Search
Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 3:7-9; 4:1; Eph. 4:11-12; Acts 2:42
The New Testament ministry and the apostles’ teaching are two matters in the church that have not been accurately understood by most believers for the past two thousand years. The Brethren, who were raised up in England about one and a half centuries ago, saw a little concerning the apostles’ teaching and began to pay attention to this matter. Apart from them, nearly all other Christian groups are neither clear nor pay attention to this matter. This is a great loss.
The Greek word for ministry means “service, or work,” that is, to serve as a slave; service is a kind of work. However, the ministry as referred to in the New Testament carries a more precise and refined significance. In the New Testament this word is used in relation to particular people and matters. To serve and take care of a patient is a ministry (Matt. 25:44), and to serve tables, as the seven brothers did in Acts 6:5 is also a ministry. In addition, the Bible says, “Say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it” (Col. 4:17). A believer’s personal service to the Lord is also a ministry. For example, some brothers and sisters clean the meeting hall. Whether they wipe the chairs, mop the floor, vacuum the carpet, or wash the windows, all of which are seemingly trivial tasks, their service is a ministry.
Acts 1:17 and 25 speak of “this ministry.” After the Lord’s ascension, Peter, one of the twelve apostles, asked the Lord to choose someone to become a witness with the apostles of His resurrection and “to take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” The ministry that the twelve apostles received was to bear the testimony of the Lord Jesus, testifying that He is the Triune God and that, as the Son of God, He was incarnated to be a man to pass through human living on earth for thirty-three and a half years, that He was nailed to the cross and died there according to “the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God” (2:23), that He was raised up after three days, and that in resurrection He appeared to the apostles and disciples, charging them to preach Him as the gospel to the whole inhabited earth.
In 2 Corinthians 4:1 Paul speaks of the New Testament ministry as “this ministry.” Here the phrase this ministry has an even greater significance than the ministry of which Peter spoke in Acts 1. The ministry spoken of by Peter is the ministry that the twelve apostles received from the Lord Jesus, who was incarnated, passed through human living, died, and resurrected. In other words, their ministry was to preach this God-man to all the nations, telling them how He was incarnated, passed through various processes of human living, died, and resurrected to become the Savior of the world. This is the ministry Peter received.
It is clear that the ministry Peter received is not focused on the church; it speaks only of Christ, that is, how the eternal God became a man, passed through death and resurrection, and became both Lord and Christ in resurrection. This is the ministry that the twelve apostles received, and it is the first half of the New Testament ministry. Later, when Paul spoke of “this ministry” in 2 Corinthians, much more was included. The ministry he speaks of includes the ministry that Peter speaks of and applies the Christ whom Peter and the other apostles had received to those who are chosen, redeemed, and justified, causing them to become members of Christ to constitute the Body of Christ, the church. This is the New Testament ministry.
In short, the New Testament ministry is the content of the entire New Testament. The content of the twenty-seven books from Matthew to Revelation is the New Testament ministry. This ministry speaks of Christ being the mystery of God and of the church being the mystery of Christ. These two are the great mystery, Christ and the church (Eph. 5:32). This is the New Testament ministry. This New Testament ministry is the ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness (2 Cor. 3:8-9). To say that this ministry is of the Spirit means that this ministry is entirely of the Triune God. He has passed through all the processes and is consummated as the Spirit; hence, this ministry is of the Spirit.
This ministry cannot be separated from the Spirit. In the New Testament the Spirit is all-inclusive. The Spirit is the consummation of the processed Triune God. God is eternally triune; but before His incarnation, death, and resurrection, He was not yet processed. He was the Triune God, but He was not the consummated Triune God. He was perfect but not consummated. Hence, the perfect Triune God needed to pass through some procedures and processes in order to be consummated by the addition of a few elements.
The Triune God was perfect in eternity past, but He had only the divine element, divinity, without the human element, humanity. He had not passed through the process of human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. When He stepped out of eternity, entered into the world, took the human shell, the flesh, and partook of humanity to become a proper man, another element was added into Him; that is, humanity was added to divinity. Moreover, He was in the womb of Mary for nine months. It was a great process for the Triune God to be conceived in a human being. After He was born, He passed through thirty-three and a half years of human living and experienced all the hardships of human life. The Triune God, the eternal, infinite, and omnipotent God, entered into a human womb, spent nine months there, was born as an ordinary man, and passed through human life in the world. Then according to His eternal plan, the will that He purposed in eternity, He went to the cross, was crucified according to the prophecies in the Old Testament, and accomplished an all-inclusive death.
On the negative side, the Lord’s all-inclusive death solved every problem, and on the positive side, His divine life was released. On the cross He was not only the Lamb who took away sin (John 1:29) and the bronze serpent that judged Satan (3:14) but also the grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died (12:24). This aspect is not related to sin and Satan but to the divine life. He, as the grain of wheat, died to release the divine life and bore much fruit. As chosen, redeemed, and regenerated ones, we are the fruit. We constitute His Body. After passing through an all-inclusive death, He stayed in death for three days and then rose from death and ascended. In resurrection His body was transfigured into a spiritual body, and He became the life-giving Spirit. After passing through these processes, He is the perfect and consummated Triune God.
After the Lord’s resurrection the triune name — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — was used for the first time. In Matthew 28:19 the Lord told His disciples in resurrection, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit spoken of in the New Testament is included in the simple divine title the Holy Spirit. When the Lord was in the flesh, on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles He stood and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit” (John 7:37-39a). If anyone comes to Him and believes into Him, his thirst will be quenched, and he will receive the Spirit. John, however, says that the Spirit was not yet at the time the Lord cried out (v. 39b). This means that the Spirit was not yet completed, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. Jesus’ glorification refers to His entering into resurrection from death (Luke 24:26). The glorification of a grain of wheat occurs once it falls into the ground, dies, and begins to grow out from the ground. Then it bears much fruit and displays a glorious form. Glorification is multiplication. Christ was a single grain, but now He has produced many grains; this is glorification as well as multiplication and propagation.
From this we see that the Spirit as the all-inclusive Spirit represents the mysterious God who possesses divinity and humanity, who has passed through human living, accomplished an all-inclusive death, entered into resurrection, and became the life-giving Spirit. He is able not only to redeem us but also to enter into us to be our life and mingle Himself with our spirit to be our nature and person. Therefore, the New Testament ministry is the ministry of the Spirit, belonging to the Spirit.
Since the ministry of the New Testament is of the Spirit, it is a ministry of justification, not a ministry of condemnation. In the New Testament the result of justification is that man may have life. Romans 5:18 says, “As it was through one offense unto condemnation to all men, so also it was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men.” Justification is for us to have life. The ministry of the New Testament is in contrast to the ministry of the Old Testament. The ministry of the Old Testament is of the letter and of death. Second Corinthians 3:7 and 9 reveal that the ministry of the Old Testament, the ministry in letters and of death, condemns, whereas the ministry of the New Testament justifies. The ministry of condemnation is unto death; the ministry of justification is unto life. These are the ministry in the Old Testament and the ministry in the New Testament. Since the creation of all things and man, God has had only two ministries: the Old Testament ministry and New Testament ministry. The Old Testament ministry ministers law to people, which condemns people and puts them under death; the New Testament ministry ministers the Spirit to people, which justifies them and gives them life so that they may become members of the Body of Christ to constitute the Body of Christ.
We need to know these points to the extent that they are constituted into our entire being. In Christianity, throughout the whole earth, you can hardly find any books or hear any speaking concerning these matters. The New Testament ministry is absolutely part of the Lord’s recovery and can be considered the theology of the Lord’s recovery.
Second Corinthians 4:1 indicates that the ministry of the New Testament is uniquely one. This ministry began with the preaching of repentance by John the Baptist, was continued by the work of the Lord Jesus on earth, and was brought on further by the works of the twelve apostles, who were chosen directly by Him, as well as of those who were with them. All these works are included in this ministry. We, the apostle Paul, his fellow apostles, and all those under their leading are included in this ministry. Do not think that we are being led by a particular brother; this is altogether wrong. We are being led by the apostle Paul. In other words, until the full manifestation of the new heaven and new earth, the works of all those who belong to God should be part of “this ministry” (Acts 1:17, 25; 2 Cor. 4:1).
In Ephesians 4:12 Paul does not use the word this; instead, he says, “Unto the work of the ministry.” Here the sense conveyed by the ministry is stronger than that conveyed by this ministry. The work of the ministry implies that the work of the ministry is unique. Because the sun and the moon are unique, we speak of them as “the sun” and “the moon,” not as “this sun” or “this moon.” Likewise, the work of the ministry is simply the work of the ministry, which is uniquely one.
The apostles are the many ministers of the New Testament. There is one ministry, but there are many ministers. The singular ministry refers to the matter, the work; the plural ministers refer to those who carry out the ministry. Paul uses both of these words. In 2 Corinthians 3:6 he says that the Lord “has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant,” and in Acts 20:24 he says, “In order that I may finish...the ministry,” that is, the New Testament ministry.
In 2 Corinthians 4:1 Paul says, “Having this ministry as we have been shown mercy.” Here we refers to the ministers, that is, the apostles. This ministry is singular and includes the ministry of John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, the twelve apostles, the other disciples under their leading, Paul and his fellow apostles, and all those under their leading; we are also included among them. This is the ministry spoken of in the New Testament and is what Ephesians 4:12 refers to when it says, “Unto the work of the ministry.” The apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers are all for the perfecting of the saints. The next phrase reads, “Unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” According to Greek grammar, unto the work of the ministry and unto the building up of the Body of Christ are in apposition, meaning that the latter refers to the former. This means that the work of the ministry is for the building up of the Body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11 says, “He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers.” These are the gifted ones. Verse 12 continues, “For the perfecting of the saints.” This reveals that all the gifted ones are for the perfecting of the saints. Thus, these two groups of people — the gifted ones and the saints who are being perfected — are for the work of the ministry and for the building up of the Body of Christ.
Many people have asked me over the years whether we have a problem in regard to the matter of ministry. We need to answer this question carefully. In the past twenty-five years, especially since we began propagating overseas, some people have said that we have brought the Lord’s recovery to the point that it receives only Brother Lee’s ministry and no other ministry. For us to take the Lord’s new way, all the co-workers and elders need to see clearly that we have only one ministry in the Lord’s recovery, the unique ministry. Although there is only one ministry, all the serving brothers have their ministries within the unique ministry. For example, some saints’ ministry is to go to the communities to knock on doors and to take care of home meetings, whereas my ministry is to train the elders and co-workers and revise the Recovery Version of the New Testament. While I am fulfilling my ministry, they are also fulfilling their ministries.
There are over forty thousand saints in the church in Taipei, and more than thirty thousand of them still need to be visited and cared for. This requires that at least ten thousand brothers and sisters fulfill their ministries. Sometimes the brothers and sisters may be moved by the Holy Spirit to knock on doors and bring people to salvation; then after baptizing them, they immediately need to establish home meetings and read Life Lessons with them; this is their ministry. Many brothers and sisters in the Lord’s recovery have this kind of ministry. There are also hundreds and thousands of saints who take care of the high-school students, the college students, or who specifically bring people to salvation. In the church there are many people who have different kinds of ministries.
In our practice we accept many ministries, and we emphasize the word many. Today there are thousands and even tens of thousands of ministries within the church. Hence, those who criticize us do not know the distinction between the singular ministry and the plural ministries. As far as the ministry is concerned, in the Lord’s recovery we do not have two ministries; we have only one ministry, the unique ministry. As far as ministries are concerned, every saved one in the Lord’s recovery has a ministry as long as he exercises to function; in this sense, we have many ministries. Our hope is that everyone would function in the meetings; this functioning is the fulfilling of their ministries. Therefore, there are both ministry and ministries.
We need to see from the New Testament the relationship between ministry and ministries. In the New Testament John the Baptist had a ministry, and the Lord Jesus also had a ministry. Was the ministry of the Lord Jesus an addition to the ministry of John the Baptist or a repetition of it? It is not easy to answer this question. It is correct to say that the ministry of the Lord Jesus was a repetition of the ministry of John, because the Lord Jesus preached what John had preached. In the New Testament the Lord Jesus repeated John’s words. In Matthew 3:2 John said, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” When the Lord Jesus ministered, He said exactly the same thing without changing a word (4:17). Later, He sent His disciples to preach the same message (Mark 6:12). Thus, we see that John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and His disciples all spoke the same thing. These three groups of people repeated one another.
When the Lord Jesus came, He repeated and added to what John the Baptist had spoken. Later, the disciples came and repeated and added to what the Lord Jesus had spoken. Then Paul repeated and added. Still later Brother Nee and I did the same thing, repeating and adding. Today all of us should be repeating and adding. In this way the ministry is a whole, a totality, of many ministries. This totality will ultimately consummate as the manifestation of the New Jerusalem. Before the manifestation of the New Jerusalem, the works done for God by all who belong to Him are parts of the totality of the one ministry. Thus, we are not carrying out our own ministries; rather, we repeat and add. We are not at all independent. We are not carrying out thousands and thousands of independent ministries; instead, we are carrying out thousands and thousands of repetitions and additions. This is the work of the unique ministry.
On the earth today there are many Christians in different denominations. In Taipei there are Baptist churches, Presbyterian churches, and Bread of Life churches. After we are saved and begin to love the Lord, people may tell us that it is good to love the Lord but that it is possible that we have been deceived because even though we say that others are sects, are we not also a sect? Let us consider our fingers as an illustration. A hand has five fingers. Names such as the Presbyterian Church and the Baptist Church are like a sixth finger in addition to the five fingers of the hand. The local churches do not have six fingers because we do not have a special name. We are proper and normal; we have only five fingers, not six. If there is an extra finger, that finger is a division.
The preachers of the Baptist Church are carrying out the ministry of the New Testament, but they are also carrying out the ministry of the baptism of the Baptist Church. Their work is to establish the Baptist sect, that is, the Baptist denomination. Likewise, the Presbyterians establish Presbyterian sects, and the Pentecostals establish tongue-speaking sects. Hence, every denomination builds up its own sect. We, however, are simply and purely building up the Body of Christ, which is expressed in all the localities as a local church, a church not belonging to any sect or denomination and that is not divisive.
In one area of the United States almost one hundred brothers came into the Lord’s recovery out of the Baptist Church. Some of their parents were pastors and deacons in the Baptist Church, having a strong denominational background. As a result of our introducing something new into the area, the Baptist Church began to pay much attention to us and arranged for a theologian with a doctoral degree to come to join our conference and listen to my preaching. After the meeting he came to me in a humble and meek way. He was a proper person with a refined manner of speaking. In addition, he was a highly educated and knowledgeable person. In our conversation he frequently made reference to his Doctorate of Divinity, but I did not pay attention to that; rather, I asked him whether being Baptist is something extra, and I also asked him for some explanation.
Whenever we ask people this kind of question, they are caught, because even though baptism is in the Bible and baptism is right, to make it an item of the faith is heresy. In like manner, although the matter of the elders’ administration of the church is also in the Bible, to make it an item of the faith and a basis for establishing the church is also heresy. Furthermore, although tongue-speaking is right, it is also heresy to make tongue-speaking an item of the faith and a basis for establishing the church. In a Christian nation such as the United States, whenever a person finds out that someone else is a Christian, the first question he asks is, “Which denomination do you belong to?” Hence, my question was not too blunt.
When I asked this theologian whether being Baptist was something extra, he had nothing to say; all he could say was that there is no other way. I then asked him how there could be no other way, and I pointed out to him that baptism is just baptism and should not be made an article of the faith. Moreover, the Baptists acknowledge only the baptisms that are conducted by their pastors, and even the water for baptism must be the water in their baptisteries. I told him that this is superstition. After all, there are many regenerated Christians who have not been baptized in the Baptist Church. How can the Baptists recognize only those who are baptized among them? I told him that although my mother was a member of the Baptist Church, I neither joined that church nor was baptized there. Nevertheless, I have been regenerated. He could not deny it. Later, he told people that it would be best for him not to see me again, because he could not win.
Recently, another Baptist theologian came to visit us. He came with a younger brother. After conversing with them for a while, I realized that this visit was different from those in the past. They knew not to bring up the problem of division. They knew that if they were to bring it up, they would not have a stand. Therefore, they did not talk about divisions but spoke of positive matters. In the end, they told me that they wanted to put my books in their collection for theological studies. When I heard this, I asked them under which category they would put my books. One category in their collection consisted of books on the orthodox faith, another consisted of books on the Pentecostal faith, another consisted of books concerning those faiths that are questionable in regard to accuracy, and yet another consisted of books concerning special creeds in regard to baptism. I asked them under which category they would put my books. It was difficult for them to answer this question. Finally, I told them that if they desired to put my books in their collection, they would have to add a new category: the most fundamental truths. This is the situation in America.
Today nearly every denomination teaches from the Bible, preaches the same Savior, and worships the same true God, but every denomination also has its own ministry. The ministry of the Baptists builds up Baptist churches, and the ministry of the Presbyterians builds up Presbyterian churches. If a person desires to be a preacher in the Baptist Church, he would need to be baptized in their midst and graduate from their seminary; otherwise, it would be difficult for him to become a pastor. Furthermore, they would investigate his background; if his parents and grandparents were members of the Baptist denomination, there would be no problem. However, if he was from another denomination or had graduated from a seminary of another denomination, it would not be easy for him to become a pastor. If this were the case, he would be required to be baptized in their midst and become an official member of the Baptist Church. Moreover, he would also need to agree to preach only the Baptist faith. Therefore, the work of the Baptist denomination is entirely to carry out the ministry of the Baptist denomination.
When we consecrate ourselves to serve the Lord full time, the work we do is the work of the ministry. When we speak to people, they may not know us and thus think that we have a special title; nevertheless, on our part we know that we are all doing the work of the one ministry, which is to build up the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12).
We may encounter a situation in which some brothers love to expound the Bible; they are the Apolloses of this age. In the beginning of Acts, Peter and a group of brothers carried out the ministry; later, the apostle Paul and some other brothers began to carry out the ministry. These two groups of people were positive. However, in Acts 18:24-25 Apollos suddenly appeared. He was eloquent and powerful in the Scriptures, expounding the Scriptures very well. Although he was well versed in the Scriptures and spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, he only knew of the baptism of John; he did not know God’s economy.
The ministry of the New Testament includes the ministry of John the Baptist. It is the first part of God’s New Testament economy. This economy is an arrangement; as an arrangement, it is divided into several parts. For example, in a building containing five stories, those on the third floor are in the building as well as those who are on the second floor. Although they are in the same building, they are in different parts of the building. John was in the beginning of the New Testament economy. He merely touched a small portion of the New Testament economy of God. Only John and his disciples should have been in that part; those who came after them should not have remained there.
The ministry of John the Baptist is part of the New Testament ministry. It took place before the Lord Jesus began to preach and had come to an end by the time of Apollos. The official beginning of the New Testament economy took place after the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He said, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). When John the Baptist came, he baptized people merely into water (3:11). At that time there was not yet the way to baptize people into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, because the process through which the Triune God was to pass had not yet been accomplished. Once the Lord passed through death and entered into resurrection, He was no longer merely the perfect Triune God but the consummated Triune God. Hence, He was able to tell people to go and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the Triune God. This is the complete New Testament economy.
When Apollos appeared, chronologically he was in the latter stage and should have been fully in the New Testament economy. However, because he was taught inadequately, he did not enter into the New Testament economy. Consequently, he mostly taught people to know the Old Testament. Although he was well versed in the Scriptures, he knew only the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament, that is, the story of John the Baptist. In John 3:26 the disciples of John the Baptist had problems and quarreled with the disciples of the Lord Jesus. The disciples of John the Baptist said to John, “He who was with you...of whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” The disciples of John complained to John that everyone was following Jesus instead of coming to John to be baptized; this indicates that they had problems. Moreover, in Matthew 9:14 they went to ask the Lord Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast?” Obviously there were problems between John’s disciples and the Lord’s disciples. This demonstrates that if someone remains at the beginning, he will have problems with those who advance. Hence, no one should remain at the beginning stage. This was the problem in regard to Apollos.
We may also encounter this kind of problem. A brother may know the Bible very well, but he may not have a clear picture of God’s New Testament economy, and he may merely enter into one particular point at the beginning, adhere to that point, and thus becomes a problem. How should we deal with this kind of person? Paul’s attitude was not to reject but to forbear. According to the Bible, the problem with Apollos was never completely solved. In 1 Corinthians 16:12 Paul told the Corinthians, “Concerning our brother Apollos, I urged him many times to come to you with the brothers; yet it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.” This shows that Paul was very concerned about the church in Corinth. In 1 Corinthians Paul may be likened to a father who has just disciplined his children severely; hence, they were not happy. As a result, he asks the mother to go and see the children, yet the mother says, “I do not want to go. I will go when it is convenient for me.” Apollos had this kind of attitude.
I believe all parents have similar experiences in regard to disciplining their children. After the father spanks the children, and the children are in pain, the father’s heart is also in pain; however, since the father has just disciplined them, it is not easy for him to say anything to the children. Thus, he asks the mother to serve as a buffer to warm and cherish the children. This was Paul’s intention. In 1 Corinthians Paul severely disciplined the Corinthian believers in the first few chapters. As a result, in chapter 16 he spoke of Apollos because Paul wanted him to go and see the Corinthian believers. Sadly, Apollos was not willing. Although Paul felt that Apollos should go, Apollos did not feel the same way. His attitude did not reflect Paul’s sense of urgency. Rather, he would come when there was opportunity. To Paul, the present was the best opportunity.
This portion of the Scriptures is precious because it shows that although Paul was a leading one, he never controlled the co-workers. He did not say, “Apollos, you must go to Corinth; you have no option.” Paul left the matter in God’s sovereign hand. He felt that if this matter were of the Lord, Apollos would go to Corinth promptly; if Apollos would not go, then this matter must not be of the Lord. Paul was very concerned about the Corinthian believers. When he wrote 2 Corinthians, he was caring for the Corinthians to the uttermost. He told them that when he came to Troas, although a door of the gospel was open to him in the Lord, he was not able to do anything because he was anxious to see Titus, who had just gone to see the Corinthian believers; thus, Paul promptly went to Macedonia to wait for Titus (2:12-13).
Paul anxiously cared for the Corinthian believers, but Apollos was not as concerned about them; in this regard, he was more like a stepmother. We may liken him to being Paul’s wife but not the birth mother of the Corinthian believers. After the father spanks the children, a real mother, without waiting for the father to say anything, will quickly go to comfort the children. At the same time, she will tell the children that the father’s spanking was right. Hence, before the father asks, the mother has already warmed up the children. If Apollos had done this, he would have been a genuine co-worker of Paul; this would have also indicated that he knew the New Testament economy and carried it out together with Paul. However, this was not the actual situation. Although Apollos was a co-worker of Paul, he was not in the same move, the same economy, with Paul.
It is a rare opportunity for us to have this kind of fellowship. Although we may have been in the Lord’s recovery for many years, we may not be clear concerning the Lord’s way or the different kinds of people in relation to the ministry. According to 1 Corinthians, the Corinthians regarded Apollos on the same level as Paul and Cephas. First Corinthians 1:12 says, “Each of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas.” This proves that Apollos’s gift in preaching and expounding the Scriptures was not inferior to Paul’s; however, he did not have an adequate knowledge of the entire economy of God. This is the problem we encounter today, and we need to have some understanding concerning these matters.
The New Testament ministry is for the building up of the Body of Christ. When Apollos was working in Corinth, he must have thought inwardly that he was building up the Body of Christ. However, in his feeling, was he the same as Paul? In Apollos’s feeling and view, was he able to say, “I, Apollos, am not doing my own work; rather, I am building up the Body of Christ with Paul, all the other apostles, and all the saints”? We should ponder this matter to consider whether Apollos indeed had the same feeling as Paul. I believe that perhaps there was a little of the same feeling in Apollos as in Paul with regard to the building up the Body of Christ; nevertheless, I do not believe that his feeling was as strong as Paul’s feeling. To illustrate with colors, Apollos’s feeling may be compared to a light red, while Paul’s feeling may be compared to a dark red; the difference is a matter of the degree of depth.
I deeply believe that Paul’s feeling, even his every cell, could testify that what he did was not his own work but was for the building up of the Body of Christ. I am afraid that this feeling of building up the Body of Christ had not penetrated Apollos as deeply. Nevertheless, he must have felt that he had accomplished a work. If someone among us feels that he has accomplished a work, its value is questionable. We should not have this kind of feeling. We should have a common, deep, and penetrating feeling that we are simply building up the Body of Christ, not that we are accomplishing some kind of work. The only work we should be accomplishing is the building up of the Body of Christ. We should have the feeling that we are only building up the Body of Christ with the other brothers and sisters.
Today we are carrying out the one ministry, which is the building up of the Body of Christ, but what is the basis of our building? The Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Seventh-day Adventists all carry out their work according to the regulations of their particular denomination. In the Lord’s recovery we should be building up the Body of Christ according to the teaching of the apostles, which is the entire New Testament. We must carry out the New Testament ministry according to the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42).
The apostles’ teaching takes the New Testament economy as its center; this New Testament economy is Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:32 says, “This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.” In fulfilling our ministry in the Lord’s recovery, do we take Christ and the church as the center? Or is baptism our center? Although we have baptism, it is not our center. Are the elders our center? Although we have elders, they are not our center. Is the expounding of the Scriptures our center? Although we have rich Life-study messages, they are not our center. Our center is the all-inclusive Christ, who is God yet man, having both divinity and humanity. He became flesh, passed through thirty-three and a half years of human living, experienced death, entered into resurrection, ascended to the heights, became the life-giving Spirit, and now enters into those who believe into Him, making them His members to constitute His Body, that is, the church. Moreover, He will come back to bring in His kingdom and consummate the New Jerusalem. This is God’s economy.
