You can all prophesy one by one… —1 Cor. 12:31

2020 ITEROS Messeage Seven

God’s Will

Message Seven

Taking the Lord’s Yoke (the Father’s Will) upon Us and Learning from Him to Find Rest for Our Souls

Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting

Reading the verses in each day.

Reading the main points in the outlines.

Pray-reading the verses:

Matt. 11:28-30 Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Exo. 31:16 Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to Jehovah….

Word of Appetizer

Why if we only know how to work for the Lord but do not know how to rest with Him, we are acting contrary to the divine principle?
Man was created not to work first but to be satisfied with God and rest with God; the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It is a divine principle that God does not ask us to work until we have had enjoyment; after a full enjoyment with Him and of Him, we may work together with Him.

Spiritual Burden

In doing God’s divine work to build the church, typified by the work to build the tabernacle, we must bear a sign to indicate that we are God’s people and that we need Him; then we will be able to work not only for God but also with God by being one with God; He will be our strength to work and our energy to labor. As God’s people, we must bear a sign that we rest with God, enjoy God, and are filled up with God first, and then we work with the very One who fills us.

 Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting

The Revelation of the Truth

In Exodus 31:12-17, after a long record concerning the building up of God’s dwelling place, there is a repetition of the commandment to keep the Sabbath; according to Colossians 2:16-17, Christ is the reality of the Sabbath rest; He is our completion, rest, quietness, and full satisfaction.

The Lord’s yoke (the Father’s will) is easy, and His burden (the work to carry out the Father’s will) is light; we must always serve with a burden from the Lord.

The Experience of Life

Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

The rest we find by taking the Lord’s yoke and learning from Him is for our souls; the harassment and the troubles are in our soul. Paul tells us to be anxious in nothing and to tell the Lord all our requests. Then the peace of God will guard our hearts and our thoughts in Christ Jesus.

Practice and Application

We are God’s people, and we should bear a sign that we need Him to be our enjoyment, strength, energy, and everything so that we may be able to work for Him to honor and glorify Him.

The Lord’s yoke (the Father’s will) is easy, and His burden (the work to carry out the Father’s will) is light; we must always serve with a burden from the Lord; an open spirit to God is the condition for receiving burdens from God; we must learn to receive burdens and release burdens through prayer in our intimate fellowship with the Lord.

 

Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline

Key Verses (1)

Matt. 11:28-30 Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Matt. 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I extol You, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

I. Taking the Lord’s Yoke (the Father’s Will) upon Us and Learning from Him to Find Rest for Our Souls

  • After the Lord extolled the Father, acknowledging the Father’s way and declaring the divine economy, He called this kind of people to come to Him for rest.
  • Rest refers not only to being set free from the toil and burden under the law or religion or under any work or responsibility, but also to perfect peace and full satisfaction.
  • The Lord lived such a life, caring for nothing but the will of His Father; He submitted Himself fully to the Father’s will; hence, He asks us to learn from Him.
  • The Lord’s yoke is the Father’s will, and His burden is the work of carrying out the Father’s will; such a yoke is easy, not bitter, and such a burden is light, not heavy.
  • If we take the Lord’s yoke (the Father’s will) upon us and learn from Him, we will find rest for our souls; the yoke of God’s economy is like this; everything in God’s economy is not a heavy burden but an enjoyment.

 

Key Verses (2)

Exo. 31:13 Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, You shall surely keep My Sabbaths; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Jehovah who sanctifies you.

Exo. 31:15 Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to Jehovah…

Exo. 31:17 In six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

Acts 2:13 …They are full of new wine!

II. In Exodus 31:12-17, after a long record concerning the building up of God’s dwelling place, there is a repetition of the commandment to keep the Sabbath

  • According to Colossians 2:16-17, Christ is the reality of the Sabbath rest; He is our completion, rest, quietness, and full satisfaction.
  • The fact that the insertion concerning the Sabbath follows the charge for the building work of the tabernacle indicates that the Lord was telling the builders, the workers, to learn how to rest with Him as they worked for Him. The Sabbath is also a matter of sanctification.
  • It is a divine principle that God does not ask us to work until we have had enjoyment; after a full enjoyment with Him and of Him, we may work together with Him.
  • In doing God’s divine work to build the church, typified by the work to build the tabernacle, we must bear a sign to indicate that we are God’s people and that we need Him; then we will be able to work not only for God but also with God by being one with God; He will be our strength to work and our energy to labor.

 

Key Verses (3)

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

Acts 6:4 But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.

Zech. 12:1 The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel…

Mal. 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.

III. The Lord’s yoke (the Father’s will) is easy, and His burden (the work to carry out the Father’s will) is light; we must always serve with a burden from the Lord

  • An open spirit to God is the condition for receiving burdens from God; we must learn to receive burdens and release burdens through prayer in our intimate fellowship with the Lord.
  • The revelations that the prophets received were the burdens that they received; without burden, there is no ministry of the word, no prophesying, for the building up of the church; when we minister the word of God, our concern must be whether we have God’s speaking, not the topic of our speaking.
  • The greatest problem in the administration of the church and in the ministry of the word is not having a burden from the Lord; without a burden, all our activity will be dead and ineffective; with a burden, we will be living and flourishing.

 

Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week

D1

T1  To take the Lord’s yoke is to take the will of the Father (Matt. 11:28-30)

(Please illustrate that what is the way to rest in Matthew 11:29 and 30.)

T2  The Lord was fully satisfied with the Father’s will (Matt. 11:29)

(Please illustrate that regardless of the situation, what is the reason for the rest in the Lord’s heart)

D2

T1  Christ is a model to the believers. (1 Pet. 2:21)

(Please illustrate that we have to learn of Christ in His absolute submission to God and His uttermost satisfaction with God.)

T2  The believers copy the Lord in their spirit by taking His yoke according to His model (Matt. 11:29a; 1 Pet. 2:21)

(Please illustrate that to learn from Him is to copy Him, not to imitate Him outwardly.)

D3

T1  Working with the Lord requires that we learn to rest with Him (Exo. 31:17)

(What is the principle of the Sabbath?)

T2   Only after the disciples were filled with the Spirit did they begin to work with God (Acts 2:4, 13)

(Please illustrate that the New Testament ministry of the apostles began with the enjoyment they had on the day of Pentecost.)

D4

T1  God will be our strength to work and our energy to labor (Exo. 31:13, 15)

(What is the intention that after God gave Moses the revelation concerning the tabernacle , He went on to speak again of the Sabbath. )

T2  Before we work for God, we need to enjoy God and be filled with Him (Acts 2:4, 13)

(In doing God’s divine work to build the church, what sign we must bear?)

D5

T1  The revelations that the prophets received were the burdens that they received (Isa. 13:1; Luke 1:53)

(Please illustrate that an open spirit to God is the condition for receiving burdens from God.)

T2  When we minister the word of God, our concern must be whether we have God’s speaking, not the topic of our speaking (Mal. 2:7)

(Please illustrate that in order to have God’s speaking, the one who ministers the word must have a burden.)

D6

T1  We must always serve with a burden from the Lord (Isa. 1:1; Zech. 12:1)

(Please illustrate that without a burden, all our activity will be dead and ineffective; with a burden, we will be living.)

T2  Genuine service is not a matter of obligation but a matter of burden (Mal. 3:14 and footnote 1)

(Please illustrate that whenever our service becomes a matter of fulfilling an obligation, our service has already degraded.)