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Scripture Reading: Matt. 16:18; Eph. 4:11-12, 15-16; Col. 2:19; 18, 1 Cor. 12:28; Rom. 12:3; 6, 1 Cor. 12:24; 14:25
I. In Christ:
А. Christ building up His church — Matt. 16:18.
B. His giving some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the building up of the Body of Christ — Eph. 4:11-12.
C. His believers growing up in all things into Him, the Head; out from Him all the Body growing unto the building up of itself — vv. 15-16.
II. By God:
А. Out from the Head all the Body growing with the growth of God — Col. 2:19.
B. God having placed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then works of power, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues — 1 Cor. 12:28.
C. God having placed the members, each one of them, in the Body, even as He willed — v. 18.
D. God having apportioned to each a measure of faith — Rom. 12:3.
E. God having blended the Body together — 1 Cor. 12:24.
F. The same God operating all things in all — v. 6.
G. God being among you (the church) — 14:25.
In this chapter we will consider the move of God in man in the building up of the church. Such a subject may not seem to be very organic, but the building up of the church as the Body of Christ is altogether an organic matter within our being. In the building up of the Body of Christ, God moves intrinsically, not in an outward way.
When I was young, I was instructed that the term the Body of Christ was merely a metaphor signifying what the church is to Christ. I accepted this teaching at that time, but gradually, after many years, I found out that the Body of Christ is not a metaphor; it is a great reality in the universe. Rather, our physical body is a metaphor portraying the Body of Christ. To know what the Body of Christ is, we must study our own body. I have learned a great deal about the Body of Christ by studying my own body over a number of years and through a number of illnesses.
First, God’s move in the building up of the Body of Christ is in Christ. According to Matthew 16:15-18, it is Christ who builds up His church. In verse 15 the Lord asked the disciples, “But you, who do you say that I am?” In verse 16 Peter responded by saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Lord then said to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (vv. 17-18). This rock in verse 18 refers not only to Christ but also to the revelation concerning Christ that Peter received from the Father.
In verse 18 Christ said clearly that He would build up His church. However, we should not forget that Christ is not separate from God. Actually, Christ became the Builder of the church by being appointed, that is, commissioned, to do the building work. As the Christ of God, He was appointed and commissioned by God to be the Builder of the church. The Christ means “the anointed One.” The anointed One is the appointed One, and the appointed One is the commissioned One. Christ has been anointed, appointed, and commissioned by God to build the church. So actually, it is God who builds up the church. God is the source of the building because God is the anointing One and the appointing One. He is the One who commissioned the Christ of God to build the church.
In one sense Christ builds the church, but in another sense He did not initiate this work. The initiation of the building up of the Body of Christ was from God. Therefore, God is the source. From this we can realize that to study the Bible is not an easy thing. In my speaking in the past, I stressed only the point of Christ building the church. However, in this chapter the stress is not on the building of the church by Christ but on the source, the initiation, of the building. The source and initiation of the building of the church is not Christ but God. God initiated this matter. God anointed His Son to carry out His commission to build up the church. Thus, the building of the church by Christ is actually God’s move.
In 1976 we built the meeting hall in Anaheim, California, in about nine months. One brother was appointed to purchase all the materials, and another brother was appointed as a kind of superintendent to oversee the entire project. All who worked on the building carried out the instructions of the superintendent without any opinion. This was one of the main reasons that the work progressed so quickly. On the one hand, the brother who served as superintendent built the meeting hall. He was appointed and commissioned for this. But on the other hand, the person who commissioned this brother was the one who built the hall. In the same way, Christ has been commissioned by God to build up the church. Christ builds the church only according to the Father’s will, according to the Father’s instruction. Thus, the building of the church is actually the move of God.
Christ does not build the church directly with His own hand. Rather, He builds the church indirectly through the members of His Body (Eph. 4:11-12, 16). Ephesians 4 tells us that Christ as the ascended Head gave gifts to men for the building up of His Body (vv. 8, 11). Verses 11 and 12 say, “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 unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” But even these gifted persons do not build up the church directly. Christ does not build the church directly, nor do the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. The gifted persons perfect the saints unto the work of the ministry, that is, the work of building up the Body of Christ.
In building the meeting hall in Anaheim, the one who initiated the building did not do much actual building. Much of the direct building was done by eighty young brothers. The initiator gave the instructions and motivated the building work, but the eighty brothers actually did the work. In the same way, it is not God, the Initiator, who builds the church directly; neither is it Christ, the anointed One, nor even the gifted persons given by Christ to the Body. The gifted persons perfect the saints as members of the Body to do the direct building work. Still, it is God in His Trinity who moves in these perfected members in their carrying out of the work of building. Thus, all the credit should still go to God.
The believers of Christ grow up in all things into Him, the Head, and out from Him all the Body grows unto the building up of itself (vv. 15-16). Christ gave the gifted persons to the church for the perfecting of the saints unto the building work. But there is something more intrinsic than this: all the believers as members of the Body need to grow up. When we were building the meeting hall in Anaheim, the little children were not allowed to help, because it was too dangerous. They needed to grow so that they would have the strength to do the work. Likewise, in order to do the work of building up the church, we must grow. All the members of the Body must grow into Christ the Head in all things.
Then, out from the Head all the Body grows unto the building up of itself. After growing into the Head, we remain in Him to receive the bountiful supply from Him. Then we, the small members of the Body, build the church with the bountiful supply that we have received from the Head. Ephesians 4:16 says, “Out from whom all the Body...causes the growth of the Body.” In the building up of the Body, growth is a crucial matter. First, we grow into Christ, the Head; then out from Him we receive the nourishment, the supply, to grow unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
All the small members are the direct builders of the church, yet they build the church with the very Christ who is the bountiful supply in them. Thus, the building is not only by Christ but also with Christ. The church is built by us with Christ as the building material. This is very intrinsic.
The church is built in Christ, and it is also built by God.
Colossians 2:19, a verse similar to Ephesians 4:16, says, “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 grow into Christ, and out from Him we grow with the growth of God for the Body. Many believers have never heard that we are growing in Christ with the growth of God. This means that when we are growing, God is growing within us. We are growing in Christ, and God grows in us. Some versions have translated the phrase the growth of God as “the increase of God.” God is growing in us, and this growth is an increase of God within us. Eventually, the building material of the church is God Himself. To say that we build the church with Christ as the material is correct, but this is not as intrinsic as saying that we build the church with God as the building material.
God is growing, and His growing within us is actually His moving within us. This moving is God’s building. In the building up of the church God moves in such an intrinsic way. So, all the time we need to turn to our spirit, where God operates, where God increases, and where God grows to be the material of our building. We build by growing into Christ and by being out from Christ to grow with the Triune God.
The building up of the church depends on our inner situation. If our inner situation is wrong, there is no possibility of building the church. When our inner situation is right, at that time we are growing with the growth of God. By this growth and with this growth we build up the church. Thus, the building up of the church is God’s move within us.
We may consider that to build up the church we need to labor by visiting people and helping sinners to be saved, and thus that we must build up the church by ourselves and with ourselves. This kind of consideration is wrong. If we take this way, we will not see much result from our labor. We need to realize that when we go out to visit people, we must be growing into Christ and must be growing out from Christ in order to build with the growth of God. All our activities to go out and visit people should not be ours but should be God’s. God is growing in us. With this growth of God we first grow into Christ, and then we grow out from Christ. Then we have the growing God within us as the very element and material for us to build up the church. Eventually, our building up of the church is God’s move within us.
Some Christians consider that the way to build up the church is to have a capable pastor who is knowledgeable, eloquent, and very friendly. However, this concept is wrong. Whatever is built in that way is not the church; it is merely a social unit. When such a capable, eloquent, and knowledgeable one dies or resigns, after a short time that social unit may collapse. But the church that is built up by our growing with the growth of God into Christ and then out from Christ will remain forever and will consummate in the New Jerusalem. Whatever we build in this way will be a part of the New Jerusalem. This is not only our building; it is our building with God’s building of the church by His growing within us.
For the building with the growth of God, we must deny ourselves, rejecting our natural life and our natural strength, and turn to our spirit to contact God continually, to give Him the freedom to move, to act, to work, and to grow. Then as we grow with God into Christ and out from Christ, we have something with which to build. This building up of the church is God’s move in man.
According to 1 Corinthians 12:28, God has placed some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then works of power, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. In Ephesians 4 it is Christ who gave the apostles, prophets, and teachers (v. 11), but in 1 Corinthians 12 it is God who placed these members in the church. Is it God who placed, or is it Christ who gave? Again, this involves the Trinity. Whatever God the Son did was the move of God the Father. While God the Son was giving the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers to the church, God the Father was placing all these gifted persons in the church within Christ’s giving.
God has placed the members, each one of them (not only the gifted persons), in the Body, even as He willed (v. 18). You may say that you are a small member. But whether you are a large member or a small one, you have been placed by God. It is not up to you. You are where you are because God has willed and is still willing for it to be so. This is the reason that if we do not come to the church meetings, we do not have peace. We do not feel that we are where we should be. God has placed each member in the Body, even as He willed.
God has apportioned to each member of the Body a measure of faith (Rom. 12:3). Regardless of how small you are, be assured that you have a measure of faith. That faith was measured to you, that is, apportioned to you in a certain measure. No doubt Paul had a large measure of faith, and you have a smaller measure. Yet you still have a measure of faith. This was God’s apportionment.
First Corinthians 12:24 says that God has blended the Body together. Because of our different characters, dispositions, intentions, and opinions, it is difficult for us to be blended. However, as long as we are in the church life, God blends us. The longer we remain in the church life, the more we will be blended. No one can resist God’s blending. God is the most skillful One; therefore, God has a way to blend us. When God is blending, it is difficult for us to resist. This blending is not outward; it is altogether inward. God’s blending is God’s move in man.
In the church as the Body of Christ, the same God operates all things in all. First Corinthians 12:6 says, “There are distinctions of operations, but the same God, who operates all things in all.” Quite often I propose things to the elders and co-workers because of God’s operation within me. God first is living; then He is moving and working within us every day. We all have experienced God’s living, moving, and working within us. This is God’s operation. God is busier than we. He is working to blend us and to build up the Body of Christ.
Eventually, God’s moving in us in the building up of the church will have a consummation: whenever we come together, the strangers who come in will see and admit that God is among us (14:25). This is the outward speaking of the strangers. Actually, we not only have God among us, but we also have God within us. Even our meeting is God’s moving in us. This is the building up of the church by God’s moving in man. The entire history of the church is a part of the history of God moving in man.
