Quote:
Originally Posted by Trapped
The analogy is poor and doesn't provide additional benefit above just talking about the actual entities/parties themselves using their actual descriptions.
What does "one publication work in the Lord's recovery" mean, Drake?
|
Hi Trapped,
I liked the analogy.... but the explanation using the analogy didn't work for you.. ok, let's try this. What follows is my point of view. Any use of plural pronouns is based on my belief that what I think is also what many or perhaps most current members in the local churches would concur with.
The Lord's recovery began in earnest with Martin Luther starting with the recovery of justification by faith as the significant turning point in the Lord's recovery. Since that time the Lord has continued to recover scriptural truths through various servants He raised up. These divine truths were hidden especially during the time that the Bible was locked away. These biblical truths are every believer's heritage and include but not limited to those related to God Himself, the eternal plan of God, the Triune God, the incarnation of God, Christ's Person, the incarnation of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the eternal life of God, the Spirit, the life-giving Spirit, the mingled Sspirit, Christ's redemption and God's complete salvation (spirit, soul, and body), the believers, the universal church, the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, the church as the Kingdom of God, the building of God, the Firstborn Son and His many brothers, the local churches, the ground of the church, the overcomers, the reward and punishment of the believers, the life practices (e.g. calling on the Lord, pray-reading the Word, etc.), the meeting life including the functioning of all the members to build up the Body of Christ and consummate the age, the preaching of the gospel and the spreading of His word, and the ultimate consummation of the union of the Triune God with His believers as the great corporate entity and shining as the New Jerusalem for eternity.
There are others but that is a representative summary.
We consider these biblical divine truths, life practices, and related matters as the spiritual inheritance of every christian. We recognize that in the last hundred years the Lord raised up two brothers through whom He revealed several of these divine matters in a fresh and in finer detail, brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. We consider our place in the divine history of the Lord's recovery as the latest in the line of beneficiaries of these riches and we also consider it our responsibility to preserve, practice, publish, and carry out through various ministries the one ministry that God has entrusted to us. Our burden is to share what we believe the Lord has entrusted to us (partial list mentioned above) with the local churches and all believers and unbelievers alike through publications, trainings, conferences, radio broadcasts, internet broadcasts, gospel preaching, Bible distribution and other various outreach programs and therefore, most of these items are available for free without charge. We regard participation in the local churches and this ministry as a personal matter between each believer and the Lord Himself and we consider it a special calling that without we would have no reason to exist as a distinct group.
Again, I use the plural pronoun "we" to mean it is my informed opinion that my point of view expressed above is the intent of the One Publication and is shared by the vast majority of the believers in the local churches and that is what is meant by" one publication work in the Lord's recovery".
Hope that helps.
Drake