These messages were given in May and June of 1985 to brothers and sisters participating in a year-long labor in the Bible. Sometimes they were spoken to the trainees together with the rest of the church, but more frequently they were talks with those in the labor. Brother Titus’ burden came out of Paul’s first epistle to Timothy and focused upon how we may grow fully into what God has arranged for us despite all the frustrations and dangers which confront us as we are growing. Those who were present can testify how much they continue to be helped by our brother’s fellowship on this crucial matter.
“Survival” in these messages does not denote a passive continuance; rather, it is the exercise which enables us to attain to our measure of growth and function in the Body. What is shared in these messages are not “how to’s,” but principles which can protect us as we are growing and help ensure that our exercise will become an ever-increasing profit to the Lord for His recovery.
Article 1: Survival is for Growth unto Our Measure
To survive in the church life means much more than to simply continue coming to the meetings. Rather, it means that despite so much outward discouragement and the fact that so many fall away, we continue to pursue the Lord and His desire. Through such a pursuing, such a surviving, we develop a mature appreciation of the Lord and become the genuine shepherds in the church life. All of this requires us to have a learning spirit.
Article 2: Three Pillars for Our Survival
This message considers four keys that enable us to survive: to be properly related to the servants of the Lord; to know God as our Savior and His saving of us into His purpose, to realize Christ Jesus as our hope, and to be properly related to the other saints.
Article 3: Receiving Our Savior God’s Arrangement in our Environment
To know God’s full salvation we must experience both His inward working and His arrangement in our environment. We must also realize that His arrangement is not for us to have an experience, but for us to receive His light.
Article 4: The Fourth Pillar: Our Life Relationship with the Saints
In fellowshipping with the other saints we must beware of four pitfalls which can damage our life relationship with others: natural relationship, seniority, spiritual taste and mutual advantage.
Article 5: Three Crucial Principles for Producing a Genuine Child
There are three great secrets for producing a genuine child in the faith: We should not merely utilize them, we must raise them up with a high vision, and we ourselves must be fresh and buoyant in life.
Article 6: A Fourth Principle for Producing a Genuine Child
In the previous message we considered three principles for producing a genuine child. In this message we consider a fourth principle: that we value brothers more than the work.
Article 7: The Practical Exercise to Raise Up Genuine Children
We have considered some principles for raising up others; now we need to consider the practical exercises we must have in this regard.
Article 8: The Necessity of a Proper Humanity for our Life-Relationship with the Saints
If we do not have a proper humanity, that is, an expression of godly virtues in our human living, it will greatly frustrate our spiritual growth. In this message we consider what it means to relate to the saints in a proper way.
Article 9: Five Warnings Concerning Our Relationships with Others
In this message we consider a number of pitfalls we need to avoid as we serve the saints in the church life.
Article 10: Honoring God’s Administration and His Administrative Arrangement
First Timothy Two shows us God’s divine administration. To grow properly we must know how to honor this administration. This means that we need to submit to those whom the Lord has placed over us, and it also means that we need to respect and be faithful to what He has committed to us.
Article 11: Being Faithful to God’s Faithfulness
In this message we continue to consider the matter of honoring God’s administration. In particular, we need to see what it means for us to be faithful to God and how we can be faithful.
Article 12: Honoring the Place and Learning from the Person
One temptation we may face in the church life is to lose our heart for the Lord when we discover that others are not perfect. Actually, no one is perfect, but we must still have the ability to learn from others.
Article 13: Honoring God’s Government Concerning Our Place Spiritually and Practically
One very practical matter that will affect our going on is how we receive God’s arrangement in placing us where He desires, whether in regards to the locality we live in or in regards to our practical environment. The Lord may lead us to move, but we ourselves must learn not to initiate change ourselves.
Article 14: The Church, the Churches, and the Work (1)
As its title indicates, this messages deals with the the church as the Body of Christ, the local churches, and the work, and with the relationship between them.
Article 15: The Church, the Churches, and the Work (2)
To serve the Lord properly in the Body of Christ, the local churches, and the work, we must labor with both a clear view and with the unique goal in view.
