Col. 3:11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.
1 Pet. 5:2b Shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not under compulsion but willingly, according to God; not by seeking gain through base means but eagerly.
The New Testament Paying Attention to Three Matters—
Truth, Life, and the Gospel
If we read the New Testament carefully, we will see that what the New Testament reveals and pays attention to is summed up in three matters: truth, life, and the gospel. Truth is for life, and life is for the gospel. Truth comes first, then life, and then the gospel. If we pay attention only to truth but neglect to preach the gospel, we will not have offspring; similarly, if we pay attention only to life but do not preach the gospel, we will not have a continuation. Later, evangelicals, including the charismatic movement, appeared. There was a Chinese evangelist called John Sung; however, his gospel had neither truth nor life. Hence, not much was left after his passing. This demonstrates that without truth and life our gospel preaching does not last. Truth, life, and the gospel must be twined together as a threefold cord; only then will our gospel preaching produce lasting results. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, msg. 4)
Being Balanced in Every Aspect and on Every Side
To build three gates on each of four sides will balance us and balance the church. In order to construct a building with three gates on four sides, it must be erected at the center of the lot. If it were built on a corner of the lot, it could not have gates on all four sides. The best way for a building to have three gates on each of its four sides is to position it in the center of the lot and keep it balanced in every aspect.
The New Jerusalem as the building of God is the very center of the entire universe. In every aspect and from every side it is one hundred percent balanced. It is neither too much to one side nor too much to another. The local expression of the church in the city where we live must also be in the center, not geographically but spiritually. It must not go too far in any direction, leaving only one or two sides with entrances. The church must be very balanced in every aspect and appear the same from every side. It must not be in any extreme but in the very center of God’s testimony, having four sides full of gates for people to enter in. (A General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church – Part 4: Revelation, ch. 44)
The First Aspect—the High Peak of the Divine Revelation
In the past ten years the Lord has shown us His economy. God’s eternal economy has Christ as its center and reality, with His Body, the organic Body of Christ, as the organism of the Triune God.
Today we have come to this high peak of God’s divine revelation. I would even say that we have probably reached the highest peak of the divine revelation in the entire Bible. This is the divine revelation discovered by the believers through the past twenty centuries. After the New Testament was written, the first group of Bible students after the apostles were the church fathers. They discovered that in the Bible there is such a thing as the Triune God. Centuries later, Martin Luther made a further discovery. Luther saw the matter of justification by faith (Rom. 3:28). He discovered that salvation is not by works but by faith. After this, many other students of the Bible made further discoveries. However, before us, no one ever discovered God’s economy with Christ as its centrality and universality and all its reality. It was not until the last ten years that we put all these things together to have a full picture of God’s economy. This is the highest peak of the divine revelation.
The Second Aspect—Living the Life of a God-man According to
the High Peak of the Divine Revelation
Since we have seen such a high peak of the divine revelation, we need to put into practice what we have seen. Our practice will have a success, and that success will be a new revival—the highest revival and probably the last revival before the Lord’s coming back. From today our practice should be to live the life of a God-man by realizing the power of the resurrection of Christ to take His cross as He did, to be crucified, to be conformed to His death, every day to live another One’s life (Phil. 3:10; 1:21; Gal. 2:20). Our life, our self, our flesh, our natural man, and our everything were already brought to the cross by Him. Now we are living Him, so we should remain in His crucifixion to be conformed to the mold of His death every moment in every part of our life. That will cause us to spontaneously live Him as the resurrection (John 11:25). This is the living of a God-man.
The highest family life, marriage life, and social life come out of such a life. This life is the life of the church and the life of the Body of Christ. Such a life is the reality of the Body of Christ. Such a life, like that of Jesus Christ in His thirty-three and a half years on the earth, saves us from all negative things, from small things and big things. In our marriage life it saves us from separation and divorce. In the church it saves us from opinion, division, despising, criticizing, and murmuring. In this life there is no criticism, no despising, no partiality, no division, no dissension, no opinion. In such a life we live the life of a God-man. With Him everything is new, everything is heavenly, and everything is divine, divinity mingled with humanity. (Living a Life according to the High Peak of God’s Revelation, msg. 5)
The Third Aspect—Entering into a New Revival
by Shepherding People according to God
We can enter into a new revival by shepherding people according to God, having the Father’s loving and forgiving heart and the Savior’s shepherding and seeking spirit. We need to shepherd people according to the pattern of the Lord Jesus in His ministry for the carrying out of God’s eternal economy. The content of God’s entire New Testament economy in His complete salvation is Christ as the Son of Man cherishing us and as the Son of God nourishing us. In His heavenly ministry, Christ as the High Priest, with a golden girdle on His breast, is cherishing and nourishing the churches. We need to shepherd people according to the pattern of the apostle Paul as a good shepherd, taking care of God’s flock. (2001 TDC, msg. 5)
I hope that there will be a genuine revival among us by our receiving this burden of shepherding. If all the churches receive this teaching to participate in Christ’s wonderful shepherding, there will be a big revival in the recovery. (The Vital Groups, msg. 4)
