極大的奧秘 - 基督與教會

The Scope and Purpose of Christ's Shepherding of His Flock in Five Stages

Psalm 27:4 "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple."

John 21:15 "When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'"

The new wineskin in Matthew 9:17 is the church life

Matthew 9:17 - "Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Ephesians 1:22-23 - "And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

The Kingly Savior Dealing with Self-righteous and Dissenting Pharisees from the Old Religion VS Dealing with Fasting and Dissenting Disciples of John from the New Religion

Matt. 9:15 "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?"

John 3:29 "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom..."

The 'Cloth' in Matthew 9:16 VS the 'Garment' in Luke 5:36

Matthew 9:16 "No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made."

Luke 5:36 "He also told them a parable: 'No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.'"

How did the self-righteous Pharisees violate the principle of God's economy?

Hosea 6:6 "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."

Matthew 12:7 "If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent."

"Objective Washing vs. Subjective Washing" for Christians

1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."

Titus 3:5 "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit."

Two Aspects of the Lord Exercising His Authority: Through the Lord's Teaching Words VS Through the Faith Infused by the Lord

Mark 1:22 "And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes."

Mark 2:13 "He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them."

‘Salvation by the Lamb of God at the Jordan River VS Calling by the Great Light at the Sea of Galilee’

Matthew 4:16 "The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a light dawned."

John 8:12 "Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.'"

Christ as the Great Light, the One with Authority, the Physician, the Bridegroom, the Unfulled Cloth, and the New Wine

Matt 4:16 "The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

Ps 103:3 "who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,"

Why ‘Unshrunk Cloth Cannot Be Used to Patch an Old Garment VS New Wine Cannot Be Put into Old Wineskin’

Matthew 9:16 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse."

Matthew 9:17 "Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Christ as Unfulled (New) Cloth VS New Garment VS New Wine VS New Wineskins

Luke 5:36 "He also told them a parable: 'No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.'"

Matthew 9:17 "Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

Christ is Our New Wine to be Poured into New Wineskins

Matthew 9:17 "Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

Christ as the Unfulled Cloth and Our New Garment

Matthew 9:16 "No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made."

Luke 5:36 "He also told them a parable: 'No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.'"

The Lord as Our Physician vs. The Lord as Our Bridegroom

Psalm 103:1-4 "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy."

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

How does the Lord Jesus fulfill His ministry as a physician?

Matthew 9:9-13 "As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him... On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick... For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'"

Why is the Lord Jesus One with Authority, Reigning in Life?

John 5:19 "So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.'"

John 4:34 "Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.'"

From the Bible's perspective, How Christ is the Great Light?

Colossians 1:12-13 "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,"

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."