Scripture Reading: Num. 32:1-6, 12, 16-22, 33; Deut. 8:9; Col. 1:12; 2:6-7; Phil. 3:7-11, 14

DAY 1 & DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 & DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 7　DAY 1　»

　　Deut. 8:9 A land in which you will eat bread without scarcity; you will not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and from whose mountains you can mine copper.

　　Col. 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.

　　[Christ as the allotted portion of the saints] refers to the lot of the inheritance, as illustrated by the allotment of the good land of Canaan given to the children of Israel for their inheritance (Josh. 14:1). The New Testament believers' inheritance, their allotted portion, is not a physical land; it is the all-inclusive Christ. He is the allotted portion of the saints as their divine inheritance for their enjoyment. (Col. 1:12, footnote 2)

　　In the eternal economy of God, the Father has allotted the Son, the all-inclusive Christ typified by the good land, to us as our eternal portion and has transferred us into Him that we may partake of Him (Col. 1:12-13; 1 Cor. 1:30, 9). We need to stand on the proper ground of the oneness of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:3-6) and keep the proper faith as Paul did (2 Tim. 4:7). We also need to live and walk in Christ (Col. 2:6), conducting ourselves according to God to be His expression (see footnote 1, par. 2, on 2 Chron. 16:12). Then we will enjoy Christ, and the border of our enjoyment of Christ as the good land will be enlarged (1 Chron. 4:10). (2 Chron. 33:9, footnote 1)

　　If we have been rooted in Christ, we shall spontaneously walk in Christ. For example, if a sister becomes deeply rooted in Christ, eventually the way she does her shopping will be affected. But if a sister undergoes a sudden change in her way of shopping, I would not have much confidence in that change. It may indicate a mushrooming type of growth, not the growth which comes from being deeply rooted in Christ and walking in Him. Remember, being rooted in Christ is the condition for walking in Him.

　　If the saints contact the Lord and spend time in the Word with much prayer, they will become deeply rooted in Christ. If a sister does this for a period of time, her shopping will be done in Christ, not in something other than Christ. I do not have any confidence in a change of behavior which results from making a decision after hearing a message. My confidence is in what issues from becoming deeply rooted in Christ through contacting the Lord and spending time in the Word with much prayer. When we are rooted in Christ, there is no need for us to make up our minds about certain things, for spontaneously we shall walk in Him. The only way to become deeply rooted in Christ as the soil is to contact Him as the soil and to daily absorb the water in the Word. The more we contact the soil and absorb the water, the more we shall grow. First we grow downward, then upward. After we have grown downward for a period of time, we shall automatically cease to walk in things other than Christ. Instead, because we have been deeply rooted in Christ, we shall live, walk, act, and have our being in Christ.

　　As we walk in Christ, we are built up in Him. We have already been rooted in our culture and built up in it. Even children are deeply rooted in their culture. But as they walk in their culture, something of this culture is built up within them. Everyone is built up in certain things. On the one hand, we are rooted in our culture; on the other hand, we are built up in certain aspects of our culture.

　　If we take time to enjoy the Lord, we shall take adequate time to absorb Him. We have heard a number of messages concerning who the Lord is, what He is, and where He is. We have also learned how to exercise our spirit to contact Him. But now we must take sufficient time to absorb Him. We should not be lazy or indolent in this matter. From my experience I can testify strongly that when we take time to enjoy the Lord, all the elements of the rich soil are absorbed into us. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 405-406, 467)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 46-47

«　WEEK 7　DAY 2　»

　　Col. 2:6-7 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, having been rooted and being built up in Him, and being established in the faith even as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

　　As we have received Christ, we should walk in Him. In Colossians 2:6 to walk is to live, to act, to behave, and to have our being. We should walk, live, and act in Christ that we may enjoy His riches, just as the children of Israel lived in the good land, enjoying all its rich produce. The good land today is Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit (Gal. 3:14), who dwells in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22; Rom. 8:16) to be our enjoyment. To walk according to this Spirit (Rom. 8:4; Gal. 5:16) is the central and crucial point in the New Testament. (Col. 2:6, footnote 2)

　　Like plants, we are living organisms. As such, we have been rooted in Christ, our soil, our earth, that we may absorb all His riches as nourishment. These riches become the element and substance with which we grow and are built up. To be rooted is for the growth in life. This rooting has been completed already. To be built up is for the building of the Body of Christ. This is still going on. Both these matters are in Christ. (Col. 2:7, footnote 1)

　　If you see that we have been rooted in Christ as the rich soil, you will be comforted and encouraged. Do not be troubled by your weaknesses. Consider the rich soil in which you are rooted. In this soil do you not have the fullness, the circumcision, the burial, the raising up, the giving of life, the wiping out of the ordinances, and the stripping off of the powers of darkness? Forget your situation, your condition, your failures, and your weaknesses and simply take time to enjoy the Lord. Take time to absorb Him, to assimilate the rich elements from Him as the soil. If you take time to absorb the Lord, you will be able to testify that in Christ you have no lack.

　　Every morning we need to take an adequate amount of time to absorb the Lord. Although even ten minutes is good, it is best to spend thirty minutes to enjoy Him at the start of each new day. If you spend thirty minutes to absorb the Lord and to enjoy Him in the morning, you will not be bothered by negative things during the day. The”flies” and”scorpions” will not pester you, for the elements in the soil will repel them. However, if you fail to absorb the Lord in the morning, you are apt to be troubled by”flies” and”scorpions.” Many saints can testify that absorbing the Lord in the morning supplies them with the best insect repellent. However, we should spend time with the Lord not only in the morning but also throughout the day. If we have a good time with the Lord in the morning, afternoon, and evening, not only shall we be supplied with the most effective pest control, we shall also enjoy a feast. However, if we are not faithful to take time to absorb the Lord, our condition will gradually deteriorate. Our experience confirms this. Let us turn from our thought, emotion, and intention and open ourselves to the Lord, exercising our spirit to say,”O Lord Jesus, I love You, I worship You, and I adore You. Lord, I give myself to You. I give You my heart and everything concerning this day.” As you contact the Lord in this way, do not be hurried. Take time, the more the better. As you spend time contacting the Lord, spontaneously you will absorb into you the riches of the soil.

　　If we would absorb the riches of Christ as the soil, we need to have tender, new roots. Do not let yourself get old, but be fresh and renewed day by day. Pray to the Lord,”Lord, I want my consecration to be fresh, and I want to open to You anew. I want my roots to be tender that I may absorb Your riches. Lord, don't let my roots get old.” If our roots are tender and new to absorb the riches of Christ, we shall grow automatically with the riches we assimilate. This is to enjoy Christ and to experience Him subjectively daily and hourly. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 468-469, 487)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 53, 55-57

«　WEEK 7　DAY 3　»

　　Col. 2:6-7 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, having been rooted and being built up in Him…

　　19 …Holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.

　　Colossians 2:7…speaks of being built up in Christ. As we grow in Christ, we are being built up in Him. Years ago, I considered the building up in 2:7 to mean the building up with the saints. But this is not the meaning here. Rather, the meaning is that we ourselves need to become built up…by growing. The building up of the Body depends upon the individual and personal building up of all the members. If a particular member has not been built up, it will not be possible for him to be built up in the Body. To be built up in the Body we first must be built up in ourselves. When we have become built-up members, we shall then be able to be built up with others in the Body. Therefore, the building up in 2:7 is not that of the Body corporately, but the building up of the members individually. In Ephesians 4:16, on the contrary, we have the building up of the Body in a corporate way.

　　If we would walk in Christ, we need to absorb His riches by being rooted in Him and to be built up as individual members of the Body. We need to sink our roots into Christ deeper and deeper so that we may absorb more of His riches. Then we shall grow and be built up in Him. Having fulfilled these two conditions, we shall then be able to walk in Christ. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 449-450)

　　In Colossians 2:19 Paul speaks of”holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.” Holding the Head is equal to abiding in Christ. Of course, to hold the Head implies that we are not detached, or severed, from Him. At the time Paul wrote to the Colossians, they had been somewhat detached from Christ by their culture. Culture can be a form of insulation which keeps us from Christ. To hold the Head is to remain in Christ without any insulation between us and Him.

　　The words”out from whom” in verse 19 indicate that something is coming out from the Head to cause the Body to grow. The growth of the Body depends on what comes out of Christ as the Head, just as the growth of a plant depends on what comes into the plant from the soil. If a plant does not absorb nutrients from the soil, the plant cannot grow. Likewise, if we do not receive what comes out from Christ as the Head, the Body cannot grow. Holding the Head is, therefore, equal to being rooted in Christ as the soil.

　　First, we grow individually, then corporately. Individual growth becomes corporate growth. Hence, not only are the members built up individually, but the Body is built up corporately…. [Our physical body illustrates that] if all the members grow and build themselves up individually, the body will be built up corporately.

　　After a church has been in a locality for a certain period of time, friction may develop between the saints, even among the leading ones. How can the church be built up if there is such friction? Along with the friction, there must also be growth. This growth will nullify the effect of the friction. I can testify that throughout the years in the church life, there has been considerable friction caused by the enemy. But the growth in Christ has canceled out all this friction. Therefore, we can be happy together and truly one. The shortages among us are filled by the riches of Christ. Then we grow both individually and corporately. This is the genuine building of the church. The building up of the church is based upon the building up of the individual members. Furthermore, the building of the members depends on their growth, which, in turn, depends upon being rooted in Christ and absorbing the riches of Christ to become the very element with which the members grow. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 453, 459-460)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 51-52

«　WEEK 7　DAY 4　»

　　Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me…

　　Phil. 3:10 To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.

　　Col. 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

　　Numbers 32 speaks of the prearrangement of the distribution of the good land….There is a twofold significance to the arrangement concerning the land east of the Jordan. On the positive side, the tribes of Reuben and Gad highly regarded the receiving of the God-promised inheritance. However, on the negative side, they made their choice before they reached God's goal, which was on the west side of the Jordan. When the boundaries of the good land are mentioned in Numbers 34, the land on the east of the Jordan is not included. The best portion of the good land was surrounded by two seas (the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea) and one river (the Jordan River). These three bodies of water signify Christ's death. Thus, in terms of spiritual typology, the land east of the Jordan was not good enough because it was outside of the realm of Christ's death. The two and a half tribes chose and thus substituted the second best for the best. Many times we also make our own choices and take the second best as a substitute for the best. The two and a half tribes made a choice because they had an abundance of livestock and saw that the land east of the Jordan was good for livestock. Having too many”cattle” and”flocks” often becomes a temptation to make our own choice and substitute the second best for the best. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” pp. 172-173)

　　The enjoyment of Christ is closely related to His death. Our enjoyment of Christ, therefore, must be in the sphere, the territory, of His death.

　　The borders of the good land also indicate that it is an elevated, uplifted land. This signifies the ascended Christ, the heavenly Christ. The Christ whom we enjoy in His riches is a resurrected and ascended Christ. The Christ who was crucified and buried has come into us in resurrection, and now we are in His ascension, enjoying Him as the uplifted land with all its riches. (Life-study of Numbers, p. 326)

　　The east side of the land of Canaan took the Jordan River as its main border (Num. 34:10-12). Those who did not cross the Jordan could not be considered as having reached the God-promised good land. The tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh gained the land east of the Jordan according to their own choice, but the land they gained cannot be considered as part of the good land….The death of Christ, the cross, is a clear boundary. Therefore, nothing that has not passed through the death of Christ can be counted as part of the inheritance in Christ. This indicates that we must pass through Christ's death in order to enjoy Him. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” pp. 373-374)

　　The land requested by Reuben and Gad could be reached without crossing the river Jordan. Without crossing the Jordan signifies without having the old man dealt with and buried. Only after we have had the old man dealt with and buried are we in a position to talk about possessing the good land for our enjoyment. Reuben and Gad did not receive the promise of the good land with the body of the children of Israel. This signifies receiving the enjoyment of Christ separately, without the Body of Christ. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 318-319)

　　Crossing over the Jordan River denotes passing through Christ's death and entering into His resurrection and ascension. In addition to typifying the position of ascension, the land west of the Jordan typifies the rich inheritance in Christ. Thus, obtaining”the land east of the Jordan” reaches God's spiritual goal but not His glorious goal—receiving the rich inheritance in Christ in the position of ascension. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” p. 365)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” ch. 11

«　WEEK 7　DAY 5　»

　　Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet, not My will, but Yours be done.

　　Psa. 16:6 The measuring lines have fallen on pleasant places for me; indeed the inheritance is beautiful to me.

　　1 Chron. 5:26 …The God of Israel stirred up the spirit of…the king of Assyria;…and He carried them away, the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh…

　　Christ appreciated the measured possession and the beautiful inheritance given to Him by God. All the nations with the earth (Psa. 2:8) will be not only pleasant but also beautiful to Christ as the man who inherited God's inheritance (Heb. 1:2b). (Psa. 16:6, footnote 1)

　　The request of the two tribes, Reuben and Gad (Num. 32:1-5), was not wrong, but neither was it right. Their desire was to receive what God had promised, according to their choice as the best, not according to God's choice as the best. The desire to receive what God had promised was not wrong. However, they were not right in wanting to receive this according to their choice as the best. Eventually, their land was the first part of the land of Israel to be taken over by the Gentile invaders from the east [1 Chron. 5:25-26]. The tribes of Reuben and Gad suffered, and this suffering was related to their having their own choice. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 317-318)

　　In spiritual matters it is terrible to do things according to our choice. Whatever is according to our choice will not turn out to be profitable. We may think that our choice is the best, but it is actually the worst. Therefore, in spiritual matters we should try not to act according to our choice. It is much better for us to leave matters in the hand of the Lord and let Him do according to His choice.

　　The two tribes made their request because of what they had (a very great multitude of cattle—Num. 32:1) and because of what they saw (a land good for livestock—v. 4). This was the reason for their choice. Self-choice, even in the church life, comes from two things—considering what we have and need and considering how a particular situation or opportunity that we see in front of us fits in with our needs. This should not be our situation in the church life or in the service of the Lord. Both in the church life and in the Lord's work, we need to resist the temptation to have our self-choice for the purpose of taking care of our own welfare. We need to learn the lesson of not considering what we have or what is in front of us but leaving our future in the hand of the Lord. We should not try to have our own choice in the church life or in the Lord's service. If you insist on having your own choice, be prepared to suffer as a result. Our choice is not the best selection. We are shortsighted and somewhat selfish, so it is difficult for us to be pure in motive, desire, intention, goal, and purpose. We should be willing to give up our choice and tell the Lord that we do not have any choice of our own.

　　In verse 22 Moses uses the word obligation. Whenever we have our own choice, we will owe something for our choice and will be under some kind of obligation. In serving the Lord, we need to learn never to be obligated in this way. We need to learn not to have our own choice and thereby not to be obligated to God and to His people.

　　The land given to the two and a half tribes, the land which was according to their choice, could be reached without crossing the Jordan. This indicates that it was outside the death of Christ and thus was not actually a part of the good land. Our self-choice is likewise outside the death of Christ and therefore has nothing to do with the real enjoyment of the rich Christ. If we do not pass through the death of Christ, we cannot enter into His resurrection and ascension. This shows us that we should not have our own choice. Whenever we have our choice, we are outside the death of Christ and, as a result, are not in the realm of His resurrection and ascension to enjoy Him as the heavenly, elevated One. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 318, 321, 326-327)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msgs. 45-46

«　WEEK 7　DAY 6　»

　　Phil. 3:13-14 Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.

　　[In Numbers 32 the children of Gad and of Reuben]”spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the assembly, saying, …The land which Jehovah struck before the assembly of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock….Let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not make us cross over the Jordan” [vv. 2, 4-5]. The tribes of Reuben and Gad remained on the east of the Jordan because they thought only about themselves; cared too much for their own enjoyment; and did not care for God's will, plan, goal, kingdom, or testimony. This indicates that if we care only for our own salvation, peace, blessing, or material things and are unwilling to go forward, we will not be able to fulfill God's will and plan or reach His goal, kingdom, and testimony. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” pp. 366-367)

　　Moses rebuked the children of Reuben and Gad for not fighting with the Israelites to gain the land of Canaan (Num. 32:6-15). In response to Moses' rebuke, the people of the two tribes promised that they would willingly cross over the Jordan to fight and that they would not return to the east of the Jordan until their brothers had gained the land of Canaan as their possession (vv. 16-19). This typifies that some are willing to help others enter into the land of Canaan to reach God's glorious goal, but they have no desire to enter into God's glorious goal to inherit the land themselves.

　　Moses permitted the promise of these two tribes (vv. 16-19), telling them that if they went to battle with their brothers, subdued the land, and freed themselves from their obligation, they could have the land east of the Jordan (vv. 20-22). Here Moses represented God. Many times God permits promises such as this; He does not force us. Today in the church many of the Lord's lovers and pursuers remain on the east of the Jordan; they only want to be under God's blessing and care.

　　The choice of the two tribes caused their descendants to lose the right to inherit the land of Canaan. This typifies that if we lust for ease and comfort today—caring only for ourselves, stopping halfway, and giving up our rights in the matter of pursuing the Lord—we will not be able to recover those rights; neither will there be any compensation for them. This is an eternal loss. In contrast, if we are willing to pay the price today to go forward continually into God's glorious goal so as to enjoy His fullness, we will have an extremely rich and special enjoyment in the future. If we are not willing to go forward, we will forever regret not enjoying the riches of Christ. There will be a great difference between the outcomes of these two kinds of people. According to the records in Kings and Chronicles, the children of Israel later failed and became desolate, and the first to be captured were those who lived east of the Jordan. This reveals that those who remain halfway and are satisfied with only a little blessing from God will be easily captured by the enemy. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” pp. 367-368)

　　The principle is the same concerning our enjoyment of Christ today. Christ has been given to us as our portion for our enjoyment, yet there is a condition which we must fulfill in order to have this enjoyment. This condition is that we cooperate with God's ordination to drive out everything in us which is other than God and Christ. This means that we must destroy all the idols within us. An idol is anything other than God that occupies us. A degree, a good job, a nice house, a position or rank, a good name—all these can become idols occupying us. We must destroy any idols that may be in us and not leave any ground within us for the worship of idols. Without dealing with the idols in us, we cannot have the genuine enjoyment of Christ. (Life-study of Numbers, p. 324)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1,”Synopsis of Numbers,” chs. 32-33