Crystallization-Study of Jeremiah and Lamentations
Message Two
The Kernel of the Book of Jeremiah
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
(Day1 ¦ Day2 ¦ Day3 ¦ Day4 ¦ Day5 ¦ Day6)
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
John 4:14 But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.
Jer. 23:5-6 …I will raise up to David a righteous Shoot; and He will reign as King and act prudently and will execute justice and righteousness in the land….And this is His name by which He will be called: Jehovah our righteousness.
Word of Appetizer
The kernel of the book of Jeremiah includes three matters; what are the three matters?
The book of Jeremiah may be likened to a walnut: on the outside there is a hard shell, and on the inside there is a kernel. The kernel of the book of Jeremiah includes three matters—what God wants from us, what we are in our fallen condition, and what Christ is to us; in order to see these three things, we need to “crack” the shell of Jeremiah and concentrate on the kernel inside, which is the complete teaching of the entire Bible.
Spiritual Burden
God’s intention in His economy is to be the fountain, the source, of living waters to satisfy us for our enjoyment; He wants us to take Him as the source, the fountain, of our being; the only way to take God as the fountain of living waters is to drink of Him day by day.
God’s goal in being the fountain of living waters is to produce the church as His increase to be His fullness for His expression.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The kernel of the book of Jeremiah includes three matters:
What God wants from us is mentioned mainly in Jeremiah 2:13, which reveals that our God is the fountain of living waters.
Another aspect of the kernel of the book of Jeremiah is the exposure of what we are in our fallen condition; “The heart is deceitful above all things, / And it is incurable; / Who can know it?”
The third matter in the kernel of the book of Jeremiah is what Christ is to us; Christ Himself is the new covenant, the new testament, of life given to us by God.
The Experience of Life
The more we see the Lord and are exposed, the more we are cleansed; seeing God transforms us (2 Cor. 3:18), because in seeing God we receive His element into us and the old element is discharged.
God’s salvation, God’s blessings, and all of God’s riches have been covenanted to us, and this covenant is Christ; God has willed Himself in Christ as the Spirit to us.
Practice and Application
The only way to take God as the fountain of living waters is to drink of Him day by day; we need to call on the Lord continually (with thanking, rejoicing, praying, and praising) and draw water with rejoicing from Him as the fountain of living waters.
We can pray-read His Word, talk to Him, or pray to Him with short prayers; then we will have the sensation that we are receiving something of God’s element, that we are absorbing the riches of God into our being.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
T1 The kernel of the book of Jeremiah (Jer. 2:13; Isa. 12:3-6)
(Please explain the three matters that the kernel of the book of Jeremiah includes.)
T2 The way to receive God as our salvation is to draw water from the springs of salvation, that is, to drink Him (Psa. 36:8; John 4:14).
(Please explain that the most evil thing in the eyes of God is to forsake Him as the source, as the fountain of living waters.)
Further Reading: Life-study of Jeremiah, msgs. 1, 40; Life-study of Isaiah, msgs. 40, 11
T1 The Father is the fountain, the Son is the springs, and the Spirit is the river (John 4:14).
(Please explain that New Jerusalem is the issue of God’s flowing in three stages.)
T2 God’s intention in His economy is to be the fountain, the source, of living waters to for the enjoyment of His chosen people.
(Please explain that the full development of this thought is in the New Testament, but it is sown as a seed in the book of Jeremiah.)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” msg. 14; Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 42-45; Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 3
T1 The second matter of the kernel of the book of Jeremiah is the exposure of what we are in our fallen condition (Jer. 17:19; 13:23; Ezek. 36:26-27).
(Please explain God’s way, according to His economy, to deal with the heart of fallen man.)
T2 Everyone who truly sees a vision of the Lord is enlightened (Isa. 6:5; Luke 5:8).
(Please use your experience to explain that the more we see the Lord, the more we see what we are.)
Further Reading: Life-study of Isaiah, msgs. 6, 34
T1 As long as we remain in the old creation, we can never be completely clean, for the old creation is unclean (1 John 1:7, 9).
(Please explain that the more we see the Lord and are exposed, the more we are cleansed. )
T2 Seeing God equals gaining God (Matt. 5:8; Job 42:5-6; 2 Cor. 3:18).
(Why does the seeing of God transform us?)
Further Reading: Life-study of Job, msgs. 19, 21, 30-31; The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Job, pp. 30-37, 40-41
T1 The third matter in the kernel of the book of Jeremiah is what Christ is to us (Jer. 23:5-6; 33:16).
(Please explain the meaning of “Jehovah our righteousness” and “a righteous Shoot”.)
T2 Christ, the righteous Shoot of David, is called Jehovah our righteousness (Jer. 23:5-6).
(Please explain how we could ever be righteous before God.)
Further Reading: Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 2; Life-study of Isaiah, msg. 47
T1 Christ Himself is the new covenant, the new testament, of life given to us by God (Jer. 31:31-34).
(Please explain that the reality of all the hundreds of bequests in the New Testament is Christ, and without Christ, the Bible is empty)
T2 The center, the centrality, of the new covenant is the inner law of life (Jer. 31:33).
(Please explain that this law is not an outward law but an inward law.)
Further Reading: Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 26; Life-study of Isaiah, msg. 46