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Scripture Reading: Hag. 1:1—2:9
Haggai speaks, first of all, not to the people but to the governor and the high priest. “In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of Jehovah came through Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and unto Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest” (Hag. 1:1). Then after speaking to the governor and the high priest, he speaks to the people (v. 13; 2:2).
Haggai speaks first to the governor and to the high priest because for the building up of the house of God there is the need of the kingship and the priesthood. The priesthood is the ministry that brings the people into the presence of God and helps them to contact God, be saturated, and even be occupied by God. In the building up of the house of God, there is the need of such a ministry. We do need this kind of saturation, fellowship, and oneness with God for the building up of the local churches. We do not need the knowledge of the teachings, but we do need the saturation, the oneness, the fellowship, and the living contact with God. This is not the ministry of teaching but the ministry of the priesthood, and this ministry will help us to be real priests. We all must learn to contact the Lord and be saturated with the Lord. This is the first need for the building up of the local churches.
Then there is the need of the kingship. The kingship is simply the headship of Christ, the divine authority. In the local churches the government is not like that of the world. In the world there are different types of governments. Some are run by the people, and some are run by a dictator. But the government in the local churches is neither by the people nor by a dictatorship. In the local churches the government must be the divine authority, which is the headship of Christ, the kingship with divine authority.
The normal situation in a local church is that of an adequate priesthood and kingship. This means that we all know how to contact the Lord, how to have living fellowship with the Lord, how to be saturated with the Lord, and how to be occupied with the Lord. We all know how to submit ourselves to the leadership of Christ, that is, to recognize the divine authority among the Lord’s people in the local churches. If we have these two things, what a wonderful situation that will be!
I believe that many of us read the last article written by Dr. A. W. Tozer before he died. In this message he pointed out that in today’s Christianity the headship of Christ is completely renounced. He said that in all the church services, conventions, and conferences, the headship of Christ is not recognized. This is why there is the confusion and division with many different kinds of opinions. Because the headship of Christ has not been recognized by His people, there is no divine authority among the Christians; there is only confusion and division. Everyone does whatever is right in his own eyes. There is no kingship.
In the local churches we are all under the kingship and headship of Christ. If I must say something, I must say it under the kingship and headship of my Lord. If it is not under His ruling, His authority, I should not say anything. Whatever I say and do must be under the headship of Christ. Nothing rules over me except His headship. I recognize the kingship of Christ in the local churches.
In the summer of 1966, we covered the matter of the priesthood and the kingship quite thoroughly. All these messages have been published in The Stream magazine (vol. 5, no. 4, through vol. 6, no. 4). For the building up of the house of God, we need the priesthood and the kingship.
I feel that I must repeat some of these things again, because they simply are not in our human concept. For the raising up of the tabernacle, Moses represented the divine authority, and the high priest, Aaron, represented the priesthood. It was under these two ministries that the tabernacle was raised up. For the building of the temple, King David fought the battle to bring in peace. Then King Solomon represented the divine authority, and the high priest represented the priesthood. Under these two, the temple was built up. Now in the recovery of the building of the temple, there are Zerubbabel the governor, representing the kingship, and Joshua the high priest, representing the priesthood. It is only under these two ministries that the recovery of the building of the temple is possible.
Today, for the Lord’s recovery in the local churches, we still need these two ministries. I am so grateful to the Lord that here in the churches we have seen the priesthood and the kingship. The brothers and sisters know how to contact the Lord and to have a living fellowship with the Lord day by day. This is why we have morning watch with all the pray-reading—it is simply to contact the Lord, to have a living fellowship with the Lord, and even to be saturated, permeated, and possessed by the Lord so that we may really be one with Him in spirit. It is by this that we all have come to recognize the authority of God, the headship of Christ. No human hand is ruling over us. There is no human control, but we do have the divine authority among us. The brothers and sisters are moving and acting under the headship of Christ. If you were to ask me who are the ones who take care of the churches, I would say I just do not know how to answer. What I mean is that we do not have the maneuvering of any human hand, but we do have a government, a divine government, a government under the headship of Christ. This is the kingship.
When someone asks how we have our meetings, how we start our meetings, and who takes the lead in our meetings, it is really difficult for me to answer. For the building up of the house of the Lord, we have the ministry of the priesthood as well as the ministry of the kingship.
However, sometimes these two are not sufficiently strong. Then there is the need of the support and strengthening by the prophets. It is not the teaching that is required but the ministry of the real prophet. Haggai came to strengthen Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest. He did not come to replace the priesthood or the kingship, but to strengthen these two ministries. The prophet only strengthens; he does not replace.
For the building up of the churches, we do need the ministry of the priesthood and the ministry of the kingship. But sometimes we need the strengthening from the prophet. The prophet should not replace these two ministries but strengthen them. Listen to what Haggai said: “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares Jehovah; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land, declares Jehovah, and work; for I am with you, declares Jehovah of hosts” (2:4). Haggai did not build the house for them. He did not take over their position. He simply strengthened and supported them.
Why is it necessary to point out all these things? It is simply due to the background of Christianity. Many times in the churches, those who can speak take over the position of the priesthood and the kingship to build up the church themselves. This is wrong. Regardless of how strong their ministry is in speaking, they should not replace the others and occupy their position. All they should do is strengthen and help others.
Ephesians 4:12 tells us very clearly that the gifted persons such as the apostles and prophets do not build the church directly: “For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” They do the work of perfecting the saints; then the saints build up the Body directly. The gifted persons should not replace the saints; they should only perfect them so that they themselves can build up the Body.
Brothers and sisters, we all must experience the ministry of the priesthood and the kingship so that we all can rise up to build the house of God directly. The prophets never built the temple in the recovery directly. It was the people, under the two ministries of the priesthood and the kingship, who built the temple. The church will never be built up by any preacher or teacher. The churches must be built up by the saints. “Be strong, O Zerubbabel...O Joshua,...be strong.” It was the people who built the house directly, not the prophets. Today all the brothers and sisters in the churches are the builders. What we need are not simply the teachings and doctrines, but the strengthening under the ministry of the priesthood and the kingship for the building.
We all have the wrong concept. If by the mercy of the Lord I could help you abandon it, I will have done a good work. What is this wrong concept? We all still think that it is the great speakers and teachers who build up the church. But this is absolutely wrong. Unless the church is built up by the saints, it will never be built up. If we were to ask the people in today’s Christianity, “Who builds up the church?” immediately, they would answer, “Our pastor, with the help of the assistant pastor and music director.” I am afraid that this concept is still within many of us subconsciously. Why is your church not so strong? I fear that you will say, “Our church is weak because we do not have very good elders, and we are lacking good speakers.” But the church cannot be built up directly by the gifted persons. The church is to be built up by all the local saints, including you. Do not say that your church is weak because the elders are weak. You must say that it is weak because you are weak. If you are not weak and everyone else is not weak, your church will be very strong. It is the saints who build up the church directly.
In all my experience in the local churches throughout the years, I have learned a secret. In the early years when different ones came to complain regarding something in the local churches, I would always listen to them. Then I would go to the elders to say something. The elders, then, would be unhappy with me and say that it was too easy for me to listen to others. If the brothers came to complain about the sisters, I would say something to the sisters. Then the sisters would be unhappy with me and say that it was too easy for me to listen to the brothers. Likewise, when the sisters complained about the brothers, I would say something to the brothers, and they would say that it was too easy for me to listen to the sisters. Finally, I learned the lesson and the secret. This secret really solved many problems. When someone came to me, complaining about what the elders had done, I would answer them in this way: “Probably you are right. You should go and tell them yourself.” They would immediately answer that they could not do this. Then I told them, “If you say it, you must also be willing to do it.” This solved many problems.
One day a brother told me that the men’s restroom was not clean. I told him, “Then you should clean it.” Another brother spoke to me regarding the lack of anyone from the church standing on the street to distribute tracts. I told him to go and do it. Eventually, the brothers began to learn that if they spoke to me about anything, I would tell them to do it. This is a good secret and solves many problems. It also stops many from being critical. Do not complain about the leading ones or about this and that. You must take the burden upon yourself. The church can only be built up by you directly. You are the direct builder.
Do not think that if a certain brother came, he would help you. If he is a proper prophet, he will charge you to do it. The more the real prophet comes, the more burden you will have. The prophets do not come to release your burden, but to increase your burden. Be strong and work. Do not return to the clergy-laity system.
After the war ended in 1945, all the brothers from the interior of mainland China returned to Nanking, the capital, and invited me to their place. They were so happy that I had come, but I told them, “Brothers, do not be so happy. I did not come to release your burden, but to put the burden upon you. I have come with a heavy burden, but I plan to put it on your shoulders. The longer I stay, the more my burden will be reduced, and your burden will be increased. After a certain period of time, I will have no burden, and you will be fully burdened.” That was in 1946. The next year I was fully released and departed; all the burden was left with the brothers. The next time they wrote me to come and help, I told them to do it themselves.
We all must realize that the building of the local churches is not in the hands of the prophets. All the prophets did was strengthen the priesthood, the kingship, and all the people. “Be strong, O Zerubbabel...be strong, O Joshua,...and be strong, all you people...and work.” This is all the prophets did. You must never put the building up of the local church upon others’ shoulders. You must bear it yourselves.
The second thing that the prophet Haggai told them was to consider their ways. “You have sown much, but you bring in little; you eat, but there is no satisfaction; you drink, but there is no being filled with drink; you dress yourselves, but there is no warmth in doing so; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put them into a bag with holes. Thus says Jehovah of hosts, Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it and will be glorified, says Jehovah. You looked for much, and yet it amounted to little; and when you brought it home, I blew on it. Why? declares Jehovah of hosts. Because of My house that lies waste while you each run to your own house” (1:6-9). Then the Lord said, “I called for a drought” (v. 11). The Lord called for dryness upon all things. Whatever they did, they had the sense that it was so dry.
Look at today’s Christianity. There is so much labor—they sow the seed, they try to eat and drink, they try to clothe people, they try to earn something, but eventually they get nothing. In most Christian work today there is a sense of drought. All their preaching and teaching is dried up. Why? Their prayer meetings, their reading of the Bible, and all other kinds of meetings are so dry. Why? It is simply because they have neglected the house of God.
In 1954, after we had been on the island of Taiwan for about four or five years, an American missionary came to see me. We were preaching the gospel, and he had visited all the halls. At that time we had only about five or six halls in the church in Taipei. He was so surprised to see that every hall was full and overflowing. The people were even crowded outside the halls. He asked, “Please tell me your secret. How do you bring so many people in?” Then he went on to explain that only a few weeks ago, they had a gospel campaign with a famous preacher. They put an advertisement in the newspapers in huge characters, announcing the preacher of world fame who was coming to speak. Yet they drew only a handful of people. He said that when he asked our people in the different halls who was going to speak that night, they did not know. He was really perplexed. He asked, “How could you have such a large crowd, and yet your people did not know who was going to speak? Tell me your secret.” I said, “Brother, it is really difficult for me to tell you the secret. If you want to learn this secret, you must come and stay with us for two years. Then you will know.” Why have they sown so much, yet they bring in so little? They have Bible study after Bible study and revival after revival, yet they are still so dry and unsatisfied. Why? “Because of My house that lies waste while you each run to your own house.”
In the summer of 1968, over one hundred forty brothers and sisters went from the United States to visit the churches in Taiwan. One night the church in Taipei had a baptism for about four hundred people. During the baptism, an American missionary came to the hall and began to speak with some of the American brothers. He told how the missionaries had worn out the soles of their shoes toiling in Taipei, but with little fruit. He was very bitter toward the church in Taipei because they had so many. He even claimed that many of those who were being baptized were probably the result of missionaries’ work. I told the brothers that if he could point out one of the four hundred who were baptized who had first been contacted by them before coming to us, I would lose the case. He was very bitter because they had worked so hard and yet had nothing. Why? It was simply because they labored for their own work and not for the Lord’s house. The secret is the local church. The secret is the building up of the local churches. This is the building up of the house of the Lord.
This is not only true with spiritual things, but with material things as well. I am fully assured that if we mean business for the Lord’s recovery, the Lord will grant much blessing, even materially. If we are on the proper ground and mean business with the Lord for His recovery, the dew will fall from heaven when we are in need. Whatever we do, far from being dry, there will be an abundance of water. There will be not only dew but a river. There will be real blessing both spiritually and materially.
Wherever I go, I am always asked these questions. First, “In what way do you meet?” I always tell them to come and see. Second, “Where is your headquarters?” I always tell them we do not have any headquarters, unless it is in the heavens. Then they always ask, “How do you raise your money? With such a large work, there is the need of much money. How do you get it?” I tell them, “Yes, we do spend much money, but we do not have any way to raise it.” There is really no way, and we never talk about money. I do not like to talk about money; I like to speak about Christ. But, praise the Lord, we have never lacked money because “the silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, declares Jehovah of hosts” (2:8). If we are only for the building up of the Lord’s house, everything is for us.
When we began to publish the hymnal, we did not even have one dollar in our hands. Eventually, we put in more than thirty-one thousand dollars for its printing. When we began, we did not realize it would cost nearly so much, but praise the Lord! We never had any lack, and now we have such a good hymnal for the local churches.
If we are going to work for the Lord, the most blessed place to work is in the local churches. Just a little sowing brings in so much. By just a little eating and drinking, we are filled. Just five loaves and two fish feed five thousand with an abundance left over. Brothers, this is the Lord’s way. If we are for His building, all He is and all He has is available for us. Really, it is not for us; it is for His purpose of building up the house of the Lord, the local church. Praise the Lord!
