Truth Lesson: Christ's Increase

What is Increase? What is Christ's Increase? Perhaps, this matter of increase is a great concern to many Christians. No increase is a problem, yet an increase is also a problem depending on what causes the increase. An increase in the number of meeting attendance can be brought forth either by the flesh or by life. Lot had an increase by his flesh, even by sinful incest. That is in the principle of Babylon. The increase we are talking about here is the increase of Christ, through the divine dispensing of the divine life into the believers, for the preparation of the Bride of Christ.

The increase begins with regeneration through the redemption accomplished by Christ which resulted in producing the bride, the Body of Christ as Christ's increase.  This also happens by Christ ministering Himself as and through the word which becomes the Spirit in the believers dispensing the divine life and making them grow from within and bearing forth spiritual fruits without. This is Christ's increase. The same is found in John 3, the Lord's conversation with Nicodemus. This conversation began with regeneration accomplished through the believers' believing into the Lord Jesus Christ who was lifted as a bronze serpent and becoming the Bride, the Body Christ, Christ's increase, which also is being carried out by His speaking through the word of God giving the Spirit abundantly.

John 3

3 Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

5 Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.

29a He who has the bride is the bridegroom; 

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for He gives the Spirit not by measure.

Christ's increase and His relationship with the church, the Bride, can be seen  can also be seen in the three aspects of Christ

1. Christ as the Redeemer redeemed the church. This happened in the past through the believers' generation. For this, Christ as the Husband gave Himself up for His Bride, the church. (Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her)
2. Christ as the Life-giving Spirit sanctifying the church. This is going on right now in the present time. Christ as the Husband is sanctifying His Bride, the church. (Ephesians 5:26 That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word)
3. Christ as the Bridegroom will present the church. This will happen in the future when Christ, the Bride, will present His Bride to Himself. (Ephesians 5:27 That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.)

In Ephesians, we can also see the two aspects of Christ's increase inwardly, growing up into Him in all things who is the Head, Christ. And Christ's increase outwardly for His expression,  growing from the Head, causing the growth of the Body.

Ephesians 4:11-16 And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ, Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

The Importance of the Word of God for Our Growth

1. John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
2. 2 Timothy 3:15 And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
3. 1 Peter 1:23 Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God.
4. 1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may grow unto salvation,
5. Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the full-grown, who because of practice have their faculties exercised for discriminating between both good and evil.
6. 2 Peter 1:19 And we have the prophetic word made more firm, to which you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
7. 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

These are the seven ways in which the word of God can make us grow for Christ's increase.

May we all receive the divine life supply through the word of God that can make us grow day by day for Christ's increase.

A Memorial Message

Covid has struck India and many have lost their lives. It did not even spare the saints in the church life nor the serving ones in the literature service. One of our serving ones, brother Kishor Mane, texted me on 29th April 2021 mentioning his situation as he and his whole family were infected with Covid. His message quoted verbatim:

"Brother, though we were taking treatment of medicine but the symptoms were going and coming even for heavy dosage. So mother father got admitted and after two days i got admitted, and now others also are unable to bear, they also will be coming now to get admitted. Sorry brother i was unable to work tor last few days. Please bear with me."

My reply to him was, "Take care of your health. We have been praying for you and your family."

Since then, in our literature office morning prayer and also in our family prayer, we have been praying for his recovery. As days passed by, his situation became more and more severe. A brother then informed me about his falling into depression and health complications. But we kept praying. A few days later, I was informed that his father went to be with the Lord. And after five days, he also went to be with the Lord. Alas, that text message was our last; he was the first serving one whom the Lord took during this crisis. I pray that no more saints would lose their lives due to this pandemic. May the Lord cover us all!

Before he passed away, I had a deep sense within me that he would need financial help. Therefore, I made arrangements to transfer an offering and also his first full-time support since he came to serve in checking the text translation of the New Testament Recovery Version in Marathi. Later, another offering was arranged; this time it was transferred to a brother who was intimately taking care of him and his family.

Today, a day after he went to be with the Lord on the 9th of May 2021, the church in Miraj had arranged a memorial day meeting in which I need to share a memorial or rather a testimony regarding him and his service as much as I know.  Though another brother was to share, he could not make it. Therefore, I had to share on behalf of the literature service. 

Using his testimony, I encouraged the young people to consecrate themselves to serve the Lord, even to learn Greek and be involved in checking the New Testament text translation to Marathi. In fact, today morning in my time with the Lord, the Lord led me to text a brother concerning filling up the gap this brother has left behind. My text reads:

Brother, please pray and consider: if there could be at least two young educated saints who can consecrate themselves to the Lord fully to learn Greek and come in to do the Marathi text checking of the New Testament Recovery Version. Only then we will be able to release the New Testament Recovery Version in Marathi.

May the Lord gain many abled, burdened, and available young educated saints.

This same text was read out by a brother who is his spiritual father in his memorial speech encouraging and calling out the young people to consecrate themselves for the Lord's service especially for the literature service in Marathi. May the Lord indeed raise up many young saints to fill up the gap our brother had left behind.

The following were the points I shared. In fact, the first section I also shared in the literature WhatsApp group as a loving memorial to our brother.

In Loving Memory of Brother Kishor Mane

22 July 2020: Enrolled for Greek online self study. He completed all the assignments on time and passed all the exams. A very faithful, diligent, and fast learner!

16 March 2021: Completed Greek for New Testament translation with 90% score!

1 April 2021: He started text checking of The New Testament, Recovery Version in Marathi.

A Wonderful Pattern in Character: Diligent, faithful, kept the schedule for the works assigned to him.  Soft in heart yet aggressive in learning.

Romans 4: 7-8 For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself; For whether we live, we live to the Lord, and whether we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore whether we live or we die, we are the Lord’s.

Encouragement to the Young People

May the Lord raise up many young educated and consecrated saints to learn Greek and pick up the burden to serve in the literature service to bring out the New Testament Recovery Version in Marathi.

Pray for Kishor’s family, especially his mother, and also for the saints in the church in Miraj

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 For God did not appoint us to wrath but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us in order that whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore comfort one another, and build up each one the other, even as you also do.

Discipline in Love

Discipline your son, for there is hope; But do not set your heart on destroying him. Proverbs 19:18

Train up a child according to the way he should go; Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

I love my children, they are God's gift to me and my wife. Since their birth, they have been a blessing to us as a family. In many aspects, they are truly our heart's delight yet not a replacement of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we love the Lord, we also love what the Lord has blessed us with. So, we must be a proper guardian to the blessings of the womb. Children are from the Lord, we are just the guardians to nurture them for the Lord. In our responsibility as guardians, sometimes there is a need for some discipline and correction, whenever the need arises. With my children, mostly they have been doing fairly well. Except sometimes they tend to disobey and need some discipline. There, as a parent, especially as a father, I need to lovingly chastise them.

Some characteristic traits of my children have been manifested in terms of obedience and respect to elders. In this matter, I strongly felt my children need to be taught or disciplined. But I must also be wise in the way I carry this out. I can only recollect how I had been taught when I was young as my children now, ie.., discipline.

Last night, I sensed a very disgusting behavior from my son in terms of attitude and honoring and respecting elders especially his parent. This has been going on for quite some time now. I just could not let the matter go by easily. So I decided to take my son to a task. For a long time, I have not been showing my disciplinary face except for a few words of parental commands, which hardly matters to him. 

Therefore, I wanted to drive deep into my son's heart that I am serious about a proper attitude and respect towards elders which I have been brought up to, all my life. So I disciplined him verbally and with some physical chastisement. Though he could not take it at the moment and tried to fight back, it only strengthened me to intensify the degree of chastisement. Not a physical abuse as such, but a strong verbal correction had brought him to tears. The incident occurred continuously three times in a row as I could not see him subdued but fighting back instead. So each discipline was more intense than the previous one, and I reckoned that as my responsibility towards my son. 

Seriously, I hardly would like to get into this kind of intense discipline, but once I was forced to, I will not give it up until the purpose was met. This may be kind of harsh, but I deeply pray within that this will have a lasting impact on my son and also on my two daughters that they would have a proper attitude and show honor and respect to elders all the days of their lives. For this, I am willing to sacrifice my own face as a "soft father". Let me rather be "hated" for this disciplinary action rather than see my children undisciplined. I was willing to pay the price, and I did pray the price as I felt best. Then, I prayed for all of them that the Lord would also follow my disciplinary actions with His own shepherding. Only physical or verbal discipline without the Lord's following up would lead to nowhere. Therefore, I prayed for all my children.

Perhaps, the action was too tough that my son was deeply hurt and for a considerable length of time, he could not be consoled. My wife and my two daughters went to console him and finally, the matter was settled. But that's not all, I believe, my two daughters also learned the intensity of my action and the magnitude of my intention; I did what I did because I truly love them. I simply want them to be disciplined and be proper in their human character.

The next day, the impact of the discipline was felt. Everybody was serious and the looseness that lingered for quite some time had gone. My children become more serious in their response when matters were addressed concerning them. After my lunch and a short nap time, as I was considering before the Lord about the action I took to discipline my son, I felt good to talk to him and see if there was any grudge between us. Yes, discipline was fine, but how about the father-son relationship after the discipline? Therefore, I went to talk to him and called him to the bedroom for a personal fellowship. I told him that I did what I did because I love him and that I did not want him to harbor any improper attitude towards his parent or elders, and also to learn to honor and respect the elders. He replied to me that he understood my intention. I also asked him if he had any negative feelings against me, yes if any, I asked him to forgive me. To this, he replied, "Maybe." I requested, "Please forgive me, then." And he replied, "Yes." Therefore, we hugged each other; I kissed my beloved son, and we prayed together.

As a sign of comfort and gratitude to him for being able to accept the discipline, I asked him what he would want me to buy. He reminded me that I had forgotten my promise to my elder daughter about ice cream which I promised to treat her with a few weeks ago. Therefore, we both went to purchase a pack of Vanilla and Chocolate ice cream and we enjoyed the ice cream as "our prize for the discipline."

Thus, the matter was settled. I had peace and he does too. I hope and pray that I do not need to repeat the same discipline again ever. Hope this will be the last and that they all will learn the lesson. Right after this incident, my own father called me to check if I and my family were doing alright as he heard of so many cases of Covid in Delhi and NCR. I also could speak to my mom and heard their appreciation for the help, financially, during my dad's sickness a week ago.

May the Lord continue to bless our family. May He make our family a God-man family as I have always prayed for; to fear Him, to love Him, and to serve Him, as a family, all the days of our lives.

Lord, bless our family!

Godly Living

Yesterday, our Lord's table meeting and the prophesying meeting were very special. Though the nature of the meeting was the same as a regular meeting, the content and the feeling of the saints in the meeting took a new turn. I believe it was for the better. The saints' prayers and speakings were very much uplifted in terms of truth and experience. It was not mere empty words but with much feeling and experience behind the words. In other words, it was very genuine. Our praise, worship, thanksgiving, prayer, and prophecy were very genuine; straight from the heart, out of the experiences many have been through these days.

The past few weeks have been intense for many saints as some have been battling with Covid personally or as a family or for some relatives. This second wave surprised the whole country suddenly. Many have been infected with the virus and, alas, many have also lost their lives; thousands and thousands daily, not spacing even the believers.

In the midst of such a pandemic, the Lord has been mercifully preserving all of us. Besides, He has been gracing us to experience Him in a very personal and intimate way. A good number of brothers and sisters testified their experiences during the time they were sick; the new lessons they have learned from the Lord and the new light the Lord has shown to them. A sister even shared with tears, the mercy of the Lord she has experienced concerning her unbelieving mother and father who both were infected with Covicd, and how the Lord miraculously healed them by answering her simple prayer. 

These prophecies of the saints added fuel to the burning fire within me. Therfore, I released my burden on the present pursuit of the truth on "Living a Godly Life" based on selected gems from the book of Proverbs.

To live a godly life, one needs to have the following points experientially:

VISION 

“Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint”—Prov. 29:18a

The governing vision of the Bible is the Triune God working Himself into His chosen and redeemed people in order to saturate their entire being with the Divine Trinity for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem—Eph. 4:4-6; Rev. 21:2, 9-10.

One needs to have a clear vision of God's eternal economy and follow it faithfully unto the end. Without this, even the so-called godly life would be meaningless and goalless.

TRUTH

“Buy truth, and do not sell it”—Prov. 23:23a 

The present truth includes the revelation concerning the eternal economy of God (Eph. 1:10; 3:9), the Divine Trinity (2 Cor. 13:14; Rev. 1:4-5), the person and work of the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 2:9, 16-17; 3:11), the consummated life-giving Spirit (John 7:39; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 22:17), the eternal life of God (John 3:15-16), the church as the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23), and the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, 10-11). 

The Lord's mercy has led all the saints in His recovery to take the way we have been taking. We have faced persecution from families and friends, either from the unbelievers or believers or even both. Some even accused the way we take as "heretic" and even "cultic", but the truth is the truth, no matter what people say or think. To be faithful to the truth, the Lord has graced us to pay the price. This is "the buying of the truth." And we must not sell it at any cost, come what may. The Lord may grace us to be faithful and obedient to the truth unto the end.

Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Acts 26:19

SPIRIT

“The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, / Searching all the innermost parts of the inner being”— Prov. 20:27

When we exercise our spirit to pray properly, there is a lamp shining—Eph. 6:18; 1:17-18; 5:8-9: 1. As we pray, our spirit functions as a shining lamp, searching all the parts of our soul—Prov. 20:27. The more we exercise our spirit in prayer, the more we are enlightened—2 Cor. 4:6.

With the clear and controlling vision clubbed together with the present truth, we must also exercise our spirit to experience the reality of the vision and the truth. Otherwise, it will just be running after an empty dream; professing good vision and truth, but it will all be dead doctrines and fantasy vision if not in the spirit. Therefore, there is an urgent need to exercise our spirits that the Lord as the Lamp may shine in our spirits as the lamps to enlighten our inner being to be luminaries in the world as children of God.

That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world. Philippians 2:15

HEART

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, / For from it are the issues of life”—Prov. 4:23: 

The heart is the entrance and exit to our whole being—Matt. 13:19; 15:18-19: We guard our heart by caring for our heart and having a thorough dealing with our heart before the Lord in the way of life; the more we deal with our heart, the more we guard our heart—Psa. 26:2; 139:23-24; Prov. 4:23; Rom. 8:27; Rev. 2:23; Matt. 13:18-23; 5:8.

Our hearts need to be guarded with all vigilance to not give any ground to the enemy. It is only through this the enemy can intrude into our lives and cause spiritual havoc. Our conscience must be dealt with, cleansed all the time without and condemnation or guilt. Our mind must be renewed day by day, that it even becomes the mind of Christ, clear and sober. Our emotion must be loving the Lord with the first and best love; loving the Lord Jesus only and Him only. Our will must be subdued becoming one with the Lord's will. In this way, our hearts will be guarded and dealt with to become a pure heart to see God and made proper for Christ to make His home.

LOVE

“Love covers all transgressions”—Prov. 10:12b: 

Covering brings in blessing, but uncovering brings in a curse—Gen. 9:22-27 “Love covers all things” (1 Cor. 13:7a), not only the good things but also the bad things.

As children of the Son of God's love, we must be filled with the divine love and let this divine love flow through us to all the people we are in contact with. With such a love, we can cover the shortcomings and weaknesses of our fellow believers. Only love builds up; therefore, we must love one other and build up the church the Body of Christ.

Thus was my burden released. That was one of the best meetings we have ever had this year. I believe more and more such meetings will follow suit. The Lord is sovereign over us all in leading us to live a godly life; arranging even the physical environment to work all things together for our good to gain Him and live Him out as our godly lives.

Truth Lesson: Pillar, a Reward to the Overcomer

In the recent training for the elders and the responsible ones, a message on "The Factor of Living an Overcoming Life in the recovered Church to Consummate the Divine Economy and Become the New Jerusalem" has impacted me a lot spiritually. What I used to consider as an overcomer is not the whole truth at all. Besides, I was also helped to see the factor that can make me an overcomer. Factor is an element contributing to the result. Therefore, I must take care of the factor to meet the end result. 

OVERCOMERS in the Recovered Local Churches

The real overcomer is Christ. The sooner one realizes this, the better.  Now as a believer, I have Christ in me. So the way for me to become an overcomer is by being one with Christ practically in my daily living. 

Such believers who are living Christ are the overcomers, who are also the factor that contributes to the building up of the church. It is not merely enough to be in a recovered local church life, the church in Philadelphia, but much more to be overcomers in the church; the Lord is calling for the overcomers. The local churches are the procedures to have the reality of the Body of Christ as the goal. There are local churches that existed yet without resulting in the living of an overcoming life. The local churches are not the factor, but the overcomers in the recovered churches are. These ones will consummate the divine economy and become the New Jerusalem. The church could be empty if it is not contributing to the consummation of the divine economy. In other words, the so-called church could be empty if there are no overcomers. 

The Lord is the Overcomer and He is reproducing Himself in us to make us overcomers in the local church.

Matthew 18:17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you just like the Gentile and the tax collector.

The Lord only regards the church meeting on the ground of oneness. In Revelation, it is always “the church in ….” The Lord must recover genuine local churches, or He has no way to build up the church.  As we are in the recovered church, our response should be, “Lord, make me an overcomer.”

To the local church in Ephesus, the Lord said, “Unless you repent, I will remove the lampstand.” This shows that the assembly may still exist as an empty local church without being a lampstand. It is possible for a church to be empty if it exists without the overcomers. The reality of the kingdom of the heaven is the content of the church, which is Christ Himself as our life, as the essence and the substance for us to be the proper church life. Through which we will be build up with the other believers. Without the reality, the constitution, the central work of God, the churches are just empty. Only the overcomers can build up the church that will bring the Lord back and consummate in the New Jerusalem.

REWARD

The principle of reward is, "What we are will become our reward in the coming age."

Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.

To be an overcomer we must eat the tree of life today, not waiting until the next age. The present enjoyment of the overcomers is the reward in the coming age. What we enjoy and participate in today will become our reward in the coming age. 

PILLARS

To be an overcomer is also to be a pillar today so that we can become a pillar in the coming age. Who are these pillars? In Revelation 3:12 the Bible says, 

"He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name."

But in 21:22 it says,  

"And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple."

This means the pillars are in organic union with the Triune God Himself. This also proves the fact that the overcomers are those who are one with the Lord Himself. Therefore, if we are overcomers to be pillars, we must exercise to live and walk by the Spirit who is the processed and consummated Triune God mingling with our spirit today. The way to achieve this is by allowing Christ to make His home in our hearts.

Ephesians 3:16, 17 That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

And loving Him with our best love; for it is with those who love Him that He comes and makes and abode with him. This aboded is the mingling of God with man. 

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.

Therefore, we are made pillars in the temple of God by living an overcoming life in the recovered church life by allowing Christ to make His home in our hearts, and making an abode with us.

Lord, make me a pillar for the building up of Your Body.

Truth Lesson: New Name

In fellowship with a senior and matured brother, the Lord has given me a new light concerning my growth in life and transformation through the many life experiences He has sovereignly allowed me to go through. As every spiritual experience begins with a revelation, this revelation definitely brings me to a higher experience of life in my walk with God.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and to him I will give a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it. Revelation 2:17

A Note from the Recovery Version on a "New Name": A name designates a person; a new name designates a transformed person. Every transformed believer, as a white stone, bears “a new name…which no one knows except him who receives it.” Such a new name is the interpretation of the experience of the one who has been transformed. Hence, only he himself knows the meaning of that name.

This new name is not merely the experiences the Lord gives me as I am being transformed. Rather, it is the interpretation of the experiences and learning of spiritual lessons from it. Many, perhaps, every Christian goes through different experiences almost every day. But the question is, Are there any gaining of Christ through the experiences? Are there any spiritual interpretations of those experiences? Or, Are they merely experiences that come and go, having nothing to do with the person who experiences it? This is where many Christian fail in their Christian life. 

There is no accident in Christian life. Everything a Christian goes through has been ordained at best, or at worst, allowed by God, always with a purpose. One has to find out what are the purposes of those experiences. 

Recently, the Lord gave me some precious experiences. As I considered them in this light of "new name", I got revelations of the interpretation of those experiences. The first was related to a dog bite, which changes my lifestyle altogether and brought me closer to my family. Since that incident, I could interpret that the Lord is teaching me to spend more time with my children. In fact, I have been doing that since then. Besides, the Lord used this incident to shepherd me through many saints. The saints that I least expected that they care for me actually care for me. I used to think that my shepherding is from me to the saints. But this time, the Lord showed me that my shepherding is also the saints' shepherding. We mutually shepherd one another. I received the Lord's shepherding through the saints. Praise the Lord! 

Another instance is related to my daddy's operation. This experience has brought my siblings together, to pray together, and to love and care for one another in an intimate way. The Lord definitely gained our family life much more than before. My siblings have been graced to function very well in taking care of daddy. I could only offer from the Lord's bountiful supply and pray for them. But my siblings have practically shepherded daddy so well. The interpretation of this experience is, the Lord has actually answered all my prayers for my siblings and family. They have grown in the Lord much more than before and are bearing family responsibilities practically. I can truly trust them.

The other instance is on a printer purchase for my family's need. Since the pandemic struck India, all my children's classes are online and they need to take a lot of print out for their class works. We have been using the office printer and shared in buying the printer toner. In order to save cost, I was trying to use two old printers. Every time I tried, something went wrong and finally, I gave both the old printers up.  Then, the Lord also provided the needed money to buy a new printer. One day I went to buy a printer but could not get what I wanted. Therefore I resorted back to repairing an old one from the office. It worked for a day, and a problem occurred again. Then I realized that I should not have resorted back to an old printer when the Lord gave me sufficient money to buy a new one.  Even if the printer could be repaired, the Lord wanted me to buy a new one. Besides, the repaired new one can be gifted to a needy brother's family who could not afford a new one. Therefore, I and my wife checked some printers online and bought one. This experience taught me that when the Lord says something I better listen absolutely and not negotiate nor bargain with Him. He knows best, and He does not need my good opinion or suggestions. I only need to obey Him, He knows best.

These three instances are some life experiences whose interpretations are life lessons learned, for my gaining of Christ, and pursuit of Christ. Praise the Lord for this new name! This new name has to be gained now to become so in the New Jerusalem! What has been experienced now will be consummated in the New Jerusalem!

Truth Lesson: Out Resurrection

The past few days I have been pursuing the Life-study of Philippians on the matter of "out-resurrection." This word is kind of awkward and I will not be surprised if many Christians understand this word at all. The literal translation in the Recovery Version is below with the note on "out-resurrection":

If perhaps I may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:11

I.e., the outstanding resurrection, the extra-resurrection, which will be a prize to the overcoming saints. All believers who are dead in Christ will participate in the resurrection from the dead at the Lord’s coming back (1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52). But the overcoming saints will enjoy an extra, outstanding portion of that resurrection. See note 35 2 in Heb. 11. 

To arrive at the out-resurrection indicates that our entire being has been gradually and continually resurrected. God first resurrected our deadened spirit (Eph. 2:5-6); then from our spirit He proceeds to resurrect our soul (Rom. 8:6) and our mortal body (Rom. 8:11), until our entire being — spirit, soul, and body — is fully resurrected out of our old being by and with His life. This is a process in life through which we must pass and a race that we must run until we arrive at the out-resurrection as the prize. Hence, the out-resurrection should be the goal and destination of our Christian life. We can reach this goal only by being conformed to the death of Christ, by living a crucified life. In the death of Christ we are processed in resurrection from the old creation to the new.

The Lord impressed me so much as I was considering this "out-resurrection." This is not the resurrection that Lazarus experienced in John 11: 43-44 though he indeed was resurrected from the dead. His resurrection was not a resurrection out from the old creation into the new creation by receiving the divine and eternal life of God. The resurrection here is the resurrection out from the old creation into the new creation. In general, this out-resurrection is Christ Himself living in and through us in practicality. This is the practical living our of Philippians 1:21

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

But how can one attain this? It is practically possible only through knowing the power of Christ's resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering, and also by being conformed to His death.

To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Philippians 3:10

Now, I gradually begin to understand the truth of the power of Christ's resurrection and conforming to His death, and how vital an experience this is. 

Further, this is not to be achieved only in the coming kingdom age, because this is the result of the living out of Christ practically today. It is possible to be in the out-resurrection today too.  

Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward. Philippians 3:13, 14 

Apostle Paul himself was pursuing this goal, that is to attain the out-resurrection in his lifetime as his goal and also to attain it in the next age of the kingdom as his prize. Taking Paul as my pattern, I also pursue the goal of gaining and living Christ as my experience of the out-resurrection in this age, even now, today, and all the days of my life. And also to attain to the out-resurrection in the coming age as my prize. The way to attain the goal and the price is also made clear:

To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Philippians 3:10

Praise the Lord for such a marvelous truth unveiled to me these days! This will be my life goal and prize henceforth. May the Lord grace me to attain the goal and the prize, the out-resurrection!