Meeting God’s Need and Present Needs
in the Lord’s Recovery
Message Three
The Need to Develop Our Faith
in the Lord and Our Love for Him
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
1 Pet. 1:8 Whom having not seen, you love; into whom though not seeing Him at present, yet believing, you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.
Heb. 12:2 Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.
Gal. 5:5-6 Faith avails, operating through love.
Word of Appetizer
Why is that “Faith avails, operating through love?” Living faith is active; it operates through love; faith receives the Spirit of life; thus, it is full of power; faith operates through love to fulfill God’s purpose, that is, to complete the sonship of God for His corporate expression—the Body of Christ.
Love is related to our appreciation of Christ; without such an appreciation, faith cannot operate; love is related to our appreciation of Christ; the more we love the Lord, the more faith operates to bring us into the riches of the all-inclusive Spirit.
Spiritual Burden
We need to develop and perfect our faith in the Lord and our love for Him—the One whom we have not seen; faith and love are two inseparable, excellent virtues of the believers in Christ.
Through faith we receive the Lord, and through love we enjoy the Lord whom we have received; by faith we receive the Lord and therefore please God; by love we enjoy the Lord and thereby keep His word; our love for the Lord must be absolute; to give the Lord the first place in all things is to love Him with the first love, the best love.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
We need to develop and perfect our faith in the Lord and our love for Him—the One whom we have not seen.
Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith; faith and love are two inseparable, excellent virtues of the believers in Christ.
The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us, as the motivating power within us, that we may more than conquer in all our tribulations; God as love is the divine essence that has been poured out in our hearts.
The Experience of Life
Although we have never seen the Lord Jesus, we love Him; at present we cannot see Him, yet we believe in Him; by believing into the Lord and loving Him, we obtain great joy.
God has poured out His love in our hearts with the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us, as the motivating power within us, that we may more than conquer in all our tribulations.
Practice and Application
Our love for the Lord must be absolute; to give the Lord the first place in all things is to love Him with the first love, the best love; to set our entire being—spirit, soul, and body, with the heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30)—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.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: Although we have never seen the Lord Jesus, we love Him (1 Pet. 1:8).
(Please explain that it is a wonder and a mystery that the believers love One whom they have not seen.)
T2: The subjective aspect of faith (John 1:12; Rom. 10:17).
(How many items does the subjective aspect of faith at least imply?)
Day 2
T1: Faith is for receiving Him, and love is for enjoying Him (Eph. 6:23; 1 Tim. 1:14).
(Please explain that love with faith is the means by which we partake of and experience Christ.)
T2: Faith operates through love (Gal. 5:6).
(Please explain that living faith is active. It operates to work out the fulfillment of the law through love.)
Day 3
T1: Without faith it is impossible to please God ( Heb. 11:6).
(Please explain that only faith can make God happy, and faith is to believe that God is.)
T2: The breastplate of faith and love and the breastplate of righteousness (1 Thes. 5:8; Eph. 6:14).
(Please explain that we have two kinds of breastplates, one is for our daily living and the other is for fighting.)
Day 4
T1: To believe in the Lord means to receive Him (John 1:12; 3:15).
(What’s the intrinsic significance of “believing in the Lord”?)
T2: Faith and love are two inseparable, excellent virtues of the believers in Christ (Titus 3:15).
(Please explain that in the current of the church’s degradation, in order to be able to effectively stand firm, this wonderful faith and this super-excellent love are indispensable.)
Day 5
T1: To love God means to set our entire being—spirit, soul, and body—absolutely on Him (Mark 12:30).
(Please explain that to realize and participate in the deep and hidden things of God requires us not only to believe in Him but also to love Him.)
T2: We love the Lord, but do we give Him the preeminence, the first place, in all things? (Rev. 2:4).
(Please explain that in the book of Revelation, the first dealing of the Lord is concerning the recovery of the first love.)
Day 6
T1: The love of God is God Himself (1 John 4:8, 16).
(Please explain that fallen man has the desire within him to love, but not the reality of love.)
T2: The love of God has been poured out in our hearts (Rom. 5:5).
(Please explain that the pouring out of the love of God in our hearts is not merely a matter of feeling; rather, it is a matter of the essence of God.)
