We come to message eleven, titled “The Church Becoming the Embodiment of the Triune God (3)”.
The scripture reading for this message is 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12.
The sections of this message are:
I. CALLED INTO GOD’S KINGDOM AND GLORY
II. INCREASING AND ABOUNDING IN LOVE
III. BOXED INTO GOD
IV. FURTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHURCH IN THE TRIUNE GOD
V. THE NEW MAN
VI. THE GOLDEN LAMPSTAND
Does anyone have an experience of speaking something they’ve enjoyed from the Life-Study to others? Let’s continue to encourage one another by posting what we are enjoying. Keep eating saints!
The Church is becoming the embodiment of The Triune God in reality and practicality:
“God’s kingdom and glory are the goal of His calling .…The Kingdom of God is God being manifested through us….Whenever the Lord is expressed from within us, we are in a situation that can be described as glorious.
“The church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is characterised by this increasing and abounding Love”
Praise the Lord!! Lord ~ Jesus I love you. You are the best love ~
After reading Life-study EPHESIANS, one of my alumni run into me in reserve forces training long years ago. He asked some questions related with the epistle Ephesians, and then I answered him what I’ve got out of Life-study of Ephesians. At that time I perceived that something relevant to the Lord Jesus Christ in me has been transfused and infused into him! For 3-4 days, he and I met again and again. He continued to ask questions connected with the Truth! Praise the Lord ~~ As a result, a few of brothers ans sisters were recovered into the Lord’s recovery since they had been introduced into a small group of vital group at that time. All of them have been having the church life in Korea up to now. Praise the Lord!
The speaking of the truth that we’ve seen and enjoyed to others is very very important in the eyes of Jesus Christ our Lord! The more we practice speaking, the better we can speak for the Lord. Hallelujah~
Today,I read Life-study of 1 Thes. msg11. The portion I enjoyed is the subtitle, “INCREASING AND ABOUNDING IN LOVE” -In 3:12 Paul says “And the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love to another and to all, even as we also to you.” The church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ should be composed of those who are increasing and abounding in love to one another and to all men. No matter how many believers there may be in the church -fifty, five hundred, or five thousand -all the saints should love one another. Furthermore, they should increase in this love and abound in it. This kind of love is surely not of our human nature. As fallen human beings, we are not capable of such love. But the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is characterized by this increasing and abounding love. If we truly are a church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the love we have for one another will increase and abound.” Amen
The Triune God is making faith grow and love increase in the churches. Dear brothers and sisters, let us stay in the Triune God and let Him grow in us!
“We ought to thank God always concerning you, brothers, even as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all to one another is increasing.” 1 Thes. 1:3
I enjoyed footnote one of 1Thes 2:4 ”But even as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men but God, who proves our hearts.”
”God’s entrusting depends on His approval, which comes out of His testing. The apostles were first tested and approved by God and then were entrusted by Him with the gospel. Hence, their speaking, the preaching of the gospel, was not of themselves to please men but of God to please Him. He proved, examined, and tested their hearts continually”
Oh Lord, may we be approved by God during our testing. Examine our hearts continually.
“The church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ should be composed of those who are increasing and abounding in love to one another and to all men. No matter how many believers there may be in the church—fifty, five hundred, or five thousand—all the saints should love one another.”
What is God’s kingdom? The kingdom of God is God being manifested through us. Whenever we express God in our daily walk, that is the kingdom. The expression of God Himself from within us is the kingdom. Suppose a brother works in an office. Certain of his colleagues may oppose him because he is a believer. They may not be happy to have him there. But if he expresses God daily in the office, his fellow workers will realize that there is something unusual about him. They will know that with this brother there is something special. This is God’s kingdom, God expressed from within that brother. On the one hand, others may oppose us, criticize us, and be unhappy with us. On the other hand, they sense something indescribable about us. This is God’s kingdom as His manifestation through us. How marvelous it would be if all Christians expressed God! This expression truly would be the kingdom of God on earth.
“Lord, may I be express You today in my office, so that Your kingdom may be manifested”.
God’s kingdom and glory are the goal of His calling! Heaven is not God’s goal. This is a misunderstood concept of many believers. The kingdom of God is God being expressed through us and manifested in us!
“Many of us can testify that when we live God and walk worthily of God, matching Him, there is an atmosphere around us that is nothing less than God’s kingdom. Spontaneously the Lord is expressed. This expression is God’s glory. ”
Oh Lord Jesus! We want to be Your kingdom people bringing Your kingdom down to earth and to be Your expression for Your glory!!
The boxing-in work was in type done to Noah and his family , it limited them and was at the same time a baptism. But how glorious it was to be separated from the tragedy taking place outside and live a life in this tree store boot with only a window to heaven. When realizing this, its easy to say we are boxed in and even like to be boxed in, with a view to heaven only. Saved to the uttermost in faith, in the Triune God in the hope to land in resurrection. Our today box is the Church and this will grow into the ultimate enlargement; the New Jerusalem box hallelujah.
Greetings from Europe.
It is possible for the kingdom of God and Glory of God to be manifested in our daily living today, by living Him and walk worthily of Him.
God intends to box us into Him,and today He is doing the boxing-in work until we are entirely boxed in, by the Triune God.
Lord, continue your work in us, do not let us go, until our entire being is boxed into the Triune God.
I enjoy that part too. The way of the Lord to separate us from the world is to boxing-in Him, but we need to let Him do this so He can gain a corporate expression. Let´s be boxed into God!
“…because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all to one another is increasing.” I enjoyed that we in our fallen human nature cannot have such love for each other, but our faith grows and our love for one another grows, being in Him!
We need to see the characteristic of the church in the Triune God in this message:
1. Called into His kingdom and glory
2. Increasing and abounding in love and faith growing (2 Thes 1:3)
3. To be sanctified (1 Thes 4:7)
4. called to obtaining the glory of our Lord Jesus (2 Thes 2:14)
5. Bear the image of God as new man.
6. become embodiment of the Triune God, typified by golden lampstand.
We are boxed into the Triune God! Now He is working until we are fully boxed into Him! We are also in sanctification by being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The church is the embodiment of the Triune God! In Exodus 25 the lamsptand typifies the Triune God! But in Rev. 1 the lampstand typifies the church! This reveals that the church is the embodiment of the Triune God. Wow, what a enlightening portion!
7 lamps=Seven Spirits of God
Gold= Father’s nature
Form of the lampstand= The Son
I just can’t help but be filled with the Triune God after reading this message! Do we realize what God is doing today? If we did we couldn’t help but be open to and filled with the Triune God! God is seeking to transform us into his image and be expressed through us. This is so marvelous!! We are so blessed to hear this and be in this kind of ministry. We are in the church that is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise You, Triune God!
I am enjoying few portions “What is God’s kingdom? The kingdom of God is God being manifested through us. Whenever we express God in our daily walk, that is the kingdom.
From the context of 2:12 we can see that being called into God’s kingdom and glory is related to walking worthily of God. When we walk worthily of God, there is with us a particular kind of atmosphere, and this atmosphere is God’s kingdom.
We need to be in the kingdom of God and the glory of God today. Furthermore, we need to increase and abound in love, and we need to be fully sanctified, entirely boxed in, by the Triune God.
How blessed we are to see that the church is the embodiment of the Triune God! ”
Amen.
Our being called into God’s kingdom and glory is related to walking worthily of God. When we walk worthily of God, there is with us a particular kind of atmosphere, and this atmosphere is God’s kingdom. Furthermore, where the kingdom of God is, there the glory of God is also.
I enjoyed that we can experience practically the kingdom life TODAY! Praise the Lord!
“Many of us can testify that when we live God and walk worthily of God, matching Him, there is an atmosphere around us that is nothing less than God’s kingdom. Spontaneously the Lord is expressed. This expression is God’s glory. ”
Lord, keep us living in You by enjoying You! Remind us that you have placed us in You, that you are boxing us in Yourself!
Dear saints, I was particularly impressed by a few statements from Bro. Lee in this message, that we who are called by God are called into God’s kingdom and glory (1 Thes. 2:12). We can see from 2:12 that being called into God’s kingdom and glory is related to walking worthily of God, and being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ already, we certainly can walk worthily of God today to manifest God’s kingdom and glory in our daily life!
In In 3:12 we are told that the Lord cause us to increase and abound in love to one another and to all.., and in 4:7 the term sanctification should give us an impression that God is “boxing us” into Himself. How precious! The God of peace Himself sanctifies us wholly, that our spirit and soul and body may be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He Who calls you, Who also will do it (5.23-24).
But the best part of message 11 is that we are not only the one new man (Col. 3:10-11), in who Christ is all and in all, but also the golden lampstand (Rev. 1:12), which portrays the Triune God embodied in a SINGLE ENTITY. Hallelujah, we and the Three-in-One are becoming the Four-in-One! Now the Triune God is not only just the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, but the Father as OUR element, the Son as OUR form, and the Spirit as OUR expression, shining the glory of the Triune God to the universe. This is us, the church, filled with the Triune God. Amen!
God is boxing us into Himself. This is not to punish us! It is so God can separate us and sanctify us entirely for Himself. Because of this, we have no right to leap out of the box. According to 1 Thes 5:23, He is sanctifying us wholly, preserving our body, soul and spirit. This means that eventually, no part of us will be left out of God as the spiritual box. Our entire tripartite being will be altogether in the Triune God! May we allow Him to box us into Himself more and more until we are fully in Him. Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.
The Triune God is a lampstand and we are individually being molded into a lampstand and we are corporately, as the entire church, being conformed to the image of this lampstand to express this wonderful Triune God! How profound!
Have you been BOXED IN?
I appreciated this word very much especially as it may relate to us working saints. For many of us, this time of life represents unprecedented freedoms as we grow out from under various restrictions we had in previous stages of life. Maybe we have our own apartment now, or for the first time have disposable income. Maybe we are realizing that we can skip a meeting for something else and no one will notice.
BUT, the Triune God has called us “in sanctification” to be a part of the church IN the Triune God. Dear brothers and sisters we have been called into his own kingdom and glory. This word is for us! The Triune God is working on us, until we are completely, wholly (1 The 5:23) sanctified. Faithful is He who has called us in such a way, who also will do it!
” If we compare God to a box, we may say that God is boxing you in to Himself. You all need to be boxed in to Him more and more. God has placed you into Himself as a spiritual, divine, and heavenly box. Being in this box separates you to God. In other words, this being boxed in to God, this separation, is sanctification.”
How blessed we are to see that the church is the embodiment of the Triune God! Our ears are blessed to hear this word. Many believers in the past never heard or saw anything concerning this. Hallelujah, we are in the church which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Now we are being transformed into the image of the Triune God and conformed to this image to be in reality and practicality the embodiment of the Triune God, having the Father as our element, the Son as our form, and the Spirit as our expression, shining the glory of the Triune God to the universe. This is the church filled with the Triune God.
Lord we open to You. keep boxing us in Yourself, do not let us go. Thank You for opening Your word to us in such a way. Thank You for all the saints, keep us abounding in love, thank You for the hope and eternal encouragement. Praise You Lord.
I enjoyed that the glory of God can be manifested in our married life.
I grew up in a house of discord. When I came into the church life and met couples who are in harmony, I thought that it was spectacular. The houses I was invited to and the families I visited while churching had an atmosphere that manifested something incredible. That atmosphere certainly created a sense of respect in me for them. Now I know, that manifestation is God’s glory!
In our work life, we see how political human relationships can be. Colleagues between colleagues, and colleagues with the boss, can have such good relationship on the surface, but they can back-stab one another as soon as they turn around.
On the other hand, the relationship between husband and wife is genuine, yet it is possible to “visit a brother’s house and find him and his wife glowing, shining, and flowing”. This picture is so beautiful, like New Jerusalem. A couple who is one and walk worthily of God manifests God’s glory. Praise the Lord.
I enjoyed this new view of the kingdom. The common understanding of many Christians is taht one day the Lord Jesus will come back and then we will be in the kingdom. However, we saw in this life study that;
“THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS GOD BEING MANIFESTED THROUGH US. WHENEVER WE EXPRESS GOD IN OUR DAILY WALK, THAT IS THE KINGDOM. THE EXPRESSION OF GOD HIMSELF FROM WITHIN US IS THE KINGDOM”
I also enjoyed that it is possible for the kingdom of God and the glory of God to be manifested in our life, by living God, by waking worthily of God then there is a certain kind of atmosphere (“is nothing less than God’s kingdom), and when others come into this atmosphere they will see God’s kingdom!
We all have experienced this to some extent, isn’t it true? O saints, may we experience it more! The Lord also longs for His kingdom to be manifested in our daily lives!
I’m still a bit behind with the reading, but in this message I enjoyed that God’s kingdom is God being manifested through us! Even at work, at school, at home, wherever we are – if God is manifested through us, if He is seen in us, that is the kingdom of God! There is something unusual about one who expresses God – with him there’s the kingdom of God! Wow! Lord Jesus, have a way to live in us! No longer I, Lord, but may Christ live in me for the kingdom of God to be manifested and enlarged!
I enjoyed that the kingdom of God is not merely something in the future. Today, we can live in the kingdom of God by walking worthily of God, so that God is expressed in our living!
“If we truly are a church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the love we have for one another will increase and abound.”
My prayer is that all of us would be boxed into the Triune God! Lord make us Your subdued captives in a triumphal procession! Constrained! Vanquished! T.K.O.!