Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, Keeping the Faith,
and Loving the Lord’s Appearing
In Order to Receive the Reward of Christ As the Crown of Righteousness
Message Three
Keeping the Faith
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
2 Tim. 4:7 I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith.
1 Tim. 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold on the eternal life, to which you were called and have confessed the good confession before many witnesses.
Word of Appetizer
“I have kept the faith”; what does it mean to keep the faith?
The “faith” here is objective; the word “faith” in this verse implies that we believe in Christ, taking His person and His work of redemption as the object of our faith. To keep the faith is to keep the entire New Testament economy of God, that is, the faith concerning Christ as the embodiment and mystery of God, and the church as the Body and mystery of Christ.
Spiritual Burden
In the New Testament, faith is both objective and subjective; objective faith refers to what we believe, while subjective faith has to do with the act of believing.
To keep the faith is to keep the entire New Testament economy of God, that is, the faith concerning Christ as the embodiment and mystery of God, and the church as the Body and mystery of Christ.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
In the New Testament, faith is both objective and subjective.
1 Timothy 6:12a says, “Fight the good fight of the faith”; in 1 Timothy 6:12b, Paul goes on to say, “lay hold on the eternal life, to which you were called.”
A proper Christian life includes keeping the faith for the sake of sharing in the divine riches in God’s economy.
In his epistle, Jude says, “I found it necessary to write to you and exhort you to earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” We all need to “arrive at the oneness of the faith.”
The Experience of Life
The word “faith” in “Holding faith” (1 Timothy 1:19) refers to the act of believing; therefore, it denotes subjective faith. … When we come before the word of the Lord and are infused with God through the word by the Spirit, this faith arises within us. Subjective faith operates within us, causing us to have a living connection with the Triune God.
Through faith, we are born of God, becoming His sons and sharing in His life and nature to express Him; through faith, we are placed in Christ, becoming members of His Body and sharing in all that He is, that He may be magnified.
Practice and Application
In our Christian life, in order to fight the good fight for the faith, we need to hold on to this life—the eternal life, the divine life—and not rely on the human life.
We need to keep the mystery of faith with a clear conscience; to keep the mystery of faith, we must have a clear conscience, that is, a conscience that has been cleansed and is without mixture.
We all need to “arrive at the oneness of the faith”; we can only attain to the unity of the faith by being centered on Christ and focusing on Him.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Faith in the New Testament is both objective and subjective (1 Tim. 1:19, John 3:15-16)
(Please illustrate that how subjective faith is related to our act of believing, while objective faith refers to the object in whom we believe.)
T2 The basic items related to our salvation constitute the faith (Eph. 4:13, 1 Tim. 1:19)
(Please illustrate that what items related to Christ’s person and work are included in the faith.)
Day 2
T1 The proper christian life is threefold (2 Tim. 4:7, 1 Tim. 6:12)
(Please illustrate that how to keep the faith is to keep the entire New Testament economy of God.)
T2 Paul said he kept the faith, not the doctrine (2 Tim. 4:7)
(Please illustrate that the difference between subjective faith and objective faith.)
Day 3
T1 To fight the good fight of faith, we need to hold on to the life of God (1 Tim. 6:12, 19)
(Please illustrate that what it means to “fight for the faith.”)
T2 We must hold on to the eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12, 19)
(Please illustrate that how we must not only fight an objective battle but also fight a subjective battle by holding on to the eternal life.)
Day 4
T1 God’s economy in faith (1 Tim. 1:4)
(Please illustrate that the meaning of “faith” in the New Testament.)
T2 Holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience (1 Tim. 1:4, 3:9)
(What is the “mystery of the faith”?)
Day 5
T1 Contending earnestly for the faith (1 Tim. 6:12)
(Please illustrate that how contending for the faith is contending for the basic and crucial things in God’s New Testament.)
T2 The Faith—What We Believe—is constituted by basic truths (Jude 3, Titus 1:4)
(Please illustrate that how we must be bold and strong in matters of faith, but we must be generous to others in matters of doctrine.)
Day 6
T1 All should reach the oneness of the faith (Eph. 4:13)
(Please illustrate that how we already have the oneness of the divine life, but we still need to go on until we reach the oneness of life in practice.)
T2 Only in the Son of God can our faith be one (Eph. 4:13)
(Please illustrate that how we can only reach the oneness of the faith by being Christ-centered and focused on Him.)
