The Believers (1)
Message One
Disciples, Believers, Saints, and Christians
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture reading:
Matt. 9:9 And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man sitting at the tax office, called Matthew, and He said to him, Follow Me. And he rose and followed Him.
I. We are the disciples of Christ, those who learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus, so that He may have His own corporate expression and be glorified in the church and in the New Jerusalem—Matt. 5:1; Eph. 3:21; Rev. 21:11: (Monday, Tuesday)
A. We are trained from natural men to be God-men, denying the natural life and living the divine life according to the pattern of Christ as the first God-man; this is to learn Christ—Eph. 4:23; Deut. 17:18-20.
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B. We learn Christ by eating Christ so that we may be replaced by Christ, enjoying Him as our supply so that we may have the power to choose and practice the will of God—John 6:57; Eph. 3:20-21. (Wednesday)
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II. We are believers in Christ, those who have life and live by the faith of the Son of God; faith annuls us and causes us to live God and express God—Rom. 1:17; Heb. 11:6; Gal. 2:20: (Thursday)
A. The believers in Christ have been transferred out of Adam into Christ, regenerated to be a new creation, and are now joined to Christ as one spirit—1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:17; 1 Cor. 6:17.
B. Faith comes from hearing the word; when we hear Christ, He becomes the applied word, dispensed into us as the Spirit to become our faith—Rom. 10:17; John 6:63.
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III. We are the saints of God, who have been positionally sanctified by His redeeming blood and are being dispositionally sanctified by His holy nature—Rom. 1:7; Heb. 13:12; 1 Thes. 5:23-24. (Friday)
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IV. We are Christians, who are one with Christ, having Him as the content of our bountiful supply so that we may live Him in our daily life, that He may be magnified—Acts 11:26; 1 Cor. 6:17; Phil. 1:19-21a: (Saturday)
A. The goal of being a Christian is that we walk by the Spirit to live Christ so that God may be glorified, that is, expressed—Gal. 2:20; 1 Cor. 10:31.
B. Every Christian has a particular journey ordained by the Lord for him, which he must walk himself; no one can replace him, nor can he replace anyone—Acts 13:22, 25, 36; 2 Tim. 4:7-8.
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place…—1 Cor. 1:2.
I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me—Gal. 2:20.
I Myself will shepherd My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, declares the Lord Jehovah—Ezek. 34:15.
Word of Appetizer
What is a disciple? What is a Christian? We are disciples of Christ, that is, those who follow Christ and learn Christ according to the reality in Jesus (which is the actual condition of the God-man living of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels); this is to experience Him in the experience of Christ so that we may become His organic multiplication and reproduction to be His corporate expression, that He may be glorified in the church and in the New Jerusalem. We are Christians, Christ-men, one with Christ; because of our organic union with Christ, we have Him as the content of our all-sufficient supply so that we may live Him in our daily life and He may be magnified.
Spiritual Burden
We are disciples of Christ, that is, those who follow Christ and learn Christ according to the reality in Jesus (which is the actual condition of the God-man living of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels); this is to experience Him in the experience of Christ so that we may become His organic multiplication and reproduction to be His corporate expression, that He may be glorified in the church and in the New Jerusalem. The Lord’s disciples have the real presence of The Triune God as their great joy, making them persons with the “humanity of Jesus,” who are sweet, charming, and attractive to those whom they contact, without any falsehood or hypocrisy.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
We are disciples of Christ, that is, those who follow Christ and learn Christ according to the reality in Jesus (which is the actual condition of the God-man living of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels); this is to experience Him in the experience of Christ so that we may become His organic multiplication and reproduction to be His corporate expression, that He may be glorified in the church and in the New Jerusalem. We are believers in Christ, that is, those who are justified and live by the faith of the Son of God; faith annuls us and causes us to live God, express God, and minister God into people. We are saints of God, those who have been separated and sanctified to God. We are Christians, Christ-men, one with Christ; because of our organic union with Christ, we have Him as the content of our all-sufficient supply so that we may live Him in our daily life and He may be magnified.
The Experience of Life
We are being trained from a natural man into a God-man, denying our natural life and living the divine life according to the pattern of Christ as the first God-man; this is to learn Christ and be taught in Him according to the reality in Jesus, so that we may be renewed in the spirit of our mind by the word of God to become the new, corporate God-man. We are believers in Christ, that is, those who are justified and live by the faith of the Son of God; faith annuls us and causes us to live God, express God, and minister God into people.
Practice and Application
We learn Christ by being awakened by Him morning by morning so that we may have the ear and the tongue of an instructed one to sustain the weary with a word; as the Lord’s disciples, instructed ones, we should rely on Him, trust in His name, and not manufacture our own light. We are Christians, Christ-men, one with Christ; because of our organic union with Christ, we have Him as the content of our all-sufficient supply so that we may live Him in our daily life and He may be magnified. Every Christian on earth has a particular journey ordained by the Lord for him to function as a member of Christ for the building up of His Body; this journey requires every Christian to walk it himself; no one can replace him, nor can he replace anyone.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: A disciple is one who follows Christ and learns from Christ (Matt. 9:9; 11:29)
(Please illustrate that following Christ and learning from Christ both require being trained in many aspects.)
T2: In the church life, we are being trained by the Lord (John 5:19; 14:24)
(Please illustrate that the church life is a life of training, training us from a natural man into a God-man.)
Day 2
T1: The renewing spoken of in the Bible is the renewing of the mind (Rom. 8:6; Eph. 4:23)
(Please illustrate that by setting the mind on the spirit, it is possible for our mind to be renewed.)
T2: Once the mind is renewed, the whole person is transformed (Rom. 12:2; Titus 3:5)
(Please illustrate that the way for us to be renewed is in prayer and reading the Bible.)
Day 3
T1: Christ lived there as a genuine man, yet He died to His natural life (John 14:10; Gal. 2:20a)
(Please illustrate that Paul lived by dying to live.)
T2: The reality of the Body of Christ is not only a corporate life but also a mingled life (Rom. 12:5; Phil. 3:10)
(Please illustrate that this kind of mingled life is in the resurrection of Christ, and the reality of this resurrection is The Spirit.)
Day 4
T1: We receive Christ by believing into Him (John 1:12-13; Rom. 8:16)
(Please illustrate which verses in the New Testament can be considered the birth certificate of our spiritual birth.)
T2: The source of faith is the word (John 10:35; 1:1; 6:36)
(Please illustrate that the Bible is the written word, Christ is the living word, and through The Spirit, the living word becomes the applied word.)
Day 5
T1: The term “saints” refers to those who are separated and sanctified unto God (1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Thes. 2:13)
(Please illustrate that individually, we are saints; corporately, we are the church.)
T2: The Spirit is sanctifying us all day long, applying to us what the Father has planned and what the Son has accomplished (1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Thes. 2:13)
(Please illustrate the difference between the saints’ positional sanctification and dispositional sanctification.)
Day 6
T1: If a believer suffers as a Christian, he should not be ashamed, but should glorify God in this name (1 Pet. 4:16)
(Please illustrate that in the time of Peter and Paul, Christian was a term of reproach, but today this name should have a positive meaning.)
T2: The goal of being a Christian is to live Christ (Gal. 2:20; 3:27)
(Please illustrate that a Christian is a person who belongs to Christ and is one with Him, and needs to live Christ in daily life.)
