总题：一个新人成就神创造人的定旨
THE ONE NEW MAN FULFILLING GOD'S PURPOSE IN CREATING MAN TABLE OF CONTENTS
Message Six
The Prayer Needed for the Reality and Practicality of the One New Man
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:1-13; Eph. 6:17-18; Col. 1:3, 9; 3:1-4, 15-17; 4:2, 12; Heb. 2:17; 4:14; 7:26; 8:1-2; Rev. 5:6
I. The governing principle of our prayer should be that prayer brings us into God—Luke 11:1-13:
A. Whenever our prayer does not bring us into God, it is wrong, and we should not continue to pray in this way.
B. The issue of proper prayer is that we find ourselves in God—vv. 2-4.
II. The experience during times of genuine prayer enables us to touch the reality of the one new man—Col. 1:3, 9; 4:12; Phil. 1:20-21a:
A. During times of genuine prayer, we are in our spirit, and we are one spirit with the Lord; it is at these times that we live Christ—1 Cor. 6:17; Phil. 1:20-21a:
1. Our daily living should be the same as our experience in times of genuine prayer.
2. Our experience in prayer should become a model of our daily Christian life.
3. When we pray, we enter into fellowship with the Lord and become conscious of the fact that we are truly one spirit with Him and that He is actually one spirit with us—1 Cor. 6:17.
4. If we keep ourselves in a praying condition, we will be outside of culture, and we will be one spirit with the Lord, enjoying His presence and spontaneously living Him.
B. Whenever we experience genuine prayer, we are outside of our culture; in particular, we are outside of our cultural opinion—Col. 3:10-11:
1. The more genuine prayer we have, the more we will have the experience of being outside of our cultural opinion.
2. When we pray with others in a genuine way, we are truly one in the praying spirit:
a. Then we touch the reality of the one new man.
b. Then we realize that the new man is constituted with Christ alone and that in this realm there are no differences of culture.
III. We need to persevere in prayer because prayer involves a battle, a fight—4:2; Eph. 6:17-18:
A. In order to fight on God's side against Satan, we need to persevere in prayer.
B. As those who take sides with God, we find that the whole universe is against us and, in particular, against our prayer—Col. 2:1-3:
1. Almost everything in our environment is contrary to prayer.
2. Resistance to prayer lies not only outside of us but even within us—Matt. 26:41.
3. To pray is to go against the current, the trend, in the fallen universe:
a. In order to pray, we must go against the current of our environment.
b. If we fail to pray, we will be swept downstream.
c. Only prayer can enable us to go against the current; therefore, we need to persevere in prayer, to pray persistently—Luke 18:1-8.
IV. Persevering in prayer for the one new man is related to the peace of Christ, to the word of Christ, and to living in union with Christ—Col. 3:15-17:
A. The peace of Christ, which is Christ Himself, has made the Jews and the Gentiles one new man, and now we should let this peace arbitrate in our hearts for the Body life and for the practical existence of the one new man—v. 15.
B. The way for Christ to exercise His headship and to minister His riches to us is through His word—2:19; 3:16:
1. We should not be closed but should open our being to the Lord and to His word and be willing to be filled with the word of Christ.
2. We need to allow the word of Christ to move, act, and have its being within us, letting our whole being be permeated and saturated with the word of Christ.
3. In order for the word of Christ to dwell in us richly for the one new man, we need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts.
C. To live in union with Christ means that in our living we are not apart from Christ; rather, we are one with Him and do everything in His name by acting in the Spirit—v. 17.
D. We need to be ruled by the peace of Christ, to be inhabited by the word of Christ, and to live in union with Christ.
V. In His heavenly ministry Christ is interceding, ministering, and executing God's administration, and we need to be those who respond to Christ's activities in His heavenly ministry—Heb. 2:17; 4:14; 7:26; 8:1-2; Rev. 5:6; Col. 3:1-4; 1:9; 4:12:
A. As the High Priest, He intercedes; as the heavenly Minister, He ministers; and as the Redeemer with the seven eyes of God, He administers the government of God for the accomplishment of God's purpose.
B. Christ's ministry in the heavens requires our response—3:1-4:
1. We need to become on earth the reflection of Christ's heavenly ministry.
2. To seek the things which are above means that we correspond to Christ's heavenly ministry—v. 1.
3. When we seek the things which are above, we respond to Christ's heavenly ministry and reflect it.
4. The purpose of our living with Christ is to be one with Him in His intercession for the churches, in His ministry of the heavenly life supply to the saints, and in His administration of God's government.
C. Through our prayer Christ, the Head, is given a way to carry out His administration through His Body—1:18; 2:19; 3:1-2:
1. As the Head is working in heaven by interceding, ministering, and administrating, we, the Body, are working on earth responding to the heavenly ministry of Christ and reflecting what He is doing—Heb. 2:17; 4:14; 7:26; 8:1-2; Rev. 5:6.
2. When we pray, we are a heavenly ambassador on earth as the extension of God's kingdom—Col. 1:9, 12-13; 4:11-12.
D. If we seek the things which are above and have one life and one living with Christ, we will be wholly occupied with the enterprise of our Master—3:1-4, 17:
1. Our heart will be with Him in heaven, where He is interceding for the churches, supplying the saints, and administrating God's government.
2. We should aspire to be one with the Lord in His heavenly ministry and to have a heart that is one with His heart, and we should long to be one with Him in His priesthood, ministry, and administration.
E. In order for the recovery to be the Lord's recovery, it must be under His direction—Rev. 5:6; Eph. 1:19-23:
1. Between Christ in heaven and us on earth, there is a divine transmission, a heavenly current—v. 22.
2. If we continuously receive the divine transmission, being infused with a supply from heaven and experiencing the transaction between the heavenly Christ and us, we will respond to Christ's interceding, ministering, and executing of God's administration.