the corporate Christ—Phil. 2:12-13; cf. 4:13; John 14:30; Rom. 1:9:
A
To work out our own salvation is to follow the pattern of Noah, who built the ark not according to his own imagination but absolutely according to God's revelation and divine instructions by faith—Gen. 6:9, 15a; Heb. 11:5-7:
１
Just as there was only one window, one opening, in the ark toward the heavens for the light, there is only one window, one revelation, and one vision through one ministry in God's building—Gen. 6:16; Acts 26:19; 1 Tim. 1:3-4.
２
In every age there is the vision of that age, and we have to serve God according to the vision of the age; God's word reveals to us that in every age He gives only one vision to man—Acts 26:19; Eph. 1:17; 3:9.
３
Throughout the ages there were many saints who loved the Lord and who feared the Lord, but we cannot say that they all had the vision that matched their age—Acts 15:35-39; 18:24-25; 19:1-2; 21:18-21:
ａ
Many lovers of the Lord were raised up through the past centuries, but they were not able to be in one accord because the vision each held was different in degree; because the degree of the visions they saw was different, spontaneously there was no one accord.
ｂ
While the Holy Spirit is moving on, some decide to follow and others decide to stay; the more the Holy Spirit moves on, the fewer are those who follow Him.
ｃ
If our vision is not up to date, it is impossible for us to be one—Prov. 29:18a.
４
We must pray that we would be co-workers who match the need of the ministry of God in the present age (see attachment).
B
To work out our own salvation is to work together with God in His unique work—2 Cor. 6:1a:
１
The one unique work of the ministry is to minister Christ as the processed Triune God into others so that He may build Himself into their being for the building up of the Body of Christ—Gen. 6:14; 1 Cor. 3:6-12.
２
The three stories of the ark signify the Triune God—Gen. 6:16:
ａ
The Spirit brings us to the Son, and the Son brings us to the Father; when we come to the Father, we are in the third story—Luke 15:4-7, 8-10, 18-23; Eph. 2:18.
ｂ
We need to enter into the deepest and highest intimacy with our Triune God so that He can bring us to the "third story" to show us His mysteries, secrets, and hidden treasures—John 1:14, 16-18; 1 John 1:3, 5; 4:8, 16; 1 Cor. 2:9; 2 Cor. 2:10; Exo. 33:11.
C
To work out our own salvation is to accumulate the experiences of Christ revealed in Philippians for the building up of the Body of Christ:
１
In Philippians 1 salvation is to live Christ for His magnification in any circumstance by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the supply of the Body of Christ—vv. 19-21.
２
In Philippians 2 salvation is to shine forth Christ by holding forth the word of life, doing all things without murmurings and reasonings—vv. 12-16.
３
In Philippians 3 salvation is to have Christ as our lived-out righteousness by being fully occupied with pursuing Christ as our goal to have Him as our highest enjoyment—vv. 7-14.
４
In Philippians 4 salvation is to have a human life filled with Christ as the reality of the attributes of God by enjoying Christ as our secret of sufficiency in our intimate fellowship with Him and doing all things in Him as our dynamo—vv. 5-13.
D
To work out our own salvation, we must be the faithful and prudent slaves— "Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Truly I say to you that he will set him over all his possessions. But if that evil slave says in his heart, My master delays, and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eats and drinks with the drunken, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him asunder and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. In that place there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth"—Matt. 24:45-51.