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Knowing the Ascension

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little inferior to the angels because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor…” (Heb. 2:9)

“And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe…And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” (Eph. 1:19a, 22-23)

What God gave Christ to be is to the church; it is transmitted to the church. The church shares it. This corresponds to the word His power toward us in Ephesians 1:19. The phrase toward us is a key, for it also indicates a transmission.

Man condemned Christ and sentenced Him to death. But God came in to raise Him up, to seat Him in the heavens, to subject all things under His feet, and to give Him to be the Head over all things.

The best translation of the second part of Ephesians 1:22 is: “gave Him to be Head over all things to the church.” If Paul had concluded Ephesians 1 by saying that God gave Christ to be Head over all things, Christ’s ascension would not have anything to do with the church. Paul, however, added the important phrase to the church…Whatever Christ, the Head, has attained and obtained is transmitted to the church, His Body.

The church should continually receive this transmission. Electricity may be installed in a building once for all, but the transmission of electricity takes place continually. Likewise, God raised up Christ, seated Him in the heavens, put everything under His feet, and gave Him the great gift of being the Head over all things. Now whatever Christ is in His ascension is being transmitted into the church. This is the continual transmission into the church of the ascended Christ with the full significance of His ascension. (Life-study of Luke, 2nd ed., pp. 646, 649-650)

International Memorial Day Blending Conference

The 2024 International Memorial Day Blending Conference will take place this weekend in Bellevue, Washington. The general subject is “The Christian Life.” All the saints are invited and encouraged to participate in person or by webcast. Living Stream Ministry will broadcast the conference messages according to the live schedule; a few hours after the message is given, the video will be in the archives.

All information, schedules and outlines are now posted at conf.lsmwebcast.com. The live broadcast schedule is as follows:

Message 1: Friday, May 24     7:25 pm
Message 2: Saturday, May 25     9:55 am
Message 3: Saturday, May 25     7:25 pm
Message 4: Lord’s Day, May 26   9:55 am
Message 5: Lord’s Day, May 26   7:25 pm
Message 6: Monday, May 27     9:55 am

Please pray for the release of the Lord’s up-to-date speaking to His recovery and for the blending of the entire recovery in that speaking. May all the churches and all the saints prepare for this upcoming time of ministry and sanctify these days for the hearing of faith among us. May this conference turn out to be a real memorial among us to the shame of God’s enemy and to the glory of God’s grace!

FTTA

The deadline for Fall Term applications is next Friday, May 31. We are continuing to pray and trust in the Lord for His blessing on many young saints through the Full-time Training in Anaheim. In light of this week’s deadline, please pray that the Lord would touch and lead many more college graduates and young working saints to consecrate themselves and apply to FTTA. We expect that the Lord will increase the number in the Training through such prayers.

2024 Olympics Torch Relay Gospel Trips

During the Olympic Torch Relay we are preparing to till the ground in many major cities along the route of the relay. We pray that during this time, Christ’s triumphal procession will move from city to city all over France (2 Cor. 2:14). Since the goal of these trips is eventually to raise up lampstands in more French-speaking cities, following up with all the new contacts will be critical. This week, the fourth and fifth gospel trips are taking place, respectively, May 20 to 25 in Bordeaux and May 25 to 31 in Caen.

Please pray for:

  • The fresh and detailed consecrations of all the saints going out.
  • The Lord’s casting “fire” on French-speaking Europe.
  • Many divine appointments to take place for the Lord to gain local French speakers and their families.
  • The Lord’s testimony in Bordeaux to be strengthened and a lampstand in Caen to be raised up.
  • The follow-up care of contacts from Marseille, Montpellier, and Toulouse, including a series of Zoom seminars beginning this weekend.

The May 2024 issue of LSM’s newsletter features a report from the FTTA-XB Gospel Trip to Marseille and Montpellier at newsletters.lsm.org/having-this-ministry. More information is at www.amanatrust.org.uk/page/2024Paris. Saints in LA burdened to give for the distribution and associated expenses can do so through the Church in Los Angeles designated for “Paris Olympics.”

Ukraine

Pray that the Lord will protect the tripartite being of all the saints and will rule in the heavens over every aspect of this conflict so that the result will advance His economy on earth.

Israel

Please continue to pray for the situation in Israel and the Middle East, that through the prayers of the saints the evil rulers and authorities in the air, and the human agents used by them, will be bound, and God’s interests will be furthered and His chosen ones preserved.

Pray that God will use the situation to cause the gospel of the kingdom to be proclaimed, and that many people, regardless of ethnicity, religion or background, will be unveiled to see Christ as the Savior and the only way to God.

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: Week 7 of Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good Land…
  2. No Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: There is no ministry meeting this week due to preparations for Memorial Day Conference. The meeting will resume next week, May 29.
  3. Free e-Booklets: Living Stream Ministry offers free e-booklets to read and share. The latest release is “A Life That Lives Christ” at www.lsm.org/life-study-philippians.
  4. Bibles for America‘s most recent blog post, The Crucial Role of Our Mind in Our Christian Life, is available to read and share at blog.bfa.org.
  5. Semiannual Training: July 1 to 6 in Anaheim. For LA saints, registration for participation by video is still open until June 16 ($130) at tinyurl.com/summertrainingla.
  6. Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.