The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord
Message Three
The Losing of the Soul-life, Participating in the Rapture of the Overcomers, and Receiving the End of Our Faith
—the Salvation of the Soul
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Luke 17:32-33 Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his soul-life will lose it, and whoever loses it will preserve it alive.
Luke 21:36 But be watchful at every time, beseeching that you would prevail to escape all these things which are about to happen and stand before the Son of Man.
1 Pet. 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Word of Appetizer
How can we participate in the rapture of the overcomers?
If we lose our soul-life, we may participate in the rapture of the overcomers;in order to participate in the rapture of the overcomers so that we may enjoy the Lord’s parousia (presence, coming) and escape the great tribulation, we must overcome the stupefying effect of man’s living today.
In Luke 21:34-36 the Lord Jesus warns us to take heed to ourselves and to be watchful at every time, beseeching that we would “prevail to escape all these things which are about to happen and stand before the Son of Man”.
Spiritual Burden
If we allow our soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment in this age for the Lord’s sake, we will cause our soul to have its enjoyment in the kingdom age;in order to participate in the rapture of the overcomers so that we may enjoy the Lord’s parousia (presence, coming) and escape the great tribulation, we must overcome the stupefying effect of man’s living today.
We need to take heed to ourselves and to be watchful at every time, beseeching that we would “prevail to escape all these things which are about to happen and stand before the Son of Man”.
CONCLUDING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
The Revelation of the Truth
If we want to save our soul-life, we will lose it, but if we lose our soul-life for the Lord’s sake, we will save it.
If we lose our soul-life, we may participate in the rapture of the overcomers.
The proving of our faith being found unto praise, glory, and honor results in the receiving of the end of our faith — the salvation of our souls.
The Experience of Life
As we live under the government of God, we will be made sorrowful by various trials and experience the proving of our faith;the proving of our faith being found unto praise, glory, and honor results in the receiving of the end of our faith — the salvation of our souls.
Practice and Application
We have to deny our soul, our soulish life, with all its pleasures in this age, that we may gain it in the enjoyment of the Lord in the coming age;as followers of the Lord Jesus, we need to overcome the stupefying effect of the world’s indulgent living by losing our soul-life in this age.
We need to take heed to ourselves and to be watchful at every time, beseeching that we would “prevail to escape all these things which are about to happen and stand before the Son of Man”.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—
TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: To lose the soul-life is to cause the soul to lose its enjoyment and thereby to suffer (Luke 9:24).
(Please explain that the reason people love the world is that they want to maintain the enjoyment of the soul.)
T2: If you keep the enjoyment in your soul today, you will lose the enjoyment to come (Luke 9:24-25).
(Please explain according to your own experience that to please the self is to save the soul.)
Day 2
T1: If we do not hate our own soul-life, we cannot be His disciples (Luke 14:26).
(Please explain that in Luke 14:26 the Lord taught us to hate our own soul-life.)
T2: Believers in Christ are the salt of the earth used by God to kill and eliminate the earth’s corruption (Luke 14:34-35).
(Please explain that our taste depends on our renouncing of the earthly things.)
Day 3
T1: Be warned by the case of Lot’s wife (Luke 17:32-33).
(Please explain why Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt.)
T2: The rapture of the overcoming believers is related to the believers’ overcoming in their practical life (Luke 17:32-34).
(Please explain that although the believers should not be stupefied by the necessities of this life, they need to work for a living.)
Day 4
T1: To escape the things that are about to take place is to be raptured before the great tribulation (Luke 21:36).
(Please illustrate according to your own experience that the strength and ability to escape come from being watchful and from beseeching.)
T2: Constantly we need to be watchful and beseeching that we may prevail to escape the great tribulation (Luke 21:36).
(Please explain that whether or not we shall be raptured before the great tribulation depends on our watchfulness and on our praying in a particular way.)
Day 5
T1: The reason we are put into trials (1 Pet. 1:7-9).
(Please explain that the reason why we are put into trials is because our faith needs to be tested, proved.)
T2: The Salvation of the Soul (1 Pet. 1:9).
(Please explain the three stages of God’s full salvation.)
Day 6
T1: The gaining of the soul is for our whole being to share in Christ’s joy and glory in the coming kingdom (Heb. 10:35, 39).
(Please explain that to gain our soul in the coming age will be a great reward to our suffering for following Christ in this age. )
T2: The loss of our soul today is the condition of our gaining it in the next age (Heb. 10:35, 39).
(Please explain that to gain our soul in the next age is to enter into the Lord’s joy and reigning. )
