The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord
Message Four
Being Faithful in Service in the Lord’s Commission and in His Gifts for His Second and Imminent Coming
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Matt. 24:45-46 Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.
Matt. 25:15-17 To one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability. And he went abroad. Immediately he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and gained another five. Similarly, he who had received the two gained another two.
Word of Appetizer
In what way should we be faithful in the service? What shall we do?
First, in Matthew 24:45-51…the Lord charged us, commissioned us, to minister something to His household, that is, to the believers in the church. At the proper time we have to minister food, the life supply, to the Lord’s people.
Matthew 25:14-30 reveals that we must be faithful in service in the Lord’s gifts to make a profit for Him so that we may enter into the joy of the Lord in the coming kingdom.
Spiritual Burden
We must be faithful in service in the Lord’s commission to give God as food to the members of His household so that we may win Christ as our reward in the coming kingdom.
We must be faithful in service in the Lord’s gifts to make a profit for Him so that we may enter into the joy of the Lord in the coming kingdom.
CONCLUDING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
The Revelation of the Truth
Matthew 24:45-51 reveals that we must be faithful in service in the Lord’s commission to give God as food to the members of His household so that we may win Christ as our reward in the coming kingdom.
Matthew 25:14-30 reveals that we must be faithful in service in the Lord’s gifts to make a profit for Him so that we may enter into the joy of the Lord in the coming kingdom.
The Experience of Life
Christ as the life-giving Spirit is our food, embodied and realized in the word of life;in order to enjoy the Lord as our spiritual food so that we can feed others, we must pray over and muse on His word, tasting and enjoying it through careful consideration.
Practice and Application
We must be faithful in service in the Lord’s commission to give God as food to the members of His household;we must not judge and condemn our fellow believers but be kind to them, tenderhearted, forgiving them, even as God in Christ forgave us.
We must be faithful in service in the Lord’s gifts to make a profit for Him;the best way for us to use our talent is to take care of others, to become interested in others and concerned for them in order to dispense Christ into them.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—
TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: At the proper time we have to minister food, the life supply, to the Lord’s people (Matt. 24:45-46).
(According to Matthew 24:45-51, in what way should we be faithful in the service?)
T2: We have to minister different words to people at the proper time (Matt. 24:45-46).
(Please explain that to be a faithful and prudent slave is to minister the proper food to the Lord’s possessions, which are all kinds of persons, at the proper time.)
Day 2
T1: To beat our fellow slaves is to mistreat fellow believers (Matt. 24:48-50).
(Please explain according to our own experience that we can easily mistreat a fellow believer without any kind of realization.)
T2: We must have an attitude and a desire for the Lord to come quickly (Rev. 22:20; Matt. 24:48).
(Please explain that if one does not take the attitude that the Lord will come quickly, he will not be watchful.)
Day 3
T1: To eat and drink “with the drunken” is to keep company with worldly people (Matt. 24:49).
(Why is that to eat and drink with the drunken is a further fall from beating the fellow slaves?)
T2: The evil slave will be cut off from Christ’s glorious presence in His kingdom (Matt. 24:47, 51).
(What excuses do the slothful slaves who are not so faithful in the Lord’s commission have?)
Day 4
T1: The Lord’s possessions (Matt. 25:14-15).
(Whst are the Lord’s possessions?)
T2: Talents signify spiritual gifts (spiritual skills and abilities) (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:4)
(Please explain that after being dealt with by the cross, our ability becomes useful.)
Day 5
T1: To trade with the talents (Matt. 25:15-17).
(Please explain which two aspects the result of our service have.)
T2: It is very easy for the least-gifted ones to fail to make the proper use of their gift (Matt. 25:24-27).
(Please explain why the one-talented ones always have the danger to bury the Lord’s gift. )
Day 6
T1: Deposited money with the money changers (Matt. 25:27).
(Please illustrate that if you have received one talent, how will you use it.)
T2: Our faithfulness in service is related to the reward (Matt. 25:20-23).
(Please explain that if we are faithful, what shall we be rewarded when the Lord comes back?)
