Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:9; Rev. 2:7; John 6:57, 63; Jer. 15:16; Psa. 119:15; Ezek. 3:1-4

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 5　DAY 1　»

　　Gen. 2:9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

　　Jer. 15:16 Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word became to me the gladness and joy of my heart…

　　To touch the tree of life is to touch God, and…to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is to touch fire and death. In order to serve God and work for Him, a Christian must learn to stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… For example, a couple may be arguing. Our natural concept is to exhort them to be reconciled with each other, but if we know the principle of the tree of life, we will not exhort them to be patient or humble. If we are clear about the principle of the tree of life, we will lead this couple into life. Only those who touch the tree of life will see their life and work remaining in the New Jerusalem. Those who are sinful will go into the lake of fire. Those who are merely moral will also go into the lake of fire…Within the tree of life there is surely love and humility, but the love and humility that issue from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil end up in the lake of fire. Only the virtues that issue from the tree of life will last in eternity. (CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 2, pp. 224-225)

　　To muse upon the Word is to “chew the cud,” like a cow eating grass (Lev. 11:3)… If we take in the Word too quickly, we shall not have very much enjoyment. But if we “chew the cud” as we take in the Word, our enjoyment will increase.

　　When we muse upon the Word of God,…we shall spontaneously pray… Furthermore, we may converse with ourselves or begin to praise the Lord. We may be so inspired by the Word that we want to shout our praises to the Lord.

　　Usually musing upon the Word will be slower and finer than pray-reading the Word. For example, in our musing upon Exodus 20:2 we may say to ourselves, “Remember that Jehovah is your Lord. He has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the slave house, the house of bondage. Now you are out. Amen! O Lord, I worship You for bringing me out of bondage!” In all our musing upon God’s Word, talking to the Lord or conversing with ourselves, we should be spontaneous and full of enjoyment. We may bow down to worship the Lord, ponder the Word, remember, or give ourselves a rebuke… Any genuine seeker of the Lord who muses upon the Ten Commandments in a living way will enjoy the Lord, worship Him, pray, converse with himself in the Lord’s presence, and also praise the Lord. Surely one who takes the law of God in such a way will not apply it as dead letters, but will take it as God’s living word.

　　To muse upon the Word of God is to enjoy His Word as His breath. It is to contact God in the Word and to have fellowship with Him, to worship Him, and to pray to Him through and with the Word. By musing upon the Word of God in this way, we shall be infused by God, breathe Him into us, and receive spiritual nourishment.

　　Concerning musing upon the Word, Psalm 119:147 says, “I anticipated the dawn and cried out; I hoped in Your words.” Here we see that the psalmist rose up before dawn, cried out, and hoped in God’s word… Musing upon the Word involves more than just meditating on it. We muse upon the Word by talking to God, worshipping Him, enjoying Him, receiving grace from Him, and conversing with ourselves in the Lord’s presence.

　　If we muse upon the Word of God, we shall delight ourselves in the Word. Sometimes we may weep before the Lord or sing hymns of praise to Him. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 670-671)

　　Further Reading: Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, 2nd ed., vol. 1, ch. 16; CWWL, 1965, vol. 2, “The Tree of Life,” chs. 1, 8-9

«　WEEK 5　DAY 2　»

　　Ezek. 3:1-4 …Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak… So I opened my mouth, and He gave me that scroll to eat… And I ate it, and it was like honey in my mouth in its sweetness. Then He said to me, Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.

　　We need to eat Jesus by calling on the name of the Lord. But after we eat, we also need a good digestion…When we eat Christ, we also need to spiritually digest Him in a proper way. If you have a proper digestion, the food you eat can get into every part of your physical being…Indigestion means that there is no thoroughfare for the food.

　　Some dear saints may enjoy calling on the Lord and pray-reading the Word at first. But after a certain time, they lose their taste and appetite for this. This is because after taking in the Lord Jesus, something happened within them…There was no thoroughfare for the Lord Jesus to get through. After calling on the Lord Jesus and pray-reading His Word, we have to say, “Lord, be merciful to me. Keep my whole being with all my inward parts open to You.” (CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ,” p. 205)

　　When you call, “Lord Jesus,” He gets into you and fills you up. While you are calling “Lord Jesus,” this practical and living Jesus will touch your natural being. But many of you would say, “No, Lord. Don’t touch me here. Stay where You are. You are my guest, and You must stay in the living room. Don’t get into my private bedroom. That’s for me, not for You.” This means indigestion. There is no way for the Lord as the spiritual food to get through in you. There is no free course for the food to get into your inward parts, so you have indigestion.

　　After calling on the Lord, a young brother may eventually have some sense within him that he needs to deal with the way he cuts his hair. If he is slow to respond to this sense, this means that he is not allowing the Lord Jesus to get through. Thus, you have to be on the alert. After calling on the Lord Jesus, if you have any sense within you, any feeling within you, that means the Lord Jesus is moving, and that means the digestion within you is going on. You have to go along with this inner sense. If you go along with this sense, you will be joyful and have a better, bigger, deeper, and higher appetite for Christ… If you argue with the inner sense, this will result in indigestion. Then you will not be so eager to pray-read the Word, and calling on the name of the Lord will not be so sweet to you.

　　But when you respond to and go along with the inner sense, your appetite for the Lord Jesus comes back, and your spiritual digestion becomes proper. Then the riches of the Lord Jesus become your cells, and these cells grow into your organic tissues. This causes you to grow in the divine life and makes you strong in the Lord. It is easy for you to stand and not easy for you to backslide, because you are growing in the Lord… The grown-up ones… have a good digestion to assimilate all the nourishment from the spiritual food that they eat.

　　By eating we have digesting, by digesting we have the assimilation, and by this assimilation we get the practical nourishment of the riches of Jesus into our being. All the riches of Christ eventually will grow into our organic tissues. Then we become Christ. It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. To me, to live is Christ.

　　After calling on the Lord, after eating and drinking Him, we have to say, “Lord, be merciful to me. Cause every part of my being to be open to You. Have the thoroughfare within my whole being.” Then we will have a good digestion for a good assimilation, and we will enjoy and absorb all the nourishment of the riches of Christ. Then Christ will become our very being. (CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ,” pp. 205-208)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ,” ch. 6; CWWL, 1989, vol. 3, “The Experience and Growth in Life,” ch. 3

«　WEEK 5　DAY 3　»

　　John 4:34 Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.

　　17:4 I have glorified You on earth, finishing the work which You have given Me to do.

　　Eph. 4:20-21 But you did not so learn Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus.

　　The reality, truth in Jesus is the real situation of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels… In the godly life of Jesus there is truth, reality. Jesus lived a life always doing things in God, with God, and for God. God was in His life, and He was one with God. This is the truth in Jesus. We, the believers, regenerated with Christ as our life and taught in Him, learn from Him as the truth is in Jesus. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 394-395)

　　When we believed in the Lord Jesus and were saved, God put us into Christ as the mold. This mold is the life of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels, a life absolutely according to reality, truth. Truth is the shining of light, the expression of light. Since God is light (1 John 1:5), truth is the expression of God. Every aspect of the life of Jesus recorded in the Gospels is an expression of God. In everything He said and did, He expressed God. This expression of God is the shining of light; hence, it is the truth. This life of Jesus according to truth is the pattern in which God has placed us. In this pattern we have learned Christ as the truth is in Jesus. This means that we have learned Christ according to the truth shown in the Gospels, that is, according to the life of the Lord Jesus, which was wholly according to God’s truth. This life is the shining of light. The shining of the light is truth, and truth is the expression of God. Therefore, in the life of Jesus there is truth. The essence of the pattern set up by the Lord Jesus is truth. This means that the essence of the life of Jesus is truth. We have learned Christ as the truth is in Jesus.

　　According to the record of the four Gospels, the life of the Lord Jesus was a life of truth. Truth is the shining of light. Light is the source, and truth is its expression… Because in every aspect of the Lord’s living on earth there was the shining of light, His life was a life of truth, a life of the shining of God Himself. That life of truth was the very expression of God. For this reason Paul says that we learn Christ as the truth is in Jesus. In other words, we learn Christ according to the mold of the life of Jesus. The mold of the life of Jesus is the truth.

　　After Christ established this mold, He passed through death and resurrection, and in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit. As such a Spirit, He comes into us to be our life. When we believed in Him and were baptized, God put us into Him as the mold, just as dough is placed into a mold. By being put into the mold, we learned the mold. This means that by being put into Christ, we learn Christ. On the one hand, God put us into Christ; on the other hand, Christ has come into us to be our life. Now we may live by Him according to the mold in which we have been placed by God. When we read in the Gospels of the mold formed by the Lord Jesus, that mold spontaneously influences our living. As we love the Lord, contact Him, and pray to Him, we automatically live Him according to the mold described in the Gospels. In this way we are shaped, conformed, to the image of this mold. This is what it means to learn Christ.

　　Christ as the life-giving Spirit has come into our being as life. The more we love Him and contact Him, the more we live Him according to this mold. As a result, we are spontaneously conformed to the image of that mold. Therefore, with Paul we can say, “For to me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). We live Christ in the form of His own life, in the form recorded in the Gospels. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 395, 397-398)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 46-47; CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 1: The Ministry of the New Testament,” msg. 3

«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　Phil. 1:9 …This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in full knowledge and all discernment.

　　Lev. 11:3 Whatever has a divided hoof, that is, has its hoof split in two, and chews the cud among the beasts, that you may eat.

　　To eat is not merely to contact something but also to receive something into us. Once a thing is received into us, that thing can be digested inside to become our constituent, that is, our being, our constitution… If we intend to live a holy life as required by the holy God, we need to be careful about our contact with people. Our contact with certain kinds of people can cause us to be reconstituted and thus make us another kind of person. (Life-study of Leviticus, p. 314)

　　Discernment in diet is a matter of discernment in food-stuffs, of discernment in what we eat… The animals mentioned in Leviticus 11…typify persons; they are figures that describe different kinds of persons. This is proved by Acts 10:9b-14, 27-29. Peter “beheld heaven opened, and a certain vessel like a great sheet descending, being let down by four corners onto the earth, in which were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of heaven” (vv. 11-12). At first, Peter did not understand that these animals, reptiles, and birds were figures of people. Eventually he came to understand this, for in the house of Cornelius there were people, not beasts (vv. 27-28).

　　When we eat, we contact something that is outside of us, something that has nothing to do with us. However, if we eat that thing, it can affect us inside. In Leviticus 11 the things we eat signify people, and eating signifies our contacting of people.

　　In chapter 11 of Leviticus five categories of animals are covered: first, the beasts, including cattle; second, the aquatic animals, the animals in the water; third, the birds, the animals in the air; fourth, the insects; and finally, the creeping things.

　　Beasts that divide the hoof and chew the cud (vv. 2-3) signify persons who have discernment in their activities and who receive the word of God with much reconsideration. A divided hoof signifies discernment. A horse has whole hooves, not divided hooves. Hence, a horse signifies a person who does not have the power, the strength, to discern things. Such a person cannot discern what things are of God and what things are of Satan, what things are heavenly and what things are earthly, what things are spiritual and what things are fleshly. We need to discern not only what is good and what is bad but also what is of our spirit and what is of our flesh, as well as what things are of the new man and what things are of the old man.

　　To go to a theater is to do something earthly, but to go to a church meeting is to do something heavenly. However, to a person, even a Christian, who does not have divided hooves, there is little difference between going to a theater and going to a church meeting. Such a person lacks discernment in his activities…We should be careful in contacting this kind of person, for contact with him may defile us. We need to have divided hooves, the ability and strength to discern what is of God and what is not of God, what we should do and what we should not do.

　　Chewing the cud signifies receiving the word of God with much consideration and reconsideration. Just as a cow chews its cud, we should consider and reconsider the word of God. We may do this while we pray-read early in the morning. As we are pray-reading, we may consider and reconsider the word. This is to chew the cud to receive nourishment by reconsidering what we receive from God’s word.

　　However, many people today do not have divided hooves, and they do not chew the cud. They never even touch the word of God. We should not contact those who do not have divided hooves or chew the cud. We need to avoid such people, lest they affect us and influence us. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 313-315)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 36; CWWL, 1958, vol. 1, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the House of God,” chs. 2, 9

«　WEEK 5　DAY 5　»

　　2 Cor. 6:14 Do not become dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?

　　17 Therefore “come out from their midst and be separated, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you.”

　　2 Tim. 4:22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

　　Aquatic animals having fins and scales (Lev. 11:9) signify persons who can move and act freely in the world and at the same time resist its influence. Fins help fish to move, to act, in water according to their wishes. Because they have fins, fish may even swim against the current. Fins strengthen the fish to move, and scales protect them from being salted. As believers in Christ, we should have fins and scales and therefore be able to act freely in the sea of the world without being salted by it. (Life-study of Leviticus, p. 316)

　　Be careful of friends, neighbors, and even relatives who do not have fins and scales… [Some] may say, “What about preaching the gospel to people by visiting them in their homes?”… Door-knocking in itself is a big scale that shields us. Nevertheless, even in preaching the gospel we need to be careful in our contact with people. We do not want to be salted with worldly salt.

　　Birds that have wings for flying and that eat seeds of life as the food supply (Lev. 11:13-19) signify persons who can live and move in a life that is away from and above the world and who take things of life as their supply of life…On the contrary, the unclean birds in 11:13-19 do not feed on seeds. Because the seeds of life do not satisfy them, these unclean birds feed on carcasses.

　　We Christians should be like birds that have wings and that feed on the seeds of life. This means that we should live and move in a life that is away from and above the world and that we should take the things of life as our supply of life. Moreover, when we contact others, even other believers, we need to discern whether they are clean birds, like sparrows, which feed on seeds, or unclean birds, like hawks, which like to live on the things of death. If we have contact with unclean birds, we shall be influenced by their taste and eventually that will turn us into an unclean bird. For this reason, we must be careful in contacting those who feed on the things of death.

　　Insects having wings and having jointed legs above their feet for leaping on the ground (vv. 21-22) signify persons who can live and move in a life that is above the world and who can keep themselves from the world. If we are the kind of persons signified by these insects, we shall have wings for flying away from anything worldly, sinful, or fleshly. We shall be able to soar above the world. We also shall have jointed legs with which to jump up from the world. This means that we are able to leave the world at any time, either by flying or by jumping. We Christians are those who can jump and fly. However, those without wings and jointed legs cannot leave the world at all. They can only stand on the earth and remain in the world.

　　If we are to live a holy life, we need to consider the kind of people we are contacting. Do they have divided hooves, and do they chew the cud? Do they have fins and scales? Do they have wings for flying? Do they feed on the seeds of life and not on the things of death? Do they have wings and jointed legs? If we intend to live in a holy way, we need to exercise care concerning our contact with people. Contacting people is a very important matter, especially for us Christians. We should not contact others without caution, and we should not form friendships in a careless way. Careless friendships, the Bible indicates, will corrupt us. (Life-study of Leviticus, pp. 316-319)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 11, 13-14; CWWL, 1958, vol. 1, “How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God,” chs. 2, 10-11, 14

«　WEEK 5　DAY 6　»

　　Deut. 12:5-7 But to the place which Jehovah your God will choose…to put His name, to His habitation,… shall you go. And there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and the heave offering of your hand and your vows and your freewill offerings and the firstborn of your herd…; and there you shall eat before Jehovah your God, and you and your households shall rejoice…

　　To see that God wants us to enjoy Him and that He does not want us to do anything for Him is to see that the Christian life is a matter of enjoyment. Our salvation is for us to enjoy God, and our spiritual growth depends on our enjoyment of God. Even our service and labor depend on our enjoyment of God. God has no intention for us to do something for Him; He only wants us to enjoy Him. Moreover, He is not outside of us. He has entered into us to be our enjoyment as our food and drink.

　　If we realize that God wants us to enjoy Him and that He does not want us to do anything for Him, we will be able to enjoy, absorb, and appropriate God. If our concept is changed so that we see these two points, it will be easy for us to live a life of enjoying God. (CWWL, 1958, vol. 1, “The Vision of the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,” pp. 625-626)

　　There are two aspects of the enjoyment of Christ. The one is the common aspect. Wherever we are, no matter the time or the place, we may enjoy Christ…The other aspect of the enjoyment of Christ is the enjoyment of the top portion, the choice portion, the firstfruit or firstborn, of Christ. We can only have this aspect of the enjoyment of Christ in the proper church life… Although Christ always remains the same, He nevertheless has a choice portion and a common portion…You may enjoy Him in this way while you are driving your car. However, you will never enjoy the top portion of Christ alone. Even if you were to fast, pray, and call on Him night and day for three days alone in your home, you would still not be able to enjoy the choice portion of Christ. If you want to enjoy this portion, you must come to the church, the place God has chosen.

　　The children of Israel could enjoy the rich produce of the good land in two ways. The common way was to enjoy the common portion of the rich produce of the good land at any time, in any place, and with anybody. The special way was to enjoy the top portion, the firstfruit and the firstborn, in the unique place chosen by God. The distinguishing features of this place were the name of God and the habitation of God. All this is a clear picture of our enjoyment of Christ. Our enjoyment of Christ is also of two aspects—the common aspect of enjoying Christ at any time and at any place, and the specific aspect of enjoying Christ in the place God has chosen. This unique place has the name of God and the habitation of God.

　　We have experienced the special enjoyment of Christ in the proper church life. Whenever we come to a meeting of the church, the enjoyment of Christ is high and rich. We all need to enjoy Christ both in our private life and in the church life. Although the enjoyment of Christ in the church life is wonderful, it cannot replace our enjoyment of Him in our private life. Likewise, the enjoyment in our private life cannot replace the enjoyment in our public life, in our church life.

　　There is no comparison between the enjoyment in the church life and the enjoyment in my private life. This does not mean that I no longer enjoy Christ in my personal life, but the taste is not as sweet as the taste in the church life. I am always eager to attend a meeting to enjoy the top portion of Christ… Many are rather poor in the enjoyment of Christ because they spend too much time trying to enjoy Him privately and little time to enjoy Him corporately. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, “Young People’s Training,” pp. 453-456)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1971, vol. 4, “Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ,” ch. 17