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Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:7-16; Col. 2:19
We have been considering the Lord as Ruler and Head. As Ruler He has been controlling the whole earth. He has been directing the affairs of all the nations for the spreading of the gospel and the gathering in of God’s people. This rulership implies His moving on the earth. He is carrying out a great move. When we consider Him as Head, in addition to His moving we realize that the matter of life is brought in. Under Christ’s headship a very fine work in life is being done. We do not know the details of Christ’s heavenly ministry as Ruler moving on earth. When we come to His ministry as Head, however, we see a fine work in life, by life, and with life.
In Ephesians 4 we can see two categories in this fine work of life. The first is Christ’s giving of gifts for the perfecting of the saints in verses 8 through 12. “He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints” (vv. 11-12). The second category is His making all the saints grow so that they may function. By this growth and functioning, the Body is directly built up. “Holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love” (vv. 15-16).
For both these categories the headship is working. It is the headship of Christ that produces the gifts so that the members may grow and function. This is a fine work in life.
Christianity’s way of operating is absolutely contrary to this. They establish seminaries and hire professors to teach the Bible, theology, church history, Hebrew, and Greek; then they hope the students will be perfected as preachers, ministers, pastors, and such. Their trust is in an educational system. History has already demonstrated that the Body of Christ cannot be built up in this way. Paul was not a seminary graduate. It was under the headship of Christ alone that he was raised up to be the most useful apostle.
How did the headship of Christ operate to gain Paul as a gift to the Body? You will recall that Stephen suffered martyrdom right before the eyes of a young man named Saul of Tarsus (Acts 7:58). Stephen’s death was not an isolated, individual matter. At that time the whole Body of Christ was under persecution. In Acts 8:1-3 Saul was one of the ringleaders; he “was devastating the church” (v. 3). The Head of the Body allowed that persecution to show Saul what the Body of Christ is. Saul saw the Body suffering when he persecuted the members who called on the name of the Lord. After this, he happily began his journey to Damascus intending to arrest still other members. This is the set of circumstances that the Head arranged for this apostle-to-be.
Suddenly Jesus stepped in, not from the earth but from the heavens. This Jesus was now “Head over all things to the church, which is His Body” (Eph. 1:22-23). Saul was shocked to hear the voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4). Yes, he was shocked to be confronted by Jesus, but even the more he was shocked to be made aware that the believers whom he had been persecuting were members of the Body of Christ. Even at his conversion, under the headship of Christ Saul realized the Body.
Saul, of course, did not argue. He did not say, “Lord, I was not persecuting You. I was not persecuting anyone in the heavens. The ones I was trying to get are on earth.” Why did Saul not argue? I believe that while the Lord was saying, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute” (v. 5), the Spirit of the Body was moving in Saul.
Peter’s conversion was much simpler than Paul’s. In Matthew 4:18-20 Peter was with his brother fishing when the Lord called, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (v. 19). That Galilean fisherman had no hesitation in following Him; he liked the thought of becoming a fisher of men rather than simply catching fish.
Paul’s case was far more profound. The way the Lord approached him, asking him that short question, surely set him thinking. Although the words that the Lord said to Saul were few, they must have occupied his thoughts immediately afterward, during those days when he could not see. Surely he did not spend those three days sleeping. He must have been greatly troubled by that momentous encounter. Why, he must have wondered, did that voice say, “Why are you persecuting Me?” What does Me mean? The Spirit of the Body would have told him, “Me means the enlarged Christ, the increased Christ, the corporate Christ, the Christ including Peter, James, and Stephen.” When Saul asked, “Who are You, Lord?” the reply was, “I am Jesus.” But how could that be Jesus? Was Jesus not dead and buried? How could He come now from the heavens?
Saul must also have thought on the Lord’s words, “Rise up and enter into the city, and it will be told to you what you must do” (Acts 9:6). Why did the Lord give him such an indirect answer to his question, “Who are You, Lord?” Again, the Head was showing him the principle of the Body. Saul was not to know the Lord’s will by himself. Saul would be in the Body and needed to be trained to know the Body. He would learn to trust in his brothers, the other members. The Head had been persecuted by Saul through the Body. Now he would learn to respect the Body. Rather than tell him what to do directly, the Lord would send Ananias, a small disciple, to restore Saul’s sight and make His will known to him. It would not be a leading one, like Peter, who would come, but an unknown one. Thus the Lord would subdue Saul and make him a useful apostle.
To again contrast his case with Peter’s, notice the simple way in which Peter was made an apostle. First, the Lord saw and called him to be a fisher of men. Then, perhaps a year or two later, the Lord simply sent him out with the other eleven, and from that point on he and they were apostles (Matt. 10:1-5). How foolish of the Catholic Church to elevate this simple apostle!
While Saul was praying in Damascus, he saw a vision that Ananias would come and heal his sight. We know nothing of this little disciple prior to this occasion, but the Head knew him and told Saul he would come. Then in Acts 9:10 the Head summoned Ananias. “And the Lord said to him, Rise up and go to the lane called Straight, and seek in the house of Judas a man from Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying; and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him so that he may receive his sight” (vv. 11-12). Do you realize how busy Christ was, going back and forth between Saul and Ananias? Christ was carrying out His heavenly ministry.
Ananias then went to the house where Saul was staying, laid hands on him, and said, “Saul, brother, the Lord has sent me — Jesus, who appeared to you on the road on which you were coming — so that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (v. 17). Then Saul received sight, arose, and was baptized. He was baptized not only into Christ but also into the Body. Then he stayed for some days with the disciples who were in Damascus. Thus he was received into the Body as a brother.
Saul immediately proclaimed Christ in the synagogues, thus arousing the opposition of the Jews, who finally plotted to kill him (vv. 20-25). How did he escape from Damascus? It was not by putting on a disguise and slipping away. Rather, the members of the Body let him down through the wall by night, lowering him in a basket. The basket may point to the church. He was sent off in the Body and by the Body.
When Saul came to Jerusalem, the apostles there did not receive him. They suspected that he was trying to deceive them and were afraid. Another member, Barnabas, came into the picture, recounting to the apostles how Saul had been genuinely converted. Again, it was through a member of the Body, but not the apostles, that Saul was brought in.
Later Saul went back to Tarsus, his birthplace (v. 30). It was here that Barnabas found him. Barnabas brought him to Antioch, where they stayed for a year, meeting with the church and teaching the people (11:25-26).
By all these steps this young opposer eventually became an apostle. This illustrates to us how much time the Lord Jesus spent to make just one believer a useful apostle.
Ephesians 4:8 tells us, “The Scripture says, ‘Having ascended to the height, He led captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men.’” To say that He gave gifts to men is a simple statement, but we can see from Paul’s case how complicated it was for this one member to be made a gift as an apostle. In His ascension Christ exercised His headship to direct His Body, having one member do one part and another member fulfill another part.
Paul’s case shows the fine work in life that the ascended Head does to prepare even one useful apostle. Such an operation is not of Christ’s move as Ruler; this is a work under His headship, bringing His whole Body into a fine functioning. Do you think that Paul could have become an apostle by attending a seminary for four years? It took many members of the Body for the Head to prepare Paul to be an apostle.
Before too long it could well be that a number of you will be sent out as apostles. You must realize that for this to take place, the Head in the heavens must exercise His headship toward many members in His Body.
How can all the members grow and function so that the Body of Christ might be built up? Suppose a Pentecostal revivalist comes among you. After he preaches some soul-stirring sermons, you are all aroused. You begin to speak in tongues, to roll on the floor, to shout that you have the power, and to preach from the rooftop that the people below must repent and believe in Jesus lest they go to hell. Do you believe that a movement like this can make you grow? I have seen how those in Pentecostalism behave. From my observation I must say that there is little if any growth among them. Pentecostalism is a movement, not the fine work in life that the Head exercises to touch His members one by one in detail after detail.
Please do not misunderstand me. It is not my intention to discredit any Christian work, but I believe the Lord has shown me that Pentecostalism is not the work that can build up His Body in life. It does not accomplish His fine work in life. I have received a burden from the Lord; I do know what He is after. I have the assurance that after just a few days of meeting together, all of you have been touched by the Lord in a fine way. You have gone to the Lord and praised Him for bringing you out of darkness, for touching your heart, and for enlightening you. To thus touch the Lord and be touched by Him is the fine way in life by which you grow.
The result of this growth will be the expression of your function. Function comes from growth, and growth comes from the fine work in life of the Head.
Notice what Ephesians 4:15-16 says: “Holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.” We must all grow into the Head. Then out of the Head into whom we have grown, we shall have a supply. Whatever part of the Body we are, we shall receive a supply from the Head in order that we may function to minister life to the Body. In this way the Body will be built up.
Colossians 2:19, like the passage in Ephesians, also speaks of “holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.” We may be a joint, for the supply of the Body, or a band, for the knitting together of the members.
The Body has only one Head. Consider how busy He must be to take care of each one of you. His heavenly ministry is to care for you in such a detailed way. He exercises His headship to burden me to come here to minister Him to you. He burdens the elders to get in touch with you. He stirs up some other members who are close to you to fellowship and pray with you. He constrains you to contact Him so that He may deal with you and supply you with the particular riches you need. While you are being helped and are enjoying Him, you will grow. Then He may exercise His headship to have you go to Neuchatel. While you are there, you may give a testimony that helps those who are there. All this activity is part of Christ’s heavenly ministry, causing all His members to grow and function so that His Body may be built up.
You will realize that what I am describing to you is an organic relationship between Christ and His Body. You are living members of this organism, not mere members in an organization. This organism has Christ as its Head, exercising His care over each one of you and over all of you mutually. You are all being cared for together under His headship. Praise the Lord that here in Europe there is this organism under Christ’s living headship. I trust you can see how different this is from the traditional Christian work. In your physical body there is no dead arrangement as to how the various parts will function. Every nerve, every muscle, and every member are under the living control of the head. The whole body is under an organic headship.
The activity of the physical body under the direction of the head corresponds to the heavenly ministry of Christ as Head. He does not need a Christian organization to be established for His Body to be built up. He works organically, first to make apostles and then to make all the members grow and function. This work results in the Body building itself up.
My burden under Christ’s organic headship is to minister life into you, not to stir you up. I do believe that Christ has been ministered into you. If so, you are continually constrained to contact Him: “Lord Jesus, I love You. You are my life. You are all I need. I am open to You. I want to be gained and occupied by You. I would have my whole being saturated with Your very person.” You have probably already been praying like this. If you have, you are under the exercise of Christ’s headship, His heavenly ministry, receiving the life He ministers into you for the growth and functioning of His Body.
