Living and Serving according to God’s Economy
concerning the Church
Message Seven
The Pattern of the Apostle Paul
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
1 Tim. 1:16 But because of this I was shown mercy, that in me, the foremost, Jesus Christ might display all His long-suffering for a pattern to those who are to believe on Him unto eternal life.
1 Thes. 2:6-7 Nor did we seek glory from men, neither from you nor from others, though we could have stood on our authority as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle in your midst, as a nursing mother would cherish her own children.
Word of Appetizer
What pattern did the Apostle Paul give to believers?
Paul was a pattern to the believers of living Christ, magnifying Christ, and ministering Christ as the Spirit in his spirit for the building up of the Body of Christ. Paul took Christ as everything—as his living, pattern, goal, and secret. Paul is our pattern by living and serving God in his regenerated spirit by the indwelling Christ, the life-giving Spirit, not in his soul by the power and ability of the soul; he was a spiritual man who sowed unto the Spirit to bear the fruit of the Spirit. Paul is our pattern in his being Body-conscious and Body-centered, doing everything in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body.
Spiritual Burden
Paul was a pattern to the believers of living Christ, magnifying Christ, and ministering Christ as the Spirit in his spirit for the building up of the Body of Christ.
The best way to shepherd people, to cherish and nourish them, is to give them a proper pattern; Paul fed his spiritual children with his own living of Christ. In the church the most important thing is the person; the person is the way, and the person is the Lord’s work; what you are is what you do. We need to follow the pattern of the apostles to pay more attention to life than to work.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Paul was a pattern to the believers of living Christ, magnifying Christ, and ministering Christ as the Spirit in his spirit for the building up of the Body of Christ.
The best way to shepherd people, to cherish and nourish them, is to give them a proper pattern; Paul fed his spiritual children with his own living of Christ.
The Experience of Life
To seek glory from men is a real temptation to every Christian worker; many have been devoured and spoiled by this matter. How much we will be used by the Lord and how long our usefulness will last depend on whether we seek glory from men.
To assert authority, dignity, or right in Christian work damages that work; if we follow this pattern, we will kill a deadly disease germ in the Body of Christ, the germ of assuming a position.
Practice and Application
Paul is our pattern in his being an ambassador of Christ. He was constrained by the love of Christ to no longer live to himself but to live to the Lord; for us to live “to the Lord” means that we are under the Lord’s direction and control and that we want to fulfill His requirements, satisfy His desires, and complete what He intends.
Paul is our pattern by living and serving God in his regenerated spirit by the indwelling Christ, the life-giving Spirit, not in his soul by the power and ability of the soul; he was a spiritual man who sowed unto the Spirit to bear the fruit of the Spirit.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Paul in his voyage lived and magnified Christ (Phil. 1:21)
(Please illustrate how Paul lived the life of the Lord in Acts 2.)
T2 Paul received the things in which he saw Christ (Acts 26:16)
(Please illustrate that if we only see visions and revelations and do not see the Lord, then what we see is vanity.)
Day 2
T1 The apostle Paul was an ambassador of Christ (2 Cor. 5:4, 20)
(Please illustrate that as an ambassador of Christ, Paul realized that whatever was within him, whatever he was, and whatever he had was mortal.)
T2 Being constrained by the love of Christ(2 Cor. 5:14-15)
(Please illustrate that the item which equips us to be the ambassadors of Christ is the constraining love of Christ.)
Day 3
T1 Paul’s way of living was used to feed his spiritual children (1 Thes. 2:1-3)
(Please illustrate why paul emphasized his life among the Thessalonians.)
T2 The apostle spoke the gospel of God in much struggle (1 Thes. 2:1-3)
(Please illustrate that the apostle enjoyed God as their boldness in the struggle for the gospel.)
Day 4
T1 God cannot entrust anything to us until we have the approvedness that comes from His testing (1 Thes. 2:4)
(Why does God test us? )
T2 Learning to avoid flattery and a pretext for covetousness (1 Thes. 2:4-5)
(Please illustrate that we all must avoid flattery, never speaking in a way to flatter others.)
Day 5
T1 To seek glory from men is a real temptation to every Christian worker (1 Thes. 2:6)
(Please illustrate that to assert authority, dignity, or right in Christian work damages that work.)
T2 In the local churches there are no dignitaries (1 Thes. 2:6-7)
(Please illustrate that instead of being dignitaries, we are slaves serving one another.)
Day 6
T1 Paul spent himself for the sake of the believers (2 Cor. 12:15; 1 Thes. 2:8)
(Please illustrate that for what the apostle were opened the way to bring the new converts into God’s full salvation.)
T2 Conducting ourselves as a pattern for new believers (1 Thes. 2:8, 11-12)
(Please illustrate what kind of walk will lead us into the kingdom and usher us into the glory of God. )
