Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (3)
Message Six
The Church in the Triune God
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture Reading:
1 Thes. 1:3-6 Remembering unceasingly your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father; Knowing, brothers, beloved of God, your selection; For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, even as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit.
I. The Triune God is the structure of the New Testament—Matt. 12:28; 28:19; John 15:26; Acts 2:33. (Monday)
II. We come to know the Triune God by experiencing and enjoying Him—1 John 1:5; 2:27; 4:16; 5:11-12:
A The Triune God is not merely an object of our faith; He indwells us to be our life and life supply for our experience and enjoyment—4:13-15.
B We need to know the Triune God experientially by inwardly enjoying the subjective God—2:27; 4:4.
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III. When the Triune God becomes our experience and enjoyment, He is not only the One who is universally vast on the throne, but He is also the One who is in our heart—Rev. 4:2-3; 5:6; 1 John 3:19-21. (Tuesday)
A What the New Testament is concerned about is for us to know the Triune God who has entered into us to indwell us, to know the One who dwells in our spirit and desires to spread into all the inward parts of our heart—Eph. 3:14-17a; 1 John 3:19-21.
B Concerning the knowledge of the Triune God, the New Testament way is personal, detailed, and experiential—2:20, 27; Heb. 10:16.
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IV. First Thessalonians was written to the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ—1:1. (Wednesday and Thursday)
A. The church in Thessalonica, on the one hand, belongs to the Thessalonians, and on the other hand, is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ—John 1:12-13; 1 Cor. 1:30; 6:17.
B. The church being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ means that the church is in the processed the Triune God—Matt. 28:19.
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V. When Paul speaks of the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, he actually means that the church is in the Triune God—1 Thes. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; 12:4-6. (Friday)
A. Such phrases as “God the Father” and “the Lord Jesus Christ” all imply The Spirit; therefore, it is self-evident that 1 Thessalonians 1:1 implies The Spirit, and we can say that the church is in the Triune God.
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B. In the divine New Testament economy, the three of the Triune God operate and are expressed distinctly in three successive periods. (Saturday)
VI. If we see the vision of the church in the Triune God, this vision will govern our thoughts, activities, and our entire life—Prov. 29:18a; Acts 26:19.
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace—1 Thes. 1:1.
And in this we will know that we are of the truth, and we will persuade our heart before Him, Because if our heart blames us, it is because God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not blame us, we have boldness toward God—1 John 3:19-21.
Word of Appetizer
1 Thessalonians 1:1 tells us that the church is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. How does this revelation that the church is in The Triune God differ from saying that the church is merely in God?
To say that the church is God’s or Christ’s is quite simple. But to declare that the church is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is much more profound; for us humans, we may belong to a person, but we cannot truly be in that person. The church can be in The Triune God in only one way, which is the organic and life way.
Such a church is begotten of God the Father, having His life and nature, and is organically united with the Lord Jesus Christ in all that He is and all that He has done; when Paul speaks of the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, he actually means that the church is in The Triune God.
Spiritual Burden
By experiencing and enjoying The Triune God, we come to know Him; The Triune God is not merely an object of our faith; He indwells us as our life and life supply for us to experience and enjoy.
We need to see that the church is composed of those who are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who have God’s life and are organically united with Christ; if we see the vision of the church in The Triune God, this vision will govern our thoughts, activities, and our entire living.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The Triune God is the structure of the New Testament.
By experiencing and enjoying The Triune God, we come to know Him.
The New Testament, like the entire Bible, is altogether composed according to the structure of the divine Trinity.
First Thessalonians was written to “the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Experience of Life
When The Triune God becomes our experience and enjoyment, He is not only the universally vast One on the throne; He is also the One in our hearts.
The processed Triune God as the life-giving Spirit comes to us, touches us, and is applied to us in our experience; the Father is in the Son, and the Son is now the life-giving Spirit indwelling us; when we are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, we are in The Spirit; therefore, we are the church in the processed Triune God.
Practice and Application
We need to know The Triune God experientially by inwardly enjoying the subjective God; if we want to know The Triune God, we must be on the line of life and in the process of growing in life; the more we grow in life, the more we are concerned with the divine Trinity.
We know The Triune God not in the breadth of the universe but in the sphere of our individual heart; concerning the knowledge of The Triune God, the New Testament way is personal, detailed, and experiential.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The Bible reveals that The Triune God is not only the object of our faith but also subjective to us (1 John 4:13-15).
(Please illustrate that we contact, enjoy, and experience the All-Inclusive Christ by our spirit.)
T2 We do not care for dead doctrine, empty religion, or meaningless rituals (1 John 4:13-15).
(Please illustrate that we can use eating as an example to explain how to learn about The Triune God by enjoying and experiencing The Triune God.)
Day 2
T1 we need to know God in our heart. (1 John 3:19-21).
(Please illustrate that God is not known by us in the vastness of the universe, but in the small sphere of our heart.)
T2 Our knowledge of God must be experiential (1 John 3:19-21).
(Please illustrate that God is small and limited concerning our experiential knowledge of Him.)
Day 3
T1 “God the Father” and “the Lord Jesus Christ” both imply The Spirit (1 Thes. 1:1).
(Please illustrate that give examples to show that many unspoken words in the Bible are more important than spoken words.)
T2 God, in an organic, living way, enables the church to be in The Triune God (1 Cor. 1:2).
(Please illustrate that the different between God and The Triune God.)
Day 4
T1 The church belongs to man, but organically it is in God and in the Lord (John 1:12-13).
(Please illustrate that the church in Thessalonica, on one hand, belonged to the Thessalonians, and on the other hand, was in God the Father.)
T2 When we were created, God’s life did not enter into our natural man (John 1:12-13, 15:1).
(Please illustrate that our relationship with God’s life began when we were born of God through regeneration.)
Day 5
T1 The Father, the Son, and The Spirit are distinct, but it cannot be said that They are separate (John 14:10-11).
(Please illustrate that we cannot separate the Son from the Father, or the Father and the Son from The Spirit, because all three are coexisting and coinhering.)
T2 Although the Father and the Son are “one,” there is still a distinction between “I” and “we” (John 14:10-11).
(Please illustrate that the error of modalism.)
Day 6
T1 In Christ there is no sin, flesh, self, natural life, old creation, death, and Satan (Eph. 1:7, 13).
(Please illustrate that why is it a great matter that the church is in the Lord Jesus Christ?)
T2 The Spirit is the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God (Eph. 3:3-5).
(Please illustrate that the Spirit is the application of The Triune God, The Triune God reaching us.)
