Scripture Reading: Isa. 1:1; 2:1; 13:1; 15:1; Zech. 12:1; Mal. 1:1; Acts 1:14; 2:46; 6:4; 1 Cor. 14:4b

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　»

　　1 Tim. 1:3-4 …Charge certain ones not to teach different things nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God's economy, which is in faith.

　　Eph. 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord.

　　God’s economy is an eternal plan made by God in Christ…The Christ revealed in the Bible is the embodiment of the Triune God and all the processes through which He has passed, including incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and descension…Christ, therefore, is the element, sphere, means, goal, and aim of God’s eternal economy. Christ is everything in God’s economy. In fact, all the contents of the eternal economy of God are simply Christ.

　　God’s New Testament economy is His plan to dispense Himself into His chosen people in His trinity…This dispensing has three steps. First, it is of God the Father. The Father is the source, the origin. Second, this dispensing is through God the Son, who is the course. Third, God’s dispensing is in God the Spirit, who is the instrument and sphere. Through these steps of God the Father, through God the Son, and in God the Spirit, God dispenses Himself into His chosen people.

　　This dispensing brings forth the church for the manifestation of the multifarious wisdom of God according to His eternal purpose made in Christ (Eph. 3:9-11). This means that through the dispensing of God in His trinity the church is produced to exhibit God’s manifold wisdom. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 16-18)

　　However, today we have not yet arrived at such a condition. Many people are not living in the spirit to allow God to carry out His dispensing; instead, they are still living in the soul and still have themselves as the center and the lord. For this reason we must help the brothers and sisters to allow the element of Christ to increase in them day by day. Eventually, we the redeemed, regenerated, and transformed saints will be prepared to be the bride and counterpart of Christ through partaking of the riches of Christ’s life and nature, and will become the New Jerusalem as the ultimate consummation of Christ and the church. The New Jerusalem will be the tabernacle for God’s dwelling and the temple for the saints’ dwelling in eternity and will be the ultimate and full expression of the processed Triune God, who is joined and mingled with His regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite saints (Rev. 21:1—22:5). At that time all things will be headed up under Christ, and there will be full peace and harmony.

　　God’s economy is not for our achievement but for us, the chosen and regenerated ones, to be filled by the Spirit to the extent that the Lord becomes everything in us so that we may be delivered from the old man and may be built up with all the saints to be God’s habitation…This is a matter of God’s habitation; it has nothing to do with our personal gain or loss.

　　The goal of God’s economy is a corporate expression. For this reason, in the Old Testament God created man in His image and according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26) so that He might put Himself into man and be man’s life, that man might become one with Him and express and represent Him.

　　This is what God is after. God saves us for this. He regenerates us, transforms us, makes us spiritual, and causes us to be seeking, all for this. We are not saved, regenerated, transformed, spiritual, or seeking, for ourselves. Rather, we become such in order that we may be delivered from the natural life and the self so that we can be built up with all the saints into God’s habitation. This is God’s economy and dispensing. It is not a matter of right or wrong, gain or loss. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “The Economy and Dispensing of God,” pp. 91, 94-95)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “The Divine Dispensing of the Divine Trinity,” ch. 1; CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “The Economy and Dispensing of God,” chs. 1—2

«　WEEK 5　DAY 2　»

　　Eph. 3:2 If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God which was given to me for you.

　　Col. 1:25 …I became a minister according to the stewardship of God, which was given to me for you…

　　God’s dispensing is fully something that is in His economy, something in His plan, something in His purpose and arrangement. In order to carry out this dispensing and for the execution of this dispensing, the Triune God selected some with whom He was pleased and whom He could use and made them His dispensers, richly bestowing upon them His grace. Through God’s rich grace there was an operation of God’s power within these people. These apostles and prophets then fulfilled their ministry according to the operation of God. Under such circumstances the ministry of these ones is called the stewardship. They are the stewards because they are there to execute God’s dispensing. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing,” p. 499)

　　In Greek the word for economy (oikonomia) denotes a household law, a household administration…God has arranged to have many apostles and prophets to be stewards in His household management to manage the distribution of the riches of His great family so that all the members of His family, that is, those who have a part in this family, will be able to share in the riches of God’s great household and thus satisfy His desire.

　　The apostle Paul was indeed such a steward. He exercised his stewardship to dispense God’s rich grace, that is, the unsearchable riches of Christ, to others. Hence, Paul’s stewardship was the execution of God’s economy. In Ephesians 3:9 the word oikonomia is translated “economy,” whereas in 3:2 it is translated “stewardship.”…God’s economy, God’s universal household administration, is to distribute God’s unlimited riches in Christ. Paul says that he received a special commission, a special grace, and a special operation to transmit the unsearchable riches of Christ to the Gentiles chosen by God. This was his stewardship. Hence, the stewardship is God’s economy…The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. This means that it is built on the revelation and the vision that they saw. This is similar to what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 16:18. He would build His church upon “this rock.” That rock is not mainly the rock itself but the revelation concerning the rock. Peter told the Lord, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16)…The revelation and vision that the apostles saw is the foundation for the building up of the church. Upon this foundation are built all the riches of Christ. These are the unsearchable riches of Christ. The unsearchable riches of Christ are the unlimited grace of God. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “A Deeper Study of the Divine Dispensing,” p. 500)

　　Every member has been given grace [cf. Eph. 4:7; Rom. 12:6a]…All the members are stewards of the varied, or manifold, grace of God [1 Pet. 4:10]… God’s grace is not only of one aspect; it has manifold aspects…The New Testament shows us that to serve the saints with a cup of cold water is…an aspect of grace…If a brother is very bothered by a certain situation, and I go to pray with him, that is still another aspect of grace. God’s grace is manifold. We can illustrate this point to the saints in many ways.

　　All the saints as members of the Body of Christ are stewards of the manifold grace of God. On the one hand, we are members of the Body of Christ, and on the other hand, we are stewards of God…A steward is one who always supplies others with certain needs, so we have to help the saints realize that every brother and every sister today in the church life as a member of Christ should be a steward of God assigned by God, commissioned by God, charged by God, with some aspect of His grace to minister to others for their supply. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 2, “Basic Lessons on Service,” pp. 92-93)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “The Economy and Dispensing of God,” ch. 7; Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 34; Life-study of Philippians, msg. 7

«　WEEK 5　DAY 3　»

　　Isa. 13:1 The burden concerning Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

　　Zech. 12:1 The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.

　　We must receive revelation and light from God. Yet revelation and light alone do not constitute the ministry of the word. One must be renewed in his mind and understanding…Yet even if our mind is clear, we still may not be a minister of the word because we still do not have the proper words…If we do not have the appropriate words, we may speak for hours on the platform without conveying what we know. This is why we have to have words from God.

　　A burden is the light we receive in the spirit, the thoughts that capture the light, and finally the inner words that supplement the light and thoughts. The last step of the burden is the release of the inner word. The combination of these three things makes up the burden of the prophets. Burden is light plus thoughts plus the inner words. Our burden is to release God’s revelation to man, and God’s revelation is released through the words of revelation that we have received. (CWWN, vol. 53, “The Ministry of God’s Word,” pp. 195, 197)

　　The greatest problem in…the ministry of the word is not having a burden or, we can say, not receiving a burden or not paying attention to a burden… Those who minister the word may…do so without a burden. The discharge of our burden when we minister the word does not depend on how well we speak…It is not a matter of how well we speak, the logistics of our presentation, or whether the saints are touched; rather, it is a matter of what will be produced in the saints. If some are not yet saved, we should receive a burden to bear their souls by the Lord’s grace in order to sow the seed of salvation into them when we release the word…If they are saved but do not love the Lord, our burden should be for them to love the Lord. If they love the Lord but are not willing to give themselves to the Lord and receive His dealing, our burden should be for them to willingly give themselves to the Lord and be dealt with by Him.

　　When we minister the word of God, our concern should be whether we have God’s speaking, not the topic of our speaking. In order to have God’s speaking, the one who ministers the word must have a burden. People may have a negative reaction or be stirred up when they hear a message that is spoken with a burden, but they cannot deny that it is God’s speaking…A message that sounds nice but is void of God’s speaking cannot touch people, turn them inwardly, or satisfy those who are hungry and thirsty, because they are not the words that God wants to speak even if they are from the Bible.

　　Therefore, speaking should not be easy or cheap…One who ministers the word should bear people’s condition before God. He bears the responsibility of knowing their needs. He needs to sense their condition and know what God wants to speak.

　　Without a burden, all our activity will be dead and ineffective; with a burden, we will be living and flourishing. Such an outcome is not related to our method but to our person. If there is a burden, our self decreases and is dealt with. It will not increase, because there are things that our burden will not allow us to do, and there are areas that will require our being dealt with before we can release our burden. Hence, having a burden deals with us the most.

　　It seems as if the brothers in the churches serve according to obligation as employees in a company. They do not seem to have much burden. Such service is dangerous and will cause us to lose the Lord’s presence…Everyone who serves the Lord must receive a burden and have a burden. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” pp. 233, 235, 238-239)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 42, ch. 31; CWWN, vol. 53, “The Ministry of God’s Word,” ch. 12

«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　1 Cor. 1:1 Paul, a called apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother.

　　Matt. 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.

　　Another problem among us is that although the serving ones are capable, they do not have a feeling for coordination in their spirit when they come together to serve. It seems as if everyone is able to serve without others. Consequently, few among us have the spirit of a learner and the spirit of needing help. Those who truly coordinate in spirit should have a strong feeling that they cannot do anything without the help and coordination of others. Our present coordination is one of formality. We do our part without needing anyone else. We may not argue, but there is not much interdependence in spirit. This shows that our spirit of service is improper.

　　This is the situation of those who work with the young people and the children. The coordination is formal; everyone does what he should do when it is his turn. This is cooperation, not coordination. Coordination means that we cannot do anything without one another. There is a sense that we need others and that others need us. Those who work with young people should be like this; all the service of the church should also be like this. It is normal when the deacons and elders mutually need one another, and the saints feel that they cannot do anything without the elders and deacons. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” p. 240)

　　We lack the fellowship of the Body. When we come together, we seldom have thorough fellowship. For example, when saints from other cities visit,… we sit together for a meeting. After the meeting, however, we all go our separate ways without fellowshipping. This was not our situation during our first six years in Taiwan. In those years, whenever we had a conference, we came together and had much fellowship. Now we are all capable, brilliant, and knowledgeable. We do not need one another; we do not need to fellowship. This is the greatest form of pride. It is the most offensive thing to the Lord and to the Body…

　　If we lose the principle of coordination and dependence in the Body, we will not be strong in our administration of the church and ministry of the word. Once we lose this principle, we will not have much blessing. Our coordination should not become mechanical, and we should not work only when it is our turn. We should have the feeling that we cannot do anything without others, that we truly need one another. If we come together and assign work, with each doing only his own work, our situation is similar to the division of labor in a civic organization or a large institution.

　　What does it mean to see the Body? The greatest indication that we see the Body is that we cannot be independent. We feel that we need the Body, that we need the brothers and sisters. Presently, however, our coordination can be compared to work in an organization. It seems that we are moving like a machine and that we lack the sense of the fellowship of life.

　　Because we lack coordination in our service and do not rely and mutually depend on one another, we often step on others…We either do not work, or we do the job of others…When a certain matter is in others’ hands, we are not able to do anything, but when an opportunity comes to us, we do it according to our way and discard the help of others…This is a foolish way.

　　If we have grown in life, been broken, and learned some lessons, we will be saved in all these matters. In the coordination of the Body, everyone needs to function and respect what others do. We should not criticize others but should join their labor so that the Body of Christ can be supplied, not damaged. In this way the feeling of coordination in the Body will be sweet, and the building up of the Body will be strong. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” pp. 241-242, 246)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” chs. 2—3, 5

«　WEEK 5　DAY 5　»

　　Phil. 2:3-4 Doing nothing by way of selfish ambition nor by way of vainglory, but in lowliness of mind considering one another more excellent than yourselves; not regarding each his own virtues, but each the virtues of others also.

　　When we serve together, we must absolutely avoid criticizing others in the ministry of the word. Some may speak about prayer and others about meditating; some may speak of being zealous and others of being in the Holy of Holies. These are not heretical teachings; they are merely different in emphasis. Criticizing others shows that we are narrow, and this will lead to division. If this is the way we work, there will be no building among us; on the contrary, there will be destruction.

　　We should simply labor positively and learn to receive help from others. We should realize that no one can do our part…However, we also need to admit that we cannot replace others. Every person has his own function. When we minister the word, fellowship, and pray, we should not criticize others. In particular, when we pray with others, we should avoid praying in a contradictory manner. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” pp. 243-244)

　　We need to respect the ways of the ones with whom we serve. Even though the elders will not force a group to study a certain book or speak certain things, we should not casually change what they commit to us…It is all right to study either John or 1 Thessalonians; it does not matter which book is studied…In our service we should always avoid changing the ways of others. Changing the way others do things indicates that we have not learned many spiritual lessons. It also indicates that we are inexperienced in the way we conduct ourselves.

　　Some brothers lead the saints to serve fervently, hoping that they can spend more time to learn to fellowship with the Lord and to know the indwelling Spirit. We should not change their practice. We should even praise them, saying that it is good to love the Lord and be fervent. However, our praise should not be insincere. It should positively supplement their labor. We always need to have an attitude of respect, cooperation, and coordination with others. We should serve according to our portion and honor the portion of others, because both portions have been entrusted by the Lord. Everyone should have the humility to not regard his portion higher than another person’s. We should take care of others’ feelings. Unless they speak heresy and create problems for the work and the church, we should always respect them, be accommodating toward them, and receive help from them.

　　May the Lord grant us grace to see that this is a matter of life that involves being broken and being humble. Those who can reach a goal without forcing others to take their way are truly humble. As those who love the Lord, we desire to live for Him and build up the church. These goals are right, but there are many ways to reach these goals. For example, preaching the gospel with a brother is a good goal that can be done according to his way or according to our way. We receive the blessing when we do not force others to do things our way. If we have spiritual content, we can minister his way, and if he has spiritual content, he can minister our way. Both ways are acceptable.

　　The brothers need to learn the lesson of being broken, accommodating others, and respecting others’ function. Our Lord is great, and His work has many aspects. Thus, we must be faithful to what the Lord has entrusted us with and learn to work in coordination with others, respecting what they do. Unless they speak heresy, we should not interfere, intervene, or criticize. Only in this way can we preserve the consciousness of the Body and produce the building among us. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 2, “The Administration of the Church and the Ministry of the Word,” pp. 244-246)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 4: Other Crucial Matters concerning the Practice of the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 5

«　WEEK 5　DAY 6　»

　　Matt. 18:19 …If two of you are in harmony on earth concerning any matter for which they ask, it will be done for them from My Father who is in the heavens.

　　Acts 1:14 These all continued steadfastly with one accord in prayer…

　　I did my best to enter into your prayers, but I could not make it. I would like to say frankly that your prayers were not prayers in a corporate way. All of you prayed individualistically…We must learn to come to a prayer meeting to pray as a body, a corporate body. To pray in the spiritual realm must be something corporate. Even in the worldly realm, to play football with eleven members on your team or basketball with five members on your team is not done individualistically but in a corporate way. I was waiting, watching, and seeking a time for over half an hour that I could enter into your prayer, but I could not see what your line or what your goal was. Everyone who prayed had his own mind, his own goal. This is altogether due to our traditional background. I hope that we all can realize that this morning we had a prayer meeting without a line, without a goal. We just came together to express our own feeling. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery,” p. 193)

　　A long prayer always kills the prayer meeting. A long prayer indicates that you care only for yourself and that you do not care for others. You care only for your feeling; you do not care for the atmosphere and the flow in the meeting. When we come together to pray,…we all must hold such an attitude with such a spirit that we are not the center, the flow, the line, the goal, but the Lord, the Spirit, is. Therefore, we are open—open to the Lord and open to the Spirit. If He would use us to start a prayer, maybe we would pray for just two seconds. We would not pray a long prayer to express our opinion, our feeling. Perhaps we have the inner feeling that this meeting of prayer should begin with the Lord’s mercy. Then maybe we would pray, “Lord, have mercy upon us. Thank You, Lord. Thank You that Your mercy can reach much further than Your grace.” This is good enough. The Lord just uses us this much to open the prayer meeting with His mercy.

　　If we were following the living Spirit instantly, no one would pray a long prayer full of doctrinal points…The prayer meetings need a lot of instant, fresh inspiration with fresh points…We all would pray one after another just like a team in a ball game. The members of one team play with one ball. This morning, however, everyone who prayed had their own ball. When I came in, I did not know “which ball I should catch.”

　　We are here in the Lord’s training, and we are the leading ones. We are the so-called co-workers, and the entire recovery of the Lord is in our hands. Yet we, the leading ones, were holding a prayer meeting in such a way. Since this is the case, what could we expect of the church prayer meetings? From our prayer it seems that we…are merely a group of Christians coming together to pray but seemingly not something in the Lord’s recovery.

　　Long prayers kill the prayer meeting…Your prayer tests how long people’s endurance will last…Do you believe that when the one hundred twenty met together in Jerusalem in Acts 1, they prayed in our way? If they had prayed in this way, I am sure they would have been tired and bored after ten days.

　　We must learn to forget all the things that we have, all the things that we know, and even all the things that we have heard recently. Let us come together to pray with an open spirit with nothing occupying us; just come to the prayer meeting in an empty way. We should come to the prayer meeting with our whole being on the altar so that the Lord can operate within us and even expose us. We should come to the prayer meeting with the attitude that we do not know anything but that we only know the Lord Himself. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery,” pp. 193-195)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 10