Scripture Reading: Matt. 3:12; 13:38; 5:13-16; 4:16-20

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 & DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 3　DAY 1　»

　　Matt. 3:11-12 I baptize you in water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is stronger than I…He Himself will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire, whose winnowing fan is in His hand. And He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing floor and will gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.

　　The New Testament uses the wheat of life to symbolize the believers [cf. Matt. 3:12]…Those symbolized by wheat have life within; they are the living children of God. The Lord Jesus will baptize them in the Holy Spirit (v. 11) and gather them into His barn in heaven by rapture…We need to be born of water and of the Spirit (John 3:5)…In this way we are regenerated to become children of God, the believers symbolized by the wheat of life, which will be gathered into the Lord’s barn. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1151-1152)

　　We need to see the obstacles that God’s life encounters in us.

　　The first problem that God’s life encounters in man is the problem of ignorance. After any person is saved and becomes a Christian, he still has his thoughts and concepts…All our human concepts are in darkness, and they prevent us from knowing life and Christ.

　　As soon as we are baptized, we typically think that we should be zealous and preach the gospel. However, when we pray and fellowship with God in the morning, the living Christ in us may touch us in a different way according to His constant operation and move in us. Then things truly begin to happen in us. For example, as He operates in us, we will see that some things we may have done in the past are inappropriate, such as…blaming our husbands and complaining about others. We will even have a sense that we should apologize. Therefore, we need to lose our face and go to those whom we have offended and say, “I am truly sorry about how I treated you in the past. I also offended God. Now I ask you to please forgive me.” This is what Christ is doing in us.

　　If we genuinely know the Lord, when we pray to Him in the morning, He will move in us and give us a sense of our need to apologize to our wife. After praying, we should humble ourselves and apologize for our past wrongdoings to our wife. After apologizing, we need to say to the Lord, “O Lord, thank You. I have obeyed Your moving in me. I have no choice; I do not want to have my own concept. You are my only choice and my only concept.” If we would all do this, the living Christ would have more ground and opportunity to speak to us and to give us even more feelings. The result of this continual operation would spread to our dealings with others, or it may touch our wrong actions toward others. At such moments we need to care only for Christ, not for our face or self-esteem. We need to go to people and apologize for our past wrongdoings. In this way Christ will surely have more ground in us.

　　The second problem that life encounters in us is hypocrisy. There was a sister in the church in Nanking who spoke slowly and walked softly; everything she did was soft and gentle. Consequently, all the responsible brothers in the church in Nanking thought that she was very spiritual. However, strictly speaking, this was a false spirituality. We need to see that being slow is not necessarily of life and being quick is not necessarily of life.

　　Life is God Himself, life is Christ, and life is the Holy Spirit. Anything that is not of God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit is not life. Hence, regardless of how much a person can meet—and even go beyond—the standard of morality, this is still not necessarily life.

　　The expression of life involves the rejection of our natural disposition and preference and simply allowing Christ to operate in us and break us. Then our actions through the inner operation of Christ will be of life. If we always do things according to our disposition and natural being, the outcome will always be hypocrisy. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” pp. 131-135, 137-138)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 107

«　WEEK 3　DAY 2　»

　　Col. 3:4 When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

　　1 Cor. 2:14-15 …A soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually. But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one.

　　The third problem that life encounters in us is rebellion. Christ operates and moves in us in order to make us clear about His will and requirements for us and about His leading and dealing with us. However, if we do not obey but go against the feeling within, not accepting His leading or paying the price, this unwillingness and opposition are rebellion. In this case we may have our freedom and choice, but we will not have the way of life.

　　Visiting gospel friends and fellowshipping with the brothers and sisters are very pleasant things to do. However, we may be very active and zealous in doing those things but still may imprison the living Christ within us by ignoring Him. Thus, we are actually disobeying the living Christ in us…Our unwillingness to do things according to His will is clearly rebellion. Many of us commit this sin every day. The sin that we commit the most frequently and most severely is not an outward and visible sin; rather, it is the sin of disobeying the sense of Christ in us. Christ is living in us, and He is constantly giving us an inward sense of life. We should obey Him, but we often disobey Him. We often do not do what He wants us to do, and we often do what He does not want us to do. We often rebel against Him. Rebellion continually creates obstacles for His life in us. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” pp. 138-139)

　　The fourth problem that life encounters in us is our natural capability. Our natural being, disposition, and self are all problems that prevent God’s life from coming out of us. However, the problem of our natural capability and ability is even more serious…Many brothers and sisters truly love the Lord, are zealous for the Lord, and are very godly. Nevertheless, their greatest problem is the strength and greatness of their capabilities and abilities. Consequently, Christ has no ground or way in them.

　　We all know that some people have a problem with sin, others have a problem with the world, and still others have a problem with their disposition. However, it is not easy for us to be aware of the problem of our natural capability. For example, a group of brothers and sisters, who are very strong in their natural capability and ability, may truly love and pursue the Lord. But when a person touches them, he only senses their capability and ability because they have never been broken in their capability and ability. When he contacts them, he can only say that they seek and pursue the Lord but that their natural capability has not been broken. This is because the Lord is unable to get through in them when He encounters their capability.

　　There are many brothers and sisters like this among us. They are capable and talented, but they do not consider these things as sin or filthiness. They even think that these are good and useful things to the church…They do not despise their natural capabilities; instead, they treasure them. If these capabilities remain unbroken in them, they will become a problem to Christ’s life.

　　May the Lord have mercy on us so that we would be enlightened to see how many obstacles there are in us and how much these obstacles restrict God’s life. Actually, the obstacles in us are not limited only to these things. Nevertheless, there is one solution to all these obstacles in us—we must pass through the cross and let the cross break us. If we want Christ’s life to be unhindered in us, we must experience the breaking of the cross and allow these obstacles to be dealt with and removed. This will allow Christ’s life to be lived out from us. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” pp. 139-140)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” chs. 3, 16

«　WEEK 3　DAY 3　»

　　Matt. 13:24 Another parable He set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field.

　　38 And the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom…

　　[David] was zealous to build a temple for God (2 Sam. 7:1-3)…His desire to care for God and love God was accepted by God, but his intention and determination to build a house were rejected by God, who immediately sent Nathan the prophet to David to ask, “Is it you who will build Me a house for Me to dwell in?” (v. 5). God rejected David’s good intention.

　　No matter related to our service to God should be determined by us. It is right for us to love God, but God does not want us to think about doing something for Him. Our heart to serve Him is acceptable, but our decision to do something for Him is not acceptable. God said, “Is it you…?”…It was not up to David to decide whether or not to build the temple…God replied to David, “Jehovah declares to you that Jehovah will make you a house” (v. 11), as if to say, “David, you do not know what you are saying when you speak of building Me a house. It is I who will build you a house.” (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” p. 282)

　　David was one who truly feared God. He was not like some Christians today who build a “church” whenever they please. Such people think that as long as they have money and a heart, they can do what they want when they want. In David, however, we see one who feared God. Although he had the opportunity, saw the need, and had the ability to build the temple for God, he stopped…If something is initiated by man, God will say, “Slow down.” When man’s initiation ceases, God initiates and gives a command.

　　When we read the Bible, we must see the light in [this] example. In the matter of service, no one can initiate anything for God. There is no limit to how much we should love God or turn our heart toward Him. What God demands of us is our love and our heart, but we cannot overstep the boundaries…God is the One who decides, and we must wait. When He gives a command, we can work. We should love God and wait for His command; we should seek His will and wait for His revelation. Just as the slaves in the Old Testament loved their masters and allowed their ears to be bored through with an awl to a doorpost, we must focus on waiting for our Master’s command (Exo. 21:6).

　　The confusion in Christianity is not caused by lukewarm ones but by zealous ones. Out of their zeal for God, they build one chapel after another; out of their love for God, they establish one school after another…It is right to love God, but in spite of a proper love for God, many Christians are walking on the wrong way. We should only love God; we should not initiate anything for God.

　　I truly admire David’s condition before God. If David did not fear God… he might have thought, “What are you talking about? I am in the palace; I have both money and authority. There is a need, and I want to cooperate by taking action. Is this not God’s will?”…Because David feared God, however, he did not react to Nathan; rather, he stopped. It is not a small thing to stop.

　　Sister M. E. Barber said, “Whoever cannot stop working for the sake of God cannot work for the sake of God.”…David knew that God needed a temple, but when God’s word came to him, he immediately stopped his work…The ability of David not to work for God shows his spirituality. If we were David, could we have stopped? Opportunities will come, but God’s word may also come, saying, “Do not do anything. Slow down. Change your plan. Only My decision counts.” Many who are zealous for God cannot hear such a word. This is the reason many workers of God cannot work for God. May God open our eyes. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” pp. 282-284)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 4, “The Overcomers,” chs. 2—3

«　WEEK 3　DAY 4　»

　　Matt. 5:13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has become tasteless, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything except to be cast out and trampled underfoot by men.

　　Luke 17:32 Remember Lot’s wife.

　　David’s stopping established a twofold testimony in the universe. First, all the work in the universe should come from God, not from man. Second, all that matters is what God does for man, not what man does for God. David wanted to build a temple for God, but God said that He would build a house for David from which a kingdom would come forth. Even after God spoke this word to David, he fell twice. First, he murdered Uriah and usurped his wife Bath-sheba (2 Sam. 11:2-17, 26-27). Second, he numbered the children of Israel (24:1-10). It is amazing that after the murder of Uriah, Bath-sheba bore David a son, Solomon, and after David was chastised by God for numbering the people, he offered sacrifices on a piece of land, as instructed by God, which later became the site for the building of the temple (vv. 18-25; 1 Chron. 21:1; 2 Chron. 3:1).

　　The son and the site for the building of the temple both came out of David’s being forgiven of his sins. Those who can see this will bow their head and worship God, saying, “It is not we who can do something for You, but You who does something for man.”…God wants only our cooperation; He does not need us to do anything for Him…We must stop all our opinions, decisions, and ideas; we need to let Him speak, let Him come in, and let Him command. All we need to do is cooperate with Him. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” p. 284)

　　The “you” in Matthew 5:13 refers to the overcoming believers in the kingdom life. Furthermore, being the salt of the earth is a corporate matter, not an individual matter…It is as a corporate entity that the kingdom people are the salt of the earth. If we separate ourselves from the church life, we cannot be such salt.

　　For us to be the salt of the earth means that we keep the earth from being fully corrupted…The earth, which was created by God, has become fallen. In a sense, it has become rotten and corrupted. But salt kills germs, eliminates rottenness, and preserves things in their original condition…Hence, the function of salt is to preserve what God has created. The entire earth is becoming more and more rotten…To the corrupted earth the people of the kingdom of the heavens are the element that keeps the earth from being fully corrupted. They have the salting function of killing germs, eliminating rottenness, and keeping things in their original condition or bringing them back to their God-created condition.

　　When the millennial kingdom comes, the whole earth will be salted. All the germs on earth will be utterly killed, and the whole earth will be not only regained by Christ but also brought back to its God-created condition. This work will be done by the kingdom people. Wherever the kingdom people are, they should exercise a salting influence over those around them. In our neighborhoods we should exercise our function of killing germs…If we are poor in spirit, mourning, meek, righteous, merciful, and pure in seeking God, we shall have a salting function. There will be no need to rebuke others or point out their mistakes and shortcomings. They will be salted simply by our presence. This is what it means to be the salt that kills the germs of this corrupted earth. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1157-1158)

　　Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt because she took a lingering look backward at Sodom. That look indicated that she loved and treasured the evil world that God was about to judge and utterly destroy. She was rescued from Sodom, but she did not reach the safe place that Lot reached (Gen. 19:15-30). She did not perish; neither was she fully saved. Like the salt that becomes tasteless (Luke 14:34-35), she was left in a place of shame. This is a solemn warning to world-loving believers. (Life-study of Luke, p. 328)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msgs. 33, 39

«　WEEK 3　DAY 5　»

　　Matt. 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and place it under the bushel, but on the lampstand; and it shines to all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in the heavens.

　　In nature the kingdom people are the healing salt [Matt. 5:13], and in behavior they are the shining light [v. 14].

　　In Matthew 5:13 the Lord Jesus spoke of the earth and in verse 14, of the world. For the earth there is the need of salt, but for the world there is the need of light. The darkness is not upon the earth; rather, it is in the world, which denotes human society, a system of Satan. The world, Satan’s system, the dark human society, needs light. The light of the world in verse 14 is the shining of a lamp to enlighten those in darkness. To the darkened world, the people of the kingdom of the heavens are such a light effacing its darkness. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1158-1159)

　　When a person is possessed, he falls directly into Satan’s hand and is controlled and bound by Satan. When a person is obsessed, he is deceived by himself. First John 1:8 says that those who say that they have not sinned are deceiving themselves; they are obsessed. Lying is different from being obsessed. Those who lie are condemned in their conscience, but those who are obsessed are very confident in themselves. They are convinced that they are not lying when they really are…A man who is obsessed takes his perception of reality as reality and considers his reality to be absolutely right. Second Thessalonians 2:10-12 speaks of the perishing ones who do not receive a love of the truth but instead believe lies. This is very sad. When a Christian overestimates himself, he follows the lies of his mind. Unless these lies are removed, he will fall into obsession sooner or later.

　　The way to be delivered from obsession is found in Psalm 36:9: “In Your light we see light.” “Your light” refers to God’s light, and “we see light” refers to our seeing the true nature of things through the shining of God’s light. Many people like to judge according to their mind, ideas, imagination, and conjecture. Such views are often contrary to facts. The most pitiful men are those who presume that they are right, who are very confident of themselves, and who are good at arguing with others…We should come before the Lord in fear and trembling and come under His shining. If we do this, we will not become obsessed in the Lord’s service and will not act like Paul before his conversion.

　　One principle of enlightenment is that light shines through an opening. The Lord said that the light is in us in Matthew 6:23. This inner light is the enlightening of the Holy Spirit within. Yet there can be hindrances to this inner enlightening…John 3:19-20 indicates that a man will not receive light once he is prejudiced and has preconceived ideas. Hence, the first hindrance to light is prejudice and a refusal to come to the light. The deeper a person is in the truth, the less assurance he should have of himself. A person who is prejudiced and who does not want to come under the light is dangerous. The second hindrance to receiving light from the Lord is one’s desire to receive glory from men. There are certain conditions one has to clearly fulfill before he can receive light. The first condition is having a heart that seeks after God’s will. If one seeks after God’s will, he will know the true nature of things (John 7:17). However, even such a heart cannot always guarantee that we will not be deceived. Therefore, we have to ask the Lord for mercy so that He would put in us a heart that genuinely seeks after His will…Lies do not involve any price; they are cheap. If we want the truth, we have to pay a price [cf. Prov. 23:23]. This is the second condition for receiving light. May the Lord be merciful to us so that we will have a heart that seeks after God’s will and will pay the price to gain the truth. (CWWN, vol. 44, pp. 901-903)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 44, chs. 117—119

«　WEEK 3　DAY 6　»

　　Matt. 4:19 And He said to them, Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

　　24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

　　The Lord Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). Immediately they left their nets and followed the King of the kingdom of the heavens to be fishers of men. Eventually, on the day of Pentecost, Peter became the first great fisher for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens (Acts 2:37-42; 4:4).

　　To be a fisher of men is to bring men out of the world, signified by the sea with its death waters, into the kingdom of the heavens. This means that to fish for men, “catching men alive” (Luke 5:10), that is, unto life (Acts 11:18), is to bring them into the kingdom. On the day of Pentecost Peter began his ministry of bringing people into the kingdom of the heavens. He brought in all kinds of people, Gentiles as well as Jews. He was a real fisher of men. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 1155)

　　To fish for men requires patience. Peter, a quick person, may have learned this in Matthew 17:24-27. After Peter gave a hasty answer concerning Christ’s paying the half-shekel, the Lord Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive custom or poll tax, from their sons or from strangers? And when he said, From strangers, Jesus said to him, So then the sons are free” (vv. 25-26). Then the Lord went on to say, “But that we do not stumble them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. And when you open its mouth, you will find a stater; take that and give it to them for Me and you” (v. 27).

　　Peter, no doubt, was troubled that he had to go fishing and wait for a fish to appear with a stater. As a result, Peter may have learned that a fisher of men must have patience. If we would be fishers of men, gaining others for Christ’s increase, we also need patience. We cannot have the increase, the multiplication, in a quick way.

　　The way to bring others out of the world and into the kingdom of the heavens is not by today’s superficial gospel but by the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens [cf. Matt. 24:14]…The gospel of the kingdom includes not only forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47) and the impartation of life (John 20:31) but also the kingdom of the heavens with the power of the coming age (Heb. 6:5) to cast out demons and heal diseases (Isa. 35:5-6; Matt. 10:1).

　　The gospel of the kingdom, which also includes the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24), not only brings people into God’s salvation but also into the kingdom of the heavens (Rev. 1:9). The emphasis of the gospel of grace is on forgiveness of sin, God’s redemption, and eternal life, whereas the emphasis of the gospel of the kingdom is on the heavenly ruling of God and the authority of the Lord.

　　The New Testament speaks of the gospel of life, the gospel of grace, and the gospel of salvation. However, all these are different aspects of the kingdom. The kingdom is the center, the hub, and all the other items may be considered the spokes, which are centered on the hub. The gospel of life is for the kingdom, the gospel of salvation is for the kingdom, and the gospel of forgiveness is for the kingdom…The kingdom is the real gospel…If we want to know the gospel in a full way, we must realize that the kingdom is the all-inclusive gospel. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end of this age comes. The inhabited earth means every place inhabited by man. I believe that the churches in the Lord’s recovery will bear the burden to bring this gospel to all the inhabited earth. The gospel of grace has been preached in every continent but not the gospel of the kingdom…This higher gospel [of the kingdom] must be brought to every continent through the churches in the Lord’s recovery. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1155-1157)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 36, pp. 73-83