By His mercy, especially over the last ten years, I have been releasing all the high, deeper truths concerning the New Testament economy of God. According to my realization, though, all these rich truths mostly are only on our bookshelves. How many among us have spent that much time to dive into these truths? Even though all the notes in the Recovery Version were written by me, I study them again. I like to get into the notes. Early in the morning and any available time I have, I spend time to read the notes. I have recently enjoyed note 174 in Matthew 1 which says, “Matthew comes forward and down to Christ. All the generations were directed to Christ and brought forth Christ. Christ is the goal, the consummation, the conclusion, the completion, and the perfection of all the generations, fulfilling their prophecies, solving their problems, and meeting their needs. When Christ comes, light, life, salvation, satisfaction, healing, freedom, rest, comfort, peace, and joy, all come with Him. From this point on, the whole New Testament is a full expounding of this wonderful Christ, who is everything to us. Hallelujah, Christ has come!” If this were not printed in the Recovery Version, I could never imagine that it was written by me. I enjoy this note. Some of you can talk on the phone for twenty minutes. Could you not spend two minutes in the morning to read such a note? Just by reading such a note you will get nourished.
Our real situation is that we are under a kind of befuddling, a kind of stupefying. Actually, many of us are in the degradation of today’s Christianity. Are we watchful? Are we on the alert for His coming? I do not know when He will come, nor do I know when death will come to me. It may be tomorrow morning. Only the Lord knows. There could be an illness, an earthquake, a car accident, or other calamity that could take our lives. Are you ready? If you are not ready, suppose that you go. You will rest in Paradise in Hades temporarily. You will still rise up to meet Him. By that time you have to look at the situation of your lamp. Will you have sufficient oil to fill your lamp to keep it burning? You may discover that you are short of the extra portion of the Spirit.
I feel now is not the time for me to release more high truths. I have done enough of that already. My burden is to get your attention to rise up, to be always watchful to get yourself filled with the Spirit and with the high truths that could always wake you up. These truths are missed in today’s Christianity and I do not have a strong assurance that these truths have all been recovered with all of you. I am a little concerned that even with you these truths are not only missed but buried. Many of you have never gotten into all the truths you have heard in the past five years. I am concerned that the truth concerning God’s New Testament economy is only on your bookshelves but not really constituted into you. Many of us are like other Christians. They are in degradation; you are too. What is the difference? Does meeting on the proper ground mean that you are in the recovery? Apparently you are. Actually you are not.
By His mercy I have been speaking to many of you for years. I feel burdened and I do have a serious and loving concern for all of you. You spend time after time to meet for ministry meetings and in your locality in the church meetings, yet have you been watchful? Are you still watching? Did you watch yesterday and today? If you pass every day without any watchfulness, do you think you will be okay when Christ returns? You may use others as your excuses. You may say that you are not watchful because of others. You may talk about the elders and about the condition of the churches, but what about yourself? It is no wonder that the final book of the Bible, Revelation, is a book sounding out a call to the overcomers (2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21). We all have to overcome the present degraded situation among Christians, which includes us. Therefore, I say again—wake up and rise up!
Every morning we need a time to be with the Lord. We need to pray, “Lord, I take You as my sin offering and trespass offering. I am so thankful to You that Your precious blood still washes me this morning. Lord, I need to be filled up with Yourself, with the all-inclusive Spirit within and without. I need You! I need Your saturation! I need Your soaking!” Could you not pray in this way every morning for a short time? Have you been doing this? This is a serious matter. This is why I have said that for now I would stop delivering more deeper truths. We need some kind of a sounding to wake us up that we may be overcomers to overcome the present situation not only in Christianity but even in the recovery. We have to overcome the present situation of the Lord’s recovery. I do not care whether you are an elder, a co-worker, old and experienced, or young and inexperienced. All that matters is one thing—are you watching today? We do not have yesterday or tomorrow. We Christians only have today. Every day is a today to us. Are you watching today?
Whether you will be living at the Lord’s coming back or dead, the principle is the same. Among the living ones some will be taken and some will be left to pass through the great tribulation. Among the dead believers, some will be raptured first. Those who will be raptured later will suffer something. I believe that to buy the oil today is much cheaper than paying the price in the next age. Have you ever realized that according to Matthew 25 after resurrection some believers will get into the tribulation? The wise virgins told the foolish ones to go to those who sell and buy for themselves (v. 9). “Those who sell” must be the two witnesses during the great tribulation, the two olive trees and the two sons of oil (Rev. 11:3-4 and notes; Zech. 4:11-14). The foolish virgins will have to go to the oil sellers, the two witnesses, in the great tribulation. Today it is easy for you to get the extra portion of the Holy Spirit, but you may not do it. You may be in an idle situation day after day. To get our soul, our being, saturated and filled with the Spirit cannot be accomplished in one day. It is a lifelong matter.
We need to read the parable of the ten virgins again carefully according to the view of our present fellowship and with the help of the notes in the Recovery Version. When the foolish ones go to buy the oil, that will be a hard thing to do. While they go to buy, Christ comes, and the ready ones will be raptured. This is the Lord’s word. This is not just a prophecy but a clear warning to all believers. As the virgins are we being watchful in our spiritual life?
All of us need to make a living. In Matthew 24 the two men are working in the field and the two women are grinding at the mill. They are working for their livelihood, but while they are working they should not forget about their spiritual situation. You have to make a living, but even the early raptured ones were watchful to make themselves ready while they were making a living. At the unknown parousia (coming) of the Lord these ready ones will be raptured first and they will enter into the enjoyment of the marriage feast of the Lamb, but the unready ones will miss it. I believe they will have bought the oil, which was good for them to be raptured, but it will not be good for them to enter into the enjoyment of the marriage feast because it will be too late. I hope that we can read these two portions of the Word in the Scripture reading again so that we may clearly see how the Lord desires for us to be in the right position of being watchful every day and all day before Him.