Some condemn us and slander us by saying that we take the Life-study messages more than the Bible and even as the Bible because we use them so much. We must ask, though, which students of the Bible and which teachers of the Bible have never used commentaries, expositions, or other books. Commentaries and expositions are not for the purpose of replacing the Bible but for the purpose of opening up the Bible, which is somewhat hard for us to enter in. Because we need the help of reference books, this does not mean that we replace the Bible with reference books. Those of us who have read the Life-study messages can testify that these Life-studies with the Recovery Version and all the footnotes open the Bible to us whenever we touch them. The Life-studies and the Recovery Version not only convey the nourishment to us, but they become an opener.
After reading some of the Life-study messages on Romans 8, for example, I think we can testify that Romans has been opened to us. For years I have been a very devoted seeker of biblical truth. Romans 8 was seemingly opened to me before 1954, but I did not realize that it was still concealed to me. I did not see that Romans 8 actually is a revelation of the processed Triune God dispensing Himself into the tripartite man. Without such an unveiling you cannot enter into Romans 8. We must see that the processed Triune God is dispensing Himself into His redeemed, tripartite man, making this man a man of life—first his spirit is life (v. 10), then his mind becomes life (v. 6), and finally, life is given to his mortal body (v. 11). Until you have seen such a vision you could never enter into Romans 8. Without such a vision, Romans 8 is concealed and closed to you. Once you have received such a vision, however, you will receive not only nourishment but enlightenment. You receive the key that opens Romans 8. This is not replacing the Bible. This is not replacing Romans 8 with the Life-study messages, but this is to get the help from the Life-study messages to enter into Romans 8.
Many commentaries and expositions have been written on the book of Romans. Not one, however, according to my knowledge, has ever pointed out that Romans is composed of four sections—from justification to sanctification to the Body of Christ and finally to the local churches. No other commentary said that the book of Romans ends with the local churches. This, however, is the fact. If you read the book of Romans by yourself without any help, I am afraid that you will not see that this book ends with the local churches and that the revelation in this book intends to bring you from a sinner to a son of God and a member of Christ to the local churches. We need this vision today. We can understand such a vision with the help of some proper, advanced exposition like the notes of the Recovery Version and the Life-study messages. If the Recovery Version, the notes, the outlines, the cross-references, and the messages were Brother Nee’s writings, I would spend day after day to go out and promote them. Because they are my writings, I am restricted in what I would say. To a certain extent, however, I have become “a fool” to promote my own writings (2 Cor. 11:1; 12:11). I have received many letters of appreciation from the saints thanking me for the help they have received. Recently, one sister said that she wanted to write and tell me how much the Life-studies have helped her. She said that she received the help from reading the Life-studies when she was in a desperate situation. She had no way out, but when she read the Life-studies she received the help.
We need to get into all these precious gifts which the Lord has been giving us in the past sixty years. To get into these things we must practice what was fellowshipped in the last two chapters. All of you should be encouraged not to be contented with what you already know, but you need to go further to develop more and more. We should all be those driving forward and not backward. To drive forward, however, we need regulations. We are restricted as to where we can drive by the highway itself. Also, on the highway are white lines which indicate to us that we need to be restricted in our driving on the highway. Otherwise, you will kill yourself. I have opened the door for you all to “sail on” and develop. Without restriction, however, you will drive yourself into “the Pacific Ocean.” It is possible that your driving could kill others, but you yourself could be saved. You may say that you are okay, but others were killed. Morally speaking, you are held responsible. In like manner, in our development of the truth, we must develop the truth based upon what we have seen. What we have seen is a foundation and “the shoulders” for us to stand on. To go further in developing the truth you must have some regulating rules and principles.
When I lived in Shanghai, there was a Seventh-Day Adventist denomination there. They once published a big paper with a lot of prophecies. One of these prophecies said that America was one of the ten kingdoms of the coming Roman empire. This is an example of expounding the Bible without regulations. The traffic on the earth must be regulated, and even the air traffic has its regulations; otherwise, many lives would be lost. In like manner, to interpret typology, prophecy, or any portion of the Bible there are basic rules and principles to follow.
Some have interpreted the land of Canaan, the good land, as a type of heaven and the Jordan River as a type of death. Many hymnals mention the Jordan River. I still remember a hymn which referred to the cold wave in the Jordan River which we had to pass through to get to heaven, the good land. When I was a young man I received this interpretation with no peace. I received it because everyone believed it was true and I thought it was probably right. It seemed alright to say that after death we go to heaven, so the good land of Canaan must be a type of heaven. Later, however, I was told that if the land of Canaan were a type of heaven that would mean that heaven would be a terrible place, full of Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, full of enemies (Exo. 3:8), and full of giants (Num. 13:32-33). In our hymnal we have 1080 hymns. Approximately two hundred of these hymns were written by us and the others were selected from other sources. A number of these hymns ended with the thought of crossing the river to enter heaven. This was very popular in the last century. This is why we changed the endings of these hymns. Because the statute of limitation on these hymns was over and they were in the public domain, we had the liberty to change them so that they would be according to the truth.
Another interpretation of the significance of the good land of Canaan came from the inner-life writings. They said that Canaan was not a type of heaven because there is no war in heaven. Therefore, there are no Canaanites in heaven. They said that Canaan typified the battlefield in the spiritual warfare where the overcoming saints fight the battle. Temporarily, I felt that this was right, but eventually I discovered that this interpretation does not fit with the children of Israel being a type of God’s people in God’s economy.
When I came to Taiwan in 1949, I was clear after much consideration that Canaan was not a type of heaven. I was also somewhat clear that Canaan could not be a type of the battlefield of the spiritual warfare. I was seeking very honestly to know what the significance of the good land of Canaan was in typology. I believe that eventually the Lord showed me, especially in the year 1959. It was then that I had a thorough study with the saints in Taiwan on the Pentateuch. At that time I was made clear that Canaan was a type of the all-inclusive Christ for God’s people’s enjoyment. This interpretation is based upon the history of the children of Israel. They were slaves in Egypt who were redeemed. God’s judgment passed over them and they enjoyed the Savior as the nourishing and redeeming Lamb. The Lamb was their enjoyment. By eating the Lamb, which was the beginning of their redeemed life, they were energized to cross the Red Sea to journey to God’s destination. On the way in the wilderness they received the manna every day as a further nourishment. From the wilderness they entered into the good land, and Joshua tells us that after they entered into the good land the manna ceased and they began to enjoy the produce of the good land (Josh. 5:12). Therefore, the good land must typify the rich, all-inclusive enjoyment of Christ to God’s people.
From 1959 I began to minister boldly that Canaan was a type of Christ in an all-inclusive way for God’s people’s enjoyment. After I came to the United States in 1962, I gave a series of messages in the first conference in the United States on the all-inclusive Christ, based upon Deuteronomy 8:7-10. These messages were a great opener, which not only opened others’ eyes but also opened my eyes. This is why I tell you not to follow the expositions, commentaries, and interpretations in a blind way. You need to pick up some principles to govern the interpretation of the types in the Old Testament, such as the historical events and geographical places. The basic principle is Christ being the enjoyment of God’s people. Egypt typified a land of slavery. There was no enjoyment for God’s people until the redemption of God came in. Then God’s redeemed people began to enjoy, not merely God’s blessing, but the very Redeemer who is Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be their enjoyment. At the beginning of their journey they enjoyed Christ, not only as the redeeming Lamb, but also as the nourishing Lamb. Then they took their journey and on the way they enjoyed Christ again as the heavenly manna in the wilderness, as their daily portion. When they entered into the good land, they immediately enjoyed the produce of the good land. Here is a principle which governs our interpretation of all the historical events and of all the geographical places in the type of the children of Israel.