总题：基督徒生活、召会生活、这世代的终结以及主的来临
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, THE CHURCH LIFE, THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE, AND THE COMING OF THE LORD
Message Eight
Having Dispensational Value to God in the Last Days to Turn the Age
Scripture Reading: Rev. 12:1-14; Neh. 1:1-11; 2:9-20; 4:4-5, 9; 5:10, 14-19; 8:1-10; 13:14, 29-31
I. God's desire is to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom; in order for God to accomplish this, He must have His dispensational instrument:
A. All of us should look to the Lord and pray that we will have dispensational value to God; we need to ask ourselves what we are doing to close this dispensation and to bring in the next age, the kingdom age; this is a special time, so there is the need of special believers to do a special work.
B. Those who can only say, "Go," but not "Come," will have no effect; that is, they will have no dispensational value to God—cf. Heb. 10:22:
1. The writer of Hebrews did not tell the believers to go forward but to come forward; this means that the writer was in a particular place and that he wanted his readers to come forward to the place where he was.
2. We need to come forward to three things: to the Holy of Holies, to the throne of grace, and to God Himself; do not shrink backward—come forward—4:16; 10:22; 7:25; 11:6.
3. God is on the throne of grace, and the throne of grace is in the Holy of Holies; at the time of the writing of the book of Hebrews, the writer was there in the Holy of Holies, calling the Hebrew believers to come forward.
C. The rapture of the man-child to heaven, the casting of Satan to earth, and the declaration in heaven that the kingdom has come signify that God's gaining of the man-child is His greatest dispensational move because it brings an end to the church age and introduces the kingdom age—Rev. 12:5, 9-10; 11:15.
D. The rapture of the man-child to the throne of God will be before the one thousand two hundred and sixty days, which is the time of the great tribulation of three and a half years (forty-two months)—12:1-14; 13:5; 11:2.
E. We live in the most privileged time in which we can do the most for God; God as light will show us the way, but the indwelling Christ as our strength and power will enable us to walk the road; a great price must be paid in order to be used now—3:18.
II. Because the church has not attained to God's purpose, God will choose a group of overcomers who will attain to His purpose and fulfill His demand; this is the principle of the man-child—12:1-2, 5, 10-11; 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21:
A. The universal bright woman represents the totality of God's people, and ultimately, the seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15 is enlarged to include the overcoming believers, the stronger part of God's people, signified by the man-child—Rev. 12:1-2, 5, 10-11.
B. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of the woman, the seed of the woman, dispensed into us to bruise the serpent's head in us and make us the corporate seed of the woman, the overcoming man-child, to carry out God's judgment on the ancient serpent and to be God's dispensational instrument to change the age and usher in the manifestation of God's kingdom—v. 5.
C. Psalm 2:8-9, Revelation 2:26-27, and Revelation 12:5 indicate that the Lord Jesus as God's Anointed, the overcomers in the churches, and the man-child will rule the nations with an iron rod, thus proving that the Lord Jesus, the overcomers, and the man-child are one; the Lord as the leading Overcomer (3:21) is the Head, center, reality, life, and nature of the man-child, and the man-child as the following overcomers is the Lord's Body.
D. Through the Lord's death on the cross, Satan, the old serpent, was judged, cast out (John 12:31; 16:11); that judgment and sentence will ultimately be carried out and executed by the overcomers as the man-child, the corporate seed of the woman; the war waged by the overcoming believers against Satan is actually the executing of the Lord's judgment upon him for him to eventually be cast out of heaven (Rev. 12:7-9).
E. The man-child consists of the overcomers who stand on behalf of the church, take the position that the whole church should take, and do the work for the church—2:7b, 11b, 17b, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21; 12:5, 11:
1. All of God's people should have a part in His eternal purpose, but not all assume their rightful responsibility; therefore, God chooses a group from among them—the man-child brought forth by the woman.
2. In the Bible the stronger ones among God's people are considered a collective unit fighting the battle for God and bringing God's kingdom down to earth—Rev. 12:5, 10-11.
3. God will use the man-child to fulfill His economy and to accomplish His purpose—1 Tim. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 1:9, 11; 3:11.
4. God needs the man-child to defeat His enemy and to bring in His kingdom so that His eternal purpose might be accomplished; the Lord's recovery is the practicality of God's economy today, and His economy can be carried out only by the man-child—Rev. 12:10.
F. The rapture of the man-child is a transaction that causes Satan to have no more position in heaven; we must be raptured to fulfill God's need by executing His judgment upon His enemy—vv. 5, 7-10.
G. Those who constitute the man-child overcome the devil (the accuser, the slanderer), who is Satan, the adversary of God, because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they love not their soul-life even unto death—vv. 10-11.
H. The entire being of the man-child is saturated and permeated with the element of Christ because they are daily strengthened into their inner man so that Christ may build Himself into their hearts, they are being nourished with the unsearchable riches of Christ, and they put on Christ as the whole armor of God—Eph. 3:16-18, 8; 6:10-11.
III. When Israel was taken into captivity for seventy years, God still had a dispensational move because of Nehemiah, who was a true overcomer; he is a pattern of someone who has dispensational value to God—Neh. 1:1-11; 2:9-20; 4:4-5, 9; 5:10, 14-19; 8:1-10; 13:14, 29-31:
A. The crucial point in the book of Nehemiah is that the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem with its wall was both a continual recovery among His elect for His testimony as the accomplishment of God's economy and a safeguard and protection for the house of God within the city:
1. This signifies that the house of God as His dwelling and home on the earth needs His kingdom to be established as a realm to safeguard His interest on the earth for His administration to carry out His economy—cf. Rom. 14:17.
2. The rebuilding of the house of God typifies God's recovery of the degraded church, and the rebuilding of the wall of the city of Jerusalem typifies God's recovery of His kingdom; the building of God's house and kingdom go together—Matt. 16:18-19.
B. When we realize and enjoy Christ as our life, we have the church as the house of God; if we go further and realize His headship, the house will be enlarged to be the city, the kingdom of God—Eph. 1:10, 22-23; 4:15; Rev. 22:1.
C. Nehemiah shows the need for us to have the proper aggressiveness in the Lord's recovery today:
1. The leaders of the Moabites and Ammonites were greatly displeased about Nehemiah's seeking the good of the children of Israel; these descendants of the impure increase of Lot hated and despised the children of Israel—Neh. 2:10, 19; cf. Ezek. 25:3, 8.
2. In relation to the mocking, despising, and reproach of these opposers, Nehemiah was very pure and aggressive, not cowardly—Neh. 1:4; 2:3-8, 17-20; 4:3-5, 8-9, 14, 17-23; 5:14; 13:23-31; cf. Acts 4:29-31; 1 Thes. 2:2; 2 Tim. 1:7-8.
3. The aggressive ones receive help from God; like Nehemiah, the apostle Paul was allied with God and realized God's assistance in this alliance—Acts 26:21-22.
4. Nehemiah's aggressiveness, as a virtue in his human conduct, shows that our natural capacity, ability, and virtues must pass through the cross of Christ and be brought into resurrection, into the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God, to be useful to God in the accomplishing of His economy.
D. Nehemiah did not live in his natural man but in resurrection; he was aggressive, but his aggressiveness was accompanied by other characteristics:
1. In his relationship with God, he was one who loved God and also loved God's interests on the earth, including the Holy Land (signifying Christ), the holy temple (signifying the church), and the holy city (signifying the kingdom of God)—1 Kings 8:48; cf. 2 Tim. 3:1-5.
2. As a person who loved God, Nehemiah prayed to God to contact Him in fellowship; for the rebuilding of the wall, Nehemiah stood on God's word and prayed according to it—Neh. 1:1-11; 2:4; 4:4-5, 9.
3. Nehemiah trusted in God and even became one with God; as a result, he became the representative of God—5:19; cf. 2 Cor. 5:20.
4. In his relationship with the people, Nehemiah was unselfish, without any self-seeking or self-interest; he was always willing to sacrifice what he had for the people and for the nation—Neh. 5:10, 14-19.
E. Nehemiah, as the governor, in the position of a king, was a man with a pure heart for the rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall in carrying out God's economy; he was a pattern of what a leader among God's people should be—cf. 1 Tim. 3:2-7; 1 Pet. 5:1-3:
1. Unlike many of the kings of Israel and Judah, Nehemiah was not selfish, did not seek his own interests, and was not indulgent in sexual lust.
2. As the commander-in-chief, Nehemiah was among those who were ready to fight against the enemy, and he took part in the night watch; he did not leave these matters to others but participated in them himself—Neh. 4:9-23.
3. He and his brothers did not eat the food appointed for the governor for twelve years because of the fear of God—5:14-15.
4. Nehemiah applied himself to work on the city wall without any kind of payment; instead of being self-seeking, he fed others for the purpose of building up the wall—vv. 16-18.
F. Although Nehemiah was the ruler, he was altogether not ambitious; this is indicated by the fact that in reconstituting the nation, he recognized his need of Ezra for the reconstitution of the people of God with the word of God—8:1-10; Phil. 2:3-4.
G. Nehemiah was the perfect leader, the best leader in human history and the best example of what an elder should be; it is surely worthwhile for us, especially the leading ones in the churches, to consider his example so that we may be a pattern of gaining God and flowing out God to others in order to turn the age—Neh. 5:19; 13:14.