Scripture Reading: Judg. 4—5

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 7　DAY 1　»

　　Rom. 14:9 For Christ died and lived again for this, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

　　Matt. 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

　　Gal. 3:14 In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

　　[In the New Testament the gospel is] presented first with these words: “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (Matt. 4:17). This indicates that the gospel is presented first not in the way of life, as in John, but in the way of the kingdom, as in Matthew. The reason for this is that there is the need of a kingdom, a realm, a sphere, for God to exercise Himself to give us His all-inclusive being. Even in John, the Gospel of life, we are told that if we are not regenerated, we cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5). There is the need of a kingdom so that God can exercise Himself to dispense Himself into us as our life blessing. Therefore, in the gospel we receive Jesus Christ first not as life but as the King. If we do not repent and receive the Lord as the King-Savior [Matthew], we cannot have Him as the Slave-Savior [Mark], the Man-Savior [Luke], and the God-Savior [John]. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2758)

　　We need to repent not only because we are sinful but also because we are rebellious. We are even enemies of God. We need to repent of our rebellion…. If we did not rebel, we could not sin. Because we are rebels, we need to repent and receive Christ as our authority, as our Sovereign and King, that He may rule in us and over us in God’s kingdom. This is the reason that in Matthew 1:1 Christ is presented first not as the Son of Abraham for the blessing but as the Son of David for the kingdom.

　　Once there is the kingdom, the kingdom becomes the realm, the sphere, for God to exercise Himself to bless us….We may not realize that the blessing requires a sphere of God’s authority, a sphere under God’s administration. Without such a sphere, there is no way for God to come in to bless us. If we are not under God’s administration, receiving Him as our Sovereign, there is no way for Him to bless us. Therefore, in our experience our Savior, Jesus Christ, must first be the Son of David for the kingdom and then the Son of Abraham for the blessing.

　　To receive Him as the Son of David is to recognize His kingly status and to realize that we should be under His kingship and sovereignty. He comes to us not merely as the Savior but as the King-Savior. If He is not the King to us, He cannot be our Savior. If we are not under His authority, His administration, we cannot be saved. Salvation comes to us under His administration, under His kingship. If we say, “O Lord Jesus, I take You as my King,” we will be saved to the uttermost.

　　If we have Christ as the Son of David, the greater Solomon, we will also have Him as the Son of Abraham, the real Isaac. This means that if we have the kingdom, we will also have the blessing. This is the blessing of life, the blessing of the processed Triune God consummated as the all-inclusive Spirit. Many of us can testify that by receiving Christ as our King we enjoy the processed Triune God as our blessing. The more we are under the Lord’s ruling, the more we enjoy the Triune God as our blessing. Matthew 28:19 speaks of the believers’ being baptized into the Triune God—into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This is the enjoyment of the Triune God. As the Son of David and the Son of Abraham, Christ brings us into the Triune God. As long as we have the Son of David and the Son of Abraham, we have the Triune God, and we are in the Triune God. This is the divine blessing in the divine kingdom. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2758-2759)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 265; Life-study of Philippians, msg. 7; CWWN, vol. 7, pp. 1191-1196

«　WEEK 7　DAY 2　»

　　1 Cor. 11:3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.

　　10 Therefore the woman ought to have a sign of submission to authority on her head for the sake of the angels.

　　Prior to the history recorded in Judges 3:7 through 5:31, the people of Israel had never had a female leader. Then, suddenly, God raised up a female, Deborah, as a judge of Israel. Regarding this, we need to realize that in the Bible, whenever God does something which stands out as being extraordinary, it is very significant. It indicates, first, man’s failure, and then, God’s excellent act. At the time of Judges 4, all the men of Israel had failed, so God raised up a woman. That raising up of a female changed the entire condition of Israel.

　　In the Bible a proper female indicates one who is in submission to God, one who keeps God’s ordination. This is the position that Israel should have taken before God, but the situation in Israel had become fully abnormal. The men had left their position before Jehovah. Hence, Israel violated God’s ordination, leaving her position as God’s wife and forsaking Him for hundreds of idols. (Life-study of Judges, p. 15)

　　According to God’s creation, Deborah was a very capable person. By reading her song in Judges 5, we can see that she was full of ability, capacity, insight, and foresight. But such an excellent person was very submissive. God made her the leader, yet she kept the proper order and took Barak as her covering (4:6-9). She realized that she needed a man to be her covering….When she took this kind of standing, the whole nation became different. In their miserable situation no one would take the lead to fight for Jehovah’s interest, and no one would be willing to follow. But when this excellent, extraordinary woman took the lead to practice the female submission to the man, the entire country came into the proper order. Everyone returned to his or her proper position. Thus Deborah could say in her song, “Then a remnant of the nobles went down; / The people of Jehovah went down with me against the mighty” (5:13). All the leaders took the lead, and all the people followed; the army was formed. At first, only some of the people followed, but eventually they all followed. From this we see that the entire country came into an excellent order, assuming the proper position before Jehovah. (Life-study of Judges, pp. 15-16)

　　A Nazarite must deal with the rebellion in his nature. Thank God that we were created with an abundance of hair on our head, indicating that we are under authority. I can testify that it is a great blessing to be under someone, some thing, or some environment. It is a blessing to be under someone or some thing. It is even a blessing to be severely limited. I thank the Lord that from the day I came into the recovery, the Lord put me under someone, some thing, or some environment.

　　Today some are teaching that it is not necessary for believers to submit to a deputy authority, that believers should not be under anyone. This erroneous teaching is very damaging. First, it is damaging to those who teach in this way, and then it is damaging to the ones who receive such a teaching. Those who accept the teaching that the believers should not submit to deputy authority will be spoiled by this teaching. Some may even be spoiled without remedy in their youth. Therefore, it is a serious matter to teach that we should not submit to deputy authority, and it is also a serious matter to receive this teaching.

　　A Nazarite is a person full of hair, full of submission. With him there are a submissive spirit, standing, atmosphere, and intention. If you are such a person, there will be a great blessing for you and for your future. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 70-71)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Judges, msgs. 1, 4, 8; Life-study of Numbers, msgs. 8, 10; CWWN, vol. 38, chs. 52, 67

«　WEEK 7　DAY 3　»

　　Phil. 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross.

　　Eph. 5:22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord.

　　1 Pet. 3:5 For in this manner formerly the holy women also, who hoped in God, adorned themselves, being subject to their own husbands.

　　Ephesians 5 first exhorts the wife. Verse 24 is directed at the sisters, and verse 25 is directed at the brothers….Verse 24 says, “Let the wives be subject to their husbands in everything.” If a sister wants to be married and she comes to me and asks, “Should I marry a certain person?” I will surely answer, “Can you be subject to him?” If you cannot be subject to him, you are not qualified to marry him. You can only marry him if you can submit to him. If you have never intended to submit to him in your heart, you should not be his wife and should not marry him…. Marrying a person means that you are willing to offer yourself up and say, “I am willing to submit.” (CWWN, vol. 38, p. 525)

　　The first function of the sisters is to be submissive. This does not involve the doing of any kind of work, but it is a real function. Being submissive is much greater than any kind of doing. If the sisters are submissive, they are doing the greatest thing in the world. This is the greatest function on the side of the sisters. First Corinthians 11:3 says, “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.” In this verse we can see the divine order. However, in the entire world today, in every country, in all the schools, and in all the homes, what we see is not order and submission but rebellion upon rebellion. The entire world is rebellious toward God. The world is like a stormy ocean full of the winds of rebellion. In the church the situation should not be like this. The church is God’s chosen vessel to bear a testimony to the universe that is absolutely different from the world. The church is sanctified, separated from the course of the world and from the current of the age. As the church we are not in the flow of the world but in the flow of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:1). In the local churches as the local expressions of the Body of Christ, there should be genuine submission.

　　To be submissive requires the supply of life, the enjoyment of grace, the working of the cross, and the denial of the self. We should never try to be submissive by our self. We should consecrate ourselves to the Lord not to do a work for the Lord but simply to be submissive. If the sisters take care of this one matter of being submissive, the church will be strengthened, enriched, and renewed. If the sisters in a local church are submissive, the church will be strong, living, rich, and prevailing. It is much more prevailing for the sisters to be submissive than for them to do any kind of work. This is the first lesson the sisters need to learn. This does not mean that there is no need for the sisters to fellowship with the church, but the sisters must know that their position and standing are to be submissive. (CWWL, 1968, vol. 1, pp. 83-85)

　　Salvation not only brings joy; it also brings submission. If a man is only for joy, his experiences will not be abundant. Only submissive ones will experience the fullness of salvation. Otherwise, we change the nature of salvation. We need to be submissive, even as the Lord was submissive. The Lord became the source of our salvation through obedience. God saved us with the hope that we would submit to His will. When one meets God’s authority, submission is a simple matter, and knowing God’s will is also a simple matter, because the Lord, who was submissive throughout His life, has already given us His life of submission. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” p. 146)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1968, vol. 1, pp. 83-86; CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” ch. 5

«　WEEK 7　DAY 4　»

　　Judg. 5:7 …Until I, Deborah, rose up; until I rose up as a mother in Israel.

　　Rom. 16:13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother as well as mine.

　　1-2 I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a deaconess of the church which is in Cenchrea,…for she herself has also been the patroness of many, of myself as well.

　　The emphasis in Romans 16 is on the sisters, not the brothers, and there is mention of a mother but no mention of a father….’I commend to you Phoebe our sister” [v. 1], not a sister in the flesh….We do not have a verse to tell us the names of Paul’s mother and father in the flesh. The mother in verse 13 is a mother in the flesh in relation to Rufus, but more important, she is a mother not in the flesh in relation to Paul. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, p. 47)

　　The New Testament tells us that Paul had at least two sons, one named Timothy and the second named Titus, but these were not his sons in the flesh. Paul uses a very intimate expression to call them sons: “…genuine child in faith,” and “…genuine child” (1 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4)….The New Testament tells us very little about the direct flesh relatives of the apostles….Peter did tell us that he had a son named Mark: “Mark my son” (1 Pet. 5:13). Surely Mark was not Peter’s son in the flesh…. Peter was Mark’s father, not his father in the flesh but his father in the spirit, his father in the common faith.

　　According to the record in John 19, when the Lord Jesus was suffering during His crucifixion, He looked at His mother in the flesh. At that time four sisters were standing by the cross, watching how the Lord was being crucified. Mary was there, and her sister, and another two sisters also named Mary. Mary’s sister was the mother of James and John, so James and John were the cousins of Jesus. Near the end of His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus looked at His mother in the flesh, and in a sense it was as if He said to her, “Mother, don’t behold Me, but behold your son.” At the same time He said to His cousin John, “Behold, your mother” (vv. 25-27).

　　The Gospel of John is a book on life, not on the natural life but on the transferred and transformed life. To fulfill his purpose John gives us a record to show how the life of the believers of Christ could be transferred by the cross of Jesus and by His resurrection. If you look at the cross of Jesus, you will be transferred. The word of the Lord Jesus to John and to His mother was a word to show us that His life-imparting, life-releasing death transfers people’s lives.

　　Originally, John was not Mary’s son, and Mary was not John’s mother. But because of the crucifixion of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus, became the mother of John. John, who was the son of Mary’s sister, became Mary’s son. This is not a story of adoption, and it does not mean that the Lord Jesus was like a judge to carry out the adoption as they all stood by the cross…. According to the life in the flesh, John was Mary’s nephew, and Mary was John’s aunt. But by looking at the cross, they received another life….In this second life the nephew becomes a real son, and the aunt becomes a real mother.

　　To have the practical church life to the uttermost, in the local church there should be some real sisters and some real mothers. [Recently] it was my burden to share with you that you need to be a serving sister, but now I am burdened to share with you that you need to be a mother. As long as there is a shortage of sisters like Phoebe among us, the church life is not practical. Yet the serving of that sister is at the beginning of Romans 16, in the first verse. When the church life in practicality reaches a peak, in every church there should be some real mothers. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 47-50)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 45-46 (also in the booklet The Serving Sisters in the Church Life), pp. 47-55 (also in the booklet The Loving Mothers in the Church Life)

«　WEEK 7　DAY 5　»

　　John 19:26-27 Then Jesus, seeing His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, said to His mother, Woman, behold, your son. Then He said to the disciple, Behold, your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

　　3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

　　In his training in 1948 Brother Nee told the saints, especially the sisters, that they should be a mother to another young saint. Many sisters could each take care of two or three children in the spirit. For the most part, children do not like to respect the word of their own parents, especially when they become teenagers. But if I would take your children as my children, they would respect my word. If my children have some problems, they would not open themselves to me. But if you would take them as your children, they would open up their whole being to you. Although they would not take anything that I would say to them, they would receive whatever you would say. There are many problems with the parents and the teenagers. Very few teenagers would be submissive and obedient. Yet even the troublesome ones would be happy to listen to someone other than their own parents. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 50-51)

　　We all need a second birth, and we all need a second mother. If you sisters would pick up the burden by looking at the cross, getting yourself transferred in life, and take some young ones of junior-high age to be your children, within five years there will be a revival in the church. The best way is to have a life transfer by looking at the cross. You need to bring a young one to the cross to look at the crucified Jesus. He will say, “Look at your mother. This is your mother.” And He will say to you, “Look at your son. This is your son,” or, “This is your daughter.”

　　All the sisters of all ages need to be a mother to someone else. Taking care of a child will cause you to grow and to be mature. In the natural life the best way for the young ones to mature is for them to have two children. Even more, to pick up some younger ones as your children in the spirit will cause you to grow.

　　However, to take care of some in this way is a big test. If your natural life has not been crossed out, has never had a transfer, this practice will become a snare. You will fall into the natural love and be trapped by the fleshly emotion. Such a practice will work only by a life transfer through the cross.

　　In the church life we need the real sisters and the real brothers, and especially we need the real mothers. All the sisters need to be encouraged to take care of some children in the spirit. This is not a matter that can be assigned to the sisters, but there is the need for you to pick up the burden. The matter of being a mother will bring in many lessons, and it will put you on the real test in every way. You will see how you love yourself more than others, how you care only for yourself. All these things will be tested and exposed. Without this testing, you could never realize how selfish you are and how much you are in yourself.

　　It is not adequate to be a brother or a sister in a general way. All the sisters need to be serving sisters, and whether or not we have children, we all need to be the mothers. This is the best way to receive the blessing, the growth, the spirituality, and the real enjoyment of the Lord.

　　If you would pick up a child and take care of that child, right away you will become very practical. No one else can help you so much to stay away from your natural disposition. Such a child will take you from the earth to the third heaven. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 51, 53-54)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Malachi, msgs. 2-3; CWWL, 1981, vol. 2, “The History and Revelation of the Lord’s Recovery,” chs. 6, 8

«　WEEK 7　DAY 6　»

　　Judg. 5:15-16 …Among the divisions of Reuben there were great resolutions in heart….In the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.

　　31 May all Your enemies so perish, O Jehovah. But may those who love Him be like the sun when it rises in its might…

　　[In Judges 5:31], for the sun to rise in its might means that it shines brightly, brilliantly, and gloriously. We need the searchings, the resolutions, and the rising up to shine like the sun. If all the churches would be like this, they surely would enjoy the victory. May all the dear saints in the Lord’s recovery have great searchings and make great resolutions, and may they all, by loving the Lord, rise up like the sun to shine brightly. (Life-study of Judges, p. 17)

　　The Bible says that among God’s people there were great resolutions in heart, and there were also great searchings of heart (Judg. 5:15-16). For whom did they have great resolutions and great searchings? A person of aspiration, though he lives on the earth, always turns his heart to the Lord. We should have great resolutions in heart and great searchings of heart toward God. May all the young people, starting from today, be willing to have great resolutions and great searchings of heart. To have a great resolve is to make a firm decision, and to have a great searching is to devise a plan. This is not just to have a resolve but to have a great resolve, and not just to make a plan but to make a great plan. May today be the day that you have a great resolve and make a great plan.

　　Some may ask, “What is the purpose of having a great resolve and a great searching?” It is to live for God on the earth. The meaning of these three words living for God is quite broad. In brief, it means to receive God as your life for your entire life. God will lead you to live on the earth for Him. In other words, God will lead you to express Him on this earth by going to every place, every country, and every nation to testify on His behalf and to lead people to know Him.

　　I rarely have dreams when I sleep, but I had a dream one night. In the dream I held a cane in my hand and was walking peacefully until I came to a place with a steep, crooked downward slope with four steps. I went down the slope step by step, leaning on my cane, and suddenly a German shepherd dog threw itself on me. The German shepherd was the same color as that of the uniform of the Japanese military police…. I was not wounded, and in an instant the dog went away. Suddenly, when I looked ahead, there was a broad highway very straight and stretching on boundlessly, and the sun had just risen from the east. My heart then felt free and released, and seeing the broad highway, the rising sun, and the boundless, bright horizon, I strode fearlessly onward. This was my dream.

　　Through the dream the Lord told me, “Be at peace. You are not under the hand of the Japanese.”…I knew that the Lord still wanted me to remain on the earth, because there was a broad highway ahead, and I could just keep going on.

　　The past forty years that we have gone through proves that the dream has been fulfilled, and now we are still on this broad highway. At this point in time we particularly need young people to rise up and serve the Lord full time. There is nothing more glorious than serving full time. Consider this: The gaining of a million dollars cannot compare to the gaining of one soul. If we can spend several years to labor and save several thousand souls through door-knocking, and if they multiply continually, each bringing in new ones and establishing home meetings, and each maturing in life and learning the truth, how worthwhile it will be! This is the new way. This is the broad highway, the rising sun, and the boundless future. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 2, “A Blessed Human Life,” pp. 502, 531, 535)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1986, vol. 2, “A Blessed Human Life,” chs. 3,6; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” ch. 16