Some Crucial Points for Preparing the Outline to Carry Out
Truth Education on Different Levels
I. Blueprint for educational courses in truth on different levels:
A. Having a systemic truth education that enables us to attain God’s desire—all men to be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth; this is the leading of Lord’s up-to-date ministry.
B. Under the full view of God’s economy, each course of the truth education should be presented in a systematic way and implemented in accordance with audience level.
C. The course level can refer to elementary school level, junior high or high school level, college level, and graduate school level:
1. Elementary school level: corresponds to the level of a new believer.
2. Junior high or high school level: corresponds to the advanced level.
3. The college level: corresponds to the level of an adult being able to eat the solid food (scriptures of Recovery Version and its footnotes, Holy Word for Morning Revival, and ministry books).
4. Graduate school level: corresponds to a deeper study and pursuit of the truth.
II. The core elements of the truth education:
A. Having a panoramic bird’s-eye view:
1. Although the courses are divided according to elementary school level, junior high or high school level, college level, and graduate school level, all levels must be derived from the same panorama. (e. g. The same one earth is studied whether it is in elementary school geography, or junior high or high school geography, or college geography…)
2. The panorama should be in the entire course, and in every lesson—all the divine revelations are an organic entity.
B. All the contents and outlines must have the twining together of the three cords—truth, life, and the gospel (revelation, experience, and application) (light, life, and love):
1. Truth—revelation, light.
2. Life—experience, life.
3. Gospel—practice (application), love.
4. Adjust the ratios of truth life and gospel according to education levels.
5. The higher the education level, the more the elements of the truth should be included; if the education level is closer to beginners, more elements of practice and application should be included.
C. The need to have the key verses and the presenting of the crucial points of truth:
1. Clearly presenting the truth from the key verses.
2. The need to present the crucial points—clearly and concisely expounding the truth.
III. In order to begin the truth lessons, we have to consider four items—inspiring the motivation for the truth education, “the age and background of the audiences”, “the need of the rich content”, “the saints being able to preach the truth they have learned”:
A. The saints’ motivation to participate in educational courses in truth should be incited and their inner aspiration and interest for being constituted with the truth should be stirred up.
B. The content and level of truth education need to be adjusted to match with the age, level, and background of the target audience.
C. For the riches of this ministry, the rich content of the truth education should be presented to attract saints to attend.
D. Helping the saints—after the courses, the saints can preach the contents they have learned.
1. Leading the saints to seize the opportunity to speak the truth in the church meetings, small group meetings, home meetings, when visiting people to preach the gospel, and when shepherding people one by one.
2. Presenting the crucial points of the truth in each course.
3. Properly nourishing the new believers.
4. Recommending proper ministry books.
5. For the need of the seeking Christians.
6. Employing Instant Messaging, e. g. KaokaoTalk, WeChat, Line, etc.
IV. Techniques for preparing the outline:
A. It must be based on the word of the ministry (ministry messages by Brother Nee and Brother Lee):
1. The need to use search engine to find out proper data.
2. Especially needing to flexibly use the outlines of the seven feasts of conferences and trainings (sorting out the extract from the ministry messages).
B. Even though the contents of the outline are basic truths, they should include the elements of the high peak truth as well.
C. The proper ratio of the revelation, experience, and practice:
1. Truth education: the proportion of the truth should be high, but there is still the need to have a proper proportion of experience and practice.
2. The framework of the thought of the revelation in the whole message should be unchanging, and relatively good experiences, practices, or prayers can be found to replace or enrich the minor points and the less minor points.
D. The outline should be concise with clear key points:
1. The train of thought should have a clear logic.
2. The crucial points of every roman numeral should flow smoothly.
3. The need to have the train of thought of the divine revelation.
E. Consider making the outline easy to PSRP:
1. For the sake of PSRP, the length of the outline should not be too long.
2. It is best to have the length of the outline be no more than one page.
3. It is best to have two to five major points in the outline.
4. Every major point should contain the crucial points related to the general subject, and the crucial points should be supported by the Bible verses.
F. The last outline should arrive at the high peak.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE NEW TESTAMENT PAYING ATTENTION TO
THREE MATTERS—TRUTH, LIFE, AND THE GOSPEL
If we read the New Testament carefully, we will see that what the New Testament reveals and pays attention to is summed up in three matters: truth, life, and the gospel. Truth is for life, and life is for the gospel. Truth comes first, then life, and then the gospel. However, in our concept and even in our practice of the church life, we unconsciously place the gospel in a low position. We may think that expounding mysterious truths is something high and profound, whereas we often regard the gospel as something ordinary and low. For example, when a church decides to preach the gospel, the elders may say, “Let the young people do it.” This demonstrates that they do not consider the gospel to be an important matter.
If someone can minister life to us in a rich way, we regard him highly, yet I am afraid that for the past several decades few among us have been desirous of producing results in the gospel. We would rather pursue truth or life. Both are considered to be of nearly equal importance among us. Some may regard life more than truth, and others may regard truth more than life, but very few regard the gospel more than life or truth.
The apostles’ record in the Gospels places an equal importance on truth, life, and the gospel. Although the gospel is listed last, it is neither for life nor for truth; rather, truth and life are for the gospel. Without truth, there is no life; without life, there is no gospel because the gospel is a matter of fruit-bearing. The gospel depends not only on preaching and teaching but also on a fruit-bearing life as seen in John 15. Among the four Gospels the Gospel of John is the only book that does not conclude with the Lord Jesus saying that we need to preach the gospel to the nations or that we need to proclaim to the nations repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Rather, in chapter 15 the Lord said, “I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit” (v. 16). Here the Lord Jesus does not exhort us to preach the gospel but to bear fruit. Actually, fruit-bearing is the genuine gospel preaching. Without fruit-bearing, our gospel preaching equals zero.
The experience of the saints and the church in the past two thousand years proves that since the passing of the apostles, there has never been a similar group of people who twined together the three cords of truth, life, and the gospel. The Bible says that when three cords are twined together, they are strong and reliable (Eccl. 4:12). Regrettably, within the past two thousand years we cannot find a single group of people, apart from the apostles, that blended together truth, life, and the gospel. (Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 2: Leading the Saints to Practice the New Way Ordained by the Lord, msg. 4)
