The result and issue of our enjoyment of Christ as the flow of life – the life-giving Spirit – is that we become sowers, planters, waterers, begetters, feeders, and builders with the ministry of life for the building up of the church.
If we cooperate with the Lord and allow Him to measure us according to His building, and if we allow the Lord to deal with us so that the flow of life may deepen and increase in us, we will become ministers of the new covenant with the ministry of life.
What the Lord wants to gain is not better preachers or teachers, but more ministers who have the ministry of life to impart life to God’s people, help them grow, and cooperate with the Lord for them to be built up into the church, the building of God.
As we enjoy Christ as the flow of life in our being and in the church, we will spontaneously become six kinds of people:
- Sowers who sow the seeds of life into people for the generating of life,
- Planters who plant Christ we life into others,
- Waterers who minister the life-giving Spirit to others to water them for their growth,
- Begetters who beget others through the gospel to make them children of God,
- Feeders who feed others with Christ as the heavenly food for their progress in life, and
- Builders who are built up into God’s house and who build others up in the magnificent house of God.
The flow of life from the house of God produces the building of God, and out of the building of God issues the flow of life; this is a holy cycle – if we have more flow, we have more building, and if we are built up together, there will be the flow of life.
In the church life where we are today, we need to be this kind of people. This is not about what way to take to do things, but it is a matter of life, a matter of the person. We need to be a particular kind of person, a person of life with the ministry of life.
Today we want to dig deeper into what it means to be sowers, planters, and waterers, and we want to see how we can be such people for the building up of the church as the house of God.
We need to be sufficient ministers of the new covenant who minister life to others to help them grow in life (2 Cor. 3:6). This doesn’t mean that we should give people doctrines and teachings, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
We need to be people full of life to minister life to others to cause the growth in life and bring forth maturity in life for the building up of the church.
Ministers of Life are Sowers Sowing Spiritual Seeds into Others
A minister or life is a sower who sows spiritual seeds into others to grow and produce Christ in them.
In 1 Cor. 9:11 Paul says to the Corinthians, “We have sown to you the spiritual things”; here the spiritual things refers to spiritual seeds.
What is a seed? A seed is a container of life for the producing and bringing forth of life. To sow spiritual seeds is to impart life in, with, and out of our spirit.
The Lord Jesus came as a Sower to sow Himself as the seed of life into us, the human race (Matt. 13:3, 37). Now we are also sowers, those who cooperate with the Lord to sow the seed of life into others. There’s a great difference between being a sower and a teacher.
To be a teacher we need to be taught, understand, memorize, recite, and have a good voice, speak eloquently, know how to explain things, and be knowledgeable. But in order to be a sower, we need to have the seeds of life, so that we may sow Christ into others and produce Christ into them.
Spiritual seeds are not doctrines or teachings; they are something of life in our spirit. To have the seeds of life we need to exercise our spirit, be in our spirit, experience Christ in our spirit, and speak from our spirit.
To be the sowers as the ministers of life, we need to not merely know spiritual teachings and biblical doctrines but have the seeds of life and learn from the Lord to sow the seed of life into others so that Christ would be produced and grow in them.
Lord Jesus, we want to be the sowers who sow spiritual seeds into those whom we meet so that Christ would be produced and life would be imparted into them. Keep us contacting You in spirit, Lord, that we may be full of life and have the seeds of life to impart life to others. Save us from merely giving others doctrines and teachings – cause us to focus on life, on ministering life, and on helping others grow in life day by day. May we be the ministers of the new covenant who are sowers sowing spiritual seeds into others!
Ministers of Life are Planters who Plant Christ into God’s People
Paul said, I planted… (1 Cor. 3:6). Paul was a planter. He didn’t just indiscriminately sow the seeds of life into everyone that he met, but he did a purposeful sowing, even a planting of Christ into others for God’s farm.
Planting is a matter of life; it involves sowing seeds, planting trees, or placing herbs in the ground – all these are living things that grow. As ministers of life who enjoy the flow of life, we need to “plant Christ” into God’s people.
In 1 Cor. 3:9 we are told that we are God’s cultivated land; this means that we are the land in which Christ grows. When we were regenerated with God’s life, we became God’s cultivated land, a farm in God’s new creation.
We as the church of God have Christ planted in us, and for us to plant Christ into others, we need to be ministers of life who have genuine experiences of Christ in our spirit. If we cooperate with the Lord to produce and grow Christ within us, we will have something of Christ to plant into others.
Planting Christ into others doesn’t mean that we speak doctrines to them or teach them the Bible; it means that we have the skill and capacity to plant Christ into them by ministering the Christ who has been constituted and who is growing in us.
For us to plant Christ into others, we need the genuine experience of Christ as life in our spirit.
As we experience Christ, we will learn to cooperate with Him to plant Christ into others at the right time and in the right way, when they are in the right condition. To do this we don’t need more “gifts” or “zeal” – we simply need to experience Christ as life in our spirit.
Lord Jesus, we want to experience You as life in our spirit so that we may planters, those who plant Christ into God’s people. May we experience Christ as life in our spirit day by day so that we may have an extra portion of Christ to minister to others at the right time and in the right place for Christ to be produced and grow in them. May there be much planting of Christ into the saints in the way of life so that the church would be God’s cultivated land, God’s farm, God’s new creation!
Ministers of Life are Waterers who Water People with Christ
Paul planted, Apollo watered, and God gave the growth (1 Cor. 3:6). First we need to be the sowers who sow Christ as the seed of life, then we need to be the planters who plant Christ into God’s people, and finally we need to be waterers who water people with Christ.
Once we plant Christ into others, we need to water them with the water of life (Rev. 22:17).
A farmer doesn’t just sow the seed or plant herbs and trees in His farm – he comes back to these plants and waters them again and again. He may even have an irrigation system with a reservoir that supplies the farm with water.
This is what should happen in the spiritual realm. We need to be the sowers sowing Christ into others, planters planting Christ into God’s people, and waterers who water others with the water of life.
We should be a divine “irrigation system” with a reservoir of living water stored within us to water the church as God’s farm. We need to water the dear saints with the water of life, for they are plants in God’s farm that need watering.
However, how can we water others if we ourselves don’t have the living water? To water others we need to have the genuine experience of Christ as the water of life and we need to have a living contact with Him.
We need to be filled with the divine water to have a fountain of living water bubbling within us constantly (John 4:14). We need to drink of Christ as the source of living waters, drink the Spirit, and be filled with the Spirit, so that we can supply others with the water of life (John 7:37-39).
We can water others if we are filled with the water of life; we need to drink the Spirit, be filled in spirit, experience Christ as the water of life, and we will spontaneously water others with the living water for their growth in life.
We can’t give others growth in life – only God can give the growth, but we can be the sowers sowing the seed of life, planters planting Christ into others, and waterers watering others with the living water.
Lord Jesus, we want to have the genuine experience of Christ as the living water and a living contact with You so that we may be filled with the living water and overflow to water others for their growth in life. Make us those who first are filled with the living water and then water others. May we have a daily experience of Christ as the water of life to be filled with Him and have a fountain of life bubbling within us constantly. Lord, flow in us, fill us, and flow out of us for others to be watered for their growth in life!
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, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1970, vol. 1, “The Spirit and the Church,” ch. 7, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Ezekiel (2), msg. 10 (week 22 in the HWMR), The Flow of Life with the Ministry of Life out from and for the Magnificent House of God.
- 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! (Hymns #1242)
# 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. (Hymns #1237)
# Cleanse me, oh, cleanse me, my Savior, / Make me a channel today; / Empty me, fill me and use me, / Teach me to trust and obey. / Then, and then only, Lord Jesus, / Through me the rivers can flow; / Thus and thus only will others / Learn Thy great fulness to know. (Hymns #251)
In 1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul says, “I planted.” Planting is also a matter of life, for it involves sowing seeds, the containers of life, or placing herbs, plants, or trees in the ground, all of which are living things that grow. Verse 9 tells us that we, the believers in Christ, are “God’s cultivated land,” that is, God’s farm. The believers, who have been regenerated in Christ with God’s life, are God’s cultivated land, a farm in God’s new creation. Corporately, we as the church of God have Christ planted in us. In order for us to plant Christ into others, we need the genuine experience of Christ as life in our spirit. If we grow and produce Christ within us, we will have something of Christ to plant into others. Again, spiritual planting is not a matter of doctrines but of life.
In 3:6 Paul continues, “Apollos watered.” We should not only be planters but also waterers. Once we plant Christ into others, we need to water them with the water of life (Rev. 22:17). Day by day we should water the dear saints, who are plants in God’s farm that need watering. We may liken a waterer in God’s farm to an irrigation system with a reservoir that supplies a farm with water. We should be a divine “irrigation system” with a reservoir of living water stored within us to water the church as God’s farm. We need to have the genuine experience of Christ as the water of life and a living contact with Him. Consequently, we will have a fountain of life bubbling within us constantly (John 4:14), and we will be a channel of living water, a divine irrigation system, that can supply others with the water of life (7:37-39). We need to be waterers, those who are filled with the water of life and who water their fellow believers for their growth in life. If we do not have the sufficient experience of Christ as the living water, it will be difficult for us to water others. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1970, vol. 1, “The Spirit and the Church,” pp. 577-578)
Praise the Lord!Amen
Amen. Only Christ can cause & initiate the growth in life through the life-giving Spirit.
Amen! We need to be filled with the spirit, so that we can supply others with the water of life.