From the book of Acts we see our need to take the word of the Spirit through the members of the Body, and to do the one work of building up the church as the Body of Christ.
We need to learn the lessons in the book of Acts, receiving the Lord’s mercy to be saved from Satan’s schemes and keeping ourselves in the flow of the age for the building up of the Body, and allow the Holy Spirit to go forward.
We must learn from the lesson of Paul to practice the Body life and to take the word of the Spirit through the members of the Body, obeying the Lord’s speaking through the members of the Body.
We must especially learn from the lesson of the mistake of James and the devastating mixture of the church in Jerusalem.
When Paul went to Jerusalem the second time, just before he was arrested, the whole situation in the church in Jerusalem was mixed, for the many thousands of the Jewish saints were zealous for the law.
We need to learn to not mix the word of God’s New Testament economy with anything of the law or the old covenant, for when Christ came, the old covenant, the law, the ordinances, and everything of the Old Testament is over – now Christ is everything!
God doesn’t require us to do many things in the New Testament; He doesn’t want us to change, to obey some laws, or to adjust ourselves according to His ordinances and commandments.
The unique commandment in the New Testament is for us to exercise our spirit and live in the mingled spirit, for Christ as the Spirit lives in our spirit, and when we live in the mingled spirit, Christ can live in us.
The law in a sense is over, but in a real sense, the law is being fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. Paul spoke in Rom. 8 concerning the law of the Spirit of life in our spirit, but James treasured and uplifted the law of letters (Acts 21:20).
Paul spoke of being crucified with Christ and being conformed to the death of Christ by the power of the resurrection of Christ, but what the law teaches is self-cultivating, self-perfecting, and self-development – if we don’t look at the law according to God’s New Testament economy, which is in faith.
Hallelujah, God’s New Testament economy is in faith, which means that everything of God today for us is in the mingled spirit, where we are joined to the Lord as one spirit!
Faith is nothing else but our organic union with the Lord by which He infuses Himself into us and we are joined to Him, so that everything of Him becomes ours, and He lives in us as we live Him out.
God doesn’t want us to perfect ourselves or correct ourselves according to the words in the Bible; He wants us to receive Christ, believe into Christ, love Christ, enjoy Christ, and be filled with Christ, so that we may live Christ and express Christ in our daily living.
Such a living will be the spontaneous fulfillment of the law and is a living of Christ in us for God’s purpose.
Practicing the Body Life and Taking the Word of the Spirit through the Members of the Body
The apostle Paul is a pattern to us in many ways, and in the book of Acts we see how he learned to live and practice the Body life, and how to take the word of the Spirit through the members of the Body of Christ.
Toward the end of the book of Acts we see that Paul had a feeling from the Lord to go and visit Rome and Spain for the gospel, but before he would do that, he wanted to go to Jerusalem. The Lord’s leading was toward Rome and Spain, but Paul really wanted to go to Jerusalem.
Paul’s return to Jerusalem went against five instances of the Lord’s feeling through the members of the Body and the Lord’s teaching concerning this matter.
First, the Lord gave Paul the feeling to go to Rome and Spain, but he didn’t obey this feeling. Then, the Spirit gave him a restricting feeling, but he still didn’t listen. Third, Agabus prophesied concerning him, saying that if he goes to Jerusalem he will be bound; still, Paul didn’t listen.
Fourth, Paul went against the feeling of the Body, for many saints came to him and told him not to go to Jerusalem, for they felt from the Lord that it was dangerous for him.
Still finally, Paul went against the clear word of the Lord’s teaching which said that, if there’s persecution for the disciples in one city, they should flee to another city (Matt. 10:23).
Paul didn’t have to return to Jerusalem; there wasn’t any great purpose in going there, and he knew that sufferings awaited him there – and still he went. We need to learn from this that, whenever we don’t feel the flow of the Lord within and the Body confirms that we shouldn’t do something, then we should not do it.
The Spirit within may give us a certain feeling to not go somewhere, and the saints may also warn us of that place; in such a situation we need to learn to practice the Body life and take the word of the Spirit through the members of the Body of Christ.
In Paul’s case he still went to Rome, but not as a free man but as a prisoner, in chains; he could have gone to Rome in freedom, but the way he got there was in a restricted way.
The Lord may want us to go somewhere for His move, so that He may spread to a certain place, and we may not cooperate with Him in His timing; then, He may bring us to that place, but in a more restricted way.
We need to learn to take the word of the Spirit through the members of the Body of Christ, and we need to practice the Body life in the church life.
When Paul was in prison he learned many deep lessons and realised that there were many things entangling him, and he learned to experience Christ in a deeper way.
Therefore, he wrote many precious epistles while in prison, and he was fully clear concerning the Lord’s move, His spreading, and the Body of Christ with its function and reality.
If throughout the centuries the servants of the Lord had always allowed the Holy Spirit to go forward, the church would have matured a long time ago.
If we allow the Holy Spirit to have a straight way in us, and we take the word of the Spirit inwardly and through the members of the Body, the spread of the church would not be limited by us in any way.
Lord Jesus, we want to allow the Holy Spirit to go forward in us, with us, and through us. Amen, Lord, have a straight way in us. Keep us one spirit with You, obeying the feeling of the Spirit within and listening to the word of the Spirit through the members of the Body without. We want to follow You, Lord, wherever You lead us, and wherever You want us to be. Lord, we no longer want to be a hindrance or limitation to Your move. Have a free way in us. We want to limit Your spread no more! May nothing entangle us or hold us back. Release us from any elements of oldness, religion, and opinions, and make us fully one spirit with You!
Doing the One Work for the Building up of the Local Churches unto the Building up of the Body
We all should follow the pattern of the apostle Paul to do the same one work universally for the unique Body of Christ, seeking to build up the local churches unto the building up of the universal Body of Christ (see 1 Cor. 3:12; 15:58; 16:10; Eph. 4:11-16).
Today there’s one unique flow of the Spirit on earth, and the Lord is doing one work; we need to be joined to the Lord to do the one work for the building up of the local churches unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
The work in the Lord’s recovery is for the building up of the local churches unto the building up of the universal Body of Christ (Eph. 2:21-22; 1 Cor. 16:10).
When it comes to working for the Lord, we can say that there are four kinds of workers today.
The first kind is the co-workers who match the need of the ministry of God in the present age; this is a small group of people who have been dealt with by the Lord and who are in one accord.
Then, there’s the second kind – the younger co-workers, who are willing to receive the direction and to come under the coordination of the older co-workers, and they are willing to follow and to learn in humility.
We need to be such ones, those who are willing to receive the direction from the older co-workers and enter into the coordination, learning and following in humility.
The third kind of workers are those who are unwilling to submit to the senior co-workers, who do not belong to the denominations, yet who are happy to remain in fellowship with us. They may cause troubles later down the line, since they are unwilling to enter into the coordination.
The fourth kind is the preachers and the free evangelists among the denominations. What we need today are the first and second kind of co-workers; concerning the third and the fourth kind of co-workers, we can only let them choose their own pathway.
We cannot control people or tell them what to do, and unless the Lord shows them the unique work and the unique flow, our job is not to convince them of anything that we see and live.
We need to realize that, with some people, God has not assigned them to take the same way as we do, and therefore we dare not say anything to them.
Whatever the situation may be, we need to be faithful to what the Lord has shown us and do the work that God has committed to us; we need to do the one work for the building up of the local churches unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
We are not here to tear down others’ work or interfere with others’ work; we are here for the Lord’s recovery, and we want to do the work of the Lord.
And whenever someone who serves is in the church in a certain locality, he is at the same time one of the local brothers, so when the church assigns some work to the saints, the co-workers are also local brothers and should accept assignments in the same way. How wonderful to be blended in this way.
Lord Jesus, grant us to be those who are willing to receive the direction and coordination from the older co-workers and who are willing to follow and learn in humility how to do the work of the Lord. Amen, Lord, we are here to do the one work for the building up of the local churches unto the building up of the universal Body of Christ. May we be faithful to what You have shown us, Lord, and may we go on with You, be in coordination with the saints, and do the one work for the building up of the local churches unto the building up of Christ’s Body!
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, Messages Given during the Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry, vol. 1, ch. 26, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Propagating the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ as the Development of the Kingdom of God (2018 fall ITERO), week 6, Keeping Ourselves in the One Flow of the Lord’s Work for the Spreading of the Church, and Receiving the Lord’s Mercy to Be Saved from Satan’s Schemes.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Limit, Lord, my independence, / Let me to Thy Body turn; / Not just seeking light from heaven, / But the church’s sense to learn. / May we be the stones for building / Not the formless, useless clay, / Gain in us Thy heart’s desire / Corporately Thyself display. (Hymns #1225)
# In my knowledge and experience / I would not exalted be, / But submitting and accepting / Let the Body balance me; / Holding fast the Head, and growing / With His increase, in His way, / By the joints and bands supplying, / Knit together day by day. (Hymns #840)
# As in a team we’d never / Act independently, / But in coordination, / Each would dependent be; / Not acting by our choosing / But following the flow, / Distraction never bringing, / The Spirit’s way we’d know. (Hymns #867)
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