The Church is Spreading on earth by the Growth and Flowing out of the Lord’s Life

The basic principle of the church is that the church is universal and eternal, so the church must spread constantly on earth; the book of Acts in particular speaks of the spreading of the church.

When we speak of the spreading of the church we need to realise that this is not something of organisation or work – this is an organic matter. We must have the view of the growth, the increase, the spread of the church in an organic way.

It is actually Christ Himself who wants to spread, and for this He became a man, lived a human life, died, and in resurrection He was increased and spread in humanity.

The church is the increase of Christ, the spreading of Christ, the duplication of Christ. God’s desire is to have not just one only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, but to have many sons who would be His increase and corporate expression.

When God became a man, He branched out in humanity. God branched out from heavens to earth, from divinity into humanity, and He became a man to be the first God-man, and then He became the Firstborn Son of God through resurrection.

Since His resurrection, Christ has been spreading and branching out in humanity. He has the desire to grow Himself in humanity, just as a vine grows and spreads to increase and have more fruit. God’s desire is to grow Himself and increase in man, so that man would become His duplication and increase.

He planted Himself in humanity through incarnation, and through death and resurrection the only begotten Son of God became the firstborn Son of God. In Christ’s resurrection a multiplication process took place, and millions of brothers of Christ were brought forth.

Now Christ is not only the only begotten Son of God, but He’s also the firstborn Son of God, and we as the many believers in Christ are His reproduction, His duplication, and His increase.

The church is the increase of Christ, and through the church God in Christ increases in earth. We are God’s continuation, His increase, His spread. The Body of Christ, the church, is one universally, and the church is spreading for Christ to increase on earth.

When we preach the gospel, speak to people about the Lord, invite others to a gospel meeting, or give out some gospel tracts, we don’t merely do an evangelistic work but we are for the spreading of the church, so that Christ may be spread on earth.

We need to have this view when we come to the spread of the church, and we need to realise that God in Christ wants to spread through the church so that He may have a duplication, an increase, a reproduction on earth. In country after country and tribe after tribe, Christ wants to spread, and for this we as the church need to spread!

The Church is Universal and Eternal, and the Church is Spreading on Earth by the Growth and Flowing out of the Lord’s Life

The church is something eternal and universal. First of all, God desired to obtain the church, and He shed His own blood to purchase the church.

The church is precious in God’s eyes, and the church is not something temporal but something eternal. The church is eternal and universal, including all the believers in Christ in time and space. Because the church is eternal and universal, the church needs to constantly spread on the earth.

On the one hand there are many local churches, and on the other, there is only one universal church, one unique church on earth and in the universe, and the church is the increase of Christ.

God’s goal is to gain the church and build up the church so that the church would be His corporate expression on earth. The growth of the church and the building up of the church are based on the spreading of the church (see Acts 1:8; 8:1; 9:31).

On one hand the divine life of Christ has to grow in us, so that we may grow in life into Christ in all things. On the other hand, there’s the side of the increase, the spread, which is the spreading of the church for the spreading of Christ.

There must be the constant spreading of the church. If the church is not spreading, it is still not that built up. We shouldn’t say that the church has spread enough, but we should cooperate with Christ for the spreading of the church all over the earth.

In the Lord’s recovery the church must continually spread. The spreading of the church is brought about by the growth in the Lord’s life and the flowing of His life. When the Lord’s life grows in us and overflows in us there’s the spreading of the church.

The spreading of the church is brought about by the growth in the Lord’s life and the flowing out of the Lord’s life, the overflow of life (Eph. 4:16; John 7:37-39; Acts 2:42, 46-47; 5:20; 6:4, 7; 12:24; 19:20).

The genuine spread of the church is not merely some saints moving to different cities to establish the church, but the growth of the Lord’s life and the overflow of His life from within us.

The genuine spread of the church is from the growth and overflow of the Lord’s life within the saints. When we drink the living water and this water gushes up out of us, there’s a spread of the Lord through us.

When there’s a flow of God among us, when the living flow from the throne is present among us, there will be the spreading of the church. We cannot spread the church, and no human words can or should convince others to move to different localities to spread the church.

For the word to grow and multiply there has to be the organic growth and spreading of the divine life among us and in us. If the church doesn’t spread, the nature of the church is low and it loses its universal and eternal character.

But when the saints grow in life, enjoy the Lord, and have the flow of life among them, the church will spontaneously spread and many churches are raised up.

Many times, however, the Lord may have to rely on persecution, sufferings, and afflictions to cause the church to spread, which we also see in Acts 8.

It wasn’t the disciples willingly moving for the Lord’s interest that brought the church life to Samaria, but it was a great persecution that arose in Jerusalem and forced many of the disciples to flee, and wherever they went, they brought the gospel.

May we be those who grow in life, enjoy the flow of life, are built up and coordinated with the saints, and simply cooperate with the Lord for the spreading of the church.

Lord Jesus, grow in us and flow in us until we have the overflow of life and we cooperate with You for the spreading of the church. Amen, Lord, may there be such a growth in life in all the saints, and may there be the sweet flow of life among us, so that there would be a constant spreading of the church through us. Lord, we are here for Your desire, Your intention. Spread on earth. Grow in us, flow in us, and overflow through us for Your spread of the church on earth.

The Spreading of the Church causes the Shattering of Erroneous Concepts and all Close-Mindedness

One of the most healthy and positive aspects of the spreading of the church is that, when the church begins to spread, erroneous concepts are shattered!

Regardless of whether our concepts are regional, racial, or mutually discriminatory, through the spreading of the church, these concepts are shattered. It is through spreading that all our close-mindedness is eliminated (see 1 Cor. 12:24; Col. 3:10-11).

We don’t know what is in us, but as we stay for a while in a certain place, and as we meet with the same people, there are some concepts, some opinions, and some feelings that are local, regional, or even racial; when we move or blend with other localities, these concepts are exposed and shattered.

When we stay in a certain place it is easy to get stuck in certain way, a certain routine; but when we go and spread to another place, we will be with different people, and many such concepts will be shattered!

We see this happening in Acts 8, when the disciples went to the household of Cornelius, and many of their narrow views, prejudiced hearts, regional concepts, and things not up to the standard of the Body were eliminated, for this Gentile household was saved and received the Holy Spirit.

The most blessed church is a spreading church; if the church never spreads, it becomes weak.

When the Lord Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit as power, He also told them that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

But it seems that the disciples all remained in Jerusalem and there was not much spreading; therefore, there was a great persecution, and many of the disciples left and went into the villages and in Samaria, preaching the gospel wherever they went.

Acts 8 shows that the first step in the church’s spread was to Samaria (vv. 1-25), and the second step was to Ethiopia, to Africa (vv. 26-39); this shows that we must preach the gospel to every tribe and tongue and people and nation, because the church is universal and needs to spread (Rev. 5:9-10; 7:9).

The disciples were scattered not to Bethlehem but to Samaria, a land of mixture of Jews and Gentiles, and there the Lord saved many, and Peter and John came and laid their hands on them and they received the Spirit (Acts 8:15-17).

Then Philip preached the gospel to an Ethiopian eunuch, and the gospel spread to Africa (vv. 26-39). The Lord wants to spread, but as He scatters us and spreads through us, our close-mindedness is eliminated, and our concepts are smashed.

When we spread we are rescued and saved from our concepts for the church as the one new man.

We may have certain peculiar practices in the church where we meet, and we may speak in a certain way, do things in a certain way, and are very regional and local; when we blend with other localities and when we spread, we are exposed, our close-mindedness is eliminated, our erroneous concepts are shattered, and anything that is not up to the standard of the Body of Christ is eliminated.

Lord Jesus, we want to be one with You for Your spreading of the church to all the localities on earth! We want to be saved from our regional, racial, or mutually discriminatory concepts, and we want to be brought up to the standard of the Body of Christ. Have mercy on us, Lord, and grant us to be part of Your spreading on earth. Bring us into the blending of the Body and shatter any erroneous concepts or peculiar practices in Your light in the fellowship! Oh Lord, may the church spread to every tribe and tongue and people and nation!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Three Aspects of the Church, Book 2: The Course of the Church, ch. 2 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Propagating the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ as the Development of the Kingdom of God (2018 fall ITERO), week 6, 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.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Fulness, increase, duplication, / His expression full, / Growth and spread, continuation, / Surplus plentiful, / Is the Church to Christ, and thereby / God in Christ may be / Glorified thru His redeemed ones / To eternity. (Hymns #819)
  # Once Thou wast the only grain, Lord, / Falling to the earth to die, / That thru death and resurrection / Thou in life may multiply. / We were brought forth in Thy nature / And the many grains became; / As one loaf we all are blended, / All Thy fulness to proclaim. (Hymns #203)
  # Ours is a fellowship in the gospel / Since we received the Lord; / We’re for the furtherance of the gospel, / Spreading to all His Word. / For its defense and strong confirmation / We all partake of grace— / He who began this work will perfect it / Till we shall see His face. (Hymns #1295)