Being Willing to be Measured by the Lord for the Deepening and Increase of the Flow of Life

In order that the flow of life would increase in us and even become a river to swim in, we need to be willing to be measured by the Lord as the Man of bronze.

In Ezek. 47 we see the river flowing from the house of God, and as the man measured one thousand cubits four times, the level of the water would increase from the ankles to the knees, to the loins, and eventually it became a river that one couldn’t pass through.

What is this flow of life, this river? It is the water of life flowing from the smitten Christ, the Christ who was crucified and who flowed out living water in His resurrection. This living water is the water of life in resurrection – it is the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit as the ultimate issue of the Triune God.

The source of this flow is the throne of God and of the Lamb, and this flow came into us through our believing into the Lord. This flow began from eternity, continued through the incarnation, human living, and crucifixion of Christ, and now flows in His resurrection to supply us, God’s people, with all the riches of the divine life.

The flowing of the water of life is for the building up of the Body of Christ and the preparation of the bride of Christ. When we touch the Lord and identify ourselves with Him as the smitten Christ, the crucified Christ, the divine life as the living water flows in us and out of us.

How can we drink the water of life? First, we need to be positioned to drink, and we need to be thirsty. Then we need to come to the Lord, ask Him to give us the living water, believe into the Lord, and call on the name of the Lord.

The water of life flows out of the house of God and not only waters us but also increases in its measure until it becomes a river for us to swim in, a river that takes us to God’s destination, the New Jerusalem.

God’s ultimate move in man is to saturate man with all that He is in His life, nature, element, and essence so that man would become the same as Christ, be deified, for God’s corporate expression, His glory in humanity.

We need to have an opening toward the Lord by spending much time with Him so that there would be the living water flowing out from the church. We need to seek and care for God’s glory, not doing things for or in ourselves, and we will have the river of water of life flowing out from the house of God.

We need to give the flow of life the preeminence in our being, and we need to allow the cross to deal with us for there to be an increase of the flow.

We need to be Measured by the Lord as the Man of Bronze for the Increase of the Flow of Life

In Ezek. 47, right after Ezekiel saw the river flowing out from the house of God, there was a man who measured a thousand cubits and led him through the water, and the water was up to the ankles.

A second measuring brought in an increase in the level of the water to the knees, then to the loins, and eventually the flow became a river that couldn’t be passed through (Ezek. 47:3-5).

In order for the flow of life to increase in our being and among us, we need to be willing to be measured by the Lord. It is not by struggling or striving that the flow increases, but by being willing to be measured by the Lord again and again until the flow of life increases in us.

If the saints in a local church are willing to be measured again and again and again and again – four times to one hundred percent – there will be a river to water the parched desert, to heal the dead sea, to grow the trees and produce the fish, and to produce the kids and the calves.

What we need is to be measured for the Lord’s move. We need to be tested, examined, taken over, and possessed by the Lord. Whatever the Lord tests, He examined, He takes over, and He possesses. He wants to measure every part of our being so that the flow would go deeper in us.

For the increase of the flow of life, we all need to be measured by the Lord as the man of bronze (see Ezek. 40:3; 47:2-5; Rev. 1:15; cf. John 7:37-39).

The Son of Man is today walking in the midst of the golden lampstands with feet like bronze; He has been judged and approved by God, and now He is here to judge us, examine us, test us, and possess us.

How much flow of life we have and what is the depth of the flow of life depends on how much we have been gained by the Lord. If He measured only a quarter of our being, then the flow is only up to the ankles, but if we allow Him to measure us further, the level of the flow of life will increase to the loins, and it will eventually become a river to swim in.

The four measurings of a thousand cubits – which is a complete unit (see Psa. 84:10) – indicate that, as creatures, we need to be thoroughly measured by the Lord so that He may take over and thoroughly possess our entire being (Ezek. 47:2-5).

As the Lord measures us, He judges many things in our being; our cooperation with His measuring is to confess, even make a thorough confession as the Lord brings our being into His light to expose us.

As the Lord shines on us and judges us, the level of water of life increases in us, until there’s no more room for the self or the natural man, but we simply swim in the flowing Triune God.

If we are willing to be measured by the Lord again and again up to one hundred percent, we will be fully swallowed up by the living water. In a sense, we will lose our freedom, but actually, we are really free – we don’t have to walk or struggle, we simply let the flow of life carry us on.

When we are fully judged, tested, measured, and possessed by the Lord, we are fully free, and we are fully for God’s purpose – we’re actually carried along by the flow of life to the fulfillment of God’s purpose!

Lord Jesus, make us willing to be measured by You as the man of bronze for the increase of the flow of life in our being. We stop our struggling and striving, and we simply come to You to be measured by You so that we may be possessed by You. Lord, we treasure the flow of life, and we want that this flow would be deepened in our being. Cause us to be measured by the Lord for the move of God in man until we are fully in the flow. Bring us to the point where we are swimming in the flow of life, and the flow of life takes us through to the consummation of God’s goal!

Being Willing to be Measured by the Lord for the Increase and Deepening of the Flow of Life

We cannot deny that we have the flow of life today in the church life in the Lord’s recovery; in the Lord’s mercy, we are still under the Lord’s commanded blessing of eternal life, and He as life flows in us, among us, and through us.

We all can testify that the divine life is here, we enjoy the flow of life, and the Lord has an up-to-date speaking and move which takes us on with Him toward the consummation of the age. For this, we are most thankful to the Lord.

But this flow of life is not as deep as it should be, and the level of life in the churches is not that high. Life may be trickling here and there, some saints may really enjoy life for a while but then things happen, and in general we do not have a deep flow, an increased flow of life.

There is a great need for us all to be willing to be measured by the Lord for the increase and deepening of the flow of life in us and among us. We need to be willing to allow the Lord to measure us so that He may examine us, test us, and judge us to possess us, with the result that the flow of life would become deeper.

The flow of life needs to be deepened, and the depth of it depends on measurement; we need to allow the Lord to measure us again and again with all kinds of measuring, so that the flow of life would increase.

The Lord must possess every bit of our being, so that every part of our being would be a channel for one of the many rivers of life to flow forth. The Lord must possess our mind, our emotions, our will, and all our inner parts; the level of life is determined by the degree of His measuring.

The result of the Lord measuring us is that we are restricted and limited by the flowing of the grace of life until we are eventually lost in it and carried along by the flowing Triune God as a river in which to swim.

The more we are measured by the Lord, the more we lose our freedom, and the more the flow of life carries us along.

We may still like to keep our freedom to walk and move along in the flow, but the Lord wants to increase the flow of life and deepen this flow until it becomes a river in which we’re lost!

Our God is a flowing Triune God from eternity to eternity, and as long as we let Him measure us, self-dependency is removed and we are fully restricted and limited – and at the same time free to swim in the flow!

A sign of the depth of the flow is limitation. Paul testified that, when he wanted to go to the left, the Spirit didn’t allow him, and when to the right, the Spirit forbade him; he was fully limited by the Spirit, and he was in the flow of the Spirit.

All the limitation by the Spirit is to increase the flow until it becomes water that sweeps us off our feet; we no longer walk by our strength, we lose our natural freedom, and the Lord becomes our real freedom, for the water carries us where it goes.

Lord Jesus, we aspire to be fully in the flow of life, being carried along by the flowing Triune God toward the consummation of His purpose! Cause us to be willing to be measured by You until the flowing of the grace of life is sweeping us off our feet to carry us along as a river. Lord, we open to You our whole being with all our inner parts: make us willing to be measured by You so that we may be possessed by You and have an increased flow of life in our being. Lord, deepen the flow of 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, Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 305-307 (by Witness Lee), 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 churches are the house of God. His presence limits us. / He’s standing at the gate and holds a reed to measure thus — / Examining and testing, He is judging to possess / Our inward being by the living flow that swallows death. (Song on the Lord’s measuring)
  # Lord, I treasure the sweet flow of life, / And my soul-life at last I lay down; / O Lord, deepen the pure flow of life; / At Your coming may life be my crown. (Hymns #1191)
  # Measure us, measure us, measure every day; / Measure us, measure more, measure all the way, / Till we know that the flow is a mighty flood, / Sweeping over all the earth for Christ the Lord. (Hymns #1115)