Seeing the Church as the Reprint of the Spirit Limits us and Keeps us in Our Spirit

We need to see a vision of the golden lampstand and what it signifies. The golden lampstand signifies the church today as the reprint of the Spirit. We were born as men of clay, made of dust and sin-producing-factories, but Christ has reached out to us through the gospel and we have been regenerated!

Christ has been regenerated into our being (see John 1:12-13; 3:6) and now we are in the process of transformation – we are being transformed into His being (2 Cor. 3:18). This process is from the Lord Spirit, and it is accomplished by the Spirit with our spirit.

Through the process of transformation we, men of clay and mortal human beings, become reconstituted with God to be His expression on the earth. The Spirit operates in us to transform us and conform us to Christ’s image, and it is all for the Body, God’s corporate expression.

The Spirit is for the Body, and the more we touch the Spirit and live by the Spirit, the more we are in the Body of Christ, the lampstand in reality.

When we see a vision of the church as the reprint of the Spirit, when we really see from the Lord that in the church there should be only the Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God, we will be exposed of our natural man, we will hate our natural man, and we will be restricted in our natural man.

We need a vision of the church as the reprint of the Spirit so that we may live by the Spirit and do everything in and by our mingled spirit.

No Spirit, No Church; More Spirit, More Church

In 1 Cor. 12:13 we are told that in one Spirit we all were baptised into one Body. The Spirit is for the Body! In Eph. 4:4 we see that there’s one Body and one Spirit. And in Zechariah 4 we see that the lampstand (which is the church, see Rev. 1) is the Spirit. All these show us that the Spirit is the Body, the Body is the Spirit, and the church is the reprint of the Spirit.

The Spirit is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, and today the Spirit is for the Body. Everything the Spirit does is for the Body. We are regenerated, sanctified, transformed, life-given, empowered, conformed, and glorified by the Spirit – and it is all for the Body, the church, the golden lampstand.

The more Spirit we have, the more church we have; if we don’t have the Spirit in a fresh way, we don’t have the church. More Spirit – more church; no Spirit, no church!

We need to ask the Lord to open our eyes to see the vision of the church as the golden lampstand, the reprint of the Spirit. When we see such a glorious vision, we will realize that anything that is natural is not fitting for the building of the church.

Nothing natural does the Body life allow! This vision exposes us, shines on us, governs us, and keeps us in fear and trembling before the Lord that we may not live in our flesh or natural man but rather in the spirit and by the spirit.

The Vision of the Church Limits Our Natural Man

Many Christians behave very loosely and very carelessly in the church, “feeling at home in the church” in a natural way and living out their natural man. Yes, we are home in the church, but our natural being has no share or part in the church, because the church is the reprint of the Spirit.

The church is a lampstand, purely of God and without any mixture. When we see the vision of the church as the reprint of the Spirit, the lampstand, we will be afraid to exercise our flesh or live in our natural man in the church.

We need such a governing and controlling vision that will kill the flesh, judge the natural man, and preserve us in the church as the reprint of the Spirit. This vision shines over us and checks us all the time: This is your flesh – don’t use your flesh! This is your natural man, it’s you living again – turn to your spirit!

This vision will shine so brightly within us that the Lord will have a way to speak to us in our daily life related to the aspects of our daily living to expose and terminate our natural man (Gal. 2:20).

As we travel to work or home, as we go to school or university, as we meet people, as we gather together with the saints, as we fellowship or meet with new ones, this vision will shine over us, expose our natural man, and we will reject our self, our flesh, and our natural being.

We need to ask the Lord and tell Him,

Lord, grant me the vision of the church as the golden lampstand. I want to see that the church is the reproduction of Christ and the reprint of the Spirit. Lord, from now on, my natural being has no share in the church. May this vision shine in my being and govern me, exposing my natural man and strengthening me to turn to my mingled spirit and reject anything that’s natural! Lord, I want to have a living fitting for the building up of the church as the reprint of the Spirit!

Walking By the Spirit to Be the Church in Practicality

 Gal. 5:16 says, “…Walk by the Spirit and you shall by no means fulfill the lust of the flesh.” The way for us not to live by the flesh or fulfill its lusts is to live and walk by the Spirit in our spirit.

When we walk by the Spirit, we build up the church with gold, pearls, and precious stones (Rev. 21:18-21). But when we walk by the flesh, we produce wood, hay, and stubble (1 Cor. 3:12).

Our daily living and our living in the church life builds up the church or damages the church. We should not insult or damage the church by behaving and acting by our natural life! In the church life today we need to no longer behave, act, and move by our natural being but by our mingled spirit.

Our good manners in the church life today is our divinely reborn and God-indwelt spirit (see Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22). The Lord Jesus Christ as the life-giving Spirit is in and with our spirit – we need to learn to live in the spirit, take care of the spirit, exercise the spirit, and be in spirit, and we will be the church in practicality.

It is when we are in our mingled spirit and when we live by the spirit that we are the church in practicality. When we walk by the spirit, we build up the church – whether we are with the saints or not, at any time we are in spirit, we build up the church and we are part of the corporate reproduction of Christ and reprint of the Spirit.

Lord, keep us in our spirit. May we have a vision of the church as the reprint of the Spirit that will govern and control our living. Lord, save us from insulting, marring, or damaging the church through our living in our natural man and in the flesh. Shine on us. Expose us. We stand with our spirit and not with our natural man. Lord, we want to be people of the Spirit – those exercising their spirit, living in their spirit, and being in their spirit! Today we choose to live in and by the spirit!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from brother Minoru Chen’s sharing in this message and portions in, The Church—the Reprint of the Spirit (chs. 2-3), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Crystallization-Study of Daniel and Zechariah, week 9 (entitled, The Vision of the Golden Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees).
• Buy this morning revival book online via Living Stream Ministry.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Oh, may a clear, controlling vision of / The Lord’s economy direct my heart, / And burn in me until my spirit’s wholly set afire! / With spirit strong and active we’ll press on / To consummate God’s goal— / New Jerusalem, Hallelujah!
  # And now I’m walking by the Spirit / Step by step, day by day, / O Lord, I love You. / You’re the precious One to me. / As I do this and that / Lord, remind me where You’re at; / You’re in my spirit, / Dispensing grace to me.
  # By the cross discern the spirit, / Put the soul to death alway; / Bear the cross, deny the self-life, / Walk in spirit day by day.
• Pictures credit: Wheat (via here) and Gal. 5:16 (via here).