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Scripture Reading: Rom. 8:4; 12:4-5
The Body of Christ in Romans 12 issues from the experience of walking according to the spirit in Romans 8. According to Paul’s view of God’s economy, all the members of the Body of Christ should be persons who walk according to the spirit. In principle, if we do not walk according to the spirit, we cannot practically have the Body of Christ. All the believers are members of the Body of Christ, but the practicality of the Body depends on the believers’ walk. If the believers walk according to the flesh, although they are still members of the Body of Christ, there will be no Body in their experience. The Body life is annulled by a fleshly walk. There are millions of believers today, but there is very little of the Body life among them, because few walk according to the spirit. By the Lord’s mercy, the situation in the Lord’s recovery is somewhat better, yet we have to admit that even among us the Body life is lacking. We may have living meetings and stand on the proper ground of oneness, but the Body life among us is inadequate.
The Body life does not depend on the exercise of the spirit in the meetings but on the walk, the daily living, of the saints. The exercise of the spirit to sing, pray, and speak in the meetings helps the saints to live the Body life, but we need to realize that these things themselves are not the Body life. It is wrong to think that if we have a high meeting, we have the Body life. I have participated in many high meetings. During a revival in the church in Chefoo, the meetings were full of the Spirit. In some of the meetings the Spirit caused all the attendees to spontaneously weep. An older brother who visited those meetings was a director of the college where I had studied and a founder of an independent Chinese denomination. He had visited our meetings before but had not come out of the denominations. However, his children were in the church in Chefoo and strongly encouraged him to come and see what was happening when the revival began. After some time, he came. There were a few hundred saints in the first meeting that he attended, and all were spontaneously weeping. This older brother later testified that when he entered the meeting, he immediately began to weep. He could not control his tears. Afterward, he came the way of the Lord’s recovery in spite of the discouragement from his Christian friends, who were leaders in the denominations. Eventually, he became an elder of the church in Hong Kong. The meetings during the revival in Chefoo were so powerful that anyone who entered could not resist the Spirit, but that was not the Body life. The Body life comes from walking according to the spirit.
No one can deny that the revival in Chefoo was of the Lord, yet a revival is not the Body life. Revival is something temporary, but the Body life is lasting. A great revival began in Wales in 1904 through the ministry of Evan Roberts. That revival affected all of Wales, but it soon ended. This again shows that revival is not the Body life. What the Lord wants today is not to start a revival but to recover the Body life, the realization and living of the Body of Christ. In the revival in Chefoo all the saints — about eight hundred brothers and sisters — consecrated themselves, their families, and their possessions. They physically brought their belongings to the meeting hall, including the title deeds to their houses, to offer to the church. During that time we had everything in common. However, of those eight hundred saints, perhaps half have left the way of the Lord’s recovery. Only those who walked according to the spirit remained in the Lord’s recovery.
As elders, we must see that our work should be to take the lead to walk according to the spirit and to minister such a life to the saints whom we serve. If this is not our work, whatever we do will be in vain. I have never before or since seen a revival like the one in Chefoo. There were meetings every day for a hundred days, and every meeting was living and high. All eight hundred saints did not care for anything else. They had only one desire — to be prepared to be sent out as the army of the Lord. Afterward, for the sake of the gospel seventy migrated by boat to Inner Mongolia, and thirty migrated by boat to Andong in southern Manchuria. In spite of that great revival, only those who walked according to the spirit remained in the church life. Some even went back to the world. Therefore, the work of revival is altogether not trustworthy. I have learned this lesson.
I do not trust in any kind of revival work or in the release of the spirit in the meetings. This does not mean that I do not appreciate these things. I like to see the saints releasing their spirits, but I do not trust in it. In 1968 four couples in a certain church wanted to begin practicing pray-reading in the meetings, but the rest of the church opposed it. I encouraged the four couples not to insist on pray-reading in the meetings but to practice it at home. Today two of the couples are still in the Lord’s recovery, and two have left. Practices such as pray-reading, calling on the name of the Lord, singing, and praising are helpful, and revival helps as well. However, we should not trust in these things. Many who have released their spirits strongly in the meetings have not remained in the Lord’s recovery. Only those who have begun to walk according to the spirit have remained. We should not oppose any kind of release of the spirit, but neither do we need to emphasize these things. They help the saints, but in order to live the Body life, the saints must begin to walk according to the spirit. The release of the spirit in the meetings does not have the same spiritual value and weight as walking according to the spirit. If the goal of our work is merely to stir up the saints to release their spirits in the meetings, our work will be in vain. The condition of the meetings is like the weather, constantly changing. I have no trust in outward practices in the meetings. Whether a brother will be an elder should not be determined primarily by his exercise in the meetings. We do not trust in this. In some places we need revival, but we should not trust in that. Revival should usher the saints into walking according to the spirit. Romans 8 and 12 reveal that only such a walk will bring us into the practicality of the Body of Christ.
What is needed in the Lord’s recovery is a daily living of walking according to the spirit. In the New Testament there is a certain order in the church with apostles, elders, and deacons. Nevertheless, this arrangement and these titles would not be necessary if all the saints walked according to the spirit. Such arrangements are necessary because life is lacking. In the New Jerusalem there will be no apostles, elders, or deacons but only precious stones (Rev. 21:19; cf. 1 Pet. 2:5). No position or title will enter with us into the New Jerusalem. The twelve apostles will be in the New Jerusalem, but they will be there as stones for the building (Rev. 21:14, 19). We need to have a foretaste of the New Jerusalem today. Because we are all members of the Body of Christ and have Christ as our Head, it is a shame if we need elders to regulate us. Every city has police, but it is a shame if the citizens need the police to control them directly. It is not an honor to have police come to our home. If all the citizens conducted themselves properly, the police would not be needed. If a local church is a miniature of the New Jerusalem with all the saints walking according to the spirit, the elders would not have much to do. Perhaps they would only need to announce the meeting times. Our need is not to be ruled outwardly but to be transformed to become precious stones for God’s building. The elders need to minister life to the saints for their transformation.
It was a lack of life that caused titles, positions, and arrangements to come into the church. However, we know that these things are not God’s intention, for the positions of apostles, elders, and deacons are gone in the book of Revelation. Even the writer of Revelation, the apostle John, did not identify himself as an apostle but only as a brother who was in spirit (1:9-10). When the seven Spirits are present, all the titles and positions are gone (v. 4). In Revelation we do not see apostles, elders, and deacons but the seven Spirits, enlightening the churches as the lampstands (3:1; 4:5; 1:20). Every local church should be a shining lampstand enlightened by the seven Spirits, not ruled by elders.
As leading ones, we should not trust in our outward doing or controlling. Instead, we need to pray much, take the lead to walk according to the spirit, and minister life to the saints. Our primary concern should not be to make arrangements. Several years ago I saw many files and paper forms in the deacons’ office of the church in Taipei, and all the serving ones were busy with routine work. I strongly advised the leading ones to forget about their arrangements and organizational, routine work and come back to spirit and life. When we are short of the Spirit, we tend to pick up routine works and become like a secular corporation. The leading ones should not trust in their work and arrangements but in the Spirit. Christianity today is mainly a matter of religious work, routine, and organization. However, the church is a living organism. Therefore, our service should not be routine but organic. Routine, organizational work in the churches is like the man-made bricks used to build the tower of Babel. As elders, we need to take the lead to forsake any such human work and instead help the saints to walk according to the spirit. The Lord’s recovery is entirely a matter of spirit and life. The content and reality of the recovery is spirit and life. The boundary of the recovery is also spirit and life. Whether someone is in the recovery does not depend on outward appearances but on the inward reality of spirit and life. The enlightening and searching of the seven Spirits is the true test and measure of whether anything is of the Lord’s recovery. Any rank or hierarchy in the local churches is absolutely abominable in the eyes of the Lord. An elder should not consider himself as an authority over others. Only spirit and life are acceptable to God.
By the Lord’s mercy we need to see what the Body of Christ is. If we see the Body, we will see what the Lord’s recovery is and what Christianity is. Religion is mainly a matter of hierarchy. The elders should not seek to have a position from which they can control the church. We need to humble ourselves and pray, “Lord, I am nothing, I have nothing, and I can do nothing. Lord, everything must be done by You. Only You, as the Spirit, can minister life to people. I am only a slave to serve the saints.” The root of the church’s degradation and the source of religious, organized Christianity is man’s attempt to rule over and control things. If we do not see this, such corruption and darkness may creep in and greatly damage the church in our locality. We will reap what we sow. I say this in love. We need to be exposed in order to receive the help through the light. Love always speaks the truth.
Question: Can you say something further about forsaking arrangements and organizational work and helping the saints to walk according to the spirit?
Answer: Some arrangements are necessary, but nothing should be our personal possession. Because the church is not a secular business, we should not spend most of our time on business affairs. As elders, most of our concern and labor should be to pray for the saints, visit them, shepherd them, and help them to grow.
Concerning the necessary arrangements, there should always be at least two capable, trustworthy brothers to take care of matters such as the church’s bank account. Two gives us a testimony and is also practical for the continuation of the matter if one brother leaves. This kind of arrangement is necessary, but we should not put our trust in organization. Our trust is in the Spirit and life. We need to minister the Spirit and life to others so that they may grow.
Our tendency is to arrange things organizationally. Accordingly, the elders sometimes arrange groups to take care of different practical services. In making such arrangements, they consider which saints are best to serve in and lead the various groups. We should avoid this kind of organizational arrangement because it does not involve life. Some arrangements are necessary, but our main concern should be to contact the saints, fellowship with them, minister life to them, and stir up their interest and burden to serve. This way involves life. When the saints come to serve, certain things will be spontaneously manifested, such as who should take the lead in the groups. At that time it will be necessary to make a few arrangements to appoint two or three to take the lead so that the service can go on in a good way.
The leading ones need to have much contact with the saints. The Lord may lead the elders to give a message in order to encourage the saints to serve. Such a message should minister a spirit of service and life for service. In addition, the leading ones also need to visit the saints individually as much as possible. Our way should be to minister life, not to organize. The way of life is to minister life to the saints by speaking and visiting. When the saints receive life, they will be stirred up and have a heart to participate in the church service. Nevertheless, the elders should oversee the service in order to balance, adjust, and arrange when necessary. They may see that it would be better for someone to serve in a different group. This oversight should still involve life. The elders should not give the saints the impression that their oversight is a matter of organization. Every service group should be open to anyone who feels to participate in that area of service. Legality and regulation kill the saints. We need to remember that the boundary line is not organization but the spirit and the life.
