Announcements

      "In Matthew 21, verse 33 through 46 the Lord continues with another parable concerning the transfer of the kingdom of God. At the end of this parable, the Lord Jesus not only indicated that the kingdom would be taken from Israel and given to the church; He also referred to God’s building. Very few Christians today are clear about God’s building. As a believer, Christ to you is a building stone. But how much building have you actually experienced? Although we are believers and although Christ is the building stone, we may not have very much building. Some genuine believers have even stumbled at Christ. On the one hand, they believe in Christ; but on the other hand, they say that they cannot take the way of Christ, and they shake their head at Him. The church is the life-pulse of the kingdom. This means that just as the body dies when the pulse stops, so the kingdom is wholly dependent upon the church. The church, in turn, is completely dependent upon the building. If there is no building, there is no practical church life. The church life is not simply a matter of meeting together or of having a little fellowship. In whatever locality we are, we need to be builded. For this, we must enjoy and experience our Christ as the stone. He is not only the foundation stone that bears us up, but also the cornerstone that joins us together. In Him and through Him we are built together.

     The actuality of the kingdom is the church, and the reality of the church is the building. In other words, the kingdom depends upon the church, and the church depends upon the building. We need to consider to what extent we have experienced Christ as the building stone. I believe that in the days to come the Lord will show us much more concerning the building. This building is closely related to the new man. On the one hand, the new man has been created, but on the other hand, the new man is being built. In order to have this new man, we need to experience Christ as the building stone.

      Matthew 22 Verse 11 says, “But when the king came in and beheld those reclining at the table, he saw there a man not clothed with a marriage garment.”

      The wedding garment signifies our qualification to participate in the marriage feast. The white linen in Revelation 19 is the marriage garment in Matthew 22. This white linen signifies the surpassing righteousness. We, the believers, should also have two garments. We all have the first garment, the garment that qualifies us to be saved. This garment is the objective Christ whom we received as our righteousness before God. In Christ, who is our righteousness, we have been justified and saved. But after receiving Christ, we need to live Him out. We need to live by Christ so that Christ may become our subjective righteousness. This subjective righteousness, Christ lived out of us in our daily life, is the white linen, the second garment, the marriage garment that qualifies us to participate in the marriage feast.” (Life-Study of Matthew, pp.674-679, 685-686)

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