The book of Acts reveals that in the move of the Lord on the earth there is only one divine stream of the Lord’s work and that we need to keep ourselves in this stream, for where the stream of life and of work flows, there’s water, there’s blessing, and God is moving in an unhindered way. Amen!
This week we come to the topic, Keeping Ourselves in the One Flow of the Lord’s Work for the Spreading of the Church and Receiving the Lord’s Mercy to Be Saved from Satan’s Schemes.
We need to see that there’s a divine history going on in human history. Yes, there are many events happening outwardly, both locally and globally, but God has a divine history.
We see this in type in the four kinds of locusts in Joel; these four kinds of locusts denote the four sections of human government, if we link this with Daniel 2, with the great human image.
First, there’s the cutting locust symbolising Babylon, then the swarming locust symbolising Medo-Persia, the licking locusts symbolising the Grecian empire, and finally the consuming locust signifying the Roman Empire.
These four kinds of locusts denote the four sections of the entire human government, as signified by the great human image in Daniel 2. All these end with Antichrist, the last Caesar of the revived Roman Empire, and then the human government will be brought to an end.
Then the kingdom of God will come in for one thousand years; this will be the honeymoon of the overcomers as the bride with Christ.
God uses the human government to carry out His economy. For example, while the Roman Empire was chastising rebellious Israel, God did something silently and mysteriously – He used the Roman Empire to keep the region around the Mediterranean Sea in a peaceful order.
Highways were built, shipping routes were established on the sea, and a common language – Greek- was spoken by all the peoples.
It was at that time that God came to be incarnated by being born of a virgin in a small city, Bethlehem, and eventually lived in Nazareth. When Christ was born, nobody noticed it, yet here was God becoming man.
He came to deepen and enlarge the divine history within the human history. He was born as the God-man, lived a perfect human life on earth, and died an all-inclusive death on the cross.
He died the death of a criminal under the Roman form of capital punishment and, although people did not realise this, Christ died a vicarious, all-inclusive death.
After three days, He resurrected; on the morning of His resurrection, He secretly ascended to the Father in the freshness of His resurrection, and came back in the evening to breathe Himself into His disciples.
He spent forty days with His disciples to train them to live in His invisible presence, and then He ascended to the heavens. After ten days, as the disciples were praying in one accord, He came down again, being poured out upon the believers! Hallelujah!
These became part of the continuation of Christ, and they continued to write the divine history within the human history.
May we see what God is doing intrinsically, and may we be in the divine stream of the Lord’s work today, keeping ourselves in this stream in this age.
The Vision of the Stream of the Divine Life and the Stream of Fellowship for the Testimony of Jesus
The book of Acts reveals that in the move of the Lord, there is only one divine stream of the Lord’s work and that we need to keep ourselves in this stream today.
Is the Lord flowing in us? Are we in the divine stream? The divine stream, which has been flowing throughout the generations, is uniquely one, and we need to keep ourselves in this unique flow (1 John 1:3; Rev. 22:1).
Since there’s only one divine stream and since the flow is uniquely one, we need to keep ourselves in this one flow.
Fellowship is the flow of the divine life; fellowship is the flow of the one divine stream in this universe.
John said that what the apostles saw and heard is what they also report to us so that we may have fellowship with them, and their fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
This is a vertical fellowship with God and a horizontal fellowship with the saints. We need to see something new with the Lord every day; Christ is always new, and we want to enjoy Him anew every day, and we also report this to the saints so that we may have fellowship with them.
Horizontally, we have the horizontal fellowship with the apostles and the saints; vertically, we have fellowship with the Triune God.
Fellowship is an interwoven fellowship – the interweaving of the vertical and horizontal fellowship. This is how God interweaves Himself into our being.
We hear and see something of the Lord in the Word and in the ministry, and we report it to others so that they also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the Triune God!
In Revelation 22:1 we see a picture of this fellowship; there’s a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.
In eternity and for eternity, there’s a river of water of life flowing from the throne of God to water everyone. This water proceeds from the throne in an unhindered way. God comes to us as life, as the flowing of living water.
Whoever is thirsty can come to the Lord and drink the water of life freely (Rev. 22:17). For eternity, the Lord will be our shepherd and will guide us to springs of water of life (7:17).
This water of life is God Himself; we drink Him, we enjoy His pleasures, and we’re satisfied with His fatness.
Today, there’s a stream of living water flowing out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. The life of God flows out of God Himself in the redeeming Saviour (the Lamb) with ruling authority to be life to us right now.
With the flow of water of life, there is the tree of life, supplying us in a fresh way with fruit each month (Rev. 22:2). All we need is in this stream of water of life, for the riches of the divine life flow in the river.
We need to see that there’s one stream of the divine life flowing from God throughout the ages and into eternity. There’s a stream of fellowship, for whoever drinks of this living water is in the one stream.
There’s one street in the New Jerusalem, and the living water flows in the middle of the street.
The fellowship of the Body of Christ is the stream of the divine life. As we drink the Lord and enjoy Him, we let Him flow in us and through us, and this divine stream flows within us and out of us.
You can never get lost in the New Jerusalem, for there’s only one street in the holy city, and in the middle of the street, there’s the river of water of life with the tree of life growing on both its sides.
If we have the flow of life, the stream of the divine life, we have everything we need. Amen, wherever this living stream flows, there’s life, there’s supply, and there’s the testimony of the Lord Jesus!
If we follow the divine stream, we will be brought to the place where the Lord Jesus is. The stream of living water will cause us to know something of Christ, it will infuse something of Christ into our being, and it will make us the testimony of Jesus Christ. Amen!
The entire Bible shows us that all man’s needs are met in God and by God alone.
God Himself is the only supply for man, and everything God does is to come to man and give Himself to man to be man’s everything for his enjoyment and experience.
The more we enjoy the Lord, the more we drink the Spirit as the flow of the living water, the more we can be in the divine stream, the stream of the divine life and the stream of fellowship leading us to be the testimony of Jesus.
Lord Jesus, show us a vision of the divine stream flowing from eternity into time and flowing in us and among us! Hallelujah, there is a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of the street in the New Jerusalem! Amen, Lord, may we see the stream of living water flowing out of the throne of God and reaching us! May we remain on the unique street in the New Jerusalem to enjoy the stream of the divine life and the stream of fellowship! We come to You, dear Lord, to drink You as the living water. We come to drink the water of life freely! Hallelujah, we drink of Christ, we enjoy His pleasures, and we are satisfied with His fatness! Oh Lord, we enthrone You in our being. Keep us in the divine stream. We want to remain in the fellowship of the divine life. Flow in us and flow out of us. May we see and hear Christ day by day in a new way, and may we report to others also so that we may have fellowship with them!
We Keep ourselves in the One Stream of the Lord’s Work by Giving the Lord the Preeminence
Where the divine life of God flows, we have the life of God, the fellowship of the Body of Christ, the testimony of Jesus, and the work of God (Gen. 2:10-14; Psa. 36:8-9; 46:4a; John 7:37-39; Rev. 22:1).
In the book of Acts in particular we see that in the Lord’s move on earth there’s only one divine stream of the Lord’s work and that we need to keep ourselves in this stream.
First, the divine stream was in one person, Jesus Christ, who, through death and resurrection, has been enlarged to be the Body of Christ, comprising all the believers in Christ.
The divine stream started from the day of Pentecost, and it flowed in Jerusalem, then to Antioch, to Asia, to Europe, and throughout all the world.
Today we are in the stream of the fellowship of the body, and we need to keep ourselves in the one stream of the Lord’s work today.
The divine stream is flowing everywhere on the earth, and we need to keep ourselves in this stream today. When God flows in a country, that’s where the work of the Lord is.
The divine stream is in a particular place before you get there, and you need to join yourself to the divine stream. If we have the divine stream, we have everything.
It is tragic to still work for the Lord outwardly but not be in the divine stream of His work inwardly. We may do many things for the Lord, and we may enjoy a certain amount of blessing, but are we in the divine stream of the Lord’s work in that place?
It is easy to understand how the stream comes into us; however, is there a stream of God flowing within you today?
We should not assume that we have the stream of life but rather, we need to turn to our spirit and tell the Lord, Lord Jesus, I want to be in the flow of life!
We need to have the throne of God set up in the centre of our being, taking Him as the unique authority, and we need to submit to His throne. It is from His throne that the river of water of life proceeds and flows.
Wherever we go and whatever we are about to do, if there’s the sense that the flowing of the stream of life will be stopped by proceeding in that matter, you must stop.
We need to stop what we are doing and what we are saying in order to maintain the flow of life.
Many times we must refrain from certain activities which are not of the Lord so that we may maintain the flow of life.
If we are the divine stream of the Lord’s work, the work we do will not be hard or tiresome; rather, it will be a bed for us to lie on and rest, for the Lord is doing all the work.
However, if we work hard and are very burdened while we serve the Lord, we need to realise that we are not in the stream.
We need to learn the lesson that we must go along with the flow of the stream of the Holy Spirit.
We cannot go to any place to work for the Lord or start a work for the Lord without the flowing of the current of the Holy Spirit. We just can’t do that.
When we give the Lord the preeminence in our entire being, taking Him as our first love, He becomes the divine stream to us, flowing within us and out of us as the first works (Rev. 2:4- 5; Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 2:9; 3:12).
We need to give the Lord the preeminence in our being, taking Him as our first love in all things; then, He becomes the divine stream to us, and He will flow in us and out of us as the first works.
The first works are works that are motivated by, issue from, and express the Lord as our first love.
It is only works that are motivated by the first love that are gold, silver, and precious stones. Amen!
May we give the Lord the first place in us. May we be constrained by His love to regard Him and take Him as everything in our life.
When we love Him with the first love, we will do the first works, which is just the Lord flowing through us as our works in love for Him.
Others will realise that we are crazy lovers of the Lord. May we be such ones, those who pour out everything on the Lord in love.
The flowing of the divine life, which started on the day of Pentecost and has been flowing throughout all generations to this day, is just one stream for God’s goal to build up the church for His corporate expression (see Matt. 16:18; Ezek. 47:1-12).
There is one divine stream of the Lord’s work, and we want to keep ourselves in this stream by giving the Lord the preeminence in all things.
Lord Jesus, grant us to see a vision of the one divine stream of the Lord’s work flowing throughout the ages! Hallelujah, where the divine stream flows, we have the life of God, the fellowship of the Body, the testimony of Jesus, and the work of God! Amen, Lord, we want to keep ourselves in the divine stream of the Lord’s work. We love You, Lord. We open to You. We give You the preeminence in our entire being, taking You as our first love. Oh Lord, constrain us with Your love that we would do all things one with You and in You. May You become the divine stream to us. Flow within us, Lord, and flow out of us as the first works. May the works we do for the Lord be motivated by, issue from, and express the Lord as our first love! Oh Lord, we give ourselves to You. We give You the first place in us. We give the divine stream the preeminence in our being. Flow in us. May we see that the flowing of the divine life is just one stream for God’s goal to build up the church for His corporate expression! May we keep ourselves in the divine stream today!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, vol. 1, “The Divine Stream,” pp. 169-181, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, One Accord and Crucial Aspects of the Book of Acts (2025 April ITERO), week 5, Keeping Ourselves in the One Flow of the Lord’s Work for the Spreading of the Church and Receiving the Lord’s Mercy to Be Saved from Satan’s Schemes – day 1.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– The Lord’s new way, a portion from, The Lord’s New Way and His Ministry Today, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
– The Churches, the Saints, New Jerusalem, via New Jerusalem blog.
– Our need to be measured for the Lord’s move, a portion from, The Crucial Revelation of Life in the Scriptures, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
– How I Use the Life-study of the Bible to Get More from God’s Word, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– Regarding the Publication work in the Lord’s recovery, via, LSM.
– Does Living Stream Ministry control the local churches in the Lord’s recovery? More via, Living to Him.
– Message 1: The World Situation in Relation to God’s Move on Earth (1), message by brother Lee (video).
– How Knowing My Human Spirit Affected My Christian Life, via, Bibles for America blog.
– Knowing the Time That We Are in and the Lord’s Work of Recovery, via, Having this ministry.
– Jeremiah (Program #15) – Jehovah’s further Commission to Jeremiah (2), via, Bible study radio.
– Keeping ourselves in the Spirit to enjoy Christ, a portion from, Christ our Portion, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
– Great Resolutions Podcast #42 – A Prevailing Witness, via, Age Turners.
– The fellowship of the churches in the Lord’s recovery, a portion from, The God-Ordained Way and the Eldership, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee. - Hymns on this topic:
– A mighty flowing-out is God, / He flows throughout the ages. / And so to flow Himself to man / He is in many stages; / Yet still one God is He, / One flow eternally; / His stages pave the way / To flow through man today, / And now He flows within us! (Hymns #1198 stanza 1)
– There is a stream which issues forth / From God’s eternal throne / And from the Lamb, a living stream, / Clear as the crystal stone. / In it doth grow the tree of life, / It makes the ransomed sing: / Its living draught revives the heart; / Hence all the joys do spring. (Hymns #983 stanza 1)
– In the stream! in the stream! let us work for the Lord, / By His mind, in His way, as revealed in His Word; / In the flow of His life let us work with His pow’r / For His Kingdom and Church in the time of His hour. / In the stream! in the stream! / Let us work in the stream! / In the stream! in the stream! / We’ll work as in the heav’nly team! (Hymns #909 stanza 1 and chorus)
About aGodMan
Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963, vol. 1, “The Divine Stream,” p. 170
Our God is a flowing God, and He has one stream of flowing His life and His work.
The river of water of life flows from Him, and this river brings us all that God is for our enjoyment.
May we give the stream the preeminence today so that the Lord may flow freely in us and through us.
Praise the Lord my dear brother in the Lord… Wow! this water of life is God in Christ as the Spirit flowing Himself into His redeemed people to be their life and life supply.
The Lord Jesus says, that this water you drink, you will thirst no more.
Hallelujah for the water that flows out of the pierced side of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; this water of life, now becomes the river, that proceeds out of the throne of God and the Lamb to supply and saturate the entire New Jerusalem aaaamen!
Aaaaameeen!
Where this stream flows, there is also the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, this stream will testify to you something of Christ! Hallelujah!
Amen. Lord flow in and flow out today.
The river of living water is the supply of the divine life, as within the stream is the life of God.
The scriptures say whoever is thirsty may come to the Lord and drink the water of life freely.
Yes Lord. We open to you flow in and flow out of us. We are drinkers of the water of life.
Amen to the stream in the scriptures, which is also a stream of fellowship! We thank the Lord that we can also drink today of the rich flowing stream, which started on the day of Pentecost!
This stream is the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, bringing us in contact daily with Christ, to know Christ, & to testify concerning Christ – who is the Lamb on the throne with God in Him!
This stream is also the stream of God’s work, flowing the current of the divine life wherever it reaches. Hallelujah, this flow contains God Himself in Christ with ruling power from the throne!
We need to see that there is only one divine stream of The Lord’s work.
Since the day of Pentecost, there has been just one divine stream flowing for God’s goal to build up the church for His corporate expression.
We need to keep ourselves in this divine stream.
This stream is both a supply that meets all our needs and a fellowship.
We can enjoy fellowship with the Triune God only in and by the stream of living water coming directly from the throne of God.
The fellowship of the Body of Christ began to flow from Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and is continuing to flow to all parts of the Earth.
The more it flows, the greater & richer it becomes. Wherever this stream flows, there is the testimony of Christ, and eventually this stream brings us into contact with Christ Himself. Christ is the Lamb on the throne with God in Him.
The work of God is a work in the stream of living water. By flowing, God preaches the gospel and saves people.
When we give the Lord the preeminence in our being, He becomes the stream to us, flowing within us and out of us.
May we continue to express the Lord as our first love, for only works that issue from our best love for Christ are gold, silver & precious stones. In the stream is where we want to be, oh Lord.
I am like a tree by the river of living waters, come adversities, we are connected to the current of the triune God!
Amen for the divine water that flows, the water of life that is God Himself flowing out of Him as our life.
This flow is uniquely one, where the stream flows, there is fellowship, there is Jesus and the work of God.
We need to remain in the one stream,
There is one life with one flow and one work in the scriptures.
This one life is God Himself with the one flow as the divine stream flowing out of the throne of God in the redeeming Saviour, with the ruling authority to be life to us now.
When we give the first place to such a one then there will be the move of God as one flow with one goal to build up the church.
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Amen. Lord, may You have the preeminence that You may flow in and flow out of us.
Ameeeen!!!!
Praise the Lord, brother, for the water of life is God in Christ as the Spirit flowing freely into us to be our life and life supply.
The Lord Jesus said whosoever drink of this water shall by no means thirst forever.
This is also the water that flows out of the pierced side of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that becomes the fellowship of oneness in the body and the one stream of the Lord’s work.
Eventually, this flow is the river that proceeds out of the throne of God and the Lamb to supply and saturate the entire New Jerusalem.
BE OPEN TO END TO BE A LIVENING
We must submit to the Lord and humbly ask Him to give us a vision. In our search for the Lord, we should not merely have enjoyment, satisfaction and a sense of sweetness.
We must see that the Lord is in resurrection. We need a vision of the resurrection so that we can jump over the mountains and jump over the hills.
Despite the things that weigh down our spirit and the difficulties we encounter in our environment, we need to see that the Lord is alive and powerful in us; He is jumping on the mountains and jumping on the hills. If we knew about the resurrection and were open, we would be like firecrackers.
Once a firecracker explodes, he can catch the others. If I am open, I can catch another one until it opens, and then he can catch me. As a result, we will have a genuine revival. If we stay in our past experiences and remain closed, the result will be death. The more we stay in our past experiences and stay closed, the more we fall into death.
We have to learn how to open up. Even if we doubt it, we must always practice opening our being on every occasion. Then the unlimited supply will overflow from within us and we will experience a spiritual revival.
Amennn
Our God is a flowing God, from the Throne reaching man!