THE CRUCIAL POINTS OF THE MAJOR ITEMS OF THE LORD'S RECOVERY TODAY
Message Three
The Supreme Preciousness of the All-inclusive Christ
Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 1:7, 19; 2:4, 6-7; 3:4; 2 Pet. 1:1, 4; Phil. 3:8-9
I. The believers in Christ should have a change in their concept of value—Matt. 23:16-26; 1 Sam. 16:7; Luke 16:15; 9:54-56; 1 Pet. 3:4:
A. The proper concept of value for the believers can be seen in their estimation and assessment of the following aspects of Christ and His full salvation:
1. Their valuation of the Lord Jesus—Psa. 118:22; 1 Pet. 2:7.
2. Their valuation of the word of the cross—1 Cor. 1:18; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18.
3. Their valuation of God's kingdom and righteousness in comparison to a man's daily necessities—Matt. 6:32-33; 2 Pet. 1:1, 11; 2:5; 3:13.
4. Their valuation of the Lord Jesus in comparison to their relatives—Matt. 10:37-38; Luke 18:26-30; 1 Pet. 1:1, 17; 2:11a.
5. Their valuation of a man's soul in comparison to the whole world—Matt. 16:26; 4:8-11; Rev. 18:13; 1 Pet. 4:19.
6. Their valuation of their body in comparison to the seriousness and consequence of sin—Matt. 18:8-9; 2 Pet. 3:10-13.
7. Their valuation of hierarchical position in comparison to being slaves of the Lord and to one another—Matt. 20:25-27; 1 Pet. 2:16; 2 Pet. 1:1.
8. Their valuation of Christ as the treasure of justice in comparison to earthly treasure—Job 22:23-28; Matt. 12:18-21; Isa. 42:1-4; 1 Pet. 1:18-20.
9. Their valuation of the enjoyment of sin in comparison to the unseen reward—Heb. 11:24-27; 1 Pet. 1:8-12; 2 Pet. 1:8-11; 2:20-22.
10. Their valuation of the knowledge of Christ in comparison to all things—Phil. 3:7-8; 1 Pet. 1:8; 2 Pet. 1:2-3, 8; 2:20; 3:18.
B. We need to ask the Lord to grant us the light to have a thorough change in our concept of value so that we will continually choose Christ and all that He is as our super-excelling portion—Mark 9:7-8; 2 Cor. 2:10; 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:8.
C. "If you bring out the precious from the worthless, / You will be as My mouth"—Jer. 15:19; cf. v. 16:
1. We must treasure the Lord's words more than our apportioned food, tasting the Lord in His word as the reality of the good land flowing with nourishing milk and fresh honey for us to dispense to God's people for their full salvation—Job 23:12; 1 Pet. 2:2-5; Psa. 119:103; Exo. 3:8; Deut. 8:8; S. S. 4:11a.
2. We must treasure the Lord's words more than all earthly riches so that we can speak oracles of God to dispense the unsearchable riches of Christ as the varied grace of God—Psa. 119:72, 9-16; Eph. 3:8; 2 Cor. 6:10; 1 Pet. 4:10-11.
II. Christ Himself is the preciousness to His believers—2:7; Phil. 3:8-9:
A. Peter was charmed (attracted and captivated) by the Lord to such an extent that even though he was rebuked by the Lord many times and failed miserably, he still followed the Lord as his Shepherd unto his martyrdom—Luke 5:8-11; Mark 14:67-72; 16:7; John 21:15-22; 2 Pet. 1:14-15.
B. Peter realized that he, James, and John had been admitted into the highest degree of initiation at the Lord's transfiguration, admitted to be the initiated spectators of His majesty—vv. 16-18; cf. 1 Pet. 5:1.
C. In His ascension Christ is "the Majestic" (Isa. 33:21)—He is our God and Savior (2 Pet. 1:1) and the Lord of all (1 Pet. 3:22; Acts 2:36) as our Judge, our Lawmaker, and our King in God's government (Isa. 33:22) in order to dispense Himself into us to be our enjoyment for our full salvation (Rev. 22:1).
III. The precious stone for God's building is Christ Himself—1 Pet. 2:4, 6-8:
A. In God's New Testament economy, Christ as God's chosen and precious cornerstone saves us to make us living stones and transforms us for the building up of God's spiritual house, His dwelling place—Acts 4:11-12; Eph. 2:20-22.
B. As the all-inclusive living and precious stone, Christ is the centrality and universality of God's move for the building up of His eternal habitation—Matt. 21:42, 44; Acts 4:10-12; Isa. 28:16; Eph. 2:19-22; Zech. 3:9; 4:6-7; Dan. 2:34-35.
IV. The precious blood of Christ has redeemed us from our vain manner of life—1 Pet. 1:15, 18-19:
A. Christ's redeeming blood is the blood of the covenant that ushers us into God's presence, into God Himself, and into the full of enjoyment of God in His holy nature so that we might be holy in all our manner of life to become His holy priesthood and holy city—vv. 2, 15-17; Eph. 1:4; Rev. 21:2, 16.
B. If we see that we have been redeemed, bought, purchased, with the high price of Christ's precious blood, this realization will cause us to have a holy manner of life with a holy fear—1 Pet. 1:15-19; Acts 20:28; cf. Isa. 11:2.
V. The precious and exceedingly great promises have been granted to us by our God and Savior, Jesus Christ—2 Pet. 1:1, 4; cf. Isa. 42:6; Heb. 8:8-12:
A. By calling on the precious name of the Lord, we drink of Him as the cup of salvation, enjoying Him as the reality of all the precious and exceedingly great promises of God for the goal of God's building—Acts 4:10-12; Psa. 116:12-13.
B. These precious promises are embodied in the word of God; by pray-reading the promises, we partake of and enjoy the divine nature so that we may grow and develop in life unto the maturity of life to enjoy a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—2 Pet. 1:4-11.
VI. God has allotted to all the believers equally precious faith—v. 1:
A. Just as the children of Israel were allotted a piece of the good land, God has allotted Christ as faith to us, making our regenerated spirit, the hidden man of our heart, a spirit of faith—Josh. 13:6; Col. 1:12; 1 Pet. 3:4; 2 Cor. 4:13.
B. We all have the same precious faith in quality, but the quantity of faith we have depends upon how much we contact the living God so that we may have Him increased in us—Rom. 12:3; Heb. 11:1, 5-6, 27; Col. 2:19.
VII. The precious proving of our faith is by various trials that come through sufferings—1 Pet. 1:7:
A. We need to pay the price to gain more of Christ as the golden faith through the fiery trials so that the proving of our faith may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of the Lord—v. 7; Rev. 3:18a.
B. The believers who live an overcoming life by faith will be found by Christ at His return as the treasures ready to receive the salvation of their souls as the end (result) of their faith—1 Pet. 1:8-9.
VIII. We must redeem the time to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as the supreme preciousness of God so that we can be constituted with Him to be men of preciousness as His personal treasure; as we live in His precious presence, enjoying Him as our portion, even as He enjoys us as His treasure, He builds Himself into us to make us His spiritual house and His holy and royal priesthood for the accomplishment of His heart's desire—2:7; 3:4; Dan. 9:23; 10:11, 19; 2 Cor. 2:10; Psa. 16:5; Exo. 19:4-6; 1 Pet. 2:1-9; 2 Pet. 3:8, 11-12.