The Recovery of Christ as the Life-giving Spirit
“And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” (Rom. 8:11)
Romans 8 concerns the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the Triune God; this Spirit will make us exactly the same as Christ in life, nature, and expression. (Chapters 5 through 8 of Romans—the Kernel of the Bible, Key Statement 4)
In John 14:28 the Lord Jesus said to the disciples, “I am going away and I am coming to you.” This means that He would go to the cross as a man in the flesh, that is, as the last Adam, but He would come back to the disciples as one who is transfigured, transformed, from the flesh into the Spirit, the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). John 20:22 indicates that when Christ in His resurrection came back to the disciples, He came to them as the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who is the Spirit, and breathed Himself as the Spirit into them. Apart from His being the life-giving Spirit, that is, the Spirit of Christ, it is impossible for Christ to enter into us in order to become our experience for our enjoyment.
The Lord has commissioned us with the truth that Christ is the life-giving Spirit. We can testify from our experience that apart from Christ being the Spirit we cannot enjoy Him. Conversely, when we turn to our spirit and declare that Christ is now the life-giving Spirit, we are beside ourselves with our enjoyment of Christ…Today there is need of the recovery of the truth that Christ is the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3075-3076)
Giving Christ the First Place in Our Personal Universe
“And He is before all things, and all things cohere in Him; and He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.” (Col. 1:17-18)
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)
Christ must have the first place, the preeminence, in our personal universe. Today Christ, the preeminent One, must be the centrality and universality in our church life, family life, and daily life. Under His heavenly rule God is using the environment to make Christ the centrality (the first) and the universality (everything) to us. As those who have been chosen by God to be His people for Christ’s preeminence, we are under God’s heavenly rule to make Christ preeminent, to cause Him to have the first place in everything. (Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (3), msg. 9, IV.F.2-4)
UCLA Christian Students Internship
The UCLA Christian Students Summer Internship began this week on Monday, August 4 in an online format. There are 35 students participating, with about 20 joining for the first time. The goal of the internship is to solidify and strengthen the students’ personal and corporate pursuit of the Lord and develop their burden for their campus, and each week a different aspect of the Christian life will be emphasized, including life, truth, and gospel.
Please pray for a new beginning and a strong first week for every student, with each fully open to receive the maximum benefit from the internship. Also pray for the serving ones as they finalize the many details of this internship, with the Lord being wisdom to them to shepherd and perfect the students, especially the new ones and the freshmen.
FTTA
The Fall 2025 term of the Full-time Training in Anaheim begins next week, August 11. Please pray:
- That the Lord would shepherd each one He has called to be trained all the way to the FTTA, and that the enemy would have no way to distract them or frustrate their coming.
- That all the trainees would come with an open heart and an exercised spirit, consecrating themselves fully to the Lord to be trained in every aspect of their person and living.
North America Chinese-speaking Saints Perfecting Training
Please pray that the Lord’s speaking during last week’s perfecting training on “Go and Bear Remaining Fruit” would continue to perfect the saints in truth, life and service for the advance of the Lord’s move among the Chinese-speaking saints in North America.
European Young People’s Conference and Family Camp
The European YP conference and family camp held July 27 to August 2 in Małe Ciche, Poland was the largest gathering yet, with over 1,700 saints in attendance. Please pray that the Lord’s speaking last week to the young people and families would continue to supply them and to operate in their hearts for the advancement of His move in Europe.
Rome, Italy
There is a continuing burden for Rome, due to its crucial significance in history and in the prophecies of the end times. If the Lord gains a church here with 150 saints worshiping God in spirit and truthfulness, this would utterly shame the enemy and signal the Lord’s soon return. The lampstand was established in 2012, and there are currently 20 to 25 meeting there. Please pray for saints to migrate under the Head and in the Body to strengthen the Lord’s testimony in Rome!
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be held in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. Pray for the Lord to use the upcoming months to prepare the hearts of many seeking people to receive Christ in His word and be added to the Lord’s testimony throughout Italy and other parts of Europe.
Announcements
- Morning Revival: Week 5 of Chapters 5 through 8 of Romans—the Kernel of the Bible.
- Bibles for America‘s blogpost “The Importance of Spending Personal Time with Jesus in the Morning” is available to read and share at bfa.org/blog. Helpful videos are available at bfa.org/videos.
- France Shepherding Trips: A letter with more information is posted at lme.org/reports.html.
- Germany Gospel Trips: Saints are invited to participate in gospel trips in German-speaking countries from October 5 to 19 for the purpose of contacting university students. More information, including instructions on how to register for these trips, is at tinyurl.com/Gospeltrips-2025.
- Italy 2026 Winter Olympics: A letter of fellowship and a letter with instructions on how to apply and participate in gospel trips are posted at lme.org/reports.html.
- The LA Years: This oral history project at www.layears.org documents the early years of the church life in Los Angeles from 1958–1974, including written history, photos, and first-hand testimonies.
- Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.