Our big gospel meetings in the past with their numbers of responses and baptisms were quite impressive. But as far as the nature of the New Testament is concerned, they have killed the function of most of the saints. In other words, they have killed the universal priesthood of the New Testament and have caused a few to become the super-clergy. In principle, this is an offense to the Lord because it has fully annulled God’s New Testament economy. We must realize today that it is absolutely not a matter of a change in method. We need a thorough repentance, and we need to drop all the ways that are not according to God’s New Testament economy.
The old way offends God. When God sovereignly works in a circumstance, He may gather many people together just as He did on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41). However, even at that time after three thousand were saved, they began to break bread, fellowship, teach the truth, and preach the gospel from house to house. This shows us that other than on special occasions, all the brothers and sisters should bear fruit directly in their daily lives. They should be priests of God’s gospel directly, offering up the gospel sacrifices, which are the saved sinners. If they do not do this, they are acting contrary to God’s economy.
There is grace for us in the New Testament. If we want to enjoy the grace of the New Testament, we have to meet the requirements of the New Testament. We also have to see that the requirements and demands of the New Testament can never be fulfilled by our natural man. Hence, the New Testament shows us a way; we have to be in Christ. We have to die with Him and resurrect with Him. When we experience death and resurrection, it will no longer be I but Christ living in us.
In Galatians 2:20 Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” He also said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am...yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” Hence, the grace of God is just Christ. Christ is the grace of God.
Only by being in Christ and sharing in His death and resurrection can we possibly live a life of true consecration. Only this is true revival. Today the church in Taipei, including all the co-workers and elders, needs such a revival. We have studied the framework of the new way thoroughly. What we need now is to be enriched in content. In other words, the inward essence has to be changed. To change a man not only involves changing his outward attire. It involves a change in his being. Today the man in the old creation has to be changed into a man in the new creation, one that is in resurrection.
I hope that starting from tonight everyone would go to the Lord and have a thorough prayer. We should pray to the Lord, “Lord, I am still under Your grace and mercy. I am still partaking of the eldership here. I do want to follow You in the way ordained and revealed by You, the way that matches Your economy in resurrection. You have now shown us this way. But I know that I am helpless. I give myself to You. Keep me in Your resurrection.” If we pray this way, the Spirit of the Lord will surely be with us abundantly. This is a true revival. Moreover, daily we should renew this revival; this is like the rising of the sun. In this way, we will truly be living in the Lord’s resurrection, and there will be power from on high to supply us. We will be able to meet the demands of the New Testament and testify that we are those who have truly received abundant grace from the Lord.
What we have mentioned tonight are items that the Lord has not yet recovered throughout the years. These are crucial items in the recovery. The two passages in 1 Corinthians 14 and Ephesians 4 have never been fulfilled. In addition, there are the two points of the universal priesthood, in which every saint preaches the gospel and brings sinners to God, and of the way of worship in the New Testament, which is not a matter of a physical place but of our spirit. Moreover, there should not be any forms in our worship; rather, we serve by the Spirit of God. Only this kind of living in the spirit with all the saints will match God’s New Testament economy. In this way, the Body of Christ will be built up, and God’s economy will be fulfilled among us. As we said before, all of these matters have not been realized throughout the centuries.
I believe that God is sovereignly speaking these things to us today. If we do not go on faithfully, we will surely delay His timing. However, God must accomplish this eventually. Today, God is reiterating His words in the Bible. His words never fail. They will surely be accomplished on earth. May we be those that receive grace in these matters.