Scripture Reading: John 21:15-17; Acts 1:8, 17; 2 Cor. 3:6; 4:1; Heb. 8:1-2, 6, 8; 13:20
Ⅰ
"We have such a High Priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the holy places, even of the true tabernacle"—Heb. 8:1-2:
A
Christ, as the High Priest in the heavens, brings us into heaven, from the earthly outer court into the heavenly Holy of Holies, which is joined to our spirit by Him as the heavenly ladder—Gen. 28:12; John 1:51.
B
As a Minister of the true (heavenly) tabernacle and our High Priest, Christ ministers heaven (which is not only a place but also a condition of life) into us as the heavenly life, grace, authority, and power and sustains us so that we may live a heavenly life on earth, as He did while He was here—Heb. 4:14-15; 7:26:
１
This Minister provides us with the heavenly supply, ministering God Himself into us.
２
The High Priest is both in the heavens and in us; as the Lord He is in the heavens, and as the Spirit He is in us—8:1; 2 Cor. 3:17.
３
By His ministering to us the heavenly supply, He is making us a heavenly people—a people who live a heavenly life on earth.
Ⅱ
"Having this ministry as we have been shown mercy"—4:1:
A
This is the unique ministry common to all the apostles of Christ—Acts 1:17.
B
Although the apostles are many, they have only one ministry—the ministry of the new covenant for the accomplishing of God's eternal economy—2 Cor. 3:6:
１
The ministry of the apostles was uniquely one—this ministry, a corporate ministry in the principle of the Body of Christ—Acts 1:17.
２
All the apostles carried out the same ministry to bear the testimony not of any religion, doctrine, or practice but uniquely of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all—10:36.
３
All the apostles' works are to carry out this unique ministry, the ministering of Christ to others for the building up of the Body of Christ—Eph. 3:8; 4:16.
Ⅲ
The Lord has incorporated the apostolic ministry with His heavenly ministry—Heb. 13:20; John 21:15-17:
A
John 21 reveals the apostolic ministry in cooperation with Christ's heavenly ministry.
B
The apostles were commissioned by the ascended Christ to cooperate with Him to carry out God's New Testament economy; what He was doing in the heavens, the apostles did on earth to carry out His heavenly ministry—Heb. 13:20; John 21:15-17.
C
The heavenly ministry of the ascended Christ is the ministry of the Head; the new covenant ministry of the constituted apostles is the ministry of the Body— Heb. 8:1, 6; 2 Cor. 4:1; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:15-16; Col. 1:18; 3:15.
D
In order to have a genuine spiritual understanding of the ministry of jubilee and of the incorporation of the apostolic ministry with the heavenly ministry of the ascended Christ, we need to compare Hebrews and 2 Corinthians, noting the many parallels between these two Epistles—Heb. 8:6, 8; 2 Cor. 3:6.
Ⅳ
In His heavenly ministry, Christ is interceding and ministering, and we need to be those who respond to Christ's activities in His heavenly ministry—Heb. 2:17; 4:14; 7:25-26; 8:1-2; Col. 3:1-4; 1:9; 4:12:
A
Christ's ministry in the heavens requires our response—3:1-4:
１
We need to become on earth the reflection of Christ's heavenly ministry.
２
To seek the things which are above means that we respond and correspond to Christ's heavenly ministry—v. 1.
B
Through our prayer, Christ, the Head, is given a way to carry out His administration through His Body—1:18; 2:19; 3:1-2:
１
As the Head is working in heaven by interceding and ministering, we, the Body, are working on earth responding to the heavenly ministry of Christ and reflecting what He is doing—Heb. 2:17; 4:14; 7:25-26; 8:1-2.
２
Between Christ in heaven and us on earth, there is a divine transmission, a heavenly current; if we continuously receive the divine transmission, being infused with a supply from heaven and experiencing the transaction between the heavenly Christ and us, we will respond to Christ's interceding and ministering—Eph. 1:22.
Ⅴ
As the Body, we should correspond in a twofold way to Christ's heavenly ministry under His headship—4:14-16; Col. 2:18-19; Acts 8:26-39; 9:10-11; 10:1-3, 9-22:
A
What is revealed in Ephesians and Colossians is our corresponding to Christ's heavenly ministry by the growth and function in life for the building up of the Body; for the Body to be built up, the growth and function in life are necessary— Eph. 4:14-16; Col. 2:18-19; 3:4, 15.
B
What is revealed in Acts is our corresponding to Christ's heavenly ministry by the move in life for the spreading of the gospel of the kingdom—1:8:
１
In Acts 8, 9, and 10 the ascended Christ was ministering in the heavens to move His disciples for the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God.
２
The cases of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, Ananias and Saul, and Peter and Cornelius were all moves in life that corresponded to the Lord's ministry in the heavens—8:26-39; 9:10-11; 10:1-3, 9-22.
３
The proper gospel preaching is a move in life in which we correspond to the heavenly ministry of Christ under His headship—Heb. 8:1-2; Eph. 1:22-23; Acts 1:8.