We have seen that after the Lord left the covenant with us, it became the new testament containing all the accomplished facts as our bequests. The Lord’s new testament is executed by the resurrected Christ as the Mediator in the heavens (9:15; 12:24). While the Lord is resting on His throne in the heavens, He is concerned for all the heirs of this new testament. He is concerned whether the heirs are wise and diligent enough to take the bequests, or whether they are trusting in their own cleverness and trying to do something else. Because He is so concerned, He is interceding that we shall have the full realization of all the bequests contained in His bequeathed will. If our eyes are opened to see this matter of the Lord’s testament, we shall be beside ourselves and say, “How poor the situation has been for over nineteen centuries. Very few Christians have realized these bequests.” All Christians understand God’s salvation in a low way according to the natural human concept, not in the way of bequests. Have you ever heard that the forgiveness of sins is a bequest? Were you ever taught that the imparting of the divine life, the rebirth, and our crucifixion with Christ are also bequests? We were crucified before we were born. It was accomplished by Christ on the cross and it is one of the many bequests itemized in the will. Our perfection and glorification also are bequests. In the new testament, the new will, everything is a bequest which has been accomplished already. In the last portion of this new will, the book of Revelation, the Apostle John uses the past tense very often. For example, in Revelation 20:10 John said that “the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,” and in 21:2 he said, “I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Both of these are in the past tense because every item in the will is a bequest, not a promise.
In your preaching, have you ever told people of their bequests? Most preachers say, “If you believe, God will forgive your sins and you will be born again.” We need to tell people, “I have a will for you, God’s will. This will clearly says that all your sins were forgiven long before you even committed them. This will also declares that your rebirth, justification, sanctification, perfection and glorification have all been accomplished by Him. All these items are bequests presented to you in the will. Will you accept it? If you are willing to take it, just thank the Lord and receive it.” If a person will accept the will in this way, he will immediately have forgiveness of sins, rebirth, justification, sanctification, perfection, glorification, and even the New Jerusalem! From now on, we must enjoy and partake of all the bequests itemized in the Lord’s new will. If we have this view, we shall be radically revolutionized. If you have seen this matter of the new testament, you will no longer need to pray in a begging way.
Many Christians understand Ephesians 5:19 and 20 in this way: “Praying to God continually, begging earnestly and fasting to the Lord, making petitions to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But these verses say, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In these verses, there is no begging but praising and thanksgiving, because the Lord has accomplished everything. The Father promised everything and the Lord Jesus accomplished everything. All the accomplished facts have been itemized in the new will as our bequests. We do not need to beg; we need to thank and praise the Lord for our bequests and enjoy them. If we know God’s economy, we shall praise the Lord and thank Him for all He has accomplished and bequeathed to us. Suppose a relative has bequeathed a house to you in his will. There is no need for you to beg for that house. When you learn that the house has been given to you, all you need to do is say thank you and accept it. This is the proper Christian life. There is no need for us to beg; we simply need to take with thanks to the Lord what has already been given to us in such an extraordinary way—in the way of the new will.
Nothing is as binding and as strongly established as a will. No one can change it. Whatever is bequeathed in a will is final; it must go to whom it has been bequeathed. If our eyes could be opened to see that we have such a will, we would be beside ourselves with praise to the Lord. There is no need for people to wait for their rebirth, for that is an item in the will. They should simply accept regeneration as a bequest and say, “Thank You, Lord, for such a wonderful rebirth. Lord, thank You for the impartation of the divine life accomplished at the time of Your resurrection.” God’s selection is another bequest in the will, having been accomplished before the foundation of the world. Since this is clearly itemized as a bequest in Ephesians 1:4, there is no need to kneel down and pray, “O God, have mercy on me. I am a pitiful sinner, and hell is my destiny. “O God, please grant me Your selection.” How foolish it is to pray in this way! Simply say, “Father, thank You for Your selection which has already been accomplished and bequeathed to me.” God’s selection and predestination both are bequests of the new will which have already been accomplished. Romans 8:30 even tells us that we have already been glorified. Glorification, into which we shall enter in the future, is also a bequest in the new will. In God’s reckoning, it has been accomplished already.
We need to have the heavenly vision to see that all God’s blessings are bequests. Do you need peace? It is a bequest. It was promised by the Father, accomplished by the Son, and has been itemized in the new will as your bequest. Simply thank God for it and receive it. This is the new way to partake of God’s blessings. Do not be a poor beggar—you are a glorious inheritor. An heir has no need to beg; he simply receives all the bequests with thanksgiving. When my eyes were opened to see this matter of the bequests in the new testament, my whole concept was changed. This is why I do not beg. Whenever I pray, I pray with the realization that everything was already given to me nineteen and a half centuries ago as a bequest in the divine will and that I can take all I need. I can boldly say, “Praise the Lord! This is mine and I take it.”
The Lord’s new testament is executed by the resurrected Christ as the Mediator, the Executor, in the heavens. Today the resurrected Christ is executing this will by restfully interceding for us. The testament, the will, has been confirmed and validated by Christ’s death and is being executed and enforced by Christ in His resurrection. The promise of God’s covenant is insured by God’s faithfulness, God’s covenant is guaranteed by God’s righteousness, and the new testament is enforced by Christ’s resurrection power. Christ is now on the throne interceding for us to realize this testament, this will. All the seeking Christians throughout the world are hungry and thirsty. If you tell them about this will and its bequests, they will gladly receive it. They will be willing to give themselves to it and be consumed by it. This will has been given to the Lord’s people for over nineteen centuries, but few of them have realized it. By His mercy, the Lord has brought us into a full realization of His will. Now He is speeding up His recovery. The heavenly Intercessor is motivating and energizing us day by day with His heavenly “pum, pum, pum” that we may partake of all the riches of His will. This is the reason that the Christians in the Lord’s recovery are so aggressive.
God’s promises have all become accomplished facts in the new covenant, and the new covenant has been bequeathed to us as the new testament. Now, in resurrection as the ascended One sitting on the throne in the heavens, Christ is executing what He has bequeathed. The crucial point in this matter is the automatic and innate function of the law of the divine life. Praise the Lord!