Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 1:8; Gal. 5:6; 3:2; Eph. 6:23; Heb. 12:2a; Rom. 5:5; 8:39; 1 John 4:8, 16

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 3　DAY 1　»

　　1 Pet. 1:7-9 So that the proving of your faith… may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

　　The Lord is with us today (Matt. 28:20) but in a hidden, veiled way. His coming back will be His revelation, when He will be seen openly by all.

　　Although we have never seen the Lord Jesus, we love Him. At present we cannot see Him, yet we believe in Him [1 Pet. 1:8]. It is a wonder and a mystery that the believers love One whom they have not seen. We love Him whom we have not seen because of believing, that is, because of the faith that has been infused into us through our hearing of the living word (Gal. 3:2).

　　Joy “full of glory” [1 Pet. 1:8] is joy immersed in glory. We exult with a joy that is immersed in glory. This joy is immersed in the Lord as glory; thus, it is full of the expression of the Lord. This joy is also unspeakable; it is a joy that is beyond our ability to utter. Things that are wonderful are also unspeakable. By believing into the Lord and loving Him, we obtain great joy. The normal condition of a Christian is to “exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory” [v. 8]. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3854-3855)

　　Concerning faith there are two aspects, the objective aspect and the subjective aspect. Objectively faith is what we believe. Subjectively faith is our believing. Therefore, faith denotes both the act of believing and that in which we believe…. As we hear about those things in which we are to believe, faith is produced within us. The more we hear about these good things, the more we appreciate them. Spontaneously this appreciation issues in our believing in those very things about which we have heard. Therefore, faith is both objective and subjective.

　　The subjective aspect of faith implies at least eight items. First, faith involves hearing. Without the hearing of the word, there can be no faith. Faith comes from hearing. The word we hear includes God, Christ, the Spirit, the cross, redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life. It also includes the fact that God has been processed to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. According to the New Testament, the gospel tells us of all these matters. When the gospel is preached in a proper way, those who hear it will be stirred up and filled with appreciation. Their hearing of the word of the gospel is the beginning of their believing.

　　Second, faith also implies appreciation. After hearing the word of the gospel, a sense of appreciation spontaneously rises up in those who hear. This is true not only of those hearing the gospel for the first time, but for all believers in Christ. Whenever we hear the word in a proper way, this hearing awakens more appreciation for the Lord.

　　This appreciation is followed by calling, the third item implied in the subjective aspect of faith. All those who appreciate the Lord Jesus…will spontaneously call, “O Lord Jesus.” Perhaps instead of calling on Him in this way, they will utter some word of appreciation for the Lord. Perhaps they will say, “Oh, how good the Lord Jesus is!”

　　Fourth, faith implies receiving. By appreciating the Lord Jesus and calling on Him, we spontaneously receive Him…. The fifth aspect [is] that of accepting….Those who hear the gospel and appreciate the Lord Jesus automatically accept Him as well as receive Him. Sixth, faith includes becoming joined to the Lord Jesus. By receiving and accepting Him, we are joined to Him. Then, [seventh and eighth], we partake of Him and enjoy Him. Faith partakes of and enjoys what it receives and accepts. (Life-study of Galatians, pp. 122-123)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 124, 382; Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 6; Life-study of 2 Peter, msg. 2; Life-study of Galatians, msg. 14

«　WEEK 3　DAY 2　»

　　Gal. 5:5-6 For we by the Spirit out of faith eagerly await the hope of righteousness….Faith avails, operating through love.

　　Eph. 6:23 Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

　　Love with faith is the means by which we partake of and experience Christ (1 Tim. 1:14). Faith is for receiving Him (John 1:12), and love is for enjoying Him (John 14:23). [In Ephesians 6:23] it is not faith and love nor love and faith, but love with faith. This indicates that we need faith as a match and support for our love. Love with faith is needed. This is the conclusion of [Ephesians], the book on the church. The church needs to enjoy Christ in love with faith, which operates through love (Gal. 5:6). Love comes from God to us, and faith goes from us to God. By means of this traffic of love and faith, peace remains our portion….This traffic also keeps us in the continual supply of grace, in the enjoyment of the Lord (Eph. 6:24). (Eph. 6:23, footnote 2)

　　[In Galatians 5:5] by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, … is in contrast with by the flesh (3:3). Furthermore, out of faith [5:5] is in contrast with out of the works of law (3:2). The hope of righteousness [5:5] means the righteousness we hope for, which is Christ Himself (1 Cor. 1:30). It is not out of works of law in the flesh but out of faith in the Spirit. Christ is our hope of righteousness. He is our righteousness today, and He is our hope to come.

　　In Galatians 5:5 Paul puts the Spirit together with faith. We have pointed out that the Spirit is typified by the land. We have also seen that faith is the camera which photographs the scenery of grace. In order to have the proper enjoyment, we need to have the Spirit as the all-inclusive land and faith as the means to enjoy this land. As we enjoy the Spirit by faith, we eagerly await the coming hope of righteousness.

　　In 5:6 Paul goes on to say, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith avails, operating through love.” Apart from the Spirit and faith, nothing else avails. In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What avails is the Spirit on God’s side and faith on our side. The Spirit is the all-inclusive land for our enjoyment, and faith is the organ by which we participate in this rich land and enjoy it.

　　In 5:6 Paul also says that faith operates through love. Living faith is active. It operates to work out the fulfillment of the law through love (v. 14). Circumcision is simply an outward ordinance having no power of life. Hence, it avails nothing. It has no force or practical power. Faith receives the Spirit of life (3:2), which is full of power. It operates through love to fulfill not only the law, but also God’s purpose, that is, to complete the sonship of God for His corporate expression.

　　Love is related to our appreciation of Christ. Without such an appreciation, faith cannot operate. When we have the hearing of faith, this hearing awakens our loving appreciation, and this appreciation causes faith to operate. Faith operates because it participates in the riches of the life-giving Spirit. The more we have the hearing of faith, the more appreciation and love we have. The more love we have for the Lord, the more faith operates. The more faith operates, the more it brings us into the riches, the profit, of the all-inclusive Spirit. Instead of being deprived of profit in Christ, we are thus abundantly enriched. Instead of being brought to nought from Christ, we are strengthened with the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit.

　　Faith receives the Spirit of life (3:2) and operates through love to fulfill the law (5:13). Faith operating through love thus completes the sonship of God for His corporate expression. This faith is the camera which photographs the scenery of grace, the very grace that is the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit for our enjoyment. (Life-study of Galatians, pp. 224-226)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Galatians, msgs. 14, 25; Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 67

«　WEEK 3　DAY 3　»

　　Heb. 12:2 Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.

　　11:6 But without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to Him, for he who comes forward to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

　　Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. This is a very strong word. To please God is to make God happy. Without faith it is impossible for you and me to make God happy….This shows the importance of faith.

　　Only faith can make God happy, and faith is to believe that God is. It is not I, but Christ. To believe that God is, is the only way, the unique way, to make God happy, to please God…. While you are combing your hair, you should say, “No longer I, but Christ.” But with many sisters it is not Christ, but them. If Christ were doing the combing, He would not comb your hair according to your way. You have to remember this. When you comb your hair, you should be able to say, “Praise the Lord. It is no longer I, but Christ.” You and I have to do everything in this way. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 275, 280)

　　When brothers come to visit me, quite often I pray, “Lord, the brothers are coming to see me. I am not the one who can meet their need. Lord, You are the One.” This is faith—believing that I should be out and believing that He should be in. I must deny myself in everything and trust in Him in everything. To deny yourself and to trust in Him is faith. This is to believe that God is. Even at the end of a ministry meeting, we may say, “Saints, now it is your turn to share.” But we have to say, “It is not our turn, but Christ’s turn.” If we live in this way, the riches of Christ will come out of our mouth. Quite often before coming to a meeting, I pray to the Lord, “Lord, I should not be the speaker, but You. I have been crucified, but You live in me. You should be the speaker.” This makes a big difference—to deny the self, to trust in the Lord, that is, to believe that God is. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 280-281)

　　Faith is for receiving Him (John 1:12), and love is for enjoying Him (14:23). In the Gospel of John we are told first to believe in the Son in order to have eternal life (3:15). To believe in the Lord Jesus is to receive Him. The Gospel of John also emphasizes love. In chapter 21 the Lord asks Peter concerning his love for Him (vv. 15-17). Furthermore, in 14:23 the Lord speaks of the Father and the Son making an abode with the one who loves the Lord Jesus. Therefore, by faith we receive the Lord Jesus, and by love we enjoy Him. For this reason, in 1 Timothy 1:14 Paul puts faith and love together.

　　Also in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 Paul speaks of faith and love. In this verse he encourages the saints to put on “the breastplate of faith and love.” Comparing this verse to Ephesians 6:14, we see that there are two kinds of breastplates, one for our daily living and the other for fighting. For our daily living we need the breastplate of faith and love. Faith and love are both tender; they are signified in the Bible by the breasts. Such tender parts of our being, our spiritual breasts, need to be covered with the breastplate. By means of the breastplate, our faith and love, which are necessary for a proper Christian life, are preserved. The breastplate of righteousness in verse 14, on the contrary, is for fighting. Whenever we take part in spiritual warfare, our conscience must be protected from Satan’s accusation by the breastplate of righteousness. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3472-3473)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” chs. 7-8, 11; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 345; Life-study of 1 Timothy, msgs. 1-2, 12

«　WEEK 3　DAY 4　»

　　John 3:15 That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.

　　Titus 3:15 All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in faith. Grace be with you all.

　　To believe in the Lord means to receive Him (John 1:12). The Lord is receivable. He is now the life-giving Spirit, with His complete redemption, waiting for and expecting us to receive Him. Our spirit is the receiving organ. We can receive the Lord’s Spirit into our spirit by believing in Him. Once we believe in Him, He, as the Spirit, enters into our spirit. Then we are regenerated by Him, the life-giving Spirit, and become one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17)….When we believe in the Lord, we believe into Him. By believing in Him, we get into Him to be one with Him, to partake of Him, and to participate in all that He has accomplished for us. By believing into Him, we are identified with Him in all that He is and in all that He has passed through, accomplished, attained, and obtained. As we become one with Him by believing into Him, we are saved and regenerated by Him as life. It is by believing into Him that we partake of Him as life and are regenerated in Him. (Life-study of John, p. 117)

　　[Faith in Titus 3:15 refers] to subjective faith, the act of our believing, which brings us into an organic union with the Lord (John 3:15; Gal. 3:26) and operates through love (Gal. 5:6). It is in the element and operation of this faith that the saints who were one with the Lord in His concern loved the suffering and faithful apostle.

　　Faith and love are two inseparable, excellent virtues of the believers in Christ. Faith is given to us by God (footnote 5 on 2 Pet. 1:1) that by it we may receive Christ (John 1:12), the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9), and thereby enter into the Triune God and be joined to Him as one, having Him as our life, life supply, and everything…. Faith is for appreciating, substantiating, and receiving the unlimited riches of the Triune God.

　　The Epistle to Titus is the conclusion of the three books, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, and it concludes with the wonderful faith and the super-excellent love. This implies that, in the current of the church’s degradation, in order to be able to effectively stand firm and overcome the downward trend and factor in the church, this wonderful faith and this super-excellent love are indispensable. We should not walk by sight or care for the outward situation. Rather, in this wonderful faith we should enjoy its source, which is the Triune God, to whom we have been joined through this faith, and by this super-excellent love of the Triune God we should love Him and all those who belong to Him. Only in this way can we become, in the current of the church’s degradation, the overcomers whom the Lord is calling and is desiring to obtain in Revelation 2 and 3.

　　This wonderful faith and this super-excellent love are out of the Triune God, who earnestly desires to be joined to us to be our everything. This Triune God passed through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection from the dead, and ascension to the heavens on high and was ultimately consummated as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). This Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2), who includes divinity, humanity, and Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension and is the reality of the all-inclusive Christ (John 14:16-20), dwells in our regenerated spirit (Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22). When we contact this Triune God through prayer and by looking to Him, by means of our spirit, which was once dead and was made alive, He infuses Himself into us in many ways to become the faith within us toward Him and the love outside of us toward those who belong to Him. Such faith and such love are the reality and expression (1 John 4:8, 16) of the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—in whom we believe and whom we worship and receive. (Titus 3:15, footnote 1)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of John, msgs. 9, 36; Life-study of Titus, msgs. 1-3

«　WEEK 3　DAY 5　»

　　1 Cor. 2:9 But as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

　　Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.

　　To realize and participate in the deep and hidden things God has ordained and prepared for us requires us not only to believe in Him but also to love Him. To fear God, to worship God, and to believe in God (that is, to receive God) are all inadequate; to love Him is the indispensable requirement. To love God means to set our entire being—spirit, soul, and body, with the heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30)—absolutely on Him, that is, to let our entire being be occupied by Him and lost in Him, so that He becomes everything to us and we are one with Him practically in our daily life. In this way we have the closest and most intimate fellowship with God, and we are able to enter into His heart and apprehend all its secrets (Psa. 73:25; 25:14). (1 Cor. 2:9, footnote 3)

　　Love issues out of such a wonderful faith and enables us to live out all the riches of the Triune God in Christ with those who have believed into Christ with us, that the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—may have a glorious expression…. Love is for experiencing, enjoying, and living out the immeasurably rich Triune God. Faith is for the believers to be joined to the Triune God, who is everything to them; love is for the believers to minister and transmit the Triune God to their fellow believers so that, in such a wonderful and powerful faith, all the believers may love one another with divine, transcendent love and live a corporate life in Christ. In this way the Body of Christ is realized and the processed Triune God is expressed today on the earth in the all-inclusive Christ through the immeasurable life-giving Spirit.

　　[Faith and love] are the rich grace given to us in Christ by the Triune God (1 Tim. 1:14), not only to be the motivating power and expression of our spiritual life but also to become our breastplate (1 Thes. 5:8), which covers and protects the vital parts of our being. It is by such faith that we receive and enjoy the divine life that is revealed and ministered to us in the entire Gospel of John (John 3:16, 36), and it is by such love that we love the Lord and those who belong to Him (John 21:15-17; 13:34-35). Such faith and love are connected and go together: love comes from faith, and faith operates and works through love (Gal. 5:6). Love with faith enables us to love our Lord in incorruptibility so that we may have an overcoming church life (Eph. 6:23-24) for the fulfillment of God’s New Testament economy in Christ for the church. Therefore, it is in this faith that we are well pleasing to God (Heb. 11:6) and in this love that we are blessed of the Lord (1 Cor. 16:22). May this love with this faith be to the brothers from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 6:23). (Titus 3:15, footnote 1)

　　I appreciate that all of us love the Lord’s recovery. If we did not love the recovery, we would not be here. But we need to see that in the seven epistles to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the first dealing of the Lord is concerning the recovery of the first love (2:4). Do we love Him? Surely we do. But do we give Him the preeminence, the first place, in all things? To give the Lord the first place in all things is to love Him with the first love, the best love. In order to give Him the preeminence, we must be willing to be adjusted, to be broken, to be made nothing, so that the Lord can have a way in us, through us, and among us for the building up of His organic Body. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 3, “Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups,” p. 462)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” ch. 8

«　WEEK 3　DAY 6　»

　　Rom. 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

　　1 John 4:8 He who does not love has not known God, because God is love.

　　19 We love because He first loved us.

　　The love of God is God Himself (1 John 4:8, 16). God has poured out this love in our hearts with the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us, as the motivating power within us, that we may more than conquer in all our tribulations. (Rom. 5:5, footnote 1)

　　God is love; we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:8, 19). God does not want us to love with our natural love but with Him as our love. God created man in His image (Gen. 1:26), which means that He created man according to what He is. God’s image is what God is, and His attributes are what He is. According to the revelation in the Holy Scriptures, God’s first attribute is love. God created man according to His attributes, the first of which is love. Although created man does not have the reality of love, there is something in his created being that wants to love others. Even fallen man has the desire within him to love. But that is just a human virtue, the very expression of the divine attribute of love. When we were regenerated, God infused us with Himself as love. We love Him because He first loved us. He initiated this love. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” p. 121)

　　From the day we believed in the Lord Jesus, the love of God has been poured out in our hearts. This is not merely a matter of feeling. On the contrary, something substantial, something essential, has been poured out in our hearts. This means that, as believers, deep in our hearts we have something of the divine essence, and this is God as love. In other words, God as love is the divine essence that has been poured out in our hearts. Therefore, the pouring out of the love of God in our hearts is not merely a matter of feeling; rather, it is a matter of the essence of God.

　　Because something of the divine essence has been poured out in our hearts, the heart of every Christian is a heart of love. I can testify that from the time of my regeneration my heart has been very different from what it was before regeneration. Because we have been regenerated, we have the loving essence within us, even if we are temporarily angry about something. This loving essence is God Himself as love. The Father’s nature, His essence, has been poured out in our hearts, and now we have this essence within us. (CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity,” p. 512)

　　From the day we first called on the Lord Jesus, the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. This means that the Spirit reveals, confirms, and assures us with the love of God. The indwelling Holy Spirit seems to say, “Don’t doubt. God loves you. You don’t understand why you must suffer now, but one day you will say, ‘Father, I thank You for the troubles and trials which I passed through.’” When you enter the gate of eternity, you will say, “Praise the Lord for the sufferings and tests which fell upon me on my journey. God used them to transform me.” We cannot deny the presence of God’s love within us…. Once we were enemies, but Christ shed His blood on the cross to reconcile us to God. What love is this!…God is sovereign. He knows what is best for us….We should simply pray, “Lord, have your way. I simply want what You want. I leave everything entirely in Your hands.” This is our response to God when we realize afresh that He loves us so and that His love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 102-103)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity,” ch. 43; Life-study of Romans, msg. 9