Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy
Message Five
Becoming Qualified to Inherit the Promised Land
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Deut. 6:5 And you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deut. 8:6 Therefore keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, walking in His ways and fearing Him.
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Word of Appetizer
The book of Deuteronomy speaks of the kind of person who is qualified to inherit the promised land as the good land.
God’s people need to match what God is; in order to match the Giver of the inheritance, we need to be holy as He is holy. Those who are qualified to inherit the good land know God’s heart and God’s government, love God, trust in God, fear God, subject themselves to God’s ruling, mind the tender feelings of God, and live in the presence of God.
Spiritual Burden
Christ is the One who supplies us, sustains us, and makes us those who love God, trust in God, fear God, subject ourselves to God’s ruling, mind the tender feelings of God, and live in God’s presence. It is impossible for us to do anything for God by ourselves; we need another life—the divine life, the life of God. The crucial matter we need to realize is that God wants us to live, act, behave, work, and have our being in Christ, by Christ, with Christ, through Christ, and in oneness with Christ.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The book of Deuteronomy speaks of the kind of person who is qualified to inherit the promised land as the good land.
In His economy God has planned that we should do everything God requires of us.
Moses charged the people of Israel to love God and to fear God.
The children of Israel were not only to keep God’s commandments but also to walk in His ways.
The children of Israel went forth in battle to fight against their enemies; today we also are in a war.
If we thoroughly study all these matters, we will know God better and also know what kind of person we should be, what kind of being we should have, and in what kind of way we should walk.
The Experience of Life
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
It is impossible for us to do anything for God by ourselves; we need another life—the divine life, the life of God. In order that we may enter into such a union with Christ, God wants us not only to believe in Christ but also to believe into Christ. To believe into Christ is to have an organic union with Christ, becoming one spirit with Him.
Practice and Application
In fulfilling God’s requirements, we should not have any trust in ourselves; rather, we should learn to take God’s desire as our desire and take Him as our life and life supply.
We need to love God with all our heart, soul, and might (our physical strength); that is, to let our entire being be occupied by Him and lost in Him, so that He becomes everything to us and we are one with Him practically in our daily life.
We all should fear God; we must have a proper fear of God. We should fear God and want to be separated, sanctified, unto Him as a holy people.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
1 Pet. 1:16 Because it is written, “You shall be holy because I am holy.”
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Phil. 4:13 I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.
I. The book of Deuteronomy speaks of the kind of person who is qualified to inherit the promised land as the good land
II. In His economy God has planned that we should do everything God requires of us
- God’s people need to match what God is. Those who are qualified to inherit the good land know God’s heart and God’s government, love God, trust in God, fear God, subject themselves to God’s ruling, mind the tender feelings of God, and live in the presence of God.
- Christ is the One who supplies us, sustains us, and makes us those who love God, trust in God, fear God, subject ourselves to God’s ruling, mind the tender feelings of God, and live in God’s presence.
- It is impossible for us to do anything for God by ourselves; we need another life—the divine life, the life of God.
- God wants us to do all of this not by ourselves but in Christ, by Christ, with Christ, through Christ, and by being one with Christ. This means that we need to have a spiritual union, an organic union, with Christ.
- In fulfilling God’s requirements, we should not have any trust in ourselves; rather, we should learn to take God’s desire as our desire and take Him as our life and life supply.
Key Verses (2)
Deut. 6:5 And you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
10:12 And now, O Israel, what does Jehovah your God ask of you except that you fear Jehovah your God so that you would walk in all His ways and love Him and serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Heb. 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
12:29 For our God is also a consuming fire.
III. Moses charged the people of Israel to love God
IV. Moses commanded the people of Israel to fear God
V. The children of Israel were not only to keep God’s commandments but also to walk in His ways
- The word love implies affection, which is something very tender; To love God means to set our entire being—spirit, soul, and body, with the heart, soul, mind, and strength absolutely on Him, that is, to let our entire being be occupied by Him and lost in Him, so that He becomes everything to us and we are one with Him practically in our daily life.
- We all should fear God; we must have a proper fear of God; This is a holy fear, that is, a healthy, serious caution that leads us to behave holily. The lack of fearing God is terrible; it is the source of all kinds of lawlessness. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31), and “our God is also a consuming fire” (12:29).
- When we fear God, we will walk in God’s ways. The God who is our way is Christ; to take Christ as our way is to live Him in what He is, and to live Him is to express Him, to manifest Him, and even to magnify Him.
Key Verses (3)
Deut. 20:3-4 And he shall say to them, Hear, O Israel! You are drawing near to the battle against your enemies today. Do not let your heart fail; do not be afraid or alarmed or terrified of them. For it is Jehovah your God who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
8:6 Therefore keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, walking in His ways and fearing Him.
1 John 5:13 I have written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life, to you who believe into the name of the Son of God.
VI. The children of Israel went forth in battle to fight against their enemies; today we also are in a war
VII. If we thoroughly study all these matters, we will know God better and also know what kind of person we should be, what kind of being we should have, and in what kind of way we should walk
- In this war we are fighting for Christ and to remain in Christ. Actually, we are not the ones fighting, for God goes with us and fights for us.
- We should walk before God and with God according to what God is. Because we have God’s life, we should learn of Him to be the same as He is; in order to do all the things that God requires, we need the divine life, the life that works with God for His people.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 God’s people need to match what God is (Deut. 1:8, 21; 4:20, 40; 10:12-21)
(The book of Deuteronomy speaks of the kind of person who is qualified to inherit the promised land as the good land?)
T2 Holiness is neither sinlessness nor perfection. (1 Pet. 1:16)
( Please illustrate that Holy not only means sanctified, separated unto God, but also different, distinct, from everything that is common.)
D2
T1 To do something for the Lord not by ourselves but by the Lord—this is pleasing to Him (Matt. 19:26; John 3:15)
(Please illustrate that it is impossible for us to do anything for God by ourselves; we need another life—the divine life, the life of God.)
T2 Trying to keep His commandment by our energy is an insult to God (John 6:57; 14:19)
(Please illustrate that God wants us to do all of this not by ourselves but in Christand by being one with Christ.)
D3
T1 In order to have an union with Christ, we need to believe into Christ (John 15:4-5; 3:15-16)
(Please illustrate the difference between to believe in Christ and to believe into Christ.)
T2 We should not try in ourselves to do anything for God (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 4:13)
(Please illustrate that God’s desire is that we cast ourselves aside, forget ourselves, and fulfill His economy by the Spirit)
D4
T1 We need to love God with all our heart, soul, and might (Deut. 6:5)
(Please illustrate that what’s the significance that Moses charged the people of Israel to love God)
T2 We must have a proper fear of God (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 1 Pet. 1:17)
(Please illustrate why should we need to learn to fear God.)
D5
T1 The lack of fearing God is terrible; it is the source of all kinds of lawlessness (1 John 3:4, footnote 2)
(Please illustrate why the lack of fearing is terrible.)
T2 When we fear God, we will walk in God’s ways (Deut. 8:6; Exo. 33:13)
(Please illustrate that to walk in God’s ways, therefore, is to live God, express God, manifest God, and magnify God.)
D6
T1 The good land has been given to us by God, but we still need to fight against the enemies (Deut. 20:3-4)
(Please illustrate that actually, we are not the ones fighting, for God goes with us and fights for us.)
T2 Because we have God’s life, we should learn of Him to be the same as He is (John 3:15; 2 Pet. 1:4)
(Please illustrate in order to walk in God’s ways, what kind of being and behaves we should have. )
