Philippians 1:19-20 [For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.]
A Christian's virtues are not superficial they are not without root. The root of the Christian virtues is Christ. When we believe in Him with our heart and call on Him with our mouth, He enters into our spirit and enlivens our spirit. In this way we are regenerated. Now, this all-inclusive Christ lives in us. When we live Christ and magnify Him, all His human virtues are expressed in our living.
Paul said in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." God wants "I" to be crucified in the death of Christ so that in His resurrection Christ may live in us and be the source and everything in our living. This is why Paul said, "As always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ."
God created man according to His image. God's image is all that God is. God is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. These are what God is; Hence, they are the image of God. Since man was created in the image of God, within man there are human virtues, such as love, light, holiness, and righteousness. But these human virtues are not the reality, they are merely the image of the reality. Man's virtues are a picture of God's image. A picture is not the reality of a man it is not the man himself. When we believe in Christ and receive this pneumatic Christ, He enters into us to be our life within, and He lives Himself out from us. By this we will have the reality of all the virtues of God's attributes, and we can live out the real love, light, holiness, and righteousness, which are the expressions of Christ in us.
When the Lord Jesus lives in us, we can love others in a genuine way. We do not love by our own love; rather, we love by the Christ who is living in us and who is our bountiful supply. This Christ who is living in us is the Spirit with the bountiful supply. He has become on with us. We do not need to do good or to be moral by ourselves. Everything we do and all our living should come about by the bountiful supply of Jesus Christ.
The supply and dispensing of His life cause us to be saved in our living of Christ, so that we may not be put to shame because we have not lived Christ, and may not lose the testimony that we ought to bear for Christ because of our failure to magnify Christ. On the contrary, with all boldness, as always, even now, daily, Christ will be magnified in our bodies, whether through life or through death.
Reference: Life-study of Philippians.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
INdigestion of Christ :(
Jeremiah 15:16 [Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Jehovah, God of hosts.]
John 6:57 [As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.]
We need to eat Jesus by calling on the name of the Lord. But after we eat, we also need a good digestion. We do not want to have indigestion. Indigestion first causes stomach trouble, and then it may cause a stomach ulcer. When we eat Christ, we also need to spiritually digest Him in a proper way.
The Lord Jesus is real, living, and practical. When you call "Lord Jesus", He gets into you and fills you up. While you are calling "Lord Jesus", this practical and living Jesus will touch your natural being. But many of you would say, "No, Lord. Don't touch me here. Stay where You are. You are my guest and You must stay in the living room. Don't get into my private bedroom. That's for me, not for You." This means "indigestion". There is no way for the Lord as the spiritual food to get through in you. There is no free course for the food to get into your inward parts, so you have indigestion.
But when you respond to and go along with the inner sense, your appetite for the Lord Jesus comes back and your spiritual digestion becomes proper. Then the riches of the Lord Jesus become your cells, and these cells grow into your organic tissues. This causes you to grow in the divine life and makes you strong in the Lord. It is easy for you to stand and not easy for you to backslide, because you are growing in the Lord. It is hard for the grown-up ones to fall down. This is because they have a good digestion to assimilate all the nourishment from the spiritual food they eat.
Reference: The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ; How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God.
John 6:57 [As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.]
We need to eat Jesus by calling on the name of the Lord. But after we eat, we also need a good digestion. We do not want to have indigestion. Indigestion first causes stomach trouble, and then it may cause a stomach ulcer. When we eat Christ, we also need to spiritually digest Him in a proper way.
The Lord Jesus is real, living, and practical. When you call "Lord Jesus", He gets into you and fills you up. While you are calling "Lord Jesus", this practical and living Jesus will touch your natural being. But many of you would say, "No, Lord. Don't touch me here. Stay where You are. You are my guest and You must stay in the living room. Don't get into my private bedroom. That's for me, not for You." This means "indigestion". There is no way for the Lord as the spiritual food to get through in you. There is no free course for the food to get into your inward parts, so you have indigestion.
But when you respond to and go along with the inner sense, your appetite for the Lord Jesus comes back and your spiritual digestion becomes proper. Then the riches of the Lord Jesus become your cells, and these cells grow into your organic tissues. This causes you to grow in the divine life and makes you strong in the Lord. It is easy for you to stand and not easy for you to backslide, because you are growing in the Lord. It is hard for the grown-up ones to fall down. This is because they have a good digestion to assimilate all the nourishment from the spiritual food they eat.
Reference: The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ; How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God.
Christian life is more than just repenting of our sins
Romans 8:10-11 [...If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who indwells you.]
Matthew 6:11 [Give us today our daily bread.]
To be a Christian is more that just repenting of our sins, receiving the forgiveness of sins, being washed by the blood, being justified, and being regenerated. The Christian life also includes growth and maturity. In order to go on from regeneration to maturity, we must eat. Regeneration is the beginning of our spiritual life, but we need to eat after our regeneration. No on can grow without eating. We must eat, digest, and assimilate food daily. Assimilation is the final step of food being dispensed into our being. We need to eat, digest, and assimilate Jesus as our spiritual food day by day.
Reference: The Enjoyment of Christ for His Increase.
To live a life in the divine dispensing in a normal way will make us healthy both physically and spiritually. Whether or not we have good or bad days is not up to us; it is up to His sovereignty. He has already chosen us, and it is too late to turn back. We are blessed because the processed and consummated Triune God is within us. He is in us, not in a spectacular way, but in a very ordinary way.
Matthew 6:11 [Give us today our daily bread.]
To be a Christian is more that just repenting of our sins, receiving the forgiveness of sins, being washed by the blood, being justified, and being regenerated. The Christian life also includes growth and maturity. In order to go on from regeneration to maturity, we must eat. Regeneration is the beginning of our spiritual life, but we need to eat after our regeneration. No on can grow without eating. We must eat, digest, and assimilate food daily. Assimilation is the final step of food being dispensed into our being. We need to eat, digest, and assimilate Jesus as our spiritual food day by day.
Reference: The Enjoyment of Christ for His Increase.
To live a life in the divine dispensing in a normal way will make us healthy both physically and spiritually. Whether or not we have good or bad days is not up to us; it is up to His sovereignty. He has already chosen us, and it is too late to turn back. We are blessed because the processed and consummated Triune God is within us. He is in us, not in a spectacular way, but in a very ordinary way.
Coldness and Hotness towards God
Psalm 68:19 [Blessed be the Lord, who day by day loads us with good; God is our salvation. Selah]
2 Thessalonian 3:16 [Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace continually in every way. The Lord be with you all.]
Acts 5:38-39 [Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.]
Sometimes we are "cold" toward the Lord; we may not even go to the meetings anymore. At other times we may love the Lord so much that we become very zealous. Formerly, it was difficult just to read through a half of the chapter in the Bible. Now it is easy to read through five chapters a day. But because both our "coldness" and our "hotness" are something of ourselves, they do not last. Only those who are unhurried and steady will remain and persevere.
We have to realize that very few spiritual things are accomplished once for all. As with our physical life, most spiritual things must be repeated again and again. For example, we need to eat, drink, and breathe for our physical life every day; we cannot graduate from these things. However, we do not need to do these things excessively; we simply need to do them in small portions over a long period of time. Likewise, the calmer our Christian life is, the better it will be. Daily we should allow the Father to dispense His life and nature into us. This can be compared to electricity, which steadily flows bit by bit into the hose. If too much comes in all at once, it will be dangerous. We must see first that whatever our God wants us to do, He does not want us to do it by our own striving, but by Him. Second, whatever God gives to us is not given all at once so that it becomes unbearable to us. Rather, it is given bit by bit. For this reason, we have to live a steady and normal Christian life. The less special and the more normal we are, the better.
Christ in resurrection is the pneumatic Christ. Hence, everywhere and all the time, He can enter into us, be with us, and be our life and our element within.
Reference: A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing
2 Thessalonian 3:16 [Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace continually in every way. The Lord be with you all.]
Acts 5:38-39 [Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.]
Sometimes we are "cold" toward the Lord; we may not even go to the meetings anymore. At other times we may love the Lord so much that we become very zealous. Formerly, it was difficult just to read through a half of the chapter in the Bible. Now it is easy to read through five chapters a day. But because both our "coldness" and our "hotness" are something of ourselves, they do not last. Only those who are unhurried and steady will remain and persevere.
We have to realize that very few spiritual things are accomplished once for all. As with our physical life, most spiritual things must be repeated again and again. For example, we need to eat, drink, and breathe for our physical life every day; we cannot graduate from these things. However, we do not need to do these things excessively; we simply need to do them in small portions over a long period of time. Likewise, the calmer our Christian life is, the better it will be. Daily we should allow the Father to dispense His life and nature into us. This can be compared to electricity, which steadily flows bit by bit into the hose. If too much comes in all at once, it will be dangerous. We must see first that whatever our God wants us to do, He does not want us to do it by our own striving, but by Him. Second, whatever God gives to us is not given all at once so that it becomes unbearable to us. Rather, it is given bit by bit. For this reason, we have to live a steady and normal Christian life. The less special and the more normal we are, the better.
Christ in resurrection is the pneumatic Christ. Hence, everywhere and all the time, He can enter into us, be with us, and be our life and our element within.
Reference: A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
What is meant by "stewards of God" and "GRACE"?
Titus 1:9 [Holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles, that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose.]
Ephesians 3:6-8 [That in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the Body and fellow partakers of the promise through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God...to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.]
Titus 1:7 [For the overseer must be unreprovable as a steward of God...]
1 Corinthians 4:1-2 [A man should account us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Here, furthermore, it is sought in stewards that one be found faithful.]
Matthew 24:45 [Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time?]
Firstly, we need to be filled with Christ and then minister the riches of Christ to others. This is our stewardship. In our Christian life, we all are stewards. You are steward to me, and I am a steward to you.
In the New Testament, a steward is one who serves and takes care of the dispensing of God to His family. God has a very large family, and His desire is to dispense Himself into all the members of his family. This may be illustrated by the function of a steward in a wealthy family in ancient times. A steward in such a family was responsible to care for the dispensing of the means of life --- food, clothing, and other necessities -- to the members of the family. Wealthy families often had an abundant supply of these necessities in storage. The responsibility of a steward was to dispense this supply to the members of the family. God exceedingly rich; He has a vast storehouse of goods which He intends to dispense into His children. But this dispensation requires a steward. Thus, a steward is a dispenser, one who dispenses the divine life supply to God's children.
God's stewardship is the dispensing of the processed Triune God in Christ into His chosen, redeemed, and regenerated people that He may be their life and everything, to produce the unique Body of Christ in the universe to be His corporate expression. This Body is the church in this age, and the New Jerusalem in eternity.
Through regeneration of the life of God, we also become the flock of God (in life and nature, but not in the unique Godhead) which is always receiving the life nourishment from the Shepherd, and heirs of the grace of life, inheriting all the riches of life. Then we become stewards of the varied grace of God. We become not only heirs of Grace to receive grace, but we are so full of grace, we become stewards of grace to serve others with grace. The stewardship of the grace is the dispensing of the riches of Christ. According to the context of Ephesians 3, grace refers to the riches of Christ. When the riches of Christ are enjoyed by you, they become grace to you.
Many Christians think that grace refers mainly to material blessings. But the Bible indicates that grace did not come before Christ. However, God certainly bestowed material blessings on His people before Christ came. Grace is nothing less than God Himself given to us, gained by us, and enjoyed by us. Before Christ came, God could not be give to anyone. No one could receive God or enjoy Him. But in Christ and through Christ we receive God, and God becomes our enjoyment. Therefore, grace is God Himself as our enjoyment. The stewardship of grace is the dispensing of God into people to be their enjoyment.
Many people claim that they have a ministry, which is a service, but what is the content of their service? Do we minister Christ as the food supply to His believers? If we do not, we do not have a real, genuine, adequate ministry. The real, genuine, adequate ministry in the New Testament is the divine stewardship which ministers the Truine God in Christ to people as their life and life supply.
We are not here to carry on an ordinary Christian work. For instance, we are not concerned merely with teaching the Bible in an outward way. Rather, we desire to serve the riches of Christ to all the members of God's family. In preaching the gospel, for example, we should not be concerned merely with winning souls. Rather, we should preach the gospel to carry out the stewardship of dispensing the riches of Christ into others.
God's economy is a great matter. In order to carry out such an economy, God must have stewards to serve, to minister, to manage, and to execute His economy. First, God entrusted His economy to the apostles. When the apostles took up God's economy, it became a ministry, a stewardship, in them. Our concept may be that only the apostles and other gifted ones are worthy to bear the stewardship of God's economy and that we, the "small potatoes", are worthy only to do the cleaning and the ushering work but are unworthy to bear such a stewardship. However, in the light of the New Testament teaching, all the believers are priests, whether Paul or Peter or any brothers or sisters, old or young (1 Peter 2:5,9; Revelation 1:5-6). Thus, God's economy has become the stewardship of all the believers. :)
Reference: Life-study of Colossians; The Economy and Dispensing of God; Life-study of Ephesians; A Deeper study of the Divine Dispensing
Ephesians 3:6-8 [That in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the Body and fellow partakers of the promise through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God...to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.]
Titus 1:7 [For the overseer must be unreprovable as a steward of God...]
1 Corinthians 4:1-2 [A man should account us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Here, furthermore, it is sought in stewards that one be found faithful.]
Matthew 24:45 [Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time?]
Firstly, we need to be filled with Christ and then minister the riches of Christ to others. This is our stewardship. In our Christian life, we all are stewards. You are steward to me, and I am a steward to you.
In the New Testament, a steward is one who serves and takes care of the dispensing of God to His family. God has a very large family, and His desire is to dispense Himself into all the members of his family. This may be illustrated by the function of a steward in a wealthy family in ancient times. A steward in such a family was responsible to care for the dispensing of the means of life --- food, clothing, and other necessities -- to the members of the family. Wealthy families often had an abundant supply of these necessities in storage. The responsibility of a steward was to dispense this supply to the members of the family. God exceedingly rich; He has a vast storehouse of goods which He intends to dispense into His children. But this dispensation requires a steward. Thus, a steward is a dispenser, one who dispenses the divine life supply to God's children.
God's stewardship is the dispensing of the processed Triune God in Christ into His chosen, redeemed, and regenerated people that He may be their life and everything, to produce the unique Body of Christ in the universe to be His corporate expression. This Body is the church in this age, and the New Jerusalem in eternity.
Through regeneration of the life of God, we also become the flock of God (in life and nature, but not in the unique Godhead) which is always receiving the life nourishment from the Shepherd, and heirs of the grace of life, inheriting all the riches of life. Then we become stewards of the varied grace of God. We become not only heirs of Grace to receive grace, but we are so full of grace, we become stewards of grace to serve others with grace. The stewardship of the grace is the dispensing of the riches of Christ. According to the context of Ephesians 3, grace refers to the riches of Christ. When the riches of Christ are enjoyed by you, they become grace to you.
Many Christians think that grace refers mainly to material blessings. But the Bible indicates that grace did not come before Christ. However, God certainly bestowed material blessings on His people before Christ came. Grace is nothing less than God Himself given to us, gained by us, and enjoyed by us. Before Christ came, God could not be give to anyone. No one could receive God or enjoy Him. But in Christ and through Christ we receive God, and God becomes our enjoyment. Therefore, grace is God Himself as our enjoyment. The stewardship of grace is the dispensing of God into people to be their enjoyment.
Many people claim that they have a ministry, which is a service, but what is the content of their service? Do we minister Christ as the food supply to His believers? If we do not, we do not have a real, genuine, adequate ministry. The real, genuine, adequate ministry in the New Testament is the divine stewardship which ministers the Truine God in Christ to people as their life and life supply.
We are not here to carry on an ordinary Christian work. For instance, we are not concerned merely with teaching the Bible in an outward way. Rather, we desire to serve the riches of Christ to all the members of God's family. In preaching the gospel, for example, we should not be concerned merely with winning souls. Rather, we should preach the gospel to carry out the stewardship of dispensing the riches of Christ into others.
God's economy is a great matter. In order to carry out such an economy, God must have stewards to serve, to minister, to manage, and to execute His economy. First, God entrusted His economy to the apostles. When the apostles took up God's economy, it became a ministry, a stewardship, in them. Our concept may be that only the apostles and other gifted ones are worthy to bear the stewardship of God's economy and that we, the "small potatoes", are worthy only to do the cleaning and the ushering work but are unworthy to bear such a stewardship. However, in the light of the New Testament teaching, all the believers are priests, whether Paul or Peter or any brothers or sisters, old or young (1 Peter 2:5,9; Revelation 1:5-6). Thus, God's economy has become the stewardship of all the believers. :)
Reference: Life-study of Colossians; The Economy and Dispensing of God; Life-study of Ephesians; A Deeper study of the Divine Dispensing
Importance of Bible Reading
2 Timothy 3:16-17 [All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.]
Ephesians 6:17-18 [And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.
When we read the Bible, we should receive life; and when we teach others concerning the Bible, they should receive life. If we do not sense the Spirit as we are reading the Bible, we should realize that something is wrong, and then we should adjust ourselves.
Our reading of the Bible should be a kind of inhaling, and our teaching of the Bible should be a kind of exhaling. The Bible is God's breath; this breath is the Spirit; and the Spirit gives life. When you breathe the Spirit you receive not only unveiling, rebuking, correcting and instructing --- you receive life. In Ephesians 6:17, Paul charges us to receive "the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the Word of God." We need to receive the word of God in a living way, that is, receive the word as the Spirit. The Spirit will then become the killing sword. This sword first kills us directly and then kills the power of darkness in the air indirectly. We may compare this kind of killing to the effect of an antibiotic on the germs that cause illness in our body. In order for our body to be saved, the germs need to be killed by an antibiotic. The word that we receive in a living way as the Spirit is a spiritual antibiotic that kills the "germs" within us. When the germs are killed, the evil forces in the air have no way to take advantage of us. Then we can live a healthy Body life, a healthy church life.
When the word becomes the Spirit, the Spirit becomes the sword. As long as in our experience he word becomes the Spirit, the word will not only heal us but also kill the enemy.
Reference: Teachers' Training
Ephesians 6:17-18 [And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.
When we read the Bible, we should receive life; and when we teach others concerning the Bible, they should receive life. If we do not sense the Spirit as we are reading the Bible, we should realize that something is wrong, and then we should adjust ourselves.
Our reading of the Bible should be a kind of inhaling, and our teaching of the Bible should be a kind of exhaling. The Bible is God's breath; this breath is the Spirit; and the Spirit gives life. When you breathe the Spirit you receive not only unveiling, rebuking, correcting and instructing --- you receive life. In Ephesians 6:17, Paul charges us to receive "the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the Word of God." We need to receive the word of God in a living way, that is, receive the word as the Spirit. The Spirit will then become the killing sword. This sword first kills us directly and then kills the power of darkness in the air indirectly. We may compare this kind of killing to the effect of an antibiotic on the germs that cause illness in our body. In order for our body to be saved, the germs need to be killed by an antibiotic. The word that we receive in a living way as the Spirit is a spiritual antibiotic that kills the "germs" within us. When the germs are killed, the evil forces in the air have no way to take advantage of us. Then we can live a healthy Body life, a healthy church life.
When the word becomes the Spirit, the Spirit becomes the sword. As long as in our experience he word becomes the Spirit, the word will not only heal us but also kill the enemy.
Reference: Teachers' Training
Man's problem before God is not a problem of behavior, but a problem of eating, drinking and enjoying Him.
Man's problem before God is not a problem of behavior, but a problem of eating, drinking and enjoying Him. If man does not eat, drink, and enjoy God Himself, he will eat and drink things other than God. Through man's eating, drinking, and enjoying of God, God is dispensed into man to be his constituent and element. God does not expect man to do anything. He desires only to become man's food by dispensing Himself into man. For this reason, we must eat, drink, and enjoy God, and we must absorb Him into us so that He becomes our life and everything.
In Luke 14 the Lord spoke a parable in which He likened God to a man who made a great dinner. When the time came, the man sent out the invitation through his slaves, "Come, for all things are now ready". God has been processed to become our everything. Today, all we need to do is to come to the feast and eat, drink, and enjoy all that He has prepared for us. We know that a few hours after we eat, the food will be digested and assimilated and will become our nutrients. These nutrients will in turn become our blood and our cells; they will become our constituents and elements. That is why nutritionists say that WE ARE WHAT WE EAT. Those who eat the Lord will have the Lord mingled and digested within them to become their constituent, supply, and nutrients, and they will be able to live by the Lord.
In Romans 10:6-8, Paul applies the word spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy 30:11-14 to Christ, indicating that the commandment, which is the word of God, is Christ as the Word, who, as the breath that proceeds out of God's mouth, is in our heart and in our mouth. As the Word of God, the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ Himself, who has become the life-giving Spirit as the breath breathed out by the speaking God, is now the word of God for us to receive as our life and life supply by calling on Him.
Reference: The Economy and Dispensing of God
In Luke 14 the Lord spoke a parable in which He likened God to a man who made a great dinner. When the time came, the man sent out the invitation through his slaves, "Come, for all things are now ready". God has been processed to become our everything. Today, all we need to do is to come to the feast and eat, drink, and enjoy all that He has prepared for us. We know that a few hours after we eat, the food will be digested and assimilated and will become our nutrients. These nutrients will in turn become our blood and our cells; they will become our constituents and elements. That is why nutritionists say that WE ARE WHAT WE EAT. Those who eat the Lord will have the Lord mingled and digested within them to become their constituent, supply, and nutrients, and they will be able to live by the Lord.
In Romans 10:6-8, Paul applies the word spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy 30:11-14 to Christ, indicating that the commandment, which is the word of God, is Christ as the Word, who, as the breath that proceeds out of God's mouth, is in our heart and in our mouth. As the Word of God, the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ Himself, who has become the life-giving Spirit as the breath breathed out by the speaking God, is now the word of God for us to receive as our life and life supply by calling on Him.
Reference: The Economy and Dispensing of God
What is "Eating, Drinking, and Enjoying God"?
John 6:35 [Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger; and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst.]
Romans 10:8 [..."The word is near to you, in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of the faith which we proclaim]
Romans 10:13 [For "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.]
Almost the entire Bible speaks of eating, drinking, and enjoying God. After God created man, He did not give many commandments and regulations for man to keep. Instead, God put man before the tree of life (Genesis 2:9) that man might enjoy the fruit of that tree. The tree of life is a type of God Himself. After man was created, the first impression that God gave to man was that he should eat, drink, and enjoy God.
In Exodus, the Israelite ate the Passover lamb, which is a type of Christ (Exodus 12:21-28). By doing so, they received the strength to walk out of Egypt. While journeying through the wilderness, God sent manna from heaven as their daily supply. When they were thirsty, God gave them to drink the living water from the riven rock. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus came. He too spoke of eating and drinking. In the book of John, The Lord Jesus said that He is the bread of life, and that he who eats Him will live because of Him. He also said that He is the well of living water, and that those who drink of this water will not thirst. Then, in Revelation, He said that the over-comers will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God, and of the hidden manna. At the end of the Bible, the Spirit and the bride are still calling the thirsty sinners to drink of and be satisfied by the water of life.
In John 7 He sounds the call: "If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink". This the Lord Jess said concerning the Spirit. In Revelation 22:17 the call is sounded once again to come and drink. Every meeting of the church should be a feast. The Lord calls us to partake of Him as our food and drink. Whether or not a particular meeting is of the Lord can be determined by whether or not there is a "dining table" in that meeting.
We must not merely learn the techniques of bearing fruit and feeding the new ones. We have to live a daily life of breathing, drinking, and feeding on Christ, taking Christ everyday as our very element and essence. We must not only receive Him, but also digest Him, assimilate Him, and let Him become the content of our being. Then we will be one with Him. When we go out for the gospel, we will go out in oneness with Him and with His authority.
Reference: The Economy and Dispensing of God
Romans 10:8 [..."The word is near to you, in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of the faith which we proclaim]
Romans 10:13 [For "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.]
Almost the entire Bible speaks of eating, drinking, and enjoying God. After God created man, He did not give many commandments and regulations for man to keep. Instead, God put man before the tree of life (Genesis 2:9) that man might enjoy the fruit of that tree. The tree of life is a type of God Himself. After man was created, the first impression that God gave to man was that he should eat, drink, and enjoy God.
In Exodus, the Israelite ate the Passover lamb, which is a type of Christ (Exodus 12:21-28). By doing so, they received the strength to walk out of Egypt. While journeying through the wilderness, God sent manna from heaven as their daily supply. When they were thirsty, God gave them to drink the living water from the riven rock. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus came. He too spoke of eating and drinking. In the book of John, The Lord Jesus said that He is the bread of life, and that he who eats Him will live because of Him. He also said that He is the well of living water, and that those who drink of this water will not thirst. Then, in Revelation, He said that the over-comers will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God, and of the hidden manna. At the end of the Bible, the Spirit and the bride are still calling the thirsty sinners to drink of and be satisfied by the water of life.
In John 7 He sounds the call: "If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink". This the Lord Jess said concerning the Spirit. In Revelation 22:17 the call is sounded once again to come and drink. Every meeting of the church should be a feast. The Lord calls us to partake of Him as our food and drink. Whether or not a particular meeting is of the Lord can be determined by whether or not there is a "dining table" in that meeting.
We must not merely learn the techniques of bearing fruit and feeding the new ones. We have to live a daily life of breathing, drinking, and feeding on Christ, taking Christ everyday as our very element and essence. We must not only receive Him, but also digest Him, assimilate Him, and let Him become the content of our being. Then we will be one with Him. When we go out for the gospel, we will go out in oneness with Him and with His authority.
Reference: The Economy and Dispensing of God
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Growth of the Body
Ephesians 4:15-16 [...The Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being nit together through every joint of the rich supply,...causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.]
1 Corinthians 3:9 [For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's cultivated land, God's building.]
God is perfect; in Himself He is eternally perfect. But as far as we are concerned, what we have received is only a small amount of God. For this reason, we need to grow. If we desire to grow, we must have the increase of the element of God in us. This is not a matter of whether God is complete or incomplete. This is a matter of how much we have gained God. The reason that many Christians have not grown today is that they have not given God the ground. They are not holding the Head, Christ. This being the case, God has no way to dispense more of Himself into them.
When we enjoy Him in the spirit, we are holding the Head. Then something will come out from the Head that will enable God to grow in us. This means that more of God's element will be dispensed into us. Through the joints the whole Body will then receive the rich supply, which is the rich dispensing of the life of Christ as the Spirit.
We need to receive the supply in the milk of word. We also need to receive nourishment through the solid food. Many Christians do not grow. They are like a person with an ulcer; although they may eat a lot, they do not assimilate the food. When they come to listen to a message, they may criticize the speaker. Of course, this kind of person cannot receive the supply of life and cannot grow in life.
For plant to grow, there is a need for sunlight, air, water, nutrients and the soil. With all these five things, plants can grow well. When we read bible, we see that Christ is the real soil; He is the good land; He is the light; He is the air; He is the water. He is the food, our nutrients. :)
[Reference: The Economy and Dispensing of God)
1 Corinthians 3:9 [For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's cultivated land, God's building.]
God is perfect; in Himself He is eternally perfect. But as far as we are concerned, what we have received is only a small amount of God. For this reason, we need to grow. If we desire to grow, we must have the increase of the element of God in us. This is not a matter of whether God is complete or incomplete. This is a matter of how much we have gained God. The reason that many Christians have not grown today is that they have not given God the ground. They are not holding the Head, Christ. This being the case, God has no way to dispense more of Himself into them.
When we enjoy Him in the spirit, we are holding the Head. Then something will come out from the Head that will enable God to grow in us. This means that more of God's element will be dispensed into us. Through the joints the whole Body will then receive the rich supply, which is the rich dispensing of the life of Christ as the Spirit.
We need to receive the supply in the milk of word. We also need to receive nourishment through the solid food. Many Christians do not grow. They are like a person with an ulcer; although they may eat a lot, they do not assimilate the food. When they come to listen to a message, they may criticize the speaker. Of course, this kind of person cannot receive the supply of life and cannot grow in life.
For plant to grow, there is a need for sunlight, air, water, nutrients and the soil. With all these five things, plants can grow well. When we read bible, we see that Christ is the real soil; He is the good land; He is the light; He is the air; He is the water. He is the food, our nutrients. :)
[Reference: The Economy and Dispensing of God)
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
"Sealing and Pledging" and "What is the Redemption of our body"
Ephesian 1:13-14 [In whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in Him also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance unto the redemption of the acquired possession, to the praise of His glory.]
The Father is the source, the Son is the expression, and the Spirit is the reaching forth.
The Father: as the source, chose and predestinated us in eternity according to His plan.
The Son : as the expression, accomplished redemption in time according to the Father's plan.
The Spirit: as the reaching forth, becomes our seal and pledge to apply what the Son has accomplished of the Father's plan.
Today we have heard the word of the truth, which is the gospel of our salvation, and have believed into Christ and have been sealed in Him by the promised Spirit. This seal will never fade away and will never be lost.
But the sealing of the Spirit, which is the anointing of the Spirit in us, is not something that happens once for all, but is going on continually. The seal was put into us at the time we believed, but the sealing has continued from that time until now. It will continue until the day of the redemption of our bodies.
The Holy Spirit is the seal, and He is also sealing. He continues to do the word of sealing in us.
The sealing of the Holy Spirit is the divine dispensing. The sealing of the Holy Spirit is the saturation. Whenever there is saturation, there is dispensing. We become His possession and He has made us a treasure to God, an inheritance. His Spirit came into us as a seal, to put a mark on us. This mark is organic.
The sealing of the Spirit is not once for all. It is still going on, and the divine ink of this sealing never dries. It remains wet.
First, this divine ink saturates us deeply; we are VERTICALLY saturated. Then, the divine ink spreads within us, and we are HORIZONTALLY permeated. Thus, our whole being will be soaked with the Spirit as the sealing ink, and this sealing ink is the essence.
(Reference: The Intrinsic View of the Body of Christ; The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ)
WHAT IS THE REDEMPTION OF OUR BODY? (Roman 8:23)
This Spirit is the last Adam who has become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor 15:45). Today, this all-inclusive life-giving Spirit has accomplished redemption and has washed away our sins. Now He is living within us and is continually sealing in us. This sealing dispenses the diving life into us.
First, through regeneration He becomes the life in our spirit. (Romans 8:10)
Then, this life saturates our mind through our spirit, that the soul to whom the mind belongs may be transformed until there is life in the soul. (Romans 8:6)
Finally, this life saturates our body to become the life in our body. (Romans 8:11)
The ultimate result is that our body will be transfigured. This is the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)
(Reference: The Economy and Dispensing of God)
The Father is the source, the Son is the expression, and the Spirit is the reaching forth.
The Father: as the source, chose and predestinated us in eternity according to His plan.
The Son : as the expression, accomplished redemption in time according to the Father's plan.
The Spirit: as the reaching forth, becomes our seal and pledge to apply what the Son has accomplished of the Father's plan.
Today we have heard the word of the truth, which is the gospel of our salvation, and have believed into Christ and have been sealed in Him by the promised Spirit. This seal will never fade away and will never be lost.
But the sealing of the Spirit, which is the anointing of the Spirit in us, is not something that happens once for all, but is going on continually. The seal was put into us at the time we believed, but the sealing has continued from that time until now. It will continue until the day of the redemption of our bodies.
The Holy Spirit is the seal, and He is also sealing. He continues to do the word of sealing in us.
The sealing of the Holy Spirit is the divine dispensing. The sealing of the Holy Spirit is the saturation. Whenever there is saturation, there is dispensing. We become His possession and He has made us a treasure to God, an inheritance. His Spirit came into us as a seal, to put a mark on us. This mark is organic.
The sealing of the Spirit is not once for all. It is still going on, and the divine ink of this sealing never dries. It remains wet.
First, this divine ink saturates us deeply; we are VERTICALLY saturated. Then, the divine ink spreads within us, and we are HORIZONTALLY permeated. Thus, our whole being will be soaked with the Spirit as the sealing ink, and this sealing ink is the essence.
(Reference: The Intrinsic View of the Body of Christ; The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ)
WHAT IS THE REDEMPTION OF OUR BODY? (Roman 8:23)
This Spirit is the last Adam who has become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor 15:45). Today, this all-inclusive life-giving Spirit has accomplished redemption and has washed away our sins. Now He is living within us and is continually sealing in us. This sealing dispenses the diving life into us.
First, through regeneration He becomes the life in our spirit. (Romans 8:10)
Then, this life saturates our mind through our spirit, that the soul to whom the mind belongs may be transformed until there is life in the soul. (Romans 8:6)
Finally, this life saturates our body to become the life in our body. (Romans 8:11)
The ultimate result is that our body will be transfigured. This is the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)
(Reference: The Economy and Dispensing of God)
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