Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2)
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Message Seven
The All-inclusive Christ Being the Allotted Portion of the Saints, according to God’s Choice, as Their Divine Inheritance for Their Enjoyment MC
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Col. 2:6-7 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, Having been rooted and being built up in Him, and being established in the faith even as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light;
Word of Appetizer
The request by Reuben and Gad to receive the land that God had promised (Num. 32:1-5, 33) was not wrong; however, they were not right in wanting to receive this according to their choice as to what was best. why ?
The land requested by Reuben and Gad could be reached without crossing the river Jordan, which signifies the old man not being dealt with and buried (see footnotes on Joshua 3:16—4:12); only after our old man has been dealt with and buried (Rom. 6:3-6) are we in a position to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the good land for our enjoyment; The land given to Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (Num. 32:33), the land that was according to their choice, could be reached without crossing the Jordan and thus was not actually a part of the good land of Canaan (cf. 34:14-15; 35:14).
Spiritual Burden
God has ordained Christ to be our portion for our enjoyment, but we must cooperate with God’s ordination by driving out everything within us that is other than God and Christ; we must destroy all the idols within us and not leave any ground within us for the worship of idols (Num. 33:50-53; 1 John 5:21); only then can we have the genuine enjoyment of Christ for the church as His building and His kingdom.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The all-inclusive Christ is typified by the good land, a land in which we will not lack anything.
The book of Numbers reveals the prearrangement of the distribution of the good land, typifying the sharing of the enjoyment of the rich Christ according to God’s choice.
The Experience of Life
The good land today is Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit (v. 6; Gal. 3:14), who dwells in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22; Rom. 8:16) to be our enjoyment; Christ as the good land is the rich soil in which we have been rooted so that we may grow with the elements that we absorb from
Practice and Application
Every morning we need to take adequate time to absorb the Lord; although even ten minutes is good, it is best to spend thirty minutes to enjoy Him at the start of each new day; as we spend time contacting the Lord in the morning and throughout the day in our spirit, we will spontaneously absorb into us the riches of Christ as the soul.
In spiritual matters it is much better to not act according to our choice but to leave matters in the hand of the Lord and let Him do according to His choice.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Deut. 8:9 A land in which you will eat bread without scarcity; you will not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and from whose mountains you can mine copper.
Col. 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light;
2:6-7 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, Having been rooted and being built up in Him, and being established in the faith even as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
I. The all-inclusive Christ is typified by the good land, a land in which we will not lack anything
- Christ as the allotted portion of the saints (Col. 1:12) refers to the lot of the inheritance, as illustrated by the allotment of the good land of Canaan given to the children of Israel for their inheritance (Josh. 14:1).
- God’s intention is to bring all His people into the good land, which typifies Christ as the goal; in the Old Testament God’s people journeyed and then arrived at the goal, but in the New Testament we, the believers, having been baptized into Christ, are already in the goal.
- The good land today is Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit (v. 6; Gal. 3:14), who dwells in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22; Rom. 8:16) to be our enjoyment; to walk according to this Spirit (v. 4; Gal. 5:16) is the central and crucial point in the New Testament.
- Colossians 2:6-7 reveals that Christ as the good land is the rich soil in which we have been rooted so that we may grow with the elements that we absorb from the soil. Every morning we need to take adequate time to absorb the Lord; We must take time to enjoy the Lord as the all-inclusive land.
Key Verses (2)
Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me;
Phil. 3:10 To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
Col. 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
II. The book of Numbers reveals the prearrangement of the distribution of the good land, typifying the sharing of the enjoyment of the rich Christ according to God’s choice (a)
- The good land is surrounded by two seas (the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea) and one river (the Jordan River); these two seas and this river all signify the death of Christ; the enjoyment of Christ must be in the sphere, the territory, of His death.
- That the good land rose up from the waters that bordered it on either side indicates that it is an elevated, uplifted land; this signifies the resurrected and ascended Christ, the heavenly Christ, who has entered into us in His resurrection (John 20:22) and whose riches we enjoy in His ascension (Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1-4).
- The request by Reuben and Gad to receive the land that God had promised (Num. 32:1-5, 33) was not wrong; however, they were not right in wanting to receive this according to their choice as to what was best.
- Israelites have a holy living to walk according to God’s holiness, this signifies that we believers need to put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.
Key Verses (3)
Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet, not My will, but Yours be done.
Psa. 16:6 The measuring lines have fallen on pleasant places for me; Indeed the inheritance is beautiful to me.
Phil. 3:13-14 Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before; I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.
II. The book of Numbers reveals the prearrangement of the distribution of the good land, typifying the sharing of the enjoyment of the rich Christ according to God’s choice (b)
- Obtaining “the land east of the Jordan” reaches God’s spiritual goal but not His glorious goal—receiving the rich inheritance in Christ, the glory of the riches of Christ, in the position of His ascension.
- If we care only for our own salvation, peace, blessing, or material things and are unwilling to go forward, we will not be able to fulfill God’s will and plan or reach His goal, kingdom, and testimony; we should not substitute the second best for the best.
- If we lust for ease and comfort today—caring only for ourselves, stopping halfway, and giving up our rights in the matter of pursuing the Lord—we will not be able to recover those rights, and there will not be any compensation for them; this is an eternal loss.
- God has ordained Christ to be our portion for our enjoyment, but we must cooperate with God’s ordination by driving out everything within us that is other than God and Christ; only then can we have the genuine enjoyment of Christ for the church as His building and His kingdom.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
TI The all-inclusive Christ is typified by the good land, a land in which we will not lack anything (Deut. 8:9; Col. 1:12)
(Please illustrate that the New Testament believers’ inheritance is not a physical land; it is the all-inclusive Christ.)
T2 To walk according to this Spirit is the central and crucial (5:16; 2 Tim. 4:22)
(Please illustrate that the good land today is Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit, who dwells in our spirit to be our enjoyment.)
D2
TI We spend time contacting the Lord in the morning and throughout the day in our spirit (Col. 2:6-7)
(Please illustrate that as we spend time contacting the Lord, we will spontaneously absorb into us the riches of Christ as the soil with experiences.)
T2 We should not let ourselves get old but be fresh and renewed every day (2 Cor. 4:16; Deut. 34:7)
(Please illustrate that we must take time to enjoy the Lord so that all the elements of Christ as the rich soil may be absorbed into us for us to be made with experiences.)
D3
TI The building up of the Body and the individual and personal building up of all the members (Col. 2:7; Eph. 4:16)
(Please illustrate that the building up of the church is based upon the building up of the individual members.)
T2 The prearrangement of the distribution of the good land, typifying the sharing of the enjoyment of the rich (Deut. 32:1-42; 33:50—36:13)
(What is the twofold significance to the arrangement concerning the land east?)
D4
TI The good land was surrounded by two seas (the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea) and one river (the Jordan River). These three bodies of water signify Christ’s death (Deut. 34:2-3, 6, 12; Phil. 7-11)
(Please illustrate that the enjoyment of Christ must be in the sphere, the territory, of His death with experiences.)
T2 It was not right in wanting to receive this according to their choice as to what was best (Gen. 13:5-18; Deut. 32:1-5, 33)
(Please illustrate that many times we also make our own choices and take the second best as a substitute for the best with experiences.)
D5
TI The land requested by Reuben and Gad could be reached without crossing the river Jordan and thus was not actually a part of the good land of Canaan (Josh. 3:16—4:12)
(Please illustrate that our self-choice is outside the death of Christ and therefore has nothing to do with the real enjoyment of the rich Christ.)
T2 It is much better for us to leave matters in the hand of the Lord and let Him do according to His choice (Luke 22:42; 1 Chron. 5:26)
(Please illustrate that whatever is according to our choice will not turn out to be profitable with experiences)
D6
TI Those who remain halfway and are satisfied with only a little blessing from God will be easily captured by the enemy (1 Chron. 5:25-26)
(What is the significance of the choice of the two tribes caused their descendants to lose the right to inherit the land of Canaan?)
T2 We must destroy all the idols within us (Deut. 33:52; 1 John 5:21)
(Please illustrate that what condition we must fulfill in order to have this enjoyment with experiences?)
