Hymn 96

we sang hymn 96 tonight at the hymn singing session

all of us were touched with the words, actually they are quite deep and profound

stanza 1 says 

"My song is love unknown,
My Savior’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I,
That for my sake
My Lord should take
Frail flesh, and die?"

our Savior's love is love unknown, also knowledge-surpassing. to us, who are loveless, i think which means, first, we are not lovable or lovely, second, we do not have love. but to us, the loveless, this unknow, knowledge-surpassing love has been shown, so that we might become lovely, because of His love. for us, loveless ones, the Lord even took frail flesh, and died on the cross. 

stanza 2 says:

"He came from His blest throne
Salvation to bestow;
But men made strange, and none
The longed-for Christ would know:
But oh, my Friend,
My Friend indeed,
Who at my need
His life did spend."

the Lord stepped out of His glory, left His throne, laid aside all His spendor, so that He could accomplish full salvaton for us. but like the gospel of John chapter 1 says, though the Lord came to His people, His own even did not know or receive Him. but this One, who was called the friend of sinners and tax collectors, who is the good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. 

stanza 3 says:

"Sometimes they strew His way,
And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day
Hosannas to their King:
Then “Crucify!”
Is all their breath,
And for His death
They thirst and cry."

it is a super sharp contrast to see here. when the Lord first entered into Jerusalem, all the people welcomed Him, put their own garments with palm tree branches to pave the way for Him, shouting Hosannas to Him. but soon, later on, their cry turned to be "crucify Him!" 

stanza 4 says:

"They rise and needs will have
My dear Lord made away;
A murderer they save,
The Prince of life they slay.
Yet cheerful He
To suffering goes,
That He His foes
From thence might free."

the second half of this stanza is amazing. the Lord cheerfully went to sufferings, so that His foes, which are us as His enemies, might free from sufferings. He drank the cup of God's wrath, so that we may drink the cup of blessing. this is the Lord's heart, the Lord's love for us, and this is what He accomplished for us on the cross. for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame. 

stanza 5 says:

"In life, no house, no home
My Lord on earth might have;
In death, no friendly tomb,
But what a stranger gave.
What may I say?
Heav’n was His home;
But mine the tomb
Wherein He lay."

while the Lord was living on the earth, He said that foxes have homes, but the Son of Man has no where to lay His head. even after He died, there was no tomb for His buriel. but Joseph offered His new bought tomb to lay the Lord's body. the heaven was His home, while for us, our final destination is the tomb. but the Lord laid in the tomb on behalf of us. 

stanza 6 says :

"Here might I stay and sing,
No story so divine;
Never was love, dear King,
Never was grief like Thine.
This is my Friend,
In whose sweet praise
I all my days
Could gladly spend."

we wil spend our days in eternity, full of our praises to our Lord, our King, who is worthy of all our praises. 

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/96

Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good Land - 8

Message Title: Experiencing and Enjoying the All-inclusive Christ as the Good Land - a Land in which We do not Lack Anything

Deutoronomy 8:9 A land in which you will eat bread without scarcity; you will not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and from whose mountains you can mine copper.

Colossians 2:10 And you have been made full in Him, who is the Head of all rule and authority.

Paul said in Colossians that the Father has qualified us for a share of the allotted portion. this portion is Christ as the reality of the good land, and each of us has an allotted portion. the Spirit as the good land, is the source of the bountiful supply. 

I. Christ as the preeminent and all-inclusive One is the allotted portion of the saints in the light for our experience and enjoyment.

Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light;

we must be "in the light" in order to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as the good land; light is the presence of God. the allotted portion of the saints is in the light, so we must be in the light before we can enjoy the portion. 

Psalm 73:16 When I considered this in order to understand it, / It was a troublesome task in my sight,

Psalm 73:17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; / Then I perceived their end.

in this psalm, the psalmist had murmurings and complainings. in verse 17, he entered into the sanctuary of God, which is both our spirit and the church. in the church meetings, God has mercy on us and shone His light on us. 

four practical ways to walk in the light:

1. contact the Lord more and more

2. follow the inner annointing

3. fellowship with others in a genuine way

4. be in the church life and attend the church meetings.

II. Colossians 2:6-7 reveals that Christ as the good land, a land in which we do not lack anything, is the rich soil in which we have been rooted so that we may grow with the elements that we absorb from the soil

we need to take time to absorb Christ. we must take time to enjoy the Lord as the all-inclusive land so that all the elements of Christ as the rich soil may be absorbed into us for us to be made full in Him in our experience. we need to forget our situation, our condition, our failures, and our weaknesses and simply take time to absorb the Lord; as we take time to absorb Him, we grow with the growth of God in us for the building up of the Body of Christ. we remember that we have an enemy, who is working 24/7. whenever we try to spend time with the Lord, the enemy will remind us how bad we are, or how poor we are. therefore, we need to exercise to forget our situation, our condition or our failures, so that we can simply take time to absorb the Lord. 

Matthew 14:23 And after He sent the crowds away, He went up to the mountain privately to pray. And when night fell, He was there alone.

we need to pay attention to the two words, "privately" and "alone". in our fellowship with the Lord, we need to have "privately" and "alone". 

our contact with the Lord should not be rushed. we must exercise our spirit to stay in the Lord's presence to absorb Him. we must spend more time to absorb the Lord, to adore Him, to praise Him, to offer thanks to Him, and to speak to Him freely. if we want to spend 10 minutes of quality time with the Lord, probably we need at least 30 minutes, because we so easily get distracted by so many things, by our wandering mind. 

III. Colossians 2:8-15 presents a full description and definition of Christ as the soil, in which we do not lack anything; as we take time to absorb Him as the all-inclusive land, the facts are in Christ, and the experience is by Christ and with Christ.

when we are rooted in Christ as the soil, we are made full in Him; we are filled up with all the divine riches to become His expression. In Christ as the soil we are filled, completed, perfected, satisfied, and thoroughly supplied; we do not lack anything. if we are really and practically rooted in Christ in our daily life, spotaneously we will have the expression of Christ with all His fullness. then the people around us should have the sense that we are different, we are people bearing the fragrance of Christ. 

Christ as our allotted portion, our unsearchably rich good land in which we do not lack anything, is our All-sufficient God and the great I Am, whom we can experience and enjoy day by day; what He is meets our every need in order to meet His need for the building up of His church as His Body and the preparation of His church as His bride for His coming back. 

Joel 2:32

Joel 2:32 And everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah shall be saved; / For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem will be an escape, / As Jehovah has said, / Even for the remnant / Whom Jehovah calls.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will receive the all-inclusive, outpoured Spirit. Such a Spirit who has been poured out on all flesh, including us, is waiting for us to receive Him. The way to receive Him is to open our mouth and call on the name of the Lord. 

- "Fulfilling God's Purpose by Growing in Life and Functioning in Life to Build up the Church" P47