We need to See a Vision of the World’s Ultimate Situation and God’s Ultimate Move

As believers in Christ living in the last days of this age, we need to see a vision of the world’s ultimate situation, God’s ultimate move, and the Lord’s ultimate recovery.

It may seem that this series of blog posts are not focused on “spiritual matters” but they touch a lot of historical and outward things, but we need to realize that as human beings we live in a certain context, a certain part of history, and we have a certain responsibility.

Our responsibility today is not to be fully wrapped up in the world history and trying to interpret the signs but rather, we need to see the world’s ultimate history, God’s ultimate move, and cooperate with the Lord for His ultimate recovery on earth in this age today.

It is a historical fact that the world situation has always been an indicator of God’s move on earth. Our God is sovereign, and we may not understand why He does certain things and what is the reason He allows other things to happen, but we can look at world history in the light of God’s economy and His move, and we can realize that He is moving.

God raises up kings and dismisses leaders, He raises up nations or allows other nations to be seemingly destroyed; everything that He does is for the carrying out of His economy under His sovereignty.

If we study the history of the church – especially based on Rev. 2-3, we will realize that it shows us how the world situation is the indicator of God’s move on earth.

Therefore, we in the church life in the Lord’s recovery need to realize that we are standing on the shoulders of many who went before us and recovered many truths in the Bible, and we are at a point in history where we can see God’s move throughout history and His particular move today.

There is the need of an appropriate direction for God’s move today to match the recent changes in the world situation.

Today we are not living in the time of Martin Luther with the Catholic Church dominating most of Europe and keeping these nations under its spell; today we have freedom of speech and religion, and the Lord has recovered so many truths and practices in the Bible.

Furthermore, as we see the changes happening in the world situation, we must wake up and consider what the Lord wants to do and how these changes affect us, so that we may cooperate with the Lord’s ultimate recovery in this age today.

In the World’s Ultimate Situation the USA takes the Lead for the Spreading of the Truth

Throughout history we see that God raised certain nations to accomplish certain things and create a certain environment for the carrying out of God’s economy.

The Roman Empire was raised up to prepare the right situation and environment for the birth, living, and death of the Lord Jesus, and then for the propagation of the gospel. Then, Germany was raised up for the beginning of the recovery of the truth and the translation of the Bible into the people’s language.

After that, God raised up Great Britain for the preaching of the gospel to all the corners of the earth, and also for the opening up of the truth in the Bible in a deeper way (by the Brethren).

Then, the Lord took a turn to go to China, a virgin soil, to raise up brother Watchman Nee and later brother Witness Lee, to continue to open up the deeper meaning of the word of God for the inward experience of Christ and the proper practice of the church to build up the Body of Christ.

In 1949 brother Nee sent brother Lee out from China to Taiwan, and the church life in Taiwan increased a hundredfold in a couple of years. Then in 1962 brother Lee was led by the Lord to leave Taiwan and move to the USA to begin his work there.

The Lord’s recovery was in Europe for 500 years, then it went to China, then to Taiwan, and then to the USA.

We are NOT here uplifting any country but, speaking according to the world history and according to what we have seen in the Bible and in the ministry, in these days the USA is greatly used by the Lord to propagate and spread the Lord’s recovery and the completing ministry of Paul throughout the earth.

In the USA, a country under the constitution with great freedom of speech, the Lord has been freely speaking and opening up the Bible until we reached the high peak of the divine revelation. The United States has been kept for the spreading of the central vision of Paul’s completing ministry (see Acts 26:18; Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4; 5:32).

According to what we can see today in the world history and the Lord’s move, the United States is the last power God will use for His final move to spread the truth to the whole inhabited earth, especially to Europe.

Again, we do not uplift a country or a person but, just as brother Nee prayed in 1938 at the Keswick convention where he went as a guest of Austin Sparks, we pray for the interest of the Son of God in all these countries.

On the one hand we need to pay attention to the world situation and see the Lord’s move, and on the other hand we need to pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth.

God’s kingdom and our kingdom are NOT of this world; we are therefore not here to play politics or do a social reform, but to bring in the kingdom of God on earth.

When the Lord Jesus came on earth, He didn’t do a social reform, neither did He come to be a great King; when He returns, He will change everything, and the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ – until then, we are here to bring in the kingdom of God.

Our position and burden is to preach the gospel in this world’s ultimate situation for the Lord’s ultimate move on earth.

Lord Jesus, grant us a clear view of the world’s ultimate situation so that we may participate in Your ultimate move on earth today. We are not here to do a social reform or to be involved in politics; we are here for the kingdom of God to come on earth. Thank You Lord for using Germany to recover justification by faith and pioneer translating the Bible, Great Britain to propagate the gospel and open up the deeper truths in the Bible, and the United States to spread the central vision of Paul’s completing ministry! Lord, grant us to see the world’s ultimate situation today!

God’s Ultimate Move is to Carry out His Economy concerning Christ and the Church

In the world’s ultimate situation God has an ultimate move to match the world’s situation; God’s ultimate move, as seen in the Bible, is to carry out His economy concerning Christ (the mystery of God) and the church (the mystery of Christ).

As seen in Col. 2:2 and Eph. 3:4-6, in this age today God is carrying out His economy concerning the mystery of God (Christ) and the mystery of Christ (the church), which together form a great mystery – Christ and the church, which is God’s economy.

Without the completing ministry of the apostle Paul we cannot see these points, but as we dig deeper into the word of God with the help of the ministry we realize God’s ultimate move in the world’s ultimate situation.

Every day we want to learn more about these two mysteries: Christ and the church, which together are God’s economy.

The Bible clearly tells us what God’s ultimate move is. God’s ultimate move is to have Christ as the mystery of God enter into us as our life. Then we become His living members and together form His Body, which is the very fullness of the One who fills all in all. We do not understand this in an adequate way, but this is what is in the Bible. This is Paul’s completing ministry, telling us that Christ is God’s mystery and Christ has become our life; that we are the church, which is Christ’s mystery (Eph. 3:4-6); that the church is the Body. No other writer of the Bible besides Paul tells us that the church is the Body of Christ. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1981, vol. 1, “The World Situation and God’s Move,” pp. 327-328)

What a mercy from the Lord that today we know that God in Christ came into us to be our life so that we may be the living members of His Body and become the fulness of the One who fills all in all!

We need to get into the truth to know the mystery of God and the mystery of Christ, and we need to be one with God in His ultimate move in the world’s ultimate situation today to spread and propagate the truth in Europe.

If we are one with the Lord for His move today, we will enjoy Him being one with us, and all the other things will be taken care of. If we today seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33), all the other things will be added to us.

May we be those who don’t live merely to take care of their necessities, their career, their family, or their health; may we realize that Christ – the mystery of God – has become our life, and that we are the church – the mystery of Christ.

This requires our prayerful musing and study, even committing to memory many of the truths in the Bible and in the ministry, so that we may be able to cut straight the word of God and present the deeper truths in the Bible to the world in need.

We want to be one with the Lord in today’s ultimate world situation so that He may carry out His ultimate move to carry out His economy concerning Christ and the church.

Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with God’s ultimate move in the world’s ultimate situation today. We give ourselves to You to be in the truth day and night so that we may be filled and constituted with Christ – the mystery of God – and the church – the mystery of Christ. Hallelujah, Christ is in us to be our life, and we are the church to be Christ’s manifestation and expression, His living on earth! Lord, we want to be one with You in Your ultimate move in the world’s ultimate situation today so that You may carry out Your economy concerning Christ and the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru C. for this week, and portions from, The Completing Ministry of Paul, chs. 2-6 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Special Fellowship concerning the World Situation and the Lord’s Move, msg. 3 (week 3), Spreading the Divine Truths and Seeing a Vision of the World’s Ultimate Situation, God’s Ultimate Move, and the Lord’s Ultimate Recovery.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # We must ever preach the gospel, / Learning how to prophesy / For the building of the Body, / Thus the Lord to glorify. (Song on preaching the high gospel)
  # Christ lives in me— / He’s the meaning of my human life; … / Yes, He’s in me / My all to be; / He’s the meaning and reality of my human life. / The church is Christ— / His expression on the earth today; … / This corporate man / Fulfills God’s plan, / That this man may have dominion over all the earth. (Hymns #1293)
  # Thus in life we’re built together, / Then in love we’re knit as one; / God is now His plan fulfilling, / Finishing what He’s begun. / Lord, increase Thyself within us / That we might be built by Thee / Into that great corporate vessel / Filled with God exclusively. (Hymns #1325)