Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 3:15-16; 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:15; John 18:37

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 & DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 & DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 5　DAY 1　»

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

　　John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.

　　Speaking metaphorically, Paul speaks of the church as “the pillar and base of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). The pillar supports the building, and the base holds the pillar. The church is such a supporting pillar and holding base of the truth. The truth here refers to the real things which are revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy. The truth is the reality and the contents of God’s New Testament economy. This economy is composed of two mysteries: Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4). Christ and the church, the Head and the Body, are the contents of the reality of God’s New Testament economy. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of all these realities. A local church should be such a building that holds, bears, and testifies the truth, the reality, of Christ and the church. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3671)

　　To God, the church has the function to bear all that God is as the reality, the truth, of the universe. The word reality is better than truth in conveying the proper meaning, because truth can be misunderstood as doctrines. This may cause people to think that the church holds doctrines. No, the church is not for holding doctrines but for holding the reality of all that God is. In the universe, only God is reality; all that He is, is reality, which is borne by the church. We are here as the church, the house and household of God, holding the reality of all that God is.

　　The truth borne by the church is the Triune God, having Christ as the embodiment, center, and expression to produce the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God (Col. 2:9; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; John 3:3, 5). The truth, the reality, is Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of God. The church bears Christ as the reality. The church testifies to the whole universe that Christ, and Christ alone, is the reality (1:14, 17; 14:6). As the pillar and base of the truth, the church bears the reality of the Triune God. The church stands not for doctrine but for the truth, the reality of the Triune God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3671-3672)

　　History has clearly shown us that the existence of a denomination, free group, or the genuine church life all depends on solid doctrines. If there are no solid doctrines, there is no church.

　　Even in the past I occasionally indicated strongly that the so-called “Spirit” [of the Pentecostal movement] cannot build up the church, but the solid truth or the solid doctrines can. Certainly, what kind of church you will build up depends upon what kind of truth you teach. Since 1962 here in the United States, we have stressed greatly that the churches are built up not by mere doctrines but by Christ, by the Spirit, and by life. Since this time a great many messages have been put out on the truth….Through the years…we have stressed Christ, the Spirit, and life. In all the messages what we condemned was the empty, dead doctrines of dead letters. However, we fully realized that to produce the church, to have the church exist, and to build up the church we needed to put out the solid, living truths full of Christ, full of the Spirit, and full of life. God’s way to carry out His economy is to use His holy Word. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 3: The Way to Carry Out the Vision,” pp. 319-320)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 3: The Way to Carry Out the Vision,” chs. 1, 9-11, 13; CWWL, 1956, vol. 1, “The Church as the Body of Christ,” ch. 4

«　WEEK 5　DAY 2　»

　　1 Tim. 3:9 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

　　2 John 4 I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, even as we received commandment from the Father.

　　Suppose that on this earth among the human race there had never been such a book as the Bible. If we had not had a Bible in our hands during the past two thousand years since the Lord Jesus resurrected and ascended to the heavens, everything would be in the air, and nothing could be solid. Even the things concerning the Spirit could not be solid. The Spirit depends upon the Word. This is why the Lord said that the words that He has spoken to us are spirit (John 6:63). The words that the Lord speaks are the solid spirit…. In innumerable instances we have seen that whenever people contact the holy Word, many times they get the Spirit, but it is hard to give an instance where people touch the Spirit and then get the Word. There are a great many instances, however, that show us that when you touch the Word, you get the Spirit. This is history. A principle has been set up through history that there is the desperate need of the living truth to produce the church, to help the church exist, and to build up the church. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 3: The Way to Carry Out the Vision,” p. 320)

　　The most profitable writings and publications are the Life-study messages with the footnotes of the Recovery Version. I wrote these things not for scholarly study for people to get a degree but for life ministering, for truth releasing, and for opening up the books of the Bible….The Lord’s recovery is just for the processed Triune God to be dispensed into us, and the living Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church are the crucial contents of the Lord’s recovery. There is no other place to pick up other books that are so rich, so enlightening, and so nourishing concerning the recovery of Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church.

　　The holy Word itself says in Psalm 119:130: “The opening of Your words gives light.” Millions of copies of the Bible have been distributed. They have been placed in hotels, in homes, and in many places. Nearly everywhere you go today, you find a Bible, but who has entered into the Bible? There has been nearly no entrance. Many have a copy of the Bible, but the Bible has been closed and nearly never opened. Now the Lord has given us a key, an opener. I consider our writings as the opener to open the holy Word. I believe that those of you who have read the Life-study messages can testify honestly that these messages with the footnotes of the Recovery Version have opened up a certain chapter or a certain book of the Bible to you. This is not to replace the Bible but to bring people into the Bible.

　　Based upon this, I feel that for the long run for the Lord’s recovery in such a top country as the United States, which is full of culture, education, scientific knowledge, and biblical knowledge, the greatest need we must meet is to bring the saints in the Lord’s recovery into the truth to carry on the Lord’s recovery. For a country to be strong, there is the need to bring its people into the proper education.

　　For the long run we [need] to help the saints in the Lord’s recovery to get into the top spiritual education….The standard of the Lord’s recovery depends upon the standard of the truth that we put out. The truths will be the measure and the standard.

　　We need to find a way to bring all the saints in the Lord’s recovery into a proper education of the truth concerning God’s New Testament economy. We need to consider this matter in two aspects—the personal aspect and the meeting aspect. We must have a personal way laid as a foundation for us to stand on and then go on to take care of the meeting way. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 3: The Way to Carry Out the Vision,” pp. 320-323)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1977, vol. 3, “The Subjective Truths in the Holy Scriptures,” ch. 8

«　WEEK 5　DAY 3　»

　　2 Tim. 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman, cutting straight the word of the truth.

　　3 John 4 I have no greater joy than these things, that I hear that my children are walking in the truth.

　　First Timothy 3:15 says that the church is the pillar and base of the truth. In ancient architecture a building was supported by a pillar, which rested on a base. The church is the pillar and base that bears the truth. The pillar and base of the truth are not the elders but the church, which includes every brother and sister. Every member of the church is part of the pillar that bears the truth. Whenever a new one or a young one asks a question related to the truth, we should all be able to answer. Someone may ask what holiness is. We not only should know that holiness is Christ, but we also should be able to find the verse that proves this (1 Cor. 1:30) and expound it.

　　However, many saints know a certain amount of truth, but their knowledge is not thorough or adequate. In order for the churches to be strong, every brother and sister must bear the truth by learning the truth, experiencing the truth, and being able to speak the truth. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 3, “The Healthy Word,” p. 221)

　　We are each a living member of the church with the living God in us. The church being the pillar and base of the truth implies that every member of the church should know the truth. We need to make a decision to learn the truth. If the young saints do not make such a decision, the church has no future. For the sake of the spreading of the church to new localities, there is a need of leading ones, some who can bear responsibility. We are short of such ones because in the daily church life we do not learn or practice the truth. If we learn the truth and practice the truth in the daily church life, every member will be able to bear some responsibility. Then wherever we spread, there will be no problems; every local church will be strong. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Crucial Principles for the Christian Life and the Church Life,” p. 620)

　　Everyone…who has passed through all kinds of tests and who was not only never shaken but also never affected is a real benefit to the Lord’s recovery. Whatever the storm was, they remained steadfast, and they went on with the Lord and are still here. They have not been a damage or a problem. Everyone like this is one who loves the Word and has a sound foundation in the truth. There is not an exception to this either on the positive side or on the negative side. All those who became a problem never had a solid foundation in the Word.

　　We must do our best to get ourselves into these truths and to get these truths constituted into our being. This cannot be done within a short time, but this must be our practice. I also am burdened that all the leading ones, either the elders or the serving ones taking some kind of lead, should have a real burden to pray for the saints in your locality that the Lord may stir up their interest, their seeking heart, and their spirit to seek after the Lord in His truth. The truth is nowhere but in the Bible, yet the Bible needs an opener. We need to lead the saints into the real, right, and proper realization of the need of the Bible and also of the help of the Life-study messages and the Recovery Version.

　　We should help the saints to build up a practice or a habit that every day they would spend at least thirty minutes in the Word. This can be done by taking ten minutes in the morning, ten minutes in the evening, and another ten minutes before going to bed. We all need to build up such a practice to spend at least thirty minutes a day to get into God’s Word. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 3: The Way to Carry Out the Vision,” pp. 323-325)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1984, vol. 5, “Truth, Life, the Church, and the Gospel—the Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery,” chs. 4-7

«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　1 Tim. 3:16 …Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

　　John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

　　In 1 Timothy 3:15-16 Christ is presented as God manifested in the flesh…. Not only was the Lord Jesus the manifestation of God in the flesh in the past; the church today should also be the manifestation of God in the flesh. The word godliness in verse 16 means “God-likeness.” Hence, this verse indicates that human beings may have the appearance, the expression, and the manifestation of God. In the context of this verse, the phrase the mystery of godliness means that God in His mystery can be manifested and expressed in the flesh, in human beings….The transition from the mystery of godliness to He implies that Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh is the mystery of godliness (Col. 1:27; Gal. 2:20). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3661)

　　God’s manifestation was first in Christ as an individual expression in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9; John 1:1, 14). The New Testament does not say that only the Son of God was incarnated. Rather, it reveals that God was manifested in the flesh, indicating that the entire God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—was incarnated. Therefore, Christ in His incarnation was the entire God manifested in the flesh. According to the Gospel of John, the Word, who is God, became flesh (vv. 1, 14)….The Word who became flesh—God manifested in the flesh—is God’s definition, explanation, and expression in the flesh (v. 18). God was manifested in the flesh not only as the Son but as the entire Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

　　Through incarnation and human living (vv. 1, 14), God was manifested in the flesh. The expression in the flesh means “in the likeness, in the fashion, of man” (Rom. 8:3; Phil. 2:7-8). Christ appeared to people in the form of man (2 Cor. 5:16), yet He was God manifested in a man.

　　When He lived on earth as the God-man, He did not live by His human life but by His divine life. He lived a human life not by His humanity but by His divinity. He lived as a God-man yet not by the life of man but by the life of God. Hence, His human living was not lived out by the human life but by the divine life. He lived by always rejecting His human life, by always putting His human life under the cross. From the first day He lived on earth, He lived a crucified human life, not by His human life but by His divine life. His human living did not express humanity but divinity in the divine attributes becoming the human virtues. This is what Paul meant in 1 Timothy 3 when he spoke of Christ as God manifested in the flesh (v. 16).

　　All of His days on earth, [Christ] put Himself on the cross. He remained on the cross to die so that He might live by God, not to express man but to express God in His divine attributes becoming man’s virtues…. Since today we are His reproduction, we should live the same kind of life. To follow Jesus is to live the life of a God-man, not by the human life but by the divine life, in order that God may be expressed, or manifested, in the flesh in all His divine attributes becoming the human virtues. This is the intrinsic significance of what it is to follow Christ. As God-men, we need to live a life not by ourselves but by another One, not by our human life but by His divine life, not to express ourselves but to express His divinity in His divine attributes which become our human virtues. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3661-3663)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 13, 363; CWWL, 1978, vol. 3, “Crucial Elements of God’s Economy,” ch. 5

«　WEEK 5　DAY 5　»

　　Eph. 2:19 So then you are… fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

　　1:22-23 …The church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

　　When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He expressed the divine attributes as His human virtues in all His actions. That expression of His virtues was the manifestation of God in the flesh. Outwardly, people saw Him as Jesus from Nazareth, but He was God manifested in the flesh. For example, after the Lord Jesus fed the five thousand, there were many leftovers…. But the Lord instructed His disciples to gather the broken pieces left over that nothing would be lost (John 6:12). After all the leftovers were picked up, everything was clean and in order. This was the virtue of the One who is resurrection (11:25). When the Lord left the things in the tomb in good order, this was also a testimony of His resurrection (20:7). When we exercise our spirit and do things in resurrection, this is a display of our Christian virtues. These Christian virtues are expressions of the divine attributes and are the manifestation of God in the flesh. This is God’s living in man. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3663-3664)

　　Even though we [in the church life] are in the flesh, we should not live by the flesh. We should live in and by resurrection so that God may live in our living, making us Him in His attributes as our virtues for His manifestation.

　　Not only Christ Himself as the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh, but also…the church as the Body of Christ and the house of God is the manifestation of God in the flesh—the mystery of godliness. According to the context, godliness in 1 Timothy 3:16 refers not only to piety but also to the living of God in the church, that is, to God as life lived out in the church. Both Christ and the church are the mystery of godliness, expressing God in the flesh. The church life is the expression of God; therefore, the mystery of godliness is the living of a proper church (1 Cor. 14:24-25). God is manifested in the church—the house of God and the Body of Christ—as His enlarged corporate expression in the flesh (Eph. 2:19; 1:22-23).

　　The manifestation of God in the flesh began with Christ when He was on earth (John 14:9). The manifestation of God in the flesh continues with the church, which is the increase, enlargement, and multiplication of the manifestation of God in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:15-16). Such a church becomes the continuation of Christ’s manifestation of God in the flesh—Christ lived out of the church as the manifestation of God. This is God manifested in the flesh in a wider way according to the New Testament principle of incarnation (1 Cor. 7:40; Gal. 2:20). The principle of incarnation is that God enters into man and mingles Himself with man to make man one with Himself (John 15:4-5). The principle of incarnation means that divinity is brought into humanity and works within humanity (1 Cor. 6:17; 7:40; 1 Tim. 4:1). The great mystery of godliness is that God has become man so that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce a corporate God-man for the manifestation of God in the flesh (Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; Eph. 4:24).

　　God has imparted Himself into us, making us one with Him and also making Him one with us. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.”…We are the same as God in the divine life, the divine nature, the divine element, and the divine essence but not in the Godhead. Today we are the flesh in which God can be manifested. God is manifested in the flesh, but we need to realize that God can never be manifested by the flesh. The flesh is merely the earthen vessel. It is not the key to carry out God’s manifestation; the key to God’s manifestation in us is our spirit. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3664-3665)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The God-men,” chs. 1-2; Life-study of 1 Timothy, msgs. 3, 6; Life-study of 2 Timothy, msgs. 7-8

«　WEEK 5　DAY 6　»

　　1 Cor. 14:25 The secrets of his heart become manifest; and so falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that indeed God is among you.

　　Eph. 4:24 And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.

　　In 1 Timothy 4:7 Paul… [tells] us that we should exercise ourselves unto godliness. To exercise ourselves unto godliness is to exercise our spirit so that we may express the mystery of godliness—God manifested in the flesh. This is indicated by Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 1:6-7, which says, “For which cause I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.”… Since the Lord Jesus as the mystery of godliness is in our spirit [4:22], in order to express and practice this mystery, we need to exercise ourselves unto godliness by exercising our spirit. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3665)

　　Before we do anything, we should exercise our spirit. Then our spirit will lead us, and whatever we do will be godliness, God manifested in the flesh. This is the exercise unto godliness. In everything we need to exercise ourselves unto godliness. Before we speak, we should exercise our spirit unto godliness. Therefore, we must live, walk, have our daily life, and have our whole being according to our spirit (Rom. 8:4). Paul exhorted Timothy to pray for those “who are in high position, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and gravity” (1 Tim. 2:2). If we are godly, it will affect the choice of pictures we hang in our bedroom, the kind of clothes that we wear, our hairstyle, and our conversation. The inward life of godliness has an outward expression. Such a manifestation of godliness is a testimony and has an impact on those who meet us. In whatever we say, whatever we do, whatever we wear, there should be an impression that God is manifested in us.

　　In the church life there should be the manifestation of God in the flesh. In order for this to be the situation, there must be in the church the glorious union of God and man. Inwardly we should have God, but God is manifested in the flesh through a normal and proper humanity. All those in the church life—the brothers and the sisters, the elderly ones and the young ones—should behave in a way that is normal and fitting for their respective ages. Instead of pretense, there should be a genuineness that is both human and divine.

　　The church as the house of God is the living God becoming flesh and being manifested in the flesh. In the four Gospels God was manifested in the flesh in Jesus as a single individual. But in 1 Timothy 3 God’s manifestation in the flesh is in the entire church corporately.

　　Christ is the manifestation of God in the flesh, but so is the church. We are the church, but we are still in the flesh. When we meet together in the Spirit, God is manifested among us; this is the manifestation of God in the flesh. Just as Christ the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh, so also is His Body. If the whole church is gathered together in a proper way, and an unbeliever comes in, “falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that indeed God is among you” (1 Cor. 14:23-25). God’s presence is known whenever the church meets together properly. We admit that we are still flesh, but the God who lives in our spirit will be manifested, expressed, in our flesh. This manifestation must be not merely individual but corporate. Because the proper church life is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, the church of the living God is the consummate mystery of godliness. For the church to be the corporate expression of God in the flesh, everyone in the church must be transformed (2 Cor. 3:18). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3665-3667)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1952, vol. 2, “How to Administrate the Church,” ch. 1