Programme: Anamnesis Prayer Meeting (Week 1_Day 1)
Date: Tuesday, 7th November 2023
Transcript Summary
1. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, [12]Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world…" (Titus 2:11-12). The present economy is the economy of the appearance of God's grace that has brought salvation. This level of grace (of God) is appearing to all men. The phrase "all men" is not referring to just anyone or unbelievers; it talks about 'men' who have attained a height spiritually. We also see the use of 'men' in the book of Hebrews. "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins…" (Heb. 5:1). The High Priest is not ordained for children; babes in Christ cannot deal with the High Priest. The High Priest is ordained for men in understanding (1 Corin. 14:20). Men in understanding are those who are in comprehension; this is why they can be called 'men' in the realm of the spirit.
2. "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; [14] Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2:13-14). Salvation only occurs after works are done. To be zealous of good works is to be zealous of the saving of the soul. Therefore, we would tire out in the saving of the soul if we do not have enough zeal. We need a kind of everlasting strength for the saving of the soul. That is why They do not bring children to the place of the saving of the soul. Anyone that would come there must be a man. The grace of God cannot appear to children. The season Paul was writing to Titus was the season of the appearance of the grace of God that brings salvation. The grace cannot just come of its own accord, it comes with the appearance of the Lord Jesus. We must be able users of this grace because that is what the works are all about. The works are the translation of grace by us — the use of the grace are the works of salvation.
3. "Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him." (Isa. 62:11). Prophet Isaiah was speaking in the above scripture about how salvation would come. The daughters of Zion are men that the grace of God that brings salvation should appear unto. God has a reward for men who will do the duty of salvation, which is the work. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" (Isa. 52:7). After Zion has done works, Zion still needs to be told, “Thy God is reigning!”. This means salvation is divided into two: the first part is called works while the other is called reigning.
4. "For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation." (Psa. 132:13). The word ‘Zion’ is not a particular place. In the New Testament, Zion refers to every believer who can arrive at a point where they can call the Lord to appear. To be a Zionist is a choice. If God calls everyone when it is not yet time for them to respond, many would go back and the unseemly ones would be the ones that would stay. It takes a lot to constitute Zion. Zion is the midpoint where God meets with man; Zion is where men go to. God meets with men in Zion. If you are not ready to be a Zion being, there is no way God can come.
5. The adversary would not allow a Zion constituency or people of Zion so that they would not bring God. Satan buffets people because he is afraid of Zion. It is on Zion that God will really do what can destroy him. It is on the same Zionic status that he created sin; iniquity was formed in Zion. Satan was on Zion when he formed iniquity (Ezek. 28:15). Satan was a representative of the beginning on the Mount of Zion (the heavenly one) before he fell. This means he is not clueless concerning this present creation; he spoke the word of the beginning with other high angels who were steadfast. This is why we must also have the spirit of the spoken word that is steadfast.
6. God is making men who are so much better than angels. However, believers are not higher than angels in this present world. It is foolishness when some men say that the words of angels can fail. Some men teach out of context and ignorance. Some ignorantly say that angels can be wrong which is not true. The angels that appear in the Bible are not ordinary; they must be perfect. Though one failed, the others are true. Angel Gabriel delivered an accurate message, so also the rest. Men should not be presumptuous about things like this; we should be careful.
7. Scriptures say we have not appeared like what we shall be but some are claiming what they are not (1 John 3:2). Some men are speaking things that they ought not. Some say they are already in the presence of God while they are not in any of the dimensions of the presence of God. We should not look down on any work of salvation, even the new birth. All that Jesus did is important and we should follow the order of His work and align ourselves to where He has taken us.
8. Angels think Bible; they do not know any other thing. They are word-regimented. They do not break away from the Bible unlike us who still have other natural knowledge. They hearken to the voice of His word, doing commandments. They do nothing but the Word. Some people despise believers who are given to the Word. Anyone who does not know the Bible is a big fool. Knowing the Bible alone is great. It is good to know the Bible; the Bible should be exalted above all other things. It is the Bible that takes away schism. We should not think highly of ourselves, but be low in our minds. We should be meek and low, condescending to men of low estate (Rom. 12:16).
9. "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world…" (Titus 2:12). It is not all of us that have attained godliness. We should make sincere evaluations and brace up. However, we should not condemn ourselves, for we are all on the journey. God is interested in many who are on this journey. Our movement, journey and zeal is God. If we are not measuring up, instead of condemning ourselves, we should fight to measure up. We should not worry ourselves and give up; we should take steps from faith to hope and charity. We should not worry ourselves about being part of the manchild company or 144,000, rather we should just seek to please Jesus. We should talk to Jesus because He hears us. The more we fellowship with Him, the more He will grant us grace.
10. "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. [4] And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." (1 John 1:3-4). There can never be a fellowship without the word. The apostles had fellowship with the Father and the Son. When a man is having a breakthrough into the fellowship of the Father and the Son, he would come into the fullness of joy that is in the presence of God.
11. "It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. [24] For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us…" (Heb. 9:23-24). Jesus Christ appearing in presence is not to say that we have appeared in the presence of God. Jesus did it for us as a forerunner. Those who would gain entrance into presence are men. Men are the reason for the choosing of the High Priest. God's intention was not just for Jesus to die for our sins; He was raised after His death so that He could bring us into presence. We need somebody to bring us into presence. The raising of Jesus also defines the kind of presence God gave birth to.
12. "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands…" (Heb. 1:10). If Jesus is made so much better than the angels, then He has a better privilege than them. Anyone with the stature of Jesus is the new man God wants to deal with. That is the man God wants to have something to do with. If you bring any other kind of person into presence, he would not be qualified because the presence of God is designed for men who have become spiritual. This means it can only take a kind of man to stand in the presence of God. This kind of man is Christ – the perfect man. The doctrine of Christ prepares the man for God to adopt him. There is a new man who is Christ, but there is another kind of man that God wants to make us in presence. When a man becomes Christ, the Son of God comes into the Holy Place and purifies him in order to make him zealous. One of the ways you would know you have been purified is your taste bud. One’s purification is not done when one’s taste for everlasting life is low. All that a man needs to say is Maranatha; he should keep saying "Come Lord" and the Lord will purify him.
13. Jesus will only appear to men who have the capacity to take His coming. And when He appears to them, it is so that He can purify and present them to Himself. The essence of purification is so that they can stand the test of time and offer an acceptable sacrifice to God. One has to be built up (become more spiritual) before one can offer a sacrifice; this is because there is a height one should get to before he can have the capacity to offer. The sacrifice that is offered is a response to a way in the realm of the spirit; this is the submission to the wisdom of the High Priest. This means when the High Priest comes into the Holy Place, He would purify and refine those who are there so that they can think in the pattern of the Most Holy.
14. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; [4] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…” (1 Tim. 2:3-5). Men should come to know the truth. Before we can meet the "one God", we need to meet the "Mediator". But to be able to meet the Mediator, we must be born again and come to the knowledge of the truth. The purpose of the mediation is to meet the High Priest. The story of Job shows us that although Job was perfect and eschewed evil, he still had some of Satan’s things (Job 1:8-12). This shows that Job had not yet come into all the pedigree that God wanted him to come into. In the same way, we also have things in us that we are ignorant of. This is why we need the High Priest.
15. Our entrance (into the Most Holy) is in the healing of our ignorance. When you are in the Holy Place, you are still ignorant of some things; this is where the adversary stands. He fights those who will enter presence and also those who are in presence. He fights them so that they can lose their stand in presence. Men in presence are sons of God. They are another kind of men who are different.
16. “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” (Heb. 2:18). There are unseen sufferings caused by an unseen pull (of sin). The essence of suffering is for sin to die. Suffering is necessary because it breaks one's allegiance to sin. It causes sin to die and mortifies it. When sin dies, life is redefined.
17. Iniquity refers to the works of the devil. The reason Jesus came was to help us destroy those works of the devil; the works will be destroyed in us. The devil has waited for sons and he knows how to deal with them. But by the time we are saved, he will not be able to tempt us anymore; this is the point where we will be able to refuse all that he offers us. We should see nothing more than salvation; this is why we should be wise unto salvation. We should have wisdom to resist the devil completely and steadfastly until Jesus will appear the second time without sin unto salvation (Heb. 9:28). The devil is evil. He does not want us to be sober. His voice hastens souls, yet he has nothing to offer them. All that he is offering men is not reality but vanity. He will not allow us to rest but we should not listen to him. May the Lord Jesus cause our hearts to rest. Amen!
Blessings!
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