THE FORTH PART: THE PATHWAY OF THE LORD’S RECOVERY
God-Ordained Way
Message Seven
Living a Life of Consecration,
Morning Revival, and Shepherding
Scripture Reading: Psa. 110:3; 1 Pet. 1:8; 2:7; Lam. 3:22-23; John 21:15-17; Psa. 23:1-6; Matt. 26:6-13; Psa. 119:147; Acts 20:28
I. Psalm 110 and Psalm 23 reveal how crucial consecration, morning revival, and shepherding are for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose: (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
A. God’s eternal purpose is His eternal economy, His administrative plan, to distribute Himself into His chosen people to make them the same as He is in life and nature but not in the Godhead for His enlarged and expanded expression—Eph. 3:2, 8-11. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
B. “Your people will offer themselves willingly / In the day of Your warfare, / In the splendor of their consecration. / Your young men will be to You / Like the dew from the womb of the dawn”— Psa. 110:3: (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
1. Although the church has become degraded, throughout the centuries there has been a line of those who have offered themselves willingly to the Lord in the splendor, the beauty, of their consecration; if we offer ourselves willingly to the Lord, we will be beautified with a divine, heavenly splendor—Matt. 26:6-13. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
2. Christ also needs us to be the dew from the womb of the dawn for Him to be watered—Psa. 110:3: (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
a. If we do not rise up early in the morning, we will miss the opportunity to enter into the womb of the morning to be conceived as dew with which to water Christ—v. 3. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
b. May we respond to the Lord by saying, “Lord Jesus, I want to be the dew conceived and produced by the womb of the dawn for You to be watered.”—v. 3. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
C. Psalms 22-24 are a group of psalms revealing Christ from His crucifixion through His shepherding to His kingdom in the coming age—22:1-21; 23:1-6; 24:7-10: (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
1. Psalm 22 concerns Christ’s death, His resurrection, and His many brothers produced in His resurrection to form His church—vv. 1-21, 22. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
2. Now that the church has been formed, we need to enter into the reality of Psalm 23, which concerns Christ as the Shepherd in His resurrection; this will bring in a new revival that will usher us into the kingdom age—vv. 1-6. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
3. Psalm 24 concerns Christ as the coming King in God’s kingdom—vv.7-10. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
II. For the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, we must live a life of consecration by having a change in our concept of value—Matt. 23:16-26; 1 Sam. 16:7; Luke 16:15; 9:54-56; 1 Pet. 3:4: (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
A. The proper concept of value for the believers can be seen in their estimation and assessment of the following aspects of Christ and His full salvation—Psa. 118:22; 1 Cor. 1:18; Luke 18:26-30: (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
1. Their valuation of the Lord Jesus—Psa. 118:22; 1 Pet. 2:4, 7. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
2. Their valuation of the word of the cross—1 Cor. 1:18. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
3. Their valuation of God’s kingdom and righteousness in comparison to a man’s daily necessities—Matt. 6:32-33. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
4. Their valuation of the Lord Jesus in comparison to their relatives—10:37-38; Luke 18:26-30. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
5. Their valuation of a man’s soul in comparison to the whole world—Matt. 16:26; 4:8-11; Rev. 18:13; 1 Pet. 4:19. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
6. Their valuation of their body in comparison to the seriousness and consequence of sin—Matt. 18:8-9. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
7. Their valuation of hierarchical position in comparison to being slaves of the Lord and to one another—20:25-27. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
8. Their valuation of Christ as the treasure of justice in comparison to earthly treasure—Job 22:23-28; Matt. 12:18-21; Isa. 42:1-4. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
9. Their valuation of the enjoyment of sin in comparison to the unseen reward—Heb. 11:24-27. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
10. Their valuation of the knowledge of Christ in comparison to all things—Phil. 3:7-8; 1 Pet. 1:8. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
B. We need to ask the Lord to grant us the light to have a thorough change in our concept of value so that we will continually choose Christ and all that He is as our super-excelling portion—Mark 9:7-8; 2 Cor. 2:10; 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:8. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
C. “If you bring out the precious from the worthless, / You will be as My mouth”—Jer. 15:19; cf. v. 16. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
III. For the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, we must live a life of morning revival—Lam. 3:22-23; Psa. 119:147: (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
A. Every morning we should allow the Lord Jesus, our Sun, to rise up in us so that we can be renewed—2 Cor. 4:16; Judg. 5:31; Prov. 4:18. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
B. “The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it must not go out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it and shall burn the fat of the peace offerings on it. Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out”—Lev. 6:12-13: (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
1. The priest’s burning wood on the altar every morning signifies the need of the serving one’s cooperation with God’s desire by adding more fuel to the holy fire to strengthen the burning for the receiving of the burnt offering as God’s food (cf. Rom. 12:11; 2 Tim. 1:6-7); the morning signifies a new start for the burning. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
2. The burning of the burnt offering laid a foundation for the sweetness of the peace offering, which indicates that our offering ourselves to God as a continual burnt offering should be laid as a foundation for our sweet fellowship with God, signified by the burning of the fat of the peace offering—Lev. 6:12-13. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
3. The burning of both the burnt offering and the peace offering signifies that both our absoluteness for God and our enjoyment of the Triune God should be a matter of burning—vv. 12-13. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
C. To have a revival that is renewed daily is to have a transformation that is fresh daily; if we remain in this transformation our whole life, we will grow in the life of the Lord until we are matured—2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:2; Heb. 6:1a. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
IV. For the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, we must live a life of being shepherded and of shepherding others according to God—Acts 20:28; Psa. 23:1-6: (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
A. The Lord has incorporated the apostolic ministry with His heavenly ministry to take care of God’s flock, which is the church, issuing in the Body of Christ—John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
B. The ascended Christ as Jehovah is our Shepherd in five stages—Psa. 23:1: (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
1. The enjoyment in the green pastures and at the waters of rest—v. 2. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
2. Revival and transformation on the paths of righteousness—v. 3. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
3. The experience of the presence of the resurrected pneumatic Christ through the valley of the shadow of death—v. 4. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
4. The deeper and higher enjoyment of the resurrected Christ on the battlefield—v. 5. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)
5. The lifelong enjoyment of the divine goodness and kindness in the house of Jehovah—v. 6. (2010 MDC, msg. 5)