Outline
Ⅲ
In carrying out God's New Testament ministry, the Lord Jesus, as the reality of the burnt offering, did not do anything out of Himself (John 5:19), He did not do His own work (4:34; 17:4), He did not speak His own word (14:10, 24), He did everything not by His own will (5:30), and He did not seek His own glory (7:18); He was never disappointed because He was satisfied only with God (Isa. 42:4; 50:4-5; 53:2a; cf. John 4:13-14; 6:15; Mark 9:7-8):
A
The Lord's life was His work, His move, and His ministry; His work was His living, and His move was His being; with Him there was no difference between His life, His work, His move, and His ministry; the Lord Jesus lived His ministry—cf. Luke 22:26-27; John 10:10b; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 1 John 5:16a; 2 Cor. 3:6; Phil. 1:25.
B
The Lord Jesus was a man of prayer; He often went to the mountain or withdrew to a private place to pray—Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; 6:12; 9:28.
C
After the miracle of feeding five thousand, He compelled the disciples to leave Him in order that He might have more time to pray privately to the Father—Matt. 14:22-23:
１
Standing in the position of man (4:4), the heavenly King, as the beloved Son of the Father (3:17), needed to pray privately to His Father who was in the heavens, that He might be one with the Father and have the Father with Him in whatever He did on earth for the establishing of the kingdom of the heavens.
２
He did this not in the deserted place but on the mountain, leaving all the people, even His disciples, that He might be alone to contact the Father.
D
Because He was a man of prayer who was one with God, He was never alone, for the Father was with Him; every moment He saw His Father's face—John 5:19; 16:32; Psa. 16:7-8; cf. 27:8.
Morning Nourishment
John 5:19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing from Himself except what He sees the Father doing, for whatever that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner.8:29 And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.
After the Lord Jesus was baptized, the Spirit descended upon Him. Then the Lord went forth in His move to work, to minister…The Lord lived a life of proclaiming, teaching, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the lepers. With Him there was just one thing—His life, which was His work, His move, and His ministry. Whatever the Lord did, whatever He spoke, and wherever He went were all part of His life. (Life-study of Mark, pp. 479-480)
Today’s Reading
Throughout His life, the Lord took satisfaction in God. He had no hope toward the world and did not expect to receive anything from it. His only hope was in God, and His only satisfaction was in God. He said that no one knows the Son except the Father, that He did not receive glory from men, that He did not come to do His own will but the will of the One who sent Him, and that He always did the will of the One who sent Him. Our Lord had God’s will as His satisfaction all His life…This is why He was not disappointed no matter how people, events, and things in this world changed. Those who take their satisfaction in God will never be disappointed. (CWWN, vol. 17, “Notes on Scriptural Messages (1),” pp. 183-184)The Lord lived as a man of prayer. He did not live as a common man praying common prayers to God, as a pious man, a so-called godly man, praying to God in a religious way, or as a God-seeking man praying to God for the divine attainments and obtainments…Instead, He was a man in the flesh praying to the mysterious God in the divine, mystical realm. The Gospels tell us that He often went to the mountain or withdrew to a private place to pray (Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; 6:12; 9:28)…Divine is on God’s side. Mystical is on man’s side. On the one hand, Jesus was a man in the flesh, yet He prayed to the mysterious God in the divine and mystical way and realm.
He was a man of prayer, a man who is one with God (John 10:30). We may be a Christ-seeker, desperately praying to gain Christ, yet we may not be one with God. He was also a man living in the presence of God without ceasing (Acts 10:38c; John 8:29; 16:32). He said that He was never alone, but the Father was with Him. Every moment He saw His Father’s face. We may seek Christ, yet not live in the presence of God so closely and continuously without ceasing. Also, He trusted in God and not in Himself, under any kind of suffering and persecution. First Peter 2:23b says that in the midst of His suffering He did not speak threatening words but kept committing all to Him who judges righteously. Luke 23:46 says that at the time He was dying on the cross, He prayed, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” In our daily life, do we trust in God when trouble comes? Maybe we do to a small extent, but not absolutely.
In John 14:30 the Lord said, “The ruler of the world is coming, and in Me he has nothing.” This means that in the Lord Jesus, Satan as the ruler of the world had no ground, no chance, no hope, no possibility in anything. If we are enlightened, we will admit that Satan has too many things in us…But here was a man of prayer who said that Satan, the ruler of the world, had nothing in Him. This is a particular sentence in the whole Bible. Thus, Christ was a man of prayer, a man who was one with God, lived in the presence of God continuously, trusted in God in His suffering and persecution, and in whom Satan had nothing. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” pp. 529-530)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” ch. 10;
CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” chs. 7—10