The book of Acts shows us the spreading of the church for the enlargement of Christ on earth, and at the same time it shatters our natural concepts, it shows God’s sovereignty, and the blending of all races and kinds of people in the church, the Lord’s testimony. The basic principle of the church is […]
What are the Gates of Hades and how can we use the Keys of the Kingdom to Close them
Matthew 16 is a very enlightening chapter in the Bible in our seeing how the direction of the Lord’s move today is to bring in the kingdom of God; in this chapter we have the way to build up the church and the enemy of the building of God. The matter of the direction of […]
The Kingdom is the Reality of the Church: Live the Kingdom Life in the Church Life
The New Jerusalem as the holy city of God with man, the consummation of God’s work throughout the ages and the fulfilment of His purpose for eternity, should be our experience as a foretaste today in the church life. The New Jerusalem is a city – the centre of the kingdom of God, the place […]
exercising the key of denying the self to shut the gates of Hades and build the church
We need the Lord to shine on us and show us a vision of the self. From the very beginning in the garden of Eden we see that the self is the soul declaring its independence from God. When we are no longer dependent on God but “take matters into our own hands”, we are in the self. The self is the greatest problem to the building up of the Body, and the self is opposing the Body. The principle of the Body is depending on the Lord and depending on the brothers and the sisters… To be independent of the brothers and sisters equals being independent of Christ, but when we are dependent, the self is gone, and instead of the self, we have the Lord’s presence and are full of peace. [continue reading online]
using the keys of the kingdom to lock the subjective gates of Hades and build up the church
Matt. 16:21-26 shows us not only the subjective gates of Hades coming in to frustrate the building up of the church but also the keys of the kingdom of the heavens which lock these doors and release the building up! We need to use the keys of denying our self, losing our soul life, and taking up our cross! Denying the self mainly relates to our mind, since the self is expressed through the mind with its opinions. Taking up the cross is related to taking up the will of God and not our own will. Losing our soul life is related to the enjoyment of the soul, the pleasure – we need to seek God’s pleasure and His enjoyment!