The way the Lord’s move is described in the book of Acts should be our pattern today; in Acts we don’t see any movement or man-initiated work but the move of the living person of Jesus through His disciples who were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Today in the church life in the Lord’s recovery, as we hear and read concerning the Lord’s burden to bring us up-to-date with Him in His ultimate move in this world’s ultimate situation, our reaction to cooperate with Him shouldn’t be to initiate something but to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
We are not in a movement and we do not want to initiate anything; we are not here to do something for God – we are here to be filled, saturated, and permeated with the Spirit so that we may allow the Spirit the way to initiate something, work out something, and gain something.
We all need to have a personal contact with the Lord, being in a personal and affectionate relationship with Him, so that we may have the move of the Holy Spirit and not a movement started by man.
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit and live in spirit, we are not part of a movement; rather, what we have is the leading, working, and speaking of the Spirit.
In Christianity today there are councils, conferences, and important meetings in which things are decided, voted, and acted upon as the decision of the majority is.
But in the Lord’s move as described in Acts we see nothing of a discussion of where to go and what to do, what to speak and who to speak to – what we see in Acts is the ministering to the Lord, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and speaking what the Spirit gives them to speak, going where the Spirit led them to go, and doing what the Spirit led them to do.
The Lord’s move is the move of the Spirit in man; for this, He needs our cooperation to be filled in spirit with the Holy Spirit, but He doesn’t need our initiation, opinions, or natural zeal.
We simply need to be the members of the Body of Christ who are filled with the Holy Spirit to coordinate together and with the Lord as our Head, giving Him an opportunity to do what He wants to do in us and through us.
Not a Movement but the Living Move of the Living Person of Jesus through Man
In the book of Acts we see nothing of a movement but the living move of the living person of Jesus, and this living person is the Holy Spirit.
For example, after the Holy Spirit set aside Barnabas and Saul (in this order) for the work He called them to do, they went to a place and a sorcerer confronted them (see Acts 13:9-10). Immediately, Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak to him, rebuking him in the name of the Lord.
In Acts 13:2 we see Barnabas being mentioned before Paul, and in v. 9 Paul took the lead to speak; Barnabas and Paul didn’t hold a special meeting to decide who to speak, who to take the lead, etc – it was Paul who spoke, being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Barnabas didn’t say, Paul, you studied at the feet of Gamaliel, you know the word of God better, so you should take the lead in speaking…rather, it was the one who was right then and there filled with the Holy Spirit that spoke.
As they went and did things, the apostles didn’t follow a schedule, they didn’t hold conferences and meetings, and they didn’t decide things – they simply sought to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and there was the living move of the living person of Jesus with them.
In the Lord’s move today – in His ultimate move toward Europe to gain many golden lampstands as His shining expression before Antichrist comes – we need to rely not on meetings or conferences where we decide things but rather seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit and let the living person of Jesus take the lead in us as the Spirit.
The principle is not who is older should take the lead nor who is more learned that should speak first; rather, if we have the Holy Spirit filling us, He will speak through us, but if we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, we should be quiet.
Unfortunately, when we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, what we may have is a “democratic church life” in which there’s human discussion, the decision of the majority, and voting to do this or that, or elect this one or that one in a certain position of responsibility.
May the Lord save us from the influence of the degraded Christianity and the corrupted and immoral world, and may we just seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we may be in the living move of the Lord Jesus who is the Spirit today!
We do not want to have a movement called “the Lord’s move to Europe”; what we want is to be in the living move of the living person of the Lord Jesus by being filled with the Holy Spirit!
Lord Jesus, we want to be in the living move of the living person of the Lord Jesus by being filled with the Holy Spirit! Save us from being in a movement with human discussion or decision. Keep us touching You in spirit to be filled with the Holy Spirit and let You take the lead in everything. Lord, fill us with the Holy Spirit right now! May we be filled with the Spirit as we do this and that, as we go to work, as we do our chores at home, as we travel, etc. May our daily living be part of Your ultimate move as we live a life being filled with the Holy Spirit!
The Headquarters of God’s Move is in the Heavens, and the One who Rules is Christ the Head
The only conference that we see in the book of Acts was in ch. 15, when the apostles and elders came together to take care of a certain matter, and their conclusion was, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” (Acts 15:28).
The apostles, the elders, and the saints were filled with the Holy Spirit and mingled with the Spirit; they were saturated and soaked with the Spirit even in their fellowship and coordination, and they said, It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.
They were so one with the Spirit that the Spirit’s decision was their decision, and what seemed good to the Spirit was their decision.
This was a unique conference held by the apostles of the universal church and the elders of the local church in Jerusalem. These two groups were the leading ones in the Lord’s New Testament move on earth. The conference had no chairman; the presiding One was the Spirit (Acts 15:28), the pneumatic Christ, the Head of the church (Col. 1:18) and the Lord of all (Acts 10:36). Much discussion had taken place (15:7) indicates that everyone in the conference had the freedom to speak. The decision was made based on (1) the testimony shared by Peter (vv. 7-11), (2) the facts related by Barnabas and Paul (v. 12), and (3) the concluding word given by James (vv. 13-21), who was the leading one among the apostles and elders in Jerusalem (12:17; 21:18; Gal. 1:19; 2:9) because of the influence he exercised over the believers by his piety (see footnote 1 on James 1:4). (Acts 15:6, footnote 1, Recovery Version Bible)
In this conference in Acts 15 there was no “chairman” or presiding brother (or sister); the presiding One was the Spirit – who is the pneumatic Christ, the Head of the church (Col. 1:18) and the Lord of all (Acts 10:36).
When we meet together we don’t have a leading brother who moderates everything; we meet under the headship of Christ and we are being blended together.
There’s no one “at the top of the pyramid”, but we all fellowship by exercising our spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit; the result is that we all function, there’s the fellowship of the Spirit, and there’s the leading of the Spirit.
In God’s move there’s no “headquarters” or “head church”; the reason Paul and Barnabas with others went to Jerusalem to fellowship about this situation is because it is from Jerusalem that some came to say that the Gentiles need to be circumcised in order to be saved.
Because the problem originated from Jerusalem, the brothers went there to fellowship with the saints there. The headquarters of God’s move in His New Testament economy is not on earth but in the heavens (see Rev. 4:2-3; 5:1; Dan. 4:26), and the One who rules over all the churches is Christ, the Head of the church (Col. 1:18; Rev. 2:1).
The heavens rule. For us to see who is in charge and touch the authority in the church and in the Lord’s move we need to be in our spirit, which is the third heavens; when we touch the Lord in our spirit and live in spirit, we see the throne of God!
The first thing we confront when we get into our spirit is the throne (Rev. 4:2-3), and the One sitting on the throne is not us but the redeeming God, One who looks like jasper and sardius.
Jasper signifies God in His rich life with His communicable glory, and sardius, which is red, signifies redemption. The One on the throne is Christ as our organic Savior and judicial Redeemer.
Where’s the headquarters in the Lord’s move to Europe? It is in the heavens. Who is the One who rules over all the churches? It is Christ, the Head of the church. How can we be one with Christ and under Him as the Head? It is by exercising our spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Lord Jesus, we want to be mingled, saturated, soaked, and filled with the Holy Spirit, so that every decision we make would be the Spirit’s leading and speaking! May we realize that there’s no head church or earthly headquarters for the local churches and the Lord’s move, but our headquarters are in the heavens and the One ruling is Christ! Amen, Lord Jesus Christ, we enthrone You in our being, we give You the first place, and we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit to give You our best cooperation for Your ultimate move!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 2, “Crucial Principles for the Christian Life and the Church Life,” ch. 7, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Special Fellowship concerning the World Situation and the Lord’s Move, msg. 5 (week 5), Doing Everything according to the Leading, Working, and Speaking of the Spirit, Honoring the Lord as the Head of the Body for His Unique Move, and Being Balanced by the Body to Be Kept in Its Unique Oneness.
- Hymns on this topic:
# ’Tis not a movement borne of man, / But by His power moving; / ’Tis not the deeds done outwardly, / But inward action proving. / ’Tis not the work of enterprise, / But ‘tis His life confessing; / ’Tis not to toil for our success, / But ‘tis Himself expressing. (Hymns #910)
# Now in the Lord’s recovery / We’re drawn to Christ alone. / The Spirit as the gentle dove / Has found in us a home. / Let all religion turn away / To movements wide and great; / This testimony of Himself / Our Lord will vindicate! (Hymns #1186)
# Oh, by Thy Spirit, fill me, Lord, / The Spirit of Thy life divine, / And saturate me thoroughly / Till all my life is filled with Thine. (Hymns #244)
About aGodMan
The only conference in the book of Acts took place in chapter 15. The apostles and elders came together to take care of a certain matter. Acts 15:28 says, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” Whenever we have a conference, we must have the assurance that whatever we decide is the decision of the Spirit. We must be able to say, “It seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” I read the Bible for years without ever paying any attention to this verse. The decision made in chapter 15 was not made only by the apostles and the elders with the whole church; it was made also by the Holy Spirit, and the apostles and elders followed the Spirit to make a decision. Hence, it was a decision made by the Holy Spirit and the apostles and elders. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 2, “The Spirit and the Body,” p. 284)
Amen…..
Hallelujah for Lord’s moving in human history!
Amen Lord
Amen brother, I got encouraged that the Spirit is everything. When Barnabas and Paul were confronting a magician, a false prophet, we are told that Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak to him. The one who was filled with the Spirit did the speaking. May this be our experience in the church and the church life. We need to drink more of the Spirit!
Thank You Lord for being One with us! Amen!!!
Praise the Lord! Amen.