The heavenly manna is to be the unique food for God’s people. The children of Israel could even say, “There is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes” (Num. 11:6b).
In relation to Christ as the unique food for God’s people, I wish to say a word about the uniqueness of the ministry. Some Christians claim that there are many different ministries. In Christianity today, as we have already pointed out, there are hundreds of sources; there are also hundreds of so-called ministries. However, in the Bible, especially in the New Testament, there is just one ministry. The twelve Apostles all shared in the same ministry. In a message entitled “The Ministry in the New Testament Economy” (see Truth Messages, Message Four), we considered the truth regarding the ministry in the New Testament economy. We pointed out in that message that in the eyes of the Lord, there is just one ministry in the New Testament age. The twelve Apostles did not have different ministries. Rather, they all shared in the unique New Testament ministry. Speaking of Judas, Peter said that he “was numbered among us, and was allotted his portion of this ministry” (Acts 1:17). This proves that the twelve Apostles were all in “this ministry.” This indicates that there is one unique ministry in the New Testament. Therefore, when the Apostles prayed about a replacement for Judas, they asked the Lord to show them whom He had chosen to “take the place of this ministry” (Acts 1:25).
The apostle Paul also had a part in this ministry. In 2 Corinthians 4:1 he spoke of “having this ministry, as we have received mercy.” He did not say, “I have this ministry,” nor, “We have these ministries.” Furthermore, in 1 Timothy 1:12 Paul said, “I give thanks to Him who empowers me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because He has counted me faithful, appointing me to the ministry.” In this verse Paul does not say, “He appointed me to my ministry”; he says that the Lord appointed him to the unique New Testament ministry.
The apostles had one ministry because they ministered the same kind of food. We all know that in the New Testament there are four Gospels. We cannot deny that there are differences among the Gospels. Matthew wrote from the angle of the kingship; Mark, from the angle of service; Luke, from the angle of redemption through the proper humanity; and John, from the angle of life through Christ’s deity. Nevertheless, the Gospels present one Person. The writers of the four Gospels all minister the same Christ. This indicates that although the Gospel writers differ in emphasis, they are one in their ministry. Each of the Gospels is a biography of the same wonderful Person. In today’s Christian world, however, there are many different ministries. These ministries have been a cause of division. Instead of one tree with one diet, there are hundreds of trees producing many different kinds of food.
Those who oppose the Lord’s recovery sometimes say that the local churches listen only to one person, Witness Lee, and do not receive the ministry of anyone else. It is not true to say that the churches listen only to me. However, I will strongly declare that all the churches have just one ministry. We in the Lord’s recovery today have the unique ministry. This is the same today as it was at the beginning of the recovery. Furthermore, this ministry is the same throughout the world. In the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia, the ministry is one and the same. Although there is one ministry in the Lord’s recovery, there are hundreds, even thousands, of speakers. But all these speakers are speaking the same thing, although they may speak it from different angles. Praise the Lord for the ministry in His recovery! We are all eating from one tree, the tree of life. We do not have any other source.
In the Lord’s recovery we cannot accept any ministry that is not part of theministry. To accept other kinds of ministry would be to take in some food that is different from the heavenly manna. We thank the Lord that from the very beginning He showed us what is the ministry of Christ, the ministry of life. We have one tree of life, one manna. Throughout the years I have been in this country, I have given thousands of messages. But all these messages have conveyed one food, one diet: Christ as the unique food for God’s people.
If the Lord were to allow me, I could give message after message concerning doctrine. But the Lord does not permit me to speak on such things. When I was giving the life-study messages on Revelation and Matthew, the Lord preserved me from being distracted from the tree of life to knowledge of prophecy. Sometimes, however, I am asked questions related to Bible prophecy, for example, regarding the sixty-two weeks in Daniel 9. Such a question can be a temptation. As I have opened my mouth to answer a question such as this, I have been reminded that my commission is to minister Christ as the unique food. We do not have another tree called the tree of doctrine or the tree of prophecy.
In the Lord’s recovery we care for the wheat, not for the chaff. Although there may be thousands of grains of wheat, all the grains produce wheat, not some other kind of crop. In the same principle, the Bible produces only Christ as our unique food. For this reason, we do not accept those ministries that impart other kinds of food.
According to the Bible, God has one ministry. This ministry is the ministry of Christ, the ministry of life. All those who share in this unique ministry speak with the same tone and have the same goal. I am thankful that during the years the Lord’s recovery has been in this country our tone and goal have been one. The reason for this oneness is that our ministry is one and the life we are ministering to the saints is also one.
I have been burdened to emphasize the importance of the unique ministry in the Bible and in the Lord’s recovery today because some criticize us for not receiving other ministries. They find fault with the fact that the ministry in the Lord’s recovery is one. This criticism concerning the ministry is subtle, like the speaking of the serpent in Genesis 3. I hope that this word will inoculate us against the poison of the subtle one. Whenever someone speaks critically of the unique ministry in the Lord’s recovery, we should reply that we have one ministry because in the Bible there is just one tree of life. Since we have one God, one Christ, and one Spirit with one tree of life, we also have one ministry. Praise the Lord that in His recovery there is only one ministry! Because the ministry is unique, there are no divisions among us. However, if there were two ministries, there would be division. If there were twenty ministries, there would be twenty divisions. We thank the Lord that we are preserved in oneness because we have one ministry.
We need to be clear, however, that to have one ministry does not mean that there is just one speaker for all the churches. There are more than three hundred fifty local churches on earth today. How could any person be the only one to speak in all these churches? As we have pointed out, both in the Far East and in the West, there are many speakers speaking the same thing for the same goal.
Because manna was the unique food for God’s people, they were not permitted to have any choice of food according to their own tastes. In the matter of eating, people like to eat food that suits their personal tastes. For example, in Hong Kong there are many Chinese restaurants which specialize in different kinds of cooking. For our physical food we can choose from a wide selection of Chinese restaurants as well as from many different styles of Western cooking. But in the New Jerusalem there will be just one kind of food and one diet. According to the vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 22, the river of water of life flows out from the throne of God and the Lamb, and along the river grows the tree of life. It is also this way in the Lord’s recovery, where we have Christ as our unique diet.