HW FightFinishKeep

Fighting
the Good Fight,

Finishing
the Course,
Keeping
The
Holy
the Faith, and
Loving the
Lord·s Appearing
in Order to
Word
Receive the
Reward of Christ
as the
Crown of
for
Righteousness
Morning
Watchman Nee
Witness Lee
Revival
© 2024 Living Stream Ministry
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic,
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information
storage and retrieval systems—without written permission from
the publisher.
First Edition, May 2024.
ISBN 978-1-5360-3646-6
Published by
Living Stream Ministry
2431 W. La Palma Ave., Anaheim, CA 92801 U.S.A.
P. O. Box 2121, Anaheim, CA 92814 U.S.A.
Printed in the United States of America
24 25 26 27 / 5 4 3 2 1
2024 International Chinese-speaking Conference
FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT,

FINISHING THE COURSE, KEEPING THE FAITH,
AND LOVING THE LORD’S APPEARING
IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE REWARD OF CHRIST
AS THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Contents
Week Title Page
Preface v
General Subject and Key Statements 1
1 Fighting the Good Fight

Outline 2
Day 1 6
2 Finishing the Course

Outline 20
Day 1 24
3 Keeping the Faith

Outline 38
Day 1 42
4 Loving the Lord’s Appearing

by Maintaining Our Love for Him
according to the Intrinsic Significance
of Song of Songs
Outline 57
Day 1 62
5 Receiving the Kingdom Reward of Christ

as the Crown of Righteousness
Outline 76
Day 1 80
iii
Week Title Page
Recovery Version Reading Schedules:

Old Testament 94
New Testament 98
Daily Verse Cards 103
iv
Preface
1. This book is intended as an aid to believers in developing a

daily time of morning revival with the Lord in His word. At
the same time, it provides a limited review of the interna-
tional Chinese-speaking blending conference held in Taipei,
Taiwan, on February 10-11, 2024. The general subject of
the conference was “Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the
Course, Keeping the Faith, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing
in Order to Receive the Reward of Christ as the Crown of
Righteousness.” Through intimate contact with the Lord in
His word, the believers can be constituted with life and truth
and thereby equipped to prophesy in the meetings of the
church unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
2. The book is divided into weeks. One conference message is
covered per week. Each week presents first the message out-
line, followed by six daily portions, a hymn, and then some
space for writing. The message outline has been divided into
days, corresponding to the six daily portions. Each daily por-
tion covers certain points and begins with a section entitled
“Morning Nourishment.” This section contains selected verses
and a short reading that can provide rich spiritual nourish-
ment through intimate fellowship with the Lord. The “Morn-
ing Nourishment” is followed by a section entitled “Today’s
Reading,” a longer portion of ministry related to the day’s main
points. Each day’s portion concludes with a short list of ref-
erences for further reading and some space for the saints to
make notes concerning their spiritual inspiration, enlighten-
ment, and enjoyment to serve as a reminder of what they have
received of the Lord that day.
3. The space provided at the end of each week is for composing
a short prophecy. This prophecy can be composed by consid-
ering all of our daily notes, the “harvest” of our inspirations
during the week, and preparing a main point with some sub-
points to be spoken in the church meetings for the organic
building up of the Body of Christ.
4. Following the last week in this volume, we have provided
reading schedules for both the Old and New Testaments in
v
the Recovery Version with footnotes. These schedules are
arranged so that one can read through both the Old and
New Testaments of the Recovery Version with footnotes in
two years.
5. As a practical aid to the saints’ feeding on the Word through-
out the day, we have provided verse cards at the end of the
volume, which correspond to each day’s Scripture reading.
These may be cut out and carried along as a source of spiri-
tual enlightenment and nourishment in the saints’ daily
lives.
6. The content of this book is taken primarily from the confer-
ence message outlines, the text and footnotes of the Recovery
Version of the Bible, selections from the writings of Witness
Lee and Watchman Nee, and Hymns, all of which are pub-
lished by Living Stream Ministry.
7. The conference message outlines were compiled by Living
Stream Ministry from the writings of Witness Lee and Watch-
man Nee. The outlines, footnotes, and cross-references in
the Recovery Version of the Bible are by Witness Lee. Unless
otherwise noted, the references cited in this publication are
by Witness Lee.
8. For the sake of space, references to The Collected Works of
Watchman Nee and The Collected Works of Witness Lee are
abbreviated to CWWN and CWWL, respectively.
vi
International Chinese-speaking Conference
(February 10-11, 2024)
General Subject:
Fighting the Good Fight,
Finishing the Course, Keeping the Faith,
and Loving the Lord’s Appearing
in Order to Receive the Reward of Christ
Key Statements:
As revealed in 2 Timothy 4:7,
a proper Christian life is threefold;
it involves fighting the good fight, running
and finishing the course, and keeping the faith.
In the New Testament,
faith is both objective and subjective;
the objective faith refers to the things
in which we believe, and the subjective faith
has to do with our action of believing.
In order for us to enjoy Christ
as our kingdom reward,
we must love the Lord’s appearing,
which is His appearing and manifestation
to us today and His presence with His people
at His second coming,
by staying on the constricted way
of being watchful in life and faithful in service
to be constituted as the bride of Christ.
When the Lord comes again,
faith will be turned to facts,
and praise will replace prayer.
Love will consummate in a shadowless perfection,
and we will serve Him in the sinless domain.
What a day that will be! Lord Jesus, come quickly!
WEEK 1 — OUTLINE 2
Fighting the Good Fight

Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 4:7a; 1 Tim. 1:18; 6:12
Day 1
I. As revealed in 2 Timothy 4:7, a proper Christian
life is threefold; it involves fighting the good fight,
running and finishing the course, and keeping
the faith.
II. “I have fought the good fight”—v. 7a:
A. The believers fight the good fight by receiving the
apostle’s charge—1 Tim. 1:18:
1. The charge given by the apostle to his spiritual
son concerns the economy of God positively and
the different teachings negatively—vv. 3-4.
2. Paul charged Timothy to fight against the devi-
ation from the faith, that is, to fight the good
fight of the faith—6:12a.
Day 2
B. Paul told Timothy that according to the prophecies
previously made concerning him, he “might war the
good warfare”—1:18:
1. To war the good warfare is to war against the
different teachings of the dissenters and to carry
out God’s economy—v. 4.
2. This war is according to the apostle’s ministry
concerning the gospel of grace and eternal life
for the glory of the blessed God—vv. 11-16.
3. On the one hand, Timothy was to war against
the different teachings; on the other hand, he
was to carry out God’s economy according to the
apostle’s ministry—vv. 3-4, 18.
4. To teach and preach God’s economy concerning
Christ and the church is to war the good war-
fare—v. 18.
Day 3 & Day 4
C. First Timothy 6:12a says, “Fight the good fight of
the faith”:
3 WEEK 1 — OUTLINE
1. To fight for the faith means to fight for God’s

New Testament economy.
2. In particular, it is to fight for Christ as the em-
bodiment of God and for the church as the Body
of Christ—Col. 2:9; 1 Cor. 1:2; 12:27.
3. To fight the good fight of the faith is to fight for
the contents of the complete gospel according to
God’s New Testament economy—Eph. 3:6.
4. Because of different teachings, the church had
already become degraded and had deviated from
the faith; Paul charged Timothy to fight against
this deviation from the faith, which is to fight
the good fight of the faith—1 Tim. 6:12a.
D. In 1 Timothy 6:12b Paul goes on to say, “Lay hold on
the eternal life, to which you were called”:
1. The eternal life is actually the processed and
consummated Triune God being life to us—John
3:15-16.
2. The eternal life in 1 Timothy 6:12b is the divine
life, the uncreated life of God, which is eternal.
3. Eternal denotes the nature more than the time
element of the divine life—1 John 5:11.
4. To fight the good fight of the faith in the Chris-
tian life, we need to lay hold on this divine life
and not trust in our human life—cf. Matt.
16:25-26.
5. We fight the good fight of the faith not only
objectively but also subjectively by laying hold
on the eternal life—1 Tim. 6:12b.
6. The subtlety of the enemy in bringing devia-
tion from the faith is to keep the believers from
the eternal life.
7. We, the genuine believers, must lay hold on the
eternal life; without the eternal life we are noth-
ing—1 John 5:11.
8. We need to lay hold on the eternal life; then we
will be able to fight the good fight—1 Tim. 6:12b.
9. In 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, eternal life is
stressed again and again—1 Tim. 1:16; 6:19;
2 Tim. 1:1, 10; Titus 1:2; 3:7.
10. To carry out God’s economy concerning the

church, as seen in 1 Timothy, to confront the
downward trend of the church’s decline, as seen
in 2 Timothy, and to maintain good order in the
church, as seen in Titus, this life is a prerequi-
site.
Day 5
E. We are fighting the good fight against Satan and
the kingdom of darkness:
1. We should not only be able to preserve ourselves
whole but should also challenge the devil—Matt.
12:26, 28.
2. We should be God’s soldiers, fighting the good
fight, overthrowing the devil’s strongholds, and
taking captive man’s thoughts unto the obedi-
ence of Christ—2 Cor. 10:3-5.
Day 6
F. We are fighting the good fight for the truth—1 Tim.
6:12; 1 John 1:6; 2:21; 4:6:
1. Truth is the Triune God with His word—John
1:1, 14-17; 14:6, 16-17; 15:26; 16:13; 17:17; 18:37b.
2. The divine truth is absolute, and we must be
absolute for the truth and uphold the absolute-
ness of the truth—14:6; 18:37; 3 John 3-4, 8.
3. We should honor God’s truth, take the way of
the truth, and not compromise the truth in any
way—2 Pet. 2:2.
4. We need to have the truth wrought into us and
constituted into our being—1 John 1:8; 2:4;
2 John 1-2; 3 John 3-4.
5. For the consummation of the divine economy, we
should be absolute for the present truth and the
highest truth and the subjective truths—2 Pet.
1:12; Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; 12:4-5; John 8:32; 14:6.
6. We must learn to teach and preach things that
are higher than where we are.
7. For the consummation of the divine economy,
we should be absolute for the way of the divine

truth—2 Pet. 2:2.
8. The churches should bear the responsibility to
clarify our teachings in order to fight for the
truth, care for the Lord’s recovery, and take care
of our testimony—1 Tim. 3:15; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7.
WEEK 1 — DAY 1 6
Morning Nourishment
1 Tim. Even as I exhorted you…to remain in Ephesus
1:3-4 in order that you might charge certain ones not
to teach different things nor to give heed to
myths and unending genealogies, which pro-
duce questionings rather than God’s economy,
which is in faith.
2 Tim. I have fought the good fight; I have finished the
4:7 course; I have kept the faith.
As believers, we need to fight the good fight by receiving

the apostle’s charge. First Timothy 1:18 says, “This charge I
commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies
previously made concerning you, that by them you might war
the good warfare.”…On the positive side, this charge concerns
the economy of God, and on the negative side, it concerns the
different teachings. Because of different teachings, the church
had already become degraded and had deviated from the faith.
Paul charged Timothy to fight against this deviation from the
faith, which is to fight the good fight of the faith [6:12].
According to the prophecies [v. 18] means to be in the sphere,
support, and confirmation of the prophecies. Hence, Timothy
was to fight against the deviations of the faith in the sphere,
support, and confirmation of the prophecies that were made
concerning him. (Truth Lessons—Level Four, vol. 3, pp. 38-39)
Today’s Reading
In Greek the words God’s economy in 1 Timothy 1:4 also
mean God’s “household law,” implying distribution. (The base
of this word is of the same origin as that for pasture in John 10:9,
implying a distribution of the pasture of the flock.) It denotes a
household management, a household administration, a house-
hold government, and, derivatively, a dispensation, a plan, or an
economy for administration (distribution); hence, it is also a
household economy. God’s economy in faith is His household
economy, His household administration, which is to dispense
Himself in Christ into His chosen people that He may have
7 WEEK 1 — DAY 1
a house to express Himself, which house is the church (1 Tim.

3:15), the Body of Christ. The apostle’s ministry was centered
on this economy of God (Col. 1:25; 1 Cor. 9:17), whereas the
different teachings of the dissenting ones were used by God’s
enemy to distract His people from this economy. In the admin-
istration and shepherding of a local church, this divine econ-
omy must be made fully clear to the saints.
In 1 Timothy 1, the apostle Paul presented God’s economy in
opposition to different teachings. God’s economy is in faith (v. 4),
whereas the different teachings are based on the principle of the
law and centered on the law (vv. 7-10). Hence, faith is versus
the law, as dealt with in Galatians 3…Only God’s economy, which
is in faith, in opposition to the teachings that are based on the
principle of the law and centered on the law, is healthy and can
make it possible for people to believe on Christ unto eternal
life (1 Tim. 1:16) and to thus participate in God’s eternal plan,
God’s economy, which is in faith. This is the gospel of glory with
which the blessed God entrusted the apostle Paul (v. 11). If any-
one thrusts away such faith and a good conscience, regarding
the faith, he becomes shipwrecked on a deep sea (v. 19).
In 1 Timothy 1:4 Paul tells us that God’s economy is in
faith. The dispensing of God into us is altogether by faith. The
economy of God is a matter in faith, that is, a matter that is
initiated and developed in the sphere and element of the faith.
God’s economy, which is to dispense Himself into His chosen
people, is not in the natural realm or in the work of law but in
the spiritual sphere of the new creation through regeneration
by faith in Christ (Gal. 3:23-26). By faith we are born of God
to be His sons, partaking of His life and nature to express Him.
By faith we are put into Christ to become the members of His
Body, sharing all that He is for His expression. This is God’s
plan, God’s dispensation, which is carried out in faith, accord-
ing to His New Testament economy. (Life-study of 1 Timothy,
2nd ed., pp. 10-12)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Timothy, msg. 1
Enlightenment and inspiration:
WEEK 1 — DAY 2 8
Morning Nourishment
Acts And they continued steadfastly in the teaching
2:42 and the fellowship of the apostles, in the break-
ing of bread and the prayers.
1 Tim. This charge I commit to you, my child Timothy,
1:18 according to the prophecies previously made
concerning you, that by them you might war the
good warfare.
During Paul’s first imprisonment, the churches were tested.

This test showed that decline and degradation had set in. This
decline was altogether due to different teachings, teachings
that were different from the ministry. This was the reason Paul
charged Timothy to war a good warfare [1 Tim. 1:18].
Throughout the centuries the degradation and decline of
the church has had one source: teachings that differ from the
ministry of the apostles. In Acts 2:42 we see that at the begin-
ning of the church life, the believers continued in the teachings
of the apostles. These teachings were the ministry. What the
apostles taught and preached was nothing other than Christ
and the church. They preached a Christ who had been incar-
nated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended in order that, as
resurrection life, He might be imparted into His believers to
produce the church…In the Bible there are teachings concern-
ing many things. However, the focus of the ministry of the apos-
tles was the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, ascended, and
glorified Christ to be our Savior, our life, and everything to us
so that we may become His Body, the church. This is the vital
focus of the New Testament revelation, and this is God’s econ-
omy. (Life-study of 1 Timothy, 2nd ed., p. 19)
Today’s Reading
We need to contact the Word and receive God by the Spirit
through the Word. Then we will have faith. By coming to the
Word, we are infused with God, and spontaneously, faith oper-
ates within us to bring us into an organic union with God. The
more we enjoy God’s infusion, the more we become one with
9 WEEK 1 — DAY 2
Him. However, this vital matter has been lost for centuries.
On the one hand, Timothy was to war against the different
teachings of the dissenters. On the other hand, he was to carry
out God’s economy according to the apostle’s ministry. If we
wish to carry out God’s economy, we must do it not according
to the teachings of traditional Christianity or according to sys-
tematic theology but according to the apostle’s ministry.
Furthermore, God’s economy concerns the gospel of grace
and eternal life…This gospel is for the glory of the blessed God;
it is for the expression, the manifestation, of the blessed God.
When Paul was in prison the first time, dissenters rose up
to teach different things. These different teachings were the
seed of the church’s decline…Especially in Colossians we see
that certain isms—Judaism, Gnosticism, and asceticism—had
crept into the church life. These different teachings caused
dissension and decline. Thus, Paul charged his faithful co-
worker to fight the good fight against the different teachings
and fight for God’s economy.
Throughout the centuries the church has been poisoned and
corrupted by such teachings. If we are not on guard, different
teachings may also cause damage to the Lord’s recovery. In the
past we have seen the damage caused by different teachings
propagated in a subtle, hidden way. This has helped the leading
ones in many churches to learn the important lesson of being
watchful for different teachings. We must not allow any differ-
ent teachings to come into the Lord’s recovery. The recovery is
strictly for the carrying on of the ministry. By this I do not mean
my ministry but the ministry of the apostles, which began with
Peter and is still being carried on today. All true apostles teach
and preach the same thing, even the one thing—God’s New
Testament economy. The focus of our preaching and teach-
ing is Christ and the church. To teach and preach God’s econ-
omy concerning Christ and the church is to war a good warfare.
(Life-study of 1 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 19-21)
WEEK 1 — DAY 3 10
Morning Nourishment
1 Tim. Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold on the
6:12 eternal life, to which you were called and have
confessed the good confession before many wit-
nesses.
19 Laying away for themselves a good foundation
as a treasure for the future, that they may lay
hold on that which is really life.
To fight for the faith [1 Tim. 6:12a] means to fight for God’s
New Testament economy. In particular, it is to fight for Christ
as the embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of
Christ. The eternal life [1 Tim. 6:12b] is the divine life, the un-
created life of God, which is eternal. Eternal denotes the nature
more than the time element of the divine life. To fight the good
fight of the faith in the Christian life, especially in the Chris-
tian ministry, we need to lay hold on this divine life and not
trust in our human life. Hence, in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus
the eternal life is stressed again and again (1 Tim. 1:16; 6:19;
2 Tim. 1:1, 10; Titus 1:2; 3:7). To bring forth God’s dispensation
concerning the church in 1 Timothy, to confront the process of
the church’s decline in 2 Timothy, and to maintain good order
in the church life in Titus, this life is a prerequisite. (The Con-
clusion of the New Testament, pp. 1862-1863)
Today’s Reading
We have been called to the eternal life of God. We were born
of the human natural life, but we were reborn of the divine
eternal life when we were called by God in Christ.
We fight the good fight of the faith not only objectively but
also subjectively by laying hold on eternal life. We should not
do anything apart from this life. As those who would fight the
good fight, we need to lay hold on eternal life.
We need to realize that we have been called to eternal
life. This eternal life does not mainly refer to blessings in the
future…Eternal life should be our life today, a life for our pres-
ent daily living. By our first birth, the physical birth, we received
11 WEEK 1 — DAY 3
the Adamic life. But because we have been called to eternal

life, we should no longer live by the Adamic life, the natural life.
Although we should be truly human, even Jesusly human, we
should not be human in our natural life. On the contrary, we
need to live a human life by the eternal life. We have been called
to this life, and now we need to live it.
As believers in Christ, we have been called uniquely to eter-
nal life. This life, the divine life, is actually the Triune God
Himself. Having been called to eternal life, we now should lay
hold on this life, live this life, and have our whole being accord-
ing to this life.
The subtlety of the enemy in bringing deviation from the
faith is to keep the believers from the eternal life. Therefore,
we, the genuine believers, must lay hold on the eternal life.
Without the eternal life we are nothing. This eternal life is
actually the processed Triune God being life to us.
Not only heretical teachings but even fundamental teach-
ings may be used by the enemy to keep us from enjoying the
eternal life. Teachings that are scriptural, fundamental, good,
ethical, and moral, teachings about the improvement of char-
acter and about making up our mind to do good things, keep
the believers from the experience of the processed Triune God
as eternal life to them.
It is crucial for us to see that all the matters in the New Tes-
tament concerning the believers are related to the dispensing
of the processed Triune God into us. To experience this dispens-
ing is to enjoy eternal life. Some may teach according to the
Bible without teaching the believers how to contact the proc-
essed Triune God and to receive His dispensing, which becomes
the vital factor of our Christian life. Because even fundamental
teachings may be subtly used by the enemy to keep us from
enjoying eternal life, we need to lay hold on the eternal life.
Then we shall be able to fight the good fight for the faith. (The
Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1863-1864)
Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level Four, vol. 3, lsn. 44
WEEK 1 — DAY 4 12
Morning Nourishment
2 Tim. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will
1:1 of God according to the promise of life, which is
in Christ Jesus.
10 …Our Savior Christ Jesus, who nullified death
and brought life and incorruption to light through
the gospel.
When Paul was writing 2 Timothy, he was fully aware that

the churches were declining. However, because he was one who
laid hold on the promise of eternal life, he was not discour-
aged or disappointed. He had something within him that never
changed—the eternal, uncreated, incorruptible life of God. No
matter how the environment may change, this eternal life re-
mains the same. Because he himself was encouraged in the life
of God and not disappointed by the situation, Paul wrote the
second Epistle to Timothy not only as an encouragement and
strengthening to a younger co-worker but also as an inoculation
for the entire Body of Christ against the decline of the church.
The eternal life according to which Paul became an apos-
tle is incorruptible and unchanging, for this life is actually
the processed Triune God Himself. Because Paul was indwelt
by this life, not even the whole Roman Empire was able to pre-
vail over him in its dealings with him. Paul was strengthened
by the processed Triune God as life. (Life-study of 2 Timothy,
2nd ed. pp. 2-3)
Today’s Reading
The life mentioned in 2 Timothy 1:1 includes all the eight
basic elements of the inoculation. This means that eternal life
includes a pure conscience, unfeigned faith, the divine gift, a
strong spirit, eternal grace, the element of incorruption, the
healthy word, and the indwelling Spirit. If we have this life,
which is actually the processed Triune God, we have a pure
conscience, unfeigned faith, and all the other provisions of
the divine inoculation.
The eternal life of God is given to all believers in Christ
13 WEEK 1 — DAY 4
(1 Tim. 1:16) and is the main element of the divine grace given
to us (Rom. 5:17, 21). This life has conquered death (Acts 2:24)
and will swallow up death (2 Cor. 5:4). It was according to the
promise of such a life that Paul was an apostle (2 Tim. 1:1).
This life and the incorruption that is its consequence have been
brought to light and made visible to men through the preach-
ing of the gospel.
Life is the divine element, even God Himself, imparted into
our spirit. Incorruption is the consequence of life’s saturat-
ing of our body (Rom. 8:11). This life and incorruption are able
to counter the death and corruption brought in by the decline
among the churches.
In 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul says, “I know whom I have believed.”
What the apostle believed was not a thing or a matter but a
living person, Christ, the Son of the living God, who is the
embodiment of divine grace and eternal life. The eternal life
in Him is powerful; it is more than able to sustain to the end
the one who suffers for His sake, and to preserve him for the
inheritance of the coming glory.
To confront the death, corruption, and confusion in the
church’s decline, the eternal life, on which chapter 1 is based
(vv. 1, 10), the divine truth, emphasized in chapter 2 (vv. 15,
18, 25), and the Holy Scripture, highly regarded in chapter 3
(vv. 14-17), are all needed. The eternal life not only swallows
up death but also renders the life supply; the divine truth
replaces the vanity of corruption with the reality of all the
divine riches; and the Holy Scripture not only dispels the con-
fusion but also furnishes divine light and revelation. Hence,
in this book the apostle stressed these three things. (Life-study
of 2 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 4, 8-9, 48-49)
Christ is eternal life to us. If we were not in Him, Christ
would still be eternal life in Himself, but He would not be eter-
nal life to us. Because we are now in Him, to us Jesus Christ
is eternal life [1 John 5:20]. (Life-study of 1 John, 2nd ed., p. 351)
Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Timothy, msgs. 1-2, 6-7
WEEK 1 — DAY 5 14
Morning Nourishment
2 Cor. For though we walk in flesh, we do not war ac-
10:3-5 cording to flesh; for the weapons of our war-
fare are not fleshly but powerful before God for
the overthrowing of strongholds, as we over-
throw reasonings and every high thing rising up
against the knowledge of God, and take captive
every thought unto the obedience of Christ.
For the interest of God’s kingdom, the believers have to

fight the good fight against Satan and his kingdom of dark-
ness. Hence, in 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul says that he had “fought the
good fight.” In 1 Timothy 6:12 he charges the believers to “fight
the good fight of the faith,” that is, to fight for the contents of
the complete gospel according to God’s New Testament econ-
omy. In this matter we need to experience the dispensing of the
Divine Trinity. (Truth Lessons—Level Four, vol. 3, p. 38)
Today’s Reading
We should be God’s soldiers, fighting the good fight, over-
throwing the devil’s strongholds and taking captive man’s
thought unto the obedience of Christ…We must be strong war-
riors in prayer, so that the myriads of evil spirits will not be able
to have their way and we will be able to walk and work with
Christ, overcoming in this age and reigning in the coming age.
(CWWN, vol. 1, “The Christian Life and Warfare,” pp. 120-121)
In 1 John 1:6 John speaks of walking in darkness. To walk
habitually in the darkness is to live, behave, and have one’s
being in the nature of Satan’s evil works.
To walk in the divine light is not merely to dwell in this
light; it is to live, move, act, do things, and have our being in
the divine light, the light that is actually God Himself [v. 5].
When we dwell, live, and have our being in God, we walk in the
divine light, which is the expression of God.
When the divine light shines, we see all the different truths,
and these truths are realities. But when we do not have the
divine light but are rather in darkness, we have the sense that
everything is vanity and emptiness. I would ask you to consider
15 WEEK 1 — DAY 5
your experience. When you are in the divine light, you can see
the truth, the reality. For example, when you are in the light,
God is a reality to you, and the divine life is also a reality…
When we walk in the light, we see one reality after another.
However, when we are in darkness, nothing is real to us…
When we are in darkness, we do not have any reality because
we do not see anything. Instead of the sense of reality, we have
the sense of emptiness and vanity.
When we dwell in God, we are in the fellowship. When we
are in this fellowship, we are in light. Then as we walk in the
light, Christ, the Spirit, the church, the Body, and the mem-
bers of the Body are all real to us.
However, suppose a sister is offended by an elder. Although
the elder had no intention of offending her, nonetheless some-
thing he said offended her because she is sensitive. Perhaps the
elder said that all the sisters, no matter what their background
may be, are fragile…Because she is offended, the “switch” is
turned off, and immediately she is in darkness. As a result,
instead of enjoying the church life, she begins to be unhappy
with the church. The church is no longer real to her, and she no
longer cares about the church ground. She may say, “What is
the church anyway? And what is the church ground? I don’t
care about the ground of the church.” If she stays in darkness,
she will eventually find that Christ, the Spirit, and the divine
life are no longer real to her in her experience.
Suppose after a period of time the sister who has been
offended and is in darkness repents. The Lord is merciful and
for no apparent reason, she turns to the Lord and says, “O Lord,
forgive me.” Immediately, the “switch” is turned on, and the
light begins to shine again. Then this sister will experience
the cleansing of the Lord’s precious blood, and the divine things
will become real once more. (Life-study of 1 John, 2nd ed.,
pp. 59-61)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 John, msgs. 5, 7; The Conclu-
sion of the New Testament, msgs. 7-8, 10
WEEK 1 — DAY 6 16
Morning Nourishment
1 Tim. But if I delay, I write that you may know how one
3:15 ought to conduct himself in the house of God,
which is the church of the living God, the pillar
and base of the truth.
Truth is the Triune God…Truth is also the Word of God as

the divine revelation, which not only reveals but also conveys
the reality of God and Christ and of all the divine and spiri-
tual things. Hence, the Word of God also is reality (John 17:17).
The Word is the explanation of the Triune God. This means
that the fourth aspect of what the truth is, the Word, is actu-
ally the explanation of the first three aspects of the truth—
the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Therefore, reality is God the
Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, and also the divine Word.
(Life-study of 1 John, 2nd ed., p. 79)
Today’s Reading
Every worker of the Lord must uphold the absoluteness
of the truth…Many brothers and sisters are not absolute to
the truth; they are affected by people, things, and personal feel-
ings… A basic requirement for being a servant of the Lord is
to not sacrifice the truth.
The Bible contains many ordinances and commandments.
These ordinances and commandments are from God, and God’s
servants need to preach and announce them. On the one hand,
it is tiresome to consider those who are only speakers but not
doers. On the other hand, we cannot be a servant of God if we
cannot preach beyond what we can practice. This is because
the truth is absolute…We cannot tamper with the truth in any
way in order to justify our own deficiencies. This is what it
means to be absolute to the truth. We have to transcend our-
selves, our own feelings, and our own personal interest in our
speaking. This is a high requirement for the servants of the
Lord. We must beware of doing things one way as they affect
17 WEEK 1 — DAY 6
other brothers and sisters but doing them another way as they
are applied to our spouse or our children. The truth is always
absolute. God wants us to uphold the absoluteness of the truth.
If God’s Word says something, it is so, no matter who is in-
volved. We cannot make exceptions just because of some
special relationships. If we do, we are lowering the standard
of God’s truth. I am not talking about speaking untruths; I am
talking about sacrificing the absoluteness of the truth…We
cannot forfeit its absoluteness just because someone is our
relative. We are here to follow the truth, not man, and we are
here to maintain the absoluteness of the truth. (CWWN, vol. 52,
“The Character of the Lord’s Worker,” pp. 151-153)
In learning to take care of God’s work, one basic lesson is to
be absolute for the truth. No truth in the Bible should be
entangled with man’s condition. Today man is not absolute
toward the truth because he entangles the truth with his own
condition. When man entangles the truth with his own con-
dition, he feels that he cannot speak the truth if he has not
experienced it. Yet we have to realize that it is not our expe-
rience that qualifies us to speak concerning a truth. Truth is
absolute in itself. David said that all men speak falsehood (Psa.
12:2). When he spoke this word, he was not considering him-
self. Before God, David considered himself as nonexistent.
God’s servants cannot look inward into themselves. God’s truth
is absolute; it is not involved with us in any way. Because the
truth is absolute, we have to sacrifice ourselves and put our-
selves aside. (CWWN, vol. 57, p. 133)
We need to state our belief concerning the items of the Chris-
tian faith, such as the deity and humanity of Christ, so that
others may realize that we are genuine believers in Him. The
churches should bear the responsibility to clarify our teach-
ings in order to fight for the truth, care for the Lord’s recovery,
and take care of our testimony (1 Tim. 3:15; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7).
(CWWL, 1980, vol. 2, p. 430)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 John, msgs. 9-11, 17, 32, 39-40
WEEK 1 — HYMN 18
Hymns, #885
1 Fight the battle in the Body;

Never fight it on your own.
With the Body to the Head joined,
Fight the battle on the throne.
Fight the battle in the Body!
By the virtue of the Head;
Standing firmly with the Body,
Into vict’ry you’ll be led.
2 For the Body is God’s armor,
Not for anyone alone;
When you wrestle in the Body,
All its benefits you own.
3 ’Tis the church on Christ established
Satan shall not overpow’r;
’Tis the Body built together
Which resists the evil pow’r.
4 In the Body, by the headship,
Sitting in the heavenlies,
Struggle with the wicked spirits
And the principalities.
5 As a member of the Body,
With the brethren stand for God;
Praying always in the Spirit,
Claim the vict’ry through the blood.
6 In the heav’nlies more than conqu’ror,
In the power of His might.
As a soldier in the army,
In the Lord the battle fight.
7 Keep on wrestling in the Body,
Mighty vict’ry you will see.
Bind and loose, God’s will fulfilling,
And the foes your food will be.
19 WEEK 1 — PROPHECY
Composition for prophecy with main point and

sub-points:
Finishing the Course

Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 4:7b; Acts 20:24; 1 Cor. 9:24-26; Heb.
12:1-2a
Day 1
I. “I have finished the course”—2 Tim. 4:7b:
A. Paul began to run the heavenly race after the Lord
took possession of him, and he continually ran (1 Cor.
9:24-26; Phil. 3:12-14) that he might finish it (Acts
20:24).
B. Now at the end he triumphantly proclaimed, “I have
finished the course” (2 Tim. 4:7b); for this he will re-
ceive from the Lord a reward—the crown of right-
eousness (v. 8).
II. A proper Christian life involves running the
course, running the race, for the carrying out of
God’s economy according to His eternal purpose—
1 Cor. 9:24; Eph. 1:11; 3:11:
A. We need to seek out the journey that the Lord has
ordained for us and faithfully walk on it, paying
any price to wholeheartedly continue on our journey
until we reach the end—2 Tim. 4:7b.
B. The journey that the Lord has ordained for us is
the race that we all run—Heb. 12:1.
C. We need to “run with endurance the race which is
set before us”—v. 1:
1. Like the apostle Paul, all Christians must run
the race to win the prize, not salvation in the com-
mon sense but a reward in a special sense—10:35;
1 Cor. 3:14-15; 9:26-27; Phil. 3:13-14.
2. We need to run the race with endurance, suffer-
ing the opposition with endurance—Heb. 12:2-3.
Day 2 & Day 3
D. We run the Christian race by “looking away unto
Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith”—v. 2a:
1. Jesus is the Author of faith, the Originator, the
Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith—

v. 2:
a. The faith of the believers is actually not their
own faith but Christ entering into them to
be their faith—Rom. 3:22; Gal. 2:16.
b. Our believing is our appreciation of Christ
as a reaction to His attraction—Rom. 10:17.
c. We need to look away unto Jesus with undi-
vided attention by turning away from every
other object—Heb. 12:1-2a; S. S. 1:4; Psa.
27:4.
d. When we look away unto Jesus, He as the
life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) transfuses
us with Himself, with His believing element.
Day 4
2. Faith is a substantiating ability, the ability by
which we substantiate, give substance to, the
things unseen or hoped for—Heb. 11:1:
a. We must exercise our spirit of faith, our min-
gled spirit, to believe and to speak the things
that we have experienced of the Lord—2 Cor.
4:13.
b. Faith is in our spirit, which is mingled with
the Holy Spirit—1 Cor. 6:17.
3. We do not regard, look at, the things that are
seen but the things that are not seen; for the
things that are seen are temporary, but the things
that are not seen are eternal—2 Cor. 4:18:
a. The Christian life is a life of things not seen—
Rom. 8:24-25; Heb. 11:27; 1 Pet. 1:8; Gal.
6:10.
b. The degradation of the church is the degra-
dation from the unseen things to the seen
things; the Lord’s recovery is to recover His
church from the things seen to the things not
seen— John 20:25; 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 8:24-25;
1 Pet. 1:8.
Day 5
4. Jesus is the Perfecter of faith, the Finisher and
Completer of faith—Heb. 12:2:
a. As the Completer of faith, the Lord Jesus
continually infuses Himself into us as the
believing element and ability.
b. When we look away unto Him, He ministers
heaven, life, and strength to us, transfusing
and infusing us with all that He is, so that
we may be able to run the heavenly race and
live the heavenly life on earth—2 Cor. 3:18.
c. As we look away unto Him continually, He
will finish and complete the faith that we
need to run the heavenly race—Heb. 12:1-2a.
E. We need to be encouraged and warned by the type
of the children of Israel, whose journey toward the
good land typifies the Christian race toward our good
land, the all-inclusive Christ—1 Cor. 10:1-13:
1. We have been redeemed through Christ, deliv-
ered out of Satan’s bondage, and brought into the
revelation of God’s economy.
2. We may yet fail to reach the goal of God’s call-
ing, that is, to enter into the possession of our
good land, Christ, and enjoy His riches for the
kingdom of God that we may be His expression
in the present age and participate in the fullest
enjoyment of Christ in the kingdom age—Phil.
3:12-14; Matt. 25:21, 23.
Day 6
F. The last part of the journey ordained by God for
each one of us is the most difficult part of the jour-
ney—cf. Mark 6:45-51:
1. An important thing in the Christian life is to
seek out the journey that the Lord has ordained
and faithfully walk in it.
2. We may be delighted to be on the right course,
but how we run and end it is still a question.
G. We should not grow weary, fainting in our soul for

any reason (Heb. 12:3); rather, we should be those
who run the race to the end:
1. To be weary is to be without strength in the
soul; everything seems to be in vain.
2. The one who falls down and rises again is the
best runner: “Do not rejoice against me, O my
enemy; / When I fall, I will rise up; / When I sit in
the darkness, / Jehovah will be a light to me”—
Micah 7:8.
3. We should not give up, become weary, or faint in
our soul but look away unto Jesus and run the
race set before us—Heb. 12:2a.
WEEK 2 — DAY 1 24
Morning Nourishment
Heb. Therefore let us also, having so great a cloud
12:1 of witnesses surrounding us, put away every
encumbrance and the sin which so easily en-
tangles us and run with endurance the race
which is set before us.
The believers…experience the dispensing of the proc-

essed Triune God by running the course of the race. The Chris-
tian life is a race, and we are runners [Heb. 12:1]…Paul also
says in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that those who
run on a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? Run
in this way, that you may lay hold.”…We must not only run,
but run successfully in order to obtain the prize, which is a
reward as an incentive to us. First Corinthians 9 reveals that
the Christian course involves preaching the gospel. To preach
the gospel is to dispense Christ into others. By dispensing
Christ into those who are receptive to our preaching, we run
the Christian course…When we preach the gospel, we are
running the course. However, to receive a reward, a prize, at
the coming of the Lord Jesus is to have a particular enjoy-
ment. (Truth Lessons—Level Four, vol. 3, pp. 41-42)
Today’s Reading
The race we are running is actually Christ Himself. The
Lord Jesus said, “I am the way” (John 14:6). A race is a way,
a course. Christ is the race because He is the way. The way
we are walking is the race we are running… Although Christ
is our way, we should not take this way simply as a way; rather,
we should take the way as a race to run. We should not take
the time to consider, look around, stand still, or walk slowly.
We need to run the race until we can declare, like Paul did in
2 Timothy 4:7, “I have finished the course.” Paul began to run
the course of the heavenly race after he was taken posses-
sion of by the Lord, and he continued to run (1 Cor. 9:24-26;
25 WEEK 2 — DAY 1
Phil. 3:12-14) until he finished the course (Acts 20:24). Then

at the end he triumphantly proclaimed, “I have finished the
course.” He also proclaimed that he would receive from the
Lord a reward—the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8).
The prize that the believers win for running the race is an
incorruptible crown (1 Cor. 9:25), which is a reward as an in-
centive. This reward will be given to us according to our works
at the Lord’s coming back (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 1 Cor. 4:5).
It will be decided at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10)
and enjoyed in the coming kingdom (Matt. 25:21, 23). This
prize is not salvation in a common sense (Eph. 2:8; 1 Cor. 3:15)
but a reward in a special sense (Heb. 10:35; 1 Cor. 3:14). Eter-
nal salvation is by faith, having nothing to do with our work
(Eph. 2:8-9), whereas the reward is for our work after we are
saved (1 Cor. 3:8, 14). As believers in Christ, we have all re-
ceived His salvation through faith…But whether we will be
rewarded by the Lord depends on how we run the race.
In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul was running the race. In Philippi-
ans, one of his last Epistles, he was still running (3:14). It was
not until the last moment of his running, in 2 Timothy 4:6-8,
that Paul had the assurance that he would be rewarded by the
Lord at His coming. With this reward in view, Paul charges us
to run the race so that we may obtain an incorruptible crown.
If we would run the Christian race, we need to put off every
unnecessary weight, every encumbering burden…In addition,
we also need to put off “the sin which so easily entangles us”
[Heb. 12:1]. Here the sin refers mainly to the thing that en-
tangles us, hindering us from running the race. The encum-
brances are outward, but the sin is inward, both of which
frustrate us in running the race.
There is much opposition to the Christian race; therefore,
in order to run this race, the believers must suffer opposition
with endurance and never grow weary or faint in our souls
(vv. 1, 3). (Truth Lessons—Level Four, vol. 3, pp. 42-44)
Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level Four, vol. 3, lsn. 44
WEEK 2 — DAY 2 26
Morning Nourishment
Heb. Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Per-
12:2 fecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and has
sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.
Psa. One thing I have asked from Jehovah; that do
27:4 I seek: to dwell in the house of Jehovah all the
days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah,
and to inquire in His temple.
[In Hebrews 12:2] the Greek word translated “looking away

unto” means “to look with undivided attention by turning away
from every other object.” The runners in a race, such as the
hundred yard dash, turn away from everything else and look
at the goal with undivided attention. In this verse Paul seems
to be saying, “Hebrew brothers, do not stand there considering
and looking around. You must turn away from everything other
than Christ and look to Him with undivided attention”…The
Hebrew believers had to look away from all the things in their
environment, away from their old religion and its persecution,
and away from all earthly things, that they might look unto
Jesus, who is now seated on the right hand of the throne of God
in the heavens. (Life-study of Hebrews, 2nd ed., p. 550)
Today’s Reading
The saints of the old covenant were only the witnesses of
faith, but Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of faith. The Greek
word translated “Author” may also be rendered “Originator,”
“Inaugurator,” “Leader,” “Pioneer,” “Forerunner.”…If we put
all these titles together, we have an adequate definition of
Jesus as the Author of faith.
We need Jesus as the Author of faith because, according to
our natural man, we do not have any believing ability. We do
not have faith by ourselves. The faith by which we are saved is
the precious faith that we have received from the Lord (2 Pet.
1:1). When we look unto Jesus, He as the life-giving Spirit
(1 Cor. 15:45) transfuses us with Himself, with His believing
27 WEEK 2 — DAY 2
element. Then, spontaneously, a kind of believing arises in our

being, and we have the faith to believe in Him. This faith is
not of ourselves but of Him who imparts Himself as the be-
lieving element into us that He may believe for us. Hence, He
Himself is our faith. We live by Him as our faith; that is, we
live by His faith (Gal. 2:20), not by our own.
Jesus is the Author and the Originator of faith mainly in
His life and in His path on earth…The life He lived was a life
of faith, and the path He walked was a path of faith. In His life
and path He originated faith. Hence, He is the Author of faith.
Jesus, being the Pioneer and the Forerunner, has cut the
way of faith…His life was a cutting life, a life that cut the way
of faith. Wherever He went, it seems that there was a mountain
or a river frustrating Him. But step after step, He cut the way of
faith. If we have this view in reading the Gospels, we will see that
the very Jesus who is the Originator of faith was always cutting
the way of faith, closing the gaps and removing the mountains
like the builder of a highway. Since He has cut the way of faith,
He is also the Pioneer and Forerunner on the pathway of faith.
As the Pioneer and the Forerunner of faith, Jesus is also the
Leader and Captain of faith. He has cut the way of faith and, as
the Forerunner, has taken the lead to pioneer it. Hence, He,
as the Captain, can carry us through the pathway of faith in His
footsteps. As we look unto Him as the Originator of faith in
His life and in His path on earth, and as the Perfecter of faith
in His glory and on His throne in heaven, He transfuses and even
infuses us with the faith that He has originated and perfected.
The saving faith is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God…
Ephesians 2:8 tells us clearly that the faith through which
we were saved is not of ourselves. We have received it as a gift
from God. God is the source and Giver of faith, and we are the
recipients of this divine gift. God has put something into our
being that becomes our faith. (Life-study of Hebrews, 2nd ed.,
pp. 538-540)
WEEK 2 — DAY 3 28
Morning Nourishment
1 Cor. Do you not know that those who run on a race-
9:24-26 course all run, but one receives the prize? Run
in this way, that you may lay hold. And everyone
who contends exercises self-control in all things;
they then, that they may receive a corruptible
crown, but we, an incorruptible. I therefore run
in this way, not as though without a clear aim…
Because Paul’s background was exactly that of the Hebrew

believers, he was qualified to be an example in running the race.
Galatians 2:2 and 1 Corinthians 9:26 and 27 show how he began
to run the race. Philippians 3:5-8 and 12-14 show how he was
still running the race…In 2 Timothy 4:7 and 8, written shortly
before his martyrdom, he told us that he had finished the race.
As Paul was running the race, he said, “I buffet my body
and make it my slave, lest perhaps having preached to others,
I myself may become disapproved” (1 Cor. 9:27). Although a
saved person can never perish, it is quite possible for him to
become disapproved. To be disapproved is to fail in the race,
missing the opportunity of reaching the goal…The Greek word
rendered “disapproved” also means “a reprobate, one not qual-
ified or approved.”…This concept fits in with that of reach-
ing the goal and winning the prize as a reward. But there is
the possibility that a runner may be disapproved and not be
approved for the reward. In Hebrews 12 Paul was warning the
Hebrew brothers and encouraging them, giving them a great
incentive to run the race. We, like them, must not only walk
the way but also run the race. (Life-study of Hebrews, 2nd ed.,
pp. 552-553)
Today’s Reading
Paul told the Hebrew believers to look “away unto Jesus,
the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before
Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down
on the right hand of the throne of God” [Heb. 12:2]…In all his
other Epistles Paul presents to us mainly the Christ who dwells
in our spirit (Rom. 8:10; 2 Tim. 4:22) as the life-giving Spirit
29 WEEK 2 — DAY 3
(1 Cor. 15:45) to be our life and our everything. But in this book
he points us particularly to the Christ who has sat down in
heaven and who is of so many aspects, that He may care for us
in every way…In this book the heavenly Christ is contrasted
to the earthly religion and all earthly things. To experience the
indwelling Christ, we need to turn to our spirit and contact
Him. To enjoy the heavenly Christ, we need to look away from
all things on earth unto Him, who has sat down on the right
hand of the throne of God. By His death and resurrection He
accomplished everything that is needed by both God and man.
Now in His ascension He is sitting in the heavens, in the per-
son of the Son of God (Heb. 1:5) and the Son of Man (2:6), in the
person of God (1:8) and man (2:6), as the appointed Heir of all
things (1:2), the anointed One of God (v. 9), the Author of our
salvation (2:10), the Sanctifier (v. 11), the constant Succor
(v. 16), the instant Helper (4:16), the Apostle from God (3:1), the
High Priest (2:17; 4:14; 7:26), the Minister of the true taberna-
cle (8:2) with a more excellent ministry (v. 6), the surety and
the Mediator of a better covenant (7:22; 8:6; 12:24), the Execu-
tor of the new testament (9:16-17), the Forerunner (6:20), the
Author and Perfecter of our faith (12:2), and the great Shep-
herd of the sheep (13:20). If we look unto Him as such a won-
derful and all-inclusive One, He will minister heaven, life, and
strength to us, transfusing and infusing us with all that He is,
that we may be able to run the heavenly race and live the heav-
enly life on earth. In this way He will carry us through all the
lifelong pathway and lead and bring us into glory (2:10).
The wonderful Jesus, who is enthroned in heaven and crowned
with glory and honor (v. 9), is the greatest attraction in the uni-
verse. He is like an immense magnet drawing all His seekers to
Him. It is by being attracted by His charming beauty that we look
away from all things other than Him. Without such a charming
object, how could we look away from so many distracting things
on this earth? (Life-study of Hebrews, 2nd ed., pp. 550-552)
Further Reading: Life-study of Hebrews, msgs. 45-46, 49-50
WEEK 2 — DAY 4 30
Morning Nourishment
2 Cor. Because we do not regard the things which
4:18 are seen but the things which are not seen; for
the things which are seen are temporary, but the
things which are not seen are eternal.
5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by appearance.)
Anything that belongs to the Christian life is invisible. The

degradation of the church is due to the fact that Christians
have moved from the unseen things to the seen things…When
we care for the living God by walking according to our min-
gled spirit (Rom. 8:4), both of which are unseen, we are being
recovered to the normal Christian life and church life.
In order to regard the visible things, we do not need faith…
To walk by faith means that we regard the invisible things. In
the church life we are walking not by sight, by appearance, but
by faith (2 Cor. 5:7). We know that we are saved through faith
(Eph. 2:8). This faith causes us to experience the divine birth
with the divine life. When we were regenerated, the divine life,
something invisible to the natural senses, was imparted into us.
As a result of this impartation of life, we became brothers and
sisters in the Lord. Even though neither the divine birth nor the
divine life can be seen, we have an ability within that is able to
substantiate the divine life in one another. This substantiat-
ing ability that is able to sense the invisible divine life within
us is faith (Heb. 11:1). (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, pp. 90-91)
Today’s Reading
When we look unto Jesus, He transfuses us with Himself
as the believing element, and He becomes our faith…Faith,
the substantiating ability, is like a sixth sense. We acquired this
substantiating sense through the preaching of the gospel. Proper
gospel preaching is not merely a matter of teaching; it must
also be a matter of transfusion. Suppose I am preaching the
gospel to some sinners. Before I can preach the gospel to them,
I must first receive something of and from the Lord. Then, as
I am preaching, what I have received of the Lord will enter, like
31 WEEK 2 — DAY 4
electricity, into those who are listening… Although they may

shake their heads, not consenting to my preaching, deep within
they believe what I am saying. Although some may say to them-
selves that it is silly to believe, something within them contin-
ues to react and brings them to the point where they say, “Lord
Jesus, thank You. You are so good. Lord, You are my Savior.”
Because some element has been transfused into their being,
they are able to believe in the Lord. I know of many stubborn
ones who would not express in the meeting that they had come
to believe in the Lord Jesus. They went home, but they had no
peace, for something within stirred and troubled them. When
it was time for the next gospel meeting, they said, “I would like
to go there again.” This is the result of the transfusion of faith
by God through a preacher.
Every gospel preacher must be a charming person…What
he says may not seem logical, but, like a battery that is being
charged, the hearers will be charmed. For this reason the church
must pray a great deal for the preaching of the gospel. The more
we pray, the more charming the gospel meeting will be. The
gospel preacher must pray until he has a heavenly charm and
is fully charged with the divine element…The gospel preacher
may lack eloquence, but because he is so charming, others are
charmed as they listen to him. Some element is infused into
them through that charming preacher, and nothing can take
it out of them. This infused element is faith.
This principle applies not only to the preaching of the gospel
but to other forms of ministry as well…If your ministry is cor-
rect, you will be charmed and charming whenever you come to
minister. The proper ministry is altogether a matter of being
fully transfused with God Himself. First, we are charged with the
divine element, and then, in the ministry, we radiate that divine
element into others in a charming way. This is altogether a mat-
ter of God’s grace. (Life-study of Hebrews, 2nd ed., pp. 540-541)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-
study of the Epistle to the Romans,” ch. 23
WEEK 2 — DAY 5 32
Morning Nourishment
1 Pet. Whom having not seen, you love; into whom
1:8 though not seeing Him at present, yet believing,
you exult with joy that is unspeakable and full
of glory.
2 Cor. But we all with unveiled face, beholding and
3:18 reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.
The Greek word translated “Perfecter” [Heb. 12:2] may also

be rendered “Finisher” or “Completer.”…If we look to [Jesus]
continually, He will finish and complete the faith that we need
for the running of the heavenly race.
He will finish and complete what He has originated and
inaugurated. (Life-study of Hebrews, 2nd ed., p. 539)
Today’s Reading
Sinners certainly need to have faith, but how can they have
it? Naturally, we have no belief, only disbelief. But when the
sinners come to the church and hear the proper preaching of
the gospel, they are charged with God…Because God Himself
is transfused into them in this way, they find that they have
faith. This is the gift of faith, the nature and element of which
is God Himself.
If we would have faith, we must look away unto Jesus, the
source of faith…He will radiate Himself into us, charging us
with Himself. As a result, spontaneously we will have faith.
Faith does not originate with us; it originates with Him. Faith
is Christ Himself believing for us in a very subjective way. He
transfuses us with Himself, working Himself into us, until He,
the very person, becomes the believing element in our being.
Thus, it is not we who believe; it is He who believes within us.
In this way He makes us a believing being. Apparently, it is our
believing; actually, it is His believing. This is genuine faith.
Once Christ has originated this faith within us, He will
never let it go. Rather, He will complete, finish, and perfect it.
33 WEEK 2 — DAY 5
Do not think that you can be a giant of faith on your own. No,
we do not have the slightest amount of faith. All the faith we
have is just Christ Himself believing in us and for us. We live
by His faith, by Him as our faith (Gal. 2:20).
Christ’s believing element is charged into our being through
the law of life. The more we allow the law of life to work in our
being, the more we are able to believe. If we give the law of life
the opportunity to work continuously in our mind, emotion,
and will, its working will produce great faith in us.
As the law of life works within us to bring about the expres-
sion and testimony of God, the first issue of its working is our
believing. The most believing person is the one in whom the
law of life has worked the most. Such a person will have the
faith to believe God to the uttermost without any strain or
strife. His believing is spontaneous because it comes from the
working of the law of life within him.
The law of life in Hebrews 8 issues in the believing ability,
the faith, in Hebrews 11. Although we cannot understand this
simply by reading the Bible, we can know it by our experi-
ence…According to life, Hebrews 11 is the issue of Hebrews 8,
for the believing ability results from the working of the law of
the divine life. When the law of life operates within us to make
us the very ref lection, expression, and testimony of God, we
find it easy to believe. Our believing is spontaneous. In fact, we
are unable to disbelieve, because the believing ability has been
wrought into us…When we look away unto Him, [the Author
and Perfecter of our faith], we give Him the opportunity and the
freedom to work Himself into us. In this way the law of life can
work in every inward part of our being until we are fully sat-
urated with Him. The more we are saturated with Him, the
easier it is to believe. This is the way to have faith. May we all
experience faith in such a subjective way by looking away unto
Jesus. (Life-study of Hebrews, 2nd ed., pp. 541-543)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 4, “Crucial Truths in
the Holy Scriptures, Volume 5,” ch. 48
WEEK 2 — DAY 6 34
Morning Nourishment
Heb. For compare Him who has endured such con-
12:3 tradiction by sinners against Himself, so that
you may not grow weary, fainting in your souls.
Acts But I consider my life of no account as if precious
20:24 to myself, in order that I may finish my course
and the ministry which I have received from the
Lord Jesus to solemnly testify of the gospel of the
grace of God.
Mark 6:45 says, “And immediately He compelled His disci-

ples to step into the boat and go before to the other side, toward
Bethsaida, while He sent the crowd away.”…This verse tells us
that every one of us has a journey ordained by Him. The word
compelled here is the same as the word constrains used in
2 Corinthians 5:14. The Lord constrained the disciples to step
into the boat…The most important thing in the Christian life
is to seek out the journey which the Lord has ordained and
faithfully walk on it…Some, even though they have found it,
do not walk on it. This is the reason that their living is filled
with so much spiritual death, gloom, and restriction, and this
is the reason that there are so many conf licts and arguments
in God’s work. (CWWN, vol. 10, p. 424)
Today’s Reading
The most important task for each of us is to put ourselves
into God’s hand in a quiet, patient, prayerful, consecrated, and
obedient way and wholeheartedly seek after His leading. We
should be willing to obey Him and act only in accordance with
His will. We should pray that He reveal to us the journey He
has designated for us. After this, we should pay any price to
wholeheartedly walk on it.
“The boat was in the midst of the sea” [Mark 6:47]. We still
have not reached the destination of our journey. Although the
matter of eternal life is resolved for us and we have no more
problem with that, whether or not our history on the earth will
be one of faithfulness or failure (of faithfulness to the end or
35 WEEK 2 — DAY 6
desertion halfway), is yet to be determined. The boat is still in

the midst of the sea and has not arrived in port…We should not
be overly self-assured and should not presume that our ending
is already determined. Of course, we are delighted to be on the
right course, but how we run and end it is still a question.
There is something special in verse 48: the Lord “intended
to pass by them.”…It seems as if the Lord had no intention to
go to the disciples. But if we consider what the Lord is doing
today, we will not have any problem understanding this. Since
the Lord had commanded His disciples to go to the other side
to Bethsaida, He descended the mountain and went forward to
Bethsaida. Could the Lord go to another place to wait for them?
The Lord was looking for the disciples along the same path
which He had commanded them to take. If they had turned at
a corner, the Lord would not have met them when He came. If
they had gone on a wrong course, the Lord would not have gone
on a wrong pathway to wait for them. This is very sobering!
I have always considered that if the Lord commanded me to go
to Shanghai and I went instead to Nanking, I would miss the
rapture when He comes. This is because the rapture takes
place only along the pathway that the Lord has ordained. If you
are not there, you will miss the rapture. Each one of us has
to bear his own responsibility as to which way he should go.
The Lord has compelled us to go to the other side to Beth-
saida. If, at this time, we are not faithful, we will never be
faithful. Many of God’s children have suffered for the Lord and
have taken the lonely journey…Moses said unto the sons of
Gad and sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war
while you stay here?” (Num. 32:6)…While others are faithful
and suffering, can we sit still in peace? Surely there is hard-
ship, but that is far better than drifting. Every one of us ought
to faithfully serve the Lord, and every one ought to take the
journey that He has ordained until we reach the other side.
(CWWN, vol. 10, pp. 424-425, 429-430, 432-433)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 10, pp. 423-433
WEEK 2 — HYMN 36
Hymns, #1206
1 There’s a race for us to run—Hallelujah,

And a way for us the race to win.
To all those who have begun—Hallelujah,
God has spoken, “Look away to Him!”
Look away! Oh, look away!
Look to Jesus now today!
Look away from everything unto Jesus,
Look away from everything to Him!
2 Look away from all around—Hallelujah,
Look away from all the strife and din;
Look away where peace is found—Hallelujah,
Look away from everything to Him.
3 Look away from fickle soul—Hallelujah,
Look away from failing self within;
Look away toward the goal—Hallelujah,
4 Look away from all the past—Hallelujah,
Look away from both the good and sin;
To the living One hold fast—Hallelujah,
5 Look away into His face—Hallelujah,
He who’ll finish what He did begin.
Oh, what grace to run the race—Hallelujah—
We obtain by looking off to Him!

sub-points:
Keeping the Faith

Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 4:7c; 1 Tim. 1:19; 3:9; 4:1; 6:12; 1 Thes.
3:2; Jude 3
Day 1
I. In the New Testament, faith is both objective and
subjective:
A. The objective faith refers to the subject of our be-
lieving, that is, to the things in which we believe;
this objective faith includes the contents of God’s
New Testament economy—Eph. 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:7c:
1. The faith in Ephesians 4:13 is not faith as a
believing action but the objective faith.
2. The items of the objective faith are only those
items that are related to our salvation—in other
words, only those items that relate to Christ’s
person and work—John 3:16; 1:18; 1 John 4:9.
B. Subjective faith has to do with our action of believ-
ing—John 3:15-16:
1. According to this meaning, to have faith in the
Lord is to believe in Him.
2. All genuine believers in Christ are one in hav-
ing faith related to Christ.
C. In 1 Thessalonians 3:2 faith is not only subjective,
referring to the saints’ believing, as in verses 5, 6,
and 10, but also objective, referring to what we be-
lieve in, as in 1 Timothy 3:9; 4:1; and 2 Timothy 4:7:
1. These two aspects of faith involve one another.
2. Our believing (subjective faith) is out of the
things we believe and in the things we believe
(objective faith).
Day 2
II. “I have kept the faith”—v. 7c:
A. The faith here is objective.
B. The word faith in this verse implies our believ-
ing in Christ, taking His person and His redemptive
work as the object of our faith—1 Tim. 1:19; Gal.

1:23.
C. To keep the faith is to keep the entire New Testa-
ment economy of God—the faith concerning Christ
as the embodiment of God and the mystery of God
and the church as the Body of Christ and the mys-
tery of Christ—1 Tim. 1:4.
III. First Timothy 6:12a says, “Fight the good fight
of the faith”:
A. To fight for the faith means to fight for God’s New
Testament economy.
B. To fight the good fight of the faith is to fight for the
contents of the complete gospel according to God’s
New Testament economy—Eph. 1:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:4.
C. Because of the different teachings, the church had
already become degraded and had deviated from
the faith—v. 3.
D. Paul charged Timothy to fight against the deviation
from the faith, which is to fight the good fight of
the faith—6:12a.
Day 3
IV. In 1 Timothy 6:12b Paul goes on to say, “Lay hold
on the eternal life, to which you were called”:
A. To fight the good fight of the faith in the Christian
life, we need to lay hold on this life—the eternal
life, the divine life—and not trust in human life—
v. 12b.
B. We fight the good fight of the faith not only objec-
tively but also subjectively by laying hold on the
eternal life—v. 12b.
C. We need to lay hold on the eternal life; then we will
be able to fight the good fight of the faith—v. 12.
Day 4
V. A proper Christian life involves keeping the faith
for participation in the divine riches in God’s
economy—1:19; 3:9; 4:1; 6:12; Titus 1:4; Jude 3:
A. The economy of God is a matter in faith, that is, a
matter that is initiated and developed in the sphere

and element of faith—1 Tim. 1:4.
B. God’s economy, which is to dispense Himself into
His chosen people, is not a matter in the natural
realm nor in the work of the law but in the spiritual
sphere of the new creation through regeneration by
faith in Christ—2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 3:23-26.
C. By faith we are born of God to be His sons, partak-
ing of His life and nature to express Him—John
1:12-13:
1. By faith we are put into Christ to become mem-
bers of the Body, sharing all that He is for His
expression—Rom. 12:4-5.
2. This is God’s plan, which is carried out in faith,
according to God’s New Testament economy.
VI. We need to hold the mystery of the faith in a
pure conscience—1 Tim. 3:9:
A. The faith refers to the things we believe in, the
things that constitute the gospel—Rom. 1:1, 3-4.
B. The mystery of the faith is mainly Christ as the
mystery of God and the church as the mystery of
Christ—Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4.
C. In order to hold the mystery of the faith, we must
have a pure conscience, a conscience purified from
any mixture—1 Tim. 3:9; 1:19.
Day 5
VII. Jude says in his Epistle, “I found it necessary to
write to you and exhort you to earnestly contend
for the faith once for all delivered to the saints”—
v. 3b:
A. The faith in this verse is not subjective; it is objec-
tive.
B. The word faith here does not refer to our believing
but refers to our belief, to what we believe.
C. The faith in Jude 3 denotes the contents of the New
Testament as our faith, in which we believe for our
common salvation—Acts 6:7; 1 Tim. 1:19; 3:9; 4:1;
5:8; 6:10, 21; 2 Tim. 3:8; 4:7; Titus 1:13.
D. This faith, not any doctrine, has been delivered

once for all to the saints.
E. For this faith we should contend—1 Tim. 6:12.
Day 6
VIII. We all need to “arrive at the oneness of the
faith”—Eph. 4:13a:
A. The faith mentioned in this phrase is objective faith.
B. The oneness of the faith depends on our full knowl-
edge of the Son of God—v. 13.
C. Only when we take Christ as the center and we
focus on Him can we arrive at the oneness of the
faith.
WEEK 3 — DAY 1 42
Morning Nourishment
Eph. Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith
4:13 and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at
a full-grown man, at the measure of the stat-
ure of the fullness of Christ.
1 Tim. Holding faith and a good conscience, concern-
1:19 ing which some, thrusting these away, have be-
come shipwrecked regarding the faith.
The word faith in the New Testament has at least two mean-
ings. The first meaning is the subjective meaning. Subjective
faith has to do with our action of believing…To have faith in
the Lord is to believe in the Lord. The second meaning of faith
is the objective meaning. The objective faith refers to the object
of our believing, that is, to the things in which we believe…
The New Testament is full of references to faith’s objective
aspect. Jude 3 says, “Beloved, while using all diligence to write
to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary
to write to you and exhort you to earnestly contend for the faith
once for all delivered to the saints.” Second Timothy 4:7 says,
“I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have
kept the faith.” The faith mentioned in both of these verses is
not faith as a believing action but the objective faith, denoting
the things in which we believe. Likewise, the faith mentioned
in the phrase the oneness of the faith in Ephesians 4:13 is the
objective faith. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 1, pp. 589-590)
Today’s Reading
The items of the faith are only those items that are related
to our salvation—in other words, only those items that relate
to Christ’s person and work. They include Christ being the Son
of God, His being born of a human virgin, His dying a redemp-
tive death for us, His rising on the third day, His ascension,
and His descending as the Spirit…Whether or not we believe
in baptism by immersion, post-tribulation rapture, or any other
such matter does not affect our salvation. As long as we believe
in the basic items mentioned above, we are saved. If we do not
43 WEEK 3 — DAY 1
believe in these items, we are lost. These basic items that have
to do with our salvation constitute the faith. All the rest of the
points are not part of the faith. Rather, they are doctrinal
teachings. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 1, pp. 590-591)
The word faith in the expression holding faith [1 Tim. 1:19]
refers to our believing act; hence, it denotes subjective faith…
This faith rises up in us when we come to the Word and are
infused with God through the Word and by the Spirit. The sub-
jective faith moves within us to bring about an organic union
between us and the Triune God. In this union we receive the
divine life and nature to become God’s many sons and the many
members of the Body of Christ, the new man, to be the corpo-
rate expression of the Triune God for eternity. We must war the
good warfare by this kind of faith, not by trying to keep the law.
Along with faith, we also need a good conscience, a con-
science without offense (Acts 24:16). A good conscience is a
safeguard of Christian faith and life. Faith and a good con-
science go together… A good conscience accompanying faith
is needed for warring the good warfare against the different
teachings in a troubled local church.
By thrusting away faith and a good conscience, some “have
become shipwrecked regarding the faith” [1 Tim. 1:19]. This
shows us the seriousness of thrusting away faith and a good
conscience. To hold faith and a good conscience is a safeguard
for our Christian faith and life. The word shipwrecked implies
that the Christian life and the church life are like a ship sail-
ing on a stormy sea, needing to be safeguarded by faith and a
good conscience…In this verse Paul speaks both of subjective
faith, our act of believing, and of objective faith, those things in
which we believe. In speaking of those who are shipwrecked
regarding the faith, Paul has in mind the objective faith, the
contents of the complete gospel according to God’s New Testa-
ment economy. (Life-study of 1 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 21-22)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Timothy, msgs. 1-2; CWWL,
1964, vol. 1, pp. 589-595; Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, msg. 14
WEEK 3 — DAY 2 44
Morning Nourishment
2 Tim. I have fought the good fight; I have finished
4:7 the course; I have kept the faith.
1 Tim. Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold on
6:12 the eternal life, to which you were called and
have confessed the good confession before
many witnesses.
A proper Christian life has three aspects. It involves fight-

ing the good fight, or “struggling the good struggle,” against
Satan and his kingdom of darkness for the interests of God’s
kingdom (1 Tim. 6:12), running the course for the carrying out
of God’s economy according to His eternal purpose (Heb. 12:1),
and keeping the faith for participation in the divine riches in
God’s economy (1 Tim. 3:9). In this Paul set up an adequate
pattern for us.
Paul began to run the heavenly race after the Lord took pos-
session of him, and he continually ran (1 Cor. 9:24-26; Phil.
3:12-14) that he might finish it (Acts 20:24). Now at the end he
triumphantly proclaimed, “I have finished the course” [2 Tim.
4:7]. For this he will receive from the Lord a reward—the crown
of righteousness (v. 8).
Paul could testify that he had kept the faith…To keep the
faith is to keep the entire New Testament economy of God—
the faith concerning Christ as the embodiment of God and the
mystery of God and the church as the Body of Christ and the mys-
tery of Christ. (Life-study of 2 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 59-60)
Today’s Reading
Paul does not say that he had kept various doctrines but
that he had “kept the faith” [2 Tim. 4:7]. Paul was a man who
could tolerate any kind of practice and could give up any doc-
trine, but he could never give up the faith. Rather, he kept the
faith to the end. (CWWL, 1964, vol. 3, p. 38)
Paul said that he kept the faith, not the doctrine. In the
New Testament the word faith…[first] refers to our believing
action or ability. It is the action or ability to believe in the Bible,
45 WEEK 3 — DAY 2
in God, and in Christ. This is our faith, the subjective faith. Faith
also has another meaning, referring to the things in which we
believe. This is the objective faith. When we speak of the one-
ness of the faith, faith is objective, the things in which we believe,
not the believing action, the believing ability. We have to fight
for this faith. If anyone would say, as the modernists do, that
Christ is only a man and not the Son of God, I would never
shake hands with him. He is one of the antichrists (1 John 4:3;
2 John 10-11). I would never recognize such a one as my brother.
By the Lord’s grace and mercy, however, I do not care whether
someone is for baptism by sprinkling or by immersion. As long
as he believes, as long as he has this faith, he is my brother.
(CWWL, 1971, vol. 4, “Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the
Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ,” p. 144)
[Regarding the] main items of the proper Christian faith,…
some may disagree with the point concerning one city, one
church, but as a proper Christian we have to believe that the
church is both universally one and locally one. As the Body of
Christ, the church is universally one; as the expression of the
Body of Christ, a local church is locally one. This does not mean,
however, that a real believer in Christ who does not agree with
one city, one church is not saved. He or she is saved, but there
is something lacking, not for salvation but for the proper
church life.
The faith is the speciality of the church life. This is some-
thing very specific, very special…If we are going to fight for
something, we have to fight for this. There is no need for us to
fight for other things. We have to fight the good fight of such a
faith (1 Tim. 6:12). We have to contend for such a faith (Jude 3).
We have to teach and preach such a faith. (CWWL, 1971, vol. 3,
“The Speciality, Generality, and Practicality of the Church
Life,” p. 419)
Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Timothy, msg. 7; CWWL,
1971, vol. 4, “Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Build-
ing Up of the Church as the Body of Christ,” ch. 14
WEEK 3 — DAY 3 46
Morning Nourishment
1 Tim. Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold on the
6:12 eternal life, to which you were called and have
confessed the good confession before many wit-
nesses.
19 Laying away for themselves a good foundation
as a treasure for the future, that they may lay
hold on that which is really life.
To fight for the faith means to fight for God’s New Testa-
ment economy. In particular, it is to fight for Christ as the
embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of Christ.
The eternal life in 1 Timothy 6:12 is the divine life, the
uncreated life of God, which is eternal. Eternal denotes the
nature more than the time element of the divine life. To fight
the good fight of the faith in the Christian life, and especially
in the Christian ministry, we need to lay hold on this divine life
and not trust in our human life. Hence, in 1 and 2 Timothy and
Titus, the eternal life is stressed again and again (1 Tim. 1:16;
6:19; 2 Tim. 1:1, 10; Titus 1:2; 3:7). To carry out God’s economy
concerning the church, as seen in 1 Timothy, to confront the proc-
ess of the church’s decline, as seen in 2 Timothy, and to main-
tain good order in the church life, as seen in Titus, this life is a
prerequisite. (Life-study of 1 Timothy, 2nd ed., p. 101)
Today’s Reading
We have been called into the eternal life of God. We were
born of the human natural life, but we were reborn of the divine
eternal life when we were called by God in Christ.
The good confession [1 Tim. 6:12] refers to the good faith,
the full gospel that Christians believe…We all should confess
such a good confession.
First Timothy 6:11 and 12 are a marvelous summary of
nearly the whole New Testament. A man of God should pursue
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and meek-
ness; he should fight for God’s New Testament economy and
lay hold on eternal life. All these matters are essential aspects
47 WEEK 3 — DAY 3
of the New Testament…We today must fight the good fight of

the faith. This means that we must fight for Christ as the
embodiment of God and for the church as the Body of Christ.
Furthermore, we must not merely fight objectively but fight
subjectively, by laying hold on eternal life. We should not do
anything apart from this life. We should speak to our hus-
band or wife and to our children not by the natural life but by
the eternal life. Even in the matter of buying a pair of shoes,
we should live according to the eternal life to which we have
been called. As today’s Timothys, we need to lay hold on eter-
nal life.
In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul specifically says that we have been
called to eternal life. No other book in the New Testament
speaks of “the eternal life, to which you were called.”…Do you
realize that you have been called to eternal life? This eternal
life does not mainly refer to blessings in the future. To be called
to eternal life does not mean that we have been called to enjoy
blessings in heaven. Eternal life should be our life today, a life
for our present daily living. By our first birth, the physical
birth, we received the adamic life. But because we have been
called to eternal life, we should no longer live the adamic life,
the natural life. Yes, we must be truly human, even Jesusly
human, but not in our natural life. On the contrary, we need
to live a human life by the eternal life. We have been called to
this life, and now we need to live it.
I am deeply burdened concerning this matter of being called
to the eternal life. I am especially concerned for those dear
saints who have been distracted from the eternal life to which
we have been called and who have become preoccupied with
other things. We have been called uniquely to eternal life. This
life, the divine life, is actually the Triune God Himself. Having
been called to eternal life, we now should lay hold on this life,
live this life, and have our whole being according to this life.
(Life-study of 1 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 101-102)
WEEK 3 — DAY 4 48
Morning Nourishment
1 Tim. Nor to give heed to myths and unending gene-
1:4 alogies, which produce questionings rather
than God’s economy, which is in faith.
3:9 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure con-
science.
We need to be deeply impressed with the meaning of faith

in the New Testament…Faith is first God being the Word
spoken to us. We have God and then God as the Word spoken.
Through the Word of God and by the Spirit of God we are
infused with God in Christ. As a result, something rises up
within us. This is faith. Faith then works in us to bring us into
an organic union with the Triune God. Through this organic
union God is continually transfused and infused into us. As a
result, we have the divine life and the divine nature to become
God’s sons, members of Christ, and parts of the new man. As
a totality, we become the house of God, the Body of Christ, and
the new man. This is God’s economy in faith. (Life-study of
1 Timothy, 2nd ed., p. 12)
Today’s Reading
The faith [in 1 Timothy 3:9], as in 1:19 and 2 Timothy 4:7,
is objective. It refers to the things we believe in, the things
that constitute the gospel. The mystery of the faith is mainly
Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church as the
mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4). A deacon in a local church should
hold the mystery of the faith with full understanding in a pure
conscience for the Lord’s testimony.
Whenever the deacons are asked by the elders to do a
certain thing or to help others in a particular way, they should
realize that they are serving the saints in the mystery of the
faith. This will uplift their service. It makes a tremendous dif-
ference if the deacons’ contact with others is based on God’s
New Testament economy.
A pure conscience [1 Tim. 3:9] is a conscience purified from
any mixture. To hold the mystery of the faith for the Lord’s
49 WEEK 3 — DAY 4
testimony, we need such a purified conscience.

In order to have a pure conscience, the deacons need to
behave according to their knowledge of the mystery of the
faith… A deacon should consider how he deals with his wife,
his children, and the other saints. He then may realize his
shortage, that he does not live according to the mystery of the
faith. A deacon must be justified in the first place by his own
conscience. He should have a conscience that testifies even
to the demons that he lives according to the standard of the
mystery of God’s New Testament economy. Then he will truly
hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. (Life-
study of 1 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 49-50)
In 2 Timothy 1:3 Paul says, “I thank God, whom I serve from
my forefathers in a pure conscience…” To serve here is to serve
God in worship to Him (Acts 24:14; Phil. 3:3). Paul followed in
the footsteps of his forefathers to serve God in a pure conscience.
In a time of degradation, a pure conscience, a conscience puri-
fied from any mixture, is needed if we are to serve God.
I have the assurance that all the saints who are so honest,
truthful, and faithful to the Lord in His recovery have not only
a good conscience but also a pure conscience. In this matter we
should not accept the lie of the enemy. The more we doubt that
we have a pure conscience, the more we will feel that our con-
science is not pure. We need to declare, “Satan, get away from
me! I have a pure conscience. Satan, don’t you know that I am
for the Lord and not for anything else? I am for the Lord, for
His recovery, for His church, and for His interests.”…Do not
listen to your doubts, and do not believe the lies of the enemy.
The Lord’s blood prevails against him…Learn to tell the enemy,
“Satan, you have been cheating me long enough. I will not be-
lieve you any longer, and I will not allow you to hold me back.
I am for the Lord, and I have a pure conscience.” (Life-study of
2 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 4-5)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Timothy, msg. 5; Life-study
of 2 Timothy, msg. 1
WEEK 3 — DAY 5 50
Morning Nourishment
Jude Beloved, while using all diligence to write to you
3 concerning our common salvation, I found it
necessary to write to you and exhort you to ear-
nestly contend for the faith once for all delivered
to the saints.
Titus To Titus, genuine child according to the common
1:4 faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and
Christ Jesus our Savior.
The faith in Jude 3 refers not to subjective faith as our

believing but objective faith as our belief, referring to the
things we believe in, the contents of the New Testament as our
faith (Acts 6:7; 1 Tim. 1:19; 3:9; 4:1; 5:8; 6:10, 21; 2 Tim. 2:18;
3:8; 4:7; Titus 1:13), in which we believe for our common sal-
vation. This faith, not any doctrine, has been delivered once for
all to the saints. For this faith we should earnestly contend
(1 Tim. 6:12). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 4031)
Today’s Reading
When used in a subjective sense, faith denotes our action of
believing; when used in an objective sense, faith denotes the
object of our belief. In 1 Timothy 1:19…Paul says, “Holding faith
and a good conscience, concerning which some, thrusting these
away, have become shipwrecked regarding the faith.” The first
reference to faith in this verse is subjective; it denotes our
capacity to believe. The second use of faith is objective; it denotes
the object of our faith. Peter tells us in his second Epistle that
equally precious faith has been allotted to us (1:1). This faith
is subjective and refers to the faith that is within us. This dif-
fers from the faith in Jude 3, which refers to what we believe.
The faith in the objective sense is equal to the contents of
God’s will given to us in the New Testament…What God gives
in the New Testament is the faith that includes all the items of
God’s new will. This will includes even the Triune God. How-
ever, it does not include such matters as head covering, foot-
washing, or methods of baptism. Nevertheless, some believers
51 WEEK 3 — DAY 5
contend for such things, thinking that they are contending for
the faith. But that is not the correct understanding of what
Jude means by contending for the faith once for all delivered
to the saints. To contend for the faith is to contend for the basic
and crucial matters of God’s new will.
The faith—our belief—is constituted of certain basic truths.
First, we believe that God is one yet triune—the Father, the
Son, and the Spirit. Second, we believe that our God became
incarnated in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Third, we believe
that Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnated as man, lived on
earth and died on the cross for our sins to secure our redemp-
tion. On the third day He was resurrected from the dead both
physically and spiritually, and today He is our Savior, our Lord
in resurrection, and our life. Because we believe in Him, our
sins have been forgiven, He has come into us as our life, and
we have been regenerated. Eventually, the Lord Jesus will come
back to receive all His believers to Himself. These are basic
truths, basic doctrines, that constitute the faith for which we
should contend. Because every sound, genuine believer holds
these basic truths, they are called the common faith (Titus 1:4).
Nowhere in the Scriptures are we told to fight for doctrine.
However, we must contend for the faith that is related to our
“common salvation” (Jude 3). Our common salvation comes
from the common faith…The different denominations empha-
size different doctrines and hold on to them. Although we are
not to fight for doctrine, we must be willing to fight for the
faith. In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul charges Timothy, “Fight the good
fight of the faith.” Therefore, we should contend for our faith,
but we should not fight for our doctrine. Concerning the faith,
we must be bold, strong, and definite, ready to contend for the
faith once for all delivered to the saints. However, as far as doc-
trines are concerned, we must be liberal with others. (The
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament,
msg. 398; Life-study of Jude, msgs. 1, 3
WEEK 3 — DAY 6 52
Morning Nourishment
Eph. Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith
4:13 and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at
a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ.
1 Tim. Because of which some, professing this, have
6:21 misaimed regarding the faith. Grace be with you.
In Ephesians 4:3 the oneness of the Spirit is the oneness of

the divine life in reality; in 4:13 the oneness is the oneness
of our living in practicality. We already have the oneness of the
divine life in reality. We need only to keep it. But we need to go
on until we arrive at the oneness of our living in practicality.
This aspect of oneness is of two things: the faith and the full
knowledge of the Son of God. As revealed in Jude 3, 2 Timothy
4:7, and 1 Timothy 6:21, the faith does not refer to the act of
our believing but to the things in which we believe, such as the
divine person of Christ and His redemptive work accomplished
for our salvation. The full knowledge of the Son of God is the
apprehension of the revelation concerning the Son of God for
our experience. The more we grow in life, the more we will cleave
to the faith and to the apprehension of Christ, and the more we
will drop all the minor and meaner doctrinal concepts that cause
divisions. Then we will arrive at, or attain to, the practical one-
ness; that is, we will arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Eph. 4:13, footnote 2)
Today’s Reading
In Ephesians 4:13 Paul speaks of the need for all to arrive at
the oneness of the faith, not only in relation to the saints but also
in relation to the gifts in verse 11. The gifts also all need to arrive
at the oneness of the full knowledge of the Son of God; then we
will arrive at a full-grown man. If the light we receive stays
merely on the surface of the truth, we will have no way to arrive
at the oneness of the faith. It is only in the Son of God that we can
arrive at the oneness of the faith. If we truly know the Son of
God inwardly, whether we keep the Lord’s Day or the Sabbath
53 WEEK 3 — DAY 6
day will not matter to us. Romans 14:5 says, “One judges one
day above another; another judges every day alike. Let each be
fully persuaded in his own mind.” The Jews asked the Lord Jesus
about the matter of profaning the Sabbath, and the Lord replied,
“The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:8). Actually,
it is not a matter of the Sabbath but a matter of the Lord.
Only when we take Christ as the center and focus on Him
can we arrive at the oneness of the faith. Only in the Son of God
can our faith be one. Once we deviate from this center, the one-
ness is gone…If we truly know the Son of God, there will be no
arguments. This knowing does not depend on mental compre-
hension but on growth in life; this knowing is not in the mind
but in experience. Hence, Ephesians 4:13 continues, saying, “At
a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ.” From this verse we can see that knowing is the
result of arriving at a full-grown man, at the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ.
Even though we may win an argument regarding the rap-
ture, what is the profit if people do not know Christ? If we
know and experience the Son of God, the matter of the proph-
ecy regarding the rapture will not matter to us. The oneness
of the faith among the saints does not depend on the rapture;
rather, it depends on the Son of God, Christ.
In the matter of the administration and management of the
church,…any practice that is not in contradiction to the Son of
God, Christ, is acceptable. If we have seen this great principle,
we will not have any arguments…If we take Christ—the Son
of God—as the criterion and broaden our view, there will be no
problem. All our problems are due to our inadequate knowledge
and vision of the Son of God…The oneness of the faith altogether
depends on our full knowledge of the Son of God. (CWWL, 1952,
vol. 2, “How to Administrate the Church,” pp. 87-89)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1952, vol. 2, “How to Administrate
the Church,” ch. 3; CWWL, 1957, vol. 1, “The Faith, Testi-
mony, and Ground of the Church,” ch. 4
WEEK 3 — HYMN 54
Hymns, #1285
1 The faith which once for all was giv’n

Unto the saints of old,
Has been committed unto us
To guard, defend, and hold.
And we know whom we have believèd
And are persuaded that He is able
To guard, through the Holy Spirit,
Our deposit to that day.
2 This good deposit is the mark
Of God’s economy;
Without it we will miss the aim
Of His recovery.
3 The myst’ry of the common faith,
A conscience pure requires;
A holy, separated life
For us the Lord desires.
4 This outline of the healthy words,
In faith and love we’ll hold;
All different teaching, fruitless talk,
Reject with spirit bold.
5 Oh, healthful teaching, wholesome words:
The truth of godliness!
Oh, good deposit, common faith,
And life of holiness!
6 Lord, make us now those faithful men
Who pass on what we’ve heard;
Make us examples of the saints
In spirit, faith, and word.

sub-points:
Loving the Lord’s Appearing

by Maintaining Our Love for Him
according to the Intrinsic Significance
of Song of Songs
Scripture Reading: S. S. 1:2-4; 2:8-9; 3:9-10; 4:12-16; 6:10, 13;
7:11; 8:13-14
Day 1
I. The subject of Song of Songs, a poem, is the his-
tory of love in an excellent marriage, revealing
the progressive experience of an individual be-
liever’s loving fellowship with Christ for the
preparation of His bride in six major stages—
Rev. 19:7-9; Matt. 25:6-13; Rev. 3:18-22; Zech. 4:1-6,
11-14; 1 John 4:19; Psa. 110:3; 119:140:
A. In the first stage of Song of Songs, the lover of Christ
is drawn to pursue Him for satisfaction (1:2—2:7);
the Lord wants His seeker to have a personal, affec-
tionate, private, and spiritual relationship with Him
(1:2, 4); all the spiritual principles are contained in
this first stage of the seeker’s overcoming life; the
lessons that follow are not new, but they are old les-
sons repeated in a deeper way.
Day 2
B. In the second stage of Song of Songs, the lover of
Christ is called to be delivered from the self through
her oneness with the cross of Christ—2:8—3:5:
1. Song of Songs 2:8-9 speaks of the vitality of res-
urrection; in these verses Christ is likened to a
gazelle or a young hart “leaping upon the moun-
tains, / Skipping upon the hills”; mountains and
hills refer to difficulties and barriers, but noth-
ing is too high or too great to stop the resurrected
Christ; we need to seek for and know Christ’s
mountain-leaping and hill-skipping presence.
2. The lover of Christ falls into introspection, which
becomes a seclusion as a wall that keeps her

away from the presence of Christ (v. 9b); hence,
Christ encourages her to rise up and come out
of her low situation to be with Him (vv. 10-13).
3. It is by the power of resurrection, not by our
natural life, that we, the lovers of Christ, are en-
abled to be conformed to His death by being one
with His cross (vv. 14-15); in our mingled spirit
we participate in and experience the resurrec-
tion of Christ, which enables us to be one with
the cross to be delivered from the self and to be
transformed into a new man in God’s new cre-
ation for the fulfillment of God’s economy in the
building up of the organic Body of Christ (Rom.
8:2, 4, 29; Gal. 6:15; 2 Cor. 5:17).
Day 3
C. In the third stage of Song of Songs, the lover of
Christ is called to live in ascension as the new cre-
ation in resurrection—3:6—5:1:
1. To live in ascension is to live continually in our
spirit; when we live in our spirit, we are joined to
the ascended Christ in the heavens—Eph. 2:22;
Gen. 28:12-17; John 1:51; Rev. 4:1-2; Heb. 4:12, 16
and footnote 1.
2. By the Spirit’s transforming work in us, we
become the moving vessel of Christ, the carriage
of Christ, the “car” of Christ, for the move of
Christ in and for the Body of Christ—S. S. 3:9-10;
cf. 2 Cor. 2:12-17.
3. We are rebuilt with the Divine Trinity so that
our external structure is the resurrected and
ascended humanity of Jesus, and our interior
decoration is our love for the Lord—S. S. 3:9-10.
4. Through her living in Christ’s ascension as the
new creation in resurrection, the lover of Christ
becomes mature in the riches of the life of
Christ so that she can become a garden to Christ
for His private enjoyment (4:12-15); she is prepared
to give forth Christ’s fragrance in any circum-

stance or environment (v. 16).
Day 4
D. In the fourth stage of Song of Songs, the lover of
Christ is called more strongly to live within the veil
through the cross after resurrection—5:2—6:13:
1. By living within the veil, the lover of Christ is
transformed into the heavenly bodies; she looks
forth like the dawn, she is as beautiful as the
moon, and she is as clear as the sun—v. 10.
2. In the maturity of Christ’s life, the lover of Christ
becomes the Shulammite (the feminine form of
Solomon), signifying that she has become the
same as He is in life, nature, expression, and
function (but not in the Godhead) as the repro-
duction and duplication of Christ to match Him
for their marriage—v. 13; 2 Cor. 3:18.
E. In the fifth stage of Song of Songs, the lover of Christ
shares in the work of the Lord—7:1-13:
1. Song of Songs 7:11 shows that Christ’s lover
wants to carry out with her Beloved the work
that is for the entire world (fields) by sojourn-
ing from one place to another (lodging in the
villages); this indicates that she is not sectarian
in carrying out the Lord’s work but keeps the
work open, so that others can come to sojourn
there and she can go to sojourn elsewhere; this
is to keep one work in one Body.
2. To share in the work of the Lord is to work
together with Him (2 Cor. 6:1a); to work with
Him, we need the maturity in life, we need to
be one with the Lord, and our work must be for
His Body (Col. 1:28-29; 1 Cor. 12:12-27).
3. The Shulammite works as Solomon’s counter-
part, taking care of all the vineyards (S. S. 8:11),
the churches and the believers on the whole
earth; we must have a work that is for the entire
world; this is what Paul did by establishing local
churches and then working to bring them into

the full realization of the Body of Christ (Rom.
16:1-24).
Day 5
F. In the sixth stage of Song of Songs, the lover of
Christ is hoping to be raptured (8:1-14); she is com-
ing up from the wilderness (the earthly realm) by
“leaning on her beloved” (v. 5):
1. Leaning on her beloved implies that, like Jacob,
the socket of her hip has been touched, and her
natural strength has been dealt with by the
Lord—Gen. 32:24-25.
2. Leaning on her beloved also implies that she
finds herself pressed beyond measure, and this
seems to last until the wilderness journey is
over—2 Cor. 1:8-9; 12:9-10; 13:3-4.
3. She asks her Beloved to set her as a seal on His
heart of love and as a seal on His arm of strength;
at this point she is conscious of her powerless-
ness and helplessness, and she realizes that
everything depends on God’s love and preserving
power—S. S. 8:6-7.
4. The lover of Christ asks Him who dwells in the
believers as His gardens to let her hear His
voice; this indicates that in the work that we do
for the Lord as our Beloved, we need to main-
tain our fellowship with Him, always listening
to Him—v. 13.
Day 6
II. As the concluding word of this poetic book, the
lover of Christ prays that her Beloved would
make haste to come back in the power of His res-
urrection (gazelle and young hart) to set up His
sweet and beautiful kingdom (mountains of
spices), which will fill the whole earth—v. 14; Rev.
11:15; Dan. 2:35:
A. Such a prayer portrays the union and communion
between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers

as the bride in their bridal love, in the way that the
prayer of John, a lover of Christ, as the concluding
word of the Holy Scriptures, reveals God’s eternal
economy concerning Christ and the church in His
divine love—Rev. 22:20.
B. “When He comes, faith will be turned to facts, and
praise will replace prayer. Love will consummate in
a shadowless perfection, and we will serve Him in
the sinless domain. What a day that will be! Lord
Jesus, come quickly!”—Watchman Nee, The Col-
lected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 23, “The Song of
Songs,” p. 126.
WEEK 4 — DAY 1 62
Morning Nourishment
S. S. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For
1:2-4 your love is better than wine. Your anointing
oils have a pleasant fragrance; your name is like
ointment poured forth; therefore the virgins love
you. Draw me; we will run after you—the king
has brought me into his chambers—we will be
glad and rejoice in you; we will extol your love
more than wine. Rightly do they love you.
Song of Songs is a history of love in an excellent marriage,

a story of the love between the wise King Solomon, the writer
of this book, and the Shulammite (6:13), a girl of the country-
side…Song of Songs stresses not the Body of Christ corporately
but the believer in Christ individually, unveiling the progres-
sive experience of an individual believer’s loving fellowship with
Christ in…stages…The stages of such a progression should be
landmarks to us in the course of our pursuing of Christ for His
and our mutual satisfaction. (Song of Songs 1:1, footnote 1)
The progress begins with the first stage of Christ’s lovers’
being drawn to pursue Him for satisfaction, continues through
the following stages of (1) their being called to be delivered from
the self through the oneness with the cross, (2) their being called
to live in ascension as the new creation in resurrection, (3) their
being called more strongly to live within the veil through the
cross after resurrection, and (4) their sharing in the work of
the Lord, and ends with the last stage of their hoping to be
raptured. (Life-study of Song of Songs, p. 69)
Today’s Reading
After you have received Christ as your life, you must have
a very personal seeking after Christ. No one can represent you
or do anything for you in this matter. It must be personal.
We all need this kind of personal, affectionate, intimate
contact with the Lord every day. This has become my habit.
Every morning after rising up I go to my desk, and the first thing
I say is, “Lord Jesus, I love You.”…We all need to take heed to
what the seeker says: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his
63 WEEK 4 — DAY 1
mouth!” Right away her tone changes: “Your love is better than
wine.” This is a personal, intimate prayer. “Draw me; we will
run after you.”…We need to build up such a relationship with
Him that is so personal and affectionate.
Christianity preaches the physical Jesus, but we preach the
pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17).
This One is private and spiritual. We have seen that the king’s
chambers signify our spirit…He visits us privately as the all-
inclusive consummated Spirit.
Christ the King brings His seekers into His chambers, that
is, into their regenerated spirit, His dwelling place…When I was
young, I was taught to pray to God as the heavenly Father. I
was also told not to pray to the Spirit, because in the entire
New Testament you cannot find a verse concerning praying to
the Spirit. But the more we pray, the more we have the feeling
that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all in us (Eph. 4:6;
2 Cor. 13:5; Rom. 8:9). According to our experience, our spirit
is the Holy of Holies—the dwelling place, the inner chambers,
of the Triune God. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “Crystallization-
study of Songs of Songs,” pp. 257, 260, 264-265)
[Song of Songs 1:2—2:7] is the key to the whole book. All the
spiritual principles are contained in this section. It foreshad-
ows all subsequent experiences. The lessons that follow are not
new; rather, they are old lessons repeated in a deeper way.
The spiritual experiences in the first section are smooth and
easy…However,…there is the need for these experiences to
pass through the fire…The first time a person experiences some-
thing, the impression may not be very deep; the second time,
the experience may be more advanced and more sure. Yet the
second experience may not be as sweet as the first. In the end
the experience is the same as that which was encountered at
the beginning; the banner is still love. (CWWN, vol. 23, “The
Song of Songs,” p. 7)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “Crystallization-
study of Songs of Songs,” chs. 1-12
WEEK 4 — DAY 2 64
Morning Nourishment
S. S. The voice of my beloved! Now he comes, leaping
2:8-9 upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My
beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart. Now he
stands behind our wall; he is looking through the
windows, he is glancing through the lattice.
In the Bible, both the mountains and the hills refer to dif-
ficulties and barriers. He comes “leaping upon the mountains,
skipping upon the hills” [S. S. 2:8]. This means that nothing is
too high or too great to stop Him.
The Lord is the Lord of resurrection. Christ has resurrected;
He has overcome all difficulties and barriers. Difficulties and
barriers are things of yesterday. He is living in the next day.
All difficulties are beneath His feet. (CWWN, vol. 23, “The
Song of Songs,” p. 32)
All the troubles concerning our fellowship with Christ come
from our side. Many “hills” and “mountains” frustrate us from
coming to Him, but He is never frustrated, for He can “leap”
and “skip.” (Life-study of Song of Songs, p. 19)
Today’s Reading
“My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart” (S. S. 2:9a). The
word hind in the title of Psalm 22, which is concerned with resur-
rection, signifies Christ in resurrection. Christ’s being like a
young hart signifies that His power is the power of resurrection.
“Now he stands behind our wall” (S. S. 2:9b). His standing
behind “our wall” signifies that the lover’s introspection as the
problem in her self is a separation between her and Him.
“Rise up, my love, / My beauty, and come away” (v. 13b).
This…word indicates Christ’s eagerness in asking His lover
to get away from her introspection of the self to be with Him.
However, it is not easy for one to come out of introspection…
Sometimes it takes a year or more before such a one can be
helped to get away from the introspection of the self.
“My dove, in the clefts of the rock, / In the covert of the prec-
ipice, / Let me see your countenance, / Let me hear your voice; /
For your voice is sweet, / And your countenance is lovely ” (v. 14).
65 WEEK 4 — DAY 2
Here Christ, considering her His simple lover (My dove), wants
to see His lover’s lovely countenance and hear her sweet voice
in her oneness, union, with the cross (the clefts of the rock and
the covert of the precipice). Here we see Christ’s call for His
lover to be in oneness with the cross. This point on the cross is
the central stress in this section on deliverance from the self.
If I had been the lover, I might have said, “My beloved, I
cannot get to the clefts of the rock. The clefts are too high and
the way is too rugged. I do not have enough power to go there.”
But here Christ was indicating to His lover that she could enter
into the experience of the cross by the power of His resurrec-
tion. (Life-study of Song of Songs, pp. 20-23)
Christ wants His seeker to remain in the cross, in a crucified
condition, continually (Gal. 2:20a; 1 Cor. 15:31; 2 Cor. 4:10-11).
However, to remain in the cross is a difficult matter, like enter-
ing into the clefts of the rock and the covert of the precipice high
in the mountains by a rugged road. In order to empower and
encourage His lover to rise up and come away from her low sit-
uation in her introspection of the self, Christ empowers her by
showing her the power of His resurrection (S. S. 2:8-9a), and He
encourages her by the f lourishing riches of His resurrection
(vv. 11-13). It is by the power of Christ’s resurrection, not by our
natural life, that we, the lovers of Christ, determine to take the
cross by denying our self (Matt. 16:24). It is also by the power
of Christ’s resurrection that we are enabled to be conformed to
His death by being one with His cross (Phil. 3:10). The reality
of resurrection is the pneumatic Christ (John 11:25), who as the
consummated Spirit indwells and is mingled with our regener-
ated spirit (1 Cor. 6:17 and footnotes). It is in such a mingled spirit
that we participate in and experience the resurrection of Christ,
which enables us to be one with the cross to be delivered from
the self and to be transformed into a new man in God’s new
creation for the fulfillment of God’s economy in the building up
of the organic Body of Christ. (S. S. 2:14, footnote 1)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” secs. 1-5
WEEK 4 — DAY 3 66
Morning Nourishment
S. S. King Solomon made himself a palanquin of the
3:9-10 wood of Lebanon. Its posts he made of silver; its
bottom, of gold; its seat, of purple; its midst was
inlaid with love from the daughters of Jerusa-
lem.
In the third stage of her experience the lover of Christ is

called to live in ascension as the new creation in resurrection.
To live in ascension is to live continually in our spirit. Although
we, the believers in Christ, are on earth, when we are in our
spirit, we are joined to the ascended Christ in the heavens…To
live in ascension requires that we live, act, move, and do every-
thing in our spirit (Rom. 8:4). This requires that we discern our
spirit from our soul (Heb. 4:12). (S. S. 3:6, footnote 1)
In the kingdom age the lover of Christ, signified by the palan-
quin, and Christ, signified by its rider, are in a union of trium-
phant celebration. Christ’s lover is a palanquin (for travel in the
day, the kingdom age—2 Pet. 1:19), a carriage for Christ, made
by Christ Himself out of the resurrected, uplifted, and noble hu-
manity (the wood of Lebanon), having God’s nature (gold) as its
base, Christ’s redemption (silver) as its supports, and Christ’s
kingship (purple) as its seat (S. S. 3:9-10). The inside of the palan-
quin is inlaid with the love of Christ’s seekers (daughters), signi-
fying that the lover of Christ is one with all the seekers of Christ
in love in the principle of the Body of Christ. (S. S. 3:9, footnote 1)
Today’s Reading
With the palanquin there are two aspects: the exterior struc-
ture and the interior decoration. Solomon built a palanquin of
the wood of Lebanon…Wood signifies humanity, and Lebanon
signifies resurrection and ascension…Christ can make wild
mares into a palanquin with His resurrected and ascended
humanity…A mare is something natural by birth; there is abso-
lutely nothing of building up related to it…But the palanquin
is not something of birth; it is something built up. And the
substantial material used for this building is the humanity of
Jesus in resurrection and ascension. The moving vessel of Christ
67 WEEK 4 — DAY 3
is not of natural birth but something built with the resurrected

and ascended humanity of Christ.
We must learn to take the Lord’s resurrected and ascended
humanity as our basic structure so that we may be built into
the moving vessel that contains and expresses Him. More-
over, there is not only the wood of Lebanon but also the posts
of silver and the golden bottom. Silver signifies the Lord’s
redemption, and gold, God’s divine nature. The redemption
of Christ is our supporting strength, and the divine nature of
God is the very base of our building.
We need to take all these things to the Lord in prayer so that
He may bring us into the reality. We must be such a builded
structure, not with our natural strength but with the human-
ity of Christ, the redemption of Jesus, and the divinity of God.
Solomon made the palanquin himself. It is not that we
make it…Throughout the years, the Lord has been working
on us with the intention to make a palanquin for Himself. He
does not use anything of our natural makeup, but He uses His
humanity, His redemption, and the divinity of God.
Our responsibility is simply to offer our love to Him. The
interior decoration of the palanquin was inlaid with love from
the daughters of Jerusalem. We must offer our love to the Lord.
He does not want anything from us other than our love. “Simon,
son of John, do you love Me more than these?” (John 21:15).
He is always seeking our love, and only our love affords some-
thing for the interior decoration of the palanquin. The Lord
Jesus made it, but it is decorated with our love. The basic struc-
ture is of wood, silver, and gold, but our love is the only thing
with which the interior is decorated. The more we love Him, the
more we will lose our character and personality. The more we
love Him, the more we will lose our will, but the interior of the
palanquin will be fully decorated. (CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “Life and
Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs,” pp. 270-271)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “Life and Building as
Portrayed in the Song of Songs,” chs. 1-13
WEEK 4 — DAY 4 68
Morning Nourishment
S. S. Return, return, O Shulammite; return, return,
6:13 that we may gaze at you…
2 Cor. But we all with unveiled face, beholding and re-
3:18 flecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are
being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.
Shulammite is the feminine form of Solomon, indicating that

now the overcomers have become the same as Christ. All the
overcomers must be one with God and must be Christ. The
Shulammite was a country girl. Now, as a counterpart of Solo-
mon, she has become the same as Solomon in life, in nature,
in expression, and in function for the carrying out of God’s
economy. In these four things—life, nature, expression, and
function—we become the same as God and Christ but not in
Their Godhead. To say that we are the same as God in His God-
head is a great blasphemy, but if we say that we cannot be the
same as God in life, nature, expression, and function, this is
unbelief. The Bible tells us again and again that God wants to
be one with us and to make us one with Him.
The phrases in Christ and in the Lord are used repeat-
edly in the New Testament…In the Lord we are able to do
all things (Phil. 4:13)…He is able to make us the same as He
is in His life, in His nature, in His expression, and in His
function to carry out His economy. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3,
“Crystallization-study of Songs of Songs,” p. 349)
Today’s Reading
“Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields; / Let us
lodge in the villages” (S. S. 7:11). This reveals that she wants to
carry out with her Beloved the work that is for the entire world
by sojourning from one place to another. This indicates that
she is not sectarian…We must learn to keep the work open, so
that others can come to sojourn there and we can go to sojourn
elsewhere. This is to keep one work in one Body.
To share in the work of the Lord is not to work for the Lord
69 WEEK 4 — DAY 4
but to work together with the Lord. This requires a matured

life. The Pentecostal movement has stressed power and mir-
acles, yet little attention has been paid to the matter of life. The
Assembly of God has given more emphasis to the teaching of
the truth, but it also has neglected the matter of life. Neverthe-
less, the Lord has had those who have sought out the experi-
ence of the inner life. This began with saints such as Madame
Guyon, Brother Lawrence, and others. They were deep in life,
but their teachings were mystical and mysterious. William Law
improved their teachings into something quite practical, help-
ing many believers. Andrew Murray was helped by him and was
among the first to see that the New Testament Spirit of God has
an element of humanity. He said that the Spirit of the glorified
Jesus, the resurrected Christ who is the Spirit, contains His
glorified humanity. Jessie Penn-Lewis received much help from
Andrew Murray and stressed the subjective inner life, espe-
cially the subjective aspect of Christ’s death…Mrs. Penn-Lewis
saw the subjective aspect of the death of Christ, and T. Austin-
Sparks saw the principles of resurrection for the building up
of the Body of Christ. Brother Nee received much help in the
early days from the writings of these teachers.
To work together with the Lord we must be mature in life
and we must teach the high truths…In Song of Songs we see
that to work with the Lord we need the maturity in life, we
need to be one with the Lord, and our work must be for His
Body. Our Lord is Solomon and we must be the Shulammite;
that is, we must be one with the Lord.
The Shulammite works as Solomon’s counterpart, taking
care of all the vineyards (S. S. 8:11). This indicates that our
work should be for the Body, not just one city. We must have
a work that is for the entire world…Paul did [this] by estab-
lishing local churches and then working to bring them into the
full realization of the Body of Christ. (Life-study of Song of
Songs, pp. 59-61)
Further Reading: Life-study of Song of Songs, msgs. 1-10
WEEK 4 — DAY 5 70
Morning Nourishment
S. S. Who is this who comes up from the wilderness,
8:5-6 leaning on her beloved?…Set me as a seal on your
heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is as strong
as death, jealousy is as cruel as Sheol; its flashes
are the flashes of fire, a flame of Jehovah.
This is the time to prepare ourselves for the rapture. By lean-

ing on our Beloved, we constantly leave the world behind and
come up again and again until the Lord comes to take us away.
“Leaning on her beloved.” [The lover] seems to be powerless
and unable to walk. “Leaning on her beloved.” She makes her-
self a burden for her beloved to carry. “Leaning on her beloved.”
It is as if the hollow of her thigh has been touched. “Leaning
on her beloved.” She seems to find herself pressed beyond
measure, and this seems to last until the wilderness journey is
over. Only the Lord can prepare us for the rapture. A trusting
life is indispensable. We should trust in Him helplessly until
the Holy Spirit exclaims, “Who is this who comes…leaning on
her beloved?” [S. S. 8:5]. (CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,”
p. 118)
Today’s Reading
When she recalls her original condition, she cannot help
but be filled with humility. She cannot help but consider her
emptiness, the vanity of her experience, the undependability
of her mind, and the futility of her pursuit. Her only hope is the
Lord. She realizes that whether she can endure to the end does
not depend on her own endurance, but on the Lord’s preser-
vation. No spiritual perfection can sustain a person until the
Lord’s return. Everything depends on God and His preserving
power. When she realizes this, she cannot help but exclaim,
“Set me as a seal on your heart, / As a seal on your arm” [S. S.
8:6]. The heart is the place of love, while the arm is the place of
strength. “…I know that I am weak and empty, and I am con-
scious of my powerlessness. Lord, I am a helpless person. If
I try to preserve myself until Your coming, it will only bring
shame to Your name and loss to myself. All my hopes are in Your
71 WEEK 4 — DAY 5
love and power…My trust is not in my holding power, but in

Your holding power. I dare not speak of my love to You any
longer. I dare not speak of my grasping of You any longer. From
this point on, everything depends on Your strength and Your
love.
“Your love is as strong as death. Who can shake death? No
sighing of parents, no tears of wives, and no sorrow of friends
can bring back a man from death. Death holds its captives and
keeps them firmly, unrelentingly, and unshakably in its hand.
If You love me, I will not be shaken, because Your love cannot
possibly be weaker than death.
“If You love me, Your jealousy will follow. Your jealousy will
be as cruel as Sheol…You will not allow anything to share my
heart. Even if You owned a major part of me, You would not be
satisfied. Your eyes cannot stand to see those who are Yours
being defiled by the world or usurped by other loves. You are
jealous; from the beginning of time You have been a jealous
God (Exo. 20:5). Have not Your apostles told us about the jeal-
ousy of God (2 Cor. 11:2)? If You are jealous, who can withstand
Your jealousy?…You will remove all hindrances until You be-
come the unique Lord, the God of all, and the unchallenged
King. In this way, I will be protected, and my chastity will be
preserved until I see Your face.” (CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of
Songs,” pp. 119-120)
Song of Songs 8:13 says, “O you who dwell in the gardens, /
My companions listen for your voice; / Let me hear it.” The
lover of her Beloved asks Him who dwells in the believers as His
gardens to let her hear His voice as her companions listen for
His voice. This indicates that in the work, which we as the
lovers of Christ who express Him as our living outwardly do for
Him as our Beloved who indwells us as our life inwardly, we
should fellowship with Him in His speaking. As we are work-
ing with Him, we need to maintain our fellowship with Him,
always listening to Him. (Life-study of Song of Songs, p. 68)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” sec. 6
WEEK 4 — DAY 6 72
Morning Nourishment
S. S.
Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or
8:14a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
Rev.And the seventh angel trumpeted; and there were
11:15loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the
world has become the kingdom of our Lord and
of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.
Dan. …And the stone that struck the image became a
2:35 great mountain and filled the whole earth.
The lover of her Beloved prays that He would make haste to

come back in the power of His resurrection to set up His sweet
and beautiful kingdom which will fill the whole earth (Rev. 11:15;
Dan. 2:35). Here [S. S. 8:14] we should note that the prayer of
this lover of her Beloved is the concluding word of this poetic
book, portraying the union and communion between Christ as
the Bridegroom and His lovers as the bride in their bridal love,
as the prayer of John, a lover of Christ, is the concluding word
of the Holy Scripture, revealing God’s eternal economy concern-
ing Christ and the church in His divine love (Rev. 22:20).
The poem, as a type,…as the story of the love between a
king and a country girl is a marvelous and vivid portrait, as the
fulfillment, of the bridal love between Christ as the Bridegroom
and His lovers as His bride in their mutual enjoyment in the
mingling of His divine attributes with the human virtues of His
lovers. The correspondence of the progression with its stages on
these two sides of the poem and its portrait is the intrinsic
revelation of the Holy Word of the omnipotent, omniscient, and
omnipresent God. (Life-study of Song of Songs, pp. 68-69)
Today’s Reading
[The words in Song of Songs 8:14] are the same as in 2:17.
It is the same prayer, but the things that are referred to are not
the same in both cases. This book mentions…the Lord’s coming
as “a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountains…” two times.
The first time [v. 17]…shows His longing for an absolute fel-
lowship with the believers. But then the shadows had not fled
73 WEEK 4 — DAY 6
and the day had not yet broken; that is, the Lord had not yet
come. The emphasis was fellowship…But the second [8:14]
refers to the Lord’s second coming. This coming is in the future,
and though it may be very near, no one knows when it will be.
Unlike the case in chapter 2, it does not have a time limit. The
matter is not fellowship; therefore, this verse does not speak of
the mountains of Bether but of the mountains of spices. It de-
scribes the condition of the Lord’s coming and His kingdom.
Then the maiden’s experience will be like a drop of water that
has disappeared into the ocean; there will be no more room for
advancement, though the tide can always go deeper. All that is
left in the world is just her body. Everything else has gone to
another world. Therefore, she cannot help but cry, “Make haste,
my beloved.” “Come as quickly as the gazelle or a young hart. Just
as a gazelle or a young hart appears on the mountains of spices,
may You come in Your kingdom.”…When He comes, faith will
be turned to facts, and praise will replace prayer. Love will con-
summate in a shadowless perfection, and we will serve Him in
the sinless domain. What a day that will be! Lord Jesus, come
quickly! (CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” pp. 125-126)
The last point in this book is in the very last verse [S. S. 8:14]…
This book is an extract of the entire Bible. It is a condensation
of the Bible in eight short chapters. At the end of the Bible the
Lord says, “I come quickly” (Rev. 22:20). To make haste means
to come quickly. “Make haste, my beloved” means “Come
quickly, Lord Jesus.” The Lord is coming upon the mountains
of spices…In the Song of Songs the spices are the different
aspects of the Lord Jesus experienced by us and even grown out
from us. Soon, all our experiences of the Lord will be piled up
like mountains. Then the Lord Jesus will come to meet us there.
This will bring in the kingdom, and the kingdom will be com-
posed of mountains of spices. (CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “Life and
Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs,” p. 345)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “Life and Building as
Portrayed in the Song of Songs,” ch. 14
WEEK 4 — HYMN 74
Hymns, #556
1 Thy name is sweet as ointment pourèd forth;

Better Thy love than wine. Oh, draw Thou me!
If we the footsteps follow of the f lock,
Entered Thy fellowship of love we’ll be.
2 He’s my Beloved; I am His own love.
He draweth me, pursue I after Him.
Fragrant as myrrh, I’d hide Him in my heart;
Beauteous as henna, I’d be clothed with Him;
3 Bathe in His love, and of His fatness taste;
Lie on His breast, His sweetness there enjoy.
His love the banner, His affection shown,
Tenderly soothes my heart to purest joy.
4 Oh, my Beloved’s mine, and I am His.
I am a lily, and my Shepherd He.
May daybreak come, the shadows f lee away;
Him on the mountains as a hart I’d see.
5 Myrrh of the death with Him and frankincense,
The resurrection, permeate my heart.
North wind, awake, and let the south wind blow—
Make my heart’s garden pleasure to His heart.
6 I’d be to Him a dove that’s undefiled,
As a pure lily in His presence be,
His, wholly His, the joy of all His joys,
He wholly mine, the Song of songs to me.
7 Fair as the moon, conformed to Him I’d be,
Clear as the sun, unto His stature grown;
For my Beloved, all to please His heart,
For my Beloved, that His life be shown.
8 Thou art my life, and I, Thine image real;
Love in such union is as death most strong.
Ne’er can it be destroyed or e’er replaced
Till Thou on spices mountains come ere long.

sub-points:
Receiving the Kingdom Reward of Christ

Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 4:7-8, 18; 3:2-5; 1 Cor. 9:25; Phil. 3:9;
Psa. 45:13-14
Day 1
I. In order for us to enjoy Christ as our kingdom
reward, we must love the Lord’s appearing, which
is His appearing and manifestation to us today
and His presence with His people at His second
coming, by staying on the constricted way of being
watchful in life and faithful in service to be con-
stituted as the bride of Christ—2 Tim. 4:7-8; Acts
26:16; Rom. 8:19; 1 Thes. 5:23; 2 Thes. 1:10; John
14:21, 23; Matt. 7:13-14; 24:3, 45-51; 25:9, 13, 21:
A. Loving the Lord’s appearing and loving the Lord
Himself are inseparable—1 Cor. 2:9; 2 Tim. 4:8;
John 14:21.
B. In the prophetic picture presented in 2 Timothy
3:2-5 of Christianity in decline, four particular kinds
of lovers are mentioned: lovers of self, lovers of
money, lovers of pleasure, and lovers of God; what-
ever one loves, his whole heart, even his entire being,
is set on and occupied and possessed by; this is
crucial!
C. Whether there would be a day of glory in the church’s
victory or grievous days of the church’s decline de-
pends altogether on what kind of lovers we are; his-
tory tells us that the root of the church’s decline was
the loss of her first love toward the Lord—Rev. 2:4.
Day 2
D. To maintain the victorious standard of the church,
we must be lovers of God for the fulfillment of God’s
economy; the Lord has promised to give the crown
of life and the inheritance of the kingdom to those
who love Him—James 1:12; 2:5.
E. The incorruptible crown is a symbol of glory and

beauty given as a prize, in addition to the Lord’s sal-
vation, to the triumphant runner of the Christian
race—1 Cor. 9:25; 1 Pet. 5:4; Isa. 28:5:
1. This prize is neither of grace nor by faith, as sal-
vation is (Eph. 2:8), but of righteousness through
works (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 2 Cor. 5:10).
2. The crown of righteousness will be awarded not
according to the grace of the Lord but according
to His righteousness, and the One who awards it
will be the Lord as the righteous Judge—2 Tim.
4:8.
Day 3
II. In order to be awarded with Christ as our crown
of righteousness in the next age, we must expe-
rience and enjoy Him as our subjective, lived-out
righteousness in this age—Phil. 3:9:
A. There are two aspects of Christ being righteous-
ness to the believers:
1. Christ is our objective righteousness for us to be
justified before God at the time of our repent-
ing unto God and believing into Christ—Rom.
3:24-26; Acts 13:39; Gal. 3:24b, 27.
2. Christ is also our subjective righteousness as
the living out and genuine expression of Christ,
which is the transcendent condition of express-
ing God by living Christ—Phil. 3:9; 1:21a.
B. These two aspects of righteousness are typified by
the two garments of the queen in Psalm 45:13-14:
Day 4
1. One garment corresponds to the objective right-
eousness, which is for our salvation—“her gar-
ment is a woven work inwrought with gold”—
v. 13b:
a. This signifies that the Christ who has been
dealt with through many sufferings and
through death and resurrection becomes the
righteousness of the church to meet the right-

eous requirement of God for her to be justi-
fied before God—1 Cor. 1:30; Luke 15:22;
Jer. 23:6.
b. Her being covered with gold signifies the
church’s appearing in the divine nature—
Psa. 45:9b; 2 Pet. 1:4.
2. The other garment corresponds with the subjec-
tive righteousnesses, which are for our victory—
“she will be led to the King in embroidered cloth-
ing”—Psa. 45:14a; cf. Rev. 19:8; Matt. 22:11-12:
a. The overcoming believers are Christ’s cor-
porate queen, taking Christ as their royal
abode for them to be found in Christ and for
Him to become their subjective righteous-
ness—Psa. 45:13a; John 15:4a.
b. This embroidered clothing, another garment,
the second layer of her covering, signifies
that the church will be led to Christ at their
marriage clothed with the righteousnesses
of the saints to meet the requirement of
Christ for their marriage—Rev. 19:8.
c. The raiment of embroidered work is the
subjective Christ woven into our character,
embroidered into our being, to be our lived-
out righteousness.
d. This embroidery signifies the transforming
work of the Holy Spirit, who is working day
by day to embroider Christ into us stitch by
stitch to be our wedding garment.
e. The degraded recovered church needs to
pay the price to live Christ as her subjective
righteousness that she may be clothed with
Christ as her God-approved conduct—3:18.
Day 5
III. “The Lord will…save me into His heavenly king-
dom”—2 Tim. 4:18:
A. The heavenly kingdom, which equals the crown of
righteousness, is “the kingdom of their Father” (Matt.

13:43), “the kingdom of My Father” (26:29), “the
kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:5), and “the
eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”
(2 Pet. 1:11), which will be a reward to the over-
coming saints (Rev. 20:4).
B. The overcoming believers will participate in the
heavenly kingdom, the manifestation of the king-
dom of the heavens—Matt. 7:21:
1. As “the righteous,” the sons of the kingdom, the
overcomers will shine forth like the sun in the
kingdom of their Father—13:43.
2. In the heavenly kingdom the overcomers will
drink the cup of the new covenant anew with
their Lord—26:29.
Day 6
3. In the kingdom of their Father the overcoming
believers will feast with the Old Testament over-
comers—8:11.
4. To the overcomers the heavenly kingdom will
be a joyful inheritance—1 Cor. 6:9-10.
inherit eternal life and thereby have a fuller
enjoyment of the divine life—Luke 18:29-30.
enter into the Lord’s joy and thus gain their soul,
save their soul, and enjoy the salvation of their
soul—Matt. 10:39; 16:25-26; 25:21, 23; Luke 9:24;
Heb. 10:39; 1 Pet. 1:5, 9.
7. In the heavenly kingdom the overcoming be-
lievers will reign with Christ and rule over the
nations—Rev. 20:4; 2:26-27.
WEEK 5 — DAY 1 80
Morning Nourishment
2 Tim. I solemnly charge you before God and Christ
4:1 Jesus…and by His appearing and His kingdom.
7-8 I have fought the good fight; I have finished the
course; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is
laid up for me the crown of righteousness, with
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will recom-
pense me in that day, and not only me but also
all those who have loved His appearing.
This word [in 2 Timothy 4:1] proves that, in his life and
work, Paul took the Lord’s appearing and His kingdom as the
incentive and goal. The Lord’s appearing will be for judgment,
to reward each one of us (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12), and His
kingdom will be for His reigning with His overcomers (Rev.
20:4, 6). The apostle not only took these two matters as the
incentive and goal for himself but also by these two matters
charged Timothy, who was under his leading, to faithfully ful-
fill his ministry of the word. (2 Tim. 4:1, footnote 2)
The Lord’s appearing, His coming back, is a warning, an
encouragement, and an incentive to us. We should love it and
look forward to it with earnest expectation and joy. (2 Tim.
4:8, footnote 5)
Today’s Reading
In 2 Timothy 3:1 Paul says that in the last days “difficult
times will come.” The Greek for difficult times also means “hard
times, grievous times, perilous times.”…In verse 12 Paul says,
“All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be perse-
cuted.” For those who pursue righteousness, faith, love, and
peace and who call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart,
this time will indeed be difficult, grievous, perilous. Here Paul
seems to be saying, “Timothy, I am encouraged by the fact that
the firm foundation of God stands and that, with others, you
can pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace and call on
the Lord out of a pure heart. You can stand together and dis-
pense the inoculation against the decline of the church. Some
81 WEEK 5 — DAY 1
may even be recovered to the full knowledge of the truth and

to the will of God. Nevertheless, I want you to know that the
time that is coming will be very difficult for you. This time will
be grievous, perilous, for all those who call on the Lord out of
a pure heart and who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus.”
In verse 2 Paul goes on to say, “For men will be lovers of
self, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, revilers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy.” The prophetic picture pre-
sented in verses 2 through 5 portrays not the evil condition
of the non-Christian society but the corrupted situation of the
great house mentioned in 2:20, degraded Christianity. This
is proved by the phrase having an outward form of godliness
(3:5). Unbelievers do not have even the form of godliness. Those
who have such a form are those who are called Christians.
The first thing Paul says about these men is that they will
be “lovers of self.” Many Christians today are self-lovers. Not
only those who indulge in worldly entertainments are selfish;
even those who attend the chapels and cathedrals may be selfish.
In 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus seven kinds of lovers are men-
tioned: lovers of self, lovers of money (2 Tim. 3:2; 1 Tim. 6:10),
lovers of pleasure, lovers of God (2 Tim. 3:4), lovers of good
(Titus 1:8), lovers of husbands, and lovers of children (2:4).
Also, two kinds of nonlovers are mentioned: nonlovers of good
and nonlovers of God (2 Tim. 3:3-4). Whatever one loves, his
whole heart, even his entire being, is set on and occupied and
possessed by. This is crucial! Whether there would be a day of
glory in the church’s victory or grievous days of the church’s
decline depends altogether on what we set our heart upon,
what it is we love. History tells us that the root of the church’s
decline was the loss of her first love toward the Lord (Rev.
2:4). To maintain the victorious standard of the church, we
must be lovers of God and lovers of the good that pertains to
God’s economy. (Life-study of 2 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 41-42)
Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Timothy, msg. 5; CWWL,
1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” ch. 5
WEEK 5 — DAY 2 82
Morning Nourishment
James Blessed is the man who endures trial, because
1:12 when he has become approved by testing, he
will receive the crown of life, which He prom-
ised to those who love Him.
2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers: Did not God choose
the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs
of the kingdom, which He promised to those who
love Him?
In 1 Corinthians 9:25 Paul [states], “Everyone who con-

tends exercises self-control in all things; they then, that they
may receive a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible.” All
those who contend in the games, Paul says, exercise strict
self-control. For instance, they watch their diet very carefully.
If athletes exercise self-control in order to receive a corrupt-
ible crown, we should exercise self-control even more to obtain
an incorruptible crown. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, 2nd ed.,
p. 411)
Today’s Reading
Second Timothy 4:8 says, “Henceforth there is laid up for
me the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the right-
eous Judge, will recompense me in that day, and not only me
but also all those who have loved His appearing.” The crown,
a symbol of glory, is given as a prize, in addition to the Lord’s
salvation, to the triumphant runner of the race (1 Cor. 9:25).
In contrast to salvation, which is of grace and by faith (Eph.
2:5, 8-9), this prize is not of grace nor by faith, but is of right-
eousness through works (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 2 Cor. 5:10).
The believers will be recompensed with such a reward, not
according to the Lord’s grace but according to His righteous-
ness. Hence, it is the crown of righteousness. The Recompenser
is the Lord as the righteous Judge, not as the merciful God
or the gracious Redeemer. Paul was assured that such a prize
was reserved, laid up, for him and that he would be recom-
pensed with it at the day of the Lord’s second appearing.
83 WEEK 5 — DAY 2
Paul says that such a recompense will be given to all those

who love the Lord’s appearing.
The crown of righteousness of which Paul was assured is
the incentive to the inoculator. If we are faithful to the healthy
word of the truth, and if we are faithful inoculators to dispense
the ingredients of the divine inoculation into Christians today
that they may return to the full knowledge of the truth, this
reward will be given to us at the time of the Lord’s appear-
ing. This means that if we are faithful to the Lord’s ministry,
we will receive the crown of righteousness as our reward.
There is a great deal of talk among Christians today concern-
ing the Lord’s second coming. But not many believers realize
that when the Lord Jesus comes back, He will not come as the
merciful God or as the gracious Savior but as the righteous
Judge. Christians should be warned and encouraged to pre-
pare themselves to stand before this Judge. I hope that many
among us will take up the burden in this dark age to bring
such a solemn charge to the Lord’s people. We all need to receive
this charge before God and before the Lord Jesus, the One
who will judge the living and the dead. We must declare the
fact that when the Lord comes back, He will be the Judge of
all, both believers and unbelievers. According to Matthew 25,
all of the Lord’s servants will have to give an account to Him.
The Lord will either say, “Well done, good and faithful slave”
(v. 21), or, “Evil and slothful slave” (v. 26). In His righteousness
the Lord will decide whether or not we receive a reward.
Because the Lord’s coming and His kingdom are solemn
matters, Paul gave a serious charge to Timothy in 2 Timothy
4:1-8. We should not think that the Lord’s appearing will merely
be a time of rapture and excitement. It will also be a time of
great solemnity for every believer in Christ. This was the rea-
son Paul charged Timothy by the Lord’s appearing and His
kingdom. May we all give heed to this solemn warning. (Life-
study of 2 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 60-61)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 46
WEEK 5 — DAY 3 84
Morning Nourishment
Phil. And be found in Him, not having my own right-
3:9 eousness which is out of the law, but that which
is through faith in Christ, the righteousness
which is out of God and based on faith.
Rom. Being justified freely by His grace through the
3:24 redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
In Philippians 3:9 Paul does not speak merely in a gen-

eral way but in a very definite way…He wanted to live not in
his own righteousness but in the righteousness of God, and
to be found in such a transcendent condition, expressing God
by living Christ, not by keeping the law.
Before Paul was saved, he had no idea that Christ could
be his righteousness. The righteousness out of the law is the
righteousness that comes from man’s own effort to keep the
law…Formerly, Paul lived in that righteousness which was
according to the law…But now Paul’s desire was to be ob-
served as a person living in Christ and having Christ as his
righteousness. (Life-study of Philippians, 2nd ed., p. 162)
Today’s Reading
[In Philippians 3:9], the expression faith in Christ implies
our believing in Christ. Such faith issues from our knowing
and appreciating Christ. It is Christ Himself, infused into us
through our appreciation of Him, who becomes our faith—
the faith in Him. Hence, it is the faith of Christ that brings
us into an organic union with Him. The righteousness which
is out of God and based on faith is that righteousness which is
God Himself lived out of us to be our righteousness through
our faith in Christ. Such righteousness is the expression of
God, who lives in us. It is based on faith because it is on the
basis, or condition, of faith. Faith is the basis, the condition,
on which we receive and possess the righteousness out of
God, the highest righteousness, which is Christ (1 Cor. 1:30).
(Life-study of Philippians, 2nd ed., p. 163)
There are two aspects of Christ being righteousness from
85 WEEK 5 — DAY 3
God to the believers. The first aspect is that He is the believers’

righteousness for them to be justified before God objectively
at the time of their repenting unto God and believing into
Christ (Rom. 3:24-26; Acts 13:39; Gal. 3:24b, 27). The first
stanza of Hymns, #295 says, “God’s Christ, who is my right-
eousness, / My beauty is, my glorious dress.” Christ is our
beauty given by God to us to be put on us as our clothing, our
glorious dress. This is outward, objective.
The second aspect is that Christ is the believers’ righteous-
ness lived out of them as the manifestation of God, who is the
righteousness in Christ given to the believers for them to be
justified by God subjectively (Rom. 4:25; 1 Pet. 2:24a; James
2:24; Matt. 5:20; Rev. 19:8). We were sinners who repented to
God and believed into the Lord Jesus. Right away God gave
Christ to us as a glorious dress to cover us, so we are accept-
able to God righteously, outwardly. This is objective righteous-
ness. Also, when Christ was given to us to be put on us, He
entered into us to be our life and life supply to live Himself out
of us. This living out is the manifestation of God in Christ. This
is pleasant in the eyes of God. Surely, God would justify us sub-
jectively, not just objectively. Now we can see the two aspects—
outward and inward. Christ is put on us, and Christ enters
into us to live God out of us to be our subjective righteousness.
These two aspects of Christ as righteousness are also typ-
ified by the two garments of the queen in Psalm 45:13-14.
Solomon had a queen, and that queen had two garments. The
first one corresponds with the objective righteousness, which
is for our justification. The other garment corresponds with the
subjective righteousnesses (Rev. 19:8), which are for our victory.
This garment is equivalent to the wedding garment in Mat-
thew 22:11-12. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-
study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 259-260)
Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msgs. 20, 51;
CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the
Epistle to the Romans,” ch. 5
WEEK 5 — DAY 4 86
Morning Nourishment
Psa. The king’s daughter is all glorious within
45:13-14 the royal abode; her garment is a woven work
inwrought with gold. She will be led to the
King in embroidered clothing…
In Psalm 45:13a…the king’s daughter is the queen signify-

ing the church, and her being all glorious within the royal abode
signifies the glorious church taking Christ as her royal abode.
The word abode here refers to the church’s taking Christ
as her abode. First we, the believers of Christ, take Christ as
our abode, and then we become His abode…Christ becomes an
abode when we take Him as our abode, abiding in Him, and
thus become His abode in Him. Concerning this, the Lord Jesus
said, “Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4a)…If we take Him
as our abode, we become His abode. In this way the abode
becomes the abode. (Life-study of the Psalms, p. 264)
Today’s Reading
“Her garment is a woven work inwrought with gold” (Psa.
45:13b). This signifies that the Christ who has been dealt
with through death and resurrection is the righteousness of
the church to meet the righteous requirement of God for her
to be justified before God. Thus “woven work inwrought with
gold” again refers to the first layer of her covering—Christ
as our righteousness through whom we are justified.
“She will be led to the King in embroidered clothing” (v. 14a).
This embroidered clothing, another garment, the second layer
of her covering, signifies that the church will be led to Christ
at their marriage clothed with the righteousnesses of the saints
to meet the requirement of Christ for their marriage.
Revelation 19:8 says, “It was given to her [the overcomers
as the Lamb’s wife] that she should be clothed in fine linen,
bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the
saints.” The word “righteousnesses” refers to Christ as our sub-
jective righteousness, Christ lived out of us. The righteousness
(Christ) that we received for our salvation (1 Cor. 1:30) is objec-
tive and enables us to meet the requirement of the righteous
87 WEEK 5 — DAY 4
God, whereas the righteousnesses of the overcoming believers

are subjective (Phil. 3:9) and enable them to meet the require-
ment of the overcoming Christ…Thus, the queen in Psalm 45
has two garments. (Life-study of the Psalms, pp. 265-266)
These two garments are also seen in Psalm 45. In this psalm
the queen has two garments (vv. 13-14): one corresponds to the
objective righteousness for our salvation and the other to the
subjective righteousness for our victory. The latter is equiva-
lent to the wedding garment in Matthew 22:11 and 12. The queen
in Psalm 45 signifies the church. Her first garment is “inwrought
with gold,” and her second is “embroidered clothing.” In the
Bible gold signifies the divine nature of God. At the time of our
salvation, we received a golden garment that enabled us to be
in the presence of God. In addition to this, we need another gar-
ment, a garment of embroidery. This embroidery signifies the
transforming work of the Holy Spirit…Although we have the
first garment, our second garment is now being prepared under
the embroidering work of the Holy Spirit. This garment will
qualify us to see Christ at His judgment seat. Day by day we are
under the needle, the transformation, of the Holy Spirit. How
we need this second garment! This is a serious matter.
However serious this matter may be, most Christians care
only for the first garment. Some even say, “As long as we are jus-
tified, redeemed, and saved, everything is all right.” Do not lis-
ten to this. You may be all right as far as salvation is concerned,
but what about the reward? You not only need justification—
you also need approval. When you appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, will He approve of you? Matthew 22:14 says very
clearly that some will be chosen and not others. Only those who
have the second garment produced by the embroidering work
of the Holy Spirit will be chosen and qualified to attend the wedding
feast of the Lamb. (Life-study of Revelation, 2nd ed., pp. 608-609)
Further Reading: Life-study of Revelation, msgs. 16, 54; CWWL,
1969, vol. 3, “Christ and the Church Revealed and Typi-
fied in the Psalms,” ch. 7
WEEK 5 — DAY 5 88
Morning Nourishment
2 Tim. The Lord will deliver me from every evil work
4:18 and will save me into His heavenly kingdom, to
whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Matt. Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will
7:21 enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he
who does the will of My Father…
13:43 Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun
in the kingdom of their Father…
In 2 Timothy 4:18…the heavenly kingdom is “the kingdom

of their Father” (Matt. 13:43), “the kingdom of My Father”
(26:29), “the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:5), and
“the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”
(2 Pet. 1:11), which will be a reward to the overcoming saints.
It equals the crown of righteousness in 2 Timothy 4:8 and is
an incentive to the believers to run the heavenly race…Paul
had the assurance to make the triumphant declaration that
he would be saved into this heavenly kingdom. (Life-study of
2 Timothy, 2nd ed., pp. 68-69)
Today’s Reading
To enter into the kingdom of the heavens, we need to do
two things: call on the Lord and do the will of the heavenly
Father. To call on the Lord suffices for us to be saved (Rom.
10:13), but to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, we also
need to do the will of the heavenly Father. Hence, not every-
one who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of the
heavens; but those who call on the Lord and do the will of
the heavenly Father will enter in. (Matt. 7:21, footnote 1)
With the kingdom of the heavens there are three aspects:
the reality [Matt. 5—7], the appearance [Matt. 13], and the
manifestation…The manifestation of the kingdom of the heav-
ens will be the practical coming of the kingdom of the heavens
in power, as revealed by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25…
When the Lord comes back, the kingdom of the heavens will
be manifested…Only the victorious, overcoming believers are
89 WEEK 5 — DAY 5
in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. After the Lord

Jesus comes back, these overcoming believers will participate
in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.
Today the believers shine as lamps, but in the coming age
the overcomers will shine as the sun [Matt. 13:43a].
Those who will shine as the sun are the sons of the king-
dom (13:38) as the righteous. According to 5:20, these sons of
the kingdom will have the surpassing righteousness. They will
be righteous to such an extent that their entire being will shine.
This righteousness is the indwelling Christ lived out of us that
we may live in the reality of the kingdom today and enter into
its manifestation in the future.
We are sons of God the Father, and God is light (1 John 1:5;
1 Tim. 6:16). The divine light, which is God Himself, is, of course,
much greater than the light of the sun. When in the millen-
nium the overcoming believers enjoy the Father as light, they
will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
In the heavenly part of the millennium the overcoming
believers will drink the cup of the new covenant anew with
their Lord. In Matthew 26:29 the Lord Jesus said, “I shall by
no means drink of this product of the vine from now on until that
day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of My Father.”
This word was spoken when the Lord was establishing the
table (Matt. 26:26-30). By speaking this word, He made it
clear that from the time He established the table He would be
physically away from the believers and not drink the product
of the vine with them until He drinks anew with them in the
Father’s kingdom. After His coming back, the Lord will drink
the cup of the new covenant anew with the overcoming believ-
ers. Therefore, the Lord’s promise in Matthew 26:29 will be
fulfilled with the overcomers in the kingdom of the Father
during the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. (The
Further Reading: CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “The Living and Prac-
tical Way to Enjoy Christ,” ch. 4
WEEK 5 — DAY 6 90
Morning Nourishment
Matt. …Well done, good and faithful slave. You were
25:21 faithful over a few things; I will set you over
many things. Enter into the joy of your master.
Rev. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first
20:6 resurrection; over these the second death has
no authority, but they will be priests of God and
of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand
years.
In the kingdom of their Father the overcoming believers will

also feast with the Old Testament overcomers. The Lord Jesus
speaks of this in Matthew 8:11: “I say to you that many will
come from the east and the west and will recline at table
with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the
heavens.” This refers to the manifestation of the kingdom of
the heavens. It will be in the manifestation of the kingdom
that the overcoming Gentile believers will feast with the Old
Testament overcomers, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
(The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2011-2012)
Today’s Reading
In 1 Corinthians 6:10b Paul speaks of inheriting the king-
dom of God. The word “inherit” in this verse implies enjoy-
ment…The coming kingdom will be a joyful inheritance to the
overcomers. According to Matthew, the manifestation of the king-
dom will be a reward to the overcoming saints as their enjoy-
ment with the Lord…This should be an incentive for us to live
an overcoming life. By living an overcoming life today we shall
be qualified to inherit the coming kingdom as a reward.
When the overcoming believers participate in the coming
kingdom, they will inherit eternal life and thereby have a fuller
enjoyment of the divine life (Matt. 19:29b; cf. Matt. 19:23-24).
To inherit eternal life is to be rewarded in the coming age (Luke
18:29-30) with the enjoyment of the divine life in the manifes-
tation of the kingdom of the heavens. In the manifestation of
the kingdom the overcoming believers will participate in the
91 WEEK 5 — DAY 6
enjoyment of eternal life with the Lord Jesus…in a fuller way.

To participate in the coming kingdom is also to gain our
soul-life, to save our soul-life, and to enjoy the salvation of our
soul. If today we love only the Lord and not our soul-life, that
is, our self, and if we live by Him and according to His standard,
then when He comes back He will reward us with the kingdom.
In the kingdom we shall have no problems, sorrows, or suffer-
ings in our soul, for at that time we shall gain our soul-life, we
shall save our soul-life, and we shall enjoy the salvation of our
soul. However, if we are defeated believers, we shall be punished
during the kingdom age, and that punishment will involve our
soul, with the gnashing of teeth as a sign of suffering in our soul.
In the coming kingdom the overcoming believers will reign
with Christ. Revelation 20:4b says, “They lived and reigned with
Christ for a thousand years” [cf. v. 6b]…In 2 Timothy 2:12a Paul
says, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” These verses
indicate that in the coming manifestation of the kingdom the
overcoming believers will reign with Christ as His co-kings.
In the coming manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens,
the overcoming believers will rule over the nations. In Revela-
tion 2:26 and 27 the Lord Jesus says, “He who overcomes and
he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give author-
ity over the nations; and he will shepherd them with an iron rod,
as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received
from My Father.” This is a prize to the overcomers of reign-
ing with Christ over the nations in the millennial kingdom.
This promise of the Lord strongly implies that those who do
not answer His call to overcome degraded Christianity will
not participate in the reign of the millennial kingdom. In
Psalm 2:9 God gave Christ authority to rule over the nations.
In the coming kingdom Christ will give the same authority
to the overcoming believers. (The Conclusion of the New Tes-
tament, pp. 2012-2014, 2016, 2018-2019)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament,
msg. 186
WEEK 5 — HYMN 92
Hymns, #295
1 God’s Christ, who is my righteousness,

My beauty is, my glorious dress;
Midst f laming worlds, in this arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.
2 Lord, I believe Thy precious blood,
Which, at the mercy seat of God,
Forever doth for sinners plead,
For me, e’en for my soul, was shed.
3 Lord, I believe were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou hast for all a ransom paid,
For all a full redemption made.
4 Bold can I stand in every way,
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully, by Thee, absolved I am
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.
5 This spotless robe the same appears,
When ruined nature sinks in years;
No age can change its glorious hue,
Its glory is forever new.
6 Thou God of power, Thou God of love,
Let all Thy saints Thy mercy prove;
Our beauty this, our glorious dress,
Jesus the Lord, our Righteousness.

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Fighting

the Good Fight,

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or

First Edition, May 2024.

Printed in the United States of America

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT,

1 Fighting the Good Fight

2 Finishing the Course

3 Keeping the Faith

4 Loving the Lord’s Appearing

5 Receiving the Kingdom Reward of Christ

Recovery Version Reading Schedules:

Daily Verse Cards 103

1. This book is intended as an aid to believers in developing a

Fighting the Good Fight

1. To fight for the faith means to fight for God’s

10. To carry out God’s economy concerning the

we should be absolute for the way of the divine

As believers, we need to fight the good fight by receiving

a house to express Himself, which house is the church (1 Tim.

During Paul’s first imprisonment, the churches were tested.

the Adamic life. But because we have been called to eternal

When Paul was writing 2 Timothy, he was fully aware that

For the interest of God’s kingdom, the believers have to

Truth is the Triune God…Truth is also the Word of God as

1 Fight the battle in the Body;

Composition for prophecy with main point and

Finishing the Course

Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith—

G. We should not grow weary, fainting in our soul for

The believers…experience the dispensing of the proc-

Phil. 3:12-14) until he finished the course (Acts 20:24). Then

[In Hebrews 12:2] the Greek word translated “looking away

element. Then, spontaneously, a kind of believing arises in our

Because Paul’s background was exactly that of the Hebrew

Anything that belongs to the Christian life is invisible. The

electricity, into those who are listening… Although they may

The Greek word translated “Perfecter” [Heb. 12:2] may also

Mark 6:45 says, “And immediately He compelled His disci-

desertion halfway), is yet to be determined. The boat is still in

1 There’s a race for us to run—Hallelujah,

Composition for prophecy with main point and

Keeping the Faith

work as the object of our faith—1 Tim. 1:19; Gal.

matter that is initiated and developed in the sphere

D. This faith, not any doctrine, has been delivered

A proper Christian life has three aspects. It involves fight-

of the New Testament…We today must fight the good fight of

We need to be deeply impressed with the meaning of faith

testimony, we need such a purified conscience.

The faith in Jude 3 refers not to subjective faith as our

In Ephesians 4:3 the oneness of the Spirit is the oneness of

1 The faith which once for all was giv’n

Composition for prophecy with main point and

Loving the Lord’s Appearing

becomes a seclusion as a wall that keeps her

to give forth Christ’s fragrance in any circum-

churches and then working to bring them into

between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers

Song of Songs is a history of love in an excellent marriage,

In the third stage of her experience the lover of Christ is

is not of natural birth but something built with the resurrected

Shulammite is the feminine form of Solomon, indicating that