In order to live in resurrection,
we must see
the unveiled truth
concerning Christ’s resurrection:
Christ in His humanity
was begotten by God
in His resurrection
to be the firstborn Son of God
as the Head of the Body.
All the believers of Christ
were regenerated by God the Father
through the resurrection of Christ
for the producing of the church
as His Body, His reproduction.
Christ as the last Adam
became a life-giving Spirit
as the essence, content, and reality
of the Body.
Without these major items
of the Lord’s resurrection
(the firstborn Son of God,
the many sons of God,
and the life-giving Spirit),
there would be
no church,
no Body of Christ,
and no economy of God.
Resurrection is
the life pulse and lifeline
of the divine economy.
The Spirit
is the reality of the Triune God,
the reality of resurrection,
and the reality of the Body of Christ:
The reality of the processed Triune God
is the consummated Spirit of reality.
The reality of resurrection
is Christ
as the life-giving Spirit.
The Spirit of reality
makes everything of the processed Triune God
a reality
in the Body of Christ.
Without the Spirit,
there is
no Body of Christ,
no church.
In order to be
in the reality of the Body of Christ,
we need to be
absolutely in the resurrection life of Christ:
The church is
absolutely of the element of Christ,
absolutely in resurrection,
and absolutely in the heavenlies.
The golden lampstand,
typifying the church
as the Body of Christ,
portrays Christ
as the resurrection life,
growing, branching, budding, and blossoming
to shine the light.
When we do not live
by our natural life
but live
by the divine life
within us,
we are
in resurrection;
the issue of this
is the Body of Christ:
We all
need to be discipled
by the Lord
to be divine and mystical persons,
living the divine life
by denying our natural life.
Anything
that is carried out
even scripturally
but in the natural life
is not the reality
of the Body of Christ.
In order to live in resurrection,
we must know, experience, and gain
the God of resurrection:
God is working
through the cross
to terminate us,
to bring us to an end,
so that we
will no longer trust in ourselves
but in the God of resurrection.
Although the living God
can perform many acts
on man’s behalf,
the life and nature of the living God
are not wrought into man;
when the God of resurrection works,
His life and nature
are wrought into man:
God is not working
to make His might
known in external acts
but is working
to impart and work Himself
into man.
God uses the environment
in order to work His life and nature
into us.
In order to live in resurrection
and be constituted with
the God of resurrection,
we must be conformed to
the image of Christ
as the firstborn Son of God
through “all things”.
The primary purpose of
suffering in this universe,
particularly as it relates to
the children of God,
is that through it
the very nature of God
may be wrought into the nature of man
so that man may gain God
to the fullest extent.
As we pass through afflictions,
a continual renewing
needs to take place in us
day by day
so that God
can accomplish
His heart’s desire
to make us
the New Jerusalem.
In order to live in resurrection,
we must be renewed day by day
by being nourished
with the fresh supply
of the resurrection life:
The real Christian life
is to have the God of resurrection
added into us
morning and evening
and day by day.
In order to receive
the renewing capacity
of the divine life in resurrection,
we need to contact God,
open ourselves up to Him,
and let Him come into us
to be a new addition into us
day by day:
We are renewed by
the cross,
the Holy Spirit,
our mingled spirit,
and the word of God.
We need to be revived
every morning.
We should come to the Lord’s table
in the principle of newness
by forgiving others
and seeking to be forgiven.
The killing of the cross
results in
the manifestation of the resurrection life;
this daily killing
is for the release of
the divine life in resurrection.
Our natural strength and ability
need to be dealt with
by the cross
to become useful in resurrection
for our service to the Lord:
After being put aside by God
for forty years,
Moses learned
to serve God
according to His leading
and to trust in Him.
After becoming a complete failure,
Peter learned
to serve the brothers
by faith
and with humility.
The budding rod
signifies our experience of
Christ in His resurrection
as our acceptance by God
for authority in the God-given ministry.
The sevenfold intensified life-giving Spirit
only honors
things in resurrection;
if we do any work
that is not in resurrection,
the life-giving Spirit
will never honor it.
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Prophecy note, 15 March 2015
The natural strength and ability
are useful
if they are dealt with
by the cross.
After being dealt with
by the cross,
they are
in resurrection.
Some brothers
speak in their natural eloquence,
but other brothers
speak with an eloquence
dealt with
by the cross.
This is
the eloquence in resurrection.
In resurrection
something divine
has been wrought
into our strength and ability.
The cross
always works the divine element
into the person,
bringing God
into him.
In the natural eloquence,
there is no God.
But the “dealt with” eloquence
in resurrection
is full of God.
After being dealt with,
our strength and ability
become useful in resurrection
for our service to the Lord.
We surely need to gain ability,
but once we have the ability,
we need to be dealt with.
This was
exactly what happened to Moses.
With the believers
there is
still the flesh of sin,
but with the church
there is
no flesh of sin
because the church
was born in resurrection.
Day 6
The natural strength and ability
are useful
if they are dealt with
by the cross.
After being dealt with
by the cross,
they are
in resurrection.
Some brothers
speak in their natural eloquence,
but other brothers
speak with an eloquence
dealt with by the cross.
This is
the eloquence in resurrection.
Some who are short of experience
may ask
what the difference is
between the natural eloquence
and the eloquence in resurrection.
It is hard to explain,
but if you have the experience,
it is easy
to discern.
In resurrection
something divine
has been wrought
into our strength and ability.
The cross
always works the divine element
into the person
it deals with,
bringing God
into him.
In the natural eloquence,
there is no God.
But the “dealt with” eloquence
in resurrection
is full of God.
After being dealt with,
our strength and ability
become useful in resurrection
for our service to the Lord.
We surely need to gain ability,
but once we have the ability,
we need to be dealt with.
This was
exactly what happened to Moses.
The case of Moses
is the best one
to illustrate the matter
of rejecting the natural strength and ability.
No other person in the Bible
is as good as Moses
in this aspect.
Acts 7:22 tells us
that Moses was educated
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians
and was powerful
in words and in works.
He came out
to work for God,
to rescue God’s people
from the tyranny of Pharaoh.
Moses did something
for God’s people
according to his own will.
He was full of assurance
that he could accomplish something,
but he was carrying out his will,
not God’s will.
God purposely and sovereignly
put Moses aside
for forty years.
In those forty years
Moses learned
to serve God
according to His leading
and to trust in Him.
Moses eventually became a person
who did nothing
according to his will.
He always acted
according to the Lord’s leading.
The Lord led him,
and he followed.
He had no faith
in his ability.
Although he was very capable,
he did not use
his natural ability.
His natural ability
was dealt with,
so it became
an ability in resurrection.
The ability in resurrection
corresponds with God’s move.
If our ability
is not dealt with,
it is separate from
God’s move.
But after being dealt with
by the cross,
our ability
becomes one with
God’s move.
Actually,
God was wrought
into Moses’ ability.
His ability
eventually was full of God.
Peter was self-confident
in his natural strength and ability
even to the point of thinking
that he would follow the Lord
both to prison and to death.
Peter was tested
and he denied the Lord
three times,
even before a little maid.
Peter was absolutely defeated
and became a complete failure.
He did have a heart
to love the Lord,
but he was too confident
in his own strength,
his natural strength.
His love for the Lord
was precious,
but his natural strength
had to be denied
and dealt with.
The Lord allowed Peter
to fail utterly
in denying the Lord
to His face
three times,
so that his natural strength
and self-confidence
could be dealt with.
Through his failure,
Peter learned
to serve the brothers
by faith in the Lord
and with humility.
Peter was really broken
and was turned
from the natural ability
to something in resurrection.
Our natural strength and ability
must be dealt with
and put on the cross.
Then they will be in resurrection
and full of the divine element.
Then whatever we do in the church service
will be
a ministry of the divine element
to others.
Day 5
The Bible teaches us
to be renewed
according to nothing of ourselves.
We are renewed
by the addition of God
into our being,
by having more of the divine element
added into our being.
The real Christian life
is to have God added into us
morning and evening
and day by day.
God’s intention
is for us
to be renewed
day by day.
In order to be renewed,
we need
the new addition of God
into us
daily.
Daily
we need to contact God,
open ourselves up to Him,
and let Him come into us
to be a new addition
into us
day by day.
When God is added into us,
He does not
just remain there,
doing nothing.
God is operating within us.
God is operating in us,
energizing in us
and in this divine element
there is
the renewing capacity.
We need to enjoy
the renewing capacity of
the divine life in resurrection
day by day.
This is
why we have to learn
to die to ourselves.
How do we die
to ourselves?
Every morning
we should contact the Lord.
First,
we have to confess our sins.
Second,
we have to reject ourselves.
In rejecting ourselves,
we pass through
the death of Christ,
and the death of Christ
kills us.
In 2 Corinthians 4,
Paul talks about
“the putting to death of Jesus” (v. 10).
This means
that Jesus, in a positive sense,
is always killing us.
In Jesus
there is
the killing element.
He is
our medication
to heal us,
enliven us,
and kill
all the negative things
within us.
God has the best provisions
to help us
to receive the renewing.
The first provision
is the cross,
the putting to death of Jesus.
According to 2 Corinthians 4,
Paul was always under
the killing of the cross, the Lord’s death.
The cross
is the greatest help
to accomplish the renewing
for us.
The second provision
is the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:5
speaks of
the “renewing of the Holy Spirit.”
We have
the Holy Spirit
within us.
His main work
is first to regenerate us
and then to renew us every day.
The third provision
God gave us
is our mingled spirit,
our human spirit
mingled with the divine Spirit.
In our human spirit,
the Holy Spirit
dwells, works, and renews us.
Ephesians 4:23 says
that we need to be renewed
in the spirit of our mind.
Our spirit is the place
where we receive the renewing.
Our mingled spirit
spreads into our mind,
thus becoming the spirit of our mind.
It is
in such a spirit
that we are renewed
for our transformation.
In addition to
the cross, the Holy Spirit, and our spirit,
we have
the holy Word.
The Head of the Body
cleanses the church, His Body,
by the washing
of the water in the word.
Because I have studied the Bible
for such a long time,
I can recall chapters
such as Matthew 1 and Romans 8.
When I just think about
the contents of these chapters,
I get washed.
When I think about Romans 8:4
—to walk according to spirit—
I get washed.
We all
need to receive the washing
of the water in the word
daily.
Whenever we come to the Lord’s table,
we need renewing.
The table He set up
was new,
and the table He will take
in the kingdom of His Father
will be new.
We have to come to the Lord’s table
in a new way,
in the principle of newness.
How can we come to the table
in newness?
We need to realize
that anything negative
is a cause and a factor
of oldness.
Negative things
cause us
to be old.
We need
a thorough confession
and a thorough dealing.
Another thing
that makes us old
is not forgiving others.
Always forgive people,
and always seek
to be forgiven.
Day 4
While the living God
can perform many acts on man’s behalf,
the nature of the living God
cannot blend with the nature of man.
When, on the other hand,
the God of resurrection works,
His very nature
is wrought into the nature of man.
Brothers and sisters,
please note carefully
that even when the living God
has performed some act on your behalf,
after that act
as before it,
He is still He
and you are still you.
His working on your behalf
does not impart
anything of His nature
to you.
The living God
can work on behalf of man,
but the nature of the living God
cannot unite with the nature of man.
On the other hand,
when the God of resurrection works,
He communicates Himself to man
by that
which He does for him.
The apostle Paul
testifies to knowing
not only the living God
but also the God of resurrection.
Paul was so sorely tried
that he despaired even of living,
but it was thus
that he learned to trust in the God
who raises the dead.
When the God of resurrection
acted on his behalf
to raise him from the dead,
that divine act
not only accomplished
something
for Paul;
it also communicated
God’s own nature
to Paul.
Resurrection life
is a life
that can overcome all affliction
and can even swallow up death.
A brother
who is ill
may be conscious of much weakness
and be sorely tested;
nevertheless,
the realization deepens
that God
is not working
to make His might
known in external acts
but is working to impart Himself.
Light breaks upon him gradually,
and gradually health returns.
This brother
does not
just experience a healing;
he comes into
a new experience
of God.
The significance of suffering
is this,
that the devastation
it brings to the old creation
provides an opportunity
for the God of resurrection
to impart Himself
into His creatures
so that they emerge
from the death process
with a divine element
in their constitution.
The primary purpose of
suffering in this universe,
particularly as it relates to
the children of God,
is that through it
the very nature of God
may be wrought
into the nature of man.
Through a process of outward decay,
an inward process
is taking place
that is adding
a new constituent
to our lives.
Is there some renewing
going on with us,
or are we remaining the same
day by day
and year after year?
It would be tragic
if we would pass through many sufferings
and still remain the same.
In order to consummate
His renewing work
in us and with us,
God becomes
our life and nature within.
In addition to this,
God as the sovereign Lord
controls the entire universe
in order to renew us.
God uses the environment
in order to work His life and nature
into us.
Without the environment,
we could never be renewed.
We would remain the same.
God desires us
to be the new creation.
When all of the Lord’s children
pass through the process of renewing
to become the New Jerusalem,
they will be
in a state of being fully renewed.
The holy city
is called the New Jerusalem
because it has
no old element
of God’s old creation.
As we pass through afflictions,
there needs to be
a continual renewing
taking place in us day by day
so that God
can accomplish His heart’s desire.
Christ is
our life.
We, the God-men,
live a human life
to express God,
not by our own life, our natural life,
but by the divine life
of Christ in resurrection.
To live Christ
by the divine life of
Christ in resurrection
is to have Christ
grow in us
that we may be formed inwardly
and even conformed to the image of Christ
as the Firstborn of God
among many brothers.
Day 3
Eph. 2:6
And raised us up
together with Him
and seated us
together with Him
in the heavenlies
in Christ Jesus.
Phil. 3:10-11
To know
Him
and the power of His resurrection
and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being conformed to His death,
if perhaps I may attain to
the out-resurrection
from the dead.
After Christ terminated
the entire old creation
through His all-inclusive death,
the church was produced
in His resurrection.
The church
is an entity
absolutely in resurrection;
it is
not natural,
nor is it
of the old creation.
The church
is a new creation
created in Christ’s resurrection
and by the resurrected Christ.
We must see
this vision.
In addition to seeing
that the church was produced
in Christ’s resurrection,
we must also see
where the church is.
The church today
is in
Christ in ascension.
Ephesians 2:6 tells us
that the church
has been resurrected
with Christ,
and now
the church
is seated
in the heavenlies
with Christ.
Therefore,
the church is
absolutely and purely of the element of Christ,
absolutely in resurrection,
and absolutely remaining in the heavenlies with Christ.
With the church
there is
no element other than Christ.
Such a vision
will govern you
to the uttermost
and will rule out everything
that is
not
Christly (of Christ),
resurrectionly (of resurrection),
or heavenly (of the heavens).
With the believers
there is
still the flesh of sin,
but with the church
there is
no flesh of sin
because the church
was born in resurrection.
As a type of Christ,
the lampstand portrays Christ
as the resurrection life
growing, branching, budding, and blossoming
to shine the light.
The lampstand
is a growing entity.
Since the lampstand
typifies Christ,
it indicates
that Christ is
the One who is growing.
The lampstand
is not made up of
only one branch and one lamp.
As the central stalk grows,
it produces
three pairs of branches.
Moreover,
all the branches
are growing
and have knobs, buds, and blossoms.
As the stalk of the lampstand
begins to grow,
it produces
the first pair of branches.
As it continues to grow,
it produces
the second pair
and finally
the third.
Eventually,
the stalk itself
grows to its full measure.
All this indicates
that Christ is growing.
Christ grows
first in Himself
and then also in us
as the branches.
Apparently
it is the branches
that are growing.
Actually,
it is the stand
that is growing
through the branches
and within them.
This indicates
Christ’s growth in us.
As the central stalk,
Christ grows
in Himself, by Himself, and with Himself.
But in the six branches
He grows
in us, by us, and with us.
The One
who created Adam
came
to be a man
and lived a human life
in resurrection.
He denied
His natural humanity.
He never did anything
out of Himself.
He did everything in Himself
but not of Himself.
We also should not do anything
in our natural life
but in Christ’s resurrection life.
Jesus was living and walking on this earth
in His flesh,
but He rejected
this flesh.
He rejected
His natural life.
He was
a divine and mystical person
living in the divine and mystical realm,
doing everything
in a divine and mystical way.
We should be
such persons.
If we are working in an office,
those around us
should have the feeling
that there is
something extraordinary about us.
This extraordinary thing
is divine and mystical.
We all
need to be discipled
by the Lord
to be
divine and mystical persons.
We are being discipled
from being a natural man
to being a God-man,
living the divine life
by denying our natural life
according to the model of Christ
as the first God-man.
Anything
that is carried out
even scripturally
but in the natural life
is not the reality
of the Body of Christ.
The Body of Christ
is absolutely something in
the resurrection life of Christ.
Day 2
Reality refers to
the real condition
of persons and things.
The Body of Christ
is the church today,
and all of its reality
is the Spirit of the reality
of the consummated Triune God.
The reality of the processed Triune God
is His consummated Spirit of reality.
The reality of all
that the Triune God is, has, and can do
is simply this Spirit of reality.
The reality of the death and resurrection
which the Triune God passed through
is also this Spirit of reality.
This Spirit of reality
makes everything of the processed Triune God
a reality
in the Body of Christ.
It is this same Spirit of reality
who makes all the riches of the Triune God,
which are just His reality,
possible and real
in the Body of Christ.
All that the processed Triune God is,
including righteousness, holiness, life,
light, power, grace,
and all the divine attributes,
are realized by this Spirit of reality
to be the real attributes
of the Body of Christ.
Originally,
such righteousness, holiness, life,
light, power, and grace
were merely God’s attributes;
now
these attributes
have been realized
in the church
by the Spirit
in the Body of Christ.
The church therefore possesses
the reality of the divine attributes,
such as righteousness, holiness, life,
light, power, and grace.
Furthermore,
all that the Triune God experienced,
including incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection,
are likewise realized
by this Spirit of reality
to be the real experiences
of the Body of Christ.
Originally,
it was the Triune God
who was incarnated, crucified, and resurrected.
But when the Spirit of reality came,
He made these experiences of the Triune God
real
in us
as our real experiences.
Because of this
we can live
a normal human life
on the earth today.
We can deal with the negative matters
which befall us
by the capacity of the death of Christ.
We do not lose our temper,
nor do we blame
or rebuke others,
because the death of Christ
is realized in us
through the Spirit of reality.
Moreover,
the Spirit with the resurrection of Christ
works in us
to enable us
to love and forgive others.
This is
the Spirit of the reality
of the Triune God
becoming the reality
of the Body of Christ.
Finally,
we need to see conclusively
that both the essence and the reality
of the Body of Christ
are altogether matters of
the Spirit
of the processed and consummated Triune God.
The Spirit
is the reality of the essence
as well as the essence
to which the reality belongs.
Essence emphasizes
the inward substance,
while reality emphasizes
the outward realization.
Because the Spirit
is the inward substance
of the Body of Christ,
He is also
its outward realization.
Both the inward essence and substance
and the outward reality and realization
are of the Spirit.
This Spirit
is the secret to all
that the Triune God
is to the Body of Christ.
For instance,
the secret to
God’s loving the Body of Christ,
sanctifying it,
and strengthening it,
is with the Spirit of reality.
It is the Spirit of reality
who makes God’s love
real
in the Body of Christ,
so that it
may be sanctified and strengthened.
This Spirit of reality
is the processed Triune God Himself
as well as
the totality of all the attributes
of the processed Triune God.
Furthermore,
the Spirit is also
the effectiveness of all the processes
of the processed Triune God.
Incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection all
have their effectiveness,
and their effectiveness
is just the Spirit of essence and reality.
The effectiveness
of both the death and resurrection of Christ
is displayed in us
who possess
this Spirit of essence and reality.
Day 1
Christ in His humanity
was begotten by God
in His resurrection
to be the firstborn Son of God.
In His glory in eternity past,
He was
the only begotten Son of God.
Since He was the Son of God,
why did He need
to be begotten of God?
This was
because God needed
a firstborn Son.
Christ was
the Son of God
in eternity past,
but He became flesh.
His flesh was human,
not divine.
This human part
was surely not related to
the divine sonship.
His human part
had to be begotten of God.
For this purpose,
I invented
a new word—“sonized.”
Christ’s humanity
had to be sonized
in His resurrection.
In His resurrection,
He brought His humanity
into divinity,
making this humanity
something divine.
Christ in His humanity
was sonized,
begotten by God,
in His resurrection.
All the believers of Christ
were regenerated by God the Father
through the resurrection of Christ.
In His resurrection,
we all
were begotten by God
to be His many sons.
The firstborn Son of God
and the many millions of sons of God
were begotten
at the same time
in one “delivery.”
Today
my study of the Bible
concerning resurrection
has become a crystallization.
Christ’s resurrection
is not merely God’s raising Him
from the dead.
God’s raising up Jesus Christ
from the dead
was God’s act.
In this one divine act,
God accomplished
three big things.
He begot
not His only Son
but His firstborn Son;
He begot
His many sons
in this one delivery;
and He made this Jesus Christ,
who had just been begotten of God,
the life-giving Spirit.
Three great accomplishments
took place
in one act.
The entire economy of God
is carried out
by these three items.
If you were to delete
Acts 13:33,
1 Peter 1:3,
and 1 Corinthians 15:45b
from the Bible,
the firstborn Son of God,
the many sons of God,
and the life-giving Spirit
would be absent
from the divine revelation.
Even though these items
concerning the resurrection of Christ
are in the Bible,
they are mostly absent from
the fundamental teaching
of today’s Christianity.
Without these major items
of the Lord’s resurrection,
there would be
no church,
no Body of Christ.
If there were nothing in the Bible
revealing
the firstborn Son of God,
the many sons of God,
and the life-giving Spirit,
there would be
no economy of God.
These items
are new
to many Christians,
but they
are not new
to the Bible.
In 1 Corinthians 15
the apostle dealt with
the Corinthians’ heretical saying
that there is
no resurrection of the dead.
Resurrection is
the life pulse and lifeline
of the divine economy.
If there were no resurrection,
God would be
the God of the dead,
not of the living.
If there were no resurrection,
Christ would not have been raised
from the dead.
He would be
a dead Savior,
not a living One
who lives forever
and is able to save
to the uttermost.
If there were no resurrection,
there would be
no living proof
of our being justified by His death,
no imparting of life,
no regeneration,
no renewing,
no transformation,
and no conformity
to the image of Christ.
If there were no resurrection,
there would be
no members of Christ,
no Body of Christ
as His fullness,
and no church
as Christ’s bride,
and therefore no new man.
If there were no resurrection,
God’s New Testament economy
would altogether collapse
and God’s eternal purpose
would be nullified.