The matter of knowing and living in ascension with Christ is not something light or cheap but high and deep, something that we can experience as we are being matured in the divine life.
In His time and in His way, the Lord as our Beloved, the One whom we follow and pursue in love, will call us to live with Him in His ascension – just as the Beloved calls His lover to go up with Him on the high mountains and be with Him there (see Song of Songs 4:8). May we be encouraged, supplied, and drawn by the Lord to go on with Him as never before in our experience of life, and may we learn to live in ascension as a new creation in resurrection.
As we live with Christ in His ascension we will engage in spiritual warfare for the kingdom of God. Christ has already gained the victory, but Satan and his forces are still in the heavenlies; therefore, as we live in ascension, far above the evil powers (Eph. 3:10; 6:12), we stand in Christ’s victory and deal with the enemy so that the Body of Christ may be built up and the kingdom of God would come in.
The matter of the building up of the church is a spiritual warfare; as soon as the Lord mentioned that He will build up His church He said, “and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). Satan fights against the building up of the church, and in order for the church as the Body of Christ to be built up, we need to engage in spiritual warfare.
The purpose of the spiritual warfare is to bring in the kingdom of God to the earth. The Lord encouraged us to pray for God’s kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as in heaven; the kingdom of God will not just “come” – we need to pray and fight in prayer until the kingdom of God comes on the earth!
The work of the church – the kingdom of God on earth today – is to bring in the kingdom of God; through the prayer of the church in oneness with the Lord, the power of the kingdom of God is released upon the earth! May we in the local churches be those who live in ascension to overthrow the power of Satan and bring in the kingdom of God to the earth!
Engaging in Spiritual Warfare for the Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ
The greatest prophecy in the Bible was uttered by the Lord Jesus when He said, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). Right from the beginning, when the Lord unveiled the church and the building up of the church, we see that there’s a spiritual warfare going on: Satan through the gates of Hades fights against the church, but he will not prevail!
We need to engage in spiritual warfare for the divine building, the church as the Body of Christ (1 Tim. 1:18; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7). We need to fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold of the eternal life, to which we were called and have confessed the good confession (1 Tim. 6:12).
When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem and was rebuilding the wall of the city with the remnant of the people of Israel, they were building with one hand and had a weapon for defense on the other hand (Neh. 4:15-23); the building up of the church is a spiritual warfare. The building up of the church as the Body of Christ is a service of warfare; we should not consider that our service in the church life is something common and ordinary but we should realize that our work is a spiritual warfare.
The work in God’s economy to build up the church is a warfare: the gates of Hades fight against the church, but they will not prevail against the builded church! On the one hand we enjoy the Lord and exercise our spirit to cooperate with Him and build up the church, the dwelling place of God in spirit; on the other hand, we need to live in ascension and pray to bind the strong man, reject his attacks, and release the saints to grow in life, be transformed, and be built up together in and as the church!
Lord Jesus, we stand one with You for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. We want to grow in life, be transformed, and be built up together as the church, Your Body on the earth. Lord Jesus, cause us to be empowered to stand against the stratagems and attacks of the enemy so that Your church may be built up. Oh Lord, may we really see the spiritual warfare that takes place for the church to be built up, and may we be one with You for the Body of Christ to be built up in all the local churches on earth today!
Fighting the Spiritual Warfare to Bring in the Kingdom of God on Earth today
What is the purpose of the spiritual warfare? We have seen that the spiritual warfare is a necessity because Satan has a will that is different and against God’s will; the purpose of spiritual warfare is to bring in the kingdom of God. The commission of the church is to cooperate with Christ in prayer to bind Satan, destroy his power, and bring in the kingdom of God.
If we see the opposition between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan we will realize that we cannot be passive or neutral: we need to choose to stand with the Lord and pray as the church for Satan to be bound and destroyed so that the kingdom of God would come in.
The preaching of the gospel is a spiritual warfare, and whoever believes into the Lord must repent for the kingdom (Matt. 4:17), that is, he must turn from the side of Satan to the side of God, which is the kingdom of God. After a person turns from the satanic will to the divine will, he must believe into the Lord Jesus and be baptized; baptism brings people out of the authority of darkness (the satanic will and kingdom) and transfers them into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love (Col. 1:13).
The kingdom of God, as explained by the Lord Jesus in Matt. 12:28, is the overthrowing of the power of Satan by the power of God. The Lord Jesus was a Man who cooperated with God to overthrow the kingdom of Satan so that God’s kingdom would come in; today God needs man to cooperate with Him in His work of bringing the kingdom of God on earth.
The kingdom of God will not just come automatically; God needs man to pray and cooperate with Him for His kingdom to come in. In all He does on earth, God needs some men who would cooperate with Him in prayer.
Before He could call Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt, there were many in Israel who prayed and cried out to God. Before the Lord would deliver His people from the hands of the nations around them, there were many of His people who prayed and cried out. Before the Lord Jesus was born, there were some in God’s people who prayed and expected His coming.
Before the Lord Jesus returns with the kingdom of God there needs to be a group of people who cry out to the Lord and cooperate with Him in prayer, standing on the ground of ascension, so that God’s kingdom would come in. The church needs to cooperate with the Lord in prayer; through prayer, the church must release the power of the kingdom of God upon the earth.
We shouldn’t sit passively and wait for the Lord to return automatically to take us to be with Him but we should learn to work together with God in prayer, being concerned with God’s need and praying on earth the prayers that He needs to hasten His return.
May we not be passive observers but active participants in the hastening of the Lord’s return and the bringing in of the kingdom of God!
Lord Jesus, may Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as in heaven! We stand up as the church and one with the Head to release the power of the kingdom of God upon the earth. Lord, we don’t want to be mere passive observers of Your return but active participants and fighters in prayer for the kingdom of God to come in! We want to be a garden for Your delight and be joined to the brothers and the sisters to be the army to nullify the power of Satan and overthrow his kingdom in city by city and country by country for the bringing in of the kingdom of God on earth!
Conclusion: Receiving Grace to care More for God’s need that for our Own Need
In conclusion, after seeing such a grand and marvelous vision of Christ’s resurrection and ascension and after entering into some prayer and experience of these matters, what should we do? This is such a solid word that needs not only our wholehearted AMEN but also our active cooperation.
We need to receive grace from the Lord to care more for the Lord’s need than for our own need. We shouldn’t stop caring for our needs – even the Lord encouraged us to pray for our daily bread, but that was not the FIRST petition. The Lord today has a great need in two aspects: He needs a counterpart, a bride, for His satisfaction, and He needs an army to defeat His enemy.
The Lord needs a bride who would be a garden to Him in ascension as a new creation in resurrection, some who would experience Him in such a way that they would have the constitution to be His delight and satisfaction. Also, He needs an army to execute His victory through spiritual warfare and to overthrow the power of His enemy.
May the Lord grant us the mercy and grace to care more for the Lord’s need than for our own need. May we open to the Lord and pray,
Lord, place in me an aspiration to really advance in the experience and growth in life to be Your garden in ascension for Your satisfaction and Your warrior for the defeat of Your enemy. Lord, I don’t trust my own seeking: draw me and implant in me this aspiration!
May we no longer be passive in spiritual matters but fully recover the proper exercise of the spirit. Passivity in spiritual matters equals spiritual death. We need to exercise our will (not our will power) to make a decision,
Lord, I decide to place myself in Your hands that You will work out in me through the experiences that I need the growth in life that will enable me to truly live in ascension as Your garden and to engage in the spiritual warfare for Your kingdom to come in. Lord, intensify Your organic salvation and work in me for Your good pleasure so that You may gain Your bride and Your army for the bringing in of Your kingdom. Oh Lord Jesus, gain a group of people that would love You as Your bride, live in ascension with You, and be the army You need to destroy the enemy and bring in the kingdom of God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” pp. 61-64, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Vision and Experience of Christ in His Resurrection and Ascension, week 6 / msg 6, The Vision and Experience of Christ in His Ascension (3) Living with Christ in His Ascension as a New Creation in Resurrection to Engage in Spiritual Warfare for the Kingdom of God (you can buy this morning revival book here via LSM and here via Amazon).
- All verses are taken from, Recovery Version Bible.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# Within those whom You’d call / Put such a restless caring / For building to give all— / These times are for preparing; / The gates of hell cannot prevail / Against the builded Church! / The hours are few, the builders too— / Lord, build, O build in us! (Hymns #1248)
# God needs men who pray; / Those who lay the tracks for Him; / God’s economy is carried out through men of prayer. / They love not themselves; / But a willing sacrifice. (Song on Cooperating by Prayer)
# With joyful shouts charge forward! / The kingdom is before; / Upon the peak of Zion / We’ll sing, the battle o’er. / The Lamb has won the victory! / The Lamb is on the throne! / With shouts of joy we praise Him, / For He must overcome. (Hymns #873)
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