Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 42 ... - Church in Manila

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Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and all of the other disciples…needed to know the way to follow Him. Therefore, what i
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 42 THE PATHWAY TO GLORY (1) Bible Verses: Matthew 13:54 And He came into His own country and taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, Where did this man get this wisdom and these works of power? 13:55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 13:57 And they were stumbled because of Him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house. 13:58 And He did not do many works of power there because of their unbelief. 14:13 And when Jesus heard this, He withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place privately. And when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. [THE WAY TO FOLLOW THE KING] [Matthew is a book on the kingdom of the heavens.] In chapter thirteen the King went into a boat on the sea. This signifies that He went into the church. In the church He unveiled the mystery of God’s kingdom. In other words, He revealed the mystery of the church, which is the life-pulse, the reality, of the kingdom. Because the mystery of the kingdom was delivered in parables, only those who loved Him, followed Him, and were one with Him could understand it. After we have seen the unveiling of the Lord Himself and the unveiling of the mystery of the kingdom of God, we as His followers need to know the way to follow Him. Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and all of the other disciples…needed to know the way to follow Him. Therefore, what is revealed beginning at the end of chapter thirteen is the pathway to follow this rejected King. In his Gospel, Matthew presents the doctrine concerning the heavenly King and His genealogy, birth, youth, recommendation, anointing, testing, ministry, unveiling of Himself, and His unveiling of the mystery of the kingdom. Therefore, the section from the end of chapter thirteen to the middle of chapter seventeen, a large section in this doctrinal book, gives us a clear map of the pathway to follow the rejected King. If we are honest and faithful to Him, we must be on this way following the Christ who has been rejected by this age. Where are you today? The first thing we face on this pathway is rejection. Because Christ is the rejected One, we must be rejected also. We have no choice. Do not expect to be welcomed, for no one will welcome you until the glory comes. Instead, you must be willing to be rejected. In 13:53—14:13 we see the increase of rejection. Many of us have experienced some measure of rejection by those who opposed our coming into the church. But I need to tell you that this rejection will not decrease; rather, it will increase. There will be rejection upon rejection. Be prepared for this. [THE VEILS OF RELIGION AND NATURAL KNOWLEDGE] The heavenly King was rejected firstly by the Jewish religionists. The religious leaders rejected Christ to the uttermost because they were fully occupied, possessed, and veiled by their religion. Because religion was everything to them, they could not recognize this heavenly King. . After the Lord had been rejected in Jerusalem, the religious center, He turned to a geographical area that was not so religious—Galilee, the place where He was born and raised. However, He was not even welcomed in Galilee. Although the Galileans did not oppose Him, they rejected Him because of their natural knowledge. When they saw Him and heard Him speak, they said, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” (13:55-56). They saw the wonders, the miracles, He did, but they were preoccupied by their natural concepts. The religious people were preoccupied by their religion and by their religious concepts, and the Galileans were preoccupied by their natural knowledge.

If we would know Christ and follow Him, we need to realize that religion and natural knowledge are both veils. [T]he Lord Jesus, a carpenter’s son, had no theological training Himself. Brother Nee, the one who helped me so much, much more than anyone else, had no theological training either. Religion and natural knowledge are two great obstacles frustrating people from recognizing who Christ is. If you follow religion, you will remain in Jerusalem, and if you follow your natural knowledge, you will be in Galilee. But Christ neither stays in Jerusalem nor remains in Galilee. [THE KING DEPARTING TO THE DESERT] He departs to the desert. In the desert there is no religion, culture, or theological training. In Jerusalem there is religion and in Galilee there is natural knowledge, but in the desert there is the presence of Christ. Oh, in the desert we have Christ! This is our boast and enjoyment. In 14:1-13 we see the rejection by the heathen tetrarch. Politics is always alongside religion and culture. According to Matthew’s presentation, after the rejection by religion and natural knowledge, there is the rejection by politics. Firstly, the rejection by religion reached its climax. Following this came the rejection due to natural knowledge. The rejection by politics coincided with the rejection by religion and natural knowledge. The religionists, those with natural knowledge, and the politicians did not hold a conference for the purpose of rejecting the Lord Jesus. Nevertheless, their rejection of Him coincided. Religion, natural knowledge, and politics all came together in the rejection of Christ. Our eyes need to be opened to see that in religion there is no welcome to our heavenly King. Neither is there a place for Him in natural knowledge nor in today’s rotten, dark politics. In this generation there is no place for the heavenly King. Religion, culture, and politics are all one in rejecting the heavenly King. Thus far, we have seen the first two stations on the pathway to glory. The first station is the rejection by natural knowledge, and the second is the rejection by politics. The rejection both by culture and by politics compelled the heavenly King to retreat. The remainder of 14:13 says, “And when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.” In spite of the rejection of all peoples, there was still a good number who followed the heavenly King.

Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm

Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 43 THE PATHWAY TO GLORY (2) Bible Verses: Matthew 14:15 Now when evening fell, the disciples came to Him, saying, This place is deserted and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves. 14:16 But Jesus said to them, They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat. 14:17 And they said to Him, We do not have anything here except five loaves and two fish. 14:19 And after commanding the crowds to recline on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. [THE PRINCIPLE OF LAW VERSUS THE PRINCIPLE OF GRACE] Many times after we have experienced rejection and have passed through it, we have been happy and released. I believe that those who followed the heavenly King to the desert were enjoying a happy, pleasant time. They might have been so happy that they even forgot about eating. Verse 15 says, “Now when evening was come, the disciples came to Him, saying, This place is a desert, and the hour has already passed; therefore send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Peter might have taken the lead to remind Jesus that they were in the desert, that the hour was late, and that the crowds needed something to eat. The disciples seemed to be saying, “Lord, You see now that it is evening. Don’t keep the crowd here. Send them away.” Was not this a good idea that proceeded out of a good heart? The disciples asked the Lord to send the crowds away that they might go and buy food for themselves. But the Lord told the disciples to give the crowds something to eat. Their concept was to ask people to do something; this was the principle of the law. But the Lord’s concept is to give people something to enjoy; this is the principle of grace. What the disciples proposed was wholly based upon the principle of the law. The Lord Jesus stopped the disciples by saying, “You give them something to eat.” The Lord seemed to be saying, “Do not ask the crowd to do something in order to get something. That is law. You should give them something to eat. This is grace. I’m not here as Moses telling people to do something in order to get something. I am Jesus Christ. I came with grace. I always give people something. The law came through Moses, but grace came with Me. [W]e must learn to get away from the regulations and commandments of the law. Instead, we must learn to know grace, to exercise grace, and to give to others according to the principle of grace. [OFFERING THE FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISHES TO THE LORD] When the Lord Jesus told them to give the crowd something to eat, the disciples said, “We have nothing here except five loaves and two fishes” (v. 17). When you are about to exercise grace, you will see that you have nothing. If you simply issue commandments to others, you will not realize how poor you are. However, when we are told by the Lord to exercise grace, we shall say, “When I am under the law, I am blind and don’t know myself. Under the law, my poverty is not exposed. But now the Lord Jesus, speaking a word of grace, has told me to give them something to eat. This gracious word exposes my poverty. Immediately, I see that I have nothing. I have only a commanding mouth. I can give commands, I can instruct, and I can teach, but I have nothing to give.” The law does not expose us that much. But whenever we are about to exercise grace, our poverty is exposed. One who is under grace will always say, “Lord, I have nothing to give. There is a great need, but I cannot meet it. I realize that today is the day of grace, not the day of the law. Nevertheless, I have nothing to give. Grace exposes me.”

Speaking of the loaves and fishes mentioned in verse 17, the Lord said in verse 18, “Bring them to Me.” Whatever we have of the Lord we need to bring to the Lord that it might become a great blessing to many others. . The Lord needs our consecration. If what we have is kept in our possession, it will be nothing. But if it passes out of our hands into the Lord’s hands, it will become a great blessing. Consecrate yourself to the Lord. Offer what you have to Him. Then the Lord will have a way… No matter how little we have, we need to offer it to Him. If we put what we have into His hands, it will become a great blessing. [W]hatever we bring to the Lord must be broken for it to become a blessing to others. The Lord will break whatever is placed into His hands. If we are not broken, our consecration does not mean anything, and it is not effectual. Our consecration only works by our being broken by the Lord. After the Lord broke the loaves, He gave them to the disciples. The loaves were from the disciples, and they brought them to the Lord. After being blessed and broken by the Lord, they were given back to the disciples for distribution to the crowds, to whom the loaves became a great satisfaction. . This broken bread became the satisfaction to all the hungry people, and there was great blessing. The principle is the same today. What we offer to the Lord may be very little; but the blessing will be great, and the overflow, the surplus, will be greater than what we offered. What we offer to the Lord cannot be exhausted. Rather, it will be used by the Lord to bless others abundantly, even with a surplus, to testify that this is the Lord’s marvelous doing. [THE SUFFICIENT LIFE SUPLLY FROM CHRIST] In following the rejected King, we must pass through many kinds of rejections. After these rejections, we shall be in want and have certain needs. But do not worry about your needs or be anxious concerning them, for the Lord takes care of them, even at the end of the day in a desert place. The Lord has a way to meet your need. Simply offer what you are and what you have into His hand, let Him break the offering, and let the broken offering feed the hungry ones. If you do this, you will enjoy satisfaction, and there will be a surplus remaining. What the rejected King did in 14:14-21 was not merely a miracle to feed people. The miracle here indicates that as the rejected King, Christ has the adequate, sufficient, rich life supply for His followers. He not only takes care of our physical and material needs; He also affords the life supply to satisfy our hunger. Many of us can testify that after passing through rejection, we came into a situation where we had a shortage. Nevertheless, the Lord took care of us, and we did not lack anything. Eventually, we did not care about the material supply, but about the life supply to satisfy our spiritual hunger. As we follow the rejected King on the pathway to glory, we can testify that we are enjoying the life supply. Moreover, we are feeding others. And after such an enjoyment, there are still twelve baskets full of life supply. Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm

Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 44 THE PATHWAY TO GLORY (3) Bible Verses: Matthew 14:28 And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. 14:29 And He said, Come. And Peter, coming down from the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 14:30 But seeing the strong wind, he became frightened; and as he began to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me! 14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt? 14:32 And when they got up into the boat, the wind ceased. 14:36 And they begged Him that they might only touch the fringe of His garment. And as many as touched were completely healed. [A PROTRAIT OF TODAY’S SITUATION] [T]he disciples participated in the enjoyment of the Lord’s supply. The lack of necessities had issued in a very pleasant experience. The disciples were enjoying the Lord’s supply, and they were happy. [Then] the Lord compelled the disciples to leave Him. However, He did not go with them. He went up into the mountain to pray. This is a portrait of today’s situation. The Lord has gone to the mountain, to the heavens. However, He has charged His church to go ahead on the sea, where there often are contrary winds and storms. Today the Lord Jesus is on a mountain, that is, in the heavens (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25), and the church is on the sea. Day by day we face the contrary winds. The fact that the Lord is in the heavens praying for us is a source of comfort and encouragement to us. We do not care how strong the contrary winds are, for we know that the Lord is on the mountain praying for us. The storm is not under the control of the opposition; it is under the Lord’s feet. [LEARNING TO WALK BY FAITH] What a marvelous picture this is of the high mountain, the troubling waves and contrary winds, and the little boat on the sea! The winds and the waves all work together for our good. Verse 25 says that the Lord came to His disciples, walking on the sea. While His disciples were distressed by the waves, the Lord walked on them. Thinking that the Lord was a phantom, the disciples cried out for fear (v. 26). “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Have courage; It is I; do not fear” (v. 27). Verse 28 says, “And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the waters.” When the Lord said, “Come,” Peter stepped out of the boat, “walked on the waters and came toward Jesus” (v. 29). Faith is our action upon the word of the Lord. To have faith does not mean that we are able to do things; neither does it mean that we make up our mind to go in a certain direction. Faith simply means that, although we may be very weak, we dare to act upon the Lord’s word. Verse 30 says of Peter: “But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me!” Peter came down from the boat and walked on the waves by faith in the Lord’s word (v. 29); however, when he saw the strong wind, his faith vanished. He should have walked only by faith in the Lord’s word, not by the sight of the circumstances (2 Cor. 5:7). When Peter cried out for help, “Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (v. 31). Since the Lord said to Peter, “Come” (v. 29), Peter should have stood on that word and not doubted. Hence, the Lord rebuked him. Faith comes from the Lord’s word and stands on the Lord’s word. As long as we have the Lord’s word, we should simply believe in His word and not doubt.

Do not be troubled by any storms, for we are in the boat, the Lord’s church. Even if we cannot see the Lord or feel that He is with us, we may be assured that He is on the mountain interceding for us. Perhaps He is even on the way to the boat. Whether He is on the mountain interceding or on the waves walking toward us, we should not be disturbed. At times we may not only have peace inwardly, but even receive a word from Him to walk on the waves. [THE POWER OF HEALING] After Jesus and the disciples came to Gennesaret, the people of that place brought to the Lord all who were ill. Verse 36 says, “And they besought Him that they might only touch the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched were made thoroughly well” (v. 36). The healing power went out, not from the inner being of Christ, but from the fringe of His garment. The Lord’s garment signifies Christ’s righteous deeds, and the fringe signifies the heavenly ruling (Num. 15:38-39). Out of Christ’s heavenly-ruled deeds is the virtue that becomes the healing power. According to Numbers 15, the fringe of the garment signifies the virtue of God’s people who walk according to His regulations. The fringe was made with a blue ribbon. This revealed that their daily walk was regulated by God’s heavenly rule as indicated by the color blue, a heavenly color. When Jesus was on earth as a man, He walked in this way. His daily walk was regulated by God’s heavenly commandments. Therefore, there was with Him a virtue that could flow out to heal others. The healing that takes place in the church life does not mainly issue from the inner being of the Lord Jesus. Rather, it primarily issues from the virtue of the Lord’s human life. In the church life we experience the Lord’s presence with us on the sea in the midst of the contrary winds. His presence prepares the way for His virtue to flow out to reach the sick people and to heal them. This type of healing is different from the miraculous healing by divine power. The garment of Jesus does not signify His divinity. Rather, it signifies the righteous deeds of His humanity. His humanity bore the mark of the blue ribbon, of being regulated by the heavenly ruling. This produced a virtue that was capable of healing the sick. This kind of virtue can be expressed only through the proper church life where Jesus is present. [W] hen we have the proper church life with the Lord’s presence today, there is among us the uplifted humanity of Jesus. This uplifted humanity has the virtue signified by the fringe of Christ’s garment. If we, the church people, have the proper church life and live by Christ, we shall live out His uplifted humanity. In this kind of living there will be a virtue with the power to heal those around us. In typology, the land visited by the Lord after the boat came to shore was a figure of the millennium. In the millennium there will be a great deal of healing. Nevertheless, the healing to be found in the millennium should be experienced today. The church people should have a foretaste of the millennium. We must live out the uplifted humanity of Jesus to have the virtue that can heal those surrounding us. For others to be healed means that their corrupted character is changed. Those around the church life are all in darkness and corruption. But if the church people live out the uplifted humanity of Christ, this will cause a healing power to flow into them. Even other Christians will be healed.

Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm