Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:9-10; 4:15-16; Col. 2:19; 1 Cor. 8:1b

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 2　DAY 1　»

　　Eph. 1:9-10 Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him.

　　When Satan, the power of death, injected himself into man, Satan became death and darkness to man. Death brings in corruption, and darkness brings in confusion. Satan’s goal is to corrupt God’s creation and to cause confusion. But praise the Lord that where death abounds, life abounds all the more!… God came in to enliven, to impart life. Where there is life, there is light also. Death ruins, but life heals; darkness brings in confusion, but light brings in the proper order….God…has come in to enliven the deadened creation and to bring in order. In this order all things are headed up in Christ. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 91)

　　God dispensed Himself into Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. He had an even greater dispensation with Moses and, of course, with the Lord Jesus. The dispensing continues in the New Testament Epistles. It may surprise you to know that God’s dispensation at the present time is even greater than it was at the time of the apostle Paul. I doubt that when Paul was on earth there was a congregation who had the privilege of hearing the things that you are hearing today. Today there is a deeper, higher, and wider dispensation of the grace of God. This dispensation will continue through the millennium until the fullness of the times. The dispensation of the fullness of the times will be the highest and the broadest. This dispensation will be in eternity, as revealed in Revelation 21 and 22.

　　In these chapters we have a new environment, the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem [Rev. 21:1-2]…. In the Bible the sea signifies death. For there to be no more sea means that there will be no trace of death. By that time death will have been swallowed up. At the end of the millennium, death, the last enemy, will be abolished and cast into the lake of fire. In place of death, there will be a new environment, a new sphere, a new circumference, in the center of which will be the New Jerusalem.

　　We enjoy a miniature of this consummate dispensation in the church life today. In the church we have the flow of life, we drink the water of life, and we eat the tree of life. This is God’s dispensation in the church life. However, it is not the highest dispensation, the dispensation of the fullness of times. As I enjoy the living water in the church, I am awaiting the ultimate dispensation. We shall all be in this consummate dispensation, and we shall be fully saturated with the Triune God.

　　God on the throne refers to the Father, the Lamb refers to the Son, and the river of water of life refers to the Spirit. John 7 reveals clearly that the river of life denotes the Spirit. Thus, in Revelation 22 we have God the Father, God the Son as the redeeming One, and God the Spirit flowing with God the Son as the tree of life to be our life supply. This is the dispensation of the Triune God, the top dispensation, the dispensation of the fullness of the times.

　　This dispensation began with Abel and has been increasing throughout the ages until it eventually will reach the dispensation of the fullness of times. We are getting close to that dispensation. If we realize this, we shall be beside ourselves with joy. Not even the apostle Paul was as close to the ultimate dispensation as we are. Hallelujah, we all shall share in the consummate dispensation! In the Lord’s recovery we have in the church life a miniature of that coming dispensation. How wonderful!…Oh, in the church life we drink the water of life and eat of the tree of life! By eating and drinking we become saturated with God’s very life through His dispensation. The more life that is dispensed into us, the higher we rise up. This is the heading up in Christ. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 93-95)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 8-10

«　WEEK 2　DAY 2　»

　　Ezek. 37:4-5 …Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah….I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

　　7 …As I prophesied, there was a noise,…a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

　　10 …And the breath came into them; and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

　　The heading up of all things is mentioned in Ephesians 1:10. But this verse does not stand alone; it is the continuation of verses 3 through 9. This indicates that the heading up of all things is the issue of all the items covered in verses 3 through 9: selection, predestination, the praise of the glory of God’s grace, being graced in the Beloved, having redemption and forgiveness, and having God’s grace abound to us in all wisdom and prudence. Verse 9 speaks of the mystery of God’s will according to the good pleasure which He purposed in Himself….The infinitive to head up in verse 10 is related to all the preceding things in the foregoing verses. This means that God chose us that He may head up all things in Christ. He predestinated us unto sonship that He may head up all things in Christ. He accomplished redemption for us through the blood of Christ in order to head up all things in Christ. God has graced us and caused grace to abound to us in all wisdom and prudence that He may head up all things in Christ. The heading up of all things in Christ is the issue of all these things. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 72-73)

　　Many Christians have never realized that God has chosen us, predestinated us, redeemed us, forgiven us, and graced us for the purpose of heading up all things in Christ….Christians may know a great deal about God’s selection and predestination without knowing how these are related to the heading up of all things in Christ….The ultimate goal is not even the church; it is the heading up of all things in Christ. Yes, the church is the goal, but …the consummate goal is the heading up of all things in Christ.

　　The collapse comes from the factor of death, and the rising up comes from the factor of life. When the factor of death causes a collapse, all the parts of our being become detached from one another. This is illustrated by the dry bones in Ezekiel 37. When those bones were dead and dry, they were detached. But when the breath entered into them, they became living, they rose up, and they were attached (Ezek. 37:4-10). This rising up and attaching is actually the heading up. Formerly, the bones were piled in a heap, each of them detached from the body. But when the breath of life entered into these dead bones, they firstly rose up and then became attached to one another. After this they became a body, and even an army. This is what it means to be headed up.

　　We should …consider [this] in the light of our experience. Many of us can testify that we used to be detached and in the heap caused by the universal collapse. But one day the factor of life came into us, and we rose up and became attached. After coming into the church life, we had the deep sense that we were more and more upright and that we were becoming more attached. This is the heading up in Christ. A number of times, however, the power of death has worked even in the church to inject the factor of death into the members of the church. When the factor of death gets into certain members, they are poisoned and spread the poison of death to others. Once again these dear ones collapse into a heap and are thus far removed from being headed up. But, praise the Lord, the factor of life eventually reaches them again! When the breath of life is breathed into them and the factor of life enters into them, they rise up once more, become reattached, and experience being headed up. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 73, 84-85)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1965, vol. 1, “The Vision, Practice, and Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ,” chs. 2-4

«　WEEK 2　DAY 3　»

　　Eph. 4:15 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ.

　　John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life…

　　1 Tim. 3:15 But if I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.

　　Today, if we want to build up the Body of Christ, we must love God, Christ, and the church in the love with which God loves us and in the love which He put within us. By this, we can hold to the truth in this love. According to the words of Solomon, everything under the sun is vanity; there is no reality (Eccl. 1:2). But there is One who is real in the universe, God Himself. If God occupies the proper position in everything, then everything is true. Otherwise, all things are but vanity of vanities. As Romans 3:4 says, every man is a liar; only God is true. In this true God there are three things: the economy of God, the Christ of God, and the Body of Christ—the church. In the whole universe only this group of things is true. If you take them away from the universe, the universe will become vain. For this reason, when you hear some rumors in the church, you should compare them with these words…. If they do not conform to these three things, you should let these rumors go. In this way, you will be holding to truth in love. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” p. 102)

　　Love is not just an element; it is also a sphere. Element refers to the inward constituent. The constituent in the love of God is just God Himself. This constituent of love is in us, and we hold to truth in this constituent. This love is also a sphere. In this love and by this love, we are able to hold to truth.

　　When we hold to truth, the first item to hold to is God’s New Testament economy…. He arranged to create the heavens and the earth and to create man according to His image and likeness so that man would be like Him, be His vessel, and be prepared for the day when the Creator God would enter into man to be mingled with man, to become the many members of Christ, and to constitute the Body of Christ to express Christ, which is to express the Triune God in Christ. This is the economy of God.

　　Second, we have to hold to the all-inclusive Christ. This Christ is the One who fills all in all. He is not only in all but also fills all. The universe is immeasurable, and Paul compared the breadth, length, height, and depth of the universe to the measure of Christ (Eph. 3:18). This shows us that the measure and riches of Christ are unsearchable.

　　Third, we have to hold to the church. The church is the Body of Christ as the fullness of Christ to express Him. Hence, the church is not an organization, but an organism….The church is the Body of Christ. It is constituted by those who are regenerated, saved, and have received Christ as their life….We have to hold to this organism and not to any organized congregation.

　　To hold to truth is for the purpose of growing into the Head, Christ. According to our experience, the growth here is not our growth, but it is the growth of Christ within us. This is like the words of John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Before we believed in Jesus, it was we who were growing. After we believed in the Lord and began to love Him, we began to decrease, and Christ began to increase within us. In the end we will be like Paul who said that “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Moreover, when Christ grows within us, we grow in Him. Actually, our growth is just His growth. As a result, we decrease, and He comes in to gradually replace us, and we grow into Him. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” pp. 102-103)

　　Further Reading: God’s Purpose for the Church (booklet)

«　WEEK 2　DAY 4　»

　　Col. 2:19 …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.

　　Eph. 5:23 For a husband is head of the wife as also Christ is Head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the Body.

　　The meaning of growing into the Head, Christ, is acknowledging the authority of the headship of Christ. We have to acknowledge Him as Lord and Head. He has the authority over us. In all things big or small we have to allow Him to be the Lord. This lesson is not easy. In our eating out in restaurants and in our shopping, seldom do we allow Him to be the Lord. Since we lack the practice in our daily life, it is not a surprise that when we come to the meeting, we find it difficult to prophesy for the Lord. The key to prophesying is to allow Jesus to be the Lord. In your daily life you have to allow Jesus to be your Lord. Only then will you have the experience, and only then will you have something to say in the meetings. Christ is not only the Head of us individually; He is also the Head of the church and the Head of all things. We should acknowledge the authority of His headship in our Christian life, in the church life, and in everything. By this we will grow into Him. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” p. 104)

　　When we grow into the Head, Christ, we are allowing Christ to increase and grow in all the inward parts of the members. Today our common problem is that we reserve a big part within us for ourselves and give the Lord only a little place. Therefore, it is impossible for Him to increase and grow within us. When He cannot grow, we cannot grow. There are many Christians on earth today, but there are few who would allow the Lord to grow within them. We must allow the Lord to have the proper place in us. We must allow Him to increase, grow, and occupy our whole being, part by part. In this way when you grow in the Lord and I grow in the Lord, the sum total will be the growth of the Body of Christ. In other words, when Christ grows in you and me, the Body of Christ will grow. Hence, the growth of the Body of Christ is the growth of Christ in His members.

　　If you allow Christ to grow in you, your gift will be manifested. As a result, Christ will not only be your life and living, but will be your gift as well….We are the members of Christ. As such, we must allow Christ to grow in us so that we can be perfected…. Hence, perfecting and growth in Ephesians 4 refer to the same thing.

　　In order to perfect others, we must first have the experience ourselves. We must first learn the lessons and know God’s economy. Then we can help others to see God’s economy. It is not a matter of improving and cultivating ourselves. It is a matter of denying our self and knowing the crucified and resurrected Lord as the Spirit who abides in us to be our life. We should live with Him, move with Him, and allow Him to be the Lord in everything. This shows us that, on the one hand, the cross has terminated our old man. On the other hand, it shows us that Christ is the Spirit of life who is now our life. The cross decreases us, and the resurrecting Spirit supplies Christ into us that we would be equipped. This is the perfecting. In the church meetings, all the prophesying should be based on this and should have this as the focus. This kind of word should be spoken frequently in the meetings. The more we speak this kind of word, the more perfecting there will be. We have to speak until all the brothers and sisters are affected in their daily lives by this kind of word. In this way they will receive the genuine perfecting. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” pp. 104-105)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” ch. 3

«　WEEK 2　DAY 5　»

　　Eph. 3:4-5 …The mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men,… has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.

　　5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissoluteness, but be filled in spirit.

　　In each of the six chapters of Ephesians, the human spirit is mentioned. Our human spirit has been regenerated and indwelt by the compound, all-inclusive, consummated Spirit to make this spirit a mingled spirit. In 1:17 the apostle Paul prayed that the Father would give us such a mingled spirit of wisdom to understand and of revelation to see. We need the revelation and the enlightenment to see the mystery of God’s economy. We also need to understand, to apprehend, what we see by the divine wisdom. The economy of God is a real mystery, yet it has been revealed to us. We can see His economy and it is made known to us so that we can receive it, understand it, apprehend it, and participate in it. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ,” p. 540)

　　Ephesians 3:5 tells us that the economy of God, which is so mysterious, has been unveiled to the apostles and the prophets in their spirit. This revelation was given not in their mind but in their spirit. If we are going to understand, to realize, the reality of God’s mysterious economy, we must learn to discern our spirit from our soul (Heb. 4:12). We should not be bothered by our soul. We should not be troubled, complicated, and perplexed by our mind. Instead, we should always turn to our spirit where we can meet the divine Spirit. In our mingled spirit, we have the capacity to see the mystery of God’s economy, to understand it, to apprehend it, and to receive it and retain it as our portion.

　　Ephesians 4:23 says that we have to be renewed in the spirit of our mind….Our spirit can come into our mind, subdue it, take it over, and occupy it…. It is by this spirit of the mind that we are renewed every day into the image of our Creator (Col. 3:10)…. It is in this way that we are transformed and conformed to the image of our Creator.

　　Ephesians 5:18 tells us not to be drunk with wine, that is, not to be filled in our physical body with wine. Instead, we should be filled in our spirit. Our spirit needs to be filled with the processed Triune God, with the transcending Christ, with the consummated Spirit. Then we will be full of praise, singing and speaking one to another (vv. 19-20). The melodies, the songs, are not only good for singing but also good for speaking. As we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as we are praising God, we will spontaneously be submissive to one another (v. 21). The wives will be submissive to the husbands, and the husbands will love the wives (vv. 22, 25). Then we will have the proper church life, full of submission and full of praising to the Triune God, with no quarreling, no murmuring, and no complaining.

　　Ephesians 6 tells us something further. On the one hand, the church life is a praising life and a submitting life; at the same time it is also a fighting life. While we are praising and submitting to one another, the enemy is here fighting, so we have to fight against him by prayer. Verse 18 says that whenever we pray, we should pray in our spirit, not in our mind. If we are going to walk, we need to use our feet. No one can walk by his nose. Even for someone to walk on his hands is awkward. To walk by our feet is the right way. In the same way, we should not pray merely by our mind. We must pray by our spirit and in our spirit. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ,” pp. 541-542)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ,” ch. 6

«　WEEK 2　DAY 6　»

　　Eph. 4:16 Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

　　1 Cor. 8:1 …Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

　　Ephesians 4:16 begins with out from whom. The expression out from in the original language carries the sense of “originating from.” When we grow into Christ in all things big or small, and when we become men in Christ enjoying Him, we will spontaneously have something originating from Him that is for the building up of His Body.

　　Verse 16 goes on to say, “All the Body…through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body.” The growth of the Body of Christ is first through the joints of the rich supply. These are the gifts described in verse 11: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the shepherds and teachers. They are the joints, which are joined together by the sinews (Col. 2:19), for the rich supply to every member of the Body of Christ. Second, this growth is through the operation in the measure of each one part…. Every member in the Body of Christ, whether great or small, has a measure. Because of its measure, it has an operation. Through the rich supply of every joint and through the operation in the measure of each one part, the Body of Christ grows gradually. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” pp. 105-106)

　　To be joined, fitted, together is like the joining together of the frames and beams of a house. Hence, to be joined together is for all the parts of the frames to be joined as one structure. To be knit together is like the filling up of the holes in between the frames by the rocks and the bricks, which are stacked up on top of one another and interwoven together. Hence, to be knit together is for all the other parts to be joined to the frames and to be knit together with one another to form one Body. In this way the whole Body is built together.

　　The end of verse 16 says, “The building up of itself [the Body] in love.” The building up of the Body of Christ is in love and by love. This love is not our natural love. Rather, it is the divine love. We are building up the Body of Christ in the element and sphere of the divine love. At the same time this is the direct building up of the whole Body of Christ by the many members of this Body. The Head does not build directly, nor do the gifted ones do the direct building work. Rather, it is we, the perfected members, who build up the Body of Christ directly. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” pp. 106-107)

　　Love is the most excellent way for us to prophesy and to teach others [1 Cor. 12:31b]….Love is the most excellent way for us to be anything or do anything….We should love everybody, even our enemies….We must be perfect as our Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48) by loving the evil ones and the good ones without any discrimination. We must be perfect as our Father because we are His sons, His species….We must love any kind of person. The Lord Jesus said that He came to be a Physician, not for the healthy ones, but for the sick ones [Matt. 9:12].

　　The church is not a police station to arrest people or a law court to judge people, but a home to raise up the believers….The church is a loving home to raise up the children. The church is also a hospital to heal and to recover the sick ones….The church is a school to teach and edify the unlearned ones who do not have much understanding. Because the church is a home, a hospital, and a school, the co-workers and elders should be one with the Lord to raise up, to heal, to recover, and to teach others in love. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” p. 126)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” ch. 8