As believers in Christ whom the Lord has brought in the church life in the Lord’s recovery by His mercy, we need to be constituted with the truth and spread the highest truth of God’s eternal economy by using the life-studies and the Recovery Version with the footnotes.
Hallelujah for the ministry of the New Testament which opens and properly interprets the word of God!
Praise the Lord for His mercy on us today, for bringing us into the church life under the ministry of the age to be brought back to God’s original intention and be governed by the vision of God’s eternal economy!
There are millions of genuine Christians, bonafide believers in Christ and children of God, but who among them knows what is in God’s heart and who cares for the fulfilment of God’s economy?
Many believers today are like the Ethiopian eunuch who read the Scriptures, attended the service at the temple, but didn’t really understand who or what was the writer talked about.
In the story in Acts 8:26-39, we see that Philip was led by the Spirit to run and catch up with the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch, and he heard this one reading the Bible, so he asked him, Do you understand the things you read?
The eunuch was honest and said, How can I understand unless someone guides me and explains this to me? Is the writer speaking concerning himself in this book of Isaiah, or concerning someone else?
So Philip opened his mouth and, beginning from this Scripture, he announced Jesus as the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch.
We are not told that the eunuch believed, but he saw water and, based on Philip’s speaking, said, Look: water, what prevents me from being baptized?
The result of the eunuch reading the Bible and having a proper interpretation so that Jesus as the gospel would be presented to him was that he not only believed but also desired to be baptized.
There are many riches in the Word of God, and Christ is presented in so many rich and wonderful aspects; however, without someone to guide us and to open up the word to us, we may completely miss these riches.
Many believers read the Bible and interpret it according to their own understanding, their culture, and their natural make-up and philosophy; Paul, however, interpreted the Old Testament by the Old Testament, having the economy of God in view.
And when he asked Timothy to go to Ephesus to take care of the situation there, he instructed him that he would charge certain ones not to teach different things apart from God’s economy, which is in faith.
What is God’s economy? What is the eternal purpose of God, that which was hidden in the heart of God, that which even the prophets in the Old Testament didn’t see but longed to? What is the highest peak of the divine revelation in the Word of God?
These are hard questions to answer, but when we come to the ministry of the age, they are clearly revealed to us and laid out before us.
We simply need to be constituted with and spread the highest truth of God’s eternal economy, bearing the responsibility to spread the translated, interpreted, and understood divine truths for the Lord’s recovery.
We need to be Constituted with and Spread the Highest Truth of God’s Eternal Economy
The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the light of the truth; the opening of God’s word gives light, imparting understanding to the simple (Psa. 119:130).
How we thank and praise the Lord that He has opened up the word to us through the ministry of the age, which inherits and stands on the shoulders of all those who have gone before us and have recovered different truths.
Throughout history, the truths in God’s word have been lost, misunderstood, and misinterpreted; many truths in the Bible lied buried for centuries until the Lord’s light shone on some of them and man-made new discoveries in God’s word.
The believers used by the Lord to recover, uncover, unveil, and bring to light particular truths throughout the centuries didn’t have anything to add to the word of God; they simply made new discoveries in God’s word.
We need to see the highest truth of God’s eternal economy, be constituted with the truth, and spread the truth in this age today.
It is a great help to use the life-studies and the Recovery Version with the footnotes, for these are for opening up the word, ministering life into us, and releasing the truth into us (Job 10:13; cf. Eph. 3:9).
The most urgent need on earth today is the truth of this age; when we use the life-study of the Bible with the Recovery Version and all the footnotes, we have a prevailing key to open up the Bible and see what the Bible speaks about.
These helpers do not replace the Bible; rather, they are useful in opening up the Bible, ministering life to us, and bringing us into the depths of God’s word.
It is such a privilege for us to have the Recovery Version in our hands with the thousands of footnotes and cross-references, and to have the life studies for us to read – they are even available online to read for free, and they can be purchased either as physical copies or as electronic books.
We must consider the text of the Recovery Version with the footnotes and the Life-studies as a textbook for our prayerful studying.
If we merely read the Recovery Version Bible with the notes and the life studies in a light way, we will only receive some temporary nourishment and inspiration.
However, when what we read becomes the truth in our enlightened memory by our prayerful consideration and study, the truth becomes a constant and eternal nourishment to us.
If we check with our experience, there were many times that we met some saints who were not in the meeting that we just attended and, when they asked us how the meeting was and what was shared, we didn’t remember much from the meeting.
We may have a temporary inspiration and enjoyment in God’s word, but this has to become a solid truth constituted into us; we need to be constituted with and spread the highest truth of God’s eternal economy today.
The intention and goal of the life-study messages with all the ministry books are to “open up the mine” of the truth of the Bible so that we may continue to dig out the treasures and be constituted with and spread the highest truth of God’s eternal economy.
It is our duty to dig into the word of God with the help of the Recovery Version and the life-studies so that we may get the riches contained in the Word of God, be constituted with and speak the highest truth of God’s eternal economy.
When we spend time with the Lord in His word with the help of the footnotes, we get spiritual light, we get constituted with the truth, and we have something to speak to others.
We can even use the Recovery Version with the footnotes to preach the gospel.
First, we need to fan our spirit into flame, and we need to realize that God didn’t give us a spirit of cowardice but of power, of love, and of sobermindedness.
As we exercise our spirit, we enjoy the Lord in His word, we are infused with the divine reality, and truth becomes our constitution.
Furthermore, a consequence is that we are not ashamed of the Lord, the testimony of the Lord, and the ones who went before us and opened up the word for us; rather, we will suffer evil with the gospel according to the power of God.
Paul encouraged his young co-worker, Timothy, first to exercise his spirit so that the gift of God would be fanned into flame, and then not to be ashamed of the gospel nor of the Lord’s servant, Paul, through whom he received these things.
Even though Paul was a prisoner in a Roman prison, he considered himself to be a prisoner in the Lord, and he encouraged Timothy not to be ashamed of him.
It is a privilege for us today to first exercise our spirit by fanning it into flame and to not be ashamed of the gospel nor of the servants of the Lord through whom we have received the highest truths in the word of God.
May we pay the price to be constituted with and spread the highest truth of God’s eternal economy today!
Lord Jesus, we want to be those who are constituted with and spread the highest truth of God’s eternal economy today. Thank You for opening up Your word to us; we come to You in Your word with the exercise of our spirit and we want to dig deeper to enjoy the riches hidden in Your word. Thank You Lord for the life-study of the Bible and for the Recovery Version; thank You for the opened up Word, the proper interpretation of God’s word. We want to dig deeper into the truth with the help of the ministry not only to receive inspiration and nourishment but also to be constituted with the truth! Amen, Lord, may the divine reality be infused into us so that we may be constituted with and spread the highest truth of God’s eternal economy as revealed in God’s word!
We must Bear the Responsibility for Spreading the Translated, Interpreted, and Understood Divine Truths for the Lord’s Recovery
If we continue in a normal way to just generally enjoy the Lord, attend the meetings, visit and blend with the saints, and practice the church life in a general way, most likely we will remain the same and be in the same condition as today.
We need to give up our old ways and take the Lord’s way, the new way; we all must bear the responsibility for spreading the translated, interpreted, and understood divine truths for the Lord’s recovery.
We shouldn’t merely just receive a little help here, a little inspiration there, and a little injection of life here and there.
We shouldn’t try to help others grow in life merely by inspiration, but with no solid truth being infused and constituted into their being so that it can remain in their memory and can be presented to others in a proper way.
If we take the way of Christianity, the old way, the religious way, we will lose the testimony of Jesus; if we take the way of being constituted with and spreading the truth of God’s eternal economy, however, we will have a proper daily living which will result in the testimony of Jesus.
If we are not properly constituted with the truth, we can’t live a proper life. If we merely live by inspiration and not by the constitution of the truth, our living will not be the Lord’s testimony.
May we all pay the price to be constituted with and spread the highest truth of God’s eternal economy, so that we may daily dive into the truth to gain a constitution of the truth.
The proper understanding of the Bible has been collected in the publications of the ministry so that we may study them, learn them, and spread the divine truths.
The Recovery Version Bible and the accompanying footnotes are the “crystallization” of the understanding of the divine revelation which the saints everywhere have attained to in the past two thousand years.
The Lord has given to us in the church life these precious truths for us to spread them not only to Christians but even to the unbelievers.
We need to be those who love the Lord, live to Him, and know nothing but His recovery to take one way to spread the same truths, the present truth, to all those around us.
May we be the faithful and prudent slaves who are constituted with and spread the truths of God’s eternal economy, those who give food at the proper time to those in God’s household (2 Cor. 5:14-15; Matt. 24:45).
When we are faithful and prudent slaves to the Lord, we serve food to the Lord’s people at the proper time, and we will fulfill the Lord’s commission to His recovery.
We need to know the truth, be constituted with the truth, and spread the truth.
For example, if we enjoy John 8 and simply read it with some of the footnotes to an unbeliever, he will get saved, for he will be touched by the Lord’s humanity, how He didn’t condemn the sinful woman but rather, set her free from her sin.
We may read the account of the Lord’s dying on the cross to the sinners, and they will be so touched with the picture at the cross, with the explanation in the Recovery version, that they will simply want to look at Him.
May we treasure what we have, the high truth of God’s eternal economy revealed in the Word of God, and may we spread the truth.
Actually, the increase of the church depends on the spread of the truth, for it is only the truth spoken with the exercise of our spirit as we are one with the Lord that can subdue and gain people.
May we from now on spending time to learn the truth of God’s eternal economy and minister Christ to others for the multiplication and spread of the truth (Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20)!
Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You to spend more time with You in the Word so that we may learn the truth of God’s eternal economy! Amen, Lord, we want to be constituted with the truth and learn to minister Christ to others for the multiplication and spread of the truth. Save us from merely knowing the truth in an objective way; save us from taking the old way of practicing the church life and getting into the truth. Make us those who love You, who live to You, and who know nothing except the Lord’s recovery and His way of spreading the translated, interpreted, and understood divine truths! Amen, Lord, we want to be prudent and faithful slaves who serve food to the Lord’s people at the proper time so that we may fulfill the commission of the Lord’s recovery!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 3: The Way to Carry Out the Vision,” chs. 9-13, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing the Truth, being Absolute for the Truth, and Proclaiming the Truth in this Present Evil Age (2021 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 6, Knowing and Spreading the Up-to-date Truth of the Highest Gospel of God’s Eternal Economy according to the Ministry of the Age.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Oh, healthful teaching, wholesome words: / The truth of godliness! / Oh, good deposit, common faith, / And life of holiness! / Lord, make us now those faithful men / Who pass on what we’ve heard; / Make us examples of the saints / In spirit, faith, and word. (Hymns #1285)
– We have this ministry: / To teach and propagate, / To fight with Satan and contend, / Build up, and cultivate. / Empowered in God’s grace, / Commit all things we’ve learned / To faithful men, that they may then / Impart the healthy word. (Song on, We have this ministry)
– Yes, we’re holy brothers with Christ, / No higher could any man be. / This highest of all gospels is; / This gospel each human must see. / Partakers of this heavenly call, / Could any this gospel reject? / With Christ sitting far above all— / This highest of all gospels yet! (Hymns #1292)
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