God’s Will
Message Four
Living a Life according to God’s Heart and Will
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Acts 13:22 …He raised up David for them as king…and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to My heart, who will do all My will.
Heb. 10:9-10 He then has said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second, by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Rom. 12:2 And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.
Word of Appetizer
The Old Testament contains a portrait of David—a man according to God’s heart, who did the will of God and served his own generation by the counsel of God; today God is blessing us in every way for the fulfillment of His economy to build up the Body of Christ; what are the three aspects of God’s great will?
God’s will is first to have a Body for Christ, for the enlargement and expression of Christ. The second aspect of God’s will is to have Christ as the replacement for all the sacrifices and offerings so that we may enjoy Him as our all in all. The third aspect of God’s great will is to have the believers in Christ practice the Body life, that is, to have the living of the Body of Christ.
Spiritual Burden
God’s will is to have a Body for the enlargement and expression of Christ, and to have Christ as the replacement for all the sacrifices and offerings so that we may enjoy Him as our all in all; therefore, He is everything to us, and we take Him as our everything, not to live an individualistic life but to live a corporate life to have the practical church life. For the church life, the life of the Body of Christ, to be realized, our entire being is needed; a presented body, a transformed soul, and a burning spirit are indispensable to a proper church life.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The Old Testament contains a portrait of David—a man according to God’s heart, who did the will of God and served his own generation by the counsel of God (Acts 13:22, 36); it was in David’s heart to build a house for the name of Jehovah the God of Israel; today God is blessing us in every way for the fulfillment of His economy to build up the Body of Christ.
God’s great will in His New Testament economy, God’s good pleasure, the counsel of His will, and His purpose are to have a Body for the enlargement and expression of Christ.
God’s great will is to have Christ as the replacement for all the sacrifices and offerings in the Old Testament so that we may enjoy Him as our all in all.
God’s great will is to have the believers in Christ practice the Body life, that is, to have the living of the Body of Christ.
The Experience of Life
God has blended the Body together (1 Cor. 12:24); the word blended also means “adjusted,” “harmonized,” “tempered,” and “mingled”; in the Body life the slowness disappears, and the quickness is taken away. All such distinctions are gone. God has blended all the believers of all different races and colors.
We are “one Body in Christ,” having an organic union with Him; this union makes us one in life with Him and with all the other members of His Body; the actuality of the Body is the remaining in the organic union with Christ; to abide in Him simply means to remain in the organic union.
Practice and Application
Christ is the reality of the offerings so that we may worship God in spirit and truthfulness; we need to live a life according to God’s heart and will by daily enjoying Christ as the reality of all the offerings.
For the church life, the life of the Body of Christ, to be realized, our entire being is needed; a presented body, a transformed soul, and a burning spirit are indispensable to a proper church life; we need to present our bodies as a living sacrifice for the church life; after presenting our body, we need to have our mind renewed; we must be burning in spirit that we may be stirred up and encouraged to go on in the church life in a positive way.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Acts 13:22 …He raised up David for them as king…and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to My heart, who will do all My will.
1 Cor. 12:24 …God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked.
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.
I. Living a Life according to God’s Heart and Will
II. God’s great will in His New Testament economy is to have a Body for the enlargement and expression of Christ
- The Old Testament contains a portrait of David—a man according to God’s heart, who did the will of God and served his own generation by the counsel of God (Acts 13:22, 36); it was in David’s heart to build a house for the name of Jehovah the God of Israel; today God is blessing us in every way for the fulfillment of His economy to build up the Body of Christ.
- God’s great will is to have a Body composed of human beings who are regenerated, sanctified, renewed, and transformed into the image of the processed Triune God.
- God’s great will is also to have a church to be the organic Body of Christ for the manifestation of His multifarious wisdom.
- Each chapter of the book of Ephesians unveils the mystery of God’s will, the mystery of the Body of Christ as the organism of the Triune God, from a particular point of view.
- God has blended the Body together; the word blended also means “adjusted,” “harmonized,” “tempered,” and “mingled”.
Key Verses (2)
Heb. 10:5 Therefore, coming into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.”
9-10 He then has said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second, by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.
III. God’s great will is to have Christ as the replacement for all the sacrifices and offerings in the Old Testament so that we may enjoy Him as our all in all
- As the unique sacrifice of the new covenant, Christ is the factor that enacts God’s New Testament economy (Matt. 26:28) so that He may be its centrality and universality for the producing and building up of the church as His organic Body, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem.
- Christ’s replacing of all the Old Testament offerings, taking away all the Old Testament types and establishing Himself as everything to us, is God’s great will.
- Christ is the reality of the offerings so that we may worship God in spirit and truthfulness.
- We need to live a life according to God’s heart and will by daily enjoying Christ as the reality of all the offerings.
Key Verses (3)
Rom. 12:1-3 I exhort you therefore, brothers,…to present your bodies a living sacrifice…. And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is….For I say… to everyone who is among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to be sober-minded…For just as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
IV. God’s great will is to have the believers in Christ practice the Body life, that is, to have the living of the Body of Christ
- We are “one Body in Christ,” having an organic union with Him; this union makes us one in life with Him and with all the other members of His Body.
- For the church life, the life of the Body of Christ, to be realized, our entire being is needed; a presented body, a transformed soul, and a burning spirit are indispensable to a proper church life.
- Verses 9 through 21 show the normal Christian life that is the necessary base for the practice of the church life and that matches the church life; this is a life of the highest virtues for the Body life; we can have such a living for the Body life only by reigning in life.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 It was in David’s heart to build a house for the name of Jehovah the God of Israel (1 Kings 8:17; Acts 13:22)
(Please illustrate that why David is a man according to God’s heart and will.)(See Outline I)
T2 God’s great will is to have a church to be the organic Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; 3:9-10)
(Please illustrate that each chapter of the book of Ephesians unveils the mystery of the Body of Christ with scriptures.)
D2
T1 Through the cross and by the Spirit to dispense Christ to others for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:24)
(Please illustrate that in order to be blended in the Body life, which four important points we must remember?)
T2 God has blended the Body together (1 Cor. 12:24; Eph. 1:23)
(Please illustrate that the blending is for the building up of the universal Body of Christ.)
D3
T1 God’s will is to have Christ as the replacement for all the sacrifices and offerings in the Old Testament so that we may enjoy Him as our all (Heb. 10:5-10)
(Please illustrate that Christ is the fulfillment of all the sacrifices and offerings.）
T2 The Lord came to do the Father’s will (Heb. 10:9-10, Psa. 40:6-8)
(Please illustrate that the prophecy in Psalm 40:6-8 is one of the greatest revelations concerning the all-inclusive Christ)
D4
T1 Christ is the reality of all the offerings ( John 1:29; 3:14; 4:23-24)
(Please illustrate that Christ is the reality of the offerings so that we may worship God in spirit and truthfulness.)
T2 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness (John 4:23-24)
(Please illustrate that Christ is the reality of all the Old Testament offerings.) (See Outline III C)
D5
T1 God’s great will is to have the believers in Christ practice the Body life (Rom. 12:1)
(Please illustrate that in order to practice the Body life, we must present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice.)
T2 We who are many are one Body in Christ (Rom. 12:5)
(Please illustrate that the Body of Christ is altogether a matter of life.)
D6
T1 For the life of the Body of Christ, to be realized, our entire being is needed (Rom. 12:1-2, 11)
(Please illustrate that a presented body, a transformed soul, and a burning spirit are indispensable to a proper church life with experiences.)
T2 After presenting our body, we need to have our mind renewed. (Rom. 12:2-3; 8:6)
(Please illustrate that the renewing of the mind, which results from setting the mind on the spirit, is the base for the transformation of our soul.)
