Saturday

Related Verses
2 Cor. 10:4
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but powerful before God for the overthrowing of strongholds,

Eph. 6:12
12 For our wrestling is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.

Matt. 6:10, 33
10 Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.
33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matt. 25:21, 23
21 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.
23 His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.

Col. 4:11
11 And Jesus, who is called Justus; these alone of the circumcision are my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, ones who have become a consolation to me.

Related Reading
In John 12—16 Satan is spoken of as the ruler of this world three times (12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Presently, he is the ruler of this world, and the nations of this world are his domain. In the millennium, he will be bound and cast into the abyss. Before that time, the church is on the earth to curb the activities of Satan. The prayer of the church is the most effective means of curbing Satan. The church is a miniature of the kingdom. Any place that manifests God’s authority is a place where the kingdom is realized (Matt. 12:28). It is our responsibility to put a halt to Satan’s will. Wherever the church is, Satan’s authority will retreat. The church is on the earth to perpetuate and manifest Christ’s victorious stand over Satan. (CWWN, vol. 44, p. 778)

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The church has a great responsibility on the earth today. On the negative side, the church has to subdue the power of darkness and continue the warfare that Christ waged against Satan. On the positive side, the church brings God’s will to earth. Wherever we are, we should stand firm. When we read the daily news, we can find where the enemy is working, and we should render proper, opposing prayers [cf. 2 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:12]…Our prayer must be powerful before God in order to oppose the power of darkness. Before we can reign in the future, we have to learn to rule over everything today. We rule over the thrones on earth by the throne in heaven. Believers fail because they have not exercised their authority; they have not prayed to reign over the political events. As soon as we see the devil’s power or work, we should exercise our authority to pray. If there were no Christians on earth today, the world would be like hell. We have to learn to exercise the overcoming authority of Christ to rule over the power of darkness.

Everyone in this world is a captive of Satan. But God wants the Christians to recapture the captives through the gospel and win them back to God’s side. When God wins one more person, Satan has one less person. First Timothy 2:4 says, “Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.” This shows that the gospel is part of God’s will. God delivers men with the purpose of saving them to the extent that God’s authority can be fully manifested through them. God wants us to preach the gospel and through it to carry out His will. Those who do not open their mouths and do not testify for God have failed to uphold God’s will.

Genuine prayer is a joint labor with God to bring His kingdom to the earth and to carry out His will on earth. Hence, prayer is nothing less than a spiritual battle (2 Cor. 10:2, 4; Matt. 6:10; Eph. 6:12). Prayer overturns the power of darkness and opens the way for God’s will to be executed on earth.

We are above the world; we do not belong to this world (John 17:16). Through the cross God delivered us out of this world unto Himself and His will (Gal. 6:14). We should not belong to this world, and we should not return to the reign of Satan. Once we are not of this world, Satan will not have any ground in us. When we are not of this world, we will be free from Satan’s authority, and we will be delivered from his reign and kingdom. In this way, God’s will can be carried out on earth.

May God execute His will and accomplish His purpose through the church. The church’s responsibility on the earth today is to perpetuate Christ’s victory on the earth and to bring in God’s kingdom. When the church is faithful to its position and responsibility, God’s eternal purpose will be accomplished. (CWWN, vol. 44, pp. 779, 781)

Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 2, lsn. 23

Further Reading:
Further Reading: The Kingdom and the Church, ch. 4

Hymn: #947
1 God’s Kingdom today is a real exercise,
But when Christ comes to reign it will be a great prize;
It is wisdom divine that we now may be trained
That His plan be fulfilled and His justice maintained.

2 God’s children, we’re born to be kings with His Son,
And we need to be trained that we may overcome
And to know how to rule in His kingdom as kings,
That His kingship thru us be expressed o’er all things.

3 Today we must learn to submit to His throne,
How to have a strict life and His government own;
His authority then we’ll be able to share,
O’er the nations to rule with God’s Son as the heir.

4 With a life strict to self we must righteousness hold,
Kind to others in peace, and with God joyful, bold;
In the Kingdom’s reality e’er to remain,
For its manifestation prepared thus to reign.

5 Then Christ when He comes with the kingdom from God
Will to us grant His kingship to share as reward;
Thus the Lord will His righteousness thru us maintain
And His wisdom to heavenly powers make plain.

6 For this the Apostle pressed on at all cost,
For the Kingdom assured that he would not be lost;
’Tis for this he charged others, Be true to the Lord.
That the Kingdom might be unto them a reward.

7 O Lord, give us grace for Thy Kingdom to live,
To be trained that Thou may the reward to us give;
Make the Kingdom’s reality our exercise,
That its manifestation may be our great prize.