Morning Watch I Corinthians 13: 1-13 The Inclusive Agape Love (2) Nov. 14 to Nov. 20, 2016

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1 Monday 11/14 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for building up, according to the need, that it may give grace to those who hear. Related verses 1 Cor. 13:4-8 4 Love suffers long. Love is kind; it is not jealous. Love does not brag and is not puffed up; 5 It does not behave unbecomingly and does not seek its own things; it is not provoked and does not take account of evil; 6 It does not rejoice because of unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 It covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never falls away. But whether prophecies, they will be rendered useless; or tongues, they will cease; or knowledge, it will be rendered useless. Eph. 4:32 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ also forgave you. Eph.5:1-2 1 Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 And walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor. Eph. 4:1-2, 29, I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love, 31 Let all bitterness and anger and wrath and clamor and evil speaking be removed from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ also forgave you. Suggested daily reading Many times the Old Testament says that salvation is of Jehovah. This indicates that salvation does not originate with us. Since sin is committed by man we would naturally think that salvation also originates in man. But even the thought of our salvation did not originate with us; rather, it originated with God. Although man has sinned and is destined for perdition, it is not his intention to seek salvation. Though he has sinned and ought to perish, it was God who took up the thought of saving him. Hence, the Old Testament mentions again and again that salvation is of Jehovah. The reason for this is that it is God who wants to save us. Man has never wanted to save himself. Why is salvation of Jehovah? Why is God interested in man? In a general way, we can say that it is because God is love. But more specifically, it is because God loves man. If God did not love man, He would not need to save him. Salvation is accomplished because, on the one hand, man has sinned and, on the other hand, God has loved. If man had not sinned, there would be no place and no way for the love of God to be manifested. And if man had sinned but God had not loved, nothing would have been achieved either. Salvation is accomplished and the gospel is preached because on the one hand God has loved and on the other hand man has sinned. Man s sin shows us man s need. God s love shows us God s provision. If there is only the need without the provision, nothing can be done. But if there is the provision without the need, the provision will be wasted. Salvation is accomplished and the gospel is preached due to the two greatest facts in the universe. The first is that man has sinned and the second is that God loves man. These are two immutable facts. They are two facts that the Bible emphasizes. If you drop either of these two ends, salvation will be lost. You do not need to drop both ends. As long as one end is gone, there will be no possibility for salvation to be accomplished. God has love and man has sin. Because of these two facts, there is salvation and there is the gospel. GOD S LOVE The Bible never fails to point out the love of God. In our Bible study this time, we will cover the truth of the gospel only in a sketchy way. We will mention a lot of things, but will not consider them in detail. Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 1

2 Tonight I cannot cover every aspect correct the different conjectures man has concerning the love of God found in the concerning God, He manifests Himself in Bible. I can mention this matter only the light of the gospel and shows man that briefly. We must consider three aspects of He is not an unapproachable or unfathomable the love of God. First, God is love. Second, God. CWWN The Gospel of God (1), Chapter 2 God loves man. And third, the expression God s Love, Grace and Mercy, pgs of God's love is in the death of Christ. God Is Love Let us come to the first point: God is love. This is recorded in 1 John 4:16. Here it does not say that God loves. Nor does it say that God may love, or that God can love, or that God has loved or will love. Rather, it says that God is love. What does it mean to say that God is love? It means that God Himself, His nature and His being, is love. If we can say that God has a substance, then God s substance is love. The greatest revelation of the Bible is that God is love. This revelation is what man needs the most. Man has many conjectures and theories about God. We ponder all the time about what kind of God our God is, what kind of heart our God has, what intentions God has toward man, what God Himself is like. You can ask anyone about his idea of God, and he will give you his concept. He will think that God is this kind of God or that kind of God. All the idols in the world and all the images made by man are products of man s imagination. Man thinks that God is a fierce God or a severe God. He pictures God this way and that way. Man is always trying to reason and to explore what God is like. In order to Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 2

3 Tuesday 11/15 lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Related verses Matt. 5:17 17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill. John 15:12 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another even as I have loved you. 1 John 4:12, No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 16 And we know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. 17 In this has love been perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of the judgment because even as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear has punishment, and he who fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because He first loved us. 20 If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also. Luke 6:35 35 But love your enemies, and do good and Suggested daily reading God Is Love (cont d.) What is God then? God is love. This statement will not be clear to you unless I give an illustration. Suppose that there is a patient person. He has patience no matter what he encounters and no matter how difficult or bad the conditions are. For such a person, we cannot say that he has acted patiently. The adverb patiently cannot be used to describe him. Nor can we say that he is patient, using an adjective. We must say that he is patience itself. Perhaps we would not refer to him by his name. Instead, behind his back we would say that Patience has come or that Patience has spoken. When we say that God is love, we mean that love is the nature of God. He is love from inside to outside. Therefore, we would not say that God is loving, using an adjective, or that God loves, using a verb. Rather, we would say that God is love, applying the noun to Him. In our friend Patience we cannot find rashness. The man is patience itself; he is not simply patient. He is just a lump of patience. Would you think that with such a person there could be rashness? Could he lose his temper? Could he exchange sharp words with others? It is impossible for him to do such things because there is no element in his nature to do such things. There is no such thing as temper in his nature. There is no such thing as rashness in his nature. He is simply patience. The same is true with God, who is love. God as love is the greatest revelation in the Bible. For every Christian, the greatest thing to know in the Bible is that God is love. It is impossible for God to hate. If God hates, He will not only have a conflict with whomever He hates, but will also have a conflict with Himself. If God hated any one of us here today, He would not have a problem with that one alone; He would have a problem with Himself. God must develop a problem with Himself before He can hate or do anything in a way that is not in love. God is love. Although these three words are most simple, they give us the greatest revelation. The nature of God, the life-essence of God, is just love. He cannot do anything otherwise. He loves, and at the same time, He is love. If you are a sinner today, you may wonder what you must do before God will love you. Many people do not know God's mind toward them. They do not know what God is thinking or what intentions God has. Many think that they should do something or that they should suffer or should be very conscientious before they can please God. However, only those who are in darkness and do not know God will think this way. If there were no gospel today, you would be able to think this way. But now that the Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 3

4 gospel is here, you cannot think this way the world. But as long as God is love, He anymore, for the gospel tells us that God is loves the world. If love is His nature, He love. can conduct Himself toward man in no We human beings are nothing but other way except in love. It would make hatred. For us to love is extremely difficult. Him uncomfortable if He did not love. Likewise, it is equally difficult for God to Hallelujah! This is a fact! God is love. He hate. You may think that it is difficult to cannot help but love. God is love, and what love and that you do not know how to love spontaneously follows is that God loves the others. But it is impossible for God to hate. world. You have no way to love, and God has no We can blame ourselves for our sins, way to hate. God is love, and for Him to for being susceptible to Satan s temptation, hate is for Him to act contrary to His for being entangled by sin. But we cannot nature, which is impossible for Him to do. doubt God Himself. You can blame God So Loved the World yourself for committing a sin, for having This is not all. God Himself is love, but failed, for succumbing to temptation. But if when this love is applied to us, we find that you doubt God s heart toward you, you are God so loved the world (John 3:16). not acting like a Christian, for to doubt God is love speaks of His nature, and God s heart toward you is to contradict the God so loved the world speaks of His revelation in the gospel. action. God Himself is love; hence, that I cannot say that you will never fail which issues out from Him must be love. again. Nor can I say that you will never sin Where there is love, there must also be the again. Perhaps you will fail and you will object of that love. After showing us that sin again. But please remember that for you He is love, God immediately shows us that to fail or sin is one thing, but God s heart He loves the world. God has not only loved towards you is another. You must never us, but has also sent forth His love. God doubt God s feeling toward you simply could not help but send forth His love. He because you have failed or sinned. could not help but love the world. Although you may sin and fail, God does Hallelujah! not change His attitude toward you, for The greatest problem the world has is God is love and He loves the world. This is that it thinks that God always harbors evil an unchangeable fact in the Bible. CWWN The Gospel of God (1), Chapter 2 God s Love, Grace intentions for man. Man thinks that God and Mercy, pgs makes severe demands, and that He is strict and mean. Since man has doubts about the love of God, he also doubts that God loves Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 4

5 Wednesday 11/16 Suggested daily reading God So Loved the World On our side, we change and turn. But on the side of the love of God, there is no change or turn. Many times your love can change or become cold. But this does not mean that God s love is affected. If God is love, no matter how you test Him, what comes forth from Him is always love. If there is a piece of wood here, no matter how you hit it, you will always get the sound of wood. If you hit it with a book, it will give you the sound of wood. If you hit it with your palm, it will still give you the sound of wood. If you hit it with another piece of wood, it will again give you the sound of wood. If God is love, no matter how you hit Him if you reject Him, deny Him, or cast Him aside He is still love. One thing is sure: God cannot deny Himself; He cannot contradict Himself. Since we are just hatred itself, it is altogether natural for us to hate. Since God is love, it is altogether natural for God to love. God cannot change His own nature. Since God s nature cannot be changed, His attitude toward you cannot be changed. So we see that God loves the world. Related verses Matt. 22: And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 And He said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. Luke 10: But a certain Samaritan, who was journeying, came upon him; and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion; 34 And he came to him and bound up his wounds and poured oil and wine on them. And placing him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, Take care of him; and whatever you spend in addition to this, when I return, I will repay you. 36 Which of these three, does it seem to you, has become a neighbor to him who fell into the hands of the robbers? 37 And he said, The one who showed mercy to him. And Jesus said to him, Go, and you do likewise. God s Expression of Love Does the whole matter stop with God loving the world? God is love speaks of God s nature; it speaks of God Himself. God so loved the world speaks of God s action. But God s love toward us has an expression. What is this expression of His love? Romans 5:8 says, But God commends His own love to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God s love has an expression. If I love a person and merely tell him that I love him, that love has not yet been consummated. Unless love is expressed, it is not consummated. There is no love in the world that is without an expression. If there is love, it must be expressed. If a love is not expressed, such a love cannot be considered love. Love is most practical. It is not vain and is not merely a verbal matter. Love is expressed through actions. If you put a ball on a surface that is not level, you can be sure that something will happen; it will end up rolling down. The same is true with love. You can be sure that it will have an expression. Since God loves the world, He has to be concerned about man s need. Hence, He must do something for man. We are sinners. We have no other choice but to go to hell, and no other place to be except in the place of perdition. But God loves us, and He will not be satisfied until He has saved us. When God says, I love you, His love will step up to bear all our burdens and remove all our problems. Since God loves us, He must provide a solution to the problem of sins; He must provide the salvation that we sinners need. For this reason, the Bible has shown us this one great fact: the love of God is manifested in the death of Christ. Since we are sinners and are unable to save ourselves, Christ Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 5

6 came to die in order to solve the problem of sin for us. His love has accomplished something substantial, and this has been put before us. Now we can see His love in a substantial way. His love is no longer merely a feeling. It has become a thoroughly manifested act. In this great matter of God s love, we must take note of three things: the nature of God s love, the action of God s love, and the expression of God s love. Thank and praise God! His love is not only a feeling within Him. It is also an action, and even an expression and manifestation. His love made Him do what we cannot do by ourselves. Since He is love and since He has loved the world, salvation has been produced. Since man has sin and since God is love, a lot of things follow. If you are not poor, you will have no need of me. But if I do not love you, even if you are extremely poor, I will not be concerned at all. The situation today is that man has sinned and God has loved; therefore, things begin to happen. Hallelujah, a lot is happening because man has sinned and God has loved. When you put the two things together, the gospel comes into being. CWWN The Gospel of God (1), Chapter 2 God s Love, Grace and Mercy, pgs Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 6

7 Thursday 11/17 nor in tongue but in deed and truthfulness. 19 And in this we will know that we are of the truth, and we will persuade our heart before Him, Related verses Rom. 13: Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves the other has fulfilled the law. 9 For, You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 10 Love does not work evil to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 1 Tim. 1:5 5 But the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and out of a good conscience and out of unfeigned faith; 1 John 2: He who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him; 1 John 3: In this we know love, that He laid down His life on our behalf, and we ought to lay down our lives on behalf of the brothers. 17 But whoever has the livelihood of the world and sees that his brother has need and shuts up his affections from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word Suggested daily reading SHEPHERDING PEOPLE ACCORDING TO THE LORD S HEART In this message we will fellowship concerning how we should learn of the Lord to shepherd people according to His heart. This fellowship is not merely a teaching, instruction, or rebuke; it is a shepherding to us. LOVE COVERING ALL TRANSGRESSIONS The way that some of you have spoken concerning corporate living has bothered me. Proverbs 10:12 says, Hatred stirs up strife, / But love covers all transgressions. If we hate each other, we will have endless strife, but love covers not only one sin or some sins, but all sins. James ends his writing by saying, My brothers, if any one among you is led astray from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner back from the error of his way will save that one s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins (5:19-20). Should we hate one who is not up to the standard, who is led astray from the truth, or should we love him? We may not love those who are not able to live in corporate living. We may only love the particular group of those who live properly in our homes. This is altogether not according to the Spirit of the Lord as revealed in the Bible. If a brother is good, he does not need our love very much because he has already been sufficiently loved. Nearly everyone loves a good person, but what about one who is led astray from the truth? If a brother is led astray from the truth to attend the denominations or go to the movies, our small group may feel that we do not need him, and we do not accept him because he is not qualified. This is not love; this is hate. Love covers many sins. Even if we know that he goes to the movies, we should not tell others. This is to cover him. We do not like to uncover him or expose him. To uncover is not love. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. We would rather be like the sons of Noah who covered their father s nakedness which was due to his drunkenness. We do not like to uncover others. Covering brings in blessing, but uncovering brings in a curse. This is not a small matter. Those who uncover suffer the curse, but those who cover others sins, defects, and shortcomings enjoy, gain, and receive blessing. Cover a multitude of sins in James 5:20 is an Old Testament expression used by James to indicate that turning an erring brother back is to cover his sins so that he is not condemned. Cover...sins here equals sins...forgiven in verse 15, as in Psalm 32:1, which says, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven; / Whose sin is covered. It is the same in Psalm 85:2. Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 7

8 GOD LOVING THE WORLD FOR SINNERS would go to heaven but that whoever believes of the human life; each one of us is the totality TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, THAT IS, TO into Him would not perish but have eternal of the human life, but the divine life has only BECOME THE NEW JERUSALEM life. one totality in the whole universe the New By reading all the above verses, we can see John 3:16 is a new verse to us. We Jerusalem. the heart of our God and of our Savior Jesus generally interpret this verse to mean that if we The Bible teaches us that eternal life is God Christ. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the believe in the Lord Jesus as the Son given by Himself. In the beginning there is God as the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that God, we will have His divine life. That is right, eternal life, and the consummation of God as every one who believes into Him would not and there is nothing wrong with this, but the the eternal life is the New Jerusalem. The perish, but would have eternal life. The heart goal of having the divine life is the New Bible consummates in the New Jerusalem, of our God is to love not only righteous men Jerusalem. God loved the human race, the which is the very God who was in the but sinners, even the world, which is worse worst human people, with the intention that beginning. How does God become the New than mere sinners. World denotes the sinful, they all may participate in the New Jerusalem. Jerusalem? It is through His flowing. The fallen people. The entire human race became Eternal life here is the same as in 4:14, which Bible has two ends, Genesis 1 2 and the world, just as the entire divine race, the says, The water that I will give him will Revelation At the beginning of the new race, will become the New Jerusalem. The become in him a spring of water gushing up Bible there is God, at the end there is the New New Jerusalem is the totality, the consummation, into eternal life. To have eternal life means to Jerusalem, and in between are hundreds of of the eternal life, while the world is the be joined to, to participate in, the New pages speaking about all the matters related to totality, the consummation, of the fallen race. Jerusalem. The banners for the Crystallizationstudy the eternal life, including the believers, It is a hardship for translators to translate verse of the Gospel of John say that the Triune regeneration, transformation, conformation, 16. The Chinese version renders it in a way God who passed through all the processes, the and glorification. This is the proper way to that can be interpreted, God loved the people all-inclusive Christ who was incarnated to die view the Bible. All the activities of the eternal on this earth. This is inadequate. The world and resurrect, and the life-giving Spirit who life take the New Jerusalem as the final goal. denoting the fallen race is seen in the word was consummated to indwell us all take the This is the meaning of into eternal life in flesh in Genesis 6:3, which says, My Spirit New Jerusalem as Their eternal goal. When I John 4:14. The word into is also used in 1 shall not always strive with man, for that he wrote this utterance, I realized that few would Corinthians 12:13, which says that the Gentiles also is flesh. Because all the people on this understand why I used it for a crystallizationstudy and the Jews have all been baptized in one earth became flesh, God decided to of John, but it is the conclusion of my Spirit into one Body. Into one Body does not temporarily forsake the world, which He loved, study of John. In this crystallization-study I mean merely to enter into the Body but to for a purpose. God loved the fallen human thoroughly and intrinsically came to the clear become the Body. In the same way, into race, who became so rotten as to be one with conclusion that this Gospel, especially from eternal life does not merely mean to enter into Satan. The world indicates man becoming one chapter one to chapter four, is the record of the the New Jerusalem as the eternal life but to with Satan, becoming Satan s cosmos, the flowing God in His three stages: the Father as become the New Jerusalem as the eternal life. satanic system that systematizes all people. In the fountain, the Son as the spring, and the The coming New Jerusalem will be you and me. this way, world is worse than sinners because Spirit as the flowing river. Moreover, They all We are the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem it denotes that man is incorporated with Satan. take the New Jerusalem as Their eternal goal. is still under a consummating work, and this World, denoting the human race in John 3:16, Apparently, the New Jerusalem is not consummating work is the flow of the divine life. is a very bad term. God so loved the world, mentioned in John. However, it is seen in the This is very deep. A Word of Love to the Cosinful people in their worst denotation, that He eternal life in 4:14. Eternal life here is the Workers, Elders, Lovers, and Seekers of the Lord, gave His only begotten Son, not so that they totality of the divine life. A man is the totality Chapter 2. Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 8

9 Friday 11/18 and greater works than these He will show Him that you may marvel. John 11:3 3 The sisters therefore sent to Him saying, Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick. John 16:27 27 For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from God. 1 Cor. 16:13-14, Watch, stand firm in the faith, be fullgrown men, be strong. 14 Let all your matters be done in love. 24 My love in Christ Jesus be with you all. Related verses John 21: Then when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs. 16 He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Shepherd My sheep. 17 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? Peter was grieved that He said to him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep. Gal. 5: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 Meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Luke 7:47 47 For this reason I say to you, Her sins which are many are forgiven, because she loved much; but to whom little is forgiven, he loves little. John 5:20 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; Suggested daily reading HAVING THE LOVING AND FORGIVING HEART OF OUR FATHER GOD AND THE SHEPHERDING AND SEEKING SPIRIT OF OUR SAVIOR CHRIST I love Luke 15. Verse 1 says, Now all the tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Him to hear Him. The gentlemen and righteous men were not joined to Him, but the tax collectors and sinners were. Therefore, the Pharisees murmured and complained again. Then the Lord spoke three parables. The first is concerning a shepherd seeking the one, unique, lost sheep. Of one hundred, this one was a lost one, so the shepherd came purposely for him. Why did the Lord go to a house full of sinners and tax collectors? It was because among them there was one lost sheep of His, whom He had come to seek. The second parable is concerning a woman who lit a lamp and swept the house to seek her lost coin. The third parable is about the prodigal son. The shepherd is the Son, the woman is the Spirit, and in the parable of the prodigal son there is the Father. As the prodigal son was returning, he was preparing and considering what to speak to his father. He prepared himself to say, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants (vv ). While he was walking and thinking like this, the father saw him. Verse 20 says, But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him affectionately. That the father saw the son a long way off was not an accident. From the time the son left home, the father must have gone out to look and wait for his coming back every day. We do not know how many days he watched and waited. When the father saw him, he ran to him. This is the Father s heart. The father interrupted the son while he was speaking his prepared word. The son wanted to speak the word he had prepared, but the father told his servants to bring the robe, the ring, and the sandals and to prepare the fattened calf. A teacher among the Brethren told me that in the whole Bible we can see God run only one time, in Luke 15, where the father sees the returning prodigal son. He ran; he could not wait. This is the Father s heart. To speak truthfully, we have lost this spirit among the co-workers, elders, and vital groups. We do not have such a loving spirit that loves the world, the worst people. We Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 9

10 classify people, choosing who are the good many steps, and God brought me up not in If we lose this spirit, whether we are ones. Throughout my years I have seen many one year but over many years. When I elders, co-workers, or serving ones, we are good ones. Eventually, very few of the good arrived at the top, I met God, and He finished. This is the main reason why we are ones remain in the Lord s recovery. Rather, equipped me and sent me back down. I came so barren, bearing no fruit for so many years. so many bad ones remain. In the beginning I down, first to Taiwan, then to the South Recently a brother went to care for a couple, also was one who classified them as bad, but Asian islands, and then to this country. Now but he did not have this spirit. He visited today many bad ones are still here. If it were I am here. The pastor in my hometown did them no more than ten times and became according to our concept, where would not say of me, I know this man. He is a disappointed. Since the couple had no heart God s choosing be? Our choosing depends gambler, a mah-jongg player. I do not like for this brother, he reported that it was upon God, who chose His people before the him, and I do not want to have such a useless to visit them further. When Pastor Yu foundation of the world. The Bible says that member in my church. Rather, he visited visited me, I did not care for him, but he God hated Esau and loved Jacob. If we were me, and one day very mysteriously the continued to come for three or four months, there, none of us would have selected Jacob. seeking Spirit was seeking in me, like the week after week. We need to have this spirit. This man was too bad. We would have woman in Luke 15. We all have to change our concept. selected Esau, the gentleman. From his Why would I spend so much time on this Therefore, we need discipling. We have too mother s womb, Jacob was fighting, and subject? I want to shepherd and disciple you much of the natural thought. We need to be when he was born, he grabbed his brother s from the Bible so you can see this matter and discipled to have the divine concept, the heel. Eventually, he did everything that have a change. I am discipling you to change concept of the Father s heart and the heart of caused Esau to want to kill him. His mother your concept. The God-man concept is that the Lord Jesus, who came to save sinners. A Rebecca knew this, so she sent him away to Christ came to save sinners, especially the Word of Love to the Co-Workers, Elders, Lovers, his uncle s house, but when he went there, he top sinners. He saves the gangsters, even and Seekers of the Lord, Chapter 2. did the same thing; he cheated his uncle by the leader of the gangsters, Saul of Tarsus. getting four wives from him. This is to live Paul said, Faithful is the word and worthy like a gangster. None of us would have of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into chosen Jacob. It is not up to our choosing, the world to save sinners, of whom I am our selection. It is based upon God s eternal foremost (1 Tim. 1:15). Paul could say this selection. because he was the top sinner opposing Do not classify people. Who can tell what Christ. He rebelled against Christ, but while they will be? When I was playing mah-jongg he was rebelling, Christ knocked him down, at the age of eighteen or nineteen, who called him, and saved him. Jesus Himself would have thought that this mah-jongg said, Those who are strong have no need of player would sit in America many years later a physician, but those who are ill...i did not to talk to people about the Lord? Who come to call the righteous, but sinners brought me here? It was Christ as the (Matt. 9:12-13). That is why He was there heavenly ladder. He brought me up to God in among the sinners and tax collectors, eating the heavens, and He brought me down to the and feasting with them, reclining at the table earth with Himself. The heavenly ladder has and enjoying with them. Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 10

11 Saturday 11/19 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. 1 Cor. 13:4-8 4 Love suffers long. Love is kind; it is not Rom. 13:8-10 jealous. Love does not brag and is not 8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love puffed up; one another; for he who loves the other has 5 It does not behave unbecomingly and fulfilled the law. does not seek its own things; it is not 9 For, You shall not commit adultery, you provoked and does not take account of evil; shall not murder, you shall not steal, you 6 It does not rejoice because of unrighteousness, shall not covet, and if there is any other but rejoices with the truth; commandment, it is summed up in this 7 It covers all things, believes all things, word, namely, You shall love your hopes all things, endures all things. neighbor as yourself. 8 Love never falls away. But whether 10 Love does not work evil to his neighbor; prophecies, they will be rendered useless; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. or tongues, they will cease; or knowledge, John 21:15-17 it will be rendered useless. 15 Then when they had eaten breakfast, Matt. 5:17 Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of 17 Do not think that I have come to abolish John, do you love Me more than these? He the law or the prophets; I have not come to said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I abolish, but to fulfill. love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs. 16 He said to him again a second time, John 15:12 Simon, son of John, do you love Me? He 12 This is My commandment, that you love said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I one another even as I have loved you. love You. He said to him, Shepherd My Matt. 22:35-40 sheep. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a 17 He said to him the third time, Simon, question, testing Him, son of John, do you love Me? Peter was 36 Teacher, which is the great commandment grieved that He said to him the third time, in the law? Do you love Me? And he said to Him, 37 And He said to him, You shall love the Lord, You know all things; You know that Lord your God with all your heart and with I love You. Jesus said to him, Feed My all your soul and with all your mind. sheep. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 11

12 Lord s Day 11/20 supplied to you. 12 Therefore I will be ready always to 2 Pet. 1:3-16 remind you concerning these things, even 3 Seeing that His divine power has granted though you know them and have been to us all things which relate to life and established in the present truth. godliness, through the full knowledge of 13 And I consider it right, as long as I am Him who has called us by His own glory in this tabernacle, to stir you up by a and virtue, reminder, 4 Through which He has granted to us 14 Knowing that the putting off of my precious and exceedingly great promises tabernacle is imminent, even as also our that through these you might become Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. partakers of the divine nature, having 15 Moreover I will also be diligent that you escaped the corruption which is in the may be able, after my exodus, to bring world by lust. these things to mind at all times. 5 And for this very reason also, adding all 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised diligence, supply bountifully in your faith myths when we made known to you the virtue; and in virtue, knowledge; power and coming of our Lord Jesus 6 And in knowledge, self-control; and in Christ, but we became eyewitnesses of that self-control, endurance; and in endurance, One s majesty. godliness; 7 And in godliness, brotherly love; and in brotherly love, love. 8 For these things, existing in you and abounding, constitute you neither idle nor unfruitful unto the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he in whom these things are not present is blind, being shortsighted, having forgotten the cleansing of his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be the more diligent to make your calling and selection firm, for doing these things you shall by no means ever stumble. 11 For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission 12