In 4:12 Paul speaks of the “perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” In this message we shall consider the way to be perfected.
Ephesians 4:7 says, “But to each one of us was given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Notice that in this verse Paul does not say, “to each one of you”; he says, “to each one of us.” This indicates that Paul was including himself. He did not put himself in a special category, in a category separate from that of the other saints.
Grace has been given to each of us according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Each member of our physical body has a certain measure. For example, the measure of the ear is of one size, and the measure of the shoulder is of another. The words “the measure of the gift of Christ” refer to the size of a member of Christ’s Body. With every member there is a certain size, a certain measure. Just as our blood supplies the members of our body according to their size, grace also is given to each member according to its size. Although there is more blood in the shoulder than in the ear, the quality of the blood is the same. Just as blood is the life supply to our physical body, so grace is the life supply to the members in the Body of Christ. Praise the Lord that all the saints are gifts of Christ to whom grace has been given!
Since verses Eph. 4:9-10 are parenthetical, verse Eph. 4:11 is the continuation of verse Eph. 4:8. Verse 11 says, “And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers.” As verse 12 makes clear, these have been given for the “perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.” According to grammar, the phrase “unto the building up of the Body of Christ” is in apposition to the phrase “unto the work of ministry.” This indicates that both phrases refer to the same thing. Hence, the work of ministry is the building up of the Body.
The apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers perfect the saints unto the work of ministry. Whose work is this — the work of the gifted ones mentioned in verse 11, or the work of the saints? Is it the work of the perfecting ones, or the work of the perfected ones? The answer is that it is the work both of the perfecting ones and the perfected ones. The building up of the Body is not only the work of the apostles and the other gifted ones, but also the work of all the saints. I believe that the work of ministry in verse 12 refers more to the work of the saints than it does to the work of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers.
The work of building the meeting hall in Anaheim is an illustration of this. Many brothers worked on the construction of the hall. But very few of these brothers were professional builders. Most of them had little experience in the building trades. The few experienced tradesmen took the lead, and gradually the inexperienced ones were perfected. Eventually, both the journeymen and the learners worked together on the building of the meeting hall. However, most of the work was done, not by the professionals, but by the learners. In the same principle, the work of ministry refers to the unique work of building up the Body of Christ. This work is the responsibility not mainly of the apostles, but of all the saints. Both the leading apostles and prophets and all the believers, including even the smallest member, work together to build up the Body.
At this point I need to say a frank and honest word about the degraded condition of today’s Christianity. Christianity has become degraded largely because of the influence of the natural concept. According to the natural concept, in any group or society there should be ranks among the people, with some of a higher rank and others of a lower rank. Ignatius, one of the great church fathers, a good teacher and a pious man, made the mistake of saying that bishops are higher than elders. He said that the authority of the elders is local, but that the authority of the bishops is regional. Through such a concept the seed of hierarchy was sown. As the hierarchy developed, there were not only bishops, but also archbishops, cardinals, and, at the top, the pope. After the Reformation, this hierarchy was not abolished. Rather, it continued in various forms in the Protestant denominations, and it still exists today.
The concept of a hierarchy or a pyramid arrangement among the believers, fits into the natural concept. But if we have the light from the clear revelation in the New Testament, we shall see that the church is not a pyramid; it is a living organism, the Body, with Christ as the unique Head. In Matthew 23:8-10 the Lord Jesus said, “But you, do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone your father on the earth; for One is your Father, He Who is in the heavens. Neither be called leaders, because One is your Leader, the Christ.” Nevertheless, according to the natural concept, the twelve apostles are regarded as being above all the other saints. However, if you study the New Testament carefully, you will not find very much difference between the twelve apostles and all the other disciples. The grace in the New Testament is not given uniquely to the twelve apostles, but generally to all the disciples. In John 17 the Lord Jesus prayed, not for the apostles, but for the disciples. Furthermore, in chapter twenty of John, the Lord appeared on the day of His resurrection to the disciples. On the day of Pentecost one hundred twenty were together praying. The Spirit poured out on the day of Pentecost was poured out upon all the disciples, not just upon the apostles.
In the New Testament economy there is no thought of hierarchy. On the contrary, God’s economy in the New Testament makes all the believers of the same rank. This is the reason that the Lord Jesus said that we all are brothers and that only Christ is our Leader, Guide, Instructor, and Director. Although God’s economy puts all believers in Christ on the same level, the natural concept is that in the church, as in any social group or organization, there should be a special class of leaders.
Due to the influence of this concept, a great mistake was made in the history of the church. According to the traditional view of church history, the first century is regarded as the apostolic age. This concept is erroneous. The apostolic age includes the entire New Testament age. Is the present age not part of the apostolic age? If it is not, then what age is it — the age of the clergy or the age of the hierarchy? If we are enlightened by the revelation in the New Testament, we shall see that the whole New Testament age is the apostolic age.
Some have said that the apostolic age is over and that it is impossible to have apostles today. In his early ministry, Brother Nee was not yet entirely free from the influence of this concept. In The Assembly Life, a book published in 1934, Brother Nee said that there are no official elders, only “unofficial” elders. Furthermore, he said that there are no apostles today, but that there is a group of people who are doing the work of apostles, such as preaching the gospel and establishing churches. Brother Nee admitted that those who do the work of apostles today do not have the holiness, the power, nor the victory of the apostles. Nevertheless, as Brother Nee remarked, God is using people to work for Him in every locality in a way similar to the way He used the apostles in the first century. In the past it was the apostles who established churches, but today it is those who are doing the work of the apostles who establish churches in various localities. Brother Nee pointed out that these ones are not worthy to be compared to the apostles nor even to be called apostles, but that they are nonetheless doing part of the work of the apostles. These are the people God is using in the midst of the degraded situation of the church today. In that book published in 1934 Brother Nee realized that certain people were doing the work of apostles, but he did not dare to call them apostles. However, he called them “unofficial” apostles who appointed “unofficial” elders in the local assemblies.
Three years later, in 1937, Brother Nee saw from the New Testament that it is erroneous to say that the apostolic age is over and that there can be no apostles today. Therefore, he published the book entitled The Normal Christian Church Life, where he boldly said that there are still apostles today. When this book was published about forty years ago, we had seen only part of the light on this matter and on matters related to it. Now, in the light of chapters three and four of Ephesians, we see that all the saints can do the same kind of work as the early apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers did.
We have pointed out that the gifted persons in 4:11 are for the perfecting of the saints. What do you suppose the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers perfect the saints to do? The only reasonable and logical answer is that they perfect them to do the same thing that they themselves do. For example, a mathematics teacher trains his students in mathematics. His goal is to teach them to do what he himself is able to do. Eventually, through years of training, his students will also be able to become teachers of mathematics. But suppose a certain teacher has taught mathematics for many years without perfecting even one student. What a poor teacher he would be! Nevertheless, this is actually the situation that exists among many Christians today. Many Christians attend so-called church services year after year without being perfected in the least.
About twenty-five years ago, some brothers from the church in Manila went to a hospital to visit a certain brother who was sick. As they gathered around the brother’s bed, each of them offered prayer to the Lord. Some other Christians were nearby and were greatly surprised to hear so many people praying. One of them said to our brothers, “In our church, the pastor is the only one who prays in a public way. We don’t know how to pray. But look at you — every one is able to pray. What kind of church do you go to?” This is just one example of the shortage of a perfecting work among today’s Christians.
I am very burdened about the situation among us in the Lord’s recovery. I must honestly ask myself how many brothers and sisters have been perfected under this ministry. Just as we can earn a college degree by four years of diligent study, so we should show some marks of being perfected after several years in the Lord’s recovery. But many have been with us for years, but they seem not to have been perfected very much. Because of this, certain aspects of the clergy-laity system have crept in among us. We cannot tolerate this. We are not here to have so-called services as in Christianity. What we do in the meetings must be for the perfecting of the saints. If we are faithful to perfect the brothers and sisters, then after three or four years everyone will be perfected to do the same kind of work as was done by the early apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers.
In Acts 8 a persecution rose up against the church, and the believers were forced to scatter. The apostles, however, remained in Jerusalem. The disciples who were scattered spontaneously did the work of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. Suppose today’s Christians were scattered because of persecution. What would these scattered ones be able to do? We need to ask this question of ourselves. What would we be able to do if we were scattered? My hope is that many would be able to function as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. Finding themselves in an unfamiliar place, some would become burdened for the Lord’s interests there. Firstly, they would preach the gospel. Then they would care for those who are saved by shepherding them and teaching them. We all need to be perfected in order to do this work.
The practice of today’s Christianity is not the Lord’s way according to the New Testament. In Christianity seminaries are established to train people to serve the Lord. But those educated in the seminaries are not perfected according to God’s New Testament economy. The genuine perfection of the saints must be in the church and under the ministry. Today the Lord’s ministry is criticized, slandered, and scorned. If the eyes of the believers are opened, they will see what the ministry is and where it is today. In the church the ministry is needed to perfect the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
I am very concerned that little has actually been accomplished among us to perfect the saints unto the work of ministry. How much we have been under the influence of degraded Christianity! Many Christians today care mainly for the preaching of the gospel and somewhat for the teaching of the Bible. We all need to see clearly that today the Lord is doing one work — to perfect all the saints until we all arrive. We have seen that in Ephesians 4 Paul did not place himself in a separate category. Rather, he included himself with all the saints. We all, including Paul, need to hold the truth and grow up into Christ until we arrive at a full-grown man.
In these days I bear a very heavy burden concerning the perfecting of the saints. This burden cannot be discharged until I see that all the saints are able to do the same kind of work as was done by the early apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. I do not care merely to be a preacher or a teacher of the Bible. I desire to be perfected and to perfect others unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
In order to be perfected, we must pay attention to life and to function. The way to be perfected is to grow in life and to become skillful in function. The Greek word rendered “perfecting” here also means completing, equipping, furnishing. To perfect a saint is to complete him, to equip him, and to furnish him. Only by growing in life can we be completed. Not until we become mature will we be completed. For example, a child of five is not a full-grown person. As long as, spiritually speaking, we remain underage, we shall not be complete. Mothers perfect their children by feeding them. Furthermore, parents equip their children and furnish them by training them to behave and to speak in a certain way. Thus, children are perfected by feeding and by training. The same is true with respect to perfecting the saints according to God’s economy. The saints need to be fed and they need to be trained so that they may function with the proper skill.
Once when I was visiting a certain place which was regarded as being rather spiritual, I was asked why we conduct trainings in the Lord’s recovery. I replied that as human beings we need to grow and we need also to learn. If we do not grow, we shall not have the stature required to do certain things. If we do not learn, we shall be “barbarians.” For example, if a child is not taught to eat properly with the necessary utensils, he will be “wild” and unruly at the table. Do not think that as long as a person is spiritual in life, he requires no training. No, in spiritual things, as in physical things, there is the need of training. In spiritual things we need the maturity, the growth in life, and we also need the skill. The maturity comes from growth, and the skill comes from training. Therefore, in order to perfect the saints, we need to feed them with spiritual food that they may grow, and we also need to train them to develop certain skills.
To the present moment, I have not yet discharged my burden in the matter of training. We need to be trained for the practice of the church life. This means that the training should enrich and uplift our practice of the church life. Although the help given to the saints thus far is far from adequate, we cannot deny the fact that since coming into the Lord’s recovery many saints have undergone some training. This is evident as we listen to them testify or pray in the meetings. However, the need remains for more thorough and complete training. My burden is that after a period of time, perhaps after three or four years, virtually all the saints in the Lord’s recovery in this country will have been adequately trained.
To be trained is to have the rich supply of Christ ministered to us that we may grow, and it is to be equipped that we may be skillful in speaking, in contacting new ones, in shepherding, and in preaching and teaching. Do not say that you cannot speak because you are not a talented speaker. We all are able to speak for the Lord.
Once the saints have been perfected, then wherever they go, they will be apostles, the ones sent to that place. They will also be prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. To perfect the saints to be such gifts to the Body is the Lord’s way. If we do not follow this way, the Lord will not be able to get what He desires. How we thank Him that, in His mercy, He has shown us His way!
We have seen that in 4:13-15 Paul did not exclude himself. Rather, he said, “Until we all arrive...that we may be no longer babes...but holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things....” None of us should think that we have already been perfected. On the contrary, we all need more life supply and more training. If we are willing to grow and to be trained, then we shall not repeat the history of Christianity. If we are faithful to practice what the Lord shows us, the Lord will have a way among us. The Lord’s way has never changed. His way is to perfect the saints to do the work of ministry for the building up of the Body of Christ. This is the way for the Lord to gain what He desires as the necessary preparation for His coming back.
