The Church in Ontario

05/31/2026

I Love Thee, Jesus
—— Hymn 1154

Hymn 1154Category: Experience of ChristSubcategory: Loving HimLyrics: D. P.Music: D. P.Lyrics: https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1154LYRICS:1I love Thee, Jesu...

05/31/2026

PROPHESYING NOTES FOR S.S 4:9-ISA 1:31
Excerpted from The Life-study of Song of Songs Chapter 10

Through Brother Nee we can see that Song of Songs is a spiritual life-story of Christian experiences, signified by a romance. In Song of Songs these experiences are in four stages.

In the first stage we are attracted by Christ and drawn by Him to pursue after Him for full satisfaction (1:2—2:7). This stage includes many things: yearning to be kissed by Christ; the fellowship in the inner chamber; entering into the church life by following the footsteps of the flock; being transformed by the remaking of the Spirit; and participating in Christ’s rest and satisfaction.

In this stage a sinner saved by grace is stirred up, attracted by Christ’s love, and charmed by what He is. Song of Songs 1:2 says of Christ, “Your love is better than wine.” Nothing in the whole universe can compare with Him. Verse 3 goes on to speak of Christ’s “anointing oils” and says that His “name is like ointment poured forth.” This ointment, which is actually Christ Himself as the Spirit, is a compound of divinity, humanity, Christ’s death and resurrection, the effectiveness of His death, and the power of His resurrection. The name here signifies Christ’s person, His being, and Christ is this compound Spirit. “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45b). This indicates that Christ’s name as His person is the compound ointment.

The second stage is the call to be delivered from the self through the oneness with the cross (S.S. 2:8—3:5). In brief, the second stage is the stage of the experience of the cross. When we pursue after Christ and become satisfied with the rest and enjoyment in Christ, we may become very occupied with and concerned about the self and thereby fall into introspection. Thus, we need to experience the denying of the self and the breaking of the self by being one with the cross. We need to stay in the clefts of the rock and remain hidden in the covert of the precipice. This means that we should daily stay at the cross. We should be able to say with Paul, “I am crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). We—“I,” the self, the natural man, the old man—have been crucified, and now we should stay on the cross. This is to be in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the precipice. How can we reach the clefts and the covert, which are rugged places high up in the mountains? How can we remain there? We can go to the cross and remain there only by the power of Christ’s resurrection (Phil. 3:10).

The third stage is to be called by Christ to live in ascension as the new creation of God in the resurrection of Christ (3:6—5:1). Christ’s death is followed by Christ’s resurrection, and in His resurrection we are a new creation. The new creation is a product of Christ’s resurrection. Anyone who is in Christ and in His resurrection is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). The matters of resurrection and a new creation are closely related to Christ’s ascension. Actually, Christ’s resurrection and ascension are one. If we are in His resurrection, we are also in His ascension. When we live in resurrection, we are surely living in ascension.

Proof that the third stage of spiritual experience in Song of Songs is the call to live in ascension is found in 4:8. When we live in ascension, we realize that the war is over, that the victory has been gained, and that the enemy has been destroyed. The lions’ dens and the leopards’ mountains signify Satan and his evil forces. These evil powers are in the air, but when we live in ascension, we are in the heavens, far above them. Furthermore, when we live in ascension, spontaneously we are a new creation of God in the resurrection of Christ. How wonderful!

We may think that the third stage is the highest stage, but according to Song of Songs there is yet another stage. The fourth stage is to be called by Christ more strongly to live within the veil through His cross after the experience of His resurrection (5:2—6:13). In ascension, in the heavens, there is the sanctuary of God, and a veil, which signifies the flesh (Heb. 10:20), divides this heavenly sanctuary into two sections. We should not think that once we have arrived at the heavenly sanctuary, we have already attained the highest point of spiritual experience. We may have come to the highest point, but we may not yet be in the inner chamber of the heavenly sanctuary. This inner chamber is the Holy of Holies—God Himself. The veil separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place was split in two at the time of Christ’s crucifixion (Matt. 27:51), but the veil has not been taken away. The veil is still there. After we reach ascension we eventually realize that with the sanctuary in the heavens there is an inner chamber and that we need to enter within the veil and live within the veil, that is, live in God Himself.

We have seen that the veil signifies the flesh, which is worse than the self. After the first stage, the object of our dealing is the self. Later, in the fourth stage, the object of our dealing is the flesh. This requires a further experience of the cross, for we need to enter within the veil through the cross. This means that even after we have experienced resurrection and ascension, we still need the cross in order to live in the Holy of Holies within the veil. We experience the cross in the second stage, but we need to have the deeper experience of the cross in the fourth stage.

Song of Songs 6:4 says, “You are as beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, / As lovely as Jerusalem.” Here the lover of Christ is likened to Tirzah and Jerusalem, indicating that she has become God’s dwelling place.

We have seen the four stages of spiritual experience in this book: the stage of pursuit, the stage of the cross, the stage of ascension, and the stage of living in the Holy of Holies. If we have a clear view of these four stages, we will have the proper understanding of Song of Songs. Such an understanding surely is priceless.

—— Stanley Han

05/31/2026

Weekly Bible Reading Schedule-Prophesying Notes

Week 73: S. S. 4:9-Isa. 1:31

This week, we finish reading the latter half of the Song of Songs and get started on the Books of Prophesy, at Isaiah.

In the middle of the third part, resurrection, among the many analogies, there is a point where the Beloved has been calling the lover as “sister and lover”. It’s a reflection that at this point, the two of them are alike enough in life. Furthermore, after having passed thru the various stages of transformation by the end of chapter 6, the lover is now called Shulamite, the feminine form of Solomon. For she is now finally, fully Solomon’s duplication, same as Solomon in life, nature, and image to match their marriage.

One might expect that a fairy tale ending is with the culmination of marriage, but precisely because reality is not a fairy tale, there is work to be done after the marriage. Lovers need to share the work, be each other’s coworkers to make their future work. Then the Spirit is reviewing the qualifications and virtues of the lover for the labor. And in working together with her beloved, they are working for the entire world by moving from place to place, and working diligently for others to bud, blossom, and bloom. There was also a desire for rapture and concern for younger believers. May such a progress with all four of these stages portrayed in the Song of Songs serve as milestones for us during our pursuit of Christ for His and our mutual satisfaction!

Next is the beginning of the Book of Isaiah, the first of the Prophets. Isaiah’s ministry lasted more than sixty years and served four generations of kings. The central thought of Isaiah is: Christ is God incarnated in humanity to be the Savior of man, that all the God-created universe, which is fallen, might be restored and consummate in the new heaven and new earth for eternity. The subject of the book of Isaiah is the full salvation of Jehovah through the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, ascended, and coming Christ.

Chapter 1, the first of the visions of Isaiah is of Jehovah the Father’s complaint against His people, concerning Israel and Judah. So much that the people of Israel were compared to the rulers of S***m and Gomorrah, and their incense and sacrifices were an abomination to Him.

So let us pray while being watchful, then our prayer will still be pleasing to the Lord.

—— Grace Liu

05/25/2026

Welcome! Praise the Lord!

05/25/2026

Jesus Lord, I’m captured by Thy beauty

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05/25/2026

PROPHESYING NOTES FOR ECCL 9:18-S.S 4:8
Excerpted from The Life-study of Ecclesiastes Chapters 1&2

Verses 12 and 13 of Chapter 3 say that there is nothing better for man than to rejoice and do good in his lifetime, eating, drinking, and tasting enjoyment in all his labor; it is the gift of God.

God created man for Himself, but man was seduced by Satan to give God up, and thus man became fallen. Nevertheless, God still blesses man so that he may have a good living and enjoy various material things. By blessing man with material things, God maintains the existence of mankind from generation to generation. God has preserved man in this way for the sake of the redemption of His chosen ones.

Apart from God’s blessing no one could bear to live on earth. On the one hand, everything under the sun is vanity of vanities and is subject to the slavery of corruption. On the other hand, certain things in human life, such as education, work, and marriage, are still very appealing. If we did not strive to gain an education or to succeed in our work or to have a good married life and family life, we might be tempted to commit su***de. God uses man’s striving for these things in order to keep man on earth. If mankind ceased to exist, God could not gain His chosen ones from among the fallen human race. If mankind had been terminated, Christ could not have come, for there would have been no lineage for His incarnation.

Although man is fallen, God continues to bless man, causing the sun to shine and the rain to fall and maintaining a proper order in the universe. As a result, people have the desire to go on living. In this way mankind is preserved for God to fulfill His purpose in choosing us before the foundation of the earth.

We were born at the right time and in the right place. Therefore, we all are here today for God’s purpose. Without God’s sovereign preservation of physical, human life, none of us could exist for His purpose. I believe that this is the correct understanding of Solomon’s thought when he wrote that “every man should eat and drink and taste enjoyment in all his labor; it is the gift of God” (v. 13).

God, in His sovereignty over all, has appointed all things which are in the present and which will be in the future and seeks to reemploy the things which took place in the past. Whatever God does will be forever; nothing can be added to it, nor can anything be taken from it, that all would fear Him that they may have His wisdom to realize the real meaning of human life (vv. 14-15).

In all his experiments Solomon encouraged, according to God’s economy, the fallen men under the sun to enjoy what God has given to them that they may exist and afford God the opportunity to carry out His eternal purpose in choosing and predestinating them for the issue of the Body of Christ and to maintain the fallen man of God’s old creation to be the provision for God to bring in His new creation in Christ out of the old creation (2:24; 3:13; 5:18-20; 8:15; 9:7-10). This is proved by the apostle Paul’s preaching in Acts 14:15-17 and 17:24-31.

Here we should note that for us to live a life that we may testify Christ and minister Christ to others to glorify God, we need the material things and physical matters. But we should not be attracted, captured, and usurped by them. If we are usurped by them, we will suffer their vanity. We are living in the world and passing through the “vanity fair,” but we should not linger in it for its vainglory. Today all things of the old creation are under the slavery of corruption. If we do not escape “the corruption which is in the world by lust” (2 Pet. 1:4), we will share in its vanity.

Man should enjoy God’s provision for his living and the marriage life for man’s existence and multiplication to replenish the earth (Gen. 1:28) that it may be possible for God to save some of them in order to produce the church—the Body of Christ— which will issue in the New Jerusalem as God’s eternal enlargement and expression according to God’s eternal economy (Eccl. 9:7-10).

The unveiling of the above points of the writer’s experiments and searching and testing should not be considered the divine revelation from God, though they are included in the Scriptures. They are the conclusion of the writer’s research in his experiments of the fallen men’s human life under the sun. All the concluding words may be considered as proverbs, words of wisdom, directing the fallen and aim-missing men to return to God and receive Him according to His New Testament economy in His Son as their Redeemer and life that they may be regenerated to be the God-men for the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy.

The writer’s intention is to lead men to fear God that God may eventually show them His New Testament economy concerning the producing of His church, the Body of Christ, which consummates in the New Jerusalem as God’s eternal enlargement and expression (v. 13).

—— Stanley Han

05/25/2026

Weekly Bible Reading Schedule-Prophesying Notes

Week 72: Eccl. 10:1-S. S. 4:8

I forgot what it’s like to go thru shorter books. This week, we finish the conclusion to Ecclesiastes and start the sweet Song of Songs. Going from vanity being everything under the sun, to contacting God, being like a love story.

In addition to the presentation by the Preacher that everything is vanity, it also describes the writer’s experiment in contacting God. Solomon here charges us to approach carefully, not rashly with our heart and do not be hasty. In 11:9-12:1, he gave advice to young men. Saying that they should endeavor to enjoy human life while they’re young in the light of God’s judgement, and remember their Creator, don’t be like him.

Because ultimately, this “Book of the Preacher” is written because Solomon intends to lead men to fear God, that God will judge people in this age for their deeds, even every secret thing, according to good or evil, and at His great white throne for their eternal destiny. Solomon doesn’t know, but God’s intent to include this is also the way to segue into the revelation of God’s eternal economy concerning the producing of His church, the Body of Christ, which consummates in the New Jerusalem as God’s eternal enlargement and expression. Which will be illustrated in the Song of Songs.

For new ones, the Song of Song appears to be like a romantic musical play between King Solomon and a poor country girl Shulamite. Again, on the surface it sounds like someone mixed up the scriptures with a grand historical soap opera…. But you will understand that the point is not the keeping of laws or the adherence to wise sayings, not merely. Again, this is the subjective experience of life. The contents of the Song of Songs are the progressive experience of an individual believer’s loving fellowship with Christ. The sections are: drawn to pursue Christ for satisfaction (1:2—2:7); called to be delivered from the self through the oneness with the cross (2:8—3:5); called to live in ascension as the new creation in resurrection (3:6—5:1); called more strongly to live within the veil through the cross after resurrection (5:2—6:13); sharing in the work of the Lord (7:1-13); and hoping to be raptured (8:1-14).

This week’s portion covers up to the third stage of the four stages in the experience of the lover of Christ. In the first stage, the lover of Christ is attracted by Christ to follow Him. In the second stage, the lover of Christ experiences the cross for the breaking of the self. In the third stage, the lover of Christ lives in ascension, to experience the new creation of God in Christ’s resurrection. While the word “cross” is not there, but the Song of Songs reveals that through many different figures.

Saints, I hope that we all continue to not only have a personal relationship with Christ, but likewise follow the flock that is a figure of the church life. For this is where Christ told her where the individuals will find Christ. And join fellow companions in fellowship to extol His love with joy and rejoicing.

—— Grace Liu

05/23/2026

Background info for 2026 MDC
The Development of "the New Revival" in the Messages from 1997–2026

Subject: "The new revival" is the core burden of the current move of the Lord's recovery. Its content covers three aspects—reaching the highest peak of the divine revelation, corporately living the God-man living, and shepherding people according to God in the vital groups. These three aspects put together are the sum total of the New Testament ministry and the sum total of God's economy, which will ultimately close this age and bring the Lord back (2 Cor. 3:18, Rev. 22:17).
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The Call for a New Revival: From Individuals to the Churches
This burden was first released as early as 1988. Brother Witness Lee said:
"I have prayed much and looked to the Lord, and I feel that the Lord’s recovery, whether in the Far East or in the West, has reached a stage where we need to ask the Lord for a new revival. Especially here in Taiwan, the elders and co-workers in all the churches should receive a burden to ask the Lord for a new revival.」1
This call is not merely a slogan, but must be applied to everyone's daily life:
"Although the word tonight is brief, I hope that the leading elders in the churches in all places and all the assisting co-workers will practice this new revival, allowing the Lord Jesus to have a new rising in us day by day.」1
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The Constitution of the New Revival: Unprecedented in History
The messages in 1999 further revealed the unique nature of this revival:
"This revival is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. If you obtain this revival, you will be a testimony, because you have at least seen the highest peak of the divine revelation.」2
This revival is not an outward excitement, but an inward constitution renewal:
"The Bible is new, prayer is new, the Christian life is new, the ministry is new, the recovery is new, and the church is also new; everything is new. It is the same outwardly, but the inward constitution is different—it is new.」2
"When you see this and touch this, you will normally experience the processed and consummated Triune God every day, every ordinary day... When you wake up in the morning, there is a revival; and when you lay your head on the pillow every night, there is more of God than in the morning.」2
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The Three Aspects of the New Revival: The Highest Peak of the Divine Revelation, the God-man Living, and Shepherding According to God
The training in 2012 systematically developed these three aspects:
"By reaching the highest peak of the divine revelation—the revelation of God's eternal economy—through the ministry of this age, we can enter into a new revival: 'My hope is that the saints in all the churches on the earth, especially the co-workers and the elders, will see this revelation and then rise up to pray that God will give us a new revival—a revival that has never been in history.'」3
"By living the God-man living, we can enter into a new revival: 'We all should declare that we want to live a God-man life. Eventually, the God-men will be the victors, the overcomers, as Zion in Jerusalem. This will bring in a new revival never seen in history, and it will close this age.'」3
"By shepherding people according to God, we can enter into a new revival: 'I hope that because we receive this burden regarding shepherding, there will be a real revival among us. If all the churches receive this teaching and participate in Christ’s wonderful shepherding, there will be a great revival in the Lord’s recovery.'」3
The messages in 2015 reconfirmed these three aspects, linking them with the eternal vision, the eternal living, and the eternal work of God:
"There are three aspects of the new revival: to reach the highest peak of the divine revelation, which is the first aspect, is the eternal vision; to corporately live the God-man living is the eternal living; and to shepherd according to God is God’s eternal work.」4
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The Inward Base of the New Revival: The Ministry of the Spirit and the God-man Living
The 2007 Memorial Day Conference revealed that the inward base of the new revival is the ministry of the Spirit:
"The three aspects of the new revival are the sum total of the New Testament ministry, which is the sum total of God's economy, and this will bring the Lord back.」5
"The ministry of the Spirit, as spoken of in Revelation 22:17 in the end, says that the Spirit and the bride speak; that is the ministry of the Spirit. The ministry of the Spirit produces the bride, and the Spirit and the bride become one entity.」5
"The sevenfold intensified Spirit is the Lord’s recovery, this is the ministry of the Spirit, and this is the highest peak of the divine revelation.」5
Between 1994 and 1997, Brother Witness Lee also explained the essence of this revival from the perspective of the God-man living:
"This revival is also everyone living a God-man life: no longer I, but Christ living in me, and I living by Christ. When everyone lives this kind of life together, the reality of the Body of Christ will be manifested in the local churches. According to the revelation of the Bible, this is what the Lord wants to obtain today. Therefore, we must all pursue this and pray to the Lord for this: 'Lord, You want to revive Your recovery; please revive me first!'」6
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The Practical Way of the New Revival: Vital Groups and Shepherding According to God
The new revival is not an abstract vision, but must be practiced in the vital groups:
"Shepherding and teaching are the obligation of the vital groups, and they are also the God-ordained basic way to build up the Body of Christ and consummate the New Jerusalem.」7
"If we practice these things, there will surely be a real revival in the Lord's recovery. We must be shepherds with the loving and forgiving heart of God the Father in His divinity, and with the shepherding and seeking spirit of our Savior Christ in His humanity. We must also have a heavenly vision of all the divine and mystical teachings of Christ.」7
The messages in 2006 summarized all of this as the living of the overcomers:
"The current progress of the Lord's recovery is to bring us into a new revival to turn the age. This is by becoming the Lord’s overcomers—His normal Christians who constantly receive a particular vision, which is the glorious, all-inheriting vision of the age, and thereby live the God-man living, and shepherd people according to God in the vital groups, for the reality of the Body of Christ in all the local churches, to consummate the New Jerusalem.」8
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The Ultimate Goal of the New Revival: Closing the Age and Preparing the Bride
The 2021 Spring Elders' Training incorporated the new revival into the ultimate goal of the unique ministry of the New Testament:
"To bring us into a new revival, living out and working out the New Jerusalem to obtain the reality of the Body of Christ, which is the highest peak of God's economy.」9
The 2022 Summer Training further explained that the overcomers are the ones who carry this new revival:
"The present age is the age of the overcomers, and the ministry of the present age through the minister of the present age is to sound the Lord's call for the overcomers (those who see the eternal vision, live the eternal life, and do the eternal work—which is to see God’s ultimate goal, to live out and work out the New Jerusalem); these overcomers are for the building up of the reality of the Body of Christ, the preparation of the bride of Christ, and the manifestation of the kingdom of Christ.」10
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[

References
1 CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, "A Timely Trumpeting and the Present Need," ch. 4
2 1999 MDC, msg. 2
3 2012 ST, msg. 12
4 2015 MDC, msg. 1
5 2007 MDC, msg. 6
6 CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, "The Revival of the God-man Living," ch. 3
7 CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, "Fellowship before the Meetings of the Full-time Training in the Fall of 1996," ch. 8
8 2006 MDC, msg. 1
9 2021 ITERO-Spring, msg. 2
10 2022 ST, msg. 2

05/23/2026

PROPHESYING NOTES FOR PROV 30:1-ECCL 9:18
Excerpted from The Life-study of Ecclesiastes Chapters 1&2

The contents of Ecclesiastes are a description by Solomon, after his falling away from God and returning to God, concerning the human life of fallen mankind under the sun, which is in the corrupted world. He set his heart to seek and to search out all that is done under the heavens, and he observed that according to the natural phenomena all the things done in cycle remain the same, generation after generation, all wearisome and nothing new. In his conclusion, this is all vanity of vanities and a chasing after wind to the human life of fallen mankind. Such a conclusion of the wise king by his wisdom may be considered a history of the vain life of a fallen man. His conclusion in this book is like a dirge to a man whose end is in misery.

According to Ecclesiastes, human history, from its beginning to the present, is vanity. Because creation has been made subject to vanity and to the slavery of corruption, everything under the sun is vanity. Paul’s word concerning this in Romans 8:20-21 corresponds to Ecclesiastes. Today everyone is actually not living but dying. We have been born to die; that is, we have been dying since the day of our birth. From this we see that human life under the sun is vanity of vanities.

Solomon had unequaled wisdom, the supreme position, unsurpassed wealth, and hundreds of wives and concubines, and fell in the indulgence of his lust to an unparalleled extent. Through all the positive and negative experiences of the human life under the sun, his thought was deeply impressed and occupied with the central thought of this book, that is, the vanity of vanities of the human life under the sun in its falling away from God. Man was created by God with the highest and most noble purpose, that is, to express Him in the resemblance of Him in His life, nature, and expression. But God’s enemy, Satan the devil, came in to inject himself as sin into the man created by God for His purpose. Through this fall of man, man and all the created things that had been committed by God to his dominion were brought into the slavery of corruption, made subject to vanity (Rom. 8:20-21). Thus, the human life in the corrupted world also became a vanity, a chasing after wind. The writer Solomon had fully realized this and stressed this to the uttermost in his description. Yet he was not fully disappointed in this, but rather he instructed men that there is a way to get out of this vanity, that is, to come back to God and take God as man’s everything, redemption, life, wealth, enjoyment, pleasure, and satisfaction, that man still may be used by God to fulfill His original purpose in man for the fulfillment of His eternal economy (Eccl. 12:13-14).

God has made everything beautiful in its own time and has put eternity (an aspiration for the things in eternity) in man’s heart, yet so that man does not find out what God has done from the beginning to the end (v. 11). In His creation of man, God put something into man which Solomon called “eternity.” This means that in man there is a kind of aspiration for God, an aspiration for something eternal. Physical things may be enjoyable, but they are temporal.

Many successful people can testify that when they were endeavoring to advance in their career, they sensed that there was emptiness within them. They began to realize that they were seeking something eternal. After they gained something they wanted, they felt that it was nothing. This feeling comes from the aspiration in man’s heart for something eternal.

According to our own experience we know that whenever we have success in our human life, we also have an empty feeling. This indicates that within man there is an aspiration for eternal things. God has put such an aspiration, such a seeking, in man’s heart so that he will seek God. Every person, especially every thoughtful person, has within him this longing and seeking for eternity.

—— Stanley Han

05/23/2026

Weekly Bible Reading Schedule-Prophesying Notes

Week 71: Prov. 30:1-Eccl. 9:18

This week we will finish the last two chapters of Proverbs and then move on to Ecclesiastes. Reading chapter 30 and chapter 31 of Proverbs, they are unique, in that they do not seem to be wise sayings of either King Solomon or Hezekiah. I could get into what I found online about what certain scholars think the composer of chapter 30 was not Israelite, Jewish, and is a prophet. Or how whether the king of chapter 31 was another name for Solomon? Another name for Hezekiah? A Gentile King? Completely made-up?

But thinking of all that is ultimately not beneficial, and not the point. Proverbs gives us wisdom to be a proper person and to do the right things, but not forms. A big part of God’s economy is God’s redemption to break the old man and regenerate the new man. Thus, the place and function of the law, and its auxiliary, these wise sayings both serve a supplementary function to grace. The law makes the official mark to show what sin is and why God, just and merciful, must graft His divine life into us for a new man. And the auxiliary to the law, these proverbs, are here to show and mark what growth milestones our new man must have.

Now an introduction to Ecclesiastes. The title Ecclesiastes is a Latin transliteration of its Greek name. The title in Hebrew means “preacher”. Which is why in Chinese, we’re basically just calling it “The Book of the Preacher”. So much simpler this way~ This book was written by King Solomon, in Jerusalem, after his falling away from God. In this book, he refers to himself as the Preacher, not as a great king with unequaled wisdom, the supreme position, unsurpassed wealth and was able to indulge his lust to an unparalleled extent. No, here he is just a preacher coming to tell his conclusion that human history from its beginning to the present, is vanity. He presents his experiments, that shows why he has reached the conclusion that all is wearisome, nothing is satisfying, nothing is new, and nothing is remembered.

First, in wisdom and knowledge, he’s found that in much wisdom there is much vexation and increase in knowledge means increase in sorrow. Second, in chasing after pleasure, he’s found that those to be vanity and to be chasing after the wind. Or that while it’s better to be a wise man than to be a foolish one, after death, there’s no difference. He, as the preacher also tells us in 3:11 that when God created man, he has made everything beautiful in its own time; also, He has put eternity in man’s heart. That there is nothing to do but to find meaning from God. God, in His sovereignty over all, has appointed all things which are in the present and which will be in the future and seeks to reemploy the things which took place in the past. Whatever God does will be forever; nothing can be added to it, nor can anything be taken from it, that all would fear Him that they may have His wisdom to realize the real meaning of human life.

Then in the Preacher’s experience with ranks and classes in human society. He’s found that it’s for bringing down the righteous to the same level as the wicked, that this is for God to prove that men are but beasts. That while the oppressed are in tears and the oppressors have power, but both have no comforter. That all labor and all skill in work causes people’s jealousy for their peers and again, all these are vanity and chasing after the wind.

In the last chapter of this week’s portion, the preacher gives the conclusion that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hands of God, one’s own works and efforts are still ultimately affected by chance and time, which are in the hands of God. Quite an urgent warning to terminate our old natural man, to build up the new man. For God’s masterpiece.

—— Grace Liu