Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26, 28; Eph. 1:9, 11; 3:11; Matt. 6:10; 7:21; 12:50; 24:37-39

DAY 1 & DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 & DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 1　DAY 1　»

　　Matt. 6:10 Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

　　1 Cor. 12:27 Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually.

　　16:10 Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear; for he is working the work of the Lord, even as I am.

　　When God wanted to speak to the children of Israel and to work among them, He first asked Isaiah, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” (Isa. 6:8). Although God had already decided to speak to the children of Israel and to work in their midst, He had to find someone on earth who would work with Him according to His mind. God is still calling and looking for people. He wants to preach the gospel unto the uttermost part of the earth so that all the nations could receive His salvation (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8; 13:47). However, He must first find and gain people on the earth who will cooperate with Him and work with Him according to His mind. As long as there are those who are of the same mind as God and who are willing to work with Him, God’s work will be carried out on the earth by them. If God cannot find such ones on the earth, His desire and plan will remain in heaven, but it will not be carried out or fulfilled on the earth. God can carry out on earth what He has planned in heaven only when He finds people who will cooperate with Him. (CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 2, “Serving according to Revelation,” p. 231)

　　God is omnipotent, but His omnipotence is subject to limitation because He must have certain conditions suitable for His working. The question is whether or not we are in the position for Him to show forth His power. I know that I cannot help God; I cannot further anything of His. But it is possible that something of me can hinder Him. Sin, unbelief, natural energy, etc., will hinder the very power of God. The Lord has to give us light to see what He can do, and He has to give us light also to see what we can hinder Him from doing. We can put Him into a position where He cannot do what He wants to do. The Creator of heaven and earth can be limited by us. May the Lord search our hearts and deal with us in a drastic way. Is there anything in us that is hindering Him? Are there props in our Christian life? Is there a leaning to sight or feeling or are we walking by faith? Is only God in our lives? He is our life and power, but are there plans, programs, that substitute for Him? Are we trusting Him to bring something out of nothing? Are we trusting Him to bring the dead back to life? He is always the God of resurrection. If we abide in Him, we will see light. It is not by self-examination that we find out what is hindering; it is by being before Him.

　　The Body of Christ is that which expresses Christ….The Body can either be for His expression or His limitation. On earth He moved in a limited body of flesh; today He moves in a spiritual Body—His church—to express and manifest Himself. He is moving within His Body in the Spirit. On earth He manifested Himself in His body, and today He is doing the same. We are the members of this spiritual Body, and we are either being used to express Him or we are limiting Him. It will be a great day when the light dawns and we realize how great our responsibility is. We are the only expression that Christ has. The Body is the way for Him to express Himself. Outside of our bodies, what expression do we have? None. In the same principle we are in the position to give Him a full expression or to limit His expression. For this reason the complete sovereignty of Christ is of supreme importance. In order to bring Him to bear on evil situations in the spiritual world and to express Himself, we must not limit or restrict Him in any way. (CWWN, vol. 46, pp. 1226-1227)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 46, ch. 183; CWWL, 1955, vol. 3, “The Central Work of God and Proper Spiritual Experience,” ch. 12

«　WEEK 1　DAY 2　»

　　John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.

　　Matt. 26:42 Again…He prayed, saying, My Father,…Your will be done.

　　God is El Shaddai—in eternity past and also in eternity future nothing can limit Him. In the two eternities nothing can stop, hinder, or delay Him. However, God has a will. He has a Son, but He wanted many sons—a people who would share His life and manifest His Son. For this reason He created heaven, earth, and man. But herein lies the trouble: man was created with a free will. The limitation of God began at this point. From the time of the garden of Eden until now, three wills have been at work—God’s, Satan’s, and man’s. God will not abolish the human will. He wants the human will to be on His side; therefore, He accepts the limitation that this desire entails. God will not compel man to do anything as He works toward His goal. In the two eternities God’s omnipotence is absolute; today His omnipotence is relative, for He is subject to certain limitations. (CWWN, vol. 46, pp. 1227-1228)

　　In creation God put His almighty power under the limitation of the human will. This will can be on the divine side, or it can be on its own side or Satan’s side to limit God. If this will is set for God, then there will be something much more for the glory of God than before creation. Thus, the omnipotence in eternity future will be much greater than in eternity past. It will be possible to be limited, but there will be no limitation because we will have been brought to a place where we stand for everything that is of God. God will therefore have far greater glory. There will always be a separate will, but it will become so subject to God that it is a glory to God. God has run a risk to bring this about. Our capacity will be the capacity of the power of God; God will be as great as our capacity allows Him. This is the measure in the earthen vessel. If we enlarge our capacity, we will enlarge the power of God. Today the power of God is limited by our capacity, and it is subject to our will, submission, obedience, and faith. The power of God takes the shape of our faith in Him. We are the meter, the measure. The divine almightiness today is subject to us.

　　The One whose will is absolutely identified with God’s and the One in whom God has no limitations is the Lord Jesus. God can do what He likes with Him and through Him. Through His death and resurrection a Body has been formed by the power of the Spirit, and God is looking and seeking for members who will be fully responsive to Him and in whom His will’s limitations will be forever done away with….He must have a free way with us before we can bring in the eternal purpose….The kingdom means that God can do what He wants, that He has His own way, that He is unhindered, and that He has authority and power and therefore glory….One day the church will be the vessel of all that He wants, but it must begin today….We cannot expect God to show forth a greater measure than what we afford Him. He is absolutely limited. The power of God today is utterly subject to our measure. God is in many ways no more powerful than we are. He has put Himself into us and made us His channels. We can shut Him out or we can release Him. The whole matter of the divine purpose is at stake.

　　The Lord must bring us to a place where we have nothing to hinder Him, where we are pliable in the hands of the Lord. He must bring us to a place of utter responsiveness to Himself so that He can have a free and unhindered way. Then there will be nothing that He cannot do. “The Son can do nothing from Himself” (John 5:19). That is the secret. Oh, this tenacious nature of ours! “Lord, from today may I have grace not to trust in myself, not to use my own power, nor to think highly of myself. May all that is hindering You be put under the blood.” (CWWN, vol. 46, pp. 1228-1229)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 37, ch. 28; CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” ch. 15

«　WEEK 1　DAY 3　»

　　Gen. 1:28 …Fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

　　Rev. 5:10 And have made them a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth.

　　Two words in Genesis are very meaningful. One is subdue in Genesis 1:28, which can also be translated “conquer.” The other is keep in Genesis 2:15, which can also be translated “guard.” We see from these verses that God ordained man to conquer and guard the earth. God’s original intention was to give the earth to man as a place to dwell. It was not His intention that the earth would become desolate (Isa. 45:18). God desired, through man, to not allow Satan to intrude upon the earth, but the problem was that Satan was on earth and intended to do a work of destruction upon it. Therefore, God wanted man to restore the earth from Satan’s hand. (CWWN, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” p. 9)

　　Some may ask: Why doesn’t God Himself cast Satan into the bottomless pit or the lake of fire? Our answer is: God can do it, but He does not want to do it Himself….God wants to use man to deal with His enemy, and He created man for this purpose. God wants the creature to deal with the creature. He wants His creature man to deal with His fallen creature Satan in order to bring the earth back to God.

　　Many times the work of saving souls is not necessarily the work of God. Saving souls solves the problem of man, but the work of God requires that man exercise authority to have dominion over all things created by Him. God needs an authority in His creation, and He has chosen man to be that authority. If we were here just for ourselves as mere men, then all our seeking and longing would be to love the Lord more and to be more holy, more zealous, and save more souls….These things are [good but are] concerned simply with the benefit of man; God’s work and God’s need are entirely neglected. We must see that God has His need….Thank God that He has committed the ministry of reconciliation to us, but even if we have saved all the souls in the whole world, we have not yet accomplished God’s work or satisfied God’s requirement. Here is something called God’s work, God’s need. When God created man, He spoke of what He needed. He revealed His need to have man rule and reign over all His creation and proclaim His triumph. Ruling for God is not a small thing; it is a great matter. God needs men whom He can trust and who will not fail Him. This is God’s work, and this is what God desires to obtain.

　　Brothers and sisters, this requires us to pay a price. We know how the demons can speak. A demon once said, “Jesus I know, and with Paul I am acquainted; but who are you?” (Acts 19:15). When a demon meets us, will he flee or not? Preaching the gospel demands that we pay a price, but a much greater price must be paid to deal with Satan.

　　This is not a matter of a message or a teaching. This requires our practice, and the price is extremely great. If we are to be men whom God will use to overthrow all of Satan’s work and authority, we must obey the Lord completely and absolutely! In doing other work it matters less if we preserve ourselves a little, but when dealing with Satan, we cannot leave one bit of ground for ourselves. We may hold on to something of ourselves in our study of the Scriptures, in preaching the gospel, in helping the church or the brothers, but when we are dealing with Satan, self must be utterly abandoned. Satan will never be moved by us if self is preserved. May God open our eyes to see that His purpose demands that we be wholly and absolutely for Him. A double-minded person can never deal with Satan. (CWWN, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” pp. 10-12)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1970, vol. 1, “Fulfilling God’s Purpose by Growing in Life and Functioning in Life to Build Up the Church,” ch. 1

«　WEEK 1　DAY 4　»

　　Heb. 11:7 By faith Noah…prepared an ark for the salvation of his house…and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

　　Acts 2:40 …Be saved from this crooked generation.

　　Rev. 11:15 …The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.

　　Today is the day of the living Jesus, and God wants a people who live by this Jesus. These people will be today’s Noah, who terminate the present generation and usher in the coming age, the age of the kingdom. This is what the Lord is doing today…. His work is to attract His lovers and seekers who have a pure motive with an open spirit to follow Him in an absolute way so that He may have the church life to protest to the whole world against the present trend, terminate this present age, and bring in God’s kingdom. This is God’s purpose that He is fulfilling today….The Lord desires “the family of Noah” to build the ark and testify against the trend of the age so that He can use them to terminate this age and bring in the kingdom age. What we are building in the church life is today’s ark for our salvation (Phil. 2:12) and for the salvation of the ones under our care. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, “The Testimony of Jesus,” p. 280)

　　Noah was saved not only from God’s judgment but also from the crooked, perverted, and evil generation. When Noah went into the ark, Jehovah shut the door (Gen. 7:16). It is as if God were saying, “Even if you change your mind, you cannot get out. I have shut you in, and you must stay here.”… In one sense Noah was saved and rescued, but in another sense he was imprisoned. One of his daughters-in-law might have said, “I prefer my old house with many bedrooms, bathrooms, and a large living room. What you preached to us was good, but this ark is like a prison.”… Noah might have replied to his daughters-in-law, “What can I do, and where can we go? I cannot open the door. It is not up to me; it is up to Jehovah. He shut us in. We simply need to remain here. Do not be bothered; be patient and wait for a little while longer.” After the flood Noah came out of the ark with his whole family and entered into a new age (8:16, 18).

　　At Noah’s time there must have been more than eight persons who feared God and believed in Him. According to Genesis 5, the early forefathers lived for a long time. Being godly, they taught their second, third, and further generations to fear God and trust in Him. Therefore, we can be assured that besides Noah and his family, there must have been a number of others who believed in God. Although these may have been saved from eternal perdition, they were not saved from their perverted generation, and they were not ushered into the new age. Some may question how it could be that some outside the ark were saved. However, consider the daily life of many who believe in the Lord Jesus, who go to the movies, attend nightclubs, watch television, and follow the modern fashions. Those who partake of these corruptions may be saved from eternal punishment, but they have not been saved from today’s crooked generation, and many will not be ushered into the kingdom of Christ to be kings there. No one who has truly been saved from today’s crooked generation follows the course of today’s present age. On one hand, we are saved because we believe that the Lord shed His blood and died for us. Therefore, we will not perish for eternity. On the other hand, though, we may still go to the department stores to buy the things of the modern, worldly fashions. If the Lord comes tomorrow, are we assured that He will usher us into His kingdom? Rather, we may be punished along with the present generation. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, “The Testimony of Jesus,” pp. 321-323)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, “The Testimony of Jesus,” chs. 1, 3-4, 6-8; CWWL, 1977, vol. 1, “The Lord’s Recovery and the Present Situation of Religion,” chs. 1, 4

«　WEEK 1　DAY 5　»

　　Matt. 16:18 …I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

　　Phil. 2:12-13 …Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who operates in you…

　　15 That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation…

　　Only eight persons were saved in the ark, through water, from that crooked generation. Many may have been saved from eternal perdition, but not many entered into the ark. In order to be saved from eternal perdition, there is no need for us to do anything, but in order to be saved from the evil generation, we need to build up the ark. Philippians 2:12 says, “Work out your own salvation.”…This is not salvation from eternal perdition. It is salvation from the crooked and perverted generation mentioned in verse 15…. Many of us can only say that we have been saved from eternal perdition….This is only half of our salvation. We also need to be saved from the other half, from this crooked and perverted generation. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, “The Testimony of Jesus,” pp. 323-324)

　　To be saved from eternal perdition requires us simply to say, “O Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I thank You that You died for me. You are the Son of God, and You are my Savior. Lord Jesus, forgive me. I repent and believe in You.” This is sufficient for our salvation by grace. However, the remainder of our salvation requires our cooperation with God. Philippians 2:13 says, “It is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” To this we need to say, “Amen to Your work.” If we cooperate with God’s operation, on the negative side, we will spontaneously be rescued out of this crooked generation. On the positive side, we will enter into the ark, which signifies the proper church life.

　　We need to enter into the proper church life, which is a “prison” to us….The parents of some of the saints say, “Pity yourself. Do not go to your church so often. You have been going to your church every Saturday and Sunday. That is enough. Do not forget that this is a holiday. Why would you not take a vacation and enjoy yourself?” However, those who speak in this way do not realize that we have something better and higher. They do not know the heavenly, spiritual, and wonderful “entertainment” that we enjoy. We are imprisoned in the church life, and we love it. The church is a prison, but it is also the best “entertainment.” (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, “The Testimony of Jesus,” p. 324)

　　While the apostles were preaching the gospel, they were also building the ark in which they would enjoy full salvation. What was that ark? It was the corporate Christ. While the apostles were preaching the individual Christ, they were building up the corporate Christ. Through that corporate Christ, thousands of people were not only saved from God’s judgment but also from that crooked and perverse generation.

　　We are building the church. The church is the corporate Christ (1 Cor. 12:12) which, in a sense, is today’s ark. Thousands of people have been saved by entering into the church life. Many can testify how they have been saved by coming into the church. Although you might have been saved for many years, you were not separated from this crooked world until you came into the church. That corporate ark separated you. Once we came into the church, no one had to tell us to come out of the world. We simply began a life of “churching,” coming to the meetings again and again….By churching, everything of this crooked age will disappear. What is able to save us from this perverse age? Churching can save us. We are building the ark that can save us as well as others from the age condemned by God. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 409-410)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 7, 29-31; CWWL, 1977, vol. 1, “The Recovery of Christ in the Present Evil Age,” chs. 1-2, 5

«　WEEK 1　DAY 6　»

　　Rev. 12:5 And she brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. 10-11 …Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been cast down….And they overcame him because of the blood…and…the word of their testimony…

　　The seed of the woman in Genesis 3 primarily refers to the Lord Jesus, but the overcomers also have a part in this seed. The seed of the woman includes the church, especially the overcomers. Even though the Lord bruised Satan’s head, he is still at work. The fulfillment of the seed of the woman bruising Satan can be seen in the man-child in Revelation 12. The only Overcomer includes all the overcomers (vv. 10-11).

　　When God changes His attitude toward a certain matter, He makes a dispensational move. Every dispensational move brings in God’s new way. His most important dispensational move is in Revelation 12. He wants to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom. His purpose is not general and ordinary. How can He bring this age to a close and bring in another? He must have His dispensational instrument. (CWWN, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” p. 153)

　　The rapture of the man-child brings an end to the church age and introduces the kingdom age. The man-child enables God to move. If there is not a man-child and a rapture, God cannot make a dispensational move. We should never forget that God can be limited. He waits for man in all of His moves. God’s binding in heaven is based on our binding on earth; God’s loosing in heaven is based on our loosing on earth. Everything depends on the church.

　　It is God’s desire that created beings would deal with fallen created beings. According to His purpose, the whole church should deal with Satan; however, the church has failed. Therefore, there is the need for the overcomers to rise up. God’s purpose is fulfilled in the overcomers because they work with Him. We can see the principle of the overcomers throughout the Word of God. God always lays hold of a group of overcomers to make a dispensational move.

　　In church history the first special move was the Reformation. God used Luther in this dispensational move. The Brethren were also used…. After the Welsh revival, a new move of God began. Both Evan Roberts and Mrs. Penn-Lewis knew about spiritual warfare; they knew how to deal with Satan….When Evan Roberts was seen after an absence of ten years, he said, “I have been praying kingdom prayers.” Every time God wants to make a dispensational move, He must obtain His instrument.

　　Are we at the end of the age? If we are, the kingdom will soon begin. If a dispensational move is near, then God needs an instrument. General work is no longer adequate. The children of God lack a vision; they do not see the seriousness and intensity of the situation. Now is a matter of dispensation. Just being a good servant of the Lord is no longer good enough; this is not of great use to God. Please note that we are not saying that it is of no use. What are we doing to close this dispensation? What are we doing to bring in the next age? This is a special time, so there is the need of special Christians to do a special work.

　　Today God is waiting for the man-child. Only the rapture can precipitate the events in Revelation 12:10. God has an order, and He works according to that order. His eyes have left the church; they are now on the kingdom.

　　Of all the dispensational moves, the man-child is the greatest because it removes man’s power and the devil’s power, and it brings in the kingdom. (CWWN, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” pp. 153-154, 156-157)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, “The Building of the Church,” ch. 2; CWWL, 1963, vol. 2, “The Living That Fulfills God’s Eternal Purpose,” ch. 4