Live by the Divine Life & Continue Steadfastly in Prayer and the Ministry of the Word

The book of Acts reveals a group of people who live in the divine history by rejecting themselves and living by another life (Christ as the divine life), by continuing steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word, and by being in Christ and one with Christ as the centre of God’s move on earth. Amen!

We need to have a divine view of what the Lord is doing in the book of Acts. When we read this book, it is easy to see merely the outward acts of the apostles and miss what God’s move really is.

God is moving, acting, and living, and He was embodied in Christ in the Gospels to be expressed, manifested, and explained through Him.

Then, through Christ’s death and resurrection, God obtained a continuation of Christ, which is the believers in Christ, the many disciples of Christ.

These were born of God, for they received the divine life when Christ came in the evening of the day of His resurrection and breathed the Spirit into them. They were also clothed with the Holy Spirit for the work.

Now God had obtained one hundred twenty disciples who prayed in one accord at the beginning of Acts, and He had a way to move not only in one man but through many men.

Throughout the book of Acts we see the divine stream of God’s life and work flowing through many people, for God wants to bring in His kingdom on the earth as He produces the churches as the Body of Christ.

The disciples of Christ were a group of normal human beings who did not live by their natural life but by the divine life.

They lived Christ, they called on the name of the Lord, and in all things they prayed and sought to be one with the Lord and with one another.

They lived, worked, and moved as a Body, even depending on the Body and doing everything in the Body.

May we be unveiled by the Lord to see the Body of Christ in the book of Acts. May we realise that, in the Gospels, we see Christ as the Head of the Body, and in the Acts, we see the Body of Christ moving, working, and doing things.

Today we as believers in Christ, many years after the early disciples, are also part of the continuation of Christ.

We need to look at the history in Acts and learn from it, even apply the spiritual principles we see in Acts so that we today may afford God a way to move in us and through us in an unhindered way.

Live in the Divine History by Rejecting Ourselves and Living by the Divine Life for the Reality of the Body of Christ

If we read the book of Acts carefully, we see a group of people who live in the divine history by rejecting themselves and living by another life – Christ as the divine life. This corporate living of Christ is the reality of the Body of Christ.

Even as Christ lived on the earth by rejecting Himself and taking the Father as His life and everything, so the disciples of Christ did the same.

This is what God wants to gain today as we live in the continuation of Acts: a corporate God-man living in which we reject ourselves and live by the divine life so that Christ may gain the reality of His Body on the earth.

Today we live in this way, learning to reject ourselves constantly and live by the life of God in our spirit. Christ is the divine life in us, and as we live by Him and depend on Him, we live in the reality of the Body of Christ.

We are learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus; today we are Jesus living again. We are His Body, joined to Him as the Head, and He extends His days through us.

The life that is indicated by “this life” in Acts 5:20 is the divine life preached, ministered, and lived by Peter. Peter lived by the divine life to such an extent that even the angels saw it and encouraged him to go and stand in the temple and speak all the words of this life.

The divine life lived, preached, and ministered by Peter overcame the Jewish leaders’ persecution, threatening, and imprisonment.

May our life and work make the divine life so real and present in our situation that even the angels would see it and point it out! The angels can see when we live by the divine life. The angels can see when we live as the continuation of Christ.

We may be in suffering or in good health, we may be under persecution or in times of joy, but in all things, we reject ourselves and live by the divine life so that Christ may live in us.

Paul also lived Christ and served God by the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus in his spirit, which is the divine Spirit mingled with his human spirit as one spirit (see Acts 16:6-7; 17:16; 19:21; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 4:22; 1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 1:9; Phil. 3:3; Heb. 6:19- 20; 13:13).

Paul lived within the veil, that is, in his spirit as the practical Holy of Holies. He also lived outside the camp, that is, outside the human organisation of religion.

We need to learn to live and serve God by the Spirit and in the Spirit, being one with the Lord.

In order for us to live such a life, in order for us to live in the divine history by rejecting ourselves and living by the divine life, we need to be vessels open to the Lord (see Acts 9:15; 2 Cor. 4:7; Rom. 9:21, 23; cf. 2 Kings 4:1-6).

We simply need to be vessels open to the Lord, loving Him, receiving Him, being filled with Him, and letting Him be everything to us and do everything in us, through us, and for us.

We need to simply be open vessels.

Daily we need to open to the Lord not merely as instruments for Him to use or carry out a work but as vessels to be filled with Him by receiving Him, loving Him, and being open to Him.

Lord Jesus, we want to live in the divine history within human history by rejecting ourselves and living by the divine life. Amen, Lord, we choose to live by the divine life in our spirit so that You may gain a corporate living of Christ, the reality of the Body of Christ. May we enjoy Your life, live by Your life, and express Your life to such an extent that the divine life is real and present for all to see. Oh Lord, we exercise our spirit today. We want to live in our spirit and stay away from anything that is not in spirit. We open our vessel to You. We want to be open vessels for You to come in and fill. Amen, Lord, we love You, we open to receive You and be filled with You, and we let You do everything in us and for us! Fill us with Yourself. We love You. Be everything to us. Keep us living in our spirit as open vessels for You to fill today!

Live in the Divine History by Continuing Steadfastly in Prayer and in the Ministry of the Word

The book of Acts reveals a group of people who live in the divine history by continuing steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4).

To live in this way is to live in the apostolic ministry in coordination with Christ as our great High Priest in His heavenly ministry (Heb. 7:25; 8:1-2).

We need to be those who continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.

It is not just the leading brothers who need to continue steadfastly in these things but we all, as the saints in the local churches, we need to be in prayer and in the ministry of the word. As we do this, we cooperate with Christ’s heavenly ministry to build up the church.

By prayer, we set our mind on the things above and we become a reflection of Christ’s ministry in the heavens (Acts 9:11; 13:1-4; Col. 3:1-3; 4:2; Eph. 6:18; Dan. 6:10; 9:2-3; 1 Cor. 2:13; 2 Cor. 3:6).

We should be persons who persevere in prayer. As we pray, we set our mind on the things which are above, and we pray not just for trivial matters, but our prayer will be occupied with Christ’s heavenly intercession, ministry, and administration.

He prays for the churches and intercedes for them; we also pray for the churches today.

As we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, He meets our needs and we pray for His need.

We need to be like Daniel today, having set times of prayer daily to pray for the Lord’s needs and for the Lord’s people.

First of all, we ned to pray. We need to depend on prayer to do what man cannot do.

We depend on prayer to understand what man cannot understand, for it is in spirit that the Lord reveals things to us.

We depend on prayer to speak what man cannot speak.

As we pray, setting our mind on the things above, we become a reflection of Christ’s ministry in the heavens.

As we persevere in prayer and continue steadfastly in prayer, Christ as the Head is given a way to carry out His administration through His Body. We are heavenly ambassadors on earth with the extension of God’s kingdom.

Through prayer we come forward to the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16); at the throne, we receive mercy and grace to meet our timely need.

Mercy and grace flow into us as a river as we come forward to the throne of grace in prayer.

May we first of all pray. May we open to the Lord both personally and corporately.

As we pray and persevere in prayer, Christ has a way to pray through us, and our needs are met by mercy and grace flowing from the throne of God in our spirit.

As we continue steadfastly in prayer, we fellowship with the Lord. In fellowship with the Lord, we become conscious that we are truly one spirit with Him and that He’s actually one spirit with us.

The more we pray, the more we experience being one with the Lord, and the more we enjoy His presence and have fellowship with Him. How wonderful is this!

May we fight for our prayer life and may we continue steadfastly in prayer. It is not easy to persevere in prayer, but as we practice this for a period of time, it will get easier.

By the ministry of the word, as we continue in the ministry of the word, we impart Christ into others as the heavenly life and power so that they may be sustained with the riches of Christ to live Christ as their heavenly life on earth (Rom. 15:16; cf. Isa. 50:4-5).

On the one hand, we persevere in prayer; on the other hand, we need to be in the word of God, be filled with the word, and continue in the ministry of the word.

We may not give messages from a podium nor may we speak to large gatherings of people, but we can minister the word of God to our neighbour, to the saints around us, and to those who are related to us in our family.

We need to labour in the word of God, be filled and constituted with the Word, and speak Christ as the life and life supply to others for the building up of the church.

Lord Jesus, we want to live in the divine history within human history by continuing steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word. Amen, Lord, may we be one with You today to pray for what is in Your heart. May our ministry be in coordination with Christ as our great High Priest in His heavenly ministry! We set our mind on the things above and we pray one with You. Amen, Lord, we depend on prayer. We depend on You. May we become a reflection of Christ’s ministry in the heavens. May You have a way to pray in us and through us so that You may move on earth and carry out Your economy. Oh Lord, we depend on prayer to do what we can’t do, to understand what we can’t understand, and to speak what we cannot speak! We want to continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word! May we be in Your word and allow Your word to dwell in us richly. May we impart Christ into others so that You as the heavenly life and power may sustain them to live Christ!

Live in the Divine History by being One with Christ as the Centre of God’s Move on Earth and being the Gospel Ships Preaching the Gospel

The book of Acts reveals a group of people who live in the divine history seen in Psalm 68, which shows that Christ is the centre of God’s move on the earth and the reality of God’s activities through the church (Psa. 68:1, 24).

The disciples of Christ are one with Christ as the centre of God’s move on the earth, and they propagate Christ throughout the earth in this oneness with Him.

May we be those who enjoy the processed and consummated Triune God as the life-dispensing and outpoured Spirit day by day (vv. 11-13, 19; Acts 2:46-47; 5:42; 16:5; 20:31; 28:30-31).

The Triune God went through a process and was consummated as the Spirit; now He is both within us as our life and upon us as our power for us to carry out the gospel work one with Him.

We need to come to the Lord to be filled with the Spirit within and also clothed with the Spirit without so that we may preach Christ, propagate Christ, and enlarge Christ on the earth!

Especially as we go out for the gospel, we need to seek to be filled with the Spirit inwardly and clothed with the Spirit outwardly, being mingled and saturated with the Spirit, so that we may dispense Christ into others.

We are people baptised in the Spirit and who are drinking the Spirit; our living and work continue the divine history.

As seen in Psalm 68, we need to dwell in Christ as the “shore” of the evangelists for the transportation and spreading in the preaching of the gospel (Psa. 68:27).

On the day of Pentecost at least one hundred twenty gospel “ships”, all of whom were Galileans, set out from the “shore” to spread the gospel (Acts 2:7; 13:31).

Psalm 68 is fulfilled in the book of Acts, and it is being fulfilled today.

As we enjoy Christ, experience Christ, and partake of His riches in His word, continuing steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word, we become “gospel ships” setting out from Christ as the heavenly “shore” to bring the rich cargo of Christ to all nations! Hallelujah!

This is how the gospel spreads, by many disciples of Christ being filled with the Spirit and clothed with the Spirit as they go out, setting sail from where they live and going out for the gospel in their neighbourhood, in their city, in their country, and all over the earth.

May the Lord gain us as such ones. As we remain in oneness with Christ as the centre of God’s move on the earth, He will be full of activities in us and in the church, and the gospel will be preached for the propagation of Christ!

Lord Jesus, we want to live in the divine history today by being one with Christ as the centre of God’s move on the earth! We open to You, Lord, and we want to enjoy You and experience You. Fill us with the life-dispensing Spirit inwardly and clothe us with the outpoured Spirit outwardly! Amen, Lord, saturate us with Yourself and speak in us and through us. We want to dwell in You and go out with You to spread and preach the gospel for the bringing in of the church as the kingdom of God! Amen, Lord, load us with the good things of Christ, the riches of Christ, so that we may go in Your name with Your riches to bring many into the enjoyment of Christ today! Hallelujah, Christ is spreading through us today as we speak the word, being filled with the Spirit within and clothed with the Spirit without! Hallelujah!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msg. 65 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, One Accord and Crucial Aspects of the Book of Acts (2025 April ITERO), week 7, Continuing to Live in the Divine History within Human History in the Continuation of the Book of Acts for the Spreading and Building Up of the Church as the Corporate Manifestation of Christ – day 4.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Paul’s Prayer for the Church regarding Revelation, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The continuation of the book of Acts – living in the divine history within human history, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – 3 Vital Practices to Uplift Your Prayer Life, via, Holding to truth in love.
  – The living of the divine life through the human life, a portion from, General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, A – Part 1: The Gospels and the Acts, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – Colossians (Program #48) – Persevering in Prayer, via, Bible study radio.
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  – The Processed and Consummated Triune God, article by Kerry S. Robichaux in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Day by Day – Prayer, via, Living to Him.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I am crucified with Christ, / And the cross hath set me free; / I have ris’n again with Christ, / And He lives and reigns in me. / Oh! it is so sweet to die with Christ, / To the world, and self, and sin; / Oh! it is so sweet to live with Christ, / As He lives and reigns within. (Hymns #482 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – By reading I’m enlightened, filled, / By prayer my thirst is quenched indeed; / Thus Thou to me may be supplied, / And Thou through me may meet the need. / I long to have such fellowship / To read and pray and blend with Thee; / I long that Thou wouldst saturate / Till Thou may overflow from me. (Hymns #813 stanzas 10-11)
  – Ours is a fellowship in the gospel / Since we received the Lord; / We’re for the furtherance of the gospel, / Spreading to all His Word. / For its defense and strong confirmation / We all partake of grace— / He who began this work will perfect it / Till we shall see His face. (Hymns #1295 stanza 1)