Scripture Reading: Judg. 2:10-18; 3:7-15; 8:33-35; 10:6-7; 13:1; 17:5-6; 18:1, 30-31; 19:1; 21:25

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 & DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 9　DAY 1　»

　　Judg. 2:11-12 And the children of Israel did what was evil in the sight of Jehovah…. And they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers,…and they followed after other gods from among the gods of the peoples who surrounded them; and they worshipped them and provoked Jehovah to anger.

　　21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

　　The children of Israel entered into the good land, but the good land was filled with enemies…. However, God’s purpose for His people was not merely to defeat the enemies and take full possession of the land but for them to set up a kingdom. Because this purpose had not been fulfilled, the conclusion of Judges says…[that] the children of Israel did whatever was right in their own eyes because there was no king or kingdom.

　　God needs a kingdom so that He may have an expression. The children of Israel were brought out of Egypt and through the wilderness, where they built the tabernacle for God. Then they entered into the good land, and every tribe was allotted a portion of the land. In Judges the enemies were defeated to some extent so that the children of Israel could enjoy the good land. Nevertheless, there was no expression of God in Judges because there was no king. Everyone acted according to what was right in his own eyes. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 3, “The Divine Trinity as Revealed in the Holy Word,” p. 290)

　　From the time the children of Israel left Egypt to the time of the prophet Samuel when David was king of the whole nation of Israel (2 Sam. 5:3-4), it was about 450 years (Acts 13:17-20; Judg. 11:26; 1 Kings 6:1). A major section of this period may be called the age of the judges. During this age, the children of Israel could not utterly drive out and destroy the seven tribes in Canaan. Consequently, they gradually forsook God, followed the customs of the nations, had mixed marriages with the nations, and worshipped other gods. Therefore, God delivered them into the hands of the nations according to His warnings. But whenever they repented, God would listen to their prayers and would deliver them through the hand of a judge….This cycle was repeated, as many as seven times.

　　The children of Israel forsook the Lord God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed the gods of the people that were around them. They bowed themselves down to them, and provoked Jehovah to anger. So God delivered them into the hands of spoilers, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies so that they could no longer stand. Whenever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil (Judg. 2:11-15).

　　Even though God raised up judges to deliver them out of the hands of those who spoiled them, they would not hearken…; they turned quickly out of the way in which their fathers walked. They corrupted themselves more than their fathers and did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way (2:16-19).

　　The age of the judges may be considered the darkest period in the history of Israel. At that time, among the children of Israel there were rebellions against God, idolatry (Judg. 17—18), infighting (ch. 9), hostility and controversy among the tribes (chs. 20—21), fornication (ch. 19), filthiness, brutal killings, and all manner of evil doing. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes (17:6; 21:25). It was also a period of tragedy. The unbelief of the children of Israel caused them to wander for forty years so that even their carcasses fell in the wilderness (Heb. 3:7, 19). But their forsaking God and their idolatry after they entered the land issued in a situation of defeat and tragedy that lasted not merely forty years, but ten times forty years. (Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 1, pp. 119-120)

　　Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 1, lsn. 10; Life-study of Judges, msgs. 1, 3-4, 6-7, 9-10; CWWL, 1983, vol. 3, “The Divine Trinity as Revealed in the Holy Word,” ch. 10

«　WEEK 9　DAY 2　»

　　Deut. 12:8 You shall not do according to all that we do here today, each man doing all that is right in his own eyes.

　　14 But in the place which Jehovah will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer up your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.

　　Like the children of Israel in the age of the judges, who had no king among them (Judg. 17:6; 21:25), today’s Christians have no kingdom among them. In other words, there is no authority or restraint among them; each one does things according to his or her own will. They are not righteous toward themselves, they have no peace toward others, and they have no joy before God. They can laugh loudly when they tell jokes, but when it is time for them to pray in the prayer meeting or the Lord’s table meeting, they wear a sad expression and cannot be joyful in spirit.

　　One who is ruled by God and submits to God’s authority can be joyful even in his sufferings and difficult situations. He is able to say, “Although my heart is broken, my spirit still praises God….This is because I allow my God to reign in me, and I submit to His authority. I am a person under God’s restriction and rule because I am saved and have been delivered by God from Satan’s authority and kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “What the Kingdom Is to the Believers,” pp. 409-410)

　　Moses told the people of Israel that when they entered the good land, they should not do things that were right in their own eyes but not right in the eyes of God. In the wilderness they did whatever was right in their own eyes. That was lawlessness; it was something that could never please God. He tolerated it in the wilderness, but He would not tolerate it in the good land. Then Moses told them that when they entered into the good land, they must present their burnt offerings in the very place of God’s choice. If it was according to their choice, it would again be something that was right in their own eyes. But in the good land they must do what is right in the eyes of God. The first thing they must do is to bring their offerings to the place of God’s choice.

　　This means that when we are not living in Christ, not resting in Christ, and not inheriting our portion in Christ, we may act in a loose way according to our choice. But once we are resting in Christ, inheriting Him as our portion, we should not do things according to what is right in our eyes but according to the choice of God. Praise the Lord that we are now in Christ! We are in the good land….Thus, for the presenting of the offerings, there is the need of a proper place, a place that will keep the oneness of the people of God. If the people of Israel had the liberty to choose a place for their worship to God when they went into the good land, it would not be long before they would be divided. Through all the centuries the people of Israel have been kept as one as far as their worship to God is concerned. The oneness has been kept by this unique place of worship. The only choice was God’s choice, and God’s choice was their choice.

　　Today Christians are too free; they have too many choices. Almost everybody has a certain kind of church according to his or her choice. People say, “I don’t like that kind of meeting,” or “I prefer this kind of meeting.”…We all need to say, “Lord, what is Your choice? Where is the place You have chosen?…I do not like to do anything that is right in my own eyes, but everything that is right in Your eyes. I do not like to meet according to my taste; I want to meet in the place of Your choice.”

　　There is only one proper taste and one proper choice; that is God’s choice of the one unique ground of oneness….We all need to be on the unique ground of oneness. (CWWL, 1971, vol. 2, “Christ as the Reality,” pp. 20-21)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1971, vol. 2, “Christ as the Reality,” ch. 3; CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “What the Kingdom Is to the Believers,” chs. 1-4, 6

«　WEEK 9　DAY 3　»

　　1 Tim. 1:17 Now to the King of the ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

　　Isa. 16:5 Then will a throne be established in lovingkindness, and upon it One will sit in truth in the tent of David, judging and pursuing justice and hastening righteousness.

　　In 1 Timothy 1:17…“ages” actually means eternity. This word needs to be understood in relation to the decline of the church. When Paul was in prison, the churches began to decline, and the situation was very disappointing. Many were discouraged. Even some of Paul’s co-workers left him. But he had a strong faith with an absolute assurance that the very God in whom he believed, the One who had entrusted him with the gospel of glory, is the King of the ages, the One with the absolute authority for eternity, who never changes. No earthly king can be called the King of the ages….The God whom Paul served truly is the King of the ages, the King of eternity. The One whom we serve and who is being dispensed into us is the King of the ages. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 51-52)

　　According to Isaiah 16:5, the all-inclusive Christ is the King reigning in the tent of David. We may wonder what this aspect of Christ has to do with us since Christ will reign as a king in the tent of David in the coming age during the restoration of the nation of Israel. We need to realize, however, that we can also enjoy Christ as the reigning One in the tent of David in the age of grace.

　　We have to realize that, according to Hebrews 6:5, the age of grace, the New Testament age, is a foretaste of the coming age….Thus, what we are enjoying today is a foretaste of the coming kingdom in the age of restoration.

　　Thus, today we have to realize that Christ is our King. He reigns not only in our hearts but also in the tent of David. In the Old Testament, when the tent of David was setup, when David’s kingdom was fully established, that was a great consolation and joy to the Israelites. In the coming age, when Christ reigns in the tent of David, that will be a greater consolation to Israel. Christ reigning in the tent of David signifies consolation, encouragement, and restoration…. For Him to reign in us in the tent of David means that He reigns in us with a kingdom.

　　[Isaiah 16:5 says that] Christ’s throne will be established in lovingkindness. Lovingkindness means tender affection. All of us can approach His throne because lovingkindness is there. Christ sits upon His throne in truth. Truth here means truthfulness and faithfulness. Christ is not only loving and kind but also truthful and faithful. He is the worthy One. As the One sitting upon the throne in the tent of David, He is the real David. He judges and pursues justice. To judge is to adjust and correct in order to make peace. Christ is the unique Judge in the whole universe. In our natural being, we do not treat others justly. The husbands do not treat the wives in justice, nor do the wives treat the husbands in justice. But Christ is perfectly just with everyone and pursues justice in all of His judgments. He is also the One hastening righteousness. Isaiah 16:5 shows that with Christ there is lovingkindness, truthfulness, faithfulness, justice, and righteousness. Today Christ reigns in us in the tent of David, bringing in the kingdom with lovingkindness, truthfulness, faithfulness, justice, and righteousness. If we are under His ruling, His reigning, we will be the same as He is in these virtues.

　　When Christ reigns in the millennium, even the brightest things “will be ashamed” [Isa. 24:23]. But even today we can enjoy Christ reigning in us as a foretaste of His reign in the coming age. (Life-study of Isaiah, pp. 283-285)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 5, 366; Life-study of Isaiah, msg. 41; CWWL, 1959, vol. 3, “Ten Lines in the Bible,” ch. 10

«　WEEK 9　DAY 4　»

　　1 John 3:4 Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness also, and sin is lawlessness.

　　Titus 2:14 Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify to Himself a particular people as His unique possession, zealous of good works.

　　A man sins when he walks according to his self-will and rebels against God’s authority….Those who do good according to their own flesh do not please God. Even if a man’s conduct is approved, his very person is condemned as long as he acts according to the flesh….Man is condemned for doing good because this good is not performed under God’s authority. Sin means to act presumptuously. If a man does not come under authority, he sins even when his conduct is good. In God’s eyes all goodness performed by self-will is lawlessness. God is not concerned with the number of sheep and cattle and the amount of fat that man offers to Him….Obedience and submission are man’s responses to authority. (CWWN, vol. 59, p. 110)

　　In Matthew 7:21-23 the Lord rebuked those who prophesied, cast out demons, and did works of power in His name…. They were rebuked because they were doing these things out of themselves, not out of obedience to God’s will. This is the reason the Lord said that only “he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens” [v. 21] can enter the kingdom of the heavens. The present age is full of lawlessness and rebellion….Sin is lawlessness and rebellion according to 1 John 3:4. Being lawless is being without the law, and being without the law is sin. Satan sinned by trespassing against authority. Man breaks the law when the law is present and acts irresponsibly when no law is present…. Breaking the law is a matter of conduct, and it is sin. Being lawless is a matter of motive, and it is sin as well. In lawlessness one not only rebels against authority but acts as if there is no law. In the end times the presence of the lawless one will result in fallen man overturning all forms of authority. He will act according to his self-will and lawlessness will reign…. From the time of Satan’s fall, throughout man’s history of transgression to the end of this age, Satan is continually fighting against God’s authority. Man is also standing against God’s authority…. Rebellion constitutes the underlying principle of this world. In order to serve God, we have to experience authority. We have to free ourselves from these two worldly principles—lawlessness and rebellion.

　　We must realize that there are two principles in this universe. One is the principle of God’s authority, and the other is the principle of Satan’s rebellion. We cannot serve God on the one hand and take the way of rebellion on the other hand…. A rebellious man can give a message, but Satan will laugh at such a man because he is operating under Satan’s principle. Service is directly linked to authority. If we do not settle the matter of authority, we will have problems in all areas of our service and living. We have to ask ourselves if we are under God’s authority. As servants of God we have to have a fundamental revelation, a revelation of His authority….We have to know that any kind of rebellion is from Satan. Those who have not seen authority are destroying their own work. We may say that we are destroying Satan’s work, but actually we are working according to Satan’s principle. This will lead us nowhere. Unless we touch authority and its underlying root, God will not be able to have any work in China, in other places, and in the entire world. If we do not remove the root of rebellion, we will have no future and no work. May the Lord be merciful to us and grant us a real touch with authority. May we turn away from the principle of rebellion and reject the way of rebellion. May the Lord preserve our service in the principle of submission. (CWWN, vol. 59, pp. 106-108)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1973-1974, vol. 2, “The Wonderful Christ in the Canon of the New Testament,” chs. 2,6; CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, “The Kingdom and the Church,” chs. 4, 6-7

«　WEEK 9　DAY 5　»

　　Matt. 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father…. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, was it not in Your name that we prophesied, and…cast out demons, and…did many works of power? And then I will declare to them: I never knew you. Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.

　　[Matthew 7:21] does not refer to the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today, but to the coming manifestation of the kingdom in the future. To enter into the kingdom of the heavens we need to do two things: call on the Lord and do the will of the heavenly Father. To call on the Lord suffices for us to be saved (Rom. 10:13), but to enter into the kingdom of the heavens we also need to do the will of the heavenly Father. Hence, “Not everyone who says…Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens,” but those who call on the Lord and do the will of the heavenly Father.

　　Since entering into the kingdom of the heavens also requires doing the will of the heavenly Father, it is clearly different from entering into the kingdom of God by being regenerated (John 3:3, 5). This latter is by the birth of the divine life; the former is by the living of that life. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 302)

　　In Matthew 7:21 the Lord does not say “your Father,” but “My Father.” Here the Lord seems to be saying, “I, the Son of Man and the Son of God, have been doing the will of My Father. You also are sons of God and My brothers. Therefore, you must be My companions and take the same way that I take….You are My brothers, My companions, and My partners. You and I are walking the same way and doing the same will. You are living with Me according to the will of My Father.”…In order to do the will of the Father, we need to walk in the constricted way….Our Father has a will to accomplish, but we can accomplish it only by His life. We need to live in the life of the heavenly Father and also by that life. This kind of living is for the doing of the Father’s will.

　　The Lord never approved those who prophesied, cast out demons, and did many works of power in His name, but not according to the will of the heavenly Father (v. 21). The Lord did not deny that they did those things, but He considered those things as lawlessness because they were not done according to the will of the heavenly Father. They were not done in the line of the divine will. The Lord seemed to be saying, “You prophesied in My name, you cast out demons in My name, and you did many works of power in My name, but I never allowed you to do them. I never approved you because you did all those things in a lawless way. You did them in yourself, in your own desire, and according to your own intention, not according to the will of My Father.” Thus, those who do such things, even in the Lord’s name, will not enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but will depart from the Lord; that is, they will be rejected from the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age.

　　The runners in any race must run in the proper lanes. Although you may run faster than others, your running will not be recognized if you run outside the lines of your lane. Rather, that type of running will be considered lawlessness. You must run the race between the lines; that is, you must run in a constricted way. Today the work of many Christian workers is not restricted by the heavenly lines. In their own eyes, they have done a great deal in the Lord’s name and for the Lord. In the eyes of the Lord, however, their work is a kind of transgression, a violation of the heavenly lines. Hence, their work is lawlessness….There are constricting lines in the Lord’s recovery, and we must be constricted in our running. If we run between the lines, not outside of them, we shall be approved by the Lord. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 303-305)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 24; CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 3, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 2,” chs. 25-26

«　WEEK 9　DAY 6　»

　　2 Tim. 2:1 You therefore, my child, be empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.

　　4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will recompense me in that day, and not only me but also all those who have loved His appearing.

　　Today the earth is filled with chaos. Chaos is everywhere. Every part of society is chaotic. However, we should not be discouraged. In addition to the satanic chaos, there is the divine economy. Whereas the satanic chaos will come to an end, the divine economy will reach a consummation. The end of the satanic chaos will be the lake of fire, and the consummation of the divine economy will be the New Jerusalem.

　　Both in the Bible and in our experience, the satanic chaos always goes along with the divine economy. It seems that we alternate between economy and chaos, between chaos and economy. Where there is the divine economy, there is the satanic chaos. Where God is, Satan is also. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation,” pp. 201-202)

　　The overcomers are those who suffer the chaos, but they are not disappointed or discouraged. Instead, they are strengthened and enabled to stand for and live out the divine economy. The satanic chaos is still going on around us in Christendom. Even within the Lord’s recovery, we have experienced this chaos…. If we are enabled by the Lord to conquer all the destructive chaos, we will triumphantly enter into the kingdom. We will be those who triumph in the unique constructive economy.

　　We have to conquer the satanic chaos by the processed and consummated Triune God as the all-sufficient grace (1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 12:9; 2 Tim. 4:22). In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul says that the grace of the Lord was with him; in Galatians 6:18 he says that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with our spirit; and in 2 Timothy 4:22 he says that the Lord is with our spirit. The Lord as the all-sufficient grace is with our spirit, and we can conquer all the satanic chaos and carry out the unique divine economy by Him as our all-sufficient grace.

　　We can conquer all the satanic chaos and carry out the divine economy according to the truth, of which the church, the manifestation of God in the flesh, is the pillar and base (1 Tim. 3:15-16). The rebellious ones cannot shake the church in the Lord’s recovery, because the church is the pillar and base of the truth. The pillar supports the building, and the base holds the pillar. The church is the pillar supporting the truth, and it is the base holding the truth. Because the church is the pillar and base of the truth, we need to be those who teach the truth. Our teaching of the truth will enlighten the darkened people, inoculate against the poison, swallow up the death, and bring the distracted back to the proper track.

　　Revelation 2 and 3 reveal that we need to conquer all the satanic chaos and carry out the unique divine economy in certain conditions. We need to be those who love the Lord with the first love (2:4). The first love may be compared to the love of newlyweds….We must recover the wedding, bridal love toward our Husband, Christ. We also need to enjoy eating Christ as the tree of life in the church as today’s Paradise so that we can be a shining lamp-stand (vv. 7, 5). The Lord…tells the overcomers that He will give them to eat of the entire tree of life….We should eat one tree, the universal tree, the unique tree, that is, the tree of life, which is Christ as the embodiment of the divine life. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation,” pp. 256-258)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “The Satanic Chaos in the Old Creation and the Divine Economy for the New Creation,” chs. 1-3