Oh, Lord Jesus, I come to You right now! Dispense Yourself into me, and speak to my heart, Lord! Speak in my speaking. Amen! [the following is sister Fay T’s sharing from the recent International Conference in London 2011]
The past International Blending Conference was on the general subject of THE ECONOMY OF GOD, THE ALL-INCLUSIVE SPIRIT, and THE NEW JERUSALEM. The brother unveiled to us the central line of the Bible, which is The Word of God, The Triune God, the Economy of God, the All-Inclusive Christ, the Life-Giving Spirit, the Body of Christ, and the New Jerusalem!
I was quite touched by the first item, which is the Word of God! John 1:1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Oh, the Word was God, a living Person! Have you ever realized that the Word of God is a Living Person? Each time when you read the Bible, actually you are coming to God Himself, the living Person! How can we contact God Himself by reading His Word? We must know the right way to read the Bible. There are three ways to read the Bible, since there is the written Word, the living Word and the applied Word!
There are two functions of God’s Word – the beautifying function and the killing function. We can see this in the book of Genesis, in Ephesians, and in Revelation. Here are some of the verses that can show us the two functions of the Bible:
Gen. 1:26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
Eph. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her
Eph. 5:26 That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word,
Eph. 5:27 That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.
Eph. 6:17 And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God,
Rev. 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.
Rev. 19:8 And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.
Rev. 19:9 And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God.
From Eph. 5:25-27 we see the Word functioning to beautify us – this is the fulfillment of the first half of Genesis 1:26! Also, in Eph. 6:17-18, we see the Word’s function of killing, which is the fulfillment of the second half of Genesis 1:26. In Revelation 19:8-9 there is a wedding garment which is also a military uniform in Ephesians 6:11-17. I enjoyed these sets: beautifying & killing which are corresponding to the wedding garment & the military uniform. How wonderful it is that something soft and gentle can also be strong and powerful! So, on the one hand we need to see the two functions of the Lord’s Word and on the other hand we need to continue in reading His Word – His Word is so rich!
In the whole universe, only two things are pure, which are the Triune God and His Word. How we need His word to wash and cleanse us from all the earthly defilement everyday! Lord, cause us to remain and abide in Your Word. How we need Your Word to feed and wash us everyday, so that we may be strengthened to follow You in a vital way!
Remember: reading a paragraph in the Bible a day will keep the devil away! Every morning, we need to come to the Lord by reading His Word! His Word is our food and drink. We need to eat Him day by day so that we may be reconstituted by Him. I can testify that when I eat and digest His Word properly, my life is full of life and enjoyment. We need to be sober and diligent in continue in His Word! The enemy always steals our time of reading the Word of God. Without the Word of God, we will simply becoming weak and dead! So, how we need to read His Word and remain in His Word!
There are 25 points that unfold the functions of the Bible. By reading His Word we will get life, light, food, drink, nourishment, washing, wisdom, endurance and encouragement. His Word will burn us, smash us, refresh us, and kill ourselves and all negative things. Praise the Lord – all we need to do is come to the Word of God! May the Lord have mercy on us and operate in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure – that we may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom we shine as luminaries in the world. Amen!
