Message Eight

The Enjoyment and Propagation
of the Resurrected Christ as the Jubilee in Acts

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:21; 7:58-60;
9:14, 21; 22:16, 20; 26:18-19

1. To enjoy and propagate the resurrected Christ as the jubilee is to enjoy and propagate Him as our possession, our God-given portion, and as the One who is able to set us free from the slavery of sin for us to be returned to the church as our divine family—Lev. 25:8-17, 28, 39-41; Luke 4:18-22; Col. 1:12-13; John 8:32, 36; Acts 26:18-19; cf. Psa. 68:5-6.
2. In Peter’s first proclamation of the gospel, he quoted from the prophet Joel and declared that we can enjoy Christ as the jubilee by the jubilant practice of calling on the name of the Lord—Acts 2:16-18, 21; Joel 2:28-29, 32a:
   1. The book of Joel reveals the intrinsic divine history within the outward human history; our divine history in the midst of human history is a history of calling on the name of the Lord to enjoy the riches of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ as the fullness of Christ—1:1-4; Rom. 10:12-13; Eph. 3:8, 19; 1:22-23.
   2. Joel’s prophecy and its fulfillment concerning God’s New Testament jubilee have two aspects: on God’s side, He poured out His Spirit in the ascension of the resurrected Christ; on our side, we call on the name of the ascended Lord, who has accomplished all, attained unto all, and obtained all:
      1. Calling on the name of the Lord is vitally necessary in order for us to participate in and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ with all that He has accomplished, attained, and obtained for our full salvation—1 Cor. 1:2; Rom. 10:12-13; 5:10.
      2. We can enjoy seasons of refreshing (cooling, reviving, and relieving) from the presence of the Lord by calling on the name of the Lord—Acts 3:20; 2:21.
      3. Jesus is the Lord’s name, and the Spirit is His person; when we call, “Lord Jesus,” we receive the Spirit—1 Cor. 12:3b, 13.
      4. By calling on the name of the Lord, we enjoy the Spirit as the application of God’s salvation to us; when we exercise our spirit to call on Him, we breathe Him in and drink Him to enjoy His riches; this is the real worship to God—Acts 2:21; Rom. 10:12-13; Lam. 3:55-56; Isa. 12:3-4; John 4:14, 24.
      5. By practicing to call on the name of the Lord, we can continually receive the riches of the Spirit, and God fulfills His promise to restore to us “the years that the...locust has eaten”—Joel 2:25; Gal. 3:2, 5, 14.
   3. The book of Acts reveals that calling on the Lord’s name was a sign of the Lord’s followers (1 Cor. 1:2); this calling must have been audible; thus, it became a sign:
      1. The Greek word for call on is composed of on and call (by name); thus, it is to call out audibly, even loudly, as Stephen did—Acts 7:59-60.
      2. When Stephen suffered persecution, he practiced this, and his practice surely impressed Saul, one of his persecutors; later, the unbelieving Saul persecuted the callers by taking their calling as a sign—vv. 58-60; 9:14, 21; 22:20.
      3. Immediately after Saul was caught by the Lord, Ananias, who brought Saul into the fellowship of the Body of Christ, charged him to be baptized, calling on the name of the Lord, to show others that he too had become such a caller—v. 16.
      4. Paul was one who practiced this, and he charged his young co-worker Timothy to do this that Timothy might enjoy the Lord as he did—2 Tim. 2:22.
3. The book of Acts shows us the enjoyment and propagation of the resurrected Christ as the jubilee of grace in the disciples’ spreading of the gospel and in their practice of the church life:
   1. “You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth”—1:8b.
   2. “Day by day,...breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart, praising God...And the Lord added together day by day those who were being saved”—2:46-47.
   3. “With great power the apostles gave testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all”—4:33.
   4. “So they went from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be dishonored on behalf of the Name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and announcing the gospel of Jesus as the Christ”—5:41-42.
   5. “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God...And they stoned Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! And kneeling down, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them”—7:56, 59-60a.
   6. “Those therefore who were scattered went throughout the land announcing the word as the gospel...And there was much joy in that city”—8:4, 8.
   7. “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away; and the eunuch did not see him anymore, for he went on his way rejoicing”—v. 39.
   8. “So then the church throughout the whole of Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it was multiplied”—9:31.
   9. “Barnabas...when he arrived and saw the grace of God, rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain with the Lord with purpose of heart”—11:22b-23.
   10. “The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit”—13:52.
   11. “They therefore, having been sent forward by the church, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, telling in detail about the turning of the Gentiles; and they brought great joy to all the brothers”—15:3.
   12. “About midnight Paul and Silas, while praying, sang hymns of praise to God; and the prisoners were listening to them”—16:25.
   13. “They said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household...And he brought them up into his house and set a table before them; and he exulted because he had believed in God with all his household”—vv. 31, 34.
   14. “These men who have upset the world have come here also”—17:6b.
   15. “Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who have been sanctified”—20:32.
   16. “To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me”—26:18:
       1. Acts 26:18 unveils the all-inclusive contents of our divine commission according to the heavenly vision of the jubilee; we need to pray over these contents, asking the Lord to make them our experience and reality so that we can bring others into this experience and reality.
       2. When we pray in this way, the Lord Jesus will appear to us, His appearing will give us a vision, and we will enjoy and propagate the resurrected Christ as the jubilee unto the uttermost part of the earth—vv. 16-19; 1 Tim. 1:4, 11; Acts 1:8.