THE SPREAD IN ASIA MINOR AND EUROPE
THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF PAUL AND HIS COMPANIONS (24)
Read and pray: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27)
A CLEAR VISION OF THE BODY
If James' concept had been widely accepted in Asia Minor and Europe, how could there practically be a Body for Christ? Would there have been two types of churches: a Jewish one for Jewish believers and a Gentile one for Gentile believers? This is entirely impossible.
Concerning the Body, Paul had a clear vision. He spoke of a Body in Romans 12:5, and in 1 Corinthians 12:13 he said: "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and all have been made to drink into one Spirit." Moreover, in Galatians 3:27-28 he said: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Although he had a clear vision, this vision had not yet been fully presented in his first six Epistles (Romans, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians). He was undoubtedly waiting for an opportunity to write about the vision he had received.
THE LORD RESCUES PAUL THROUGH HIS SOVEREIGNTY
When Paul saw the situation of mixture in Jerusalem, he must have gained a heavy burden for it. Perhaps when James made his presentation in Acts 21 regarding the tens of thousands of Jews who had believed and were zealous for the law, and concerning Paul joining those who had made the Nazarite vow, Paul hesitated, thinking about what he should do. He may have thought: "Humanly speaking, I should just do what James says. After passing through this critical moment, I may have another opportunity to adjust or clarify the situation in Jerusalem." This may have been Paul's thought when he accepted James' proposal (21:23-26).
The Lord, however, did not allow him to complete the days of purification. Paul, a chosen vessel, was a unique person used by God to carry out His New Testament economy. How could God allow such a person to complete the days of purification, which involved the temple, the priesthood, and the offering of animal sacrifices with the shedding of blood? All of that had ended with God's New Testament economy. The Lord could not tolerate this. Therefore, almost at the last minute, when Paul's vow was about to be completed, the Lord stepped in, and there was a great uproar. It was the Lord who exercised His sovereignty over Paul, in order to rescue him from this dilemma.
In Acts 21, Paul was in danger of being killed, and he must have certainly been afraid of this. If the Roman commander had not intervened at that moment, Paul would certainly have been killed. But the sovereign hand of the Lord controlled everything to rescue him from that situation and preserve his life. Later, after he defended himself before the rebellious Jews (21:40-22:21), Paul was bound by the Romans (22:22-29) and defended himself before the Sanhedrin (22:30-23:10), and he was encouraged by the Lord.
According to Acts 23:11, "The Lord stood by him and said, 'Be of good cheer! For as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.'" This was a great encouragement for him and assured him that he would not be killed by the Jews. We all need to have a clear vision of Paul's situation in this passage of Acts.
THE NEED TO SEE GOD'S ECONOMY
AND HAVE A DISPENSATIONAL TRANSFER
At this point, we need to proceed and consider the current situation. As a whole, Christianity is not a testimony of the incarnate, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ, for there is much mixture in it, not only from Judaism but also from many other elements. The mixture has reached such a point that among the millions of Christians, few know what God's economy is. Most fundamentalist Christians know Christ's redemption in a very superficial way.
Moreover, they teach ethics and morality in order to glorify God. Who among their Christian friends knows God's economy of propagating the resurrected Christ and infusing Him into the believers, so that they become living members who form the Body of Christ in this age, in order to express the Triune God? Where can one find believers who know this?
As most Christians today have not had the vision of God's New Testament economy in the Word, I have a burden in this Life-Study of Acts to emphasize it. It is not my burden to touch on the many secondary points in this book. For example, someone asked me why in Acts 18:18 and 26 Priscilla is mentioned before Aquila, but in 1 Corinthians 16:19, Aquila is mentioned first and then Priscilla. I simply have no motivation to address these minor topics. In my heart, there is concern for the issue of the transfer of dispensation. As we study the book of Acts, we need to learn to say, "Lord, we need a great transfer, a transfer of dispensation. We need to be transferred from the degraded Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism to God's New Testament economy. We need a transfer of all religious things to the pure revelation of God's economy."
We need to see that God's intention is to propagate the resurrected Christ by infusing Him into us, so that we become His living members saturated with Him and constituted with Him, so that Christ may have a Body on the earth that expresses Him. Then He will bring in His kingdom, and after that, there will be the final and ultimate consummation of God's New Testament economy. Our need is to see this and have a dispensational transfer, so that we may be in it practically.
In these messages, my burden is not just to teach the Bible, but to present what the Lord, in His mercy, has shown us in the Word concerning God's New Testament economy. If we have this vision, we will not be concerned with opposition or attack. Those who oppose the Lord's restoration do not have the vision of God's New Testament economy. We cannot deny that we have it, and our testimony in this respect is becoming stronger and stronger. May in our reading of Acts we dedicate all our attention and focus all our being on the vision of God's New Testament economy.
Enjoy more: Hymn 155
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