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David:
A Person Who Served His Generation by Struggling After God's Heart
- David was remarkable for many reasons. First of all, he was a person
who really cared about what God was seeking after. Therefore, his
existence became a blessing to God, and made a real difference to
God's own. Secondly, he was able to bring others to find their purpose
in fighting for God's need, so that they also might become people
who impacted God's heart. |
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Inspirations
from Greek Word Studies - An inspiring look at some key words
in the Greek New Testament. |
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Jacob
- A Life With Heavenly Provisions - Messages from the 1998
college training - The most romantic person in the Bible is Jacob.
If you want your life to be romantic provisions play a crucial role.
How romantic you can be is decided by what provisions you have. This
is true also in the spiritual realm. For us to have heavenly experiences
resulting in a consummation, God has provided us some romantic items
to give us a romantic life. |
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Ruth
- Growth Unto Maturity - The book of Ruth reveals that anyone
can be an overcomer, even in the poorest of situations. Its events
take place during the reign of the judges. Yet from the midst of such
an abnormal situation emerges an old sister named Naomi, a young sister
named Ruth, and a righteous man named Boaz. |
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The
Advancement of the Divine Revelations and Their Applications
- In this series of messages we will consider Christ and the Church
according to the revelations received by Peter, Paul, and John. Each
of these apostles intimately experienced Christ and each had a profound
realization concerning His Church, but what was revealed to Paul was
something further than what was revealed to Peter, and what was revealed
to John was something further than even what was revealed to Paul.
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The
Body of Christ - Many know of the term "Body of Christ," but
few accurately know what it refers to, so it is important that we
have a proper understanding of this great matter. Outlines from the
January 2006 conferences in Detroit Michigan and Columbus Ohio and
edited messages from Columbus Ohio. |
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The
Divine Mystical Realm in Colossians: Christ - The Person of the Divine
Mystical Realm - He is the person of the divine mystical realm.
This realm is a realm of Christ, and in this realm Christ is the Person.
In this realm, the Triune God has His operation. |
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The
Experience of Christ in Philippians - Philippians is a unique
book. It tells us that when we enjoy Christ in the church life our
life becomes so full of meaning. We pursue Christ to grow in life
(Phil. 3:12), so that we can gain Christ (3:8), and then eventually
be found in Christ (3:9). |
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The
Healthy Constitution of a Blessed Church (1) - The Epistle
to Philemon is a very sweet one, concerning how to have a blessed
church life in a certain locality. This Epistle talks about four constituents
in a healthy church: the experienced brother "Philemon," the serving
"Apphia," the fighting "Archippus," and the saints in that locality. |
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The
Life of Jacob - Messages from the 2001 college training -
Jacob's life mirrors the stages of growth of a normal Christian's
life. The life of Jacob has three stages: In the 1st stage Jacob grew
up as a typical "second-generation" believer, knowing many spiritual
things objectively. He followed his father Isaac, but he did not have
a God who was real to him. In the 2nd stage after Jacob left home
he began to have real experiences of the Lord. He came to know the
Lord personally and subjectively. His life became romantic. In the
3rd stage Jacob became one with the romantic God in His operation.
He became a blessing to the entire earth. |
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The
Living and Exercise of God-Men for the Accomplishment of the Goal
of God's Economy to Gain His Testimony in the Church - The
eternal economy of God is the controlling vision of the Bible. Everything
is based upon God's dispensing of life to His chosen and redeemed
people. To carry out His economy He needs God-men who in their living
are increasingly being constituted with the divine attributes. These
God-men are also exercised as stewards able to minister the healthy
words of God's economy. |
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The
Oneness and the One Accord - The one unique God as the God
of Oneness has His one economy in which He desires every positive
eternal thing to come out from this unique God as the God of Oneness
alone. Outlines and messages from sharing in 2002 in Cleveland, Ohio. |
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The
Pattern of the Conformation to The Person of Christ - Peter
- Two crucial elements for the Constitution of the New Testament Ministry
are the process of the growth of the divine life and the conformation
to the person of Christ. You may never imagine that in the book of
First Peter, such a natural Peter became a person who is stable, mature,
virtuous, full of life, who is one with God, and who lives a life
of God mingled with man. Concerning conformation and maturity, you
find them in Peter's Epistles. There you can see that Peter had grown
into a completely different person than the one in the Four Gospels. |
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The
Psalms of Ascent - In the Old Testament there are fifteen
psalms which together make up one of the most precious and beautiful
portions of the Bible. These psalms portray our spiritual "ascent"
as we grow in the Christian life. |
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The
Reality of the Divine Stream - At the beginning and end of
the divine revelation God shows us a river. He further reveals throughout
the Scriptures that He reaches and works with humanity as a divine
flow. What does the Bible tell us about this stream of God? As those
who desire to serve and know Him in His economy today, where and how
can we experience this flowing God? The messages focus upon these
two questions |
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The
Tabernacle - The Pathway to Glory - From the Old Testament,
it can be determined that the tabernacle is a testimony of God's glory.
In the New Testament, Christ, the church, and each individual believer
are all referred to as God's tabernacle. Nothing in Scripture can
compare with the tabernacle. God had appeared to Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, and beforehand to Moses; but nowhere else is He seen
remaining in such an extended way with man in His glory. |
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The
Two Manners of Life - The descendants of Adam and Eve show
us that there are only two possible ways we can live our life. What
manner of life pleases God? The answer may surprise you!
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The
Will of God - Every Christian must have one fundamental realization:
God has a will. God is not miscellaneous, whimsical, or random. Instead
He is full of purpose and desire. |
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Song
of Songs - The Song of Songs is a book for our whole life.
It reveals all the experiences we will have to go through. No matter
how deep, how excellent, or how rich our experiences are, they all
should be located within these chapters. |
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Picture
of our Christian Growth - The "Psalms of Ascent," give us
an overall picture of our Christian growth from regeneration to the
Lord's return. These psalms were to be sung when the children of Israel
came to Jerusalem and ascended to the top of Mount Zion three times
a year, where they would hold a feast before the Lord. |
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The
Stage of Vision - Psalms
120-122. The first stage of the Psalms of Ascent is the stage of vision.
We need to have a vision concerning the world, a vision concerning
the Lord, and a vision concerning the church life. |
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Vision
of the World
- Psalms
120 gives us a vision of the true nature of the world. The world
is first a world of lies, deceit, and vanity but eventually it wars
against those who want what God wants.
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Vision
of the Lord
- In
Psalm 121 we come to the very God who is the Maker of heaven and
earth. Leaving the world behind, we begin our spiritual ascent up
Mount Zion.
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Vision
of the Church as God's Testimony
- Psalm
122 shows us a vision of the church, the Body of Christ. We need
to see this vision as we continue our ascent. We must realize that
the vision of the church can only come after the vision of the world
and the vision of the Lord.
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The
Stage of Consecration - Psalms 123-125: Our three-fold vision
of the Lord, the world, and the church leads us to a three-fold
consecration. Firstly, we consecrate ourselves to the Lord Himself,
then secondly we consecrate ourselves to be separated and apart
from the world. Then thirdly, we consecrate ourselves to the Lord's
trustworthiness.
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Consecration
to the Lord Himself - Psalm 123 shows us the experience
of the Lord's hand. The psalmist consecrates himself to the
Lord by looking to the Lord's hand for His supply, support, leading,
comfort, and discipline.
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Consecration to be Separated from
the World - The psalmist has an individual stand for the
Lord, and this led to his experience of being despised in the world.
Now the Lord is on his side for the sake of His testimony. Psalm
124 shows us how to stand against three categories of the world's
opposition. The world attacks us as a beast to devour us, as a flood
to overwhelm us, and as a snare to trap us.
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Consecration to the Lord's Trustworthiness
- After realizing how much the Lord cares for His testimony Psalm
125 shows us how to deal with our self-life by consecrating to the
Lord's trustworthiness. The feeling of this psalm is so single and
pure. We are not here for ourselves, but for His testimony. We deal
with our self-life so that the church can be built up in peace.
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The
Stage of Enjoyment
- Psalms 126-128: The Psalms of Ascent are a picture of the Christian
life. As we follow the Lord we "ascend" in our experience. These
psalms form a progression which can be divided into five stages
of three psalms each. In previous messages we have seen the stage
of vision and the stage of consecration. Now we can come to the
next stage, the stage of enjoyment.
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The
Enjoyment of Being Freed from Our Self-life -
Psalm 126 shows the psalmist has already come out of captivity
positionally. He is no longer in Babylon but has come to the Lord's
testimony. Positionally he is released, but experientially he
has not been released in full. When he realizes this he then prays,
"Lord, turn again my captivity."
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The Enjoyment of Transformation
- Psalm 127:
All our labor is in vain until we surrender to the Lord and rest
in Him. For us to go to sleep can mean one of two things. First,
it can mean to stop our working. Second, it can mean to accept the
Lord's environmental arrangement for us. When we stop our striving
and rest in the Lord's arrangement we begin to be transformed and
bear fruit.
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The Enjoyment of a Mature
and Life-giving Labor - Psalm
128: After experiencing transformation, we can enjoy the fruit of
our labor. We don't just enjoy wine for ourselves, we produce it
for others to enjoy. We don't just have oil for ourselves, we produce
oil to anoint others' wounds. When there are brothers in the church
life who are as a wine tree and an olive tree, then there is peace.
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The
Stage of Enlargement
- Psalms 129-131: Now we need an even greater turn, which we call
"the stage of enlargement." The Lord must work on us and enlarge
us so that our desire is not for ourselves, but for the whole church
life to be healthy.
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Being Enlarged through the
Lord's Environmental Dealings -
Psalm 129: The psalmist has been dealt with his entire life since
his youth, yet he realizes that the dealings and afflictions always
came to him from the Lord with His testimony in view. He has the
mark of the Lord's workmanship. It is the plowing and cutting of
deep and long furrows that give us the healthy growth in life.
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Being Enlarged through the
Knowledge of Ourselves - Psalm
130: Whenever we experience the Lord's plowing work through our
environment, we become a person of prayer. The knowledge of ourselves
makes us the proper person for the building up of the church. By
our knowledge of ourselves and our trust in the Lord's redemption
we become enlarged for the sake of His testimony.
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Being Enlarged through Lowliness
and Submission - Psalm
131: By knowing ourselves, we are humbled and no longer desire to
be exercised in great matters. We enjoy submitting to Him. Now we
are able to properly care for the Lord's testimony.
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The
Stage of Maturity
- Psalms 132-134: The maturity that is described in the last stage
of the Psalms of Ascent is different from the maturity we have seen
in the previous stages. We will see that eventually our maturity
is no longer an individual experience, but a corporate one.
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The Exercise of Maturity
- Psalm 132 shows
us a mature saint who knows how to rest, how to be in submission,
and how to wait on the Lord. Yet in this situation of restfulness
the writer still has a desperation. What is it that we are desperate
for? We are desperate for the substance of the Lord's testimony
to be produced. The psalmist describes a matured person's consecration,
my house is God's house.
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The Testimony of the Church
Life in Maturity (1) - Psalm
133 is a display of the maturity that results from all the previous
experiences in the Psalms of Ascent. We
can only have the genuine oneness when we lose our individuality.
Oneness comes from our maturity in life. For this we must have the
headship, the person, the maturity, and the serving life of Christ.
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The Testimony of the Church
Life in Maturity (2) - Psalm
134 does not speak of the maturity of one individual but of the
entire Body of Christ. When we enter into the experience of this
psalm, it is not only we ourselves who are different, but all of
the saints are different. Here at the end of the Psalms of Ascent,
the church as the Bride has made herself ready and is awaiting the
Lord's return.
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The
Body of Christ
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Conference
in Columbus Ohio - The Body of Christ is the most important
matter in the universe, for it is the increase and enlargement of
Christ, and the fullness of the One who fills all in all! Thus it
is not something that is easy to fully grasp or apprehend. In these
three meetings we will touch upon the reality of the Body of Christ,
how it is expressed, and how it can be practically lived out among
us. (Edited messages.)
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Conference
in Detroit Michigan
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The
Advancement of the Divine Revelations and Their Applications
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The
Completion of the Divine Revelations - From Christ to the Local
Churches (1) - Peter saw Christ and the church in the stage
of its initial declaration. What Peter saw in his revelation, however,
became the controlling factor of his life. Paul saw something further.
No longer was Christ merely the Son of God who would build His church:
Paul saw Christ as the One in the heavens who possessed the church
as His Body.
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Peter's
Application of the Vision He Received - What Peter saw of
Christ was relatively simple and straightforward. After this initial
revelation, Jesus joyfully responded to Peter's declaration by saying,
"upon this rock I will build My church." Thus it can be seen that,
from the beginning, this revelation of Christ and the church has
God's economy in view.
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Paul's
Application of the Vision He Received - The operation of
Paul's ministry as revealed in his Epistles focused on two things:
First, his ministry focused on Christ as the reality of all spiritual
things. Second, Paul's ministry focused on the church as the heavenly
Body of the ascended Christ and as the fullness of Christ. A person
like this realizes the price he will have to pay when he comes into
contact with the saints, yet he willingly gives himself to them.
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John's
Application of the Vision He Received - In this message
we will consider how John's revelation impacted his life and ministry.
John brings us to focus upon four great matters: the living Christ
producing overcomers in the churches; Christ being the reality of
the Triune God; fellowship with the Triune God, the apostles, and
the saints; and the "three-dimensional" church life.
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David:
A Person Who Served His Generation by Struggling After God's Heart
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David:
A Man Who Served His Generation As A Person After God's Heart
- These are the two things that every person should care about above
all else - his relationship with God and how he has lived and operated
within his generation. David gave himself to live for what God Himself
was really after, and trusted that God was able to take care of
him.
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God's
Preparation: A Woman, Her Son, And A King - In order to
provide for the emergence of such a person as David, God had to
first arrange for a number of other things. He had to prepare a
woman who would be pure and gracious enough to offer Him her own
child. That child was Samuel. Then Saul, the people's choice for
king, was the third person needed to usher in David.
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Saul:
The Insufficiency of Religion - Saul was very good in so
many ways, yet he failed to satisfy God because he operated as one
in religion. It was not that he was evil; it was his 'religiosity'
that caused him to lose his value before the Lord.
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David's
Approvedness: Chosen, Anointed, Trained & Tested - Before
God can gain a person, that person must experience a number of things.
Being chosen is not enough in itself. A person must also be anointed,
trained, tested, and approved before he can begin to really begin
to serve God as someone after His own heart.
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David's
Approvedness (2) - David provides us one of the best examples
in the Bible of what it means to be chosen, anointed, trained, tested,
and eventually approved.
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Manifested
and Persecuted (2) - David attained a high degree of manifestation.
Because of this the Lord was able to bring him into deeper experiences
The first thing the Lord dealt with in this deeper work was his
dependence upon persons and things other than the Lord Himself.
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Forging
the Nucleus of His Kingdom - His Fighters - If you are young
and love the Lord, you should aspire to become such a "mighty man"
in God's spiritual army. We are all qualified. In order to become
such a person, however, you must pay attention to four matters utilized
by David to train those who came to him.
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Overcoming
To Bring in the Kingdom - After all of David's experiences
of retreating and escaping, he eventually returned to Ziph where
he had first sought refuge outside of Israel, but this time the
outcome was very different. This time, he received a city which
remained a part of Judah. We also should be so bold in our Christian
life.
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Establishing
the Kingdom & Bringing God Its City - We should consider
David's kingship not primarily as a time of having "arrived," but
rather more as a period of time during which he continued to mature.
It is the same for us. When we have attained to a certain measure
where we seem to be mature, we still need to mature.
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Providing
God a Dwelling and Its Builder - David had now become king,
and he had gained a city. His house had been built there out of
the finest materials. Yet he felt it was not fitting that God would
dwell in curtains while he dwelt in a house of cedar. He felt the
Lord should have the best. We should take care of God first, and
our own needs afterwards.
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David's
Wives and David's Warriors: Our Progress and Practice -
In David's eight wives we should be able to see something about
the progressive experience and process of enjoyment in the church
life. Also the record of the various mighty men provide a very good
picture of the various kinds of operations necessary for the kingdom
life to be established in the church life today. Each of these mighty
men accomplished something representing a "field" in which we may
operate in the church life.
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Ruth
- Growth Unto Maturity
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Freshness
after Failure, Famine, and Death - The Lord uses all situations.
He uses the messy situation under the judges and the famine. He
also uses our weakness. Eventually these things die, and the Lord
gets what He is after - another generation. Eventually, we find
that we need a new beginning. This new beginning takes place after
we have lost "God is my King," "mildness," and "pining and withering."
Then we discover "freshness," and this freshness further brings
in the companionship and ability to shepherd others.
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The
Path to a Real Christ - Elimelech's family eventually passed
through three levels of experience in order to produce something
for God. The first stage is "A Wonderful Church Life". The stage
is "Famine" and the third stage is "Returning to Christ Alone".
The real satisfaction is with Christ Himself. Only Christ is worthy
of our pursuit.
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Returning
to the Riches in God's House - When we come to this stage,
our heart returns to Bethlehem, no matter where we are, for that
is where the Lord is. Our heart desires the Lord and stays focused
upon Him, rather than on the blessings He might provide. Therefore,
we rise up to go to the place where we hear that He is, and we re-consecrate
ourselves to Him.
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Finding
Resurrection in the Lord's Field - This field, which represents
the church life, is filled with resurrection. The church life is
a life in resurrection. Resurrection is able to bring you through
incident after incident, case after case, until you are in the heavenlies,
above every storm. Resurrection is a power that is able to lift
you up into the heavenly realm. And this realm is actually Christ
Himself.
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Christ's
Care in the Church Life - The Lord's arrangement in your
environment should bring you through many steps of life. When you
believe in the Lord and come into the church life, many such things
begin to happen to you due to the Lord's governmental activity in
your environment. The Lord arranges everything for your profit.
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Finding
Christ under God's Arrangement - If you desire to become
mature, you must not only have a Boaz as the source of the rich
supply; you also need a Naomi who knows how to help you and guide
you in matters relating to this person. After a certain amount of
experience, we become a somewhat mature member in the church life.
Even so, our maturity must be fully realized for God's economy.
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Preparation
in the Night - Naomi realized that the next stage of growth
for Ruth was finding rest with Boaz. We should exercise in the same
way for those who are with us. In our experience there is a long
process of growth while we lie submissively at Christ's feet and
enjoy His protection. Yet such a person still does not know the
release He can render, or the full experience of oneness with Him.
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Brought
into Union with Christ - Chapter four begins with Boaz's
dealings with Ruth's nearest kinsman, the man who had the first
claim upon Ruth and her inheritance. The nearest kinsman was responsible
for marrying the dead man's wife to raise up children in the name
of the deceased. Otherwise his inheritance in the land of Israel
might be lost from his tribe. This is the purpose of this transaction.
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The Divine Mystical Realm in Colossians: Christ - The Person of
the Divine Mystical Realm
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The
Experience of Christ in Philippians
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The
Joy of Following Christ in Purity (1) - The book of Philippians
is pure, focused, and joyful. Joy is simply the normal result of
a life that is pure and focused. When our joy becomes so rich and
bountiful that it overflows, that is to rejoice. The Christian life
according to Philippians should be so joyful.
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The
Joy of Following Christ in Purity (2) - Paul was a slave
of the Lord. You are a saint in Christ Jesus. And the more you are
in Christ Jesus, the more you will be of Christ Jesus, and for Christ
Jesus. Eventually your experience will become like that of the apostle
Paul. First you are a saint in Christ Jesus, but by enjoying His
holiness you eventually become a slave of Christ Jesus.
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Enjoying
Grace and Peace in the Realm of the Gospel - Paul loved
these two words, "grace" and "peace." Grace is a matter of enjoyment
according to Christ, and peace is the issue of grace. These two
elements must be applied to us on a daily basis. Grace means that
there is a living person who appeals to you and brings you into
a realm of satisfaction. That realm, that status, is grace.
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The
Realm of the Gospel - Paul was full of joy and thankfulness
for one thing in particular: "For your fellowship unto the furtherance
of the gospel from the first day until now" Why was Paul so joyful?
Paul realized the full gospel of God is God's person, God's working,
God's operation, God's purpose, God's intention, and the totality
of God's economy. In the center of the gospel there is a king, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and with the ruling of this king there is a new
age, a new realm, a new sphere.
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The
Secret of Enjoying Grace in the Organic Body of Christ -
Paul and the Philippians found the secret to enjoying grace in the
organic Body of Christ. The saints in Philippi had the apostle Paul
in their heart, which implies not only the existence of one accord
among the saints in Philippi, but also that the apostle's person
and operation possessed their heart.
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Treasuring
Our Spiritual Riches - What you have in your heart decides
the healthiness of your Christian life. How do you know whether
you are healthy? It is determined by only one thing: what is in
your heart? Do we really have the Lord, the brothers, the church
life in our locality, or do we just possess them? If we have them,
if we echo them, that means we treasure them. That means we are
excited by them and made alive by them. It means that there are
all sorts of positive reactions within us.
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Knowing
and Echoing Our Spiritual Possessions - The saints in Philippi's
experience should also be our experience in the church life. They
had Paul not only in the way of possession, but in the way of enjoying
the apostle whom they treasured. What we know that we possess, we
also need to echo our possessions. This will keep us in a healthy
spiritual condition. |
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Caring
For People in the Inward Parts of Christ Jesus - The Lord
longs for and cares for all the local churches. They are His testimony
on the earth today. They are His expression and are therefore so
precious to the Lord. When Paul would pray to the Lord and enter
into His deepest, most intimate parts, He touched the Lord's longing.
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Loving
People in Full knowledge and All Discernment - Paul entered
into the Lord's inward parts on behalf of the Philippians and something
became his concern. He prayed that the Philippians' love would abound
in full knowledge and all discernment for the sake of the Lord and
of His interest. He knew that this would cause the Lord's interest
to advance and to be protected.
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Approving
by Testing and Being Approved by God - Only by being tested
can we be approved by the Lord. We should realize that the Lord
is trying to bring us into something marvelous, just as He did with
the apostle Paul. This is the process through which the Lord is
bringing us so that we can bear His testimony.
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Becoming
Pure by the Shining Ray of the Lord's Light - Paul desired
that the Philippians would be pure and without offense unto the
day of Christ. Purity refers to our sincerity and simplicity. Our
initial purity, which we have when we first believe in the Lord,
needs to be maintained and also needs to grow. For our purity to
grow, we need the rays of the sunlight.
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The
Tabernacle - The Pathway to Glory
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From
Glory to Glory - This is now our life. We Christians must
see this. God has called us to glory! Everything we go through is
unto glory, and the process is a process of glory. What is revealed
in the picture of the tabernacle is that our entire life is simply
one of going on from glory to glory!
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The
Experience of the Tabernacle - The Process of the Growth of the
Divine Life - The tabernacle shows us a path that traces
Christian growth. And such a path of growth, according to the various
pieces of furniture in the tabernacle, follows the path marked by
consecration, being renewed, enjoying God, experiencing God's working,
co-working with God, manifesting God, supplying others, and eventually
becoming a person exercising authority in resurrection.
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The
Experiences of the Bronze Laver - The Four Elements of Growth III
- Following consecration, we need to continually experience the
constituting work of the washing of regeneration and renewing work
of the Holy Spirit. To fully experience this, we need to be among
all the saints, as represented by the women who served at the gate
of the tabernacle. It was from their mirrors that the brass laver
was made. From such "common" saints we receive so much washing in
the church life! The more we come to know ourselves among the saints
and the washing made possible among them, the more we are made ready
to enter in to what lies beyond the veil that separates us from
the tabernacle's hidden contents.
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The
Experience of the Standing Boards - Enjoying the Life of the Surrounding
Saints - For the Lord to have His testimony, there must
be saints stand for that testimony, and the higher the better! For
this testimony, these "boards" need to stand together, joined by
the divine nature and upheld by the Lord's redemption. There is
a great need for such saints-in resurrection, involved with the
heavens, refusing any mixture, and possessing the ability to be
joined with others for the existence of the Lord's testimony on
the earth.
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The
Experience of the Entrances to the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies
- The Pathway to the Mingling and Incorporation with God
- As we are drawn into the deeper experiences of knowing Christ,
we must have the aid of that which stands at the entrance. The outer
screen represents Christ and the mature saints who are able to guide
the other saints into the deeper experiences of Christ. Then, as
we experience the further mingling represented by the Holy Place,
we will eventually be ushered via the second entrance into a realm
of incorporation with God, represented by the Holy of Holies. Again,
this entrance is upon pillars representing God-men who are experiencing
such a life themselves. The function of the great servants in the
church life is to lead us into oneness with God.
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The
Experience of the Table of the Bread of the Presence - The Supply
for the Growth of the Divine Life - After experiencing the
stations of consecration and washing, and after we enter into the
experiences of the Holy Place, we begin to experience the bountiful
supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Before we ourselves can become
bread to feed others, we must undergo the experience of baking!
What we enjoy must eventually become food for others. The more we
enjoy God, the more we are able to serve Him to others in the church
life.
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The
Experience of the Gold Lampstand - The Working and Forming of the
Divine Life - The lampstand has many significances. It represents
the Body of Christ, the individual believers, the leading saints
of the age, and the local churches. In our experience, the formation
of the lampstand, while made purely of gold, comes about by beating.
It is as the lampstand is formed that the testimony of the resurrected
Christ is among us.
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The
Experience of the Gold Incense Altar - The Heavenly, Holy Will and
Operation - The experience of the incense altar represents
our experience of the mingling and mutual dwelling of God with man,
growing eventually into a life of incorporation and co-working with
God. We have grown to where we pray for the things related to God's
economy. It is while we are in such prayer that we are ushered into
the experience of the Holy of Holies. God becomes our center, and
we simply co-work with Him.
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The
Experience of the Ark of the Testimony - The Divine Heavenly Operation
and Testimony - Arriving at the Ark of the Testimony in
the Holy of Holies is the consummation of the experience of the
Tabernacle. We find ourselves able to remain before His countenance,
carry out His economy, and live out His testimony by means of His
hidden supply and resurrection power. Our growth will eventually
cause us to arrive at the beauty of perfection and to abide in Christ.
Those who become one with Christ in such a way become the authority.
Such saints can say, "For me to live is Christ."
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Introduction
to the Two Manners of Life
- The Bible shows us from the very beginning that there are only
two possible manners of life we can choose from on this earth. These
two manners of life are portrayed by two trees in the garden of
Eden, and then by two lines of descendants from Adam and Eve.
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Cain
and Abel
- Out
of Adam's first two descendants there were two lines, the line of
Cain and the line of Abel. Cain was on the line of knowledge and
Abel was on the line of life.
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Cain
and His Descendents
- The Bible tells us that Cain and Abel were not the only descendants
of Adam and Eve. Genesis 5:4 says that later Adam begot more sons
and daughters. We continue in this message by looking at other descendents
of these two manners of life.
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A
New Beginning and the Counting of Years
- In Genesis chapter five we have a fresh new beginning. Here we
come to the line of life. The lives of those on the line of life
have value. The Bible tells us exactly how many years they lived
in all. Only the years of those who are on the line of life are
carefully counted by God.
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From
Being "Appointed" to Learning How to "Descend"
- In our initial experience we are powerful and buoyant. This is
the experience of Seth. Now the Lord wants us to realize that we
are Enosh. This is to realize that we are weak and mortal. Then
we experience Kenan and gain the spiritual riches of Christ. After
this we begin to praise God. This is to experience Mahalaleel. After
becoming Mahalaleel, God would tell us, "Please come down." This
is to experience Jared.
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A Review of Our Experiences on the Line of Life
- We have seen that at the beginning of the Bible, in God's creation,
there were two trees. These two trees represent the two possible
manners of life for mankind. Cain and Abel were on two different
"lines." Abel's line consisted of Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahaleleel,
and Jered. All of these names and matters we have covered so far
should not just be doctrines to us. They must become experiential.
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The
Need for the Truth to Become Experiential
- Concerning the truth, we may know so much, have heard so much,
and even been trained with so much. However, there is no truth which
should just end up as "truth." When truth is merely knowledge it
puffs up. Truth can only set us free if it becomes experiential.
Everything we have heard and everything we know must eventually
become our experience and our reality.
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Enoch
- Learning for Responsibility
- The son of Jared on the line of life has the same name as the
son of Cain on the line of knowledge. There is an "Enoch" on both
lines, and both of them have the same meaning, "learned." The "Enoch"
on the line of knowledge came quickly. However, the learning on
the line of life is much harder and slower to obtain.
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Seven
Days of Learning and Walking with God
- To fully learn the spiritual lessons on the line of life we need
seven generations, or seven days of learning. The real spiritual
learning comes generation after generation. The generations on the
line of life end with Noah, whose name means "rest." In creation
God rested on the seventh day, and on the line of life the seventh
generation signifies rest.
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The
Song of All Songs - The Song of Songs is the story of human
lives. The "songs" of this book are human lives. Everyone has his
own life, and each one's life is a song. Every saved person's life
is a song before the Lord. It is impossible to have a relationship
with the Lord that is without any spiritual "music." |
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The
Vineyard - Our experience will always be along these two lines:
the line of nourishing and the line of the work of the cross. As we
experience these two lines, God will be able to constitute us with
Himself. |
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A
Lily of the Valleys - Brothers and sisters, there are three
things needed for the building up of the church. First, our couch
must be green - we must be full of life. Second, our beams must be
of cedar - the humanity of the Lord Jesus must be constituted into
us. Third, our rafters must be of cypress - we must experience the
work of the cross. These three matters speak of the seeker's growth
at the end of the first stage of her pursuing. |
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The
Banqueting House - At this point, the seeker has experienced
the Lord individually and corporately. The riches of the Lord and
the church have brought her to the love of the Lord. Now she realizes
she has a banner over her. |
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The
Covert - Now we come to the second section of the Song of
Songs. In this stage, the seeker begins to have progressively higher
realizations as her knowledge and experience of the Lord advance.
The Lord has called her to walk the way of the cross in union with
Him so that she might enter into the experience of resurrection. |
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Seeking
Him Night after Night - Now the seeker has experienced the
abundance of life, she has been delivered from herself and has begun
to walk the way of the cross. She has advanced to another dimension,
for she has experienced the power of resurrection. This experience
has led her further and made her leap. She manifests the condition
of being good for the Lord's building. |
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The
Wilderness - In this message, we come to the seeker's experiences
in the third stage of her pursuing, in which she has moved well beyond
her experiences in the first and second stages. After passing through
the experiences of the first three chapters, a major change takes
place. We become more useful in the Lord's hands, and others also
recognize that something precious has been wrought into us. |
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The
Streams - If we are willing to stay in the mountain of myrrh
to experience the Lord's death and in the hill of frankincense to
experience His resurrection, He will call us to be with Him in His
ascension. In ascension the Shulammite knows that she belongs to the
Lord and the Lord belongs to her. She realizes that she exists for
the Lord's satisfaction. |
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The
Myrrh - In this message the Lord begins to lead His seeker
into another stage of experience. She needs more of the work of the
cross. Now the Lord calls His seeker to walk this unreasonable pathway,
the same path that He chose to walk. |
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The
Beloved - The Lord's call in this chapter reveals that we
must enter into the fellowship of the Lord's sufferings and death.
We need to carry our cross so that we may do our part to fill up that
which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ. This testimony is the
summation of subjective experience. |
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The
Prince's Daughter - By this time, the Lord has led the Shulammite
to the extent that she has gained a full victory. Hers is not a victory
in work, but in life. She indeed experiences mingling with the Lord
as one who dwells in His chambers and enjoys the most intimate fellowship
there. |
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The
Awaiting - In chapter seven it seems the maiden reaches the
highest peak she could possibly reach. She is altogether beautiful.
Yet to her own feeling, she is despised and despicable. Only someone
who has reached the highest peak of spiritual experience, who is in
complete union with the Lord and so satisfying to Him, experiences
this kind of feeling. |
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Back
to top |
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The
Will of God - Part 1 - Every Christian must have one fundamental
realization: God has a will. |
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The
Will of God - Part 2 - What is the motivating element behind
God's every thought and action? |
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Back
to top |
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Paul,
apostle -
From Ephesians 1:1 |
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Christ,
Jesus, through, will, God
- From Ephesians 1:1 |
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Saints,
faithful, grace, peace, Father - From Ephesians 1:1-2 |
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Blessed,
with, spiritual, heavenlies - From Ephesians 1:3 |
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Chose,
foundation, world, without blemish, love, predestinating, sonship
- From Ephesians
1:4-5 |
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From
House to House - Exegetical and Lexical Word Studies - According
to the Bible, how do Christians meet? A very important principle is
stated in the New Testament and that is from house to house, or by
households. The practice of meeting by first-century Christians, as
well as their view of the church, is presented in what follows. |
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Word
Study: The Renewing of the Mind - According to God's creation,
man has an organ of thought which is the mind by which he thinks,
knows, remembers, considers, imagines, reasons, and understands. In
view of this we present a look at the New Testament meaning of "renewing
of the mind." |
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Word
Study: Economy of God (1) - The word oikonomia is rendered
as "stewardship" and "economy" in the NT. In the LXX of the OT it
is only found twice where there is reference to the "stewardship"
of the servant Eliakim who was given the key of David. In the NT,
oikonomia (derived from oikonomeo, to manage, to be a steward) is
found nine times. The oikonomos outside the NT "denotes the house-steward,
and then by extension the managers of individual departments within
the household. |
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Word
Study - Economy of God (2) - In this issue we continue our
discussion of the Greek words oikonomia (stewardship, economy) and
oikonomos (steward). We have been considering the use of these words
in various New Testament verses. |
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Word
Study - God's Inheritance - We, the saints, are God's inheritance.
What we are by nature, however, cannot be God's inheritance. God does
not desire to inherit our nature, our flesh, our natural being. He
desires to inherit all that He has wrought into us of Himself. Therefore,
whatever God has wrought into us of Himself becomes His inheritance.
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Word
Study: The Twofoldness of Christ's Sufferings - When we speak
of the sufferings of Christ, the Scriptures speak of them from two
aspects with two goals or accomplishments. Christ suffered as our
substitute, bore our sins, and achieved redemption for us. Christ
also has suffered to produce and build up His Body. |
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Word
Study - Union and Joining - The Hebrew and Greek words that
convey the thought of union and joining, with their corresponding
numbers from Strong's Concordance and from Harris are looked at in
this study. |
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Word
Study - One, Oneness, and One Accord - The matter of oneness
and one accord with God's people is a crucial aspect of God's economy.
The Old Testament begins by presenting us with the one unique God,
"In the beginning God (Elohim)". Complementary with the one unique
God, throughout the Scriptures is the one people of God, His one unique
testimony on earth. In the New Testament it is the one Body of Christ
expressed as one church in localities throughout the earth. When the
church is one, God can carry out His economy and can be expressed
in His people. |
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Word
Study - The Old Man, the New Man -Most translators translate
the Greek for "the old man," ton palaion anthropon, as "old nature"
or "old self". There is uniform agreement to translate the Greek kainon
anthropon in Ephesians 2:15 as "new man." However, in Ephesians 4:24
and Colossians 3:10, it is variously translated as "new self" or "new
nature". Our word study looks at these two expressions in the New
Testament. |
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Word
Study - Glory (1) - The term "glory" represents a key subject
found in both the Old and New Testaments. In Genesis man was created
in the image of God that he might contain God and express God. Whenever
God is expressed, that is His glory. Man is a vessel whose destiny
is to express the glory of God. When Christ came, with His incarnation
as a man, there was the glory of God, which glory John said could
be seen. At the end of the Bible is the ultimate incorporation of
God and man, New Jerusalem, which will have "the glory of God". |
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Word
Study - Glory (2) - This is the second of a two part article
on "glory." In the Old Testament, God's glory was expressed through
visible phenomena. In the New Testament, God's glory is expressed
in a person-by the Son and by many sons. Jesus as the first God-man
was God's tabernacle. Today He is perfecting many God-men, and in
eternity, there will be a corporate tabernacle of God and glorified
man. |
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Word
Study: Baptized into Christ - A foundational New Testament
description of the believer's union with Christ is that he is in Christ.
Through faith and baptism he is transferred from the old man in Adam
into the new man in Christ. In this study we will consider the significance
of the two biblical phrases, "in Christ" and "baptized into Christ. |
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Word
Study: Mingling - The incarnation of God - when "the Word
became flesh" (John 1:14) - produced the Lord Jesus Christ. The "holy
thing which (was) born" was both the Son of God (Luke 1:35) and the
Son of Man (5:24). This new entity was a mingling of God and man,
a mingling of the divine and human natures, as typified by the meal
offering. |
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Word
Study: Incorporation - Coinherence, Interpenetration, Mutual
Indwelling - Incorporation or coinherence denotes "the mutual indwelling
or interpenetration of the three persons of the Trinity whereby one
is invariably in the other two as they are in the one....Each person
interpenetrates the others" (Richardson and Bowden, 112). In Latin,
coinherence is circumincessio, circuminsessio, and in Greek it is
perichoresis, emperichoresis. |
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Word
Study: The Life of God (1) - God in His economy created man
to be His vessel to contain His life. It was God's desire that this
life would grow in man for God's glory with His expression. At the
consummation of God's economy (Rev. 22:1-2) is a city of life, the
New Jerusalem, with a river of life (Gk. zoe) and a tree of life (Gk.
zoe). Yet almost none of the standard works of theology, has recognized
the significance in the Scriptures of life as an attribute of God
and how that life relates to man. |
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Word
Study: The Life of God (2) - Our study of the life of God
concludes with God's desire to give life, the conditions needed to
receive life, the evidences and fruits of life, life as a present
possession, and life as a future experience and reward. |
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Peter
- A Person With a Divine Heavenly Calling - When the Lord
called Peter, his status changed,his position changed, and the meaning
of his life changed. He could no longer do whatever he wanted to do,
because in God's calling, he had a promise and a commission. |
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Through
Being Appointed as an Apostle, Peter Could Co-work with God by Realizing
the Lord's Godly Operation in His Divine Sovereignty - Peter
was appointed by the Lord to be a servant of the Lord, but before
he could be sent out, he needed to know the Lord and His operation
in His mercy and sovereignty, and be constituted by His divine attributes
in order to express Him through human virtues. |
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The
Divine Romance - In the beginning of the Bible there was God,
who created the universe. At the end of the Bible there is a couple,
Christ and His Bride. Thus the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation
is a divine romance. A "romance" implies a continual transaction -
a cycle of action and reaction. In a romance, each action brings in
a reaction, which brings in a further action, which brings in a further
reaction. This process continues throughout the romance. |
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The
Divine Courtship - With every romance there must be a courtship.
In the divine romance God Himself is courting us. In other words He
is dating us. His desire is that we would become His counterpart,
His beloved Bride. For this He needs to do three things. He must choose
us, predestinate us, and then attract us by unveiling Himself to us.
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The
Heavenly Provision for the Divine Courtship - God's first
provision for us in the divine courtship is our wonderful heavenly
origin. We are descendants of Abraham, the father of height. God allows
us to live under Abimelech, the father of kings, so that we can be
brought to maturity. |
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The
Well of Beer-lahai-roi and the Protection of our Parents -
First God gives us His divine life as our source, and then He gives
us a continuous life supply by causing us to dwell by Beer-lahai-roi.
With this life supply we have the very God who is beholding us. The
third provision is our physical parents. Our parents are a good protection
for us from the Lord. |
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The
Opportunities for Development - The fourth heavenly provision
for the divine courtship is that the Lord gives us many opportunities
for our development. Eventually how spiritual we can become, and how
much we can mature, is based on whether we know how to develop ourselves. |
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Enlargement through God's Arranged Environment
- From Beer-lahai-roi there were three possible directions for Isaac
and Rebekah to go: 1) Egypt, 2) the good land, and 3) Gerar. During
a famine Isaac wanted to go to Egypt, but the Lord intervened and
told him to go to Gerar (which was to follow his father Abraham's
footsteps). Abimelech (the "father of kings") was the king in Gerar.
This environment at Gerar was for the sake of Isaac's enlargement.
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The
Portrait of the Divine Stream (1) - The Bible makes it clear
that God is Spirit (John 4:24), and as such He is indeed a flow. From
Genesis to Revelation God is represented in the Bible as a flowing
river. Because this is the case, we should study the Bible in order
to truly understand the significance and application of this reality.
In this message we will cover what constitutes and substantiates the
divine stream, or flow, according to the Bible. |
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The
Portrait of the Divine Stream (2) - The divine flow is for
delivering us from everything other than Christ. When the flow carries
us, the world is gone. If the flow is truly among us, saint after
saint in church after church will be liberated from any thought of
a worldly future, whether material or religious. |
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The
Operation of the Divine Stream in Ezekiel 47 (1) - In Ezekiel
47:1-12 we will see how this divine stream actually operates. For
a concise view of the Lord's operation as the divine river, this short
section of the Bible is crucial. This section reveals the process
of God's operation, the frustrations to this operation, and the final
result of this divine operation. In Ezekiel the river flows out of
God's house, which typifies the local church. |
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The
Operation of the Divine Stream in Ezekiel 47 (2) - In Ezekiel
47:1-12 we have a complete picture of the church life as the place
where the divine stream flows. According to what is portrayed here,
the primary thing a local church should produce is a living stream.
And the brothers who are "trees" have two functions: to help the saints
produce this stream, and to protect it. |
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Christ
- The Reality of the Divine Stream - In Genesis 2 and in Ezekiel
47 we have seen two portraits of this divine stream. We have seen
that this flow, or divine stream, is a person, so we must never confuse
it with something of a movement. Christ, the embodiment of the Triune
God, is the reality of the divine stream. This wonderful person reaches
us as a flow. This stream has Christ as its source and content, and
this stream produces nothing other than Christ. |
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The
One Unique God as the God of Oneness and His One Economy -
To be one, and to have oneness, is a very profound matter. Oneness
is so high, beyond our human understanding or concept. We may not
have realized how fine, high, and precise it is to have one accord
and oneness. It is so because it is of God Himself. |
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The
One Unique God as the God of Oneness and His One Economy (outline) |
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The
Enlargement of the One Unique God as the God of Oneness and His One
Testimony - The Triune God operates together as the God of
oneness. There are one essence, one element, one life, one nature,
one existence, one living, one operation, one purpose, and one substance
culminating in one universal enlargement. This enlargement is simply
Christ's human life being expressed through so many saints who have
been regenerated and who intrinsically have the capacity to live out
this oneness. |
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The
Enlargement of the One Unique God as the God of Oneness and His One
Testimony (outline) |
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The
Constitution of the Unique Divine Life, and Living the Local Church
Life in One Accord with the One Sacrifice - The church life
is a life of oneness, and the living of the church life is a living
of one accord. We must see that one accord comes from one sacrifice.
The local church life in one accord also comes from the organic salvation
experienced by the saints in the local church. |
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The
Constitution of the Unique Divine Life, and Living the Local Church
Life in One Accord with the One Sacrifice (outline) |
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The
Keeping of the Mystical Oneness according to the Book of Ephesians
and the One Example of the Apostle Paul - Paul presents the
high revelation of oneness in his wonderful epistle to the Ephesians,
and yet on the other, he emphasizes its outworking in such a place
as the church in Corinth. Also, in the apostle Paul we see someone
who not only taught oneness, but also practiced it. |
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The
Keeping of the Mystical Oneness according to the Book of Ephesians
and the One Example of the Apostle Paul (outline) |
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The
Living Out of the Oneness as Luminaries through the One Living, One
Pursuing, and One Fellowship - Among all of Paul's epistles,
only the book of Philippians reveals such a sweet relationship between
an apostle and a local church. This is why Philippians is included
in our sharing on the living out of the oneness. As we have seen,
the oneness is revealed in Ephesians, but the practical living out
of this oneness is most clearly seen in Philippians. |
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The
Living Out of the Oneness as Luminaries through the One Living, One
Pursuing, and One Fellowship (outline) |
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Living
Out the Oneness by Holding the Head as the Rich Supply - In
Colossians we are told that Christ must be everything. When we have
Christ, enjoy Christ, possess Christ, experience Christ, and hold
to Christ as the Head, the genuine oneness spontaneously issues forth.
With Christ there is nothing but oneness. Oneness comes from Christ. |
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Living
Out the Reality of the Body by Keeping the Oneness of the Spirit
- What is the difference between the oneness of the Body and the oneness
of the Spirit? The phrase, "keep the oneness of the Body," is not
found in the Bible, but that does not mean that this oneness is not
a fact (see 1 Cor. 10:17; 12:12, 20; etc.). In 1 Peter 5:5, both the
oneness of the Spirit and the oneness of the Body are evident. The
saints share the same Spirit, and thus there is something of a practical
oneness, something of care, of affection, and mutual accommodation
and understanding, which is the spontaneous issue of the organic fact
of the oneness of the Spirit. |
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The
Living and Exercise of God-Men for the Accomplishment of the Goal
of God's Economy to Gain His Testimony in the Church |
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Gaining
His Testimony through the Church As the Goal of God's Economy
- When we talk about God's economy, we should be in the reality of
it. It is like talking about Jesus - if we have received Him, we talk
about Him differently than a nominal Christian does. In the same way,
when we talk about God's economy, we must not be in it "nominally,"
but rather touching its reality. (Outline
for Message 1) |
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The
God-Man Living Required in the Church Life in Order to Arrive at the
Goal of God's Economy - Jesus has divinity, and He also possesses
humanity. He has all the divine attributes as well as all the human
virtues. He is the complete God and the perfect man. He was the first
God-Man, and He became the prototype of all God-men, who are the reproductions
of Christ Himself. If in your experience the divine attributes are
expressed in the human virtues, you are a God-man. (Outline
for Message 2) |
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The
God-Man Exercise Required in the Church Life in Order to Arrive at
the Goal of God's Economy - The exercise of a proper steward
involves being a teacher, and to be a proper teacher, you need to
exercise as a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. Such a teacher is
a true workman who is able to cut straight the word of the truth.
Therefore, a workman is a teacher, and a teacher is a workman. (Outline
for Message 3) |
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Jacob
- A Life With Heavenly Provisions (1) The first provision
God has given us is the human spirit. God, who is Spirit, gave us
a human spirit. The second provision God has given us is a very good
father, Christ. Christ, as typified by Isaac, can be treated unfairly,
yet He never murmurs or gets upset. Now we come to the third provision:
a well called Beer-lahai-roi (Gen. 25:11). This is where Isaac dwelt
and where Jacob was born. Beer-lahai-roi means "the well of the living
One who upholds me." This is Christ as a well of living water for
us to enjoy. |
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Jacob
- A Life With Heavenly Provisions (2) - God has given several
provisions for us to live a romantic life. In this message we will
cover four of them: Christ, the church, the Spirit, and our spirit.
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