The Words of This Life

Bible Verses

Acts 5:19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened
the doors of the prison, and leading them out, said, (20) Go
and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the
words of this life.

Words of Ministry

When the angel of the Lord rescued the apostles from prison,
he said to them, "Go and stand in the temple and speak to
the people all the words of this life." We need to pay
attention to the word "this," for it indicates a particular
life. The Greek word rendered "words" here is rhema,
denoting the present spoken word, not the constant written
word. Therefore, the angel was saying to the apostles, "Go
and speak the present words of this life."

What life is indicated by "this life"? It is the divine life
preached, ministered, and lived by Peter that overcame the
Jewish leaders' persecution, threatening, and imprisonment.
This word indicates that Peter's life and work made the
divine life so real and present in his situation that even
the angel saw it and pointed it out.

The apostles were not told to speak of the divine life in a
doctrinal way. Today certain Christians may talk about life,
but their talk is altogether doctrinal. We need to seek
mercy and grace from the Lord so that whenever we speak
concerning the divine life, we speak the words of the very
life we live. This means that the divine life becomes our
daily life. It is this life that we should minister to
others.

Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the
Bible and Words of Ministry, from Witness Lee, Life-
study of Acts, p.144. Both are published by Living Stream
Ministry, Anaheim, CA.

Not Passing Judgment

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rom 14:1 Now him who is weak in faith receive, but not for
the purpose of passing judgment on his considerations. (2)
One believes that he may eat all things, but he who is weak
eats vegetables. (3) He who eats, let him not despise him who
does not eat; and he who does not eat, let him not judge him
who eats, for God has received him. (4) Who are you who judge
another's household servant? To his own master he stands or
falls; and he will be made to stand, for the Lord is able to
make him stand. (5) One judges one day above another; another
judges every day alike. Let each be fully persuaded in his
own mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Romans 14 Paul himself was an excellent example of not
passing judgment on doctrinal reasonings, for he did not
express his opinion about which doctrine is right or wrong.
Certainly he knew the correct doctrines about eating and
about the keeping of days. Nevertheless, he did not take
sides, but charged all of us to be general and not to
criticize others. Let others be free to eat whatever they
want and to keep whatever day they want. To them one day is
holier than another, but to the ones who are stronger in
faith every day is the same.

We also must learn not to pass judgments on doctrinal
reasonings. When people ask you about the method of baptism
or the kind of water used, you should not get into a
doctrinal argument. In other words, do not make a judgment on
the matter. The best way to reply to doctrinal questions is
to help people to turn themselves from doctrinal concepts to
Christ who is our life. By nature, we are all inclined to
convince others and to argue with them about our concepts. We
must avoid that.

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Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible
and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee. Life-study of Romans,
pp. 335. Both are published by Living Stream
Ministry, Anaheim, CA. (Repeat 11/9/98)

Living a Normal Christian Life toward Ourselves

Living a Normal Christian Life toward Ourselves

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rom 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil;
cling to what is good. (12) Rejoice in hope; endure in
tribulation; persevere in prayer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We Christians should be a rejoicing people because we always
have the enjoyment of the Lord. If we enjoy the Lord in His
riches, we will not only be joyful inwardly, but we will be
rejoicing outwardly. Even in times of trouble we should and
can rejoice in hope. We are not people who are without God
and without Christ, having no hope (Eph. 2:12). We have God
and we have Christ. So, regardless of the situation, we have
hope and we can rejoice in hope.

We Christians must also be able to endure tribulation. We
must be an enduring people. By rejoicing in hope we can
endure any kind of tribulation. Chapter 5:3 says that we can
exult in tribulation. We not only endure, but also exult in
tribulation. In order to endure tribulation we need to be
persevering in prayer. We need to pray persistently. This
will not only enable us to endure tribulation, but also to
remain in the enjoyment of the Lord, in His presence and in
His will.

In addition to all this, as God's holy people, we must abhor
and conquer the evil things and cleave to the good things. We
Christians, who are separated unto God, must maintain the
highest standard of behavior, a standard above that of moral
and ethical people.

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Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible
and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee. Life-study of Romans,
pp. 318-319. Both are published by Living Stream
Ministry, Anaheim, CA. (Repeat 10/28/98)