Crystallization-Study of First and Second Kings
Message Two
Four Crucial Journeys to Enter into the Ministry of the Age
by Closely Following the Minister of the Age with the Vision of the Age
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
1 Kings 18:37 Answer me, O Jehovah; answer me, that this people may know that You, O Jehovah, are God and that You have turned their heart back again.
2 Kings 2:2 And Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here, for Jehovah has sent me as far as Bethel. And Elisha said, As Jehovah lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel.
Word of Appetizer
What four crucial places did Elisha follow Elijah? What is the meaning of its representation?
Elisha’s following of Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel, from Bethel to Jericho, and from Jericho to the river Jordan shows that in order to enter into the ministry of the New Testament age, we should intrinsically follow the minister of the age according to the vision of the age; to do this we must follow the Lord through four crucial places.
In order for the age to be changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament in our experience, we must deal with our flesh , give up the world and turn to God, defeat Satan, and pass through death into a living that is in resurrection.
Spiritual Burden
In order for the age to be changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament in our experience, we must deal with our flesh , give up the world and turn to God, defeat Satan, and pass through death into a living that is in resurrection.
This present age is the age of the overcomers, and the ministry of this present age through the ministers of the present age is the sounding of the Lord’s call for the overcomers (those who see the vision of eternity, live the life of eternity, and work the work of eternity—this is to see God’s ultimate goal and live out and work out the New Jerusalem); these overcomers are for the building up of the reality of the Body of Christ, the preparation of the bride of Christ, and the manifestation of the kingdom of Christ; in order to meet God’s ultimate need in these last days, we have to make a resolution to be the overcomers, the vitalized ones.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Elijah was a minister of the age with the vision for his age; in every age the Lord has special things that He wants to accomplish; He has His own recoveries and His own works to do; the particular recovery and work that He does in one age is the ministry of that age; Elijah’s ministry was for him to be an anti-testimony, telling the children of Israel that idolatry is a sin that offends God; when all Israel worshipped idols, Elijah told them that the idols they worshipped were false gods, and only Jehovah was the true God.
James 5:17 and 18 say, “Elijah was a man of like feeling with us, and he earnestly prayed that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth sprouted forth with its fruit”.
Elisha’s following of Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel, from Bethel to Jericho, and from Jericho to the river Jordan shows that in order to enter into the ministry of the New Testament age, we should intrinsically follow the minister of the age according to the vision of the age; to do this we must follow the Lord through four crucial places.
The Experience of Life
Crossing the river Jordan is overcoming death in order to live and minister in resurrection. We obtained Christ as this resurrection life at the time of our regeneration; it is by the power of Christ’s resurrection, not by our natural life, that we determine to take the cross by denying our self and are enabled to be conformed to His death by being one with His cross. The life of the cross is lived by the power of resurrection and is encouraged by the riches of resurrection.
Practice and Application
In order to overcome the attack of the evil spirits, we must disregard every situation and feeling and exercise our spirit of faith to believe in God’s word of promise; in spiritual warfare the first thing we should do is to exalt Christ, giving Him the first place, the preeminence, in everything; the blowing of the trumpets and the shouting signify the testifying and proclaiming of God with Christ through faith in God’s word of instruction.
If we want to receive the rapture of Elijah and a double portion of the spirit with the power of the Holy Spirit, we must pass through Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and the river Jordan; in order for the age to be changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament in our experience, we must deal with our flesh, give up the world and turn to God, defeat Satan, and pass through death into a living that is in resurrection.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 In every age the Lord has His own recoveries and His own works to do (Rom. 9:16)
(What is the ministry of the age?)
T2 Elijah’s ministry was an anti-testimony (1 Kings 18:18)
(Please illustrate that Elijah represents the principle of not caring for one’s own life in order to maintain God’s testimony.)
Day 2
T1 Elijah rose up to be an anti-testimony (1 Kings 18:21, 37)
(Please illustrate that how Elijah rose up to be an anti-testimony. )
T2 The spirit of Elijah, the courage of Elijah, and the testimony of Elijah (1 Kings 18:22)
(Please illustrate that how Elijah was a strong testimony of God.)
Day 3
T1 Elijah pray “earnestly” ,he “prayed in prayer” (James 5:17)
(Why can we say Elijah was a man of prayer? )
T2 God spoke to Elijah in a gentle, quiet voice (1 Kings 19:11-12)
(Please illustrate that the inner significance of God speaking in a gentle, quiet voice)
Day 4
T1 Elijah is a type of the Old Testament age with the Old Testament economy (2 Kings 2:9)
(Briefly explain the four crucial places that we must go through in order to enter the ministry of this age.)
T2 Gilgal, the place where God’s people were circumcised to deal with their flesh (Josh. 5:9; 2 Kings 2:1; Phil. 3:3)
(Please illustrate with experiences that the most difficult lesson for a believer to learn in his life is recognizing his flesh.)
Day 5
T1 Bethel is the place to give up the world and turn to God absolutely, taking God as everything (2 Kings 2:2; Gen. 12:8)
(Please illustrate that victory over the world is a condition for being raptured and receiving the power of the Holy Spirit.)
T2 Jericho signifies the head of God’s enemy, Satan (2 Cor. 4:13; Eph. 6:12)
(Please illustrate that the only way to overcome the enemy is to believe in God’s Word, act according to His Word, and believe that we will receive the results of carrying out His Word. )
Day 6
T1 The Jordan signifies the power of death. Crossing the Jordan is overcoming death (Matt. 3:5-6; Phil. 3:10-12)
(Please illustrate that there is a difference between crossing the Red Sea and crossing the river Jordan.)
T2 The last enemy that believers should overcome is death (2 Kings 2:8; Rev. 20:14)
(Please illustrate that whether it is the death of the body, the death of the mind, or the death of the spiritual life, everything should be overcome.)
