The Believers (1)
Message Three
The Wheat of Life, the Good Seed, the Salt of the Earth, the Light of the World, and the Fishers of Men
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture reading:
Matt. 13:24 Another parable He set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field.
I. The believers are symbolized by the wheat of life, which will be gathered into the Lord’s storehouse; if the life of Christ is to be unhindered in us, we must experience the breaking of the cross so that the obstacles within us can be dealt with and removed—Matt. 3:11-12, 13:24-30, 38-42; Psa. 36:7-9; John 1:4: (Monday)
A. The obstacle to this matter is not knowing the line of life and not taking Christ as our life; hypocrisy means that a person’s spirituality is not judged by outward appearance but by how he treats Christ—Phil. 3:8-14; Matt. 6:1-6; 15:7-8.
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B. Rebellion is to neglect the living Christ, imprisoning Him and not submitting to Him; if natural ability is not broken, it becomes a difficulty to the life of Christ—Lev. 14:9, 14-18, 11:1-2, 46-47; Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 15:33. (Tuesday)
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II. The believers are symbolized by the good seed, who are the sons of the kingdom sown by the Lord to grow in His kingdom; as the good seed, we must follow the Lord to fall into the ground and die, and bear much fruit in resurrection—Matt. 13:24, 38; John 12:23-26, 31-32: (Wednesday, Thursday)
A. The sowing of the good seed is a kind of martyrdom; the affectionate love of Christ constrains us to live and die to Him, making us His martyrs—1 Cor. 15:36; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Rev. 12:11.
B. The putting to death of Jesus in our environment cooperates with the indwelling Spirit to kill our natural man and release the divine life—Rom. 8:2, 13; 2 Cor. 4:10-13.
III. The believers are the salt of the earth, those who kill the germs and prevent corruption on the earth; we must consecrate all we have and can do for this, otherwise we will fail, become tasteless salt, and be cast out from the realm of glory into the realm of shame—Matt. 5:13, 14:31-35; Rev. 3:21.
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IV. The believers are the light of the world, those who let their light shine before men to eliminate the darkness of the world; the way to be saved from obsession and self-deception is to live in the light, be open to God’s enlightening, and not make light for ourselves—Matt. 5:14-16; Eph. 5:8; 1 John 1:5, 7, 9: (Friday)
A. What an obsessed person thinks and does is completely wrong, yet he thinks he is completely right; the reason for this is not loving the light but rather loving the darkness, being proud, and not seeking the glory that is from the only God—Matt. 6:22-23; John 3:19-20; 5:44.
B. Life comes from the shining of the light, the light is in the word of God, and the light is the inner sense of life; when your eye is single, your whole body is full of light—2 Cor. 4:6; John 8:12; Luke 11:34-36.
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V. The believers are fishers of men; the way to bring people out of the world and into the kingdom of the heavens is by preaching the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth—Matt. 4:16-20, 24:14; Eph. 3:8-9. (Saturday)
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has become tasteless, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything except to be cast out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be hidden—Matt. 5:13-14.
And He said to them, Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men—Matt. 4:19.
Word of Appetizer
Believers are symbolized by wheat of life; if we want the life of Christ within us to be unhindered, we must experience the breaking of the cross, which is the putting to death of Christ in the all-inclusive Spirit, so that the obstacles within us can be dealt with and removed; what are the obstacles within us?
To be a Christian means to care for the living Christ within us and not to take anything other than Christ as our goal; the obstacle to this is not knowing the line of life and not taking Christ as our life.
The second obstacle is hypocrisy; a person’s spirituality is not determined by outward appearance, but by how he treats Christ.
The third obstacle is rebellion; we may be very active and zealous in doing things, yet still ignore the living Christ, imprisoning Him within us and disobeying Him.
The fourth obstacle is our natural abilities; if these natural abilities in us are not broken, they will become a problem to the life of Christ.
Spiritual Burden
Believers are symbolized by wheat of life; this wheat is to be gathered into the Lord’s barn; if we want the life of Christ within us to be unhindered, we must experience the breaking of the cross, which is the putting to death of Christ in the all-inclusive Spirit, so that the obstacles within us can be dealt with and removed.
Believers are symbolized by the good seed, the sons of the kingdom sown by the Lord to grow in His kingdom; as the good seed, we must follow the Lord to fall into the ground and die, bearing much fruit in resurrection; to die and experience the cross is to deny and reject our soul-life, our natural life, and live by the life of God.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Believers are symbolized by wheat of life; this wheat is to be gathered into the Lord’s barn.
Believers are symbolized by the good seed, the sons of the kingdom sown by the Lord to grow in His kingdom.
Believers are the salt of the earth, those who kill germs and preserve things on earth.
Believers are the light of the world, those who let their light shine before men to dispel the darkness of the world.
Believers are fishers of men.
The Experience of Life
If we want the life of Christ within us to be unhindered, we must experience the breaking of the cross, which is the putting to death of Christ in the all-inclusive Spirit, so that the obstacles within us can be dealt with and removed.
Believers are symbolized by the good seed, the sons of the kingdom sown by the Lord; the seed is the word of God, Christ Himself, sown into us to make us the good seed, that is, the sons of resurrection. The word of God is like a grain of wheat, dispensing God as life into us to nourish us; furthermore, the word is like a fire burning us and the many things we trust in, and the word is like a hammer shattering our self, our natural life, our flesh, our lusts, and our concepts.
Practice and Application
All our service to the Lord must originate from God, not from ourselves, so that we allow the death of the Lord to operate in us, enabling His resurrection life to be dispensed into people through us.
Believers are the salt of the earth, those who kill germs and preserve things on earth; in our career of following the Lord, we must consecrate all that we have and all that we can do for this; we should not be discouraged or disappointed, but should be strengthened and empowered by the processed and consummated Triune God as the all-sufficient grace, so that we can live out the divine economy.
Because we are born of God, we are now light in the Lord and should walk as children of light; the way to be delivered from being obsessed and self-deceived is to live in the light, open to God’s enlightening, and not manufacture our own light.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: The difficulties God’s life encounters within us (Matt. 3:11-12)
(Please illustrate what the first difficulty God’s life encounters within us is.)
T2: The difficulties God’s life encounters within us (Matt. 3:11-12)
(Please illustrate what the second difficulty God’s life encounters within us is.)
Day 2
T1: The difficulties God’s life encounters within us (1 Cor. 2:14-15)
(Please illustrate what the third and fourth difficulties God’s life encounters within us are.)
T2: The way to solve the difficulties Christ’s life encounters in us (Col. 3:4)
(Please illustrate that to allow Christ’s life to be unrestricted within us, we must experience the breaking of the cross so that Christ’s life can be lived out from within us.)
Day 3
T1: None of the matters concerning serving God can be decided by man (2 Sam. 7:1-3)
(Please illustrate why God rejected David’s good intention to build a temple for God.)
T2: Whoever cannot stop working for God’s sake cannot work for God’s sake (2 Sam. 7:11-12)
(Use David as an example to Please illustrate that we can only love God, but cannot initiate anything for God.)
Day 4
T1: God only needs us to coordinate with Him; God does not need us to do anything for Him (2 Sam. 24:18-25; 2 Chron. 3:1)
(Please illustrate that the son and the site for building the temple were both gained through David’s sinning and being forgiven.)
T2: The significance of being salt to kill the germs of this corrupted earth (Matt. 5:13)
(Give examples to Please illustrate that wherever the kingdom people are, they should exercise the influence of salt on the people around them.)
Day 5
T1: To be obsessed is to deceive oneself (1 John 1:8)
(Please illustrate that the deliverance from obsession lies in Psa. 36:9: “In Your light we see light.”)
T2: The enlightening within us can be hindered (Matt. 5:14-16)
(Please illustrate what the two conditions are to receive the enlightening.)
Day 6
T1: To be fishers of men is to bring people out of the world and into the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 4:19; 24:14)
(Use Peter in Matt. 17:24-27 as an example to Please illustrate that catching men requires endurance.)
T2: The difference between the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of grace (Luke 24:47; Matt. 24:14)
(Please illustrate that the kingdom is the true gospel, and the kingdom is the all-inclusive gospel.)
