I.　The unique work in the Lord's recovery is a work in ascension—Acts1:9-11; 2:33; Eph. 1:22; 2:6:

A.　In His ascension Christ was enthroned and made the Head over all things in the universe; He is the Head, the Lord, the King, and the anointed One on the throne, having all the power and all the authority in the universe—1:22; Matt.28:18:

1.　Because we were identified with Christ in His ascension, we also were brought into the heavens with Him—Eph. 2:6.

2.　God committed all authority in the universe to His resurrected and ascended Christ, and we are in Christ; therefore, we are in the heavens and on the throne with Christ.

3.　To Christ ascension is His enthronement; to us it is our position in the heavenlies on the throne.

B.　In His ascension Christ was brought into a new realm, into the heavens, where He has another living with another ministry; the Lord's living and ministry in the heavens are the content of the book of Acts—2:33-34, 36; 5:31.

C.　The subject of Acts concerns the propagation of the resurrected Christ, which is carried out by Christ in His ascension—1:9-11; 2:33; 4:33:

1.　The propagation of the resurrected Christ is carried out by the Lord from the throne in the heavens—1:22; 3:13, 15; 4:10.

2.　The ascension is the nature and the sphere of the Lord's work on earth; hence, the work of the Lord today in His recovery should have a heavenly nature and should be in a heavenly sphere—Eph. 1:22.

D.　Whereas much of today's so-called Christian work is not a work in ascension, the work in the Lord's recovery must be a work in the Lord's ascension; we should be able to testify that we are working in Christ's ascension—Acts 2:32-33.

E.　The ascended Christ has come into us in His ascension; He is in His ascension within us—Col. 1:27; 3:1; Rom. 8:10, 34:

1.　The Lord today is in our spirit in His ascension—2 Tim. 4:22.

2.　In Christ's ascension the Triune God moves in us, and this move becomes His history and also our history because He and we are mingled as one and have the same history—1 Cor. 6:17.

II.　The unique work in the Lord's recovery is a work carried out by theSpirit—Acts 1:8; 2:4; 13:2, 9:

A.　Spirit—and the outward aspect for power and authority—the economical Spirit—John 14:17; 20:22; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:5, 8:

1.　Every believer in Christ should experience both aspects of the Spirit— Luke 24:49; John 14:17; 20:22:

a.　Inwardly we need to drink of the Holy Spirit for life, and outwardly we need to be clothed with the Holy Spirit for power and authority—1 Cor.12:13; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:5, 8.

b.　Inwardly we need the breath of the Holy Spirit breathed into us for life, and outwardly we need the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing upon us for power—John 20:22; Acts 2:2, 4.

c.　To experience the Spirit as our life for our spiritual being and existence is essential; to experience the Spirit as power for our spiritual work and function is economical—Rom. 8:11; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:5, 8.

d.　Regarding the Spirit of life, we need to breathe Him in as the breath; regarding the Spirit of power, we need to put Him on as the uniform, typified by the mantle of Elijah—John 20:22; Luke 24:49; 2 Kings 2:9, 13-15.

2.　As believers in Christ, we should experience both the inward and the outward filling of the Spirit—Eph. 5:18; Acts 2:4; 4:8; 6:3; 13:9, 52:

a.　To be filled with the Spirit inwardly is to experience the essential Spirit as life—Eph. 5:18; Acts 6:3; 13:52.

b.　To be filled with the Spirit outwardly is to experience the baptism in theSpirit for power and authority—1:5, 8; 2:4; 4:8; 13:9.

B.　"The Holy Spirit said, Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them"—v. 2b:

1.　Five faithful and seeking members of the Body of Christ gave the Head of the Body an opportunity through their ministering and fasting so that He, as the Spirit, might set them apart to carry out His great commission— vv. 1-2a.

2.　This was absolutely a move by the Spirit, in the Spirit, and with the Spirit through the coordination of the faithful and seeking members of the Body of Christ on the earth with the Head in the heavens—vv. 1-2:

a.　This great step taken by the Lord for the spread of His kingdom was not a religious movement with a human schedule.

b.　This work began without the organizing of a mission, without the raising of funds, without human ordination, and without any human plan or method—vv. 3-4.

III.　The unique work in the Lord's recovery is a work in the divine stream— Gen. 2:8-10; Rev. 22:1:

A.　In the Scriptures the concept of the divine stream, the unique flow, is crucial— Gen. 2:10-14; Psa. 46:4a; John 7:37-39; Rev. 22:1:

1.　The Bible reveals the flowing Triune God—the Father as the fountain of life, the Son as the spring of life, and the Spirit as the river of life—Jer.2:13; Psa. 36:9a; John 4:14; 7:37-39.

2.　The source of the flow is the throne of God and of the Lamb—Rev. 22:1.

3.　In the Scriptures there is only one flow, only one divine stream; the divine stream, which has been flowing throughout the generations, is uniquely one—Gen. 2:10-14; Rev. 22:1.

B.　The divine stream, the unique flow, is a stream of fellowship—Acts 2:42;1 John 1:3; 1 Cor. 10:16:

1.　The fellowship of the Body of Christ is the stream of the divine life; wherever the stream of life flows, there is the fellowship of the Body of Christ— Rev. 22:1.

2.　"The one thing that should rule us is the divine fellowship…By being restricted in this fellowship, the Body of Christ is kept in oneness, and the work of the ministry continues to go on…If we learn to fellowship, we will receive many benefits, especially in the Lord's work" (The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man, pp. 145-146).

C.　The divine stream, the unique flow, is the stream of the Lord's work—1 Cor.16:10:

1.　There is a stream that we may call the stream, the current, of the work;where the stream flows, there is the work of God.

2.　The book of Acts shows us the divine stream, the unique flow; in the move of the Lord there is only one stream, and we need to keep ourselves in this one stream, the unique flow—Gen. 2:8-12; Rev. 22:1-2; Acts 2:33; cf. 15:35-41.