Scripture Reading: Luke 1:78-79; 2:8-14, 25-32; 7:36-50; 10:25-37
Ⅰ
We can enjoy Christ, the reality of the jubilee, as the rising sun visiting us from on high to shine on those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death in order to guide our feet into the way of peace—Luke 1:78-79:
A
Christ is the Sun of righteousness who heals us as He shines upon us; we enjoy Christ's shining for our growth in life in the dispelling of darkness and for our healing in life in the effacing of unrighteousness—Mal. 4:2; Psa. 84:11.
B
Christ is the great light for the shining in darkness and the release from bondage— Isa. 9:1-5; Matt. 4:12-16; John 1:4-5; 1 Pet. 2:9; Col. 1:12-13; Psa. 119:105; 107:10-22.
C
Christ's inner shining is His saving; we need more and more of the Lord's shining day by day for more and more of His shepherding—His saving, restoring, reviving, and deifying—2 Cor. 4:6-7; Mal. 4:2; Prov. 4:18; Psa. 22, title; 80:1, 3, 7, 15-19.
D
By the inner shining of the Lord as the rising Sun, we can experience Him as the portion and freedom of the jubilee—Col. 1:12; John 8:12, 32, 36; Acts 26:18.
E
The truth is the shining of the light, and light is the presence of God; if we have the Lord's presence, we have wisdom, insight, foresight, and the inner knowledge concerning things; the Lord's presence is everything to us—Exo. 33:14; 2 Cor. 2:10.
F
The measure of life that we receive for our growth in life corresponds with the measure of our enlightenment; only the shining of light can bring forth life, and only the shining of light can increase life—4:6; Gen. 1:1-3, 14; Psa. 36:9; Eph. 5:13:
１
When God allows all kinds of temptations, difficulties, or blows from the environment to come upon us, if what we have is from the life of God, it can still survive after passing through all these circumstances and is even more manifested; however, if what we have is merely from human behavior, the behavior is either changed in nature or is extinguished—2 Cor. 1:8-9; 12:7-9.
２
Behavior does not require any enlightenment, and it can be worked out by human effort; life, however, can be produced only by the shining of light; for our growth in life, we need more and stronger light—Matt. 15:7-9; 13:43; S. S. 6:10; Dan. 12:3; Phil. 2:15; Micah 7:8; cf. Matt. 10:27.
G
Light is in the word of God—not the written word of the Bible but the word that the Holy Spirit speaks to us from within, revealing anew the word of the Bible to us— Psa. 119:105, 130; John 6:63; Eph. 5:26-27; S. S. 8:13-14; Isa. 66:2, 5.
H
Whenever the light shines within us, it causes us to have an inner consciousness; thus, we may say that light is our inner sense—John 8:12, 32, 36; Rom. 8:6; Eph. 4:18-19; 5:8; 2 Cor. 2:13; Mal. 2:15-16.
I
Enlightening rests with the mercy of God; whenever God comes and bestows His mercy, the light of His countenance is our light, His appearing is our vision, and His presence is our gain—Rom. 9:15; Acts 9:3-4; Isa. 50:10-11; Num. 6:25-26; Isa. 5:20; cf. John 3:19; Obad. 3; 2 Thes. 2:10-11; Prov. 23:23; John 5:44:
１
In order to be enlightened, we must want and accept the Lord's shining, setting our heart to be single in seeking the Lord alone with all our desire—Psa. 139:23-24; Phil. 2:12-16; 2 Chron. 12:14; 16:12; 34:1-3; Psa. 27:8; 73:25; Luke 11:33-36.
２
In order to be enlightened, we must open ourselves to the Lord, turn our hearts to Him, and place ourselves before Him without any reservation or holding back; those who close themselves to the Lord are experts in judging and criticizing others—2 Cor. 3:16; Prov. 20:27; Matt. 7:1-5; Luke 6:36-37, 41-42.
３
In order to be enlightened, we must put a stop to ourselves; this means to put a stop to our views, our ways of looking at things, our feelings, our ideas, and our opinions; when a person who is completely stopped comes before the Lord, he can be exceedingly single and simple in receiving the word of the Lord—10:38-42; John 11:21-28; Isa. 40:31; Matt. 5:3; Luke 18:15-17; Isa. 66:1-2.
４
In order to be enlightened, we must not dispute with the light of the Spirit who speaks within us or of the ministers of the Spirit who speak without—Acts 22:10;S. S. 5:4-6; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; 11:2-3; Num. 16:1-7, 33-39; 17:1-8; cf. Exo. 33:11, 14.
５
In order to be enlightened, we must continuously live in the light—Isa. 2:5; 1 John 1:7; Heb. 9:14; 10:22; Matt. 5:3, 8, 14; Psa. 119:105; Rev. 1:20; Psa. 36:7-9.
Ⅱ
We can enjoy Christ, the reality of the jubilee, as the good news of great joy, the Savior of fallen mankind for God's good pleasure—Luke 2:8-14; 4:18-19; Isa. 61:1-3; Micah 5:2; Rom. 5:10.
Ⅲ
We can enjoy Christ, the reality of the jubilee, as our light and glory—Luke 2:25-32; Isa. 4:4-6; 42:6; 49:6; 43:7; Jer. 2:11; Exo. 28:2; 2 Cor. 3:16-18; Eph. 5:26-27.
Ⅳ
We can enjoy Christ, the reality of the jubilee, as a moneylender, whose forgiveness and payment of all our debt of sins causes us to love Him to the uttermost— Luke 7:36-50:
A
The Man-Savior's human virtues of affection, kindness, patience, mercy, and understanding were displayed in His fellowship with the sinful woman.
B
His divine attributes, especially that of divine authority to forgive a person's sins and His giving of peace to the forgiven sinner, were also displayed—vv. 48-50.
C
As a moneylender, Christ forgives all our debt of sins to Him to make us His outpoured lovers—this is His judicial redemption; as the riches-of-life Distributor, Christ dispenses Himself as the immeasurable Spirit into us to make us His channels of blessing—this is His organic salvation—vv. 36-43; 12:15-21; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Eph. 3:8; 1 Pet. 4:10; Phil. 1:19-25.
D
The more we are forgiven by the Lord, the more we love Him—Luke 7:42-43, 47:
１
The forgiven woman had not only love toward the Savior but also faith in Him, which operated through love and issued in peace; our faith brings us God's forgiveness, issuing in a life of love and peace—Gal. 5:6; Luke 7:50.
２
When our love for the Lord Jesus increases, our condemnation of others will decrease; if we condemn others, we are deficient in our love for the Lord.
３
Genuine faith is Christ Himself infused into us to become our ability to believe in Him; the Christian life is a life of being infused with Christ as faith to be forgiven by Him and to love Him to the uttermost on the road of peace—Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; cf. Rom. 3:17; Isa. 66:12.
E
The more we are forgiven by the Lord, the more we fear Him—Psa. 130:4:
１
To fear God is to revere God (Prov. 1:7; 2:4-5; 9:10; 10:27; 14:2, 26-27; 15:16, 33a; 22:4; 23:17; 31:30), which is to trust in Him, honor Him, and consider and regard Him in everything (3:5-10; Josh. 9:14; Isa. 11:2).
２
Fearing God means that we do not trust in anything of ourselves or in what we can do but that we helplessly depend on Him—S. S. 8:5-6; 2 Cor. 1:8-9; Phil. 3:3.
３
Fearing God stops us from doing evil (Prov. 8:13; 14:16, 27; 16:6b; 19:23); it also causes us to be touched by the suffering of others and to show mercy and compassion to them (14:30-31; 17:5; 19:17; 21:13; 28:27).
F
God's forgiveness of our sins results in His forgetting our sins—Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12; 1 John 1:7, 9; cf. Psa. 103:1-5, 12; 110:3; 116:13.
G
The Lord Jesus is our Emancipator, the One who is qualified to forgive sins and who is able to set us free from the slavery of sin that we might enjoy Him as the reality of the New Testament jubilee; His forgiving our sins and liberating us from the slavery of sin issue in His being our eternal portion and our glorious freedom for the fulfillment of His eternal economy—John 8:32, 36; 2 Cor. 3:17; Rom. 8:2; Col. 1:12.
Ⅴ
We can enjoy Christ, the reality of the jubilee, as the good Samaritan taking care of the fallen and law-stricken sinner with compassion, healing him with the Spirit and the divine life, and putting him into the church—Luke 10:25-37:
A
The lawyer asked the Lord, "Who is my neighbor?" The Lord responded with the story of the good Samaritan, and at the end, asked, "Which of these three, does it seem to you, has become a neighbor to him who fell into the hands of the robbers?" The lawyer answered, "The one who showed mercy to him"—vv. 29, 36-37:
１
This shows that the lawyer was the one who had fallen into the hands of the robbers, and the Neighbor who showed mercy to him was the Lord Jesus as the good Samaritan; the self-justified lawyer was helped to know that he needed the Lord Jesus as a loving Neighbor to love him, not a neighbor for him to love.
２
When the Lord tells us to love your neighbor as yourself, He is telling us to love Him as the compassionate Samaritan-Neighbor; when He said, "Go, and you do likewise," this means that the lawyer should receive the Lord as love in order to love the Lord as his Neighbor in return—vv. 27, 29, 37.
３
The Man-Savior, in His lost-one-seeking and sinner-saving ministry journey (19:10), came down to the place where the wounded victim of the Judaistic robbers lay in his miserable and dying condition and rendered him tender healing and saving care, fully meeting his urgent need—10:33-35:
ａ
The Lord bound up the dying one's wounds—healing him.
ｂ
He poured oil and wine on his wounds—giving him the Holy Spirit and the divine life—Matt. 9:17; Judg. 9:9, 13.
ｃ
He placed him on his own beast (a donkey)—carrying him by lowly means in a lowly way—Zech. 9:9; cf. 1 Cor. 1:26-29.
ｄ
He brought him to an inn—bringing him into the church—and took care of him—taking care of him through the church.
ｅ
He paid the inn for him—blessing the church on his behalf.
ｆ
He said that he would repay at his return whatever the innkeeper spent— declaring that whatever the church spends in this age on the one who is saved by the Lord will be repaid at His coming back—Matt. 24:45-51.
B
For our salvation, we need to know the Lord as our Neighbor in His compassion and love; for our service, we need to know the Lord as our Master with His desire and preference to carry out His economy—Luke 10:38-42; Acts 22:8, 10; Phil. 3:10a.