Scripture Reading: Luke 9:23-25; 14:26-35; 17:26-36; 21:34-36; Heb. 10:39; 1 Pet. 1:7-9, 13

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 3　DAY 1　»

　　Luke 9:23-25 And He said to them all, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake, this one shall save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself?

　　To save the soul life is to allow the soul to have its enjoyment and not to suffer. To lose the soul life is to cause the soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment. If the followers of the Man-Savior allow their soul to have its enjoyment in this age, they will cause their soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment in the coming kingdom age. If they allow their soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment in this age for the sake of the Man-Savior, they will cause their soul to have its enjoyment in the coming kingdom age. They will share the Lord’s joy in ruling over the earth (Matt. 25:21, 23). (Life-study of Luke, pp. 181-182)

　　After speaking of denying the self, taking up the cross, and losing the soul, the Lord referred to the world, saying, “What shall a man be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul-life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul-life?” (Matt. 16:26). People love the world simply because it gives amusement to their soul. They love good clothing, fine cars, and worldly amusements because they bring enjoyment to the soul. But for the Lord’s sake, for the gospel’s sake, and for His testimony’s sake, we need to be willing to lose the enjoyment of the soul in this age….The reason people love the world is that they want to maintain the enjoyment of the soul. Throughout the world there is the enjoyment of the soul. The reason people study to earn a degree is to have a better life, and a better life means more enjoyment. Others work to earn a promotion in their job so that they may have more money for more enjoyment of the soul. When the Lord Jesus came, He lost His soul; that is, He gave up all His soulish enjoyment. He lost the enjoyment of His soul in this age so that He might gain His soul in the coming age…. In the coming age the Lord Jesus will enjoy the whole earth. At that time He will invite us, His partners, to share in this enjoyment. We need to wait patiently for the coming enjoyment. If you keep the enjoyment in your soul today, you will lose the enjoyment to come….The choice is yours. If you prefer to have your enjoyment today, you are free to do so. But if you save your soul in this age, be assured that you will lose it when the Lord comes back. He will tell you that because you have enjoyed your soul so much, now is the time for you to lose it. Which do you choose—to lose your soul today and gain it tomorrow, or to gain it today and lose it tomorrow? If we could gain the whole world, it would still not be worthwhile to gain it at the cost of losing our soul.

　　Suppose the brothers living in a brothers’ house have seen the vision concerning Christ and the building of the church. They realize that the Lord desires to recover the church life for His economy. However, ...because of [a] discouraging situation, some of the brothers may consider moving out of the house. But if they move out, they will be saving their souls to have an easy way for themselves. One brother may actually move from that house to another house, where, after a few weeks, he learns that the situation is the same. Then he moves to a church in another part of the country….When he arrives in the new locality and moves into a brothers’ house there, he finds the situation even worse than the one he left. At this point, disappointed with the church life, he may decide to leave the church entirely. If he does this, he will be saving his soul to the uttermost. By this we see that to please the self is to save the soul. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building of the Church,” pp. 105-106, 92)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building of the Church,” chs. 5-6; CWWN, vol. 44, ch. 111

«　WEEK 3　DAY 2　»

　　Luke 14:26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and moreover, even his own soul-life, he cannot be My disciple.

　　34-35 Therefore salt is good; but if even the salt becomes tasteless, with what will its saltiness be restored? It is fit neither for the land nor for the manure pile; they will throw it out...

　　We may think that the Lord Jesus teaches us only to love. But in Luke 14:26 He teaches us to hate. This is not religion; this is a matter in God’s economy…. Especially we need to hate ourselves, even our own soul life.

　　What we love in ourselves is not mainly our spirit or body but our soul…. Actually, all forms of amusement, entertainment, and pleasures are for the enjoyment of the soul. In 14:26 the Lord clearly says that if we do not hate our own soul-life, we cannot be His disciples. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 281-282)

　　In Luke 14:34 and 35 the Lord [speaks] of salt…. Salt by nature is an element that kills and eliminates the germs of corruption. To the corrupted earth, the followers of the Lord Jesus should be such an element keeping the earth from being fully corrupted. The Lord indicates that it is possible for salt to become tasteless. For the followers of the Lord to become tasteless means that they have lost their salting function. They have become the same as earthly people, with no distinction from the unbelievers. Believers in Christ are the salt of the earth used by God to kill and eliminate the earth’s corruption. Their taste depends upon their renouncing of earthly things. The more they renounce the things of the earth, the more powerful will be their taste. They will lose their taste by not being willing to renounce all the things of the present life. If this happens, they will be fit neither for the soil, signifying the church as God’s farm (1 Cor. 3:9) issuing in the coming kingdom (Rev. 11:15), nor for the manure pile, signifying hell, the dirty place in the universe (Rev. 21:8; 22:15). They will be thrown out from the kingdom of God, especially from the glory of the kingdom in the millennium. They have been saved from eternal perdition, but they did not renounce the earthly things and have lost their function in the kingdom of God. Thus, they are not fit for the coming kingdom, but need to be put aside for discipline.

　　Because our Father knows that His children may be “naughty” and not faithfully enjoy Christ, He has made part of His full salvation an incentive and a reward…to encourage us, warn us, and remind us to keep ourselves in the enjoyment of Christ today and to behave ourselves in this enjoyment. Otherwise, we shall be disciplined. This does not mean that we shall perish, that we shall be lost. Since we have been saved eternally, we shall never perish. Nevertheless, some of the Father’s children will need to suffer discipline during the coming age. Those children who suffer the Father’s discipline in the coming age will not cease to be His children….This matter of God’s dispensational discipline of His children is clearly taught in the New Testament.

　　We have seen that the soil signifies God’s farm, which is the church, and the church will issue in the coming kingdom. The manure pile, the dirtiest place in the universe, signifies hell, the lake of fire. To be sure, no saved person would be fit for such a place. But for what place will you be fit after the Lord Jesus comes back? You certainly will not be fit for hell, the manure pile, because the Lord’s blood has washed you and you have been saved. Will you, then, be fit for the kingdom? Your conscience may not allow you to say that you are fit for the kingdom. If this is your situation, you are fit neither for hell nor for the kingdom. This means that you are fit for a third place, a place of discipline. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 283-284, 286-287)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msgs. 21, 32-33, 38-39, 47-48; Life-study of Matthew, msgs. 23, 27-28

«　WEEK 3　DAY 3　»

　　Luke 17:32-34 Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his soul-life will lose it, and whoever loses it will preserve it alive. I tell you, In that night there will be two on one bed; the one will be taken and the other will be left.

　　Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt because she took a lingering, backward look at Sodom. That look indicated that she loved and treasured the evil world which God was about to judge and utterly destroy. She was rescued from Sodom, but she did not reach the safe place that Lot reached (Gen. 19:15-30). She did not perish; neither was she fully saved. Like the salt which becomes tasteless (Luke 14:34-35), she was left in a place of suffering shame. This is a solemn warning to world-loving believers.

　　If we love the Lord and are warned by the case of Lot’s wife, we shall not care for material things or set our hearts on them. Instead of preserving our soul by loving material things, we shall be filled up with Christ as the heavenly air. Then we shall rise in rapture. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 336-337)

　　In Luke 17:34 and 35 the rapture of the overcoming believers is revealed. It will occur secretly and unexpectedly, at night to some believers who are sleeping and in the daytime to some sisters grinding at home and to some brothers working in the field. They are chosen because they have overcome the stupefying effect of this age.

　　In 14:25-35 the Savior charges us to pay the price insofar as we are able that we may follow Him. In 16:1-13 He charges us to overcome mammon so that we may serve Him prudently as a faithful steward. Here in 17:22-37 He charges us to overcome the stupefying effect of self-indulgent living in this age so that we may be raptured into the enjoyment of His parousia (presence, coming). These charges are all related to overcoming in the believers’ practical living.

　　In both 17:34 and 35 the Lord says that “the one will be taken.” The Greek word for taken literally means “taken with.” This word denotes the rapture of the overcomers, who do not preserve their soul life by loving the worldly things of this age. Those who are taken in this way will be raptured before the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), which will be a severe trial upon the whole inhabited earth (Rev. 3:10). To be thus raptured is to be kept out of the hour of trial which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth (Rev. 3:10).

　　The words “grinding” in Luke 17:35 and “in the field” in Matthew 24:40 signify working for a living. Although the believers should not be stupefied by the necessities of this life, they need to work for a living. Any thought of giving up proper work for a living is another extreme of Satan’s tactics.

　　In Luke 17:34-36 we see that some who are sleeping will be raptured in the night, and some sisters grinding and some brothers farming will be raptured in the day. Here we see that the rapture will involve saints who are in different places at different times. When the rapture takes place, some will be raptured in the night, and others will be raptured in the day, depending on where they live on earth. Perhaps the saints in the Far East will be raptured in the night, and the saints in the West will be raptured in the day.

　　In these verses we see that not all those who are sleeping, grinding, or farming will be raptured. This indicates that not all the believers will be raptured at once. The Lord says that two will be on one bed, and one will be taken and the other will be left. The same will be true of two grinding at the same place and of two laboring in the field. In each case, the one who is left may not know the whereabouts of the one who has been taken. This is the rapture of the watchful believers. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 338-339)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” ch. 4; Life-study of Revelation, msg. 29; CWWL, 1955, vol. 2, pp. 31-34

«　WEEK 3　DAY 4　»

　　Luke 21:34 But take heed to yourselves lest perhaps your hearts be weighed down with debauchery and drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day come upon you suddenly as a snare.

　　36 But be watchful at every time, beseeching that you would prevail to escape all these things which are about to happen and stand before the Son of Man.

　　The word escape in Luke 21:36 signifies being taken, raptured, before the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), which will be a severe trial upon the whole inhabited earth (Rev. 3:10; Luke 17:34-36)….“All these things” [in Luke 21:36] are the things of the great tribulation. To stand before the Son of Man corresponds to the standing of those in Revelation 14:1. It indicates that the raptured overcomers will stand before the Savior on Mount Zion in the heavens before the great tribulation (see Rev. 12:5-6, 14). (Life-study of Luke, p. 414)

　　In Luke 21:36 the Man-Savior charges us to be watchful. Instead of being stupefied or drugged, we need to be vigilant. Furthermore, at every time we need to beseech. This is not to pray in a general way; it is to pray in a particular way that we may prevail to escape the things that are about to take place…. To prevail in this way is to have the strength and ability to escape the great tribulation. We should not be caught in the trend of today’s world. Instead, we need to escape this trend. The strength and ability to escape come from being watchful and from beseeching. If we pray in a particular way, we shall prevail to escape all the things that are about to take place.

　　To escape the things that are about to take place is to be raptured before the great tribulation. This is also to be kept out of the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole inhabited earth to try those who dwell on the earth. Hence, the Lord’s word in 21:36 is the fulfillment of the promise He gives to the church in Philadelphia: “Because you have kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep you out of the hour of trial, which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth” (Rev. 3:10). “Trial” here undoubtedly denotes the great tribulation.

　　This promise of the Lord, like that in Luke 21:36, indicates that the saints who have kept the word of the Lord’s endurance will be raptured before the great trial. This implies that those who have not kept the word of His endurance will be left in the trial.

　　Although the word rapture is not found in 21:34-36, there is a strong indication of the rapture in verse 36. This verse speaks negatively of escaping all the things that are about to take place and positively of standing before the Son of Man. Where will the Son of Man be at the time implied in verse 36? He will still be on the throne in the heavens….The only way for us to stand before the Son of Man on the throne is for us to be raptured, to be taken away to the heavens.

　　Whether or not we shall be raptured before the great tribulation and be taken away to meet Christ on the throne does not depend on Him. It depends on our watchfulness and on our praying in a particular way. Constantly we need to be watchful and beseeching that we may prevail to escape the great tribulation.

　　We should prevail to escape, prevail to be kept away from the great tribulation….This is to be raptured to stand before the Son of Man on the heavenly Mount Zion. Then He will begin His parousia with us. When He leaves the throne to come back to earth, we shall be with Him. How exciting that will be! No doubt, those who stand before the Son of Man on Mount Zion in the heavens will be beside themselves with joy in the Lord. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 414-417)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 33, “The Normal Christian Life,” chs. 12-13; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 182; CWWL, 1990, vol. 1, “The Apostles’ Teaching,” ch. 8

«　WEEK 3　DAY 5　»

　　1 Pet. 1:7-9 So that the proving of your faith, ...though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

　　First Peter 1:7 gives the reason we are put into trials [v. 6]. We are put into trials because our faith needs to be tested, proved. The Greek word rendered “proving” means testing for approval. It is the proving, the testing, of our faith, not our faith itself, that may be found unto praise. This may be compared to an examination in school related to a student’s study. It is not the student’s study itself that is found approved; rather, it is the examination that is found to be approved. Of course, the approval of our faith comes out of the proper faith. The emphasis here is not on our faith; the emphasis is on the proving of our faith by the trials through sufferings. (Life-study of 1 Peter, pp. 45-46)

　　First Peter 1:9 is the direct continuation of verse 7. The proving of our faith to be found unto praise, glory, and honor results in the obtaining of the end of our faith, that is, the salvation of our souls. The salvation in verse 9 is full salvation, the salvation which is in three stages—the initial stage, the progressing stage, and the completing stage. We are of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Our spirit has been saved through regeneration (John 3:5-6). Our body will be saved, redeemed, through the coming transfiguration (Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:21). Our soul will be saved from sufferings into the full enjoyment of the Lord at His unveiling, His coming back. For this we have to deny our soul, our soulish life, with all its pleasures in this age, that we may gain it in the enjoyment of the Lord in the coming age (Matt. 10:37-39; 16:24-27; Luke 17:30-33; John 12:25). At the Lord’s unveiling, some believers through His judgment seat will enter into the joy of the Lord (Matt. 25:21, 23; 24:45-46), and some will suffer in weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 25:30; 24:51). To enter into the Lord’s joy is the salvation of our souls (Heb. 10:39).

　　Recently some brothers said to me, “…The saints in other places are poor and they are suffering many things, including persecution. This does not seem fair. While they are suffering so much, we are here in this country enjoying good things.” I replied, “...Do not think that because we may have an abundance of material things we do not have sufferings. Many Americans suffer from heart disease, ulcers, and mental illness….Wherever we may be, we shall suffer and be subject to God’s discipline.” There is no way for us to avoid suffering in our soul. To live on earth as a human being is to suffer. The earth today is not for our enjoyment.

　　The young people may expect to finish their education, find a good job, and then have a very pleasant married life. They need to realize, however, that on this earth there is no paradise. We must wait for the Lord’s coming to be saved from the realm of suffering into a realm of comfort. That will be the full salvation of our soul.

　　I can testify that although I have a good wife and although I am loved by the saints and the churches, I continue to suffer a great deal in my soul. No one can help me to avoid this suffering. Therefore, I am waiting for the unveiling of the Lord Jesus. At the time of His coming back, I shall be rescued from this realm of suffering into a realm of enjoyment. In that realm we shall have the full enjoyment of the Triune God and of all that He is, has, and has accomplished, attained, and obtained. (Life-study of 1 Peter, pp. 50, 60-61)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Peter, msgs. 6-7; CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “The Vision of the Divine Dispensing and Guidelines for the Practice of the New Way,” ch. 4

«　WEEK 3　DAY 6　»

　　Heb. 10:35 Do not cast away therefore your boldness, which has great reward.

　　39 But we are not of those who shrink back to ruin but of those who have faith to the gaining of the soul.

　　The gaining of the soul is for our whole being to enjoy the coming Sabbath rest, that is, to share in Christ’s joy and glory in the coming kingdom (Heb. 4:9). Our being is of three parts—spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 5:23), and our soul is different from our spirit. At the time when we believed in the Lord Jesus and were saved, our spirit was regenerated with the Spirit of God (John 3:6). But we must wait until the Lord Jesus comes back for our body to be redeemed, saved, and transfigured (Rom. 8:23-25; Phil. 3:21). As to the saving or gaining of our soul, it depends upon how we deal with it in following the Lord after we are saved and regenerated. If we lose it now for the Lord’s sake, we shall save it (Matt. 16:25; Luke 9:24; 17:33; John 12:25; 1 Pet. 1:9), and it shall be saved, or gained, at the Lord’s coming back (Heb. 10:37). (Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 520-521)

　　To gain our soul in the coming age will be a great reward (Heb. 10:35) to our suffering for following Christ in this age. If we care for the enjoyment of our soul, the psychological pleasures, and do not follow Christ faithfully today, we shall suffer the Lord’s discipline in our soul in the coming age. If we are willing to lose the enjoyment of our soul for the Lord’s sake today, we shall have the full enjoyment of the Lord for our whole being, especially for our soul, in the coming age. That will be a reward to our suffering today.

　　In the Gospels the Lord tells us many times that if in this age we lose our soul for His sake and the gospel’s, at His coming back in the next age we shall gain it (Matt. 16:25; Luke 9:24; 17:33)…. As human beings, we have a spirit, but we are a soul. A human being is a soul. To lose our soul in this age means to suffer for the Lord’s sake and for the sake of the gospel. When we suffer, our whole being suffers. This means that we lose our soul. Those who are rich and comfortable today, enjoying their physical life, are having enjoyment for their soul. Not many Christians are willing to pay the price to follow the Lord strictly, because they do not want to suffer in their soul; they want to enjoy their life today, desiring luxurious cars, large houses, and many worldly things.

　　Losing our soul in this age is to suffer for the Lord’s sake in a human way. If we follow the Lord today, we shall certainly suffer for His sake. Because you are a faithful and straight follower of Jesus Christ, your teachers may not give you the higher grade, and you may not receive a promotion on your job. Many such things are related to losing our soul….This loss of our soul today is the condition of our gaining it in the next age. To gain our soul in the next age is to enter into the Lord’s joy and reigning. According to the parable in Matthew 25, the Lord said to the faithful servants, “Enter into the joy of your master” [v. 23]. To enter into the Lord’s joy is to enter into His reign in the coming kingdom. This age is for us to suffer; the next age is for our enjoyment.

　　The gaining of the soul equals perfection, and perfection equals glorification. To be glorified, to be perfected, and to gain our soul in the next age all refer to one thing—the reward….[The reward] is the goal of God’s salvation….The goal of God’s salvation is to make us the same as His Firstborn Son. Romans 8:29 says that we have been, “predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers”…. Here we see God’s goal—that His many sons, who are Christ’s many brothers, might be conformed to the image of His firstborn Son. (Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 521-523)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 46; CWWN, vol. 17, issue nos. 6-8