In resurrection Christ is life to us and in His exaltation He is power to us, not merely for preaching the gospel, but also for carrying out God’s administration. We must realize that preaching the gospel is a part of the carrying out of God’s administration. We preach the gospel to carry out God’s administration to spread the kingdom of God. To usher in the kingdom of God is to carry out God’s administration. Preaching the gospel effectively does not depend upon our eloquence. It depends upon our power. We may not be so eloquent in speaking, but if we are a people full of the breath within, and filled with the wind without, our speaking will be full of power and authority. Preaching the gospel is not only to let sinners hear our voice, but also to let all the demons and evil spirits hear the voice of the divine power.
After the ascension and exaltation of the Savior the disciples went out to preach the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15). This corresponds with Matthew 28:18-19 where the Lord tells the disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and disciple all the nations.” The disciples went and discipled the nations not merely by preaching the Word, but even more by exercising the authority of the Head. This kind of preaching is always followed by the authority of the ascended Christ. This is the reason why Mark 16:17-18 mentions five kinds of miracles following the preaching of the gospel by the disciples: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it shall by no means harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will be well.” To cast out demons is not a matter of preaching, but a matter of authority. If you do not have the authority, you cannot deal with demons. To speak with new tongues is to solve the problem of the nations which came in at Babel to divide all mankind (Gen. 11:6-9). To overcome the dividing factor of different languages, the new tongue is needed. With the new tongue, the oneness of mankind is recovered. The genuine tongue speaking is the issue of the power and authority of the ascended Christ to overcome the divisions of mankind. In the Lord’s salvation, by the exalted Head, tongue speaking overcomes the divisions of mankind caused by different dialects. This is the main principle.
From His incarnation to His ascension the all-inclusive Christ accomplished many things, He attained many things, and He obtained many things. First, He breathed Himself as the breath of life into His believers. Then He poured Himself out as the Spirit of power upon these believers. By breathing Himself into them, He made them members of His Body. By pouring Himself upon them, He formed them into His Body. Now in this universe there is a universal man. The Head is in the heavens, and the Body is on this earth. The Head and the Body are corresponding and coordinating one with another to carry out God’s eternal plan. Today we have Him within us as life essentially, and we have Him upon us as power economically. Now we are living a life which is the processed Triune God, and we are carrying out His economy which is the accomplishment of God’s eternal plan. This is the church life.
Once He poured Himself out upon His believers, they were put together to be His Body, and this brought His believers into the foretaste of the works of power of the coming age. Today we are still living in the old age which is full of demons, sickness, death, division, and problems and troubles. Yet among mankind, there is a group of people who believe in such a wonderful One, having received this wonderful One into them as life essentially, and having had this wonderful One poured upon them as power economically. These are new persons of mankind who have been brought into a new realm, a new kingdom, which is the kingdom of God. In this new realm they enjoy a foretaste of the coming age, the age of the kingdom.
In the coming age there will be no more divisions among mankind, Satan will be bound, all his demons and evil spirits will be dealt with, sicknesses will be healed, death will be swallowed up, and all the problems among mankind will be solved. That will be the time of the “restoration of all things” referred to in Acts 3:21, the kingdom of peace and righteousness on this earth. That age has not yet come, but we believers who are the new persons and who have been brought into a new realm, the kingdom of God, have a foretaste of the coming age. Therefore, we can speak the new tongues which unify us, we can cast out demons who recognize us and fear us, we can overcome death, we can heal diseases, and we can solve all the problems. This is the foretaste of the coming age.