In our conference today, we want to focus on the Lord Jesus Himself, seeing Him as He was on earth, as He is in heaven, and as He should be seen in believers today.
For this first study, a good example for us is Zacchaeus. In Luke 19, he heard that the Lord was coming near his city, so he climbed a tree because he wanted to "see who Jesus was" (Luke 19:3). This is what we want to do in the passages we have read today. What was it like to hear Him? What did He do and say? What did He want people to know?
We turn first to Matthew 9. Verse 1 says the Lord came to "His own city." But in Mark 2, which also gives the account of this miracle, we learn that He was in Capernaum. It's surprising because we would have thought that Nazareth, the place where He grew up, would be called His own city. But Christ had almost immediately been rejected in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30). Now Capernaum had the opportunity to witness who He was.
The man was paralyzed. This is also a picture of the spiritual condition of the nation of Israel and also of all humanity. We cannot move towards God in our natural condition. But the man himself was physically in that condition. Yet his friends brought him to Jesus.
And the text says that Jesus saw their faith. Let us be the kind of friends who have faith for those who do not, and let us bring them to Jesus.
If we use 3-D glasses, we can see flat images as if they have another dimension. To see Jesus correctly, we need "4-D" glasses-- the four gospels, which reveal Him in various ways. Matthew presents Him as the King and also shows His person, His ministry, and His mission.
The Lord's first words to this paralyzed man were surprising: "Your sins are forgiven." Was this insensitive? Was the man disappointed? Certainly not! We can be sure that the man was overjoyed. The Lord knew that the burdens of the man's heart were far more troublesome to him than the inability to walk. Sin is so terrible, and forgiveness is so necessary. No doubt the man was so joyful when he heard that his sins had been forgiven. This was truly what he needed.
In addition, forgiving sins is a mark of deity. The Pharisees were right when they thought to themselves, "Only God can forgive sins."
But Matthew is the gospel of the Lord's authority (see also Matthew 7:28-29 and 28:18). Here, in verses 6 and 8, the Lord healed the man in order to display His divinely given authority, as Son of Man, to forgive sins. Furthermore, this was in view of the work of salvation He would accomplish on the cross in the future.
When sin entered the garden of Eden, it affected not only the body but also the soul; and here the Lord addressed the needs of the soul first. We too should realize that it's our souls, not our bodies, which have the greatest needs.
The Lord knew what the onlookers were thinking. This was also a proof of His divinity. Forgiving sins is an unseen process, so He also healed the man's body, which was an obvious visible testimony to His authority and power. He could even forgive sins without a verbal confession from the paralyzed man! He knew the man had faith for both forgiveness and healing.
It's a nice point that Matthew includes the Lord's words, "Be of good cheer," only found in this gospel. He is the only one who could say this to us. He is the only one who has died so that we could have forgiveness of sins.
There's a connection between Matthew 9 and 2 Samuel 5, where David's soldiers are mocked as being unable to defeat even the blind and the lame. But David won that victory (2 Samuel 5:6-8), and here in Matthew 9 the Lord heals both the blind and the paralylzed (see verses 27-30).
If someone wrongs us personally, we might forgive that person for it. But the Lord was declaring forgiveness not for something the man did against Him personally but for all of the man's sins! As great as David was, he could never do this. This led the onlookers to glorify God.
In the next event of this chapter, we meet Matthew Levi, the tax collector (Matthew 9:9). He was also paralyzed, in a way: paralyzed morally by his servitude to the Romans. But then the Lord Jesus, the one with all authority, called Matthew. Matthew met someone with more authority than the Romans, and he left behind that world. Another kingdom had gripped his soul.
Matthew made a feast for the Lord in his own house (compare Luke 5:29), and other tax collectors and sinners joined them. This led to complaints from the Pharisees. In response, the Lord told them to learn what the Scriptures meant when God said, "I desired mercy and not sacrifice" (quoted from Hosea 6:6). Perhaps we know what the Bible says, but we have to know what it means.
Matthew had been sitting in the wrong place; but now he and his friends were sitting at the right place, reclining at a table with the Lord Jesus. It was a place of fellowship and rest.
Matthew heard these complaints about his friends, and he wrote them in his gospel account. He knew who his friends were! They were sinners, just like he was. But they couldn't stay away from the place where Jesus was.
Notice that the Pharisees complained to the disciples, but the Lord answers. He doesn't allow His followers to get boxed into a corner or intimidated. He answers from the Scriptures; and He doesn't say He came to call "tax collectors and sinners" but merely "sinners" of all types-- including the Pharisees.
Later, in Matthew 12:7, the Lord quoted the very same verse from Hosea about mercy. There He said, "If you had known what this means, you would not have condemned the guiltless." He gave them three chapters to learn what that verse meant, but they didn't do their homework. Therefore they failed the test. And this leads directly to the rejection of Christ by the house of Israel when the Pharisees blaspheme the activity of the Holy Spirit (12:24).
Turning now to Matthew 11:25-30, the Lord prays publicly to His Father. This is another aspect of the Lord's ministry: revealing the Father to His own.
Capernaum, the place of "His own city" in Matthew 9:1, had been rebuked in 11:23. They had seen much and had rejected Him. But the Father had revealed wonderful truths to those who were like infants, babes in faith.
Luke 10:21 shows that this prayer took place when the seventy messengers returned from their service, rejoicing that they had seen God at work through the name of Jesus. We have to go back to being like little children, as the Lord's followers did-- a state of complete dependence on Him.
In this passage we learn the tremendous intimacy between the Father and the Son. The Lord Jesus is the only one who really knows what He is talking about when He speaks about the Father. He reveals the Father to us. The Father is here called the "Lord of heaven and earth." He has universal authority, and He gave this authority to the Son. No one could possess it but God; and no one could receive it but God.
Yet also the Lord Jesus has a yoke. He is the eternal Son; but also He was a servant. He was meek and lowly. We are not meek! Meekness is the character of those who know they have authority but do not misuse it. Nehemiah is a wonderful example of meekness in Nehemiah 5.
But we can learn from Him. This is not the same as learning about Him; He wants us to learn from Him. We give Him our burdens, and we accept His yoke so that we will go the same way that He did. He is very high and exalted; yet He keeps company with the lowly.
Second Bible study: Christ in Heaven | Study 1: Christ on Earth | Study 3: Christ in Heaven Top
Hebrews 2:9-18; 6:19-20
In this study we turn our eyes to see Christ in heaven. Hebrews 2:9 directly speaks about this: "We see Jesus... crowned with glory and honor." But there is still a reminder of His earthly work. He "was made some little lower than the angels" (Darby's translation) in order to suffer death.
It was God's purpose that He would give authority over the "world to come" (Hebrews 2:5), the millennial kingdom, into the hand of a man. Psalm 8 (quoted in verses 6-8 here) shows God's intention; but there was a vacancy because no man was worthy of this. Adam had relinquished that position at the Fall. But there is yet a Man! It is God's man, the Lord Jesus.
This is why He is presented to us as "Jesus" in Hebrews 2:9 and again in 6:20. It is the name of His incarnation. Angels cannot die; but the suffering of death would be necessary if sin was to be taken away and righteousness brought in. Now, "we see Jesus" where He is in heaven. Three witnesses literally saw Him there: Stephen, Paul, and John.
We don't want to stop at knowing Christ only as He was on the earth. We have to go on to knowing Christ as He is in heaven. Yet it's also true that knowing who He was on earth allows us to appreciate all the more who He is in heaven.
Notice that the best translations of this verse say that He tasted death for "everything," not just "every man." Sin ruined everything! All creation had been affected, but Christ's death addressed it all.
The Scriptures maintain the honor and deity of Christ. He tasted death, but He was not overwhelmed by it. He shared our nature of flesh and blood, but He was different (in verse 14, the words for our humanity and Christ's humanity are different terms). He is not us! Yet He calls us brethren.
We never see anywhere in the Scriptures where we can call the Lord our brother. This would be disrespectful to Him. But He brings us near.
He is the one crowned with glory and honor. Compare the priestly garments of Aaron and his sons, made "for glory and for beauty" (Exodus 28:2, 40). He has brought many sons to glory, giving delight to God. It is our privilege to see Him in the same light God sees Him.
The Lord declares the name of the Father to us. Psalm 22:22 is quoted here in Hebrews 2:12. It's the name He reveals to His own in resurrection (John 20:17). He is in the midst of the congregation, leading the singing.
He speaks about "the children whom God has given me." This reminds us of Joseph, who presented his two children to his father Jacob (Genesis 48:8-9) and called them the sons whom God had given to him in the place of his rejection.
His victory is established! Through death He destroyed the one who had the power of death, just as David used Goliath's own sword to cut off his head. He is qualified to lead us through the wilderness on the way to the world to come.
He is a merciful and faithful High Priest-- faithful to God, but also merciful towards us. As the "propitiation," He has fully satisfied God. Further, He knows us. The ancient high priests served millions of people and probably knew hardly any of them very well. But Christ knows when we are tempted and tested, and He knows how to help us in those circumstances.
He is also called our Forerunner. This term is unique to this passage, but it is important. He is there, and we will be there; but also, we can be there now. Our hope is like an anchor of the soul, and it is anchored there, inside the veil.
Normally an anchor is dropped downward so it can steady the boat. Our anchor goes upward, all the way into heaven. As someone once said, "This anchor is hooked to the throne of God."
Hardly anyone could go behind the tabernacle or temple veil in the days of the past. It was only one person, the high priest; and he could only go once a year, and that with specific sacrifices. Aaron was a forerunner into God's presence in a sense; but he never could stay. Christ is there forever, and we have access into that very same place.
The context of chapter 6 shows that the readers of Hebrews were troubled. Was it worth it to follow Christ? Was there truly any hope? Yes! Our hope is anchored in heaven where Christ is. If ever we are discouraged or doubting, the truth of the Forerunner can establish our souls. Our Forerunner is there, and He will never be moved from that place.
Third Bible study: Christ in the Believer | Study 1: Christ on Earth | Study 2: Christ in Heaven Top
Galatians 2:20; 4:18-19; Ephesians 3:14-19; Colossians 1:27-2
We have seen Christ on earth and Christ in heaven. In Acts 4:13, those who heard Peter and John "realized that they had been with Jesus." The passages for this study show that Christ should also be seen in us.
This is true individually, as with Peter and John; and it's true for our local gatherings collectively. We should be a testimony to the communities where we are so that unbelievers might enter our meetings and realize that God is truly among us (1 Corinthians 14:25).
How does Christ live in us? It is by the Holy Spirit. The Lord told His disciples, "I will come to you" (John 14:18), and this would be through the Spirit. Galatians 2:20 affirms that Christ lives in me! And this life is on the other side of the death of our old self, the old "I." In this resurrection life, I have to unlearn my old ways and live by faith.
Galatians 2:20 is very personal. Paul is saying it about himself. And it's not simply that he has died with Christ but that he is "crucified" with Christ. A crucified man knows that he has no more plans of his own. He is at the point of utter weakness. That is how to deal with the "ego," the old self. It is God's purpose to "reveal His Son in me," as Paul also wrote (Galatians 1:16).
The Greek language didn't always need to use pronouns the way English does. When the pronoun is used, it's for added emphasis. The pronoun is used in Galatians 2:20 with the phrase "not I." We could read it this way: "I live; yet not I, but Christ is living in me." The old power of self and our flesh is broken as the cross, and I must appreciate that Christ indeed lives in me.
Then in Galatians 4:19, Paul emphasizes that this is exactly what he desires to see for the Galatian Christians collectively. He had labored to bring them to Christ in the first place; but now it was like laboring in birth again until Christ would be formed in them.
What is the purpose of this? It's not to make us more upright or to make us better people. It's to reveal Christ in us-- not just to us or through us, but in us. We are vessels of display.
Which man are we going to display: Adam or Christ? And this is a question not just among unbelievers but with one another. Whom will we display to fellow Christians? The world doesn't know much about me, but you probably know me quite well.
How does this happen? It's the Holy Spirit who changes us. We are changed into the image of Christ by the Spirit of God (2 Corinthians 3:18). The fruit of the Spirit will change us to be like Christ.
Ephesians 3 tells us Paul's prayer for believers. Again we see the Spirit is active (verse 16), and the next part of th prayer is "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (verse 17). Someone may say, "I thought Christ was already living in me when I got saved." Yes; but this is the prayer that Christ may dwell in our hearts. May He be at home; may He be at rest.
As in Galatians 2:20, so here it is through faith. Whose faith is it? It's not the strength of our own faith. It's "the faith of the Son of God." God is the source of our faith. Then Ephesians 3:18-19 shows that love will be the atmosphere of this life.
All this is according to the riches of God's glory (verse 15). We should be enjoying it already now. And if we pray the apostle Paul's prayers ourselves (Ephesians 1, Ephesians 3, and so on) we will be in tune with God's desire. You can live someone else's life without knowing what that person's life is. We learn Christ's life in the atmosphere of prayer.
What then is our actual experience? Christ did what the Father gave Him to do. Do I? His motive was glorify the Father. Is mine?
In Colossians 1:25, Paul says he has a stewardship from so that He would reveal a mystery to God's saints. There are several mysteries revealed in the New Testament. The mystery here is this: Christ is in us, and He is the hope of glory. This was even being revealed to Gentiles! Paul's understanding of this gave character to his entire ministry. It will do the same for us.
This is truly God's purpose. It's not limited by our experiences. It's an actual, objective truth that Christ is in us (verses 26-27).
But how would this be understood? How would believers become mature and complete in Christ Jesus (verses 28-29)? It would be through known subjectively, in experience, through the service of the apostle Paul: warning, teaching, applying wisdom, and laboring according to the power of Christ working mightily in him.
This is a wonderful goal for our service among fellow believers as well. If we desire to see Christ formed in the Christians we know, we will surely be doing work that glorifies God.
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This third Bible study was followed by a time for additional Bible teaching. Notes from that message are below.
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Acts 7:52-55, 59-60
In this passage we can make some links to all three of our studies today. First, the Lord Jesus was here on earth. He was the Just One, the one of whom the prophets spoke.
This is the same one who had power over the winds and waves, the one who touched His listeners with the gracious words that came from His mouth. He was declared to be a righteous man; and He is the one who has forgiven our sins.
But then, in this passage, Stephen saw Christ in heaven. The book of Hebrews tells us four times that Christ sat down because the work of redemption was finished. Yet Stephen saw Him standing up to give His beloved one a reception into heaven upon his death.
Not only this, but Christ had been formed in this believer. Stephen had accurately given the whole history of the people of God according to the Scriptures. But this was not just something academic for him. A work of God had taken place in his soul. Stephen had become like Christ in the way he acted and spoke.
