Having a Prevailing Move in Life that Corresponds to Christ’s Heavenly Ministry

Both the preaching of the gospel and the building up of the church in the church life today need to be as a prevailing move in life and of life, corresponding to Christ’s heavenly ministry under His headship.

In the book of Acts we see how the disciples didn’t initiate anything to preach the gospel or spread the church life – they were simply praying, opening to the Lord, and the Lord as the Head of the Body directed their move and their speaking.

Because the ascended Christ as the Head of the Body had a corresponding group of people on earth who would respond to His heavenly ministry, He could move in an unhindered way to propagate Himself from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to Antioch and to all the parts of the world.

We need to be such people today, believers in Christ who are being discipled by Him to propagate Him on earth not by initiating something out of ourselves but by being responsive to His heavenly ministry, being in prayer, and being open to Him, so that we would go where He wants us to go, we would speak what He wants us to speak, and we would contact the people that He wants to contact.

The Lord Jesus was One who always corresponded to the Father; He spent much time with the Father, He always chose to be with the Father, and He did the will of the Father at the time the Father appointed and in the way He wanted Him to do it.

The ones around Him may have wanted to crown Him as king, but the Lord removed Himself from their midst. Then at one time they wanted to stone Him, but again He went away.

Others may have wanted Him to do a miracle at a particular time or to go somewhere and preach the gospel to other cities also, but the Lord always retreated in the wilderness or on the mountain, spent much time with the Father in prayer, had the habit of being in prayer the whole night with the Father, and did everything as the Father instructed Him.

His disciples, as those who learned from Him while He was with them on earth, also did the same thing; they remained in prayer in one accord for ten days until the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them, and anything they did and said came out of their prayer and as a response to the heavenly ministry of the ascended Head, Christ.

The Christ who Ministers in the Heavens needs a Corresponding Body to Move in Life on Earth

In the book of Acts we see how the disciples cooperated with the ascended Christ to propagate the resurrected Christ, and this was a move in life for the spread of the gospel.

They didn’t have a committee that decided the gospel trips or gospel missions, and they had no human organization; what they did was a move in life through prayer and by the Spirit, corresponding to the prayer and ministry of the heavenly Christ.

What the Lord wants is not an organized movement for man to do something for Him in the gospel; He wants to have a move in life through the leading of the Spirit in the Body of Christ. This move in life corresponds to the Lord’s heavenly ministry in His ascension.

In Acts chapters 8, 9, and 10 the Lord moved His disciples outwardly for the preaching of the gospel; He was ministering in the heavens to move some of His disciples.

In response to the Lord’s heavenly ministry, Philip left Jerusalem for Gaza (Acts 8:26); Philip was most likely praying in spirit, for he corresponded to the Lord’s heavenly ministry. The Lord could send one of His disciples in the wilderness, run after a chariot, and speak to the one in it; in this way, the Ethiopian eunuch was brought to the Lord.

This was the corresponding on Philip’s side to the move in life for the preaching of the gospel.

In Acts 9 we have a similar situation; Ananias must have been praying, when a vision came to him to go and pray for Saul. Even though Ananias argued with the Lord, since Saul was one of the most fierce opponents and persecutors, eventually he cooperated with the Lord, and He could gain one member of His Body – Saul – for the ministry.

Ananias was watching the heavenly television, Saul was also watching this divine television, and the Lord directed one to meet the other; this was a wonderful triangle of Christ ministering in the heavens with Ananias and Saul corresponding to it on earth, all aimed at bringing Saul to the Lord.

In Acts 10 we see Cornelius, a Gentile – a Roman centurion – praying, when an angel came and told him to send for Peter.

On his side, Peter was hungry, and as they were preparing the food, he went on the rooftop to pray; as he prayed himself into a trance, the Lord spoke to him, and even though Peter argued with the Lord, he reluctantly cooperated with the moving of the Spirit in life.

The result was that the Lord baptized the Gentile part of the Body in the Spirit, as they received the Lord and were added to the Body.

The Lord Jesus, the Head of the Body, was ministering and working in the heavens, and He obtained a corresponding Body on earth to move in life one with Him. We need to be such ones today, those who, though sometimes are reluctant, cooperate with Him for His move on earth.

Lord Jesus, grant us to be those on earth who correspond to Your ministering in the heavens to have a move in life for the propagation of Christ. Save us from having something outward as an organization yet without the inward touch of the Lord in prayer for Your move in life. Amen, Lord, gain us to be those who cooperate with the ascended Christ for the propagation of the resurrected Christ for the spread of the gospel. Break through in us, tear down any resistance, calm down any fear, and gain our full cooperation with Your heavenly ministry!

Having a Prevailing Move in Life that Corresponds to Christ’s Heavenly Ministry

The Lord Jesus has resurrected and was ascended more than two thousand years ago, and since then He has been working in His heavenly ministry to propagate Himself, build up the Body, and produce the overcomers for His second return.

Nearly twenty centuries have gone by, but it seems that not much has been fulfilled on earth. Yes, there’s such a prevailing thing as “Christianity” as a great monstrous religion (which more and more people hate!), but what about the propagation of the resurrected Christ through His believers?

As this age draws to a close, there is the urgent need for us to correspond to the Lord’s heavenly ministry. On the one hand, we need to have a genuine move in life to propagate Christ, corresponding to His heavenly ministry; on the other hand, we need to have the growth in life for the building up of the Body.

On the one hand, we need to preach the gospel, responding to the Lord’s heavenly ministry, to bring people to the Lord and make them members of Christ.

On the other hand, as seen in Ephesians and Colossians, we need to grow in life and function in the Body of Christ as members (Col. 2:18-19; Eph. 4:14-16) for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

For people to be brought to the Lord requires a move in life; for the Body of Christ to be built up, the growth and function in life is needed.

The proper gospel preaching is a move in life under the heavenly ministry of Christ. It is not something organized by man but something initiated by Christ, the ascended Head, for His propagation on earth through His members who correspond to Him in His heavenly ministry.

We need to be the Lord’s disciples on earth who are on the alert, not being weighed down or drugged with the things of this world, entertainment, lusts, and desires, but ready to move when the Lord wants to move, ready to speak when He wants to speak, and ready to contact those whom He wants to contact.

May the Lord gain in the church life a prevailing move in life that corresponds to His heavenly ministry under His headship.

May we be those who are fully open to the Lord in prayer, responsive to Him as He tells us to go somewhere or say something, so that we may correspond on earth to His ministry in the heavens.

We may argue with the Lord, we may not agree with Him, and we may reluctantly listen and go along with Him as He sends us somewhere to speak to someone.

May we just learn to pray ourselves into the spirit – out of ourselves and into a trance, into God Himself, so that we may be responsive to Him for what He wants to do on earth.

And as we respond to the Lord, may our move be fully in life and of life, not of human organization.

May the Spirit be the One initiating and we be the one carrying it out as a response to the Lord’s heavenly ministry.

Lord Jesus, gain a prevailing move in life among us in the church life, a move that corresponds to Your heavenly ministry. May we be the people on earth who correspond to what You want to do. Gain our response to Your heavenly ministry. Keep us turning to our spirit in prayer until we are no longer in the self but in spirit, in a trance, one with You and one with the saints for Your move. Gain us to be those who correspond to Your heavenly ministry under Your headship, having a prevailing move in life for Your propagation on earth and having the growth in life for the building up of the Body of Christ!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark R. for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1980, vol. 2, “The Heavenly Ministry of Christ,” ch. 5, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Cooperating with the Heavenly Ministry of the Ascended Christ (2017 Spring ITERO), msg. 4 (week 4), Propagating the Resurrected Christ under the Heavenly Ministry of the Ascended Christ.
• 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)
  # Let us work together with the Lord through prayer, / Praying every time and everywhere. / He will not accomplish His will on His own; / Seek Him ‘till His purpose is made known. / Make us those who’re one with You in prayer, / Echoing the things for which You care. / Lord, do make us one so that Your heart’s desire we share; / In this age, Lord gain Your men of prayer. (song on working with God through prayer)
  # Not just by the outward teachings, / But by His anointing moved; / Not just by the outward pattern, / But by inward vision proved. / Not by human rules or rituals, / But by heaven’s rule within; / Not by human-made decisions, / But by guidance giv’n of Him. (Hymns #908)