Scripture Reading: 1 John 1:2; John 1:12-13; 3:29-30; 12:24; Gen. 2:21-23; 1 Cor. 12:12, 28

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 1　DAY 1　»

　　1 John 1:2 …The life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and report to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us.

　　5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God, and everyone who loves Him who has begotten loves him also who has been begotten of Him.

　　When we speak of the essence of anything, we are referring to its most intrinsic part. Regarding the church, the most important positive factor is its intrinsic essence….When some speak of the church, they mean a physical building…. Others… pay too much attention to the outward aspects of the church, such as its organization….Throughout the past nineteen centuries …Christians have been fighting one another…because [they] have turned from the intrinsic essence of the church to something outward.

　　There are four intrinsic matters of the church. The first of these is the essence of the church, [followed by] the growth of the church,…the building up of the church,… [and] its fellowship.

　　The divine life—God’s life, the eternal life, the uncreated life, the indestructible life—is the very essence of the church, and this divine life generates the church (1 John 1:2; 5:1). Of course, we cannot see this divine life, just as we are not able to see the structural steel in this meeting hall. This is because the steel is covered by stones and wood, yet the steel is the very essence of this building’s structure. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” pp. 267-269)

　　The essence of the church is the divine life, and the divine life is Christ as the very embodiment of the processed Triune God (John 14:6; Col. 2:9)….God passed through all these processes [from incarnation to ascension] to become someone who can carry out the dispensing. This is why we say that the church is the organism of the processed and dispensing Triune God….We should not forget that without God being processed, there is no ground for Him to dispense Himself into us.

　　Because He is the dispensing God, He is able to regenerate us, and this regenerating life is the divine life….The divine life is the dispensing God, who is the very essence of the church….We Christians love one another because we have the same essence. It does not matter whether we are American, European, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, white, black, yellow, brown, or red. As long as we are real Christians, we have a loving essence within us. When we turn away from this intrinsic essence to touch other things, we begin to fight one another…. In order to solve the problems between Christians, we must come to the intrinsic matters of the church: first, the intrinsic essence; second, the intrinsic growth; third, the intrinsic building up; and fourth, the intrinsic fellowship.

　　The intrinsic essence of the church is the divine life that the processed Triune God has dispensed and is now dispensing into us. The divine life generates us by the regeneration of the Spirit in our spirit. The divine Spirit begets the human spirit (John 3:3, 5-6). How wonderful it is that these two spirits are mingled as one (1 Cor. 6:17)!…The Spirit is mingled with our spirit as one spirit. The Spirit becomes one with man, and this regenerated man becomes one with God. Is this not wonderful? Within us is a part that is mingled with God. God is so high, yet He has become one with us…. I hope that all the new believers could have this kind of uplifted understanding regarding regeneration. As soon as we were saved, we became mingled with God. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” pp. 269-271)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” ch. 1

«　WEEK 1　DAY 2　»

　　Gen. 2:22 And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man.

　　John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name.

　　3:29-30 He who has the bride is the bridegroom….He must increase, but I must decrease.

　　When we are regenerated, we are made the children of God as the bride of Christ, who is the Bridegroom, for His increase, as typified by Eve as the counterpart to Adam (John 1:12-13; 3:29-30; Gen. 2:21-23). Regeneration makes the believers the children of God.

　　Individually, we are children of God, but corporately we are one entity, the bride of Christ. In the first part of John 3 the Lord Jesus spoke concerning regeneration. Later in the same chapter John the Baptist referred to the regenerated ones in totality as the one bride of Christ (vv. 29-30)….When the Lord Jesus was put to death,… He did not remain in death; He resurrected. In His resurrection He brought many saved ones with Him and brought them forth to become parts of Him. When all these parts are put together, they become a bride as His counterpart. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” p. 271)

　　The church is the bride of Christ, and according to typology, this bride is typified by Eve, who was Adam’s counterpart. Eve was first a part of Adam. While Adam was sleeping, God opened his side and took out a rib. Then God built that rib into a woman by the name of Eve and brought her to Adam to be his counterpart (Gen. 2:21-23)….When he saw Eve, he declared, “This time this is bone of my bones / And flesh of my flesh” (v. 23). Eve is a picture of the church. The church came out of Christ as a part of Christ. The intrinsic essence of the church is the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ. He is the essence of the church because the church was His part. The church is not only composed of children born of God, but the church is also the bride, the counterpart of Christ, a part of Christ as Christ’s increase.

　　Before Eve came into existence, she was a rib of Adam, a part of Adam. According to this revelation, we can say that before the church came into existence, she was a part of Christ….This is why every believer is a member of the Body of Christ. Just as the members of our physical body are parts of us, the members of Christ are parts of Christ. The divine life, the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ Himself, is the essence of the church.

　　Christ became the essence of the church through the release of the divine life…. If the divine life had only remained in His Divine Being, concealed in His human body, it could have never been our life. For this life to be yours and mine, it had to be released. The divine life was released by Christ as the one grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying there for His multiplication (John 12:24)….With His death the divine life was released from one grain into many grains.

　　This released divine life has been imparted into us, the believers of Christ. This took place at the time Christ was resurrected. His resurrection included us (Eph. 2:6). We all were resurrected in Him, with Him, and by Him….In His resurrection He became the firstborn Son with many brothers. Now He is our big Brother, and we are the many sons of God. The divine life imparted into us in Christ’s resurrection is the intrinsic essence of the church, the organic Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” pp. 271-273)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msg. 23; CWWN, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” chs. 2-3

«　WEEK 1　DAY 3　»

　　John 15:1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman.

　　4-5 Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

　　The many brothers of Christ are His many branches grafted into Him, the true vine in the universe, to bear much fruit for His enlargement in His spreading so that they might express the Triune God as His organism (John 15:1, 5,16, 8). This universal vine tree is our essence. God is our essence, Christ is our essence, and the vine tree is also our essence. The vine tree with its branches, the intrinsic and organic spreading of Christ, becomes Christ’s enlargement….The vine of which I am a part is so long that it encircles the whole earth. This is the real great vine, which is the essence of the church. As the branches of the true vine, we are the multiplication of Christ, the duplication of Christ, the spreading of Christ, and the enlargement of Christ. This multiplication, duplication, spreading, and enlargement, the true vine with its branches, is the organism of the Triune God. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” pp. 273-274)

　　This organism of the Triune God is the organic Body of Christ constituted with His many brothers as the many members of His organic Body (Eph. 1:22-23; Rom. 12:5). The intrinsic essence of the church as the organic Body of Christ is the Triune God….Our oneness is not in agreeing with one another’s doctrines. Our oneness is the processed and dispensing Triune God…. If we have any problems with one another, it is because we have departed from the intrinsic essence, the processed and dispensing Triune God. If we stay with Him, forgetting all the different doctrines, there will be no problems.

　　The church exists in the universe as the one universal church of God for His universal expression, the fullness of God (1 Cor. 10:32; 12:28; Eph. 3:19b). Even the existence of the church is organic. Where the Triune God is, this living, organic church is, because this church is now one with the processed and dispensing Triune God. The church and the processed and dispensing Triune God are not two entities; they have become one entity. It is impossible for such a church to be divided.

　　The church is spreading in many localities on the earth as many local churches to be His local expressions (Rev. 1:4a, 11). Universally, the church exists in the universe. Locally, this church is expressed in many localities as local churches. To say that all the local expressions should be different from one another is a wrong teaching. This kind of erroneous teaching comes from not seeing that the churches are organic, with an intrinsic essence…. In the time of Peter and Paul every local church had the same one intrinsic essence. All the local churches on the earth today also have only one intrinsic essence, so the church cannot be divided, or split.

　　Not only the universal church but also the local churches are one. They are intrinsically one in the processed and dispensing Triune God. To solve our problems today, we must come back to the intrinsic essence of the church. If today we all limit ourselves to the one intrinsic essence of the church, every problem will be solved. To talk about whether all the churches are one or separate is to talk in darkness. This is talk without a vision of the intrinsic essence of the church. This chapter should be used by the Lord to “open the window” for us to look into and see the very intrinsic essence of the church and all the churches. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” pp. 274-275)

　　Further Reading: Watchman Nee, Two Principles of Living

«　WEEK 1　DAY 4　»

　　1 Cor. 12:28 And God has placed some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then works of power, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.

　　Eph. 4:3-6 Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace: one Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all…

　　First, God placed the apostles, who are universal in function [1 Cor. 12:28]. Second, He placed the prophets, who are not just universal in function, because prophets were a part of the church in Antioch (Acts 13:1). Third, He placed teachers, who were also present locally in Antioch (v. 1). Helps refers to the serving ones, the deacons, who help the saints in a local church, and administrations refers to the management of the elders in a local church [1 Cor. 12:28]…. Paul puts apostles (who are universal), prophets and teachers (who are both universal and local), and deacons and elders (who are local) all together.

　　In the eyes of God, the universal church and all the local churches are just “the church.” The processed and now-dispensing Triune God is one, and He is the very essence of the church. Therefore, this church, in both its universal and local aspects, is one church. When we come back to the intrinsic essence of the church, we will not talk wrongly about the differences of the churches. All the churches are the unique, one organism of the processed and dispensing Triune God. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” pp. 275-276)

　　[The] oneness in seven aspects: teaching, practice, thinking, speaking, essence, appearance, and expression… [is] not a doctrinal oneness but a oneness in our practice. There are another seven items concerning our oneness in doctrine: one God, one Lord, one Spirit, one church, one recovery, one testimony, and one work. The first three “ones” are the Triune God. Nearly all of us would agree with the seven aspects of oneness on the doctrinal side….We have to admit to there being one God, one Lord, one Spirit, one church, one testimony, and one recovery. Also, it is impossible for us to have more than one work.

　　We do have problems concerning the sevenfoldness of the practical oneness….The Bible tells us that we need to be one in teaching, practice, speaking, and even thinking. Some may feel that this is too much and that this is the controlling of people’s thinking….None of us should follow the recovery blindly, foolishly, or ignorantly. We need a sober consideration of the truth in the Bible….The recovery does not practice many speakings… [but] allows only one kind of speaking. I have a question as to whether or not we in the recovery are really one in speaking.

　　The last three items that we need to be one in practically are related to the golden lampstands in Revelation 1:11-12…. The pure gold is the unique substance of the lampstands. Within one substance there can be only one essence. All the lampstands should furthermore be one in appearance…. The lampstands all have one substance, which is gold, and they all have one form, one shape. The seven lampstands are identical in appearance. If you do not number them, it is impossible to tell them apart. They all look exactly the same.

　　The churches are different from one another in negative things, but the lampstands in Revelation 1, among whom Christ as the Head was walking, are altogether identical. They all look the same. They are uniquely one in their essence, in their appearance, in their form, and in their expression. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 1, “Elders’ Training, Book 7: One Accord for the Lord’s Move,” pp. 97-100)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1986, vol. 1, “Elders’ Training, Book 7: One Accord for the Lord’s Move,” chs. 3-4

«　WEEK 1　DAY 5　»

　　2 Cor. 11:2-3 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your thoughts would be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity toward Christ.

　　We should not think, “The old serpent seduced Eve, but I am not like Eve; I am like Adam. Satan could seduce Eve, but he will not be able to deceive me.” In 2 Corinthians 11:2 Paul likened us all to Eve,…to pure virgins. From the standpoint of being God’s creatures, brothers are males; however, from the standpoint of being the Lord’s lovers and seekers, everyone is a female…. Satan is truly cunning; we should not believe that he will let us freely enjoy Christ and eat the fruit of the tree of life. I am afraid that even after eating from the tree of life, many saints will be deceived to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

　　In 2 Corinthians 11 we see that we are pure virgins….This is a matter of love….With regard to being virgins, we must have a proper love toward Him in order to enjoy Him in a proper way. Whenever our love toward Him is not proper, everything is finished, just as a normal relationship between a husband and wife is lost when a wife does not love her husband. A proper relationship does not depend upon the cleverness or capabilities of a wife, but on her love. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, pp. 141-142)

　　We need to be watchful in regard to our love….The love between us and the Lord depends on our thoughts, just as the love between a husband and wife depends on having proper thoughts about one another. If a wife is not proper in her thoughts concerning her husband, there will be a serious problem. If she has been deceived by her friends or influenced by her relatives, her thoughts about her husband will be corrupted. As a result, her love for her husband will be in trouble…. Love is a feeling that is very tender and delicate.

　　Our thoughts toward the Lord should also be proper. Our thoughts must be preserved and not corrupted. According to 2 Corinthians, the first sign of a problem with our thoughts is that we become hardened….When a person has a strong thought concerning something apart from the Lord, his thoughts can become hardened. Once a person is hardened in his thoughts, there will be a veil between him and the Lord, and he will be unable to know the Lord.

　　Saints who have hardened thoughts need the Lord’s mercy to become softened. This was the problem that the Jews had with the Lord. Even though they had the Bible and knew about God to a certain extent, their thoughts were hardened and became unbreakable. Even the Lord Jesus had no way to deal with this problem when He came; they would not receive Him. It can be the same with us today. We may pray-read the Lord’s Word, and we may have the Lord’s Spirit in our spirit, but if our thoughts are hardened, the Lord will not have a way in us.

　　The second symptom of problems with man’s thoughts is being blinded by Satan. A man’s thoughts are like his eyes; everything that comes into him must first pass through his thoughts, just as physical scenery must first pass through one’s eyes. If our thoughts are blinded by Satan, there will be a veil on our thoughts. It is harder to deal with a veil than with hardened thoughts.

　　The apostle said that our thoughts can be blinded by the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4). If we have singleness toward God, our thoughts will not be blinded. When we are single toward God, our thoughts will be transparent. As soon as we seek things other than God, the god of this age will cause our thoughts to be blinded…. Even though we are saved, we will fall into a condition of being blinded in our thoughts if we do not seek after God in a pure way. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, pp. 142-144)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 8, pp. 25-35; CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, pp. 139-146

«　WEEK 1　DAY 6　»

　　2 Cor. 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but powerful before God for the overthrowing of strongholds, as we overthrow reasonings and every high thing rising up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ.

　　Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxious thoughts.

　　The third symptom of problems with man’s thoughts is rebellion. Some saints may be touched by the Lord, but inwardly they are still rebellious and unwilling to submit. They harbor various thoughts that are disobedient, stubborn, and offensive to the Lord. Hence, we have to bear the responsibility to intercede for them, because our warfare is spiritual, not fleshly. We cannot confront a brother and say, “Brother, your thoughts are rebellious.” The more we chastise him in this way, the more rebellious he will become; this is unacceptable. We must pray that all his reasonings and rebellious, stubborn, and disobedient thoughts would be taken captive unto the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:4-5).

　　Another symptom of problems with man’s thoughts is corruption. Some saints do not have hardened thoughts; it seems that they receive the Lord’s leading. Neither are their thoughts blinded; when we speak of spiritual things, they understand. However, there is still a danger that their thoughts can be corrupted. This symptom is very difficult and quite deceiving. Although many saints are somewhat turned toward the Lord and love Him, they are also turned toward other things. Their thoughts are not focused, pure, single, and simple. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, p. 144)

　　Remember that we are pure virgins….The requirement of a pure virgin is a single love, a pure love, a simple love, and even a foolish love. A wife must love her husband to the extent of being foolish; that is, no matter whether her husband is good or bad, her consideration of him is always good. If a wife is always criticizing her husband, …there is a problem with her love.

　　Although we may not criticize the Lord, Satan often seduces us with things other than the Lord…. If we do not love the Lord very much or enjoy the Lord when we pray-read, it is because our thoughts are not pure or clean; our thoughts have been corrupted…. If we desire to be pure virgins loving the Lord, our thoughts must contain no mixture. This requirement is strict. Our thoughts must be pure. Once our thoughts are pure, our hardened thoughts will be softened, our blinded thoughts will be unveiled, and our rebellious thoughts will be subdued…. Blinded thoughts come from hardened thoughts, hardened thoughts come from rebellious thoughts, and rebellious thoughts come from impure thoughts.

　　Romans 8:6 says that we should set our mind on the spirit. In order for our thoughts to be rescued, our thoughts must be turned, our thoughts must be focused, our thoughts must be purified, and our thoughts must be on the proper track.

　　I hope we all have this prayer: “Lord, have mercy on me; I have no way to deal with my thoughts. O Lord, rescue my thoughts, gather my thoughts, focus my thoughts. Lord, rescue my thoughts so that they can focus on You. Search my thoughts and rescue my thoughts.” We should spend a good amount of time to thoroughly pray about this matter.

　　We must allow our thoughts to be rescued, dealt with, focused, and gathered so that our thoughts can be pure. Then when we go to a meeting, we will discover that our thoughts are as transparent as crystal. Once our thoughts are pure, they will be softened, unveiled, and subdued. Then our enjoyment of Christ will be thorough and transparent. May the Lord have mercy on us. (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, pp. 144-146)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 8, pp. 25-35; Life-study of Romans, msg. 62; Life-study of Job, msg. 37