The Manifestation of the Resurrected Christ and the Greatest Calling — Newman Sze

And time flies by fast. And now is the last meeting here. And we know that time will go away. But our Lord will never. And the meetings may end. But then the working of the Holy Spirit never ends. And the word we finish speaking is done.

Pursuing the Word of God and the Eternal Work of the Lord

And then we have a Bible in our hand. And the word of God is always here. And when we go back we shall pay attention to the word of God carefully. And we must start pursuing our Lord. And we must continue the working of the Holy Spirit.

And we know that whatever the Lord does is eternal. And the second evening we have read about 41 verses of the Bible. And today we are to speak from John chapter 20 and 21. And then I discovered there are 50 some verses there.

We are not going to spend time reading them now. There are a lot of verses to read. And these two chapters though, and let me summarize it and give you a message from it. And actually it should be our habit that we pre-read these passages before we come.

And since we already given everyone a handbook. But then it is still important to read some verses from the passage. And what about today? We are not reading it. And because I want to spend time to highlight it for you.

Mary and Peter at the End of John's Gospel

First of all, and these two chapters is emphasizing two characters. And one is Mary. And the other is Peter. And that is what John 20 and 21 wants to tell us. And these two characters are very important.

And therefore this Gospel book ends with these two characters. And one is Mary. And the other is Peter. And this whole Gospel book ends with these two. And then the book of Acts will begin. And that are two chapters, John 20 and 21.

The Secret and Public Ascensions of Christ

And secondly, and it recorded the ascension of our Lord. And in the Bible, the Lord has ascended twice. And the one recording is from John chapter 20. And the other is recorded for us in Acts chapter 1.

And the description of it is different. And let us talk about John 20's ascension. And let us call it a secret ascension. And because that ascension could only be seen by Mary. And after the Lord is risen from the dead and he immediately he wanted to go ascend it.

And the Acts chapter 1's ascension And it is an ascension before the whole entire church. And everyone beheld him. And they all saw that Jesus was ascended on high. And until the eyes of many could no longer see him.

And then we call this ascension as the ascension publicly. And do we now understand? It is a very important message. And because there is a secret ascension. And there is a public ascension. And the secret one could only be seen by Mary.

And the public ascension is seen by the whole church. And in these two chapters, it speaks four times about revealing. The first revealing. And the first appearing is to Mary. And the second time is in the meeting that the Lord reveals himself to the whole church.

And the first appearing was also in the meeting. But then it was specially done for Thomas. And the fourth appearing was by the Tiberias Sea towards Peter. And that is a very important appearing. And this is the summation of the whole message.

And now I will explain it further. And I would like to highlight it for you so that it is easier for you to grasp. I may want to test you. Two characters are talking about the first Mary and Peter. And two ascensions.

One is a secret one. And then John's 20. And the other is public. Ascension Acts Chapter 1. And four appearings. The first time to Mary. And the second time is in the meeting to the church. And the third appearing and it is the appearing for Thomas.

And the fourth appearing and that was for Peter at the Tiberias. And these are the four important appearings of Christ. And I often say that the whole Bible is for the entire Christian. It is for all the things of the entire church.

And all that is recorded in the Bible is for each of us. And it is related closely to everyone of us. And then as we look back and then we want to pay attention to these two characters. One Mary. One Peter.

The Threefold Calling to Love, Shepherd, and Follow

And why the Bible mention these two? And when Mary was mentioned and we know that it is a great thing. And because it commands the New Testament fellowship and revelation. And when Peter was mentioned and it began in the greatest calling in the New Testament era.

And what kind of calling was that? And it is that the calling of love me. And the calling of shepherding. And the calling of following me. And that is the great calling of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord is calling all of us to say love me.

And second one is that everyone of us shall hear the Lord calling us to shepherd my sheep. And the third calling follow me. And this is what John is about. The Gospel of John. And I am giving you an outline so you can grasp the message.

Christ's Resurrection, Ascension, and the New Creation

And now we all want to explain. And when we talk about Mary's sight of the Lord's ascension. It is a secret one to Mary. And we know that the Lord will ascend after he was risen from the dead. And it was important for the Lord to do such things.

And it is more important for the Heavenly Father. And why so? And because after the Lord is risen from the dead. And he needs to go up immediately. And so that he could reveal the finished work of Christ before the Father.

And the work is done but not emphasizing on what the Lord did. But it is all the work is finished on this person Jesus Christ. And the Word became flesh. And the Lord came to be like man. But now he is risen.

And in his resurrection he is completely different. And this resurrected life. This resurrected great power. Is beyond all the man have ever seen. But now the Lord is to ascend. And so that the all human race now can be like Jesus.

The Word became flesh. And we know that God to become like man. And the resurrection and ascension. And it is the base of all the Christians for 2000 years to be like Jesus. And now he is enthroned. And so we know that the Lord must ascend immediately.

And because the Father is longing to see this glorious man to appear before him. And Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. And he has passed through the greatest gap. And suddenly he appeared before the Father God.

And the Father saw. This resurrected Jesus Christ. And when the Father behold this ascended Christ Jesus. He is completely satisfied. And now God has obtained a man. It is not the man that appeared in Genesis.

It is the new creation. A glorious man of God. And the Father's heart was completely enjoyed. And the second thing. And Jesus has to ascend immediately after resurrection. And the Father is to taste of this freshness of resurrection.

And that is the main message in the book of Leviticus. And the offerings of the lamb and the bull in Leviticus. And that they have to be offered up. And we know that the first offering mentioned is to be given to God.

And the first fruit is to be given to God. And God has to enjoy it first. God has the right to taste of this fruit. And then man could enjoy them later. But then Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. And he had to go up to the Father in vexation.

And because the Father has to be the first one to taste of the freshness of resurrection. Oh, it is a great understanding of this. And the third thing to understand. That Jesus Christ has to ascend immediately.

And because it begins the new relationship between God and the new creation. And no longer humanity stays at the relationship in the Old Testament. But now we can be found a new creation in Christ. And we are to be found in Jesus Christ.

And we have the new life in Jesus. And we become the children of God. And we become the race in Jesus Christ. And so therefore Jesus has to ascend immediately. And he represents all of us. And he is the first fruit given to the Father.

And he is the first new creation. And therefore Jesus spoke to Mary. I have to ascend on high. To see my Father. And that is your Father. My God. That is your God. And this is a great saying indeed. Because it has begun the New Testament era.

God as Father and the Believer's Adoption

And the first time we hear the meaning of what it is to call God the Father. And only the Son of God can call God his Father. But this is a great Gospel to all of us now. And it is a Gospel to each of the children of God.

I will see my Father. And he is your Father. And have we ever felt that from within that God is my Father? And therefore we know that we have a habit in prayer. And my habit is to call God my Lord. So everyone who has relationship with me spiritually and all will call God as Lord.

But actually when I was young when I went to different places. And so many people say our Heavenly Father. It is a good prayer. So it is good sometimes to call God the Father. It is so sweet. And because actually Jesus Christ also called God the Lord.

So when we call on the Lord we are including the Father. Our Heavenly Father. And that is how Jesus Christ prayed. And who can pray like that? And today if we think how we pray to the God in Heaven. And we know we call him Heavenly Father and this is a great privilege.

And other than Jesus Christ who is qualified to say this? But then when we call Father in Heaven then we are quite peaceful. And we witness within ourselves that it is quite Amen. But then if you think about it you know it is a great privilege.

And can you call anyone Father? And I won't casually use this term. I only have one Father. I cannot call anybody else casually. And I won't casually recognize someone to call me Father. And you know whoever calls me Father then I know it troubles me.

Well then I have to be responsible for you. And all that I have now belongs to you. And if you are my son then you can get everything that I have. And how brave are you to call God your Father? Who has given you this right?

And now we know that John 20 the Lord Jesus has given us this right. And the Lord Jesus said I will ascend on high. Everybody will say to see my Father. And here is your Father. Hallelujah. Praise God.

And now we know that we can also call God our Father. And we receive the life from God. And therefore we can be called the children of God. Now we know what is the meaning of being a child of God. And what is to be a child of God?

And we know it is not an easy term to obtain. But why we call each other brothers and sisters? It is not to say that we just like each other therefore we call it that. We call a brother. Because we know we are rooted in one life.

We have the same Father. And the same Savior. And we know that we are so intimately related. And therefore one can love the brother and to sacrifice himself for him. And can you pick anyone and just sacrifice your life for?

It is not easy to do such thing. And to sacrifice your life in your bodily flesh is not easy. But then in the history of the church for two thousand years so many people found themselves sacrificing themselves for others, brothers and sisters.

And that is the greatness in the church of Christ. Because we are all coming from the same Father. One Savior. One Holy Spirit. And then we realize the love of God and Jesus Christ is dwelling within us.

And so that we may love the Lord. To what extent? And we know that this is the Lord's love. And it is the love of sacrificing oneself. And the Lord sacrificed himself for us. And so that we know that in this love one can sacrifice his own to others.

And that is all happening in the history of this church. And so I would advise all the young ones to read the church history. If you need help and I will introduce some good church history book to you.

And yes we must pick up these books to start reading them. And to read the history of this church. And there are many great Christians in it. And to read their biographies. And to read their products in writing.

And because we want to inherit all the richness that is passing on to us. And we know that church does not begin with us. And for these hundreds of years we know that the church has arrived. And so many people outspending Christians have come out of the church.

And we must read their books. And to read the biography. And to read their outstanding writing. And today we have sang the hymn to live out thyself from me. And the author of the song was a great saint.

Great hymn for all of us. And her famous writing was a royal king. And with her famous writing as well as her biography. And we know that many hymns can be found of her. And with hymn again 314 and live out thyself from me.

Mary Magdalene and the Revelation of Grace

Our sister is like because that is representing her. Brothers and sisters. This Mary. And she has brought down to us a great revelation. And to begin a new testament there. And that God is our father.

And he is also our God. And he is my God. He is also your God. And God remains to be Jesus Christ God. And all his days Jesus Christ has submitted himself to the Father. And God has complete authority over him.

He did and he said according to the Father's will. And he said the son cannot say anything according to himself. And the son has heard what the Father said and he will say just as. It's a great thing.

One time I heard a brother read this scripture. He somehow has read it losing the essence of it. And I know that the Lord also was weak. And the Lord say I cannot say anything by myself. And I say you are wrong brother.

And the Lord never has such feeling that I cannot do anything by my will. And the greatness of the Son of God made him understand. And he said the Son cannot do anything according to himself. And it could be from Hymn 314.

And that the sister saying that only to be moved by God. And so if you know the meaning and know the sister. Then the sister is right before you. And only to be moved by the Lord. And it is so outstanding a statement.

And sometimes when I sing to this part and I will be afraid of myself. Yes there are times that I was moved by the Lord. But I cannot be like her and say that only to be moved by the Lord. And that is an excellent statement.

And how she must have lived before the Lord. And all her daily life is to be moved by Jesus only. Now you must know that why we want everyone to read this book. And we have to know this great thing. Dear brothers and sisters.

And to see my Father. And He is your Father. See my God. And He is your God. Because of this invention. And it begins a new relationship between God and the new creation. And then immediately He commanded her to tell my brother.

And now we know that the Lord is calling us His brethren. And it is also an excellent statement. And we were not qualified to be His disciples. But suddenly the Lord is calling us His brethren. And today we use this term loosely.

But to be a brother is such an honor. And because only the children of God can call each other brethren. And because the Lord has called us the brethren so we can call each other brethren. But it is not a casual term to use.

And Jesus Christ has called us His brethren. And I did not see the facial expression of the disciples when they heard this word. But if I were there. And if all of a sudden I heard the Lord call me His brethren.

And I said, Oh Lord, I am not worthy. Oh please do not call me your brethren. And I would bow down on the ground to call you the Lord. And how come you are calling me your brethren? And today we feel that the grace is so great we just look at it lightly.

Who are we? And Jesus Christ is the glorious one. And from that moment He commanded to tell my brethren. And it was connected to the statement before. And to see my Father, that is your Father. And therefore go tell my brethren.

That we are all children of God. And we can all become like Jesus to call God our Father. The first time the Lord called us His brethren. And the grace we have received is so tremendous. It is greater than our minds can comprehend.

And Jesus Christ has ascended on high. And He has opened a new era. And that Mary was the first one to see. And so therefore we know it is such a wonderful thing to marry. And you know this person Mary.

And there are a few Marys in the Bible. And this is Mary Magdalene. And the Lord loves her so much. And she loves the Lord too. But then her natural state was not too good. And Mary has become a good name because the Lord loves Mary.

And my second daughter's name is Mary. And so many people thought that her name is M-A-R-Y. But I did not call her Mary. But it is a different Mary. It is M-A-R-Y. Don't confuse it. And it is like Merry Christmas.

And I did not want to put Mary in my daughter's name. Because M-A-R-Y is a great name. And if the Lord's grace is upon her, she may be Mary. And nothing can come out from me like Mary. But this is the Mary Magdalene.

The original meaning of this Mary is rebellion. We know that the natural state of Mary is a fallen Adam. And then through her we see how great is the grace of God. And if she was a pure and a good person, then grace is nothing.

But then when Mary Magdalene was mentioned, we know one time seven evil spirits dwelled in her. And you know, it is enough to have one. Seven evil spirits. Grace of the Lord. All these seven demons. And she came to herself.

And suddenly she sees Jesus. And she is saved. And she is born again. And should she love Jesus? And if we know our natural condition, how great a sinner am I? How pitiful am I? And I am a hopeless one.

But Jesus today has saved me. And therefore Paul had boast one time that what man of man I have become. And because it is by the grace of God, Mary loved Jesus. And that is her reason. Because the Lord has worked on her.

Mary Magdalene's Love at the Empty Tomb

She loved Jesus. Jesus was about to die and then many people went. Jesus was buried already and then in the beginning three sisters went to the tomb. And the two Mary and Jonah went to see the tomb. And then Peter John also went.

And they go by goose. But then everyone just look at the tomb and then they left and went home. And only this Mary Magdalene. And she did not return home. And she just stood by the tomb and she wept. Where is my Lord?

And there is nothing that can keep me on earth. And the Lord is no longer here. And her life is without significance. And many people come to look at the empty tomb and have left. But she did not know where to return.

And there is nothing that can keep her on earth. And then she would just cry in this empty tomb. And then the angel came. And because she did not pay attention to Jesus. And in her heart is only Jesus.

And the love is so great. And the angel asked, what are you looking for? And if you have moved my Lord away then tell me where you have placed him. And she was not seeing the angels. And one time a brother was filled by the Holy Spirit.

And he was filled by the Holy Spirit often. But then he does not know the Lord well. And he did not come and tell me about the miracles he had. And he said, one time the Holy Spirit came marvelously. And he said, Brother Z, I have an outstanding experience.

I said, tell me. I saw angels. In the might of the Holy Spirit I saw angels. Some looked like this, some looked like that. Suddenly he paid attention to my face. He asked, isn't that experience wonderful enough?

And I said, it is wonderful for you. And I said, you have an experience with Jesus. But you saw angels. And don't you know angels are the ministering spirits for the faith? And who is to preach about angels in the Bible?

And everyone is preaching Jesus. Who is to preach angels? And I said, it is wonderful for you. And he thought it was a good experience. He was silent. I would encourage him to tell me more about Jesus.

What for to talk about angels? And Mary fits the angels. And she did not care about angels at all. And Jesus Christ appeared. And the second time she was tempted. And when the resurrected Christ appeared, and no one in the flesh could recognize Him.

Because that is in the period of 40 days. And the Lord is coming in the flesh. And today, we know that the bodily flesh is no longer. And all the appearing of the Lord Jesus is in the Holy Spirit. And the Lord will appear to us frequently.

And the Lord will also appear Himself through the people in our encounterings, and whatever happens. But if our eyes are blurry, then we could not recognize Him. And this Mary, Madeline, and she loved the Lord so much.

And when the resurrected Christ appeared, and she still did not recognize Him. And she thought the Lord Jesus was a gardener. And she said, Mister, if you know where my Lord is, I want to go and to take Him.

And she really had her whole being absorbed in Jesus Christ. And then our Lord said, in this holy encounterings with Jesus, and just like He was dealing with the two disciples, two Emmaus, and the Lord had given them the bread.

And when they are encountering with the Lord in such a holiest moment, and then encountering the Lord Jesus, their eyes open, their ears open. And the Lord says, Mary. And all of a sudden, Mary's eyes were brightened.

And she could see Jesus. Oh, it is the Lord. It is the Lord. How great is Mary. And you know that the Lord Jesus has to ascend immediately, but because of Mary, the Lord carried her over. And now the Lord has to appear to Mary first, and has to comfort this person who kept on crying there.

And to cause Mary to see the revelation in the eyes. And so that Mary could see the revelation in the New Testament era. And she was the first one who saw, and then she would go on to testify before the topology.

But the Lord told her, then, do not touch me. And then I'll die. And the Father has to be the first one to enjoy the freshness of His resurrection. But then, because of Mary's tears, and Mary is so excellent, and Peter and John could not compare in such moments.

And the first revelation in the New Testament is revealed by this Mary. Then go tell my brothers, that I will ascend high to see my Father. And He is your Father. He is my God. And He is your God. And the New Testament time has now arrived.

The Church as Christ's Victorious Body

And it began a new relationship between the Lord and all of us in the New Testament. And the Lord's ascension has caused man and God to be united. Now we are in the church. And you ask, is there not a place without church?

You say, I can't find the church. And some may say, oh, I cannot find church in such a place. And one time I was in a strange place, I felt so lonely, I could not find a brother. And I say, if you must find a brother in the flesh, then perhaps you will be disappointed sometimes.

But then if you see that the church is the body of Christ, who tells you that you are alone? And if you have seen the church, there are so many brothers and sisters. And today when we look at us, not too many.

But then our eyes must see that the brothers and sisters are without count and number. And the church is so great. And the title brother is a great thing. And we know that the great people in the Old Testament, Daniel and David, in the New Testament we are led by so many great brothers ahead of us.

And we saw how boldly they have walked the walk. And from the book of Acts, there is no power that can stop them. And the church has progressed and without anything can stop them. For two thousand years until today, in so many places the church is still under persecution.

But then nothing can withstand the church's progress. And the church has never feared of anything. There is no fear for his church. And Peter has begun this great warfare. And the Roman Empire has persecuted the church for one hundred years.

Ten kings of the Roman Empire have persecuted the church. But then at the end it stopped. And all those kings who persecuted the church died. But then the church remained. And who is the victorious? The church is always victorious.

Why the church can be victorious? Because the church is the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is his body. If you want to defeat the church, you must go through the Lord first. If you cannot defeat Jesus Christ, then you can never defeat the church.

And we have followed the Lord until today. And so sometimes when I am by myself, and I feel I may be suffering a little, and I am being tested by myself, and when I come to and I say, come to me, friends, there are actually many brothers ahead of me.

How come I would feel that I am alone? And I know so many people have endured the harder hardships. What am I? And I only go through this little bit of it. But I thank the Lord. And then I am encouraged.

And the footsteps of the church is so brave. And the Roman empires could not defeat his church. And today there is nothing, no government on earth can defeat his church. And when I went to visit China, someone told me that, do you know how powerful is the government in this land?

And they kept saying, Brother Z, you don't know, you don't know. And perhaps I don't know many facts like you. But then I know that the persecution of the government of the world, of the church, for a thousand years.

And it is not only this government is the worst. And I read so many books about the Roman empires. It was so dreadful. And I said the worst is that you are exactly like Roman empires. But then you can never surpass the cruelty of it.

And then many people have fallen. And today we know that one day, one day this government will fall also and then nothing can stand before the church. And then one official of the government asked me, did you come from United States?

I said yes I did. I said what for? And I said not doing anything. I am a Christian. And I am not United States. I actually came from the heavenly kingdom. And what is this United States? What about our government?

He started telling me about his government. I said okay go ahead. Yes, you are an official, quite outstanding. But I know in my heart that one day you will fall. Oh, what a pity man that he cannot see.

We go there and then maybe some of the people will be saved. And all the persecutors of his church will fall sooner or later. It is same for today. And he said what attitude do you hold right now towards our government?

And I thought about it. I said I will listen to you and I will obey except one thing. And if you say I cannot talk about Jesus then I will not listen to you. And I said other than the Lord my God then I will listen to you.

And I will not put up a fight. And we will not start a revolution. And we only know to obey. And whatever you want to give me I will accept. If you want to beat me up go ahead. If you want to catch me go ahead.

I won't resist. But one thing I won't obey is that to stop preaching Jesus. And that is the example of Peter. And to obey God and not man. And you be the judge. And if you want to beat me up go ahead.

And Peter was beaten up too. Nothing come of it. The Catholic Church has put Peter to be the Pope. And they thought the Pope is great. But then Peter was great. But then Peter also got beaten up. And one time I was in London and having sharing in an office walk.

And he said you came to London have you gone to see Romans? The Romans? And I said yeah I went to see the Romans. And did you go to Vatican? I said yes I did. I went there too. And then chapter 21 talks about Peter.

And the Lord says that someone will shackle you and take you to the place you are not willing to go. And he was humorous saying do you know what is that place that Peter was not willing to go? And that is the Catholic Church has placed him into the position of the Pope.

And if Peter realized later on the Catholic Church will put him to be the Pope Peter will shout protest because he only wants to follow Jesus of Nazareth. Peter was a great brother. And now we want to talk about Peter.

Before that Mary. And Mary would bring in the revelation of the New Testament. And then there are the four appearance. And the appearance before Mary. And so therefore Mary was outstanding. The second appearing and the Lord had appeared in the meeting before the church.

And then suddenly the Lord entered. And all of a sudden at the time they were all fearful. But then the Lord appeared. The first thing the Lord said and to receive the Holy Spirit. And we are all so thankful.

And last night I talked about the two ministries of the Holy Spirit was commissioned to two great apostles. And Luke specialized in talking about the external pouring down of the Holy Spirit. And Apostle John specialized in talking about the indwelling Holy Spirit.

And it's never mixed up. That day the Lord appeared and He said receive the Holy Spirit. And that is the inner abiding Spirit. While Him says that Oh Lord breathe your Holy Spirit in me. Teach me how to breathe You.

From this I show the inner abiding Holy Spirit and the triune God is now dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit. And John has opened up a new great era of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And all the spiritual experiences is coming from this and it is deeper than the ocean.

And all the days of our lives is to pursue this indwelling Spirit. And we thank the Lord that you have received the pouring down of the Holy Spirit on you last night. The purpose of it all is to empower you so that you may have fine strength in pursuing the inner Holy Spirit.

And you must discover the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you. And then you will follow the inner abiding Spirit daily. Oh Lord breathe your Holy Spirit in me. And teach me how to breathe You in. And the last stanza says that all my breath is depending on You.

And please reveal Your truth through me. And the Lord is to manifest Himself through each of us so that we may become like Jesus. How? And not by the pouring down of the Holy Spirit but by the inner abiding Spirit and to follow the Holy Spirit that dwells in us.

The Holy Spirit is all my experience. The Holy Spirit is my daily life. And so that each step I take I may become like Jesus. And now I can accumulate the experience to become like Jesus and to have fellowship within Him and to breathe in, breathe out.

Do we have the experience like this in the Holy Spirit? And I believe many of you have. Many of us do know the experience of the Holy Spirit. This inner abiding Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit, the Lord is dwelling in me through the Holy Spirit.

And on that day when Jesus walked in the flesh on earth now is the same dwelling within me and He is revealing His great love to me and He is revealing His light in me and to show forth His power in me and His glory in me and to calm all the tempests and to give me food in me and to do all things in me.

The Holy Vocation of Being Sent by Christ

And why else would I be like Jesus in such a way? And I was just like Brother Liu I never go to seminary. And I did not have any special training. And I just came out of college. And how come I would serve the Lord Jesus like this?

Why? And when I was young and meeting many of my college friends and they would mock me. And one time we went to the park to preach the gospel. And then because we forgot something so I went back to the church to bring something.

And at that time we didn't have any cars to transport the things we need to carry. And I was carrying something and I met my college friend from Shanghai. He said, Hey, why are you here? And we have a student union.

How come we never see you? How come you never show up? I don't know what to say. And at that time I was young I thought if I already become a minister and I can't And you know when he asked I was weak.

I said, Oh, I did not go to the student union. And I did not go because I believe in Jesus. And then it startled them. Believe in Jesus? Then what does it have to do with coming to join us? I don't know how to explain to them.