Being Saved from Ordinances and Religious Traditions and Keeping ourselves in the Flow

As believers in Christ, we must receive the Lord’s mercy to be saved from Satan’s schemes to frustrate the spreading and building up of the church; we need to beware of negative factors, learn from our history, and keep ourselves in the flow of the age for the building up of the Body of Christ. Amen!

In the book of Acts we see the history of God in man; the disciples didn’t just go to preach the gospel, but even more, they went to propagate the resurrected Christ in His ascension the produce the churches as the kingdom of God on the earth.

Today, we are the continuation of the book of Acts, and we also need to propagate the resurrected Christ into people through our preaching of the gospel and through our living so that the kingdom of God would be spread and the church would be built up.

On the positive side, there are many positive matters we can learn from the early disciples, and we do well to learn from them.

On the negative side, however, we need to be warned concerning certain matters, for there were things that Satan brought in to damage the one accord, stop the fellowship, and hinder the Lord’s move on the earth.

The Bible is faithful in presenting to us not only the positive side but also the not-so-positive side so that we may heed the warning and be preserved in the flow of God.

Satan has certain schemes. We should not be ignorant of his schemes. The evil one is behind the scenes in everything and works in everything to hinder the Lord’s move on the earth and stop the propagation of Christ for the bringing in of the kingdom of God.

May we not be taken advantage of by Satan (2 Cor. 2:11) and may we not be ignorant of his schemes. Rather, may we realise that the Lord is operating behind the scenes to propagate Himself in man, and may we be aware of the enemy’s schemes.

The enemy’s schemes are his plots, his plans, his devices, his designs, his wiles, his intentions, and his purpose, all of which are focused on hindering the fulfilment of God’s economy and destroying God’s building.

How much we need to receive the Lord’s mercy today so that we may be saved from Satan’s schemes to frustrate the spreading and building up of the church!

May we be on the alert, learning from our history in the church life from the very beginning, and may we keep ourselves in the flow of the age, the one divine stream, for the building up of the Body of Christ!

Being Saved from Ordinances, Religious Traditions, and Old Background and Living under the Vision of God’s Eternal Economy

When the church began to spread, as recorded in the book of Acts, Satan created many problems to limit the spread of the church.

We need to see these problems and be aware of Satan’s schemes, and we need to be saved from the things that Satan rises up to hinder the building of the church.

One of the first things that Satan used was the limitation and bondage of Judaism (Acts 15:1-34), which are the old ordinances and traditions in Judaism.

The believers in Judea were Christians, but they were also Jews who still kept the traditions of Judaism, and they looked at the church and the Christian life from a Jewish point of view.

Many of them believed that their law, ordinances, and rituals were from God; therefore, they kept them, they tried to be pious by this, and they considered themselves to be best able to keep God’s word.

The Lord Jesus preached the gospel for all men to be saved, and He never emphasised anything of Judaism; however, the disciples were very much influenced by Judaism.

Satan used this to severely limit the church and bring in problems. Once Paul saw the heavenly vision, however, he spoke clearly concerning this, and the Lord had a way to lift this limitation.

We may not be influenced by Judaism today, but we may have a lot of ordinances and regulations which bind the church. Oh Lord Jesus!

The Holy Spirit cannot be bound, but the church can be limited in its spread and building up by our regulations and ordinances based on our background, religion, and concepts. Whenever this happens, the Holy Spirit reacts and breaks through the ordinances.

May we remain in the word of God and not deviate from the heavenly vision of God’s economy, not picking up any ordinances or regulations that would limit the Lord.

If we take the principles in the Bible as dead ordinances, however, we are in the principle of Judaism. The church depends not on ordinances or regulations but on the Holy Spirit.

May can try to bind the church, but the Spirit cannot be bound or limited. We need to be saved from our ordinances and regulations, we need to be delivered from our religion, and we need to live and walk according to the heavenly vision of God’s economy!

We must be saved from outward and dead ordinances, human opinions, and the self with its old concepts (Rom. 5:10; Phil. 1:19-21a; 2:12-16; Acts 15:1-12; Gal. 2:21; 5:1; 2:4).

If we receive mercy from the Lord, we will be saved in these matters; the degree to which we are saved is the degree to which the church can be built up.

For us to be built up and for the church to have a way to spread under the leading and moving of the Holy Spirit, we need to be saved from ordinances, regulations, and religion.

We must learn from the lesson of Peter to be saved from the veils of our religious traditions and old background so that we may see and live under the vision of God’s eternal economy to hold the truth of the gospel (Acts 10:9-16; Gal. 2:11-14).

May the Lord have mercy on us and break through in us. May we receive the Lord’s mercy to remain under the heavenly vision of God’s eternal economy, and may we allow the Lord to expose and remove any ordinances, regulations, and religious traditions that would hold us back from enjoying Christ and being one with Him to spread the church.

May we not hold back the spreading of the church by our ordinances, regulations, and religious traditions.

If the Lord cannot get through in us, He will have to break through as the Holy Spirit and go to other people who are willing to allow Him to break through and move. It is good to come to the Lord and be before Him concerning this, telling Him,

Lord Jesus, we want to fully cooperate with You in Your move to spread the church on the whole earth. We give ourselves to You today. We want to receive Your mercy to be saved from Satan’s schemes to frustrate the spreading and building up of the church. Amen, Lord, keep us in our spirit today, one spirit with You. We want to keep ourselves in the flow of the age for the building up of the Body of Christ. Shine on us, Lord, and expose any outward and dead ordinances. Save us from ordinances, human opinions, and the self with its old concepts. Oh Lord, may we receive mercy from You to be saved in these matters so that the church may spread and be built up! Amen, Lord Jesus, keep shining on us and keep exposing and removing anything that would hinder Your move in us and through us. Save us from the veil of our religious traditions and old background. May we see and live under the vision of God’s eternal economy to hold the truth of the gospel!

Being Saved from Natural Relationships and Losing the One Accord, and being One with the Ministry of the Age

After the Lord had a way to deal with the problem of Judaism and He broke through in Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-34), He had a way to spread the church through Paul and Barnabas. They were in one accord and went to preach the gospel and raise up churches one with the Lord. This was glorious!

However, there was an inward problem, a subjective problem that arose: Barnabas and Paul could not be in one accord (vv. 35-41) because of Barnabas’ human opinions and natural relationships.

In their second gospel preaching and visiting the churches journey, Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them, but Paul felt it was not suitable; an argument arose between them, and the one accord was lost.

Their argument was the work of Satan, and the spread of the church was greatly damaged because Paul and Barnabas could not be in one accord. Oh Lord!

We don’t know who was right and who was wrong, but we know that Barnabas took Mark and went somewhere, while Paul and Silas were sent by the church to go on.

May we learn from the lesson of Barnabas today to be saved from human opinions and natural relationships (Acts 13:13; 15:35-40; Col. 4:10). Disputes that arise among co-workers because of personal relationships are terrible.

May we allow the Lord to break through in this matter, for we all are like this; we all have natural relationships and we prefer certain people to others.

May the Lord save us from our human opinions and natural relationships, especially in our service to the Lord.

We must also learn from the lesson of Apollos, who was not fully one with the ministry of the age and lacked a complete revelation of God’s New Testament economy (Acts 18:24—19:2; 1 Cor. 1:12; 16:10-12).

He was very gifted and powerful, and after being converted to Christ, he preached the gospel and did a certain work.

However, he was not one with Paul. Even when Paul asked him to come to him a few times, Apollos refused, saying he would come when he had an opportunity.

May we learn from the lesson of Apollos to be saved from a ministry that lacks a complete revelation of God’s New Testament economy and from not being fully one with the ministry of the age.

May we remain under the televising of the heavenly vision of God’s New Testament economy, and may we be one with the ministry of the age today!

What a mercy it is for us to be in the ministry of the age under the Lord’s present speaking; may we remain here.

We must also learn from the lesson of Paul in Acts 16:6-12 to follow the leading of the Spirit in the Body of Christ.

Paul himself had problems within; the Spirit wanted him to go out and spread the church, but he didn’t understand the leading of the Holy Spirit. He vacillated between going forward or going back, and a vision came to him at night telling him to go to Macedonia in Europe (vv. 9-10).

This indicates that old relationships, old affections, and old inclinations can keep us away from going to another place and may even cause us to be settled down, not wanting to move. Oh Lord!

The Holy Spirit forbade Paul and his co-workers, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them (vv. 6-7). When the Holy Spirit forbids us, we are separated and sanctified.

It is good to have the Lord’s speaking within, and His favourite word is NO; the more we come to Him throughout the day, the more we have His inner sanctifying and separating.

The Spirit of Jesus either allows us or does not allow us as we live one with the Lord to do the will of God under the cross, even as the Lord Jesus did.

May we experience the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus operating in us for our ministry on the earth.

The Holy Spirit says no to sanctify us, and the Spirit of Jesus says go to send us out in the humanity of Jesus to accomplish the will of God under the cross. Amen!

May we remain under the Lord’s speaking today as the Spirit!

We must learn from the lesson of Paul to practice the Body life and to take the word of the Spirit through the members of the Body, obeying it as a word from the Head (Acts 20:23; 21:4, 7-8, 11-14).

Paul was warned by at least two separate people or parties not to go to Jerusalem, for he would be bound and imprisoned, but he did not listen.

One prophet named Agabus even took Paul’s belt, bound himself with it, and said that whoever wears it will be bound.

Paul should have listened to the members of the Body issuing this warning, but he did not; therefore, he was imprisoned, and even when he wanted to defend himself, everyone was enraged with him.

He was put in prison in Caesarea for two years, and later he continued to be imprisoned until his martyrdom.

Of course, this did not stop the Lord from moving and speaking through him, for Paul took the opportunity of not being active outwardly in the gospel and travelling and wrote his epistles, which remain until this day and are a great help to the Body of Christ.

Lord Jesus, save us from human opinions and natural relationships in the church life and in the work of the Lord. Oh Lord, we open to Your shining today. Expose anything of the natural man with its natural preferences and opinions. May we learn to drop our opinions and refuse to be entangled with natural relationships as we serve the Lord and are one with Him to spread the gospel. Grant us to remain daily under the heavenly vision of God’s eternal economy to be up-to-date with You in Your move today. Amen, Lord, save us from a ministry that lacks a complete revelation of God’s New Testament economy. Save us from not being fully one with the ministry of the age. May we learn to open to You, be open to You, and not be set or settled down but rather, be ready to move and do things one with You throughout the day. Sanctify us as the Holy Spirit; we want to listen to Your inner speaking and leading. Lead us as the Spirit of Jesus to accomplish the will of God under the cross. Amen, Lord, may we all advance with You in Your move on the earth today, being one with You and one with the Body!

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, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 2: The Course of the Church,” ch. 3, 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 4.
• Similar articles on this topic:
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  – The Ministry of the New Testament (1), via, Living to Him.
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• Hymns on this topic:
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  – Pray with one accord in spirit, / Supplicate relatedly; / Seek the Lord, His mind, His leading, / In the Spirit’s harmony. / Pray with one accord in spirit, / Pray and watch persistently; / For God’s kingdom and His glory, / Pray and watch in harmony. (Hymns #779 stanzas 4-5)
  – We give ourselves the flock’s steps to follow / Knowing the Shepherd’s care. / Now in the churches Jesus is leading / And He is speaking there. / We give ourselves to Thee, O Lord Jesus, / Never to turn aside; / Where’er the Lamb goes, there we would follow, / Follow whate’er betide. (Hymns #1246 stanzas 3-4)