The Spreading of the Church by the Growth of Christ’s Life deals with Any Problems

The basic principle of the church is that the church is universal and eternal, so the church must spread constantly on the earth; the spreading of the church is brought about by the growth in the Lord’s life and His flowing, and when the church spreads, any erroneous concepts are shattered and any close-mindedness is eliminated. Amen!

Praise the Lord for our God who is always flowing, always spreading, and always increasing! God is flowing from eternity into time, and in time He flows until He will flow all the way into the New Jerusalem!

And the flow of God is one; God has one divine stream, which is the divine stream of His life, the fellowship of life, and the stream of His work.

Whatever God does is just one thing; in every age, He has been doing just one thing, flowing in a particular way, and we need to join ourselves to the divine stream and remain in the stream of the divine life.

Thank the Lord that, through regeneration, the divine stream has reached us, and now the Triune God is flowing in us.

What a miracle is this that the Triune God has come into us to flow within our being and also flow out of us!

God the Father is the source, Christ the Son is the course, and the Spirit imparts life to us. May we let the Lord flow in us today and every day!

The book of Acts shows us that there’s one divine stream, which started on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem and has flown to Samaria, Antioch, Asia, Europe, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

When the divine stream flows to a place, the life of God is there, the regenerated people enter into the fellowship of the Body, and the testimony of Jesus is present, for the work of God is present. Praise the Lord!

The way we can keep ourselves in the divine flow, in the one divine stream, is by giving the Lord the preeminence in our being and by loving Him.

We simply need to love the Lord Jesus and give Him the first place. When we give the Lord the first place, He has a way to flow within our being and fill us with Himself, and He will also flow out of us to reach others as the divine stream.

May we give ourselves to the Lord today to be rekindled in our love for Him and to love Him with the first love.

May we pay the price of giving the Lord the preeminence in all things so that He may flow within us and out of us for the divine stream to reach so many others around us!

The Church is Universal and Eternal: the Church must Constantly Spread by the Growth of the Lord’s Life and the Flowing out of His Life

If we read the book of Acts we will see that the basic principle of the church is that it is not only local or regional but eternal and universal, so the church must constantly spread on the earth (Acts 1:8; 8:1; 9:31).

From the very beginning, the Lord Jesus told His disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and they will be His witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

The Lord Jesus intended that the church would spread all the time, even spread to the uttermost part of the earth.

After the church was produced at Pentecost, it has been constantly spreading for the past two thousand years, and it is still spreading today.

The church was produced in Jerusalem but it did not remain there; the church is universal, so the church must spread.

The spreading of the church is not according to human methods, plans, or organisation; the spreading of the church is not worked out by human hands.

Rather, the spreading of the church is brought about by the growth in the Lord’s life and by the flowing out of the Lord’s life, the overflow of life (Eph. 4:16; John 7:37-39; Acts 2:42, 46-47; 5:20; 6:4, 7; 12:24; 19:20).

We can testify that it is when the Lord grows in us and flows in us and from us that we can preach the gospel and flow Him out to others.

Sometimes we may want to preach the gospel a lot, but the Lord sets some limitations; at other times, the Lord wants to flow out from within us, and we limit Him. Oh Lord!

God wants the church to spread. He wants the church to spread so much that, in the case of the early disciples, He allowed a persecution to come about so that the disciples would be scattered and go everywhere to preach the gospel.

May we see that the spreading of the church is brought about by the growth in the Lord’s life. We need to let the Lord’s life grow in us little by little, day by day.

As He grows in us and shines in us, our death is exposed and eliminated, our darkness is removed, and the Lord has a way to flow freely within us and through us.

May we ask the Lord to grow in us day by day and cause all other things to recede.

May we draw to Him, cause our heart to be turned to Him, and allow Him to free us from sin, support us in our weakness, and vanish any darkness in His light.

May we daily ask the Lord to grow in us and give us the portion of growth in life for that day. And no matter where we are, may we exercise our spirit to speak for the Lord and speak the Lord forth.

The Lord wants to spread the church, and He does this through us. He wants to gain some of those around us.

We may be at a special event or we may just chat with someone on the street; as we do this and that, may we let the Lord flow within us and flow out of us.

The Lord arranges all things and all situations for us to grow in the divine life and also spread the divine life to others for the church to grow.

In Acts 5:20, the angel who released Peter from prison told him, Go and speak the words of this life. We have this life, the divine life; we need to stand and speak the words of this life.

The divine life has to be so visible and real in us that even the angels can see it and encourage us to speak the words of this life.

May our life, our work, and our speaking make the divine life so real and present that others will believe into the Lord Jesus and become part of the spreading of the church.

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into us as life to regenerate us and make us part of the church, the increase of Christ! Hallelujah, the church is eternal and universal, so the church must constantly spread on the earth! Amen, Lord, grow in us for the spreading of the church. Grant us today’s portion of grace so that we may grow in life for the church. May we see that the spreading of the church is brought about by the growth in the Lord’s life and the flowing out of the Lord’s life! Amen, Lord, grow in us a little more today. Flow from our spirit into our mind, emotion, and will, and saturate our inner being with Yourself as life. May there be much growth in life today. May there be the overflow of life in us and through us. We allow You to grow in us and to spread from our spirit to our mind, emotion, and will. Grow in us, dear Lord, and may all other things recede. May our heart be daily nearer You and may we be set free from sin! Flow in us and flow through us today!

When the Church Spreads, Erroneous Concepts are Shattered and our Close-mindedness is Eliminated

One of the wonderful effects of the spreading of the church is the exposing and eliminating of the negative and peculiar things in us and among us. When the church begins to spread, erroneous concepts are shattered!

The spreading of the church can break through many barriers and eliminate many undesirable practices.

We see this at the beginning of the church life in Jerusalem. When the church began to spread, many barriers were broken, many undesirable practices were exposed and eliminated, and the saints were saved from being narrow-minded.

In Jerusalem, many of the saints kept Old Testament traditions and teachings, and this caused them to close themselves off from others.

In a sense, they sealed themselves up and despised other people, and worse, they didn’t communicate with others.

Among themselves, they had some growth in life and an increase in numbers, but when it came to the spreading of the church, they were narrow-minded, even close-minded. Oh Lord!

So the Lord brought about a persecution, and many of the disciples were scattered all around Judea and Samaria, and wherever they went, they preached the gospel to spread the church.

The apostle Peter was the top apostle; he saw the vision of the mystery of God and heard the prophecies of the mystery of Christ. However, even though he knew so much and saw so much, he almost brought the church into the limitations of Judaism.

In his mind, the church belonged to Jerusalem and to the Jews, and should not go to the Gentile lands or to the Gentile people. However, the Lord wants the church to spread, so the Lord had to break through in Peter!

When the church begins to spread, any erroneous concepts are shattered, regardless of whether the concepts are regional, racial, or mutually discriminatory (see 1 Cor. 12:24; Col. 3:10-11).

It is through the spreading of the church that our close-mindedness is eliminated.

We don’t realise how close-minded and locally-focused we are until we go to visit other localities or blend in conferences and trainings.

It is easy to be in a local church and get a local flavour and peculiar taste, and even though the church may go on well, it is easy to have particular practices in our local church which make us distinct from other churches. Oh Lord!

This is why we need the church to spread, and we need to move for the Lord’s interest!

When we move to a different locality and bring the church life there, we will be saved from our narrow-mindedness and any erroneous concepts will be removed!

Because it is not easy to break through the regional concepts within us, the church needs to spread even more!

And if we don’t move for the Lord’s spreading, we need to blend by visiting other local churches, being in conferences, and blending with other saints in their regions and localities.

This will save us from being close-minded and we will lose the local taste and flavour in our locality.

We may be from a particular country or area of the country where people speak in a particular way and with a particular accent; we may also pick up certain practices that only we do in our local church.

There is no British in the new man, nor is there any Californian or Texan. There’s no Polish, no German, and now American in the new man, nor is there any Greek, Jew, Korean, Chinese, or Portuguese.

Christ needs to become all and in all, and for this we need to grow in life, be filled with Him, and allow Him to flow out.

Even more, we need to spread the church and be part of the spreading of the church!

In Acts 8 we see in particular the first step in the disciples’ scattering – first, they were scattered to Samaria (vv. 1-25).

The Orthodox Jews did not like the Samaritans because they were a mixed people; they were Jews mixed with Gentiles. In their eyes, being a Samaritan was worse than being a Gentile.

But the Lord broke through the disciples’ concepts and narrow-mindedness and spread the gospel to Samaria to save many from among them!

Philip preached the gospel, the apostles came and prayed for the Samaritans, and the Holy Spirit immediately descended upon them; therefore God confirmed the spreading of the church!

God wants the church to spread to all men, from Jerusalem to Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.

The second step of the spread of the church, seen in Acts 8 was through Philip’s being led by the Spirit to preach the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch (vv. 26-39).

The Jews never thought that God would call the Gentiles to hear the gospel, receive salvation, and become the church.

But one day, an angel of the Lord came to Philip and told him to go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, and then to approach the Ethiopian eunuch’s chariot.

He followed the Lord’s leading and started a conversation with the eunuch, and beginning from the Scripture he was reading, he preached the gospel to the eunuch and even baptised him.

Then later, he was caught by the Spirit and left. Wow! The Lord wants to spread! Most likely through the Ethiopian eunuch, the Lord had a way to bring the gospel to Africa!

Lord Jesus, have a way to grow in us and spread the church throughout the earth! Amen, Lord, may we be one with You for the spreading of the church on the earth today. May we allow Your life in us to grow and may we let You flow within us and out of us for the spreading of the church. Have a way, Lord, to expose and shatter any erroneous concepts we may hold. May our being involved in the gospel for the spreading of the church expose and remove any concepts that are regional, racial, or mutually discriminatory! May all our close-mindedness be eliminated! May Christ be all and in all in us and among us! Oh Lord, we want to let You grow in us and spread through us! May we follow the leading of the Spirit in all things to speak to others, preach the gospel to them, and even move to the place where You want to spread the church! Amen, Lord, flow in us, flow within us, and flow out of us into many human beings for the spreading of the church today!

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, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 2: The Course of the Church,” ch. 2, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, One Accord and Crucial Aspects of the Book of Acts (2025 April ITERO), week 5, 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 – day 2.
• Similar articles on this topic:
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  – Israel in God’s Economy (1) – An Introduction, via, Shepherding words.
  – The church as the one new man in Ephesians – a corporate person, article by James Fite in, Affirmation and Critique.
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  – Because There is Living Water Coming From [God], Divine Grace and Love Have Filled the World – In Memory of a Chinese Christian, Witness Lee, A Herald of Christ to Carry Out the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, via, Local Churches.
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• Hymns on this topic:
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  – 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)
  – All of religion has missed it again, / Teaching for doctrines the concepts of men; / They vainly wait for the kingdom to be. / A dispensation they’re hoping to see. / But now the kingdom to us has been shown, / It is no less than our Jesus alone. / It is the Person of Christ in us all, / And it begins as a seed when we call. (Hymns #1301 stanzas 3-4)