Bible Verses
John 11:23 Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. (24) Martha said to Him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last day. (25) Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes into Me, even if he should die, shall live; (26) And every one who lives and believes into Me shall by no means die forever. Do you believe this? (27) She said to Him, Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who comes into the world.
Words of Ministry
[In verses 23-24,] Martha expounded this word of the Lord so as to postpone the present resurrection to the last day. What an expounding of the divine word! What devastating knowledge of fundamental teaching that frustrates people from enjoying the Lord's present resurrection life! [In verses 25-26,] The Lord seemed to be telling her, “It is not a matter of time. There is no problem of time with Me. Nothing is too late, and nothing is too early. As long as I am here, everything will be all right, for I will raise up your brother.” Then the Lord asked Martha, “Do you believe this?” What she answered [in verse 27] absolutely was not what the Lord asked. She was not clear about what the Lord was saying. Her old, preoccupying knowledge prevented her from understanding the Lord's new word.
Martha is like many Christians today who have a great deal of knowledge and doctrine... She believed in a certain kind of doctrine that the Lord is the Christ and the Son of God. She believed in the doctrine that the Lord will raise up all
of the dead saints in the last day. She had all the knowledge, but it was not the living knowledge that the Lord taught. All of her different opinions were due to the fact that she had all the knowledge. Today, many Christians have opinions because they have so many teachings. When someone talks with them about the inner life, they immediately begin to share their opinions. Too much knowledge and too many doctrines breed endless opinions [that hinder them from experiencing the present Christ as resurrection life].
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-Study of John, pp. 279-280. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 01, 2010
A Present and Practical Transmission
Bible Verses
1Cor 1:30 But of Him [God] you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
Eph 1:22 And He [God] subjected all things under His [Christ] feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church,
Words of Ministry
Notice that in verse 30 Paul does not say that Christ became our wisdom; he says that Christ became wisdom to us. For Christ to become wisdom to us is different from His becoming our wisdom. Day by day, we need Christ to be wisdom to us. We may again use electricity as an illustration. To speak of our electricity is different from speaking of electricity being to us. When electricity is to you, you receive an electrical charge. For electricity to be your electricity means that it belongs to you, but for electricity to be to you means that it is transmitted to you and that you experience it. Likewise, to say that Christ is our wisdom is rather general, not experiential. But when Christ becomes wisdom to us, we experience Him.
As Christians, we may say, "We have Christ as our wisdom." However, this does not mean very much in experience. It is similar to saying, "We have electricity as our power." We may say this and actually not have light or heat, because electricity is not yet to us. We may also have Christ as our wisdom without having Christ being wisdom to us. We need Christ to become wisdom to us.
In verse 30 I appreciate the two phrases "to us" and "from God." Christ became wisdom to us from God. The expression "to us from God" indicates something present, practical, and experiential in the way of transmission. Continually, Christ must become wisdom to us from God. This indicates a living, ongoing transmission. The words "to" and "from" indicate that a present, living, and practical transmission is taking place from God to us.
(c) Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1Corinthians, pp. 83-84. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA
1Cor 1:30 But of Him [God] you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
Eph 1:22 And He [God] subjected all things under His [Christ] feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church,
Words of Ministry
Notice that in verse 30 Paul does not say that Christ became our wisdom; he says that Christ became wisdom to us. For Christ to become wisdom to us is different from His becoming our wisdom. Day by day, we need Christ to be wisdom to us. We may again use electricity as an illustration. To speak of our electricity is different from speaking of electricity being to us. When electricity is to you, you receive an electrical charge. For electricity to be your electricity means that it belongs to you, but for electricity to be to you means that it is transmitted to you and that you experience it. Likewise, to say that Christ is our wisdom is rather general, not experiential. But when Christ becomes wisdom to us, we experience Him.
As Christians, we may say, "We have Christ as our wisdom." However, this does not mean very much in experience. It is similar to saying, "We have electricity as our power." We may say this and actually not have light or heat, because electricity is not yet to us. We may also have Christ as our wisdom without having Christ being wisdom to us. We need Christ to become wisdom to us.
In verse 30 I appreciate the two phrases "to us" and "from God." Christ became wisdom to us from God. The expression "to us from God" indicates something present, practical, and experiential in the way of transmission. Continually, Christ must become wisdom to us from God. This indicates a living, ongoing transmission. The words "to" and "from" indicate that a present, living, and practical transmission is taking place from God to us.
(c) Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1Corinthians, pp. 83-84. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA
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