THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Experience and Enjoyment of Christ
Message One
The Experience and Enjoyment of Christ in Gospels and Acts
Scripture Reading: Phil. 3:8; Matt. 1:23; 9:10-13, 36; 16:16; 21:42; Gen. 28:12; John 1:51; 6:27, 32-35, 47-58, 63a, 68b; 7:37-39; 12:23-24; 15:1, 5
I. We look to the Lord that, He will bring us into the excellency of the knowledge of Christ; in this excellency of the knowledge of Christ, we will surely enter into the rich experience and enjoyment of Him; then we will have the expression of Him on earth in His recovery—Phil. 3:8. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 265)
II. We begin with the experience and enjoyment of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew—Matt. 1:23; 9:10-13, 36; 16:16; 21:42: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 265)
A. Experiencing and enjoying Christ as: Emmanuel—God with us—Matt. 1:23: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 266)
1. In His humanity, Jesus, God incarnate, is Emmanuel, God with us; He is not only God but God with us—v. 23. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 266)
2. He is now humanly divine to make us divinely human; in this way He, as the all-inclusive One, meets our need adequately and sufficiently in the most superior way—Rom. 1:3-4; Heb. 2:10. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 266)
3. Today Emmanuel is the very life-giving Spirit, who is the consummated Triune God as His presence with us moment by moment; He is not only with us outwardly but also with us inwardly in our spirit every minute of the day—1 Cor. 15:45. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 266)
B. The Physician: Matthew 9:10-13 indicates that we also may experience and enjoy Christ as the Physician: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 268)
1. He came to minister as a Physician, to heal, recover, enliven, and save us, that we might be reconstituted to be His new and heavenly citizens, with whom He is establishing His heavenly kingdom on this corrupted earth—vv. 10-13. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 268)
2. The Lord Jesus heals man’s spiritual illness, the illness of sin; the Lord Jesus forgives our sins and also heals us in every way—Luke 11:4. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 268)
3. As the Physician, the Lord Jesus is not for the righteous but for sinners; the healing of the Lord as our Physician is not mainly physical but spiritual; He is the One who heals our spiritual sicknesses—v. 4. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 268)
C. The Shepherd: the Lord Jesus considered the people as sheep and Himself as the Shepherd—Matt. 9:36: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 269)
1. The Lord Jesus is the Shepherd of the sheep that were “harassed and cast away;” they were in difficulties and were constantly suffering; they were cast away and were wandering, not knowing where to go; to such ones Christ came as the Shepherd; as the Shepherd, the Lord is not rough but is very fine—v. 36. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 269)
2. Matthew 9:36 tells us that when the Lord Jesus saw the crowds, He was “moved with compassion;” compassion is deeper, finer, and richer than mercy; mercy is somewhat outward, but compassion is inward; furthermore, compassion is longer lasting than mercy; compassion, therefore, is both deeper and longer lasting than mercy. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 269)
D. The Christ, the Son of the living God—Matt. 16:16: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 271)
1. The Christ is a title of the Lord Jesus according to His office, His commission; this title refers to the Lord’s commission for the accomplishment of God’s purpose to have the church; Christ’s commission is to accomplish God’s eternal purpose through His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and second advent—v. 16. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 271)
2. The Son of the living God is His title according to His person; the Lord’s person as the Son of God is for the producing of the many sons of God to be members of the church—v. 16. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 271)
3. The church is built upon this revelation of the Christ and the Son of the living God; wherever we go, we must preach and teach the Christ and the Son of the living God so that many more sons may be produced to be the members of the church, the Body of Christ—v. 16. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 271)
4. The church built upon the revelation of the Christ and the Son of the living God deals with the gates of Hades and establishes the kingdom of the heavens—vv. 16, 18.
5. The church is built upon the revelation of the Christ and of the Son of God through our following Him—v. 16: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 271)
a. By denying our self: to deny our self is to forfeit our soul-life, our natural life— Matt. 16:25; Luke 9:24. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 271)
b. Taking up our cross, remaining under the death of Christ for the terminating of our self, our natural life, and our old man—v. 24. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 271)
c. In so doing we deny our self that we may follow the Lord; through this kind of following of the Lord Jesus the church is built up—v. 24. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 271)
F. The cornerstone of God’s building—Matt. 21:42: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 272)
1. In Matthew 21:42 Christ is referred to as the cornerstone, not as the foundation, because the emphasis here is on the cornerstone that joins the two main walls: the wall of the Jewish believers and the wall of the Gentile believers. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 272)
2. When the Jewish builders rejected Christ, they rejected Him as the cornerstone which joins the Jews and the Gentiles for the building of God’s house—v. 42. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 272)
3. Christ was rejected by the Jewish builders, He is trusted by the church for the producing of fruit; this is indicated by the Lord’s word in Matthew 21:43; “therefore I say to you that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation producing its fruit;” this nation is the church, which trusts in the Lord as the cornerstone—1 Pet. 2:6. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 272)
III. We will begin to consider the aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ revealed in the Gospel of John—Gen. 28:12; John 1:51; 6:27, 32-35, 47-58, 63a, 68b; 7:37-39; 12:23-24; 15:1, 5: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 276)
A. We may experience and enjoy Christ as the heavenly ladder; He is the fulfillment of the ladder which Jacob saw in his dream when he was fleeing from his brother—Gen. 28:12; John 1:51: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 276)
1. “Truly, truly, I say to you, You shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man”—John 1:51: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 276)
a. Christ, as the Son of Man, with His humanity, is the ladder set up on the earth and leading to heaven, keeping heaven open to earth and joining earth to heaven; as the ladder, Christ as the Son of Man joins God and man into one—v. 51. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 276)
b. In eternity past He was the Word, but in eternity future He will be the ladder; Christ is the way as the ladder; He is the stairway for us to be one with God—v. 51. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 276)
c. Today in God’s organic salvation, our regenerated spirit is God’s dwelling place, even the Holy of Holies of God, which Christ as our heavenly ladder takes as His base; whenever we turn to our spirit, we sense Christ bringing God (heaven) to us and joining us to God (heaven)—Eph. 2:22; Heb. 4:16; 10:19. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 276)
d. Today we may experience and enjoy Christ as the ladder that joins us to heaven and brings heaven to us so that we may be a heavenly people living a heavenly life on earth and inheriting all the heavenly things—John 1:51. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 276)
2. Christ’s being the heavenly ladder is not only for joining the earth to heaven but also for producing stones for the house of God; thus, wherever Christ is as the heavenly ladder in His humanity, there is the gate of heaven, and there is the building of God’s house with all the stones, that is, with all the transformed persons—John 1:42; Gen. 28:16-19. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 276)
B. Many verses in John 6 reveal that, for our experience and enjoyment, Christ is the bread of life; as the bread of life, He is the bread with eternal life—John 6:27, 32-35, 47-58, 63a, 68b: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 279)
1. The food which abides to eternal life is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; He came from the heavens not only to be our Savior—He came also to be our food—v. 35. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 279)
2. As the true bread Christ is the bread of truth, or reality; we need Christ as the true bread of life sent by God to bring us eternal life—v. 35. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 279)
3. Christ is the bread of God who, through incarnation, came down out of heaven and gives life to the world; as the bread of God He is God, He was sent by God, and He was with God; Christ is the very God, He became flesh in order to be the bread of life for us to eat—v. 35. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 279)
4. In verse 35 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” and in verse 51 He said, “I am the living bread;” Bread of life refers to the nature of the bread, which is life; living bread refers to the condition of the bread, which is living. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 279)
5. In 6:53-57 the Lord Jesus, the Almighty God and the Creator of the universe, exhorts us to eat Him; to eat Him is not a once-for-all matter; rather, we daily need to contact the Lord and eat Him. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 279)
6. Christ as the bread of life is embodied in the word of life; He is the Spirit embodied in the Word; if we receive the Word, we will have the Spirit; and if we have the Spirit within, we will have Christ as the inner supply of life—v. 35. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 279)
7. May we all realize that our need is Christ as our life supply and then daily contact Him as the life-giving Spirit embodied in the Word—v. 35. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 279)
C. John 7:37-39 speaks of the Spirit: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 280)
1. The Spirit of God was there from the beginning, but at the time the Lord Jesus cried out at the feast, the Spirit as the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, was not yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified. Jesus was glorified when He was resurrected—Gen. 1:1-2; Rom. 8:9; Phil. 1:19; Luke 24:26. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 280)
2. The Spirit who was “not yet” became the Spirit who now is; such a Spirit is now the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ as the living water for us to receive—John 7:39. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 280)
3. Everyone who thirsts and comes to Christ and believes in (drinks) Him receives Him as the Spirit for his satisfaction, and out of his inner being shall flow rivers of living water—v. 38: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 280)
a. The Lord Jesus does not speak of just one flow but of rivers; the unique river of living water is the Spirit; out of this unique river, many rivers will flow out—v. 38. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 280)
b. These “rivers of living water” are the many flows of the different aspects of life of the one unique “river of water of life”, which is God’s “Spirit of life”; one river is the river of peace, and other rivers are joy, comfort, righteousness, life, holiness, love, patience, and humility—cf. Rom. 15:30; 1 Thes. 1:6; 2 Thes. 2:13; Gal. 5:22-23; Rev. 22:1; Rom. 8:2. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 280)
c. We do not know how many rivers there are; these rivers of living water flow out from the depths of our being; this is the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the Spirit—John 7:39. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 280)
D. John 12:23-24 reveals that Christ is a grain of wheat for His divine multiplication: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 282)
1. The Lord Jesus was the unique grain that contained His divine life with the divine glory, and His humanity through His incarnation became a shell to conceal the glory of His divinity; Christ’s all-inclusive death released the divine life and glory that were within the shell of His humanity—John 12:23-24. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 282)
2. Christ, who as a grain of wheat fell into the ground and died, grew out of death to produce many grains, which are the believers—vv. 23-24: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 282)
a. On the one hand, we the believers are grains produced by the death and resurrection of Christ; on the other hand, we are those who have been drawn to the Lord—Mark 1:17. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 282)
b. All those who are drawn to Him eventually become the many grains, the fruits produced by His death and resurrection. This indicates that the church life has been multiplied! —Acts 2:42. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 282)
3. As a grain of wheat, a container of the divine life, Christ was sown into the earth through death in order that He might be multiplied and thereby glorified—John 12:23-24. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 282)
4. The believers may enjoy Him as the life essence released through His death and dispensed through His resurrection; as the many grains, we also must lose our soul-life through death that we may enjoy the eternal life in resurrection—v. 25. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 282)
5. The Lord’s death not only releases the divine life but also multiplies it; in our function we should be the same as Christ for His multiplication; hence, we need to enjoy Christ as the grain of wheat by experiencing His life-releasing death for the multiplication of the divine life—v. 25. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 282)
F. The true vine: in John 15 we see that Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God is the true vine—John 15:1, 5: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 286)
1. As the many branches of the vine, the believers of Christ are members of the Christ of God to form the organism of the Triune God in the divine dispensing—John 15:5.
2. As the branches of the true vine, we are the multiplication of Christ, the duplication of Christ, the spreading of Christ, and the enlargement of Christ; this multiplication, duplication, spreading, and enlargement—the true vine with its branches—is the organism of the Triune God—v. 5: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 286)
a. The Father as the husbandman is the source, the author, the planner, the planter, the life, the substance, the soil, the water, the air, the sunshine, and everything to the vine—v. 1. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 286)
b. The Father, by cultivating the Son, works Himself with all of His riches into this vine, and eventually the vine expresses the Father through its branches in a corporate way—v. 1. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 286)
3. In John 15:2-8 we see that the branches in the vine are for the bearing of fruit to express the riches of the Father’s life in the divine dispensing: (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 286)
a. The vine and the branches are an organism to glorify the Father, to have the intent, the content, the inner life, and the inner riches released and expressed from within—v. 8. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 286)
b. Our fruit-bearing is the glorification, the expression, of the Triune God from within; day by day we need to live a life that bears fruit, and in this way we glorify the Father; the more we express the divine life in fruit-bearing, the more the Father is glorified—v. 8. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 286)
4. Christ the Son is the vine, and we are the branches to bear fruit for the glorification of the Father, that is, the expression, spreading, and multiplication of the Father as its source and husbandman; all that the Spirit has is expressed in us, that is, in the branches, the church; the Triune God in Christ is expressed, manifested, and glorified in the church—v. 8. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 286)