Scripture Reading: Gen. 6:5-14; Heb. 11:7

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 & DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 2　DAY 1　»

　　Gen. 6:8-9 But Noah found favor in the sight of Jehovah. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generations; and Noah walked with God.

　　When God had His first look at mankind in Genesis 1, He was happy and pleased with man. When God had another look at man in Genesis 6, He saw that man had become wicked and corrupt to the uttermost, and it grieved Him that He had made man. What a change from Genesis 1!…What would you have done if you had been God? Perhaps you would have said, “Forget about it.” But what about God’s eternal purpose? Is not God the eternal God? Can the eternal God change? God is not a temporary God but an eternal God. In Him there is no shadow of change (James 1:17). Once He makes a decision, it stands for eternity. If God had forgotten His eternal purpose, His enemy would have laughed at Him, saying, “You intended to create man to defeat me, but instead of You defeating me, I have defeated You.” Will God be defeated? Never! Then what should God do? The answer, the same in principle throughout the centuries, is found in Genesis 6:8: “But Noah found favor in the sight of Jehovah.” (Life-study of Genesis, p. 386)

　　Let us read Genesis 6:5 through 8 : “Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” In Hebrew, the words every imagination signify not only the imagination but also the purposes and desires. “And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart. And Jehovah said, I will blot out the man whom I have created…; for I repent that I have made them.” If that had been all, there would have been no hope. But Hallelujah for verse 8! This verse begins with a big “but.” “But Noah found favor in the sight of Jehovah.” The King James Version translates this verse, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” This is one of the greatest verses in the book of Genesis.

　　Satan was glad to hear that God was going to blot out man from the surface of the ground, but Noah found favor, or grace, in the sight of Jehovah. That turned the situation and changed the age. Hallelujah, God was not defeated! In the midst of apparent defeat, there was victory through a man who found favor, or grace, in the sight of Jehovah. That was the turning point. If you read history along with the Bible, you will see that in every generation, when Satan has done his best to damage the situation to the uttermost, there has always been one man or a few people who found grace in the sight of God and who became the ones who turned the age. Remember the history of Israel. Although they degraded lower and lower until they reached the bottom, there was, much to the surprise of the enemy, a young man named Daniel. Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel set his heart not to defile himself with the king’s choice provision and with the wine that the king drank.” There in the book of Daniel it says, “But Daniel”; here in Genesis 6:8 it says, “But Noah.”

　　If we look at Noah’s life, we will see that it was not simply a matter of walking with God or of building the ark. The basic and crucial point is that God used Noah to change the age…There seemed to be no hope. But Noah found favor. Noah’s life was a life that changed the age.

　　Look at the situation today. If you read the Gospels and if you see God’s purpose for the church, you will realize that the church has such a high commission. The church was produced with God’s life to express Him in this New Testament age. The church has been entrusted with such a glorious commission. There is no need for us to look into the past. The present situation is sufficient to show us how much the church has fallen and deviated from God’s proper goal. But do not be disappointed. Though Satan has done his best, God still has a way to carry out His original purpose. Among all the defeats, God today has raised up local churches to change the age. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 386-387)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 29

«　WEEK 2　DAY 2　»

　　Gen. 4:26 And to Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of Jehovah.

　　5:24 And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

　　Let us now look into the life that changed the age. This life always inherits the godly ways of the forefathers. Thank God that Noah, the tenth generation from Adam, had many good forefathers. Enoch was the seventh generation, Methuselah the eighth, Lamech the ninth, and Noah the tenth. All of Noah’s nine forefathers from Adam to Lamech were godly men. Although Genesis gives us a record of man’s fall, that is only a background showing us the true picture of the godly ways.

　　Noah inherited Adam’s way of salvation (3:20-21)…Although Adam had fallen, he was given the way of God’s salvation. If you had never fallen, you would never be able to taste the sweetness of God’s salvation. Since we have been fallen and saved, we can testify of the sweet taste of God’s salvation. Let us come with rejoicing to draw water from the springs of God’s salvation (Isa. 12:3). Adam was the pioneer in drawing water from the springs of God’s salvation. He was so joyful that he called his wife’s name “Living” (Gen. 3:20— Eve means “living”)…I am quite sure that he drew water with rejoicing from the springs of salvation. I have no doubt that Noah inherited this way of salvation. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 387-388)

　　Noah also inherited Abel’s way of offering (Gen. 4:4). Adam’s way was the way to get himself saved, but Abel’s was the way to please God by offering gifts to Him (Heb. 11:4). Can you imagine that a fallen man could please God?…His way of pleasing God was that of offering the type of Christ to God. I can please God in the same way. Although I am a fallen man with a fallen nature, I can please God by offering Christ to Him as a gift. I am not boasting, but I can declare to you that I have pleased God very much in these recent days…Even this morning and this afternoon I was happy because my God was pleased. My God was happy, and I was happy too. What is the way to please God? It is the way of Abel, which is to offer Christ to God, not only as the sacrifice for our sins but also as a gift for pleasing God…Whenever we bring Christ to God, He is very happy with our gift. God is pleased with Christ. Noah surely adopted Abel’s way. The third godly way that Noah inherited was Enosh’s way of calling on the name of the Lord to enjoy all that He is (Gen. 4:26)…It was not only a matter of being saved or of pleasing God but of participating in and enjoying what God is by calling on His name. We may partake of the riches of God by calling on the name of the Lord. Noah must have practiced this.

　　Noah also inherited the way of living and begetting (5:3-28). Noah, like his forefathers, was not idle but was living with a purpose for God and begetting children for man’s proper multiplication that God’s purpose might be fulfilled on this earth through mankind. Noah also inherited the fifth way, the way of walking with God (vv. 22, 24)…Although it is marvelous to see that a fallen man can be saved, we must further realize that such a person can walk with God. In the seventh human generation, Enoch discovered the way of walking with God. We can be saved, please God, call on His name, live and beget, and walk with God. What else do we want? It seems that we have been fully satisfied. We are saved; we can please God; we can call on His name to enjoy all that He is to us; we can live with a purpose and beget, that is, bear fruit, for God’s multiplication; and we can walk with God. What do we lack? Nothing. We are pleased and satisfied. However, God has not been satisfied. This is the burden that the Lord has shown me. It is inadequate simply to see that Noah inherited all the godly ways of his forefathers. If this ministry only helps you to see this much, it has failed God. We must see something more. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 388-390)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 29

«　WEEK 2　DAY 3　»

　　1 Cor. 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me did not turn out to be in vain, but, on the contrary, I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God which is with me.

　　Gal. 6:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

　　We need to realize that the falls portrayed in the book of Genesis are the background of a very positive picture that shows what God has done with the fallen human race. The main purpose of the record of Genesis is not to show the fall but to show how much God’s grace can do for fallen people. Genesis 6:8 says, “But Noah found favor in the sight of Jehovah.” Favor can also be translated “grace.” Finding grace in the sight of the Lord is not a small thing. What does “finding grace” mean? Notice that this verse does not say that God was gracious to Noah or that Jehovah granted grace to Noah. No, it says that Noah found grace. Remember that Genesis is a book filled with spiritual seeds. Here, in 6:8, we have the first mention of grace in the Bible. Noah was able to be what he was because he found grace in the sight of Jehovah. (Life- study of Genesis, pp. 371-372)

　　Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help. When I was young, nearly every day in my prayers I would say, “Lord, I am coming to the throne of grace. At Your throne of grace I find grace for my timely need. Lord, I need Your grace every minute. I not only need Your grace every year, every week, every day, and every hour but every minute. Without Your grace I simply cannot bear anything.” Today…I keep on telling the Lord, “Lord, I

　　need Your grace every minute. I know that You are gracious and that You have grace ready for me. Lord, since grace needs my cooperation, I kneel before the throne of grace to find grace to meet my need.” Many times we simply cannot stand our situation, and we cannot face what is happening to us. However, there is a place called the throne of grace. Come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that you may receive mercy and find grace for timely help.

　　Grace is not only something given by God, but it is God Himself doing things for us. Grace is not merely something objective that is given to us by God. Grace is God Himself coming to us and doing things for us. Are you weak? God will come to be your strength, and that coming of God is grace. Are you unable to face your situation? That need not be a problem, because God will come to stand with you and face that situation for and in you. This is grace…God’s presence was Noah’s strength and power. Noah not only enjoyed something given to him by God objectively, but he enjoyed God Himself. In the midst of a crooked, perverted, and adulterous generation, a generation whose temptations no one could withstand, Noah found grace in the sight of Jehovah.

　　Consider the situation in modern society. I do not even dare to look at a newspaper. It contains too many temptations…I do not dare to look into the show windows…The talk you hear on the radio, at work, and at school is evil, corrupt, and devilish…This age is truly crooked, perverted, and adulterous; it is full of fornication and immorality. People talk about immorality without one bit of shame. Who can stand in such a generation? Not one of us is able to stand. We all have a fallen nature within us, the same evil nature that all men have. We need grace. We must come to the throne of grace boldly and say, “Lord, I am here. I need Your grace. I am not coming to ask You to give me good things. I am coming to find grace to meet my need. Lord, I cannot go to work or to school without Your presence. Lord, I cannot go to a department store without Your presence. Lord, I need You to stand with me. Come to be my strength. Lord, uphold me and sustain me.” (Life- study of Genesis, pp. 372-375)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 28

«　WEEK 2　DAY 4　»

　　Rom. 5:17 …Much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

　　21 In order that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

　　The matter of divorce is a great temptation to the young people today. The temptations are without, and the lusts are within. Who can stand in such an age?…Because none of us is able to stand, we need the grace to be today’s Noah. Only grace can enable you to be one with your wife or husband…None of us can do it without grace, for there is too much temptation. The tide, current, and trend of the age are too strong… How we need grace! We need God to come to us to be our strength and everything we need. This is grace. This is what Noah needed and what we also need today. Noah found it, and we also must find it. Because Noah found grace, it was easy for him to walk with God. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 375)

　　Parents are concerned about their children in school. The biggest temptation that the children face in the schools today is the matter of drugs… The young children cannot stand against this kind of temptation. They need grace. There is no addiction that you can overcome by yourself. You need to come to the throne of grace and find grace. Noah found grace, and he walked with God. Grace helped him to walk with God. This grace strengthened him and helped him to live a righteous life. In his daily walk righteousness was lived out of him. This kind of righteousness was not merely objective but also subjective. First, he received objective righteousness; eventually, he lived out subjective righteousness. Thus, in the eyes of God, Noah inherited righteousness.

　　In the sixth chapter of Genesis, we see three important seeds: flesh, grace, and righteousness. God is sovereign and wise…In His sovereignty and wisdom, He leaves the flesh here, knowing that, in a sense, it is useful to us. DAY and night the flesh helps us turn to the throne of grace. When we are matured, that is, when we are raptured, we will be able to turn to the flesh and say, “Little flesh, your time is over. You may leave now.” Before the maturity of life, in a sense we need the flesh, not to damage us but to force us to come to the throne of grace.

　　Where the flesh is, there is grace, and where grace is, there is the issue of grace—righteousness. Romans 5:17 puts grace and righteousness together… Righteousness always accompanies grace. There is not one husband who can be right with his wife without grace, and there is not one wife who can be right with her husband without grace. There is only one kind of wife or husband who is right—the wife or husband who finds grace. Once we have found grace, grace will make us right with our husband or wife. Consider the case of a particular husband who for years has been told by others that he should treat his wife better than he does. Nevertheless, he is not convinced. One night he finds grace, and grace issues in righteousness. Immediately, he changes his attitude. It is by the power of grace, the strength of grace, and the life of grace that we can be right with God, with one another, and even with ourselves. Grace produces righteousness. Righteousness is the highest product of grace. Therefore, Romans 5:21 says that “grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life.” Thus, righteousness and grace always go together. Where the flesh is, there is grace, and where grace is, righteousness is produced.

　　We are not righteous because of ourselves but because of grace… God could boast of Noah’s righteousness to that crooked and perverted generation. Noah’s righteousness strengthened God’s standing to execute His judgment upon that ungodly generation. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 375-379)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 28

«　WEEK 2　DAY 5　»

　　Heb. 11:7 By faith Noah, having been divinely instructed concerning things not yet seen…, prepared an ark for the salvation of his house…

　　Matt. 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church…

　　Eph. 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.

　　God gave Noah what was nearly an all-inclusive revelation, a further revelation that none of Noah’s forefathers saw. Although Enoch prophesied that when his son Methuselah died, the deluge would come (the meaning of the name Methuselah) and that God’s judgment would be executed upon the corrupted earth, and although he even prophesied about the Lord’s coming (Jude 14), Enoch never received the vision of the way that God would terminate the corrupted generation and bring in a new age. None of Noah’s forefathers saw this revelation. One day God came to Noah and revealed it to him. As a result of this, Noah’s view of godly things was greatly broadened, and he saw much more than all his forefathers did…We all need such a revelation. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 390)

　　In principle, our situation is exactly the same as Noah’s. Today’s generation is corrupt, and the earth is filled with evil and violence. It seems that, according to man’s concept, God has been defeated and driven out of the earth. However, do you not realize that today there is a big “but”?…We have inherited all the godly ways that were exercised in the past centuries. But should we stop here?…No. Although we have inherited so many godly things and are satisfied and contented, how about God? How about God’s purpose? God needs to terminate this age. He needs a change of generation.

　　He needs an ark that can bring His people out of this generation and start a new age.

　　God not only showed Noah the evil generation but also revealed to him His intention. God was and still is a God of purpose, and He can never be defeated in His purpose. Years and years ago, God showed us His purpose. Many of you have read Brother Nee’s own testimony in which he says that once he had a dream, meaning a revelation, in which he saw local churches raised up throughout China. He saw churches raised up by God. What he called a dream was actually a revelation. Through him, many years ago, God showed us His need of the churches. Before the Lord comes back, He needs the churches to be raised up. Otherwise, He will have no way to return. What is today’s ark?…It is the churches. God revealed the ark to Noah, and I must testify that God has revealed to us the need for the proper church life. The proper church life is the ark God needs today. The church life is needed to terminate this generation and to bring in a new age.

　　What does the Lord want to do today? He does not simply want to save people, cause them to please God, teach them to call on the name of the Lord, and enable them to live, beget, and walk with God…He needs the churches to be raised up. His intention is to attract His lovers and seekers and gather them together to practice the proper church life as a testimony against the enemy’s kingdom of darkness and as a preparation for His return. This is His intention today. We all need to see this and build this “ark” to be today’s Noah that we may terminate this generation and usher in the new age of the kingdom.

　　God not only has an intention but also a desire…He is…hungry and thirsty for this. God desires to have the church life. God needs the church… We…preach the gospel,…but our goal in doing so is the building up of the church. We all need to see the vision. We all must have today’s revelation to see what is God’s heart’s desire. Are you going to be today’s Noah? If you are, you must see what Noah did. God’s desire is not only that thousands of people be saved but to have the wonderful church life. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 390-395)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 29

«　WEEK 2　DAY 6　»

　　Eph. 3:17 That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love.

　　1 Cor. 3:12 But if anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble.

　　Our work in the recovery today is to minister God to people. Yes, we need to save sinners and to feed the saints and perfect them. The crucial matter, however, is that we minister God to others. The God whom we minister is not just the building God—He is also the builded God. If we fail to minister God in this way, our work will be wood, grass, and stubble (1 Cor. 3:12).

　　I would ask you to reconsider the work you are doing for the Lord. Perhaps you have opened up a region or have brought many people to God. But I ask you this question: How much of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God has been wrought into those whom you have brought to God? If we are sincere and genuine, we will humble ourselves and confess that not very much of the Triune God has been wrought into the ones we have brought to God. Therefore, we need to practice one thing—to minister the processed Triune God into others so that He may build Himself into their inner man. In every aspect of our work—preaching the gospel, feeding the believers, perfecting the saints—the intrinsic element must be that we minister the building and builded God to others. I would urge you to pray that the Lord would teach you to work in this way. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 202-203)

　　After Noah received the revelation, he believed it and practiced it (Gen. 6:22). He practiced it in a way of not caring about being different from his forefathers and from his generation. Perhaps people said to him, “Noah, what are you doing?…What are you talking about, telling us that a flood will come? What do you mean by building an ark?”

　　The principle is the same today. We are following God’s revelation that is according to the Bible in order to practice the church life; however, most Christians lack this revelation. God’s revelation will always make you different. Daniel and his three companions were different, for they refused to eat the royal food. Paul was different, and so was Martin Luther. Everyone who has seen God’s revelation is different. The revelation makes him different…It is good to be different.

　　Now we must consider Noah’s work. First, Noah worked in preaching righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5)…In Noah’s day preaching righteousness was to protest against the evil generation. His generation was evil and filled with violence, but Noah was a man who preached righteousness and protested against all the unrighteousness, evil, and violence. He testified of the righteous way of God.

　　While Noah was preaching righteousness, he was building the ark. In principle, we are doing the same thing…Noah built the ark by faith according to God’s revelation (Heb. 11:7). He did not construct it according to tradition or his own concept and invention but absolutely according to God’s revelation. This is the reason that in everything we must return to God’s revelation in His holy Word. We must come back to the pure Word of God.

　　The building of the ark was absolutely against the tide of Noah’s generation. He was against the trend of that age, and “he condemned the world” (Heb. 11:7)…The work of Noah and his family was unique, peculiar, and strange. In human eyes it was impractical. It was according to God’s revelation, and thus, it was against the trend and tide of that generation. Do you not think that the principle is the same today? What we are preaching and doing is altogether against the tide of this generation. But we praise the Lord that we are in His flow. We are not in the tide of this generation; we are in the flow from the throne according to His revelation. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 395-397)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 30