Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (1)
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Message 10
Christ as the Peace between God and God’s People
for Their Co-enjoyment in Fellowship
to Have the Vital-group Church Life
and to Consummate in the New Jerusalem
as the Ultimate Peace Offering
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
And if his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he presents it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall present it without blemish before Jehovah—Lev. 3:1-2
…The Lord is near. In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus—Phil. 4:5-7
Word of Appetizer
Christ is the peace between God and God’s people for their coenjoyment in fellowship; what is the secret of enjoying Christ as our peace offering?
We must learn the secret of how to take Christ as life, how to live Christ, how to magnify Christ, and how to gain Christ in any environment and in any matter; We need to let our requests be made known to God, talking with Him and conferring with Him in everything; The result of practicing fellowship with God in prayer is that the peace of God, God as peace, is infused into us.
Spiritual Burden
We should not try to have peace by our own effort. The more we try in ourselves to have peace,
the less peace we will have. The only way to have peace is to enjoy Christ every day.
Christ is the peace offering between God and God’s people for their co-enjoyment in fellowship
to have the vital-group church life, to have the Lord’s table meeting, and to consummate in the New Jerusalem as the ultimate peace offering.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The issue of enjoying Christ as our burnt offering, our meal offering, our sin offering, and our trespass offering is the enjoyment of Christ as the peace offering.
Christ is the peace between God and God’s people for their co-enjoyment in fellowship.
We need to learn the secret of how to have the vital-group church life as a house of feasting—a feast of Christ as the peace offering—where He and His lovers can have rest and satisfaction.
Our enjoyment of Christ as our peace offering in our daily life and in the church life consummates in the New Jerusalem as the ultimate peace offering.
The Experience of Life
The result of practicing fellowship with God in prayer is that the peace of God, God as peace, is infused into us for our enjoyment as the counterpoise to troubles and the antidote to anxiety so that Christ as our forbearance can be known to all men.
The God of peace patrols before our hearts and thoughts in Christ, keeping us calm and tranquil.
Practice and Application
We should enjoy Christ today and forget about yesterday and about tomorrow.
We need to let our requests be made known to God, talking with Him and conferring with Him in everything.
We need to learn the secret of how to have the vital-group church life as a house of feasting—a feast of Christ as the peace offering—where He and His lovers can have rest and satisfaction.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
And if his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he presents it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall present it without blemish before Jehovah. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting….—Lev. 3:1-2
I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack—Phil. 4:12
The enjoyment of Christ as the peace offering; Christ is the peace between God and God’s people for their co-enjoyment in fellowship
I. The issue of enjoying Christ as our burnt offering, our meal offering, our sin offering, and our trespass offering is the enjoyment of Christ as the peace offering:
The only way to have peace is to enjoy Christ every day.
We should enjoy Christ today and forget about yesterday and about tomorrow.
II. Christ is the peace between God and God’s people for their co–enjoyment in fellowship:
The one who offered the peace offering was to lay his hand on the head of the offering, signifying the union and identification of the offerer with the offering.
The peace offering is illustrated in Luke 15:23-24 by the fattened calf.
We need to learn the secret of enjoying Christ as our peace offering—the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding.
We must learn the secret of how to take Christ as life, how to live Christ, how to magnify Christ, and how to gain Christ in any environment and in any matter.
Key Verses (2)
Let your forbearance be known to all men.The Lord is near. In nothing be anxious, but in everything,
by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus— Phil. 4:5-7
Christ is the peace between God and God’s people for their co-enjoyment in fellowship.
The virtues of Christ for our experience in Philippians 4:5-9 are the expression of a life that lives Christ as peace; Anxiety, coming from Satan, is the sum total of human life and disturbs the believers’ life of living Christ; forbearance, coming from God, is the sum total of a life that lives Christ.
“Let your forbearance be known to all men. The Lord is near”.Forbearance is reasonableness, considerateness, and consideration in dealing with others, without being strict in claiming one’s legal rights; as an all-inclusive virtue, forbearance is Christ Himself.
“In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus”.
Key Verses (3)
…They made Him a supper there, and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of the ones reclining at table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of ointment…and anointed the feet of Jesus,…and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment—John 12:2-3
And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,…—Rev. 21:2
Church life as a house of feasting—a feast of Christ as the peace offering
Our enjoyment of Christ as our peace offering consummates in the New Jerusalem as the ultimate peace offering
III. We need to learn the secret of how to have the vital-group church life as a house of feasting—a feast of Christ as the peace offering—where He and His lovers can have rest and satisfaction:
This church life is a life of feasting in and with the presence of the Lord.
In this church life there are the functions of Martha (diligently serving the Lord), Lazarus (testifying of the resurrection life), and Mary (pouring out her absolute love on the Lord).
IV. Our enjoyment of Christ as our peace offering in our daily life and in the church life consummates in the New Jerusalem as the ultimate peace offering:
Jerusalem means “the foundation of peace.”
The New Jerusalem is the Triune God to be our peace, to be our safety.
The whole New Jerusalem will be an entity of peace.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 In Leviticus the offerings are in a particular sequence.(Lev. 3:1-2; 6:12; 7;37)
( Please explain that the significance of the sequence of these three offerings: the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering.)
T2: The only way to have peace is to enjoy Christ every day.(Rom.14:17)
(Please explain that having peace is a measurement to show us to what degree we enjoy Christ.)
D2
T1 . Through the laying on of hands, the offerer is identified with the offering.(Lev. 3:8)
( Please explain that Our fellowship with Christ is a matter of identification, a matter of us becoming Him and of Him becoming us.)
T2. The secret of enjoying Christ as peace offering.( Phil. 4:12, 7; John 16:33)
(Please explain that the peace of God is actually God as peace (v. 9), infused into us through our fellowship with Him by prayer. This peace is the counterpoise of troubles and the antidote to anxiety.)
D3
T1 The expression of a life that lives Christ is forbearance and the lack of anxiety.(Phil. 4:5-6)
(Please explain that the Anxiety and forbearance are opposites. )
T2. “Let your forbearance be known to all men. The Lord is near”. (Phil. 4:5)
(What’s meaning of forbearance?)
D4
T1. According to Christian experience, forbearance is all-inclusive.
(Please give examples to illustrate what virtues forbearance includes.)
T2. As an all-inclusive virtue, forbearance is Christ Himself. (Phil. 1:21a)
(Please explain that only Christ can be our perfect forbearance.)
D5
T1. “In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by…..”(Phil. 4:6-7)
(Please explain through what the peace of God saves us from worry and anxiety.)
T2. A proper Christian life is a life of calm, tranquility, peace, and quiet.(1 Tim. 2:1-2;Phil. 4:5-6 )
(Please explain that let your forbearance be known is parallel to let your requests be made known.)
D6
T1. Learning the secret of how to have the vital-group church life.(John 12:1-3; 20:19)
(Please explain that Where is the peace offering in the Gospel of John? )
T2. Jerusalem means “the foundation of peace.”(Rev.21:2)
(Please explain that the whole New Jerusalem will be an entity of peace.)
