Service for the Building Up of the Church
Message Four
The Service That Is from God
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God, who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life—2 Cor. 3:5-6
Because out from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen—Rom. 11:36
Word of Appetizer
All of us who work for the Lord in various places and all the responsible brothers in the churches must consider how much of our work in serving God is initiated by God and how much is initiated by us.
Regardless of how well it was done, how much of what we have done in the past has been initiated by God? This is truly a great matter. All our work and service in the church must be initiated by God and must be according to His desire.
Spiritual Burden
All our work and service in the church must be initiated by God and must be according to His desire.
The source of our service should be God, it should be the spirit, it should be God’s operation in us, and it should be the operation, direction, and leading of the Spirit of God in our spirit. Only the service which comes out of these things is the service which is from God and by God.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Like Abraham, we should believe in God as the unique source, as the One who “calls the things not being as being”.
All our work and service in the church must be initiated by God and must be according to His desire.
In 2 Corinthians 3:5 and 6 there are two different sources of service: These two sources are ourselves and God.
The Experience of Life
The service that is from God requires us to have fellowship with God and not be detached from God. This kind of service is an activity issuing out of God’s operation within us. Outwardly we are serving Him, yet inwardly He is operating.
Practice and Application
We must learn deep within that God wants only our cooperation, He does not need us to do anything for Him. We must stop all our opinions, decisions, and ideas, we need to let Him speak, let Him come in, and let Him command.
The service that is from God requires us to rely on God, seek God, fellowship with God, be in God, and absolutely take God as our source.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
(As it is written, “I have appointed you a father of many nations”) in the sight of God whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls the things not being as being—Rom. 4:17
Yet to us there is one God, the Father, out from whom are all things, and we are unto Him…—1 Cor. 8:6
God as the Unique Source, the One Who “Calls the Things Not Being as Being”
I. Like Abraham, we should believe in God as the unique source, as the One who “calls the things not being as being”.
• As the creating God, He needs no material to work with; He can create something out of nothing simply by speaking.
• To know God as the Father is to know that He is the source, the unique Initiator, and that everything originates from Him and proceeds out from Him.
Key Verses (2)
Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens—Matt. 7:21
For it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure—Phil. 2:13
Being Initiated by God and Being according to His Desire
II. All our work and service in the church must be initiated by God and must be according to His desire:
• Genuine service comes only from God, not from us; only that which is initiated by God is service according to revelation.
• Anything that is initiated or started by man, regardless of how much it is for God, is a religious activity.
• We must learn deep within that God wants only our cooperation; He does not need us to do anything for Him; we must stop all our opinions, decisions, and ideas and let God speak, come in, and command.
Key Verses (3)
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God, who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life—2 Cor. 3:5-6
There Are Two Different Sources of Service
III. In 2 Corinthians 3:5 and 6 there are two different sources of service:
• These two sources are ourselves and God:
• There are only two kinds of services with two kinds of sources: one kind of service is by the letter and from ourselves, and the other kind is by the Spirit and from God.
• The service that is from God requires us to have fellowship with God and not be detached from God; serving God requires a moment-by-moment, fresh contact with God.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 God is the God who “gives life to the dead” and “calls the things not being as being”. (Rom. 4:17)
(Regarding which two things did Abraham believe God?)
T2 God is the Father, everything originates from Him. (Gen. 1:1; Rom. 11:36)
(Please illustrate that God the Father is the only legitimate Originator in the universe.)
D2
T1 All our work and service in the church must be initiated by God. (Phil. 2:13)
(Please illustrate that Moses’ deliverance of the children of Israel did not originate from himself but from God.)
T2 God disregarded Cain’s service. (Gen. 4:3-5)
(Please illustrate that anything that is not revealed by God is a religious activity, even if it is for God.)
D3
T1 Whoever cannot stop working for God cannot work for God. (2 Sam. 7:11b)
(Take David as an example to illustrate: God wants only our cooperation; He does not need us to do anything for Him.)
T2 We need to stop everything of ourselves in order to know God’s will. (Rom. 12:2)
(Take Job as an example to illustrate that in the matter of serving God, we must stop ourselves in order to give God the absolute opportunity to speak.)
D4
T1 Not dare to initiate anything pertaining to the service of God (2 Sam. 6:6-8)
(Take the striking of Uzzah by God as an example to illustrate that we cannot initiate anything related to the service of God.)
T2 The service must originate from God (2 Cor. 3:5-6) (Refer to Outline III. B. 1-2)
(How can we determine whether a person’s work is of God or of himself?)
D5
T1 There are two different sources of service: “ourselves” and “God”. (2 Cor. 3:5-6)
(Please illustrate that in 2 Corinthians 3:5 and 6 there are two different sources of service) (Refer to Outline III. A. 1-3)
T2 The service that is from God requires us to have fellowship with God. (John 15:5)
(Please illustrate the difference between the service that is from ourselves and the service that is from God) (Refer to Outline III. A. 1-3)
D6
T1 The service in the new covenant is from God and by God. (1 Cor. 8:6)
(Please illustrate any kind of service must be a service rendered through us by the God abiding in us to the God sitting on the throne.)
T2 The source of our service should be God’s operation in us. (Col. 1:29)
(What’s the difference between Paul’s service before he was saved and that after he was saved?)
