2020 Memorial Day Conference 3

Message Title: the Universal History according to God's Economy -  the Divine History within the human history 

Joel 1:4 What the cutting locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; / And what the swarming locust has left, the licking locust has eaten; / And what the licking locust has left, the consuming locust has eaten. 

in Daniel, we see four kingdoms. and in Joel, we see four kinds of locusts. 

today, we can see three things are taking place:

1. the consuming locusts

2. the suffering of Israel

3. God is moving silently and mysteriously for the manifestation of Christ, which will bring in the full restoration in the coming age. 

we need to be clear about three things"

1. where do we sit today? i.e what is this present age?

2. where we are: we are in the Body of Christ. 

3. we need to see our goal.

we are in the age where God is still moving, where God is still using the political governments, the things which come out from the four locusts. on the one hand, God is chastising the four locusts; on the other hand, He is still using these locusts to work out His goal. we are in the Body, so we need to grow in the Body, to function in the Body, so that the Bride can be prepared. the Lord is currently waiting for the Body to be matured, for the Bride to get ready. 

Joel 2:28 And afterward I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, / And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; / Your old men shall dream dreams; / Your young men shall see visions. 

Joel 2:32 And everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah shall be saved; / For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem will be an escape, / As Jehovah has said, / Even for the remnant / Whom Jehovah calls.

I. in this universe there are two histories: the history of man, the human history, and the history of God, the divine history; the former is like an outward shell, and the latter, like the kernel within the shell.

when the Lord was living on the earth with His disciples. the disciples had a totally human view of what the Lord was doing. they thought the Lord came to b the Messiah to restore the nation of Israel, by delivering them from Roman politicians. but the Lord was doing something much greater and more marvelous than this, the divine history. He went through death and resurrection, and poured out Himself on all flesh, so whoever calls on His name shall be saved. therefore, while we are going through the consuming and suffering of the locusts, there will be some manifestation of Christ. we also need to preach this to others, so that they also can call on the name of the Lord and be saved. 

in the Old Testament, God moved with man, which is His indirect move. but this indirect move prepared for His direct move in the New Testament; i.e. God moves in man. 

Micah 5:2 (But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, / So little to be among the thousands of Judah, / From you there will come forth to Me / He who is to be Ruler in Israel; / And His goings forth are from ancient times, / From the days of eternity.)

in eternity past, God decided His coming forth, to step into the bridge of time, in order to reach us. the divine history begins with Christ's incarnation, His birth in Bethlehem, continues to the 33 and half years of His human living, then His death and resurrection. He ascended to the throne, and furthermore, poured out Himself to enter into us, all the believers. and His going forth is still continuing within us, as His indwelling for our organic salvation day by day. 

Romans 12: 2 And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect. \

since there are two histories going on right now. so the question to all of us is that, are we living merely in the human history? or we are also living in the divine history. in which history we are living, is mainly decided by our mind, by what we are occupied, by what we are thinking. therefore, in Romans 12:2, we have the need of the renewing of the mind. if our mind is renewed by the word of God, we will be occupied and be musing on the word of God, which issues in our living in the divine history. 

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him; 

the world and its lusts are always trying to wear out, to consume our love for the Lord. therefore, not only do we need the renewing of our mind, but also we need our love to be renewed day by day, our love for the Lord. we have to be reminded again and again, that the world and all its things is passing away, but he who does the will of God abides forever. so we need to live in the divine history. 

how can we be practically living in the divine history? one very simple and best way is to live in the church. if our living is in the church, we are living in the inward, divine history. especially during this lockdown, when we cannot meet with one another physically, we should even endeavour more to present ourselves to all the zoom meetings, no excuse!! by this online technology, we even can join overseas zoom meetings, conferences, so many things are going on over the globe, where we can join and meet with the saints. 

II. in the divine history what is being recovered today is God's economy, which is focused on the central work of God -  to work Himself in Christ into His chosen and redeemed people, making Himself one with them for His expression. 

God's economy is to make Christ everything, to  make Christ the centrality and universality. so we need to pray the simple prayer everyday in Ephesians 3:17, that Christ may make His home in all our heart. day by day, we need to pray and ask the Lord to make His home more in our heart, so that He will have the preeminence.