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General Service in Malang, August 05, 2012 (Sunday Morning)

Matthew 27 refers to seven sprinklings of blood upon the Ark of Covenant.
Now it means the suffering experienced by Jesus up to His death on the cross to save, purify, and perfect us.

In Matthew 27, there are seven passages that refer to seven sprinklings of blood experienced by Jesus up to His death on the cross as follows:
  1. Matthew 27:1-10, Jesus handed over to Pontius Pilate and Judas' death.
  2. Matthew 27:11-26, Jesus faces Pilate.
  3. Matthew 27:27-32, the soldiers mock Jesus.
  4. Matthew 27:33-50, Jesus' crucifixion.
  5. Matthew 27:51-56, miracles happen at the time of Jesus' death.
  6. Matthew 27:57-61, Jesus buried in Joseph's tomb.
  7. Matthew 27:62-66, Pilate sets a guard.
We learn about the fourth passage, that is Jesus' crucifixion [Matthew 27:32-50].
Matthew 27:32 is about the practice of the cross.
Matthew 27:33 is about the place of the crucifixion at Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull. He as the Head is responsible for our life as the congregation.
Matthew 27:34-44 is about the meaning of the cross.

There are three meanings of the cross as follows:
  1. Flesh must be forced to die from sins. It means disrobing old cloth and using the new one from Jesus.
    Matthew 27:34-37
    27:34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.
    27:35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots."
    27:36 Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.
    27:    37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

    How do we do that? The easiest way is through water baptism.

    1 Peter 2:1-2
    2:1 Therefore, laying aside (1) all malice, (2) all deceit, (3) hypocrisy, (4) envy, and (5) all evil speaking,
    2:    2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

    The process of water baptism is as follows:

    1. Laying aside all sins = dying from sins = repentance.
      Especially, it is started from five sins; those are all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking. We must lay aside those sins up to the peak of sins, that is eating-drinking sin (smoking, getting drunk, consuming drugs) and marrying and being given in marriage sin (marrying and divorcing, mixed marriage, wrong marriage).

      Human being needs to eat, drink, and marry, but the terms 'eating-drinking' and 'marrying and being given in marriage' exceed the human's needs. They only bring men to the building of Babylon.

    2. Being buried with Jesus in water baptism, so we rise in new life.
      1 Peter 2:2
      2:2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

      After being baptized, we are as newborn babes. The practices are as follows:

      • Living in righteousness, not doing sins anymore.
      • Always longing for pure and spiritual milk. It means always being passionate and enjoying the true and pure shepherding Word. It means we become shepherded life. Flesh absolutely must be forced to be shepherded.

        Shepherding pen is the place to firm righteousness. Let us not be careless and walk around.
        Matthew 27:36
        27:36 Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.

        Within shepherding, flesh is restricted so it does not do sins although there are Satan and false teaching disturbing.

      Isaiah 32:17
      32:17 The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.

      The results are peace, quietness, and satisfaction. It means Jesus appears as the King of Peace in our heart.
      But when the flesh is not crucified, our own heart becomes the king, so the flesh always looks for satisfaction and does sins up to the peak of sins. The consequence is that kind of life will be in labor and heavy burden.

  2. Flesh must be forced to be active in the building of the body of Christ.
    Matthew 27:38-40
    27:38 Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.
    27:39 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads
    27:    40 and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."

    The building of the body of Christ is started from within marriage.
    Husband must minister within marriage. The peak of husband's ministry is loving his wife as loving himself.
    Wife must minister within marriage. The peak of wife's ministry is submission to her husband.
    Children must minister within marriage. The peak is being obedient to the parents.
    It must be continued with the building of the body of Christ within shepherding and between shepherding.

    Ephesians 4:11-12
    4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
    4:    12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

    The requirements of entering the building of the body of Christ are as follows:

    1. Holiness.
      Hebrews 4:12-13
      4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
      4:      13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

      The sword of the Word is able to purify our heart and mind.

      Matthew 15:19
      15:19 For out of the heart proceed (1) evil thoughts, (2) murders, (3) adulteries, (4) fornications, (5) thefts, (6) false witness, (7) blasphemies.

      If these seven things control heart and mind, heart and sight will be dark.
      Woman usually has wrong spiritual sight. Man usually has wrong physical sight.

      It must be continued by purification of our deeds and words, until we do not stumble in words.
      James 3:2
      3:2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.

      If we are purified, there will be unity in hearts, and God will open all the ways.

    2. Ministry and the gift of Holy Spirit.
      The gift of Holy Spirit is miraculous ability from God to do the ministry. Ministry with the gift of Holy Spirit will touch the heart of the congregation. The gift of Holy Spirit is different for each of us, but we can collaborate each other if there is one command of the true teaching Word.

    3. Willingness to sacrifice everything, as Jesus sacrifices everything.
      Matthew 8:18-19
      8:18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.
      8:19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."

    If we are active in the building of the body of Christ, Jesus will appear as the Head, Heavenly Bridegroom in our life.
    Ephesian 5:29-30
    5:29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
    5:    30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.

    The result is God protects, covers, warms, and beatifies our life.

  3. Flesh must be forced to put hope on Jesus who is crucified.
    Matthew 27:41-44
    27:41 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said,
    27:    42 "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.
    27:43 He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
    27:44 Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

    We must put our hope to Jesus who is crucified, so we will be saved and perfected.

    There are three groups of people who reject Jesus who is crucified as follows:

    1. The robber, that is life who does not want to stop doing sins.
    2. The people who passed by, those are common people including common Christian lives who only want to talk about blessings but they reject sufferings.

    3. The chief priests and the scribes, those are lives who have position but they mock Jesus who is crucified, even blame the true teaching Word.

    2 Corinthians 4:16-17
    4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
    4:    17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,

    The practice of flesh being forced to believe and put hope on Jesus who is crucified is experiencing the sprinkling of blood so we experience renewal of life, which starts from being strong and of good courage. Jesus bears the cross although He receives mockeries.

    Jairus (the representation of husband or pastor) has problem about his daughter who lies at the point of death, even dies physically and spiritually. He falls at Jesus' feet, believes and fully surrenders to God, and sacrifices all his prestige and position.
    Mark 5:22-23
    5:22 And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet
    5:    23 and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."

    Being strong and of good courage also means believing with patience, being patient to wait for God's time and not turning to the other.

    Mark 5:28-29
    5:28 For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."
    5:29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.

    Revelation 19:13
    19:13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

    The woman who has bleeding only touches Jesus' clothes, that is touching the Bride Tidings.
    Bleeding denotes splitting up from within marriage, having no peace, tears, worsening problems, and decays in sin. Facing all these things, we only need to touch His clothes, and once God will recover everything.

    Mark 5:42-43
    5:42 Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement.
    5:    43 But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.

    Our life and future depend on whether we can eat the Shepherding Word or not.

    1 Peter 5:5-6
    5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble."
    5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

    The Shepherd's hands are able to exalt us on His time, until we are on the glorious clouds on His second coming.
God blesses us.