Being Filled Continuously with the Spirit for the Noble Work of Building up the Church

We need to be filled continuously with the Spirit for the noble work of building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

If we want to walk in the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land, we need to have much and thorough prayer in our life and service, praying at all time in spirit for the Lord to fill us with Himself for the noble work of building up the church.

The Bible shows some governing principles for us to see and experience in order for us to possess Christ as the good land.

First of all, we need to see that, as believers in Christ, we have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, and now we need to walk in Him.

For us to walk in Christ is for us to walk according to the Spirit and by the Spirit as the reality of the good land.

The key to this walk is realizing that we are one spirit with the Lord. We are joined to the Lord as one spirit, and the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.

As people born of God to have His life and nature, we have a spirit that is mingled with God’s Spirit, and the Triune God dwells in us, in our spirit.

Now we are learning to live in the spirit, walk according to the spirit, and live by the Spirit so that we may walk in Christ, the reality of the good land allotted to us.

As long as we live according to the spirit and by the Spirit, we enjoy all the riches of Christ, and the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us. Hallelujah!

It is by the Spirit we put to death the practices of the body, and it is by the Spirit that we can be renewed, sanctified, transformed, and glorified.

The Christ in whom we are walking is not just God Himself but even more, the incorporated God – God who became man, went through human living, crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension, and He was also intensified sevenfold; how He is the incorporated God, God incorporated with man.

The issue of our walking in this wonderful Christ in His full ministry in three stages – incarnation, inclusion, and intensification – is that we are built up as the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

Today the Christ in whom we are walking is the Body-Christ, the incorporated Christ; Christ is both the Head and the Body, for He is a wonderful corporate “Me” whom the apostle Paul saw in his vanquishing conversion to Christ.

Today the Lord is building the Body of Christ in the church life, and we can have a taste of the New Jerusalem by being properly related to the Body of Christ.

Another governing principle in our walking in Christ as the good land is that the presence of the Lord means everything to us in both our life in the Lord and our work in the Lord.

We need to be directed by the Lord’s firsthand presence, His presence in our mingled spirit, and we need to take His presence as our living map.

In this portion, we want to see another governing principle of walking in the all-inclusive Christ – living and serving by having much and thorough prayer to be filled with the Spirit.

Live and Serve in the Reality of the Priesthood by having Much and Thorough Prayer in our Life and Service to be Filled with the Spirit

If we believers in Christ want to possess and walk in the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land, we need to live and serve in the reality of the priesthood; we need to be the priests who contact God, bring man to God and God to man, and minister God to man (1 Pet. 2:5, 9).

This means that we need to have much and thorough prayer in our life and service to the Lord so that we may be filled in spirit at all times (Col. 4:2).

The building up of the church can be carried out only by persons who are filled in spirit, those filled with the Holy Spirit.

Whether the church is living and fresh and enriched depends on this one thing, that we are being filled continuously with the Spirit (Phil. 2:13; Matt. 5:3, 8; Luke 1:53; Eph. 5:18).

We need to come to the Lord again and again and ask Him to fill us with the Spirit; for us to be filled, we need to have much and thorough prayer in our life and service.

When we come to the meetings of the church, we need to come filled in spirit to function and minister Christ to the other saints.

How can Christ build up His church today through us?

We need to be willing and empty vessels.

We need to open to Him, be freshly emptied of ourselves and our things to be freshly filled with Him, and exercise to minister Christ to others.

May we be willing and may we be emptied. If we are willing to be emptied, the Lord will fill us with Himself.

We are filled mainly by praying thoroughly before the Lord.

Many times, however, we are filled with many things, and we cannot break through when we pray to contact the Lord.

Whatever we are by nature, whatever we accumulate, and whatever we experience, needs to be emptied out so that the Lord may fill us in a fresh way.

If we want to live and serve in the reality of the priesthood, we need to have much and thorough prayer in our life and service before the Lord, seeking to be emptied of ourselves and be freshly filled with the Lord.

The Bible tells us that we need to pray unceasingly (1 Thes. 5:17) and also that we need to persevere in prayer.

On one hand, we need to pray all the time, without ceasing.

On the other hand, we need to persevere in prayer, persevering to pray.

It is God who operates in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure; we simply need to open to Him and be poor in spirit.

We need to come to the Lord as we are, again and again, and just pray to open to Him, be emptied of ourselves, and be freshly filled with Him.

We are truly blessed if we are poor in spirit, for when we are emptied from within, we enjoy the kingdom of the heavens, and the Lord fills us in a fresh way.

We are blessed when we are pure in heart, seeking only the Lord and His kingdom, for we will see God.

When we are those who are hungry and empty, the Lord will fill us with good things; however, if we think we’re rich and need nothing, He sends us away empty.

May we be drunk not with wine or with the things that this world has to offer but be filled in spirit, being filled with the Lord as the Spirit in a fresh way so that we may live and serve in the reality of the priesthood.

We can even ask the Lord to fill us. If we as parents give good things to our children when they ask us, how much more will our heavenly Father give us the Spirit when we ask Him?

If we ask Him for the Holy Spirit, He will give us more of the Spirit.

May we often pray to the Lord to give us the Spirit, even more of the Spirit, so that we may be filled in spirit.

For this, we need to have much and thorough prayer, even persevere in prayer, so that we may be filled in spirit in our daily life.

Lord Jesus, give us more of Yourself today. We open to You. We want to possess and walk in the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land by living and serving in the reality of the priesthood. We come to You to contact You. Empty us afresh. We want to be poor in spirit so that we may be filled with You. We come to You pure in heart to see God. Oh Lord, empty us afresh so that we may be filled with You! We are hungry for the fullness of the Spirit. May we have much and thorough prayer to be filled with the Spirit in our spirit. Fill us with the good things of the Spirit. We do not want to be drunk with the things of this world but rather, be filled in spirit! Amen, Lord, we are willing, we are empty, and we are praying at every time in spirit. Fill us with the Spirit right now! Fill us in spirit for us to live the Christian life and serve the Lord in spirit!

Being Filled Continuously with the Spirit for the Noble Work of Building up the Church

In order for us to have the wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skill for the noble work of building up the church, we need to be filled continuously with the Spirit.

We cannot build up the church unless we are filled with the Spirit in a continuous way.

Many times, however, we are short of willingnes; we are just not willing.

Also, we are short of emptiness; we are not empty but rather, there are many things that fill us besides Christ Himself.

We are short of prayer; we may pray from time to time, when we remember, but we do not have much and thorough prayer in spirit. Oh, Lord Jesus!

We need to come to the Lord as we are and pray that He would make us willing and, by His grace, He would make us empty to be filled with Him.

We need to let go of past experiences and knowledge and simply be filled with the Lord afresh right now.

The apostle Paul was a pattern in this matter; toward the end of his life, when he was quite mature in the Lord, he still exercised to forget the things which are behind and stretched forward toward the goal, seeking to enjoy and experience Christ in a fresh way daily (Phil. 3:7-9).

We need to forget the things behind, put aside our past experiences, and simply come to the Lord in a willing way, being emptied within, with much and thorough prayer, so that we may be filled with Him.

When we pray to be filled with the Lord, we will experience wisdom, understanding, and knowledge coming to us like a tide.

We will have divine wisdom and divine understanding, and we will have divine knowledge, even the divine skills to build up the church as the Body of Christ.

For us to be able to do the noble work of building up the church as the Body of Christ, we need to be filled continuously with the Spirit (Exo. 31:1-3; Zech. 4:6).

In the Old Testament, the one who was to do the work of building the tabernacle had not only knowledge, skill, and wisdom, but he was also filled with the Spirit of God (Exo. 31:3).

For us to build up the church as the Body of Christ, we need to be filled continuously with the Spirit.

It is not only the elders or the leading ones that need to be filled with the Spirit; we all as believers in Christ are members of the Body of Christ and need to seek to be filled continuously with the Spirit for the noble work of building up the church.

Therefore, we all need to persevere in prayer; when we persevere in prayer, the church life will be greatly enriched and uplifted.

When we persevere in prayer, we will enjoy the Lord and His presence, and we will have His instant and constant anointing.

If we persevere in prayer and are continuously filled with the Spirit, we will all day long enjoy the smile of the Lord’s face, and the living person of Christ will become our experience and enjoyment. Amen!

Our aspiration should be to be filled in spirit not only from time to time but continuously; we may sometimes experience being filled with the Spirit, but we want to be filled with the Spirit so that we can do the noble work of building up the church.

When we’re filled with the Spirit, we will know how to contact the saints with the divine nature and how to supply them with something of Christ.

We will have the wisdom and knowledge how to build the saints up with the redemption of Christ and with something of the Father’s divine nature.

When we’re continuously filled with the Spirit by much and thorough prayer, we will have the inner ability to build up the saints in transformation and in the church life.

We will not only build them up in their character but even more, build them up as a dwelling place of God.

Amen, may the Lord make us such ones, those who seek to be continuously filled with the Spirit so that we may receive wisdom, knowledge, and understanding from the Lord how to do the noble work of building up of the church.

It is good to even make a deal with the Lord, a solemn vow before Him, that we will be praying people.

We can be continuously filled with the Spirit if we are praying people, if we contact the Lord continuously by much and thorough prayer.

If we make a deal with the Lord and ask Him to even remind us to persevere in prayer, we will enjoy the smile on His face, we will partake of the riches of Christ, and the living person of Christ will become our experience and enjoyment.

Lord Jesus, we want to persevere in prayer so that we may be continuously filled with the Spirit in our Christian life and church life. Amen, Lord, we even want to make a deal with You that we would be praying people. Remind us to pray. Remind us to come to You again and again in all things and concerning all things. We want to be those who are willing, empty, and praying. May we be continuously filled with the Spirit so that we may have the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge for the noble work of building up the church. Oh Lord, only God in Christ as the spirit can build up the church as the Body of Christ, so please fill us with the Spirit continuously! May we all persevere in prayer so that the church life may be greatly enriched and uplifted! Yes, Lord, we want to be continuously filled with the Spirit so that we may enjoy the Lord, His presence, and His instant and constant anointing! May we enjoy the smile of the Lord’s face all throughout the day and may the living person of Christ become our experience and enjoyment!

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 Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1983, vol. 1, “Practical Talks to the Elders,” ch. 7, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good land for the Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ, for the Reality and the Manifestation of the Kingdom, and for the Bride to make Herself Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 Winter Training), week 10, entitled, Governing Principles That We Need to See and Experience in Order to Possess Christ as the Good Land.
• Similar articles on this topic:
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  – Podcast #13 – A Testimony to the Prayer-Hearing God, via, AgeTurners.com.
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• Hymns on this topic:
  – First we must prepare the vessels / That the Oil they may contain; / Dig the valley full of ditches / That they may be filled with Rain. / First we must go thru the Jordan / Ere anointed from above; / First in death we must be baptized, / Then experience the Dove. / Through the Cross, O Lord, I pray, / Put my soul-life all away; / Make me any price to pay, / Full anointing to receive. (Hymns #279 stanza 4 and chorus)
  – Lord, may Thy blood now cleanse me, / Wash all my sins away, / That with Thy Holy Spirit / Thou may anoint, I pray. / My service, I confess, Lord, / Is failure—full and weak; / The filling of Thy Spirit / To live for Thee I seek. / Oh, from myself deliver, / From all its misery; / I’d henceforth be forever / Completely filled with Thee. (Hymns #280 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – Thy oil anoints me here in every way, / Anointing Thee within unceasingly; / I more decrease, Thou more increase each day, / Thus full expression Thou shalt have through me. / Myself I open that Thou may flow in; / Op’ning myself to others, Lord, flow out; / By such a stream, the fellowship within, / Thou, Lord, expressed will be my life throughout. (Hymns #764 stanzas 6-7)