“But the houses of the villages that have no walls around them shall be considered as the fields of the country; they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the jubilee” (v. 31). This signifies that in a place in which there are some believers who cannot be considered a church, the lost enjoyment of Christ can be restored.
Those in a situation typified by the houses of the villages without walls cannot lose the church life because there is no church life in their place. They are not living the church life, for they are simply a small group of believers who cannot be considered a church. To these believers the lost enjoyment of Christ can be restored.
“As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites shall have a permanent right of redemption for the houses in the cities of their possession. And if anyone of the Levites does not redeem it, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel” (vv. 32-33). This signifies that if any loss of the enjoyment of the church life occurs to the believers who are adequately engaged in the service of God in a church, it can be restored to them without any limitation of time.
If we are those who serve God adequately in the church life and we lose the church life, it will be easy for it to be restored to us. From this we see that it is very good for us to serve in the church life more and more. The more we serve in the church life, the more secure our enjoyment of the church life will be. It will not be easy for us to lose the church life, but if we do lose it, it can be restored easily and quickly.
“But the fields of the pasture lands of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their permanent possession” (v. 34). This signifies that the believers who are adequately engaged in the service of God in a church will not lose the enjoyment of Christ permanently.
The two items in these verses related to the Levites surely encourage us to serve in the church life. The more we are engaged in God’s service, the better. If we are engaged in this service, it will not be easy for us to lose the enjoyment of Christ. If we lose the enjoyment of the church, it will be easy to have it restored to us. Thus, for both the enjoyment of Christ and the enjoyment of the church life, we need to engage ourselves more and more in the church service.
Nevertheless, we need to realize that even in the jubilee, which is altogether a matter of grace, there is still a statute of limitations regarding the matter of the church life as typified by the house in a walled city. If we lose such a church life, we need to redeem it within the time limit prescribed by the statute of limitations.
When we were young, the Lord showed us the revelation concerning the matter of the kingdom reward and dispensational discipline during the millennium, and we began to teach and preach this. A number of Christian preachers, teachers, and pastors argued with us, quoting Ephesians 2:8, which says, “By grace you have been saved through faith.” Then they went on to claim that what we were teaching was not a matter of grace. Yes, Ephesians 2:8 does say that we are saved by grace. But we also need to pay attention to Ephesians 5:5, where Paul says, “Every fornicator or unclean person or person of unbridled greedy lust, who is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Those who live an unclean life will not have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. This means that in the coming age of the kingdom, certain genuine, saved believers will have no inheritance. Due to their unclean life, they have lost the church life in this age and the inheritance of the kingdom in the coming age.
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