To give the Lord the first place in our life practically means to repent and do the first works. Rev. 2:5 warns us that if we don’t repent and do the first works, the Lord will remove the lampstand. These works issue from our first love for the Lord – they are a work issuing from a heart filled with zeal for the Lord’s love, and this is precious in the Lord’s eyes. We love the Lord so much that we just do the first works – and they come out of our zeal, our love for Him! In that day, when we will stand before God at His judgement seat, He will appreciate how much of what we have done out of love for Him. Only those things we do motivated by our love for the Lord are considered gold, silver, and precious stones. If we don’t do these works, the Lord will take the lampstand! Whatever we do in the church life, we need to love the Lord and do the first works – and we will be a corporate expression of the Triune God everywhere on the earth as the golden lampstands! [continue reading online – 12 ways we can give the Lord the preeminence in our life]
What does it mean to give the Lord the preeminence, the first place, in everything?
man has a spirit to receive God and be mingled with God (winter school of truth)
Zechariah 12:1 says, “Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him”. This verse shows that in God’s creation He made three crucial, equally important items: the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man. For many centuries, much attention have been paid to the heavens and the earth but not the spirit of man. Why did God form the spirit of man and what is the purpose of this spirit? In the Winter School of Truth 2011, we were blessed with much speaking about the spirit of man and the Spirit of God. [continue reading this portion from the Winter School of Truth online]
the gospel is the answer and the key to the five main mysteries in the universe
The Bible unveils the keys to the mystery of God, man, the universe, the church, and the future. God is a mystery – no one has ever seen or touched God, but He exists and He is a mystery to man. The universe is also a mystery – immeasurable, uncomprehensible. Man is a mystery both to himself and to others! The church is a mystery – especially in its definition and its purpose. Also, our future is a mystery, especially the future of the mankind. The Bible reveals these mysteries, and Romans 8 especially unveils and explains these mysteries! [continue reading this portion online + add your comment as a strengthening]
Paul’s gospel is a gospel of sonship – God’s intention is to bring many sons into glory
Saints, it is enough! We should no longer preach the poor gospel telling people that “God doesn’t want them to go to hell but to go to heaven if they believe in Jesus”! We need to preach the gospel by speaking the truth revealed in the gospel of God in Romans! Tell people that once they believe in the Lord, their sins will be forgiven and they will be redeemed and justified by God, reconciled to God, and accepted by God! Let us speak the high and complete gospel! [continue reading this portion online + add your own comment / portion]
God specifically chose us, sealed us, and now He owns us! (2011 winter school of truth)
Doesn’t it feel good to know that you actually belong to Someone and that Someone actually cares about you very much? I have learned that when we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God sealed us: this signifies that God is our owner and that we belong to Him! This can be related to: when a farmer wishes to seal his/her cattle so that the cattle then becomes the farmer’s property; therefore, an ownership is signified by the seal. Similarly, God is our owner and we belong to Him and only to Him! Because we have been sealed, we should bear the image of God and the expression of God. Praise the Lord, we want to SAY NO TO SATAN and SAY YES TO THE LORD! [continue reading this sharing from a sister who recently attended the Winter School of the Truth in London, UK]
Paul’s gospel includes the entire book of Romans, from God’s condemnation to the local churches
The gospel of God – which is the gospel of Paul as seen in the book of Romans – concerns not an outward physical Christ living among men but Christ as the Spirit living within the believers after His resurrection. This is a higher and more subjective gospel than what is presented in the Gospels. Christ is now the life-giving Spirit living in our spirit, making our spirit life! When we set our mind on the spirit, our soul becomes life (Rom. 8:6). Eventually, even our physical body will be filled and saturated with the divine life (Rom. 8:16). This is the gospel! [continue reading this portion online]
Paul’s gospel is the complete gospel, including all the aspects of the four gospels
Praise the Lord, the gospel is not about an outward historical Christ but it concerns the Triune God being processed and consummated through Christ’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, to become the life-giving, all-inclusive, compounded, indwelling Spirit who mingles Himself with our spirit to accomplish in us God’s purpose in creating man. This is what Paul’s gospel reveals, and his Epistles form the heart of the divine revelation in the New Testament, the center of the New Testament. [continue reading this portion of enjoyment online + add your comment to it]
