Scripture Reading: Acts 26:18; Psa. 46:4a; Rev. 22:1; 1 Cor. 16:10

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 9　DAY 1　»

　　Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.

　　Acts 28:31 Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unhindered.

　　This stream is also the stream of God's work. Where the stream flows, there is the work of God. This is clear in the book of Acts, a book that speaks to us of the work of God. What is that kind of work that is the work of God? It is a work in the stream of living water. Where the stream of living water flows, there is the work of God. God works along the flowing of the stream of the divine life. If you consider the whole record of the book of Acts, you will see the picture quite clearly. On the day of Pentecost this stream of divine life flowed out of God Himself in Christ with ruling power from the throne. It began to flow from Jerusalem. From there it flowed to Antioch, and then from Antioch it turned to the west; it flowed to Asia, and through Asia it flowed to Macedonia, to Europe. Here is a picture of the flowing of the stream of divine life, and with the flowing of this stream is the work of God. By flowing God works; by flowing God preaches His gospel; by flowing God brings people to be saved. There is a stream that we could call the stream, or the current, of the work. Where it flows, there is the work of God. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, "The Divine Stream," p. 172)

　　Notice that there is no end, no conclusion, to the book of Acts. There are twenty-eight chapters, but in the book of Acts in heaven today there may be twenty-eight hundred chapters. The twenty-eight chapters in our Bible are the record of only sixty or seventy years of history. There is an opening, but no closing, no conclusion. This is because this stream of life is still flowing and never stops flowing. The history of the church shows that this stream has continued to flow from generation to generation right up to this very day, and it is flowing still. Where it flows, there is the life of God; where it flows, there is the fellowship of the Body; where it flows, there is the testimony of Jesus; and where it flows, there is also the work of God. It is the stream of life, the stream of fellowship, the stream of testimony, and the stream of the work of God.

　　Brothers and sisters, we must be in this stream. If we are not in this stream, we are out of life, we are out of the fellowship of the Body, we are out of the testimony of the Lord Jesus, and we are out of the work of God. Oh, if we are simply in this stream, we will have everything. From where does it flow? It flows from the throne. What kind of a throne is this? It is the throne of the Lamb with God in Him. God is in the Lamb, and the Lamb is on the throne, and this stream flows out of this throne. If you have this stream, you have the throne, you have the Lamb, and you have God within the Lamb. If you have this stream, you have everything. If you are in this stream, then you are in God, you are in the Lamb with the throne, you are in the life, you are in the fellowship, you are in the testimony, and you are in the work of God. Are you in the stream? You need to know. If you are not in the stream, you will have to make a turn. We must be in the stream.

　　In the universe there is a divine stream that starts in the beginning of the Scriptures and flows throughout the whole book. We can trace this stream from the beginning of the Bible right to the end. In many places there is reference to this flowing stream. It is still flowing today. It is flowing, flowing all the time, and will be flowing to eternity. The Lord said that the water that He gives would be a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life. This stream shall flow to eternity; it can never and will never cease. Throughout the whole history of the church there has ever been and still is such a divine stream. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, "The Divine Stream," pp. 172-173)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, "The Divine Stream"

«　WEEK 9　DAY 2　»

　　Acts 26:16 But rise up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister and a witness both of the things in which you have seen Me and of the things in which I will appear to you.

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

　　After Saul had been knocked down, the Lord called him....Often the Lord knocks us down and then tells us to rise up. At these times the Lord may say, "Don't lie there—rise up. If you rise up, I will make you a minister and a witness, not a religionist. I will make you a witness of what you have seen." The Lord seemed to be telling Saul, "You have seen Me speaking to you from the heavens. Now go and witness to people of this. Witness to the priests, the elders, and the scribes. Formerly, you said that I was killed and buried, but now you must witness to the fact that I have been resurrected and am now living in the heavens." (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, "Young People's Training," p. 309)

　　In Acts 26:16 the Lord told Saul that he would be a witness both of the things in which he had seen Him and of the things in which the Lord would appear to him. The Lord said that He would reveal other things to Saul, not in the way of teaching but by means of His appearing. In whatever the Lord appeared to Saul, Saul was to witness of that to the people. This is not a teaching, a doctrine, or a religion; it is absolutely a revelation of Jesus. All that the apostle Paul later ministered was something in which the Lord had appeared to him. He was not taught by the Lord; rather, he had revelation that came from the Lord's appearing....Being a witness is not a matter of teaching and knowledge but of appearing and vision. The things in which the Lord appears to us are the things that we must minister to others.

　　In Acts 26:18 the Lord charged Saul "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."...The first thing we must do is to help others to see. In order to do this, we ourselves must have the vision and see the heavenly things. We must see the things concerning Christ, not by being taught but by having Christ appear to us. After you have seen the vision, you need to contact people, telling them that Jesus has appeared to you and that you have seen Him. Do not preach the low, traditional gospel. Many who have received this poor gospel are still blind and in darkness. Do not teach people religion—open their eyes that they may turn from darkness and Satan to light and God. By turning in this way, they will be released from the evil power of darkness, which is the authority of Satan, to God. As a result, they will receive forgiveness of sins and a portion among those who are sanctified. All the saved and forgiven ones are saints, and all the saints have a portion (Col. 1:12). According to Colossians, the portion of the saints is simply Christ Himself. Christ has been allotted to us, and we all share a portion in Him....Our portion—Christ—will consummate in the New Jerusalem. Those who turn from Satan to God will not have a portion individually but corporately and collectively with all the saints. This means that they will have a portion among those who are members of the church life.

　　In Acts 26:18 the full gospel is presented....In this one verse there are seven points: (1) to open people's eyes, (2) to turn them from darkness to light, (3) to turn them from the authority of Satan to God, (4) to help them receive forgiveness of sins, (5) to help them to be sanctified by faith, (6) that they may have a common portion among the saints, and (7) be in the church life. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, "Young People's Training," pp. 309-311)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, "Young People's Training," ch. 1; CWWL, 1980, vol. 2, "The Completing Ministry of Paul," chs. 10-12

«　WEEK 9　DAY 3　»

　　Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light...

　　Eph. 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.

　　3:9 And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things.

　　This [word to Saul in Acts 26:18a] was to carry out the fulfillment of God's jubilee, the acceptable year of the Lord, proclaimed by the Lord Jesus in Luke 4:18-21...according to God's New Testament economy. The first item of the spiritual and divine blessings of the New Testament jubilee, which are the blessings of the gospel of God, is to open the eyes of those who are fallen and turn them from darkness to light, that they may see the divine things in the spiritual realm. To see these things requires spiritual sight and divine light. (Acts 26:18, footnote 1)

　　Wisdom is in our spirit that we may know the mystery of God, and revelation is of God's Spirit that He may show us the vision by opening the veil. First, we have wisdom, the ability to understand, which enables us to know spiritual things; then the Spirit of God reveals the spiritual things to our spiritual understanding. (Eph. 1:17, footnote 4)

　　God's mystery is His hidden purpose, which is to dispense Himself into His chosen people. Hence, there is the economy of the mystery of God. This mystery was hidden in God throughout the ages, but now the New Testament believers, having been enlightened, are able to see it. (Eph. 3:9, footnote 2)

　　In Colossians 1:12 Paul says that the Father has qualified us "for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light." Many may read this verse without paying attention to the phrase in the light. Christ, our portion, is to be enjoyed by us in the light.

　　Since God alone is light, we must turn to God and be in His presence in order to partake of Christ. We have been called into the marvelous light of God (1 Pet. 2:9). Before we were saved, we were altogether in darkness. Everything related to us and our human situation was in darkness. When the gospel came to us, it came with light. This caused us to repent to God. As we repented, we spontaneously opened to Him. At the time we repented and were saved, we experienced something shining within us. We believed in the Lord Jesus and thanked Him for dying on our behalf, and we received Him as our Savior and Lord. In this way, the inner shining was intensified. Therefore, at the time of our conversion, light entered into us.

　　Light is the presence of God. If we would be in light, we must turn to Him from within. Then His presence will become the shining light. In this way Christ becomes the portion of the saints in a practical way.

　　Those who believe in Christ are also the light. Speaking of the believers, the Lord Jesus said, "You are the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14). In Philippians 2:15 Paul says that the believers "shine as luminaries in the world."...A luminary does not have light in itself; it reflects light that comes from another source. The believers are luminaries. In ourselves we have no light. The light comes from the oil, the Spirit, burning within us. The source of our light is not ourselves, but Christ as the Spirit.

　　Light is a realm, a sphere. The realm of light is a realm of life....This realm of life and light is the kingdom of the Son of the Father's love. Light rules by its enlightening. Hence, when the light of life shines and rules, it is a kingdom. When we are in the light, we are in the realm of life, in the kingdom of the Son of the Father's love. This kingdom is in contrast to the authority of darkness, which is the kingdom of Satan. The New Jerusalem will be the ultimate consummation of the realm of life. The whole city will be a realm of life, full of light. This realm will be the light of life. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 55, 58, 60, 57, 62)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msg. 7

«　WEEK 9　DAY 4　»

　　Acts 24:16 Because of this I also exercise myself to always have a conscience without offense toward God and men.

　　Ezek. 1:22 And over the heads of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the sight of awesome crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.

　　We Christians need to maintain a clear sky with the Lord. This means that we need always to have a clear fellowship with Him. We should have nothing between us and the Lord. When there is nothing between us and the Lord, our sky will be crystal clear, and our conscience will be pure, void of any offense (Acts 24:16).

　　Sometimes a small matter, such as a poor attitude toward our spouse, can cause us to have clouds in our sky. Perhaps the other party is wrong, but our attitude is also wrong, and we lose our joy and our peace. Also, we may have no anointing to pray for a period of time. Our conscience begins to condemn us and bother us. This is the loss of a clear Christian sky, the loss of a clear heaven....Because we have lost the Lord's presence, eventually we confess, apologize, and ask for forgiveness. As soon as we do this, the "weather" changes; the clouds disappear, and the clear sky returns.

　　The Lord's presence is always with the throne. Where the Lord is, there His throne is. His presence can never be separated from His throne. The Lord's throne is in the third heaven, but His throne is also in our spirit. Hence, the Lord's throne is with us all the time....Because we are under the throne, we do not need policemen and law courts to rule over us. (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 111-113)

　　In our Christian life and in our church life, if the sky is clear, the throne will be there.

　　The highest step in the spiritual experience of a Christian is to have the throne in our firmament, in our clear sky. To have the throne, or to arrive at the throne, is to allow God to have the highest and most prominent position in our Christian life. For God to have the throne in us means that He has the position to reign in us. Therefore, to reach the throne in our spiritual experience means that in everything we are completely submissive to God's authority and administration.

　　The clearer our firmament is, the more we are under the throne. The more we have clear fellowship with the Lord, the more we will be under His authority. We need to ask ourselves if there is a throne in our Christian life. If we have the throne above the clear sky, we are greatly blessed, and we should worship God for this blessing.

　　If we are under a clear sky with the throne above it, the genuine authority will be with us. No opposition or persecution will be able to defeat us or shake us because heaven and the throne are with us. If the sky above us is clear and the throne is with us, we will have the authority and the weight.

　　One day a boat on which [a female missionary in China] was traveling was seized by pirates, who retained control of the vessel for several days....She told the leader of the pirates that it was too hot to confine the passengers to their rooms. She also told him that he should be responsible for cleaning the boat. The leader of the pirates obeyed her and told his men to clean the boat. A ferocious pirate leader came under the authority of this missionary because she herself was under the throne.

　　God desires to bring us to the throne because of the rebellion of Satan against God's throne (Isa. 14)....The greatest difficulty God faces in the universe is that His throne has been opposed and attacked by rebel forces. God's throne is absolute, but one of His creatures has rebelled and seeks to exalt his throne to be equal with that of God [vv. 12-14]....From the time of Satan's rebellion until now, there has been a dispute in the universe regarding authority. Much of what is happening on earth is an expression of Satan's resistance to God's throne. The crucial question is this: Who is actually reigning on earth—God or Satan? (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 113-114, 117-118, 127-128)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ezekiel, msgs. 10-12

«　WEEK 9　DAY 5　»

　　Acts 26:18 ...That they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.

　　Psa. 51:1-2 ...According to the greatness of Your compassions blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and from my sin cleanse me.

　　7 Purge my sin with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

　　We also need to pray, "Lord, grant me a full and thorough forgiveness of all my sins....I would leave nothing that has not been dealt with. Lord, I also want to be fully sanctified. I don't want to be merely a forgiven person but also a sanctified person. Then I will be able to enjoy my portion, the all-inclusive Christ." Day by day we enjoy Christ as our portion, not in an individualistic way but by enjoying Him among the saints,...those who are sanctified in the church. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, "Young People's Training," p. 312)

　　David begged God to blot out his transgressions, wash him thoroughly from his iniquity, cleanse him from his sin, and purge his sin with hyssop (Psa. 51:1-2, 7, 9). The verbs used by David—"blot out," "wash," "cleanse," and "purge"—indicate that his repentance and confession were thorough and that his asking for forgiveness was genuine.

　　Like David, we need to stay in the presence of God, confessing that we were born in sin and pleading with Him to wash us and cleanse us, to blot out our transgressions, and to purge our sin. To pray in this way indicates that we have no trust in ourselves. Realizing that we are sinful and that God is holy, we trust only in Him. Also, we realize that we need Christ to be our Mediator and our sacrifice.

　　In verse 7a David prayed, "Purge my sin with hyssop, and I will be clean." Hyssop typifies Christ in His humble and humiliated human nature (1 Kings 4:33a; Exo. 12:22a). In Psalm 51:7a hyssop implies Christ as the Mediator and the sacrifice.

　　In verse 10 David prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, / And renew a steadfast spirit within me." The Hebrew word for clean here may also be translated "pure." David begged God not only to forgive him and purge him but also to renew him.

　　By sinning we become old, but after we are forgiven by God we may be renewed. Thus, after we enjoy God's forgiveness, we need to ask Him for His renewing.

　　In verse 11 David continued, "Do not cast me from Your presence, / And do not take the Spirit of Your holiness away from me." We need a new heart and a steadfast spirit, and we also need God's presence....God's presence is actually the Spirit. When the Spirit is away, God's presence also is gone.

　　In verse 8a David prayed, "Let me hear gladness and joy," and in verse 12 he asked, "Restore to me the gladness of Your salvation, / And sustain me with a willing spirit." Here we see a connection between gladness and willingness of spirit. When we are happy, we also have a willing spirit. This is the overcoming life. A defeated person, on the contrary, is unhappy and does not have a willing spirit. If such a defeated one confesses his sin and asks God for His forgiveness, he will have the gladness of God's salvation and will also have a willing spirit. It is by the gladness of God's salvation that a willing spirit is sustained within us.

　　"Do good in Your good pleasure unto Zion; / Build the walls of Jerusalem. / Then You will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, / In burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; / Then they will offer bulls upon Your altar" (vv. 18-19). This signifies the participation in the enjoyment of God in the local church as God's house and in the church as God's city through the all-inclusive Christ as the offerings. If we are those who repent, confess our sins, and ask God for His purging, we will have the enjoyment of God in Christ in His house, the local church, and in His city, the universal church. (Life-study of the Psalms, pp. 282-284)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of the Psalms, msg. 23

«　WEEK 9　DAY 6　»

　　Acts 1:13-14 And when they entered, they went up to the upper room where they were residing....These all continued steadfastly with one accord in prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

　　Acts 1 speaks of the upper room in Jerusalem. In this upper room a group of about a hundred and twenty prayed for ten days in one accord. They not only prayed, but they also consecrated themselves to the Lord, offering themselves to Him in a very real and practical way.

　　Three and a half years earlier, the Lord Jesus came to Peter by the seashore, and Peter offered himself to Him. Peter left his job and began to follow the Lord (Matt. 4:18-20). We may say that Peter consecrated himself to the Lord. However, Peter's experience in the upper room was something else. Here Peter had a new kind of consecration, not an ordinary consecration but something specific. At the seashore Peter gave up his job, indicated by his leaving his fishing nets, but in the upper room he gave up much more....In order to be in the upper room...[Peter and the others] gave up Judaism, their country, their neighbors and friends, and their relatives, and they were willing to risk their lives. (CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, "The Heavenly Vision," pp. 209-210)

　　To take the way of the Lord's recovery is not cheap. This way is expensive; it requires a costly consecration....We are here not for a movement but for the Lord's recovery. How can the recovery be realized? The recovery can be realized, carried out, only by the experience of the consecration in the upper room. This is not an ordinary consecration; it is a special consecration, a specific consecration, an extraordinary consecration. This consecration is a turning point.

　　What happened to those one hundred and twenty who were in the upper room in Acts 1? They all became a burnt offering....We also need to be burned, and then we will burn others.

　　What are we expecting today? Do we expect a revival or a movement? Do we expect a new kind of Christian activity? What are we doing here? Have we come together to hear something that we cannot hear elsewhere? We may be here for this reason, but this is not enough. We must be here for the Lord's recovery, which is the issue of an upper-room consecration.

　　When the Lord Jesus was on earth, great crowds followed Him. Multitudes were saved and healed, and multitudes received the favor of God. Eventually, however, there were only about one hundred and twenty in the upper room. The crowds, the multitudes, did not afford the Lord Jesus anything for His move. The Lord's move was with those in the upper room, with those whose eyes had been opened and whose hearts had been touched. This small number came into the upper room to be burned, and then they turned the whole world upside down. The principle is the same today. It is a small number who will turn the world upside down and change the age.

　　Do you intend to be in the crowd or in the upper room? Will you remain one of the multitude, or by the Lord's mercy will you come into the upper room? I do not know who you are. Only the Lord knows who will be in the upper room.

　　I would urge you to pray to receive the Lord's mercy so that you might be in the upper room. If you are not willing to come here, then what you have read in these chapters will have nothing to do with you. Then you will be like those in the crowds, those the Lord did not count on. If you would be in the upper room, you need to pray in a specific way and say, "Lord, I am willing to be in the upper room for the recovery of Your testimony." (CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, "The Heavenly Vision," pp. 212-214)

　　What we must do today is just go along with the stream, just subject ourselves to the current of the work of the Holy Spirit. In this matter I have no personal liberty. It is not according to my thoughts but according to His flowing [cf. Hymns, #907]. (CWWL, 1963, vol. 1, "The Divine Stream," p. 180)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, "The Heavenly Vision," ch. 6