Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1)
Message One
Christ as the Great Light, the One Who Has Authority, the Physician,
the Bridegroom, the Unfulled Cloth, and the New Wine
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Matt. 9:11-13 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners? Now when He heard this, He said, Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill. But go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
Word of Appetizer
Christ is the unbleached cloth and our new garment; what is the unbleached cloth and the new garment? Christ is our new wine to be put into new wineskins; what is the new wine and the new wineskin?
The unbleached cloth symbolizes Christ from His becoming flesh to His crucifixion, like an untreated, unmade new cloth; the new garment in Luke 5:36 symbolizes Christ, processed through His crucifixion, like a new garment.
New wine symbolizes Christ as the new life that inspires, has the power to encourage, strengthen us, empower us, and make us extremely joyful; the new wineskin symbolizes the church life of the local church, the vessel of the new wine, which is the exhilarating life of Christ Himself.
Spiritual Burden
Christ came to function as a physician, to heal, restore, revive, and save us, so that we can be constituted anew as His heavenly citizens, to be used by Him to establish His heavenly kingdom on this corrupt earth.
Among church people, the new garment, new wine, and new wineskin are all restored; we corporately have Christ as our church life, and the church, this new wineskin, is God’s ultimate goal.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Christ is the great Light, enlightening those who sit in darkness and appearing to shine upon those who sit in the region and shadow of death.
The centurion saw that the Lord had authority, because the Lord was a man under authority.
The Lord Jesus, this King of the heavenly kingdom, functions as a physician in His ministry of calling people to follow Him for the kingdom.
Christ is our Bridegroom.
Christ is the unbleached cloth and our new garment.
Christ is our new wine to be put into new wineskins.
The Experience of Life
When we have a clear heaven, like a terrible crystal (a guiltless and clean conscience), with no hindrance between us and the Lord, we are filled with the heavenly condition, atmosphere, and scene of the governing presence, and reign in life by the grace of the Lord reigning within us.
When we experience the crucified Christ and live the crucified life, the resurrected Christ becomes our healing power, and the Lord becomes our healer.
Practice and Application
We need to possess Christ, not only as our physician to restore our life, but also as our Bridegroom, so that we can enjoy living in His presence.
The church is filled with Christ and constituted by Christ. Those who enjoy the church life are church people. Among church people, the new garment, new wine, and new wineskins are all restored. We corporately have Christ as our church life.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Christ as light shines in us (Matt. 4:16, John 8:12)
(Please illustrate that this light is actually Christ Himself as the Light of life.)
T2 Peter and Andrew were fishing when this great light shone on them (Matt. 4:16, John 8:12)
(Please illustrate that our experience is the same as Peter and Andrew’s.)
Day 2
T1 The authority of the Lord Jesus is mainly exercised in His words (Matt. 8:8-10)
(Please illustrate that how we can see that the centurion of the Gentiles understood that the Lord’s words carry the authority to heal.)
T2 The Lord taught with authority in the synagogue (Mark 1:22-23, 2:13)
(Please illustrate that every word coming out of the Savior’s mouth, who is the servant, is a word that shines.)
Day 3
T1 Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick (Matt. 9:12)
(Please illustrate that the judgment of the judge is according to righteousness, and the healing of the doctor is according to mercy and grace.)
T2 There is no righteous man, no, not one (Rom. 3:11-13, Luke 18:9)
(Please illustrate that all the “righteous,” like the Pharisees, are self-righteous.)
Day 4
T1 Christ is the bridegroom, to marry a bride (Matt. 9:15, 25:1)
(Please illustrate that the sovereign Savior first heals those who follow Him, then makes them His companions, and ultimately makes them His bride.)
T2 The whole New Testament records the Trinity working together to gain a bride for the Son (John 3:29, 2 Cor. 11:2)
(Please illustrate that the life and actions of those who follow the Lord should not be dictated by any doctrine, but only by the Lord Himself and His presence.)
Day 5
T1 Christ is first an unbleached cloth, in order to be made into a new garment (Matt. 9:16, Luke 5:36)
(Please illustrate that how both the unbleached cloth and the new garment represent Christ, but what is the difference.)
T2 The old garment represents man relying on his natural, old life for good deeds (Matt. 9:16, Luke 5:36)
(Please illustrate that why the Pharisees’ fasting was a kind of patching up old clothes.)
Day 6
T1 New wine is the life of Christ that inspires people (Matt. 9:17, 1 Cor. 12:12)
(Please illustrate that the divine life is that inspiring wine.)
T2 The corporate Christ is the new wineskins, the container that holds the new wine (Matt. 9:17, 1 Cor. 12:12)
(Please illustrate that the individual Christ is the new wine, the life that inspires within: the corporate Christ is the new wineskins, the container that holds the new wine.)