Scripture Reading:

Hab. 3:2b          O Jehovah, revive Your work in the midst of the years; in the midst of the years make it known.

Eph. 3:9            And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things.

Rom. 8:29-30    Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers; And those whom He predestinated, these He also called; and those whom He called, these He also justified; and those whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Phil. 1:19-21a   For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ…

1 Pet. 5:2-3       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; Nor as lording it over your allotments but by becoming patterns of the flock.

Acts 20:20        How I did not withhold any of those things that are profitable by not declaring them to you and by not teaching you publicly and from house to house.

I. There is a thirst within God’s chosen believers to have a new revival—Hab. 3:2b; Hosea 6:2; Rom. 8:20-22.

II. We can enter into a new revival by arriving at the highest peak of the divine revelation through the ministry of the age—Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:25-26; Rom. 8:29-30:

A. Serving the Lord together in this up‑to‑date, all‑inheriting vision:

1. In every age there is the vision of that age, and we have to serve God according to the vision of the age—Prov. 29:18a; Acts 26:19; Eph. 1:17, 3:9.

2. Today we can be in one-accord because we have only one vision, an up-to-date, all-inheriting vision, the vision of the eternal economy of God.

B. The highest peak of the divine revelation given to us by God is the revelation of the eternal economy of God:

1. The entire Bible, which is the explanation of the eternal economy of God, is the autobiography of the Triune God, seen in the two sections of eternity and on the bridge of time—John 1:1, 3, 14, 29, 32, 42, 51.

2. God becoming man that man might become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead is the essence of the entire Bible, the “diamond” in the “box” of the Bible, the eternal economy of God—Gen. 1:26; John 12:24; Rom. 8:29.

3. “I hope that the saints in all the churches throughout the earth, especially the coworkers and the elders, will see this revelation and then rise up to pray that God would give us a new revival which has never been recorded in history” (Life-study of 1&2 Chronicles, p. 15).

III. If we practice living the life of a God-man, spontaneously a model living in the economy of God will be built up; this model will be the greatest revival to bring the Lord back—Phil. 1:19-21a, 3:10:

A. We need to follow the pattern of the Lord Jesus, bearing the brands, the characteristics of His life—Gal. 6:17.

B. We need to live Christ for His magnification by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ—Phil. 1:19-21a.

C. We need to be conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection—Phil. 3:10.

D. “We should all declare that we want to live the life of a God-man. Eventually, the God-men will be the victors, the overcomers, the Zion within Jerusalem. This will bring in a new revival which has never been seen in history, and this will end this age” (Life-study of 1&2 Chronicles, p. 28).

IV. 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—1 Pet. 5:2-3; Luke 15:20, 4; Acts 20:20:

A. 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—Matt. 9:36; John 10:11; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 5:4:

1. 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—Eph. 5:29.

2. In His heavenly ministry, Christ as the High Priest, with a golden girdle on His breast, is cherishing and nourishing the churches—Rev. 1:12-13.

B. We need to shepherd people according to the pattern of the apostle Paul as a good shepherd, taking care of God’s flock—1 Tim. 1:16; Acts 20:28.

C. “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, p. 40).

Excerpts from the ministry:

THERE IS A THIRST WITHIN GOD’S CHOSEN BELIEVERS
TO HAVE A NEW REVIVAL

Habakkuk 3:2a speaks of revival: “O Jehovah, revive Your work / In the midst of the years.” Among God’s elect there has always been an aspiration to be revived. As long as you are a saved one, every day, consciously or unconsciously, there is an aspiration with a spontaneous prayer within you: “O Lord, revive us.” Although we may not realize it, such an aspiration has been within us through all the years of our Christian life. (Life Study of Malachi, p. 19)

WE CAN ENTER INTO A NEW REVIVAL BY ARRIVING
AT THE HIGHEST PEAK OF THE DIVINE REVELATION
THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF THE AGE

Serving the Lord Together in this
Up‑To‑Date, All‑Inheriting Vision

In order for us to serve God today, our vision must extend all the way from the first vision of Adam in Genesis to the ultimate vision of the manifestation of the church, the New Jerusalem. This and this alone is the complete vision. It is not until today that this vision has been fully opened to us.

During the past nineteen hundred years, many people have been serving the Lord, but how have they served? Can we say that five hundred years ago Martin Luther saw this vision and was serving according to this vision? Throughout the ages many people were serving the Lord only according to the first few scenes. I wish that all the brothers and sisters would have an enlarged and far‑reaching view. I hope they will realize that all the books that we have put out cover the entire spectrum from the first scene to the last scene. We are not serving God based on the first few scenes alone. We are serving God according to the last scene which includes all the previous scenes. (Ministry Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 18‑19)

It is the Lord’s mercy that He has revealed to me the vision. I advise you not to follow me, but to follow this vision which Brother Nee and all the servants of the Lord throughout the ages have left to us, which I have handed to you. This is indeed the vision that extends from the first scene of Adam to the last scene of the New Jerusalem. Over fifty years have passed. I have seen with my own eyes that those who take the way of the Lord’s recovery for a while and then leave do not come to a proper ending.

Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint, because there is no one accord. It is true that many people love the Lord and serve God, but everyone has his opinion and his own vision. As a result, there is no way to have the one accord. This is why Christianity has become so weak. …Although we are far behind many people in their zeal for preaching the gospel, although many people are more zealous and more burning in spirit than we are, and although we are poor, the vision is still with us. I truly hope that the young workers among us and the trainees would exercise themselves unto godliness. It does not mean that once we have the vision we do not need to have godliness anymore, yet I hope that you would remember that godliness alone cannot match the vision. …Our vision should be one that matches the age. It should also be one that includes everything that has gone before us. It should include the godliness of the Jews, the zeal of the evangelicals, and the genuine service. Only then will we be able to practice an all‑inclusive church life, the church life Paul revealed to us (Rom. 14). We are not divided into sects, and we do not impose any special practice on anyone. We only live an all‑inclusive church life. If we do this, we will have the genuine one accord.

Today we can be in one accord because we have only one vision and one view. We are all in this up‑to‑date, all‑inheriting vision. We have only one viewpoint. We speak the same thing with one heart, one mouth, one voice, and one tone, serving the Lord together. The result is a power that will become our strong morale and our impact. This is our strength. Once the Lord’s recovery possesses this power, there will be the glory of increase and multiplication. (Ministry Magazine, Vol.1, No. 2, pp. 20-23)

The Highest Peak of the Divine Revelation
Given to Us by God Is the Revelation
of the Eternal Economy of God

Today, many Christians care for the Bible as the “box,” but they have not seen and do not appreciate the “diamond” which is the content of this box, and they may even condemn those who have a proper appreciation of the “diamond” in the “box.” The “diamond” in the “box” of the Bible is the revelation that in Christ God has become man in order that man might become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.

The vast majority of today’s Christians neglect the crucial point in the Bible that in Christ God has become man in order to make man God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead and that God desires to mingle Himself with man to be one entity. Some not only neglect this; they falsely accuse as heretical those who teach it. Today many believe one aspect of this crucial point—that God became a man named Jesus—but they do not believe the other aspect—that man is becoming God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. (Life‑study of 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 204)

Then how does God make man God? After God regenerates us with Himself as life, He continues to carry out the work of sanctification, renewing, and transformation in us by His Spirit of life. God became man through incarnation; man becomes God through transformation. When the Lord Jesus lived as a man on this earth, once He went up on the mountain and was transfigured. That transfiguration was a sudden occurrence. Our transformation into God, however, is not something that happens unexpectedly. Rather, it is a lifetime transformation until we are conformed to His image. Eventually, we will enter with Him into glory; that is, we will be redeemed in our body. That will be the final step of the redemption of our whole being that brings us into glory. Therefore, it is through regeneration, sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation, and glorification that we may become God. When we reach this point, 1 John 3:2 says that when “He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is.”

The issue of this process is an organism. This organism is God joining and mingling Himself with man to make God man and also to make man God. Among the Divine Trinity, as far as the Father is concerned, this organism is the house of the Father, the house of God; as far as the Son is concerned, it is the Body of Christ. The house is for God to have a dwelling place, whereas the Body is for God to have an expression. The ultimate issue is the New Jerusalem. This shows us how God became man and how afterward He makes man God that man may live a God‑man life. The God‑man life that we live today is the model life that Jesus Christ lived on earth by going through death and resurrection. In the Gospel of John the human life of Jesus Christ on earth was a life before death and resurrection. In the Epistles the Christian life, the life of a God‑man, that we live is a life after death and resurrection. In resurrection we are being transformed daily.

Even among us, very few have entered deeply into these mysteries of the Divine Trinity as life. May the Lord have mercy on us. I hope that through this word of fellowship we all may be able to see this vision and pursue to enter into the reality of this vision. (The High Peak of the Vision and the Reality of the Body of Christ, pp. 31‑32)

 

IF WE PRACTICE LIVING THE LIFE OF A GOD-MAN,
SPONTANEOUSLY A MODEL LIVING IN THE ECONOMY OF
GOD WILL BE BUILT UP; THIS MODEL WILL BE THE GREATEST REVIVAL TO BRING THE LORD BACK

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. …We need a model. I do not mean that only some individuals should become a model. I mean that we need a corporate model, a Body, a people who live the life of a God‑man. 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. (Living a Life According to the High Peak of God’s Revelation, pp. 39-40)

We Need to Follow the Pattern of the Lord Jesus,
Bearing the Brands, the Characteristics of His Life

This should be and this must be our church practice from today onward. If not, we are practicing something in vain. Our practice is not merely to have a church life in which everything is according to the Bible, a church life in which we baptize people by immersion, forsake the denominations, practice head covering, and have the Lord’s table, absolutely according to the Bible. Some have come into the recovery because of these practices. They appreciate our family life, the church meetings, and the way we train our young people. However, these things should not be the goal of our practice. The goal of our practice should be to live the life 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 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.

Dear saints, this is my burden. We all need to live such a life. …If we do, we are faithful to what we have heard. Then the Lord will have not a model only by individuals but a model by a group of us. This is the model that the Lord needs to show to today’s Christianity, a model of what His church should be.

If we live such a life, surely we will go out to contact people for the preaching of the gospel. A vital group is a group of this kind of people. The vital groups should not be practiced as a formality; they should be groups of people who live such a life. Our living the life of a God‑man will save people, edify others, and build up the local churches even to the building up of the Body of Christ.

If we practice what we have heard, spontaneously a model will be built up. This model will be the greatest revival in the history of the church. I believe that this revival will bring the Lord back. (Living a Life According to the High Peak of God’s Revelation, pp. 40‑41)

We Need to Live Christ for His Magnification
by the Bountiful Supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ

Paul said in Philippians 1:2la, “For to me, to live is Christ.” Paul said this when he was in prison at Rome. In that prison he was living Christ. If someone had asked Paul what he was doing, he could have said, “I am living Christ.”

Christ is our life. We, the God‑men, live a human life to express God, not by our own life, our natural life, but by the divine life of Christ in resurrection (Col. 3:4). This living of Christ includes pursuing and gaining Christ (Phil. 3:8,12‑14). If we have not gained Christ, how can we live Him? If I am wearing a jacket, that means I have gained it. Without gaining it, I could not wear it. In like manner, if we have not gained Christ, we cannot live Christ.

Living Christ also includes tasting Christ for growing in Him (1 Pet. 2:2‑3) and enjoying Christ as the God‑allotted portion and participating in His riches in the fellowship of God (Col. 1:12; 1 Cor. 1:9). If we do not gain Him or taste Him, we cannot enjoy Him. First Corinthians 1:9 says that God has called us into the fellowship of Christ, the enjoyment of Christ.

Abiding in Christ and having Him abide in us for the growth with His life in fruit‑bearing is also a part of living Christ (John 15:4‑5). To live Christ by the divine life of Christ in resurrection is to have Christ grow in us that we may be formed inwardly and even conformed to the image of Christ as the Firstborn of God among many brothers (Gal. 4:19; Rom. 8:29b). Also, to live Christ includes growing into Christ in everything that we may mature in the measure of the stature of Christ (Col. 1:28b; Eph. 4:15,13b).

We live Christ for His magnification (Phil. 1:20). …Christ’s being magnified is so that He may be seen by others in the reality of His resurrection. In prison the apostle Paul, a human being, was Christ. He was living in the resurrection of Christ.

Christ’s being magnified is also for Christ to be ministered to others in the reality of His Spirit. This happened when Paul was in prison. At the end of the book of Philippians he said, “All the saints greet you, and especially those of Caesar’s household” (4:22). It should be that some of Caesar’s household became believers in Christ through Paul. Through their contact with Paul, they saw Christ, so they believed and received Christ. This means that Paul ministered Christ to them. (Practical Way to Live a Life according to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, pp. 44‑45)

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

The Pattern of the Shepherding of the Lord’s Ministry

The Jesus who is portrayed in the four Gospels is very cherishing. He came to the world just to cherish people. All people need Him to cherish them, to make them happy, comfort them, and give them rest. If He came to us in His divine status, this would intimidate us. But even the most sinful tax collectors could sit with Him as friends, eating and talking with Him (Luke 15:1; Matt. 9:10). The scribes and Pharisees, the self-justified ones, could not bear to see Him eating with tax collectors and sinners. They did not realize that they also needed Him to be their Physician. I can testify that when I was a poor young man, Jesus came to me and cherished me. Whatever I need and want, He is. What He is meets our every need. The four Gospels reveal Christ as the cherishing Son of Man to meet the need of every fallen sinner. If you are sick of leprosy, He will cleanse you. If you are blind, He will give you sight. This is the Jesus in the four Gospels.

In the New Testament the first vision is that our God suddenly became a human being, and He was born as a man in the lowest status, not into a rich man’s home, but into a poor man’s home. He was born in Bethlehem, but He was raised up in Nazareth…. People called Him a Nazarene (Matt. 2:23). This means that He was a despised man from a despised city and a despised region. Isaiah 53 says that He was a man without any outward beauty or attraction (vv. 2‑3). He was just a poor Nazarene.

Such a poor man could contact every kind of man. If He had been born as a king, few would have been able to approach Him. But He was born as a poor man, and He could and did approach every class of man, especially the poor and sick ones, such as the blind, the lepers, the sinners, and the tax collectors. He became their friend. His coming in humanity made Him a very cherishing person.

Christ’s ministry in the first stage of incarnation was to cherish people, to draw and attract people to Him. Once He was walking in a pressing crowd, and a sick woman desperately touched the fringe of His garment and was healed (Matt. 9:20‑22). Everyone needs Him, can approach Him, and can touch Him. No one who came to Him was rejected by Him. He receives all without preference or discrimination.

He attracted and cherished people…. His death on the cross was the biggest cherishing to redeem us. Without His redemption, who could come to Him? When we heard the story of His death on the cross, our tears came down. We were attracted by Him. This is His ministry in the four Gospels.

In resurrection He was transfigured to become the life‑giving Spirit, the Spirit of the bountiful supply (1 Cor. 15:45b; Phil. 1: 19). This Spirit is for nourishing. As the all- inclusive Spirit from Acts through the Epistles, Christ nourishes us. This nourishing produces the church, builds up the Body of Christ, and will consummate the New Jerusalem. Because of the church’s degradation, Christ’s nourishing becomes sevenfold intensified in the book of Revelation to bring forth the eternal goal of God, the New Jerusalem. The totality of His nourishing will be this great universal city, which is the enlargement and expression of God. This city is the consummation of the bountiful supply of Christ as the life‑giving, sevenfold intensified Spirit for nourishing us. The New Testament is composed of just two sections—cherishing and nourishing. With this revelation the entire New Testament has become a new book to me. (The Vital Groups, pp. 80-82)

The Pattern of the Shepherding of the Apostle Paul

Acts 20 says that while Paul was on his way to Jerusalem, he sent word to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. He told them that they should shepherd God’s flock, which God purchased with His own blood (v. 28). The shepherding of God’s flock was on Paul’s heart. Many think that Paul was a great apostle doing a great work as a great career. But Paul considered what he did as shepherding the flock of God. We have to be revolutionized in our logic and consideration. We should not think that we are going to do a great work for Christ like certain spiritual giants. These so‑called giants actually did not accomplish much for God’s interest. Instead, they only made a name for themselves with little result for the building up of the Body of Christ. (The Vital Groups, pp. 61‑62)

In Paul’s talk with the elders in Ephesus in Acts 20, Paul said that he taught them “publicly and from house to house” (v. 20). To teach the saints publicly, no doubt, indicates that he taught them in a meeting. He also taught them from house to house… Paul spoke Christ to all the saints in their homes. He admonished the saints with tears even for as long as three years (v. 31). Our concept of an apostle may be that he is a good speaker who is eloquent, knowledgeable, and highly appraised and exalted. But here is an apostle in Acts 20 who visited the homes of the poor saints and admonished them with tears. An apostle should go to the saints’ homes, especially to the poor ones’ homes.

We need to read Acts 20 again to see what an apostle is and does. As Paul was on his way to Jerusalem, he stopped in Miletus and sent for the elders of Ephesus. He charged them, and he placed himself before them as an example. He told them that he labored to supply his needs and the needs of his co-workers (v. 34). In addition to all of his labor, he still visited the homes of the saints, from house to house. He did this to perfect the saints. He did not shrink from declaring to them anything that was profitable (v. 20), declaring to them all the counsel of God (v. 27). What a marvelous perfecting work the apostle Paul did!

I did this kind of perfecting work from 1940 to 1942 in Chefoo. At the end of 1942, a great revival broke forth in Chefoo as a result of my staying with the church there for this period of time. During that time I spoke to the saints publicly at the podium, and I visited them in their homes. I rode my bicycle to visit the homes of the saints, and I talked with them about their problems. During the day, I went to visit them, and in the evening I spoke to them publicly. I followed Paul’s example to teach them publicly and from house to house. One time the Lord led me to invite all of the approximately three hundred saints in Chefoo to eat with me over a period of time. At one time I would invite ten saints, and at another time twenty saints. I did this on the evenings when we did not have meetings. I hired a brother to cook the meals, and I used a room in the meeting hall to receive the dear saints so that we could eat together and fellowship together. Within a period of a few months, I contacted most of the saints in the church in Chefoo in this way. To invite the saints into your home is more effective than ten messages. (Further Light Concerning the Building Up of the Body of Christ, pp. 23, 25‑26)

References:    Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, chs. 2 and 4; Life-study of Malachi, ch. 4; Ministry Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 2; Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, ch. 31; Living a Life According to the High Peak of God’s Revelation, ch. 5; Practical Way to Live a Life According to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, ch. 4; The Vital Groups, chs. 7 and 9; Further Light Concerning the Building Up of the Body of Christ, ch. 2.