The Ministry of the Word, Vol. 21, No 6

Cooperating with the Heavenly Ministry of the Ascended Christ

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the eight messages given during the international training for elders and responsible ones held in Anaheim, California, from March 31 to April 2, 2017. The general subject of this series of messages is "Cooperating with the Heavenly Ministry of the Ascended Christ." In the Lord's heart is a deep longing to have a Body on the earth through which He can move without hindrance and limitation. In order for this to happen, we need to see who and what Christ is in His heavenly ministry and what He wants to accomplish on earth as this age is coming to a close. As the heavenly Minister with His heavenly ministry, Christ is the Chief Shepherd and the great Shepherd of the sheep. He is also the Leader and Savior to carry out His propagation as the resurrected and ascended Christ. He is the great, merciful, and faithful High Priest who renders to us an all-inclusive care, particularly through His intercession. He is the Minister of the true tabernacle, ministering Himself as the heavenly Christ to us so that we may have a church life that expresses and represents Him. Furthermore, He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. After seeing these heavenly things, we are charged to "seek the things which are above" (Col. 3:1). Whatever the Lord intends to accomplish on the earth is the issue of what is happening in the heavens. We should not regard what Christ is doing in the heavens as separate from what He intends to carry out on the earth. Whatever we carry out here on the earth must be a response, a reflection, of what is in the heavenlies. We need to ask the Lord for mercy that He would open our eyes to seek the things which are above. We need the Lord to rescue us and save us from focusing on the things that are merely objective and doctrinal. Christ is not only in the heavens but also in our spirit. A heavenly transmission is taking place right now. The heavenly Intercessor is also interceding right now as the Spirit in our spirit. Thus, He needs for us to respond to and echo His heavenly intercession. We must be heavenly people, and the local churches must be heavenly churches. God's economy is heavenly and "resurrectionly." We need to be transferred to the heavenly realm in order to be saved daily and even moment by moment. As those who are burdened for the Lord's move on the earth, we would give Christ our top cooperation so that He can have a free way to release what is on His heart and do whatever He pleases throughout the earth. These messages address this matter with the hope and prayer that as we are enlightened, we will open to the Lord as never before. We hope to give Him the full right of access to our whole being so that we would welcome His perfecting, His touching, and even His dealing with anything in our being that is hindering Him from carrying out the desire of His heart. Positively speaking, we need to realize that the Lord is looking for and even praying for our complete openness and full cooperation on the level of our will. The Lord desires to advance by working in us so that instead of limiting Him, we would by His grace become those who release Him, enable Him, and give Him the way to move as He wants to move on the earth, to do whatever He wills, and to accomplish all that is in His heart. The Reports and Announcements section of this issue contains a summary of "Fellowship concerning an Emigration Training." There is also a schedule of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.