The Ministry of the Word, Vol. 12, No. 09

Book excerpt: This issue of The Ministry of the Word includes the first nine messages of the 2007 spring term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is "The Believers." Collectively, the believers are one of the seven persons in the eternal economy of God. The first three persons in God's economy are the three of the Divine Trinity--the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The fourth person, composed of the believers as a collective entity, is in the middle of this sequence of seven persons. The believers then become a corporate person--the church, the kingdom, and the New Jerusalem, which are the remaining three persons. The believers constitute a certain class or category of people who have received mercy from God to believe into the Son of God and in His redemptive work, particularly in His resurrection. First Peter 1:8 says, "Whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory." In many ways, this verse is the theme for this line of ministry on the believers. We are those who exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, and the Lord, as the Author and Perfecter of our faith, will take us on from one degree of enjoyment to the next until we reach the highest enjoyment of the Lord. The believers are the happiest and most joyful people on the earth because God is pleased with them (Heb. 11:6). Last of all, we include a report of the 2008 Chinese-speaking Perfecting Training in Plano, Texas and a follow-up conference in Irving, Texas.