Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good Land - 4

Message Title: The All-inclusive Christ as the Good Land - a Land of Waterbrooks, of Springs and of Fountains, Flowing forth in Valleys and in Mountains

God has not only revealed to us some riches of the land, but this very land. we need to realise that God wants to bring us into the possession, the experience of this land, which includes all the riches. God wants to live in this land, to labor on this land, and to possess this land. God wants to make this Christ, who is all-inclusive and all-extensive to be everything to us. Christ must be all and in all. 

the land, is first a land full of water, different kinds of water. without water, the crops cannot be brought forth. there will be no wheat or barley, or any plants. in order for the water to be able to flow, there is the need of mountains and valleys. likewise, if we want to have experiences, we also need ups and downs. 

I. Galatians 3:4 says "In orde that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith"

The physical asoect of the blessing that God promised to Abraham was the good land, whcih is a type of the all-inclusive Christ; since Christ is eventually realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, the blessing of the promised Spirit corresponds with the blessing of the land promised to Abraham. 

II. the all-inclusive Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit is "a land of waterbrooks, of springs and of fountains, flowing forth in valleys and in mountains"

the waterbrooks are the smaller streams; the springs are the emerging of the waters; and the fountains are the storage, the source. this corresponds to the Triune God. the Father is the source, the fountain; the Son is the expression, the springs; and the Spirit as the coming forth, as the flowing out, is the waterbrooks. 

the valleys are envirionments signify the different kinds of environments in which we may experience Christ as the flowing Spirit. God uses all our different situations, the highs or the lows, to cause the river to flow. in our experience, even through our failures, the water flows. 

III. the water "flowing forth in valleys and in mountains" indicates that Christ as the living water flows in different environments

we need the valley experiences, the experiences of the cross, the experiences of the death of Christ. we also need the mountain experiences, the experiences of Christ's resurrection. 

2 Corinthians 4:11 For we who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

if we look at the experience of the apostle Paul, he said that he was always being delivered unto death for Jesus' sake. we may think that, if we love God, God will bless us and we will have a smooth path full of flowers. but that is not the experience of the apostle Paul, or any other believers who truly loved the Lord and followed the Lord. rather, their life is full of valleys, and also mountains, a lot of experiences through death. the killing of the cross results in the manifestation of the resurrection life; this daily killing is for the release of the divine life in resurrection. 

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.

the indwelling Christ as the treasure in us, the earthen vessels, is the divine source of the supply for the Christian life and the excellent power for us to live a crucified life for the manifestation of the resurrection life. 

if we have never passed through affliction, we will never experience the comforting of God, and we will never be able to genuinely comfort others who are in their afflictions. 

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

when we are under the killing of the Lord's death, His resurrection life is imparted through us into others. The way for the church to come into being and to increase is not by human glory; it is by the death of the cross for the release of the fire of the divine life. the Lord, as the grain of wheat that fell into the ground, lost His soul-life through death that He might release His eternal life in resurrection to the many grains; as the many grains, we also must lose our soul-life through death that we may enjoy eternal life in resurrection. 

IV. Jeremiah 2:13 says "My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, which hold no water"

we may say that we have not forsaken God, because we still read the Bible, and go to the meetings. but the verse here does not talk about forsaking God, but "forsaking God as the fountain of living waters". if we are not coming to Him as the source of our living, if we are not drawing from Him, we actually are forsaking God as the fountain of living waters. this is the evil in the eyes of God. 

the cisterns are broken and hold no water. this indicates that apart from God Himself dispensed into us as living water, nothing can quench our thirst and make us God's increase for His expression. 

V. we need to build up the habit of drawing water from the springs of salvation in order to drink and flow the water of life

there are different ways for us to drink and flow:

1. we need to draw water with rejoicing from the srpings of salvation by speaking to the Lord, by the Lord, for the Lord, in the Lord, and with the Lord.

2. we need to praise the Lord, rejoice in Him, always give thanks, and sing to the Lord.

3. we need to call on the name of the Lord

4. we need to preach the gospel, making know to others what Christ has accomplished.

5. we need to vei the Lord the preeminence in our being and do everything according to the divine nature.