Living a Christian Life and Church Life under the Government of God for the Economy of God - 6

Message Title: Partakers of the Divine Nature and the Development of the Divine Life and the Divine Nature for a Rich Entrance into the Eternal Kingdom

we need the Lord to lead us and train us to be the partakers. 

I. As those who have received equally precious faith, we, the believers in Christ, should be partakers of the divine nature

2 Peter 1:4 Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.

as the children of God, we possess the life and nature of God. therefore, a believers has the right to partake of, to enjoy, the nature of God. A partaker of the divine nature is one who enjoys the divine nature and participates in the divine nature. To partake of the divine nature is to enjoy what God is; to be a partaker of the divine nature is to be a partaker of riches, the elements, and the constituents of God's being. 

II. We need to experience the development of the divine life and the divine nature contained in the divine seed that has been sown into us so that we may have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom 

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have been allotted faith equally precious as ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

we have been allotted the wonderful equally precious faith, and this faith is an all-inclusive seed. in the four Gospels, the Lord gave the parable, in which He described Himself as a sower going out to sow the seed. this seed is the Lord Himself, which is also mentioned here as the equally precious faith given to us. all the divine riches are in this seed, but we must be diligent to develop them; to grow to maturity is to develop what we already have. 

in our enjoyment of the divine nature, we need to let the divine seed of the allotted faith develop into its consummation in the divine and nobler love. when we partake of the divine nature to the uttermost, we are filled with God as love, and we become persons of love, even love itself. in the apostle John's writing, John clearly told us that God is love. so while we are letting this divine seed to develop within us, we are becoming filled with God who is love, which also makes us love itself. 

we should be diligent to pursue the growth and development of the divine life and divine nature for a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom. 

Living a Christian Life and Church Life under the Government of God for the Economy of God - 5

Message Title: Grace in Peter's Epistles 

John  1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

Grace is Christ Himself as our enjoyment - grace is the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit giving Himself freely to us, being everything to us, and doing everything in us, through us, and for us. 

II. the multiplication of grace is the grace that multiplies in our daily life in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; the grace of God in His economy is rich, multiplying, and abounding 

2 Peter 1:2 Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

one reason that we do not experience the multiplication of grace is that we do not know the Bible and we do not apply the word of truth. in the book of James, it says that we do not have becausse we do not ask. therefore, we can ask by praying to the Lord:"Lord, I want grace upon grace." 

Ephesians 6:24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility.

the more we love the Lord, the more gracd will be with us. 

Acts  20:32 And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified.

the enjoyment of the Lord as grace with His divine nature is by our receiving and abiding in the word of His grace, which includes all His precious and exceedingly great promises. 

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore girding up the loins of your mind and being sober, set your hope perfectly on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:5 Who are being guarded by the power of God through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time;

1 Peter 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

the grace being brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ refers to the salvation of the soul as the consummation of God's full salvation. The processed Triune God, who has been consummated as the all-inclusive, life-giving, an indwelling Spirit, has become the Spirit of grace with our spirit. Now we have this Spirit of grace with our spirit, we need to open our beings to continually receive this grace and set our hope wholly and perfectly on this grace. 

1 Peter  3:7 Husbands, in like manner dwell together with them according to knowledge, as with the weaker, female vessel, assigning honor to them as also to fellow heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

the grace of life is the inheritance of all the believers, whether strong or weak. the grace of life is God as life and life supply to us in His Divine Trinity - the Father as the source of life, the Son as the course of life, and the Spirit as the flow of life, who flows within us, with the Son and the Father, as grace to us. we are heirs to inheirt the grace of life and vessels to contain the grace of life. we have been offered with the inheritance of grace of life. therefore, we just need to be willing to open to the flow from the throne of God and of Lamb, to receive this non-stop flow of grace from the throne into us. do not think that we are not qualified to receive. this grace is for all believers, even when we are weak, we are still believers, so we are qualified to receive the grace of life. 

1 Peter 4:10 Each one, as he has received a gift, ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

the varied grace of God indicates that the riches of the grace of God in its varieties ministered by the saints one to another. there are varieties of grace from God to all the believers, one kind of grace for single ones, another kind of grace for married ones. we, as different members in the Body of Christ, receive and experience different kinds of grace supplied by God to us through all situations and environments we go through. this supply and experience comes to us with a purpose, so that one day in the future, what we experience and enjoy can become a supply and encouragement to other members who are going through same things as us. at such times, we need to be good stewards of the varied grace of God, speaking the word of grace as the oracles of God and ministering out of the strength and power of grace, which God supplies. 

Living a Christian Life and Church Life under the Government of God for the Economy of God - 4

Message Title:  Becoming a Reproduction of Christ and Experiencing Christ as the Shepherd of Our Souls

we need to be reminded again and again concerning the central focus and basic structure while we are reading the Bible. it is so easy for us to be distractd from the central line of God's economy and to pick up some good things, even spiritual things. 

I. As believers in Christ, we may become a reproduction of Christ as our model 

1 Peter 2:21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving you a model so that you may follow in His steps;

the word "model" here does not mean something outward for us to imitate. the model indicates a master copy or an underwriting. why would we have a master copy? because we intend to have some reproduction of this master copy. to imitate is different from making a copy. the Lord's intention is that He Himself would be duplicated within us. it is not God's intention that we try to imitate Christ by our own effort; what we need is not imitation but reproduction. 

in order to become a reproduction of Christ as our model, we need to experience Christ as the One living in us, being formed in us, and making His home in our hearts. How can Christ live in us? How is it possible for Christ to be the One living in us? it is necessary for Christ to pass through a process, to become the life-giving Spirit, so that as the Spirit, today this Christ is living in us as the indwelling Spirit in our spirit. we need to have the proper appreciation for this matter. to be saved, to believe into Christ, to become a Christian, is more than just getting a ticket to heaven. but, now we have another person, Christ as the Spirit living in us, which will affect our daily living also. this is only the first step. then, after Christ comes to live in us, He needs to be formed within us. to have Christ formed in us is to have Christ fully grown in us. Christ cannot stay as a prisoner in our spirit. we need to allow this Christ to occupy every part of our inner being, to have Christ fully grown in us. we need to allow Christ to get out of our spirit and to spread into our soul, to be formed in our mind, emotion and will. 

II. As we become a reproduction of Christ, we can experience and enjoy Christ as the Shepherd of our souls

1 Peter 2:25 For you were like sheep being led astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

As the Shepherd of our souls, the pneumatic Christ oversees our inward condition, caring for the situation of our inner being. because our soul is very complicated, we need Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit, to shepherd us in our soul, to take care of our mind, emotion, and will and our problems, needs, and wounds. why does the Lord shepherd our soul? because the Lord wants to possess our soul, to make His home in our heart, which include our mind, emotion and will, which is our soul. 

in order for Christ to become the Shepherd of our souls in a practical way, we need to come to the Lord first, to open our being to Him, and to tell Him all our concerns and problems. Otherwise, the Lord has no way to shepherd and to restore our souls. 

Living a Christian Life and Church Life under the Government of God for the Economy of God - 3

Message Title: Life and Building in Peter's Epistles

the Lord's recovery is a recovery of life and building, which has been lost through many years. we need to see what is life, what is building, and how these two go together. We need  life in order to have genuine building. The building of God is taking place with and in the divine life. In order for the Lord to return, He needs the building. without the building, the Lord cannto return. 

I. The centrol thought of Peter's Epistles and of the entire Scripture is life and building. 

Life is the Triune God embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit dispensing Himself into us for our enjoyment, and building is the church, the Body of Christ, God's spiritual house, as the enlargement and expansion of God for the corporate expression of God. 

II. God's goal is to have a spiritual house built up with living stones

1 Peter 2:5 You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

when Peter first was brought to the Lord by Andrew, the Lord changed his name from Simon to Cephas, which means stone. that gave Peter a revelation and very deep impression that we, as His believers, are all stones, which are being transformed for His building. the question is how soon we will cooperate with the Lord by giving Him the ground to keep growing as the incorruptible seed with us and to operate within us to make us living stones for the building through the growth in life. 

III. Since God's building is living, it is growing; the actual building up of the church as the house of God is by the believers's growth in life

Ephesians  2:21 In whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord;

"Lord, gain today's portion of growth in life" this is not just us to become more spiritual or more holy, but for the building of God. we need to pay attention to our growth, not in a self introspective way, but as the pattern of Apostle Paul, keep pursuing and gaining Christ. 

in order to grow in life for God's building, we must love the Lord, take heed to our spirit, and guard our heart with all vigilance to stay on the pathway of life. Everything begins with our heart loving the Lord. 

if we want Christ's life to be unhindered in us, we must experience the breaking of the cross, the killing death of Christ iin the all-incluisve Spirit of Christ as the Spirit of glory, so that the obstacles within us can be dealt with and removed. Being a Christian means not taking anything other than Christ as our aim. 

the probelm with most of us is that we are too used to human concepts so that we are taking the pathway of life. so we need to learn to practice day by day to be on the pathway of life, checking with the Lord everything in our life. in this way, the Lord will be ruling and reigning in us. 

Living a Christian Life and Church Life under the Government of God for the Economy of God - 2

Message Title: Living a Christian Life under the Government of God

in the realm of God's kingdom, there is the matter of the government of God, which involves the matter of judgement to deal with all the negative things, all that does not match the nature of God. 

I. The Epistles of 1 and 2 Peter are on the universal government of God

the subject of 1 Peter is the Christian life under the government of God, showing us the government of God especially in His dealings with His chosen people. 

the subject of 2 Peter is the divine provision and the divine government, showing us that as God is governing us, He supplies us with whatever we need. 

God governs by judging; the judgement of God is for the carrying out of His government. we do not like judgement, and we do not like sufferings. why do we have to go through certain sufferings, or the apostle Peter use the word "trials" in his epistles. we pass through these trials so that we, His chosen people, can be approved. 

1 Peter 1:17 And if you call as Father the One who without respect of persons judges according to each one’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear,

the judgement Peter is talking here is not about the future judgement when the Lord comes back, but the present, dayly judgment of God's governmental dealings with His children. this matter can be seen in the picture of the tabernacle, or the temple, the Israle people built in the wilderness, and also later in Jerusalem. that time, God's glory, His presence is within the Holy of Holies. in order to enter into the Holy of Holies, they need to pass through the bronze lever, then pass through a whole process, which typfies the judgment, to deal with all the negative things of fallen human being, anything that does not match God's holiness, righteousness and glory. so for us today also, what is of us, our sinful flesh, our fallen nature, needs to be judged, so that what is of Christ can be brought forth, which ushers into the real of God's righteousness. God wants to use His judgement to clean up all the negative, sinful, unrighteous and unholy elements within our being. because we still have so many unholy things hanging on our being, our holy Father has to judge these things so that we can match His holy nature and become His holy children to constitute His holy family. but we need to remember that the purpose of God's daily judgement is that we will live according to God in the spirit, and to walk in a holy manner of life.

we need to remember that we are only sojourners on this earth. we need to pass this time of sojouning in fear, which is, in a healthy, sirious caution that leads us to be holy in all our manner of life. 

Living a Christian Life and Church Life under the Government of God for the Economy of God - 1

Message Title: The Government of God for the Economy of God 

Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I extol You, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

we want to be infants, open vessels, pure in heart. otherwise, there is no way for us to hear the Lord's words, because the Lord hides these things from the wise and intelligent. who are in the category of "wise and intelligent"? to be "wise and intelligent" is to make themselves higher and crictical by standard. if we are like that, we will be closed in our spirit. to be "infants" means that we are seeking, humble, simple, pure and open. 

Psalm 119:130 The opening of Your words gives light, / Imparting understanding to the simple.

it does not say that imparting understanding to "wise and intelligent" but to "the simple" 

the central focus of 1 and 2 Peter "the Triune God is operating to carry out so that we, His people can be regenerated, feed on Him, so that we may grow and be transformed. "

the basic sturcture of 1 and 2 Peter is Triune God as our enjoyment. 

- see the last two message of Life Study of Jude (4 and 5)

I. The subject of Peter's Epistles is the government of God with His judgement.

1 Peter 1:17 And if you call as Father the One who without respect of persons judges according to each one’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear,

1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God; and if first from us, what will be the end of those who disobey the gospel of God?

in the New Testament age God's judgement begins from the house of God and continues until the coming of the day of the Lord, which will be day of judgement on the Jews, the believers, and the Gentiles before the millennium. God's judgement is according to our work and conduct, withoute respect of persons. therefore, this should be a healthy reminder and warning to us, that we need to pass the time of our sojourning on the earth in fear of the Father, as the righteous and holy Judge. 

we can see two examples of people in the Old Testament who did not honor or fear God and who fell under God's judgement. One is the Babylon king Nebuchadnezzar, and the other is his grandson Belshazzar

Daniel 5:21 And he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like that of the beasts, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys; men fed him with grass as they do bulls, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he came to know that God the Most High is the Ruler over the kingdom of men and sets over it whomever He wills.

though Nebuchadnezzar had the dream about himself being disciplined by God, and he had Daniel who interpreted the dream to him in chapter 4, God even gave him 12 months to repent. but he did not and he became proud and exalted himself. then God gave him this lesson to teach him that the Most High is the Ruler and the heavens do rule.

Daniel 5:22 And you his descendant, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this;

in the same chapter, right after Nebuchadnezzar's lesson, his grandson, who was the king at that time, Belshazzar, indulged himself and the others with him into drinking, even taking out the vessels from the temple of God. then a hand appeared and was writing on the wall. then Belshazzar also had Daniel to interprete the writing of the hand for him. and the first thing Daniel said to him was to rebuke him for being not humbled in his heart. As a result, Belshazzar was killed by Darius that very night and Babylon kingdom was overtaken by Medes. 

To fear the Lord is to revere Him and to consider and regard Him in everything, never forgetting that He is the wonderful God who has created us; fearing the Lord stops us from doing evil; it also causes us to be touched by the sufferings of others and to show mercy and compassion to them.  To fear the Lord is to be in fear of losing His presence, missing His smile in this age and His reward in next age. 

II. Although the subject of 1 and 2 Peter is God's government, this is not the central focus and basic structure of these Epistles; everything concerning God's government should bring us back to the central focus and basic structure of these Epistles - the Triune God as our full enjoyment to carry out the economy of God

the centrol focus and basic sturcture of 1 and 2 Peter are the energizing Triune God operating in His economy to bring His chosen ones into the full enjoyment of the Triune God; our human spirit, as the hidden man of the heart, and God's Spirit, as the Spirit of glroy and as the Spirit of Christ, are the means for us to partake of God, in His divine nature, as our portion.

the centrol focus and basic structure of 1 and 2 Peter are the Triune God operating to accomplish His complete salvation so that we may be regenerated, so that we may feed on His word, and so that we may grow, be transformed, and be built up in order that He may have a dwelling place and we may be glorified to express Him.  

while we are under God's government with His judgement, the purpose is not that we would just suffer, but to bring us back to the Triune God as our full enjoyment. 

III. In his two Epistles, comprising only eight chapters, Peter cpvers the entire economy of God, from eternity past before the foundation of the world to the new heaven and new earth in eternity future; he unveils the crucial things related to God's economy, concerning which things the prophets prophesied and the apostles preached from four sides:

1. from the side of the Triune God"

a. God the Father chose and called us to be His people

b. Christ has redeemed and saved God's chosen people

c. The Spirit has sanctified and purified the redeemed and saved people

d. the Triune God's divine power has provided the redeemed ones with all things to guard them unto full salvation

e. God displines His people and will perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground them by His all grace

f. the Lord is long-suffering so that all may have opportunity to repent unto salvation

g. Christ will appear in glory with His full salvation for His lovers

2. from the side of the believers:

a. the believers were chosen, called, redeemed, regenerated and saved

b. the belevers are now being guarded, purified, feeding on Christ, developing in life and being transformed and built up

c. the believers are God's chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation and peculiar people for God's private possession.

d. the believers are being discplined by God to live a holy life

e. the believers are expecting the new heaven and hew earth

3. from the side of Satan: Satan is the belivers' adversary, the devil

4. from the side of the universe:

a. the fallen angels were condemned and are waiting for eternal judgement; the ancient ungodly world was destroyed by a flood; the ungodly cities were reduced to ashes; the false teachers and heretical mockers will be judged unto destruction; the heavens and the earth will be burned up; all the dead men and the demons will be judged.

b. then the new heaven and new earth will come as a new universe, in which God's righteousness will dwell for eternity.

Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1) - 10

Message Title: Glory and Glorification as Revealed in the Gospel of John

we are not going to the New Jerusalem. Because New Jerusalem is a person, we are becoming the New Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 3:16 But whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

at the beginning of everyday, we need to turn our heart to the Lord. no one can do this for us. we use our human will to make the decision that we want to turn our heart to the Lord. the result is that the veil is taken away, which leads us to the experience in verse 18. 

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.

when we have an unveiled face, we can behold and reflect the glory of the Lord. where is the glory of the Lord? it is in 4:6.

2 Corinthians 4:6 Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

the glory of the Lord is the face of Jesus Christ. today, Christ is on the throne, but He is also in us as the indwelling Spirit. Everyday, the Lord is finding a way to get into our mind, emotion, and will. we just need to simply call on the name of the Lord, and ask Him to supply us with te portion of grace for that day. 

I. the glory of God is intrinsically related to the economy of God

the Triune God is a God of glory. God's eternal goal is to bring His many sons (all the regenerated believers growing up to become sons) into glory. 

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

we, as man, are created to express God in His glory. the more we grow in life and are saved in life, the more we will express God, instead of self-expression, but God-expression. when God is expressed, He is the God of glory.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

To sin is to fall short of God's glory and thus to express sin and the sinful self and to love the glory of men more than the glory of God. Christ's redemption has fulfilled the requirements of God's glory. His redemption has saved us from expressing sin and sinful self. rather, we have been saved to express God. 

II. the glory of God is involved with Christ's incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and coming again and His being the lamp in the New Jerusalem

In His life and work, the Lord Jesus did not seek His own glory but the glory of the One who sent Him. 

III. In the Gospel of John we can see the glory and glorification of the Lord Jesus

on the mount of transfiguration, the three disciples saw the glorification of the Lord Jesus. 

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

for Jesus as the Son of Man to be glorified was for Him to be resurrected. 

the subject of John chapter 17 is that the Father would glorify the Son so that the Son would glorify the Father. on the night before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus prayed for the oneness, oneness in the divine life, oneness in the word, and the highest oneness in the divine glory. we must reach the highest stage of oneness before the Lord could come back and rapture the overcoming saints, who have been overcoming in various situations. so the oneness in the divine glory for the corporate expression of the Triune God. the Lord must have this highest degree of oneness at any cost, and the Lord must have our cooperation. 

IV. As the embodiment of the Triune God, Christ the Son is the Father's glorification

how often do we pray to the Father? how much fellowship do we have with the Father? when the apostle John wrote his epistle, he mentioned that our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son. Our Father is the source of every postive thing in the church life. in every decision that we make, we need to come to the Father as the source, realising that we ourselves are not the source. 

Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1) - 9

Message Title: Christ as the Resurrection and the Grain of Wheat

the Lord needs to train us to the extent that, in whatever situation we are facing, we will not trust in ourselves, but in the God who is resurrection. 

we need to be renewed so that we can be delivered out of our oldness and staleness. how can we be renewed?

1. by the cross

2 Corinthians 4:12 So then death operates in us, but life in you.

when the death, which is the cross operates in us, we will be releasing and imparting life, which is the resurrection life into others. also, we ourselves are being renewed.

2. by the Holy Spirit

Titus 3:5 Not out of works in righteousness which we did but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,

3. by the mingled spirit

Ephesians  4:23 And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind

4. by the word

Ephesians  5:26 That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word,

5. the Lord's table

Matthew 26:29 But I say to you, I shall by no means drink of this product of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of My Father.

the Lord nevers an old table meeting. whenever we come to the Lord's table, we need to be fresh and new. what makes us old when we come to the table? not forgiving each other, and holding on to the offences. we need to ask others to forgive us, to seek to be forgiven, and we also need to forgive others. 

I. We can experience, enjoy, and express Christ as the resurrection 

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes into Me, even if he should die, shall live;

in order to live in resurrection, we must see the unveiled truth concerning Christ's resurrection:

1. in resurrection, Christ was begotten to be the firstborn Son of God

Acts  13:33 That God has fully fulfilled this promise to us their children in raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, “You are My Son; this day have I begotten You.”

2. all the believers of Christ were regenerated by God the Father through the resurrection of Christ for the producing of the church as His Body, His reproduction.

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

3. Christ as the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit

1 Corinthians 15:45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

Numbers 17:5 And the rod of the man whom I choose shall bud, and I will put a stop to the murmurings of the children of Israel against Me, which they murmur against you.

In Numbers chapter 16, there was the rebellion against Moses and Aaron, God commanded from each tribe, a rod of the leading one should be placed beofre Him overnight. then the next day, Aaron's rod became budded and bore ripe almonds. all the twelve rods were leafless, dry, and dead. but the one chosen by God budded and bore fruit. this shows that resurrection is the basis of God's selection and that the basis of service is something apart from our natural life. Aaron's budding rod was put within the Ark, showing that resurrection is an eternal principle in our service to God. Resurrection means that everyting is of God and not of us. 

II. We can experience, enjoy, and express Christ as the grain of wheat

in the resurrection of Christ, the enlarged, divine-human, universal incorporation of the processed Triune God with the regenerated believers came forth from Christ as the transfigured grain of wheat in three aspects:

1. the Father's house for His rest, satisfaction, and manifestation

John 14:2 In My Father’s house are many abodes; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

2. the true vine for God's enlargment, spreading, and glorification

3. the child of the Spirit, the new man, to carry out God's eternal economy

Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1) - 8

Message Title: Christ as the Feast of Tabernacles and as the Spirit Flowing out of the Believers as Rivers of Living Water

God appointed seven feasts every year for the Israel people, because God wanted His people to enjoy these feasts with God, unto God, and also with one another. it is not a small thing, or an insignificant thing for God's people to come together in a feasting way. 

the last feast is the Feast of Tabernacles, signifying the end of human life, though may full of accomplishments and successes, yet still filled with thirstiness and dissatisfaction. 

I. We can enjoy Christ as the Feast of Tabernacles

the reality of all the feasts ordained by God is Christ. the Feast of Tabernacles signifies Christ as the consummation of God's full salvation organically. God ordained the Feast of Tabernacles so that the children of Israel would remember how their forefathers had lived in tents in their wandering in the wilderness. 

Deuteronomy 32:7 Remember the days of long ago; / Consider the years of generation upon generation; / Ask your father, and he will inform you; / Your elders, and they will tell you.

We, as God's people, have a history. The Triune God has a long history with His people, especially in the recovery. God wants us to remember so that we will be reminded, charged and encouraged to go on, like what Moses did in the book of Deutoronomy. we need some healthy rememberance. we need to remember where we come from, what God has given us, has done for us and taught us. 

the reality of the Feast of Tabernacles is a time of enjoyment in remembrance of how we experienced God and of how God lived with us. during that time, the Israel people would remember how God led them for 40 years wandering in the wilderness, how God gave them manna morning by morning, and even how God punished and dealt with the rebellion among the people. 

Hebrews 11:9 By faith he dwelt as a foreigner in the land of promise as in a foreign land, making his home in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the fellow heirs of the same promise;

Hebrews 11:10 For he eagerly waited for the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God.

The New Jerusalem being called the tabernacle of God is for the overcomers in the first stage of the New Jerusalam to remember how they also dwlet in tents, living on the earth as strangers and sojourners and looking forward to the eternal tabernacle, the God-built city, the mutual habitation of God and man. if we would walk in the steps of Abraham's faith, we must live the life of the altar and the tent, taking Christ as our life and the church as our living. the altar and the tent cannot be separated. the altar is our life toward God, and the tent is our life on the earth in the world. in order to live the life of the altar, we must live under God's appearing. the altar signifies the cross where Christ died for us, and also signifies our consecration, with Christ as our full burnt offerings. here at the altar, we are one with Him, are identified with Him, and are consecrating ourselves to Him. the life of the altar issues the life of the tent. we must have the experience of the altar, which is our consecration, then we will be able to live a life of the tent. consecration is not our dedication. the word "consecration" in Hebrews means "the hands be filled with". therefore, consecration means that we need to let Christ fill us, fill our hands. 

Genesis 13:3 And he continued on his journey from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

Genesis 13:4 To the place of the altar, which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah.

Abraham had his failures, and there was the forsaking of the altar and the tent. However, with him there was also a recovery, and recovery is a matter of returning to the altar and the tent with calling on the name of the Lord. for us today also, we will have many failures, and often we drift away from the altar and the tent to enter further into the world. but the Lord never forsakes and gives us up. like Abraham, we will also have the recovery, when we return to the altar and the tent with our calling, our enjoying the Lord. 

II. Through and in His resurrection, Christ as the last Adam becaome the life-giving Spirit to impart life and to enter into His believers to flow out as rivers of living water

John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

John 7:38 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

John 7:39 But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

it is only by this Spirit that He can dwell in us, and it is only by this Spirit that we can enter into Him. He became this Spirit, which can be received. the life-giving Spirit is the consummated Spirit, the consummation of the processed and consummated Triune God. 

Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1) - 7

Message Title: The Bread of Life

the age of jubilee is an age of ecstasy. if we have never experienced ecstasy, we are not in the reality of Christ as jubilee, where everything is satisfying to our heart.  if we have the word of grace, we can be in jubilee anytime and anywhere. 

we need the Lord to unveil to us what it means for Christ to be the bread of life to us. what do we do with bread?? we eat bread. so the Lord is introducing Himself in such a way. then the question is what is our taste? what is our appetite? are we eating the bread of life sufficiently? 

Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.

this reminds us of Genesis, that there were all kinds of trees in the garden of Eden, pleasant to eyes and good for food. this shows us that in the very beginning at the time of creation, God is indicating to man that He wants man to eat. but there is also a warning in Genesis 2:17, that whoever eats of the tree of knowledge of good and evil will surely die. it is very clear that God desires man to eat, and to enjoy life. we need to check with ourselves: what is the nature of our diet? On what do we spend time to eat? 

I. if we read John 6 carefully, we should have a deep impression of this chapter and pay attention to the sequence of seven crucial points

1. the Lord is the bread of life

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.

2. the Lord gives His bread of life for us to eat

John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread which I will give is My flesh, given for the life of the world.

3. the Lord also gives His blood for us to drink

John 6:53 Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within yourselves.

4. the Lord not only died but also resurrected

John 6:56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him.

the Lord was slain on behalf of us. He rose from the dead, because His desire was to abide in us and that we could abide in Him. 

5. Because Christ lives in us, we live because of Him and live before 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.

for us to live the Christian life, we need to eat HIm as the bread of life. this is a matter of eating. 

6. His Spirit, not His physical flesh, gives us life and the life supply 

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

7. The Spirit is in the Lord's spoen words; His words are spirit and life

II. Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John is a detailed discourse on the Lord Jesus being the bread of life; He declared "I am the bread of life"

there are many other things for us to eath, which are not healthy and even poisonour, which are not able to give us satisfaction. that is why the Lord unveils to us that He is the true bread. the more we take in the poisonous things, the more we will develop a taste for these evil things. 

when we eat this bread and digest it, it becomes our constitution, and we are joined and mingled with the Lord as one. 

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

since Christ is the Spirit, we can contact Him as the Spirit within us. Because He is the life-giving Spirit, we can feed upon and assimilate Him as our food. in order to receive the Lord Jesus as the bread of life, our life supply to nourish us, we need to see that He is the life-giving Spirit and that this Spirit is embodied in the Word. Daily we need to come to the Lord and touch Him as the Spirit in the Word; if we do this, we will feed on Christ as the bread of life. 

if we receve the Word, we will have the Spirit, and if we have the Spirit within us, we will have Christ as the inner supply of life.