Being in the Resurrection Life of Christ to have the Authority of Christ as the Church

We need to enjoy and experience Christ as a land of iron stones; iron signifies the authority of Christ, and we can have this authority when we live in the resurrection life of Christ.

In our enjoyment and experience of Christ we need to advance and progress from merely enjoying Him as the foodstuffs to experiencing Him as the minerals, the more solid items in the good land.

On one hand God in Christ as the Spirit is our supply to give us all the nutrition that we need to grow in life and fulfill His purpose; on the other hand, God desires to gain His building.

So we need to experience Christ as the land full of stones, iron, copper, mountains, and bronze; He is a solid Christ, the material for the building of God and for the city of God.

May we bring this matter to the Lord and ask Him to take us on with Him, giving us higher and deeper experiences of Himself so that we may advance from eating and drinking the Lord to experiencing His resurrection life so that we may have authority over all the enemies and defeat them, and we may build up the church.

The good land is a land whose stones are iron; the matter of the stones is very important in the Bible.

We can say that there is a line of stones in the Bible, a certain revelation of stone in the Bible, both in the Old and in the New Testament.

In Gen. 2:12 we see that in the river flowing by the garden of Eden there are some stones – gold, bdellium, and onyx stones.

The in Gen. 28:19 Jacob laid his head on a stone as a pillow, then erected that stone to be a pillar, poured oil upon it and called it Bethel, the house of God. Here we see that the stone is revealed in connection to God’s building.

In Exo. 28:8-12, 21, we see the garment of the high priest with two shoulder plates, with one piece of stone on each and six stones inscribed on each stone, with the names of the children of Israel on them. Then there was the breastplate on his breast carrying twelve stones. As the high priest was functioning in the house of God, he was carrying the stones.

In Exo. 17:5-6 there’s the flowing water out of the cleft rock for the people to drink and quench their thirst.

In Isa. 8:14-15 Christ is being prophesied as a striking stone, as a stone of stumbling.

In Isa. 28:16 Jehovah laid in Zion a foundation stone, a cornerstone; this is a prophecy concerning Christ to be the foundation stone and cornerstone.

In Zech. 4:7-8 Christ is revealed as the topstone, and in 3:9 there was a stone laid before Joshua, a stone with seven eyes.

In the New Testament in John 1:42, when Simon first came to the Lord, He changed his name from Simon to Peter, a stone.

In Matt. 16:18 Christ revealed the building of the church, and that He was the rock on which the church was built, while Peter was a stone to be built on that rock.

In 1 Cor. 3:11-12 Christ is the unique foundation and, upon tat foundation we build with gold, silver, and precious stones.

In 1 Cor. 10:4 Christ is the spiritual rock which follows God’s people. In Acts 4:11 Christ is revealed as the Stone-Savior, the stone rejected by the builders who was made the head of the corner, in whose name we shall be saved.

In 1 Pet. 2:4-5 Christ is the living stone, and we also are living stones. In Rev. 2:17 the overcomers in Thyatira will receive a white stone.

In Rev. 4:3 the One who sits on the throne has the appearance of a jasper stone and a sardius; even God has the appearance of a jasper stone and a sardius!

In Rev. 21:11 we see the New Jerusalem, the ultimate consummation, whose light is like a most precious stone – jasper, and in 21:19 the building work was of jasper stone. God’s work is related to stones; He wants to transform us from clay-men into stone-men, even into precious stones for His building!

Being in the Resurrection Life of Christ to have the Authority of Christ as the Church

Iron signifies the authority of Christ (see Psa. 2:9; Rev. 12:5; Matt. 28:18). Christ will rule the nations with an iron rod; the manchild – the overcomers – will shepherd the nations with an iron rod, for he has been given authority to rule as he shepherds the nations.

We need to realize that, in fighting the spiritual battle, we don’t fight against flesh and blood, so it doesn’t matter how powerful you are or how much fire power you have but how much authority you have.

When Christ was on earth, though there was a big storm and high waves on the sea, He as the Son of Man had the authority and could calm the wave and still the wind not by any kind of power or might but by His authority!

Today in our fighting the spiritual warfare it is not about how powerful we are but how much authority we know; for this, we must experience Christ as the iron for God’s building and for the warfare.

Today we all in the local churches need to grow up to be mature so that we may experience Christ as the iron, the authority in fighting the spiritual warfare.

Spiritual authority is always in resurrection, so for us to have authority we must be in the resurrection life of Christ (Rom. 6:4-5).

Aaron’s rod is a good example; all the twelve rods were dead and dry when they were put overnight in the Holy of Holies, but only Aaron’s rod budded – this was a sign of resurrection.

We shouldn’t think that authority is power or seniority in the Lord; authority is related to resurrection, and when we are in resurrection can we have the genuine spiritual authority.

If we walk in the resurrection life of Christ, we will have the right to claim His authority.

The Lord Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth in His resurrection, and this authority is to the church when the church is in the resurrection life of Christ (Matt. 28:18).

If we walk and live in the resurrection life of Christ, we will have the authority of heaven.

This authority doesn’t have to do anything with organization; rather, if we are in resurrection, heavenly authority is given to us in the Body. When two or three live in resurrection and pray, they have the heavenly authority, and the authority of the church is with them.

What is resurrection? Resurrection is life that goes through death and comes out in resurrection; to experience resurrection means that we should not live by our natural life but by the divine life in our spirit.

We are all born with our natural life, our inclination and taste and desire; to live in resurrection is to not live by what we naturally have and desire, to not live by what we are born with but rather deny ourselves, put aside our natural inclination, habit, and preference, and live in the spirit.

Right away, we will be in resurrection, and in resurrection we are in the position to bear spiritual authority.

When we are stones living in Christ, we automatically share the authority of Christ; He is the living stone, we are joined to Him and one with Him to be living stones, and we automatically share in His authority.

Lord Jesus, bring us fully in the resurrection life of Christ so that we may have the divine authority for the bringing in of the kingdom of God. Amen, Lord, save us from living in our natural man and according to our natural taste, preference, and desire. We put ourselves aside, Lord, and we turn to our spirit to live by the resurrection life of Christ and not by our natural inclination, habit, or preference. Lord, bring us and bring many saints in the resurrection life of Christ to share Your authority for the building up of the church and the defeat of Your enemy!

Being those who are Crucified with Christ and Live in Resurrection to have God’s Authority

The authority of the church is absolutely in resurrection; when we as the members of the Body know what it means to be crucified with Christ and to live in resurrection, we have God’s authority (Matt. 18:18-20; Gal. 2:20).

Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and He has given the church this same authority; today the church has the same authority as Christ!

How is the church today carrying out Christ’s authority? It is by all the saints living day by day in the resurrection life of Christ, being crucified with Christ and putting aside our natural life so that we may live in resurrection.

If we don’t live daily in Christ’s resurrection life, although Christ has given us His authority, we are not bearing and representing His authority on the earth.

As we are living today in this chaotic world with all the things that are happening around us, especially with the coronavirus spreading in country after country and city after city, what should our reaction be, especially as the church?

We have been given the heavenly authority yet we don’t know how to exercise this authority to stand with the Lord.

There are so many evil things happening around us, and the enemy is stirring so many people all over the world; it seems that the church is many times helpless, for the church doesn’t know how to exercise the authority to stand with the Lord and cooperate with Him.

We believers in Christ need to advance to experiencing Christ as the iron, that is, we need to experience Him as the more solid Christ in His death and resurrection so that we may live in the resurrection life of Christ and have God’s authority.

Yes, we have been enjoying Christ as the wheat, the barley, the pomegranates, and so forth, but we need to experience the iron-Christ, the Christ who is the authority of God.

For example, the church may have the burden to preach the gospel, and there is much prayer for the Lord to come and open people’s heart for Himself; so we need to exercise the authority of God as we live in the resurrection life of Christ to release the captives and bring many into the kingdom of God.

When we live in resurrection, denying our natural life and putting it aside, and being joined with Christ in resurrection, we can enter into a realm that we have never tasted before – a realm that God has been waiting for His people to enter into, to rule and reign with Him, and to exercise the heavenly authority with Him.

For this we need to be those crucified with Christ and living in His resurrection so that we may have His authority.

Once we have His authority by being through death and resurrection, whatever we bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever we lose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven, for we exercise the heavenly authority on the earth! Amen!

If we are able to exercise the authority of Christ, we will have safety and security (Deut. 33:25).

In Deut. 33:25 the door posts were made of iron; the church has doorposts made of iron, giving it safety and security.

In our personal Christian and church life, if we don’t live in resurrection to experience Christ and His heavenly authority, our Christian life and church life become vulnerable to many attacks by the enemy.

Some churches are inundated with attacks from the enemy; sickness, death, and problems may attack the church, so we need bolts, door posts, iron, to guard and protect. Our experience of Christ as iron is crucial so that the church may be kept in safety and security.

Lord Jesus, may we advance in our experience and enjoyment of Christ until we enter into the realm of resurrection and are fully in resurrection so that we may know and apply the authority of Christ! Amen, Lord Jesus, may all the saints be brought into a deeper knowledge and experience of what it means to be crucified with Christ and to live in resurrection, so that we may exercise Your authority over the enemy! May the church life be safe and secure, safeguarded from the attacks of the enemy, by the saints living in the resurrection life of Christ and exercising the authority of Christ. Amen, Lord Jesus, we want to live in Your resurrection and experience Christ and His heavenly authority in the church and as the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. James Lee for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ,” ch. 8, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy, week 4, The Goodness of the Land – Its Minerals.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Christ is a land of iron stones, / Whence comes authority. / We must dig out this solid Christ / To bind His enemy. / Then we must through the sufferings pass / To be refined as burnished brass. / With iron bind, as brass refined, / Is our need. (Hymns #1164)
  – In the Body, by the Headship, / Sitting in the heavenlies, / Struggle with the wicked spirits / And the principalities. (Hymns #885)
  – One with Thee in Thine enthronement, / Sharing Thine authority, / Even as I share Thy life, Lord, / I in Thee and Thou in me. (Hymns #474)