Ⅶ
“Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief in falling away from the living God. But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called ’‘today,' lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin…’‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts'”—Heb. 3:12-13, 15a:
A
Falling away also means “turning away”; when we exercise our spirit of faith and keep our heart turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away, and we can behold Him as the God of glory with an unveiled face, so that we may be continually transfused with Him, with His believing element, so that we can live by Him as our faith and remain in the process of being transformed from one degree of glory to another degree of glory into the same image of the resurrected and glorified Christ—2 Cor. 4:13; 3:16-18; cf. Gen. 1:26; Isa. 43:7.
B
We need to see that unbelief is the greatest sin; we are believers who walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7); a believer is one who does not trust in things that can be seen, but he takes certain unseen things, confesses them, and realizes them by faith.
C
We overcome the devil, the accuser of the brothers, by our declaration of the divine facts, which is the word of our testimony (Rev. 12:10-11); we follow the Lord as the One who confronted the enemy not by His own word but by repeatedly saying, “It is written…”—Matt. 4:4, 7, 10.
D
We should not believe in our feelings but believe in the divine facts in God's holy Word; we must learn to declare the divine, mystical, and eternal facts of what the Lord has done, is doing, and will do in us, for us, and through us for the accomplishment of His eternal economy; when God says a certain thing, we should also speak that thing simply because the Bible tells us so.
Ⅷ
As people of faith, we are people of “today”; the first point of the up-to-date way to practice the Lord's present move is to be filled with the Spirit inwardly and outwardly, essentially and economically, for our life and our work “today”—Acts 2:4; 13:52; Heb. 3:7-8a, 13, 15; 4:7:
A
“Forget about yesterday's enjoyment of Christ. You need a fresh enjoyment. You need something up to date. The Lord was there in Elden hall, but He is not there now. He is here presently moving in His recovery, and He is in you. Wherever you are, He is in you, and He is in you right now. Do you believe that He is repeating all the things He did in the past? He is not repeating anything. He is always going on and on and on. The Lord is working. He is moving.
B
“Are you a person of yesterday? All of us should be people of today. Every day is a today. With some people every day is tomorrow, and with others every day is yesterday…Do not look ahead to the future, and do not look back to the past. We are people of today. Do not talk about your old experiences in the past. Talk about your experience today… Every day is a today. We do not have yesterday. We had yesterday, but we do not have it now. We will never have tomorrow. All the time we have is today. Every day is a today. When we enter into the New Jerusalem, we will have today since every day in eternity is today. The only day we have is today. Be filled inwardly [with the Spirit] today. Be filled outwardly [with the Spirit] today. Be filled today." (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, vol. 5, "The Way to Practice the Lord's Present Move," pp.484-485)
Morning Nourishment
Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.Heb. 3:12-13 Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief in falling away from the living God. But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “today,” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
As Christians, we need to live by faith and walk by faith, not by appearance (2 Cor. 5:7). We are believers, not those who walk by sight… A believer is one who does not trust in things that can be seen, but he takes certain unseen things, confesses them, and realizes them by faith. To be one who walks according to feelings is even worse than being one who walks by sight… Feelings are not trustworthy. You may feel that you are wonderful, but your condition may be pitiful. Do not believe in your feelings—believe in the facts. It is a fact that we all have been brought into God. The processed Triune God is the very element with which we have been constituted… When God says a certain thing, you should also speak that thing simply because the Bible tells you so. The Bible reveals that God has been processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. Now in resurrection, He is the life-giving Spirit dwelling in our spirit as the constituting element. The Bible says this, and we must believe it. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 87-88)
Today’s Reading
The facts are recorded in the New Testament. This testament is a will, something stronger and better than a covenant. A covenant is an agreement similar to a contract. But a testament, a will, refers to something already accomplished… The New Testament is a will. This will says that the processed God is now in us, that He is our portion, and that He is the element with which we have been constituted… We need to believe this fact, just as we believe that we are children of God. Sometimes the devil says, “Look at yourself. Are you a son of God? How can you say you are a son of God when you lost your temper this morning?”… We should say, “Satan, even though I have lost my temper many times, I am still a son of God. Losing my temper does not change the fact that I am a son of God. Satan, with my declaration of this fact, I chase you away.” (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, p. 88)The first point of the up-to-date way to practice the Lord’s present move is to be filled… with the Spirit, who is the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God. We need to be filled with such a Spirit inwardly and outwardly, essentially and economically, for life and for work.
Forget about yesterday’s enjoyment of Christ. You need a fresh enjoyment. You need something up to date. The Lord was there in Elden hall, but He is not there now. He is here presently moving in His recovery, and He is in you. Wherever you are, He is in you, and He is in you right now. Do you believe that He is repeating all the things He did in the past? He is not repeating anything. He is always going on and on and on. The Lord is working. He is moving.
Are you a person of yesterday? All of us should be people of today. Every day is a today. With some people every day is tomorrow, and with others every day is yesterday… Do not look ahead to the future, and do not look back to the past. We are people of today. Do not talk about your old experiences in the past. Talk about your experience today… Every day is a today. We do not have yesterday. We had yesterday, but we do not have it now. We will never have tomorrow. All the time we have is today. Every day is a today. When we enter into the New Jerusalem, we will have today since every day in eternity is today. The only day we have is today. Be filled inwardly today. Be filled outwardly today. Be filled today. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord’s Present Move,” pp. 484-485)
Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msg. 10