Enjoy Christ as the Flow of Life to be Ministers of Life for the Church as God’s House

We need to enjoy Christ as the flow of life to be ministers of life for the church as the house of God today.

When we enjoy Christ as the flow of life we will be a sower, a planter, a waterer, a begetter, a feeder, and a builder in the way of life, having the ministry of life for the marvellous building of God, the magnificent house of God. Amen!

We do not just want to have the flow of life for ourselves, to be swimming in this flow and be watered to the uttermost; the flow of life produces us to be a person who ministers life to others for God’s house. Amen!

If we allow the Lord to measure us day by day in our speaking, our living, and our attitude, the Lord will have a way to increase the flow of life.

However, if we resist Him, if we do not let the Lord measure us inwardly by shining on us, exposing us, testing us, judging us, and possessing us, the flow of life will not increase but rather, we will remain the same.

We need to be before the Lord day by day concerning our living, our speaking, our inner being, our desires, our thoughts, and our attitude.

In all things and concerning all things we need to let the Lord come in, speak to us, direct us, and infuse us.

We should not live a life of compromise nor should we be lukewarm; instead, we should learn to open to the Lord concerning all things so that He can flow in us and water us.

We may be in a difficult situation or maybe nothing goes according to what we think it should be; instead of trying to change the situation or those around us, we should simply open to the Lord, enjoy Him, partake of His riches, and let Him flow in us and through us.

Oh, how sweet and wonderful it is for us to open to the Lord concerning all things!

We want to have an increase of the flow of life, so we deal with anything that blocks the flow of life and we want to let the Lord flow in and flow out of us.

When the Lord has a way of flowing in our inner being, when we open all the chambers of our inward being to Him, He will water us, He will heal our diseases, and He will enliven us.

Even more, the flow of the living water will bring in life wherever it goes.

If we open to the Lord inwardly and let Him flow in us when we’re about to respond to our spouse or when we’re travelling to work, when we just inwardly stop and contact the Lord, He has a way to flow in us as life.

May we treasure the sweet flow of life and may we even lay down our soul-life for this flow to increase in us and flow in and out of us. Amen!

This is to have the ministry of life.

Our enjoyment of Christ as the flow of life is for us to be sowers, planters, waterers, begetters, feeders, and builders with the ministry of life for the marvellous organic building of God, the magnificent house of God. Hallelujah!

2 Cor. 3:6 says that the Lord made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; we are ministers not of the letter, which kills, but of the Spirit, who gives life. Amen!

As we believers in Christ enjoy Christ as the flow of life, we will be a minister of life.

In 2 Corinthians we see six statuses of a competent minister of the new covenant: a sower, a planter, a waterer, a begetter, a feeder, and a builder.

In this article, we will see the first four statuses and how we can be sowers, platers, waterers, and begetters.

Enjoy Christ as the Flow of Life to be a Minister of Life Sowing Spiritual Seeds

1 Cor. 9:11 says that Paul has sown unto the Corinthians the spiritual things.

These spiritual things refer to spiritual seeds.

Paul did not just teach the Corinthian believers; he was a sower, sowing the spiritual seeds.

A seed is a container of life; to sow the seed is to impart life in the form of seed into others.

To sow spiritual seeds is a matter of life.

The Lord Jesus said that He came as a Sower to sow Himself as the seed of life into the human race (Matt. 13;3, 37).

We believers in the church life in the Lord’s recovery are ministers of life as sowers, sowing the seed of life into others.

This means that, as we meet with believers and unbelievers alike, we need to be a minister of life who sows spiritual seeds by speaking the word of God in the way of life into them.

We don’t need to impart teachings or doctrines into others; we need to have the word of God as life in us, be ready to speak, and exercise our spirit to speak something of Christ into others.

This doesn’t mean we teach others; being a sower is much more difficult than being a teacher.

To be a teacher of the Bible, you need to go to a Bible school to be trained to be a good speaker, know the Bible doctrines, know the parables, and know how to use your voice, gestures, and intonation so that you speak things in an eloquent way to impress others.

But to be a sower you need to first have the seeds of life; you need to gain Christ and have Christ in you.

We need to deal with our heart so that Christ as the seed of life may grow in us and develop in our being.

We need to have the seeds of life ready to sow into others.

We don’t sow mere letters, for the letter kills – only the Spirit gives life. We sow Christ into others.

May we open to the Lord day by day, cooperate with the seed of life to grow in us, till the ground of our heart, and be in the word of God so that we may gain seeds of life and be competent ministers of life as sowers sowing spiritual seeds.

Amen, may we learn to sow the spiritual seeds in the saints, in the new ones, in the young ones, and in the unbelievers.

When we are with people, may there be seeds of life being sown by our speaking, by our attitude, and by our living.

May we learn to sow seeds of life into our children at home.

May we sow the seeds of life when we talk to our spouse, with the saints, and even with our neighbours, workmates, and relatives.

May we allow the Lord to measure us in our speaking and in our living so that, wherever we go and whatever we do, we may enjoy Christ as the flow of life and flow Him out to others, being ministers of life as sowers sowing the seeds of life into those around us.

In all our activities in the church life, regardless of what service we are doing, we should be sowing.

We need to exercise our spirit to sow spiritual seeds.

We may be setting up the chairs in the meeting, making sure they are properly arranged, neat, tidy, and clean; as we do this, we can pray over them, asking the Lord to bless those who sit on them and make them ministers of life.

In our group meetings, in the vital group meetings, in the prayer meeting, and in all kinds of meetings, we need to learn to minister life to others, sowing seeds of life into them.

Lord Jesus, thank You for making us ministers of life. You are our sufficiency for us to be ministers of a new covenant. Hallelujah, we are not ministers of the letters, for the letter kills; we are ministers of the Spirit, for the Spirit gives life! Amen, Lord, fill us with life today. We come to You as we are and we want to deal with the ground of our heart so that You as the seed of life may grow in us. We come to You in Your word not to gain more knowledge but to gain more seeds of life. Make us the sowers who sow the seeds of life into others. We don’t want to just speak doctrines and Christian teachings to others; we want to learn to minister life by sowing the seeds of life into them. Amen, Lord, may we be ministers of life as sowers who sow the Spirit as the seed of life into others. May we have seeds of life that can grow and produce Christ in others.

Being Ministers of Life as Planters who Plant Christ into God’s People

In 1 Cor. 3:6 we see that a minister of life is one who plants. Paul said, I planted.

Planting is not a matter of teaching or doctrine; it is a matter of life, for it involves sowing seeds and taking care of tender plants to make sure they grow properly.

When someone is a planter, he takes care of the tender plant to make sure it has enough water, sunshine, and nutritive elements so that it can grow properly.

We as ministers of life are planters, those who plant Christ into God’s people.

The believers in Christ have been regenerated in Christ with the life of God, and they are God’s cultivated land, God’s farm, in God’s new creation (v. 9).

The church life is a farm; the church is God’s cultivated land. In order for us to plant Christ into others, we need to have the genuine experience of Christ as life in our spirit.

We cannot plant Christ in others if we don’t have Christ in us; we cannot plant Christ into the saints if Christ is not enjoyed and experienced by us as life.

We need to daily grow and produce Christ within us so that we may have something of Christ to plant into others.

The saints, the new ones, and the unbelievers around us have a certain soil in their heart that can grow Christ; we need to cooperate with God and do our part to plant Christ into people.

For this, we ourselves need to grow in Christ as life, enjoy Christ as life, partake of the riches of Christ, and learn to minister Christ as life to others.

May we daily grow in Christ and produce Christ within us by labouring on Christ so that we may have a rich deposit of Christ, even to have the growth of Christ.

May we realize that the church is not just a school where the saints are taught the word of God but even more, the church is God’s cultivated land, and all the saints need to have Christ planted into them so that He may grow in them in the way of life!

Lord Jesus, we want to be ministers of life as planters, those who plant Christ into people. Amen, Lord, we open to You in our daily living so that You may grow in us. Grow in us in the way of life. We want to plant Christ into others, so we open to You to gain the genuine experiences of Christ as life in our spirit. We exercise our spirit today. Keep us in our spirit. We want to contact You throughout the day so that You may infuse Yourself into us. Give us the experiences of Christ as life that we need today. We want to grow and produce Christ within us so that we may have something of Christ to plant into others. Amen, Lord, grow in us! Cause the growth in us and cause the growth in others. We just want to cooperate with You in the way of life to plant Christ into others.

A Minister of Life is a Waterer who Waters People with Christ as the Water of Life

Paul planted and Apollos watered, but God caused the growth (1 Cor. 3:6). On one hand, we need to plant Christ into others; on the other hand, we need to water them.

As ministers of life, we not only plant Christ into others but also water them.

We shouldn’t be just planters but also waterers, those who water the saints with the water of life (Rev. 22:17).

On a farm there’s the need not just for planting the tender plants but also of watering them.

Actually, there needs to be an irrigation system that regularly waters the plants for them to grow properly.

A waterer in God’s farm is like an irrigation system with a rich reservoir to supply the plants with abundant water. Amen!

How can we water others? What does it mean to water them?

We need to enjoy and experience Christ as the water of life and gain a rich deposit of life, a reservoir of the water of life.

We need to have the genuine experience of Christ as the water of life by having a living contact with Him.

We cannot live a routine Christian life, just reading the Bible from time to time and going to the meetings once in a while.

Neither should we zealously merely get into the word of God according to a schedule without contacting the Lord.

Rather, in the way of life, organically, we need to contact the Lord every day.

We need to touch Him in our spirit.

When we drink the Lord in our time with Him, when we exercise our spirit to contact the Lord and drink Him as the fountain of the water of life, there will be a fountain of life in our being bubbling up and springing up out of our innermost being! Amen!

When we’re filled with the water of life by coming to the Lord and having a genuine contact with Him, we will be a channel of life to others (John 7:37-39) to minister life to them. Amen!

May we be such channels of life, divine and mystical irrigation systems, who not only have living water in themselves but also water others for their growth in life!

May we learn to enjoy the Lord daily by having a living contact with Him so that there’s a fountain of life bubbling in our innermost being to flow out as rivers of living waters toward others! Amen!

May we be the waterers who water others with Christ as living water.

If we have a daily contact with the Lord and are filled with Him as the Spirit of life, the water of life, we will be ministers of life who waters others with the Spirit.

But if we don’t have an adequate experience of Christ as the living water, it will be difficult for us to water others.

Sometimes we have the experience of coming to a small group meeting and we look at one another, waiting for others to water us; it’s as if we forgot to bring water to the meeting.

But then there’s a sister or a brother who is faithful to the Lord and has a reservoir of water, and when they pray or share something, we are all watered.

We come to the meeting so dry, but we’re watered, for there’s a saint who is an irrigation system to the saints, and we all have the supply.

The supply comes from the measuring; the more we allow the Lord to measure us, the more we are like the tree in Jer. 17:8, transplanted beside the river, growing properly and bearing fruit.

We need to have the genuine experience of Christ as the water of life and a living contact with Him so that we can be a channel of living water, a divine irrigation system, that can supply others with the water of life.

Lord Jesus, we come to You to drink You as the living water. Fill us with Yourself as life. Grant us to have the genuine experience of Christ as the water of life. We want to have a living contact with You so that we may be filled with You and be a channel of living water! Amen, Lord, may there be a fountain of life in our innermost being bubbling up and springing up with rivers of living water to water others! Make us a divine irrigation system today, those who water others with the Spirit as the water of life for their growth in life. Amen, dear Lord, we aspire to be waterers in the church life today, those who supply others with the water of life for their growth in life for the building up of the church. Hallelujah, the living water is available for us to drink today simply by exercising our spirit to have a living contact with the Lord in spirit! Amen, Lord, flow in and flow out of us as rivers of living water!

Ministers of Life are Begetters, Fathers, who Impart Life to his Children, whom he Begets

In 1 Cor. 4:15 Paul says that in Christ Jesus he begot the believers through the gospel.

Paul didn’t just preach the gospel and teach the new believers with teachings from the Bible; he begot the believers through the gospel.

To beget is something of life; it is to generate something of life, to bring forth something by imparting life.

To beget is to bring forth a new life.

A mother begets a child through a long process of conceiving and giving birth.

To beget is a matter of life and in life, and it requires that we as believers in Christ have life in ourselves to impart life into others.

When we preach the gospel to others we don’t merely seek to convince them of their sin and persuade them to give their life to Jesus; we want to primarily impart the divine life into them.

This is to beget them.

Those who believe into the Lord through our preaching of the gospel are our spiritual children.

Wow, we can be spiritual fathers who beget others through the gospel!

This is the most amazing thing, even as becoming a human parent is truly amazing!

Can you believe that you as a God-man can not only enjoy Christ, live Christ, and minister Christ, but even more, impart Christ as life into others to help them become children of God? Wow!

Like the apostle Paul who begot the Corinthian believers in Christ through the gospel by imparting the divine life into them, so we today should be fathers who beget spiritual children by imparting the divine life into them.

We need to have the “life germ” – the divine life germ, to impart the divine life into others so that they may be born again and be begotten as children of God. Amen!

When others believe into the Lord Jesus as a result of hearing the gospel, they become children of God – those who are begotten not of the will of man nor of the will of the flesh but of God (John 1:12-13).

On the one hand, we can be the ministers of life as begetters to beget others through the gospel.

On the other hand, though we beget them, they are begotten of God, not of our will but of God. Hallelujah!

God and we can work together to beget spiritual children for the Lord to impart His life into many others for the building up of the church!

May we aspire to be such ones, and may we be filled with the divine life by enjoying the Lord in spirit day by day so that, no matter where we are, what we do, and who we are with, we may impart the divine life into them to beget them as spiritual children in the Lord.

Lord Jesus, we aspire to be ministers of life as begetters who impart the divine life into others to beget them through the gospel for the Lord! Amen, Lord, fill us with Yourself as life. May Your divine life fill us and saturate us until it overflows through us to others. Save us from merely trying to preach and teach doctrines in God’s word to others; we want to learn to minister life to others so that the divine life may enter into them. Amen, Lord, we want to cooperate with You today to impart the divine life into others by our speaking so that they may become children of God, those born of God! Hallelujah! May we have the divine life germ to impart the divine life into others so they can be begotten as children of God!

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 brother Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1970, vol. 1, pp. 577-583, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life (2024 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 5, Living the Christian Life by Enjoying the Flow of Life with the Ministry of Life out of and for the Magnificent House of God.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Christ as the seed of life sown into us to grow within us for God’s building, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The Ministers in the Lord’s Recovery—Genuine Ministers of the New Covenant, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Christ Growing in Our Heart (1): The Revelation in the New Testament, via, Living to Him.
  – Growing to be the firstfruits as the overcomers and the harvest ripened for reaping, a portion from, The Organic Union in God’s Relationship with Man, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – What Does it Mean to be a Born Again Christian? More via, Holding to truth in love.
  – The seed of life, a portion from, The Practical Expression of the Church, Chapter 19, by Witness Lee.
  – The Seed is Sown, Grows, and Bears Fruit for God’s Building, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The development of the seed, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee.
  – The vine – God’s economy, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The Lord, the seed of life, / Has sown Himself into our heart / To grow up into fullness / And become His counterpart. / The seed requires no rules or forms, / For water is its need— / By this the all-inclusive seed / Will grow in us indeed! / The seed is simply Jesus! / Oh, Jesus lives in me! / And by His growth this seed / in us will reach maturity. (Hymns #1242 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – It is not a school or fact’ry / Or a chapel in the air; / But a garden where our Lord can plant and sow. / So He’s placed us all here corporately / To be His garden fair, / Where He’s free to cultivate and make us grow. / hus within the church-life garden / There’s a fruit-producing tree / Full of life and so available to eat. / So be simple, don’t be hardened, / Drop your concepts—eat that tree! / Take in Jesus every moment—He’s so sweet! (Hymns #1237 stanzas 2-3)
  – Oh, may my spirit flow, / Oh, may it flow! / I ask Thee, gracious Lord, / Oh, may it flow! / My trust in self o’erthrow, / Down from self’s throne I’ll go, / That living water flow / In spirit, Lord. / Oh, may my spirit flow, / Oh, may it flow! / Answer my prayer, dear Lord, / Oh, may it flow! / Not just commune with Thee, / I long to builded be, / Mingle with others free / In spirit, Lord. (Hymns #846 stanzas 5-6)