Scripture Reading: Deut. 12:5, 8, 11, 13-14, 17-18, 21, 26-27; Psa. 48:2, 11-12; 80:17-19

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　»

　　Deut. 12:5-7 But to the place which Jehovah your God will choose out of all your tribes to put His name, to His habitation, shall you seek, and there shall you go. And there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices,…and there you shall eat before Jehovah your God, and you and your households shall rejoice in all your undertakings, in which Jehovah your God has blessed you.

　　The children of Israel were to seek Jehovah and come unto the place which Jehovah their God would choose out of all their tribes to put His name, even unto His habitation with His altar (Deut. 12:5-6). Here we have three things: the place, the name, and the altar….To fulfill [the] requirements [of Deuteronomy 12] was to have a center of worship, as Jerusalem would be later, for the keeping of the oneness among God’s people, avoiding the division caused by man’s preferences. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 72-73)

　　Chapter 12 of Deuteronomy corresponds in at least four ways to the revelation in the New Testament.

　　First,…the people of God should always be one….If each tribe had had its own center for the worship of God, there would have been twelve divisions among God’s people, for each center would have been the ground and the base of a division. In His wisdom, God…required them to take His choice and to come three times a year to the unique worship center, even though travel to that place was inconvenient for many of them.

　　The principle is the same in the New Testament….God’s children, the believers in Christ, must be one and have the same center for the worship of God. However,…today…there are many worship centers, and this has led to divisions. The divisions among God’s people are the result of having different preferences….The Lord’s recovery is a matter of coming back to God’s way according to God’s preference.

　　Second,…God’s way to keep the oneness of His people is to have a place with His name, the unique name. The name in which we gather for the worship of God is a matter of great importance….Today Christians should be gathered together into only one name, the name of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 18:20). However, Christians are accustomed to being gathered into other names, such as Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Methodist. To be gathered into these different names is to be divided, because these names are the base of divisions….To have other names for our worship is an abomination; it is spiritual fornication. We are Christ’s counterpart, His wife. Since we are His counterpart, we should not have a name other than His name.

　　Third, both Deuteronomy 12 and the New Testament reveal that the place chosen by God for our worship of Him is the place of His habitation….According to Ephesians 2:22, God’s habitation, His dwelling place, is in our spirit. Yes, as a church we should be gathered into the name of Christ, but we also need to be exercised in our spirit. If we come together under the name of Christ but, instead of exercising our spirit, we remain in the natural mind or, even worse, in the flesh, we will not be in the habitation of God….We must be in the spirit. Otherwise, we will lose the proper ground of the church.

　　Fourth,…we must have the altar, which signifies the cross. Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 2:2 indicates the importance of this….The crucified Christ was the unique subject, the center, the content, and the substance of Paul’s ministry….We should be on the cross…[and] not bring anything of the old man, anything of the flesh, the self, or the natural life, into the church. When we are on the cross, we are truly in the spirit.

　　If we have the name, the habitation, and the cross, there will be no divisions among us. No matter how many believers there may be in our locality and no matter how many meeting places, we all will be one. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 73-76)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 10; CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” ch. 4

«　WEEK 9　DAY 2　»

　　Rev. 1:11 Saying, What you see write in a scroll and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.

　　Matt. 18:20 For where there are two or three gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.

　　For convenience and practicality, we meet in the different cities where we live. Apparently we are divided by geography, for we meet in separate cities all over the world. Actually we remain in the oneness and are not divided, for wherever we may be, we meet in the Lord’s name, in the spirit, and with the cross.

　　Recently, in the prayer meeting of the church in Anaheim, there were saints present from a number of different countries.…Nobody gave a word about the subject of our prayer or about how we should pray. Nevertheless, we prayed in one accord. We could be one in such a way because, in spite of geographical separation, we all meet in the same place—in the Lord’s name, in our spirit, and with the cross. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 79)

　　The situation with most Christians today is very different from this. They meet not in oneness but in many different denominations. Even if Christians from various denominations meet together, they may have difficulty praying together….If the believers in Christ are to be one, they must give up all denominational things and simply come together in the name of the Lord Jesus, in the spirit, and with the cross. This is the oneness, and this is the proper ground for the worship of God.

　　Many Christians,…even though they may live in the same city,…will not meet together because they want to have their own preference. In the Lord’s recovery, we care not for our preference but for the Lord’s presence….Wherever we may be, in Anaheim or Taipei, in London or Tokyo, we should be gathered into the Lord’s name [Matt. 18:20], and we should meet in our spirit and with the cross. If we all do this, we all will meet in the same place, although we meet in different localities. This one place is the ground of the unique oneness.

　　In the Lord’s recovery, we have one name and one Spirit. We all meet in the name of Jesus Christ, and we all meet in the mingled spirit—in the regenerated human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We gather together in this spirit, not in our concept, desire, preference, or choice….At the entrance of the church there is the cross, and in order to meet as the church we must experience the cross. The flesh, the self, and the natural man cannot be in the church; they must be crucified. Therefore, we meet in the name of the Lord Jesus, in the mingled spirit, and with the cross. This is the place where we meet, and here we have the oneness which we endeavor to keep in the unique name of the Lord. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 79-80)

　　One city may have many meeting halls or districts, but there is still only one church. In a large locality the church may meet in many different places, as did the church in Jerusalem (Acts 2:46-47). In the early days the saints met in their houses, but the meeting in each house was not a church. All the meetings in the different homes were the meetings of one church….Although we may meet separately in several meeting halls on the Lord’s Day morning, and although we have prayer meetings in several dozen homes, we are still one church with one administration and one testimony. Because there is only one church in the universe, there is only one expression of the church in any given place. This is the ground of the church. The church needs to keep the principle of having one church for one place, one city with only one church; otherwise, the church will be divided. (CWWL, 1966, vol. 3, “The Revelation of Christ and the Reality of the Church,” p. 215)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 11; CWWL, 1966, vol. 3, pp. 213-226

«　WEEK 9　DAY 3　»

　　1 Cor. 1:2 To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus,…with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place…

　　2 Chron. 6:5-6 …I have not chosen a city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house for My name that it might be there;…but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there…

　　The church is constituted of the universal God, but it exists on earth in many localities, one of which was Corinth. In nature the church is universal in God, but in practice the church is local in a definite place. Hence, the church has two aspects: the universal and the local. Without the universal aspect, the church is void of content; without the local aspect, it is impossible for the church to have any expression and practice. Hence, the New Testament stresses the local aspect of the church also (Acts 8:1; 13:1; Rev. 1:11; etc.). (1 Cor. 1:2, footnote 2)

　　Our enjoyment of Christ has two aspects. One aspect is individual, which can be enjoyed in any place. The other aspect is corporate. If we desire to worship God with all the saints,…we cannot do it according to our desire, but according to God’s ordination. The place appointed by God was eventually Jerusalem (2 Chron. 6:5-6; John 4:20). Jerusalem became the unique worship center chosen by God, which helped to maintain and preserve the oneness among the children of Israel for generations. (CWWL, 1966, vol. 3, “The Revelation of Christ and the Reality of the Church,” pp. 219-220)

　　The church of God [in 1 Corinthians 1:2a]…indicates that the church is not only being possessed by God, but it has God as its nature and essence, which are divine, general, universal, and eternal….God is the nature and essence of the church. Therefore, the church is divine.

　　“The church…in Corinth” (v. 2b) was a church in a city, remaining in a definite locality and taking it as its standing, ground, and jurisdiction for its administration in business affairs. As such, it was physical, particular, local, and temporal in time. The church of God to whom Paul wrote was not in the heavens but in Corinth….The church remained in that locality for a local testimony of Christ. A local testimony of Christ is a part of the universal testimony of Christ. The universal testimony is composed of and constituted with the local testimonies.

　　The standing, ground, and jurisdiction of the church is physical rather than divine, particular rather than general, local rather than universal, and temporal in time rather than eternal. These are the local aspects of the church.

　　The church is “sanctified in Christ” (v. 2c), having been sanctified, made holy, in Christ, who is the embodiment of the processed Triune God in His fullness, as its element and sphere.

　　The church is composed of the “called saints” (v. 2d)—the assembly of the saints, the sanctified ones, who have been called out of the satanic world. We have been called by God to be sanctified in Christ. We are no longer in the world; we are in the church, which is called by God and sanctified in a wonderful person, Christ, who is our element within and our sphere without.

　　Verse 2 contains five qualifications for a genuine church.…The church which is genuine is the church of God, it is the church in a locality, it is sanctified in Christ, and it is composed of the called saints. Verse 2e continues with the fifth qualification: “With all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place.” This…indicates that the church which is genuine is related with all the saints who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in every place around the globe…including the believers today, those who came before us, and those who will come after us—who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place. (A Genuine Church (booklet), pp. 7-11)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “A Genuine Church,” pp. 373-382; The Ground of the Church (booklet)

«　WEEK 9　DAY 4　»

　　Psa. 48:2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

　　11-12 Let Mount Zion rejoice; let the daughters of Judah exult because of Your judgments. Walk about Zion, and go around her; count her towers.

　　Zion was the city of King David (2 Sam. 5:7), the center of the city of Jerusalem, where the temple as God’s dwelling place on earth was built (Psa. 9:11; 74:2; 76:2b; 135:21; Isa. 8:18). Zion within Jerusalem typifies the body of overcomers, the perfected and matured God-men, within the church as the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22; Rev. 14:1-5). As the highlight and beauty of the holy city Jerusalem (Psa. 48:2; 50:2), Zion typifies the overcomers as the high peak, the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church (48:2, 11-12; 20:2; 53:6a; 87:2). The overcomers as Zion are the reality of the Body of Christ and consummate the building up of the Body in the local churches to bring in the consummated holy city, New Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies as God’s dwelling place, in eternity (Rev. 21:1-3, 16, 22). In the new heaven and new earth the entire New Jerusalem will become Zion, with all the believers as overcomers (Rev. 21:7 and footnote 1). (Psa. 48:2, footnote 1)

　　The church life is the right place for you to be an overcomer. But this does not mean that as long as you are in the church life, you are an overcomer. It is one thing to be in the church life. It is another thing to be an overcomer in the church life.

　　In the Old Testament there was the city of Jerusalem with Zion as the center….The church life is today’s Jerusalem; within the church life there must be a group of overcomers, and these overcomers are today’s Zion. According to Revelation 14, the overcomers are standing on Mount Zion with the Lord (vv. 1-5). Actually, in typology the overcomers are today’s Zion….Without Zion (the overcomers), Jerusalem (the church life) cannot be kept and maintained.

　　Zion is the high peak, the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, and the reality of the church, the holy city. If there are no overcomers in a local church, that church is like Jerusalem without Zion….A local church must have some overcomers, and these overcomers are the peak and the center of that local church. They are the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, and the reality of that local church….Once a church has some full-time workers as overcomers, that church is like Jerusalem with the peak of Zion. The overcomers as Zion are the highlight, the center, and the reality of the church.

　　The overcomers as today’s Zion are for the consummation of the holy city (the church). They are to consummate, to finish, the building up of the local church and to bring in the consummated New Jerusalem in eternity (21:1-2). In order to complete the building up of the Body, the Lord needs the overcomers, and the building up of the Body consummates in the New Jerusalem. This is why at the end of the Bible, in the last book, there is the calling for the overcomers. Today the way to become vitalized is to answer the Lord’s call to be an overcomer.

　　There are two ways before us today. We can either choose to be vitalized or choose not to be vitalized. I am presenting these two ways before us. Which way will we take? Are we going to be vitalized or not? We have to make a resolution. In Judges 5:15 Deborah said, “Among the divisions of Reuben / There were great resolutions in heart.” We have to make a resolution to be the overcomers, the vitalized ones. An overcomer overcomes anything that replaces Christ or that is against Christ. In the Bible there is the age of the overcomers, and there is the calling for the overcomers. Furthermore, there is a way for us to be vitalized so that we can be the overcomers. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups,” pp. 274-275)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups,” ch. 1

«　WEEK 9　DAY 5　»

　　Deut. 12:15 Yet you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates…according to the blessing of Jehovah your God which He has given you…

　　16:16 Three times a year all your males shall appear before Jehovah your God in the place which He will choose….And they shall not appear before Jehovah empty-handed.

　　The children of Israel could enjoy the rich produce of the good land in two ways. The common way was to enjoy the common portion of the rich produce of the good land at any time, in any place, and with anybody. The special way was to enjoy the top portion, the firstfruit and the firstborn, in the unique place chosen by God. If we consider our experience, we shall see that we have two kinds of enjoyment of Christ’s riches….We may say that we have the common enjoyment of Christ and the special enjoyment of Christ. We have experienced the special enjoyment of Christ in the proper church life. Whenever we come to a meeting of the church, the enjoyment of Christ is high and rich. We all need to enjoy Christ both in our private life and in the church life.

　　Although the enjoyment of Christ in the church life is wonderful, it cannot replace our enjoyment of Him in our private life. Likewise, the enjoyment in our private life cannot replace the enjoyment in our public life, in our church life. Many Christians today do not see these two aspects of the enjoyment of Christ. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, “Young People’s Training,” pp. 454-455)

　　The life we need to enjoy the good land…is a life first of all of laboring on Christ,…seeking to enjoy Him and experience Him in every situation. The people of Israel after they occupied the good land and all their enemies were subdued…simply labored on the land. They tilled the ground, sowed the seed, watered the plants, nurtured the vines, and pruned the trees….It is a picture of how we must work diligently on Christ that we may enjoy His all-inclusive riches. Christ is rich beyond measure, but the church today is groveling in poverty. Why? It is because the Lord’s children today are indolent. They will not exert themselves to labor on Christ.

　　The Lord told His people that they must come together to worship Him at least three times a year….And He told them that whenever they come together…they must bring something in their hands to Him…of the produce of the good land. If they were lazy and did not work on the land, not only would they be unable to bring anything to the Lord, but they would have nothing to satisfy themselves; they would be hungry.

　　We have to labor on Christ day by day so that we produce Him in mass production. We need more than just a little of Christ to satisfy our own needs. We must produce enough of Him so that there will be a surplus remaining for others. We are meeting together to have an exhibition of Christ, not just the Christ whom God gave us but the Christ we have produced, the Christ upon whom we have labored and whom we have experienced….Brothers and sisters, this is what all our meetings should be—an exhibition, a fair, in which all sorts of the produce of Christ are displayed.

　　The life in the land is a life full of the enjoyment of Christ, both personally and collectively with the Lord’s people. May we be diligent to labor on Him, to have our hands filled with Him, and then come to the place that He has appointed, to the very ground of unity, to enjoy this rich and glorious Christ with God’s children and with God Himself. (CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” pp. 342-344, 347, 352)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1963, vol. 4, “The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church Life,” chs. 14-15; CWWL, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” chs. 15-16; CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, “Young People’s Training,” chs. 12-13

«　WEEK 9　DAY 6　»

　　Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.

　　3:11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

　　Often the pagan centers of worship were located on mountains or hills or under flourishing trees (Deut. 12:2). The mountains and hills signify the exaltation of something other than Christ, and the flourishing trees signify things that are beautiful and attractive. The various worship centers in today’s Christianity lift up something other than Christ. In principle, these centers of worship are on a mountain or hill, the high places. However, God’s people were to come to Mount Zion, the unique place chosen by God for corporate worship. The worship at the high places was a factor in the dispersion of the children of Israel.

　　In principle, we must destroy all the places, idols, and names. To do this is to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. But if we insist on our own choice, we are doing what is right in our own eyes. We must fear the Lord and go to the place He has chosen. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” p. 273)

　　The ground of oneness is not simply a matter of one city, one church. The ground of oneness is deeper, richer, higher, and fuller than this. We all must learn that in this universe God has chosen only one place, and that place is the church.

　　The church with Christ is the unique place of God’s choice. In order to fulfill the word of Colossians 3:11, every other place must be utterly destroyed. We must destroy everything that is not the church with Christ. Then we will simply be in the church life enjoying Christ as the riches of the good land. As we enjoy Him with God, we will be planted in the house of the Lord, we will grow, and we will flourish. This is the proper way to have the Christian life and the church life. This is the ground of oneness.

　　On this ground it is not possible to have division, for the basis of division has been destroyed. Our temperament, disposition, natural characteristics, and preferences have all been eliminated. Our religion, culture, and particular ways have also been destroyed. In the church there cannot be anything other than Christ. Christ must be all and in all….As we enjoy Him before God, this enjoyment will become our worship, our church life, and even our Christian daily living. Then we will grow and mature on the ground of oneness.

　　From my experience in the Lord’s recovery…I can testify that the unique place of God’s choice leaves no opportunity for the indulgence of lust or for the exercise of our ambition. During all the years in China, I was under the direction of Brother Nee’s ministry. In all my preaching I was the same as he. All the “high places” were torn down, and therefore there was no room for the indulgence of lust or the carrying out of selfish ambition. The same is true among us today. We care only to exalt Christ. If we maintain the ground of oneness, God’s unique choice, without elevating anything other than Christ, it will not be possible to have division. In the Lord’s recovery we elevate Christ and Christ alone. We may talk a great deal about life, but we do not even elevate life to the point of making it a high place. Certain brothers among us are very keen and have a good deal of natural ability. But their keenness and ability must be restricted by the ground of God’s choice. This restriction will keep them from elevating something in place of Christ. We in the Lord’s recovery can testify that, in contrast to today’s Christianity, we have no high places. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” pp. 288-289, 320-321)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “The Genuine Ground of Oneness,” chs. 5, 8, 10; CWWL, 1968, vol. 1, “The Practical Expression of the Church,” ch. 9