Come Forward with Boldness to the Throne of Grace
“When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the expiation cover that was upon the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; and he spoke to Him.” (Num. 7:89)
“Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help.” (Heb. 4:16)
The expiation cover signifies Christ as the place where God meets with His redeemed people and speaks to them in grace. The fact that God met with His people and spoke to them from above the expiation cover and between the cherubim signifies that God meets with us and speaks to us in the propitiating Christ and in the glory expressed in the propitiating Christ as His testimony.
The expiation cover on the Ark in the Holy of Holies equals the throne of grace in Hebrews 4:16. (Crystallization-Study of Numbers, msg. 8, II.A, II.D.1, III)
The Prayer of the Kingdom Life
“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” (Matt. 18:18)
We need to read and consider prayerfully the Lord’s speaking in Matthew 18:15-22, which reveals how we can live the kingdom life….Verse 17 is so low, saying that we should let the sinning one who will not listen to the church be to us like a Gentile and a tax collector. But verse 18 says that we should touch heaven by our binding and releasing prayer….Whatever we pray, our Father in heaven will accomplish to gain that person.
Many times we feel that a certain saint is a hopeless case [in verse 17]….We would not take Christ as the heavenly ladder in verse 18 to climb up to the heavens with prayer that binds Satan and looses the sinning brother. We and the church may have no way with this brother, but should we give him up? We have to bind the binding one and release the bound one by praying together in harmony. (WL, The Vital Groups, chap. 1, sec. 2-3; part of reading for ITERO, msg. 3)
We can pray the same way for dormant brothers, brothers occupied with the world, and unbelievers.
Junior High Brothers’ Conference
From April 19 to 21, brothers from across Southern California will gather at Oak Glen for the Spring 2019 Junior High Brothers’ Conference. For this conference we pray:
- for the Lord to prepare the hearts of all of the young brothers in Southern California;
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that they would see how much the Lord loves the church; and
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that they would choose the church and would dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of their life (Psalm 27:4).
North America College Training
As of last weekend, 1615 are registered leaving almost 1200 spots open. Now is the time to strongly beseech the Lord to operate in the hearts and circumstances of all the students and serving ones to rise up and commit to attend the NACT this summer.
Bibles for America
A new version of our app has been designed to help people study 15 important topics in the New Testament using key verses and notes in the Recovery Version. Study topics include Christ, the economy of God, Christian experience, the church, and more. Verses and footnotes under each topic are linked to the online NT Recovery Version; an offer for a free physical copy from BfA is also included in the app. It is now available to download for free through the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. It will soon be made available on our website.
Please pray for this app to be easily found and downloaded. Pray that it would be useful to those who are interested in studying the many important truths in the Bible.
Europe
The European Brothers’ Training is Tuesday to Thursday, April 16 to 18 in London. They will watch videos of the ITERO messages, have group study times, and fellowship about the Lord’s move in Europe. The International Blending Conference will be Saturday and Lord’s Day, April 20 to 21 in London.
Please pray for the Lord’s blessing on every aspect of this training and this conference (including the facility, hospitality, services, and messages) and the preparation of every attendee to receive the Lord’s up-to-date speaking and to enter into the universal fellowship of the Body
Gdansk, Poland
Gdansk is the leading city in northern Poland with almost 500,000 inhabitants. The broader urban area includes 100,000 university students.
During the FTTA gospel trip in January, visiting trainees and local saints conducted a two-day distribution of the Polish NT Recovery Version near the University of Gdansk. The openness among the students encouraged the saints in Poland to continue to visit after the gospel trip. Since February, four distributions resulted in over 700 NTs given away. Dozens of good conversations were held; eight students received the Lord. Please stand with us in prayer that:
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the Lord burden at least two families and two single saints to migrate and live near the University of Gdansk, to take care of students open to meet with us and church-life students studying there.
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the Lord will open the way to visit Gdansk regularly and burden the three nearby churches to join in sowing and shepherding students who are open for further contact.
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more students will be open to give us their contact information for further fellowship.
Announcements
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Morning Revival: Week 8 of Crystallization-Study of Numbers, vol. 2.
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July 2019 Semiannual Training is July 1 to 6. Registration is open until April 28 for the live sessions in Anaheim ($205) and June 11 for webcasts in LA ($105). No late registrations. Saints in LA should register online at http://tinyurl.com/summertrainingla and follow payment directions.
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6th Grade Conference at Oak Glen will be May 3 to 5. Registration deadline is April 21.
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Southern California Blending Conference will be June 8 and 9 in Anaheim.
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Memorial Day Conference will be May 24 to 27 in Seattle, WA. Conference and hotel information is at https://churchinlosangeles.org/prayer. Saints from LA attending should RSVP no later than April 28 at http://tinyurl.com/memdayla (adults) and http://tinyurl.com/memchildrenla (children).
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Germany & Europe Info: https://churchinlosangeles.org/information-about-germany-and-europe.
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