Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1)
Message Twelve
The Divine Trinity, the Spirit of Jesus, and the Kingdom of God
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Acts 2:32-33 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we all are witnesses. 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 28:30-31 …He remained two whole years in his own rented dwelling and welcomed all those who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unhindered.
Word of Appetizer
What is the main subject of the apostles’ preaching in Acts?
The resurrected Christ appeared to the apostles for forty days, speaking to them about “the things concerning the kingdom of God” indicates that the kingdom would be the main subject of the apostles’ preaching in their coming commission after Pentecost.
Paul’s proclaiming the kingdom of God in Acts 28:31 was the propagation of the resurrected Christ; to teach concerning Christ is to spread the kingdom of God; therefore, the kingdom of God is actually the propagation of the resurrected Christ—a process that continues to be carried out through the believers today.
Spiritual Burden
Even as the Divine Trinity is the framework of the entire New Testament, so the Divine Trinity is the structure of the book of Acts; chapter after chapter of Acts unveils the operation of the Divine Trinity for the carrying out of God’s New Testament economy.
The resurrected Christ, who is propagating Himself in His ascension, by the Spirit, and through the disciples, is the reality of the kingdom of God; the kingdom of God is His expansion. We in the churches are the propagation of Christ and the expansion of Christ, and we are enlarging the kingdom of God.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Even as the Divine Trinity is the framework of the entire New Testament, so the Divine Trinity is the structure of the book of Acts; chapter after chapter of Acts unveils the operation of the Divine Trinity for the carrying out of God’s New Testament economy.
The Spirit of Jesus is a particular expression concerning the Spirit of God and refers to the Spirit of the incarnated Savior who, as Jesus in His humanity, passed through human living and death on the cross.
The kingdom of God is the main subject of the apostles’ preaching in Acts; the churches and the kingdom of God go together; the churches produced by the propagation of the resurrected Christ are the kingdom of God on earth today.
The Experience of Life
The Spirit of Jesus is not only the Spirit of God with divinity in Him so that we may live the divine life but also the Spirit of the man Jesus with humanity in Him so that we may live a proper human life and endure its sufferings; in our preaching of the gospel today, we also need the Spirit of Jesus to face the opposition and persecution.
Practice and Application
We in the churches are the propagation of Christ and the expansion of Christ, and we are enlarging the kingdom of God. All the believers in Christ can share the kingdom in the church age for their enjoyment of God in His righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God, because the whole world opposes our entering in; to enter into the kingdom of God is to enter into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom. Satan is fighting against God’s spreading of His kingdom on earth; the prevailing ministry for the propagation of Christ is a fighting, a battle, for God’s kingdom.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The Son ascended, the Father exalted Him, and the Spirit was poured out (Acts 2:32-33)
(Please illustrate that how the Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—was fully involved with the ascension and the pouring out of the Spirit.)
T2 The essential aspect of the Spirit and the economical aspect of the Spirit (John 20:22, Acts 2:33)
(Please illustrate that the pouring out of the Spirit upon all flesh differs from the breathing of the Spirit into the disciples out of the mouth of Christ after His resurrection.)
Day 2
T1 He was no longer only God—He became a God-man (Acts 20:28)
(Please illustrate that how God, the Creator have blood.)
T2 The blood that has redeemed fallen human beings is the blood of Jesus, the Son of God (Acts 20:28, 1 Pet. 1:18-19)
(Please illustrate that why the blood of Christ has eternal efficacy. )
Day 3
T1 The Spirit of Jesus involves more than the Holy Spirit does (Acts 16:6-7)
(Please illustrate that Luke speaks of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus indicates that the evangelistic work of the apostles was a new move in God’s New Testament economy.)
T2 After His resurrection and in His resurrection, Christ has become the pneumatic Christ (1 Cor. 15:45, 2 Cor. 3:17)
(Please illustrate that the pneumatic Christ is constituted of certain elements. )
Day 4
T1 Paul was a man constituted by this all-inclusive Spirit, and this Spirit also should become our constitution (Rom. 8:9, Phil. 1:19-20)
(Please illustrate that the kind of work we do for the Lord depends on the kind of Spirit by
whom we are guided, directed, instructed, and constituted.)
T2 In the Spirit of Jesus there is the suffering element and the suffering strength to withstand persecution (Phil. 1:19-20)
(Please illustrate that why in our preaching of the gospel today, we also need the Spirit of Jesus.)
Day 5
T1 Knowing the kingdom of God requires spiritual perception, spiritual insight (Acts 1:3, Luke 17:20-21)
(Why couldn’t the disciples understand when the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples about the kingdom before His death and resurrection?)
T2 The kingdom of God is a kingdom of the divine life (Acts 1:3, Luke 17:20-21)
(Please illustrate that the kingdom of God is the ruling, the reigning, of God with all its blessing and enjoyment.)
Day 6
T1 The entrance into the kingdom of God is regeneration, and its development is the believers’ growth in the divine life (Acts 28:30-31, 14:22)
(Please illustrate that the kingdom of God is the church life today, in which the faithful believers live.)
T2 The kingdom of God, along with Christ’s propagation and multiplication, grows out of and spreads from God’s life. (Acts 28:30-31)
(Why is it said that the book of Acts was not actually ended; rather, it was left open that more may be added?)
