Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2)
Message Four
Our Spiritual Food, Our Spiritual Rock,
and the Contents of the Lord’s Table
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
1 Cor. 10:3-4 And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.
1 Cor. 10:16-17 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? Seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.
Word of Appetizer
What is the focal point of our Christian life?
Just as the manna in the golden pot was the focal point of God’s dwelling place, so Christ as the manna eaten by us is the focal point of God’s
building today. The tabernacle was God’s dwelling place in the Old Testament, and we are God’s dwelling place today. From the standpoint of experience, we may consider ourselves as identical to the tabernacle, for the tabernacle was God’s building, and we are also His building. The church is God’s tabernacle today. We are corporately identical to the tabernacle because we are part of the church. As part of the church, the focal point of our being should be manna.
Spiritual Burden
Whatever we eat of Christ to be our reconstituting element and our supply to make us God’s dwelling place in this universe will be an eternal memorial.
To receive the living water from the crucified Christ, we need only to “take the rod” and “speak to the rock”. In all that we say and do concerning God’s people, our attitude must be according to God’s holy nature, and our actions must be according to His divine economy; this is to sanctify Him; otherwise, in our words and deeds we will rebel against Him and offend Him.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The deep truth in Exodus 16 is that God wants to change our diet to a diet of Christ as our spiritual food, the real manna sent by God the Father for God’s chosen people to live by Christ.
Christ has been crucified to become a spiritual rock that follows His people; this following rock is the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit, who is always with the church to supply His believers with the water of life.
Christ as the contents of the Lord’s table is the reality of the New Testament economy of God.
The Experience of Life
The characteristics of Christ as our unique food, our daily manna, become our characteristics for His magnification through our metabolic transformation as we continually enjoy Him.
The Lord has given Himself to us so that we may partake of Him as our feast and enjoy Him by eating and drinking Him; in order to become our feast, the reality of the produce of the good land, Christ had to be processed.
Practice and Application
To receive the living water from the crucified Christ, we need only to “take the rod” and “speak to the rock”. To take the rod is to identify with Christ in His death and apply the death of Christ to ourselves and our situation. To speak to the rock is to speak a direct word to Christ as the smitten rock, asking Him to give us the Spirit of life based on the fact that the Spirit has
already been given.
“As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you declare the Lord’s death until He comes”.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Only the living Christ should be the food on which we live day by day (1 Cor. 10:3; John 6:31)
(Please illustrate that Exodus 16 reveals God’s intention to change the source of our being, to change our very constituent.)
T2 The Christ whom we enjoy will be an eternal memorial (1 Cor. 10:3; John 6:31)
(Please illustrate that what we shall recall concerning Christ in eternity will have two aspects.)
Day 2
T1 The heavenly manna is to be the unique food for God’s people (Num. 11:6b; 2 Cor. 4:1)
(Please illustrate in the Bible, especially in the New Testament, there is just one ministry. )
T2 The fact that manna came in the morning indicates that it gives us a new beginning (Exo. 16:21)
(Please illustrate that in our spiritual experience we need these daily turns, these daily new beginnings.)
Day 3
T1 As the spiritual rock, Christ follows the believers to give them the spiritual drink (1 Cor. 10:4; Num. 20:8)
(Please illustrate that whenever God’s people are short of the Spirit of life, they will have problems.)
T2 To receive the living water from the crucified Christ, we need only to “take the rod” and “speak to the rock” (Num. 20:8)
(Please illustrate the spiritual significance of “taking the rod” and “speak to the rock”. )
Day 4
T1 The believers’ fellowship implies their mutual enjoyment of Christ by eating and drinking Christ (1 Cor. 10:16-17)
(Please illustrate in 1 Corinthians 10:16 the word fellowship refers to the believers’ communion in the joint participation in the blood and body of Christ. )
T2 On the table we see Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection (1 Cor. 10:16-17)
(Please illustrate that in order to become our feast, Christ had to be processed.)
Day 5
T1 This cup is the new covenant, comprising all the rich blessings of the New Testament (1 Cor. 11:25; Matt. 26:27-28)
(Please illustrate that the new covenant, a covenant of full blessing, was established by the Lord’s blood, which He shed on the cross for our redemption.)
T2 The blood of the covenant is not mainly for forgiveness; it is primarily for God to be our portion (1 Cor. 11:25; Matt. 26:27-28)
(Please illustrate that God has ordained and predestinated us to enjoy Him. This enjoyment has also been covenanted to us.)
Day 6
T1 The blood brings us into the Holy of Holies; that is, it brings us into God (Rev. 22:14; 1 Cor. 11:26)
(Please illustrate that if we view the Bible as a whole, we shall see that the blood of the covenant brings us into the full enjoyment of God as our portion.)
T2 While we are remembering the Lord, we display His death (1 Cor. 11:26; Matt. 26:29)
(Please illustrate that with this display of death, we proclaim and announce Christ’s all-inclusive termination of twelve items on the cross.)
