Scripture Reading: Jer. 1:1, 4-8, 10, 18-19; 4:19; 9:1, 10; 13:17

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 & DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 1　DAY 1　»

　　Jer. 1:18-19 And I am now making you today into a fortified city and into an iron pillar and into bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. And they will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you, declares Jehovah, to deliver you.

　　[God] called a young man named Jeremiah and commissioned him to speak for Him. When Jeremiah excused himself by saying that he was a youth and that he did not know how to speak, Jehovah said to him, “Do not say, I am a youth; / For everywhere I send you, you shall go; / And everything I command you, you shall speak. / Do not be afraid of their faces, / For I am with you to deliver you” (Jer. 1:7-8). Jehovah went on to say that He would make Jeremiah into a fortified city, into an iron pillar, and into walls of brass against the whole land. The kings, princes, priests, and people would fight against him, but they would not prevail against him (vv. 18-19). Those who fought against Jeremiah were actually fighting against Jehovah. He was Jehovah’s one-person army. No one would defeat him because Jehovah was with him. Thus, Jeremiah could not escape God’s commission but was constrained to accept it. (Life-study of Jeremiah, p. 64)

　　[In Jeremiah 1:10] we are reminded of the two meanings of Jeremiah’s name: “Jehovah exalts” and “Jehovah tears down.” The plucking up, the breaking down, and the destroying are Jehovah’s tearing down. The building up and the planting are Jehovah’s exalting. Surely every negative thing—everything of Satan, sin, and the world—must be torn down. Along with this we have Jehovah’s building up and His planting, both of which involve His word. God’s word is a building up of Christ and a planting of Christ. This is for the exalting of Christ.

　　Jeremiah, who was born a priest but was called to be a prophet, might have been a timid, fearful person. This timid person was given a charge by Jehovah….If Jeremiah had been dismayed before the people, God would have dismayed him [cf. v. 17]. In the matter of functioning in the church meetings,…we should not be dismayed by anyone, and we should not be afraid of anyone….Rather, we should function to speak for the Lord.

　　Why was it necessary for God to make Jeremiah into a fortified city, into an iron pillar, and into bronze walls [cf. vv. 18-19]? This was necessary because a battle was raging. The kings, the princes, the priests, and the people of the land were enemies not only to Jeremiah but also to God. These enemies were fighting against God, and Jeremiah was sent to represent God and fight for Him. Those who fought against Jeremiah fought against Jehovah because Jeremiah and Jehovah were one. For this reason, God wanted Jeremiah to know that He was with him and that He had made him into a fortified city, into an iron pillar, and into brass walls.

　　The Bible tells us that on earth there is always a battle raging between God and those who oppose Him and fight against Him. God does not fight by Himself directly but through His servants who have been sent by Him. This was the situation in Jeremiah’s time. God sent His army—a young man named Jeremiah—to fight against those who opposed Him. Jeremiah was equipped by God to such an extent that he became a fortified city. Because God was with him to deliver him, the opposers would not prevail over him.

　　In the Lord’s recovery today, we also face opposition, condemnation, and rejection, and we also must fight for God. As we are sent by God to fight for Him, He fights through us. In this fighting our weapons are God Himself and the truth revealed in the Bible. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 35, 37-38)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Jeremiah, msgs. 1, 10-11, 15; CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, pp. 21-24; Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 1, lsn. 12

«　WEEK 1　DAY 2　»

　　Jer. 1:9-10 Then Jehovah stretched out His hand and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said to me, Now I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to tear down, to build up and to plant.

　　The church of God is desolate, and the majority of God’s people have failed, have lost their position, and are unable to meet God’s need. However, throughout the past two thousand years a small number of overcomers have always been raised up to be God’s faithful witnesses to maintain His testimony….Throughout the ages the line of the overcomers has never ceased. (CWWL, 1954, vol. 1, p. 437)

　　When the people said that all was peaceful and well and that they could resist Babylon, Jeremiah rose up and said that all was not peaceful and that they would not be able to resist (Jer. 27:1-15)….Elijah was a condemning anti-testimony; Jeremiah was a weeping anti-testimony….Elijah told the Israelites that they were serving Baal, not Jehovah; this matter needs condemnation….However, the anti-testimony of Jeremiah was different….He told them that…they would be handed over to the enemy, but they believed that God would save them. Therefore, Jeremiah wept for them and did not condemn.

　　When God’s people are desolate, we need to rise up to be an anti-testimony. On the one hand, we should rebuke and condemn them to show that they are not serving God with a pure heart but are caring for the flesh and following the world for the sake of their own name, taking Baal as their center. On the other hand, we should mourn for their condition of not knowing God, for they have clearly lost God’s presence although they say that God is with them, and they have lost God’s grace although they think that God is being gracious to them.

　　Today we need such overcomers among God’s people….Martin Luther rose up to condemn the Catholic Church as idolatrous; this is the aspect of the condemning anti-testimony represented by Elijah. There are also those who weep before God for the desolate church and the ignorant Christians, telling them that they have already lost God’s presence and do not have God’s grace, although these Christians have no feeling and still think that they are graced by God. This is the aspect of the weeping anti-testimony represented by Jeremiah. (CWWL, 1954, vol. 1, pp. 432-433)

　　Jeremiah was contrary to the prophets who spoke false prophecies: …Only Jeremiah said that God would discipline them and cause them to be captured. He was a weeping prophet (Jer. 14:17; Lam. 1:16), who wept over Israel’s stupor, weeping because they thought they had peace when great calamity was about to come upon them. While weeping, he prophesied so that they might detest sin and return to the true God in order to have true peace. However, the children of Israel did not listen to his words; instead, they abhorred and persecuted him (Jer. 15:15; 11:19; 18:18-23; 20:1-2, 7-10) and even imprisoned him (32:1-5). During his imprisonment the Israelites were taken captive.

　　Elijah’s testimony was against idols, whereas Jeremiah’s testimony was against false peace. Elijah was a strong person (cf. 2 Kings 1:10, 12), whereas Jeremiah was a soft person. We should not think that a soft person cannot be an anti-testimony….At the time of Elijah one had to be strong in order to be an anti-testimony against false gods. At the time of Jeremiah, however, the Israelites were pitiful; they were about to be led to slaughter, yet they still said that all was well. At such a time, there was the need for a soft person to weep for them. Jeremiah could not cause the heavens to rain, but “rain” came from his eyes. He shed many tears and prophesied in tears. Such a person is able to soften others. (CWWL, 1954, vol. 4, p. 551)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1954, vol. 1, pp. 428-437; CWWL, 1954, vol. 4, pp. 550-551; Life-study of Revelation, msg. 12; CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, pp. 21-24

«　WEEK 1　DAY 3　»

　　Jer. 9:17-19 Thus says Jehovah of hosts, Consider, and call for the mourning women to come, and send for the skillful women to come; let them hasten and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may shed tears and our eyelids may pour forth water. For a voice of wailing was heard from Zion: How we are ruined! We are utterly put to shame!…

　　In the Bible there is a weeping prophet…He said, “My eye runs down with water” (Lam. 1:16), and, “My eye runs down with streams of water” (Lam. 3:48)….The feeling to weep was very heavy in him. But when you read the book of Jeremiah, you can sense that, although he wept, his emotion had been disciplined. His sorrowful and weeping emotion had been restricted so that God could come to him and use him to express the sorrowful feelings that were in God’s heart. Although God was grieved and hurt because of His people, He had to find someone on this earth who had these feelings. Then when His Spirit came upon that particular one and put those feelings in his spirit, he would then express the sorrowful feeling of God out of his emotion. If Jeremiah had been a merry and cheerful prophet, God would not have been able to use him. Hence, in order that God may be fully expressed through you, you need a spiritual emotion. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” p. 88)

　　The book of Jeremiah has as its particular nature and standing God’s tenderheartedness plus God’s righteousness. Our God is a tenderhearted God, and He is absolutely righteous. He is full of compassion, sympathy, and tender care.

　　This book is also an autobiography in which Jeremiah tells us of his situation, his person, and his feeling, revealing his tender heart. Jehovah is the tenderhearted God, and in being tenderhearted Jeremiah is absolutely one with God….In his weeping Jeremiah represented God. Thus, God could use a prophet like Jeremiah to express Him, speak for Him, and represent Him on earth.

　　According to the book of Jeremiah, God’s love is a composition of His tender care, compassion, and sympathy. Even while He chastises His elect people Israel, He is compassionate toward them. Regarding this, God can be compared to a father who weeps as he disciplines his child because he loves the child….Jeremiah wept on God’s behalf; his weeping expressed God’s feeling. We may say that God wept within Jeremiah’s weeping, for in his weeping Jeremiah was one with God.

　　In Jeremiah 9 we see not only Jehovah’s correction to Israel, His hypocritical worshippers, but also His feeling concerning Israel’s suffering of His correction….Jehovah said that for the mountains He would take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness, a lamentation. He would do this because they had been burned up so that no one passed through, and the sound of cattle was not heard. Both the birds of the sky and the beasts had fled and gone (v. 10). Then Jehovah said, “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, / A habitation of jackals; / And I will make the cities of Judah / A desolation without inhabitant” (v. 11). This indicates that although Jehovah was punishing Israel, He was still sympathetic toward them. On the one hand, He was punishing Israel; on the other hand, He was sympathizing with His punished people.

　　[In Jeremiah 9:17-19] Jehovah proposed that the mourning women, professional wailers, come and wail “for us.” In these verses the words us and our indicate that Jehovah joined Himself to the suffering people and was one with them in their suffering. The sympathetic God who punished was also among His punished people….Eventually, those who wailed were wailing not only for Israel but also for Jehovah. Jehovah Himself was weeping in sympathy for His people. He was like a mother who, while spanking her child, weeps along with her child. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 1, 5, 78-79)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” ch. 7; Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 4, lsn. 59

«　WEEK 1　DAY 4　»

　　Jer. 9:1 Oh that my head were waters, and my eye a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

　　Acts Serving the Lord as a slave with all humility 20:19 and tears and trials which came upon me by the plots of the Jews.

　　No proper worker of the Lord can be without tears….All those who have a heart for their work cannot help weeping. Many times when we try to deal with someone and exhaust all means, there is no result….Sometimes when no persuasion works, tears become the last persuasion.

　　There is no lover of the Lord who does not cry. We should ache for sinners to the point of weeping for them. We should weep because God’s glory is challenged, and we should weep in anguish that the enemy is not yet bound….All those whose hearts are in the Lord’s work surely weep. Jeremiah was a prophet who was greatly used by the Lord. He was such because of his tears. He was anxious and felt responsible for God’s children, and he wept for them day and night. (CWWN, vol. 19, p. 494)

　　Tears are a good way to work. I say again, no one can be complete without tears. A person may be good at many things, but if he does not weep, he cannot be considered as complete. In serving the Lord, we must have tears, both before the Lord and before men. Of course, such tears cannot be fabricated. They must flow spontaneously out of our deep feelings.

　　Paul said that for three years he was in tears for them night and day [Acts 20:31]. Have you shed tears this way for your work? All we have to ask a person is whether or not he has shed tears to find out whether or not he is zealous, if he is single for his work, and if his heart of service is complete. I must say honestly that without tears no work can become prosperous. If we do not do this one thing in secret, the progress of our work will be hindered. (CWWN, vol. 19, pp. 495-496)

　　The more spiritual we are, the more emotional we are. Actually, if we do not know how to weep or shed tears, we are not very spiritual. However,…if we shed tears from our soul as our person, this is not to live Christ. When I began to live in the spirit, in my new man, taking the soul as my organ, I began to shed tears. At these times I shed tears by the soul as my organ, not as my person. The person who shed tears was my spirit….When we love someone by our soul as a person, that is wrong. It may be love, but it is of the old man and is still related to the flesh. To love by our soul as our person is wrong, but to love by our spirit as our person with our soul as our organ is right. It is impossible to love someone without our soul. Our spirit, strictly speaking, does not have the loving ability. In order to love, we must have a loving organ. The loving organ is our emotion, a part of our soul.

　　Our spirit by itself cannot weep or shed tears. In the Gospels the Lord Jesus wept (John 11:35; Luke 19:41). He wept from His spirit as His person with His soul as His organ. He did not love by the soul as His person; rather, He loved by His spirit as His person with His soul as His organ. Today, as Christians, we are the same as the Lord Jesus. In our Christian life our soul must be denied as our person, yet our soul is still very useful as an organ. When our soul rises up to be our person, we should tell our soul, “Dear soul, you were my person in the past but not today. Today you are my organ in resurrection, and my person is my regenerated spirit with the Lord Jesus as its life. This spirit is the new man, and this new man is my person. You, dear soul, are now only my organ. Stay in your position, and do not propose anything to me. When I love or think, you must be my loving and thinking organ.” (CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life,” pp. 20-21)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 19, issue no. 48; CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life,” ch. 3; Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 48

«　WEEK 1　DAY 5　»

　　2 Cor. 12:15 But I, I will most gladly spend and be utterly spent on behalf of your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved less?

　　7:3 …I have said before that you are in our hearts for our dying together and our living together.

　　If we have ability to carry on a work but lack an intimate concern, our work will be fruitless. What is needed to establish a good family life and church life is intimate concern. How fruitful we are, how much fruit we bear,…depends on whether or not we have an intimate concern.

　　As long as we have the proper concern for people, we are well on our way to be qualified to be used of God for their salvation. A very good testimony of this is in the book Seen and Heard. In that book, the writer, James M’Kendrick, tells us of standing in front of a group of unbelievers and weeping, without saying a word. Nevertheless, a number were saved, for he had a deep concern. Eloquence, gift, and power can never touch people as deeply as your concern for them. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 382-383)

　　If we have an intimate concern, we shall be tender with others. A crude, insensitive person does not have an intimate concern. If a husband does not have a proper concern for his wife, he may be very strict and demanding of her. But having an intimate concern will cause him to be tender. Once we become tender, our way of speaking will be soft and sweet. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, p. 389)

　　Second Corinthians 2:4 says, “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you through many tears, not that you would be made sorrowful but that you would know the love which I have more abundantly toward you.” We know that Paul wrote the first Epistle to the Corinthians when he heard from the household of Chloe about the condition of the Corinthian believers. Paul pointed out all their mistakes and rebuked them with the most severe and frank word. Now in the second Epistle he told them how he wrote the first Epistle. He said that he did it out of much affliction and anguish of heart and through many tears.

　　When you hear of a brother or a sister backsliding, would you weep like Paul did?…Brothers, do you have the strength to weep? You saw how severe Paul’s words to the Corinthians were; they were like sharp knives….One thing is sure: if you want your words to pierce others, they must first pierce you. If they have never pierced you, they can never pierce others. Paul was indeed such a person. While he was writing the strongest words in the first Epistle, he was doing it in tears. Before he spoke, and before others felt the pain, he felt the pain. Therefore, if you want others to feel the pain, you must first feel the pain. It will never work if you only want others to be sorrowful. For this reason, every worker of the Lord must be experienced in the matter of tears. In other words, all those who do not shed tears when they see their brothers falling and failing are not worthy to do the Lord’s work, and they are not qualified to rebuke or exhort others. If you want to rebuke a brother, or if you want to tell him about something that he has done wrong, you must first feel the pain and the sharpness of the words before you are qualified to rebuke. It is easy to point out others’ shortcomings, but it is difficult to say it with tears. However, only those who have tears are qualified to speak.

　　Thank the Lord that the blood of His Son was shed on earth and was not retracted. Man can receive salvation through this blood. Thank the Lord that the tears of His Son were also not retracted. They tell us that He is mindful of us, and they also induce us to shed tears before God and before men. May we imitate our Lord in our prayers and in our work, and may we shed more tears! (CWWN, vol. 19, pp. 496-497)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msgs. 44-45; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “A Word of Love to the Co-workers, Elders, Lovers, and Seekers of the Lord,” ch. 2

«　WEEK 1　DAY 6　»

　　2 Cor. 11:28 …The crowd of cares pressing upon me daily, the anxious concern for all the churches.

　　Psa. 84:5-6 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring; indeed the early rain covers it with blessings.

　　In [2 Corinthians] 7:2 and 3 Paul says, “Make room for us; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts for our dying together and our living together.” Paul’s word here reveals his deep, intimate concern for the Corinthians. This utterance is not merely something ethical, religious, spiritual, or even loving. It is possible to say a word of love and feel love for others, but still not have much concern for them….Paul had such a concern for the believers at Corinth.

　　A mother has not only love for her child; she also has a deep concern….A woman may be lacking in education, but if she has a deep concern for her children, she is qualified to be a good mother. Of course, knowledge and ability are helpful, but they are not prerequisites. The unique prerequisite for being a good mother is concern. The same principle is true regarding caring for the church. It is not adequate for the elders simply to love the church. This love must become a deep concern, a concern for all the young ones and weaker ones. This concern causes our labor to be fruitful. We all need this kind of intimate concern for others. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, p. 387)

　　In 2 Corinthians 7:2 Paul says, “Make room for us.”…Paul’s longing was that just as he had the Corinthians in his heart, so he would be in their heart. The believers at Corinth were in Paul’s heart both to live together and to die together [7:3]. This surely is a word expressing an intimate concern. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, p. 388)

　　[In Psalm 84:6a] “Baca” means “weeping.” On the one hand, when we had the intention to come into the church life, we were strengthened in God; on the other hand, we were opposed by Satan, who has caused many saints to suffer persecution. The trouble and persecution caused by Satan can make our highway a valley of weeping. If we take the highway to go to God’s house, trouble and persecution will come to us, and such things will cause us to weep. But God will turn our tears into a spring [cf. v. 6b]….The more tears we shed, the greater will be the spring.

　　Verse 6c says, “Indeed the early rain covers it with blessings.” According to our experience, this means that our tears become a spring and that this spring becomes the early rain that covers the valley with blessings. This early rain is the Spirit, and the Spirit is our blessing. This was the situation with a certain brother in Chefoo. Before he believed in the Lord Jesus, he was a Muslim. After he was saved and came into the church life, he suffered a great deal of persecution. This persecution nearly killed him, and he shed many tears. But those tears became a spring; the spring became the Spirit as the early rain; and as a result this brother was very living. Those who come into the church life by passing through the valley of weeping will find that this weeping eventually becomes a great blessing to them. This blessing is the Spirit. The tears they shed are their own, but these tears become a spring, which becomes the early rain, the Spirit as the blessing.

　　Those on the highways to Zion make the valley of weeping a spring (v. 6b). This spring is just the Spirit. How wonderful! The early rain signifies the Spirit. This indicates that the more we weep on the highways to Zion, the more of the Spirit we receive. While we are weeping, we are being filled with the Spirit, and the Spirit becomes our spring. (Life-study of the Psalms, pp. 374-375, 386)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of the Psalms, msgs. 32-33