We need to realize that the world situation is the indicator of God’s move on earth, and we need to be in spirit to receive the divine revelation of what God is doing today so that we may be one with Him in His move.
This week in our morning revival we come to the topic of, A Timely Word Concerning the World Situation and the Lord’s Recovery, which was released in the 2020 Memorial Day Conference (an online conference during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic).
Brother Witness Lee released a conference with this very title on 8-9 July 1988, when there was a situation of turmoil in the Lord’s recovery, and he felt the saints needed a timely word.
It is the same today, with the things going on in our environment and all over the world, we need a timely word concerning the world situation and the Lord’s recovery.
The title for week 1 in this HWMR is, The World Situation as the Indicator of God’s Move on Earth, the Vision of World History from Christ’s Ascension to the End of This Age, the Spreading of the Truths of the Lord’s Recovery as a Preparation for His Coming Back, and Persevering in Prayer, While Discerning “the Signs of the Times”.
Christ is the Leader and the Savior (Acts 5:31); as the Leader, Christ has authority, and as the Savior, He has salvation. In our experience we can see that God rules sovereignly over the whole earth with His authority so that the environment might be fit for us, God’s chosen people, to receive His salvation.
He arranges not only the whole world situation but even our personal environment and situations so that we may be saved, we may come into the church life, we may grow in life, we may be perfected, and we may be transformed.
God is sovereign in all things with His authority to arrange the environment so that each one of us, the believers in Christ, would receive Him as our salvation and would live a life for the fulfillment of His purpose.
For us to see this, however, we need to be in spirit, for the only way we can see the divine history within the human history is by being in the mingled spirit one with the Lord.
Being in our Spirit so that the Heaven be Open for us to See the Vision of God Concerning the Destiny of the World
The only way that we can be men after the heart of God, men to whom heaven can be opened to see the vision of God concerning the destiny of the world is by being in our spirit.
In Rev. 1:10 John was in spirit on the Lord’s Day and he saw a vision of the churches (see chs. 1-3). When he was in spirit, he could clearly see the local churches, the Lord’s move among the churches, and the Lord’s speaking to each of the churches according to their need.
Then, John was in spirit and he saw the vision of the destiny of the world (chs. 4-16), the vision of Babylon the Great (chs. 17-20), and the vision of the New Jerusalem (chs. 21-22); he was in his spirit when he saw these visions (1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10).
We also need to be in our mingled spirit so that we can be men on earth with God’s heart, men to whom heaven can be opened to see the vision of God concerning the destiny of the world.
In Gen. 28:12-17 Jacob had a dream, a ladder set up on earth reaching heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it; when he awoke from his sleep, he said, Surely Jehovah is in this place and I didn’t know it – how awesome is this place, this is the house of God and the gate of heaven!
In John 1:51 the Lord specifically said that He is the reality of the ladder that Jacob saw; He is the ladder that brings heaven to earth and that joins earth to heaven, bringing God into man and man into God.
When we are in our spirit, we are enjoying Christ as the heavenly ladder that brings God into us and that brings us into God.
By being in our spirit, we enter into the gate of heaven, for we don’t have to go to heaven – we can enjoy the heavenly atmosphere, situation, and condition simply by being in our mingled spirit! Amen!
In Ezek. 1:1 the heavens were open and Ezekiel saw visions of God; we need to be such ones who have heavens opened and see the visions of God, especially to see the vision of God concerning the destiny of the world.
In Matt. 3:16 as the Lord was baptized, the heavens were opened to Him, and the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove; He also had God’s speaking.
Baptism is a picture of our death in Christ and our resurrection in Christ; we are put into the water and then we come out of water a new creation.
When we enjoy Christ in His death and resurrection in our spirit, we have the open heavens, the descending Spirit of God, and the speaking of the Father. Amen!
Stephen was one who had the open heavens: in Acts 7:56, as he was being martyred, he said that he sees the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God; because he was so intimate with the Lord, the heavens were open to Him.
May we be such ones, those who not only know and understand the prophecies concerning the world situation, but those who are in spirit to be men on earth with God’s heart, men to whom heaven can be open to see the vision of God concerning the destiny of the world!
Lord Jesus, we turn to You and we exercise our spirit right now; we want to be in our spirit so that we can be men on earth with God’s heart, men who see the vision of God concerning the destiny of the world. Open the heavens to us, dear Lord, so that we may see what is in Your heart and what You are doing today. We choose to exercise our spirit and be in spirit so that the heavens may be open to us and we would see the vision of God concerning the destiny of the world. Amen, Lord, may we be so intimate with You that we have the heavens opened, the visions of God, and the heart’s desire of God being unveiled to us!
The World Situation is the Indicator of God’s Move on Earth; He Sovereignly arranges all things to Carry out His Economy
The entire world situation is the indicator of God’s move on earth (Rev. 5:31; 17:26-27; Dan. 2:31-45).
Especially as we see many great changes in the world situation, we need to be in our spirit and see the vision of God concerning the present world situation, for the carrying out of God’s economy has much to do with the world situation today.
It is a historical fact that the world situation has always been the indicator of the Lord’s move on earth. We can see this both in the Bible and in the world history in general.
In the Old Testament we see that after the flood the nations were divided, but God chose one nation to be His people, the nation of Israel. He took the out of Egypt, brought them into the good land, and He used David to establish the nation of Israel and Solomon to build the temple.
Later, however, the people were degraded and forsook God, so He allowed Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to come and destroy the nation of Israel and its temple.
In Daniel 2 we see that king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled and terrified him, which he forgot; so he asked all the so-called wise men to tell him his dream and interpret it.
Eventually, Daniel said he will do it, and he went to his companions, and together they requested compassions from the God of heavens to reveal the vision to them.
Daniel had the mystery revealed to him in a night vision, and told the king that God has given him this dream so that he can see what will happen in the last days.
In his dream he saw a great human image with a golden head (typifying Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian empire), the breast and arm of silver (signifying the Medo-Persian empire), the abdomen and thighs of bronze (signifying the Grecian Empire with Alexander the Great), and the legs and feet of iron with the toes part of iron and part of clay (signifying the Roman Empire).
This image shows us the four great empires on earth with their governments, and it is a prophetic illustration of the history of the human government, sovereignly arranged by the Lord to carry out His economy.
There are other portions in the Bible which speak of these four empires; Daniel 2 speaks of them as a great human image, and Joel 1:3 speaks of these as one locust in various stages of growth.
There’s first the cutting locust (signifying the Babylonian empire), then the swarming locust (signifying the Medo-persian empire), then the licking locust (signifying the Grecian empire), and the consuming locust (signifying the Roman empire).
Furthermore, in Daniel 7 these four empires are typified by four different kinds of beasts, and in Zech. 1 they are typified by four horns.
This vision of the great human image in Daniel 2 is a vision of “what will happen in the last days” (v. 28).
All the major events in human history have not been accidental or at random; they have been arranged and matched by God for His move on earth.
God has a purpose to accomplish with mankind on earth, so He has the sovereign authority to manage the situation in human history.
For example, God blessed Germany for the recovery of justification by faith, He blessed England for the spread of the gospel all over the earth and for recovering proper Christian meetings, and He is blessing the United States of America as a base for the final stage of His recovery, which is to build up the church as His Body, the preparation of His Bride, to bring Him back.
We can say that the entire world situation with its “birth pangs” is for the completion of God’s plan, which is to reform the nation of Israel and to complete the full delivery of the universal new man (Matt. 24:32-34; Mark 13:8; Dan. 12:1-2; Rev. 1:1-2, 5).
The full delivery of the universal new man needs to be completed; on one hand this new man was brought forth through Christ’s death and resurrection, but on the other hand there needs to be the full delivery and bringing forth of the new man in reality, in our subjective experience and realization.
The world situation is the indicator of God’s move on earth, and when we are in our spirit we can see what God is doing both inwardly and outwardly to match His move on earth.
We do not look at events and things only with our natural view but by being in the mingled spirit!
Eventually, Christ as the stone cut without hands will smash the great human image, and He will increase on earth to become the kingdom of God filling the whole earth.
He was cut on the cross, He was cut out through His resurrection, and one day He will come from heavens with His overcoming bride to the battle of Armageddon to defeat Antichrist and his armies.
We want to be those who are produced as Christ’s overcomers today, those who will descend with Him from heavens as a corporate smiting stone to strike the feet of the great human image, crush it, and bring in the kingdom of God on earth.
Lord Jesus, may we be in spirit to see and realize that the world situation is the indicator of God’s move on earth. May we be those who seek You, are one with You, and pray much before You to have the vision of the real situation in the world today. May we realize that all the major events of human history have been arranged and matched by God for His move on earth. Hallelujah, God has a purpose, and He has the sovereign authority to manage the situation in human history! Praise the Lord, all events and all things are sovereignly arranged by the Lord for the carrying out of His economy! Amen, Lord Jesus, may we see and be a part of the completion of the full delivery of the universal new man that fulfills Your purpose! May we have the grace to be produced as the overcomers who will return with Christ as a corporate smiting stone to destroy human government and bring in the kingdom of God on the earth!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord’s Move,” chs. 1-3, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, A Timely Word Concerning the World Situation and the Lord’s Recovery (2020 Memorial Day Conference), week 1, The World Situation as the Indicator of God’s Move on Earth, the Vision of World History from Christ’s Ascension to the End of This Age, the Spreading of the Truths of the Lord’s Recovery as a Preparation for His Coming Back, and Persevering in Prayer, While Discerning “the Signs of the Times”.
- Hymns on this topic:
– In Revelation chapter one / God gives a vision of the Son, / Of Him who was and is to come; / Oh, let us to this One now come. / In spirit hear His trumpet voice; / We must be turned to see His choice— / The seven lampstands golden fair; / The Son of Man is walking there. (Hymns #1184)
– Lord, Thou wilt soon appear, / Thy day is almost here. / Oh, how we love Thy coming soon! / We have no other / Lord, life, or lover / Than Thou, Lord Jesus, our Bridegroom! (Hymns #1314)
– We are for the Lord’s recovery, / To our hearts so dear; / When we exercise our spirit, / Our vision is so clear. / Babylon the Great is fallen, / Satan is cast down, / And the local church is builded / On the local ground. (Hymns #1255)
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