THE MAIN CONTENTS OF THE LORD'S RECOVERY
The Church Ground of Oneness versus Division
Scripture Reading: John 17:11, 15, 21, 23; Deut. 12:1-3, 5; 16:16; Psa. 133; Acts 8:1; 13:1; 14:23; Rom. 16:1; 1 Cor. 1:2
I. The oneness in the Bible is an all-inclusive oneness for the expression of God as the mystery of godliness to carry out the desire of God's heart, and division is an all-inclusive division for the expression of Satan as the mystery of lawlessness to carry out the scheme of Satan's plot—John 17:11, 21, 23; 1 Tim. 3:15-16a; 2 Thes. 2:3, 7-8; 1 John 3:4; cf. 2 Cor. 2:10-11:
A. The oneness of the Triune God, which is the oneness of the Body of Christ, includes all that Christ is to us in and for God's economy; the practice of this oneness, the one accord, is the master key to every blessing in the New Testament—Psa. 133; Eph. 4:1-6; Acts 1:14; 1 Cor. 1:9-10; Phil. 1:27; 2:2.
B. The division of Satan, which is the division of Babylon the Great, includes every negative thing and is like a great tree deeply rooted and settled in the earth, flourishing with its branches in which Satan's evil spirits with the evil persons and things motivated by him are lodged—Matt. 13:31-32, 4, 19; Gen. 11:1-9; Rev. 17:1-6; 18:2; John 17:15.
C. The main symptom of Satan and his world is "the evil" of division (v. 15); the main attribute of the Triune God and His dwelling place is "the blessing" of oneness (Psa. 133:3; cf. Gen. 12:2; Gal. 3:14).
D. Day by day we have to move out of ourselves with "the evil" of division and into the divine "Us," the Triune God as the blessing of oneness, and we have to remain in Him for His corporate expression; if we continually touch the Word and allow the Spirit to touch us day by day, we shall be sanctified by moving out of ourselves, our old lodging place, and into the Triune God, our new lodging place—John 17:15, 17, 21; 15:5; Eph. 5:26.
II. The unique ground of Jerusalem, the place where the temple as God's dwelling place was built on Mount Zion, typifies the unique ground of God's choice, the ground of oneness—Deut. 12:5; 2 Chron. 6:5-6; Ezra 1:2-3:
A. In the ancient times all the Israelites came together three times a year at Jerusalem; it was by this unique place of worship to God, Jerusalem, that the oneness of His people was kept for generations—Deut. 12:5; 16:16.
B. In the New Testament the proper ground of oneness ordained by God is the unique ground of one church for one locality—Rev. 1:11:
1. The church is constituted of the universal God, but it exists on earth in many localities; in nature the church is universal in God, but in practicethe church is local in a definite place, such as "the church of God which is in Corinth"—1 Cor. 1:2:
a. The church of God means that the church is not only possessed by God but has God as its nature and essence, which are divine, general, universal, and eternal—v. 2.
b. The church…which is in Corinth refers to a church in a city, remaining in a definite locality and taking it as its standing, ground, and jurisdiction for its administration in business affairs, which is physical, particular, local, and temporal in time—v. 2.
2. Without the universal aspect, the church is void of content; without the local aspect, it is impossible for the church to have any expression and practice; the record concerning the establishment of a church in its locality is consistent throughout the New Testament—Acts 8:1; 13:1; 14:23; Rom. 16:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 8:1; Gal. 1:2; Rev. 1:4, 11.
III. The church life on the ground of oneness is today's Jerusalem; within thechurch life there must be a group of overcomers, and these overcomers are today's Zion—Psa. 48:2, 11-12:
A. As the highlight and beauty of the holy city Jerusalem, Zion typifies the overcomers as the high peak, the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church—20:2; 53:6a; 87:2.
B. The overcomers as Zion are the reality of the Body of Christ and consummate the building up of the Body in the local churches to bring in the consummated holy city, New Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies as God's dwelling place, in eternity—Rev. 21:1-3, 16, 22.
C. The church life is the right place for you to be an overcomer, but this does not mean that as long as you are in the church life, you are an overcomer; it is one thing to be in the church life, but it is another thing to be an overcomer—2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21.
IV. In order to be today's overcomers, we must maintain the ground of oneness, God's unique choice, without elevating anything other than Christ; in the Lord's recovery we elevate Christ and Christ alone—Col. 1:18b; Rev. 2:4; 2 Cor. 4:5; 10:5:
A. Before the children of Israel could have the full enjoyment of the riches of the good land, they had to utterly destroy the heathen places of worship, the idols, and the names of the idols "on the high mountains and on the hills and under every flourishing tree" (Deut. 12:2); the high mountains and hills signify the exaltation of something other than Christ, and the flourishing trees signify things that are beautiful and attractive—vv. 1-3, 5; 1 Kings 11:7-8; 12:26-31; Num. 33:52.
B. The intrinsic reason for the desolation and degradation of God's people is that Christ is not exalted by them; they do not give Him the preeminence, the first place, in everything—Psa. 80:1, 3, 7, 15-19; 74:1.
C. The way to be restored from desolation is to exalt Christ; the enjoyment of Christ with God on the ground of oneness can be maintained and preserved only when Christ is properly appreciated and exalted by God's people.