CONTENTS
FOREWORDThe contents of this book are messages given during the spring of 1983 in Irving, Texas. These messages cover the primary and crucial aspect of the Lord's recovery—to recover the dispensing of the Triune God as life into His redeemed people in order that He may be fully expressed on the earth. The term recovery means that something which previously existed in a normal state has been ruined or lost so that there is the need to bring that thing back to its original condition. Most Christians consider the Lord's recovery only as a recovery of doctrines, practices, and spiritual experiences that have been damaged or lost such as justification by faith, a life of holiness, the presbytery, baptism by immersion, various aspects of the church life, etc. These are items of the Lord's recovery, but they are not the central matter. To know the main item of the Lord's recovery we need to see the complete revelation of the Bible. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament God's purpose, intention, and goal to have man as His expression is clearly revealed. Also, His accomplishments according to that intention can be clearly seen. Furthermore, both Testaments give a clear record of how Satan, God's enemy, works to corrupt and destroy what God has accomplished. Finally, the two Testaments reveal how God comes in after Satan's destruction to regain His expression. This regaining of His expression is the basic matter of the Lord's recovery. God plans and God accomplishes; then Satan destroys and God recovers. Genesis 1:26-27 reveals that man was made in the image of God. Man was created to express the Triune God. Also, the Old Testament as a model or type and the New Testament as the fulfillment and reality reveal that God desires that this man become a collective people who will express Himself in a full way on the earth. This people, in this age, is on the one hand the temple of God (Eph. 2:21-22) and on the other hand the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One Who fills all in all (Eph. 1:22-23). This corporate entity. the church, is the manifestation of God in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:15-16). The ultimate expression of the Triune God will be consummated in the New Jerusalem where all of God's redeemed people will be one corporate entity expressing Him for eternity. God's enemy hates this expression. God's expression has been greatly damaged and even ruined by him. Today, in the church, there is the need for a recovery of this expression. May we all pray for this! Benson Phillips |