The practice of the God-ordained way to meet and serve comes out of our seeing that the church is an organism as a mingling of God and man, produced by the Triune God in his Divine Trinity.
We thank and praise the Lord for showing us the light and revelation regarding the scriptural way to meet and to serve for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. There are some scriptural practices which help us to meet and serve in such a way that we build up the Body of Christ.
First, we need to cooperate with the Lord to preach the gospel for begetting sinners to be sons of God, and this we should do not in the way of a great gospel meeting but by visiting the sinners in their home. The Lord came to save sinners and He did so by visiting them and being with them.
After someone is begotten of God through our preaching of the gospel, we need to go on and visit him in his home together with other saints to cherish him and nourish him, so that he may grow in life.
The Lord’s way is not inviting people to meetings but going to visit the new ones in their homes to bring the Lord to them, help them get into the word of God, and cherish and nourish them.
Furthermore, we need to have group meetings in which all the saints function in mutuality by asking and answering questions, caring and shepherding one another, inciting one another to love and good works, and promoting the gospel preaching and caring for the new ones.
In our group meetings there shouldn’t be a designated leader but rather, we all need to take the lead to function, we all need to teach and be taught, we all need to feed and be fed, and we all need to care for others and be cared for.
Such group meetings should be the main part of the church life, for here we all learn to develop our organic function in the Body, so that we all may function in our measure for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
Finally, we all need to lead the saints to pursue and desire prophesying in the church meetings, preparing a portion to speak with the exercise of our spirit in the meeting for the building up of Body of Christ. All believers should and can prophesy, that is, speak forth Christ, speak for the Lord, and speak Christ into people.
All these activities or practices are based on the intrinsic view of the principle that the church is an organism, the Body of Christ, and it is produced by the dispensing of the Triune God into man.
Therefore, we all need to cooperate with the Lord to grow in life and function in our measure for the building up of the church as the organism of the Triune God.
The Church is an Organism as a Mingling of God and Man Produced by the Dispensing of the Triune God
On one hand there are some solid practices that the New Testament encourages us to have, such as begetting new believers through preaching the gospel, nourishing and cherishing them by visiting them in their homes, meeting in groups for mutual teaching and perfecting, and prophesying for the building up the church.
On the other hand, there’s an underlying principle, an intrinsic vision that we need to see, which is the base for all our practices in the church life. We need to see that the church is an organism as a mingling or the Triune God with man, produced by the processed Triune God in His Divine Trinity.
The issue of God’s dispensing in Ephesians one is the church. Every practice we do in the church life should be based on our seeing that the church is an organism produced by and constituted with the Triune God mingling Himself with man.
The church is an organism, and this organism is the outflow of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in His processes.
Our human body is wonderful, and it has many members that function organically in their measure; man was created by God with a human body, but the Body of Christ was not created but it is being produced by the Triune God through many processes.
We were selected and predestinated by the Father (Eph. 1:3-6). The Son redeemed us and made us an inheritance in Him (Eph. 1:7-12). The Spirit seals us and is the pledge of our rich inheritance of God (vv. 13-14).
The conclusion of Eph. 1 is that Christ the Son rose from the dead, ascended into the heavenlies, transcended above all, had all things subjected under His feet, and was given to be Head over all things to the church (Eph. 1:22-23).
This church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
God in Christ went through a process to produce the church, and we go through a process to become the church; now as the church we are the organism of God, the Body of Christ, and we enjoy a continual transmission from Christ – the Head of the Body – into our being.
All that Christ the Head has attained and obtained is now transmitted to us, His Body; the church is an organism, and we are organic members of the organic Body of Christ receiving the organic dispensing of the Triune God into our being.
The church is the embodiment of the Triune God and the Body of Christ; the church is an organism as the mingling of God and man produced through the processed Triune God in His Divine Trinity.
When we practice the church life we need to always have this in view; whether we preach the gospel to beget sinners, visit the new ones in their home to nourish them, meet with our vital group to be mutually edified, or prophesy to build up the church, we need to know that the church is an organism, the Body of Christ, and we do everything for the building up of the Body.
In the church life in the Lord’s recovery today we don’t merely perform some practices according to some outward regulations; no, what we do is first deal with the Lord, contact Him, confess our sins, deal with our inner being, and seek to be filled with His life, and then, this life in us will flow, move, and do many things.
The church as an organism is constituted organically rather than organizationally, and this organism is built up through the growth of the life of God rather than by works in the hands of man (Eph. 4:16).
This organism is one in the life of God and doesn’t permit any distinction or separation, and all the movements and activities of this organism are led and promoted by the life that operates within it.
Lord Jesus, grant us to see and realize that the church is an organism as a mingling of God with man produced by the dispensing of the Triune God. Save us from merely doing many outward activities based on the Bible – may we stay in the divine dispensing, enjoy the processed Triune God flowing into us, and do everything in the divine life and out of the flow of life. Grow in us, Lord, and live in us, work in us, and do everything in us; we don’t want to initiate anything or do anything, but we want to let Your life operate in us and do everything in us for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!
The Lord is Recovering Eph. 4:11-16, the Gifts Perfecting each Member to Function for the Building up of the Body
The Lord today is recovering the reality of Eph. 4:11-16, which is one of the most difficult things. It is easy to see the divine revelation concerning the church, the local churches, the ground of oneness, and the blending, but when it comes to being perfected to function in our measure, we have a great lack.
We should consider this portion in Eph. 4 and we should pray that the Lord would cause us all to arrive at the oneness of the faith by the Body building itself up in love.
God is doing a recovery work everywhere, and probably one of the ultimate works in His recovery is to recover the Body testimony – He wants to bring us back to the beginning and recover us to His original intention as seen in Eph. 4:1-6.
When we read this portion, we are exposed, humiliated, and greatly dissatisfied with our situation, and our prayer is, Lord, bring this into being in the church life – remove any hindrance, and bring all the saints into their organic function!
The Lord Jesus Himself perfected twelve apostles, and when He left, there were one hundred and twenty that prayed in one accord. He discipled them when He was with them on earth, and after His resurrection He trained them by His invisible presence.
Similarly, Paul visited Ephesus, preached the gospel, and warned and taught every man in all wisdom so that he would present every man full-grown in Christ (Acts 20:20, 31; Col. 1:28). He went from house to house to perfect the saints one by one so that they would do the work of the New Testament ministry to build up the Body of Christ.
Today there are some gifts in the Body of Christ, and they perfect the saints that the perfected saints may do the work of the New Testament ministry for the building up of the Body of Christ.
The gifts are the “joints of rich supply” in the Body of Christ, and the perfected saints are “each one part” operating in their own measure in the Body of Christ.
We all are members of the Body, and we need to be perfected to function in our measure for the building up of the Body, for the church is an organism constituted with God’s life in His dispensing – the church is the Body of Christ.
The gifts as the supplying ones form the connecting structure of the Body of Christ, and every functioning member becomes the compacting constituent in the Body; these two added together cause the Body of Christ to be fitted together, knit together, and built up together (Eph. 4:16).
In the small group meetings we need to be perfected and perfect others so that we all may function organically in our measure in the Body of Christ. We need to help one another know the truth, grow in life, and function organically for the building up of the Body.
Lord Jesus, recover the reality of Eph. 4:11-16 in the church life today so that all the saints may grow in life and function in their measure for the organic building up of the Body of Christ! Release the perfecting of the saints for their organic function, and may all the saints be open to be perfected to build up the church as the organism of the Triune God. May we all rise up to do the work of the New Testament ministry for the building up of the Body of Christ, each functioning in their measure in the Body!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1989, vol. 2, “The New Testament Priests of the Gospel,” ch. 10, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Genuine Church Life (2017 Thanksgiving Conference), week 5, The Scriptural Way to Meet and to Serve for the Building Up of the Body of Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
# God’s economy is to have God and man / Incorporated as one—divine-human, / To build up His Body—an organism, / Which consummates the New Jerusalem. (Song on, The working of the Triune God)
# When we receive Thee as our life, / Thy nature we thru grace possess; / Mingled together, we with Thee / One Body glorious will express. (Hymns #837)
# All the gifted persons given / To the Body by the Head / Are to aid the Church’s building, / That to fulness she be led. / All the gifts and all the functions, / All the spirit’s power shown, / All the ministries are given / For the Church and that alone. (Hymns #914)
About aGodMan
Among all the things created by God in the universe, the most wonderful thing is our body. It is wonderful in that it is organic. For example, man sees with his eyes, hears with his ears, and speaks with his mouth. All these show that the body is organic. These are symbols of the Body of Christ. This Body is an organism of the Triune God. It does not come about by the Triune God through creation; neither does it come about by the Triune God calling it into being all of a sudden. It is produced by the Triune God through many processes.
Ephesians 1:3-6 speaks of the Father’s selection and predestination. Verses 7 through 12 speak of the Son’s redemption and our becoming the predestinated inheritance in Him (v. 11). Verses 13 through 14 speak of the Spirit’s sealing and pledging for our foretaste of the rich inheritance of God. The conclusion of chapter 1 says that the Son rose from among the dead, ascended into the heavenlies, transcended above all, had all things subjected under His feet, and became Head over all things to the church (vv. 20-22). The words to the church denote a kind of transmission. All that Christ the Head has attained and obtained are now transmitted to His Body, the church….[Verses 22 and 23 continue], “The church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” [Verse 23] is a footnote to chapter 1, explaining how the processed Triune God produced a result, which is the church. This church is the embodiment of the Triune God. It is also the Body of Christ….The church is an organism as the mingling of God and man produced through the processed Triune God in His Divine Trinity. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1989, vol. 2, “The New Testament Priests of the Gospel,” ch. 10)
主に感謝します! アーメン
[Thank you Lord! Amen.]
Amen por este organismo viviente…del viviente Dios!!
Amen Hallelujah Highest Praise the Lord Our Lord Jesus Christ ABBA Father Hallelujah
Amen, what a glory! We are in the church, the living Body of Christ!
Those who are under our care in a small group must be able to do what we do…The small group has the ability to perfect people, helping them to know the truth, to grow in life, and to function organically. In this way they will also be able to do what we can do. This is the church life.
Praise the lord…..
Amen.!
Amen !!!
the church is the body of Christ?? must of missed that in my bible, can you show me scripture that says that??
Eph. 1:22-23 says, And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
The Body of Christ is not an organization but an organism constituted of all the regenerated believers for the expression and activities of the Head. The Body of Christ is the issue of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ, who has come into the church. By means of the ascended Christ’s heavenly transmission, we are made one with Him, and thus His Body is produced.