The Crucial Points of the Major Items of the Lord’s Recovery Today
Message Nine
The Lord’s Recovery versus the Present Evil Age and the Eschatology of the Church
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Who gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us out of the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father—Gal. 1:4.
For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ…—2 Cor. 5:10
Word of Appetizer
Galatians 1:4 says that the Lord Jesus Christ “gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us out of the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father”. What is “the present evil age”?
The present evil age refers to the religious world, the religious course of the world, the Jewish religion. For us today, the present evil age is deformed and degraded Christianity.
Spiritual Burden
Religion is something formed by the human mind under Satan’s instigation and inspiration in order to oppose God’s economy. We all need to be delivered from religion, from Christianity as the present evil age.
At His coming back, the Lord will judge and deal with the Catholic Church, the Protestant church, and the original and recovered church. Religion will be terminated, but the bride of Christ will be prepared.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The Lord’s recovery is versus the present evil age—the evil age of religion.
There is not only an eschatology of the world, the study of the end of the world, but also an eschatology of the church. The eschatology of the church involves the Catholic Church, the Protestant church, and the original and recovered church. At His coming back, the Lord will judge and deal with the Catholic Church, the Protestant church, and the original and recovered church.
The Experience of Life
The purpose of Christ’s giving Himself for our sins was to rescue us, to pluck us, to extricate us, out of the present evil age.
The church is the living Body of Christ, but what surrounds us today is a religion—deformed and degraded Christianity—full of traditions, organizations, performances, and falsehoods.
Practice and Application
Those who participate in the recovered church learn the special lessons of the Christian life:
• To know Christ.
• To know the flesh and the self.
• To learn how to be crucified to live the God-man life.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Who gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us out of the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father—Gal. 1:4.
…through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation is what matters—6:14-15.
The Lord’s Recovery Is Versus the Present Evil Age—the Evil Age of Religion
• An age refers to a section, an aspect, the present or modern appearance, of the world as the satanic system, which is used by Satan to usurp and occupy God’s people in order to keep them away from God and His purpose.
• The present evil age refers to the religious world, the religious course of the world, the Jewish religion.
• Religion is something formed by the human mind under Satan’s instigation and inspiration in order to oppose God’s economy.
• Between us and religion is the cross; religion as a world has been crucified to us, and we have been crucified to religion.
Key Verses (2)
Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened—Matt. 13:33.
Therefore also Jesus, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us therefore go forth unto Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach—Heb. 13:12-13.
The Present Evil Age Is Deformed and Degraded Christianity
• For Paul, the present evil age was Judaism; for us today, the present evil age is deformed and degraded Christianity.
• The history among us in the Lord’s recovery has been a history of coming out of Christianity—a history of coming out of and being outside of the present evil age.
• We need to maintain the gap between the Lord’s recovery and Christianity; the wider this gap is, the better, because it is a gap between us and the present evil age; the Lord cannot accomplish His purpose in this situation.
Key Verses (3)
For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ…—2 Cor. 5:10.
But if anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble, the work of each will become manifest; for the day will declare it, because it is revealed by fire, and the fire itself will prove each one’s work, of what sort it is.—1 Cor. 3:12-13
The Eschatology of the Church Involves the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, and the Original and Recovered Church
II. There is not only an eschatology of the world, the study of the end of the world, but also an eschatology of the church.
• The eschatology of the church involves the Catholic Church, the Protestant church, and the original and recovered church; the real condition and end of the Catholic Church are revealed in Revelation 17; in the Protestant church there are many “tares,” false believers.
• The expression the recovered church refers to the original church, the church according to the divine revelation in the Scriptures; the original and recovered church is the genuine church.
• Eventually, all genuine believers will be in the ultimate consummation of God’s purpose—the New Jerusalem.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 Religion is versus Christ (Gal. 1:4)
(Please explain that religion is anything done for Christ but not having the presence and reality of Christ.)
T2 An age is a part of the world as the satanic system (Gal. 6:14-15)
(Please explain that the present evil age in Galatians 1:4 refers to the religious world.)
D2
T1 The fold is religion, whereas the flock is the church (John 10:16)
(Please explain that Christ comes to rescue His sheep out of the various religious folds and to bring them together as the one flock.)
T2 Religion is something formed by the human mentality under Satan’s instigation in order to oppose God’s economy (1 Tim. 1:4)
(Please explain that apparently, religion is for God, but in actuality, it is fully against Him.)
D3
T1 The Lord has no way to fulfill His eternal purpose in religion (Eph. 5:32)
(Please explain that the religious age is evil because it keeps people from Christ and the church.)
T2 All of Christianity is deformed and is also degraded (Gal. 5:4)
(Please explain that when we talk about Christianity in such a way, we still love all of our brothers and sisters.)
D4
T1 We must come out of Babylon, and Babylon must come out of us (Rev. 18:4)
(Please use experience to explain how you are delivered from Christianity as the present evil age.)
T2 The Lord’s recovery is absolutely different from today’s religion (Matt. 13:31-33)
(Please explain that we need to maintain the gap between us and Christianity.)
D5
T1 The recovered church refers to the original church (2 Tim. 2:19-21)
(Please explain that the recovered church came into being not long after the original church had been established.)
T2 The real condition and end of the Catholic Church (Rev. 17:1-6)
(Please explain the real condition and end of the Catholic Church according to Revelation 17:1-6.)
D6
T1 In the Protestant church there are many “tares,” false believers (Matt. 13:37-42)
(Please explain that nominal Christians, the end of whom will be the same as Antichrist and the false prophet.)
T2 Religion will be terminated, but the bride of Christ will be prepared (Rev. 19:1-4, 7-9)
(Please explain how the Lord will judge and deal with the Catholic Church, the Protestant church, and the original and recovered church at His coming back.)
