The Divine and Mystical Realm, by Witness Lee

IX. TO OPEN THE ADDITIONAL SECTION OF THE SEVENFOLD INTENSIFIED ORGANIC SALVATION OF GOD

According to Isaiah 30:26 the light of the sun will be sevenfold intensified in the millennium. Today we have the Spirit sevenfold intensified.

NOTE—THE THREE SECTIONS OF CHRIST’S MINISTRY

His Earthly Ministry

The first section of His earthly ministry was accomplished by Him judicially in the physical realm as the Christ in the flesh from His incarnation to His death within His human age of thirty-three and a half years.

His Heavenly Ministry

The second section of His heavenly ministry is carried out by Him organically in the mystical realm as the Christ as the life-giving Spirit from His resurrection to the end of the millennium within the age of the church and the age of the kingdom. Incarnation was the first start, the start of His life in the flesh. But resurrection is another start, the start of His being the Spirit, to carry out His heavenly ministry.

His Sevenfold Intensified Heavenly Ministry

The third section of His sevenfold intensified heavenly ministry is carried out by Him sevenfold intensified organically in the mystical realm as the Christ as the sevenfold intensified life-giving Spirit from the degradation of the church to the coming of the new heaven and new earth. The degradation of the church began within the first century. In 2 Timothy Paul told us that all in Asia had turned away from him, leaving his ministry (1:15). Also, ones like Hymenaeus and Philetus were trying to overthrow the truth concerning the resurrection, saying the resurrection had already taken place (2:17-18). Paul mentioned Demas abandoning him because of his love for the present age (4:10). He also spoke of Alexander the coppersmith doing many evil things to him (4:14). Alexander the coppersmith must have known Paul well. Otherwise, he could not have been his opposer. All these descriptions show us the degradation of the church. Shortly after writing 2 Timothy around A.D. 67, Paul was martyred. Less than thirty years later, John wrote the book of Revelation which shows the degradation of the churches. He also wrote 2 John, which is an Epistle revealing the prohibition against heresy, which was already creeping into the church.

The book of Revelation opens in this way: “Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is coming, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth” (1:4-5). In these verses the seven Spirits are listed as the second of the Divine Trinity. Then the book of Revelation gives us a full record of the move of the sevenfold Spirit in Christ’s heavenly ministry to do a number of things.

A. To:

1. Save the Believers in the Church in Ephesus

The sevenfold intensified Spirit worked to save the believers in the church in Ephesus from the formal church life, which had lost the first love to the Lord, the shining capacity of the lampstand, and the enjoyment of Christ as life, to become overcomers so that they would be rewarded to eat of the tree of life in the Paradise of God—the New Jerusalem in the kingdom age (Rev. 2:1-7).

2. Strengthen the Suffering Believers in the Church in Smyrna

Christ as the sevenfold intensified life-giving Spirit worked to strengthen the suffering believers in the church in Smyrna to overcome the persecution by being martyred so that they would be rewarded not to taste the second death during the kingdom age (2:8-11). This shows that the believers who do not overcome will taste the second death.

3. Sanctify the Believers in the Church in Pergamos

The church in Pergamos had become married to the world, so Christ as the sevenfold intensified life-giving Spirit worked to sanctify the believers there from the union with the world and from the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans to be the overcomers so that they might be rewarded to eat the hidden manna and to have a white stone upon which a new name would be written in the kingdom age (2:12-17).

(The Divine and Mystical Realm, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)