Although we respect the fundamental teachings of the Bible, the New Testament shows us many things beyond the fundamental teachings. We are very much for the preaching of the gospel by visiting sinners to bring them into Christ. However, the goal of our preaching is not to "win souls" or to bring people to heaven but to create, to produce, members of Christ for the building up of His organic Body, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem.
In doing this, our goal is to reach Zion, to have Zion today, for the fulfillment of God's eternal economy. Otherwise, God will have no way to fulfill His economy to consummate in the New Jerusalem. The last book of the New Testament sounds out the call to be overcomers (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21), and these overcomers will be Zion (14:1). This Zion will be the standard of what the New Jerusalem will be. In the new heaven and new earth, when the New Jerusalem comes in, Zion will disappear because the entire New Jerusalem will become Zion, with all the believers as overcomers. The church life in the Lord's recovery must go on and on until at least some of us, if not all, reach Zion.
If we love the Lord and His recovery and if we mean business to practice the church life in the recovery, we need to endeavor to see all the visions concerning God's economy, the center and reality of which are Christ and the church. In the last ten years of my ministry, I have been struggling to reach this high point. This is why I do not like to touch the books of history in the Old Testament without seeing what is related to God's economy. In the history books Christ and the church are typified. As we continue our life- study of 1 and 2 Kings, we should pay our attention to these things.
First Kings 15 and 16 cover the reigns of Abijam and Asa over Judah and of Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri over Israel and the beginning of the reign of Ahab over Israel. In this record there is confusion, which always comes out of division. Wherever division is, there is confusion.