Genesis chapter 1 tells us that God created all things: the heavens, the earth, the universe, man and all the living creatures. And how even a simple gaze at creation often fills us with awe as we consider His creation. But not until the New Testament book of Ephesians are we told what is at the very top of all that He has done and even all that He is doing. Or to use Paul’s language in Ephesians, what is His “masterpiece.” Listen to Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we would walk in them.”
WE are His masterpiece. “We” meaning the church. We will get into God’s masterpiece on our program today.
Only grace can produce this masterpiece. We in ourselves are not able to do anything that would result in the creation of this masterpiece of God. We must receive from God something which the Bible calls grace.
What do you understand by the term grace? What is grace: God dispensed into us. The very God who has been dispensed into us is the grace. “Saved by grace” means by God dispensed and still dispensing into us. Grace came through Jesus Christ. Grace came like a person. And here in Ephesians…from chapter one…you can see the very saving grace is God Himself in Christ wrought into our being.
We have stressed emphatically in chapter one the basic controlling factor there is the Triune God dispensed into our being. It is this Triune God that saved us. So “we are saved by grace” means we are saved by the dispensed God. The very God who has been dispensed into us…saved us.
The processed God transmitted into you in the grace. This is the abounding grace…amazing grace.
There are two (2) basic ministries that characterize both the Old and New Testament. The ministry of the priesthood and the ministry of the kingship. It’s interesting that in Matthew chapter 3, we see two representatives of these two basic ministries together as the age is changing.
Well, we’re coming to the first part of Matthew chapter 3 today and the appearance of the ministry of John the Baptist. This chapter is very interesting, because in a very real sense the whole age is changing…some would say the dispensation is changing. This is a pivot point in God’s economy…in His divine revelation. And we see these two ministries…John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ…together in this chapter for the first time. It’s very interesting…John the Baptist’s heritage is one out of the tribe of Levi which was the tribe of the priesthood. And John the Baptist was somebody who ended the Old Testament economy which was of the law.
The law was lifeless…helpless…could cause no one to really experience the King…but only be exposed by the King. But this marvelous ministry of John the Baptist also introduced the King of kings and ushered people to the King and allowed the King to be brought to the people.
John the Baptist ministry therefore is something that terminated the Old Testament economy and ushered in the New Testament economy…which is an economy of grace. And grace is just God in Christ coming to us to be our life and our everything…even coming into us to be our “Inside King.”
So John the Baptist terminated that Old Testament priesthood and brought us into the New Testament priesthood which is a priesthood full of the experience of Christ. Full of the King of the kingdom of the heavens who wants to come into us as life and everything and be the “Inside King” within us.
We need to repent for the kingdom.
In the whole Bible, there are only two basic ministries that constitute the kingdom of God. And these two ministries are firstly the priesthood…then the kingship. In the Old Testament, the priesthood was with the tribe of Levi. John the Baptist was just a descendant of Levi. He is the consummation of the priesthood of the Old Testament. Then Jesus is the consummation of the Old Testament kingship. The kingship in the Old Testament was in the tribe of Judah, and Jesus came to be a descendant of Judah as the consummation of the kingship.
So you can see these two persons…John the Baptist and Jesus Christ…They, on the one hand, terminated the old priesthood and kingship. They also germinated the New Testament priesthood and kingship. When the priesthood brings people to God, the kingship brings God to man. Then there is the heavenly reigning…the heavenly ruling. That is the kingdom.
And this kingdom is just today’s proper church life. And this church life will continue till the millennium comes. Then in the millennial kingdom, there will be the priesthood and the kingship. The overcomers will be there…on the one hand the priests…and on the other hand the kings. So in the millennial kingdom, the priesthood and the kingship will be even stronger to maintain God’s kingdom on this earth. That the king may have the people and all the people may gain the king. This is the millennium.
Then after the millennium there will be no more need of the priesthood. What will be left for eternity will be only the kingship, because in the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem, everyone is in the presence of God. So there’s no need any longer for the priesthood to bring people to God, because by that time God will be with man. God’s presence eliminates the priesthood by that time. But the kingship will be still there reigning over the surrounding nations.
Well, this is just a summary of the whole Bible in the light of the priesthood and the kingship.
Of all the parables in the final chapters of Matthew, none is more striking and sobering than the parable of the ten virgins in chapter 25. Coupled with the other parables around it, we can clearly see that at His coming, the Lord will judge and examine His people…the believing and saved ones.
This judgement will not be concerning sin or our eternal salvation. Of that, we have been assured. But in the matters of watchfulness and faithfulness, we will be examined. Not at the risk of our salvation, but at the potential risk of the reward of the enjoyment of the kingdom.
…You have to pay a price. There is some cost. To be a foolish virgin…while you were living on this earth, you didn’t pay the proper price, and the price is mainly to deal with yourself, to give up the world and to love the Lord by all means. Then verse 10, “And as they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. And the door was shut”. Not the door to go to heaven, but the door to go to the marriage feast. Not the door of salvation, but the door of the reward of the enjoyment of the kingdom age. This door was shut. Verse 11, “And later the rest”, the foolish ones, “of the virgins came also.” Not only resurrected but also raptured; “came” means raptured. They also got raptured, but late. They got the help, and they bought the oil, and they paid the price and they got it…but too late. Time means a lot. The door into the feast was shut. So they say, “Lord, lord, open to us!”
“But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.” The simply means, I do not approve your way. The way you lived on the earth and the way you came so late…I do not approve. That means rejection. Not rejection for eternal salvation, but rejection for the enjoyment…the participation…in the kingdom feast. Watch therefore. After we get through this completing word, we can see how to be watchful…how to be ready. You have a complete word concerning watchfulness and readiness. This is a serious matter! I do believe no other book warns us so much as the book of Matthew. Are you going to be foolish? Are we the foolish ones or the prudent ones? We all have to answer this question. It all depends upon the preparation of the extra portion of the Holy Spirit in our vessels.
After giving Moses the ten commandments, Jehovah God continued to unveil the details and plans for the tabernacle. In the center of the tabernacle was the ark, the preeminent piece of all the items in the tabernacle. And over the ark was placed a cover or a lid.
This very spot was to become the place…the unique place…where God would meet and speak with man. What does this cover represent today? This holy spot, the propitiation cover, is the focus of our Life-Study of the Bible today with Witness Lee.
The cover of the ark was a most important place in the Old Testament economy. But its importance is not limited to just the Old Testament, because in at least 3 New Testament passages its referred to in the context of our relationship and fellowship with God.
The Old Testament type…of course…is a picture, and the reality is our experience. Actually, the reality of being on this cover where God will meet with us and where God will speak to us…it equals what the New Testament calls the throne of grace.
Because of this cover, we have a way to meet with God.
After shocking His disciples with the prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, they asked the Lord then for signs that would signal the end of the age and His coming. He responded by telling them to watch for a very specific event…the abomination of desolation spoken of through Daniel.
Just what is this key event that will signal the end of the age and the coming of Christ? We’ll find out on today’s Life-Study of Matthew broadcast.
The end of the age begins with verse 15 (Matt 24). Verse 15 says “When therefore you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet…” Abomination here means the idol, and here the idol..no doubt…refers to Antichrists’ image, and that image will be able to speak (according to Rev. 13). When the great tribulation comes, the idol…the image of Antichrist…will be able to speak and that idol will be the abomination and this abomination will bring in the desolation in 2 ways. (1) when He (Antichrist) will setup His image forcing people to worship him, he will destroy all religions and (2) this abomination this idol will provoke the Lord’s anger. God will come in to destroy Antichrist.
And this abomination, this idol will stand in the temple in the holy place. This means Antichrist will setup his image to be in the holy of holies. This is clearly revealed in Daniel.
In the Old Testament, the blood of the sacrifice was poured out on the alter to atone for the sins of the people. This blood…of course…was a precursor of the real blood that was to be poured out for the sins of mankind…the blood of Jesus Christ. But in the Old Testament, there was another need for the blood, and that was it was also to be sprinkled upon the cover of the ark of the testimony in the holy of holies in the deepest part of the tabernacle.
And what was crucial here was not the matter of sins…but the glory of God. The blood sprinkled on the very spot where God met and spoke with man is our focus on today’s Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.
In this series of programs dealing with the tabernacle and the ark, we are making the point that far beyond just becoming aware of the doctrines represented by these wonderful types. We’re much more interested in how a vision of what these types represent can help us experience Christ to a greater degree.
In the Old Testament you had to keep the law then you can have a good fellowship with God. But today, you need to have the Faith, then you can get into the fellowship with God. Today, God’s dealing with His people is based upon the principle of faith.
If you look into God’s dealing with Abraham, you could see God’s dealing with him was based upon God’s promise. God didn’t give Abraham any commandments. God only gave Abraham the promise. So God’s dealing with Abraham was according to God’s promise. So the promise given by God to Abraham became the principle upon which God dealt with Abraham.
Then later on Moses came and God gave the law through Moses to the children of Israel. Then that law given at Mount Sinai became the principle according to which God dealt with the children of Israel. In the New Testament, you could see that today God deals with the believers in Christ not according to the law…but according to the Faith.
So Abraham’s entire relationship with God was based on God’s promise.
If the children of Israel kept the law, then they were able to have a good relationship with God. If they broke the law, however, then they were in trouble in terms of their relationship with God. We see in the Old Testament many times the children of Israel had a big problem with God because they did not keep the law, and God had to come in and deal with them and judge them based upon the principle of the law.
Well this principle didn’t work well in the Old Testament so in the New Testament God brought in a new principle and that is the principle of Faith. So today, our relationship with God is not based upon our keeping of the law of the Old Testament, but it’s based upon our faith in Christ. Actually, this Faith is not just a kind of a mental agreement with the gospel or the teachings of the Bible. This Faith is a living Faith in a living person that joins us to that Person and that causes that Person to enter into us and to become one with us.
So now we have a relationship with God in the principle of Faith which makes us one with Christ and makes Christ one with us. God wants us to live our Christian life based upon this principle. Not on the principle of trying to keep the law by the strength and the effort of our natural life. God wants us to be joined to Christ by Faith and to live by the principle of Faith.
The standard of the kingdom of the heavens is to have no anger toward our brother and no lust. Who can keep such a standard? Actually, only one person in the entire universe is able to keep this standard and that is Christ Himself. And this is precisely the key thing here. What this shows us is that if we’re going to live in the kingdom and meet the requirements of the kingdom, we cannot rely on our own natural life. Because our life is not capable of living to such a high standard. This means that we must join ourselves to Christ every day and every moment of every day by Faith.
Christ today…He’s the life-giving Spirit, and He dwells in our spirit. If we are one with Him, then spontaneously we will live a life that keeps not only the requirement of the Old Testament law, but that also satisfies the requirement of the higher law of the kingdom of the heavens. This is a life that is just the living of Christ in us.
After we have been saved according to the principle of faith, we need to live a higher life. …You are qualified to be judged at the judgement seat of Christ. And that judgement at the judgement seat of Christ is described here three times by three (3) kinds of judgement.. All 3 levels of judgement refer to that one judgement, the judgment at the judgement seat of Christ. We Christians…we the saved ones according to the principle of faith will be judged…not at the white throne recorded in Revelation chapter 20…but will be judged at the judgement seat of Christ, and this will be 1000 years earlier than the white throne.
Yes to be saved it is absolutely by Faith through Grace…that is right. But after you have been saved, be careful. You need to live a life that is higher than what the old law requires. It not only touches the outward doing…but it touches the inward moving. Such a high standard. What should we do then? The Lord’s word warns us, if you would not be serious, you’ll be put into the fire. Don’t think this is to be lost. We have to be fearful and trembling.
I must keep myself to the resurrected Christ. I must be one with Him. I must trust in Him. I must rely upon Him. I must stay in Him. I must remain with Him because the standard of morality of the kingdom of the heavens is too high for me. And this is too serious. We have to flee your temper…flee your lust. This not a small thing to lose your temper. This serious word may force us to keep ourselves to Christ.
Today in Romans chapter 8, we’re going to talk about being free from sin and death.
Romans 8 is a chapter of experience, and the death here is NOT the physical death to which we are subject in the old creation. So when we talk about being freed from death, we’re not talking about some kind of miraculous cure for our mortality. Or some premature deliverance from the power of death in a physical way.
Death in Romans 8 is a terrifying and powerful spiritual source and force that has its source in Satan, the origin of death. In Hebrews 2, Paul talks about the Devil…the one who has the might of death. The death in Romans 7 and 8 is that issue of sin in the flesh which weighs upon us and weakens us and darkens us and eventually deadens us…especially as we endeavor to pursue the Lord.
Sin with its law incites us in the flesh to do things contrary to God. But death works to weaken us when we are interested or burdened in carrying out something in the Lord and for the Lord.
There’s something in us that makes us passive and weak to the things of God. We need to call it by its right name; it’s death, and God and His organic salvation has a way of deliverance from it…a way to overcome it…in Christ as our resurrection life. So we need to pay attention to this. It has a lot to do with our daily experience of Christ in Spirit.
Here is a mystery; Jesus as (1)The Sower. (2)The Seed. (3)And the Kingdom. All the three are just one wonderful all-inclusive Person. Mark chapter 4 is a definition of what He did in the preceding 3 chapters. After He live…moved…ministered…in the 3 chapters He jumped in the boat, and He gave them at least 2 or 3 parables. These parables indicate the very significance of what He did in the preceding 3 chapters.
Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. Whatever He did there, that was the sowing. A sowing of the seed. Apparently, He was a preacher because He preached the Gospel. Apparently, He was a teacher because He taught the Truth. Apparently, He was the one who cast out the demons and healed the sick…
But actually, whether the Preacher, the Teacher, the Caster, the Healer or the Cleanser…HE WAS THE SOWER! Consider a little bit. When the Lord Jesus touched Peter’s mother-in-law and healed her, do you think that’s all? I don’t believe so. That touching…that healing…was a sowing. Something of the Lord Himself was sown into that mother-in-law. There was the Reality.
When He touched the leper and cleansed him, don’t you believe something from the Cleanser has been sown into the cleansed one. And from the time they got healed, there was a change in their being. You see, Peter’s mother-in-law got healed…right away, she served. And the leper…right after being cleansed, he moved in a different way. And that indicated something got into them!
Deuteronomy includes a lengthy portion where God through Moses is instituting His divine government among His people Israel. Divine government means government by God and according to what God is. This is called Theocracy. It is neither Democracy (a government according to the opinions of the people) nor is it autocracy (which is government by a dictator or a monarchy).
Many people may be apprehensive about this term because throughout history it has often been misapplied. But according to the Old Testament picture, there IS a genuine theocracy. Maybe not among earthly nations, but certainly among God’s people. A Theocracy that reflects the person of God. The God of love, and of righteousness, and holiness and absolute fairness and justice. We want to keep this view of God. The God who knows man and man’s condition and what he needs to be preserved for His eternal purpose.
