Praise the Lord, we today are in the continuation of the book of Acts, and the word of God is still growing and being multiplied among us, and many people are being added to the Lord as we live in the divine history within the human history in the church life!
The book of Acts is a book without an ending because this book is still being continued today, for whenever we live in the divine history within the human history and are one with the Lord to propagate Christ for His increase, we are in the continuation of the book of Acts.
The work of God did not stop at the last verse of Acts, and God the Father is still working, Christ the Son is still working, and the work of the Holy Spirit still goes on.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to propagate Christ in man and bring man to full maturity in the divine life so that there would exist on earth a corporate expression of God in humanity.
How we thank the Lord for regenerating us with His divine life and transforming us with His nature to make us the same as He is in life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead, so that we may be the corporate Christ, the corporate expression Christ on earth!
As we are in such a process of transformation by the Spirit, we need to cooperate with the work of the Spirit to propagate Christ by preaching the gospel so that many sinners would become sons of God and members of the Body of Christ, that they would grow in the divine life unto maturity, and that they would be built up in spirit to be God’s shining testimony on the earth.
This is what God is after, a shining corporate testimony on earth in and with man, and for this He Himself went through a process and now by coming in us as the Spirit, we also go through a process, to the end that we will be the glorified sons of God, the same as Christ, our elder Brother.
Since what God is after is this shining vessel, His testimony, we all need to be aware of the Body of Christ and live in the Body life in the church life today, so that we may be built up with the saints as God’s corporate testimony on earth.
Even in our aspiration to be overcomers, those who overcome the degradation of the church today and cooperate with the work of God to propagate Christ and build up the church, we do all these for the church and for the benefit of the whole Body.
Our work and living are not for ourselves to be shining stars but for the building up of the church as God’s shining testimony, the Body of Christ. Amen!
The Word of God is Growing and People are Added to the Lord as the Continuation of the book of Acts
There are three verses in Acts that mention the fact that the word of God was growing and being multiplied, and also that people were added to the Lord (see Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20).
As we live in the continuation of the book of Acts in the church life today, the word of God is still growing and being multiplied among us. We thank the Lord for His speaking in the Lord’s recovery. He speaks to us today, and His speaking is taking us on.
The Lord’s speaking among us is abounding, increasing, and multiplying. The fact that the word of God grows shows that the word is like a seed coming into our heart, taking root in us, and growing in us and among us.
When we heed the word of God, remain in the word, enjoy Christ in His word, and allow the word to dwell in us richly so that the word would nourish us within and regulate our being without, Christ grows in us and we grow in life with the growth of God.
The word “grew” in Acts 6:7 refers to the growth in life, indicating that the word of God is a matter of life that grows as a seed sown into man’s heart for the increase of Christ, the growth of God, within us (see Mark 4;14; Col. 2:19).
We need to hold the Head, Christ, out of from whom all the Body, richly supplied and joined together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God. The Word of God grows in us, and we grow with the growth of God.
In Acts 12:24 it says that the word multiplied, referring to the increase of Christ in numbers; actually, the multiplication of the disciples depends on the growth of the word.
When we believed into the Lord, we were transferred out of Adam and into Christ. Our regeneration made us one with Christ, even a part of Christ, a member of Christ.
This is why Paul said in Rom. 15:16 that he offered the saved sinners to God as acceptable sacrifices.
When we preach the gospel and unbelievers receive the Lord they are transferred out of Adam into Christ to become part of Christ, members of Christ.
These new ones are now the increase of Christ the propagation of Christ on earth. Then the ones who preach the gospel offer the newly saved believers as acceptable sacrifices to God, for these ones have become members of Christ, even part of Christ.
Our work today in the New Testament is to preach the gospel to save sinners and make them parts of Christ, part of the growth of Christ among the saints.
This is also what it means in Acts when it says that many were added to the Lord after they believed (see Acts 5:14). This is what the Lord wants to gain today in the proper church life: the word of Christ would grow and be multiplied, and many would be added to the Lord.
This is why we preach the gospel, so that the word would grow and be multiplied and so that many would be added to the Lord!
We need to encourage the new believers to remain with the Lord with purpose of heart (Acts 11:23); this means that we need to be persistently faithful to the Lord, cleave to Him, and live in close fellowship with Him.
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your word which is still growing and being multiplied among us in the church life. Keep us in Your word, Lord, enjoying Your word, eating Your word, and allowing Your word to dwell in us richly. Lord, may there be a growth and multiplication of the word among us, and may there be many added to the Lord! Amen, Lord Jesus, gain an increase, a duplication, among us! Make us persons who are persistently faithful to You, those who cleave to You and live in close fellowship with You for Your propagation on earth!
Living in the Divine History within Human History by Calling on the Name of the Lord
In the book of Acts we see a group of people who live in the divine history within human history by calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 2:16-18).
A distinct feature and characteristic of those who believed into the Lord Jesus and were added to Him was that they called on the name of the Lord Jesus.
In fact, this was such a distinct feature that Paul, before his conversion, would identify the disciples of Jesus by their calling on the name of the Lord, and then later when the Lord appeared to him, he was saved by calling on the name of the Lord.
Joel’s prophecy in 2:28-32 and its fulfillment concerning the New Testament jubilee have two aspects: on God’s side, He poured out His Spirit, and on our side, we call on the name of the Lord!
On God’s side, He poured out His Spirit in the ascension of the resurrected Christ; on our side, we call on the name of the ascended Lord Jesus Christ, who has accomplished all, attained unto all, and obtained all.
In the New Testament, the matter of calling on the name of the Lord was first mentioned by Peter on the day of Pentecost, then the Spirit was outpoured and the gospel was preached.
For us as believers in Christ the matter of calling on the name of the Lord is vitally necessary so that we may participate in and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ with all He has obtained, attained, and accomplished (1 Cor. 1:2).
By calling on the name of the Lord we enjoy the processed Triune God for our full salvation, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord is saved (Rom. 10:10-13). Paul practiced this, and he charged his young co-worker Timothy to also do this, so that he may enjoy the Lord even as he did (2 Tim. 2:22).
Calling on the name of the Lord is not a new practice started by the New Testament believers; rather, it began with Enosh (the third generation of mankind, see Gen. 4:26) and continued with Job, Abraham, Isaac, Moses and the children of Israel, Samson, Samuel, David, and many others.
It is God’s commandment (Psa. 50:15; Jer. 29:12) and desire (Psa. 91:15; Zeph. 3:9; Zech. 13:9) that His people call on Him. This is the joyful way to drink from the fountain of God’s salvation (Isa. 12:3-4) and the enjoyable way to delight oneself in God (Job 27:10), that is, to enjoy Him.
Hence, God’s people must call upon Him daily (Psa. 88:9).
Our divine history in the midst of human history is a history of calling on the name of the Lord to enjoy the riches of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ as the fulness of Christ (see Rom. 10:12-13; Eph. 3:8, 19; 1:22-23).
The Lord is rich to all who call upon Him! By calling on the name of the Lord, we keep ourselves in God’s golden, divine history, a history which begins with Enosh, continues throughout the Old and New Testaments (Job 12:4; Gen. 12:8; 26:25; Deut. 4:7; Judg. 15:18; 1 Sam. 12:18; Psa. 116:4, 13, 17; 80:18; 88:9; 1 Kings 18:24; Isa. 12:4; Lam. 3:55, 57; Psa. 99:6; Isa. 55:6; Jonah 1:6; 2 Kings 5:11; Isa. 41:25; Acts 2:21; 7:59; 9:14, 21; 22:16; Rom. 10:12-13; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Tim. 2:22), and concludes with the last prayer in the Bible (Rev. 22:20).
Even the last verse in the Bible says, Amen, come Lord Jesus! – it is both a pray-reading of God’s word (which earlier said, I come quickly!) and a calling on the name of the Lord!
Lord Jesus, we want to be kept in God’s golden, divine history within human history by calling on the name of the Lord! Hallelujah, on God’s side He has done it all and He has poured out the Spirit, and on our side we can simply call on the name of the Lord to enjoy all His riches. Oh Lord Jesus! Keep us calling on Your name to live in the divine history within the human history! We want to enjoy all Your riches, Lord, and partake of Your wonderful salvation by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1989, vol. 4, “The Advance of the Lord’s Recovery Today,” chs. 1-2, 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 2, The Continuation of the Book of Acts — Living in the Divine History within Human History.
- Hymns on this topic:
# What a wonderful change in my living is wrought / By saying Amen to God’s Word. / More of Christ into me at each instance is brought / By saying Amen to His Word. (Hymns #1219)
# Call upon the name of Jesus, and you will be saved, / O Lord Jesus, hallelujah, nevermore enslaved! / We may take salvation’s cup by calling on the Lord; / Salvation from a host of things does His dear name afford. (Hymns #1083)
# Therefore with joy shall ye draw water / Out of the wells of salvation. / And in that day shall ye say, / Praise the Lord. / Call upon His name, / Declare His doings among the people, / Make mention that His name is exalted. / Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: / For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. (Hymns #1340)
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