The Believers (1)
Message Eight
Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive Christ in Matthew
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture reading:
Matt. 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
I. Christ is the heavenly King; the Gospel of Matthew proves that Jesus is the King, the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament; this heavenly King came in a mild, humble, and meek way—Matt. 2:1-2; 21:5. (Monday)
II. The Lord Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; Christ will accomplish God’s eternal purpose through His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and second coming; the Son of the living God embodies the Father and consummates in the Spirit—Matt. 16:16, 21, 27; John 14:10-11a.
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III. Christ is the Son of Man, the man who brought God’s ruling authority to the earth; for the establishing of the kingdom of the heavens, the Lord Jesus stood in the position of an overcoming man—Matt. 8:20; 9:6; 13:37; 16:27-28. (Tuesday)
IV. Christ is the Baptizer; the Lord’s baptism in the Holy Spirit brings His believers into the kingdom of the heavens; the Lord’s baptism in fire will conclude the kingdom of the heavens and cast the unbelievers into the lake of fire—Matt. 3:11-12.
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V. Christ is the light of life shining in the darkness of death; His ministry for the kingdom of the heavens began with a great heavenly light, attracting the disciples to Himself in order to establish the kingdom of the heavens—Matt. 4:12-16. (Wednesday)
VI. In the matter of calling people to follow Him for the kingdom, Christ ministered as a Physician and revealed Himself as the Bridegroom; we need to appreciate Him as the Bridegroom so that we may enjoy a life in His presence—Matt. 9:9-15.
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VII. Christ is a piece of unfulled cloth for making a new garment; through His death and resurrection, He was made into a new garment to be our righteousness before God so that we may be accepted by Him—Matt. 9:16; Luke 5:36; 1 Cor. 1:30. (Thursday)
VIII. The individual Christ is the new wine, and the corporate Christ is the new wineskin; the new wine invigorates and satisfies us, and the new wineskin is the outward container that holds the new wine—Matt. 9:17; 1 Cor. 12:12.
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IX. Christ is the Shepherd and the Lord of the harvest; if we see the vision of Christ as the Lord of the harvest, we will beseech Him to thrust out workers to reap His harvest—Matt. 9:35-38. (Friday)
X. Christ is the friend of sinners, and He is also the wisdom of God; He sympathizes with the problems of sinners; whatever Christ did was by the wisdom of God, which is God Himself—Matt. 11:19; 1 Cor. 1:24, 30.
XI. Christ is the Giver of rest; to take the Lord’s yoke is to take the Father’s will; because the Lord was satisfied with the Father’s will, He always had rest in His heart, and now He wants us to learn from Him—Matt. 11:28-30.
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XII. Christ is the greater Jonah, typifying the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ; the Lord Jesus was willing to die and resurrect to become the greatest miracle to an evil and adulterous generation, so that people may be saved upon believing—Matt. 12:39-41; 16:4. (Saturday)
XIII. Christ is the bread, and He is also the crumbs under the table; God’s economy is a matter of Christ entering into us to be our food; we need to eat Christ as the bread to take Him in—Matt. 15:21-38.
XIV. Christ in His humanity is the resurrected One, having all authority in heaven and on earth; because the kingdom requires authority, Christ’s resurrection is a matter of authority, in order to make all the nations His disciples—Matt. 28:18-19.
XV. The Gospel of Matthew is full of the riches of Christ; we need to worship Him, enjoy Him, and experience Him as this wonderful, all-inclusive One—Matt. 2:11; 28:9, 17; 17:5.
