Scripture Reading: Matt. 7:29; 21:24; Luke 5:24; Rom. 9:21-22; Heb. 13:17

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 6　DAY 1　»

　　Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.

　　Rom. 9:21 Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?

　　All authority is from God because everything is ordered by God…God is above all authorities, and every authority is under Him. Once we touch God’s authority, we touch God Himself. Basically, God’s work is not carried out by power, but by authority. He upholds everything by the word, which is of His authority. Creation came about through the word of His authority. His word is His authority.

　　The centurion whose servant was sick knew that there was an authority above him to which he should submit, inasmuch as there were those under him who submitted to him. Therefore, he only needed the Lord to say one word, and he believed that the matter would then be taken care of. He knew that all authority was in the Lord’s hand; he believed in the Lord’s authority. This is why the Lord said that He had found no faith greater than this. Meeting God’s authority is the same as meeting God…All the orbits in the universe are established by Him; all the ways in the world are set up by Him. Hence, they are all under His authority. Offending God’s authority is the same as offending God Himself. A Christian should submit to authority. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 119-120)

　　We who are involved in the Lord’s work are the servants of God. As such, the first thing we touch is the matter of authority…We must be touched and smitten at least once by authority. Only then can we work the work of God. In our relationship with God, nothing is more important than touching authority. Once we touch it, we will see it wherever we turn. Only then can we be restricted by God, and only then can we begin to be used by God.

　　There are two principles in the universe—God’s authority and Satan’s rebellion. We cannot serve God on the one hand, while taking the way of rebellion with a spirit of rebellion on the other hand…Service is ever attendant to authority. Do we want to submit to God’s authority or not? We who serve God must gain this basic understanding at some time. It is like touching electricity. Once one touches it, he will never be careless with it. In the same way, once a man meets God’s authority and is smitten by it, his eyes will be enlightened. He will be able to discern not only himself, but others as well.

　　When the rebellious ones spoke against Moses for not leading them into the land flowing with milk and honey, and for not giving them the inheritance of fields and vineyards, their words were somewhat true…Please note that whenever men act and judge according to doctrine or according to what they see with their physical eyes, they are taking the way of reason. But those who submit to authority will enter Canaan by faith. The way of the spirit can never be taken by those who argue and reason. Those who by faith take the leading of the pillars of cloud and of fire and take the leading of Moses, the deputy authority, will enjoy the fullness of the Spirit. The earth opens its mouth for the rebellious ones. This is the way of death leading them quickly to Hades… Only those who are apparently blind, who probe forward by faith, ignoring the present desolation, can enter into Canaan. Those on the spiritual pathway see the future promise of blessing by the eyes of faith. Therefore, one must meet authority, be restricted by God, and be led by His deputy authority. If a man sees only his father, brothers, or sisters, he does not know what authority is, and has not yet met God. In any case, the matter of authority is an inward revelation rather than an outward teaching. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 114-115, 133-134)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” chs. 6—8, 13—15, 17—18

«　WEEK 6　DAY 2　»

　　Heb. 13:17 Obey the ones leading you and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who will render an account…

　　1 Pet. 5:5 In like manner, younger men, be subject to elders; and all of you gird yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

　　We need to receive the function of the other members. When we submit to the authority of the seeing function, we will have no barrier with the Head, because the supply is in the authority. Whoever has the gift has that ministry; and whoever has the ministry has the authority…God’s appointed ministry is His authority. No one should reject it…God wants us to submit to indirect authorities (i.e., deputy authorities) so that we may receive spiritual supply. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” p. 175)

　　Other than God Himself, everyone, including the Lord Jesus, has to submit to authority on earth. We should see authority everywhere…Some never realize who their authority is. They have never submitted to anyone…If you know who you have to submit to, you will spontaneously know what position you should occupy in the Body, and you will stand in your proper position. But there are many Christians today in whom there is not even a thought about submission…Submission is the first lesson for those who work. It is actually the major part of their work.

　　In order to have the oneness of the Body, there must first be the life of the Head and then the authority of the Head. Without the life of the Head, there is no Body. Likewise, without the authority of the Head, there is no oneness of the Body. We must allow the life of the Head to rule so that the Body can become one. God requires that we submit not only to Him, but also to all His deputy authorities.

　　When Paul saw the light, he saw authority as well. He said, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10). This was Paul putting himself directly under the Lord’s own authority. But then the Lord placed Paul under His appointed deputy authority. The Lord said, “Rise up and enter into the city, and it will be told to you what you must do” (9:6). From that time on Paul knew authority…At that time, the Lord placed Paul under a deputy authority…From the time we have believed in the Lord until now, how many deputy authorities have we submitted to?…Prior to this, we did not have the light, but today we have to see in a serious way God’s deputy authority…What God looks at is not His own direct authority. He looks at His established, indirect authorities. All those who do not submit to God’s indirect authorities cannot submit to God’s direct authority. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 120-122,165)

　　In the universe, only God is the direct authority to man. Other than God, all authorities are delegated. The parents represent God as the children’s authority, and the husbands represent God as the wives’ authority. The civil officers represent God as the citizens’ authority, and even the teachers in the schools, the managers in the offices, and the policemen on the streets are all delegated authorities. The elders in the church also represent God as authority.

　　It is easy today for man to submit to God’s direct authority, but it is not easy to submit to the delegated authority God has appointed. The reason for this is that you may not consider the delegated authority better or stronger than you are… When you come to a local church, the elders there may not have been saved as long ago as you were. They may not be as spiritual as you are, may not have received as much education as you have received, and may not be as capable as you are. But when you are there, you have to accept that delegated authority and submit to it. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 2, “The Elders’ Management of the Church,” p. 141)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 2, “The Elders’ Management of the Church,” chs. 5—6

«　WEEK 6　DAY 3　»

　　Rev. 4:2 Immediately I was in spirit; and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne there was One sitting.

　　Matt. 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I extol You, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth…

　　Have you ever realized how much the universe was affected by the fall of the angels and man and how big a problem this made for God? God desired that His creatures would accept His authority; however, both kinds of creatures rejected His authority…Nevertheless, God did not call back His authority…On the one hand, God maintains His system of authority, and on the other hand, He establishes His kingdom. Although Satan rebelled against God’s authority, and although man daily violates His authority by rebelling against Him, God will not let this rebellion continue. He will establish His own kingdom.

　　Whatever the Lord did on earth was entirely based on submission … Everything was in submission, in perfect cooperation with the authority of God. In this realm the Lord set up the kingdom of God and executed His authority. The church today must also allow God’s authority to have a free way and manifest His kingdom through submission. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 147-148)

　　The center of dispute in the whole universe relates to who has the authority. We have to contend with Satan by asserting that authority is with God. We have to set ourselves to submit to God’s authority and to uphold God’s authority.

　　Before Paul realized authority, he wanted to eradicate the church from the earth. But after he met the Lord on the way to Damascus, he realized that it was difficult to kick against the goads (God’s authority) with his feet (man’s energy). He immediately fell down, acknowledged Jesus as Lord, and submitted to the instruction of Ananias in Damascus [Acts 9:10].

　　Unless a man meets authority on the way to “Damascus,” he cannot submit to an insignificant, small brother in “Damascus.” This shows us that anyone who has met authority will deal with the authority alone; he will not deal with the person involved. We should only think of the authority, not of the person, because our submission is not to a person but to God’s authority in that person.

　　We who are so self-confident, but who are in reality so blind, have to come face-to-face at least once with God’s authority…Only when a man meets God’s authority will he submit to the deputy authority whom God appoints.

　　In Numbers 16 there are two rebellions. In verses 1 through 40 we have the rebellion of the leaders, whereas in verses 41 through 50 we have the rebellion of the whole assembly. A spirit of rebellion is contagious. The judgment on the two hundred fifty was not enough to warn the whole assembly. They saw with their own eyes fire coming forth from God to consume the two hundred fifty incense burners. Yet they still rebelled. They even accused Moses of killing them. Moses and Aaron could not open the earth; it was God who opened it. Moses could not consume people with fire; it was the fire that proceeded from Jehovah God that judged the people. Some men only see through their own eyes. They do not see that all authority is of God. Such people are very bold; they are not afraid even when they see judgment, because they do not have the knowledge of authority. This is a very dangerous matter.

　　God can bear many sins and can even pardon them. Once rebellion appears, however, God cannot tolerate it, for rebellion is according to the principle of death. It is according to the principle of Satan. For this reason, the sin of rebellion is more serious than any other kind of sin. Whenever someone opposes authority, God immediately comes in to judge. How solemn a matter this is! (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 111-112, 134-135)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” chs. 1—3

«　WEEK 6　DAY 4　»

　　Matt. 8:9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it.

　　16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

　　In order to be God’s deputy authority, a person must fulfill three fundamental requirements (in addition to knowing God’s authority and submitting to His authority).

　　A deputy authority must [first] remember that all authorities come from God…If there is any authority in a man at all, that authority comes from God. There is no inherent authority in a person, and no one can appoint himself to be an authority. Our personal opinions cannot become others’ law, and our own ideas, views, and proposals do not deserve others’ esteem…We can only ask the brothers and sisters to submit to the authority in us which comes from God. A deputy authority can only be a deputy to God’s authority…All deputy authorities must remember that they are merely God’s representative authorities; they have no authority in themselves.

　　A person becomes an authority because of his knowledge of God’s will, God’s mind, and God’s thoughts. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 209-210)

　　The second basic requirement of a deputy authority is to deny himself. Before one is clear about God’s will, he should not open his mouth and should not exercise any authority. God’s deputy authority must not only know His authority on the positive side, but must learn to deny himself on the negative side. Please remember that neither God nor the brothers and sisters treasure your opinion…If you think your opinion is the best, that God treasures your opinion, and that the brothers and sisters honor your idea, you are living in a dream. Do not be so foolish as to unilaterally impose your opinion upon others.

　　Those who are God’s deputy authorities should possess a third qualification—they must have a constant and intimate fellowship with the Lord. There must not only be a communion, but a communication. Some are loaded with opinions throughout the day. These ones must learn to give up their opinions. Every time one has an opinion, he has to bring it to the Lord and find out if such an opinion is of the flesh or of God. In this way God will gradually reveal His heart’s desire to him.

　　In order to be a deputy authority, we must fulfill the condition of spirituality as well as the condition of humility. The qualification of an authority is based on one’s consciousness of his inability and unsuitability. One thing is sure: None of the persons that God used in the Old and New Testaments were proud. I can tell you frankly that as soon as a person becomes proud, God will put him aside. As a worker for over twenty years, I have never seen a proud man who was used by the Lord. Even if a man is just a little proud in private, his words will sooner or later expose him, because a person’s words always disclose the hidden state of his heart. Even a humble person will be greatly surprised at the judgment seat. The surprise that awaits the proud, however, will surely be many times more than that of the humble! We must be conscious of our unprofitableness all the time, because God can only use the unprofitable slaves. We are not saying this to be polite. We honestly should feel that we are unprofitable slaves. We may have tended sheep or plowed the field, but when we come in from the field, we should still acknowledge that we are unprofitable slaves. We should always stand in the position of a slave (Luke 17:10). God never entrusts His authority to the self-confident and self-assured. We have to reject pride and learn humility and meekness. (CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” pp. 212, 215, 286)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 47, “Authority and Submission,” ch. 12

«　WEEK 6　DAY 5　»

　　Mark 11:23-24 Truly I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says happens, he will have it. For this reason I say to you, All things that you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and you will have them.

　　The Bible contains a most lofty and spiritual prayer. But few people pray this prayer, and few pay attention to it…It is the “prayer of authority.” We know that there are prayers of praise, prayers of thanksgiving, supplicating prayers, and begging prayers…A prayer of authority is a commanding prayer. This is the most crucial and most spiritual prayer in the Bible. This kind of prayer is a sign of authority and a declaration of authority. (CWWN, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” p. 191)

　　A prayer with authority has two aspects. One is to bind, and the other is to loose. What is bound on earth will be bound in heaven, and what is loosed on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 18:18 tells us that whatever the earth does, heaven will also do. In verse 19 there is the matter of prayer… Ordinary prayers are prayers that ask God to bind and loose. Prayers with authority are those in which we bind and loose by exercising authority. God binds because the church has bound, and God looses because the church has loosed. God has given this authority to the church. When the church exercises this authority to speak something, God does it.

　　What is praying with authority? Simply put, it is praying the prayer of Mark 11…Verse 24 begins with the words “for this reason.” “For this reason” means that this sentence is a continuation of what has gone before…Verse 24 mentions prayer. This proves that verse 23 must also concern prayer. The strange thing is that verse 23 does not sound like an ordinary prayer. The Lord did not tell us to pray, “God, please move the mountain and cast it into the sea.” What does it say? It says, “Whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea.”…We think that when we pray to God, we have to say, “God, please move this mountain and cast it into the sea.” But the Lord said something else…He told us to turn to the mountain and to speak to the mountain. The speaking is not toward God but directly toward the mountain, telling it to be cast into the sea. Since the Lord was afraid that we would not consider this to be a prayer, He pointed out in the following verse that it is a prayer. This prayer is not directed toward God, but it is a prayer. It is a speaking directed toward the mountain…This is a prayer with authority. A prayer with authority does not ask God to do something. Rather, it exercises God’s authority and applies this authority to deal with problems and things that ought to be removed. Every overcomer has to learn to pray this kind of prayer. Every overcomer has to learn to speak to the mountain.

　　We have many weaknesses, such as temper, evil thoughts, or physical illnesses. If we plead with God concerning these problems, it seems that there is not much result. However, if we apply God’s authority to the situation and speak to the mountain, these problems will go away…Seldom do we pray by applying God’s authority to the problem or by saying, “I command you in the name of my Lord to go away” or “I cannot tolerate this thing to remain with me anymore.” A prayer with authority is one in which we tell the things that are frustrating us to go away. We can say to our temper, “Go away.” We can say to sickness, “Go away. I will rise up by the resurrection life of the Lord.”

　　A prayer with authority is not asking God directly. Rather, it is dealing with problems by directly applying God’s authority. All of us have mountains. Of course, these mountains are not the same in size…But whatever is blocking us from going on in the spiritual pathway, we can command to go away. This is to pray with authority. (CWWN, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” pp. 200, 195-197)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” ch. 4

«　WEEK 6　DAY 6　»

　　Eph. 1:22-23 And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

　　2:6 And raised us up together with Him and seated us together with Him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.

　　The church can rule over Hades when it prays with authority. Since Christ has transcended over everything and He is the Head of the church, the church can rule over the demons and everything that belongs to Satan. If the church did not have the authority to rule over the demons and if the Lord had not given this authority to the church, the church could not even survive on earth. The church is able to survive on earth because it has the authority to rule over every satanic thing…We can cast out demons in the name of the Lord, and we can restrain the secret activities of the evil spirits. (CWWN, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” p. 199)

　　We must submit ourselves to God’s authority. If we do not submit to God’s authority, we cannot pray with authority. Not only must we submit to God’s authority with respect to His position, but we also must submit to His authority in our daily living and in all practical matters.

　　Ordinary prayer is directed from earth to heaven…A prayer with authority has heaven as its starting point and the earth as its destination. In other words, a prayer with authority is prayed from heaven to earth…If a man has never learned the prayer that prays downward, he has never learned to pray with authority. In the spiritual warfare, the kind of prayer that prays downward is very important…It is to stand in the position that Christ has given us in the heavenlies, to command Satan with authority and reject all his works, and to proclaim with authority that all God’s commands should be accomplished. If we pray for a realization of God’s will and a decision concerning it,…we should say, “God, You have to do this. You have to accomplish this. No matter what happens, You must fulfill this work.” (CWWN, vol. 22, “The Prayer Ministry of the Church,” pp. 203, 194)

　　The position of prayer is the position of ascension…Whenever you leave the heavenly realm, you lose the position of prayer. You may pray, but that prayer does not count before God. As the position of prayer is ascension, the authority of prayer is also ascension. With the position of prayer there is the authority of prayer. Whatever a Christian does is not only a matter of power but, even more, a matter of authority…[Some] not only have power but also authority, for they are in the heavenly position.

　　In Isaiah 45:11, God says, “Command Me.” Sometimes this commanding is a direct command to God, and sometimes it is an indirect command to the environment. Examples are: Moses standing on the shore of the Red Sea commanding the water to be divided, the Lord Jesus in the boat commanding the wind and the sea to be still, and the Lord commanding sickness to leave men…If you have touched the heavenly position with its authority, you can even say, “I command the poverty to depart from me.”

　　When you come to the point where you have the heavenly position and the heavenly authority and are thus able to utter forth authoritative prayers, you are one who is on the throne, standing in the ruling position together with the Lord. Just as He reigns at the right hand of God, so you also reign together with Him in the heavenly realm. At this time your prayer is not only an authoritative prayer but also a reigning prayer. Your prayer is to rule with authority, executing God’s orders. So at this time all your prayers become God’s administration, the execution of God’s rule…If we are willing to learn, we will arrive at a place where we can utter such prayers. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” pp. 182, 185-188)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” ch. 17