Service for the Building Up of the Church
Message Three
Serving God in Our Spirit in the Gospel of His Son
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers—Rom. 1:9
For we are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh—Phil. 3:3
Word of Appetizer
Why is the book of Romans regarded as the fifth gospel?
The gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, is the subject of the book of Romans.
The first four Gospels are concerning the incarnated Christ, Christ in the flesh, living among His disciples; the gospel in Romans is concerning the resurrected Christ as the Spirit living within His disciples.
Spiritual Burden
In order to serve God in the gospel of His Son, we need to see that we are men in the flesh, worthy of nothing but death and burial; this is to follow the Lord’s pattern to fulfill all righteousness and enter into the ministry of the age.
Our work and labor for the Lord in the gospel are not by our natural life and natural ability but by the Lord’s resurrection life and power; resurrection is the eternal principle in our service to God.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Our service to God in the gospel is our worship to God; in the New Testament, serving God is actually the same as worshipping God. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness.
Paul says that he was “separated unto the gospel of God”, and he declares, “God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son”
In order to serve God in the gospel of His Son, we need to see that we are men in the flesh, worthy of nothing but death and burial.
Resurrection is the eternal principle in our service to God.
The Experience of Life
God must be living to us and in us in every aspect of our daily life; the fact that God controls, directs, corrects, and adjusts us, even in such small things as our thoughts and motives, is a proof that He is living.
The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit lives in us, enabling us to do what we could never do in ourselves.
Practice and Application
As believers in Christ, we must live a life in our spirit, which bears the testimony that the God whom we worship and serve is living in the details of our life; the reason we do not do or say certain things should be that God is living in us.
We all should declare in our life and work, “I am a person in the flesh, worthy of nothing but death and burial, so I want to have myself terminated, crucified, and buried.”
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, separated unto the gospel of God—Rom. 1:1
For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers—Rom. 1:9
III. God, Whom I Serve in My Spirit in the Gospel of His Son, Separated unto the Gospel of God
• In order to preach the gospel of God’s Son, we must be in our regenerated spirit; Paul served God in his regenerated spirit by the indwelling Christ, the life-giving Spirit.
• To serve God in the gospel is to serve Him in the all-inclusive Christ, because the gospel is simply Christ Himself.
• The gospel of God, unto which Paul was separated, is the subject of the book of Romans; the book of Romans may be regarded as the fifth gospel.
Key Verses (2)
… how you turned to God from the idols to serve a living and true God—1 Thes. 1:9
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness—John 4:24
Our Service to God in the Gospel Is Our Worship to God, Worship in Spirit and Truthfulness
II. We need to see that our service to God in the gospel is our worship to God:
• Turning to God from the idols to serve a living and true God: We must live a life in our spirit, which bears the testimony that the God whom we worship and serve is living in the details of our life.
IV. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness”:
• To contact God the Spirit with the spirit is to drink of the living water, and to drink of the living water is to render real worship to God.
Key Verses (3)
For we are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh—Phil. 3:3
But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me did not turn out to be in vain, but, on the contrary, I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God which is with me—1 Cor. 15:10
Having No Confidence in the Flesh, Resurrection—An Eternal Principle in Our Service to God
V. “We are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh”; the flesh refers to all that we are and have in our natural being; anything natural, whether it is good or evil, is the flesh.
VI. In order to serve God in the gospel of His Son, we need to see that we are men in the flesh, worthy of nothing but death and burial.
VII. Our work and labor for the Lord in the gospel are not by our natural life and natural ability but by the Lord’s resurrection life and power; resurrection is the eternal principle in our service to God.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 We need to receive the divine supply through the dispensing of the Divine Trinity. (Phil. 1:19)
(Please illustrate that if we would meet what the New Testament requires of the believers, we need the divine supply.)
T2 To worship God is to serve God. (Matt. 4:10)
(Please illustrate that in the New Testament serving God is actually the same thing as worshipping God.)
D2
T1 When we come to serve God, we need to have a pure conscience. (Heb. 9:14)
(Please illustrate the difference between worshipping living God in our spirit and worshiping God in our mind religiously.)
T2 To serve God in the gospel and to serve God in the spirit (Rom. 1:9)
(Please illustrate that if we would serve God, we must do this in our spirit for the preaching of the gospel.)
D3
T1 The gospel of God is the subject of the book of Romans. (Rom. 1:1-2)
(Please illustrate that the book of Romans may be regarded as the fifth gospel.) (Refer to Outline III. F. 1-4)
T2 The Christ in the four Gospels and the Christ in Romans (Rom. 8:2)
(Please illustrate that the Christ in Romans is deeper and more subjective than the Christ in the four Gospels.)
D4
T1 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and reality.”(John 4:24)
(Please illustrate that by enjoying Christ as the divine reality of the offerings in our spirit, He becomes our genuineness and sincerity (truthfulness).)
T2 Those who serve by the Spirit of God have no confidence in the flesh. (Phil. 3:3) (Refer to Outline V. A-G)
(Please illustrate that we need the Lord’s light to shine on us concerning our nature, our deeds, and our confidence in the flesh.)
D5
T1 We are men in the flesh, worthy of nothing but death and burial. (Rom.7:18; Matt. 3:15)
(What is the base for Jesus to be baptized?) (Refer to Outline VI. A-E)
T2 Leave your old man on the cross. (Gal. 2:20)
(How do you exercise leaving your natural man on the cross in your church life and daily life?)
D6
T1 “Not I but the grace of God” equals“no longer I…but…Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:10; Gal. 2:20)
(Please testify that the resurrected Christ lives in me, enabling me to do what I could never do in ourselves.)
T2 Resurrection is the eternal principle in our service to God. (Num. 17:8)
(Please testify how I experience that God alone is able and that we are not able, and that everything is done by God and not by ourselves.)
