Bible Study Service in Malang, December 13, 2012 (Thursday Evening)

Peace and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The whole Matthew 28 refers to shekinah glory or the light of glory.
Matthew 27 is about the suffering of Jesus until He dies.
There is resurrection or glory behind the death or cross. Therefore, do not be afraid of experiencing the suffering together with Jesus because we only need to wait for the time of God and the resurrection or glory will happen for sure.

Matthew 28 consists of three things as follows.

1. Matthew 28:1-10 is aboutthe resurrection of Jesus.
   It refers to shekinah glory shines the hard dark heart so there is renewal from carnal man to spiritual one as Jesus is.
   
   
2. Matthew 28:11-15 is about the lying of the council.
   It refers to the spread of the darkness or false news.
   
   
3. Matthew 28:16-20 is about the commandment to preach the Gospel.
   It refers to the spread of the light or shekinah glory.
   

We still discuss the first thing, namely shekinah glory shines the hard dark heart so there is renewal from carnal man to spiritual one as the angel or Jesus is.

Matthew 28:3
28:3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.

What must be renewed is the countenance to become bright as the sun. It is the face of the glory of Jesus on the mountain as the King of kings and heavenly Bridegroom.
Keeping the hardness of heart, there is no renewal in the five senses until the face is sad. It means there is no perfection and one cannot be as glorious as Jesus is. Consequently, he is left when Jesus comes a second time and he perishes forever.

Nehemiah 2:2-3
2:2 Therefore the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart." So I became dreadfully afraid,
2:3 and said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?"

The sad face happens because the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and the gates are burned with fire.

Proverbs 24:30-31
24:30 I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;
24:31 And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down.

The stone wall is broken down means laziness and unfaithfulness doing the ministry to God. It means destroying the body of Christ.
Consequently, there is curse, namely heavy burden, weariness, sorrow, et cetera.

It the walls keep on being broken down, the gates will be burned, meaning one leaves the ministry. It means there is no place in the body of Christ or one loses the salvation and perishes forever. It is as Judas Iscariot who is replaced by Matthias and he cannot return but perish forever.

Nehemiah 2:4-5
2:4 Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.
2:5 And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it."

Nehemiahhas strong will to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Now we must have strong will to be actively employed in the building of the perfect body of Christ.

Nehemiah 2:17-18
2:17 Then I said to them, "You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach."
2:18 And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, "Let us rise up and build." Then they set their hands to this good work.

The preparation to build the body of Christ is to receive the mercy of God to become the priests and kings.
Preparing the time, money, age, condition, et cetera will never be enough.

Exodus 19:6
19:6 'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."

Actually, only the chosen people of God or the children of Israel and the descendants who may become the priests and kings and the Gentiles have no portion in it.

1 Peter 2:9-10
2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
2:10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

God opens the way through His mercy that costs the sacrifice of Christ on the cross to lift up the Gentiles to become the priests and kings. Therefore, do not trade the ministry with anything. Taking off the ministry means having blood debt nothing may pay.

The process of the Gentiles’ being the priests and kings is as follows.

1. Being called.
   We are called out of darkness of sin into His marvelous light. It means we are saved by the Gospel of Salvation.
   
   Acts 2:36-40
   2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredlythat God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
   2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
   2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptizedin the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
   2:39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
   2:40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation."
   
   The steps of being saved are as follows.
   
   
   • [Acts 2:36] Knowing assuredly, meaning we believe in Jesus as the only Savior.
     
   • [Acts 2:38] Repenting, meaning we stop sinning to return to God or we die to sin.
     
   • [Acts 2:38] Having life renewal by the water and Spirit, so we can receive new life, namely righteous life just as Jesus is righteous.
     
     

2. Being chosen.
   It means we are sanctified by the Word sharper than any two-edged sword. Afterwards, we can be employed in the building of the body of Christ.
   
   Isaiah 52:11
   52:11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the LORD.
   
   
   
3. Being affirmed.
   Ephesians 4:11-12
   4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
   4:12 for the equipping of the saintsfor the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
   
   It means we are equipped with the ministry and the gifts of Holy Spirit, so we can minister to God in the building of the body of Christ according to our own ministry and gifts of Holy Spirit. Being righteous and holy, we can cooperate with other people for sure.
   

Thus, it is only by the mercy and trust of God which cost the sacrifice of Jesus when the Gentiles can be employed in the building of the body of Christ.The mercy of God never ends until the end line, namely we die or Jesus comes a second time. Let us always see the cross of Jesus, so we can endure.

We must work in the mercy of God because we are lifted up by it. The signs are as follows.

• Living in righteousness and holiness in all aspects of life.
  
• Not insisting wage or physical matters.
  
• Being ready, faithful and fervent in spirit, unwilling to be hindered by anything in the ministering to God until one cannot be hindered but always says 'yes'.
  Nehemiah 2:18
  2:18 And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, "Let us rise up and build." Then they set their hands to this good work.
  
  
  
• With all power, meaning with all our heart and soul without any purpose to take physical advantage.
  

Ministering carelessly, one has been outside of the mercy of God. His spirituality has been dry until dead and he perishes forever.

Nehemiah 3:1
3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel.

The building of the body of Christ begins from the building of the Sheep Gate.
Meaning the building of the body of Christ happens only in shepherding system, not in other systems. Therefore, we must become shepherded life as follows.

1. Hearing the voice of Shepherd or Shepherding Word.
   Do not hear strange voice that will only make one fall and burn the gates.
   
   
2. Being in the sheepfold, referring to perseverance in doing three main services to God as follows.
   
   
   • Golden Candlestick or perseverance in doing General Service.
     
   • Table of Showbread or perseverance in doing Bible Study Service with Holy Communion.
     
   • Golden Altar of Incense or perseverance in doing Prayer Service.
     

It indeed needs passing through a narrow gatein order to be shepherded, namely the tearing of flesh with all its lusts, ambition, and emotion, so we can persevere and become obedient. As a result, 'I shall not want', meaning God always prepares all things for us until we are perfect.
Nevertheless, we must be alert because there is wide Horse Gate. The one who is not shepherded becomes wild horse.

2 Chronicles 22:10
22:10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.

2 Chronicles 23:15
23:15 So they seized her; and she went by way of the entrance of the Horse Gateinto the king’s house, and they killed her there.

The Horse Gate makes the flesh free until one becomes disobedient to the voice of the Shepherd. Consequently, there is murdering or hatred.
The kings who are the descendants of Judah are killed, meaning cutting off the way of the coming of Jesus as the Savior.
Now, the sons and servants of God who are disobedient are cutting off or hindering the way of the second coming of Jesus as King of kings and heavenly Bridegroom.

Ministering to God in shepherding system, we will be able to overcome all hindrances as follows.

1. Outside hindrance.
   Nehemiah 4:3
   4:3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, "Whatever they build, if even a foxgoes up on it, he will break down their stone wall."
   
   It is the fox as follows.
   
   
   • Antichrist with flesh characteristic, namely hatred without any cause.
     
   • False prophet with lie and false teachings.
     Ezekiel 13:3-4
     13:3 Thus says the Lord GOD: "Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!
     13:4 "O Israel, your prophets are like foxesin the deserts.
     
     
     
2. Inside hindrance, namely spiritual disease.
   John 5:2-3
   5:2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gatea pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.
   5:3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.
   
   It consists of blindness, lameness, and paralysis or spiritual disability.
   
   
   • Blindness means one cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ but rejects the true teaching Word sharper than any two-edged sword.
     2 Corinthians 4:3-4
     4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
     4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
     
     It also means blindness to the ministry, so one ministers to God without seriousness.
     
     
   • Lameness means mixing the physical things with the spiritual ones. One may minister spiritually but the purpose is to get the physical things.
     
   • Paralysis means there is no progress in the ministry.
     Hebrews 13:4-5
     13:4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterersGod will judge.
     13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
     
     The cause is as follows.
     
     
     1. False marriage and sins concerning eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage.
        
     2. The lust of money, namely stinginess and greediness.
        Stinginess means one cannot give time, energy, money, et cetera.
        Greediness means one seizes the possession of other people and God, namely tithes and offerings.
        
        
   If there is blindness, lameness, and paralysis, the face will be sad. There is no joy and perfection, so one cannot become as glorious as Jesus is and he is left when He comes a second time.
   

Matthew 15:30
15:30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them.

The solution is through sitting at Jesus’ feet, namely being firm in the shepherding. We confess that we are only powerless and unworthy clay. In addition, we only need the power and mercy of God.

The result is as follows.

1. There is power of preservation and protection of Godthat is able to preserve us miraculously in the midst of impossibilities and difficulties in the world.
   
   Matthew 14:16-20
   14:16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
   14:17 And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."
   14:18 He said, "Bring them here to Me."
   14:19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.
   14:20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.
   
   If we sit at Jesus’ feet or become firm in the shepherding, we will never be afraid or worried in our life.
   
   
2. There is mercy and creating powerto create us from clay vessel to the vessel of glory of God.
   Romans 9:22-23
   9:22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
   9:23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,
   
   
   
3. There is mercy and healing powerto heal the spiritual diseases and the physical ones.
   Matthew 15:30-31
   15:30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them.
   15:31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.
   
   In addition, there is resurrection power to make the dead alive or to solve impossible problems.
   
   Spiritually, there is power of sanctification and renewal from sinful man, who is destroyed with lameness, blindness, and paralysis until being carcass, to the glorious one as Jesus is with the bright shining face. We can be exalted on glorious clouds to see Jesus face to face up to the throne of New Jerusalem.
   
   Ezekiel 43:7
   43:7 And He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of My throneand the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places.
   

God blesses you.