Scripture Reading: Col. 3:1-4, 15-17

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 6　DAY 1　»

　　Col. 3:1-2 If therefore you were raised together with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth.

　　1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

　　Colossians 3:1-4 implies that with Christ we have one position, one life, one living, one destiny, and one glory. Because we and Christ have one position, we are where He is. We and Christ also have one life, even the same life.... Moreover, we have one living with Christ. Our living is His living. ... If we have one living with Christ in a practical way day by day, then whatever we do, He does also. This means that when we talk, He talks. If we do something different from what Christ is doing, we do not have one living with Him. For example, if we become angry and Christ is not angry, we do not have one living with Him at that particular time. In such a case, our living is not His living. We should refrain from losing our temper not because we are trying to obey a biblical command, but because we sense that the Christ who lives in us is not losing His temper. If we simply try to control our temper, we are religious. But if we do not lose our temper because we are living with Christ, then we are one with Him in life and in living. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 517)

　　Our position is that we are in Christ. Because we are in Him, we are where He is—at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1).... In the Gospel of John we are told clearly that the Son is in the Father (10:38; 14:10). This means that the Son’s position is in the Father. Since our position today is that we are in the Son, in Christ, we also are in the Father. The Father, of course, is in heaven. Hence, our position also is that we are in heaven....What makes this real is that we are one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17). It is when we are in the spirit that we are in Christ, in the Father, and in heaven practically and experientially.

　　A transmission is going on from heaven to our spirit! When we experience this transmission, we are truly in Christ, in the Father, and in heaven. Our spirit is directly related to heaven. The heavenly transmission begins in heaven and ends in our spirit.

　　There is a transmission taking place from Christ in heaven to us on earth by means of the all-inclusive Spirit.... Hallelujah for the transmission from the third heaven into us! “There’s a Man in the glory / Whose Life is for me” (Hymns, #505). Christ is the man in the glory, but His life is for us. We all need a vision of the heavenly transmission from the glorified Christ into us. Furthermore, we need to stay open to this transmission so that it will not be cut off.... May there be no insulation to hinder this divine transmission.

　　Our spirit is the receiving end of the divine transmission, whereas the throne of God in heaven is the transmitting end. Thus, by turning to our spirit, we are lifted into heaven. Then in our experience we are in Christ, in the Father, and in heaven. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 518-519, 509-510, 520)

　　The very Christ who is sitting on the throne in heaven (Rom. 8:34) is also now in us (Rom. 8:10), that is, in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), where the habitation of God is (Eph. 2:22). At Bethel, the house of God, the habitation of God, which is the gate of heaven, Christ is the ladder that joins earth to heaven and brings heaven to earth (Gen. 28:12-17; John 1:51). Since today our spirit is the place of God’s habitation, it is now the gate of heaven, where Christ is the ladder that joins us, the people on earth, to heaven, and brings heaven to us. Hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter through the gate of heaven and touch the throne of grace in heaven through Christ as the heavenly ladder. (Heb. 4:16, footnote 1)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msg. 59

«　WEEK 6　DAY 2　»

　　Col. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ 3:3-4 in God. When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

　　In Colossians 3:3 and 4 Paul twice speaks of life, indicating thereby that we have one life with Christ. In verse 3 he says that our life “is hidden with Christ in God.” In verse 4 he goes on to speak of when “Christ our life is manifested.”

　　According to our experience and according to the Word, life here is Christ’s life becoming our life. If it were merely Christ’s life, it could not be called “our life.”...However, the life here is not our natural life, the life inherited from Adam. Such a life could never be that which is hidden with Christ in God. God would never allow the natural life inherited from Adam to be hidden in Him. The only life that can be hidden with Christ in God is the divine life, the very life of Christ. It is this life which has become our life. Paul’s use of the expression our life indicates that we and Christ, and also God Himself, have one life. We should not think that God has one life, that Christ has another life, and that we who believe in Christ have yet another life. Rather, God, Christ, and the believers have one life. The life of God is the life of Christ, and the life of Christ has become our life.

　　We see a sister who is gentle, quiet, and kind, and we think that because she has such characteristics she is full of life. Seeing a brother who is an eloquent and powerful speaker, we may take his power and eloquence as signs of life. However, in both cases what we see may be the natural life, not the life that Christ has, the life hidden with Christ in God. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 520-521)

　　Colossians 3:4 speaks of “Christ our life.” Christ is God and also life (1 John 5:12). The life which is God, the life that God is, is in Christ (John 1:4). Hence, the Lord Jesus said that He is life (John 14:6; 11:25) and that He came that we may have life (John 10:10). Therefore, he who has Christ has life (1 John 5:12), and He now dwells in the believers as life. Just as life is God Himself, so also life is Christ. Just as having life is having God Himself, so also having life is having Christ. Christ is God becoming life to us. Through Christ God is manifested as life. Therefore, Christ is now our life. Christ must be our life in a practical and experiential way day by day. He should be our life within, and we should have one life and living with Him.

　　For Christ to be our life means that He is subjective to us to the uttermost. Nothing is more subjective to us, or more intimately related to us, than our life. Our life is actually we ourselves. It is impossible to separate a person from the life of that person, for a person’s life is the person himself. If we did not have life, we would cease to be. To say that Christ has become our life means that Christ has become us. Since our life cannot be separated from us and since Christ is our life, He cannot be separated from us. Because our life is our self and because Christ is our life, we may say that, in this sense, Christ has become us.

　　With Christ as the believers’ life there are three characteristics. First, this life is a crucified life. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He always lived a crucified life. If we truly experience Christ as our life, we also shall live a crucified life. Such a crucified life is a life that has been processed and thoroughly dealt with. The second characteristic of Christ as our life is that this life is a resurrected life. Nothing, including death, can suppress it. Finally, this is a life hidden in God (Col. 3:3). Only the divine life can be hidden in God. If we experience Christ as our life, what we do in the church will not be done in a showy way but rather be done by a life hidden in God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 543-545)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 29, 50

«　WEEK 6　DAY 3　»

　　Heb. 8:1 ...We have such a High Priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.

　　7:25 Hence also He is able to save to the uttermost those who come forward to God through Him, since He lives always to intercede for them.

　　Col. 4:2 Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving.

　　To seek the things which are above and to set our mind on them is to join ourselves to the Lord in His ministry in heaven. We need to join ourselves to the very One who is interceding, ministering, and executing God’s administration. Our living should be a kind of living in which we seek these heavenly things and set our mind on them. This means that we live in such a way as to join our heavenly Christ in His priesthood, ministry, and administration. If we all live in this way, the church life will be greatly uplifted.

　　We are not here to seek earthly things, but to have a living that is one with Christ’s living. Christ today is living as the High Priest, the heavenly Minister, and the universal Administrator. We need to join Him in His living and have one living with Him. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 524-525)

　　Christ in heaven is very active, even more busy than when He was on earth. He is interceding for us, shepherding all His churches, and ministering on behalf of millions of saints. As the High Priest in heaven, He is interceding for us.... As He intercedes for us, Christ is ministering the heavenly life supply into us. He is the heavenly Minister ministering in the heavens (Heb. 8:1-2). According to Revelation 5:6, as the Lamb on the throne, Christ is executing God’s universal administration.

　　Christ today is living in the heavens to intercede for the churches, to minister the heavenly life supply to the saints, and to carry out God’s administration....We thank the Lord that a number of those in the local churches today,.. .when they sense that Christ is praying in heaven for a certain matter,.. .join Him to pray on earth for that very matter....To pray together with Christ in this way is to have one living with Him.

　　In the book of Revelation we see even more of the things which are above. What we have in this book is not merely a window, but an opened heaven. Heaven was opened to John, and he saw “a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne there was One sitting” (Rev. 4:1-2). This throne is not simply the throne of grace, but is the very throne of authority, the throne of the divine administration.

　　The first vision in the book of Revelation... is of the churches on earth [1:12, 20], whereas the second vision is of what is taking place in the heavens. When considered together, these two visions indicate that what is happening in the churches on earth is related to the activity in the heavens....The Lord’s move in the churches corresponds to the action on the throne in heaven. This means that what takes place in the local churches should be under the direction of the throne of God in heaven. In order for the recovery to be the Lord’s recovery, it must be under His direction. As long as there is a transmission coming from the heavens, there will be the divine flow in the churches.

　　In Revelation 4 and 5 we have a vision of our “central government,” and in Revelation 1 through 3 we have a vision of the local churches as the “embassies.” Through the seven Spirits there is a transmission going on from the heavenly “headquarters” into the “embassies.” Through the seven Spirits what is in the “headquarters” is transmitted into the churches.... From the throne in the heavens, the divine transmission brings the things above into the local churches. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 531-533, 513-515)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 58, 60-61

«　WEEK 6　DAY 4　»

　　Col. 3:3-4 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

　　Rev. 2:17 ...To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and to him I will give a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it.

　　Our destiny is glory. Today we are hidden in God, but when Christ is manifested, we shall be manifested with Him in glory (Col. 3:4)....Today we should not make a show, but should remain hidden in God, waiting for the time when we shall arrive at our destination and enter into glory with Christ. Then, at the appointed time, the time for a divinely-ordained display, there will be the manifestation of the sons of God in glory. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 526)

　　In Exodus 16:33 we see that an omerfull of manna was placed in a pot and laid up before the Lord to be kept for future generations. Hebrews 9:4 speaks of “the golden pot that had the manna.”...The manna concealed in the golden pot signifies that our life is hidden with Christ in God.... The Christ hidden in God is the manna hidden in the golden pot.

　　In the Bible gold signifies the divine nature. According to 2 Peter 1:4, we are partakers of this divine nature. Only the nature of God, the divine nature, can preserve Christ as our hidden manna....We cannot preserve Christ in our mind or emotion. We can preserve Him only in the divine nature which we have within us through regeneration. Actually, the divine nature within us is God Himself. The manna in the golden pot indicates that the very Christ whom we enjoy as our life supply is preserved in the divine nature which is now in our inmost being. Christ is our special portion of food hidden in the divine nature. When we touch the divine nature, the golden pot, we enjoy Christ as the manna hidden within it. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 455)

　　The tabernacle in the Old Testament is a sign of the universal incorporation. Christ as the hidden manna is the center of the tabernacle. The hidden manna is in the golden pot; the golden pot is in the Ark, made of acacia wood overlaid with gold; and this Ark is in the Holy of Holies. The hidden manna, which signifies Christ, is in the golden pot, which refers to God. The manna in the golden pot indicates that Christ is in the Father (John 14:10a, 11a). The Ark is in the Holy of Holies, and the Holy of Holies is our spirit. Today our spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit is the Holy of Holies. From this we can see that Christ as the hidden manna is in God the Father as the golden pot; that the Father is in Christ as the Ark with His two natures, divinity and humanity; and that this Christ as the indwelling Spirit lives in our regenerated spirit to be the reality of the Holy of Holies. This means that the Son is in the Father, that the Father is in the Son, and that the Son as the Spirit is the reality of the Holy of Holies. This implies and corresponds to the four ins in John 14:16-20. Verse 20 says, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you,” and verse 17 says, “The Spirit of reality... shall be in you.” The Son is in the Father, we are in the Son, the Son is in us, and we are indwelt by the Spirit of reality. This is the incorporation of the processed God with the regenerated believers.

　　The way to be incorporated into the tabernacle is to eat the hidden manna. The more we eat Christ, the more we are incorporated into the Triune God as a universal incorporation. By eating the hidden manna we are incorporated into the tabernacle. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory,” pp. 340-341)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msg. 39; CWWL, 1990, vol. 1, “The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man,” chs. 6-7

«　WEEK 6　DAY 5　»

　　Col. 3:15 And let the peace of Christ arbitrate in your hearts...

　　Eph. 2:15 Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.

　　4:3 Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

　　The Greek term for arbitrate [in Colossians 3:15] can also be rendered “umpire, preside,” or “be enthroned as a ruler and decider of everything.” The arbitrating peace of Christ in our hearts dissolves the complaint mentioned in verse 13.... For the proper Body life we need the peace of Christ to arbitrate, to adjust, to decide all things in our heart in the relationships between the members of His Body. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 242)

　　If we consider our experience, we shall realize that as Christians,...often we are conscious of three parties within us: a positive party, a negative party, and a neutral party. As Christians, we are more complicated than unsaved people are. Before we were saved, we were under the control of the satanic party. We could indulge in worldly amusements and entertainments without any sense of controversy within. But now that we are saved, one party may encourage us to do one thing, but another party may encourage us to do something else. Hence, there is the need for inward arbitration to settle the dispute within us.... According to Colossians 3:15, this presiding one, this arbitrator, is the peace of Christ.

　　After Paul wrote concerning the all-inclusive Christ and concerning the new man in whom Christ is all and in all and where there is no room for Greek, Jew, or other cultural distinctions, he charged the saints to care for the peace of Christ....This is the peace about which Paul speaks in Ephesians 2:15, where we are told that in Himself Christ created one new man out of two peoples. By creating the Jews and the Gentiles into one new man, Christ has made peace.

　　Whenever we sense that different parties within our being are arguing or quarreling, we need to give place to the presiding peace of Christ and allow this peace, which is the oneness of the new man, to rule within us. Let this peace, this oneness, have the final word. We need to set aside our opinion, our concept, and listen to the word of the indwelling referee.

　　The arbitrating of the peace of Christ is Christ working within us to exercise His rule over us, to speak the last word, and to make the final decision. [For example], in the case of [a] brother offended by [an] elder, Christ’s word is to love that elder, to seek him out for fellowship, and to enjoy the Lord with him.

　　When the peace of Christ is enthroned in our hearts to be the unique umpire within us, we shall have peace with God vertically and with the saints horizontally. We praise the Lord that we are enjoying peace, and in this peace the church life as the new man is preserved! As the peace of Christ presides in our hearts, the renewing of the new man takes place continually. If we stay under the ruling of the enthroned peace of Christ, we shall not offend others or damage them. Rather, by the Lord’s grace and with His peace, we shall minister life to others. The oneness in a local church and among the churches is not maintained by human endeavoring. It is maintained only by the arbitrating peace of Christ. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 242-245, 265, 564-565)

　　Christ abolished on the cross all the differences that were due to ordinances. In so doing He made peace for His Body. This peace should bind all believers together and should thus become the uniting bond. The uniting bond of peace is the issue of the working of the cross. When we remain on the cross, we have peace with others. This peace becomes the uniting bond in which we keep the oneness of the Spirit. (Eph. 4:3, footnote 3)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 28-30,32,63

«　WEEK 6　DAY 6　»

　　Col. 3:16-17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or in deed, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

　　Immediately after speaking about the peace of Christ arbitrating in us, Paul goes on to tell us to let the word of Christ dwell in us [Col. 3:16]. Why does Paul mention the peace of Christ before the word of Christ? The answer to this question is related to the basic principle revealed in the Bible that God’s speaking requires oneness. Whenever God’s people are divided, His word becomes rare. God does not speak where there is division. Division causes God’s speaking to diminish, even to cease altogether.

　　When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, God spoke in the Tent of Meeting. The Tent of Meeting was a sign of the oneness of God’s people....The temple built in Jerusalem was the continuation of the Tent of Meeting....God’s speaking through the priests came out of the Holy of Holies, the center both of the tabernacle and of the temple.

　　When the peace of Christ arbitrates in us and keeps us in a situation full of oneness and harmony, we become the place of God’s speaking, His oracle. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 567-568, 570)

　　The word of Christ includes the entire New Testament. We need to be filled with this word....The word of the Lord must have adequate room within us so that it may operate and minister the riches of Christ into our inner being. Furthermore, the word of Christ must dwell in us richly. The riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8) are in His word. When such a rich word inhabits us, it must inhabit us richly.

　　[With certain saints], although they read the Bible, God’s word remains outside of them. It is crucial for us to let the word of Christ enter into us, dwell in us, and replace our concepts, opinions, and philosophies. We need to pray, “Lord Jesus, I am willing to let go of my concepts. I want Your word to have ground in me. I am willing to forget my opinion and philosophy. I want Your word to be prevailing in me.”

　　We cannot separate the word of Christ from His arbitration. .. .We need to bring our case to the Arbitrator and listen to His word. This means that we need to allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts and the word of Christ to dwell in us. Then we shall be filled with singing and giving of thanks.

　　We need the arbitrating peace of Christ to preserve us in oneness that the Lord may speak to us. Then we need to give first place to the word of God. If we do this, we shall experience the functions of the word of God: enlightening, nourishing, quenching our thirst, strengthening, washing, building, perfecting, and edifying. What benefit we receive from the word of God!

　　First, the word of God enlightens us. If we did not have the Word, we would be in darkness. But because God’s word is full of light and it enlightens us, it can make us very clear about many different things. Second, the word of God is food, full of nourishment. This means that God’s word nourishes us while it enlightens us. I can testify that throughout the years I have been adequately nourished through the word of God.

　　The word of God also completes and perfects.... As members of the Body, we all should function. But if we would function, we first need to be perfected by the word of God. Because God’s word nourishes us, we have growth. Then through the growth, the functions come forth. The nourishment we receive from the word of God completes us and perfects us as members of the Body. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 246-247, 575, 571-573)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 33,35,64-65