Vital Factors for the Recovery of the Church Life
Message Four
The Factor of Authority in the Body of Christ
and in the Local Churches
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Col. 1:18 …He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.
Rev. 22:1-2 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street. And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Word of Appetizer
In the church there is no human organization, but there is a spiritual order, How does the church have this spiritual order?
The order of the church comes out of the authority in the church—the honoring of the unique headship of Christ. The Head of the church is Christ the Lord, and the authority in the church is the headship of Christ; in the church there must be order, but this order comes from the headship of Christ; If we do not have the spiritual order in the church that comes from realizing the headship of Christ in a practical way, there is no possibility for us to practice the real church life.
Spiritual Burden
There is a divine government in the church life today, and this government comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb; the divine authority in the church is for God to dispense Himself into us as life, as the life supply, and as the all-sufficient grace; only by submitting to the throne can we share in His all-sufficient source of the flowing grace. In order to build up a local church in a practical way, we need both the throne of God and of the Lamb and the water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne and flowing on the street.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
God is the supreme authority; He has all authority. Christ is both the Head corporately of the Body, the church, and individually of all the believers; He is the Head directly of every one of us, and we all are under His authority.
The order of the church comes out of the authority in the church—the honoring of the unique headship of Christ.
In the church God’s authority is expressed and represented by the apostles and elders.
There is a divine government in the church life today, and this government comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
The Experience of Life
There is a divine government in the church life today, and this government comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb; God in the Lamb is flowing out as grace for our enjoyment; only by submitting to the throne can we share in His all-sufficient source of the flowing grace.
Whenever we come to this throne, we have the sense that the grace of God is like a river flowing into us.
Practice and Application
We can have the real practice of the church life only by submitting to the unique headship of Christ; only Christ is the unique Head, and we must submit to Him, honoring and testifying to the unique headship of the God-exalted Christ; only the Lord is our Head, and only He has the authority to direct the moves of the members of His Body.
In the church life we need to obey the ones leading us and submit to them; if we cannot submit to God’s appointed deputy authority, we cannot submit to God.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: For Christ to have the full headship, He needs the divine nature and the human nature (Rom. 9:21-22)
(Why is that the headship of Christ was not fully established in the Old Testament?)
T2: The headship of Christ is fully established (Heb. 2:14; Eph. 1:20-22)
(Please illustrate that in order to be the Head over all things in God’s government, which two things Christ needed to accomplish.)
Day 2
T1: Christ is both the Head corporately of the Body, and individually of all the believers (Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 11:3)
(Please illustrate that Christ is the Head directly of every one of us, and we all are under His authority.)
T2: Allowing the Lord’s people to receive orders directly from the Lord (Eph. 5:24a)
(Please illustrate that every member is related directly to the Head; every member has the same standing, there are no intermediary members.)
Day 3
T1: The order of the church comes out of the honoring of the unique headship of Christ (1 Cor. 11:3; 14:40)
(Please illustrate that in the church there must be order, but this order comes from the headship of Christ.)
T2: The best way to glorify Christ and honor the Lord is to take Him as the Head (Col. 1:18)
(Please illustrate that if our relationship is wrong with the Head, we will be wrong with the Body, and we will be wrong with the other members.)
Day 4
T1: God has appointed elders and apostles to be the authority in the church (1 Cor. 12:28; Acts 14:23)
(Please illustrate that in the church God’s authority is expressed and represented by the apostles and elders.)
T2: The elders take care of the government of the church, also bear the burden of shepherding the local church (Acts 20:28)
(Please illustrate that in the church the main responsibility of the elders is to shepherd, to take all-inclusive tender care of the flock, the church of God.)
Day 5
T1: There is a divine authority in the church life (Rev. 4:2; 2 Cor. 13:14)
(Please illustrate that what the divine authority in the church is for.)
T2: The throne in Revelation 22:1 and 2 is both the throne of authority and the throne of grace (Rev. 22:1-2)
(Please illustrate that we are reigning, but we do not reign by authority; we reign through the flowing of the inner life.)
Day 6
T1: In the New Jerusalem there is a river of water of life flowing from the throne (Rev. 22:1-2)
(Taking the human body as an example, the throne is a matter of authority, and the flowing water of life is a matter of fellowship. )
T2: The Lord desires to set up His throne within us (Rev. 22:1-2)
(Please illustrate that among the churches. God’s authority and reign should have the ground in all the saints.)
