Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (1)
Message Five
Enjoying Christ as the Reality of the New Testament Jubilee
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Lev. 25:10 And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to announce the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away in release those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of jubilee.”
Word of Appetizer
What are the two main blessings of the Jubilee? How is the Jubilee, which lasted for a year in the Old Testament type, fulfilled in the New Testament?
In the year of jubilee there were two main blessings: the returning of every man to his lost possession and the liberation from slavery. Returning to one’s possession and being freed and returning to one’s family signify that in the New Testament jubilee the believers have returned to God as their lost divine possession, have been released from all bondage, and have returned to the church as their divine family. In the Old Testament type the jubilee lasted for one year, but in the fulfillment it refers to the entire New Testament age, the age of grace, as the time when God accepts the returned captives of sin.
The year of jubilee is the age of Christ as grace dispensed into us for our enjoyment by His words of grace; the New Testament jubilee is an age of ecstasy for our salvation.
Spiritual Burden
In order to enjoy Christ as the reality of the jubilee, we need to spend time with the Lord day by day to listen to His word and be infused with Him; we need to follow the pattern of Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His word.
Because everything is under His sovereignty, we should pray, “Lord, fill me, gain me, and possess me; no matter what my outward situation is, I just want to enjoy You”; we need to be today’s ministers and witnesses by living and proclaiming the gospel—Christ as the jubilee of grace—for the accomplishing of God’s eternal economy.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25:8-17 is recorded as a prophecy in Isaiah 61:1-3 and is fulfilled in reality in Luke 4:16-22.
The year of jubilee is the age of Christ as grace dispensed into us for our enjoyment by His words of grace; the New Testament jubilee is an age of ecstasy for our salvation.
The proclamation of the jubilee in Luke 4 governs the central thought of the whole Gospel of Luke, and the parables of the good Samaritan in Luke 10 and the prodigal son in Luke 15 are excellent illustrations of the jubilee.
The Experience of Life
We must receive the Lord Jesus as the real jubilee in us; if we have Him, we have God as our possession and can be delivered from the bondage of sin and Satan to have real freedom and rest. If we allow Christ to live in us and we live by Him, everything is to our satisfaction; otherwise, everything is a problem, and nothing is a jubilee.
Everything can be satisfying to us only after we have gained the all-inclusive Christ as our enjoyment; it is not outward persons, matters, or things but Christ within us who enables us to be calm and free of worries as we face all kinds of situations.
Practice and Application
In order to enjoy Christ as the reality of the jubilee, we need to spend time with the Lord day by day to listen to His word and be infused with Him; we need to follow the pattern of Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His word.
We can be released and have real freedom only by enjoying Christ as the life-giving Spirit; only those who enjoy God do not commit sin and are really free, living a life of liberty, release, and freedom from bondage.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The believer’s enjoyment of the Jubilee in the age of grace (Lev. 25:10, 13)
(Please illustrate that how the blessings of the Jubilee relate to our experience of Christ.)
T2 The main blessings of the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18, 2 Cor. 6:2)
(Please illustrate that what the two main blessings of the year of Jubilee are.)
Day 2
T1 We should be beside ourselves before God but soberminded before men (Mark 3:21, 2 Cor. 5:13)
(What is the proper meaning of ““If, as a Christian, you have never reached the point of being beside yourself, you are not up to the standard?”)
T2 Christ has already come, so the age of jubilee is here (Phil. 4:11-13)
(Please illustrate with experiences that we do not have the jubilee in us unless we have allowed the Lord Jesus to come into us.)
Day 3
T1 The jubilee is the age, the time, of God’s acceptance (Luke 15:20, 23)
(Please illustrate that why the father in Luke 15 does not want to hear his son’s request to be a hired one.)
T2 During the year of jubilee, there was to be no sowing, reaping, or harvesting (Luke 15:17-20)
(Please illustrate that how we see a clear picture of the New Testament Jubilee from the parable of the prodigal son. )
Day 4
T1 Enjoy Christ as the reality of the jubilee (1) (Luke 10:39, Isa. 30:15)
(Please illustrate that the first and second aspects of Mary’s example in Luke 10:35.)
T2 Enjoy Christ as the reality of the jubilee (2) (Luke 10:39, Isa. 30:15)
(Please illustrate the third and fourth aspects of Mary’s example in Luke 10:35. )
Day 5
T1 There is a sining factor within man, which is Satan (Rom. 7:24, 8:2)
(Please illustrate that although deep in his heart no one wants to sin, eventually everyone sins. No one has control over himself, and everyone has become a slave of sin.)
T2 Only those who enjoy God do not commit sin and are really free (Rom. 7:24, 8:2)
(Please illustrate that as soon as we enjoy Him, we obtain freedom; but if we don’t enjoy God enough, we will still be in bondage in many things.)
Day 6
T1 The living of Jubilee is a life in any circumstance, we enjoy only God Himself (Acts 26:18, Col. 1:18)
(Please illustrate that what does it mean that “We must let God Himself be the primary factor within us.”)
T2 If we take the Lord as our center, we can enjoy Him as our life of jubilee (Acts 26:18, Col. 1:18)
(Please illustrate with experiences that if our heart is set on anything other than the Lord, that thing, whether good or bad, becomes a suffering to us.)
