God’s intention is not to gain a people who are merely moral and godly in a religious sense. His intention is to have a people who have been regenerated, sanctified, purified, transformed, and built up as the one new man. He desires to have the church as the new man with Christ as his person. Our concern is to become this new man filled and saturated with Christ. God’s concern is that we be filled with Christ, nourished by Christ, and built up in Christ as a proper church.
Everyone in the Lord’s recovery needs to be clear about the Lord’s move on earth today. Do not think of the recovery as an ordinary Christian work or movement. The recovery of the church life is not merely another kind of typical Christian work. No, the recovery is unique and of tremendous significance.
The Lord’s recovery is related to the Lord’s coming back. According to the prophecies in the Bible, two signs of the Lord’s coming back are the re-formation of the nation of Israel and the return of Jerusalem to Israel. As we all know, these two things have taken place, the re-formation of Israel in 1948 and the return of Jerusalem in 1967. According to the Lord’s word in Luke 21:24, the return of Jerusalem indicates the fullness of the age of the Gentiles. Since these two signs have taken place, we believe that it will not be too long before the Lord comes back. Furthermore, the world situation is focused on the Middle East, particularly on problems related to oil. The world situation is coming more and more into line with biblical prophecy.
The Bible also tells us that the Bride must be prepared. Consider the situation of today’s Christianity, and ask yourself where the Bride is being prepared. Is the Bride being prepared in Catholicism? in the denominations? in the charismatic movement? in the independent groups? I sincerely believe that the Bride is being prepared in the Lord’s recovery. We admit that we are imperfect and rather weak, but it is nevertheless a fact that no other Christians love the Lord Jesus more than those in the local churches. Recently we received a report that certain missionaries in Taiwan, although critical of the local churches, admitted that the Christians in the churches were the most mature to be found on that island. We simply cannot deny the fact that so many of the saints in the Lord’s recovery love the Lord Jesus in an absolute way.
May the Lord impress us that it is not an insignificant matter to be in His recovery. The time is short, and the Lord’s coming is close. Surely before He comes back the Bride must be ready for Him. There may not be time for the Lord to begin another work apart from the recovery as a preparation of the Bride. If the Bride is not being prepared in the recovery, please show me where this preparation is taking place. We in the churches must not boast, and we must not be proud. To be either boastful or proud is foolish. Nevertheless, we must admit the fact that no Christians love the Lord more than those in the churches in the Lord’s recovery. We praise the Lord that however weak and imperfect we may be, He is going on among us. We believe that the church life will spread in Europe and eventually reach Jerusalem. We believe that when the Lord sets His feet on the Mount of Olives at the time of His coming back, there will be a church in Jerusalem to meet Him. What a shame it would be to Him if there were no church in Jerusalem at His coming! Oh, may we all be clear that we are not involved in an ordinary Christian work. We are in the Lord’s recovery, in His move on earth today. Praise Him, He is marching on! Let us go forth with Him to meet Him in His coming. May the Bride be made ready!