Being Saved from Satan’s Schemes to Frustrate the Spreading and Building of the Church

We need to receive the Lord’s mercy to be saved from Satan’s schemes to frustrate the spreading of the church and the building up of the church, and we need to learn the lessons in the book of Acts to cooperate with the Lord for His spreading on earth.

On one hand when we read the book of Acts we see the Lord as the Head spreading through His many disciples on earth and reaching out from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and to the Gentile world, including Europe.

On the other hand, many things happened in the book of Acts that are a lesson to us in our cooperating with the Lord for His spreading today.

Today Christ as the universal vine is spreading all over the earth, and we as branches in the vine abide in Him, enjoy Him, receive His flow and flow Him out, and cooperate with Him for His spread and multiplication on earth.

Wherever we are, that’s where the Lord wants to spread, and with whomever we are at work or at school or at home, that’s where the Lord wants to flow so that He may gain an increase and spread.

As the Lord is spreading, we need to receive mercy from the Lord so that we may see Satan’s schemes and be saved from them, so that the Lord may have a way to spread even though Satan attacks and has subtle schemes to frustrate Him.

Sometimes Satan attacks the church through persecution and the spreading of the church is a little hindered, but the Lord has a way to spread even more, for many of the saints who were in Jerusalem fled and went to the villages and cities, where they preached the gospel and the Lord was spread even more.

Then, Satan’s scheme was to bring in division based on some holding on the Old Testament economy and practices, and this caused a great disturbance, so much so that the saints had to have a conference in Jerusalem about this.

The Lord wants to bring all His believers into the New Testament economy of God, but many of His Jewish believers still remained in the Old Testament practices, so the Lord had to save them of this.

Then there was the problem of Paul and Barnabas having a contention concerning John Mark, and Barnabas left with Mark, and the book of Acts doesn’t mention him anymore; Paul chose Silas and together they traveled to Europe for the gospel.

We need to read the book of Acts with the glasses of God’s economy on, so that on one hand we may be infused with the Lord’s desire to spread, and on the other, we may receive the Lord’s mercy to be saved from Satan’s schemes to frustrate the spreading and building up of the church.

Today we want to see some of the lessons we should learn in the book of Acts.

Being Saved from Outward and Dead Ordinances, Human Opinions, and the Self with its Old Concepts for the Lord’s Spreading

We must be saved from outward and dead ordinances, human opinions, and the self with its old concepts, as we see in Acts 15:1-12.

Here we have some from the Jews from Jerusalem, who used to be Pharisees but believed into the Lord, yet these ones were not clear concerning God’s New Testament economy, and they came to the Gentile saints and told them that they need to be circumcised and keep the law and the ordinances in order to be saved.

This caused a great frustration and disturbance, so much so that Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to have a conference with the saints there and set things straight (Acts 15:1-12; Gal. 2:21; 5:1; 2:4).

The result of that conference was that it is no longer through the law or ordinances that people are saved, but men are saved through grace by faith in Jesus Christ.

In the church life and in the spreading of the church we need to be saved from any of our outward and dead ordinances, from our human opinions, and from our self with its concepts.

If we receive the Lord’s mercy to be saved in these matters, we will be part of the Lord’s spreading and we will contribute to the building up of the church.

We need to be saved from ordinances, old concepts, and things of the old age or the Old Testament economy, so that the church may be built up and go on.

When we move somewhere for the Lord move, we should not bring there our concepts, our ordinances, and our old practices, but we should be new and living, enjoying the Lord in His New Testament economy.

Lord Jesus, save us from outward and dead ordinances. Save us from our opinions and the self with its old concepts. We want to receive Your mercy to be saved in these matters, so that the church may be built up and spread. Amen, Lord, keep us in Your New Testament economy enjoying You and flowing You out to others for Your building!

Being Saved from the Veils of our Religious Traditions and Old Background and Living under the Vision of God’s Eternal Economy

We must learn from the lesson of Peter to be saved from the veils of our religious traditions and old background so that we may see and live under the vision of God’s eternal economy to hold the truth of the gospel (Acts 10:9-16; Gal. 2:11-14).

Peter learned from the Lord that the Lord has cleansed the Gentiles and therefore they are no longer unclean, but the Jewish believers should fellowship and be built up with the Gentile believers.

Peter was used by the Lord to bring in the Gentiles into the Body of Christ when he visited the house of Cornelius, preached the gospel, and the Holy Spirit descended on them. This was a great step.

However, even though Peter was used in such a way, he later became hypocritical and failed. He was eating with the Gentile believers and, when some came from James in Jerusalem, he withdrew and was with the Jewish saints, and this was so strong that even Barnabas joined in.

But Paul stood up to them and pointed this out in a straightforward way, relating this to the truth of the gospel. We need to keep the truth of the gospel, stand with the truth, and be saved from any old religious traditions and old backgrounds.

As we move somewhere for the Lord’s spreading, what we bring to other places may be some old religious traditions and our old background. We need to receive the Lord’s mercy to be saved from Satan’s schemes to frustrate the spreading and building up of the church.

Lord, save us from the veils of our religious traditions and our old background so that we may see and live under the vision of God’s eternal economy! Amen, Lord, save us from anything old, anything of the Old Testament practices, and anything of religion. Bring us fully into Your New Testament economy, and grant us to live under the vision of God’s eternal economy to hold the truth of the gospel!

Being Saved from our Human Opinions and Natural Relationships in the Lord’s Spreading

In Acts 13:13 and 15:35-40 we see that Paul and Barnabas, after their first gospel trip, wanted to go on another trip, but Barnabas wanted to take John (also called Mark) with him, yet Paul disagreed.

We don’t know the full context, but there was a sharp contention, and Barnabas took John Mark and went to Cyprus, and Paul chose Silas and, being commended to the Lord by the brothers, went on another gospel trip.

We do not know the full story of what happened, and we don’t know “who was right and who was wrong”; what we know is that from that moment on Barnabas is no longer mentioned in the book of Acts, while Paul goes on in his gospel trips.

We must learn from the lesson of Barnabas to be saved from human opinions and natural relationships in the Lord’s spreading. Disputes that arise among the co-workers because of personal relationships are terrible – and we need to avoid this.

As we are learning to be one with the Lord to move for His spreading on earth, we need to drop our natural relationships, drop our preferences, and drop our human opinions, and learn only to be one with the Lord and His saints for His move.

Lord Jesus, save us from our human opinions and natural relationships in Your spreading on the earth. Save us from having a preference for those in our family or close to us. Oh Lord, show us how terrible are the disputes that arise among co-workers because of personal relationships. May we learn to deny the self, drop our natural preferences and relationships, and leave all things behind for the Lord’s spread, simply being one with the Lord and with the saints for the Lord’s move on earth!

Being Saved from Lack of Full Revelation and from not being One with the Ministry of the Age

In Acts 18:24-19:2 we see this person, Apollos, who was powerful in Scriptures and knowing the word of God, and he preached the gospel with much zeal; however, he only knew the baptism of John, and so he was not fully knowledgeable about God’s New Testament economy.

Later we see that Aquila and Prisca took him in and helped him to see God’s economy.

But then in 1 Cor. 1:12 and 16:10-12 we see that Apollos became somewhat of a frustration to God’s move in two things: his lack of complete revelation, and not being fully one with the ministry of the age (represented by Paul himself).

In learning to be one with the Lord for His spreading on the earth we need to learn the lesson of being saved from a ministry that lacks a complete revelation of God’s New Testament economy, and we need to be saved from not being fully one with the ministry of the age.

We need to have a vision of God’s economy and we need to be fully one with the ministry of the age in everything we do.

May the Lord have mercy on us to teach us this lesson so that we may be saved from Satan’s schemes to frustrate the spreading and building up of the church!

Being Saved from the Tendency to be Set or Settled, and Following the Inner Leading of the Spirit

After Paul chose Silas and wanted to go for the gospel, he had the tendency to become set and settle down; he wanted to continue to travel in Asia Minor, but the Spirit of Jesus didn’t allow them, and the Holy Spirit also forbade them.

So one night he had a vision of a Macedonian man coming and asking him to help, and he took the lead to go into Macedonia for the gospel.

We must learn from the lesson of Paul in Acts 16:6-12; these verses indicate the problem of workers coming to a place and tending to become set and settled down, not wanting to move.

We need to realize that old relationships, old affections, old inclinations, and old concepts keep us from following the inner leading of the indwelling Spirit.

In Paul’s case, he tended to stay locally, but the Spirit didn’t allow them; however, Paul was flexible and open when the Spirit called them to go somewhere else.

The Holy Spirit forbade Paul and his co-workers, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; the Holy Spirit’s forbidding separates us, sanctifies us, and the Spirit of Jesus either allows us or does not allow us.

Often when we move with the Lord we may not move with the Spirit but with a certain concept or way of thinking; we need the Lord’s mercy to be unloaded, empty, and flexible, so that we may really follow the Spirit in His move.

The Holy Spirit says “no” to sanctify us, and the Spirit of Jesus says “go” to send us out in the humanity of Jesus to accomplish the will of God under the cross.

Lord Jesus, cause us to realize that old relationships, old affections, old inclinations, and old concepts keep us from following the inner leading of the indwelling Spirit. Oh Lord, save us from anything old and grant us Your mercy that we may be unloaded, empty, and flexible, so that we may really follow the Spirit in His move on earth. Save us from being set, settled, and occupied with old relationships and inclinations, and bring us into the fresh and living inner leading of the indwelling Spirit!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Three Aspects of the Church, Book 2: The Course of the Church, ch. 3 (by Witness Lee), 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 6, 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.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # To Jerusalem we’ve come, / We are through with Babylon, / We have gathered to be one, / O glory be to God! / Of the teachings we’re bereft, / All opinions we have left, / Spirit from the soul is cleft, / In the local churches now. / Hallelujah! Hallelujah! / We are all in one accord / For the building of the Lord. (Hymns #1251)
  # Ever tender, quiet, restful, / Inclinations put away, / That Thou may for me choose freely / As Thy finger points the way. (Hymns #403)
  # Pray with one accord in spirit, / Supplicate relatedly; / Seek the Lord, His mind, His leading, / In the Spirit’s harmony. (Hymns #779)