Message Five
The Exercise of the Kingdom
for the Building Up of the Church
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.-Matt.16:21
Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.-Matt.16:24-25
Word of Appetizer
How can the church be built up in a practical way?
The answer is found in Matthew 16:21 through 26. According to biblical terms, the way to build up the church is to be crucified and resurrected. Unless Christ had been crucified and resurrected, He could not build up the church. The church came into existence through His death and resurrection. verse 21…indicates that the way to build up the church is through death and resurrection.
Spiritual Burden
Christ, the Son of the living God, builds the church on Himself as the rock ,with stones such as Peter, a transformed person. The gates of Hades, Satan’s authority or power of darkness, attack the church to frustrate the Lord from building up the church.
The building up of the church depends on the shutting up of the gates of Hades through the exercise of three keys; We need to learn to exercise the three key of denying the self, taking up the cross, losing the soul-life.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Matthew 16 reveals the way to build up the church and also reveals the enemy of the building, The way to build up the church is to be crucified and resurrected. It was not Peter but Satan who came out through one of the gates of Hades, the gate of Peter’s self, to try to frustrate the Lord from building up the church.
The building up of the church depends on the shutting up of the gates of Hades through the exercise of three keys; We need to learn to exercise the three key of denying the self, taking up the cross, losing the soul-life.
The Experience of Life
If we exercise the key of denying the self to lock up the self, it is impossible for us to be offended; blessed are those who are not offended; If my self has been locked up, I will not be offended no matter what you do to me or how you treat me.
If we are willing to lose all our present soulish enjoyment for the Lord’s sake, for the sake of the church, and for the sake of all the saints, others will be nourished by us and will be built up through us; this is not a suffering but a joy.
Practice and Application
We need to learn to exercise the key of denying the self to lock up the self in every situation, Whether a situation is for us or against us, whether the brothers love us or hate us, we must lock up the self.
We need not only to take up our cross but also to carry our cross, that is, to remain on the cross, keeping our old man under the termination of the cross day by day.
We need to learn to exercise the key of losing the soul-life; We need to love the Lord Jesus and to hate and deny our soul-life, not loving our soul-life even unto death.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.-Matt16:18.
From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.-21.
But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.-23.
- Matthew 16 reveals the way to build up the church and also reveals the enemy of the building:
. Christ, the Son of the living God, builds the church on Himself as the rock, with stones such as Peter, a transformed person.
. The gates of Hades, Satan’s authority or power of darkness, attack the church to frustrate the Lord from building up the church.
. In order to build the church, the Lord had to pass through death and enter into resurrection.
.Peter, with a good heart, rebuked the Lord and tried to prevent the Lord from going to Jerusalem to be crucified.It was not Peter but Satan who came out through one of the gates of Hades, the gate of Peter’s self, to try to frustrate the Lord from building up the church.
Key Verses (2)
Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.-Matt.16:24.
But now the members are many, but the body one.And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.-1Cor12:20-21.
Doing nothing by way of selfish ambition nor by way of vainglory, but in lowliness of mind considering one another more excellent than yourselves;-Phil2:3.
- The building up of the church depends on the shutting up of the gates of Hades through the exercise of three keys
. We need to learn to exercise the key of denying the self; the self is the created soul plus the satanic mind, the mind of Satan.
.When the mind, the thought, of Satan was injected into the human soul, the human soul became the self, the embodiment of Satan.
.The self is the soul declaring independence from God; The enemy of the Body is the self; because the self is something independent, the self is the greatest problem, the greatest frustration and opposition, to the building up of the Body.
.The following are some expressions of the self With the self there are ambition, pride, and self-exaltation With the self there are self-righteousness.
.If we exercise the key of denying the self to lock up the self, it is impossible for us to be offended; We need to learn to exercise the key of denying the self to lock up the self in every situation.If the self is locked up, the church will be built up.
Key Verses (3)
…………If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.For what shall a man be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul-life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul-life?-Matt.16:24-26.
And going forward a little, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.-26:39.
- The building up of the church depends on the shutting up of the gates of Hades through the exercise of three keys
. We need to learn to exercise the key of taking up the cross；To take up the cross simply means to take up the will of God; the cross is God’s will.
.we are not forced to bear the cross but that we willingly take it up;We need not only to take up our cross but also to carry our cross, that is, to remain on the cross, keeping our old man under the termination of the cross day by day.
. We need to learn to exercise the key of losing the soul-life;To save the soul-life is to please the self by allowing the soul to have its enjoyment; to lose the soul-life is to lose the enjoyment of the soul.
.If we are willing to lose all our present soulish enjoyment for the Lord’s sake, for the sake of the church, and for the sake of all the saints, others will be nourished by us and will be built up through us; this is not a suffering but a joy.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
Day 1
T1. The church was produced through Christ’s death and resurrection. (John 12:24; John12:24)
(Please explain that in order to build the church, the Lord had to pass through death and enter into resurrection.)
T2. Self is the first gate through which Satan comes out. (Matt.16:22-24)
(Please explain with the example of Peter that Satan may come out through the gate of self even when we have a good heart.)
Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 48
Day 2
T1. Nothing damages and frustrates the building up of the church more than the self. (Gen. 3:1-6; Matt. 16:22-23)
(Please explain what is the self.)
T2. The self is the embodiment of the soul-life, which is expressed through the mind. (Gen. 3:1-6)
(Please explain that Satan had contaminated the entire human soul: the mind, the emotion, and the will according to Gen. 3:1-6. )
Day 3
T1. The self is the soul being independent of God. (1 Cor. 12:20-21)
(Please use your experience to illustrate that as long as we are independent of God, we are in the self.)
T2. The enemy of the Body is the self. (Hymn E866; 5, 6)
(Please use the example to illustrate that some expressions of the self. )
Further Reading: CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, “The Heavenly Vision,” chs. 3-4
Day 4
T1. Blessed are those who are not offended. (Matt.18:7)
(Please use your experience to illustrate how to exercise that it will be impossible
for us to be offended.)
T2. The self is locked up, the church will be built up. (Matt.16:18)
((Please use your experience to illustrate that we need to learn to exercise the key of denying the self to lock up the self in every situation)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building of the Church,”ch. 4
Day 5
T1. We need to willingly and happily take up the cross.(Matt.26:39; John 18:11)
(Please explain that to take up the cross simply means to take up the will of God.)
T2. To carry our cross that is to remain on the cross. (Luke 14:27)
( Please explain how we exercise to keep our old man under the termination
of the cross day by day.)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building of the Church,” ch. 5
Day 6
T1. To lose the soul means to lose the enjoyment of the soul. (Matt.16:25)
((Please use your experience to illustrate that apparently the losing of the soul is a suffering, but actually it is a real joy.)
T2. This age is not the time for us to have enjoyment for our soul.(Matt.16:25-26)
(Please explain that In order to have the enjoyment in the coming age, we need to pay the price in this age by losing our soul.)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Exercise of the Kingdom for the Building of the Church,” chs. 6-8