![Eph. 4:16 Out from whom [the Head, Christ,] all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Eph-4-16-Out-from-whom-the-Head-Christ-all-the-Body-being-joined-together-and-being-knit-together-through-every-joint001.jpg?resize=700%2C367&ssl=1 "Eph. 4:16 Out from whom [the Head, Christ,] all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.")
The desire of God’s heart is to have a built-up church as His house, His dwelling place with and among men, and the way He gains it in His economy is by His divine dispensing – the dispensing of the Divine Trinity into man for the producing and building up of the church.
God does not dwell in physical temples built of stones and wood; He dwells in His people, and His dwelling place is our spirit regenerated by the Lord (Eph. 1:22-23).
The picture of the tabernacle in the book of Exodus shows us how God has provided a way for His people to come near to God and enter into God so that they may see His heart’s desire and be one with Him for the building up of His dwelling place.
The Psalmists really touched God’s heart’s desire when they said that a day in God’s courts is better than a thousand elsewhere, and when they yearned for the house of Jehovah and loved His tabernacle.
Throughout the Old Testament God gained some seeking ones who were fully one with Him for His building, among whom are the prophets, David, and many others; they may not have been born as priests, but they touched God’s heart’s desire and loved His building, His dwelling place, because God loved His dwelling place.
Today God wants us to have a clear vision of His economy, the way to accomplish His heart’s desire, so that we may be fully infused and saturated with His desire for the church.
What God desires in this age is to gain the church as His dwelling place; He wants us to build the church according to “the pattern shown on the mountain” – that is, the vision of God’s economy – so that He may have a sanctuary where He can live, dwell, and be expressed.
The Lord wants to bring us into Himself, into the depth of His being, so that we may touch the desire of His heart. We need to be willing to release God from all limitations and opinions that we may have consciously or unintentionally put upon Him, and tell Him that we are fully for His heart’s desire, the building up of His dwelling place on earth.
Enjoying the Triune God in the Divine Dispensing for the Building up of the Church
What we see in type in the tabernacle is that the children of Israel enjoyed and possessed the Triune God in the divine dispensing and mingling, and the Triune God enjoyed and possessed them.
In the tabernacle and by means of the tabernacle with its furnishings, God’s people had a way not only to be reconciled to God and justified before Him, but to enter into God, into the Holy of Holies, where they can be one with Him, hear His word, and be infused with His heart’s desire, so that they may enjoy the divine dispensing and be mingled with God.
Today in the New Testament age we enjoy the full reality of the divine dispensing of the Triune God with His redeemed ones. The entire New Testament reveals to us how God became a man to mingle Himself with man, and He became a life-giving Spirit so that He can dispense Himself into man to mingle Himself with man for God’s building, the church.
How does God dispense Himself into man, and how does He mingle Himself with man? It is by means of the Divine Trinity. Time and time again, whenever Paul or Peter or the other apostles mentioned the Triune God, it was not in the way of doctrine but in the way of dispensing.
Even in the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians where Paul dealt with some negative things, he still revealed the Divine Trinity being dispensed into the believers to mingle the Triune God with man.
When the Lord Jesus gave His disciples the great commission, Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19), He clearly spoke of ONE name and THREE persons – the Triune God – for God’s dispensing into man.
Christ sent us to preach the gospel and baptize people into the Triune God so that they may be immersed and saturated with the Triune God!
Our God is eternally Triune; this was not that clearly seen in the Old Testament because the Triune God was not yet processed – the Son didn’t yet pass through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to become the Spirit (John 7:39).
The New Testament reveals the full reality of the divine dispensing and mingling of the Triune God with His redeemed ones (see Rom. 8:11; Eph. 3:16-21).
The epistle to the Ephesians, for example, is composed with the Divine Trinity as its basic element and structure; every chapter of Ephesians reveals the Triune God dispensing Himself into us to mingle Himself with us (see Eph. 1:3-14, 22-23; 2:18-22; 3:16-21; 4:4-6, 16; 5:19-20, 23, 25-26, 30, 32; 6:10-11).
Ephesians therefore is a clear explanation and definition of the tabernacle in Exodus 40, for in Ephesians we have the church as the Body of Christ, the new man, the bride of Christ, the kingdom of God, the household of God, and the warrior of God.
The church is the reality of the tabernacle of God, for the church is the people of God under the dispensing of God to be mingled with God for the building up of the dwelling place of God. Therefore, the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity is the unique way for us to build up the church, which is the Body of Christ and the dwelling place of God (Eph. 4:12, 16; 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 3:15).
To Christ, the church is His Body, the organism through which He is expressed and moves; to God the Father, the church is His dwelling place. By enjoying the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity day by day, we build up the church as the Body of Christ and the house of God.
Lord, make us those who enjoy the Triune God in the divine dispensing and mingling for the building up of the church as the house of God! May our being and living be in the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity, constantly receiving and enjoying the flow of the riches of Christ so that we may build up the church as the Body of Christ. Lord, mingle Yourself with us more today as we seek to remain under Your divine dispensing! We want to enjoy You and be mingled with You so that You may also enjoy us and possess us!
Having a vision of the Central Matter in the Bible – God’s Economy for the Building up of the Church
It is easy to read the Bible and be distracted by many things, including good teachings, good and spiritual exhortations, and practical points regarding Christian perfection and holiness.
There are many things in the Bible, but there is a central matter in the Scriptures: we need to see a vision of the central matter in the Bible, which is the divine intention, the divine economy, and the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity into God’s people.
The economy of God (Eph. 1:5, 9-11, 22-23) is God’s dispensing of Himself in His Divine Trinity into the believers in Christ for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal corporate expression of the Triune God (Rev. 21:2, 10-11).
We need to see a vision of God’s New Testament economy, which is the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity into us, the believers in Christ, to produce the church, which is the kingdom of God that will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal expression of the Triune God.
The divine dispensing comes out of the three of the Divine Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The divine dispensing taking place within us is the operating of the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, the pneumatic Christ, as the aggregate, totality, and consummation of the Triune God. This Spirit is moving in us, anointing us, watering us, feeding us, satisfying us, strengthening us, comforting us, saturating us, and permeating us. There are so many words to describe His dispensing within us….Every day we should be built up by receiving the divine dispensing within us. (The Divine Dispensing for the Divine Economy, p. 37, by Witness Lee)
We need to spend much time in prayer before the Lord both personally and together regarding this, asking Him to show us what is in His heart. The central matter in the Bible is the desire of God’s heart to dispense Himself into us to produce and build up the church as the corporate expression of Himself.
This is not something that we merely need to know or understand; it has to become a vision guiding us, governing us, and even controlling us.
Paul was controlled by the heavenly vision, and he could not go against it; we need to have the heavenly vision of God’s economy and daily be under the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity for the building up of the church. We need to honestly tell the Lord,
Lord Jesus, grant us a vision of Your economy, the desire of Your heart. Cause us to see what is the central matter in the Bible. May the clear vision of God’s New Testament economy control and govern us in our daily living, speaking, and serving. Keep us under Your divine dispensing today. We come to the Father through Jesus in one Spirit to touch God and enjoy God. Strengthen us into our inner man so that the Triune God may be dispensed into us to be mingled with us for the building up of the church.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother Ron K. for this week, and, The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity, chs. 15-20 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (part 4, 2016 Summer Training), msg. 12 (week 48 in the HWMR), The Erecting of the Tabernacle and the Tabernacle, the Cloud, and the Glory Being a Full Type of the Triune God.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Thy dwelling-place, O Lord, I love; / It is Thy Church so blessed, / It is Thy joy and heart’s delight / And where Thy heart finds rest. (Hymns #852)
# Just to be in You as You’re in me. / Just abide in You, Lord, constantly. / Here I’m one with You, as You’re with me. / Here we’re joined as one, Lord, mutually. / God’s dispensing, His economy, / In His Trinity, / He’s transfusing, and He’s mingling / All He is to me. (Song on the dispensing of God)
# God by His dispensing, / God’s economy, / Will fulfill His purpose / In His trinity; / From the loving Father, / Through the Son as grace, / In the mingled Spirit, / Is His dwelling place. (Song on God’s economy)
Throughout the years we have given many messages on God’s New Testament economy. However, according to my observation, most of the saints who have received these messages still need a clear vision of God’s economy. We need a vision of the central matter in the Bible—the desire of God’s heart to dispense Himself into His chosen people in His trinity for the producing of the church, which is the kingdom of God that will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal expression of the Triune God.
We need a vision of God’s New Testament economy. It is not adequate merely to know about it. You may know about a certain person without ever having seen him. To see a person is very different from merely knowing about him. Likewise, seeing the vision of God’s New Testament economy is different from simply hearing about it. I hope that all the saints will spend much time to pray, both individually and corporately, regarding this. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 19, by W. Lee)
Amen Lord Jesus make us always tobe one with you for your economy.
Hallelujah for the divine dispensing, His economy!
Amen. Praise the Lord.