Meeting God’s Need and Present Needs
in the Lord’s Recovery
Message Two
God’s Good Pleasure
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Gal. 1:15-16 …It pleased God, who set me apart…, to reveal His Son in me…
Matt. 3:16-17 And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him…. And behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight.hil.
Phil. 2:13 For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.
Word of Appetizer
Why doesn’t God need “spiritual giants” any longer in this age? “
Spiritual giants” are a hindrance to the producing of the church ministry; we need to see what the church is intrinsically; the church as the Body of Christ is brought forth when all the one-talented ones are functioning.
What God needs is the Body testimony, which is the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem; this is to fulfill the Lord’s heart’s desire according to His word concerning the building up of His Body.
Spiritual Burden
God is happy to operate in us “both the willing and the working for His good pleasure”; the Christian life with the supply of the Body life (1:19) is a happy life.
We surely need to be genuine spiritual men, those who are dominated, governed, directed, moved, ruled, controlled, and led by our mingled spirit; a true spiritual man, who lives according to the spirit, will do everything and speak everything not only in his spirit but also in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body; if we are truly spiritual, we will be diligent to “keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace”.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
God’s good pleasure, His heart’s desire, is to meet the demand of this age, which is God’s need in this age: God does not need “spiritual giants” any longer in this age; what He needs is the Body testimony, which is the reality of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem; this is to fulfill the Lord’s heart’s desire according to His word concerning the building up of His Body.
God’s good pleasure, God’s heart’s desire, is what makes God happy; God is happy when His Son is revealed in us—”It pleased God…to reveal His Son in me” (Gal. 1:15-16)—and when we are fully brought into the sonship of God (4:4-6; Eph. 1:4-5); this fulfills God’s good pleasure to have many sons for His corporate expression.
The Experience of Life
God is happy when we eat Christ as our spiritual food in order to live because of Him (John 6:57); to eat Christ is to eat His words by exercising our spirit to both pray-read and muse upon His words so that His words become the gladness and joy of our heart (Jer. 15:16; Psa. 119:15-16; Josh. 1:8-9); to live because of Christ means that the energizing element of Christ becomes the supplying factor for us to live Christ.
God is happy to operate in us “both the willing and the working for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13); the Christian life with the supply of the Body life (1:19) is a happy life.
Practice and Application
For the work of the Lord, we need the talent, the spiritual gift, that we may be equipped as good slaves to accomplish God’s eternal economy; what is needed today is men who can lead others into their function in serving the Lord for the church, not men who will replace others in their service.
God is happy when we serve Him as a slave by living in the reality of the kingdom of God in the way of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; this is well pleasing to God and approved by men, and it preserves the oneness of the church for the practical Body life.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: Today God is doing the work of recovering the Body testimony (Rom. 12:5; Eph. 4:15-16).
(Please explain that God no longer needs spiritual giants. He needs the testimony of the Body.)
T2: We have to recover the kind of preaching [of the gospel] that is done by the whole church (Eph. 4:16).
(Please explain that if we have only a few serving today, we have not reached God’s standard.)
Day 2
T1: God’s ultimate work is the recovery of the Body testimony (Eph. 4:12).
(Please explain that God is recovering the most difficult thing today, which is the fulfillment of Ephesians 4:11-16.)
T2: For two thousand years the church has been severely damaged by so-called “spiritual pursuit” (1 Cor. 1:12).
(Please explain with examples that spiritual pursuit is very good, but it also can damage people.)
Day 3
T1: God’s good pleasure, God’s heart’s desire, is what makes God happy (Job 38:4, 7; Gen. 1:26, 31; Luke 2:11).
(Please explain that God is happy with the creation of the earth; God is happy with the creation of man; God is happy with the incarnation.)
T2: God is happy when His Son is revealed in us (Gal. 1:15-16).
(Please explain that God’s good pleasure is wrapped up with us.)
Day 4
T1: When we are happy, we are registering God’s happiness within us (Phil. 2:13; 4:4).
(Please explain that our inward joy is an indication that we are living and walking according to His good pleasure.)
T2: The most pleasant thing to God is to have some people on this earth who are living Him (John 5:30; 2 Tim. 3:16).
(Please explain according to your own experiences that by breathing in God’s Word, spontaneously we will live God.)
Day 5
T1: God is happy when we we fall into the earth and die (Phil. 3:10).
(Please explain that when we die, the inner power of life will be energized. Death ushers in the resurrection power. )
T2: God is happy when we remain in our spirit and pay attention to our spirit (Rom. 8:6).
(Please explain that God wants us to be persons in the spirit.)
Day 6
T1: God is happy when we worship Him in spirit (John 4:24; Rom. 1:9).
(Please explain that God’s eternal economy is focused on our mingled spirit.)
T2: To live and walk according to the pleasure of God (Rom. 8:18-19; 21-23).
(Please explain according to the verses listed that God will be happy with our glorification.)
