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Four Crucial Journeys to Enter into the Ministry of the Age

“And Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here, for Jehovah has sent me as far as Bethel. And Elisha said, As Jehovah lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel.” (2 Kings 2:2)

“But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord… that I may gain Christ.” (Phil. 3:8)

Elisha’s following of Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel, from Bethel to Jericho, and from Jericho to the river Jordan shows that in order to enter into the ministry of the New Testament age, we should intrinsically follow the minister of the age according to the vision of the age. To do this we must follow the Lord through four crucial places:

  1. Gilgal, the place where God’s people were circumcised to deal with their flesh; it is the place where the flesh is judged and the place where God gives us the light to judge the flesh.
  2. Bethel, which is the place to give up the world and turn to God absolutely, taking God as everything; Bethel refers to victory over the world.
  3. Jericho; it was the first city that Joshua and the people of Israel had to defeat when they entered into the good land, and it signifies God’s enemy, Satan.
  4. The river Jordan; this river, where the New Testament baptism began, signifies death; crossing the river Jordan is overcoming death in order to live and minister in resurrection.

If we want to receive the rapture of Elijah and a double portion of the spirit with the power of the Holy Spirit, we must pass through Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and the river Jordan. In order for the age to be changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament in our experience, we must deal with our flesh, give up the world and turn to God, defeat Satan, and pass through death into a living that is in resurrection. (Crystallization-Study of 1 and 2 Kings, msg. 2, III.B, C, D, E, F)

Church in Los Angeles Joint Meeting

The whole church in Los Angeles—all halls, districts, and languages—will meet together at 10:00 am on Lord’s Day, October 23 at the LA Convention Center.

Please pray for a healthy attendance and blending, and for the timely speaking of the Lord to shepherd all the saints in the church to be brought on for the sake of His testimony in Los Angeles and for the building up of the reality of the Body of Christ, the preparation of the bride of Christ, and the manifestation of the kingdom of Christ.

All-LA Campus Fellowship

This Friday, October 14 there will be a gathering in Westwood with dinner and fellowship for our college students across Los Angeles. There will also be some students from Santa Clarita and Santa Barbara. Please pray for exercised and released singing, a solid speaking from the word, and a good blending across these different campuses and localities.

Southern California Junior High Conferences

The Spring 2022 Junior High Conferences will be held October 14 to 16 with sisters in Diamond Bar and brothers in Irvine. The topic is “The Word of God.” Please pray for much washing of the water in the word (Eph. 5:26) and for our young people to have their appreciation of the word uplifted and their appetite for the word expanded. Pray also that they would be encouraged by and blended with other young people across Southern California.

Germany and Switzerland

Gospel trips are taking place in Germany and Switzerland from October 10 to 23. During this first week, all the visiting saints will be in six major cities. The plan is to contact new students at the beginning of their academic semester as well as gain contacts in the community through Bible distribution. Every year, over thousands of students enrolled at the universities, so there is a great need to contact and shepherd the new students. We pray that the Lord will use this trip to gain new contacts and open other seeking students to become remaining fruit!

Ukraine

Please continue to pray that:

  • The Russian and Ukrainian brothers fighting in the war will be preserved in their tripartite being.
  • The saints in Russia and Ukraine will be kept in the oneness of the Body and the reality of the new man.
  • The tripartite being of the saints in the besieged cities will be protected and preserved for the Lord’s interests.

Tajikistan

Pray for the Lord’s working within some gospel contacts to remove all obstacles of cultural and religious backgrounds and enable them to know the true God.

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: Week 2 of Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings.

  2. Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: Broadcast resumes this Wednesday 7:25 pm at http://lsm.org/live.

  3. Benson Phillips Memorial Meetings: Recordings of both memorial meetings for Brother Benson may be viewed at http://www.memorial-meeting.org.

  4. December Semiannual Training: December 26 to 31, conducted live in Anaheim and by video via Zoom. Registration for LA saints will remain open until October 30 (live) and December 11 (video). Go to http://tinyurl.com/wintertrainingla.

  5. LSM Newsletter: The September issue contains helpful fellowship on the purpose of training donations, maintaining the standard of video trainings, and praying for the semiannual trainings. Go to http://newsletters.lsm.org/having-this-ministry.

  6. Thanksgiving Conference: Saints from LA planning to attend the in-person sessions November 24 to 27 in Washington, DC are asked to RSVP by October 31 at http://tinyurl.com/thanksgivingconfla (adults) and http://tinyurl.com/thanksgivingchildrenla (children). All conference and hotel information is posted at http://www.churchinlosangeles.org/prayer.

  7. North American Korean-speaking Conference: October 29 to 30 on Zoom.

  8. Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at http://www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.