How to Be Useful to the Lord
Chapter Two
Week 2 - Monday
Bible Reading: Mt 5 - 7
Read and pray: "When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him." (Mt 5:1)
THE TWO ASPECTS OF THE PRICE
The price we must pay has two aspects. One concerns our inner feeling, and the other relates to the light of the truth given to us by the Lord. Normally, what we feel inwardly is mainly related to trivial matters.
The important, valuable, and profound things are most often found in the truth. This second aspect is especially seen in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew is a book that speaks of the kingdom. The kingdom has a dual meaning concerning us. On one hand, it involves the government of the heavens, and on the other, it requires us to pay a price. Almost the entire book of Matthew deals with the requirement of paying a price. However, the most important chapters are 5 to 7, 13, 24, and 25.
Matthew chapters 5 to 7, which consist of the teaching given on the mountain, concern the reality of the kingdom. Chapter 13, which consists of the parables spoken by the sea, relates to the appearance of the kingdom. Chapters 24 and 25, which contain the prophecies given on the Mount of Olives, refer to the manifestation of the kingdom.
Both the reality and the manifestation of the kingdom were spoken on a mountain. This happened because only those who "go up the mountain" can participate in the reality of the kingdom today and enter the manifestation of the kingdom in the future. Although a crowd followed the Lord, only a small portion of them heard the message concerning the reality and manifestation of the kingdom. Those who heard were the ones who followed the Lord up the mountain and drew near to Him. In other words, they were the ones who paid a price and had fellowship with the Lord.
The word regarding the appearance of the kingdom was given by the sea, which signifies the world usurped and corrupted by Satan. Those who are in the world can only hear the word concerning the appearance of the kingdom. They cannot see the reality and manifestation of the kingdom because they have not paid the price of going up the mountain and coming to the Lord.
Although the teachings in these three sections of Matthew differ in content, they have one thing in common: the requirement that a price must be paid. In Matthew 5 to 7, the required price is that our entire being and human living must be completely surrendered to the Lord so that we may attain the surpassing righteousness, enter through the narrow gate, and walk on the constricted way.
Matthew 13 requires that we be free from the great tree and the leaven and that we be the wheat and the mustard seed. It requires that we be ground and trampled to provide the supply of life to others. Chapter 13 also requires that we be the treasure (including the precious stones) and the pearl. In other words, this chapter requires that we pass through the fire of the Holy Spirit and the pressure of sufferings to be valuable before the Lord.
In chapters 24 and 25, the price we are required to pay has two aspects: the aspect of life and the aspect of work. The aspect of life is that we need to buy oil, and the aspect of work is that we need to be faithful. Buying oil, the aspect of life, means leaving the external things of daily life and caring only for the Spirit who dwells in us. Being faithful in the aspect of work means using the gift we have received to supply others.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEENPAYING THE PRICE AND RECEIVING SALVATION
We all know that God's salvation consists of two parts. In the first, we receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life by faith, and in the second, God desires to work Himself into us so that we may be mingled with Him and become one with Him. The prerequisite for receiving the first part of God's salvation is faith.
Strictly speaking, the prerequisite for receiving the second part of God's salvation is paying a price. Since God's salvation consists of these two parts, there are two requirements for receiving them. To receive the forgiveness of sins and obtain eternal life, one simply needs to have faith. However, if we desire God to work Himself into us and mingle with us, we must fulfill the second requirement: paying a price.
Enjoy more: Hymn 177
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