You can all prophesy one by one… —1 Cor. 12:31

2018 ITEROF Message Three

 Propagating the Resurrected, Ascended, And All-Inclusive Christ As the Development of The Kingdom of God

Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting

Message Three

Being Witnesses of the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ

Reading the verses in each day.

Reading the main points in the outlines.

Pray-reading the verses:

 

Acts 26:16 …I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister and a witness both of the things in which you have seen Me and of the things in which I will appear to you.

32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we all are witnesses.

Word of Appetizer

 

According to the revelation in the book of Acts, everyone who is raised up and sent out by the Lord is a witness of the Lord. What is the witness?

In the New Testament the meaning of witness is primarily to bear a living testimony of Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Testifying requires experiences of seeing and enjoyment concerning the Lord or spiritual things; it is different from merely teaching.

 

Spiritual Burden

 

As recorded in Acts, the ascended Christ carries out His ministry in the heavens through these witnesses in His resurrection life and with His ascension power and authority to spread Himself as the development of the kingdom of God unto the remotest part of the earth.

Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting

The Revelation of the Truth

 

In the book of Acts the apostles and the disciples were witnesses of Christ.

The Christ revealed in Acts is in resurrection.

The Christ revealed in Acts is in ascension.

The Christ revealed in Acts is the all-inclusive Christ.

 

The Experience of Life

 

God secured, purchased, and redeemed the church with His own blood. The blood that has redeemed fallen human beings is the blood of Jesus, the Son of God (1 John 1:7). As human beings, we need genuine human blood for our redemption. As a man, He shed human blood to redeem fallen human beings. The Lord is also the Son of God, even God Himself. Therefore, with His blood there is the element of eternity, and this element ensures the eternal efficacy of His blood.

 

Practice and Application

 

Everyone who is raised up and sent out by the Lord is a witness of the Lord–being witnesses of the resurrected, ascended, and all-inclusive Christ. Christ is now our Savior in resurrection, and the Spirit is Christ in resurrection. After Christ was resurrected, He became a person wholly in resurrection. But like Paul we should aspire not only to know Christ in His death but even the more to know Him in His resurrection. We need to know Him in the power, sphere, and element of His resurrection.

Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline

Key Verses (1)

But rise up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister and a witness both of the things in which you have seen Me and of the things in which I will appear to you—Acts 26:16

This Jesus God has raised up, of which we all are witnesses. — Acts 2:32

And with great power the apostles gave testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. —Acts 4:33

a witness of the Lord

The Christ revealed in Acts is in resurrection.

I . In the book of Acts the apostles and the disciples were witnesses of Christ.

  • According to the revelation in the book of Acts, everyone who is raised up and sent out by the Lord is a witness of the Lord.
  • In the New Testament the meaning of witness is primarily to bear a living testimony of Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
  • Testifying requires experiences of seeing and enjoyment concerning the Lord or spiritual things; it is different from merely teaching. The Lord appointed Paul as a minister and a witness.

II .The Christ revealed in Acts is in resurrection.

  • Through death Christ entered into another realm, the realm of resurrection:
  • We need to know Christ in the power, sphere, and element of His resurrection.
  • Christ’s resurrection was the focus of the apostles’ testimony.

Key Verses (2)

Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you both see and hear. —Acts 2:33

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified. —Acts 2:36

This One God has exalted to His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. — Acts 5:31

The Christ revealed in Acts is in ascension.

  • Whereas resurrection is a matter of life, Christ’s ascension is a matter of position, and position is a matter of authority.
  • The Lord’s ascension was His initiation into His living and ministry in the heavens; this initiation brought Him into a new realm, that is, into the heavens where He now has His living and is ministering there.
  • The Lord’s ascension brought Him into a new stage—the stage of a resurrected man living in the heavens as the center of God’s administration.
  • The ascended Christ is the Lord of all to possess all.
  • The ascended Christ is God’s Anointed to carry out God’s commission to work out the spreading of the gospel and the building up of the church.

Key Verses (3)

And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. —Acts 7:56

Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood. —Acts 20:28

The word which He sent to the sons of Israel in announcing the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ (this One is Lord of all) —Acts 10:36

And He has charged us to proclaim to the people and solemnly testify that this is the One who was designated by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.— Acts 10:42

The Christ revealed in Acts is the all-inclusive Christ

  • Christ is the Author of life
  • Christ is God’s Servant
  • Christ is the Leader and Savior
  • Christ is the Son of Man
  • Christ is God
  • Christ is the Lord of all
  • Christ is the Judge.
  • Christ is the Lord Jesus, the object of the believers’ faith.

Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week

Day 1

T1 The apostles and the disciples were witnesses of Christ. (Acts 1:8; 4:33)

(In the New Testament, what’s the meaning of witnesses?)

T2 Testifying requires experiences of seeing and enjoyment concerning the Lord or spiritual things (Acts 2:42)

(Please illustrate that the difference between witnesses and preachers.)

Day 2

T1 Christ is in resurrection today. (Acts 2:24, 32; 4:33)

(Please illustrate that the Christ revealed in Acts is in resurrection according to the Bible)

T2 Knowing Christ in the power, sphere, and element of His resurrection (Acts 1:22; 2:32)

(Please illustrate that Christ’s resurrection was the focus of the apostles’testimony.)

Day 3

T1 The Christ revealed in Acts is in ascension. (Acts 1:9-11; 2:32; 5:31)

(Please illustrate that whereas resurrection is a matter of life, Christ’s ascension is a matter of position, and position is a matter of authority.)

T2 Christ’s Ascension was His inauguration, His initiation into His heavenly ministry. (Acts 2:36; Heb. 12:2)

(Please illustrate that this resurrected one is now sitting in the heavens to execute God’s administration.)

Day 4

T1 Christ is the Author of life (Acts 3:14-15)

(Please illustrate that for propagating Christ, we need the Lord as the Author of life, as the source of life.)

T2 Christ is God’s Servant (Acts 3:25-26)

(As God’s servant, what does Christ bring to man?)

Day 5

T1 Christ is the Son of Man (Acts 7:56)

(Please illustrate that Christ who is in the heavens still has His humanity.)

T2 Christ is God (Acts 20:28)

(Please illustrate that Christ is God according to Acts 20:28)

Day 6

T1 Christ is the Judge (Acts 10:39-43)

(Please illustrate that Christ has been designated by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.)

T2 “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31)

(Please illustrate that to believe in the gospel is mainly to believe in Jesus Christ.)