Being a Vessel Unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God,
by Being Empowered in the Grace Which Is in Christ Jesus
to Fully Accomplish Our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy
Message Seven
The Lord Being with Our Spirit to Be Our Empowering Grace,
Enabling Us to Minister the Healthy Teaching of God’s Eternal Economy,
Speaking with Healthy Words of the Grace of Life for the Organic Building Up
of the Church as the Body of Christ
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. 4:22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
1:13-14 Hold a pattern of healthy words which you heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us.
Word of Appetizer
How does 2 Timothy teach us to combat the degeneration of the church, and how does it powerfully emphasize our spirit?
2 Timothy begins by fanning into flame the Spirit that God has given us, and ends with the Lord being with our spirit, becoming the grace that strengthens us, the inexhaustible capital for our Christian life and church life.
The book begins by emphasizing that the power, love, and clear-minded spirit have been given to us, by which we can fan into flame the gifts of God, and suffer with the gospel according to God’s power and the grace of the Lord who dispenses life (1:6-10). By the conclusion, the book emphasizes the Lord being with our spirit, blessing us with Him as grace, so that we can stand firm against the downward flow in the degeneration of the church and, through His indwelling Spirit (1:14) and the equipped Word (3:16-17), accomplish God’s economy.
Spiritual Burden
The Lord being with our spirit enables us to enjoy Him as our strengthening grace, so that we can supply healthy teachings of God’s eternal economy, speak healthy words of the grace of life, and build the church as the Body of Christ organically.
The grace of the Lord Jesus must be with us, with each of us, in every aspect of our daily lives, because we are saints. This grace is ultimately fulfilled in the New Jerusalem, the ultimate fulfillment of God’s pleasure, which is God’s uniting and blending Himself with man, being the enlargement of His glory and the eternal manifestation of Himself.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The Lord being with our spirit enables us to enjoy Him as our strengthening grace, so that we can supply healthy teachings of God’s eternal economy, speak healthy words of the grace of life, and build the church as the Body of Christ organically.
Grace is the circulating Triune God, working, flowing, communicating, conveying, transmitting, and dispensing all that He is into us for our enjoyment. The entire church life is in grace, the circulation of the divine Trinity within us.
“Our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in the simplicity and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.”
The Experience of Life
When we cannot do anything, when we cannot act, when we have no strength, that is when we trust in God and enjoy God as our gracious supply. Grace is the wonderful Christ who is given to us and dispensed into us, abundantly increased, so that we may have faith and love in Christ Jesus.
Those who wait for the eternal God (those who stop themselves in their living, being, and acting, receiving God in Christ as their life, person, and substitute), will experience the resurrection power of Christ as grace, upholding, sustaining, strengthening, covering, and protecting them.
Practice and Application
To be kept safe in the Lord’s recovery, we must keep the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words through the Holy Spirit indwelling us. We must deposit the Lord’s healthy words into our being, just as we deposit money into a bank.
To supply healthy teachings of God’s eternal economy, we must speak healthy words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are the words of life, the words of the grace of life. We need to treasure the words of God’s grace in our hearts, because out of the abundance of the heart, we speak the good things of God’s eternal economy.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you” (2 Tim. 1:6, 4:22)
(Please illustrate that how 2 Timothy instructs people on how to counteract the degradation of the church, strongly emphasizing our spirit and God’s eternal grace.)
T2 The highest enjoyment, the highest experience, is the Lord being with our spirit (Rom. 8:16, 2 Tim. 4:22)
(Please illustrate that if we don’t experience the Lord being with our spirit, that is the degradation of the church.)
Day 2
T1 Christ is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit (1 Cor. 6:17, Rom. 8:4)
(Please illustrate that Romans 8:4 tells us to walk according to the Spirit. What Spirit is this?)
T2 We must not only be in one Spirit, but we must also be one soul (1 Cor. 6:17, 15:45)
(Please illustrate that “being in one Spirit” is for standing, and “being one soul” is for being able to act, work, and strive together.)
Day 3
T1 Grace is God coming to man, entering into man, and abiding in man (Luke 1:28, 30)
(Please illustrate that the first instance of grace in the New Testament is the instance of God becoming flesh.)
T2 The Lord Jesus grew in grace (Luke 2:40, 2 Tim. 4:22)
(Please illustrate that what it means that “the Lord Jesus grew in grace.”)
Day 4
T1 Without the grace of God, none of us can have faith and love in Christ (1 John 1:14, 1 Tim. 1:14)
(Using Darby and the apostle Paul as examples, explain that loving Jesus is a miracle of extra grace.)
T2 We need not only faith, but we also need love (1 Tim. 1:14)
(Please illustrate that the increase of grace has two aspects: faith in Christ Jesus and love.)
Day 5
T1 Paul urged Timothy to guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 1:13-14, Psa. 45:1-2)
(Please illustrate that what the deposit refers to here.)
T2 Committing to faithful men, who will be competent to teach others (2 Tim. 2:1-2)
(Please illustrate that we are strengthened in this grace not to perform miracles, but to entrust the wholesome words we have enjoyed to faithful people who can teach others.)
Day 6
T1 We Christians should have something to impart to people, both materially and spiritually (Eph. 4:29, 2 Cor. 1:12)
(Please illustrate that not only are the apostles, as stewards, imparting grace to people, but we should also speak words that build people up in our lives and impart grace to people.)
T2 Only simple people are generous people (2 Cor. 1:12)
(Please illustrate that when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was very wise; but He was also simple and pure.)