THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Ministry of Paul
Message One—The Completing Ministry of Paul
Scripture Reading: Acts 26:19; Col. 1:25; 2:2; 2 Cor. 4:7; Eph. 3:4; 5:32
I. “Do not take for granted that because you are now in the Lord’s recovery, you are secure in the recovery and that it is not possible for you ever to be divisive. Whether or not we are secure in the recovery and protected from divisiveness depends on the vision we have seen” (Life-study of First Corinthians, p. 54). (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
II. The Lord’s recovery today is the recovery of the central vision of Paul’s completing ministry—Acts 26:13-19; Col. 1:25; Eph. 5:32: (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
A. Paul was obedient not to a doctrine, a theory, a religious creed, or any theology but to a heavenly vision—Acts 26:19: (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
1. In this vision Paul saw the divine things concerning the dispensing of the Triune God into His chosen, redeemed, and transformed people. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
2. Paul’s preaching in Acts and his writing in his Epistles are a detailed description of the heavenly vision seen by him—v. 16; 22:15; Eph. 3:3-6. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
B. Paul’s ministry was a completing ministry—Col. 1:25: (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
1. In the New Testament the apostles, especially the apostle Paul, completed the word of God, the divine revelation, regarding God as our content, Christ as the mystery of God, and the church as the mystery of Christ, thereby giving us a full revelation of God’s economy— 2 Cor. 4:7; Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
2. Without Paul’s completing ministry there is no way for Christ’s heavenly ministry to be carried out, and without Christ’s heavenly ministry Paul’s ministry would have no ground—Heb. 7:26; 9:24; Acts 20:24; 2 Cor. 4:1: (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
a. These two ministries work together—the one in the heavens and the other within us—Heb. 8:2; Col. 1:25-27. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
b. Paul’s ministry reflected what Christ was ministering in the heavens. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
3. The goal of the Lord’s recovery is the completion of the word of God; without the completion of the word of God, God’s purpose cannot be fulfilled, and Christ cannot obtain His bride for His kingdom—Eph. 3:10-11; Rev. 19:7-9. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
III. In Paul’s ministry, the completing ministry, there is a central vision—Col. 3:4, 11; 2:19: (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
A. This is the vision that Christ, the expression of God, has become the life-giving Spirit so that He may impart Himself into us as our life to make us living members of His Body to express Him organically—1 Cor. 15:45b: (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
1. In His recovery the Lord is seeking to recover the all-inclusive Christ who imparts Himself into the believers and makes them His living Body—Rom. 8:10; 12:4-5; Eph. 3:17a; 4:16. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
2. The Lord is recovering Christ as life and everything to us and the church as His Body, His fullness—Col. 3:4, 11, 16; 2:19. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
3. The central vision of Paul’s completing ministry is God in us as our contents, Christ as the mystery of God, and the church as the mystery of Christ—Rom. 9:23-24; 2 Cor. 4:7; Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
4. The center of the Lord’s recovery is Christ and the church: Christ as the embodiment of God—the mystery of God—and the church as the expression of Christ—the mystery of Christ—Col. 2:9; Eph. 3:19b; 1 Tim. 3:15-16. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
5. The Lord wants a church composed of believers who are infused, filled, and saturated with Himself to be His Body for His expression; eventually, this living Body will become Christ’s loving bride, who will prepare the way for His coming back—Eph. 1:22-23; Rev. 19:7-9. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
B. We need to see a vision of the central matter in the Lord’s recovery today—Prov. 29:18a: (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
1. God wants us to realize that in Christ the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—has passed through a process involving incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension: (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
a. By incarnation Christ brought the infinite God into the finite man—John 1:14. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
b. In His human living the Lord Jesus expressed divinity in humanity—14:9-11. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
c. By crucifixion Jesus Christ terminated the old creation—Col. 1:15. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
d. By resurrection He germinated us as the new creation—1 Pet. 1:3. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
e. By ascension He was glorified, exalted, enthroned, appointed Lord, and commissioned with the divine government—Acts 2:33, 36. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
f. Following this He came down upon the church as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit—1:8; 2:4. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
2. As the life-giving Spirit, the Lord is waiting for people to receive Him by believing into Him—1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17; John 1:12-13; 3:15. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)
3. As soon as a person calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, Christ will immediately come into him, regenerate his spirit, indwell his spirit, and mingle Himself with his regenerated spirit to cause him to become truly one with Him—v. 6. (2004 ITERO-F, msg. 1)