Peace and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28: 20b
28:20b ..... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
God is with us always, even to the end of the age. It means He is with us from now on until Jesus comes a second time and we sit together with Him on the throne of heaven forever.
It is written in Exodus 33 that Moses asks for the accompaniment of God in the wilderness when the house of Israel will enter in Canaan.
We also ask for the accompaniment of God in the wilderness of the world until we can reach the throne of heavenly kingdom in New Jerusalem.
There are two forms of the accompaniment of God as follows.
We still discuss the first form. There are three kinds of the manifestation of God’s grace as follows.
We are learning the third kind.
Exodus 33:16-17
33:16 "For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth."
33:17 So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name."
God, He Himself and His characteristic, will walk with us when we have been in the way of cross in shepherding system.
Proverbs 30:18-19
30:18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yes, four which I do not understand:
30:19 The way of an eagle in the air, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the midst of the sea, And the way of a man with a virgin.
The characteristic of Jesus can be described as four things as follows.
Actually, the four things have been usual and ingrained in the human daily life, but they are written as wonderful things that cannot be understood. It means we have to check ourselves whether the characteristic of Jesus has been ingrained in our life after we follow Him for a long time or not. Therefore, God walks with us and we must walk with Him in order to make His characteristic ingrained in our life as our blood and flesh and we may sit with Him on the throne of New Jerusalem.
The daily practices of walking with Jesus are as follows.
God blesses you.
Matthew 28: 20b
28:20b ..... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
God is with us always, even to the end of the age. It means He is with us from now on until Jesus comes a second time and we sit together with Him on the throne of heaven forever.
It is written in Exodus 33 that Moses asks for the accompaniment of God in the wilderness when the house of Israel will enter in Canaan.
We also ask for the accompaniment of God in the wilderness of the world until we can reach the throne of heavenly kingdom in New Jerusalem.
There are two forms of the accompaniment of God as follows.
- Exodus 33:12-17; His grace.
- Exodus 33:18-23; His glory.
We still discuss the first form. There are three kinds of the manifestation of God’s grace as follows.
- [verse 12-13] God shows us His way, namely the way of cross.
- [verse 14-15] He guides and shepherds us.
- [verse 16-17] He walks with us.
We are learning the third kind.
Exodus 33:16-17
33:16 "For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth."
33:17 So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name."
God, He Himself and His characteristic, will walk with us when we have been in the way of cross in shepherding system.
Proverbs 30:18-19
30:18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yes, four which I do not understand:
30:19 The way of an eagle in the air, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the midst of the sea, And the way of a man with a virgin.
The characteristic of Jesus can be described as four things as follows.
- The way of an eagle in the air. It refers to Jesus as a King.
- The way of a serpent on a rock. It refers to Jesus as a Human.
- The way of a ship in the midst of the sea. It refers to Jesus as a Servant.
- The way of a man with a virgin. It refers to Jesus as a Bridegroom.
Actually, the four things have been usual and ingrained in the human daily life, but they are written as wonderful things that cannot be understood. It means we have to check ourselves whether the characteristic of Jesus has been ingrained in our life after we follow Him for a long time or not. Therefore, God walks with us and we must walk with Him in order to make His characteristic ingrained in our life as our blood and flesh and we may sit with Him on the throne of New Jerusalem.
The daily practices of walking with Jesus are as follows.
- The way of an eagle in the air. It refers to the glory of Jesus as a King.
Psalm 20:6-9
20:6 Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand.
20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
20:8 They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright.
20:9 Save, LORD! May the King answer us when we call.
The characteristic of Jesus as a glorious King is victory, especially over sin, so we always live in righteousness. If we do not live in righteousness, we will be loser.
The process of having victory over the sin is we confess and forgive one another. If we are false, we must confess to God and other people seriously and honestly. If we are righteous, we must forgive and forget the sins of other people.
As a result, the sin is finished and we can walk in righteousness together with Jesus.
Isaiah 59:1-3
59:1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.
59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.
All sins in our saying, deeds, and mind make us separated from God, so there are problems, temptations, and tears.
If we defeat the sins, God will hear our prayer and stretch His hand to solve all problems and wipe away our tears. - The way of a serpent on a rock. It refers to Jesus as a Human.
John 3:14-15
3:14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
3:15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
It is written in Old Testament that Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the people of Israel who had been bitten by the serpent would not die.
Now, in the New Testament, Jesus humbles Himself as suffering human to bear the sins, so He must die in curse on the cross. Jesus becomes as the serpent which is lifted up to save the sinners who are arrogant as the serpent.
Numbers 21:4-9
21:4 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.
21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread."
21:6 So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
21:7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
21:8 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live."
21:9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
The practice of being a sinner who is hard-hearted is loathing the manna.
Psalm 78:23-25
78:23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven,
78:24 Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven.
78:25 Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.
Manna is the bread of angel or the true shepherding Word. It is the true teaching Word God trusts to a pastor to preach to the congregation faithfully with responsibility to reach the heavenly throne.
Loathing the manna, one will be bitten by the serpent. It means being deceived by false teaching and gossips whose truth cannot be accounted for. One who is bitten by the serpent will fall and rise in sins up to the peak. Consequently, the spirituality becomes dead and dry to go toward perdition.
The practice of walking with Jesus as the suffering Human is we humble ourselves to be well-shepherded. Arrogant life means one who does not want to be shepherded.
The requirements of being righteously shepherded are as follows.- Having perseverance in the sheepfold or the Holy Place.
There are three kinds of equipment in the Holy Place. They refer to the perseverance in doing three kinds of service 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.
- Golden Candlestick or perseverance in doing General Service.
- Consuming the shepherding Word. It means we can hear and obey the true teaching Word.
John 10:27-28
10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
10:28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
To enter in the sheepfold, we must suffer in the flesh as if we pass through a narrow door, but we can live in the hand of Good Shepherd. As a result, Satan cannot snatch us out of God’s hand, fall us in sin, deceive, and destroy us. We have the guarantee of life assurance from now on until we have eternal life forever.
- Having perseverance in the sheepfold or the Holy Place.
- The way of a ship in the midst of the sea. It refers to Jesus as a Servant.
Jesus as the Servant brings blessings from heaven to the world to ones who need.
Philippians 2:7-8
2:7but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
The characteristic of Jesus as the Servant is obedience to the point of death on the cross.
The practice of walking with Jesus as the Servant is we humble ourselves to be faithful and obedient in doing the service and ministry until the end, namely we die or Jesus comes a second time.
1 Peter 5:5-6
5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
As a result, we are in the mighty hand of God that exalts us in His time.
To exalt means to make all things successful and beautiful in His time. Moreover, we are used by God.
The obedience and faithfulness will cover all our weaknesses and powerlessness through the gifts of Holy Spirit added to us by God. - The way of a man with a virgin. It refers to Jesus as Heavenly Bridegroom.
Ephesians 5:25-27
5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
5:27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
The characteristic of Jesus as the Heavenly Bridegroom is His love to us until He sacrifices all things.
The practice of walking with Jesus, the Heavenly Bridegroom, is we love Him more than anything in the world with willingness to sacrifice all things.
The results are as follows.- Not being disappointed or desperate to face all things. We keep on being faithful and fervent in spirit. Moreover, we do not become proud of anything.
Romans 5:5
5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
We always believe and hope in God as well as give thanks to Him. It is the spiritual maturity. - The love sanctifies and renews us from carnal man to spiritual one as a newborn baby. We do not speak or comment too much but cry to God. It is the spiritual maturity.
8:5 A RELATIVE Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree. There your mother brought you forth; There she who bore you brought you forth.
8:6 THE SHULAMITE TO HER BELOVED Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame.
The Bride who has spiritual maturity is as a baby in the embrace of God’s hand and John leaning on Jesus’ bosom. As a result, He will pay attention to and care us. He understands us and struggles together with us. He keeps on caring us until we have grey hairs.
Holy Communion will make us firm in the embrace of God’s hand as John leaning on Jesus’ bosom.
Isaiah 46:3-4
46:3 "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld by Me from birth, Who have been carried from the womb:
46:4 Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
The results of being in the embrace of God’s hand are as follows.- He is responsible of our whole life. It means our death and life are in His hand and He gives us the best.
- He bears us. It means that He bears all our heavy burdens, so we are in peace and all things become easy and light.
- He saves us. It means He saves and protects us from now on until the time when the antichrist reigns over the world. He also sanctifies and renews us until we are perfect and worthy of welcoming His second coming; we meet Jesus, the Ancient of Days whose hair was like pure wool, on His throne.
Daniel 7:9
7:9 "I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;
- Not being disappointed or desperate to face all things. We keep on being faithful and fervent in spirit. Moreover, we do not become proud of anything.
God blesses you.