Scripture Reading: Eph. 3:11, 16-17a; Phil. 1:20-21a; Col. 1:15, 18, 27; 3:4, 10-11

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　»

　　Phil. 1:20-21 According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

　　The central thought of the Bible is that God desires us to live Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ. The main point of our Christian life is to live Christ. To live Christ should be our primary goal; all the troubles in our Christian life come because of our not living Christ. We need to practice to live Christ, realizing that He is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit, until we live Christ habitually.

　　The climax, the highest point, of the divine revelation in the entire Bible is to live Christ. In order to live Christ, we must practice being one spirit with Him, and in order to practice being one spirit with Him, we must exercise our spirit to pray unceasingly. If we pray unceasingly from our spirit, “Lord, live in me; Lord, live through me, ” we will build up a habit of not living our self but Christ; then we will live Christ habitually. The habit of living Christ is the habit of prayer. Apart from unceasingly praying, we cannot live Christ. It is only by such continual prayer, such breathing prayer, that we can live Christ spontaneously. In order to have such a prayer life, we must watch and pray, praying at every time in spirit, watching unto prayer in all petition, and persevering in prayer (Matt. 26:41; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2). Moreover, the foundation for us to pray is our love for the Lord. Because we love the Lord and seek Him, we like to contact Him, pray to Him, and call upon Him. Part of the secret of living Christ is telling the Lord again and again that we love Him. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3485-3486)

　　To live Christ is not merely to have a holy life or to live holiness. To live Christ is to live a person. We should simply live Christ. We should live a life which is Christ Himself. In our Christian life, quite often we are still the ones living our natural life. We are not living Christ. To live Christ is to let Christ Himself live from within us.

　　In order to live Christ, we must take Him as our person and as our life. Every morning we should pray, “Lord, I thank You for another day to practice living You. Lord, in myself I cannot do this. I ask You to remind me to live You and grant me the grace that I need for this.” God does not care for how holy, spiritual, or victorious we are in ourselves. Actually, to live in this way by self-effort is to strive to keep the law. What counts in the eyes of God is Christ and the living of Christ. We all must fight and struggle to enter into the genuine living of Christ in a practical way. God wants His people to live Christ. We should not care for holiness, spirituality, or victory as things in themselves, and we should not care for our natural virtues or attributes. Instead, we should focus our whole attention on living Christ and care only to live Christ so that He might be magnified in us.

　　If we would be found in Christ, we must live Christ. Only when we live Christ will we be found in Him by others and by the angels and demons. However, if we are law-keepers, we will be found in the law instead of in Christ. We are not here to express the law or magnify the law; our goal is to express Christ and magnify Him. We all need to pray, “Lord, have mercy on me and rescue me not only from sinful things but also from good things, even spiritual things, that replace You in my daily life. Lord, rescue me from everything back to Yourself. I ask You to grant me the grace each day so that I may truly live You and be found in You.” May we all seek the one thing and pursue the one thing—to live Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3483-3484)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 346

«　WEEK 2　DAY 2　»

　　Eph. 3:17 That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love.

　　Gal. 4:19 My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you.

　　God’s economy is to work the living, all-inclusive person of Christ into us. According to the revelation in the book of Colossians, Christ is the portion of the saints, the Firstborn of all creation, the image of the invisible God, the Head of the Body, the Firstborn from among the dead, the One in whom all the fullness is pleased to dwell, the mystery of God’s economy, the mystery of God, the reality of all positive things, and the constituent of the new man. Christ is everything: He is life, light, power, might, strength, righteousness, holiness, kindness, and every other divine attribute and human virtue. Because Christ is everything to us, He is all-inclusive. God’s intention in His economy is to work this all-inclusive One into us. As the all-inclusive One, Christ has the highest attainments. He has ascended to the heavens and has been exalted to the highest place in the universe. He is now sitting at the right hand of God. Christ has been enthroned, and He has become the Lord and Head over all. Furthermore, He has obtained everything, for all things have become His. This person with all He has attained and obtained is the very One that God desires to work into our being. Do you truly believe that such an all-inclusive living person has been wrought into you? I doubt that very many Christians, including those in the Lord’s recovery, actually believe this. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 330-331)

　　God’s intention is to dispense Christ into us so that He may be our life and our everything. God wants Christ to be our righteousness, holiness, humility, and patience. Since Christ is everything, there is no need for us to decide to do anything or to be anything. Instead, we should simply turn to the Lord and say, “Lord, thank You. You are my life and my everything. You are the real God and the real man. When I need love, You are love. When I need humility, You, Lord, are humility. Whatever I need, You are.”

　　We need to see the heavenly vision that in His economy, God wants nothing except Christ. Christ is wonderful. As the One who is God and man, He has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and enthronement. All that Christ is and all that He has obtained and attained have been compounded into the all-inclusive Spirit. Now as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, He lives in us. How foolish not to give all the ground in our living to Him! Although we may love Him, we may still limit and restrict Him by our efforts to be good Christian husbands or wives. In ourselves, we still try to be humble, patient, kind, and loving. As long as we do this, there is no way for Christ to live in us.

　　We should forget about trying to be a good husband or wife and care only to live Christ. Let us love Him, contact Him, and be one with Him. How near and available He is! He is within us and is one spirit with us, waiting to be given the opportunity to live in us. If we would give Christ the ground to live in us, we should cease from all our efforts. Instead of asking the Lord to help us in our efforts, we should pray, “Lord Jesus, I can do nothing apart from You. How foolish I have been in trying so hard! Now, Lord, I see the vision that I cannot do anything without You. Lord, I thank You that You dwell in me. I ask You, Lord, to work within me. Lord, I praise You that You are my life and that You are waiting for the opportunity to live in me. Lord, I thank You that I am in You. Now I am willing to give You all the ground to do everything and to be everything in me.” This is what it means for Christ to live in us. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 324-326)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 37-39, 41-42, 49-50

«　WEEK 2　DAY 3　»

　　John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

　　6:57 …So he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

　　The crucial point is not that we drop our culture—it is that we live Christ. The issue is not culture versus no culture; it is culture versus Christ. We need to care for Christ and live by Him. Therefore, the important thing is not that we attempt to drop our culture negatively; it is that we live Christ positively. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 346)

　　Children must be raised according to certain cultural standards. Otherwise, they will be wild and unruly. It is a serious mistake for Christian parents to tell their children that they do not need culture, but only need to enjoy Christ. Children need culture until they are old enough to experience Christ and live by Him. Anyone who has not received Christ must have culture in order to live properly. Today’s society needs culture. The more cultured people are, the less they need to be controlled by the police or by the law court…. Instead of trying to lay aside culture, we should concentrate on gaining Christ. The more we have of Christ, the less we shall need to live by culture.

　　Actually, everything we have apart from Christ is some form of culture. For example, to eat with a knife and fork is a matter of culture, and to eat with chopsticks is also a matter of culture. We all have our own kind of self-made and self-imposed culture. This means that we all have our particular way to live. You live according to your way, and I live according to mine. To live according to our way is to live according to our culture…. This is the greatest frustration to the enjoyment of Christ and its ultimate enemy. Therefore, let us care more and more for the experience of Christ and for living Christ in a practical way day by day.

　　Many things hinder the accomplishment of God’s full salvation. Two of the more obvious hindrances are sin and worldliness. The most subtle hindrance, however, is culture. Culture frustrates God’s chosen people from experiencing Christ and enjoying Him. The all-inclusive Christ is versus culture. However, we are not saying that we should drop our culture and act like barbarians…. Those who do not have Christ certainly need culture. As children are growing up, they need not only culture, but also the law. But after we have received Christ, we should not allow our culture to limit Christ or to frustrate us from experiencing Him. Prior to receiving Christ, all people need culture. But after receiving Christ, we should live according to Christ, not according to culture…. Culture preserves, regulates, and improves people. But after Christ has come into us, in our experience we should begin to live by Christ. The problem is that Christ is limited by our culture.

　　God’s intention is to work Christ into His chosen people. God uses culture to preserve people until they receive Christ. Before children receive Christ, they must be trained according to culture and under the law. Never tell little children that they have no need for culture. On the contrary, teach them to honor their parents, to love others, and to share their possessions with others. Eventually, when they attain to a certain maturity, they will decide to receive Christ into them. Then we need to help them grow into Christ and with Christ. Gradually we can help them turn from culture to Christ. Eventually, instead of living according to culture, they will live according to Christ. Young people, do not proclaim that you have dropped your culture. Instead, testify to others that you have received Christ and that now you are living Christ, growing Christ, and producing Christ. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 346-347, 304-305)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 36, 40

«　WEEK 2　DAY 4　»

　　Col. 2:8-9 Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ; for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

　　If we try to drop our culture without seeing that Christ is our life and our everything, we shall succeed only in exchanging one kind of culture for another. To be uncultured is also to have a culture. Those who are cultured have a culture, and those who are uncultured also have a culture, although of a very different kind. If we realize this, we shall see that it is of no avail simply to decide to drop our culture. Apart from Christ, whatever we are and whatever we do is related to culture in some way. Every human being has culture. The culture may be developed or undeveloped, high or low, but it is nonetheless a culture…. Throughout the thousands of years of history, every race and nationality has had its particular kind of culture. The crucial point here is that every kind of culture is versus Christ and that Christ is versus every kind of culture. Any culture, no matter what kind of culture it is, is versus Christ. Apart from Him, every human product and development is part of culture. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 330)

　　We should not endeavor to drop our culture without … a vision of Christ…. When Christ comes in, our culture must go. But we should not try to drop culture without Christ. Actually our concern is not with culture—it is for the experience of Christ. The point we are making is that since we have received Christ, we should not allow culture to become a substitute for Him. In Christ we have the liberty to set aside our culture in order to enlarge our capacity to enjoy the Lord. All the room within us must be given over to Christ. If our entire inward capacity is made available to Him, spontaneously the culture within us will be replaced by Christ. However, it is terrible to drop culture apart from Christ. But when Christ comes, we should tell the Lord that we want Him to possess and occupy all the ground within us.

　　Culture is a great frustration to the experience of Christ. In His recovery the Lord surely has come to visit us. What keeps us from enjoying Him is not mainly sin or worldliness; it is culture. Unconsciously and subconsciously, we are frustrated by culture from the experience of Christ. Many saints have been desiring for years to experience more of Christ. However, their experience of Him has not expanded. The factor that limits the expansion of the enjoyment of Christ is culture. Spontaneously the culture within us keeps us from the real experience of Christ. In the meetings we may declare that Christ is our life and that the church life is glorious. But when we return home after the meetings, we automatically live according to our culture, not according to Christ. The governing principle of our life at home is not Christ; it is our culture. In the meetings all of us may be the same as we share in the same praises and aspirations, but outside the meetings we are different in our cultural concepts and behavior. We may do certain things or refrain from doing those things according to the influence of culture. Hence, our living is regulated and governed not by Christ, but by culture. Those with a Chinese background live according to Chinese culture, and the Americans live according to American culture.

　　We need to pray, “Lord Jesus, I want to be taken over, occupied, and possessed by You. I want to give You my full capacity and all the room in my being. Lord, I don’t want to be limited or frustrated in my experience of You. I want to enjoy You without limitation, restriction, or confinement. Lord, I want to have only You, not culture. I want to live by You, not by any kind of culture.” (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 306-307, 310-311)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “God’s New Testament Economy, ” ch. 27

«　WEEK 2　DAY 5　»

　　Col. 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation.

　　2:2 …Unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ.

　　10 And you have been made full in Him, who is the Head of all rule and authority.

　　3:4 When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

　　As we sing and praise the Lord in the church meetings, we may conform to the atmosphere of the meetings. But at home we live according to our culture. For this reason, we are heavily burdened by the Lord that all the saints in the Lord’s recovery may learn in a practical way how to take Christ as their life and person to replace their culture. Once again I say that the point is not that we drop our culture. It is that we take Christ as our life and as our person to replace our culture day by day, hour by hour, and even moment by moment. If we do this, we shall truly live by Christ, not by our culture. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 307-308)

　　Perhaps you are wondering what the difference is between living according to culture and living according to Christ. In the church we have those from different cultural backgrounds. According to their culture, some saints are open, frank, and quick. It is very difficult for them to keep anything secret. However, they are lacking in patience. Other saints, with a different background, are reserved and hidden. It is very difficult for anyone to tell what is taking place within them or how they feel about things. Others, with still a different cultural background, may be virtually expressionless. You cannot tell whether such a person is happy with you or displeased with you. Even after those from these different cultures are saved and have begun to seek the Lord, they retain their cultural characteristics and even bring them into the church life. The problem is that in the church they all live much more according to their culture than according to Christ. They love the Lord Jesus, but they still live by their culture. No matter what their cultural background may be, they do not give Christ very much ground within them. Therefore, the daily church life is occupied by culture instead of by Christ.

　　It is vital for us all to see a vision concerning the all-inclusiveness of Christ. Christ must become everything to us in our daily living. The Christ who is the expression of God and the mystery of God’s economy now lives in us. The Christ who indwells us is not a small, limited Christ. He is the One who is the image of the invisible God, the embodiment of the fullness of God, and the focal point of God’s economy. Such a Christ now dwells in us and is waiting for the opportunity to spread Himself throughout our being. We need to live by Him moment by moment. We should not give any ground in our living to culture. Instead, all the room within us should be given over to the all-inclusive Christ who dwells in us to be our hope of glory. If we see such a vision of the indwelling, all-inclusive Christ, we shall spontaneously drop our culture. Formerly, Christ was replaced by culture. But once we see this vision, the culture within us will be replaced by Christ.

　　We should not be deluded by persuasive speech or carried off by man’s philosophy, tradition, or culture. We should care only for Christ. Christ should occupy us, possess us, and take us over. In our inner being there should be no room for philosophy or for the rudimentary principles of the world. Every part of our inward being should be occupied by Christ and with Christ. To us Christ is the real God, the real food, the real drink, the real clothing, and the real Sabbath. He is the reality of every positive thing. Therefore, we would not give ground in our being to anything other than Christ. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 308-310)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 2, “The Christian Life, ” chs. 1-2

«　WEEK 2　DAY 6　»

　　Col. 1:27 To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

　　2:7 Having been rooted and being built up in Him, and being established in the faith even as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

　　In the church meetings, we may enjoy singing, “Christ liveth in me, Christ liveth in me.” However, when the meeting is over, we are the ones who live, not Christ. Instead of Christ living in us, our inward being is occupied with ourselves. But if we see the vision of Christ living in us, we shall stop all our doing. How blessed it is to do nothing and to let Christ live in us! The Lord does not want us to try to improve our behavior. He does not want us to try to be a good husband or wife. The Christian life is Christ living in us. In such a life, we and Christ have one life and one living. Christ lives in our living. Oh, we desperately need to see this vision! We need to pray, “Lord, show me the vision that God only wants one person. He wants Christ to live in me.” This vision will spontaneously terminate all of our efforts and doings. It will turn us from our trying to the indwelling Christ. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 327)

　　In the Epistle to the Colossians, Paul tells us to beware of philosophy, tradition, and the elements of the world. This means that we should beware of culture in every form: racial culture, national culture, and self-made and self-imposed culture. We should not allow culture to become a substitute for Christ. Although there is no need for us to deliberately try to drop our culture, we should stop appreciating it…. If we see that culture can be a substitute for Christ, we shall no longer treasure it or appreciate it so highly. Instead, we see that we are living plants rooted in Christ…. We should simply walk in Him as the living land and grow by absorbing the riches of the soil into us. In this way the riches from the soil, who is also the Head, will be ministered into us. As a result, all the Body will grow with the growth of the Triune God. Automatically, our culture will be replaced by Christ. The more we walk in Christ, the more we shall absorb the riches of the soil, the rich supply of the Head. Then, holding the Head, we shall experience the genuine and proper growth in Christ.

　　Today I can testify that, through the Lord’s grace, I no longer try to suppress myself. I simply live Christ…. Christ is my culture, my goal, and the meaning and purpose of my human life. In my daily walk all the room is for Christ. For this reason, there is no room for sin, the world, the flesh, or the self. Since my whole being is for Christ, there is also no room for culture. I simply live Christ, and not a limited Christ, but an extensive Christ, the One who fills all and is in all.

　　Christ descended from the heavens to the earth and then, in the interval between His death and resurrection, He descended into Hades. In resurrection He ascended from Hades to earth and then, in His ascension, from the earth to the heavens. As a result of such a universal traveling, Christ fills all things. Thus, He is the extensive One. As such an extensive One, He is our life, and we may live Him. In the book of Colossians Paul presents such an extensive Christ in order to impress us with the fact that this Christ should replace our culture. Do not try to drop your culture…. Simply live Christ, and Christ will replace your culture with Himself.

　　We should not treasure any type of ism, for all isms have to do with culture. Instead of living according to an ism, we should live Christ, a living Person, who is the portion of the saints, the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of both the old creation and the new creation, the One in whom and unto whom all things were created, and the One who is our life in the new man. Such an extensive Christ is the replacement for our culture. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 383-384, 394)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 44-45