A river that I could not pass through and not be crossed

Ezekiel 47:5, “Then He measure a thousand cubits, and it was river that I could not pass through; for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be crossed."

When the Lord measures us, He starts from the inside and works to the outside step by step. Once a person is measured by God, his feet will not be free to walk about at will. Being measure is the secret to having the outflow of the water of life. While we are in communion with God, He will measure us.

The more we are measured by God, the more we will find that it is inconvenient for us to engage in our own activities. We will lose almost all of our own actives; we will be enlightened, judged and measured by the presence of God; God will take hold of us to such a degree that we will be bound by life. We are immersed more deeply into God’s life, and God has gained more of our inward being. Eventually, we are fully carried along by the flow of the water of life and we are lost in God.

How can we be sanctified and genuinely consecrated ourselves to the Lord? We are not only having a heart for God and a heart to offer up everything to Him, we have to be enlightened, judged, measured and sanctified before there can be real service.

Let’s be measured by God again and again so that His life will flow out as a river of living water, going deeper and farther as it flows. O Lord, thank You for You are the flow! Grant us the deeper the flow of grace in us, that we may abandon more our self-effort, forsake our own direction and allow the flow to carry us on. We just want to swim in You!

Hymn -> You fill me Lord Jesus

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/ns/317#ixzz1hYtYqd14

You fill me Lord Jesus
You enlighten my darkness;
Your life brings me freedom
Your love heals my pain
Your dream is my treasure;
Your majesty awes me
You've filled me Lord Jesus
Come fill me again.

Let Your north wind blow on me,
Let Your Spirit surround me
'Til my being is open, trusting You once again.
Then burn and consume me
With Your jealous God's fire
'Til me being is obedient,
'Til my soul You have gained.

I will turn my heart to You;
Seal and pledge Yourself in me.
Mingle with me completely
Like the fire in the flame;
Til my being is glowing;
Your workmanship showing;
I will turn my heart to You
Again and again.

=================================================================================

Scriptural base & additional references

=================================================================================

1)        Ezekiel 47:5 (ref: http://online.recoveryversion.org/BibleChapters.asp?fcid=1109&lcid=1109)

Then He measured a thousand cubits, and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be crossed.

2)        The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol.38, “Measure and Flow” (ref: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=%23%2E%40%27-%0A)

We are abiding in Christ, the tree of life, to enjoy the life-juice

“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:17 ) 

God desires to have with man is that He and man become one.

Our Christian life is not a matter of exchange but a matter of grafting.

When we are grafted to the tree, the divine life will swallow up the defects and shortages of our human life. In Christ's life there is the killing power of His crucifixion.

Romans 11:17 tells us. “...and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a fellow partaker of the root of fatness of the olive tree.”

Christ swallows up our defects, but He does not eliminate our own life. He uplifts our humanity, mind, will, emotion, and all our virtues. We may prefer simply to yield up our human life and have it be replaced with Christ's life. We may feel that our life is full of germs and would therefore like it replaced by the divine life.

This may be our way, but it is not God's way in His economy. His way is for Christ's life to swallow up all the defects, shortages, and "germs" within us. The more we tell the Lord Jesus that we love Him and that we want to be one with Him, the more we shall experience the killing power in the spiritual antibiotics.

All the elements we need are available in Christ's life. In His life there is the killing element as well as the nourishing element. We may be discouraged about our disposition. But Christ's life will kill the negative element in our disposition and then, instead of casting our disposition away, He will uplift it and use it.

Hallelujah! Our human life was made in the image of God and according to the likeness of God, it can be joined to the divine life. After we have been grafted together with Christ, we should no longer live by ourselves; rather, we should allow the pneumatic Christ to live in us.

Praise the Lord for the tree of life, the embodiment of God as life, to be eaten and enjoyed by us to make us men of life!

  

Hymn -> I'm gonna praise God unceasingly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QonlNn_QjCg&feature=related

1. I'm gonna praise God unceasingly
Because He lives in me,
He's everything to me,
Gives life continually.
I'm gonna praise God unceasingly
Because He lives in me,
And He will never leave.

Chorus:
Now in our spirit we can feed,
Jesus Christ is all we need,
Call His name and He becomes reality.
Open up your mouth and you will see,
Just how rich our Lord can be.
He's the very life supply, complete is He.

2. Now I live by the tree of life,
His fruit does nourish me,
O, how it strengthens me,
I'll live eternally.
Now I live by the tree of life,
Him daily I apply,
He is my food supply.

3. There's a river of life in me,
Flowing so livingly,
Moving continually,
He just keeps flooding me.
There's a river of life in me,
He's always filling me,
His name is Jesus Christ!

Online: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/ns/131

=================================================================================

Scriptural base & additional references

=================================================================================

1)        1 Corinthians 6:17 (ref: http://online.recoveryversion.org/FootNotes.asp?FNtsID=4307)

But he who is ^1ajoined to the Lord is ^2bone spirit.

2)        Romans 11:17 (ref: http://online.recoveryversion.org/FootNotes.asp?FNtsID=3998)

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were ¹grafted in among them and became a fellow partaker of the root of fatness of the ^2aolive tree,

3)          Life-study of Romans, pp. 660-664. (ref: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=%23%222K%3B%0A)

Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the true God

To be in the true One is to be in His Son Jesus Christ! (1 John 5:20)

According to 1 John 5:20, we not only experience and enjoy the Triune God, but we are in Him: “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we might know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”  This indicates that Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the true God. The true One and Jesus Christ are one in the way of coinherence; therefore, to be in the Son is spontaneously to be in the true One.

Not only do we know the true One, and not only do we experience, enjoy, and possess Him as the reality, but we are in this reality. We know reality is Christ as God incarnate. Christ Himself is the reality of life, light, wisdom and righteousness. We are now in the true One. God has come through incarnation and has given us the ability to know Him subjectively as the true One, making us one with Him organically in His Son Jesus Christ. All this is the true God and eternal life to us. All that this true God is to us is eternal life to us so that we may partake of and enjoy Him as everything to our regenerated being.

Hallelujah! Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the true God!

Hymns, #1351 -> http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/1351

1.       What mercy that my eyes have seen the true God,
Happily transferred from darkness into light!
What grace that I can freely have salvation,
No need to work, endeavor with my might!

2.       Now that I'm saved, remember, Lord, my family,
Their sins You've borne, the way has thus been paved;
This day fulfill the promise You have given:
"Believe in Christ; your whole house shall be saved."

3.       Lord, hear my prayer and gain all in my family!
My heart is burning with this vow to You:
"I and my house will serve the Lord forever!"
We'll worship God for He alone is true!

=================================================================================

Scriptural base & additional references

=================================================================================

1)    1 John 5:20 (ref: http://online.recoveryversion.org/FootNotes.asp?FNtsID=8472)

And we know that the Son of God has ^1acome and has given us an ^2bunderstanding that we might ³know ⁴Him who is ^5ctrue; and we are ⁶in Him who is true, ⁷in His Son Jesus Christ. ⁸This is the ^dtrue God and ^eeternal life.

2)    Life-study of 1 John, msg. 40. (ref: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=%23%288I%20%0A)

3) The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 397. (ref: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=%24%29H%25%25ZP%20%20%0A)

The Genuine Oneness

To have the genuine oneness, we must first move out of ourselves and into the Triune God, then we must allow Christ to live in us. (John 17:21-23)

Oneness is the building up of the believers by God’s divine life. We are one because we have one God. The first ground and reason for our oneness is that we all are sons of God having the same divine life and that God is the Father of us all. Because God is our Father and mine, we are of the same family, the family of God. We are American and we are Chinese, yet we can call one another brother. This is so dear and intimate.

We were all born of the same Father, have the same life, and are brothers in that life. Praise the Lord that we are brothers in the Father's life! For this reason, we must be one. There is no reason for us not to be one, for we are one family having the same Father and the same life. Therefore, we have the real brotherhood in life. In this life we all must be and can be one.

We are brought into oneness, then in this glory. This oneness is genuine because it is in the Triune God. We are not trying to be one in doctrine or in practices; a oneness in these areas is not genuine. Our oneness is in the Triune God, not in our beliefs or ways of doing things. As those who believe in the Lord Jesus and are the regenerated children of God, we are all members of the Body of Christ. Regardless of the differences we may have in practice or in doctrine, we have no way but to remain here in the genuine oneness. We can give no place to idol worship, immorality, division, or the denial of Christ's divinity and redemptive work. But of other things we must be tolerant.

If we desire to be one with others, we need to move out of the self and into God the Father. No one can make this move for us; we are responsible to do it ourselves. When we move out of ourselves and into the Father and into His glory, we are one and are even perfected into one

May the Lord preserve us in Himself that we may enjoy the real oneness.

Hymn: We are one in Christ

http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/ns/88

What a wonderful church life,

All the saints truly are one,

No matter where and who we are,

    We are one!

Nothing can set us apart,

For we have the same life,

Although Satan tried and tried,

    We are one!

================================================================

Scriptural base & additional references

================================================================

1)  John 17:21-23 (ref: http://online.recoveryversion.org/BibleChapters.asp?fcid=85&lcid=85)

21 That they all may be ^1aone; even as You, Father, are ^bin Me and I ^cin You, that they also may be ^din Us; that the ^eworld may believe that You have ^fsent Me.

22 And the ^1aglory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be ^2bone, even as We are ^cone;

23 I ^ain them, and You ^bin Me, that they may be perfected into ^cone, that the world may know that You have ^dsent Me and have ¹loved them even as You have ^eloved Me.

2)  Truth Messages, pp.56. (ref: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=%23%23J5%29%0A)

3) Life-Study of John, pp. 479-480. (ref: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=%23%23ZI%28%0A)

4) Mending Ministry of John, pp. 35, 47. (ref: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=%23%22%3AI%2C%0A)

The gospel that we preach in the Lord’s recovery is the purest, highest, most complete gospel

In the last days of this age, the Lord has raised us up and given us a twofold commission: on the one hand, we are to dispose of everything negative, and on the other hand, we are to preach to people – not in part but in full – the pure, high and complete gospel.

We are not preaching the gospel which speaks only about the brevity and sorrow of human life and how believing in Jesus results in not going to hell, having a better living, and receiving blessings and peace in the human life. These are all too shallow and cannot make known God’s eternal economy, His eternal plan. In preaching the gospel, the first thing we speak about is the mystery of human life and the meaning of human life. What is the meaning of human life? It is to be a vessel of God to contain God within us. We need to be persons who contain God, who are filled with God, and who take God as life, that we may become God’s expression and God’s declaration. This is full of light. This is a part of the pure and high gospel.

This preaching is not done through inviting a spiritual giant to do the speaking; that is not according to the Bible. The Lord wants us to go. God was the first to go to someone’s “door” to pay him a visit. Four thousand years later God Himself became flesh, put on a physical body, and came among men as a man to go to men’s doors to pay them a visit. He went to the door of Zaccheus, and He went into the house of Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10). He also paid a visit to the Samaritan woman beside the well (John 4:1-42). During His three and a half years of preaching, He did much work of visiting, never doing anything by calling people to organize a meeting or inviting people to a meeting.

Therefore, we need to go against our former practice, no longer inviting people to come but going to where people are. Today our preaching of the gospel and the truth is not inviting people to our “restaurant” but delivering food to their homes. Not only do we need to know people’s situation, but more importantly we need to preach to them the pure, high and complete gospel. Then little by little we can teach them the pure, high, and complete truth. In this way the Lord will be able to gain a propel church prepared as His bride so that He can come back to marry us. This is our commission today.

Hymns, #1292 -> http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/1292

Yes, we're holy brothers with Christ,

No higher could any man be.

This highest of all gospels is;

This gospel each human must see.

Partakers of this heavenly call,

Could any this gospel reject?

With Christ sitting far above all—

This highest of all gospels yet!

=================================================================================

Scriptural base & additional references

=================================================================================

1)      Rom. 1:1, 3-4 (ref: http://online.recoveryversion.org/BibleChapters.asp?fcid=118&lcid=118)

1 ¹Paul, a ²slave of ³Christ ⁴Jesus, a ⁵called ⁶apostle, ⁷separated ⁸unto the ⁹gospel of God,

3 Concerning ¹His Son, who ²came ³out of the ^4aseed of David according to the ⁵flesh,

4 Who was ¹designated the ^2aSon of God in ³power according to the ⁴Spirit of ⁵holiness ⁶out of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord;

2)      Acts 20:24  (ref: http://online.recoveryversion.org/BibleChapters.asp?fcid=109&lcid=109)

24 But I ¹consider my ^2alife of no account as if precious to myself, in order that I may finish my ^bcourse and the ^cministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus to solemnly ^dtestify of the ^egospel of the ^fgrace of God.

3)      Eph. 3:8    (ref: http://online.recoveryversion.org/BibleChapters.asp?fcid=171&lcid=171)

8 To me, ¹less than the ^aleast of all saints, was this ^bgrace given to announce to the ^cGentiles the ²unsearchable ^3driches of Christ as the gospel

4)      Eph. 6:15   (ref: http://online.recoveryversion.org/BibleChapters.asp?fcid=174&lcid=174)

15 And having ¹shod your ^afeet with the ²firm foundation of the ^bgospel of ^cpeace;

5)      2 Cor. 4:4   (ref: http://online.recoveryversion.org/BibleChapters.asp?fcid=153&lcid=153)

4 In whom the ^1agod of ^bthis age has ^2cblinded the ^3dthoughts of the unbelievers that the ^4eillumination of the gospel of the ^fglory of Christ, who is the ^gimage of God, might not ⁵shine on them.

6)      The Mystery of the Universe and the Meaning of Human Life, chs. 5-6, by Witness Lee

(ref: http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=%23%22Y%5B%2F%0A)