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Scripture Reading: Col. 1:28-29; Rom. 12:11; 1 Cor. 15:58
Prayer: Lord, for the accomplishment of Your economy, You need us. But for us to fulfill it, we need You all the more. Lord, without You we are just vanity. Be gracious to us, and give us further words tonight. Lord, may we all have open fellowship one with another. Lord, may You release Your words among us and even in us. Amen.
Tonight I want to fellowship with you some practical words. After four years of studying the new way, the Lord has brought us through four steps.
First, the Lord has shown us that His Body is an organism. It is something of life, by life, and through life. It is entirely organic and has absolutely nothing to do with anything organizational.
Last summer the Lord showed us that the Body of Christ is an organism, and it is produced by the processed Triune God. If we read Ephesians 1 carefully, we will see that from the processed Triune God the Body of Christ is produced. All that Christ has attained is transmitted to the church. The incarnation of Christ, His human living, death and resurrection, ascension, and His transcending over all things are transmitted to the church. Hence, verse 22 says, “He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church.” After the church is produced, verse 23 continues on to say that the church “is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” From this we see that this church is the Body of Christ.
Second, we must recover the condition of Ephesians 4:11-16 and 1 Corinthians 14. Ephesians 4 speaks of the gifts perfecting the saints for the work of the New Testament ministry, which is the building up of the organic Body of Christ. This must be recovered not only because it is the Lord’s word, and therefore must be fulfilled, but also because without this it is impossible for the Body of Christ to be built on earth and for the bride of the Lord to be prepared. At the same time, the Lord has shown us that everyone has to prophesy in the church meeting (1 Cor. 14:24) so that all the saints may learn and be encouraged. In this way the church will be built.
In the New Testament, Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians 14 are two chapters that occupy a special place. One of these chapters mentions the building up of the Body of Christ; the other chapter mentions the building up of the church. In the New Testament we cannot find another passage like these two chapters that speak so definitely concerning the building up of the Body of Christ and of the church. The Lord Jesus did say in the Gospels that “upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). But this word is very general. It is not clearly explained. Ephesians 4, however, is different. It presents and points out to us the whole blueprint. First Corinthians 14 mentions the building up of the church five times. This chapter can be considered as being specifically for the building. The key to building is nothing other than prophesying. The Lord spoke such definite words through Paul. This word must be fulfilled, and the Lord’s church must be built up practically.
Recently, the Lord has further shown us the New Testament priesthood of the gospel. The New Testament priests are a priesthood. The priesthood is not something that belongs to a few people. Rather, it is universal and belongs to all the believers. Every New Testament believer is a priest. Moreover, they are not priests individually; rather, they form a priesthood. The word priesthood is a strong word in the New Testament. It is also a word that is difficult to translate. The Chinese Union Version does not translate it properly. This word is used twice in 1 Peter 2:5 and 9. Verse 5 says, “Into a holy priesthood,” and verse 9 says, “You are...a royal priesthood.” The Chinese Union Version translates this only as “holy priests” and “royal priests.”
The priests are for the offering and managing of sacrifices. Without sacrifices there is no need to have priests. The Old Testament priests offered bulls and goats as sacrifices. What then do the New Testament priests offer as sacrifices? First Peter 2:5 says, “To offer up spiritual sacrifices.” What are these spiritual sacrifices? Hebrews 13 says that praise is one kind of sacrifice to God. Good works and material giving are also sacrifices. But these are not the main sacrifices. The main sacrifices are the sinners saved through our gospel preaching. These sinners were originally in Adam and apart from Christ. But after they are saved and transferred into Christ, they become sacrifices offered to God.
Every saint should be God’s priest of the gospel and should do the work of preaching the gospel. This is truly a great light. Formerly, some said that door-knocking is good but that there is not just one way to preach the gospel. Today, we see clearly that if you do not use the proper, biblical way to preach the gospel, you may bring in sinners, but you have acted contrary to the principle of God’s economy. For example, some famous evangelists have preached the gospel and brought thousands to salvation. But their way does not render much help to the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy. On the contrary, it has annulled the organic function of many Christians in preaching the gospel. If during the past forty years they would have acted according to what is recorded in Ephesians 4 in perfecting the believers to do the work of preaching the gospel, perhaps today there would be over a million believers in America who had been perfected by them, who would all be able to do the work of preaching the gospel. Regrettably, this has not been the case.
The biblical way demands that every believer, that is, every member of the Body of Christ, be living. Is there a body that has only a few members moving while all the other members are not moving? This can never be unless that body is paralyzed. However, the Christianity that we see today is indeed in this condition. The Body that God has prepared for His Son, Christ, has been paralyzed by Christianity. This is why, I believe, the Lord has opened our eyes to see that the Body of Christ is a living organism so that we may learn to sympathize with His desires. He is indeed sick of the situation in Christianity, which paralyzes the Body.
The light that the Lord has shown us concerning the way revealed in the New Testament for believers to meet and serve can be divided into the following four major steps. First, you must personally go out to visit people, to preach the gospel to bring them to salvation, and to bring these sinners as offerings to God. Second, nourish and care for the new believers. This is not the exclusive job of the elders and co-workers. Rather, it is the duty of every saint. Third, teach and perfect. Not only should the gifted ones perfect. Even more, when you have been perfected by the gifted ones, you also should be a perfecter of others. Hence, you yourselves must go and perfect and teach others so that all the brothers and sisters will be able to do the same. Fourth, prophesy. Paul says that you can all prophesy one by one (1 Cor. 14:31). He also says, “If all prophesy” (v. 24). This shows that this matter is possible. Moreover, among the four steps, prophesying is the highest of all the functions.
Paul was a great apostle. He stayed in Ephesus for three years teaching from house to house, exhorting with tears night and day, and holding back nothing concerning the counsel of God (27, Acts 20:31). Paul’s work included nourishing, care, teaching, and perfecting. This is what Paul was doing, and this is also what we should be doing. He is the pattern to us believers. Paul was not just there giving a few messages to supply some life. Colossians 1:28-29 says, “Whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ; for which also I labor, struggling according to His operation which operates in me in power.” It is through this kind of laboring that every man can be presented full-grown in Christ.
After a person has received some care and perfecting, he will be able to prophesy in the district meetings. To prophesy is to speak for the Lord, to speak forth the Lord, and to speak the Lord into others so that they will be supplied. Your speaking must be filled with content. Also, your spirit must be strong. Only then will you be able to receive inspiration. In addition, you must be a person who has passed through dealings before the Lord and has a clear view. If you have all three things, you are qualified to prophesy. Not only do you have to learn, but you must also help others to see what is the proper prophesying that will build up the church.
The way of mutual teaching and mutual asking and answering in the small group meeting can also stir up the prophesying ability within you. The old way of Christianity has annulled the organic function of all the saints. But the new way of the Lord is a way of stirring up. In the past we were influenced by tradition to think that every time we came to a meeting, we came to a worship service where one man would be leading and teaching. Now our way is to have everyone speak. This will afford opportunity for everyone to be stirred up. After a period of time it will become habitual for people to prophesy in the meetings. This is the way of the Bible. At present, every week we take one chapter of the Scriptures. Every morning we take a portion and pick out from the portion two verses for pray-reading. Then we write down the inspiration. By Saturday we compile these inspirations into a composition for prophesying. This improves the content of prophesying. But we cannot be satisfied with this. We have to continue practicing until we can get rid of these helps. The elders and co-workers have to take the lead to exercise. Then they should bring the saints on and help them to develop the organic function within them.
According to the Bible, the Christian meeting where the Word is released is the meeting of 1 Corinthians 14 in which every member prophesies. However, there are times when after an hour of meeting, the content of the prophesying is still quite weak and lifeless. At this time you must not let the meeting go by. You have to grasp the opportunity to speak a five-minute word that is filled with rich content based on the material used. You may also give a conclusion. In this way every time the attendants come, they will not go home empty-handed. The meetings will then have the rich prophesying, and the prophets will be produced. In the end prophesying will become a tradition among us. I hope that one day, everywhere in the churches of the Lord’s recovery, prophesying will fill the atmosphere. After a new one attends our meetings for a few months, he will realize that our prophesying is not a matter of testimonies on getting rich and getting healed but a speaking for the Lord and a speaking forth of the Lord. As a step further, he will even be able to prophesy in the meetings also.
Brothers and sisters, the way is clearly set before us. First, there is the need for all the elders and co-workers to be diligent, to struggle and to strive, and to abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not vain in the Lord. It will be remembered even in eternity. If we would labor on step by step, preaching the gospel, nourishing and caring for others, edifying and perfecting others, and stirring up others to prophesy, working effectively in all these four things, the reward will be everlasting. It is now up to us to labor. Paul exhorts the saints in Romans 12:11 to “not be slothful in zeal, but be burning in spirit, serving the Lord.”
Furthermore, the new way is definitely a workable way. If the churches in the Lord’s recovery would go on according to these four steps, that is, to live a life of preaching the gospel, nourishing, teaching, and prophesying, I firmly believe that in the end the Lord will gain a full recovery. The truth is the truth. There is only one way that is organic. If you do not take this way to meet and to serve, there is no other way to take. Hence, everything is set here today. We should labor and have a realization within us that this way is of the Lord. He will surely gain a full recovery. May the Lord be merciful to us.
