Exodus (2)
Message Four
The Blessing Received by God's Loving Seekers through the Function of the Word of God
Scripture Reading: Psa. 119:25, 50, 57a, 58a, 103, 105, 107, 130a, 135a, 154; 1:2-3; John 1:4; Col. 2:7a; 2 Tim. 3:16a; Col. 1:12; 2 Cor. 4:6; 3:18
I. Through the function of the Word of God, God's loving seekers receive the blessing of light becoming life—Psa. 119:130a, 105, 25, 50:
A. A great principle in the Bible is that light and life always go together; where light is, there is life, and where life is, there is light—36:9; John 1:4; 8:12:
1. There is a line throughout the Bible that speaks of light and life together—Gen. 1:3; John 1:4; 8:12; Rev. 21:23; 22:1, 5:
a. There is only one realm and source of life, and that is light.
b. Life comes from light; light is the key to life.
c. On God's side, there is first life and then light; on our side, there is first light and then life—Psa. 36:9; John 1:1, 4-5; 8:12; 2 Cor. 4:6; Acts 26:13.
2. The Bible reveals that life comes from the shining of light and that the amount of life is in direct proportion to the amount of light—Gen. 1:3-25; 2 Cor. 4:6.
3. In Genesis 1 the first-day light was for generating life, and the fourth-day lights were for the growth of life; the first-day light is sufficient for our regeneration, but for our growth in life, we need the fourth-day lights—vv. 3, 14-19; John 3:3; 2 Cor. 4:6; Eph. 4:16; 5:8-9, 13-14.
4. Both the spirit of man and the Spirit of the Lord are lamps, shining and enlightening our inward parts—Prov. 20:27; Luke 15:8.
5. Where the light shines, there the life supply goes.
6. God's way of transforming us is through enlightening; wherever the light shines, life is supplied to that place for our transformation—2 Cor. 3:18; 4:6.
7. The divine light is the divine life in the Son operating in us; this light shines in the darkness within us, and the darkness cannot overcome it—Acts 26:18; 1 Pet. 2:9; Col. 1:12-13; John 1:5.
8. When we walk in the light, the divine things are real to us, and we see one reality after another; however, when we are in darkness, nothing is real to us—1 John 1:7; 2:8.
B. The Word of God gives us light, and then it enlivens us, giving us life—Psa. 119:25, 50, 107, 154:
1. Although it is good to have light, the light must penetrate deeper until it becomes life.
2. When light goes deeper, reaching into our spirit, it becomes life, and we receive the life supply—Mal. 4:2.
C. As sons of light, we should live in the light, walk in the light, remain in the light, and be persons altogether in the light— John 12:36; 1 John 1:5, 7; 2:8.
II. Through the function of the Word of God, God's loving seekers receive the blessing of being watered and of absorbing God—Psa. 1:2-3:
A. God's loving seekers experience the blessing of being watered by the Word:
1. When the Word becomes water in our spirit, we receive its nourishment, for the food supply is in the water—Isa. 55:1; Rev. 22:1-2.
2. If we would be watered by the Word, we must have proper roots and fine root hairs, which absorb the life supply— Mark 4:5-6, 17; Luke 8:6.
B. God's loving seekers experience the blessing of absorbing God through the Word—Col. 2:7a:
1. As believers in Christ, we are living plants rooted in Christ, and now through our roots we are absorbing the riches of the processed and consummated Triune God into our being— 1 Cor. 3:9; Col. 2:19.
2. If we contact the Lord and spend time in the Word with much prayer, we will absorb God into us to be the element that causes us to grow.
3. If we would absorb God, we need to have tender, new roots; therefore, we should not let ourselves get old but be fresh, revived, and renewed day by day—2 Cor. 4:16; Lam. 3:22-23.
III. Through the function of the Word of God, God's loving seekers receive the blessing of inhaling God—2 Tim. 3:16a; John 20:22:
A. The Holy Pneuma is the Holy Spirit, or Holy Breath—v. 22:
1. In the Gospel of John there are three wonderful words: Word, flesh, and breath; the Word is God, the flesh is man, and the breath is the Spirit—1:1, 14; 20:22.
2. As we inhale the Holy Breath, the Spirit supplies us for our experience of Christ and for our living because He lives— 6:57b; 14:19.
B. To say that all Scripture is God-breathed is to say that the Bible is the breath, the breathing out, of God, who is Spirit— 2 Tim. 3:16a:
1. Because the Bible is the breathing out of God, the Bible has the element of God.
2. The Bible is not only the breathing out of God but is God Himself breathed into His Word.
C. God has breathed Himself out in the Word so that we can inhale Him, breathe Him in, through the Word:
1. God has breathed Himself out in the Scriptures, and thus our reading of the Scriptures should be the receiving of God's breath.
2. When God breathes Himself out, He exhales Himself, and when we contact God through the Word, we inhale God.
D. In order to be a man of God with the breath of God, we need to inhale, to breathe in, God's word— John 1:1; 20:22; 2 Tim. 3:16a.
IV. Through the function of the Word of God, God's loving seekers receive the blessing of enjoying God as their portion— Psa. 119:57a; 73:26:
A. The highest blessing is the enjoyment of God Himself as our portion—Num. 6:22-27; 2 Cor. 13:14.
B. When we have God as our portion, we have God Himself as everything to us.
C. The more we come to the Bible in the proper way, the more the Author of this book—God Himself—becomes our portion—Psa. 73:26.
D. God can be our portion because in the Word, by the Word, and through the Word He is real, present, practical, enjoyable, and available to us—119:103; 34:8.
V. Through the function of the Word of God, God's loving seekers receive the blessing of enjoying God's countenance and the shining of His face—119:58a, 135a; 80:3; 24:6; 105:4; 2 Cor. 4:6; 3:16, 18:
A. As seekers of God, the psalmists lovingly sought God in a deeply personal and intimate way, seeking the help of His countenance and asking for the shining of His face—Psa. 42:5; 80:3.
B. In the blessing in Numbers 6:25-26, we have both the face and the countenance:
1. The face denotes the presence of a person, and the countenance denotes the expression of the person.
2. When the processed and consummated Triune God is dispensed into us through the function of the Word, we have the face of God and also His countenance—2 Cor. 13:14; 4:6.
C. If we are faithful in contacting the Lord through the Word, we will experience the shining of His face—v. 6; 3:16, 18:
1. Like Moses, we all, with an unveiled face, should be on the mountaintop under the shining of the face of God—Exo. 24:15-18; 2 Cor. 3:16.
2. Our desire should be, through the Word, to remain under this pleasant, delightful shining, staying with God, being infused with God, and glowing with God—Exo. 34:29; 2 Cor. 3:18.