Hymn 1255
Scripture Reading:
1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life.
1 John 2:24 As for you, that which you heard from the beginning, let it abide in you. If that which you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
THE MEANING OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY
The word recovery means that something was there originally, and then was lost. So there is the need to bring that thing back to its original state. The word recovery is somewhat simple and not too profound, but when we speak of the Lord’s recovery we need to apply it to the revelation of the whole Bible. From this point of view the Lord’s recovery is a profound and crucial thing. In a sense the revelation of the entire Bible is a revelation of recovery. (Concerning the Lord’s Recovery, p. 7)
First, the Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the divine truths as revealed in the holy Scriptures, the holy Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16).The truths as revealed in the Scriptures have been lost, missed, misunderstood, misinterpreted, and wrongly taught throughout the ages. Hence, there is the need of the Lord’s recovery. In the age of the early apostles, in the age of the church fathers, in the age of the church councils, in the age of Catholicism with the papal system, and in the age of the Protestant practice, the Lord has always recovered some of the lost, misunderstood, misinterpreted, and wrongly taught truths through some of His saints who loved Him and His holy Word. (1993 Blending Conference Messages, pp. 13-14)
THE FIRST ASPECT OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY—
THE REVELATION OF GOD
The revelation of God is the speaking of God. From Moses in the Old Testament until the apostle John in the New Testament, God spoke for more than fifteen hundred years. His speaking collectively became the completed Bible, which is in our hands today. Hence, the last book of the Bible, Revelation, says at the end that no one should add to these words or take away from these words (22:18-19).
THE SECOND ASPECT OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY—
THE GOD-MAN LIFE
Now we come to the second aspect of the Lord’s recovery, that is, the God-man life, which is the kind of living that the believers need to have. The worldly people emphasize moral and ethical living and religious living; yet these are not what God wants. What God wants is the God-man life, which is God and man living together.
THE THIRD ASPECT OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY—
THE PRACTICE OF THE CHURCH
First, the church as the universal Body of Christ is the universal house of God and also the kingdom of God (Eph. 1:23; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Matt. 16:18-19). These three—the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God—are just one. The Body of Christ is the house of God, and the house of God is the kingdom of God.
The universal Body of Christ is the universal house of God, the kingdom of God (Eph. 1:23; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Matt. 16:18-19). It is expressed in every city to be the local church of every city; there is one city one church keeping the oneness and not divided (Deut. 12:5-18; Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rev. 1:4, 11). Although the unique church of God is expressed as the many local churches, she is still the unique universal Body of Christ; they should not be divided into sects or denominations (1 Cor. 10:16-17). (The Issue of the Union of the Consummated Spirit of the Triune God and the Regenerated Spirit of the Believers, pp. 75-86)
References: Concerning the Lord’s Recovery, ch. 1; 1993 Blending Conference Messages, ch. 1; The Issue of the Union of the Consummated Spirit of the Triune God and the Regenerated Spirit of the Believers, ch. 6. CW WL, 1963, Vol. 3, Miscellaneous Messages, ch. 13.
