still leaven within you, you will be under a veil, and your eyes will not be able to see Christ and the church. To see C
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 47 THE PATHWAY TO GLORY (6) Bible Verses: Matthew 16:6 And Jesus said to them, Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 16:13 Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of Man is? 16:14 And they said, Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 16:15 He said to them, But you, who do you say that I am? 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 16:17 And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens. 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. [BEING WARY OF THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES] As we have seen, chapter fifteen deals with the matter of eating. From 15:1 through 16:12, Matthew’s record is very much concerned with eating. Eating unclean things may defile us (15:1-20). What we need is not the outward washing, but the inward eating. Eating is the way to partake of Christ (15:21-28), and eating causes Gentile dogs to become children of God, even proper men. By eating we feed on the unlimited and inexhaustibly rich supply of Christ (15:32-39). Matthew 15 concludes with the record of corporate eating. However, we must beware of eating leaven (16:5-12), especially the religious leaven hidden within religious people, such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees. In Matthew 16 Christ was present as bread, but the religious ones had hidden, damaging leaven. In the subtlety of religion, leaven tries to creep into the bread. In chapter sixteen the Lord warned His disciples and seemed to be saying to them, “Take care regarding your eating. It is right to eat Me, but you must beware of religious leaven.” By the end of chapter fifteen, the disciples were helped to realize that the Lord Jesus had come to be bread to the children of God. Firstly, the heathen were dirty dogs, but after eating Christ they had been regenerated and caused to become children of God, proper men to enjoy Christ in a corporate way. When all this was made clear to the disciples, they must have been happy. However, then the Lord seemed to say, “It is good to eat Me and to enjoy the corporate eating. But there are religious people who in the name of God, under the cloak of worshipping God, and presumably for the purpose of glorifying God, will bring in leaven. They will be utilized by the enemy to secretly bring in some damaging and corrupting thing. You must beware of this.” Christ is the bread of heaven sent by God and from God. Leaven, however, is something sent by Satan and from Satan. Thus, God sent bread, and God’s enemy sent leaven. God is endeavoring to put Christ into His people, and the enemy is working to put in leaven as God’s children are taking in Christ. Take the example of Christmas. The birth of Christ and the incarnation of Christ are the fine flour as food to us. But Christmas is leaven. The birth of Christ is pure. How pure it is that God has been incarnated! But consider how defiled and corrupt is the practice of Christmas today. There are even such things as Christmas dancing parties. What leaven there is in this matter of Christmas! Christmas is so full of leaven that it is difficult to find any fine flour at all. We may apply this principle to nearly everything in today’s Christendom. For example, there is nothing wrong with being a servant of God. But why should people use the title Reverend? To call yourself
Reverend is to bring in leaven. It is also leaven to use denominational names, such as Lutheran and Baptist. All these titles are leaven. Furthermore, it is pure to sing praise to the Lord, but to have a soloist is to add leaven. Although we enjoy the corporate eating of Jesus, we need to beware of hidden, religious leaven. Even some of the dear saints in the Lord’s recovery may wonder what is wrong with having a soloist in the meeting. Oh, how we must beware of every kind of leaven! It is not easy to discern that leaven is hidden in the bread. [RECEIVING THE REVELATION CONCERNING CHRIST AND THE CHURCH] Verse 13 says that the Lord Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi with His disciples and there asked them, “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” It seems that this is not related to the matter of leaven. Caesarea Philippi is in the northern part of the Holy Land, close to the border, at the foot of Mount Hermon, on which the Lord was transfigured (17:1-2). It was far from the holy city with the holy temple, where the atmosphere of the old Jewish religion filled every man’s thought, leaving no room for Christ, the new King. The Lord brought His disciples purposely to such a place with a clear atmosphere that their thought might be released from the effects of the religious surroundings in the holy city and holy temple, and that He might reveal to them something new concerning Himself and the church. In order to be clear about Christ and the church, you need to eliminate all leaven. You not only need to get away from the religious center, from the holy city with the holy temple, with the stuffy, foul, atmosphere filled with religious concepts, but you also need to be purged of the religious leaven. If there is still leaven within you, you will be under a veil, and your eyes will not be able to see Christ and the church. To see Christ and the church you need to get away from the religious center and all the so-called holy things, places, and persons, and you need to eliminate every kind of leaven. Although certain Christians have a heart for God, they still cannot see the church. Neither can they see Christ in a pure and genuine way because they are saturated with religious leaven. Many of us have been leavened from the time we were born. Throughout our childhood we were constantly under the influence of leaven. Although you knew nothing of Christ, you were familiar with Santa Claus, Christmas stockings, and trees decorated with colored lights. Your thought and feeling were completely leavened. To you, the church was a bungalow with a high tower and bell. This shows that unconsciously and subconsciously you were leavened. Moreover, the more you were educated and trained in school, the more the leaven saturated your being. Therefore, we need to leave the religious center and go far to the north, to the region of Caesarea Philippi, where the sky is clear. Also, we need to say to the Lord inwardly, “Lord Jesus, purify me of every kind of leaven. I don’t want there to be fog without or mist within. I want to be a clear person under a clear sky.”
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 48 THE PATHWAY TO GLORY (7) Bible Verses: Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. 16:22 And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You! 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men. 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 16:25 For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it. [THE NEED TO TAKE THE WAY OF THE CROSS] In this message we come to the last station of the pathway to glory: the way of the cross. Only when people have learned how to eat Christ and to beware of religious leaven and are under a clear sky, can the revelation of Christ and the church be given. Many of us can testify that before we came to such a place, the revelation of Christ and the church did not come. It comes only in Caesarea Philippi. We feed on Christ not only as the crumbs, but also in a corporate way as the rich, unlimited, inexhaustible supply of life. Only then can we see the revelation of Christ and the church. In order to experience Christ and to have the church built upon Christ, we need to take the way of the cross. Christ was the Pioneer, the Forerunner, in taking the way of the cross. This is the unique way for Christ to be released, and it is also the unique way for the church to be built with Christ and upon Christ. In verse 21 the Lord first revealed to His disciples His crucifixion and resurrection. Before this time, He had not mentioned anything about these things. Following the revelation of Christ and the church, the Lord Jesus revealed to His enlightened disciples His crucifixion and resurrection. This is very meaningful. After we see Christ and the church, we must be prepared to take the way of the cross. [SATAN’S FRUSTRATION THROUGH PETER’S NATURAL CONCEPT] You may be wondering what the way of the cross is. To take the way of the cross is not to reserve anything of the self. No matter how good, right, or profitable you may be, you need to be crucified. For the enjoyment of Christ and for the building of the church, we must be crucified. Nothing of our being should be reserved. In verse 21 the Lord Jesus spoke both of His crucifixion and His resurrection. The disciples, however, picked up the matter of crucifixion, but neglected the matter of resurrection. The disciples heard that the Lord was to be killed, but it seems that they did not hear that He would be resurrected. Nevertheless, the Lord did say that He would be raised on the third day. Verse 22 says, “And Peter, taking Him to him, began to rebuke Him, saying, God be merciful to You, Lord; this shall by no means happen to You!” Peter was bold and had a good heart toward the Lord. Here Peter was bold enough to rebuke the Lord. As Peter was rebuking the Lord, his expression might have been that of Satan. Peter’s words—“God be merciful to You, Lord”—sound very nice, but they were actually a rebuke. In verse 23 we see the Lord’s response: “But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”
Beware of your opinion, for it is not a positive thing. Natural opinions, concepts, ideas, and thoughts are negative things, for they are the expression of the self. The soul is embodied in the self and lived out through the self, and the self is expressed in opinions. When the self is expressed through the mind as opinion, that is Satan. I have learned to be afraid of my opinions. During the years, I have been enlightened to see that the natural opinion or concept is the incarnation of Satan. If this were not so, how could the Lord Jesus have rebuked Peter and called him Satan? The first time I read this in the Bible, I was shocked. In verse 23 Peter and Satan had become one in Peter’s selfish opinion. Peter’s opinion was Satan. [TERMINATION AND RESURRECTION] To take the way of the cross to enter into glory requires that we not use our mind in a natural way. We must deny the self, bear the cross, and follow Christ. As the Lord Jesus was bearing the cross, He was constantly under the killing, not under suffering. It is a wrong concept to associate the cross merely with suffering. The Lord Jesus began to bear the cross immediately after His baptism. Baptism means that a person is put into death, terminated, and buried. From the moment of His baptism, the Lord Jesus was constantly putting Himself under the cross and keeping Himself there. He was a person who was constantly being put to death. With Him, the bearing came first and the killing followed. With us it is just the opposite, for we are first crucified with Him and then we bear the cross. The cross of Christ is the terminating death, and we must stay in the place of this termination. To remain there is to bear the cross. I am bearing the cross, for I keep myself under Christ’s termination. Therefore, because I have been terminated, I have no idea, no concept, no opinion. By the Lord’s grace, I wish to remain in the place of termination for my whole life. Resurrection follows termination. When we keep ourselves under Christ’s termination, spontaneously there will be a reaction in our spirit. This reaction is resurrection. Resurrection is what is needed for the building up of the church. To experience termination and resurrection is the way to enjoy Christ and to build up the church. 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 49 THE MINIATURE OF THE MANIFESTATION OF THE KINGDOM Bible Verses: Matthew 17:1 And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain privately. 17:2 And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as the light. 17:3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him. 17:4 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You are willing, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah. 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him! CHRIST TRANSFIGURED ON A HIGH MOUNTAIN [Matthew 17:2] says, “And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the light.” Not many Christians realize that Christ’s transfiguration was His coming in His kingdom. In the past we pointed out that the Lord’s coming will not take place suddenly; rather, it will come gradually. In a sense, the Lord will come back from heaven; but in another sense, He will come out of us. When He fully lives Himself out of us, that will be the time of His coming. According to Matthew 17:1 with 16:28, His coming was His transfiguration, and His transfiguration was His glorification. When He was transfigured, He was glorified. Now we must see what it means to be glorified. When Christ, who is God, became a man, His divinity was incarnated in His humanity. He was a unique person, one possessing both divinity and humanity. His divinity was concealed within His humanity. Outwardly, He was a man, but inwardly He was the very God. God was hidden, contained, concealed, within this man. Glory is God manifested, God expressed. It is nothing other than God Himself manifested and seen by man. The God hidden within the humanity of Jesus was the very glory. Thus, the glorious divine element was concealed within the human element of Jesus. As He walked on earth, no one could see His glorious divinity. Many saw the miracles and realized that He was someone extraordinary, but prior to His transfiguration no one had ever seen the glory concealed within Him. Then one day He brought three of His most intimate disciples to a high mountain, and was there transfigured before them. For the Lord Jesus to be transfigured meant that His humanity was saturated and permeated with His divinity. We may say that His humanity was soaked with divinity. This transfiguration, which was His glorification, was equal to His coming in His kingdom. This indicates that Christ’s coming in His kingdom is linked with His transfiguration. Where His transfiguration is, there the coming of the kingdom is also. The coming of the kingdom is the Lord’s glorification, His transfiguration; and His glorification is the saturation of His humanity by His divinity. This is the meaning of transfiguration. Because the Lord has been transfigured, He is now in glory. [NO ONE EXCEPT CHRIST ALONE] [Verses 3-4 say, “And behold, Moses and Elijah were seen by them, conversing with Him. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You are willing, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”] In his excitement Peter made the absurd proposal that he make three tabernacles, one for the Lord, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. The effect of Peter’s absurd proposal was to put Moses and Elijah on the same level with Christ, which means to make the law and the prophets, represented by Moses and Elijah, equal to Christ. This was absolutely against God’s economy. In God’s economy the law and the prophets were only a testimony to Christ; they should not be put on the same level with Him.
Verse 5 says, “While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I delight; hear Him!” Peter proposed to rank Moses and Elijah, that is, the law and the prophets, with Christ, but God took Moses and Elijah away, leaving no one except Jesus Himself alone. No one except Jesus Himself alone should remain in the New Testament. Jesus is today’s Moses, imparting the law of life into His believers. He is also today’s Elijah, speaking for God and speaking forth God within His believers. This is God’s New Testament economy. God took Moses and Elijah away because He would not tolerate seeing His children rank anyone on the same level as His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, when the disciples saw the Lord Jesus, they saw no one except Him alone. This was a lesson to them. In the kingdom God will not allow the law or the prophets to be held equal to Christ. Since the kingdom has come, there should be nothing but Christ. In God’s economy today Christ is the living lawgiver, the One who has imparted Himself into our being as the Giver of the law of life. Thus, Christ is our real Moses, who was a type, a shadow of Christ. The law Moses gave was not the real law; rather, it was the law of dead letters. The real law is the law of life, which only Christ can give us. Because He has given us the law of life, He is the real lawgiver. Furthermore, in God’s economy Christ is the real prophet. Elijah also was a type, a shadow, of Christ, who is the true prophet (Acts 3:22). Christ is within us not only to impart the law of life into our being, but also to speak for God. Christ speaks forth God. Because we have Christ as the real Moses and the real Elijah, we do not need any other Moses or Elijah in God’s New Testament economy. [HUMANITY BEING GLORIFIED] In Christ’s transfiguration, His humanity was glorified; it was brought into God’s glory. Before that time, God was in Him, but His humanity was not in God’s glory. In His transfiguration His humanity was thoroughly saturated with His glorious divinity. In the coming manifestation of the kingdom, Christ will be like this. He will be the very Christ with both divinity and humanity, but His humanity will be soaked with His divinity. The day is coming when we shall not only see this, but also experience it ourselves. We now have the divine life with the divine nature within us. However, we still have our natural humanity. No matter how spiritual and holy we may be, our humanity is still natural. It has not yet been saturated with the divine glory. But at the time of the manifestation of the kingdom, our humanity will be glorified by the glorious divinity within us. [We] need to read Romans 8:30: “And whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” I would like to ask the opposers what they think it means to be glorified. Do they think that to be glorified is merely to enter the realm of glory? This is a very superficial understanding of glorification. To be glorified is to be saturated with God’s glory. It is to be transfigured, not from without, but from within. One day we shall be a great surprise to the unbelievers. Second Thessalonians 1:10 says, “When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.” The unbelievers will be shocked by our glorification. Because in our humanity we are the same as the unbelievers, they can see no difference between us and them. But the day is coming when they will see a glorious difference, for our humanity will be saturated with divinity, and we shall become a glorious people. We shall not just be spiritual, holy, pure, and clean. We shall be glorious. This is the coming of the kingdom. We are waiting for this to take place. Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
