From Delayed Broadcast of Fellowship Service in Tana Toraja
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theme is Royal Priesthood or Priests and Kings.
1 Peter 2:9
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;
A priest is a holy person who bears the ministry or one who serves and ministers to God.
Why do we have to become the priest or serve and minister to God?
Mark 1:6
1:6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
The appearance of a priest must be as follows.
We are learning the third. The wild honey is sweet and the locusts are bitter.
Revelation 10:8-10
10:8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, "Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angelwho stands on the sea and on the earth."
10:9 So I went to the angel and said to him, "Give me the little book." And he said to me, "Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."
10:10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.
Spiritually, it refers to the opened book in the hand of the angel. It means the revelation of God’s Word or a verse that explains other verses in the Bible. It is the true teaching Word or solid food. The angel refers to the pastor. Thus, the opened book in the hand of the angel refers to the true teaching Word trusted by God to a pastor to preach to the congregation continually, faithfully, regularly, and repetitively as the spiritual food, so that they may grow in spirituality up to the spiritual maturity and perfection like Jesus.
The duty of the sheep is eating the true teaching Word and it will get all things physically and spiritually. For example, Jacob liked dwelling in tents or shepherding pen. As a result, he could get all things although he had not had the firstborn right. Esau had the firstborn right, but he liked hunting and did not dwell in tents, so he lost all things.
There are two meanings of the sweetness and bitterness as follows.
God blesses you.
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theme is Royal Priesthood or Priests and Kings.
1 Peter 2:9
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;
A priest is a holy person who bears the ministry or one who serves and ministers to God.
Why do we have to become the priest or serve and minister to God?
- Because there is a difference between the people who serve and minister to God and others who do not.
Malachi 3:18; 4:1
3:18 Then you shall again discernBetween the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.
4:1 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch.
How great a human in the world is, he is only like stubble that is useless and gets burnt in fire, if he does not serve and minister to God. - Because the people who serve and minister to God get double promise for the present life up to the eternal one.
1 Timothy 4:8-10
4:8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.
4:10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
If we believe in the promise of God, we will try hard to prioritize the service and ministry to Him more than anything in the world.
Mark 1:6
1:6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
The appearance of a priest must be as follows.
- Being clothed with camel’s hair.
- Being with a leather belt around the waist.
- Eating locusts and wild honey.
We are learning the third. The wild honey is sweet and the locusts are bitter.
Revelation 10:8-10
10:8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, "Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angelwho stands on the sea and on the earth."
10:9 So I went to the angel and said to him, "Give me the little book." And he said to me, "Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."
10:10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.
Spiritually, it refers to the opened book in the hand of the angel. It means the revelation of God’s Word or a verse that explains other verses in the Bible. It is the true teaching Word or solid food. The angel refers to the pastor. Thus, the opened book in the hand of the angel refers to the true teaching Word trusted by God to a pastor to preach to the congregation continually, faithfully, regularly, and repetitively as the spiritual food, so that they may grow in spirituality up to the spiritual maturity and perfection like Jesus.
The duty of the sheep is eating the true teaching Word and it will get all things physically and spiritually. For example, Jacob liked dwelling in tents or shepherding pen. As a result, he could get all things although he had not had the firstborn right. Esau had the firstborn right, but he liked hunting and did not dwell in tents, so he lost all things.
There are two meanings of the sweetness and bitterness as follows.
- Our attitude when we are eating the Shepherding Word.
Proverbs 27:7
27:7 A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, But to a hungrysoul every bitterthing is sweet.
The right attitude is we eat the Shepherding Word with hunger and need. The teaching Word is indeed hard, sharp, and bitter for our flesh, but it is sweet to our soul, so we will never get bored of it, criticize or reject it.
We can eat the Word means hearing until obeying it, so that it is ingrained in our life. We have the spiritual growth and perfection.
John 15:7
15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
If the Word is ingrained in our life, we can pray according to God’s will and He will answer our prayer. It means that we become the house of prayer. Our life is sweet.
Proverbs 28:9
28:9 One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.
If one does not hear nor obey the true teaching Word, his prayer becomes an abomination before God. He becomes the den of thieves. All spiritual activities are only an abomination before God if they are not based on the true teaching Word or God Himself.
The true teaching Word becomes the command in the service and ministry to God, fellowship service, and all spiritual activities. - The work of the true teaching Word in our life is sanctifying us.
Revelation 10:9-10
10:9 So I went to the angel and said to him, "Give me the little book." And he said to me, "Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."
10:10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.
The Shepherding Word is preached repetitively to sanctify us from the repetitive sins up to the peak, namely sins concerning eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage. Only a pastor has the gift from God to deliver the spiritual food faithfully, regularly, and repetitively.
There are two kinds of sanctification as follows.- The sanctification to the bitter stomach of heart. It is the same as the sanctification to the heart and mind that are filled with the twelve evil, unclean, and bitter desires.
Mark 7:21-23
7:21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, (1)adulteries, (2)fornications, (3)murders,
7:22 "(4)thefts, (5)covetousness, (6)wickedness, (7)deceit, (8)lewdness, (9)an evil eye, (10)blasphemy, (11)pride, (12)foolishness.
7:23 "All these evil things come from within and defile a man."
As a result, the table of our heart is filled with twelve loaves that are set in two rows, six in a row. The figure 66 refers to the true teaching Word. We are filled with the true teaching Word, so our life is full, satisfied, and sweet. We will not look for the satisfaction of the world that causes the fall in sin.
The sanctification to the bitter stomach of heart also means the one from self-truth.
Job 10:1-2
10:1 "My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitternessof my soul.
10:2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Show me why You contend with me.
Job 32:1-2
32:1 So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
32:2 Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God.
The self-truth means covering the sin or mistake by pretending doing good things and blaming others.
Job 42:5-6
42:5 "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
42:6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."
God sanctifies us through the teaching Word or His chastening in order to set us free from the bitterness of life and perdition. Receiving it, we can sit at dusts and ashes like Job. We can confess that we are only clay that has many faults. We confess our sins and powerlessness that we cannot do anything. This is the shortest way to get the help of God. Our eyes only look at God to rely on His grace. As a result, He looks at us to stretch out His merciful hands and heal us physically and spiritually. We have the sweetness and joy of heaven. - The sanctification to the mouth.
Revelation 10:10
10:10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.
It will result in sweet saying, namely honesty. We say yes if yes and no if no. It begins from the things about God, the true teachings, and confessing sin, even in all things.
The sweet saying also means our testimony to become blessings for others. We testify about the gospel Word or Good News to bring sinful people to be saved. We also testify about the teaching Word or Bride Tidings to bring the saved people to be sanctified and perfected. We testify about what God has done in our life.
The sweet saying continues until we can worship God, saying the name of Jesus and "Alleluia".
Revelation 19:1, 3-4
19:1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!
19:3 Again they said, "Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!"
19:4 And the twenty–four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, "Amen! Alleluia!"
The sweet saying is the one of the Bride of God.
Song of Solomon 7:9
7:9 And the roof of your mouth like the best wine. THE SHULAMITE The wine goes down smoothly for my beloved, Moving gently the lips of sleepers.
It will become blessings for others and flows to Jesus who is sleeping.
Matthew 8:23-26
8:23Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
8:24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.
8:25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
8:26 But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
How great we are in the world, our life is only like a small boat in the midst of the sea of the world that is attacked by the wind and waves suddenly. The Lord only waits for our sweet saying, namely honesty, testimony, and worship to Him. Suddenly, God is also able to help us and solve our problems in time of need, even the impossible one.
Peter who was almost drowned could be lifted up by the Lord. Jonah who was drowned already in the belly of a fish could be saved by God.
Revelation 19:6-7
19:6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
19:7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."
The most beautiful thing happens when Jesus comes a second time that we will be lifted up on the glorious clouds and worship Him, saying "Alleluia". We are with Him forever.
- The sanctification to the bitter stomach of heart. It is the same as the sanctification to the heart and mind that are filled with the twelve evil, unclean, and bitter desires.
God blesses you.