ONE-MONTH PERFECTING TRAINING
GENERAL SUBJECT
THE LORD NEEDING THE OVERCOMERS
FIFTH SERIES
SERVING THE LORD LIFETIME
TO FULFILL GOD’S ETERNAL ECONOMY
Message Five
Living a Life of Consecration, Morning Revival,
and Shepherding for the Fulfillment of God’s Eternal Purpose
Scripture Reading: Psa. 110:3; 1 Pet. 1:8; 2:7; Lam. 3:22-23; John 21:15-17; Psa. 23:1-6
I. Psalm 110 and Psalm 23 reveal how crucial consecration, morning revival, and shepherding are for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose:
A. “Your people will offer themselves willingly / In the day of Your warfare, / In the splendor of their consecration. / Your young men will be to You / Like the dew from the womb of the dawn”-110:3:
1. Although the church has become degraded, throughout the centuries there has been a line of those who have offered themselves willingly to the Lord in the splendor, the beauty, of their consecration; if we offer ourselves willingly to the Lord, we will be beautified with a divine, heavenly splendor- Matt. 26:6-13.
2. Christ also needs us to be the dew from the womb of the dawn for Him to be watered. If we do not rise up early in the morning, we will miss the opportunity to enter into the womb of the morning to be conceived as dew with which to water Christ.
B. Psalms 22-24 are a group of psalms revealing Christ from His crucifixion through His shepherding to His kingdom in the coming age:
1. Psalm 22 concerns Christ’s death, His resurrection, and His many brothers produced in His resurrection to form His church.
2. Now that the church has been formed, we need to enter into the reality of Psalm 23, which concerns Christ as the Shepherd in His resurrection; this will bring in a new revival that will usher us into the kingdom age.
3. Psalm 24 concerns Christ as the coming King in God’s kingdom.
II. For the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, we must live a life of consecration by having a change in our concept of value-Matt. 23:16-26; 1 Sam. 16:7; Luke 16:15; 9:54-56; 1 Pet. 3:4:
A. The proper concept of value for the believers can be seen in their estimation and assessment of the following aspects of Christ and His full salvation:
1. Their valuation of the Lord Jesus-Psa. 118:22; 1 Pet. 2:4, 7.
2. Their valuation of the word of the cross-1 Cor. 1:18.
3. Their valuation of God’s kingdom and righteousness in comparison to a man’s daily necessities-Matt. 6:32-33.
4. Their valuation of the Lord Jesus in comparison to their relatives-10:37-38; Luke 18:26-30.
5. Their valuation of a man’s soul in comparison to the whole world-Matt. 16:26; 4:8-11; Rev. 18:13; 1 Pet. 4:19.
6. Their valuation of their body in comparison to the seriousness and consequence of sin-Matt. 18:8-9.
7. Their valuation of hierarchical position in comparison to being slaves of the Lord and to one another-20:25-27.
8. Their valuation of Christ as the treasure of justice in comparison to earthly treasure-Job 22:23-28; Matt. 12:18-21; Isa. 42:1-4.
9. Their valuation of the enjoyment of sin in comparison to the unseen reward-Heb. 11:24-27.
10. Their valuation of the knowledge of Christ in comparison to all things- Phil. 3:7-8; 1 Pet. 1:8.
B. We need to ask the Lord to grant us the light to have a thorough change in our concept of value so that we will continually choose Christ and all that He is as our super-excelling portion-Mark 9:7-8; 2 Cor. 2:10; 4:7; 1 Pet. 1:8.
C. “If you bring out the precious from the worthless, / You will be as My mouth”- Jer. 15:19; cf. v. 16.
III. For the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, we must live a life of morning revival-Lam. 3:22-23; Psa. 119:147:
A. Every morning we should allow the Lord Jesus, our Sun, to rise up in us so that we can be renewed-2 Cor. 4:16; Judg. 5:31; Prov. 4:18.
B. “The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it must not go out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it and shall burn the fat of the peace offerings on it. Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out”-Lev. 6:12-13:
C. To have a revival that is renewed daily is to have a transformation that is fresh daily; if we remain in this transformation our whole life, we will grow in the life of the Lord until we are matured-2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:2; Heb. 6:1a.
IV. For the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, we must live a life of being shepherded and of shepherding others according to God:
A. The Lord has incorporated the apostolic ministry with His heavenly ministry to take care of God’s flock, which is the church, issuing in the Body of Christ- John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2.
B. The ascended Christ as Jehovah is our Shepherd in five stages-Psa. 23:1:
1. The enjoyment in the green pastures and at the waters of rest-v. 2.
2. Revival and transformation on the paths of righteousness-v. 3.
3. The experience of the presence of the resurrected pneumatic Christ through the valley of the shadow of death-v. 4.
4. The deeper and higher enjoyment of the resurrected Christ on the battlefield-v. 5.
5. The lifelong enjoyment of the divine goodness and kindness in the house of Jehovah-v. 6.