Scripture Reading: Matt. 3:2; 5:3; 14:14-21; 15:21-28, 32-38
Ⅰ
The kingdom of the heavens is the heavenly rule—the kingdom of God in the third heaven where God exercises His authority over everything cre-ated by Him—Matt. 3:2; 5:3:
A
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the inward contents of the king-dom of the heavens in its heavenly and spiritual nature—chs. 5—7.
B
The Christ who entered into our spirit through regeneration is the King with the kingdom—John 3:5-6; Rom. 8:10; 1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Tim. 4:22.
C
The Gospel of Matthew is full of the riches of Christ, and we need to experience and enjoy Christ in His riches as the all-inclusive One.
D
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is Christ Himself—Luke 17:20-21:
１
The kingdom of the heavens is not something apart from Christ; the king-dom of the heavens is the person of the King—Matt. 2:2; 21:5; Rev. 19:16:
ａ
We need spiritual eyes to see that the kingdom is actually the wonderful Christ—Luke 17:21b.
ｂ
We cannot have the kingdom of the heavens without Christ; where Christ is, there the kingdom of the heavens is also—Matt. 16:16, 18-19.
２
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is Christ as the life-giving Spirit ruling within us—1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 6:17; Matt. 5:3.
Ⅱ
The way for us to become the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is to eat Christ as the all-inclusive bread—15:26-27, 32-38:
A
As the heavenly King, Christ rules over us by feeding us with Himself as bread— John 6:15, 32-35:
１
We can be the reality of the kingdom of the heavens only by being nourished with Christ as our food—Matt. 15:26-27, 32-38.
２
The Lord Jesus is the kingdom of obedience; we need to take Him in by eat-ing Him as our bread so that He may be wrought into us—Phil. 2:8.
B
The more we eat Christ as the all-inclusive bread, the more the royal ingredients are constituted into us to become the ruling element within us and to cause us to become the increase of Christ as the reality of the kingdom of the heavens— Dan. 2:34, 35b, 44-45.
Ⅲ
In the parable of the children's bread, Christ is revealed as the bread and the crumbs—Matt. 15:21-28:
A
The Canaanite woman considered Christ as the Lord—a divine person—and the Son of David—a royal descendant, great and high in His reign—v. 22.
B
The Lord Jesus revealed Himself to her as small pieces of bread, good for food— v. 26:
１
This implies that as the heavenly King, Christ rules over His people by feed-ing them with Himself as bread.
２
We can be the proper people in His kingdom only by being nourished with Him as our food.
３
To eat Christ as our supply is the way to be the kingdom people in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens.
C
The holy land of Israel was the table on which Christ, the heavenly bread, came as a portion to the children of Israel, but they threw Him to the "ground," the Gentile country, so that He became broken crumbs under the table—v. 27:
１
Although the Canaanite woman's request had nothing to do with eating, the Lord purposely referred her to the matter of eating in order to show her that she needed nourishing.
２
He caused her to realize that He was bread for feeding the hungry children, that He was dispensing Himself to others as the inner life supply.
D
Feeding is a matter of dispensing—2 Cor. 13:14:
１
The Greek word for economy (oikonomia) comes from a root that means to distribute food—1 Tim. 1:4.
２
In Matthew 14:14-21 we see Christ dispensing Himself as bread, as nourish-ing food, as the element of the life supply, to satisfy hungry ones:
ａ
This indicates that God's economy is not a matter of outward things but of Christ coming into us as food.
ｂ
For this, we need to take Christ in by eating Him as bread, even as the crumbs under the table.
Ⅳ
As those who have been born of God to enter into the kingdom of God, we can experience the effects of eating Christ as the all-inclusive bread—John 3:3, 5; 6:35; Matt. 14:14-21; 15:21-28, 32-38:
A
When we eat Christ as the all-inclusive bread, our hunger is satisfied—5:6:
１
What truly matters to the Lord Jesus is that our hunger is satisfied— 15:32, 37.
２
Hunger is the foremost condition for spiritual progress; all spiritual progress depends on our hunger—Luke 1:53.
B
By eating the all-inclusive bread, we are subdued and brought under the Lord's kingly and heavenly rule—Matt. 14:14-21; 15:32-38:
１
As the heavenly King, the Lord Jesus rules over us by feeding us with Him-self as bread—John 6:15, 27, 35.
２
Because the kingdom is within us, we are subdued, controlled, and ruled by the indwelling King.
C
Christ as the all-inclusive bread casts out the "demons" and deals with our rebel-lion—Matt. 15:22, 26-27; Mark 7:24-30; Ezek. 2:8—3:3:
１
Demons indicate rebellion, and the principle of a demon is rebellion.
２
In principle, the things in our daily walk that are not under God's ruling but are in rebellion against Him are "demons" that need to be cast out by the Lord Jesus.
３
The Lord rules over us not in an outward way but in the way of entering into us as the all-inclusive bread to consume the rebellious element within us.
４
Christ, the heavenly King, dispenses Himself into us that He might discharge our rebellious element and replace it with Himself.
D
By eating the kingly Christ as the all-inclusive bread, we are cleansed inwardly— Matt. 23:25-26; 15:1-2, 18, 20, 26-27:
１
In order for us to be cleansed in our inner being, something must get into us, and the only way this can take place is by eating.
２
As our food, Christ is the best cleansing element; He washes our inner being, and we thereby experience the washing of our disposition.
３
We all need an inward cleansing from the Lord—the inward cleansing that comes from eating Jesus.
E
As we feed on the all-inclusive bread, we are healed of all kinds of diseases— vv. 21-31:
１
Sickness issues from sin and is a sign of man's abnormal condition before God because of sin.
２
The Lord desires to heal our sick condition physically, psychologically, and spiritually and to restore us to normality.
３
In Matthew 15 healing comes after eating; this indicates that healing comes from adequate, proper eating.
F
If we eat Christ as the all-inclusive bread, we will be enabled to overcome our circumstances—vv. 21-28; Rom. 8:37:
１
Any problem that we have is a proof that we need to eat the Lord Jesus— Matt. 15:22, 26-27.
２
Instead of asking the Lord to do something in our environment, we should take Him into our being by eating Him as the all-inclusive bread.
３
We need to take Christ into us and let Him be our life, our food, and our everything; then our circumstances will change.
４
If we feed on Christ as the all-inclusive bread, we will no longer care whether our circumstances are good or bad (Phil. 4:11-13); we will care only to eat Jesus.
G
To eat Christ as the all-inclusive bread is the way to be the kingdom people in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, for this bread constitutes us with the reality of the kingdom—Matt. 5:3, 6, 8:
１
We all can eat King Jesus and take Him into us as our life, our life supply, and our everything so that we may live a heavenly life on earth—v. 3.
２
All the kingly elements are in this bread; thus, the more we eat Jesus, the more the royal ingredients will be wrought into us.